Chapter Four

Cecy's POV

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Ugh!" I groaned as I reached for the alarm clock. I don't know why I even have one. Everyone's already awake and they could just wake me up. But I was forcing myself to be more independent. I had to be next week is my sixteenth birthday. Of course Alice and Roe were insistent on being to party planners which didn't really bug my mom. She doesn't like parties much but she goes to support me, and make me happy. I liked it better when I was little. My parents were my parents but now they had to be my siblings. And even though that's all I really know to do in life — lie — I want to actually have my parents be my parents for once outside my home.

"Knock! Knock! You up?" Alice asked. We were like best friends. We told each other all of everything that happened. We were each others confidants.

"Ya I'm up, you can come in Alice." I said sitting up in bed. The door opened and in a flash Alice was sitting right next to me. She had with her an adorable new outfit I so much wanted to wear it but I needed to be more grown up. I just had to! For my sake! "What do ya got their Alice?"

"The outfit you're going to wear today." She said knowing what I was going to say and she didn't have to be psychic to know that.

"Alice!" I groaned, "We've been over this a million times plus two! I should be picking out my own clothes and buy my own clothes! But I wouldn't mind seeing that… no no no! I must be more independent!" I fought with myself. Again.

"Oh I see, this is just an early birthday gift so here you go!" she said giggling, and placing the outfit in my lap complete with shoes that had my heart aching. "Oh come on! Cecy you can grow up after you wear this! Pleeeaassee!!" she begged. And my mind gave in. Oh the irony in my life. As soon as I made up in my mind that I would be wearing this outfit today, Alice knew. She jumped up and hugged me a little too tightly.

"Your welcome!" I managed to gasp out, in my aunt's chokehold hug.

"You should be!" She cheered. Letting me out of her deadly seize, quite reluctantly. "You know, I really don't understand why you are acting like this. You sound like your mother."

"Ya, I see your point, but my mom's not all that bad. She at least comes to parties now… 'cus of me!" I bragged. In this family bragging wasn't a bad thing. It was a type of game between us Cullen girls — except my mom she didn't get stuff like that.

"But they are my parties!" Alice shot back.

"No you just plan them, they are my parties!" I giggled.

"I plan them too!" Roe said, more in a way that made it sound like she had been in the conversation the whole time. This made me giggle even more.

I got dressed and went down stairs. My parents had gone out for a 'drive' and said goodbye last night before I went to sleep. Of course that meant it was party time for us 'kids'.

Alice giggled at me. She was up to something, I looked around and noticed that there was something different but I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was the décor —

"ROAR!!"

"Ah!" I let out a scream…just a little bit. Emmett and Jasper had jumped up from behind the balcony to right at my back. I have to admit I handled it pretty well. I mean any normal person would just keel right over having died of sheer fright. And I had only let out one small scream, which obviously annoyed Emmett because he hadn't completely scared the daylights out of me.

"Ha! I didn't even scream that much this time!" I said triumphantly. This wasn't the only time they had done this, well this particular way yes, but they tried to freak me out a lot while my parents where gone so that my dad wouldn't kill them. Not that he really would, but…lets just say that my dad is pretty protective. I don't know if I would say over protective but he was definitely protective.

"Oh, but you at least screamed a little!" Emmett laughed, letting go his annoyance at the fact he hadn't totally won. Ugh, boys, can't live with um can't live without um! What can a girl do? Emmett ruffled my hair playfully as he walked past me.

"You guys are such dorks." Roe said sitting on the couch and flipping through channels on the TV.

"Yes we are!" Emmett chuckled.

"And proud of it!" Jasper chimed in.

I turned and walked towards the kitchen, my kitchen! Oh it was filled chock full of delicious goodies and fresh produce. Whenever anyone in my family so much as passed a grocery store they picked something up for me to eat. I guess they thought everyone had to have the whole store in their pantry to be able to live a comfortable life. My mom would just roll her eyes and go along with it. I mean they just cared about me, nothing wrong with being cared about, right?

In the kitchen was my grandma, but to most everyone else in the world just thought she was my adopted mom, she smiled at me and patted the chair next to her for me to sit down in. I got myself a bowl of Lucky Charms and a spoon and took a seat. My grandma smiled at me as I ate, you would think I would feel uncomfortable but this was how it normally was for me.

"How did you sleep?" She asked once I had finished eating and put my bowl and spoon in the dishwasher.

"Fine. How was your night?"

"Oh just the same I suppose, but that really doesn't matter." She said sliding her arm around my shoulders and giving me a side hug. Grandma was always so gentle and sweet. Even though my whole family was sweet grandma had a special way of showing it. I made her proud she told me time and time again. I think I could be a couch potato and make her proud, just the fact that I made her a grandma made her proud.

