Thank you all for such positive feedback on the first chapter! This one took a little bit longer to write, and it might not be as interesting, but I do hope you enjoy!
Class was probably the most nerve-wracking thing I had ever felt in my life. After Alec had introduced himself, he had sat down in a desk on the other side of the classroom while Miss Hammond stood up and began barking out orders to get out the reading material that had been required that summer.
As the woman in front of the room droned on about the beginning of homo-sapiens and the evolution of their inventions, I kept my eyes on the same page of the textbook in front of me. I knew he was watching me, they said the human brain could always sense when a pair of eyes was on you, and I was afraid that if I looked up I would look at him. After the few much too intimate connections in the cafeteria and at the beginning of class, I didn't want another one.
The bell rang, and I jumped at the sound. I heard Alec chuckle softly. That bastard, I thought to myself as I walked out the door as fast as possible, maybe a little too fast. I hadn't been watching where I was going and I ran into a girl that felt like a stone wall. I gulped as I looked into the eyes of Alec's twin, who was glaring at me like I had just made the most offensive joke in the world. Murmuring a soft apology I made way to excuse myself.
"Oh, Renesmee. Don't walk away just yet," Jane's voice rang as she stepped in one graceful movement into my path, "I would like to speak to you."
I shivered involuntarily. Jane was now the most terrifying person I had ever met. And this was going against my Aunt Alice when the cashier would break her credit card. Taking a deep breath, I listened against my will. Jane smiled.
"While we are new here and it is such a small town, I'd very much prefer you do not tell your family about us," she told me in a soft and angelic voice. If I hadn't known any better I would have thought she was being nice, "and if you do, we'll find you."
Alec joined us then and gave a small laugh at the last sentence. Putting his arm around Jane he said to her,
"Come on now, Jane. We wouldn't want to scare her away from her own town now would we?" Alec looked at me and gave me a sly look, like he knew something about me that I didn't. I glared at the two of them.
"Why are you here? You don't need school and if you had wanted to check up on me and my family you didn't have to enroll," I told them with a surprisingly strong voice, "I can't really keep you guys a secret either," I pointed to my head, "mind reader for a father, remember?"
Alec laughed humorlessly again.
"Renesmee, I know you can evade his gift. Mi aspetto che voi per aiutarvi, cara," he said and winked, giving my stomach butterflies. Helplessly I nodded, my eyes dragging off his perfect features to see Jane scowling at me once again.
"Don't disappoint us, Renesmee," she sneered before taking her brother by the arm and walking to their next class. As I turned to walk away, I could have sworn I saw Alec watching me even as he stepped in the opposite direction. My heart thumped unevenly before I hurried off to my next class.
XxXxX
French was my final class of the day and I could barely concentrate. My head was spinning from the events of the day and I was so out of it I didn't even hear my name being called.
"Miss Cullen. I would appreciate if you paid attention to our discussion. If you think your thoughts are more important than this class, I won't hesitate to give you a failed quiz."
A few students in the class snickered and I hung my head, embarrassed.
"Sorry, Mr. Greene," I murmured at my desk.
"As I was saying, conjugations are irregular for some verbs you would often use-"I was already not listening again. I was fluent in French, Spanish, and Italian already anyway. Speaking of Italian… I bit my lip and blushed as I looked out the window.
"Miss Cullen! Would you like to share what has you so flushed when we're talking about grammar?"
I gritted my teeth. I hated this teacher. He was testing my patience and my disguise as a human. I wanted to muster all the strength I had and throw him through the wall. I heard more snickers and I gave a death glare to the rest of the class.
"Nothing. Sorry."
He looked like he was going to say something else, and I braced myself for something even more mortifying, but all I got was a "see me after class". I sighed. This was the worst day of my life.
Class drawled on and by the end I was anxious to go. The bell announcing it was the end of the school day sounded, and everyone began to file out the door. Picking up my books and my bag, I walked to where Mr. Greene was sitting at his desk.
"You wanted to talk to me?" I asked, already eager to get out of here. I was meeting Jacob after school and I didn't want to miss that.
