A New World Full of Strangers
Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use.
Chapter 4: The Human Game
When we go into my bedroom, Aunt Alice has my trunk open and an outfit already picked out.
"Not on your life," says Momma.
The outfit is very pink. It is a pink dress with pink tights and a matching hat. There is even a matching shoes and purse set. It is very "Alice" as Momma would say. Of course Alice is completely frustrated with Momma and her lack of interest in fashion and coordinating outfits. When I was little, I didn't care so much, but no one ever saw me but family anyway. Now I just want to look normal.
"What do you think that she should wear?" asks Alice.
"How about jeans and a long-sleeved tee-shirt?" Momma asks. "Like normal kids. You can't tell me that the kids up here dress like fashion models everyday."
Auntie Rose laughs as Alice makes a face.
"Most of them wear jeans and tee-shirts or sweatshirts," says Auntie Rose. "Let's face it, Alice. This is a frontier town. And while most people are comfortably off, they don't seem to want to spend lots of their hard earned money following the latest trends."
"She doesn't have to look like everyone else," protests Alice.
"Yes, she does," replies Momma. "Remember, we want her to make friends. We want to give her a chance to blend in. This is important for her. At this age the kids are all about appearances and fitting in."
"Here you go!" says Auntie Rose, who has been rifling through the clothes. "A pink shirt with khakis and a pair of Converse. What do you say, Renesmee?"
"Cool!" I say quickly, just glad to have something inconspicuous to wear.
Alice makes a face.
"Rosalie," she complains. "You have excellent fashion sense. Why are you ruining her first impression?"
"I think it depends on your definition of ruining," she says. "I've been looking around at what the kids her age wear here, and this seems to be it. Suck it up! You're not the one who has to face a classroom full of kids for the first time."
"Okay," she says. "They're just going to see the guidance counselor anyway. It's not like it's the first day of school."
"Oh brother!" says Momma, after she leaves. "Is she always like this?"
"You better be ready to stand up for your right to dress yourself for school," Auntie Rose warns her. "The boys all did and now all she can do is grumble. Even Jasper refused to humor her on the whole clothing thing."
"I'll keep that in mind," says Momma.
When I am done getting dressed, I go outside where Esme is waiting with Daddy.
"Hey!" says Daddy. "Don't you look great? You look just like a regular schoolgirl."
"Humph!" says Alice from the chair where she is sulking.
"Come on," says Esme. "Carlisle is going to drive us to the school."
When we get out of the car, I look at the rather simple looking building. It looks like, well, a school. But I guess that there are only so many ways to design a school building. We enter in the glass doors and Carlisle shows us the way to the main office. Because she is playing my Mom, I am holding Esme's hand. I look up and smile at Daddy nervously.
"Mrs. Miller," says Carlisle as he enters the office. "This is my wife Esme and two of my children, Renesmee and Edward."
Mrs. Miller smiles warmly and says, "Edward, aren't you a little old to be in elementary school?"
"Just a little," he laughs. "But I'm Renesmee's older brother, you know, her biological older brother. I feel a little protective of her."
"Yes, I can understand that," she replies sympathetically. "Poor little Renesmee was only a little baby when you lost your parents, but you weren't much older. You are what, two years older than her?"
"Edward has always insisted on helping to care for her," says Esme jumping in to cover the slip up. "In fact, he's been helping me teach her for the past couple of years."
"Mrs. Cullen, I'm pleased to meet you," says Mrs. Miller now turning to Esme. "I must say that I admire you for taking in so many adopted and foster children. It takes a very special person to take seven children into her home."
"Carlisle is very helpful of course," she says smoothly. "Sadly we can't have children of our own, so these kids are our family. And they are all very special."
"I'm sure that they are," she says kindly. "How do you do, Renesmee?"
I suddenly find that I am a little scared of the hand she is offering me. I step behind Esme and reach for it tentatively. I'm not used to meeting humans.
"Hi," I whisper.
"Dr. Cullen," says Mrs. Miller looking at him. "You didn't exaggerate when you said that your daughter was shy. It's okay, honey. Do you feel scared about going to school for the first time?"
I nod.
"Well," says Carlisle. "I need to get to the hospital. I can walk there from here. You keep the car. I'll call when I need a ride back."
On his way out, he pats me on the head and winks. After he leaves, Mrs. Miller decides to get down to business.
"Why don't we go into my office and look over your schedule," she says.
I notice that Esme and Daddy move differently around the human. Well, basically they move and blink more. Mrs. Miller sits behind her desk and pulls out a sheath of papers.
