Ten Rules to an Approved Imprint

JePOV

I ran up the stairs, my feet could not move at the speed I wanted them to because of my change. I lay on my bed, and closed my eyes. Then I felt a cold touch to my skin—it was Alice.

"Jenie, we want to talk to you again."

"Alright." I said and walked down the stairs with her.

My parents were the only ones sitting on the couch. Everyone else was standing. As I came closer, my mom jumped up and hugged me.

"Mom, you're freezing."

"What?"

"You're cold, very cold." I restated.

"Oh, that's right, you're more human than you were before. Sorry."

"It's alright. What do you want to talk about?"

"Rules." My father stated.

"What kind of rules?"

"Courting rules?"

"Courting?" I winced at the old-fashioned term, which meant old-fashioned rules.

I tried to see what he was getting at by closing my eyes, but I couldn't feel anything. My gift, it was gone temporarily.

"Your gift won't come back until you change back again."

"Oh, right, I forgot."

"Going back to the rules…One: you will have a curfew of nine o'clock, if you break this rule there is a three day suspension. Two: you must have an appropriate setting for the date. Three: you will need a chaperone. Four: If he makes a move, he will get what he deserves and this can be the end of it. Five: You have to be immortal with him, so in case he loses his temper, you will be an equal. Six: I can read his mind, and if he has any dirty thoughts, then he has a week suspension from seeing you. Seven: You must always be within 10 feet of your chaperone during the date. Eight: Flashy, inappropriate clothing is prohibited. Nine: If you break any of the rules, the punishment of suspension will fit the error. Ten: We can add as many rules as needed."

"Thank-you." I sincerely said. I knew this was a tough decision for him to make, and he would be clenching his teeth the whole way through.

"Truthfully, Jenie, I didn't agree to this. And I don't want to, but because everyone else thinks you need some freedom and limitations, we are agreeing to let him see you. Any questions?"

I had not thought about questions, so I began thinking. But then Emmett's remark broke my thought.

"I have a question, what's this business of 'courting' and chaperones?"

Edward growled, and he just laughed. I knew Emmett was having the time of his life seeing me fighting with everyone, and everyone being upset with me, and I knew he was seeing me on a date with Jacob and Edward not two feet away, listening to his thoughts to find any error.

"Do you have a problem, Emmett?" I angrily asked.

"No, I was just curious who the chaperone was."

"Me." My dad said.

"No." I firmly stated.

Emmett began laughing harder. Then Rosalie gave him a dirty look and he took his laughter down several notches.

"Dad, you are not chaperoning me!"

"Yes, I am."

"Why can't someone else who isn't so ready to kill Jacob chaperone me? I don't even want to be chaperoned, don't I get to choose my chaperone at least?"

"No."

"Alice!!!!!!" I called.

"Come on, Edward. Give her a break." Alice supported. "She's young and wants to actually be able to hold a guy's hand without having the reassuring thought of how you want to tear his guts out."

"Alice is right, Edward." Esme agreed.

"Edward, I don't think you want to embarrass your only daughter by reading the thoughts of someone who has imprinted on her." Carlisle reasoned.

Once again, Emmett's roaring laughter filled the room. But he shut up when Rosalie, once again, glared at him.

"Fine, I won't be her chaperone every time."

"Alright, I agree to the rules. However, I want to amend rule number four. If he makes a move, you can't hurt him. You can exile him to Siberia, but you can't lay a fingertip on him."

I heard him growl in opposition. "I don't like that rule, but if you two do something behind our backs, the rule number four is adequate to follow."

I then thought about how the rules would be flexible if I got engaged.

"If it gets to the point of engagement, there will be limits. He can't…"

I felt my body change and phase back, and I was able to read his feelings. I could feel Emmett's amusement rise.

"Okay, okay," I cut Edward off quickly, "I get the point. Can we not talk about this?"

Emmett's suppressed laughter became roaring. I apparently was too late to prevent him from laughing at me anymore.

"Alright, we won't talk about this now, but we will talk about this later."

"Fine."

Then I took a moment to understand what people were feeling. Alice stood out from the rest. She wasn't happy about Jacob and me, but she was happy about something else. All I could understand was love and white and dress. Then everything clicked. All Alice could see was another wedding to design.

"Alice…" I began to say.

"What, I was only thinking the possibilities."

Then Alice's thoughts became too much for my father so he ran out the door. My mom just sat on the couch, looking sad.

"Mom…"

"We're going to lose you. I'm going to lose my only daughter. My daughter."

I lifted my mom from the couch and hugged her. Then Alice and Esme joined our hug, while Rosalie was mad about wolves being involved in our lives again and the men just stood with awkward expressions. They didn't know what to do.

"Can I join in on the love?" Emmett teased.

Then all of us girls came out of mushy-sad land and starting swatting him.

'Maybe things will work out with everyone.' I thought.