"What are you gonna do today?" I asked returning her hug.

"Oh I don't know maybe I'll sketch some ideas I have for some cute little houses, or I will go out." She mused, "What are you looking forward to doing today?"

"Well, I have music today and I'm going to be planning for the showcase." I said smiling at the thought. I had been chosen to play in the showcase because I was at the top of my class in the music department, even though I was only a sophomore in high school and the showcase was mostly for juniors and seniors for college scholarships.

"Ah, you're so much like your father when it comes to music!" She beamed. She simply adored the fact that my dad and I loved music so much. She was like my mother when it came to the piano, just content to listen.

"Hey Cecy! We gotta go!" the booming voice of Emmett interrupted our conversation.

"I can hear you just fine! I'm coming!" I laughed back.

Grandma patted my back and laughed with me. "You better get going. Have a wonderful day sweetie!" she said kissing me on the cheek.

"You too!" I said as I got up from the table and left the kitchen.

The last bell of the day rang and I rushed to my locker. I threw papers and binders and books into my backpack. I just had to get out of there before—

"Hey Cecy! Wait up!" his voice rang down the hall.

Ugh! If only I could move at my regular speed! Life would be so much easier!

"Hi Harvey, what are you doing here?" I asked as I began walking away. If my dad was here I wouldn't have had to deal with this today.

"Uh, I'm at school, well leaving it but I'm always here" he laughed as he nudged me with his elbow. Eww, I could see were this was headed…again.

"Ha ha ya, I forgot…so what do you want?" I said, and I admit I could have said it a little bit nicer.

"Uh…well I was just wondering if you wanted to do something later…" he whispered barely audible for the human ear to hear, but I could.

"Well I was going to go out with my sisters, and do some shopping." I lied; Alice was walking towards me with an agitated look. She always wanted me to go out on dates with guys, despite my father's STRONG disagreement, talk about a hopeless romantic.

"Oh, maybe Saturday then?" he asked hopefully. I couldn't think of anything to say.

"Uh maybe, I think I have plans already though." I said quickly just as Alice came to announce to Harvey that we could change our 'shopping plans'. I grabbed her arm and steered her away. "Don't even think about it!" I hissed in her ear.

She giggled at me; "If only you could have seen your face when he came up behind you!" she began to laugh even harder.

"What's so funny?" Emmett asked a little peeved that he missed what ever it was.

"You missed it—Cecy's face—that was classic!" Alice said between giggles.

"Ugh! Are you serious?!" He groaned in annoyance, "I missed the face? The face is the best part of a reaction!"

"I know and you missed it!" I said triumphantly, and then I started to laugh along with Alice, as we walked towards the car.

"What did he miss?" Roe's voice came up from behind.

"Oh nothing much." I rushed out.

"Oh that was real convincing Cecy!" Jasper countered as he climbed into the car. Emmett started the engine and we roared off of school campus. Halfway home Emmett started to slow down, just as always.

"You getting out today or being normal and riding home with us?" He asked as he started to pull over.

"First define 'normal' 'cus last time I checked no one in this family could say they were normal. And second yes I am going to get out and walk." This was my daily routine, to clear my mind in nature's beauty. And if you had a father who could hear your thoughts and a family who pretty much treated you like a newborn, getting away from it all feels pretty damn good.

I got out of the car, and waved good-bye to my family as they drove off. I plugged my head phones into my ears and turned up the volume on my i-pod. I started towards home, trudging through the last of autumns crinkly leaves that littered the side of the road. That's when I heard it, I'm not exactly sure how I had because my i-pod was turned all the way up, but I did.

At first I thought it was static or something coming through to my head phones, but it kept up at a steady pace. Footsteps, from behind me. Before I was seized by panic, my mind went through all of the logical types of thoughts I should have…who it could be…why were they following me…were they even following me…stuff like that. I was too scared to turn around and look. Like in those movies when kids hear stuff in their rooms at night, but they are too scared to find out what made the noise.

I kept on walking at a steady pace, my mind trying to conjure up all that my dad had taught me on self defense, for incase he wasn't there to protect me, like I said he's very protective. I purposely dropped the book I was holding a little ways behind me, so it wouldn't look obvious that I had noticed someone following me. Funny thing or should I say creepy thing is that when I turned to pick the book up no one was there, but the short branches that are the begging of the forest where still swinging, from when someone had brushed them when passing. That's what made me rule out Emmett, Jasper, Harvey, and all those other guys at school as my possible stalkers.