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Port Angeles High School
IT WAS DAY TWO OF ANNABEL'S STAY AND I WAS ALREADY STARTING TO RECONSIDER ABI'S offer. She'd attacked me again this morning, so now I was afraid to go downstairs. How long would it be before I was too scared to leave my room?
I had been exiled to my bedroom. And although I spent a lot of my life in here with no trouble, it was becoming insufferable. Ryan was constantly on edge, never really sure if his Annabel was getting better or worse. I sort of had sympathy for Ryan – it must have been terrible for him to be away for so long and then for him to come back to find his love in that state.
I felt bad that Annabel had been left unprotected too. I never really considered that part, mainly because when Jacob left me, protection wasn't something he needed to worry about. Turns out, Ryan didn't even have one pack, let alone two packs in his area. He had literally become a lone wolf in that sense.
Okay, so maybe I was being a bit harsh on them. My life in the vampire, wolf world was very different from how Annabel was welcomed into it.
But on the rare occasion when I had seen her, I'd noticed something about Annabel… I wasn't sure what. It was just odd.
"Cut her some slack-"
"I am cutting her slack Jacob. You asked me what my problem was with her and that's what my problem is."
"Your problem is that you think she's weird?" he grinned. "Rich coming from you."
I scowled at him. "It's not funny Jacob-"
"Ness, let's face it – you think there's something odd about everyone you meet."
"That's not true."
He raised an eyebrow, "Really? Because that's what it seems like-"
"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not paranoid. I'm concerned about this particular vampire. I've thought there was something odd about another vampire and turned out to be right, take Lauren for example."
"But she wasn't exactly discreet. Obviously she was screwed up."
"And so is the newborn vampire that's sitting in my living room right now. Aren't you the least bit concerned about me being imprisoned in my room because she's a freakin' psychopath?"
He lay back on my bed and put his hands behind his head.
"As long as you're safe-"
"Oh, here we go." I moaned laying next to him. "As long as you're safe, I will accept any measure that needs to be taken." I imitated his voice and frowned at the ceiling before grinning at my childishness.
"Something along those lines." He said and reached over to grab my waist and pulled me onto him. I rested my head on his chest and felt bliss bubble deep inside me.
"So, how long until you leave me to deal with her again?" I asked, crawling up his chest to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around me and kept me there.
"Don't say it like that." He tried to say between kisses. "It's not me who's doing the work. I'm just there-"
"-to help Ryan?"
"Yeah. But she's going out hunting again in a while, so you can leave your room."
I felt a sarcastic cheer burning to be said inside me, but I held it back.
For the next five, maybe ten minutes we stayed like that, our lips locked and Jacob's hands holding the backs of my thighs.
Heaven.
That was all I could think.
But unfortunately, just like every tunnel has a light at the end, every pin had a bubble to burst. I hadn't realised that my door wasn't shut, so of all people, Annabel and Ryan strolled in.
"Oh!" I heard Annabel gasp behind us. I took a snap breath and scrambled off of Jacob, my cheeks burning red.
"Sorry-" she said quickly, "The door was open, so we thought-"
"We thought it was safe." Ryan grinned. His grin reminded me so much of Emmett. I would have scowled if I wasn't so busy trying to hide my embarrassment. How could my door not be shut? – it spent a majority of the time shut.
But I slowly realised something – Annabel hadn't attacked me. Usually whenever we were in the same room, she attacked me or at least looked at me funny, but not this time. She actually appeared relatively normal (as normal as a vampire could get). I wanted to make some snide remark on her self-control, but chose against it.
"Can we help you?" asked Jacob as he sat up.
"Actually," Annabel began. "I was wondering if I could quickly talk to Renesmee before we go hunting. Are you joining us Renesmee?"
"When?"
"When we hunt of course. We'll be with you, so you won't have to worry about anything happening."
Was that supposed to be a threat or patronizing? Or just some sick joke?
"Er, I'm good thanks. It'd be nice to leave my room and wander around my house for a bit."
