I'm not normal.
I never will be normal.
I'm immortal and stuck in the body of a fourteen year old girl.
My name is Nina Hallowell and I'm something called a Nueva Dancer. That means that I am extremely old and stuck at the age that my element-bending kicked in; fourteen. Nueva Dancers can control one of the four elements; fire, Earth, wind and water. I can control fire and Earth, which means I am meant to bend all four elements in the future. But my fire ability kicked in when I was fourteen so that's the age I'll always be. I have to admit, I was a pretty "mature" fourteen year old. I was already at the height of five foot four and had a pair of C-cups, if that's not too inappropriate to add.
To describe my appearance is to describe the average Dancer traits. I have blond hair but my hair is cut to the length of my shoulders and parted to the right. I have the average Dancer trait of blue eyes and pale skin. I am five foot four (as I've mentioned) and I am fairly slim and weigh about ninety seven pounds. I'm not particularly heavy. But I could easily pass for someone in their twenties if I wanted. Now, I was in my newest area where I'd be safely hidden. You see, Nueva Dancers go to a certain school in their human years and when they've been taught enough they go out into the world and stay in one place until it would be abnormal for them to not be aging. I graduated from the Academy of Dancers five hundred and seventy years ago when I was twenty years old. Now that makes me five hundred and ninety.
Right now I was standing in my newest house in the center of La Push. I would be going to La Push High as a freshman as soon as possible. This meant very little to me; I'd graduated one hundred and forty two (142) times. It's nice to keep count. I was standing there on the hard wood floor with every piece of furniture bubble-wrapped and a contract that held my dead parents' names. They had long ago passed away. I had a couch, a coffee table, a plasma screen TV (that was already hung up and wired above the fireplace) and more furniture. But there was a sub-zero fridge in the kitchen portion of the house. The kitchen was subtly attached to the living room with a granite table top island counter set in the center of hard wood floors and leading the matching counters, the mahogany cabinets and the sub-zero fridge. There was a stainless steel sink in the center of the counters behind the island and a series of cabinets on both under and above the counters.
I was surveying the scene in front of me and sighed. I had my hair pulled back in a loose ponytail over my right shoulder and was wearing a black blouse with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and the collar spread open to just above my bra. I also had a pair of jeans on and a pair of black ballet flats. There was a flight of stairs on the far right beside the entrance to a hallway. I could see three doors on the right side of the hallway and two doors on the left side. I went down that hallway and explored. There was a bedroom in the first door. It had two walls in burgundy paint and then the wall opposite of the doorway was a glass wall with a pair of double doors in frosted glass that led to a patio outside. It was a brilliant patio outside with mahogany boarding and was surrounded by knee-high black wrought iron fencing until it got to a short flight of stairs with only a couple steps.
I went back inside and then down the hallway. The second door led to the bathroom. It was the size of a small bedroom but bigger than the average bathroom. It had porcelain plumbing with a black granite counter that held the sink, matching the kitchen.
It had a bathtub and a toilet and had white walls. The rest of the house had burgundy painting. The tiling was black tiles. Finally I got to the final door on this side of the hall. This one was…different. It led to a beautiful room but this one took two stories instead of just one. It was larger than all the others and this one led to the patio outside as well. But the entire two story wall was paneled glass with black framing. It was beautiful and the walls were a light sunflower yellow. I smiled at just the sight of it. That meant there was only two bedrooms on the second floor and I already knew the third floor was an attic. I moved all my furniture for my bedroom into this room and began to unpack. I loved this room already.
I set up my bed and began to dress it soon enough. I had a rough burgundy velvet blanket and white pinstriped sheeting with matching pillowcases. I set up some burgundy square pillows along with the main pillows beneath it all to make a nicer setting. I began to bring all the boxes into my new bedroom. The boxes were all in my bedroom soon enough and I began to unpack the ones labeled as "CLOTHING". I unpacked all that into the mahogany dresser that matched the wood of the sleigh bed. I fell asleep doing this and didn't bother so much.
=X=X=X=
It took a few days to finish unpacking and soon enough I had explored my entire house. I moved the boxes of old memories into the attic and kept them packed, not bothering until later. It was on my third day that I had all five bedrooms furnished and set up in case I ever needed them. If all of my siblings came then I surely would need them. I had four siblings; two sisters and two brothers. The only one older than me was my older sister, Teresa. She gave off the age of eighteen and lived somewhere in New York with my youngest brother, Joshua. Joshua gave off the age of sixteen. But Teresa was six hundred and two (602) and Joshua was one hundred and four (104). The final two were twins, Carolina and Jason (306). Both of them gave off the age of twenty and were fairly identical. If it weren't for the difference in hair length I never would've been able to tell them apart.
