Faye Meredith - Becoming Edward

by Faye Meredith

  Rachel never tired of wandering through its galleries and rooms full of glass cases and strange objects; it was the main reason why she had chosen to do her art project here. Being given time off school just to sit and soak up its enchanting atmosphere while learning about its artefacts and artworks didn’t seem like work at all.

  After spending a couple of hours making notes and sketching some of the large oil paintings housed in its oldest gallery, she made her way to the smart little coffee shop. Already waiting for her, was Olivia, immaculately dressed in something that made Rachel feel immediately insecure. Rachel needn’t have worried. Olivia’s natural smile put Rachel at ease.

  Olivia stood up and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, something Rachel wasn’t used to. All she got from most of her friends was an ‘Alright’. Sitting on the table were two coffees and a plate of sandwiches and cakes arranged on doilies.

  ‘Rachel, it’s so nice to see you again. I’d forgotten how beautiful you are,’ Olivia said.

  Her generous compliment made Rachel feel like she was being wrapped in a warm cosy blanket. She thought how she’d love to have Olivia as a proper friend.

  ‘That’s really kind of you. You look amazing too,’ said Rachel.

  ‘Thank you. Now come on, sit, eat and drink - you must be hungry after all that work.’

  ‘I am a little.’

  ‘Help yourself.’ Olivia held out both plates and Rachel took a cucumber sandwich and a Viennese whirl.

  ‘These are delicious,’ said Rachel with her mouth full.

  ‘I know. This place is great by the way. I’ve never been in here before. It’s incredible.’

  ‘I’ll show you around later if you like.’

  ‘I’d love that.’ Olivia paused before continuing. ‘I suppose you’re wondering why I wanted to meet you.’

  ‘Yes, I am a bit.’

  ‘I’ll get straight to the point. It’s about Lewis.’

  ‘Is he okay?’

  ‘Well, yes and no. I don’t want to interfere in his life, but I think I need to, and if I thought there was any way around this I would have taken it.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘First you have to promise not to tell him or anyone else about this conversation.’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Okay, here goes,’ Olivia said smiling, but Rachel saw there was nervousness behind it.

  ‘He really likes you and I mean really likes you. Now I know I’ve told you that before, but here’s the important bit. He’s changed since he met you. You’ve probably heard how he had a bit of a reputation and I can imagine that probably put you off.’

  ‘Yeah, you could say that,’ Rachel said, taking another bite.

  ‘Well, he’s not like that anymore. He only has eyes for you now. You’ve become his obsession. Whether you like him too, is none of my business and I’m not going to put you on the spot about that. What I do need is your help.’

  ‘What kind of help?’

  ‘When Lewis gets obsessed by something or someone, he’s like a dog with a bone. He won’t stop until he’s taken it as far as he can go. He started reading Twilight so that he had something in common with you, which was harmless enough. But then he started to take it further. He wanted to be like Edward Cullen because he thought that’s what you wanted. He got his haircut like him and started wearing the same sort of clothes, which I suppose is still all right. But he keeps taking it further and further. He’s got the car, the contact lenses …’

  ‘But that’s all right, isn’t? A bit geeky but it’s harmless, like people who dress up in Star Trek uniforms.’

  ‘Yeah, I suppose that’s true, but I know my brother. This is the thin end of the wedge. Soon he’ll start thinking that he is Edward Cullen and I’m afraid he’ll do something really stupid.’ Olivia started to say something else and then stopped, her mouth hung open for a second and closed.

  Rachel wondered what it she had been going to say. Olivia shook her head very slightly as if she were disagreeing with herself. She was definitely holding something back. Then she continued:

  ‘The other day, he climbed to the top of one of the massive pine trees in our garden.’

  ‘Why did he do that?’

  ‘Because he’s starting to think he’s Edward, and this is just the beginning. I’m worried he might start picking fights with complete strangers, just to impress you.’

  Fights kept cropping up everywhere recently. Rachel wondered what the hell was going on with everybody.

  ‘I’ve always had to look out for him,’ Olivia continued, ‘even though he’s older than me I sometimes feel like a third parent. You see, not many people know this, but me and Lewis are adopted.’ Olivia stared out of the window, looking like she regretted saying it.

