Umbrella's And Elephants by: Cinematic Sunrise
Dressed up from head to toe, to get by.
It seems once again, I forgot what keeps me safe and dry.
To the weepy windowpanes, that are dripping with dew...
I can hear the rain outside, falling from the sky
And you can hear the...
Pitter-patter on the rooftop
You can listen to the rhythm of the raindrops
I wish that the sun would come and stay
But this is a song for rainy days
(Leo D. quote from the movie Basketball Diaries = "You're growing up, and the rain sort of remains on the branches of a tree that will someday rule the Earth, and it's good that there is rain. It clears the month of your sorry rainbow expressions, and it clears the streets of the silent armies, so we can dance.")
Let's go dance around in the rain
Don't pay any attention to the people staring from inside
We'll leave all our cares behind
And you can hear it the...
And I know once the clouds shed their tears
I know that I'll be okay
I know that I'll be okay
Even if the rain always wins
And forces my eyes shut, to dream of
I'll still dream of brighter days
Panic assaulted my body, and I was reluctant to look up and face the person above me. The tears were collecting in my eyes and I tried to hold them back, but a few drops managed to escape. Slowly, I lifted my head to confirm my fears, to see those same red eyes from the night 7 years ago. He was coming back for me, I knew it. Shit, shit, double shit.
Once my face was tilted up to an angle that I could see this person at, my eyes met a pair of big dark topaz eyes, staring at me with so much intensity I could feel my heart beat pound even faster. It was a different kind of pounding beat though, not of fear. His face was directly in front of mine, and we were less than a foot apart. I could see a hint of happiness behind the intensity in his expression.
My heart melted as every trace of fear I once had vanished, being replaced my happiness and affection for these beautiful dark eyes and the person they belonged to. My eyes scanned the rest of the face, only to see even more beautiful dark features. He was perfect; adorable, yet very handsome and beautiful at the same time. His skin was pale and looked like it was made of porcelain. He was the most breathtakingly gorgeous boy I've ever seen, with beautiful dark hair cut a little bit under his ears.
He stared back at me also scanning me over with admiration and concern. His eyes were wide as they stared me down, and he tilted his head to the side a little as he looked at me. I felt a strange sensation in my stomach, like something fluttering inside of me. Was this the butterflies? As soon as I seen him up close, staring into my eyes, that was it. I felt something inside of me grow. The want, the need to be in his arms. I didn't understand it.
Once we both collected ourselves, he was the first to speak during the not so awkward silence. He lifted his hand to my cheek, wiping away the few tears that escaped delicately with his fingers. "Are you alright?" he asked in a caring Spanish accent (with a splash of Italian). I forgot how to breathe at the sound of his voice. It was so smooth, mysterious and beautiful, much like him.
I knew my shyness and awkwardness would deceive me. What a surprise. "Ye..yeah" I stuttered out, at a loss of words. I could feel my cheeks burning. Then, he flashed a big brilliant smile, showing all of his perfectly aligned white teeth. He was so beautiful, I could hardly register any thoughts. All I could possibly do was watch him and his godlike glory in a heavenly daze.
He chuckled at me, more than likely at my awkward response. "You're a bit clumsy, aren't you?" he asked. His voice and his accent was so unbelievably heart melting, I forgot what to say again. "Ye..yeah. I guess I am." Yet another awkward response. I was so nervous, words could barely even come out. The butterflies in my stomach still fluttered around.
He smiled politely, offering his hand, palm face-up, to help me get back on my feet. I accepted, and he pulled me up as we both had our eyes on each other the whole time. The way he looked at me, all I could do was melt. His eyes stared so deep into my own, like they were the windows to my soul and he was trying to decode my life story, why I am the way I am.
When I was up I fell again, but into his arms. Wow, I was falling a lot today I thought to myself. I felt an urge to wrap my arms around him and snuggle myself into his chest that I was now leaning against from the fall. With him, even in these short few minutes, I felt at home. Like he was the one person I could actually relate to. I wanted to talk to him, get to know him and his life.