Carol and Jason both acted the part of twins too. They lived together and sometimes even finished each others' sentences. None of my siblings were what the Dancers call "Quintessence Dancers". It meant that the Dancer had the ability to control all four elements like me. It was very rare for such a creature however there were a few other Quintessence Dancers. They all lived in China but I refused to go there. The Q Dancers were known as royalty amongst our species. It meant that I could join the Guard and be a snooty bitch if I wanted to but I didn't want to. My parents had wanted me to join the Guard in my early years when they found out about my extra ability but I didn't want to and I refused. They've been dead for sixty two (62) years now.
I had changed into a pair of cut-off jeans and a white men's V-neck top from one of the packets I had and a pair of orange flip-flops. It was hardly the weather outside but I wasn't going outside today. I would be spending some time in the attic, unpacking my memories so I could have a place to reminisce and remember. I had just changed in my bedroom and I was pulling my hair into the style I wanted. I had taken a brief shower and my hair was still damp so I brushed it and pulled it into a pair of pigtails on either side of my face, letting them fall onto my shoulders. I smiled at my reflection and exited my bedroom. The shirt was old and had several different colored paint spatters from previous homes. Imagine one hundred and forty two (142) homes you had to paint and this was the shirt.
I gratefully glanced at my bedroom. The full-length mirror I had been looking at was in the right hand corner of the room and faced diagonally beside the glass wall. The mahogany framed double doors stared back at me. My bed was made yet again and my dresser was on the wall that the door was on but it was a spacious room so each and every thing was spaced out. The was a large tan rug on the floor with the Quileute design sewn onto it. It was an old rug from the first time that I had visited here. I missed Taha Aki. He had been a good friend. But he had moved on from his old immortal days and had progressed into his afterlife. I was proud of him; he had a choice.
I sighed proudly at the room. There was a picture frame of me and my siblings on my dresser next to the lamp and there was a small wooden jewelry box with a wolf carved onto it from my olden days. The rug and the box should've both crumbled with the danger of time but they had withstood with the sole reason to remind me of my earlier days. I exited the room and headed up the stairs then pulled down the collapsible stairs from the door overhead. I headed into the attic and flicked on the light switch. The old attic beamed at me, fresh and spacious with a high ceiling despite that it was the last level. I had old furniture and old memories up here. I closed the door behind me and began to head to work.
There were times I cried, times I laughed, times I stared and times I looked away. But with each picture and book, each page and photo, I remembered a different time. My life throughout the eras was a beautiful one and I missed many people that I'd encountered but Taha Aki's portraits sustained my energy. His family had been my family's friends and we had all loved one another. Taha Aki's third wife, Akia, had been the one to give up her life. She and the other wives had been my mother's friends but that didn't matter. Akia was a brilliant woman and bold at that. That had been the first ever imprint and I had heard that the newest generation had some imprinted wolves as well. I laughed at that thought and continued on to unpacking. If they imprinted, it'd be a beautiful relationship. It was no laughing matter. And yet, I remembered all the foolish things Taha Aki had done for Akia.
I could only imagine what the new wolves were doing for their imprints. I would have to attend one of the bonfires I'd heard about. I wanted to hear the legend from their points. Mostly, I wanted to see if they had the story correct. I pulled out some of my old dresses and hung them on their hangers before placing them on the steel clothing rack I had acquired long ago. I sighed as I stood up and looked around. I had a full two bookshelves filled with the first-edition books I had along with a display case full of the figurines I'd acquired over the years. I didn't want someone to bump into any of them and have them broken although I doubt I'd ever have anyone come up to this room. This would reveal me to be who I was.
I yawned tiredly and glanced at the clock on my cell phone I'd had in my pocket. I had to eat. It was around five in the afternoon. I climbed down the steps just as I heard the doorbell ring. I didn't bother going down the steps but instead pulled a Mary Poppins and slid down the railing to the front door. I opened the door wide to reveal a woman smiling oddly at me. She had a pan full of lasagna wrapped and ready. It was a welcoming gift I'd presumed. "Um, are your parents home?" The woman asked. Right! I was supposed to have parents. I didn't have parents. "Um, no," I answered. "Oh! Do you know when they'll be home?" The woman asked. "Oh, actually I don't live with my parents," I laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of my head while shifting my weight to my right foot. The woman was about to say more but I cut her off. "I'm emancipated," I laughed.