"I've lined up your classes based on what I see as the best matches based on your transcripts," she says in a business-like manner. "You are in honors for all classes. You requested the French immersion program. You haven't studied French before, but your brother has been tutoring you."
"Mais oui, Madame. Je voudrais etudier en Francais, si'l vous plait."
"Tres bien, Mademoiselle," she answers. "You have a lovely accent for a beginner."
"Renesmee is very musical," says Daddy proudly. "She plays piano and sings beautifully. She has a very good ear."
"That's wonderful!" says Mrs. Miller. "I was wondering if you wanted to try any extracurricular activities. Would you like to sing in the glee club?"
I look up at Esme, who smiles and nods.
"Are you interested in any sports?" she asks.
"No, thank you, ma'am," I reply, thinking that with my enhanced athletic ability it would not be a good idea."
"Do you have anything along the lines of dance classes?" asks Esme.
"We don't offer dance, but there is a ballet studio in town where a former prima ballerina from Russia teaches," she replies. "She moved here about twenty years ago after the Soviet Union broke up. A number of our students take lessons with her. It would a nice way for you to meet some of the other girls outside of school."
I look at Esme.
"May I please, Mom?" I ask.
"Yes, of course," she answers, smiling when I call her Mom. "We will look into it on our way out of town."
"Renesmee," comments Mrs. Miller. "I must say that you have the loveliest manners."
I feel my skin turning a little pink. At home they tease me because I am the only one who can blush. Momma says that when she was human she used to blush all the time. But at least I have enough "vampire" in my skin that I don't turn bright red like she used to.
"Thank you, ma'am," I say.
"Renesmee is a most unusual name," she says. "I've never heard it before. Is it French?"
"Our mother was French," says Daddy quickly. "I think that she made it up because she liked the way it sounded."
"I like the way that it sounds also!" she says. "People name their children all kinds of interesting things these days. And our First Nation students often have rather fascinating names."
"So then what classes will my sister be taking?" asks Daddy.
"She will be taking Pre-Algebra for math and Earth Science," she says. "Her language arts program of course is French, but she will be reading some English literature in the English designed for the immersion students. And she will be taking Canadian history, which she has not studied before. There is also physical education, drama, and studio art."
"That's quite a broad selection," he comments, looking rather pleased.
"I like history," I say. "I like to learn about new things."
"Well, I hope that you will enjoy your classes here," she says kindly. "Would you like to go on a tour of the school?"
"Yes, please," I say.
When we stand up to leave, I automatically take my Daddy's hand. He smiles down at me and ruffles my hair. As we leave, Esme and Mrs. Miller follow us out.
"It is so sweet the way that he takes care of her," she comments to Esme. "It is obvious that they are very close and he feels responsible for her."
"He was a very small child when they lost their parents," replies Esme. "But he was determined that they would not be separated. The reason that we got them was that we were willing to take both. There were several couples who wanted a baby girl, but we were the only ones willing to take an older boy with her."
"I'm surprised that they allowed him to get his way on that," says Mrs. Miller.
"Well the philosophy of the agency that placed them was to keep siblings together if at all possible," she says. "We also have a pair of teenage twins who stayed together. I can't imagine how they would have felt if they were separated. But it has been known to happen."
The school is not very large. Mrs. Miller shows us the different classrooms and the science labs. They have a "cafetorium," which serves as both a lunchroom and auditorium. And they have a gymnasium. Right now there is no one around except the cleaning staff.
"There will be more teachers around next week," she explains. "At this time most of them don't want to think about starting school just yet. We would like it if you came in again to meet your teachers. There is also an orientation day for new students. There are five other new seventh graders entering the school this year. Each of you will have a buddy who will help you get to know the other kids and adjust to the routine."
"I'm glad to hear that," says Esme. "This is a whole new world for our little girl in more ways than one. We want her to be comfortable."
"Our goal is to help make this transition as easy as possible," Mrs. Miller assures her. "There is another boy in class who has never gone to school before, Renesmee won't be the only previously homeschooled child in the class."
"What would you say is the greatest difficulty that homeschooled children have when they are adjusting to regular school?" asks Esme.
"Well sometimes the academics is a problem, if they are behind in some areas," she replies. "I don't think that will be a problem here. In fact we considered placing her in the eighth grade. However now that I have met her, I can see why Dr. Cullen was so adamantly opposed.
"Renesmee only turns twelve in September. That is an early start for a child at the appropriate grade. She might be able to handle the academics of the eighth grade, but I can see where the social piece could be very difficult. And I wouldn't want to see her in the high school."
"Neither would I," says Daddy. "I'm afraid that my brothers and I would get in trouble if we had to deal with any young man giving her unwanted attention."