I noticed his shoulders slouch over like he was contemplating holding me in his arms, but then he straightened up and politely lifted me away from him. It was too quick, as if he quickly but reluctantly changed his mind and pushed me away. He looked down regretfully, and his once peaceful face looked like he was pained and in the midst of some internal dilemma.
I noticed the other boy standing next to him, looking at me worriedly and pensively. This boy had the same bronze hair as Renesmee, and was just as gorgeous. They're related, no doubt. Both of the boys in front of me had similar builds. The dark haired one that complicates my breathing was slightly taller than the other boy, who was already about 6 feet. He was about the same height as Landon, who was 6'3. They were both skinny and boyish, but with very toned bodies.
The bronze haired boy moved his mouth quickly to the dark haired one who helped me up. I couldn't hear any words or make any of the movements out to read his lips most of the time. They looked back and forth between each other and me, and I knew there was some form of communication going on between them.
In that instant, as soon as I thought that, the bronze haired boy looked up at me shocked and confused. For a moment he just looked at me, his eyes wide with confusion. Then the dark haired boy spoke up. "I guess we'll see you around." and he turned in the opposite direction.
Wait, what? They're leaving, just like that? I don't know why, but I didn't want them to leave. I felt like if I let them leave, they'd disappear and I'd never see them again. I felt like they were just a dream, the beautiful, charming creatures that they were, and if I let them go that would be it. This thought was heart breaking to me, and I couldn't comprehend why that was. This is weird.
"Wait, don't go. Why do you have to leave so soon?" I said. He turned back in my direction again, looking pained and sad. "I apologize, but we must. My brother and I, we have some family matters that we need to get settled..." I felt a pang and looked down to the ground sadly. I can't believe myself right now. Why was I so attached to this guy?
"Oh and why don't you be a little more careful next time" he said, and I noticed a little chuckle. "I'll try" I told him nonchalantly. "Well I'll try to make sure you keep that promise" he murmured, more to himself than to me. "Sorry, Adalia, we don't mean to be rude." said the bronze haired boy apologetically.
Before I could say anything else. They turned to walk away. They were so fast and graceful. "Wait! What are your names? How do you know my name...?" I asked as I tried running after them with no success. I just watched in awe at their quick graceful movements, until they turned and were out of sight. Jesus Christ, those kids are fast.
I stopped, frustrated and confused. Why were they looking at me so strangely? How did he know my name? Did they know the rumors that I was crazy and wanted to run away as fast as they could from me? I frowned as I thought that. Those rumors ruined everything.
In elementary school, not long after that night I heard someone talking about vampires, and everything clicked in my mind. Vampires, that creature must have been a vampire, I thought. He had sharp teeth and he sucked the blood from my family, what else could it have been, I thought as I talked myself into believing in myths.
In the middle of my thoughts is where I made the worst mistake. "Vampires don't exist" one kid said. "I'm not so sure about that..." I challenged, still dazed in my thoughts. Once I snapped out of it, every head was staring at me like I was insane. Everyone who knew me stopped talking to me since then, because they all thought I was crazy.
I've redeemed myself since then though, and always go with the "I was just a little kid" excuse, rolling my eyes. I still am not so sure they don't exist. Maybe I really am crazy. I broke out of my reverie, remembering I do have a class to get to. I'm so late. When I got to class, I gave my teacher the pass and went to my seat. I began drifting off into day dream land, thinking about the two guys in the hallway.
The bronze haired one and how he looked at me confused and shocked. What did I do to confuse and/or shock him? The dark haired one, who was the epitome of a tall, dark (well, not skin tone wise) and handsome mysterious stranger. So gorgeous that he complicated my breathing. The way he looked at me so deeply, it made my heart melt. His beautiful accent, so handsome and kind, yet strong. The way I felt at home with him, in his arms...
What was I thinking? I just met the guy, barely, and now I feel at home with him? I don't even know his name or anything about him. How stupid can I be? I gave up trusting guys a long time ago, I trust too easily and set myself up for disappointment. It would always end before it even began.
Whenever I'd start building a relationship with someone, they'd run away soon after. I'm convinced that it's because of the rumors. Those rumors that I hate so much. It ruins everything. No, that vampire ruined everything. My family's life was perfect before he came along and destroyed it. My life was perfect. A loving, caring, and strong mother, a sweet and innocent little sister, and a protective and fun older brother who was my best friend.