"Sorry, I live alone." I laughed awkwardly again and gave an apologetic shrug. "Oh, I'm sorry, I just didn't guess that…" The woman trailed off. "Then I guess I can give this to you!" The woman exclaimed awkwardly. "Oh, thanks, c'mon in," I said and stepped back. She entered with a small smile. "Yeah, I don't exactly advertise that I live alone," I laughed as I closed to door to exclude the rain. "I was actually just coming down to eat so this is a lifesaver," I said gratefully. "I'm Sue Clearwater," The woman said cautiously. "Nina Hallowell," I said and shook her extended hand. I walked over to the counter and set the lasagna down. I headed to the cupboard where I'd stored the dishes and pulled down a plastic orange plate. It was pretty fancy and usable.
"Say, are you Quileute by any chance?" I asked after noticing her appearance. It was kind of hard to not notice the stand-on-their-own vibe that Quileute members gave off. "Oh, yeah! Actually I am," Sue said. "Come join me," I said as I sat down at one of the black leather-seated stools. Ah, so a descendant of my friend. That was nice! I mean, it was awesome. Sue shook her head sadly. "Actually, I just gave that as a welcoming gift so that you didn't come and demand to know what the fuck my problem was," Sue joked warmly. I laughed and nodded. "I have to get back to my kids at home," Sue said. I nodded. "I'll return the pan as soon as possible." I said to cut off the awkwardness. "But I'm pretty sure that'll be tomorrow if I'm as hungry as I think I am." I joked. Sue smiled, relieved at the joke.
"Okay! Well, I got to go," Sue said and began to back up towards the door. I nodded. She gave me an awkward double thumb up gesture before heading back out to the rain. "Nice to meet ya!" I called out after her. "You too," Sue called back and left. I snorted at the awkward meeting and shook my head in disbelief. It was four days after I'd already moved in. No wonder she thought I would've come over and ask "what the fuck" her problem was. I probably would've in a day or so. I snickered at that thought and worked on eating.
I was right. I was done with it completely by midnight and began to scrub the pan. That poor woman; I was probably a dozen times her age and she was looking at me like a kid. Hell, I knew her ancestor. I sighed and finished scrubbing the pot. I got up at the time I was supposed to leave for school and got dressed. I changed into a pair of jeans and a black V-neck like the one I'd had on later. I picked up my old black leather messenger bag and headed over to Sue Clearwater's home. But the door was answered by a…wolf. I snorted out loud and rolled my eyes. Fate had overdone it. This kid was over six feet tall and tan like hell. He had short black hair and dark brown eyes but it was obvious he was still a kid. To trained eyes like mine at least. "Hi, I'm looking for Sue Clearwater?" I offered with a smile. "Oh, you've got to be the new neighbor, Nina!" The kid exclaimed groggily. "Yep, is Sue home?" I asked. "Oh, yeah! Mom!" The kid called. Sue came to the door and gave a weary smile to me. "Nina! Hi," She said then saw the pan in my hand. "Wow, you weren't kidding," She murmured to herself. "Nope; I didn't even know I was that hungry. I guess I got carried away with unpacking and missed my meals." I said.
In truth, I guess I didn't notice I was starving and was distracted by all my happy reminiscing. I handed Sue the pan and checked my phone for the time. "I got to go in order to get to school on time." I said. "Say, Nina," Sue stopped me before I turned fully around. I smiled back at her. "How'd you guess I was Quileute?" Sue asked, confused. The boy glanced at me more cautiously now. He was resigned due to the risk of exposure. I blinked.
"Quileute women hold themselves in a way that's distinctive. I noticed it." I said and shrugged. "See ya!" I said and headed off to school. I had pulled on my black velvet Hoodie and pulled up the hood on my way away. I had this Hoodie custom with the Dancers crest; an Eagle with its wings wrapped to it by a vine with a sun blaring behind it. I had it printed on in Gold foil so it looked like it was an ordinary Hoodie when in actuality I had to schmooze a printer into making it. I had cut a pair of holes in the cuffs of the sleeves so I fit my thumbs through it to make the sleeves stay taut. I had allowed my hair down today and it had been good enough this morning so I hadn't brushed it.
