**I do not own Twilight or the characters, but I do own this plot**
**I am accepting reviews on the plot only. This is a rough ROUGH draft and a work in progress, spelling, grammar, and general mistakes are in here because I'm getting it out before polishing it...if my writing process bothers you don't read it**
The wheezing that morning broke her concentration. Jacob had fallen asleep in what appeared to be the most uncomfortable position ever, but was managing to make the best of it. Brushing the bronze curls behind her ears that had fallen in her face. She slid past the living room where he was asleep on the couch down the hallway to the bathroom without so much as a noise.
She never slept. Instead she spent much of her night lying next to her best friend and the warmth of his body next to hers. "I have a heartbeat, but I'm not human, then again, neither is Jake." She mused.
In the mirror her fingers nimbly braided her hair as if they were doing it on their own and she had no real will over her body. A pair of shorts that Alice had worn once and cast away, a black t-shirt, and a pair of running shoes, she looked as if she was going out for a morning jog, not to suck the life from an animal.
About to slip out the door, she heard a warning called from the kitchen.
"Nessie make it quick, you need to be at the school by eight for the run through. This is your first and most likely only high school graduation. I won't let you miss it".
"Yes, Edward. Just a snack to tide me over, promise". She'd taken to calling her father by his name since they'd had to pretend to the world they were uncle and niece. How else would they explain how much they looked similar and roughly the same age? With this she bolted down the wooden porch stairs and across the field that was their front yard and into the thick ridge of trees. She enjoyed going out in the mornings the best, the Washington state air was crisp and the smell of nature was at its prime. She especially enjoyed the space it gave her. There was always family around, someone was always at the house.
A few minutes past her favorite clearing she smelled it, she tracked it for a while until she realized the blood she smelt was a human. It took her every inch of control she had to turn around and run back, but she managed. She gave up the craving for mountain lion and surprised a deer on her way back, if Edward had to come looking for her because she'd continued to look for a mountain lion in another direction she would have had hell to pay.
Sliding through the door just before seven, she could hear two voices in the kitchen now. Her mother must have completed the paper she was working on for her thesis. She had all the respect of a mother for Bella. She'd made a difficult decision to give birth to Rennesme when it would have almost certainly killed her and taken her away from Edward. She obeyed her as such, but their friendship was wonderful as well. They truly were sisters emotionally. They shared more than one common bond, in Edward, but in Jacob too. Jacob had been her mother's best friend and in turn Jacob had been Nessie's.
A short minute later she had returned to the kitchen showered, dressed and hair back in a neat pony tail low enough for her cap to fit on. The pale grass green tunic accented her bronze hair and a pair of black leggings and ballet flats and she was ready to dart out the door.
"You look great Rennesme", Bella smiled as she slid around the corner. That was the one thing about Bella, she refused to use the nickname her father and Jacob and everyone else for that matter called her. "Hold that thought", she said quickly and darted from the room. A second later she returned with a necklace in her hand "My Nana's locket, perfect".
"Will you make sure Jake gets up? He was out late last night, he needs some sleep, and I don't want to wake him up now." Nessie asked Bella.
"Yes, I will get him up in time." Bella assured her. "Now get going, you have to drive there like a normal person and please don't drive so fast, you are going to draw attention to us the way you were driving yesterday."
Bella must have seen her when she was out yesterday, she was sure she'd pay for that one later.
She shut the door on her Volkswagen GTI and turned on the engine and listened to it purr. I hadn't been her first choice, she'd wanted Jake to rebuild her mom's old truck, but Edward had refused. Jake approved of the VW, though there was no way his rabbit could ever keep up with this machine. She zipped down the winding road like it was nothing and slowed her speeds when she hit the main road with traffic. Arriving at school she pulled the car into a parking spot out towards the back of the parking lot like she had for the past two years.
Her growth had slowed enough that she could attend a regular high school with regular children and still fit in though obviously she was a great deal smarter and mature than them despite the fact she was technically only 7 years old. She would probably not be doomed to repeat high school like her parents or her aunts and uncles at least since she would look older than the average teenager by the time her aging stopped entirely.
