PE was boring, Emmett thought as he ducked smoothly to avoid the ball flying in his direction.
Yes - he liked the relative freedom of it, the fact that he could move around people without too much restraint. The large spaces combined with humans staying out of his way because of his vamp vibes, made this his favorite part of high school. That's why he had taken PE again this year, even though he was a senior. And, he sniggered, many had followed. Vamp vibes or not, he had always had his share of admirers. And jealous guys trying to compete.
But, as of not too long ago, there had been another reason to take PE. There also was the possibility of blood being spilled. Usually it wasn't anything more than a few scrapes and cuts, but it was blood nonetheless. And that was both bad and good.
While he was not as sensitive to the smell of blood as Jasper still was, he could certainly do a lot better in that department. Better than his family knew. Or would ever know. For the past year, for a reason he hadn't yet figured out, he had begun to have more trouble keeping focused around the smell of fresh blood. He hadn't slipped up, so there was no need to tell anyone yet. His family would never believe him if he told them, but even blabbermouth Emmett had his secrets. Or, only this one, actually. Which he was only barely able to keep from them. Especially Rose. She would make him squirm and moan and beg until…
His thoughts were momentarily interrupted by panicked shouts from the other team. They were clearly losing - their fifth game in a row. It annoyed him.
He had taken PE again this year to regain control of his hunger, but at times like these he vowed to himself never to take PE again. Humans were just so easy to beat, it wasn't even funny.
He also vowed that his lack of control – he cringed at the thought – would soon be over. He didn't like keeping secrets. And he certainly didn't like weakness. Plus, Carlisle would probably disapprove of his choices and make him quit PE immediately - even if it meant no graduation. After all, many more would follow. Or at least he would make him harden his senses in a safer way. Carlisle never really restricted them in anything, except when it came to the possibility of losing control around humans. He was a real pain when it came to that. And now with Bella around, he had been even more careful. Which made sense with Bella's obvious frailty - but still. Carlisle could definitely loosen up a little recently. Anyway, what was the last time he had heard him and Esme…
Right, he ordered himself. Back to the game. But even with the freedom it provided and the challenge of blood to resist, PE was still so boring. No action, no awesomeness.
No hitting the ball with the sound of thunder.
No running across the field in the blink of an eye.
No crushing his opponent into the ground while wrestling.
"Just a lot of noes," he grunted quietly.
Someone from his own team played him the ball. He caught it effortlessly, turned around in one fluid movement and took out the last guy on the opponent's team with a deadly blow.
Well… not exactly deadly of course, but he was out anyway. Emmet sighed. It had been a long time ago since he had dealt deadly blows to anything larger than a deer. He definitely had to round up the family to go do some bear wrestling soon.
He threw an angry look at the team at the other side of the line. No bears. Only some giggly, small, inexperienced girls in skimpy shorts. He sighed again. His hands were itching to hurt something. Or someone.
They were playing dodgeball, which normally wasn't too bad. But today, they were playing against juniors. Juniors!
Their PE teachers had decided to make things more 'interesting' by putting juniors and seniors together during PE classes. The theory was that the juniors would benefit from the more experienced seniors, and the seniors would be a little more careful to play by the rules since getting a junior hurt wouldn't exactly be a plus right before graduation. On top of that, it was supposed to stimulate the 'vertical integration' as they called it; according to the new school plans they were to integrate more with students from other years.
He was actually glad he was about to graduate. Seniors would sometimes give manage to him some resemblance to a workout, but juniors… That was just no fun. Less than no fun. And so now even PE sucked. He clenched his fists in frustration.
He tried to shrugged it off though as he saw the slowest ball ever coming back at him and smirked despite of himself. Poor juniors. They didn't know yet not to try and beat Emmett.
Although he still felt worked up, he made sure not to crush the ball when he caught it. Years of PE experience had taught him to treat balls as if they were made of porcelain. He had endured too many angry teachers snatching away deflated balls from him to make that mistake again. And he certainly didn't want to get in trouble with graduation just around the corner.
He took a deep breath as he scouted for a target and took aim.
"Eliza, duck!" he suddenly boomed across the hall as he prepared to throw the ball over his – very attractive - teammates head towards the new girl in the red team. She wasn't paying attention; her whole demeanor oozed clumsiness and a serious lack of coordination. Before he was even fully conscious of his decision, he had picked his objective and threw.
And missed. He never missed.
"What the hell…!" he rumbled across the hall.
That did not just happen.
