Chapter One
Celeste
The sun streamed in easily – delicately – through the long windows along the side wall. Everywhere in the house was quiet and yet, Celeste knew that her family had not shut an eye all night. Of course, this was to be expected, as they were "damned to an eternity of sleeplessness", as her brother, Edward, had once said. Celeste, however, had indeed slept all night – dreaming deeply in a satisfying darkness that allowed her to smile as she opened her eyes to the light of the day around her. While this sounded akin to poetic nonsense, such was how Celeste awoke on most days as she grew up in the Cullen family. Her life thus far, though just several months from age eighteen, had been colorful, vibrant, and boundless. The opportunities surrounding her were immense and her future stretched out in front of her in such a way that made her breathless for adventure. The Cullens had given her everything – a home, a family, a life full of love – and she spent more moments feeling grateful for all that she had been blessed with than annoyed by the somewhat supernatural lifestyle that had encased her very existence. It was this feeling – this wonderfully happy feeling – that greeted her as her eyes focused to the world around her on a cold January morning in Forks, Washington.
Celeste stretched, slowly moving her shoulder blades back and experiencing that delightful pop as her body adjusted itself out of unconsciousness. She rolled her head around in a circle, sighing as the tension released and gradually ebbed away. The clock on her light-colored bedside table read 6:05A.M. with a hop, she quickly made her bed – doing her best to emulate her mother's vision with the placement of the throw pillows and soft decorative blankets. Her room was designed with soft minty green walls and white wood furniture with accents of bronze and taupe making their way into the room with the blankets and pillows. The room was spacious, with a large floor to ceiling bookshelf lining part of one wall and a bathroom (that followed the color scheme, of course) extending off the main bedroom. When Celeste felt she had done her best at assembling her bed, she found her way to her walk-in closet – a demand of her sister, Alice's – and picked out a light gray-speckled sweater, light-wash jeans, a brown leather jacket, and lace-up ankle boots. She layered two dainty gold necklaces, one a choker style and the other average length, and put some small studs in her ears, filling the piercings in her lobes and cartilage. She had gotten a couple cartilage piercings in her ears for her sixteenth birthday and although she loved them, she constantly had to keep her long hair from snagging on them. After putting on some light make-up and taking one final look in the mirror, she went downstairs for some breakfast.
The youngest Cullen could not help the elation that welled up inside of her at the sight of her mother and father together in the kitchen, her father's arm lightly encircling his wife's waist as she made up a plate of peanut butter toast and fruit for Celeste's breakfast. It was rare that they were both home before she and her siblings left for school – her father, Carlisle, had usually left for the hospital in Forks by the time she wandered downstairs. She grew used to seeing him only around dinnertime and when they spent leisurely family evenings together. Stopping just at the entrance to the kitchen, she smiled to herself as she watched her parents laugh quietly while looking sweetly in each other's eyes. They're the best, she thought, they're absolutely the best. Finally finding her legs again, Celeste moved over to the island counter to perch on a stool across from where they stood.
"Good morning, sweetie," Esme, her mother, greeted her with an always-adoring grin. She unwound herself from Carlisle to set down the pristine plate of food in front of Celeste and to brush a gentle hand over her daughter's long, golden strawberry blonde hair. Celeste's hair had a slight wave to it, especially around her face, and Esme always chose to run her fingers through it as a silent morning welcome. Celeste raised her eyebrows at the two of them briefly before responding pleasantly in return. Carlisle seemed to sense her unasked question, despite lacking obvious telepathy, because he stated suddenly:
"I took a later shift at the hospital today at your mother's request."
Celeste nodded and asked, "Any special reason why?" at the same moment that Esme, with inhuman speed, reached Carlisle's side to nudge it playfully.
"I asked if you would have any time off soon, not if you would take some time off."
"Yes, I know," Carlisle chuckled, "but any time I get to spend with you is quite welcome, my dear." Esme shook her head at him and while they did not get overly lovey in the presence of Celeste, the gaze they shared spoke of an other-worldly admiration they held for one another. All this before 7:00 A.M., Celeste joked in her head. An amused sound came from behind her and Celeste was unsurprised to see that Edward had appeared in the kitchen with them. He shot her a look that meant that he'd obviously heard her private joke. Sometimes I'm funny, she quirked an eyebrow and gave an up-turn of his lips in response. Celeste shrugged.