"Well, that's fine. But can I just have a quick word with you? Alone?" she asked, stepping forward.
She was joking, right? And Ryan wasn't seriously going to let her near me without supervision?
I looked at Jacob, but he was too busy watching Annabel.
"Come on Jacob," said Ryan. "We'll wait just outside."
Cautiously, Jacob got up and turned to me.
"I'll be right outside." and he left with Ryan. I stood up ready in front of Annabel.
"You can relax Renesmee, I won't attack you. I promise."
"What do you want?"
"I just want to talk to you. I think you and I got off on the wrong foot-"
"You think?" I scoffed. "Because of you, I've been trapped in my room, scared to leave because I value my life enough not to.
"I know and I'm really sorry that's happened. But I'm better now, Carlisle and Emmett are helping me and so is Edward."
"Edward? Carlisle? What you're on first name basis now? BBFs?"
"Renesmee don't be silly. They're trying to help me and they're becoming like-" she bit her tongue.
"What were you about to say?" I asked, already knowing exactly what he was going. "How can you possibly call them your family? You've only been here a couple of days-"
"I didn't say that they were family, I said they were like family - in the sense that they're helping me and asking for nothing in return."
I glared at her.
"Renesmee, I know what you're thinking and I'm not trying to make you look as if you're exaggerating or judging."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
She sighed and sat on the edge of my bed. "It means that you appear to be the only one who really doesn't like me here. Don't you think you're exaggerating a little?"
"Well excuse me for not taking so kindly to those who pose as a threat."
"I know, I know and I'm sorry for all the times I have made you uncomfortable-"
"Uncomfortable?" I scoffed. "Understatement of the century, Annabel."
"I understand you have trust issues-"
"Whoa, what?" I interrupted her. "Trust issues? What makes you think I have trust issues?"
"Well, considering what's happened to you in the past year or so - it must make you find it harder to trust people."
I sat down next to her on the bed.
"How did you know about that? Oh my G- they told you, didn't they?"
"They also told me what you are. I think I should tell you that you were lucky your family saved you - you're fate would have been far worse than you think if you had stayed there." she got up and headed for my bedroom door. I realised then that she wasn't specifially referring to the Lauren incident, she was referring to everything that happened with Leonardo and Italy.
"You mean I would have been stuck with the Volturi for the rest of my life - yeah I know."
As she reached for the door she looked at me over her shoulder.
"Worse than that." and she left.
How could it get worse than that?
I waited for Jacob to come back and we both looked at each, both thinking the exact same thing.
"What was that about?" he asked.
"I don't know – but after that, now can I say she's weird?"
He laughed, "No – but maybe she's right."
"About what? That my family love her?"
"You need to get those green eyes checked out." He grinned, but then turned serious. "No, about you not being able to trust people."
"You too?"
"C'mon, a couple of years ago you didn't have any problem with trusting people – but in the past year you've been given good reasons not to trust so easily. Last time you were attacked before Annabel, you almost died."
"I trust Ryan… a little."
"That's not the same and you only trust him a little. You'll need to get used to Annabel and possibly learn to trust her too. She could be here for a while."
"Great. Now I'm really happy."
Admittedly, after a month, there was clear change in Annabel. She hadn't attacked me in three weeks and hadn't even tensed up when I walked in the room. Ryan wasn't so on edge either, at this rate they would be gone before Christmas – hopefully, but I didn't set my hopes too high. I still wasn't too keen on Annabel, but I had learned not to make it known to everyone everyday like I had at first.
One night, I had been talking to my parents about how uncomfortable I still felt being around Annabel and that I felt trapped in my own home... Again. So, my parents gave me the worst solution ever. And it wasn't the first time they'd chosen this as a solution for a problem. They suggested that I do another year of school. Realising that I couldn't go back to Forks, Edward said how there was always Port Angeles high school. I was persistent in not going, until Bella suggested that Jacob went to school with me. After all, because of his wolf genes, he had to drop out of school. This could be his chance to finish. It took a while, but I finally got around to talking to him about it.
"School?" he asked. "Like high school, school?"
