Shifting Moon

 I got up and stripped the bed sheets to wash later. When I went to the bathroom to wash my face, I heard Bella talking in her sleep again and shook my head. Looks like we will both be sporting Cullen-size sleep bags around our eyes for school today. I added a couple of extra miles to my run since I had the extra time. Once finished, I knocked at the door of the police station and saw that it wasn't locked, so I let myself in calling out, "Charlie??" 

 "I'm in here!" came a reply from the gym room. When I entered, I saw Charlie on the bench press with only a bit of weight on the bar. "Am I having a good influence on you already Uncle?" I said half-jokingly.

 Charlie chuckled, "It helps me stay awake on long nights like this one. As soon as Jeff gets here, I will head home for some sleep and come back around noon." 

 "Well, be sure and eat before you sleep. That's when you replenish most of your energy. Eat as much of that noodle salad garbage as you want. Please." I told him as I started to stretch out. I decided I would get a few of those posters that had simple workout routines on them, and a good stretching routine poster was a must. Older guys like Charlie, Jeff, and Ken, would really hurt themselves with improper stretching. I still suspected that Ken had hurt himself by trying to relive his younger days and pulled a muscle in his back or something, but I had no proof. 

 Charlie and I talked, and he was asking about certain exercises to do at his age, and what was good posture with different equipment. My memory served me well in answering his questions and I could tell that Charlie was trying to connect with me. He asked a lot about Bella, and I knew he wasn't trying to snoop so much as to get a map so he could avoid any landmines. The best advice I could give him is that right now she has a lot going on, and his best bet was to treat her like a panicky horse in the corral. Give her space but make sure she knows you're there so she can get used to you. 

 When she picked me up for school, she had a big bowl of oatmeal for me. I ate in silence as I could see her doing one of her inner dialog arguments. I followed my own advice and left her alone with her thoughts. She parked in the same spot as yesterday and we went to the main building to get our books for the first half of the day. Promising to meet up at lunch we said goodbye, then it occurred to me that I would see her in government in an hour. 

 I got to Art class about 10 minutes early and as soon as I entered, I saw Alice was sitting in her seat but smiling at me in the doorway as I hung my jacket up. "You are early today, or was yesterday an unusual time so come to class?"

 "I wanted to talk about our year-end project, I'll start coming early seeing as I have a partner now."

 "What are our options? I didn't see anything in our syllabus." I asked.

 "Ms. Ross left it as an open project so long as it had elements of art and it showed effort put in by both partners. She would judge it off her expectations. After yesterday, I assume her expectations will be high for us." And because I can't see you in my visions, I have no idea what we will do or what grade we will get. Alice thought to herself. Finding the unknown thrilling and new to her. She didn't realize until last night that her original vision for her project had disappeared, and she couldn't see anything about it.

 When she told Jasper about this, he was uneasy. We tend to rely on my visions for safety but if Thomas could block them, then it was a risk in his opinion. She didn't bring it up to anyone else because of Edward and Edythe leaving. Thinking of the forced separation of her family made Alice sad and her face showed it. It came as a massive shock that Bella was Edwards's singer, even more of a shock was that Edward managed to stay next to her for a full hour and didn't feed on her. They had heard rumors of the singer, a human whose blood was tailor-made for a specific vampire. Emmitt even thinks he came across one many years ago, and he didn't even try and resist it, feeding as soon as he smelled her. 

 "You ok Alice? You have been frowning for several minutes?" Thomas asked her.

 "I'm ok, I was just thinking about Edythe and Edward. They had to leave suddenly last night, and I don't know when they will return."

 Thomas frowned hearing this, he had wanted to see if Edythe still looked mad at him. He thought of asking Alice about Edythe but then he decided not to, he always hated when guys asked for the inside track on Bella. You want her, get her yourself.

 "I hope they come back soon; I was hoping to talk with Edythe. I am not sure how, but I seemed to have upset her at some point."

 "When she calls to check in, I will let her know you asked about her," Alice said with a smile on her face.

 They didn't talk much more as the class started covering paint types and styles from the 1500s to the 1800s. At the end of class, we decided to come up with an idea for our end-of-year project and present it to each other on Friday so they could have the weekend to think it over. 

 I went to government class and found Bella talking to Mike and Tyler. I say talking to her, but it was more like she was being talked at by them. They were both taking verbal jabs at each other with Bella being caught between them. "Mind if I get to my seat guys?" I said in a rather impatient voice, my anger spiking for some reason. 

 "Sure, sorry. Bella, we can talk more during OUR next class together." Mike said to Tyler more than Bella.

 Tyler didn't say anything but gave me a glare for a moment, he didn't like that I took Mike's side in his opinion. 

 Bella just gave me an appreciative look and went back to her inner dialog. Whoever got her going is in for it. If she ever gets up the nerve to actually make her thoughts known. I did a quick review of my actions recently to make sure it wasn't me who she was upset with. All I came up with was yesterday's joke about her smell and I dismissed that as she already hit me a few times so no inner dialog was necessary. 

 Shrugging my shoulders, I decided it was none of my business until she made it that way. Instead, I started to have my own inner dialog about my temper getting the better of me. I knew it was always there but usually, I had better control over it unless pushed. 

 The rest of my morning was boring to the point of tears, I approached lunchtime with hopes that it would provide some entertainment. Once again, Bella met me at the door, and we went in together but this time both Lauren and Jessica were waiting with her. Not looking forward to sitting in the middle of the cafeteria, I was happy when Mike came along and offered his table with his friends at a more defensible corner. I unashamedly agreed on our behalf. None of the girls seemed to mind if I ignored Bella. I really hoped this wasn't deserving of another vegetarian dinner as punishment. 

 Bella seemed a little more relaxed after a short while in the new seats. I noticed Alice come in with Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett. When I waved at her, she waved back with a smile and Jasper gave me a nod of recognition which I returned. Then I went back to clearing my plate and taking the leftovers from Bella's. 

 After lunch, there was gym class, and it was boring to the extreme. Volleyball held no attraction to me as playing against teens was ridiculously easy. The coach said that badminton was next, and I looked forward to it as my strength wouldn't be such a cheat there. 

 During Spanish class, I talked to Emmett some more and brought up that I was looking for a lifting partner a couple of days a week so I could increase my weight. Emmett looked rather unenthused when I told him I wanted to break into 375 pounds this month and if I could. I would like to break 400 by the end of the school year. 

 Emmett thought to himself, I guess that's a bit strong for a human. Wonder what he would say if he saw Rosalie lift that with one hand and no effort. I should just pawn him off to Jasper. "I am spending all the time I can with Rose right now Thomas, some family stuff going on has her on edge. I could talk to Jasper and see if he is free. He is stronger than he looks, even beating me in some wrestling matches."

 "That's ok Emmett, I forgot that Alice said there was an emergency in Alaska. I don't want to pull anyone's focus from family, It's one of the most important things in the world." I guess I can try and talk to Jeff and Ken to spot me at the same time. Not too big of a deal. "Don't take too much time off Emmett, it doesn't take long for muscle to turn into fat if you're not careful.

 Emmett just smiled at me, "I am not too worried about that, thanks though."