When she had half-finished her toast and fruit, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper finally joined everyone else in the kitchen. They, as expected, were dressed impeccably – a stipulation of Alice's – and leaned against various cupboards and counters (Alice actually flitted herself on top of the island counter, right next to where Celeste sat) while they waited for Celeste to be done eating. Celeste eyed her sister's runway-ready ensemble, taking significant notice of how lovely her emerald green dress and black lace tights complemented her dark hair and pale skin. The others talked casually, Celeste admittedly tuning them out to focus on the last remnants of peanut buttery goodness. She stood up silently to put her dish away in the dishwasher and had almost made it out of the room to brush her teeth when Alice, ever the observer, materialized by her side.
"Let me see," she said excitedly, obviously referencing Celeste's outfit.
"Do you want a spin?" Celeste asked, half teasing.
"Of course, I do, silly!" Alice replied with 100% seriousness. Celeste rolled her eyes good-naturedly but spun all the same.
"I like it," Alice said after a moment, arms crossed, and mouth puckered thoughtfully, "It's a good casual look but tomorrow, I think something dressier would be nice." Celeste laughed, but found herself mostly proud that Alice had deemed her outfit worthy instead of asking her to change – something she sometimes did just to appease her firecracker fairy sister.
"Aye, captain," she nodded and then ran back to her bedroom to brush her teeth and grab her book bag. By the time she made it to the kitchen again, her siblings had all congregated with their school things and stood waiting for her. Carlisle and Esme stood off to the side, ready to send her out the door with cold, comforting hugs. They each wished her a good day – Esme offering a tender smile while Carlisle was more reserved with a pleasant set to his lips.
"Bye mom, bye dad," she said with a small wave, turning to Edward, who had the car keys, and the others. The Cullens ushered themselves into Edward's shiny, silver Volvo with Celeste riding shot-gun so the couples could be together in the backseats. Thank God, she thought gratefully as she spied Alice sitting cozily on Jasper's lap. Edward stifled a snicker as he slammed the driver's side door and she raised an eyebrow at him.
"I assure you," he smirked, "I feel much the same way." The two shared a laugh at their siblings' expense as the Volvo's engine purred to life. Alice, who had picked up on the fact that they were joking about her, admonished them with a 'hey!' – causing Edward and Celeste to laugh even harder.
"Just drive, Edward," Rosalie spoke over their dying laughter, words dripping with partial annoyance. Celeste rolled her eyes at this but saw Rosalie's small smirk out of the corner of her eye. Rose liked to play the part of an eternal ice princess who lacked a sense of humor but really, when all was said and done, she had the sort of biting, unexpected humor that could leave Celeste's sides in stitches – she just had to be in the right mood.
Edward's driving always felt more like flying. He whizzed through the winding, tree-lined roads with a coordinated ease that evaded the human mind. Sometimes, Celeste had barely begun to settle into her seat when the car would suddenly slip into a parking spot – leaving her wondering how they had managed to arrive at the school in half the time. She tried not to think about how many miles her brother must have gone to turn a twenty-minute drive into an eight-minute drive. If she did, she might never get into the car with him again. Celeste leaned her head against the window, her mind relatively blank as she watched the green, lush scenery pass them by. Someone tugged at her hair from behind, so she turned in her seat to find Emmett grinning at her mischievously. He leaned over the armrest, beckoning her forward with his hand as if to share a secret.
"How much do you wanna bet there'll be some rumor about us being in a cult?" There were some collective sighs from the others as he spoke.
Celeste looked at him like he had spoken gibberish, "Emmett. They say that rumor every day."
"Yeah, but, how much do you want to bet that someone will bring it up to you?"
"Is this really how we want to spend our time?" she asked, "taking bets on the next outlandish conspiracy someone makes up about you guys?" Emmett smirked, waiting for her to give him the answer he wanted. She sighed.
"Ten dollars."
"Make it twenty," Emmett said, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back into his seat. This sort of conversation took place more than Celeste would care to admit, but when it did, Emmett's overconfidence almost always spelled disaster. If he upped the bet, it was because he knew something she didn't.