Her thin willowy figure floated to the trunk for her cap and gown as if it were a carefully choreographed dance. She had already accepted a position with Alaska Dance Theater in Anchorage, which was well timed since her family was moving soon. Edward and Bella could not stay much longer without suspicion, Carlyle and Esme had left two years prior. They would be moving to Alaska with the rest of the coven during the summer. She instantly though of Jacob. They were so close; she loved him from day one. 'Not just puppy love either' she smirked to herself at the inside joke. Their souls were much older than others around them, as if they had always been meant for each other. The way Bella was made for Edward. In the years she'd been studying ballet, really only the first month had been 'studying' the way she picked things up. She was far better than her teachers and had been labeled a protégé and was sought after by many of the world's top touring companies.
Her parents encouraged her to take the offer from the American Ballet Theater. Her answer was a firm no. She would be touring too much and never home, there was only one thing she wanted more than dance and that was Jacob Black.
"Nessie Cullen…snap out of it's your turn" Miss Weber prodded from her perch on the stage, moving on quickly she continued leading students through the walk through.
An hour later and the audience had started to file in through the gym doors. The entire Cullen coven sitting separately through the crowd as to not draw attention to a crowd of people who never seemingly aged. Even Carlyle and Esme hair dyed gray in spots to age them a bit had made the trip down for this occasion. She openly referred to Carlyle as gramps; most people assumed she did it in a joking manner.
Rows of students filed in and as Nessie walked thought the door she began feverishly scanning the crowd for Jacob, not able to locate this large brilliant happy smile she'd come to look forward to seeing daily. As she was forced to sit in her seat she heard the few last guests shuffle in the door behind her, among them Billy Black being pushed by Jacob to front row seating. A short wave assured he'd seen her and that she could safely turn around knowing he had arrived safely.
The program whirled through quicker then she imagined it would be and before she knew it she was saying goodbyes to friends.
"Rennesme, we're going to Carlyle and Esme's, don't be too long." Bella smiled as she closed the door to the Volvo she'd rode to Fork's high school in with Edward.
She could smell him coming from behind her but chose to pretend she didn't. "I'll be there as soon as I get rid of the mutt".
Jacob mock scoffed offence to the statement but couldn't hold back his grin for long.
"Get in the VW Mr. Black", Nessie playfully demanded without even turning around.
"Why should I get in this piece of junk?" he prodded.
Whirling around to meet his grin she hugged him and pulled back. "Because if you don't, you'll be walking back to La Push from here, which truth be told, is faster than driving that old VW Rabbit you call a car."
"Ouch," he winced "that hurts." He continued his routine of mock offence all the way to the Cullen's home.
A short unessisarily fast drive later they were at Carlyle and Esme's home. Obviously Nessie had forgotten the warning about her driving speed from Bella earlier in the morning. Cap and grown thrown into the back seat of the car Nessie and Jacob exited the car and sauntered into the Cullen's home.
A banner with the word Congratulations was pinned above the door and inside was full of twinkling lights and flowers and a small cake on the table. Not too out of control I guess, Bella must have reined Alice in, at least half the school isn't here. Something felt different though when she walked in to the kitchen to look for her family. She could hear them talking in hushed voices and feel the anxiety. They knew she was there even if she didn't make a sound; Edward would have heard her thoughts and laughed at her comment about Alice that is if they didn't smell Jacob first.
"Ok, obviously something is up." She started before she rounded the corner into the dining room. The look she received wasn't one of congratulations so much as anxiety and worry. "What…what happened?" he gazed darted to Jasper standing against the far wall, why wasn't he trying to calm the nerves in here. Without looking at her handed her a letter inside the smoothest paper envelope she'd ever seen. The paper had gold flecks in it and the calligraphy hinted at its origin. She bit her lip as she removed the letter.
"A summons from the Volturi?" She gasped, now she understood.