Equinox [Rae & Mei]

[Raerae]

Edward's silence led Rae to believe he wouldn't be responding, so she didn't continue, either. The atmosphere seemed oppressed and, with every not so distant tick of the clock, it seemed as if time was dragging, the inevitably guilt from perhaps being a tad bit defensive welling in her chest. Seven and a half minutes till it rang, was that enough time for an apology?


Am I sorry? ...Yes. I miss his voice. How do I approach this? I'm really sorry? I get overly defensive when I'm anxious? I like you and I don't want you to ignore me? I didn't mean it?





"Edwaaaard..." She whined. Rae was easily the most apologetic person in the world, but above that, she was overly defensive. "I'm... Sorry, I was rude. I told you, music calms my tendency to be... turbulent, in a way. I know Evelyn and her friends are considered my own, but I'm not... openly emotional with them quite yet. You got to experience it, aha... congratulations..." She trailed off, looking downwards as the teacher slapped their shared project packet on their desk.


"In my defense, you voice your thoughts a lot," She told him. "I can't help but respond to all the stuff you say."

 

[iMeisaki]

Edward shook his head. "I don't voice my thoughts..." He said to himself. Congratulations..? You like me..? He thought again. Edward had looked at the project that was on the desk. He felt awkward on the inside, how can she know what he had thought at the moment. This was getting a little weird for him.. Hearing her apology..didn't really make him feel better. It was like she was forced to apologize. It intrigued him but also made him think about what he's always thought about normal people. How they can be so different than others.


Looking at the bell, he had looked up at the teacher. About two minutes left..as Edward accidentally smelled Rae's scent, he couldn't take it anymore. This situation was driving him mad. Having Rae talk about his thoughts, her constant tapping, the teacher talking about nonsense, and her scent..Edward needed to leave. "It's fine don't worry about it. Let's talk about the project tomorrow." Edward said, getting up quickly as he left the room. Of course the teacher complained but Edward made an excuse saying that it was an emergency to get a pass.

 

[Raerae]

Just a little


My heart feels a bit frustrated


It just feels a bit cloudy


Just a little, just a little


I am resenting the world


If you need to leave, if you’re going


There’s nothing I can do but


Just a little


It just hurts a lot
​

As rain drizzled down from a sulking, dark grey sky, students darted off with splashing foot steps to their classes, while others, like Rae, lingered around outside their classrooms, awaiting their teachers arrival that morning so that the door would be unlocked. The bell had yet to ring, instead the atmosphere had resounding, diverse voices and the light but rapid tap, tap, tap, from rain drops that hit binders used as shields, railings and the leaves that dropped off soggy trees.


With her head tilted up, she let the icy drops dampen her hair, the petrichor comforting amidst the discomfort that always came with her arrival here, or at any school, for that matter.


"Aren't you freezing?" Came a voice, a 5'3 brunette, eyes hidden behind thick framed glasses and a bit of a freckled face. She adjusted her frames, seemingly dwarfish beside Rae, officially 5'10.


"I don't mind the cold," Rae responded, her voice a hum.

 

[iMeisaki]

As usual, Edward had walked into school. He saw Rae out of the corner of his eye. Why does she do that? She'll get pneumonia. He thought. Edward had put his hands in his pockets and continued walking inside the school. The project that the two of them had to do was due next Monday. They'll probably have to talk about that today.


To his side, he saw Jasper and Alice. Behind him was Rosalie and Emmett. It was the usual entrance that never changed. "Jasper, don't forget to tell all the details about that camping trip you did to that girl.." Emmett told him, laughing. Jasper shook his head with a half smirk but also a look like he would beat him up when they got home.


Edward and the rest of the Cullen gang finally walked inside. Going through the hallways and passing the faces they saw everyday.

 

[Raerae]

"Use this class time wisely. I'd suggest conversing about the project, as it must be done Friday morning, I'll accept it no later than that."


The distant sounds of fingers tapping furiously at phones and music coming from hidden headphones showed just how important the project was to most of the students. Rae, however, had her music turned off today in an attempt to reconcile with Edward to at least being classmates.


She kept her gaze on her notebook, her body completely still aside from the sketching she did on the side of her paper. "So, what do you think our project should be about?" She asked him nonchalantly. "I think we should do something creative... Up in an area nearby, like Port Angeles."

