Nessie

I hadn't spoken to Jake this morning. For some reason I just couldn't allow myself to get over the previous night. He was being the responsible one, I knew that. The more I thought about it the more I realized it was about the humiliation I felt; there was no anger. But I wasn't ready to face him.

I wanted to get the school day over with so that I could go visit Tara and direct my attention to the more serious issue which was finding Danielle. If she was willing to open up to Jacob, a complete stranger, then I was sure it would be very easy to get her to open up for me as well. Perhaps she would even remember more today then she did yesterday.

The past few days at school have been a blur. People have constantly been coming up to me asking about Brianna, Tara, Danielle, and occasionally Corey. It had been decided ahead of time by my family that any of those questions should be answered with a simple, "I hear Tara's getting better but no word yet from the others." It was reported to the staff that all four had gone missing and that Tara was the fortunate one who was found in the middle of the woods. Most assume there was foul play involved but no other details have been given. Now every student is being encouraged by the school to put up signs around town and support the police in finding the "missing" students.

It was strange knowing that Brianna and Corey were dead while watching everyone search frantically to find them. No one knows the truth about them, who they really are or what they have tried to do to me and my family. They are searching and will continue to search for people who do not even exist and I'm supposed to help.

After lunch I began walking to English with Emmett. As I looked behind me, expecting to see Alice trailing along I realized she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Where did Alice go? Isn't she coming to class?"

Emmett didn't seem too worried, "She's probably outside trying to get a clearer reading on Tara's future. If anyone is planning on attacking her then we know who to look for." That was true, I hadn't really thought of that. Though I couldn't imagine that it would be easy seeing her future since Alice hasn't really spent much time with her.

As I sat in English, time seemed to stand still. Only one more class and I was done for the day; this one seemed to be going the slowest. Even Emmett's constant and hilarious rebuttal with the teacher on his opinions regarding Shakespeare and his writing style, could not make time go faster.

After a half hour I looked over at Emmett whose head was down and I noticed a little light reflecting onto his face. He was texting someone, which would be completely normal behavior for any other student, but Emmett texting...this is rare. I began to feel uneasy; he would only text someone in my family and there is never any reason to unless something is wrong. I tried to grab his attention but his eyes wouldn't leave the tiny screen.

"Emmett...Emmett what's wrong?" I whispered but still no answer. I was getting frustrated so I took my pen and lightly threw it at him, hitting his shoulder.

That didn't work.

So I tried again but with a highlighter and threw it with more force. It hit his arm this time and although most of the student's in the surrounding area had turned their focus at me, he still didn't look my way. He just continued to type at super speed on the keypad. By now I was ready to scream his name. Most of the class was now watching my pathetic attempts in getting his attention and failing, it really wouldn't have made a difference. I thought I'd try one more time before I went over to him and grabbed the phone from his hand. This time I picked up the apple I never ate at lunch and had stowed away in my backpack.

The looks on the student's faces as they slowly realized what I was about to do were priceless but I couldn't worry about what they thought. I was desperate for some answers. Aiming right at his head I anchored back my arm and literally chucked it with super force. It flew at incredible speed and knocked him right at his temple, causing most of the apple to explode all over him. Finally this got his attention but I unfortunately it got the teacher's as well.

"Mr. Cullen what is going on and why are you covered in apple chunks right now?"

Emmett's face was a mix between shock and confusion as he searched for words to explain. This was the first time I had ever seen him speechless and honestly so was I. Although I had wanted to put a great amount of force into that throw, I had in no way thought it would cause the apple to splatter all over him. I felt my face begin to blush as I looked around me. All eyes were focused on either Emmett or myself. However, he didn't glance at me once, his eyes met the teacher's and being Emmett he spat out, "I had a craving applesauce."

The room filled with quiet giggles and although everyone knew the truth, no one spoke up which was a huge relief. Emmett shrugged but the teacher had enough of him for the day so he was asked to leave the room. I wanted to thank him for not ratting me out, even though I knew he never would, but I never had that chance. He grabbed his things and rushed quickly out of the room. It was obvious that he was all too relieved to get away and find whoever he had been texting.

The remaining 15 minutes were spent catching people's glances towards me and their quick head- turns back to their notebooks when I stared right back. Not that this was the first time I have been assaulted with other student's wide eyes of bafflement and awe, for one reason or another, but it was nonetheless annoying. It made me self-conscious and I only hope that they don't make too big a deal about what just happened. I'm sure they have never seen someone, especially of my stature, pitch an apple at someone's head causing it to explode. If Rosalie had been here she would have torn my head off. Hopefully Emmett will keep his mouth shut.

