Chapter 3
Forks High School.
The name itself gave Talyn a bad vibe, though she knew she couldn't back out of this. The warden would have her head on a silver platter for sure. Not that Talyn minded; she just didn't feel like having confrontation in the Weber house. Talyn showed up a few minutes before midnight the previous night, to which Mandy actually thanked her for being on time. Talyn simply nodded and went up to her room, no words needing to be said.
Mandy was still the warden though.
Talyn's thoughts turned from her prison to Samira, wondering if she went to school here. La Push was around a half a half an hour away give or take, depending how fast one drove. Talyn was a bit of a lead foot, having gone past the speed limit, only taking her twenty minutes to get home from La Push once she found the car again. The hike back wasn't as hard as it was getting to the beach, but it'd been very worth it.
Pulling in the parking lot with her 1989 Cutlass, Talyn ignored the stares she received as she finished her morning cigarette before putting it out in her ashtray. Her hair was pulled back in a simply bun, a few tendrils framing her face, which had the usual mask on it, eye shadow a blue fire design. Her outfit was the usual, black cargo pants and a blue long sleeved shirt with black mesh over it, leather jacket along with black steel toed boots. Rarely did Talyn wear anything colorful, unless it was blue, dark red or purple. Those were her colors, even though she favored blue over anything else, which clearly showed.
Stepping out of the car, Talyn clipped the keys to the belt loop, refusing to carry a backpack. Instead, she had a simple black bag with a white and blue skull crossbones embroidered on the front. She grabbed her wallet, sliding it in her front cargo thigh pocket, not trusting anyone. Living on the streets of Chicago, Talyn learned quickly to never slide anything valuable in her back pocket.
The students all stepped aside as Talyn looked up at the high school with disdain in her pale blue eyes, shouldering the bag, and reluctantly headed inside. Angela was off to the side talking with her best friend, Jessica Stanley and Mike Newton, Eric standing beside her with his arm draped over her neck casually. Talyn was definitely making a first impression and Angela hoped she didn't start any trouble with anyone.
"Wow who is the freak show?" Jessica snorted, leaning against Mike, who looked bored out of his mind.
Angela wondered if she should confess who it was, but Eric was too quick for her. "That's Angela's family. I think her god sister or something." He decided he would be keeping a respectful distant from Talyn while she was here. "She's staying with Angela for the year to finish her senior year, isn't that right baby?"
"Yeah…" Angela blushed furiously as Jessica began laughing, sounding annoying as usual. "We should really get to class you guys."
"Yeah, the yearbook committee won't wait!" Eric exclaimed, looping his arm through Angela's as he guided her away to class, leaving Jessica and Mike to watch after them.
The first stop for Talyn was the front office to grab her schedule, knowing she was coming toward the middle of the first semester, and looked it over with a snort. Biology, Trigonometry, Home Economics, English 12A, P.E., Health, Child Development and Study Hall were all listed in order by which period they were. She'd definitely be skipping Biology and Trigonometry, really hating how this school was just like the one in Chicago.
'Fucking great.' She thought sordidly, reluctantly heading to her first hour class, which was Biology with Mr. Stanford.
The class was in session when the door opened and Mr. Stanley stopped talking, staring at the dark faced girl. She looked like night of the living dead, though the teachers were not allowed to criticize or judge their students. He simply smiled at her, knowing this had to be Talyn Willow, clearing his throat to silence the class.
"Guys and gals, I'd like you all to meet Talyn Willow. She'll be finishing her senior year with us. Please make her feel welcome. Talyn, you can have any seat you wish." Mr. Stanford announced enthusiastically, not daring to touch the girl because she looked timid enough.
If anything, Talyn was amused by this welcome, though her eyes were perfectly guarded as she stared straight ahead. Mr. Stanford seemed alright for a teacher with short gray hair that had black streaks through it and a matching goatee. She walked away from him and down the aisle, always heading for the back, sliding in the first seat she saw, setting her bag down on the floor.
