Chapter Text
The ringing of an alarm clock forced awake a young man, his eyes opening the slightest bit and a groan left him as bright light peeked through his wearing curtains. He can smell coffee, the aroma wafting through the cool air as he hears soft muffles from beyond his closed door. A heavy sigh escapes him this time as he slams a pale hand on his alarm clock, shutting it up as he forces himself out of the comfort of his bed. The creaking noise it made had him wincing, careful to place his feet on the equally as creaky floor and shivering at the cold touch of tile against his warm feet. He risks a glance at his clock and feels the slightest bit relieved, he didn't snooze it until it was five minutes before the bell rang this time.
He stands up and stretches, walking over to his closet and grabbing whatever he got his hands on first, sleepily wandering into his bathroom and turning the shower on, waiting for the water to warm up before jumping in and cleaning up. After five minutes, he starts to smell French toast and bacon and hurries up cleaning up, throwing his clothes on and scurrying downstairs. He smiles softly at the sight of his sister, Samantha, and his father talking, Sam helping their father set up the table but his eyes narrow slightly at her attire.
"What are you wearing?" He speaks up and gives an apologetic smile when he realizes he startled both of them, his father giving him a warm smile in greeting before turning his attention back to the French toast. Sam, however, rolls her eyes and places a hand on her left hip.
"Clothes, Eddie. I thought that was obvious." She tilts her head to the side, trying to play innocent but her brother wasn't going to deal with her young teenage attitude so early in the morning.
"If you can call those clothes, Sammy." He says the childhood nickname with a bit more bite and it's Samantha's turn to narrow her eyes. "Most of your stomach is showing and those are not even tights. Look how many holes they have!"
"Hey, I don't judge you when you dress like some old man!"
Their father gives her a look and she gives him a smile, "Not that your outfits are bad, vater."
"I hope not. Enough bickering though, sit down, both of you." They comply, giving each other looks before turning their attention to breakfast, their stomachs growling. Once the food was served, they dug in, and their father watched with a small smile as they ate, although the guilt he felt made him sulk as his plate remained empty, his kids not noticing. When they asked for seconds, he was quick to offer the rest of the food from the pan, placing his clean plate back on the disk rack and taking their plates once they were done. He listened idly as they raced back upstairs to finish getting ready before rushing back down and bidding him goodbye as they headed out the door for school, leaving him alone to his thoughts.
"Remember that girl, Vivian?" Samantha speaks up after a long five minutes of silence and Edward turns the volume down on the radio, humming to let her know to continue. "Well...she keeps...confronting me about not being father's real daughter."
Edward swallows hard, looking at his sister when he stops at a red light, his heart tearing at the look of distress written across the fourteen year old's face.
"I'm sorry, Sam. Have you tried talking to an adult about this? I know she's always giving you a hard time–"
"The adults won't do anything, Eddie! They never have, and they never will. We're different from all the other kids, we're adopted! And ever since mutter died, it's been hard to get by! We wear old shoes, we sometimes don't get to eat at home at all, and we barely get to use this old car whenever we get our gas allowance. It sucks." Samantha huffs out a heavy breath, crossing her arms over her chest as she glares out the window. "Father has done so much to keep us fed and protected, so why does he have to struggle so much with money? He saved us."
Edward turns the car into the middle school parking lot and sighs, putting the car into break and turning to face Sam.
"Life is hard, Sam. Life is also very unfair. Father is trying everything he can do to get more assistance, but with the problems going on with the government...we might not get the checks we need to get by. It's bad enough he was furloughed a few months back and he's barely getting his paychecks in. Just hang in a little more, okay? Be strong for father, for us. And Vivian, don't listen to a single piece of shit that comes out of her mouth, because her mother is a cheating whore and her father is a lazy pig who can't even function a hotel." Samantha giggles at that, giving her brother a thankful smile as she leans over to hug him. He hugs her back, not wanting to let go but he does so reluctantly, wanting nothing more to just ease his sister's worries and her troubles.
"Thank you, Eddie. I gotta go, see you later." Sam hurries and leaves the car, racing up the steps inside her school right as the first bell rang, warning students they have a few minutes to get to class. Edward stares at the doors to the school for a minute longer before putting the car into drive and leaving the parking lot, mentally preparing himself for the hell he is about to step into.
High School.
Edward gazed at the whiteboard with a bored expression, having muffled the sound of his English teacher's voice since the old man decided to start giving a lesson. He heard snickers a few seats away from him and turned his head slightly, frowning when he saw some of the stereotypical jocks make crude gestures towards one of their classmates, a pretty girl who's grip on her pencil looked threatening. He spared a glance at the clock and his eyes widened when the bell rang, signaling for lunch. The students in the class hurriedly shoved their notebooks into their backpacks and rushed out of the class for the lunch period, Edward taking his time. He looked over to the girl again and saw her walking up to the teacher, talking to him in a hushed voice but Edward knew what she was requesting: a seat change. The teacher looked over to him and seemed to nod at the girl, stepping back a bit and looking over at him again.
