Disclaimer: I do not own nor make profit off of Twilight. It belongs to Stephenie Meyer and Summit Entertainment, etc.
A/N: This is an insert-an-OC story that will veer from canon timeline, but the actual canon events will retain great similarities.
Inspirations Blog: farinspirations(d)tumblr(d)com – Look for the 'Welcome' link in the side menu that explains how the blog works.
shurfine: O Mighty One? I laughed so hard when I read that! :D Jacob was tough to plan when I first began the series. I couldn't get past his actions in the books. But with Mireille arriving early, it opened up a new world for Jake. He's just a kid right now, kind of like Seth was. Jake's less sappy/sweet than Seth, but he's a good kid and not angry at anyone. Annoyed by the legends his dad keeps pushing, but basically a teenager growing up. Someone a few years ago was furious about Jacob getting a better chance to meet Bella. They listed reasons Jacob was a bad person – all from the books. My reply was simply: there is TWI-Jacob and FAR-Jacob. Just as our current Edward can't be blamed for attempted suicide or leaving Bella in the woods, our current Jacob can't be blamed for forcing Bella to kiss him or trying to undermine Ed/Bella's parenting of Renesmee. So yes, give Jacob a chance to be whoever he becomes here. :) One thing in your review has me scratching my head – about the siblings ganging up. The only one who ridiculed was Rose… Maybe it reads differently than I thought, but Edward told Mir not to judge herself harshly and Jasper said Mir doesn't go revealing things recklessly (although she was reckless revealing her identity so quick). None one else said anything. The Cullens are always persistently aware that Mir is human; they never forget it. Hence Edward's debate Mir should stop trying to 'fix' everything and simply enjoy the moment. I agree about appreciating lighter circumstances, although I can't say much more. ;\ Thank you so much for reviewing!
Aladine98: I'm so glad they're realistic. Ha, well Carlisle is extremely intellectual, a quick study, and intuitive, so he's really perfect for Sherlock Holmes in many ways. Plus, he actually lived during the Victorian era and dressed in a similar style of clothing to Sherlock. (Well, the suit, at least.) Thanks for reviewing!
Anna: Nervous personality? Hmm… I never saw Mir as nervous, but merely self-conscious. And believe me, as someone who is both, there's a world of difference between the two. She does have a general concern towards the future and how the Cullens will be affected, but she's not awkward in her own skin anymore. A tiny discomfort being center of attention sometimes, but that's about it. Haha, I see no problem sounding twenty years younger. :) Yes, the wolves have arrived! Thank you for reviewing!
GraceEllingson: Yes, I couldn't let it last between Rose and Mir. They've been through too much to do that. The whole Mir/Jacob scene was so much fun! There's a lot of weird irony in everything they say or do, considering what the future is bringing their way. Thank you for reviewing!
ColdOnePaul: Ah, here we are again. Sorry if this is repetitive, but I'm rehashing some of my PM for others to see too. :) Mir's gift is part insight/intuition and part 'affectation'. That is to say her gift influences others somehow. We haven't delved into the specifics yet, but it's coming in this installment. And also, Jacob's changing body is not due to wolfy growth, but merely a teenage growth spurt. Yeah, I don't really want to see a wolfy Jacob so young. He'd be a big kiddie bear. ;D Thanks for reviewing!
EnchantedDreamer: Ah, thank you! I had fun writing the Mir/Jacob scene. :) Oho, Mir and Paul would be a whole barrel of scorpions snapping at each other! I still haven't figured out how all the wolves will work out if they talk to Mir. Thanks for reviewing!
xenocanaan: If Jasper had known about Mir needing help with her cowgirl costume, he would have helped, haha! But Alice didn't explain her vision, so only Edward knew what was happening. :) Thanks for your review!
BitterSweet256: Okay... Lol, I'm glad you're excited and thank you for reviewing!
Notes:
One note to everyone - There is FAR-Jacob and there is TWI-Jacob. Jacob of my story is not the same Jacob you met in the Twilight series. He's not developing in exactly the same way.
Lots of big stuff here, so be prepaaaared! (Yes, that was a terrible Lion King reference. No, I don't care. :D)
Song Inspiration:
Skeletons In The Closet by Alice Cooper
Previously – Mir shopped Halloween décor and met Jacob Black for the first time. Jacob was friendly despite being a gawky teen. Mir explained origin of her name. Jacob brought up legends and Mir revealed she was part of Cullen family. Jacob realized Billy was trying to stop Charlie talking to Cullens. Jacob decided to crash Mir's Halloween party in rebellion. Rose was upset Mir revealed party date. Mir worried over Jacob but Homecoming Week distracted her. Mike & Tyler acted stupid and Mike upset over Conner/Jess. Mir sang National Anthem with school choir. Mir enjoyed school parade and dance with friends/'family'. Mir couldn't pick costume/worried of message sent to Quileutes. Mir finally chose a cowgirl costume and Edward joined her as Marty McFly for trick-or-treating with classmates.
Chapter 3: Awkward
If Edward's growling back at the diner in town hadn't been noticed, I felt certain his intense glaring all along the residential section of our trick-or-treat path definitely would be.
Yet somehow, despite Edward's viciously darkened vampire eyes trained so heavily on Tyler Crowley, the arrogant teen kept acting like a complete fool and flirting with almost every girl in our circle. With Edward and me offering angry eyes to Tyler, he had only partially stopped bothering me.
Katie glared at him so fiercely after the first comment that Tyler backed off her a little as well – if only a little. Between protective Conner and possessive Mike, Tyler seemed to take it as a challenge to flirt with a very agitated Jessica. Lauren and Samantha both acted beyond flattered and enacted the most irritating false giggles every so often, something that only encouraged Tyler's stupidity.
Angela stayed well behind Edward's slightly taller frame at the back of the group, luckily squeaking by without the nuisance of a Casanova investing in her presence. Whitney, walking beside me with a slightly nervous expression, wasn't as lucky as Angela, but again the infuriated looks on mine and Edward's faces seemed to (mostly) do the trick. Austin, Ben, and Lee tried to stand in the middle somewhere and create distance or at least a barrier between our preferred group and the unwanted frustrations that were Mike, Tyler, Lauren, and Samantha. While commendable, their efforts were rather unsuccessful over the course of our night.
As if events hadn't turned complicated and frustrating enough, it was on the outer edges of town that we all ran into a very startling group of people.