Class commenced and Talyn surprisingly found herself paying attention, jotting notes down, really liking how this teacher put Biology into perspective. He didn't make it sound like science at all and used real life situations as examples. Maybe she wouldn't skip this class after all, though Talyn didn't notice the pair of topaz colored eyes staring at her from halfway across the room. He wasn't even paying attention to Mr. Stanford's lecture about plants, more focused on the new face that entered the classroom.
When class ended, Talyn was stopped by Mr. Stanford to grab the homework to catch up on, assuring her she hadn't missed much. He wouldn't force her to makeup the first part of the semester because that'd be ludicrous and there was no need for it. Talyn actually thanked him in a low voice before heading out of the classroom, making sure to grab a hall pass, since he made her late for her second class.
Trigonometry wasn't as hard as Talyn thought, sitting in the middle, after being introduced –again- to the class. She recognized a few faces from her first class, refusing to speak to anyone. She just wanted to get her senior year over and done with so she could graduate and get out of this ghost town. Once again, unbeknownst to her, those same topaz eyes bored holes through her.
By the time lunchtime rolled around, Talyn was starving, refusing to eat cafeteria food. She simply bought a salad with bottled water from the snack bar, sitting down at one of the vacant tables near the window. That was until a shadow cast over her, causing Talyn to slowly look up at the rather large man in front of her. Great, he looked like a jock –jockstraps Talyn usually referred to them as-, especially with how built he was.
He wore a simple long sleeved gray shirt, the first three buttons on top undone, with a black shirt underneath and dark blue jeans. His hair was dark brown and cut short, contrasting nicely with his masculine pale white face and glowing topaz eyes. He was definitely intriguing, though Talyn wondered why he currently towered over her, raising a slow eyebrow.
"Is there a problem?" She finally demanded, watching the guy flash his pearly white teeth at her, rolling her eyes.
"You're in my seat." His soothing voice rumbled, setting his tray down on the table, knowing the others would arrive momentarily. "You're actually at a table that's been spoken for."
"Wow, really? Cause I could've sworn every table in this cafeteria was up for grabs." Talyn snorted, leaning back against the chair, tilting her head slightly to the side.
"Most people don't sit here." He stated with no venom in his voice, the same soothing musical tone sounding captivating.
"Well I'm not most people and I'm not moving." Talyn stated defiantly, refusing to let her guard down, watching as two other white faced figures showed up beside him. "Wow, you need bodyguards? How quaint."
"Who is this Emmett?" Alice asked sweetly, her voice sounding like bells, holding her tray with mildly curious topaz eyes.
"An intruder." Emmett muttered, sitting down in the far seat away from the masked one, crossing his muscular arms over his chest. "Apparently she refuses to move so we can…eat."
Alice laughed softly, shaking her head. "Oh dear Emmett, she can sit with us. Stop being so rude." She turned those mirrored topaz orbs toward the girl, extending her hand, not one blemish on her perfect complexion. "Hi, I'm Alice Cullen. This is Jasper, my other half, and the big brute over here is Emmett."
What made this girl think Talyn gave a damn what their names were? She watched as Alice and Jasper sat down, acting like it was no big deal she was sitting with them. Talyn wondered what other strange people she would meet in this town, looking outside as the rain began pouring; deciding she desperately needed a cigarette. P.E. was her next class and she planned on skipping out, flat out refusing to change into the moronic gym suit the warden had bought for her.
"Well this has been...yeah whatever." Talyn stood up from the table, shouldering her bag and took her salad, having barely touched it over to a nearby trashcan.
Alice, Jasper and Emmett watched the girl walk away hastily and Alice glared over at Emmett, shaking her head sadly. "I know you're hurt by what Rosalie did, but that gives you no right to treat the humans like that."
"I simply told her she was on our turf." Emmett grumbled, picking at his food, none of them eating human food.
With great help from Carlisle, the Cullens managed to keep their thirst for human blood at bay with animals, which is why their eyes were a deep gold instead of ruby red. The Cullens were vampires, though they hid their true identities to perfection, having gone to high school at least twenty times in their existence. They had to blend in with Forks, knowing it was one of the few places they could live peacefully without much trouble.
"You need to apologize to her." Alice demanded, pointing toward the exit doors where Talyn walked through moments ago, raising an eyebrow when Emmett growled. "Or perhaps you want me to tell Carlisle and Esme how you treated a defenseless human girl today?"
