(AN) One of the questions I get most often is the one "How come nobody has noticed the fact that Jacob/Cassie/Quil/Leah./Seth haven't aged?" Well, in EoF it wasn't such a problem, since only ten years had passed and that's typically the point where people start looking older. How they're still not raising suspicion now is stated below :-p Remember, this story is anti-Breaking Dawn, and in this story, Bella is "dead" to Charlie. It's easier that way.
Chapter 6: Fast Lane
After I dropped off Blaze at Leah's (and watched the poor guy nearly stumble into their house with exhaustion), Delilah climbed into the passenger seat gracefully, she was uncharacteristically silent, her eyes drifting out the window.
"I need help with my math homework." She finally said, her voice soft as a whisper when we pulled out of the driveway.
"Are you failing math or something?" I asked, tilting my head. "Why are you so emo?"
"I'm not failing math." She retorted quickly and I smiled. My little sister was a firecracker, not as laid back as Blaze and I were. She was quick to jump to her own defense, and to fight for any of her friends.
"Eva can probably help you with the math better than I could. I've been dead weight in that class for years." I offered helpfully. Delilah turned her big lavender eyes to me.
"You've got straight A's!" She stated, rolling her eyes. "You're anything but a dumb jock, no matter how you play it up."
I giggled at that, reaching over to tap her head. "One might argue how much of that is me, and how much of that is the fact I can read Eva's mind." I stated. "My SAT scores were just average."
"You're bad at tests, everyone is." Delilah stated factually. "Your SAT scores got you into Seattle University and the University of Washington."
"Yeah, but I'm not going to either. I can't leave, who'd help Dad out in the garage? You and Blaze are afraid of breaking your nails." I teased
"That's not a good reason to go to community college." She pointed out. I was quiet for a minute before I spoke again. We were pulling into our own driveway.
"Eva can't leave Paul here, and Paul can't leave the pack. I can't leave Eva." I finally said. "It'd be like leaving my twin, I guess. Besides, I'd be homesick all the time, and it's not like I fit in with normal people. 'Oh, your dad is a mechanic? Mine too! Of course, my dad also changes into a giant wolf and runs around the forest some times. And my mom…talk about pyromania, wanna see something cool?'" I mimed, holding out my hand and letting the fire shoot through my skin. "Anyway, we're here, out you go kid."
"I don't think you should go see Isaac now." Delilah rushed out, turning in her seat. I bit my lip, raising an eyebrow.
"Seriously, when did you guys start thinking I was made out of glass?" I asked. She sighed.
"It's not you I'm worried about, you could take Isaac, and you could probably burn him to a crisp if you're mad. And you are mad at him, and I don't blame you, it was a jerk thing to run off without sayin' anything. Isaac is substantially less dangerous than we are…everybody just forgets that we're capable of mass destruction because we don't look monstrous." She stopped, taking a deep breath and staring at me.
"Probably completely true." I conceded. "Have you, or I, or Blaze for that matter ever lost control?" I asked. She shook her head. "Not even when we were babies, Lilah. I was five years old when we found all this out, so were you, Blaze was only four the first time he lit himself on fire. We never hurt anybody or anything, it's not in us." I declared, turning off the car and slipping out the door, heading to the garage.
"I still don't think you should go if you're mad." Delilah called out, following me. I stopped, puzzled in the garage.
"Where's my motorcycle?" I yelled back. Delilah popped her head in, shrugging.
"How would I know? I can't drive it." She replied flippantly.
"Because this day couldn't get any worse, somebody jacked my motorcycle!" I swore a few times, kicking the corner of the garage before skulking into the house, searching for the phone.
"Surprise!" A bunch of voices yelled out, stopping me in my tracks. Sitting around my kitchen were a bunch of vampires. That probably would have scared any normal girl, but I just smiled as I was pulled into a great bear hug by my uncle Emmett.
"Sorry we didn't make it to your party. We didn't think it was…prudent with so many new werewolves popping up." Esme said softly, like she was worried I would be mad.
"Did you know about this?" I asked, turning to Delilah, who was enfolded in Rosalie's arms.
"Nope, Evie did though. Remember? She said you were going to have a good day." Delilah explained as Rose kissed her forehead and smoothed her hair.
"Well, at least she didn't ruin the surprise." Alice said, her voice making it out to be like she was long-suffering. "Your mom was supposed to be here, but they're having a last minute meeting at the school. Your dad said he'll be home soon."
"Do you want to see your presents?" Jasper asked, smirking. "You're going to love them."
"Really, you guys didn't have to get me anything." I protested. "Just showing up is awesome. You've made my day officially. I was just going to go yell at Isaac for…"
"Don't worry about your boyfriend." Jasper reassured. "Let him suffer with the silent treatment for awhile."
I really didn't want Isaac to suffer. I wanted things to be the same as they were before he'd changed, but I didn't tell anyone that. I suppressed the urge to take off still, smiling at my extended family.
"Presents." Bella declared, taking my one arm and dragging me out the back door while they laughed and talked. Before I could exit, Alice stopped me, holding out a black leather jacket, worn and vintage looking. "That's from me and Esme." She said, quickly putting it on me. Rosalie held out a helmet next, a black one with silver stars airbrushed all over it. It reminded me of the birthmark behind my ear.
"And that's from me and Bella." Rose said, smiling warmly at me.
"Bet you can't guess what goes with that." Edward said happily, winking at me as he guided me outside. Carlisle covered my eyes as Emmett practically carried me down the back steps.
"Happy birthday lovely." Esme whispered as Emmett removed his hand. I quickly covered my mouth so that I wouldn't squeal in delight at the motorcycle in the backyard, shrouded by a smooth red bike cover that read on the side in white letters "Ducati Superbike"
"No way." I whispered. I heard a giggle from off to the side and Eva slipped out of the shadows, taking my hand.