Now they're all gone and my friends have abandoned me. I've barely brought up my reputation, but sometimes the rumors come back to haunt me. Sometimes I wonder what life would have been like if that had never happened. I suddenly felt bad; my dad was here too, life could be worse. I love my dad so much, and I'm glad we have each other. He's the only person in my life who I fully trust, if I didn't have him, I'd be truly lost. I shouldn't take him for granted.
A random thought finally occurred to me that was lingering in my mind somewhere. The dark haired boy was so cold and hard, just like the man in the woods. Were those two boys the same thing the man in the woods was? No, that's impossible. They can't be like him; they can't be what he is. Even though, logically, I was able to convince myself there was no relation, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach telling myself otherwise. Just like earlier, my intuition was telling me that my conclusions are correct somehow.
"Ugh" I sighed, too quiet for anyone to hear, while I slouched down into my chair. Nothing can ever be simple, can't it? That dark haired boy would never be interested in me, Adalia Greenfield, the girl with a reputation for being insane. The awkward, small and shy girl who barely talks and doesn't have many friends. The girl with an unnaturally vibrant shade of red hair, and rich colored sea foam green eyes. The boring girl who doesn't have much of a life.
I sighed sadly. I'm not pretty enough for him. With his godlike beauty, he's sure to be able to get any girl he wanted here. He probably already has some gorgeous amazing girlfriend. Either way, I have no chance. I'd better not get my hopes up.
I put my head down on my desk, letting my hair fall over my face. Ever since the rumors were started, I've wanted to be invisible, but my weird hair color doesn't exactly help achieve that goal. It made me stand out, no one has ever seen a red this shade before.
All though I've attempted to master the art of disappearing and was successful for the most part, my hair grabs people's attention a lot. It's hard to blend in with the crowd when physically, you don't. I learned to deal with it, and do anything else in my power not to stand out too much. I hated getting any attention, because I make a fool of myself and half the time, it's not a good kind of attention in the slightest. Whatever, all this teen angst won't do me any good. I'm just being whiny.
"Adalia!" I heard someone scream suddenly, interrupting my thoughts. Shawn Woods, this random kid who never stops bothering me. He's nice, in a way, but the niceness always seems pretty fake to me. It's like he's only trying to take advantage of my company. He's popular with most girls around here, but I find him very irritating.
"Shawn." I said, exasperatedly. He half smiled, "Why don't you come to my party on Saturday?" Why would he invite me to his party? I gave him a skeptical look. "Seriously, it will be cool. Lots of interesting people will be there, you'll have a blast." he winked. "No thank you, Shawn." I said as politely as I could muster. I'll pass on any opportunity to be embarrassed.
"Awww" he whined. "Trust me, you have to come." He stared into my eyes, attempting to hold a long piercing gaze. Probably to charm me into giving in, but his attempt failed miserably. When he noticed I wasn't going to cave any time soon, he sighed. "I hope you'll change your mind." he told me, frowning.
Suddenly, I heard another voice talking. "Oh, why not Adalia? You know you want to, everybody will be there." Sophia Delong, one of the worst girls on my case. She's been tormenting me ever since the day the rumor started, while most people let it go after a few years. "Besides, Shawn's inviting the new kids." She nudged him, "Aren't you, Shawn?"
He eyed me, looking as if he has the potential to get me to decide to go using this new piece of information. Why does he want me to go so bad? "Yeah, I am inviting them." he smiled. An uproar of conversation and voices suddenly started. "Oh! Are you really?" Stacy, a girl in Sophia's 'group' said obnoxiously.
"They're sooo sexy!" Megan, another girl in her group said dreamily. These girls really need to lay off the caffeine.
"Who are they?" asked Stacy. "I know one of their names is Edward Cullen, and most of them are Cullen's too." answered Sophia. Renesmee Cullen, I thought. This Edward must be her brother or something.