"Yeah, c'mon – just senior year. Haven't you ever thought it would have been good to finish school? I mean, things have calmed down now and I think you should finish – plus, I'll be with you."
"You can try, but I won't get in." he rested against the back of the couch and smugly put his hands behind his head.
"Why not?"
"Look at me – do I really look like you're average eighteen year old?"
"Do I look like you're average eighteen year old?"
"Listen, you look more convincing than what I do-"
"You'll regret it-"
"You can try to get me in, but they won't believe I'm eighteen years old. They'll think I left school, went to college and then decided I wanted to go back to school again when I finished my college degree."
The best part was – I did get him in. He couldn't believe that he was actually going back to school – he had hoped that he'd left his schooling days behind when he first started phasing.
The school wasn't too difficult to find. Ninety percent of the journey was spent driving down the Olympic highway after that the school buses were the guides. Jacob had been pretty quiet the whole journey here – he really wasn't expecting to qualify as an eighteen year old which must have busted up a few plans. I kept telling him that he wouldn't regret it, that this would do him good.
Of course, he didn't believe me.
"Just don't be cheeky if the teacher fails you – unless you don't deserve it." I told him. I prayed that there wasn't another teacher here like my old chemistry teacher, Miss Carble. There was a reason she was still a Miss, even at her age of fifty- something.
"I know I haven't been to school in a long time, but I know how to behave myself." He insisted as he drove my Aston Martin into the parking lot.
Already people were noticing my car and how it wasn't you're average teenager's car. I wanted to look away and hide my face from their prying eyes but I stayed strong and just ignored them.
"I can't believe you did this on your own last year." said Jacob, pulling into a free space. "They're all starting to bug me already."
"Oh Jacob, "I sighed, "be nice. We're outsiders to them; we haven't been here since kindergarten. We haven't grown up with these people, but that doesn't mean that you can't befriend anyone. Look at Abi and Eli for example, they've known each other practically since birth and yet they welcomed me with open arms. Just be nice and no one will get hurt."
As we rejoined at the back of my car, Jacob slid his fingers through mine and we walked towards the main building. The stares continued into the building.
Ever get that creepy feeling when someone's watching you from behind your back? – I was getting it, bad. But even through the tight crowds, I ignored them. I had Jacob here and that was a huge relief to me.
We collected our class schedules from the main office to find that we only had three classes together. I had hoped for more and Jacob had hoped for a hell of a lot more together, but I was grateful that we had any at all. We were in the same English, Gym and Biology class but on everything else we were left to our own devices.
Luckily, we had English first period. The class was only half full when we reached it. A few people paused their conversations and looked over their shoulders at us as we walked in.
"You still think this is a good idea?" Jacob whispered in my ear behind me.
"Yes." I replied and led us to two free desks at the back. Once we'd sat down I didn't wait to push my desk to join his. He put his arm around the back of my chair and kissed the side of my head.
The class gradually filled. When the teacher, Mr Karmac, started the lesson I was sort of hoping to learn something new, but I hadn't realised beforehand that the syllabus was the same for seniors in Port Angeles as what it was Forks. Great.
The more Karmac talked about Shakespearean literature, the more I felt myself slipping away.
Half way through the class, Karmac decided to pair us up to discuss a quote from one of Shakespeare's plays and of course, because of my luck, he didn't pair me with Jacob. Instead, I was paired with a girl to my left. She was a very pretty girl, I hadn't even noticed her come in, let alone sit next to me. Her hair was short, straight and a rich brown. The darkness of her hair enhanced her green eyes.
She turned and smiled at me and budged her desk a little closer to mine.
"Hi!" she smiled. "New face!"
I smiled, "Actually, my name's Renesmee."
"Oh, Renesmee, that's a… strange name. I bet you get that a lot, don't you?"
I shrugged. "It's not so bad – at least you can actually pronounce it right."
"Well, I think it's nice. It's original. I'm Marie – my name isn't so unique, but hey – we don't have a say over what our parents name us."