Emmett groaned and stood up from the table, tossing his food away and walked outside, inhaling the air once. This human smelled specifically of cinnamon, which made his nose twitch. It wasn't a bad smell though, more intriguing than anything, and headed in her direction. If he didn't apologize, he knew Carlisle would be incredibly upset and he refused to let that happen.
Talyn was in her car smoking a cigarette with the window cracked, knowing she had to be careful so she didn't get caught. Honestly though, she didn't care, needing a cigarette badly. She leaned back against the seat, not believing the day was only halfway over, rolling her eyes nearly in disgust. She wasn't going to P.E., having already decided she'd be dropping the course if at all possible or doing something else to make up for it.
A tap at the window jolted Talyn out of her thoughts, eyes slowly turning to stare at the tall white faced behemoth from earlier, rolling her eyes. She tried ignoring him and took another drag of her cigarette, blinking when the door suddenly opened, Emmett bending down to be eye level with her. This guy was asking for it badly as Talyn's eyes narrowed to slits, blowing smoke right in his face.
"What do you want now? In case you haven't noticed, jockstrap, this is MY turf." She snorted derisively, propping one foot on the dashboard, having the radio playing softly. When Talyn got a job, she'd be getting a CD player installed in this hunk of scrap metal.
"I came to apologize for the way I treated you. I didn't mean to scare you away from our table." Emmett stated, his own eyes narrowed, wondering what it was about this woman that intrigued him so much.
Talyn laughed coldly, blowing more smoke in his face, wondering how much longer she could do it before he became ticked. She was begging him to make a move, not caring how big and bad he thought he was. She would drop him in two point five seconds without breaking a sweat if he laid a finger on her.
"What makes you think you scared me off?" She demanded, flicking ash in the ashtray before taking another drag of her cigarette, feeling her cell vibrating against her hip.
Emmett smirked, topaz eyes flashing almost wickedly, and plucked the cigarette from her fingers as he crushed it between his fingers without flinching. "I have my ways of knowing." He said simply, tossing the remnants over his shoulder.
"You fucker! How dare you take that away from me?!" Talyn was inching to slap that smirk off of his face, fingers twitching but refrained, really not needing anymore trouble at a new school. "I suggest you move away from my car before something bad happens."
"Oh really?" Emmett sounded thoroughly amused by now, staring deep in those icy blue eyes, tilting his head slightly as if in thought. "Smoking is bad for you."
"A lot of things are bad for you, what the fuck is your point?"
The smirk turned into a full-fledged grin as Emmett noticed how aggravated the human was becoming, still squatted in front of her, preventing any escape unless he moved."What's your name?" He asked, completely ignoring her rhetorical question, arching a dark eyebrow.
"You're seriously asking me what my name is after you just crushed my cigarette." Talyn wondered if he was insane or just plain stupid, folding her arms in front of her chest, sighing resignedly. "It's none of your business, now move."
"Why?" Emmett challenged, deciding to stand up enough for her to step out of her car, waiting until the door was closed, before pinning her against it. "What's wrong with asking your name?"
"Why do you want to know?" Talyn demanded, still keeping her guard completely up, even though she couldn't help thinking how enchanting his eyes were. It made something twist within her stomach, a feeling perhaps, though Talyn rarely had that.
"You know mine, I should know yours." Emmett simply said, having a quick answer for everything it seemed, folding his massive arms in front of his chest. "I'll make you a deal. You tell me your name and I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day."
Talyn rolled her eyes, trying to find a way to step away from him, growling. "I don't make deals with jocks." She stated through gritted teeth, eyes flashing angrily. "Now move out of my way."
"I'm far from a jock." Emmett argued, wondering why she automatically assumed that, when nearly everyone else in the school was afraid of him and his family. "I don't do the sports."
That surprised Talyn as she stared back at him, eyebrows scrunching together in thought, finally deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Talyn Willow." She said and walked away from him moments later, wondering what the hell was up with the people of Forks and La Push, Washington.
Emmett stared after her, his intrigue for her definitely soaring higher, wondering exactly what the story was beyond Talyn Willow.