Somehow, he has missed, and this – this clumsy, tiny, redhead junior - was still standing. Her teammates were cheering at her; everyone knew that once Emmett had you targeted, you were out. Supposedly.
The girl threw a timid - or was it challenging? - smile his way and made something that almost resembled a curtsy, then dodged a ball thrown by one of his teammates fluently. Her teammates cheered even harder as she blushed under the attention. All the while, her eyes didn't leave his.
That was it. This girl clearly was some kind of freak, and he was going to end her. Right now. He clenched his fists so tight that his arms started to shake a little.
With large steps, but not fast enough to draw immediate attention to himself, Emmett started to stalk into the girl's direction, dodging another ball aimed by one of the elated juniors. He wasn't aware of the snarl building up in his throat until a wide-chested senior stepped right in front of him, stopping him dead in his tracks.
"Cool down Emmett," Hardy warned him under his breath. He quickly glanced at their teacher, then at the location of the ball. "You don't wanna get Mr. Jameson all worked up about you again with only a few more weeks to go! And anyway – they're losing, in case you hadn't noticed." He pointed at what was left of the opposite team. The girl was still wearing her freaky half-smile.
For a moment, it felt as though Hardy was talking to him through a tunnel. All he could see was her face. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing right up. His eyes were still locked with her pale green ones.
Get her, was all he could think. Kill her.
He snarled out loud when Hardy grabbed his arm and swung him around. Hardy let go of him as if burned.
"Yo, Em – what's wrong with you, man?" He glanced anxiously at Mr. Jameson, who was watching them from the other side of the hall. Emmett noticed one of his teammates nearby held onto the ball he had just caught, trying to listen in on the conversation. Hardy looked down to see his arms shaking. "Dude, chill! I haven't seen you so worked up since Yun punched you in the face last year! What's the deal?"
Emmett felt as if he woke up from a dream. His instincts were telling him to fight, attack, kill. Although it took only an instant, he felt as if he was moving in slow motion when he turned his focus towards Hardy. His thoughts were racing. He licked his lips and consciously relaxed his body. His jaw felt tight.
"Sorry man," he mumbled. "But… man! Did you see? I missed my target! Me, Emmett Cullen – I missed! I missed…" he ended with a croaky voice. He took a deep breath and put on what he hoped was a more composed face. He mentioned for his teammate to move the game along.
"Damn. Must be those pesky immature little rats really getting on my nerves today." He gestured over his shoulder towards their opponents, letting some of his quite real frustration shine through.
Hardy nodded knowingly.
"Dude, those juniors are killing me! This just isn't fair, you know? Did you see that girl you just missed? She's nothing more than skin and bones, all awkward and such a nerd. I can't believe she dodged that throw!"
"Plus eh… Rose was giving me a… hard time last night," Emmett added, trying to change the subject. The girl he would deal with later. He laughed to make it look more relaxed, hearing Mr. Jameson blow his whistle while sensing him walking in their direction. Hardy smiled as he slapped him on the back.
"Ah man, poor you – Rose can be a real tough bi- eh, babe," Hardy quickly corrected himself as Emmett shot him a deadly stare. He threw his hands up in an apologizing gesture. "B-but I'm sure you two'll work it out!"
"Is everything alright, Mr. Cullen?" Mr. Jameson asked as he arrived and scanned Emmett's rigid face.
"Yes sir," Emmett politely replied, quickly straightening out his face again. "Everything is fine. I'm just not being used to missing my target, I guess. Especially a junior!" His painful smile was all too real.
Despite Jameson being known as a strict teacher, he had some sense of humor. He smiled.
"Yes, I saw her getting away. Working hard for the finals eh, Mr. Cullen? Must be all that late night studying finally getting to you." He chuckled, then turned around and blew his whistle three times.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, time to call it quits. I've got an appointment right after this period, so you're off the hook early today. See you next week."
Hardy threw him another apologetic look and headed for the showers. After a minute, feeling more in control, Emmett turned around to look for the girl. She was standing at the opposite side of the hall, being stopped on her way to the showers by that Newton nerd.
As he walked towards her, he tried really hard not to clench his fists again. When he was only a few steps away, she suddenly cocked her head a little, as if listening to far away music. Suddenly she turned her head, looked at him curiously for a brief second and within the next, she was through the door.
Newton looked at him as if he was ready to squash him like a bug.
What was happening to him?
So, now Emmett's had a little taste of Ava as well. Well, not literally, but you get my drift. Any thoughts on Emmett's last question?