 

[iMeisaki]

Edward nodded his head as he started writing notes down for the project. "Yea. Port Angeles is fine with me. I don't thin anyone else is going to do their projects on that." He responded. As Edward was saying this, he had read everyone's mind...focusing on what they were going to do. Luckily, he was right about how they'd be the only ones doing Port Angeles.


Slowly, he looked over at Rae. She didn't have her music turned on, wasn't tapping, nothing. It kind of surprised him. Edward had then shifted his gaze back to his notebook. "Maybe we could do the history behind it or maybe tribes that settled there. Something like that." He suggested. Edward continued writing this down in his notebook. Writing ideas and possible outcomes for the project.

 

[Raerae]

"Alright," She answered, jotting down only a couple things before returning to her sketches. She wasn't much of a notetaker, Rae was more than capable of remembering their conversations, as well as their plans for the project.


"I know a thing or two about native Americans," She added finally, sketching rainfall as she spoke. "The tribe residing there would be Elwha Klallam, also known as "The strong people", they live along the coast on their reservation, they even have a warrior queen and princess. So, we can go get visitation and write our paper on the beach or something."

 

[iMeisaki]

Edward had looked over at Rae. He was quite impressed about her knowledge she already had on Port Angeles. "Yea, we can go there. I don't think I'll be able to make it after school today. But I can do it tomorrow most likely." He said. Edward had finished writing notes down and closed his notebook, not needing or wanting to write anymore notes.


After a moment passed, he looked at her again. He couldn't deny her beauty. Rae was so pretty and her being nice today made up for what happened on Friday. He smiled to himself and looked down at his closed notebook.

 

[Raerae]

For Rae, the school day was the same as any other, dragging, eventless and couldn't end fast enough. She'd gone home right after class out of pure boredom, deciding she'd be better off reading in her room alone.


It was quite the opposite for Jasper- True, he was anxious, but not for the day to end, more so for lunch to arrive so he could speak with Ava again. Despite the events that'd taken place last Friday, he'd since then satiated his appetite to the best of a vegetarian vampire's ability, and felt that there was very little risk of anything going wrong. His family strongly disagreed, especially Edward who didn't even have much to do with 'his' human anymore, but Jasper would prove his self control..


Instead of taking his usual seat with his siblings right away, he moved with lightning speed to Ava's locker, where he slipped a folded paper with a brief, albeit thoughtful poem in dedication to her, signed anonymous. He was then swiftly back in his seat, ignoring the incredulous stares.

 

[iMeisaki]

As Ava headed towards her locker. She had taken her time. Nothing interesting had happened on her weekend but maybe something could happen during this new week. Maybe her and Rae could become closer friends considering how quiet she was. She'll open up..Ava was like that freshman year but she'll start to open up to new people after a couple months or maybe a school year. As Ava opened her locker, she saw a note almost fall out of her locker. Slowly, she opened the note and read it. "Anonymous..huh..? Cute." She smiled at the lovely poem. She folded it back up and put it in her pocket.


Ava had then taken her lunch and started heading into the lunchroom. She had only seen Wayne sitting at their lunch table. "Hey..Where is everyone?" She asked.


"The rest are at some help or some club. But you got me here." He chuckled. "Oh joy. Don't worry, I'm just kidding." She said laughing as she sat down next to him. "Hey...sorry to bother you but can I borrow some money? I don't have lunch today.. But I'll pay you back..sometime." Ava had sighed and shook her head. "Typical Wayne..Here." She said, giving him the money. "If only you could be like this romantic anonymous person." She said, looking at the note, smiling. "Oh please, romance is made up by people who want it." He said laughing as he headed towards the lunch line.

 

[Raerae]

Jasper watched the transaction, shaking his head at the boy who'd asked for money. He scooted his tray away with a lack of interest, wondering if he could briefly go speak with her.


"Oh, just do it," Alice rolled her eyes, clearly disapproving. "This is disgusting, watching you act like this."


"Act like what? A normal teenager?"


"You're neither of those, nor would a normal teenager write 18th century centric literature." Edward grumbled.


