Ch. 1 –First Meeting
"You've got to be kidding," my mom piped up, glaring at the car that stood in our driveway. I had to admit, it was a bit extravagant for me. The black Mercedes Guardian glistened in the sunlight, sparkling more than either of my vampire parents were.
"Well, she isn't as durable as you are Bella," my father, Edward, tried to reason.
"You're right," Bella admitted. "Let's have her not drive at all!"
I growled. It was hard enough getting me enrolled in school in the first place, but now she wasn't even going to let me drive there? My mother, taking over the role of Uncle Jasper, had to get me a license, paperwork, and even confirmation that they homeschooled me for sixteen years rather than just six. I was the new Cullen sister, acting the role of Edward's long-lost sister, rather than his alarmingly fast-growing half-vampire daughter, Renesmee.
"Bella, be serious here," Edward pleaded. "You remember the danger high school presents. She will be facing those same threats in the same area, only without the benefit of having me around."
Bella snorted. "She still doesn't need protection from a tank!" she exclaimed. I raised my eyebrows at this. It looked like a normal car to me.
"It's not even the latest model," Edward announced as if that made any difference.
"Edward, seriously, I don't think you remember what the kids at Forks were like," Bella growled. "I went to school in a rusty old truck. Tyler went in his mom's old minivan. Do you get my point here?"
"I went to school in a respectable car," Edward replied. "So should she. Besides, everyone knows the Cullen family is rich." Rich was an understatement. Aunt Alice never let us wore anything twice, much to my mother's disapproval. We were like gods to the people of Forks. Beautiful, rich, and intelligent.
A couple years ago, the Cullen family began separating again. Grandpa Carlisle went with Esme to Ireland to visit some old friends. Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmet were somewhere in Russia, near Moscow. Alice and Jasper stayed here, however. My mother made hints every now and then that soon they'd have to leave as well. Barely looking older than their teens, my parents were trying to pass as twenty-four. I knew the only reason they'd stayed so long was because of me.
My life was pretty-much rooted in Forks. My grandfather lived here with his new wife Sue, and my best friend Jacob was rooted here as well. His father and his wolf-brothers protected La Push, the reservation just off of Forks. But within a year, I would be fully-grown and we would be seriously considering leaving. I had a plan to try and stall them until my graduation, but I could tell Uncle Jasper was getting restless.
When I finally came back to attention, my parents were still arguing.
"Okay, stop," I demanded. They both looked at me, suddenly realizing I was there. My father grinned sheepishly at me, but my mother held her disapproval. "Dad, I can't take this car. The kids will make fun of me."
My dad frowned and my mom stuck her tongue out childishly.
"Mom, I can't go in an unreliable old truck either," I continued. "I wouldn't know how to fix it if it broke." Edward smirked at this, and I knew he was thinking about how my mother's old car had 'mysteriously' up-and-died one day.
"So then what?" Edward asked. "You can't walk to school. And just so you know, I'm not letting Jacob come and pick you up everyday." As if. I didn't need him to come to my rescue just yet.
"So, I'll drive Carlisle's car," I announced. My grandparents left both of their vehicles in the garage when they left, seeing as they could just buy newer, more appropriate models when they got to Ireland. His black Mercedes was a bit older looking and definitely not tank-repellent, but it was fast enough and would get me to the necessary destinations.
"It's still a bit much," Bella warned. "You'll be treated differently."
"Well…I am different," I reasoned. Bella shrugged and gave me a hug before I had time to blink. I was definitely fast like a vampire, just not as fast. She stepped apart slowly—slowly for her—and she began walking back up the steps towards our little house.
Without turning around, she said, "You have until tomorrow to get that off my driveway Edward." He sighed.
"Don't worry Dad," I said, patting him on the shoulder. "You tried your best." He smiled at me gently.
"I guess there's just no reasoning with your mother, is there?" he inquired with a wink. In the next instant he was inside, obviously trying to change Bella's mind. I snorted, took one last look at the ridiculous automobile, and began running towards the main house.