"I had to see your face in person." She explained. "You look like all your dreams just came true."
"Is that…is that a…" I whispered, incoherent with delight. Bella laughed.
"The boys got that for you." She explained. "It's a Ducati 1098S. We were assured that you would love it by your dad. He might be just as excited about it."
"You have to take the cover off and actually look at it." Jasper teased, poking me in the ribs to make me move forward.
I approached it like it was a deity, slowly stripping off the cover and pulling it off. It was black and red, sleek and sexy. On the side of the bike, in red cursive, was my name. I smiled, running my hands over it.
"It's beautiful. Thank you so much." I managed to get out, my voice full of reverence.
"Take it for a ride." Edward said, dropping the keys in my hand. "You know you want to. Just make sure you come back."
"Somebody has to come with me, or I might forget." I said honestly. Alice laughed, pushing Delilah forward. I noticed she was holding a white helmet with light blue flowers surrounding it and a matching jacket.
"Yeah, I foresaw that. Take your little sister for a ride, we'll torture Eva a little and wait for your mom to get home." I nodded, speechless, noticing the bright gleam in Delilah's eyes matched my own as I walked the bike around to the front of the house.
I climbed on first and Jasper helped Delilah up, her arms circling my shoulders. I laughed as the engine rumbled quietly to life, feeling the power of the machine underneath me.
"How fast does this go?" Delilah asked. I laughed again.
"Why do you think they gave us helmets?" I asked. Her laughter was cut off as my foot found the gas and we propelled onward, racing down the narrow streets of La Push until I found open highway and began to go faster and faster.
There was nothing left of me anymore, I was only barely aware of Delilah clutching me, only mildly aware of the dull ache in my heart where Isaac lived. I had left Echo Black at my house, and the only thing that existed now was the wind, the speed, and the road.
Until I heard the siren behind me. I swore, wishing Eva was with me instead of Delilah as I slowed down, pulling off to the side of the road. Delilah buried her head in my shoulder, I could feel her laughing. I'm glad she thought it was humorous as the car pulled up behind me and stopped. I looked in the side mirror and flinched as I recognized the cop.
"For the love of god, it's Charlie Swan." I whispered. Delilah began to laugh even harder.
"We are in so much trouble." She said through her hysterical giggles. I winced.
"Do you have any idea how fast you were going, young lady?" Charlie asked as he walked up to the side of the cycle. I smiled sheepishly, pulling the helmet off my head. Charlie did a quick double take.
"Hi Charlie. How're you?" I asked. Charlie sputtered incoherently for a minute, before finally settling into a disapproving glare. Delilah took off her helmet, managing to look ashamed as well.
"Echo Isabella Black." Charlie choked on my name, his face turning red. "Do you know how fast you were going?!"
"About 111 miles per hour." I admitted, my face darkening. Charlie took a deep breath.
"111 miles per hour, with your little sister! You should be ashamed of yourself! What would your parents think?!"
I couldn't tell Charlie what my parents would think, because the truth was, my parents liked to drive fast too. It was the fact that they had super fast reflexes and the ability to simply blink out of the car if the situation was out of control. My dad would probably have been going faster. But Charlie couldn't know that, because to Charlie we were a normal family. Hell, thanks to Aunt Stella, everyone except the pack thought my parents were aging. We'd made up new identities for Quil, Leah, Seth, Colin, Brady, and Paul even.
"Do you know that your father really hurt himself in a motorcycle accident when he was younger than you? You're not invincible, Echo! I lost my daughter in a car crash and she wasn't much older than you…and…and I don't want to see your parents go through the same thing! Your grandfather would die if he lost you two, you're his pride and joys!" I winced, wishing I could tell Charlie the truth. It seemed so unfair, somehow, that even though he married Sue Clearwater, he was never let in on the truth. I imagine it probably would give him a heart attack by now. I wanted to tell him most that Bella was just a few miles away, but I bit my tongue.
"I'm going to follow you two back to La Push, and I'm going to call your dad. If you were anyone else, Echo, I'd write you a speeding ticket so high you'd have to work for years to pay it off."
"I'm sorry Charlie." I whispered.
"I'm sorry I have to turn you into your dad Echo, but you'll thank me eventually. I just want to make sure you're safe." Charlie said with a huff. "At least you were wearing helmets. That's something."
Charlie followed us the whole way back to La Push as I was stuck at a miserable 40 miles per hour. I felt even worse now than I had before. He finally let us go right before we turned onto our street. I stopped the bike in the driveway. Alice was on the front porch with Bella looking apologetic.
"Sorry, by the time I saw…and you two didn't have a cellphone."
"It's alright Alice." I murmured, distracted by the look of pain on Bella's face. I kissed her cheek as I walked by. "I love the birthday present, I just wasn't careful enough."
"Yes Charlie…I understand." I heard my dad's husky voice in the living room. He was on the phone discussing my conduct. Mom looked up at me, raising an eyebrow disapprovingly.
"I know. Reckless and irresponsible." I murmured. "Sorry mom."
"It's alright." She said softly. "I'm sorry you got busted the first time you used it."
I shrugged, collapsing in a chair and leaning my head on Esme's shoulder. Her cold fingers slowly brushed my hair back. "I do love it." I stated. Everyone smiled.
"Good, cause we'd hate to take it back." Emmett joked.
Suddenly, everyone froze except mom and I. I looked up, confused, then I heard it, indistinct shouting, words I couldn't make out.
"Charlie, I have to go. Yes, she's grounded, I assure you." My dad said quickly into the phone. "I'll tell Billy you said hi…"
"Hey!" Somebody yelled, then Eva's head popped in the door.
"I think we need some help out here." She whispered.