  ‘Really? But you look so much like your dad.’

  ‘I know, everyone says that. It’s just a lucky coincidence, I guess. I love my parents to bits and they’ve given us both a wonderful life, but at the back of my mind I know they’re not my real family. Sometimes I feel that the only real family I’ve got is Lewis.’

  The worry of it all started to get to her. Pools appeared in her eyes and a small tear headed towards her chin where she quickly dabbed it with a tissue.

  ‘Olivia, it’s okay,’ said Rachel, trying to comfort her. ‘I’ll help you any way I can. Just tell me what you want me to do.’

  ‘Really? That would be amazing. Are you sure you don’t mind?’

  ‘Course not. What do you want me to do?’

  ‘Well, he’s doing this all for you, so I think you’re the only one he’ll listen to.’

  Rachel felt flattered beyond belief. It had confirmed all her suspicions that she was the reason he’d transformed into an Edwannabe. It was the news she’d been waiting for and made the sun come out inside her. She couldn’t wait to see him again and kiss him. All she wanted to do was be with him. However, that had to wait. Olivia looked at Rachel with pleading eyes.

  ‘Could you just try to get him to stop pretending to be a vampire?’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Rachel said, holding Olivia’s hand. ‘I’ll talk to him. I’ll convince him this is all unnecessary. I know I’m small but I can be persuasive when I need to be.’

  ‘Oh, Rachel, that would be a huge weight off my mind.’

  ‘Hey, no problem. If there’s anything else you need or you want someone to talk to, don’t hesitate to call me, okay?’

  ‘Thanks, Rachel. I really appreciate this,’ Olivia said, smiling through wet eyes.

  ‘My pleasure. Do you mind if I ask you a question?’

  ‘Sure, go ahead.’

  ‘The thing is, I like Lewis too. I’ve always liked him. It’s just I wasn’t sure whether I was going to be another notch on his bedpost. I’d love for us to be together, but how do I know he won’t drop me once he’s got me, because the chase is over?’

  Olivia looked around the room as if searching for the answer.

  ‘I suppose you don’t know. Nobody does at the start of any relationship; it’s always a leap of faith. One thing I do know, is that no girl has ever had this effect on him. You’ve made him change into a completely different person.’

  Rachel’s pale cheeks suddenly turned the colour of a fire engine.

  ‘Whatever happens though, you and me will always be friends.’

  ‘I’d love that,’ said Rachel. ‘What about you? Are you seeing anyone?’

  ‘No, all the guys I meet are only after one thing.’

  ‘Sex?’

  ‘No. Money. The second they see where I live and who my dad is, it’s like you can see the pound signs in their eyes.’

  ‘That’s horrible.’

  ‘Yeah, it makes you feel kind of dirty inside. I’d like to meet a guy with a bit more depth to him, but I’m not sure one exists.’

  ‘Hey, I’ve just remembered,’ said Rachel. ‘It’s my birthday in two weeks. Why don’t you come along.’

  ‘I’d love to.’

/>   ‘I’m not sure what I’m doing for it yet, but I’ll let you know.’

  ‘Cool, I’ll be there. Now how about you show me some of the wonderful stuff they’ve got in this place.’

  *

  Rachel tried several time to arrange a meeting with Lewis so she could cure him of what she called his ‘Edwarditis’. Each time she asked to hook up with him she got the same excuse that his nose was still as wide as a motorway and he didn’t really want to see anyone until he was at least looking semi-normal.

  This was all vanity on Lewis’ part. He’d fallen in love with the image he had created and the effect it had on people around him - well, only those that knew about Twilight. It had become a kind of armour; to go out not looking like his chosen hero made him feel weak.

  Lewis’ ego had never been perfect but at least it had been healthy. Now it had become fragile and inflated. When he wasn’t checking his nose in the mirror to measure its progress, he would spend his days looking on all sorts of different Twilight websites. There were literally thousands of them across the world. Many of them had a ‘Rate my Edward’ section where fans would upload pictures of themselves so others could vote on how much they resembled Edward. There were also ones for Bella and Jacob look-alikes.