My mother and father, for privacy's sake, had been given a home as newlyweds. My mother was absolutely in love with every part of it—minus the closet, and had lived there throughout my entire life. She was even seeing if she could find a similar one in Alaska. But the real Cullen house was the main house. It was massive. Once holding eight people, not including Jacob's long stay, it was massive. The entire house had hundreds of windows, and was colored completely white on the inside. It had once been a modern-artistic design, but now, as Alice was head of the home, it was wildly colored. The rooms had been redone to better fit her and Jasper's life, all the while keeping the original integrity of the house. My father informed me that it was common for her to do this and that, within the next fifty years, it would be returned to its normal state and we'd return as a big family again.
I knocked on the door, even though I knew it was completely unnecessary. Alice had the door open a second after my fist lifted. She was smaller than me, and moved with the grace of a ballet dancer. However, there was something menacing about this spiky-haired pixie, though it may be that I had seen her in battle a few times before. "Nessie!" she exclaimed. I winced. When I was younger, the nickname didn't seem so bad, but now I was afraid of it catching on to more than just my family. I didn't want to be known as the Loch Ness Monster to my school friends. "I felt my vision getting blurry. What can I do for you?" She stepped aside to let me in.
"Can I borrow Carlisle's car?" I asked as I walked inside. She tossed the keys to me and I caught them.
"Jasper got it checked last week for me," she explained. I should have known Alice would have seen it being used as soon as Edward brought home the car. The argument would happen as soon as it was anywhere near my mother. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
I took the keys and went out to the garage, getting into the black Mercedes. The garage door opened and I backed out. I needed to hurry or I'd be late for my first day. I put the car in drive and sped off towards Forks High.
I parked the car in the student lot and hurried off to the administrative office. A woman sat at the desk, a nametag declaring her Mrs. Cope. With a wide pleasant smile, I greeted her. "Hello, I'm new here. My name is Renesmee Cullen."
"Oh, so you're the new Cullen sibling," Mrs. Cope said, her face full of recognition. I wondered who she saw when she looked into my eyes. My mother? Or was it my father? "My, my, you do look like him." I smiled pleasantly at her as she went through paperwork on the desk before finding my schedule, the map of the school, and the form I needed to get signed by every teacher by the end of the day. I thanked her and went off to my first class.
I walked into the small room, watching all the kids take their seats, talking to old friends and such. I envied them in that. Thanks to my growth spurts, my only friends have been those who are in on the secret: vampires and werewolves. There was also Charlie, but he didn't really want to know the specifics and was content to believing I had grown up gradually rather than all at once. But this meant I was unable to form bonds with the humans in Forks. I sighed mentally and went up to my teacher. He signed my form and told me to sit wherever. It was the first day of school and so there were definitely a number of places to sit.
I sat in the back by the window. The whole prospect of the educational system bored me. Edward and Bella could teach me more than this guy had to offer. However, once I sat down, I noticed eyes on me. I suddenly wished I had my father's power, to hear into other people's thoughts. However, after thinking about it for a bit, I realized I probably would rather not know.
Immediately a guy walked over to my lab table. He reminded me of your typical surfer: bleached hair, extremely tan skin, completely out of place in Forks. I instantly knew he wasn't from around this area. I at least had some companion in alienation. "Is it okay if I sit here?" he inquired, messing his hair up absent-mindedly with his hand. It honestly looked as if he had hopped out of bed and thrown on whatever he found. I admired a guy like that.
"Definitely," I replied. He smiled and pulled the other chair out and sat down. I could feel the glares setting on us, but he ignored them. He pulled out a water bottle and I recognized the "Bling" label instantly. It was over-priced and over-purified water, something my parents had of course, had me tried. It was all right, but as I told them, it was overly-extravagant and I was just fine drinking out of the tap. I wanted to roll my eyes, but I resisted the urge. Technically speaking, I was just as bad as him. I just didn't flaunt it.
The teacher began taking role call. From this, I learned that my lab-partner was named Caleb Bach, but liked going by Cal better. The teacher then continued down the list, stopping at my name.
"Ree-nez-meh Cullen?" he inquired.