"One of their names is Renesmee Cullen" I said, trying to not be so introverted for once. Sophia raised a perfect eyebrow. "That's a strange name." she spit out bitterly. She doesn't really like me giving my input on anything. Sophia was the queen bee of the junior class. She was like a living Barbie doll, with perfect physique and shiny long blond hair.
She's hated me since before I could remember, and I've never done anything to her. That's why I don't understand why she wanted me to go to that party. "Edward is completely gorgeous, but I think he's taken." stated Megan. "Do we know anything about the other Cullen's?" Sophia asked annoyed. "There are like... eight of them?" Megan said, raising an eyebrow.
"That's a huge family." Sophia said, surprised. "Wait, are they all related?"
"I'm not sure... but lunch is soon, so we'll find out more soon enough."
___________________________
The lunch bell rang, sending all of the students jumping out of their seats and rushing out the door. I waited for Kayla to catch up. She was in that class with me, but she sat all the way on the other side of the room. Once she caught up, we began walking towards lunch. Kayla was a good friend of mine, sort of. We never did anything outside of school really, because she's always so busy, but she's always been a good friend. She eyed be concernedly, and then began to talk. "What was all of that about?"
"What was what about?" I asked, confused. "Shawn Woods, what was his deal?"
"Oh, I have no idea. He just randomly asked me to go to his party." I told her innocently. "That's weird. I thought he and his friends didn't like you." They thought I was crazy. "And that's exactly what I thought, too" I told her, shrugging. "Are you going to go to it?"
"I don't.. know. I didn't want to, but look where that's gotten me." I told her, laughing with no humor. She knows that I don't go to many parties like most kids my age. I never have the chance. Maybe I should go, take a chance this time and have fun. Make mistakes, and be able to learn from them. How bad could it be? Well, actually, that was pretty dumb, plenty of bad things could happen. I suddenly didn't want to spend my whole life hiding from the bad things anymore, though. "Oh." she said, simply.
We got into the lunch line and got our food, and went to our normal spots. The table wasn't exactly normal today though, there were extra people sitting at it. Me and Kayla were the only ones from our group here today, so we could easily fit into the long table anyway. That's when I noticed who the extra people at the table were. Eight students I've never seen before, with the exception of three. Two had beautiful bronze hair, and were gorgeous; I've seen these two before. I also noticed a dark head sitting along with them. It was the dark haired boy from the hallway.
There were two empty seats on the end, and we sat down cautiously. I've noticed that, like me, everyone is very intimidated by these new students, particularly because of their uncanny good looks. Kayla and I didn't talk the entire time. It was too awkward to go on with our own conversations. Me and Kayla sat across from each other, and of course, ironically enough, I was lucky enough to have to sit next to the dark haired boy. The boy that makes my heart skip a beat and causes butterflies to flutter in my stomach.
Kayla sat next to the bronze haired boy I had seen in the hallway earlier. Next to him was a girl who I at first almost mistaken for Renesmee, but realized it wasn't her. She was incredibly beautiful, with dark brown (or was it auburn?) hair just as long as Renesmee's. She could have easily been a model, being more beautiful than many models themselves.
The dark brown haired girl and the bronze haired boy stared at each other passionately. The way they looked at each other made me stare in envy. They were clearly a couple; what with the way they looked at each other like they were the only two people in the room. They looked into each other's eyes, and I got a strange impression they would die for each other, they loved each other so much. Hannah and Landon's love was just as strong, but more playful, affectionate and cute. These two here had a passionate relationship that was evident in the way their love for each other just radiated from them like a fire.
Next to the dark haired girl who looked a lot like her, was Renesmee, looking as beautiful as she did earlier. She and the bronze haired boy had to have been related, the resemblance there was very clear. Next to her was a small girl, who looked like she might be slightly smaller than me, with small pixie like features, and cute spiky black hair. Across from her was a tall and lean boy with honey blond hair. It looked like he and the black haired girl was a couple. To his right, there was a burly boy with a round face and dark curly short hair, giving him a child like look, yet his size made him look intimidating. To his right, was what looked like his a girlfriend; a gorgeous, Barbie looking blond like Sophia, except she looked more elegant. Then to her right, was the dark haired boy, who was next to me.
