Chapter 2 : Antagonistic

an⋅tag⋅o⋅nis⋅tic [an-tag-uh-nis-tik] - acting in opposition; opposing, esp. mutually.

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The entire population that had watched as Edward and Bella went through the steps of mating were in shock. They were nothing alike, how could they be soul mates? Though, by looking at the pairs eyes, there was no room for doubt in the fact that they were, indeed, meant to be.

Alice had quickly called up both Carlisle and Esme and told them of the wonderful yet unusual new couple. Esme was ecstatic; she had been beginning to think that Edward was simply not meant to have a mate. Carlisle was curious, as always; he wanted to know why something like this had never happened before - of course, that's not saying he wasn't overjoyed for Edward, as well. On the contrary, he was almost as excited to meet the newest member of their family as his wife.

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Without exchanging words, Edward and Bella shifted until they were only holding hands, and walked together to the main office so that Bella could get her schedule. They were in perfect harmony with each other.

Now, as soon as they stepped inside, Ms. Cope (who was a mouse) noticed that they were obviously mated. She was rather fond of Edward, and would have taken him for a lover. However, there were rules, and they stated that all mated pairs were to share class schedules, so as not to cause them any discomfort by being away from each other.

"Hello, you must be Isabella Swan." Ms. Cope stated. It wasn't very often that a place as small as Forks got any newcomers, and talk of Chief Swan's daughter returning at last had been going around town for months now. Charlie did not keep it a secret how excited he had been when she decided to move back.

"Yes, but please, just call me Bella." She returned rather quietly. Edward found her shyness very endearing, and was entranced by the musical tones in her voice. He could sit there and listen to her talk all day, no matter the subject.

"Bella, then." The two women smiled at each other. "Well, I have arranged your schedule so that it matches Mr. Cullen's. Congratulations, you two."

Edward could not help but smile back. He had been made the happiest man to on Earth when he had found his mate. It already seemed as if they had been together for years, rather than just around 10 minutes.

It was at that moment that Ms. Cope seemed to realize that the tiny, shy, adorable girl in front of her was not a lion. She took in Bella's face (a face more often seen on a porcelain doll than on a person), and finally made her way up to her ears. With noticeable degree of shock, she realized that this newly mated couple were complete opposites, and quickly her expression changed to one of bewilderment. She tried to recall any cases of this odd mating type that she may have heard, but not a single one came to mind. Like what many others had already thought this morning, this had never happened before.

Knowing they were going to be late, and not wanting his Bella to get into trouble on her first day, Edward bid farewell to the secretary, and led the way to their first class; English.

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If Edward had thought that Bella couldn't get any better, he was mistaken. Watching her face light up as the teacher droned on about books written by Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, Emily Bronte... was mesmerizing. He quickly fell in love with the way her eyes would twinkle with interest when the teacher brought up a new subject. He watched her dutifully write down everything that was said, though he had almost no doubt that she knew it all, already.

It wasn't quite the same throughout the other three classes before their lunch period. He was sad to see the light in her eyes go out as she found out that their second class period was trigonometry. It seemed she wasn't as interested in other subjects, and Edward found himself wishing that English would last all day long, though it wasn't his favourite subject (he favoured Biology) just to see her look as happy as she had in first period.

Like with all newly mated pairs, Edward did not put Bella's hand back once. Bella enjoyed the way her tiny hand fit into his much larger one. His hand was slightly cooler than hers, though it was in no way uncomfortable. Edward never let much space get in between their bodies, keeping his Bella pressed tightly to his side. Now that he had found her, he wasn't going to let her go.

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Bella couldn't recall a time in her life when she had been more nervous. Edward always sat with his siblings at lunch, and wanted her to meet them, of course. She knew they couldn't exactly do anything about her being Edward's mate. But what if they didn't approve of her? She wasn't exactly the same as Edward; in fact, she was the opposite. Already Edward had helped Bella when she stumbled. He found it endearing, but she found it embarrassing.

Edward knew his family would accept her. Rosalie might be a little wary, but she would know that Bella was his mate, and that he would not stand for anybody being angry with her. If Rosalie stepped out of line, he would make sure to put her in her place. Bella meant more to him than his family did.

He made sure to keep a firm hold on his Bella, half wondering if he should just carry her everywhere, seeing how much she was stumbling. He was worried that she would trip and hurt herself, somehow, even if he was holding her. He didn't even want to think about her getting so much as a broken nail.

Looking around, and seeing that everybody was looking at the newly mated pair with curiosity, Bella cuddled into Edward's side more, causing him to automatically switch their position from holding hands to his arm wrapped around her. He could feel her lightly grabbing on to his shirt, embarrassed by the number of people that were looking at her. Edward smiled as her little body warmed him, filling him with a pleasure previously unknown to him. He had spent far too long without him beside her in his life, and now he was amazingly glad that she would never leave his side; that is, if he had anything to say about it.