  Lewis had submitted a picture he’d taken of himself in the mirror before he’d got whacked on the nose, and was thrilled to see that he was rated top Edward look-alike on all the sites. There was a brief period of a week when he was knocked down to second place. It had made him depressed not to be the best fake Edward anymore. However, it later turned out that the image of Lewis’ competitor had been photoshopped and the guy who’d submitted it had been disqualified. Lewis was rightly reinstated as the number one fake vampire from Forks, and his confidence rocketed back up again.

  ‘What are you doing?’ asked Olivia. She was passing his bedroom, trying to look as casual as possible. In reality she was keeping tabs on him.

  ‘Writing emails,’ said Lewis. He didn’t look up and continued his one-finger typing.

  ‘Who to?’ replied Olivia.

  ‘Fans.’

  ‘Fans? What sort of fans?’

  ‘Twilight fans.’

  ‘Why are they emailing you?’

  ‘Well, I’ve become a bit of a celebrity in the Twiliverse.’

  ‘What’s the Twiliverse?’ It took Olivia a second. ‘Oh, right I get it. But why are fans emailing you?’

  ‘Because I’m the top Sparkler’

  ‘OK, what’s a Sparkler?’ Olivia said, putting her hands on her hips.

  ‘A Sparkler is someone who looks like Edward. Remember how he sparkles in the sunlight?’

  ‘And fans are emailing you?’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Lewis. ‘I’m the one everyone thinks looks most like Edward. It’s on all the Twilight sites and this girl from Seattle says she wants to meet me, get my autograph and have her photo taken with me, cool, huh?’

  ‘That is definitely not cool. Lewis what are you doing? This is wrong, you’re turning into a weirdo.’

  ‘I’m just sending an email to a girl who thinks I look like Edward. There’s nothing weird about that.’

  ‘You’re not going to meet her are you?’

  ‘Dunno.’

  ‘Don’t.’

  Olivia ignored his protests, went straight to her bedroom and called Rachel. She paced up and down like a demented sentry waiting for her to answer.

  ‘Rachel, it’s me,’ said Olivia, speaking quicker than she normally did.

  ‘Hi Olivia,’ Rachel replied.

  ‘Any luck with talking to Lewis?’

  ‘Well, he won’t see me until his nose is better, and it’s not the sort of thing I think you can talk about on the phone. But he’s going to come to my birthday party. I’ll tell him then.’

  ‘Okay, that’s good because he’s getting worse. Did you know he’s the top Sparkler on the web?’

  ‘Sparkler? What the hell’s that?’

  ‘It’s an Edward lookalike.’

  ‘Oh, no, it’s getting worse.’

  ‘Do you see what I mean now? He’s even getting fan mail.’

  ‘What? This is verging on special needs. Look, don’t worry, the party’s not far away. Leave it to me, I’ll sort him out.’

  Chapter 18

  *

  Le Bateau was a spot that only locals knew about. It was one of those places that wasn’t sure whether it wanted to be a coffee shop, a bar or a restaurant, and nobody seemed to care that much. The atmosphere was unthreatening and easy to get used to. It got rammed at weekends and a strong bladder was a definite requirement if you were going to survive the night. The queue for the loos could be a painful experience, providing you could get to them in the first place.

  In the summer the friendly crowd would spill out onto the pavement and sometimes into the road, much to the annoyance of passing motorists. While Aruba was loud, brash and opulent, Le Bateau was small, friendly and relaxed. That made it the perfect choice for Rachel’s birthday. She hadn’t invited many people, just her close friends from school, a few from Books ‘n’ Beans and, of course, Lewis and Olivia.

  Rachel arrived stupidly early, which annoyed Cassie who was sure she had picked the wrong outfit. She was out to impress Matt, one of Lewis’ friends who she was hoping would be there. Cassie was wearing a cerise pink dress with a matching head band because she wanted to stand out from the crowd. The outfit was so bright it would have been safer to look into the sun. She was also shocked to find that Le Bateau was more about dressing down rather than up. The few people who were already there looked like they were about to go to a car boot sale. It was strictly a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers kind of place.