"I've heard good things about you Renesmee and I'm not going to underestimate your potential," he told me without looking up from the computer sitting on his desk, "but I expect people to take classes and school seriously and I can't have students acting as if this is just a big game. This is what's going to decide your life."
I resisted laughing out loud in his face right there. I had already been able to take three online college classes and become fluent in three different languages. This joke of an education wasn't going to help me. I was already smart enough.
"Of course, I understand," I told him in the sweetest voice possible, "I won't do it again, I promise."
Mr. Greene seemed pleased enough with the answer and let me go then. As I was walking out, I pulled out my phone to see I had a new text message from Jacob:
MEET ME AT THE BEACH IN AN HOUR.
I grinned as I anticipated seeing my closest friend and hanging out with him for the rest of the afternoon. I couldn't tell him much about my day, of course, but I could enjoy his presence all the same.
"Now, I couldn't help but overhear that Renesmee Cullen was having a wet daydream in her French class," an elegant voice sounded from behind me. I blushed and turned to face him.
"It was not a wet daydream! I'm surprised you even know what that is," I snapped in my defense. I didn't like the way he made me feel. I felt reckless and out of control just to be in the same room as him. Alec just laughed humorlessly again before looking around the halls. They were empty, everyone had left. I swallowed.
Suddenly he was in front of me, his hand bringing up my chin to look into his violet eyes.
"Then why is that delicate face of yours so pink? Your humanity betrays you, Renesmee," he smiled at me and I couldn't help but look at his lips just inches away from mine. I felt my mouth go dry and I struggled to speak words. With him so close to me I could sense what smelled like honeysuckle and musk, I couldn't believe those two actually went together. All too soon, Alec stepped away from me.
"While it's always a pleasure, Miss Cullen, I am my sister's ride and I cannot keep her waiting long," he held up a pair of black car keys, "you are welcome to join, of course, if you still need a ride to the beach."
I narrowed my eyes. He had read that text over my shoulder! He grinned at my expression.
"I'll take that as a no for today, then. It's been joyful speaking with you, cara."
I felt my face flush again at the sound of his Italian and I felt frozen as I watched his retreating figure with awe. How did he do that? I wondered to myself as I hurried to the Volvo in the lot when I reached the outside of the building. He was driving me crazy and I felt a buzz in places I never felt before. I needed to get rid of these thoughts, he was Alec damn Volturi! All I could hope was that Jacob could take my mind off things.
XxXxX
An hour later, I parked my car in the dirt parking lot overlooking the beach. Jacob's Volkswagen was parked here so I knew I was going to find him down at the shore. I carefully walked down grassy hill to the beach, looking keenly for his dark hair and russet skin. Finally, I found him sitting on the crook of a tree that made a makeshift bench. He had that same look of longing I had seen this morning and I found myself worried. I could feel that something was going on that was gnawing at him.
I pounced onto his back and covered his eyes and giggled.
"Guess who?" I laughed as he caught my legs so I wouldn't fall. I could feel his smile radiate through him.
"I guess… Embry?" Jacob asked with mock difficulty. I laughed joyfully again.
"Nope! Guess again!"
"Quil?"
"Nope!"
"Seth?"
"No!"
"Leah?"
I continued laughing as I hopped off his back and turned him to face me so I could hug him. It felt nice to have something normal to hang on to after a rough day. If you call a werewolf normal, that is.
"You were wrong!" I grinned up at Jake's face and was ecstatic to see that he was smiling too. Good, that means he's doing fine. I let go of him and sat down on the tree and patted the spot next to me as a signal for him to sit down with me, "what was wrong yesterday?"
Jake hesitated and any trace of easiness I had given him was gone. I frowned.
"You remember how when you were born, we had to explain about how I imprinted on you?"
I nodded. Of course I did. Jacob was not only my best friend, but my protector. It was usually very rare for someone of the Quileute tribe to imprint, and I was the first supernatural creature to be imprinted on. This was the rarest of rare.
"Well, we left a part out of the explanation when we first told you."
My eyes widened. What had my family and Jacob kept from me about imprinting? Does it not last forever?
"What didn't you tell me, Jacob?" I heard the hurt in my voice and cursed myself. I didn't want him to think I would hate him for this!
