New Experience
Renesmee's POV
I sat dead center in the back of the silver Volvo, and I knew that if I could be, I would be sweating bullets. As it stood, I couldn't do that. However, I could not rid myself of the huge knot in my stomach. Suddenly, I felt 6 years old. Well, now that I think about it, I really am only 6 years old. At least chronologically. Physically, I look about 16, and within a year I'll look about 18. That's when I'm told I'll stop growing. Forever an 18 year old.
I wasn't thinking about that at the moment, though. My focus was on the building in front of me. My nerves probably made it seem a lot bigger than it is. But, what I saw in front of me was an expanse of 5 or so buildings, the largest of which seemed the most daunting. Built out of those god-awful beige bricks, with what seemed like not enough windows, Forks High School stood in front of me. It seemed like the first obstacle to tackle in my short life, well other than the Volturi of course. But that was years ago. Because of the alarming rate at which I grew, I was never before allowed to attend school. I'd received all of my education at home, from my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Consequently, I had no friends other than Jacob (who I was hoping would soon be more than that), but intellectually I was probably several years ahead of any of the other sophomores in Forks. My half-vampire mind, though unable to hold a candle to the mind of a full-vampire, allowed me to hold a lot more information than a human mind.
"Renesmee it's time to go inside," my mother's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" My father said, and gave me a knowing look.
Without thinking twice, I plastered a smile on my face and nodded feverishly while assuring him, "Of course I am, Dad. I've been waiting for this for years."
As I gathered my schoolbooks, my mother turned to my father and asked in a hushed tone "Edward, what if someone notices how fast she is growing? She still has a lot of maturing to do. I can't help but think someone is going to notice and question it."
When I opened my mouth to protest, my father beat me to the punch "There are humans that mature faster than other humans, and grow almost as rapidly as Nessie will over the next year." He took the words right out of my mouth.
I leaned forward and kissed each of them on the cheek before saying "I'll be fine. I'm more excited than I'm showing. I love you guys and I'll see you after school." I opened my door and started to slide out of the car.
"We love you Nessie," My mother told me earnestly, and I knew that if she could cry, she would at that moment. And with that, I began my short trek up the stairs and into the main building. I laughed as I heard the whispered remarks of a small group of students.
Who is that?
I think it's Nessie Masen. I heard that was her name..
Do you remember the Cullens? I heard she's Bella's cousin or something.
Well, whoever she is, she is freakin' hot.
I couldn't help but laugh to myself. I didn't know if "freakin' hot" was exactly what I was going for when I got dressed this morning, but I'd take it. My fashion sense lay somewhere in between that of my mother and that of my Aunt Alice. Though my mother was all about simplicity, Alice was all about expensive designer labels and perfectly put together outfits. I liked to think of myself as simple-chic. I wasn't all about dresses and high-heels but I did like to look presentable. Today, I had decided to lean a little more toward the "chic" side. I wore a Kelly green no-sleeve dress that ended just above my knees, with an elastic waist and scoop neck. Along the neck was a delicate ruffle that continued down the middle and stopped at the waist. Though it was only September, a jacket was necessary so I paired the dress with a simple black blazer, tailored perfectly to my figure and ending at my elbows. My jewelry was gold bangles and a gold necklace, with a wolf charm, a gift from Jacob.
The icing on the cake was my shoes. Though I'm somewhat impartial to heels, I had decided to endure for my first day at school. The black, mid-calf boots boasted a heel of 5 inches, and were made of suede. On the toe, there was a starburst of gold studs so the boots matched my jewelry perfectly. I let my loose bronze curls fall over my shoulders and wore no make-up other than mascara, to highlight my thick lashes. Maybe I did look "freakin' hot". I sighed and frowned a little, however, because there was a good chance that the person I wanted most to see me looking like this, wouldn't. By the time Jacob arrived at my house that night, I would probably be in pajamas.
I though back to what the other students were saying. Here, I was Nessie Masen, cousin of Bella Cullen, who had graduated from Forks High School 6 years prior. Bella and her husband, Edward had taken me in when my parents died in a car accident over the summer. Before that, I lived in Sacramento. I laughed to myself; thinking about how people would react if they found out that this was all a cleverly concocted lie. Bella and Edward are really my biological parents, and they are vampires. Neither one has aged in years. Because of this, they can't exactly show their faces in town. Truthfully, the only reason we'd stayed in Forks this long was me. Well, Grandpa Charlie was part of it too but I knew that I was the real reason. I knew that when I graduated high school, we would have to leave, but I wanted to enjoy it while I could. Hopefully, when the time came, Jake would come with us. I couldn't imagine life without him.
I stopped at the door of my first class, Advanced Placement World History. I laughed, because many of my family members had lived first hand the things that we would surely be learning about. I was surprised to find I appeared to be the last person to enter the room, including the short, grey-haired teacher who looked totally put out and unprepared. I took the last seat in the room, next to a small blonde girl with bright blue eyes and a look at terror on her face. Maybe she was new, too. Taking a deep breath, I prepared to try to make my first human friend.