  Rachel, on the other hand, was her usual sober self and wore a plain tight-fitting white jersey dress with a jean jacket over the top

  ‘I look ridiculous,’ said Cassie. ‘I look like something a batty old lady has baked for the Women’s Institute.’

  ‘Shut up, Cassie, you look great,’ said Rachel.

  ‘That’s easy for you to say, you always look stylish.’

  ‘Tell you what, take the head band off and have my jean jacket, that should turn down the volume a bit.’ Rachel removed her jacket and Cassie quickly pulled it on and buttoned it nearly to the top.

  ‘Collar up or down?’ Cassie asked.

  ‘Definitely down.’

  ‘So do you know what you’re going to say to Lewis?’

  ‘Not really. If I’m honest, I’m starting to get a bit nervous.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Well, it’s a difficult thing to bring up isn’t it? Hi Lewis, I really like you and by the way, can you stop being Edward Cullen.’

  ‘Yeah, but you wouldn’t say it like that. Just talk to him normally and then say something when you get the right opportunity.’

  ‘Yeah, I suppose. What if he doesn’t like me anymore?’

  ‘Oh, come off it, Rachel,’ Cassie said. ‘That’s the whole reason he’s done all this. I’d be over moon if someone did that for me.’

  ‘Don’t you think it’s a bit weird though?’

  ‘It’s usually fat blokes on their own who dress up like their idols, and that’s what makes them weird. When someone good-looking does it, it’s called eccentric. Let’s wait until we see him and then we can decide how weird he is.’

  ‘Good idea.’

  ‘Here’s Clive. What’s he done to his hair?’

  Clive had slicked his hair down in an attempt to control his wayward curls. It was stretched back across his head and he was dressed all in black with a long-sleeve T-shirt and jeans. He looked like the bad guy from a movie.

  ‘Hi, Cassie. Hi, Rachel,’ he said. ‘Can I get you two a drink?’

  ‘That’d be cool,’ said Rachel.

  Clive pushed his way to the bar, which was starting to get busy and returned with a fistful of beers. They clinked their bottles together and wished Rachel a happy birthday. More people arrived and Rachel got bought more
and more drinks, which she tried to squirrel away in different places. She wanted to keep a clear head for when Lewis arrived.

  *

  Clive was relieved to be in a fairly neutral mood, which was rare for him. He’s didn’t feel angry or bitter, yet he didn’t feel happy or ready to party, just somewhere in between. Strangely he wasn’t dreading the arrival of Lewis either. Maybe it was because when he’d been rejected by Lynn it was like having a bucket of cold water thrown over him - it was painful but it also brought him to his senses. If Lynn didn’t like him then there was no way he was in Rachel’s league. Of course he still had feelings for Rachel but he was more realistic now and that made him feel a bit more in control of his emotions.

  Clive felt like he had grown a little bit and possibly matured. However, that all went out the window when he saw Ginster and Lynn walking towards Le Bateau. It was no coincidence that they came together. Clive felt some prickly heat dancing around his neck as he watched the two of them say happy birthday to Rachel. Afterwards they came straight over to him.

  ‘Hey, dude,’ said Ginster.

  ‘Hello, Clive,’ said Lynn.

  Both of them were being over-friendly and he could guess what was coming next. ‘Er, I thought we should come and tell you that er, me and Lynn are …’ Ginster started stumbling over his words, so Lynn stepped in.

  ‘We’re going out together,’ she said.

  ‘Oh, good for you,’ Clive said. His voice was cool and robotic.

  ‘Hope that’s okay,’ said Ginster.

  ‘Course, why wouldn’t it be?’ Clive replied.

  ‘Well, you know.’ Ginster was still having problems finding the right words, probably because there aren’t any in this sort of situation. Clive’s cold tone suddenly shattered, like thin ice over a pond:

  ‘What? Because Lynn chose you over me? That’s fine, I’m absolutely fine,’ he said. Clive wasn’t fine. Even though he didn’t really like Lynn, it was the fact that she had rejected him for Ginster. A guy with all the appeal of an earth worm.