The weekend passed without a word about Jake from my father. Monday morning came before I was even ready.
"Nessie," someone whispered into my ear. Jake.
"Jake," I groaned. "What are you doing here?"
"We're going to be late. Come on." He threw a pile of clothes at me.
"Late for what?" I asked, rolling onto my side.
"The first day of school, of course."
I quickly changed and scarfed down my breakfast. Afterwards, all of us Cullens (with the exception of Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme) and Jake climbed into Jake's silver minivan and drove to school. Leah was already waiting for us by the front doors by the time we arrived.
"Nessie!" Leah squealed.
I ran up and gave her a hug. Jake was right at my heels.
"Who do you guys have first hour?" she asked.
"Um," I pulled out my schedule and checked. "English with Oakman."
"Damn," she sighed. "I have Biology with Smith."
"Me too," Jake chimed in.
"Aww! You guys suck!" I complained. "Well, I better get going. I don't want to be late."
I leaned in to kiss Jake's cheek but decided against it since my family was watching. It would be too much to explain, and now wasn't the time. Embarassed, I raced down the halls.
I was checking the room numbers when I bumped into someone and my books spilled on the floor as I tripped.
"Watch where you're going," he scolded, picking up his books.
"Sorry," I said in my rudest voice possible.
I looked up to see a well-built boy with light brown hair. His eyes were an usual brown, as if it wasn't his real eye color. His skin was ivory, just like my father's. He studied me for a minute before a grimace painted his face and he took off. I gathered my books and eventually found the English room.
"Um, hi," I said, walking up to the teacher. "I'm---"
"Don't tell me!" he interrupted, holding up his hand. "You're Renesmee Cullen. Edward Cullen's cousin."
"Yes. Well, Nessie," I smiled. I hadn't gone to school since we moved here. My mom tutored me at home so we could stay in one place until I was done growing. Now that I was full grown, they decided it was time to send me off to school.
"Well, you may sit in the front seat up there, next to Miss Meyer," he gestured to a seat next to a petite girl with red hair. "I hope you enjoy your first day at Tulgey high school."
"Thanks," I said.
I grinned and set my books down in my assigned seat.
"Hi," I said, as cheery as possible. "I'm Nessie."
"I'm Stephenie," she said, grinning. "So, I hear you're Edward Cullen's cousin."
"Yup," I could tell we were going to get along.
"So, why'd you move here?" she asked. "I hear you're from Arizona or something... News travels fast in a small school." She added.
"Yeah. Well, I loved Arizona, but most of my family is up here, so I came to live with my Uncle Carlisle and Aunt Esme." I stated, remembering the rehearsals I'd had with my mom over our little fib.
"Wow. So, what's your family really like? They always seem so shy."
"Well, they're just like every other typical family, I guess." Sure, if typical families didn't eat, had freaky powers, and thirsted for human blood. "Alice and Rosalie are obsessed with fashion. They never let me wear the same outfit twice. Emmett is incredibly competitive. He's always up for a good competition. Jasper is calmer than the rest. He has a certain... personality, that makes you feel welcome. Uncle Carlisle is always the peacemaker. And Aunt Esme is definitely the motherly type."
"What about the other two, Edward and Bella? I hear Bella Swan came to live with the Cullens here in Tulgey because she couldn't stand to be away from Edward."
"Well, yeah. They were practically made for each other, it seems."
We talked every chance we got that hour. She was a surprisingly pleasant person to chat with. English went by quickly.
I couldn't help but think about the mysterious stranger on my way to Biology. Why did he look like he wanted to kill me? I didn't mean to bump into him. Oh well, I thought to myself. It's not like you'll ever see him again, right?
Wrong.
As I walked into Bio, there he was. I tried to ignore him as I walked up to the teacher to hand him my paperwork. My parents had to pull a lot of strings to get me into Advanced Biology.
"You must be Miss Cullen," he gave me a warm smile.
"Nessie," I said, handing him my paperwork.