"Hi!" I said brightly "My name is Renesmee Masen, but everyone calls me Nessie. I just moved here. Have you lived in Forks all your life?"
A look of intense relief crossed over her face and she smiled brightly at me, giving me a look that said, "you are my savior." "I'm Kate. I've lived in Forks for most of my life, but the past two years I've been studying in London. I don't think anyone recognizes me. I guess I've changed a lot since 8th grade." She spoke so quickly, that I was certain my vampire side is the only thing that afforded me the chance to catch everything she said.
When I opened my mouth to speak again, the teacher interrupted me with the start of class. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to your sophomore year at Forks High School," I had never heard a voice more monotone. "As you can see, we have a new student joining us, if you would stand up Miss…"she checked her attendance sheet "Masen, and tell us a little about yourself." I had been dreading this moment. I knew that I was going to have to do this in a bunch of my classes, but that didn't make it any better.
"Hi!" I did my best to appear excited to be speaking in front of 20 other students, "my name is Renesmee Masen but you all can call me Nessie. I moved here over the summer from Sacramento, California and I live with my cousin Bella and her husband Edward. Uh…yea. And I guess that's about it…"an awkward silence followed my short speech. I'd have to practice this for the rest of my classes.
"Well, thank you Miss Masen," Mrs. Wahl didn't sound very thrilled. "And moving on…This year we will take a look at world history from the 18th to 21st century…." The rest of the lesson was lost to me.
The rest of the day went almost exactly the same as my first class. Each period, I was asked to introduce myself and each time I gave somewhat of the same speech. I was glad to have Kate in 3 of my classes, and at lunch. I didn't have to sit alone on my first day. By the time the end of the day rolled around, I knew I'd made the right decision coming to school. Even so, I couldn't wait to go home. I knew that I would have to wait a few hours, but the prospect of seeing Jacob brought a smile to my face as I left the building and descended the steps to the parking lot, looking for the familiar silver Volvo. I scanned the parking lot about ten times before I realized that my parents weren't there. I hardly had time to freak out, because at that moment, big warm arms hugged me from behind, startling me.
"Miss me?" Jacob's husky voice filled my head, and it was all I could do not to turn around and kiss him right there in the parking lot. However, I refrained, remembering that Jake was a little slow in understanding my feelings for him. I saw the way he looked at me; I knew he had to love me too. Even with this certainty, I had resolved months ago to wait for him to come to me.
Jake is huge, literally. He is well over 6 feet tall, and his body is perfectly sculpted. Though Jake is in his late twenties, he can pass for anywhere between 18 and 25.
"Of course I did," I replied, turning around to give him a hug. "What a pleasant surprise this is. And here I was thinking that my family had forgotten about me."
"I could never forget about you, Ness. You're in here forever," he said, pointing to his heart.
"I'm glad to hear it." I giggled. "So what's on the agenda for tonight?" I raised my eyebrows, hoping he had plans for us and that was his reason for picking me up at school.
"Do you really think I'd let an outfit like that go to waste?" He spun me around, taking in the whole outfit. "No way, Ness, I've got something special planned tonight. There are things that I need to tell you." And with that, he scooped me up, and placed me gracefully in the passenger seat of his Volkswagen Rabbit. A Rabbit was the only type of car I've ever seen Jake drive. When his first died, he bought a second. I found it laughable since Jake was so big that he would be driving one of the smallest cars on the road. As we sped out of the parking lot, we didn't turn toward home.
"So where are we going?" I asked, my interest peaked.
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," Jake laughed at his own joke and I couldn't help but laugh right along with him. Well, I'd just have to wait and see what the night had in store.
Big Moment
Jacob's POV
As I drove toward our destination, I couldn't help but steal as many glances as possible at Nessie. Each time I looked at her deep brown eyes, I couldn't help but feel my heart fill. Tonight was going to be huge. I had been waiting to tell Nessie that I had imprinted on her, and how I feel about her for months. Tonight, I was finally going to get that opportunity. After 6 years of waiting for my brotherly love to turn into that deep, need you to complete me love, I was surprised by how abruptly the moment had come. For 6 years, I had been a member of the Cullen family, waiting for the day when Ness would be close enough to me in age for me to feel the most romantic of feelings possible for her. I had told her on her 5th birthday (when she actually looked between 13 and 14), about imprinting and how important it was to a werewolf. Since then, I suspected she may know that I imprinted on her, but Edward assured me that that thought had not yet crossed her mind. Well, tonight I was going to make sure it crossed her mind and I was going to make sure she knew that she was the only person I needed in my life from now until forever.
I could only hope that she would accept my love. I didn't know how she felt about me. For all I knew, she could still see me as the brother-figure that helped raise her since the day she was born. That was my biggest fear. I knew that even if she loved me in a brotherly way, I couldn't be separated from her. I would have to watch, wait and hope for her feelings to develop and if they never did, then I would be her brother forever. I shook the fear away and stole another glance at her perfect face, picturing all of the moments that we could share tonight.