"Right, because you know anything about romance," the four of them looked at Jasper, a bit surprised at his comment; even Rose and looked up. They were all well aware of Edward's... depression, so to speak. But they never really brought it up. He slipped from his chair to avoid being reprimanded and instead swiftly appeared before Ava, "Hello, Ava. How 're you?"

 

[iMeisaki]

Ava had noticed that Jasper appeared in front of her. "Oh hey Jasper. I'm alright. Just a bit tired...as usual." She giggled a little. "Anyway..how was your weekend..? Didn't you go on that trip with your family..? Sorry my memory is a little hazy." She said, smiling. Ava had looked to the side, seeing some girls from the lunch line staring at her and talking to their friends next to them. 'Oh man...they're talking about me...' She thought to herself.


Ava had taken the note and put it back in her pocket. She didn't know if she should tell Jasper about it yet. She would probably tell him if he asked about it. Other girls that were sitting at their tables were looking at Jasper and Ava. Of course they'd be saying nasty things about her and would probably say lovely things about Jasper. The one thing Ava didn't really like about the Cullens..was that they were treated like Gods. How they look perfect, get perfect grades, etc. However, Ava liked Jasper because he seemed nice.

 

[Raerae]

"Yes, we went camping," He told her, stiffly taking a seat across form her whilst feeling the jealous that came from the other females, and some males, in the room. He furrowed his brows, noting that at least his siblings weren't paying attention.


"It was... rainy," He told her, remembering the wetness of the forest. His golden eyes absorbed her as he spoke. He could sense her lethargy and desire for sleep. "Ran into a few bears."


"A few? We had'm for lunch!" Emmett murmured only to where they could hear, his siblings grinning at the comment.


Jasper didn't respond to him. "I did some... writing. We hiked for hours." He tried to think of what more he could tell her, but it was very hard relating to her, to these students.

 

[iMeisaki]

Ava smiled as he was telling her what they did. "That sounds like fun. I like to go out and hike when I'm with friends." She said smiling. "Do you like to write..? I love writing." She said. Ava had actually won a contest when she was a freshman where she got her poem published in some American Literature Book. Writing was Ava's passion, she loved it so much.


"Hiked for hours...more like minutes with our speed." Emmett said. Honestly, he wanted to break Jasper and make him yell at him. Edward had rolled his eyes and punched his side. "Idiot..Do you want to have our cover blown..?" He whispered. Rosalie had started laughing but then stopped and covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to laugh. She was intrigued as she watched Jasper talk to this...human.

 

[Raerae]

"Writing is... inescapable, and a form of expression." He responded thoughtfully, shifting a bit where he sat as he noted her friend was nearing the end of the line. "It's used to to convey what you feel when you can't quite say it... You could say it's a language of its own."


"Oh, gag me," Alice murmured, rubbing her temples as an oncoming headache threatened to arise.


Emmett shrugged, "Hey, he can't be alone all the time. He'd turn into a zombie like Edward."


"That's harsh," Edward said with a hint of bitterness, his scowl would have been nearly permanent, had that familiar brunette not entered the cafeteria. His attention shifted considerably.


"Would you all shut up?" Jasper growled, and then turned his attention to Ava once more. "...What do you write, Ava?"

 

[iMeisaki]

Ava had been thinking about his question. "Ah....things that I would write..? Well...I'm okay at writing about love in either poetry or just a story. I'm not good at it because I never really experienced loving someone.. I guess I know it so well by watching movies..reading...and witnessing it in these hallways. However, most of the time..it's just seeing some people suck their faces together." She said laughing at the grossness of when she saw people make-out.


However, she went back to his question. "Anyway..I'm good at writing more of sad poems..I got one published actually. When I was younger though. But..I'm good at writing supernatural poems too. Like werewolves...vampires..monsters under the bed.. Those types of things. I love the supernatural genre..there are so many stories that could be made. I'm actually reading a supernatural story right now. More like a comic really." She said, taking the Vampire Knight Manga out and showing him.


"Supernatural huh? She probably thinks vampires are what they are in the movies...How dull of her." Rosalie rolled her eyes. Thinking that she was so stupid.


"Well..you can't blame her. She wouldn't know anyway." Alice interrupted, kind of backing Ava up. She had leaned her head into her open palm and sighed, feeling her headache worsening. "This is painful to listen to."