"Lord, Emmett," Edward spoke, brow furrowed in a mixture of concentration and disbelief.
"What did you do?" Celeste asked, slipping her now-narrowed eyes back to her big brother. Emmett shrugged with mock innocence.
"Nothing."
"He overheard someone discussing our…appearances…how we all looked similar, but you looked different from us. Emmett decided to comment," Edward jumped in, clearly disapproving of whatever Emmett had done.
"So," Celeste asked incredulously, "What did you say?"
"I said, 'Don't worry, we had to go through an initiation to look this good,'" Emmett smiled smugly, looking perfectly pleased with himself for all of ten seconds before Rose whacked him on the head.
"Emmett McCarty!" she scolded at the exact same time that Emmett exclaimed, "Ow! What the hell, babe?" She ignored him.
"That's the sort of thing that could make people suspicious!" she exclaimed. "Not to mention, now those idiotic humans will most likely start asking Celeste questions…as if living with a family of vampires wasn't difficult enough, now all these gossiping kids will be grilling her for details! Honestly, Emmett, did you even think?" Rosalie's voice had taken on a shrillness to it, and if Emmett was human, his face would have surely drained of color. The energy in the car was tense for a few minutes, Edward and Jasper looking specifically uncomfortable due to their enhanced abilities.
Celeste could understand Rosalie's reaction to a point – they had to move every few years as it was. In addition, any unwelcome attention – more than already surrounded them, anyway – could perhaps catch the eye of the Volturi, the supreme lawmakers of the vampire world. Telling a human about vampires was against the law – a law that the Cullens had decidedly broken when they adopted Celeste seventeen years prior. Although Carlisle had lived with the Volturi at one time and maintained an amicable relationship with the leader, Aro, they still would not take kindly to the fact that a human not only knew the vampire secret but lived with a coven of vampires. The Cullens had taken many precautions when they had brought Celeste into their family which included only sharing her existence with their "cousin" coven in Denali – no other vampires knew of her presence in the Cullen home. Of course, this also meant that Celeste was almost always under surveillance by her overprotective, immortal siblings. While this annoyed her at times, she tried her best to understand their difficult position – they were part of a dangerous world, but having Celeste gave them a sense of humanity that they could not find elsewhere. Most importantly, though, they loved her in a loyal, unbridled way that surpassed that of a regular sibling relationship. Celeste would not have wanted to call anyone else her family.
For this reason, Celeste could understand why Emmett had said what he did. The gossip mill did turn out ridiculous rumors sometimes – they were aliens, Dr. Cullen had brainwashed them and indoctrinated them into a sex religion, Mrs. Cullen had been kidnapped and forced to adopt six teenagers against her will – truly, they were outrageous. Emmett, who, like all of them, hated feeling constantly on edge, probably made the comment as a satisfying way to let out some frustration. While she was nervous for any questions his joke might raise about her family, she did not feel nervous for herself – no one made up rumors about her.
Eventually, Alice broke through the tension in her usual cheery, jingle-bell voice, "Don't worry, Rosalie. Everyone likes Celeste." Celeste found herself wondering in that moment if Alice could read minds as well.
"It is true," Edward agreed passively. He looked at Celeste now, "Thoughts of you are generally positive."
"Feelings, too," Jasper interjected quietly. Their gazes met, Celeste smiling softly at her sturdy, empath brother. He spoke less often than most but when he did, she made sure to listen. The two got along well, sharing a love of reading that could manifest into hours of engaging debate. Unsurprisingly, Jasper favored historical non-fiction over many other genres but also had many literary classics in his collection. Just last night, they had had a long-winded discussion about J.D. Salinger's use of metaphor in The Catcher in the Rye.
"Thanks, Jazz," she replied simply, knowing that he understood the unspoken part of her statement – thank you for your kindness. She sent a little wave of affection his way which earned her a tiny, lop-sided grin.
Rosalie grumbled angrily to herself and shook her head, "Optimism can lead to disappointment, which leads to carelessness, and carelessness could get us killed." Her intense eyes flickered over each person in the car, and had Celeste not mentally reminded herself that Rosalie was her sister, she most definitely would have shivered.