Mrs. Miller laughs.
"You won't have that problem here," she says. "We have dances for the sixth and seventh graders in the gym. The girls are on one side of the gym dancing and socializing, while the boys are playing basketball on the other. You don't really have to worry about them noticing each other until the next year. However, I predict that in a couple of years, Renesmee may not appreciate your gallantry so much."
We find ourselves back at the main office. Mrs. Miller gives Esme some books.
"This is a student handbook and a curriculum guide," she explains. "You should read through it and call me if you have any questions. Can I answer anything else for you now?"
"Do you allow the students to bring laptops to school?" asks Daddy.
"They can bring laptops or tablet computers," she says. "Most of the kids have tablets since the laptops can get pricey. We have pretty good Wi-Fi here in the building."
"That's good," says Esme. "Renesmee is very good at using the Internet for research."
"We may be out here in the middle of nowhere, but we are still living in the twenty-first century," she laughs. "Is there anything else that I can do for you?"
"No, I think that we're good," says Esme. "Thank you for all of your help. You have been very welcoming."
"No problem," she says. "Goodbye, Renesmee. I'm looking forward to seeing you soon."
"Goodbye, Mrs. Miller," I say. "Thank you for being so nice to me."
"You are very easy to be nice to," she answers with another smile. "Have a good day."
"So, Renesmee," asks Daddy when we get into the car. "What do you think?"
"I think that Mrs. Miller is very nice," I say. "I don't feel so scared anymore. Auntie Rose was right."
"What was she right about?" asks Esme.
"That humans like it when you listen to what they say," I answer. "And then you don't have to say so much. It was weird when she said that I was going to be twelve in September."
"I forgot to tell you about that," says Daddy. "We decided to keep your real birthday, but we obviously had to advance your age. It really gets weird when you are one hundred and fifteen like me, but you tell everyone that you are fourteen. And then you add a year each year until you go to a new place and then start at fourteen again."
"The next time that we move will I start at twelve again?" I ask.
"Probably not," he says. "I am sure that in a couple of years you will look high school age. That means that the next time that we start over in a new place, you will be a freshman like Momma, Alice, and me."
"That will be funny!" I laugh. "Maybe we could be twins like Jasper and Auntie Rose."
"Maybe, we look so similar that we could probably pull it off!" he laughs. "Now that would be weird!"
"Look!" says Esme. "There's the dance studio."
"It's closed," says Daddy. "But it looks like there are some brochures outside on the clipboard."
Esme stops and he quickly leaps out of the car to pick one up.
"You know," he grumbles. "It's going to be real annoying until we are 'old enough' to drive again, at least in town."
"You've been spoiled for the last eight years," replies Esme. "But this is all part of the game."
When we get back, Momma and Auntie Rose are waiting for me.
"How was it?" asks Momma. "Do you think that you will like it?"
"Mrs. Miller was very nice," I say. "I think that I am going to like it."
"The school is being very accommodating about taking care of her needs," adds Esme coming in behind me. "They are going to do everything that they can to help her adjust to the new routine and meeting new kids."
"It's kind of funny," I say. "She thinks that Daddy is only two years older than me."
"Yes, Edward," says Esme sternly. "You can't act that fatherly around her. You have to remember that your her brother. If you starting acting too overprotective, people will notice."
"I know," he sighs. " I think that it will be easier when I'm acting like a human too in my own school. It's been seven years since high school. I've forgotten what it's like. Esme's right the age thing is kind of weird."
"It will be even weirder when the three of us look the same age," says Momma. "But once we do, it will never change."
"Momma," I say timidly. "Has my Jacob called yet to say when he is coming?"
"I'm sorry, Renesmee," she says. "But he hasn't called. I talked to Grandpa today to let him know that we were here. He's going to call later so that he can talk to you."
"Did he say anything about Jacob?" I ask hopefully.
"No, he didn't mention him and I didn't ask," she answers.
"Can I ask?"
"If you like," she says.
But the way that Auntie Rose is looking at Daddy, I get the feeling that they wouldn't like it if I asked. But Grandpa might not know anything about Jacob anyway. I guess that he could always ask Billy. I just don't understand why he doesn't come or call me.
As I look around, I realize that everyone is starting to look concerned again. I guess that I'm a little worried too. I mean, I really did have a good morning seeing my new school and meeting Mrs. Miller. I think that I can be really happy here. I mean, I want to be really happy here. I wish that I wasn't so confused about Jacob.
He always told me that he would always make sure that I was happy. But he's not doing that now. But I'm not going to let him make me feel sad because he's ignoring me. I'm still allowed to be happy if he's not here, right?