"The main reason wolves imprint is not just to be a protector of a few select people, Ness," Jacob explained. I felt uncomfortable all of the sudden. What else was I here for?
"What is the point of imprinting, Jacob?" I asked as my voice trembled slightly. I was scared to hear his answer. But I needed to know. Jake hesitated, like he didn't want to say anything.
"What is the point?" I repeated louder, I felt hysteria rising into my voice as well. Jacob looked pained as I watched him furiously. Then suddenly, he was kissing me.
Jacob Black was kissing me. My very best friend.
Who I did not think of as a romantic partner.
I pushed him off me with a startled look and started backing away. He reached out to me and grabbed my arm.
"Ness listen-" he began but I cut him off immediately.
"No! You just kissed me, Jacob! Is that what imprinting is? You finally get together with me at the end?" I shouted as I felt tears spring into my eyes, "you were using me this entire time, weren't you? You never just wanted to be my friend; you were just waiting until it wouldn't be strange to sleep with me!"
Jake looked stricken. This obviously hadn't been the reaction he had expected. What else was he hoping for? A make out session with the girl he saw grow up? I thought bitterly to myself as I glared at him.
"Nessie, I never thought that! Imprinting is a way to pass on the gene so more wolves can protect the tribe! I didn't feel those romantic feelings for you!" Jacob seemed to be desperately grabbing at the straws and I felt disgust at the thought of ever speaking to him again.
"If you didn't have romantic feelings you wouldn't have kissed me! Is this the reason why you haven't dated anyone? Because you were waiting to get together with me? I can't believe this, Jacob, I thought I knew you," I didn't want to be here anymore. I was in shock that I had ever called Jake my friend.
"Renesmee please-" Jacob tried again and I shook him off and started walking back to the Volvo.
"Too late, Jacob. You've ruined this. I never want to see you again!" I felt my voice crack and I hated how weak I felt. I just felt so lost and hurt. I wanted my parents. I wanted someone to help me.
I sped to my car and pulled out before I even put my seatbelt on. I know Grandpa Charlie wasn't going to approve as the chief of police, but I couldn't care less right now. Speeding as fast as I could down the road, my vision was so blurry that I almost drove right over the side of the road.
It seemed like ages before I was finally parking the car in the garage and stalked into the living room. My father was sitting at the piano looking like he had just been playing a tune before I walked in. I didn't speak; only glared and let him read my thoughts as I replayed what betrayal had been experienced. All he did was frown.
"I had told him you would react this way," Dad finally said with a shake of his head, "I'm sorry, Renesmee. I'm sorry we never told you about all about imprinting."
I opened my mouth and shut it again. He had known! Rage consumed me like it never had before. This was exactly like an arranged marriage! I was given no choice but to fall in love with my best friend. After multiple attempts to find the words I spoke:
"I never want to see this family again."
I ran out the door before I could regret those words.
I ran so far that for a moment I thought I was in Canada. Thankfully, I somehow still had service on my cell phone so I knew I couldn't be far from a town. Leaning against a tree, I let a sob escape me. I had never felt so deceived in my life. Here I was, thinking that my family would one day let me make my own choices and I could try to be my own person. I had been sold off to be with my best friend whom I felt nothing for.
"Ah, la ragazza è triste. Una tragedia."
My head shot up and I growled at the figure in front of me. It couldn't have been too menacing coming from a girl in the middle of the woods crying, though.
"Go away before I file a restraining order. My grandfather is a cop, remember?" I snapped at the vampire boy who was looking at me with curiousity. Had he never seen tears before? His coven hunted humans for Christ's sake!
"Not until I know why you're crying," he said softly. If I didn't see his blank expression I would have thought he cared.
"It's none of your business! Just leave, alright? You're making this day worse than it has to be," my retort would have been strong if my voice hadn't cracked at the end. Damn my human habits! Alec smiled at me and my heart stuttered. It hadn't been like the charming ones he had used on the teachers in students at school, this one seemed slightly genuine.