Edward had pulled into a spot not long after things had turned frosty in the car. Rosalie barely waited a millisecond before sauntering off in the direction of her first period class without so much as a look back at the rest of them. Emmett let out a long sigh, shot them all a it's-time-to-go-accept-my-fate shrug and made to follow his scary wife.
"Hopefully she doesn't bite someone's head off," Celeste joked poorly, trying to make light of the situation. The other three chuckled, but it was half-hearted. So much for trying to help.
Edward's head swiveled to her, his face poised to speak when a voice from across the parking lot shouted:
"Hey, Cullen!"
Celeste whipped around, seeing none other than baby-faced Mike Newton surrounded by some of her other friends at the other end of the lot. They motioned for her to come over. She turned back to her remaining three siblings, eyebrows raised ever so slightly.
Jasper had his face contorted in pain already, the scent of human blood in the air getting to him. Alice had her hands wrapped around his arm, acting like her husband wasn't fighting the urge to go on a heinous killing spree. Edward just sort of nodded at her and she couldn't tell if he approved of her friends (not that his opinion would affect her choice in company) or if he just tolerated her mild popularity. Not wanting to ditch them she said, "I'll see them at lunch." Alice waved her off.
"Go. We'll see you later."
"Are you sure? I don't want to be rude," she bit her lip, debating her options.
"Go," Alice urged more forcefully, "go be with your friends." Celeste didn't miss the hidden meaning – go be normal.
"Okay," she conceded, looking them over one final time, "see ya in a few hours!" She sent them a wave and the four parted ways.
When she reached her group of friends – Mike, Tyler Crowley, Angela Weber, Jessica Stanley, Eric Yorkie, Ben Cheney, and Lauren Mallory – she beamed.
"Hey guys!"
"Hey, Cel!" Jess greeted, her dark hair bouncing. Jessica may have been a big mouth, but the two girls had been good friends since Celeste had moved to Forks two years earlier. Lauren and Angela greeted her too and the four girls made superficial conversation for a few minutes.
"Have you heard about the new girl starting tomorrow?" Mike asked, face holding a sort of intrigued excitement. Jessica rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Michael, you've only mentioned it, like, five-thousand times." For once, Jess was not exaggerating – Mike had indeed talked about nothing else for the past week and a half. Celeste giggled.
"I don't get what the big deal is," Lauren bit out, "why does everyone care so much about some new girl coming?"
"Because no one ever comes here…not of their own free will, anyway," Eric snorted.
"Yeah," agreed Tyler, "no one new has started since…" his eyes found Celeste. He did not hold a look of judgement or question but rather unapologetic truth. She understood, her siblings were not very…sociable and it understandably raised some eyebrows. Her other classmates were uneasy around her brothers and sisters, especially when they were determined to be so antisocial. And yet, it made sense that people were uneasy around them – her family was comprised of deadly predators. So, instead of feeling offended or put out by her position as the family peacemaker, she laughed in agreement.
"Well, if we hadn't moved, I wouldn't have met all you wonderful people. And, let's face it, your lives would be unbearably bland without me," Celeste joked and sighed dramatically, earning her some laughs.
"The bell is going to ring soon," Angela spoke quietly. Everyone started and then promptly began walking towards the front doors. The group said their goodbyes to each other, promising to talk more at lunch. Celeste and Eric grouped off together to head to their lockers and then to Mr. Mason's English class. When they reached their lockers, they turned away from one another, falling into their own headspace for just a few last-minute moments before Mr. Mason passionately berated them on the symbolism involved in Shakespeare's King Lear.
Celeste's mind drifted from one topic to another, slipping into various tangents as she gathered the books for her classes before lunch – English…Biology…Spanish…I wonder if Alice would let me borrow that dress…Did Alice have another vision about the Swan girl…Government –
"Hey, Celeste," a deep, overly confident voice says from above her. She turns around, bringing her books to her chest, a surprised smile falling into place. Only, she isn't surprised at all.
Jack Rivers is standing there with a lop-sided smirk, hands shoved into the pockets of his lettermen jacket, and red-brown hair annoyingly tousled. Oh God, here we go, she thinks, preparing for the unabashed flirting that was sure to come.