Groaning quietly, Edward and I mutually turned half away as Jacob Black led a small and indecently happy, chatty group of teens right past us, dressed as pirates out of everyday clothing and carrying pillowcases to hold their candy fortune. From the looks of their slim cases, they hadn't gotten very far yet.
No matter how quickly I attempted to pull my hat down over my face, Jacob unfortunately noticed me with the eyes of an eagle.
"Oh, hi, Mireille!" the fourteen-year-old called out as if greeting his favorite cousin at a family reunion. Every one of my human friends turned to stare at me in curiosity or – in Lauren and Samantha's case – irritation. Suddenly I was the center of attention once again and neither of the blondes liked that at all.
"Jacob," I reluctantly greeted the teen, resigned to my continual fate of never quite escaping an awkward situation when it presented itself. Edward gently pressed a comforting hand to my back, but said nothing.
"Jacob?" Jessica repeated inquisitively.
"Jacob Black," the lean boy offered almost proudly in reply.
"How did you meet Ray?" Tyler asked defensively.
I wanted to smack Tyler very, very hard – it took all of Edward's willpower to willingly restrain me from the action.
"Who's Ray?" Jacob repeated, brow crunched in confusion.
"When we first met last year, I asked Mireille if it was an okay nickname," Ben shrugged sheepishly.
"Huh… Well, I bumped into Mireille by accident the other day," Jacob answered easily, undisturbed by Crowley's rudeness and apparently unimpressed by my school nickname. I rolled my eyes as the teen added more embarrassedly, "Knocked all her party stuff down in the store… She was chill about it, though."
"Who are your friends?" Angela wondered kindly as always, evidently not recognizing my annoyance with Jacob.
"This is Quil Ateara and Embry Call," Jacob introduced his best friends fearlessly.
Throwing up a hand in greeting, Quil's softer, more rounded face spread into a smile. "Hi, guys!"
Embry's deep-set eyes were full of cheer on his far more toned face as he waved excitedly at us all. "Hey!"
To my surprise, as my friends all greeted the two boys, Jacob then turned to look far behind them and waved someone forward. Whoever it was didn't seem inclined to join us, but after a moment, two figures came forward in a rather amusing position.
A cute kid with a big smile – bits of babyish fullness still clinging on his face – had also dressed as a pirate and dragged behind him a pretty young woman with long, shining dark hair. She was clearly the eldest of the group and looking rightly annoyed by the boys around her. Despite that, the young woman – also matching the pirate theme – indulged the boy dragging her along with fond exasperation. I had a feeling I knew who they were.
"This is Seth and Leah Clearwater," Jacob pointed at the siblings, confirming my suspicions. "Leah's only here because Seth begged her to come with."
"Shut up, Jacob," Leah scowled at the cheeky teen, far less indulgent of him than of her baby brother.
"Nice to meet you," I waved awkwardly at the five future wolves, uncomfortably aware that at least one of them would never, ever like the Cullens no matter how good they were. Edward pressed my back reassuringly for the second time.
"Are you Marty McFly?" Seth's younger voice called out in awe, wide brown eyes looking over Edward's detailed, excellently-made costume with amazement. The boy looked only a couple years older than Angela's brothers – twelve years old, tops, I figured – as he pushed forward however far his sister's watchful grip would allow. As for Leah, she rolled her eyes with a tiny, fond smile over her brother's excitement.
Chuckling, Edward nodded and knelt closer to the pre-teen boy's level with only a slight bit of awkwardness. "Yes, I am."
"Cool!" Seth declared, unconcerned of anyone else's opinions. "I love Back to the Future. It's one of my favorite movies."
"It's one of mine, too," Edward confessed, withholding a larger grin for the sake of his threatening teeth.
Just like that, Edward had gained a new fan, similar to what Seth offered him in the books. I practically had to bite my tongue off to stop myself from laughing out loud at their adorable connection. It was the only time Edward ever got to be the big brother rather than the younger one and I simply loved it. He was just too cute.
Eyeing me shrewdly from his peripheral vision, Edward just shook his head in minute exasperation with my latest sentimental mashing and let it go.
"You know, this is great, Mireille," Jacob exclaimed enthusiastically, rubbing his hands together eerily reminiscent of an excitable Emmett. "I was just telling Quil and Embry about your party tomorrow!"
Grinding my teeth almost audibly, I spoke through gritted molars in a very sour attempt at courtesy, "How nice of you, Jacob…"
"Oh, you don't have make nice with me. I know you asked Charlie to tell my dad," Jacob grinned broadly, unashamed of his rebelliousness and apparently unbothered by my snitching on him. Jacob just shrugged carelessly, leaving me to inhale and exhale deeply in hopes of restoring calm. Jacob Black's reckless rebellion stood as a near antithesis of my typically cautious, careful nature.
"You're coming to the party, too?" Katie, of all people, stuck her babbling nose in, grinning like she had found a treasure trove under a dirt pile.
I knew exactly what she was thinking, too – boyfriend material for me. After all, from what she knew, Jacob wasn't that much younger than I was. She also had no idea he was eventually going to be a shape-shifting wolf who would imprint on a very specific person somewhere down the line, but still… Rolling my eyes to the sky and back around to face Katie, I glared at the girl more fiercely than I had glared at anyone for a long while. The redhead gulped a little at my expression, but the damage was already done.
"Well, I'd like to," Jacob frowned suddenly. "I mean, my dad told me not to, but I'll try to work on him. Anyway, even if he says yes, Mireille didn't actually tell me what time – just that it's tomorrow."
"Oh, it's at eight o'clock!" Jessica threw in, rapidly catching on to Katie's scheming with a matching grin. "You can meet us at the diner in town if you want."
"You're meeting at the diner?" Quil spoke up with immense confusion.
"No one except Angela has ever been to Ray and Edward's house," Katie explained and gestured at Edward and I, previous discomfort forgotten in the face of Jessica's comradeship. "So we're all meeting up to let her lead the way."
"Cool," Embry agreed, smiling anew.
In the face of an increasingly catastrophic situation, I nearly had a conniption fit before Edward gripped my arm in understanding caution.
"We'll see you there, then," Jacob settled the matter happily, winking obnoxiously at me. He was a good deal nicer than his book self, but just as confident and annoying.
Catching on to my frustration with remarkable ease, Jacob's grin widened.
Very annoying.
'Did I mention he was annoying?' I queried mentally of Edward, who faced a sudden coughing fit that drew everyone's concern but mine.
"He's just dying," I mentioned casually to the group, walking ahead before any more plans could be made in spite of my blatant refusals. Still choking on repressed humor, Edward followed behind even as the entire group suddenly recognized I was joking and emitted startled laughter.