At last the bell rang and I quickly threw my notebook into my bag and ran out the door. I had to find Emmett before I headed over to the gymnasium. However, before I could even begin my search I felt my body knock into a firmly built chest. It took me a second to realize that I had run right into a police officer standing outside of the classroom. Behind him stood two more officers, one male and one female. The man I ran into gently clutched onto my arms, steadying me as I caught my balance. He was a tall man, blonde hair, probably around mid-thirties. His name plate said Officer Kendle.

"I am so sorry! I'm in a bit of a rush. I didn't even see you there..." I said quickly as I tried to move around him. Despite my efforts, his hands remained gripped onto my arms as he tried to stop me. If I had been completely human he would have had no trouble preventing me from moving, but seeing that I was not the average girl, he spun with me as I attempted to loosen myself from his grip.

"Are you Renesmee Cullen?" He asked me as I continued to try and back away. It hit me then, they were waiting for me. I couldn't believe this was happening; the last thing I wanted to do was talk to the police.

"Yes. Can I help you?"

Now that he knew he had my attention he let my arms go as the other two officers moved a little forward. Did they really see me as a threat?

"We are checking up on the case of the four student's that went missing a few days ago. You were acquainted with them is that correct?"

"I was and now only three are missing. Tara is in the hospital now."

"Yes we already went to speak with her." I prayed that she did not say anything that would get us in trouble. There was no way she could remember anything. Right?

"Oh I see. I was going to visit her today after..."

"We would like to ask some questions if you don't mind." I really didn't have a choice.

"Okay sure." He began to ask a question but my attention was not focused towards him. My family had to know what was happening right now. They had to be aware that I was being detained by police officers. I searched the slowly clearing hallways for a familiar face but I couldn't find one. I started to panic.

"Miss Cullen how long have you known Tara, Brianna, Danielle, and Corey?"

"I just moved here recently. They were my first friends here. It was a few months I suppose."

"When was the last time you saw any of them?"

"It was three days ago at lunch. Since then I haven't heard anything from them. I got the call about Tara yesterday."

"Did they mention any plans to come over your house at any point and spend the night?"

What was he talking about?

"Um...no not at all. Why do you ask?"

"We spoke to both Tara and Danielle's mothers and they said the night they went missing they had said they were heading over to your house to spend the night. So they never wound up coming over?"

Oh no. This wasn't good. I could feel my hands started to shake a little. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say. Should I deny that we ever had plans or should I just claim they never showed up? And what about Corey's family? Brianna obviously doesn't have any family, which is likely to draw some suspicion. What will the police do then?

"I um...I don't...I don't really know...they never..." As always, at the perfect moment I was saved.

"Good afternoon officers how are you doing today?" The light bubbly voice of Alice immediately sent relief pouring through my body. It was clear they were not sure how to react.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Alice Cullen, Renesmee's sister and this is my boyfriend Jasper." I hadn't even noticed him on the other side. The quick sweep and calmness now made sense.

"Renesmee and the other girl's had plans that night to have a sleepover but she wound up getting sick so they had to cancel. We don't know where the rest of them ended up going that night but I wanted to assure you we are doing everything we can to help find them." Alice said it so sweetly and yet so perfectly emphasized the seriousness that the officers remained speechless for several seconds. Finally the female officer stepped forward.

"I see. You said your name is Alice Cullen? And your boyfriend's name..."

"Jasper. Jasper Hale."

"Okay well we appreciate your help Alice and yours as well...Jasper." She glanced over her right shoulder at Jasper who remained silent and smiling quite awkwardly at her. "But we would like to finish questioning Renesmee if you don't mind."

"Don't you think there is a better suited time for doing that? She's running late for class." Jasper said cooly. The male officer who hasn't spoken yet was about to interject but Alice quickly handed him a piece of paper with our address on it.

"That's our address. You are welcome to stop by later today and continue with the questioning but right now we really should be going. Have a good day officers!" Alice began dragging me away leaving the three stunned police officers to do nothing but stand there mum.

Once we turned the corner I grabbed both of them into a hug and thanked them for coming in time.

"Sorry I couldn't get there sooner I was checking out for Tara." Alice said as I let her go.

"Is she going to be okay? I saw Emmett texting in class I got really worried!"

"Yes she's going to be just fine. And Emmett was just texting Rosalie. There's nothing to worry about." For some reason I didn't believe. There was something they weren't telling me I could feel it.

"You promise?"

It took a second for Alice to answer but she nodded and then shrugged, "Of course. I promise!"

I didn't want to start anything right there and we had to get to class. But I was planning on confronting Emmett about it later.