"Well, Ren," he paused for a moment as he considered the nickname he had just used. Surprisingly, no one really called me that and he seemed to know it, "from your current state and your heartbeat's reactions to me just smiling at you, I believe I should stay."
He moved closer to me and I took a step back with a warning look. I couldn't trust any of the Volturi. They had tried to kill my family.
"Don't you have an evil twin to go gossip to?" I snapped and Alec surpressed a grin.
"Gossip about what, exactly? Bella ibridi?" Alec hadn't been able to resist smiling again, and he was obviously flirting now. Whether he was aware of this or not it was unsure. I scoffed.
"Save your charisma for someone who wants it. If you'll ever find someone besides your sister, that is," I just wanted to be left alone and this gorgeous boy is deciding to ruin it. His smile faltered and he scowled.
"I was making an attempt to be sympathetic, Ren. But from your current state I would have to guess it had to do with a kiss on the beach."
I jumped back at that statement. He had followed me from the school! Not enough good looks in the world could make up for the fact that this vampire had stalked me only to see me at my worst!
"Get away from me. Now," I snarled. I was much more angry than upset now, "I don't like having a vampire stalker."
He seemed to take note of the threat and backed away then, hands in his pockets like we had just had a casual conversation about schoolwork and not him mentioning that he was a creep. Then, with an apologetic look on his face, he spun around and was gone.
I felt drained. Today had been too much and I wanted to go home. I remembered how I had lashed out at my father and knew that I couldn't go back without receiving a lecture. I took out my phone and searched through my contacts until I found the person I was looking for. Dialing the number, the phone was picked up on the fifth ring.
"Renesmee? Is everything alright?"
I almost started crying again at the sound of Emma's voice coming through the receiver.
"Do you mind if I stay with you tonight, Emma?"
XxXxX
Emma was more than willing to give me a bed to sleep in that night. It had looked like her parents weren't to happy with her letting me stay spur of the moment, but I think their minds changed when they saw my puffy eyes and windblown appearance in general. Up in her room, we talked quietly and I told her as much as I could about my day without revealing anything.
"So, you left French only to run into the new kid? And he was acting cryptic?" Emma asked for clarification. I nodded and she shook her head, "I knew something was up with those two! Are you sure that's all you know about him? He didn't act weirdly any more than that?"
I bit my lip and nodded. I was tempted again to tell her about me and what I was dealing with but from what Alec had told me earlier today, I knew he or his sister wouldn't be far from me.
"Weird," Emma muttered again as she stood up to go through her small bookshelf. Her entire room was incredibly small compared to the mansion I lived in. While mine had cream colored walls and a spacious setup, Emma's was a dark red with a computer, bed, and dresser all within five feet of each other. Emma walked back with a large white book in her hands and gave it to me. I almost laughed aloud at the title.
THE COMPLETE BOOK OF FAERIES
Emma saw my look of amusement and frowned slightly.
"If I'm a witch then it is very likely that the Fae exist as well, Ness," she chided me and showed me the page to turn to. I had to admit, the faeries in this book did remind me quite a bit of the vampires I knew. They were mischievous and dark creatures, and they reminded me of Alec and Jane, somewhat. After an hour of studying the book, Emma shut it suddenly.
"No. This isn't right. They're not-" she paused and looked out the window with wide eyes. For a moment, I thought that she had seen something outside. But after a second Emma blinked and looked at me, smiling weakly. She had the same look Aunt Alice had whenever she had a hectic vision and didn't know what to do with the information. Emma changed the subject:
"So what had happened between you and Jacob? He had feelings for you?" Emma asked in a false sympathetic tone. It wasn't that she didn't care, she just looked to be struggling… I think. I nodded and looked down.
"Yeah, he invited me to the beach and… just kissed me. Forcefully too, I might add," I replied, leaving out the fact that it had been my first kiss. An un-enjoyable first kiss that I'll never be able to return. Emma smiled again and I knew that the conversation of the twins was over for the night.
This wasn't as eventful a chapter as the first one, but I do hope you enjoyed reading it! The plan is for me to update about every two weeks, with school starting up I'm still unsure about how consistent the story update will be. Please leave a review in the box below and fav/follow! Thank you!