"Ruh-nez-me," I corrected.
"Do you have a nick name?" he wondered. This was it. I'd be officially known as Nessie the rest of my school year unless I could think on my feet. I broke down my name quickly, my mind thinking faster than any human mind could. Finally, I found something that I liked. The whole ordeal took maybe a second.
"Remy," I said. He nodded and continued down the list.
"Renesmee?" Cal asked under his breath. "That's an interesting name."
"It's a hybrid hand-me-down," I answered. "I was named after my mom's mom and my dad's mom."
"Ah," Cal replied.
"What about Cal?" I inquired.
"My mom loves California," he snorted. "My sister is named Beverly." I raised an eyebrow. Why move here than? As if hearing my thoughts, he continued. "My dad was transferred to Port Angeles and dragged us along."
"Nice," I said sarcastically.
"What about you?" he wondered. I almost said the truth—that I was born and raised here. But then, that wouldn't explain why I was a new student here. I remembered the lie my parents created.
"My parents died when I was a baby," I recited. "I had been living with my adopted family in New York until my dad had a heart attack." I had giggled when I first heard that one, trying to imagine Edward collapsing for some human reason. "My mom couldn't take care of me by herself so she contacted the agency. Apparently they had found my biological brother and so my mom sent me to go live with him and his wife."
"Man," he said, messing up his hair again. "That's rough." I nodded, not feeling so good about lying to him. He seemed like a genuine guy, whether he was spoiled or not. "So do you like your brother?"
"Yeah," I said, thinking about it. "I mean, he's a cool guy and all, just a bit uptight. My sister-in-law is awesome though. She acts like a little kid sometimes." Each lie was a giant understatement. But it wasn't like I could say that Edward was fluent in fifty different languages, mastered all the musical instruments in the world, and could literally read people's thoughts. Not to mention he was overprotective and loving. And I couldn't admit that Bella was a fire that couldn't be contained. Not to mention she was stubborn and stronger than most vampires in the world. No. I had to settle with uptight and immature.
But luckily the teacher had us actually doing something the first day, so I didn't have to think about it too much. We were starting the unit on velocity, and he was having us take notes. Mr. Bell was a get-down-to-business type of teacher. I think I'd like him.
The rest of the day was a blur. I went to lunch knowing a few people. There was Blaire Weber, Katie Pierce, and Garret Baker. Blaire was a raven-haired girl who seemed to have no trouble speaking her mind, but only when she felt it was entirely necessary. Most of the time, however, she tended to stay out of school dramas. Katie was a blonde girl I met in my Calc class. Apparently she had seen me with Cal and began asking tons of questions about what he was like. When he sat at our table, her eyes almost popped out of her head. Garret was the typical jock-type who never seemed to shut up about football and basketball, as if any of us knew what he was talking about. Cal had no problem distracting him, but Katie wasn't too happy that Cal wasn't talking to her.
I suddenly no longer felt sorry for myself.
When the bell rang—the new pride and joy of Forks High—we all got up. "Can I walk with you to class?" Cal asked. We had compared schedules earlier and found that we had three classes together at the end of the day. Because of this, I had learned that his little sister Beverly was a troll and she was the stereotypical blonde, which Cal couldn't stand. I also found out that he was, indeed, a surfer, but he felt it was more of a stress-reliever than a sport. I also learned that his mom and dad were getting a divorce because she hated it so badly here, which he thought was "bogus". I had heard it somewhere before.
"Sure," I answered. He walked by my side, looking up at the sun as we exited the cafeteria.
"It's a nice day," he commented, the clear sky not even having a cloud for once.
"Don't expect it to last," I sighed. Because I was half-human, I didn't have to worry about missing school on days like this. Edward had explained to me that vampires can't go out in daylight and, more than once, he skipped school because of it. Their skins lit up like diamonds and even I, used to it by now, was sometimes left breathless by the beauty of it. My skin, while pale, would never light up, and for that I was thankful. I had all the cool parts of being a vampire without the downfalls. I was immortal, faster than most, and stronger than any human in the world. I could get thirsty, but it was up to me to decide if I wanted blood or water. I was incredibly beautiful, but I could also walk out into the sun light. Also, I could bite, but it wouldn't burn with venom.