Jacob's little 'pack' as I had taken to calling them – for they would be just that in a couple of years – joined our now enormous group of people for the rest of the night trick-or-treating, increasing my concern and irritating me beyond belief even as it amused me in some strange part of myself.
I had to admit, however reluctantly, that Jacob was quite a friendly person and he was able to bond with almost all of my friends except Lauren, Samantha, and Tyler. Even Mike kind of liked him, not that I was exactly surprised. Jacob even stumbled under the typical teenager growth spurt several times, but no one paid it any mind. The future alpha already admitted three separate ways that he was awkward at the moment.
Funniest of all, Jacob seemed to genuinely like Edward once the bronze-haired vampire decided to open up a little. I could see the precise moment Edward gave up and just lived in the moment – his eyes zeroed in on Jacob with deep consideration, but in a heartbeat his lips twitched amusedly at the far brighter teen than what he might have become as a wolf.
Feeling a bit put out that Edward didn't stay as vigilant as myself, I frowned and went quiet for most of the evening afterward.
Three things made me break form.
The first was Whitney, who looked a little like an outsider straggling off to the side of our group. Feeling badly – for it was my invitation that had brought her out with us – I stepped over to chatter with the strawberry blonde throughout a whole neighborhood we trick-or-treated in.
Second to make me break form was the interactions between Edward and Seth. The younger boy stayed right beside Edward the whole time, always bringing up dorky but endearing questions about movies and television or – as was most common – about Back to the Future and Marty McFly. Edward kept his hand on Seth's shoulder the entire time, guiding the boy helpfully throughout the streets we walked.
The last thing to change my mood, I was surprised to admit, was Leah Clearwater. The dark-haired young woman clearly had already faced her heartbreak with Sam a while ago and she looked just as bedraggled as I would have expected. Yet somehow we found common ground on an unforeseen subject.
"Does Edward have little siblings or something?" Leah quietly inquired while we trailed behind the chattering duo of Edward and Seth. It was the first time she had actually let go of her brother's hand and it appeared she couldn't stand to have her fingers so free, instead twirling pieces of long, shining hair.
"No, he was an only child," I explained of the long-gone Masens. "And being with Carlisle and Esme only gave him older siblings."
"Seth really likes him," Leah admitted. "I'm kind of surprised. Seth's been back and forth moody the past year or two. My parents say it's normal for tweens, but I still hate it. He's always been a super sweet kid until the past couple years. He can argue like the best of us now."
"That does sound like normal pre-teen behavior," I laughed a little. "It's that need to explore their growing independence. He'll get over it."
Speaking not only from guesswork, I wondered if Seth would truly turn out as wonderfully as he did in the books. Shaking away the uncomfortable idea of anything different in his future, I tuned back in to whatever else Leah might have to say.
After a mildly edgy pause, Leah announced even more quietly, "Edward's good with my brother…"
"Edward has a natural way with children, I think," I shrugged thoughtfully, imagining the times with Renesmee in the book. "He lets them just be kids, but also makes sure they feel safe and important. That combination of feeling wanted, protected, and yet independent is a pretty big thing for a pre-teen."
"Yeah, that seems to fit them both," Leah surprisingly agreed, nodding into the silence that overtook us.
It was well past nine o'clock when everyone parted ways and returned to the diner, catching the last few straggler houses along the way, it must be said.
Goodbyes said and promises of tomorrow laid down despite my glare at Jacob, finally Edward and I got into the Acura. We only released twin sighs of relief once the Quileute kids had disappeared down the road towards the reservation.
"That was a challenge," Edward disclosed, mentally weary after our escapade.
"Challenge?" I scoffed disbelievingly. "More like a disaster."
"You were decently engrossed talking to Leah," the bronze-haired vampire mentioned.
"She started the conversation," I denied disbelievingly. "You didn't have to go down on bended knee with all of them!"
"We'll eventually connect to all of them anyway," Edward snorted, backing out of the parking space and heading towards the house. "I figured this would be an opportunity to challenge their future perceptions of us."
"You were right in Chicago," I grumbled.
Lifting a bronze eyebrow curiously, Edward prompted me to continue.
"When you said you were always reckless," I grumbled even more darkly, glaring at the seventeen-year-old from my slouched position in the passenger seat.
Edward erupted with barking laughter, ignoring my foul mood and hypocrisy on the drive back with impossible totality by singing in perfect synchrony to The Everly Brothers' song 'Claudette' when it came on the oldies station.
That night, on an overload of frustration with Jacob, the tribe, Katie, Jessica, Tyler, Lauren, and even Edward, I finally realized the costume I really wanted to wear. Forget not making a statement, I told myself staunchly.
I was going to attend my party dressed as none other than Little Red Riding Hood.
Every single member of the Cullen family stared at my pronouncement.
It was Emmett who laughed first, followed swiftly by Edward, Jasper, and Alice. Rosalie closed her eyes, suppressing her instinctive response, but Carlisle and Esme eyed me concernedly.
"Are you sure that's the wisest course of action, Mir?" Esme tentatively questioned.
"Edward said it best," I replied firmly, quoting the lean vampire's consoling words from earlier that day, "One outfit for Halloween won't make the pack suddenly dive after us with claws and teeth bared. Right?"
Hesitating without a fully cognizant argument, Carlisle eventually sighed slightly and tilted his head to look at Esme with a sense of reluctant acceptance for my stubborn statements.
Sighing in equal forbearance, Esme threw her hands up helplessly and let go of her debate.
"Come on, we'll get started before it's too late," Alice encouraged through a grin, guiding me to the stairs. "What do you want it to look like?"
"Lots and lots of red," I started wryly, finally lifting a miniscule half-laugh from Rosalie, who at last joined her husband and siblings in their humor.
The next morning, I rose with the sun after a near-sleepless night, frustrated by the intuition my gift threw at me in the middle of contemplating unwelcome party crashers. In light of my gift's unwanted nudge, I ate my breakfast with only half an interest before heading to self-defense with Jasper, and immediately after returning I moved into my party plans with a sense of deep resignation.
Somehow, some way, someone unwelcome was going to crash the party that night. Probably Jacob, but how was I to know for sure? After the way Seth goggled over 'cool' Marty McFly, perhaps it was the youngest of the group who would convince his sister to drag him over to the big, bad Cullen house.
"Big, bad?" Edward snorted from behind me where I sorted through the boatload of candy I'd bought for the night.