Right as the bell rang I sprinted out of school and went straight to Forks hospital. I used the woods so that I could move quickly without drawing attention. My family would have dropped me off but I was in the mood for running. I needed to let go of my stress.

When I reached the hospital there were several people in the waiting room. I approached the receptionist and asked to Tara Thompson. She called one of the nurses on that floor to check to see if she was awake and up for visitors.

"She's sleeping right now. You can have a seat and wait if you'd like." I nodded and took a seat in one of the very hard and uncomfortable chairs. I hoped she wouldn't be sleeping for too much longer but it wasn't like I had much to do today. As I checked my phone for messages, I secretly was hoping one was from Jacob. But my inbox only consisted of calls from Alice and my mother. To be honest it stung to see that Jake hadn't texted or called me at all, I thought he would at least check to see if everything's okay. But I didn't want to think about him right now. My thoughts should be on Tara and what I am going to say when I see her.

As I contemplated this I noticed out of the corner of my eye the person next to me was looking in my direction. I slowly turned my head towards him, ready to see his head turn quickly away. But he continued to stare even when our eyes met. He looked at me in awe and then as if he suddenly realized what an awkward encounter this was, he finally jolted his focus straight ahead.

Now it was my turn. I looked him over, analyzing his hair, his clothes, and the pack of ice that he was holding against his bloodied up and slightly crooked nose. Good thing I had control over my thirst or this would be a serious problem.

He was tall, not as tall as Jake obviously, and much more dangly looking, but he gave off the impression of what high school kids would deem nerdy. When he was staring at me I couldn't help but notice what a pretty color blue his eyes were even as they were masked by a pair of darkly rimmed glasses. His hair was light brown and stuck up on his head in several directions which suggested that, along with the nose, he had just got into some kind of physical altercation. My gut was telling me he lost too.

He wasn't a bad looking guy, but from one I've seen in the hundreds of teen high school movies and shows, his aura screamed that his intelligence far exceeded his popularity. I felt sort of bad for him as he continued to look ahead of him, every now and then glancing at me staring at him. I smiled and decided it couldn't hurt to have someone to talk to as I waited for Tara to wake up.

I scooted forward so that I was on the edge of the seat moving closer to facing him. "Hey." I said and his face turned instantly pink as he slowly turned, probably to see if he was just hearing things. I sat there smiling at him, eyebrows raised, waiting for his reply.

"Hi." He said, his voice quiet but deep.

"I'm Renesmee. Everyone calls me Nessie though." I held out my hand. It took him a couple seconds to grab it but when he did his face jolted a bit as he noticed the abnormal temperature of my skin. After a few seconds of staring at our clasped hands he looked up at me and smiled.

"Um I'm Louis. It's nice to meet you Nessie. So what...what brings you here?"

"I'm visiting my friend. She's sleeping right now so I'm waiting for her to wake up. I'm assuming your broken nose is what brought you here." He chuckled quietly and nodded his head. Then he sat up straighter and began speaking it a much stronger tone.

"Yeah some guys were picking on this Freshman so I stepped in and got hit. But you should see their faces. I got them pretty good." I smiled, not sure if he was telling the truth or not.

"Wow. Really?" He stayed silent for a while and then his face fell a bit.

"No not really. They were picking on me actually. Not really sure why. They are your typical jocks you know? Like to put people down to make themselves feel better." Now I really felt sorry. I laid my hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. But think of it this way, later on in life they will be getting you coffee and cleaning toilets. High School doesn't last forever." He smiled back at me.

"I hope your right...how old are you anyway? You don't go to Forks High School that's for sure. I definitely would have remembered seeing you."

"I'm 17. I go to school a couple towns over. Westcreek High School."

"Oh okay. I'll be 18 in a month. I can't wait to get out of this town." I could sympathize with him. I knew what it was like to want to escape sometimes. The pain of feeling like an outsider was all too familiar.

"Do you know where you want to go to college?"

"Not really sure. My family isn't exactly financially stable right now. I'm hoping to get a scholarship somewhere like Brown or Dartmouth. But who knows."

"I'm sure you will. Everything will work out. It's those low-lives that beat you up who will be stuck here in Forks forever."

"Yeah..." He looked upset about something so I wanted to change the subject.

"So what do you and your friends do for fun around here?"

"Play video games usually. I know I'm the stereotypical high school nerd." He laughed to himself.

"No not at all."

"How about you?"

"I spend a lot of time with my family. We go on hunting trips a lot." He looked shocked.

"Really? I would have never pegged you as an outdoor kind of girl."

"Yeah well I'm full of surprises." Not really sure I liked where this conversation was heading. He took a deep breath.

