Shifting Moon

-(Thomas POV)-

 After walking around for a while to clear my head I started to feel better. Being in the middle of a crowd was not comfortable for me. I was able to hold it together for the most part. If I ignored my little interaction with the Cullen table. "That was just weird," I told myself out loud. Luckily no one was close enough to hear or it would just feed the rumor mill even more.

 I hope I didn't make Alice mad, though I still don't know what I did to earn a glare from Edythe. They are the ones that scared me to the point I reflexively acted. For the longest time, this was a daily occurrence, Halloween was a nightmare for me. Everyone running around in masks and skull pattern makeup, I shuttered at the thought.

 Pulled from my thoughts by the bell that signified the end of lunch, I began to walk back toward the main building as that was where the map said my gym class was. Once I found the locker room for the boys, I started to look for the teacher. My schedule said his name was Coach Clapp, wow I bet he got made fun of as a kid. Asking around I finally got a general direction from a somewhat helpful classmate and moved that way. Once I found him, I introduced myself and smiled as he took in my size and muscle definition. 

 The first thing he said is that the school wouldn't be able to provide gym clothes in my size but as long as I got a plain grey shirt and black sweats or shorts, I would be ok. He recommended Newton's Olympic Outfitters, they usually provided the best options in Forks. For anything better, I would have to travel to Port Angeles or Seattle. I had planned to go there anyway to look at their selection of weight training equipment and I would need a new pair of shoes for this class also. 

 After that was the conversation I knew was coming. "No, I don't want to play football for the school", "No wrestling either." "Yes, I knew it was a shame not to put my physique to use for school." "Ok, I will talk it over with Charlie and let you know if he can change my mind." 

 Once he finally signed my schedule I went and sat down on the bleachers and watched the rest of the class play Volleyball and told myself to let the coach know about Bella's lack of coordination. She has gym as her last class if memory serves. It takes me a few minutes to recall all the damage she took and dished out during the Volleyball class back in Phoenix. If the coach listened to him, her classmates should throw me an all-you-can-eat party for sparing them the trauma she would inflict on them all. 

 After gym was over, I looked at my schedule and saw for my final class of the day, I had Spanish with Ms. Goff in building 7. I knew this would be my easiest class of the day, my secret for scholastic success was that I had an Echoic memory. The only class that challenged me was math and ironically it was my favorite subject. The "Read-aloud" technology, also called "text to talk" was one of the best inventions for me. Audiobooks were so limited before its advancement, but now everything can be read out to me to file away. Yet another thing that Bella hated, but after I told her about my lack of enjoyment from hearing the same thing over and over, she settled down a bit over it. She just loved rereading her classic books. 

 I found the class easy enough and before entering I saw a sign that read [The only language in this room is Spanish, no matter how little you speak please try.] So, I walked up to the teacher who was sitting at her desk and placed my schedule on it. 

 "Hola Sra. Goff. Soy un estudiante nuevo y me dijeron que cada maestro firmara mi horario." 

 "Hello Ms. Goff. I am a new student and was told to get my schedule signed by each teacher."

 After looking at my schedule she replied. 

 "Hola Tomás, es un placer conocerte. Su español es muy bueno."

 "Hello Thomas, it is good to meet you. Your Spanish is very good."

(A.N. The rest of the class interactions will be in Spanish but I'm not looking to pad my word count for those who don't read or understand that language.)

 "Why don't you sit in the back with Emmett and Edward, they both speak excellent Spanish as well and by sitting in the back I can work with those that need help. You may work on whatever you like so long as it doesn't distract the class. If your grades start to slip, then I will move you closer to the front so I can get you back on track." 

 Translation, "You can speak Spanish just as well as I can, so sit in the back and do the work I ask, then you can do as you wish, so long as you don't interrupt class." My favorite kind of teacher. After moving to the seat Ms. Goff pointed out, I had time to think about what she said about two other students who spoke Spanish. Emmett and Edward, there was no way there was more than one person each with those names, so I assumed I had two Cullen's in this class. One was the guy that was bigger than me and the other was the one Bella couldn't take her eyes off. 

 I smelled him before he came into the classroom, I wondered to myself if the skincare product they used made them smell sweet. I would have to ask if anyone else noticed the smell. He walked in and I was instantly on alert again. The guy was just intimidating, his size, his easy graceful movement, it all screamed danger to me. The only thing that kept me from standing up was the easy-going look on his face, the chubby cheeks made him look innocent for some reason. But most of all it was his eyes, they held no malice or calculation, just mirth. Like he was just done laughing at someone's joke. 

 He sat down and leaned over to offer his hand. "Hello, I am Emmett" 

 I took his hand and instantly regretted it; this man had a handshake like a vice. But being me, I couldn't let that show on my face. "Hello Emmett, I am Thomas." I tried to squeeze his hand back, but it didn't feel like I left any impression on him. 

 He continued smiling at me and asked, "How are you liking your first day so far?" 

 "It's school. Not much different than the others I have been to. Though it will take some time to get used to this cold. I don't know what I will do for a workout if it snows heavily again or gets icy. Just working out with weights would throw me off." Looking at his size, I assumed working out would be a good conversation for us.

 Emmett laughed, "Has the Coach tried talking you into playing all the sports he coaches yet?"

 I liked his laugh; it was free and joyful. "He sure did, and I get the feeling he won't take my refusal to heart. I expect him to be on the phone with my uncle to try and get him to convince me or maybe go talk to him in person."

 Emmett laughed again loud enough to get a look from the teacher, "Yes, he invented all sorts of reasons to go to the hospital and ask Carlisle to convince me to play. Promising everything from health coaches and scholarships. Too bad I'm just not into picking on weak guys." 

 He glanced around and leaned in closer to me, and I tried to keep my reactions normal. In a whisper "So is it true you have a thing for Alice?" 

 It was finally my turn to laugh, "Does no one talk to your family without ulterior motives? Just because I spoke to her and drew a picture the whole school thinks I'm after her."

 For the first time, I saw a shrewd look in his eyes. "Well, she is cute as a button, nothing comparable to my Rose but still, I can see the wistful look some boys get when she is around."

 "I am not really the type to think looks matter much in this world. Don't get me wrong, I like healthy girls over obese ones or the bone-thin idiots that try to look like those fake magazine pictures, but that's just from a health perspective. Besides, anyone who sees Alice with Jasper must know that they belong together forever. I feel that Jasper is like me with a burning inside him and Alice is his calming influence." 

"Anyone that sticks so much as a finger between those two will lose their hand to Alice and their arm to Jasper and that's if they are lucky." I finished. 

 Emmett flashed me a knowing grin. "You have no idea."