"Close enough," I muttered, still vaguely annoyed with him getting so cozy with the Quileute boys after all my worrying.
"Oh, don't be a stiff," Alice intervened with a sniffy voice, entering the room with an armload of decorations. "This is great. They like Edward already. It's an excellent start on the future."
"You would say that," I griped to the pixielike vampire, tossing a fun size candy bar with a little more force than necessary.
Alice ignored me like a professional, as did every vampire in the house while they all decorated the entire estate to the specifications Esme and Alice had helped me perfect in the three weeks leading up. The party had been offered to a much broader group of students than I ever expected, so I had to have a really good selection of games, foods, drinks, treats, and décor to keep everybody occupied and far away from exploring the house too closely. The Cullens planned to lock every unnecessary door anyway, but we had to be cautious nonetheless.
If the previous Christmas had been a spectacle to my eyes, this party had become just as much of one for the sake of evasion and security.
The garage had been emptied of cars, all of them parked elsewhere. Charlie had been kind enough to let Carlisle park the Mercedes and the Mazda ahead of the cruiser in his short driveway at the Swan house, but the rest had been placed under tarps in a temporary car shelter behind the garage itself. Edward and Rosalie almost got into a snit over the potential of damage to their precious cars until Jasper suggested the car port idea. Now the shelter also had been walled off with plywood painted black – one more layer of protection for the vehicles and a nice little backdrop for the outdoor scene.
At the fork in the main drive to the estate, the path to the house was lined with white milk jugs painted with ghost faces and filled with string lights. Contrarily, the path to the garage and – consequently – the entrance of the main outdoor event had been lined with jack-o-lanterns that carried candles inside.
As for the garage, we had really blown it up with blacklights, neon tape, and glowing paint. In the vast empty space, black fabric draped from the walls, painted with chilling phrases as though it was an old abandoned house in a scary movie. Most of the garage had been cordoned off with more black-painted plywood set up as dividers. In the small area left behind, an entrance had been arranged with a glow-in-the-dark skeleton collapsed against the makeshift wall and upon the black plywood had been painted the glowing words 'Turn back now'.
Once past the cautionary entry, the large space beyond offered a small selection of activities. In the nearest sections, there stood a ring toss game using witch's hats made from construction cones, boxes full of sensory items meant to creep out the hands reaching into them, and a candy toss where candy corn had to be thrown into tiny little cauldrons. Pumpkin bowling took up the greatest section of the garage, a fun glow-in-the-dark game with neon tape lining the 'lanes' and pins made from plastic juice bottles with glow sticks inside.
From the garage games led a starting path into the main event. All around the estate, from garage to house and beyond, the Cullens and I had created a fake forest the likes of which I felt were worthy of awards. Owing most of the tree design and construction to Esme's creativity and talent, I felt exceedingly pleased with the resulting dark-painted wooden forms with creeping and overreaching branches that seemed to grab the unsuspecting passerby with horrid claws and hover high above their heads.
The only space not covered in fake trees was the main path and the direct front yard. On the far left of the main house stood the garage as one end cap and Esme's white tree swing topped out the other end of the slightly U-shaped forest with a white floating ghost layered in cobwebs.
Around the outlying edges of the property, the actual, living forest had been blocked off with yellow caution tape and barricades with signs claiming such things as 'Beware!' and 'Do not enter!' and 'Danger Ahead!' with fearfully painted letters. Not only did it provide security against wanderers and unwanted incidents or accidents, but it also fit perfectly with the Halloween vibe.
If the great, yawning black forest in the enormous yard was not creepy enough with its massive array of cobwebs, moss, creeping vines, dark greenery, floating bats, and hanging black fabric strips, we made it a hundred times creepier when scattered with fake headstones, a few coffins, whole and partial skeletons, and life-size black witch forms with green-lit 'heads' covered with black tulle. To top it off, Carlisle and Esme had garnered an unused fog machine from Katie's parents to intersperse our 'Haunted Wood' with mystical creepiness aided by glow sticks and twinkle lights in purple, orange, and green.
Out at the far back corner of the property, Esme's greenhouse had been transformed from charming to eerie with all glass panes tinted by sheer dark green material and cobwebs. In addition, Esme had brought in all rich, deep autumn plants to darken the building's interior.
At the front of the house, the porch steps had been carefully and expertly drenched with the liquid from green glow sticks, leaving the steps appearing as though slime or acid had dripped down every step. At the top, shredded white material imitating cobwebs had been hung for visitors to walk through. All along the porch ceiling, witch's brooms with mini orange lights had been hung to appear 'floating' as they waited for their rider.
Inside the house displayed cobwebs in the furthest corners of every room on the main level, and a few smaller creepy trees in the foyer to greet visitors as they stepped through. Far above everyone's heads hung lighted black witch's hats throughout the first floor.
Around the edges of every floor space stood small black lanterns with cutout scenes showing up against white screens on all four sides. The top had been cut into tree branches imitating the creepy forest outside and in the foyer. We reused several decorations from the previous year, including the pumpkin lanterns and puppet skeletons; custom monster banner; and the black, orange, green, and purple taper candles. The differences were mostly placement of each reused item, with lanterns and skeletons hung more at random, although the taper candles had been moved from mismatched holders to all black holders.
Edward's baby grand piano faced a huge protective step; Esme had been quite creative about it. Different eerie ghost forms had been placed in the front windows of the conservatory space, all blocked in with the same plywood painted black. Moving the piano as close to the false wall as possible, Esme then boxed the piano into its own black plywood safe space. To be doubly sure no harm befell the piano by accidentally hitting one of the plywood pieces, Esme doubled the plywood and placed a boatload of cheap fluff as insulation between layers.
Whatever room remained in the conservatory, it was used to house all of the foods, drinks, and treats. Esme and I remade mummy pizzas, but also added baked potatoes with all the trimmings ready to decorate with. Homemade punches looked ghastly by their coloring and playful bobbing tidbits. Fake spiders and bugs had been Emmett's initial suggestion, but I rapidly vetoed in favor of far less disgusting mini pumpkins in the blood orange punch and little black witch hats in the green apple punch, both drinks smoking with food-grade dry ice.
Treats ranged from an insanely broad selection of candy to Jell-O jigglers in Halloween shapes, monster munch popcorn, Frankenstein rice krispie treats, witch hat waffle cones filled with chocolate candies, headstone cookies, and candy corn cupcakes. One of the biggest treat items was a cauldron full of apples for bobbing set right in the center against the front piano safety wall.