"Well that's great...you know we should go on a trip together some time. I'd like to see what hunting is like. Try something different." He had a big grin on his face now. He looked so nervous for my reaction and honestly I wasn't sure what to say. Obviously he could never come hunting with me. But I didn't want to hurt his feelings, nor did I want to lead him on.

"Yeah maybe."

"Can I...can I get your number? Just in case you ever just want to hang out sometime?" Ugh now I felt horrible.

"Um...well actually Louis I...I have a boyfriend. Not that I wouldn't love to hang out but I don't think he would be okay with that, even if it was just as friends. I'm sorry." That definitely wounded his brief surge of confidence.

"Oh it's okay. I get it." I wanted to explain to him that I really did want to be friends with him but then the receptionist announced that Tara was awake. I said goodbye to Louis, feeling terrible, and walked down the hall, now dealing with the other problem which was what am I going to say to Tara?

I quietly opened the door and peered my head in. She looked much better compared to when I had last seen her, her hair was brushed and all the blood was gone. Smiling, I made my way across the room and sat to the right of her.

"Hey Tara. How are you feeling?" Instead of answering me, she continued to stare at me, looking me up and down in the strangest way. Finally she snapped out of whatever trance she was in.

"Hello Nessie. I'm okay I guess. Much better than before."

"That's so good to hear! I heard Jake stopped by yesterday. I'm sorry I couldn't make it, I got caught up with something."

"Yeah Jacob is very nice...I didn't realize you had a boyfriend." Now I realized what the problem was. She was clearly a little hurt that I never mentioned him. All along I had shown interest in Corey so Jake must seem like he is out of the blue.

"Oh. Yeah about that..."

"It's okay. You don't owe me an explanation. He's really cute."

"Yeah he's a great guy. I'm glad you two got along okay."

"Why did you send him?"

"Well I wanted to make sure you were okay. Since I couldn't make it I figured he would be good company, he's honestly very committed on finding out who did this to you. And so am I. If you could just remember a little more about that night..."

"I told Jacob everything I remember I'm sorry. If you don't mind I'd like to got to sleep."

"Oh. I thought you just woke up from a nap?"

"I did. But I'm feeling tired again. So if you don't mind..." I wasn't sure how to react to this. Here I thought I'd be spending at least an hour with her to keep her company and talk about what happened. Why wouldn't she want to tell me everything? And why was she acting so strangely?

"Sure...I'll just go. Feel better."

"Oh and Nessie." She said as I reached the door, "Tell Jake I said hello."

"Um okay sure."

That definitely did not go as I expected. I walked slowly down the hall trying to figure out if I did something wrong and why on earth she was being so short with me. Glancing up I spotted I woman heading towards me wearing tight fitted jeans an expensive looking jacket and decked out in lavish jewelry. It took me a second to realize where I had recognized her from. When I was at Tara's house party, one of the few moments I remember of that night was seeing this woman's picture around the house, framed upon the walls and on glass tables.

"Mrs. Thompson?" I asked, not quite sure if it was really her.

"Yes?"

"Hi I'm Nessie, Tara's friend. I was the one who found her in the woods." She went from appearing uninterested in what I was saying to pulling me into her arms and swinging me back and forth.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you! You have no idea how much I owe you!"

"You don't owe me anything I just wanted to formally introduce myself. I was also wondering if Tara told you any details of what exactly happened to her."

"All she told me is that she was attacked by some animal and she doesn't remember much else. I can't believe this happened to my baby..." She began to tear up as she held her small hand to her mouth to repress dramatic sobs. Clearly talking to her wasn't going to get me anywhere.

"Well it was very sweet of you to visit her. With her best friend missing it's only been you, her boyfriend, and the police."

Her boyfriend...who was her boyfriend?

"Oh. I didn't even know she had a boyfriend."

"Neither did I until I met him yesterday. He's very handsome. A little rough around the edges for my taste but very good looking. His name was Jacob I believe. Nice boy."

I stood there frozen. What did she just say? Did she say Jacob...my Jacob was her boyfriend.

"Um...Jacob...he was Native American?"

"Yes! Oh you do know him! I'll tell you at first I didn't see the connection between them but the way she's been talking about him, ugh it's so sweet! To think my little girl falling in love. They are really adorable together!" Barely managing a smile, I nodded and waved goodbye. I had to get away. What the hell was going on? Why was Tara under the illusion that Jacob was her boyfriend? Is that the reason she was being so rude to me? And why wouldn't Jake tell me this?

I was so furious I raced down the hall and headed towards the exit, but not before I handed a piece of paper with my phone number on it to a boy sitting in the waiting room with a broken nose.