"Edward, can you come here?" The teacher called and Edward nodded, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and cautiously making his way over, avoiding eye contact with the girl. "Ms. Alekov here is looking for a new seat and I was wondering if it'll be alright if she were to take the seat next to yours since Mr. McCain won't be returning this school year."
The girl looks up at Edward, and his breath is caught in his throat at how dark her blue eyes were; they were like a storm in the middle of the Pacific ocean, specks of gray resembling the storm clouds while the blue was the darkened sea.
"Uh, yeah. I don't mind." He stutters out, looking away quickly and their teacher claps his hands together, writing the adjustment on the seating chart and thanking them both.
"Thank you." The girl says quietly to him before walking out of the class, and it takes Edward a few seconds to recover from hearing her soft voice before he rushes out of the class as well. He frowns when he doesn't see her walking down any of the halls, tugging the strap from his backpack closer to him as he heads to the library, not in the mood to go to the cafeteria and face the loudness of rousey teenagers.
Ms. Sophia, the school's beloved librarian, smiles when she sees him enter, immediately standing from her seat and holding up a stack of papers stapled together. Upon closer look, Edward groans as he sees a familiar title, his face heating up.
"Mr. Schuster couldn't keep this to himself, he wants you to use this to apply for that science scholarship!" The older woman says in a chirpy voice. Edward takes his article out of her hands, gazing at the title and although his heart swells with intense pride, his mind sulks because the reality is that he'll never get into the college of his dreams. The money is one problem, his main challenge is his self-confidence.
"I don't know..." He finally says, and Ms. Sophia raises a brow.
"Why not? You're in the top 30 of your class, you have amazing grades and perfect attendance! I know it's still early in the year, but this is Senior year, Edward. This is your time to show all those colleges what you are worth." She gives him a knowing smile and Edward hesitates before nodding, his hands trembling as he can imagine himself applying to Harvard, using this article he wrote to win a huge scholarship that other kids are likely to apply for as well.
"Thank you, Ms. Sophia" Edward gives her a warm smile and the woman nods, grabbing something from behind her desk, handing a tray to Edward.
"I grabbed you lunch, I know you hate the crowds. Come, sit down with me. How's Samantha, a d your father?" Ms. Sophia looks a bit flush at mentioning his father, but Edward pays it no attention and sits across from her, letting himself ramble about Samantha and his father. He never once talked about himself, and Ms. Sophia took note of this, concerned about eating at her but she keeps playing it as typical teenage boy behavior. But...was it really?
The end of the school day brought joy to Edward, his fingers twirling his keys as he made his way across the parking lot to his car. He's oblivious to the tall football player who's following him, his day at its peak when it comes crashing down when he's pulled back from his backpack. He stumbles back, the force knocking him down as his backpack is ripped off of him, the sound of it unzipping forcing him to turn around and narrow his eyes at none other than quarterback Lev Kravchenko. But his eyes widen when he sees the taller boy holding his article.
"What's this I've been hearing so much about?" Lev taunts, flipping through the papers harshly, and Edward moves to stand when the quarterback rips one out from the staple, but he's kicked hard in the chest, falling onto his back. A broken cry leaves him and his face heats up in embarrassment and anger, watching as Lev rips the papers and grins maliciously at him.
"Don't bother applying for that scholarship, Fritz" Lev sneers down at him with disgust, "I mean, did you really think any college would want you, when your own parents didn't?" He moves his leg to kick Edward again when a blur runs past him and Lev is tackled to the floor, a smaller yet well built boy punching him swiftly in the face.
"Fuck off, Kravchenko!" The newcomer growls, grunting when Lev throws him off of him and delivers a punch to his stomach, forcing the younger boy to kneel over and hiss in pain.
"You're going to regret that, faggot." Lev growls, spitting at the boy before stalking off. Edward ignores his ruined papers in favor of the boy, limping over to him and offering his hand, which the younger takes with a grateful smile.
"Ignore that asshole, man. He's just jealous he didn't make team captain." The boy says, looking at Edward and sighing. "Really, man, forget him. And don't let him push you around. Sorry about your papers." Edward recognizes the boy, Tommy, or Tank as he hears people call him. He's the new captain for the football team, the youngest person to be elected as such in their school.
"It's fine, I can get another copy. Will you be alright?" Edward's gaze lands on the bruise around Tommy's left eye, and he knew the boy had it before fighting Lev.
"Yeah, they don't call the Tank for nothing! See you around, man!" Tommy is quick to leave, patting his back on his way out and Edward watches him walk away. He had heard the rumors surrounding the other boy, but he won't be like the rest of his classmates and judge the boy. After all, he did beat up one of his own teammates.
With a heavy sigh, Edward gets in his car and drives to Samantha's school, using all his will to not let his tears fall from his eyes.
Everything would get better.
Right?