More black-painted plywood blocked off the entire kitchen wall and both doorways, sitting a few feet ahead of the lengthy area with yellow caution tape on the front of it. It looked entirely blocked, but the whole piece was mobile so it could be moved if any food or drink needed refills or spills needed cleaning.
The central staircase, too, had been wrapped up in all black and cobwebs; no one would even know it was a staircase just by looking at it, which was a wonderful method of snooping prevention. The hallway off the foyer had been covered with black curtains, leaving it closed off yet accessible for bathroom use. From out of the fireplace peered scary, angry eyes made out of twinkle lights attached to chicken wire.
Blacklights galore filtered the space into a wonderful haunted house, the ambience enhanced by the sheer purple material covering the entire window wall at the back of the house like a thick fog, as well as bat and spider cutouts hanging along the top. Esme draped the tables in black and almost every other piece of furniture had been covered in white sheets the same as an old, derelict mansion.
With the house and yard ready to go forty minutes before the party started, I tried to settle myself somehow and wind down before the impending swarm – less my human friends and more the Quileute teenagers who were so determined to be different.
"Are you still panicking?" Edward sighed, strains of humor in his velvet voice.
"Are you still under-reacting?" I retorted with a slight scowl for the bronze-haired vampire.
"It will be fine," Edward insisted forcibly, grabbing both of my shoulders to give me a playful little shake. "Try to have some fun tonight."
An eyeroll was all the response I felt he deserved, but it seemed to appease Edward immensely for some strange reason and he left me to my worrisome thoughts once more.
Indiana Jones joined me next in brown leather jacket, boots, slacks, and fedora matched with a khaki button-up shirt, coiled whip, old fashioned revolver, and cross-body utility pouch. It took a long, blinking moment to realize the wearer of said costume was none other than Jasper.
"I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed," Jasper grinned teasingly at me in his Texan drawl, wrapping an arm of solace around my shoulders while I wallowed over possibilities even as I considered his perfect costume. "Here I was all excited to see a cowgirl and you go on to choose Red Riding Hood."
"You're trying to cheer me up and distract me," I stated, no doubt in my mind as I restlessly pushed back the one lock of hair that had escaped the half-up hairstyle on my head.
"Of course I am," Jasper scoffed amusedly, not bothering to hide his purpose in teasing an outfit he already knew I was going to wear. He had laughed about the initial decision, after all.
Jasper had, in fact, been the first person aside from Alice to see my heavy crimson cape, white peasant blouse, fake corset in plaid, crimson skirt underlain with crinoline, black tights, black laced boots, and (of course) single-handle woven basket.
"I don't think it's going to work all that well right now," I admitted with a heaving sigh and sat on the nearest sheet-covered sofa, throwing my chin into my hands. "Wonderful costume, by the way."
"Thank you," Jasper nodded and settled beside me in a matching pose with his elbows up on his knees. "I actually picked it out myself this year… Not that Alice was unaware of my choice."
Huffing a tiny measure of laughter over the qualifier, I continued to brood with uncomfortable persistence.
Expelling a sigh of his own, Jasper reached out to grasp my arm nearest him in a gentle grip. "If nothing else, Mir, maybe this is our way of easing tensions between wolf and vampire before Bella's arrival."
"By Jacob bursting in on our party and making the tribe have a meltdown because they can't cross territory to protect him from the terrible, no-good, nasty bloodsuckers?"
Taking a brief moment to digest my words, Jasper pursed his lips in thought, but eventually just chortled humorously.
"I should dose you with pure exhaustion," the former solider offered warningly after a minute, although I knew he wasn't serious.
"The moment you stopped, I'd be right back at square one," was my only response, a shrug accompanying the matter-of-fact statement.
Jasper could only raise an eyebrow at me when Alice zipped in front of us with an excited grin that foretold crazy events unspoken.
"I don't like that look in your eye," I announced bluntly, lips pursed with as much thought as Jasper's had been moments earlier.
Sniffing as though offended, Alice pointed her nose towards the air with great effect. "I'm completely offended, Mireille Whitlock."
"You're always offended," I muttered without any real heat.
"Oh, suck it up," Alice replied in standard fashion, still blazingly pleased about something only she and Edward could see. "Come on, some of the students will be arriving in a few minutes.
"Did you see anything about Jacob?" I had to ask, bringing a loud, unified groan from every Cullen except Rosalie – and even she seemed a bit put out by the ongoing obsession.
Least affected by my intensely single-minded concern, Alice tossed eyes to the ceiling and back down.
"I have yet to see him arriving," the tiny blue-clad vampire concluded delicately, rapidly correcting my single loose lock of hair and walking off before I could press the issue.
Of all the Cullens' costumes, there was yet one I hadn't seen and in the uncomfortable waiting time before the first arrivals, I finally got to. Laughing loudly at the ironic costume, I felt some of my nerves unintentionally sliding away.
Esme had dressed as a referee, complete with a silver whistle and penalty flags sticking out of her pockets.
"Do you like it, then?" Esme laughed along with me, throwing her arms out to the side. "I almost dressed as an umpire, but that seemed a bit cumbersome."
"I love it!" I exclaimed giddily for a change, clapping my hands with bright cheer. "It's perfect for you!"
"I thought so, too," Esme agreed, smiling happily. "With all of you, I have to be a referee as much as a mother!"
Everyone joined our laughter then, leaving the atmosphere far pleasanter than it had been.
Alice came bounding back into the room not a minute later, clapping her hands with unbelievable enthusiasm. "It's time, it's time!"
In a blink, every vampire in the house disappeared out onto the porch, Alice herself carrying me out with them.
Half of our trick-or-treating crew showed up at the house before anyone else, Jacob blatantly absent from their number. Lifting a brow at the apparent change in plans, I felt my body relax ever-so-slightly. Perhaps Jacob had actually listened to Billy about not attending the party.
Listening to my morphing mentality as Angela led Jessica, Katie, Conner, and Lee up the drive with wondering eyes, Edward leaned down to murmur smugly in my ear, "See?"
"Shut up," I muttered in return, resulting in muffled laughter from the entire family. Edward just smirked slightly, unaffected.
"This is so cool!" Jessica practically squealed at the remarkable feat of Halloween decorating when the group reached the 'dripping' front steps. Every pair of eyes roved back and forth from one piece of décor to the next, unable to even make the trip up the porch for fear of missing their step in fascinated staring.
"Come on in," I laughed delightedly at their amazement, waving the five students up to where we all stood.
They followed immediately, but upon seeing Emmett's imposing black Vader costume, every teen stopped dead in their tracks.