"Hey, Jack," she greets, voice a mixture of feigned politeness and exasperation. She tucks a piece of long hair behind her ear out of habit.
"You're looking lovely this morning," he says. His cockiness was palpable.
"Thanks," Good, Celeste, one-word answers and maybe he'll go away. Unfortunately for her, Jack Rivers had a large enough ego that he thought her short answers meant she was happily flustered by him.
He grins widely and shrugs like he's doing her a favor, "Just call 'em as I see 'em." Celeste lets out an airy laugh and nods, pretending to be flattered. Gross.
"So," he clears his throat, "that Spring Fling dance is in March, and I know that's a couple of months away, but I wanted to ask early just so, ya know, no one beats me out." Celeste's eyes went wide. Oh, for Christ's sake.
"Was there a question in there somewhere or…?"
"Yeah," Jack smiles lazily, "Do you want to go to the dance with me?"
"Uh, sorry. No, I don't." He laughs.
"No?" he snorts, "Did someone already ask you?"
"No, I just don't want to go with you," Celeste replies honestly.
"You don't want to go with me?" He asks in disbelief.
She nods, "Yeah, I - " She was going to say that she already promised to go with her friends as a group, just to be a little nicer, but then someone interrupted her.
"Hey," the guy at the locker beside her spoke up, "don't you have like a conveyer belt of girls you can choose from or something? She told you no, just move on, dude." The guy teased Jack easily, his words like good-natured mockery. He had laughing blue eyes and dark brown hair. Celeste decided she liked his eyes, they reminded her of Emmett's even though this boy and her brother were physically unalike in many other ways.
Jack's own eyes flashed, and he scowled, "Shut up, Jamie. I don't see you finding a date anywhere."
"That's because you're too busy worrying about yourself to think about other people. But what do I know? I'm only your twin brother," Jamie shrugged, the little upturned edge of his lips making it clear he felt pretty proud of himself.
Jack grumbled at this, flicking his focus between Celeste and Jamie before grumbling "asshole" under his breath and stalking away. Celeste and Jamie watched him leave, the second of the two maintaining a fast-growing grin on his face. Jamie turned to Celeste to give her a knowing look and went to head to Mr. Mason's room. Celeste, suddenly realizing that this boy was in her English class, made to fall into step at his side.
"So," she said, "did you suck all of the integrity out of the womb and he took all the ego?"
Jamie snorted, "Don't be rude. I also have an expansive knowledge on how to use Microsoft Excel."
"An important skill," Celeste chuckled as the two entered their class, Eric having been temporarily forgotten.
"It's good for scheduling out how exactly to avoid my brother."
"I can imagine that requires thoughtful planning and stealthy precision." The two found their seats, Jamie sitting two desks down from Celeste.
"If by stealthy precision you mean staying in my room until he leaves then, yeah. Definitely stealthy."
"The stealthiest," Celeste agreed, allowing for one final shared laugh before the bell rang and they had to focus their attention on Mr. Mason's lecture.
By the time lunch rolled around three periods later, Celeste and Jamie had become fast friends. He also happened to be in her Government class she shared with Angela and Ben. The four were now making their way to the cafeteria building, talking animatedly about their distaste for Mr. Jefferson and his monotonous voice. Celeste sort of spaced out then, finding it odd how she could have gone from barely knowing who Jamie was to developing a friendship with him in a space of just a few hours. They both had a similar dry, dead pan sense of humor that made their discussions flow unobstructed. When they reached the cafeteria doors, Jamie went to sit at his table with some of his friends. Celeste couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.
"I didn't know you and Jamie were friends," Ben commented. Celeste shrugged.
"We kind of just became friends today, actually. His brother asked me to the Spring Fling and I turned him down…Jamie sort of made some jokes at his expense that made him finally go away," Celeste explained all of this nonchalantly. The earlier discomfort of Jack Rivers asking her out was almost completely forgotten. Angela, however, went wide eyed as she listened and leaned toward Celeste conspiratorially.
"You mean Jack Rivers asked you to the dance and you said no?" She wasn't asking it in a gossipy or intrusive way but more like she wanted to understand the facts.