Heading into the cafeteria, Edward and Bella were prepared for the reactions they would receive. It would take a while for the news about this odd pair of mates to die down, and even then they would most likely always be a hot commodity in Forks. Despite being prepared, Bella couldn't help but blush and hide her face behind Edward's arm slightly. Normally, Edward would have chuckled at the site, but since she was his mate, he couldn't help the protective and possessive feeling he got. He tucked her further into his side, glaring at anyone who dared to look at them too long; well, really if they looked at Bella. He didn't care so much if they looked at the couple in general. It would give every single man in the room a chance to find out that Bella was completely off limits. Many people were not opposed to taking lovers in this day and age; few people still waited to find their soul mate before having sex. It kind of made sense; for some, it may take centuries before they find their mate. Some may never find their mate, and die without ever knowing what being truly loved felt like. Eventually, hormones might get to you, and it does take some sort of strength to be able to say 'no' until you meet your mate.

Edward grabbed some food for him and Bella, and steered her towards his family. He could see Alice practically vibrating in her seat; Emmett wasn't much different. Jasper was merely looking towards Bella curiously, smiling at the fact that she was trying to hide, and Rosalie was looking her up and down. Knowing how Rose could be, Edward sent her a warning glance, relaxing when he saw her nod slightly – meaning that she wouldn't do anything to make Bella feel bad. She knew how it felt when you had a mate – after all, she had been with Emmett for almost seventy years. She would be on her best behaviour, not willing to ruin this for her brother.

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Alice was really excited. Her little brother had finally met his mate! Now, she has always been known as the ball of energy in the family, and this was no excuse. Isabella, the new girl, was positively adorable. Alice had been the short one in the family for a while, standing at 5'6" – Rose stood at a nice 5'8", and Esme was somewhere around 5'9". Of course, all the boys were over 6 feet, so now she was glad that the nickname 'Shorty' couldn't really be applied to her anymore; after all, Isabella was only around 4'6". Watching her new sister blush red only encouraged Alice's thoughts on what would look nice on her. Almost immediately, plans to take the newest Cullen shopping flew threw her mind.

Oh, yes, Alice would have fun with her brother's mate. They would soon become the best of friends if she had anything to say about it.

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Emmett, ever the 'genius', was thinking about all of the pranks he could do now that he had a tiny person to help him. Edward's mate was tiny. She would definitely be able to fit in the places that he couldn't even dream of fitting in.

He would enjoy having a new sister, as well. He was happy that is younger brother had finally found his mate. Of course, his mind didn't stray far from his plans. He had a lot of revenge to get against his family; they always seemed to find a way to stop him from having fun.

But, if he could get Isabella to help him, than Edward, at least, wouldn't be able to deny him his fun. After all, it basically physically hurt them to deny their mates.

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Watching the newest couple in Forks closely, Rosalie observed just how close her brother and this Isabella were. She was ecstatic that Edward had found someone, of course; she loved her brother as much as she loved the rest of her family. But she also didn't want anyone getting hurt, and Edward had been along for so long that he deserved all the happiness he could get.

She watched silently as Isabella smiled up at Edward, watching the absolute joy flash across her face as he returned it to her. Yes, this Isabella was truly her brother's mate, and she was his. Reassured that it would be nearly impossible for Edward to be hurt at the hands of his mate, Rosalie relaxed and turned to face Emmett.

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Jasper tried to calm his mate down, but even he couldn't look away from his brother and Isabella for long. He had never heard of a case where two people with different spirit animals had mated before, but he could easily tell that they were completely devoted to each other.

He could see by merely looking into Alice's eyes, that she already loved this girl, simply because she was their brother's mate. And, of course, he felt something towards her, too. He hadn't seen Edward smile like he was now in so long, that anyone who could make him feel as happy as he was now was good in Jasper's books.

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Edward pulled out a chair for his Bella, then sat as close to her as their chairs would allow. She surprised him a bit by shifting over into his lap instead, but as if it was a move they had done many times before, his arms automatically opened up to accept her into his embrace. Edward caught his family smiling at them, and it seemed Bella did, as well, for she buried her face in his chest, blushing red. He chuckled slightly, before smiling at his family. They grinned back at him, chuckling slightly at how shy she was. Of course, what more could you expect from a lamb?

AN/ So, what do you guys think? Wow, fourth story update within five hours. It feels great to get so much work done. Anyways, review please! And please go to my profile and answer the poll – I need to know which two stories of mine you would rather I work on getting done right now!