I gave a final smile and a wave to Sue and her boy before heading over in the direction of the school. Minutes later down the road a car came to my side. There was Sue's son driving and a girl in the driver's seat. I was shocked to see her. I'd heard that there was a female wolf, the first one, but I hadn't suspected it to be Sue's—"Nina, right?" The boy asked. I nodded. "I'm Seth and this is my sister, Leah." The boy said with a warm smile and stopped. I stopped too. "You want a ride to school?" Seth asked. I smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Seth," I said. "So, your name's Nina…?" Seth prompted. "Hallowell," I answered with a laugh. "Mom said you were living alone," Seth said, glancing in the rearview mirror at me. I'm guessing he was interrogating me since I'd asked about his tribe. "Yeah, my parents died a few years ago," I said. More like a half century ago. "And so I didn't want to be bounced from foster care to foster care so I got emancipated. I lived with one of my siblings for a bit then moved here." I said. "You got siblings?" Seth laughed. I nodded. "Two brothers and two sisters; Carolina, Teresa, Jason and Joshua." I said. "Carol and Jason are twins and twenty while Josh is sixteen and Terry's eighteen." I said. "How come Josh didn't get emancipated like you?" Leah jumped in. That was because Josh was youngest. "He was too lazy to." I said with a shrug. "Where did you guys live?" Seth asked. I laughed. "Wow, twenty questions; I'll give. Um, we lived in China a bit, Italy, and some bits of France." I answered. "There is a bunch more but right now they live in New York while I didn't feel like moving all that much so I moved here." I said. To them it might seem a lot for only a couple of years but to me it was only a fraction of a longer time.
"Wow, that's a lot." Seth laughed. "Okay, how about how'd you know about what type of 'vibe' Quileute women gave off?" Leah snapped at me. I blinked at her. She wasn't the most controlled girl, was she? "I've met some in France and Italy," I lied. I didn't have to 'meet' any of them anywhere other than here. "They're vague but strong," I said truthfully. They had to protect their secrets. Leah smirked as she looked forward again just as we arrived at the school. "We'll see ya later," Seth said after I'd gotten out of the car. I smiled and nodded. Leah didn't even look at me as she walked away. "Nervy much?" I snickered to myself, knowing she'd hear. She shot a snarl in my direction and I smiled back, trying to flush my complexion. She smirked in triumph so I knew I'd won. I headed toward the school and saw Seth greet a couple of guys. Fate really had overdone it with them. Each one looked identical but there was a difference in them. I was kind of annoyed at that.
Each wolf had a personality all of their own and their looks all gave off the same identical vibe. But it was obvious the tattoos they had. Each of their biceps were identical to my rug, it was hilarious. I smirked secretly to myself as I passed them. "Who's the newbie?" Someone asked, nodding in my direction as I passed. I had the urge to introduce myself but I ignored it. I couldn't talk to them until I was introduced by someone else.
Staying my distance was my best bet. There were about four of them. I could see one just faintly behind my hood. "Wait," Someone called to me. I stopped abruptly and turned to see one bending a finger to me. I blinked at them, confused. "Your hood," The person said. He was a wolf that was obvious. "What about it?" I asked nervously. I couldn't let them hear my heartbeat accelerate. "It's a cool design, where'd you get it?" The wolf asked, smirking to himself in triumph. He mistook my reaction. Let him! "Oh, it's, um, from JC Penny." I lied. Ha! Like you'd ever find this in that mall shop! "Cool, see ya," The wolf said. I nodded and headed off into the school. I heard him say to his friends. "Got to get one of those," He said.
I shook my head to myself as I turned into the office. "Hi, I'm Nina Hallowell," I said shyly to the secretary. I hated this part. I hated the first days of school where I didn't know anyone and had to sit all by my lonesome. I hated getting the new textbooks I knew by heart. I hated standing in front of the class and introducing myself. I hated the people that pitied me and introduced themselves but turned out to be bitches later. Hopefully I wouldn't have those people. I sighed as I took the map of the school and the schedule the secretary handed me. She didn't even pay any attention to me whatsoever. And I was cool with that. I loved that. I smiled to myself and walked off, trying my best not to skip. Cool; I just hoped that everyone was that way.