"Yeah," Celeste replied, "the guy more or less pesters me everyday and he's too arrogant for his own good. Why would I want to go on a date with someone like that?" Angela nodded in understanding.
"Good for you. Most people would probably have said yes just because he's an athlete," Angela's gaze unintentionally found Jessica and Lauren as she said this which made Celeste let out a little chuckle.
"Thanks, Ang."
After purchasing some soup, fruit, and bottled water, Celeste followed her friends to their lunch table. She spotted her siblings sitting at their usual table by the windows. All five pairs of eyes found hers and she offered them a happy wave as she sat down. That familiar twinge of guilt bubbled up inside of her as she did this, she could never shake the instinct that her brothers and sisters were secretly put out that she didn't sit with them every day. In fact, she didn't sit with them even half of the time.
When they had first moved to Forks two years ago, she sat with them at first and then she had made friends – friends who wanted her to eat lunch at their table. It was only occasional in the beginning but now, two years later, her friends' table became her primary lunch destination. Celeste constantly asked her family if it bothered them and they always said no but sometimes their stares told otherwise. For instance, right now, Alice kept glancing at her with pouty eyes and then immediately transforming her lips into a bright smile when Celeste could feel her eyes burning holes in the back of her head. The rest of them were much subtler, of course, but even Jasper slouched a little in his seat. Celeste knew that her siblings loved her, but she would have never thought her absence at their lunch table would be this missed.
"Celeste!" Jessica squawked beside her so loudly that Celeste counted herself lucky that she had any hearing left in her right ear. Jessica gripped her arm excitedly, talking quickly:
"Jack Rivers asked you to the dance?! How did I not hear about this until now?" Jessica rambled on giddily, making Celeste want to bash her head against a wall.
"Because I turned him down?" Celeste questioned, "and, why does everyone care so much?" She knew the answer to that as she asked it – it was a small school, small town – but it didn't stop her from wondering it inwardly.
"You turned him down!?" Jessica yelped.
"Yes?"
"Why?" Jessica was taking this like Celeste had committed a person affront to her person.
"Like I've explained to several people already today – I turned Jack Rivers down because I don't like him. He's annoying and rude and I have zero interest in going to a dance with him," the guys at the table were forcing down laughter when Celeste finished talking and Jessica crossed her arms and sighed.
"Fine. I get it, I guess. I still think you're crazy, though." Celeste snorted and shook her head.
"Okay, Jess."
Toward the end of lunch, Celeste grabbed her backpack and stood up with her empty tray. "See you later, guys," she said, earning some goodbyes in return. Celeste dumped her trash into the nearest can, resting her tray on top of the other dirty lunch trays. Then, tucking her hair behind her ear, she made her way to her siblings' table. She pulled out a chair, plopping into it with relative ease.
"So, how's everybody's day going?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest cheekily. She received amused gazes from the others – Rosalie included. This made Celeste curious.
"What?" she asked when no one said anything. They just continued to stare with their darkening, slightly unnerving eyes.
"Same as always," Edward answered finally, "Though, plenty of talk about the Chief's daughter starting tomorrow."
"How was your day, Sloostie?" Emmett asked, using her childhood nickname. Celeste leaned forward, arms on the table. The smirk on his face told her everything she needed to know.
"Just fine, Em. Why do you ask?" Celeste mimicked his tone with a face of indifference.
'"Just call 'em as I see 'em,"' Emmett quotes, using Jack's words from that morning. The usually stoic vampire siblings started laughing – Emmett quite raucously. Celeste, trying to maintain the façade that she was unamused, stuck her tongue in her cheek and did her best to look annoyed.
"Right. I'm glad you all are enjoying this."
"Damn," Emmett boomed between laughs, "you were so blunt, Sloost! 'Was there a question in there?' if I could die, that would have killed me. Nice one, sis." He held his fist out and Celeste, now dropping the act and joining in the fun, bumped it.
When they had all calmed down, Alice piped up, "So, are you not going to the dance at all?" she frowned, seemingly unhappy about the prospect, "I had seen you in the prettiest dress…"
"Oh, no," Celeste replied, "I'm going, I'm just not going with him." Edward glanced at her, a ghostly smile pulling at his mouth and shook his head.