"Yeah, I noticed," he said. "I kind of miss the sun on days like this."
"You get used to it after a while," I replied. "The cool part is the snow." Bella hated it, but I and Edward took great joy in the white fluff.
"I bet," Cal responded. "I've actually never seen snow."
"What?" I asked incredulously.
"Yup," he confirmed. "We never went too far from Las Angeles. I can't wait to see it." He messed up his hair with his hand as he looked down at me. I smiled.
"You're going to be so happy in a couple weeks," I said enthusiastically. I suddenly couldn't wait for the clouds and cold. "The snow piles up real high. But you got to be careful when you drive. Maybe we could have a snowball fight."
He smiled at me as we walked into the classroom. "Maybe."
"So how do you like Forks?" I wondered.
He shrugged. "I mean, it's all right, but I really miss the ocean."
"There's ocean here," I pointed out. "It's just the same, especially on good days like this. You just got to go down to La Push."
"Is that legal?" he inquired.
"Well…yeah. Why wouldn't it be?" I asked.
"It's just, I always thought reservations were like private countries," he answered.
"No way," I replied. "The people of La Push are real friendly. But I guess it would be weird to have strangers there. I suppose I could introduce you to my friend Jacob Black. He lives down there."
"That'd be cool," he said, beaming at the sky. His teeth were ivory, obviously a result of many whitening treatments "But it has to be a day that's warm like this."
"I'll make sure of it," I replied with a smile.
I drove home afterschool, running out of my car and up the steps in a single second. "Mom!" I exclaimed. She was in front of me in a second.
"What's up?" she wondered. I raised and eyebrow and she corrected herself. "How was your first day?"
"Great," I answered, a giant smile on my face. "I made a bunch of friends."
"Oh? Anyone I know?" she inquired as she walked over to file through the mail sitting on the counter.
"Um, maybe," I said. "There was Katie Pierce, Garret Baker, Blaire Weber…"
"That must be Angela's little sister," Bella interrupted.
"Then there was this guy Caleb Bach," I finished. I suddenly stopped. A scent was in the air. "Jacob?" I called out.
"Hey squirt," he said, twirling an apple in his hand as he walked into the room. I ran at him and tackled him.
"When did you get back?" I inquired. He had been in Canada for the past month with Sam on 'official wolf business'. It was weird being away from him for so long, but we talked through emails and phone calls.
"This morning," he said, not even fazed by the fact that he was on the ground. "I wanted to see you before you went to school but Bella told me I'd just missed you.
"I would've waited if I'd known," I admitted. He picked me up swiftly, getting up, and setting me on my feet. Bella picked up the unbitten apple that had rolled onto the floor, dusted it off, and gave it to me. I took a bite. "Yum."
"You brat," he jokingly growled.
"Winners keepers," I replied. I took another bite. "So what are we doing today?"
Edward came in. "You've got homework young lady," he said. I moaned, hating the fact that he was in my mind. "I heard that."
"Mom?" I asked, looking up to her. She sighed and I felt my privacy reinstated. My mother was the only one who could escape Edward's mind-reading. But she also had the power to help others escape it too.
"She's a big girl now Edward," Bella said. "Let her be irresponsible."
"Yes! So what are we doing?" I asked again. Jacob shrugged.
"Wanna go cliff diving?" he asked.
"Jacob!" both my parents exclaimed.
"Don't worry, I'll watch her," he assured them. I grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door, knowing there was no stopping us. I heard Bella sigh and Edward walk over to her before the door closed.
Jacob kissed my forehead. "Be right back," he said, running into the forest. In a minute he was out in his wolf form, his pants tied around one of his ankles.
"Race you," I said, running forward into the forest. He followed and I made my iron muscles go as fast as they could. I could feel Jacob's breath as he caught up. He grabbed my shirt with his mouth and lightly pulled me off my feet and onto his back. I grasped his fur with my fingers and let the wind hit my face as we headed to La Push.