They all looked so different, yet there were common characteristics they each shared. First, each of them had a shade a topaz eyes, an eye color I never knew existed. Renesmee was the only one in the group who had something other than topaz eyes, with her chocolate brown ones. Second, they were all pale, paler than I was, and I have something pretty close to albino skin, basically. Most of them also had dark shadows under their eyes. They didn't eat the food in front of them either, except for Renesmee, who was eating only sparingly. Above all else, each of them had inhuman beauty, it almost seemed impossible for anyone to be as beautiful as they were.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to sit there or not. One part of me felt like grabbing Kayla and making a run for it, finding a new table, while the other had no intentions of moving, and wanted to stay right by the dark haired boy's side.
I looked up at the dark haired boy next to me, while nibbling on my food, to see his expression. He was looking at the bronze haired boy across from him hiding his face with his right hand, slouching as far from me as he could. I suddenly felt terrible. He didn't want to look at me, or he didn't want me to see him. I glanced up nervously at the boy across from him, who caught my glance and stared back at me for a moment. He returned my nervous and distressed expression, and looked pensive like he had earlier. Then I quickly looked down, embarrassed and self conscious. I could feel the blood flaming in my cheeks.
The part of me who wanted to run away was winning this time. I frowned and looked back at Kayla, who was examining the new students for herself in awe. I was surprised her jaw didn't drop. The girl next to the bronze haired boy hugged tightly onto him, and shot me a sympathetic glance when we locked eyes for a moment. I was so confused.
I looked at all of the other new student's expressions. The pixie like girl looked at me curiously and excitedly, but also concerned at the same time. The burly boy looked as if he would laugh about the situation for some reason, but was trying hard to be serious. Renesmee looked at me with recognition and happiness, but that switched to a concerned frown as she looked like she was reminded of something. Then I looked at the two blond haired students. The boy looked frustrated and regretful. The girl looked at me with an angry expression with a mixture of others swirled into them. One of the expressions mixed into them frightened me then, the hatred reminding me of a sinister look that the man in the forest had once made.
My cheeks flushed and I swallowed hard, trying to remove those thoughts from my mind. The bronze haired boy perked his head up at me suddenly, looking at me with an expression I did not understand. It was like he was concerned for me, not for the same thing as before, but for what I went through that night, like he knew what had happened and could comprehend it. He also looked interested and confused. A line formed in between his two perfect eyebrows as he looked at me. In my peripheral vision, I noticed the dark haired boy look down at me. He stared into my eyes momentarily and then recoiled back into his previous stance.
The girl next to the bronze haired boy started to speak. "I'm sorry, did my family and I take you and your friends seats?" she asked. "Uh, well we do sit here every day. But we don't have any more people coming, so there's enough room for the two of us today."
"Oh, I see. Well we can move, if you'd like..."
"No, that won't be necessary." I told her. I wanted to get out of there anyway, I couldn't take the tension. Why had they been so tense? "My friend and I can leave, it's no problem. I'm sorry we invaded your... space." I stood up, picking up my lunch. Kayla looked like she didn't want to get up, but she followed any way. The girl frowned, "I'm sorry if we made you feel uncomfortable. You really don't have to leave though."
"It's perfectly fine with us" I said quickly. I looked down at the dark haired boy now, who was looking up at me. Directing my gaze toward him, I said "I guess we'll see you around", repeating what he had told me earlier. He widened his eyes a little, looking at me like he had earlier. I still watched him a second or two more, and then I turned around swiftly, afraid to look back at their watching faces.
What had I done wrong? The dark haired boy just about went out his way to stay as far away from me as possible. I felt the tears well up in my eyes, but I held them back. Why did they look at me with such expressions. They ranged from confused, concerned, pensive, and hostile and angry. I hoped it wasn't about me, but then I couldn't deny the way they looked at me, it looked like I was the subject of their emotions.
"I'm so lost." said Kayla.
"So am I, Kayla. I don't even know where to begin on how lost I am"
Please make sure to review. =]
And also check out the song in the beginning if you've never heard it before. It's a very good song.
I'm going to put other songs in my chapters as well. Songs that I think fit the meaning of the story and/or chapter.
Thank you for reading.