"Anyone would've thought my parents were on something when they thought of my name." I scoffed, then she gave me a worried look. "No, no – my parents weren't actually on anything, they're clean. They just thought-"
"Don't worry," she giggled, "I'm just messing around. I don't judge anyway."
An unexpected sigh of relief passed my lips as I relaxed in my chair. It was sort of nice to find someone who didn't judge, but then again I didn't know if she would actually be as good as her word.
Karmac was doing something on his computer that took up a majority of the lesson, so he never stopped us from 'discussing'. I sometimes looked over to my shoulder to check what Jacob was doing and every time he looked like he was having the time of his life. He'd been paired with some girl who never seemed to let him get a word in.
"So, is he your boyfriend or something?" Marie asked, leaning forward on her desk to get a better look.
I looked at her and raised an eyebrow, "Am I going to have to watch my back with you?"
She laughed, "Don't be silly, I would never do that. I'm a good girl." And she fluttered her eyelashes at me.
"Yeah, that's Jacob." I didn't think it would be a good idea to call him my fiancé at school. It was usually frowned upon.
"That's nice." She smiled, sitting back. "I guess it's nice to have someone with you when you start school – not knowing anyone is the worst thing in the world about starting a new school."
"You're telling me." I scoffed.
"Renesmee and Jacob," She muttered quietly. "Mm… has a nice ring to it."
I laughed. "I'm glad you approve – Who's the girl he's with?"
"Oh, that's Leigh. She talks a lot-"
"No kidding-"
"She also thinks she's the freakin' queen of England. You may wanna watch out for that one. I was new here last year and she was in my biology class, four words – pain in my ass. She likes new people; they don't know all the dirt on her. Trust me, don't get caught up in it. Think of her as a wasp – if you ignore her for long enough, she'll go away."
"She sounds familiar." I mumbled.
"Every school has them, didn't you have one at you're last school?"
"Oh yeah."
"What's she like?"
"Dead."
"What?"
"She died last year and guess who was suspected of her death?"
I glanced at Marie and she was looking at me like she was about to throw up.
"Don't worry, I'm not a murderer. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was attacked and killed in Seattle."
"Yikes. And you were accused?"
"I was questioned. But, I don't really like to talk about my convictions on the first date." I grinned at her. She smiled and started to doodle on her page.
"You looked like you were having the time of your life." I said to Jacob as we went to leave the class.
"Jeez, I think I'm skipping English for the rest of the year. I can't do that again, Ness-"
"Fine, we'll swap sides. You can work with Marie next time. I'll work with Leigh-"
"Renesmee, wait!" Marie was calling behind me so I slowed down.
"Look you've made a friend already." Jacob groaned as we turned. I nudged him and Marie approached us.
"I meant to ask you, what classes have you got? Have you got Math with Mrs Jenson next?"
"Er yeah, how did you kno-"
"You're in my class! And you're going the completely wrong way." She informed me. I looked at Jacob.
"Go on," he sighed and smiled. "You go, I'll find this damn chemistry class and I'll meet you at lunch?"
"Sure-"
"Why don't you two come and sit with us at lunch?" she asked, moving closer to us to avoid being bumped in the crowds.
"That'd be nice." I smiled at her. "I'll catch up with you for Math?"
She looked at me for a moment and got the hint. "Okay, well, I'll wait over her and just - yeah." Then she went to stand at a bunch of lockers.
"How do you do that?" Jacob asked.
"Do what?"
"Do that – getting people to like you so quickly. I mean, what's not to like? But still."
I grinned. "I make them like me."
"I thought you said you'd only use your gift when you're in danger. What's the danger? – Being unpopular?"
I hit his chest. "No. I make them like me by seeming likable. But I do sometimes wonder if I accidentally made Abi and Eli like me with my gift."
He smiled. "You probably did, because there was a threat of you having no friends?"
"I'll meet you in the cafeteria at lunch and please go to your lesson. Don't just say you will and then don't. Make a friend… who's not a girl."
He laughed. "Seriously – green eyes, get them checked out."
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