"Oh, it's just Emmett," I said, waving them off impatiently, no longer bothered by Emmett's outfit. "Come on, there's more to look at inside!"
More warily than before, the five much smaller teenagers shuffled past Emmett with definite intimidation. A guffaw from the burly vampire under his face mask didn't do him any favors, I had to admit amusedly. Jasper and Edward snickered and chortled together over the reaction, leaving at least Conner and Lee a bit embarrassed by their fear.
"Boys!" Esme scolded her sons, forcibly repressing her own humor in order to look stern. Carlisle didn't fare nearly as well, grinning mildly over the situation.
Through the cobwebs and creepy trees, my human friends made their way into the house ahead of us, more excited and amazed sounds filling the air as they saw the entirety of our Halloween fun.
"I can't wait for it to start!" Katie jumped up and down a little, making us laugh.
By the time Ben, Austin, and Whitney showed up a few minutes later, Katie nearly lost her patience waiting to begin the party, but the three new arrivals renewed her interest and kept her at bay until the less desired visitors showed up within the next fifteen minutes. Not only Mike, Lauren, Tyler, and Samantha, but half our junior class showed up, including the entire Homecoming Committee. Stray freshman, sophomores, and seniors filled out the group, even the school choir. At the Homecoming football game, I had shrugged and decided to invite them. If we were going to be stuck with people like Lauren and Tyler, I figured it wouldn't hurt to have buffers.
Carlisle and Esme took their role with alacrity, speaking to parents who had dropped off their teens for the party, assuring them of safety measures and curfew times with great confidence and persuasion.
The Cullens' enormous home had never felt so small before, nor our eight-man group so outnumbered. Yet in the midst of the big party of people, Emmett's dark figure standing at the fringes still felt overwhelmingly large and noticeable. Grinning for the familiarity despite so many strange kids in the house, I turned to check one more time if any came up the driveway. Free of new arrivals a few minutes after eight o'clock, I guessed it was time to begin.
Catching Alice's excited gaze across the living area, I knew I was right.
Carlisle and Esme caught on immediately and began calling for quiet in the raucous group. I felt bad for whatever mess and chaos we would have to clean up later. At least the furniture was covered and the piano safely tucked away.
Edward's disbelieving snort caught my attention, even across the room, but I just offered him a pair of twinkling eyes.
"Welcome to our house, everyone!" Carlisle was the first to speak, the last few gabbing mouths finally growing quiet. "We hope it wasn't too hard for everyone to find…"
A gaggle of nervous chuckling eclipsed the moment over the mild joke.
"Your parents have spoken with us about curfew and safety," Esme took over sternly. "This party will end at midnight, no matter what. If you drove yourself or with friends, then your parents are expecting every one of you home in prompt order once it's done. If your parents drove you, you are not to leave until they arrive. Is that clear?"
Some grumbling did insert itself, but most of the students nodded their agreement to Esme's firm words. I had no doubt many of the parents had already made their time limits quite clear.
"Mireille, why don't you take over?" Esme suggested, clearly just having thought of it; her golden eyes twinkled at me.
"All right," I concurred hesitantly, stepping forward to address the group in waves of nervousness. "Hi, everybody."
A matching 'hi' rose from the assembled group with a little laugh at the anticlimactic greeting, my human friends at the forefront.
"I'm glad everyone could make it. We have a lot to do, but let me introduce everyone… Carlisle masquerades as Sherlock Holmes and Esme is our referee, Edward is Marty McFly, Rosalie is heroic Supergirl and Alice is from Alice in Wonderland, Emmett is the terrifying Darth Vader and Jasper is Indiana Jones, and I'm playing Little Red Riding Hood."
A couple of hoots and hollers rang out for costumes people liked, particularly Supergirl, Darth Vader, and Indiana Jones. I was pleased to see no one else wore similar costumes to ours, at least for the sake of high visibility. Witches, sockhop girls, zombies, clowns, vampires, animals, princesses, superheroes, vintage jailbirds, and public service uniforms all filled out the group with mostly typical costume fare.
Pressing forward more surely of myself, I turned up the volume a bit and gestured whenever I spoke of a particular area in the house or outside, "Alice has face painting on the sofas. Edward has apple bobbing and a guessing jar; whoever guesses the closest amount of candy corn wins the jar. Esme has pumpkin painting in the dining area and Carlisle has pumpkin carving out in the greenhouse. Rosalie leads games out in the garage. Last, but not least, Emmett and Jasper will guide you around the 'Haunted Wood' outside. I'll be your guide inside, but I'll help if Emmett and Jasper can't. We're going to have some Halloween music and there's a bunch of food and candy."
A chorus of 'ooh' and 'ahh' filled the room at the mention of music and food before I could continue, "For our Haunted Wood, you can just get scared or you can go pumpkin hunting. These little carved wood pumpkins are painted gold and hidden all over. The top six hunters get a prize. No one goes beyond the caution tape around the yard, okay? Everyone has to be inside at eleven-thirty so we can hand out prizes and get everyone ready to go home. Have fun and Happy Halloween!"
A cheer and clapping went up in the room at all the fun waiting and in an instant the students dispersed through the house or – in most cases – followed Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle outside for the games, carving, and Haunted Wood. The first song to blast through the room was 'Monster Mash' and I grinned at Alice for her choice. Winking cheekily, the tiny vampire hurried over to her face painting station on the sofas, already lined up with several kids wanting makeup to match their costumes.
While helping a couple of sophomores out on the front porch find the garage for the Halloween games, I relished our luck that Jacob hadn't arrived as he said he would. For just a moment, I breathed a sigh of relief.
The sight of Charlie's cruiser coming up the driveway not a minute later should have told me my relief was unfounded, but I was still smiling like an idiot when a pirate stepped out of the car and onto the ghost-lined main drive.
That grinning, boyish face and Charlie Swan's triumphant features told me a story I couldn't believe. If Charlie had brought the fourteen-year-old with him, then Billy must have given permission…
"Jacob?" I uttered, dreading my own realization and lingering suspicions as the boy headed up to the front steps at a jog, meeting my blank gaze with a shrug. "Your dad said this was okay?"
"Well… uh… not exactly…" Jacob looked sheepish, but grinned triumphantly all the same, "I might have sneaked out on him. Leah might have helped… And Charlie…"
Warning bells clanged in my head at the implications of the careless choices made by Charlie and the young Quileutes. Rebellious choices. Dangerous choices. Would the wolves descend, quite literally, upon our lives now?