But it wasn't very common for a new student to come to La Push. So I was introduced in every class and by lunchtime I was sick of it. But lunchtime did come and I got my food. I had pulled my hood down and was now facing my toughest difficulty and challenge; what to eat. I knew by now that everything that everyone thinks about you is based off of what you eat. The girls who notice that you're skinny and you eat a lot get pissed at you because you can eat all that and still stay at my weight. The boys who notice that you don't eat all that much think you're a superficial bitch who actually cares about what weight she has and thinks you're anorexic. So I went with the superficial bitches' counterpart and got a whole shitload of food. I was hungry and girls were bitches no matter what. I filled my tray with as much food as I was allowed. Finally when I'd paid and got out of line it was the new challenge; where to sit. I wished that it was like the olden days and you either had just one table or you sat at your desk and ate. But nope; this was the challenge.
I was relieved to notice a series of empty tables outside. That was probably because it was raining. Still, I didn't care as long as I got to eat alone. I didn't like the superficial cliques that went around school. I sat down outside and ignored the shocked stares I got. I heard a booming laugh from behind me and recognized it as Seth immediately. He sat down next to me with his own food and stuff, still laughing. I smiled at him. "So, you like the rain, huh?" Seth laughed. I rolled my eyes. "I just don't like the cliques that go around. If I sit down at one table then I'll be marked as that clique." I admitted with a shrug. Seth nodded his understanding and began to eat. I wasn't surprised. All the descendants no doubt had an appetite. "So, what's up with that design anyways? It's kind of unique, ya know." Seth said. I rolled my eyes and nodded. "It's cool! I mean, I'm not saying it's the most hideous thing I've ever seen on Earth but it's kind of unique." Seth said. "On first glance you might even mistake it as a crest and it does resemble a crest but is it a crest?" Seth asked. I shrugged as I went on with eating. "I don't know if it's a crest and if it is then it is." I said.
"Where'd you say you got it again? JC Penny?" Seth laughed leaning back to glance again. "Sure thing," I said confidently and finished off my burger. "Damn," I muttered to me.
"What?" Seth asked. "I finished," I said and gave an apologetic glance. I had liked being around one of Taha Aki's descendants. I wanted to know more, to see the resemblances but that wasn't going to be as possible as I thought. "You said you heard the legends," Seth started as I stood up. I nodded as I tossed my tray in the nearest trash can. "You want to hear the official telling?" Seth asked. I smiled down at Seth and nodded. "Absolutely!" I said with genuine excitement. I was going to get to hear what they've heard!
"Cool, come down to First beach later on tonight." Seth said and stood up with a carefree smile on his face. I nodded eagerly and picked up my backpack. I had forgotten I'd started school on a Friday. Damn awesome! "Do you need instructions?" Seth asked. I nodded and pulled out a piece of paper. Seth drew me a map before I headed inside with a final wave. Yes! I didn't think I'd actually get invited to something like this on my first day of school!
I was on a total high throughout the rest of the day and didn't even glare at my teachers. Then I had gym….with Leah. Now, don't go imaging her with a chainsaw before you even hear what happened. "Heard Seth invited you to the bonfire tonight," Leah said stiffly as we were in the locker room. I'd had to get a kit from the teacher but seeing as I'd come to school late they already had it. "Yeah, is that an issue?" I asked with a frown. Was she going to screw with my high? "But have you heard the entire legend?" Leah asked. "About Taha Aki? Yeah, I've heard it," I said, frowning as I spoke of one of my friends in such a way. I didn't like it. I wanted to say that I was proud to call him my friend but she'd think I was insane and then when she found out the truth they'd exile me.
I pulled my gym shirt on over my black bra and fit my gym shorts on over my matching black bikini panties. "I'm just making sure," Leah said and angrily slammed her gym locker door shut. Something told me she wasn't the most pleasant person around. But I could understand her anger; if someone had told me the legends then that meant they've exposed the race to the world. It wasn't some big secret but you couldn't find the legends unless you're looking for them. I blinked as I followed Leah. She was very angry and some of that anger was vented to me, the new girl.
Leah aimed the volley ball at me more than once and I caught it expertly all times. It became so frequent that we had to be put in a one-on-one game, excluded from all the others. Then afterwards we were offered a spot on the volleyball team. Both of us refused.
A/N: I don't own Twilight. I hope you liked it. Stay cool.