"You're certainly something else, sister mine." Celeste grinned affectionately back at him. The bell rang then, and Celeste gathered up her things. Alice kissed Jasper's cheek sweetly before stitching herself to Celeste's side so they could go to their shared Trigonometry class. They said goodbye to the others and then walked off arm-in-arm to building five.
"You have gym with that boy, don't you?" Alice asked after a few moments. Celeste groaned as she remembered that yes, she did indeed have the unfortunate pleasure of sharing her last period of the day with none other than Jack Rivers.
"Great," she groaned, "I don't even want to know how awkward that is going to be." Her sister stiffened, eyes spacing out into the void. Celeste knew what was happening, but it did not stop her from worrying for the shorter girl. No matter how many visions she'd seen Alice have, she always gained an unwarranted sense of panic in the pit of her stomach.
"What? What is it?" Celeste clutched at her arm. Alice snapped out of the vision immediately, smiling slyly in a most dangerous way.
"I think everything will be just fine, Celeste. You'll see." I'm doomed, then. Aren't I?
Celeste Cullen was lucky to be coordinated. Gym class would have been her own personal hell on earth if she wasn't. As it was, she could pass the volleyball without hitting anyone and even served the ball successfully a few times. She was no star athlete by any means but at least no one made jokes at her expense.
It was at the end of gym class when it happened. She'd been laughing along with Jessica and Mike as they left the locker room. Celeste had almost made it to the exit doors when Jack Rivers sidled up beside her.
"Celeste! Hey!" Boundaries, dude. There are boundaries.
"Hey, Jack," she said, sounding less than excited. Jack didn't seem to notice.
"Nice serve earlier. You've got a good arm."
"Oh. Thank you." Jack ran a hand through his hair. Celeste had to keep from gagging.
"Would you maybe want to go get something to eat sometime? I mean, I know you can't go to the dance, but I thought, ya know, maybe you'd want to do something a little more…lowkey?" What the hell is happening? She didn't say anything for a minute which gave the exceedingly more irritating boy enough of a time window to stick his foot further in his mouth.
"We could do something else, how about after school? I doubt you have much going on…" he continued on, but Celeste stopped paying attention.
"Pump the brakes a second. One, I am going to the dance, but I am most certainly not going with you. Two, I do not want to hang out with you in any lowkey way and so I'll ask you nicely to never ask me out again. And three, I am busy from here until the end of time as far as you're concerned. Now, I am going home. I hope you have a great day." Celeste had gone red-faced by the end of her speech and she fled to the parking lot, heart beating against her ribs.
Her siblings were waiting for her at the car, leaning against it with expressions on their faces that proved they had heard all that she had said. Edward raised his eyebrows at her as she approached.
"Just drive," she said.
They were halfway home before anyone uttered a word.
"Nicely done," Rosalie commended – angelic voice filled with poise and tact. Celeste smiled freely, now that her heart rate had regulated itself.
"Thanks, I think. I know that I was kind of mean but he is just so irritating." She got some chuckles as she said that.
"His thoughts are less than favorable," Edward agreed, eyes focused needlessly on the road ahead.
"I could have guessed that from what he lets come out of his mouth," Celeste joked.
When they pulled into the driveway, Celeste got out first, wanting to get up to her room first so she could take off her jewelry – save for her small charm bracelet with the Cullen crest on it – and change into comfier clothes. She almost went immediately back downstairs to join her family but then opted to stay in her room for a while to do her homework.
Two hours later, Celeste had finished her work and finally decided to head down to the family room. Upon her descension, she noticed her mom straightening up and smoothing out the couch and throw pillows. No else appeared to be around and she wondered briefly if they had gone out hunting. They would need to soon, if they hadn't – their eyes were beginning to darken enough to resemble a hungry shark's. Esme's head popped up at the sight of her human daughter and she walked over to her with open arms to wrap her into a motherly but cold hug.