"Jacob, are you out of your mind?" I exclaimed loudly, panic growing in my heart. Luckily none of the students from Forks High stood nearby, else I would have had a lot of explaining to do. "You shouldn't have come here like that!"
"Oh, hey, hey," Jacob tired to calm me down, startled by my sudden reaction. "Charlie made me leave a note for my dad. I said Charlie took me and I'd be home by midnight. It's fine! Anyway, I've done that before when I wanted to go hang with Quil and Embry. I mean, yeah, sometimes we don't exactly get home right at midnight, but…"
"You will be back home before midnight, this time!" I nearly commanded the fourteen-year-old, voice as stern as Esme when Emmett spouted the utmost of lewd comments. "I don't care what's going on here, you're going to be back home before that time. It wasn't right of you to do this to your dad, even with Charlie's input."
More than sheepish, Jacob now looked quite ashamed. "I know… I just… These superstitions are so stupid!"
"I know," I agreed emphatically, anxiously recalling the last several weeks of concern and near-panic. "But your dad is going to be frantic. You're his only son, Jacob. Even if you weren't, he has every right to worry about you. No matter how wrong it is to call my family monsters, or to accuse them of wanting to hurt people, it doesn't make it any more right for you to lie and sneak out."
"You're right," Jacob sighed, struggling with the idea quite a lot. At fourteen years old, I supposed that was normal, but I wished it wasn't. "Look, I'll be home early, no matter what's happening. Okay?"
Offering the teen an expectant look, I lifted one eyebrow in prompting, arms crossed over my chest.
"And I'll apologize," Jacob murmured, sufficiently cowed even if he was equally reluctant.
"Good," I retorted firmly, glancing towards the cruiser with deeper suspicion in my soul that Charlie hadn't left yet.
Letting Jacob wallow in his shame for a moment, I decided to use my gift. Irritated that I had neglected its use while under the influence of the recent emotional disruption, I frowned and worked my 'magic' long enough to determine the answer to my inner question.
Yes, Jacob had brought others with him.
While I had my suspicions who, I nonetheless exhaled in annoyance and turned to Jacob with brows furrowed nearly into one solid line.
"Who did you bring with you?"
There was no room for hesitation in my words and for the first time since meeting me, Jacob appeared vaguely intimidated.
"Um… Quil and Embry."
Narrowed blue eyes in addition to a near unibrow prompted further information in a heartbeat.
"Leah…" Jacob trailed with an awkward laugh, scratching the back of his neck. "And uh… Seth?"
Jacob tensed as if expecting an explosion, which I didn't feel all that far off from having. Closing my eyes just long enough to not burst, I reopened them in a flash and retorted sharply, "Fine."
Taking what he could get, Jacob waved his four friends up in a real hurry.
I had rarely seen doors open and slam so fast, except with the Cullens at vampire speed. The four kids scrambled up the drive, Leah tugging Seth's hand, and Charlie pulled away laughing at them.
Stuck with five hapless rebel pirates who clearly didn't listen to their parents, I wondered what on Earth I had done to deserve so much stupidity and pressure. Charlie was a grown man, for God's sake, and he acted as recklessly and rebelliously as any of the teenagers in front of me.
"You four better have left notes for your parents, too. And you're all going to be home before midnight. No arguments!" I snapped for the first time, even to Leah, the eldest of the five.
Based on our true years of birth, Leah would actually have been a couple years older than me, but seeing as I had been sent back earlier in the timeline, she was now physically younger. Trying to determine the mathematics of my time shift still gave me headaches at times and this was the worst possible time to face such a headache.
"Got it!" Quil spoke up, smile hesitantly cheerful.
"Yep!" Embry echoed his friend with a more playful nod than I felt warranted.
Leah shrugged, a secretive smile lingering on her face that reminded me strangely of Rosalie. "Fine."
Young Seth echoed his big sister's shrug and careless answer. "Fine."
Jacob smothered a snort.
Rolling my eyes broadly at all five of the young smart-alecks, I sighed and gave them a condensed version of my first speech to the high school students, guiding them all just past the foyer to see the interior of the decorated house.
Hardly had I finished explaining where Marty 'Edward' McFly held a station than did Seth shout 'Cool!' and jog to find his Back to the Future buddy. Between the five of us left behind, not one of us could stop laughter at his enthusiasm. Even I, with all my current cynicism, couldn't prevent the humor from overtaking me. Seth was just too sweet, as was his friendship with Edward.
The best part of it was the loud laugh that escaped from Edward not a minute later, echoing over the music and chaos from the party raging all around us as Seth hugged his grinning new pal, the younger boy still caught between childlike cuddling and the growing call of rebellion against physical affection.
Heaving a sigh, I finally allowed my shoulders to drop helplessly.
How many times did Edward laugh so genuinely and boisterously? Or allow such a warm, brotherly hug? No way in the world could I begrudge Edward the joy he obviously felt playing big brother to Seth Clearwater. Edward and Seth were bound to be great friends. Fate just wanted it that way.
After all the panic and worry and fear, constantly questioning what would happen, who would come accusing, or if we would come under attack… I gave up. Without even a mental argument, I gave up trying to keep distances no one else seemed to desire.
Noise filled the house wildly and unendingly as the night progressed with five new additions. All of my closest school friends found the time to come from whatever activity engrossed them and let me know just how amazing the party was. Sour Lauren didn't even look sour once she'd been through the Haunted Wood with Tyler and let him convince her to get zombie face paint. Alice looked all too gleeful to paint Lauren's face as ugly as her personality, although Lauren certainly didn't seem to realize that little quirk.
Even Angela and Whitney stepped out of their shells to try dancing to Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' hit. Tyler Crowley didn't even annoy anyone when he utilized his perfect costume to lead the infamous dance. Badly, it was true, but he led it nonetheless and everyone who stood in the house chimed in gleefully to try the moves.
Winners were announced for the pumpkin hunt at a quarter after eleven, Amanda from Homecoming Committee winning first place. Embry picked within one number to win the candy corn jar, although if Jacob and Quil's faces were any judge, the jar would be a divided sugar pot whether Embry wanted it to be or not.
Jack-o-lantern gift bags were handed out, gaining mixed reactions for their contents of a toothbrush and toothpaste, chips, gum, and a deck of cards. Some loved the games enough to not be upset by the lack of candy, and some definitely grumbled a little at the much healthier bag of goods, but when everyone was told to fill the remaining space in their gift bags with candy before they left, those glum faces turned around in short order.
