I had managed to keep my friendship with Edward a secret form Vanita for two whole weeks. I was beginning to really like Forks. A part of me wanted to thank Edward for that. He was really easy to talk to. Even though I only saw him for one period a day, it felt like so much longer. We talked about anything and everything. I was careful not to give too much away when he asked about my personal life. He was also just as careful when I purposefully attacked him with questions I knew he's have to lie about.
There was another part of me that was screaming for more attentions. That was the side that knew I shouldn't be fraternizing with Edward. I was supposed to be trying to stay as far away from him as possible. That was the part of me that kept me guarded. I worked hard not to get emotionally attached to him. I knew that I would have to leave him the minute we graduated.
I was on my way to the cafeteria, when someone pulled me aside. Vanita had dragged me from the hallway into a closet.
"What are we doing in the custodian's closet?" I asked her.
"I've been hearing a lot of rumors about you and Edward. So he's the reason why you warmed up to this place so quickly. I can't believe you would ---"
"Whoa. Calm down, Nita. Maybe you should ask me before you start accusing me."
"Are you sneaking around with Edward?"
"No. As for the rumors, he and I are lab partners. We have to work together. People see us in class and assume the worst."
"Okay. I'm sorry I accused you. I'm just so scared for the both of us."
"I know. I get it. And I wouldn't put either of us in danger like that. I may have made this mistake before, but I've learned from it. I'll be careful." I told her. I felt so bad lying to her about Edward. The only way for me to make up for it was to make the lie true and stop talking to him.
I was anxious all through lunch. I could feel Edward's eyes on me, but I refused to risk a glance in his direction. Instead, I put too much energy into the conversation the table was having. When the lunch bell rang I dreaded going to biology. How was I going to end my friendship with Edward? He was the one person here, besides Vanita, that I felt comfortable telling everything to. Not that I actually did tell him everything. If things worked out, he and his family could actually be the first vampires that we could actually trust. That dream had been shot to how. Oh well, if the dream didn't end up there, then Vanita and I probably would. Better it than us.
I was preparing myself for what I had to do; but as soon as I took a seat beside Edward and saw his crooked smile, I knew I couldn't do it. How could I shatter that beautiful face? Even if he was a vampire, I couldn't hurt him like that. As Edward and I started up our usual conversation, I came to the conclusion that there was only one thing left for me to do; tell Vanita the truth. I would do it the moment we got home.
When class was over, Edward surprised me by doing something so out of the blue.
"Can I walk you to class?"
I chewed my lip nervously. I didn't want to turn him down. My heart was begging me not to crush him. But my head was telling me the logic. If Vanita were to see him walking me to class, hell might break loose in the hallway. Eventually, my heart won out over my head.
"Sure." I said. Edward and I walked out of class. I told him I had philosophy next. As we were walking through the halls, Edward and I were receiving inverse glares from the entire student body. The girls were glaring at me and drooling over him, and the boys were glaring at him and drooling over me. This is exactly what I was worried about. I knew that this was somehow going to get back to Nita; but I wouldn't let that ruin my moment. I enjoyed the walk while it lasted, talking with Edward the entire way; mostly about the looks we were getting.
"Here we are. Philosophy." He said.
"Thanks for walking me."
"Anytime."
"See you later." I said before turning into my class. I looked over my shoulder to find him waving. He ran off towards the building that held his class. Once I was in my seat, I felt ready to break down. I whispered to myself, "What have I gotten myself into?"
When the bell rang, I took my time getting out. I was trying to avoid Vanita, and took as long as possible to get to the car. I soon realized that this wasn't the best idea. Vanita was impatient, so having her wait on me would make the situation even worst. I quickly hurried to the car. As predicted, she was leaning against the car looking pissed.
"Vanita, I ---"
"Save it. We'll talk about this at home." She said. I opened the door and we both got in. The ride home was silent. I considered making the ride longer to stall the conversation I knew we were gonna have, but I didn't want to stay in the car with an angry Vanita for too long.
Once we reached the house, I parked in the garage. Vanita used superhuman speed to get out of the car, slamming the door behind her. I rushed after her. By the time I got in the house, she was halfway up the stairs.
"Nita. Vanita, just stop and listen to me."
She stopped dead in her tracks, spun on her heels, and was in my face within the second.
"Listen to you? Why would I listen to you? You lied to me, Isabella."
I winced. She had called me by my full name. She only did that when she was really pissed. I had to calm her down before ---
"I have half a mind to call Sly right now."
"No! Please don't."