I drove at top speed down the highway, cutting the 3-4 hour trip to Seattle into an hour and a half. About 5 miles from our destination, I turned to Nessie and hoped she would be ok with what I was about to tell her. "Ness, look, I really want this to be a surprise for grand effect. I need to blindfold you."
Her eyes grew wide with shock. "Seriously, Jake?" I nodded. "Ok fine. But you owe me big time wolfman."
I breathed a sigh of relief, and delicately tied the blindfold over her eyes. I chuckled when Nessie immediately began to pout. "It's only for, like, ten minutes."
We drove in silence the rest of the way. I hoped she'd forgive me for the blindfold when we reached where we were going. I parked the car and guided Nessie into the massive structure. After a three-minute elevator ride, and a little more guiding of Nessie, we were shown to our table. I pulled Nessie's chair out for her and gently removed her blindfold. I was pleased with her shocked gasp when she looked around her, and out the massive windows.
"Are we where I think we are?" She asked, a huge smile spreading across her face.
"Well if you are thinking of the SkyCity Restaurant on top of the Space Needle, then yes, we are exactly where you think we are." I replied smugly.
"Oh my God, Jake, you went through all this trouble. Why? Not that I'm complaining but what is your motivation for this?"
"Well, there is a lot I need to talk to you about," My nerves were starting to get worse "Let's order first though." I ordered an expensive bottle of wine, and after we put in our food order, we sat, drinking and talking. I knew I had to say something, and soon. I could tell she wasn't trying to pry but her curiosity was soon going to get the best of her. Nessie couldn't be kept in the dark for that long without wanting to know exactly what is going on. She kept quiet through entrées and dessert, and before I knew it, I had paid the check and we were ready to go.
After a large swig of wine, I sighed and looked at her, my expression as serious as I could make it. I took her hand and led her to the observation deck. It was late enough that we only had to share the space with a few other people. I found a private spot, and began what I believed to be the most important conversation of my life. "Well, Ness, we both know that there are important things that I need to tell you tonight, but I'm really nervous so please bear with me." My voice was shaky.
"Oh please Jake. You have nothing to worry about, it's just you and me." She put her hands on either side of my face so that I was looking straight at her. "Whatever you have to say to me, I can take it." God, I'm the luckiest bastard in the world.
"Ok, so…I know last year I explained to you about imprinting. How it is the most important experience in a werewolf's life, and the amount of love and devotion shared between an imprinter and an imprintee cannot even be fathomed until you experience it. Well, you see Ness. I imprinted."
Her face dropped. She thought I had imprinted on someone else. I could see the tears start to well up. "Oh" was all she whispered.
"No, Ness, don't get upset. Let me finish. I imprinted about 6 years ago. On the only half-vampire I have ever known closely. Ness, how could you not know? I imprinted on you. The first time I saw you."
Her tears were flowing, hopefully happily. "Ohhhh wow!" She exclaimed. Before she could continue, I did.
"Ness, listen. You don't have to give me an answer right now. You have a choice. You don't have to be with me. Just know that I love you more than any one person has ever loved another, ever. Period. End of story. There is no one else I would ever want to be with and I will be yours forever if you'll let me. I love you."
Her face was unreadable. Tears still flowed down her face, and I thought that was it. She didn't love me the way I loved her. I hung my head, disappointment and rejection washing over me. I had done all of this for nothing, and would forever be nothing more than her brother-figure. Before I could open my mouth to apologize for dumping everything on her, she had flung her arms around my neck and jumped on me, wrapping her legs around my waist.
"Holy shit, Ness! Relax!"
"Relax? How could I relax at a time like this? You just gave me the best news of my life and you are telling me I need to relax?" All of the disappointment I'd been feeling 10 seconds earlier dissolved into pure, unadulterated happiness. "Oh, Jake! This is wonderful. I have been waiting to hear you say those words for a year. I love you, too Jake. More than you will ever know. I promise you can be mine forever, and I'll be yours."
With this proclamation, I spun her around and put her back on her feet. "Well, thank God" I murmured before bending down and kissing the love of my life for the first time. The kiss was gentle and short, but the amount of love flowing between us was enough to make my head spin. Right then, Nessie placed her hand on my face and used her gift to show me how she had been feeling during our whole exchange. That was enough to make me kiss her again. Though as tender as the first, this kiss was more passionate. I didn't want to break apart from her, and reached my tongue out to taste her top lip, hoping that she would grant me access to her perfect mouth. With a sharp intake of breath, she parted her lips and tongues collided in the best possible way. I don't know how long we stayed connected, but we were brought back to earth by the clearing of a throat.
"Ahem" the Space Needle crew member did not seem pleased "We're closing for the night"
"Oops, sorry" Nessie giggled, and I grabbed her hand as we began the descent back to ground level.
"Let's get you home to mom and dad, Miss Cullen" I joked, opening her door for her.
"Yes, sir!" She mock saluted me just before sliding into the passenger seat of the car.
Within 15 minutes of being back on the road, Nessie was sleeping, her hand in mine. I smiled as, via her gift, her dreams played images of our kiss over and over. All the pieces had fallen into place, and the world was perfect. Tonight had been the happiest night of my life.