As if that wasn't enough sugar, Esme caved and let some of the worst beggars take home other treats they could carry along with their gift bag. Carlisle barely smothered an obvious chortle at his wife's blatant inability to refuse Seth Clearwater, in particular. Esme smacked the doctor's chest in retaliation when none of the exiting students were looking.
All in all, my Halloween party turned out to be a smash hit beyond any doubt, finishing up earlier than expected at eleven thirty. True to the promise of Jacob's note, Charlie came back shortly thereafter with a firm expression to the toddler-like pouts of the three older Quileute boys.
Groaning at the combination of Carlisle, Esme, and Charlie (and myself, where Charlie couldn't see me) as a cumulative glaring force, the boys relented under duress.
"This was a great Halloween party," Jacob spoke first. "You guys have been really awesome."
"Thanks for letting us come," Embry nodded with a smile as he popped a few pieces of candy corn into his mouth.
"Yeah, I haven't had that much fun for a while," Quil added, punching Embry agreeably in the shoulder as he snuck a handful of candy corn from the half-open jar.
"It was a nice time," Leah confessed as if just beyond her willpower, shrugging a little less emptily than she had the night before.
"Thanks for letting me hang out with you," Seth offered mournfully to Edward, focusing solely on his brotherly bestie in his farewell. "It's too bad we couldn't watch Back to the Future."
It took all I had not to release a very warm, saccharine 'awww' over the adorable sentiment. I had the feeling Edward and Seth had earlier discussed watching the movie some time.
Withholding only half of his fond laugh, Edward leaned down to Seth's level and handed off a wrapped gift he procured seemingly from the thin air. "Here. I want you to have this."
"What is it?" Seth wondered curiously, shaking the package with a close ear.
Chuckling, Edward explained, "You have to open it to find out."
Seth excitedly tore open the orange-wrapped package to reveal a DVD of Back to the Future, gasping in amazement at his prized movie. "That's the best!"
Every soul in the house laughed at the pre-teen's excitement.
"Thanks!" Seth grinned at Edward for the marvelous gift. "I can watch it every day now!"
Leah rolled brown eyes at her brother's ambitious, unrealistic plan, but said nothing to contradict. I imagined the young woman would let her parents do the nay-saying at the appropriate time. Frowning slightly in spite of the humorous moment, I hoped Harry and Sue wouldn't take the gift away on principle.
At that very moment, Seth's young face dropped abruptly and he turned up to look at Leah, Jacob, Quil, and Embry with doubly saddened eyes.
"Mom and Dad won't let me have something from the Cullens, will they?"
A long, difficult silence spread out over the lot of us, broken only by Charlie's disappointed sigh.
"Want me to keep it safe for you?"
Leah, of all people, bent down a little to reach her brother's slightly shorter level.
"You can do that?" Seth asked of his sister amazedly.
"Yeah, sure," the young woman replied with an easy lift of her shoulders. "We won't even tell Mom and Dad. If they ever find out about it, I'll say I bought it with my allowance. Okay?"
"Okay!" Seth agreed, grinning all over again at the win, but quickly checked the watching faces of everyone else in the room.
"Hey, I'm no snitch!" Emmett said through his Vader mask, his obvious offense making me smile. "I'm not going to tell anybody about your little gift."
"Why ever would you snitch about a gift, Emmett?" Carlisle spoke confusedly, looking around the room for answers he didn't actually require. "I haven't heard anything about a gift. Have you, Esme?"
"Goodness, no, Carlisle," Esme echoed her husband's playacted confusion perfectly, laying a startled hand on her collar bone. "Did we miss something?"
Seth's grin broadened immensely by the time Charlie added with equally false confusion, "I don't think we missed anything about a gift… Maybe a lift? These kids do need a ride home."
"That must be it!" Esme concluded certainly, throwing a hand up in exasperation with her 'forgetful' mind. Chuckling and laughter spread throughout the room over the three parents' sneaky evasion of the truth.
Charlie wrangled his erstwhile charges outside with experience born of his long friendship with the Quileute tribe and the Black family. Four of the five slipped into the car while we watched from the driveway, but Jacob stood back for a moment, waving me away from the Cullens eagerly.
Warily I joined the fourteen-year-old several feet away, although I knew perfectly well the Cullens would hear everything being said. All for the best, I decided.
"Look, I'm really sorry if this causes any more weirdness with anybody from the rez," Jacob sighed, scratching the back of his neck with more of that uncomfortable confidence he was so full of at the small teenage growth spurt he had hit. "But after watching you with your family, after spending time with them… The way Edward is so great with Seth and the way Carlisle and Esme are amazing to everybody they meet… These superstitions just look worse and worse. Your family is definitely not a bunch of monsters waiting to pounce. I don't want to just sit by and let my own dad accuse them of it."
"Running off half-cocked with some wild rebel plan isn't the way to fight it, Jacob," I sighed; thoroughly warmed by his sentiments and yet deeply saddened by the knowledge that one day in the next couple years his mindset would change entirely. Oh, he would feel differently after imprinting on Renesmee – little though I liked the idea of that situation – but it would be a while before that time came. For a year, Jacob would probably grow to hate the Cullens for his shape-shifting and all the mess that came with it, not to mention his future circumstances with Bella.
"I don't want good people hurt by a lot of fairytales," Jacob insisted, making me smile genuinely at him for the first time since learning who he was in the grocery store. I half-wished I could tell him everything now, if for no other reason than to help him adjust to all the pressure that would be heaped on him soon and forever after.
"It will take a whole lot more than you rebelling against your dad to make that stop," I pressed with exacting firmness. "Some day, in good time, maybe there will be something that brings us all together and let's us get to know each other better. For right now, however, we need to be patient and stop feeding the animosity they feel for us with unnecessary drama."
Gauging my face for a long moment, Jacob eventually nodded slowly, his eyes full of the maturity he had yet to fully embrace. "Okay. I'm going to plan on that 'some day' you speak of, Mireille."
Feeling as if I was missing something, I eyed the teen skeptically.
Jacob didn't disappoint, adding mischievously, "And you'll be the first one I drag into rebellion."
For once, I shared in the grin Jacob wore as I responded, "All right, Teen Spirit. I won't hold my breath."
Laughing out loud, Jacob tossed his hand up in wave and rushed to the cruiser yelling back, "See ya, Cullen!"
"It's Whitlock!" I shouted back laughingly as I watched the door slam and Charlie drive away in a hurry to get five Cinderellas home before midnight.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed Chapter 2: Anxieties!