"Then explain to me. I want a good explanation for why you're putting my life in danger."
"Vanita, I'm sorry. I want to tell you everything, but I'm afraid of how you're gonna react. You have to promise to listen to everything before you judge, and keep an open mind. Okay?"
"Fine."
"Come with me."
I led Vanita to our den and sat beside her on a couch.
"I might as well start from the beginning. Basically, I'm friends with Edward. I know I lied to you, and I'm sorry for that; but you wouldn't have accepted it if I told you from the beginning. And I realize that I've done things like this before that have gotten us in trouble, but what I have with Edward is really strong. I trust him."
She was silent for a few minutes. Silence with Vanita was never a good thing.
"Vanita?"
"I can't believe you." she said darkly before her volume increased, "I can't believe you would actually do this to me again. Let me guess, you like him right?"
"It's not even like that."
"It's never like that with you is it? Then I find out that you and the vampire have feelings for each other. Isn't that how this story usually goes?"
"This time is different. Maybe I do have feelings for Edward, but this isn't the same as the other times. Their family is different. I can tell. The way he talks about them; there's so much love."
"You know what? You can save all your excuses. I don't want to hear them anymore. If you want Edward so bad, then you can have him."
Before I could call out to her, Vanita disappeared. I heard a loud slam signifying that she was in her room. I listened to see if she was calling Sly. I heard nothing of the sort, so I relaxed a little. Though God had never been on my side, I silently prayed that I hadn't lost my best friend. I would give her a few hours to cool down before I approached her.
At around half past midnight, I crept into Vanita's room. She was laying silently on her bed, her back facing me. I knew she wasn't sleeping. Cautiously, I walked over to her bed, and climbed in behind her. She turned to face me, her eyes conveying so many emotions. I saw anger, fear, hurt, worry, and anxiety all mixed into one. I couldn't believe I had caused her so much pain. I looked at her tear stained cheeks and immediately began apologizing.
"Vanita, I'm so sorry. I never meant to betray you. I didn't want to lie, I was just so afraid of what you would think of me. I'm selfish and I don't deserve a friend like you. You've stuck by me through everything. Even when I make a mess of our lives, you're still there, and I love you for that. Can you forgive me?"
I watched as the corners of her mouth turned into a smile, "You know I'm going to forgive for anything. I love you like crazy, and nothing you ever do will change that. I don't like this situation, and I don't trust the Cullens, but if you really have feelings for Edward, then I won't get in your way."
"Thank you." I moved to hug her, but she stopped me.
"Hold up. There is a condition. You can go ahead with whatever you and Edward are doing, but if I see the slightest hint of trouble from any of them, I won't hesitate to call Sly."
"No problem. Whatever you say goes."
"Now you can hug me." With both of us laughing, I pulled her into a tight embrace. She pulled away first, and looked into my eyes, "Be careful."
"I will. I promise."
"Let's go hunting." She said with a smile. Hunting always made her happy. It was something about the thrill of the chase that got her all riled up.
"Okay. Come on."
We ran into the woods, and began our hunt. We hunted well into the early hours of the morning. We were being very reckless. By the time we got into the house, we were a mess. My shirt was shredded. Vanita's pants were ripped, and there was dirt caked into our hair. We took one look at each other and busted out laughing. We raced upstairs and darted into the bathrooms. It took us hours to get clean. I had washed my hair about three times in the scorching water before I finally jumped out of the shower.
After I was dressed, I went looking for Vanita. I followed her scent downstairs into the kitchen. I found her sitting at the counter with a faraway look in her eyes. She snapped out of it as I took a seat next to her.
"What's up, Nita."
"Just thinking."
"About…?"
"Have you ever thought about how different our lives would be if we were normal?"
"We'd be dead by now if we were normal. And we wouldn't have had much of a life when we were around. Actually, we wouldn't have met if we were normal."
"I know that. The one good thing that comes out of this is you and Sly. But still, sometimes I wonder what it'd be like to make life long friends at school, to eat normal food all the time, to not have to worry about being caught and dragged to hell. If we were human we might actually have a chance at heaven. This life has cursed us. The two of us are the exception to God's little rule of compassion."
I scooted my seat over and threw my arm around her, "I know what you mean. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like without all the running. If my family wasn't so screwed up immortality might be something to look forward to. I don't wanna run forever. It's tiring."
"It's exhausting." Vanita corrected.
"But what are we gonna do. At least this way we have some happiness. And if I ever get Sly back, I might actually be okay with living on the run for the rest of eternity. It's not all that bad."
"At least I have you."
"And I have you."