 

[Raerae]

"Ah," He nodded, attempting to focus on her voice in attempts to ignore his pointless sibling's squabble. However, upon the mentioning of the supernatural, he became both skeptical and discreetly more stiff, still listening, but feeling his innards twist uncomfortably as she unknowingly mentioned what he truely was.


"Legends can be endearing," was his cautious response, though outwardly he hadn't changed, only internally was he anxious to leave this behind. "Fiction is.. engaging. Perhaps you'll show me your works sometime?"


"Good boy," Alice mumbled, though this subject had been cut way too close for comfort. Every Cullen shifted with discomfort, just before Jasper felt the anxiousness of others as lunch came to ten minutes left, Edward heard the thoughts of others and mentioned the bell would be ringing, and Alice saw them heading home without a problem.


Golden eyes met those of the male who Ava had conversed with earlier. "Hey, I, um... Can sit somewhere else."


"Not necessary," In a flash, he stood upright, extending a hand and gently kissing Ava's, feeling the anxiety that rose in his siblings as Alice foresaw the sudden change in his mind. "


Jusqu'à ce que nous rencontrons à nouveau." (Until we meet again).


And then, he disappeared.

 

[iMeisaki]

Ava had nodded her head and smiled when he asked her to show him her work. Wayne had been skeptical about this guy. He tilted his head and had a face of disgust when he saw him kiss Ava's hand. Once he left, he saw Ava blushing. Her cheeks became a rosy pink as she slowly nodded her head and had a happy..peaceful smile across her lips.


"What the hell was that about..? Kissing your hand.." He said.


Ava had smiled as she looked over at him and started to eat. "He's so..different in his romance..." Wayne had interrupted her. "That's just..weird. You don't know romance kid." Ava shifted her body over to him and got angry like a child.


"I don't know romance..?! And like you do..??" She punched his arm. "I had one girlfriend." Wayne objected. "Yea for a week in freshman year! Ah...this idiot." She said, shaking her head and turning away. Wayne had started laughing and nudged her roughly. "You're the idiot."


Edward and the rest had left the lunch room. "That was way too close about her talking about that. It's almost like a...coincidence." Edward stated. Emmett had started laughing. "Still though...even though you managed to handle the situation...the ending of that conversation though.. You actually kissed her hand..?" Emmett bursted out laughing. "I started crying when I saw that guys face. It's like he walked in on you two." He said, leaning on the wall, bursting out in laughter again.

 

[Raerae]

"Chivalry isn't dead," Jasper interjected, rather urked at the mentioning of the male that'd bothered them.


"No, it's immortal," Rose sneered, arms folded across her chest as she leaned back beside Emmett who continued to chortle at the situation.


Alice placed a light hand on Jasper's shoulder, "I know it gets lonely. Just know what you're getting yourself into. Once she starts getting curious..."


"...Then we move again, I know." Jasper responded with exasperation. "Would it be so bad to let someone in once and a while?"


"Haven't you seen Frankenstein? It only takes one blabbering idiot to start a mob. Or, in modern times case, get the FBI on our asses." Rose informed, flicking her blond hair over her shoulder as a wave of senior quarter backs whistled whilst they passed her, earning a hellish glare from an aroused Emmett.


"Great comparison," Alice rolled her eyes at Rosalie.


"It's true. We're the damned. We risk everything just pretending to be normal," Edward seethed, his fangs bared as he spoke, though they knew his anger was really the pain of knowing he'd never have a life contorted into hatred. "We can't even converse with whom we're drawn to, like everyone else-"


"-Edward..."


His gaze seemingly searched to corridors they were in, though his hearing reached so much further.


"...Stop looking for her, she won't be turning this way, she's skipping class." Alice informed him, to which he snarled and abruptly left them, bolting away from presumably the entire school.


"And we say I don't have control," Jasper laughed a bit bitterly, before he pursued his second to last class of the evening.

 

[iMeisaki]

~4 Months Later~





As time was going, Edward had grown closer to the beautiful brunette. Rae....it was a word he liked to say. However, he kept his distant a lot, not knowing what to do whether to chance it or to just leave it be. The dance would be coming soon..Edward wanted to ask her out. However, he was going to wait a little. Plus, he started watching over Jasper too. After all, he didn't feel so alone. Knowing that Jasper had started to fall for another human girl. Clumsy..