"Yes. I'm Mr. Vicks. Uhh," he searched the room. "You can have a seat next to Mr. Mendora." He gestured to the one area I didn't want to sit. The stranger looked up and glowered at me. I kept my head down as I set my books down. I could still feel his eyes on me, boring holes in my back. Ugh.
"Hello," I said. "Um, I'm Nessie."
He nodded and kept staring forward.
"Don't take this the wrong way," I began. "But... is there a reason why you're... upset with me?"
He stared at me with dark, cold eyes. I immediately regretted my words and gripped my seat for support.
"You're kind always acts the same. All nice and cheery. But I know what you really are. You're no better than the rest of us." he muttered.
"Um, I'm sorry. I-I don't understand." I whispered.
"You wouldn't," he said, turning away.
I sat ramrod straight in my seat. My kind? What the hell was he talking about? I had no kind. Not to my knowledge. What did he mean? Why did he hate me? And what the hell was his freaking name? Maybe I should just call him Person M. M for short. Yeah, M. I liked it.
The rest of the day passed in a blur as I pondered my questions about M. My family seemed to notice it in the car.
"Nessie, sweetie, what's wrong?" My mother asked.
"Uh, nothing," I shook my head. "Just, thinking over a problem from Pre-Cal today. That's all."
"With M as a variable," my dad threw in, chuckling at his own little joke.
I shot him a dirty look. He held his hands up in surrender, but I knew I would hear more of it tonight. Twenty questions. Fun.
I still wasn't sure what to tell them about Jake and I... whatever we were at this stage. Aunt Alice probably knew. I couldn't keep anything from her or my dad.
I leapt out of my seat as soon as we were home and burst through the doors. I ran to my parent's room and dug through their drawers. Bingo. I pulled out a maroon yearbook from last year and flipped through the pages. Mendora, Mendora, Mendora. Eventually, I found his picture. It was in the sophomore section. Apparently, his first name was Ethan. Hmm. No M, but I guess it will do. His picture was almost as creepy as him. He stared at the camera with a cold, dead expression on his face. No smile, not even a twitch on his lips. Next to his picture were two other boys with the same last name. Their names were Mitchell and Jared.
"Nessie," my Uncle Emmett called from my parent's doorway. I jumped at the sound of his voice, chucking the book at the dresser.
"Yes," I yelped.
"Esme has Jake and your dinner ready... what's up with you?"
"N-nothing." I stuttered.
"Why are you looking at your parent's yearbook?" He walked over and picked it up.
"Uh, no reason," I tried to grab at the yearbook.
"Wait, wait, wait. Who are you looking up?"
"Um, this girl, Stephenie. Stephenie Meyer. I met her today in English, and she seems really nice."
"Ah," he seemed to let it go... or maybe Uncle Jasper could sense what was going on. "Yeah, she always seemed incredibly... imaginative. Not in the crazy sort of way though..."
"Yup. Well, I'm hungry. I'm going to go eat."
He put the book away and followed me down the stairs. Jake was waiting at the table, silent as I walked in. I scarfed down my meal as quickly as possible and jumped up to clean the dishes, anxious to find out more about the Mendoras.
"Hey, Jake," I asked once everyone was gone.
"Yeah?" he said, with a mouthful of food.
"Have you ever heard of Ethan Mendora?"
"Who?" he looked puzzled.
"Ethan Mendora. I have to sit next to him in Bio, and he's... a creeper. Seriously. I said hi, and he didn't respond. Then, when I asked him what his issue was, he told me that... that 'my kind always acts the same.' What the hell does that mean?"
"People are weird," he said, picking up his plate and walking over to scrape it off. "I wouldn't think too much about it."
"Okay," I muttered.
But I couldn't. The mystery of the Mendoras became a case I just had to crack.
Author's Note: Here. I'm trying to get these out as quickly as I am. Don't worry, this isn't going to... never mind. Anyhoo, next chapter Wednesday or Thursday. I'm going to start it tomorrow after school.
Comments and suggestions appreciated :D Although, I'm going to keep posting even if you don't LOL
But please, tell me what you think! I want to bend this story around what you want to see... and me. LOL
-Lauren