"How was your day, sweetie?" her mom beamed as she pulled back, swirling her fingers into the ends of Celeste's hair to play with them adoringly. Celeste relished in the feel of her mom playing with her hair. The sensation reminded her of when she would sit on Esme's lap as a little girl – maybe 5 or 6 years old – while she would stroke her hair if she needed some comforting. Granted, the vampire could still hold Celeste on her lap with ease but to respect her independence, she refrained.
"My day went pretty well," Celeste answered, "How was yours? What time did dad go into work?"
"I had a nice day," Esme hummed, "He went in at nine this morning. I expect he will be home in a couple of hours." Celeste nodded her head. They were both quiet for a minute.
"Hey mom," Celeste began with an inquiring tone.
"Yes, honey?"
"Can I ask you something?" Esme gave her a teasing admonishing look.
"You can always ask me anything. You know that." Celeste looked down and shook her head.
"I know," she sighed. Esme took Celeste by the shoulders and stared in her daughter's gray-green eyes.
"How about we sit down?" Esme guided Celeste to a newly-fluffed cushion, wrapping her arms around the human girl and continuing to run her hands through her gold, slightly strawberry hair. Celeste lifted her gaze to Esme after a few long seconds and then relayed the entire Jack Rivers story from earlier in the day to her. Esme listened intently, not speaking once until Celeste had surely finished.
"So, I guess what I'm wondering is if I was too mean?" Celeste asked at the end of her tale, "Or do you think I was, at least a little, justified?" Esme saw the girl wince a little as if afraid of her response. Esme thought for a vampiric second.
"No," she responded, "I think you were right. Evading him and avoiding confrontation would have only made things worse. And, this at least saves you from being bothered when you should be thinking about school." Celeste giggled at that. The most mom response ever.
"Thanks, mom. I really needed that. I would have worried about it forever."
"Forever is a long time, Celeste," she responded, eyes slipping into her thoughts for the smallest of seconds, "But yes, I know what you mean."
They sat on the couch for a while longer, letting time slip by as they traversed through some trivial, funny, and less serious topics. The conversation only ended when Emmett, followed by Rosalie and a frowning Carlisle, burst unceremoniously through the back door.
"Hey, it's The Bloodless Wonder!" Emmett boomed at her, his face transforming into an infectious, dimpled smile. Celeste found herself laughing at his antics despite the others in the room being less-than-amused. He hadn't called her The Bloodless Wonder in a long time – so long, in fact, she had almost forgotten about it completely.
"Yes, the odorless, mortal vigilante strikes again." Emmett was thoroughly pleased that she chose to play along. Emmett thumped down beside her on the couch, almost sending her into the air with his force.
"You have so many nicknames," he said, holding out his hand to count his fingers, "The Bloodless Wonder, Super Sloost, Sloostie, Celestial…what should we call you now? Resident boy destroyer?" Celeste rolled her eyes.
"Emmett, come on, I only turned down the one boy. I think a new title is a little excessive."
"Emmett," Esme gently chastised.
"What's this about a boy?" Thanks, Emmett. Celeste turned to face her father, ready to explain the situation.
"Celeste got asked to the dance today," Alice answered out of nowhere. Carlisle quirked an eyebrow and fixed Celeste with a semi-surprised look. A second later, his expression changed to mild disappointment before shifting back to neutral.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, Carlisle," Edward chimed in, "but Celeste turned him down in as polite a way as the circumstances allowed." Edward leaned against the railing in the middle of the stairway, hiding his enjoyment from her embarrassment all too well.
"Celeste was politer than that idiot deserved," Rosalie threw in nonchalantly.
"Suffice to say," Jasper cleared his throat, "things were a bit tense today." Her siblings kept adding different remarks about the events of her day until Celeste tuned them out and finally said, in a sarcastic tone:
"Ya know, this whole vampires-for-siblings thing is suddenly very unappealing." Everyone stopped talking and in the midst of their snickers, Alice's eyes went glassy. She stumbled from the intensity of her own clairvoyance but Jasper's hands landed on her waist to immobilize her before she totally lost her balance.
"Alice," Edward breathed out, clearly unnerved by her vision. The rest of the family turned to the small vampire girl, waiting for her to speak.
She blinked rapidly, eyes flicking over her family without seeing them.
"The Chief's daughter is going to be more important than I originally thought."
Why is every ominous warning always so cryptic?