It had been the night before school was starting. Edward wanted to see Rae. He went over to her house in a flash. There was enough room to sit on the outside of the window and knock on it. Quickly, he jumped up and sat at the edge. He saw Rae and smiled, slowly tapping on the window. Seeing her turn around, he gave a quick wave and pointed at the lock on the window so he could come in. 'She's so beautiful...more out of school..' He thought to himself.


Edward had stopped thinking after a while. Sometimes it was awkward thinking about something around Rae. Sometimes it felt that she knew exactly what he was thinking. At times, Edward grew suspicious but he easily let it go. However, today, he couldn't help himself but compliment her beauty. She was like an immortal girl that looked like she would keep her beauty forever.

 

[Raerae]

Rae had been combing her hair for the past few minutes, something she'd started to do every night as a sort of relaxation technique. She hadn't been surprised by the knock on her window, as she'd had some odd thoughts that surely weren't her own enter her mind. It'd been a while longer than she'd expected before she'd understood she could read Edward's thoughts; his slight frustration when she responded to 'nothing' had been a blatant indication. Fearful of sounding like a freak, she hadn't told him, though as time went on, she'd started to wonder if he'd be all that surprised.


She placed her brush on the nightstand and hurried over to the window, pulling back the flowing, blush colored satin curtains and fidgeting with the lock her mother always made extra tight, until it came undone. She pushed the glass panels outwards, embracing the cool, night air. "We've got to stop meeting like this,"She told him, but the laugh that followed confirmed she was only teasing.


She stepped back and plopped down on the edge of her bed, soft as a cloud for she had to have specific arrangements made for her body. Her room consisted of pastels, not as feminine as it was serene and cool, with various crystals, a few potted plants and a wind chime outside her window, all meant to block out bad energy. A yoga mat was wound up and leaning against a rather large book shelf, half way filled with only books she's read.

 

[iMeisaki]

Edward had looked around the room as he entered. "Hey..don't kick me out yet. It's my first time being here." He said in a small chuckle. Even though inside, he kept his thoughts silent or just didn't think at all which was excruciating. He was suspicious of Rae..What if he thought of something and she'd take it the wrong way? Could she read his mind? That would just restrict him of even thinking at all. Edward had walked around her room, her scent was so strong especially in this room. It was like a bomb of her scent exploded in here. From perfumes to shampoos, it all added and embraced her scent perfectly.


However, he had tried to hold his breath but simply stopped. He was used to her scent and started to like it now. He kept looking around her room, admiring the small accents that were added in there. Edward then leaned on the wall and looked over at Rae. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything.." He said.

 

[Raerae]

Rae plopped back down on her bed, laying on her stomach, her chin perched on her palms. She wouldn't deny she was surprised to see Edward here, in her room; but she wasn't opposed to it, in fact she liked the company outside of school, it was a first, and made it feel like a real friendship.


"Nope," she answered, tugging at loose cotton on her fluffy comforter. "I was just... grooming. What brings you to my office?" She asked playfully, though she was curious as to why he'd shown up- or how the hell he'd climbed to her window, though she found it fascinating.

 

[iMeisaki]

Edward shrugged, lightly chucking. "Office you say? Not a bedroom..? Or an escape from reality? Just an office? I feel like I'm at school now." He said, chuckling while he just playing lightly with her. "The word grooming makes me think of animals instead of brushing hair." He added, just saying what he thought. Edward had leaned on the wall again and looked at her chandelier. He then looked back at Rae. "Are you feeling at home now?" He asked. Edward had given Rae a small smile. Was he the first person to come to her house? Did Rae ever get closer to Clumsy...? He's always seen Ava try to get closer to Rae.

 

[Raerae]

"I don't really know what home feels like," Rae smiled sheepishly, and thought about it for a few moments longer. "I guess I'm settling in, at least. You're the only person who has come over before, so that's a start...?"


"I mean, I hang out with Ava too, it's... Weirdly comfortably being around her. I don't really talk to anyone else though."


She sat back up and scooted onto the edge of her bed, tugging at her shorts whilst she gazed at him. What was odd was how content she was with him here, almost like she'd been expecting him to come. He was a... Spark within the mundane.