Chapter 8 - Revelations
The nice thing about hunting with Jasper is that he can sense your mood and respect it. The irritating thing is that where he goes, Alice is usually with him. This time, however, he must have been able to communicate to her not to bother me so much with her pointed questions and vague hints, because I was left alone to my thoughts without having to be tempted by the urge to use my powers of persuasion on her pretty little self.
I need this time to myself, to think my thoughts uninterrupted and un-overheard. I need to sift through all the data that I have collected concerning Ms. Darby from the past two weeks. So after disposing a couple of the elk herd's steers, I lay out on a boulder enjoying what was left of the fainting sun's rays.
I know she likes sunlight. She intimated during one of our conversations that she envied our camping trips, wishing she could have spent the rare sunlit days of last week out of doors, rather than being cooped up in classrooms, especially with Mr. Hoffman.
"So I noticed that you went Bunberrying again this week," she teasingly accused as she shifted her chair to face me.
Playing along, I gestured to myself with an air of mock offense and disbelief, "Me? No!"
"Uh-huh," she lifted her eyebrows and smirked, "Don't try your little innocent act on me, mister. I've known four year-olds who can do it better than you."
"I'll admit that I played hooky," I grinned impishly, "but I'll have you know that my family is known for going on extended camping trips on the rare day the sun decides to grace us with its presence."
"And the school has no problem with this?" she asked somewhat miffed.
Now it was my turn to smirk, "The school has graciously looked the other way, and their doing so has nothing to do with a sizable donation of up-to-date computers." I couldn't help but laugh at her now; her mouth was hanging wide open in astonishment over this unashamed display of wealth and favoritism.
However, she ignored the bait I had cast her and returned to questioning my recent whereabouts. "So where does your family go on these occasions of frivolity?" her tone indicating curiosity more than disapproval.
"Here and there. We like to try new places every time," I waved rather indifferently, hoping that she wouldn't question any further. I was strangely reluctant to tell her anymore lies. She looked away and sighed with longing, "Lucky you." After gazing out the window with irritation, she turned back and said, "It nearly killed me in chemistry, yesterday, writing my hand off, knowing that there was a magical world filled with blue sky and light and I was destined to waste it on the principles of conservation."
"I thought you were going to ditch?" I asked, doing my best to push the images of why to the back of my mind.
"I did on Tuesday," she smiled contentedly, "and it was fabulous."
I know that she's a very supportive friend. I overheard her in chemistry promising her freckled lab partner that she would go to his band event and then make the same promise to her pink-hair-tipped friend as she walked out of French class, even though she seemed as if she was sacrificing something important to her to do so.
I also know that she's a forgiving and extremely patient friend.
"So, Cadie, are you coming to the band competition this Saturday?" freckled boy asked. "Uh…Saturday? From when to when?" she asked, biting her lip like she does when she's anxious about something. What exactly she was anxious about I was uncertain. It could have been about committing her weekend to a potentially boring event, or it could do with the fact that her lab partner was bobbing up and down in his excitement nearly knocking over their beakers.
He puckered his brow, "I think, from 9 to 3? I'm not sure, but you can ask Maggie." She nodded and then asked, "Can you pass me the graduated cylinder? No, the tall one with the slider thing that goes up and down. Yeah, that one." While she was carefully measuring, he prodded, "So can you come?" and began to do his part of the lab work finally. She sighed and then put on reassuring smile, "Yeah, sure I would love to come." At this point, I had turned my attention back to my own lab handing Jasper the ethidium bromide. However, my attention was quickly returned to them when I heard her nervous pleading, "Um, Jeffrey…I don't think you should do that yet…Shouldn't it be heated first?" But instead of waiting to double-check the instructions, the incompetent rushed right on head, causing their solution to spectacularly react, foaming out of the beaker, all over their station, and onto the floor.
As I recalled her quick reassurances of forgiveness and promises of not being annoyed even though they had to stay after class to clean it up and also stay after school to make-up the lab, I couldn't help but worry that these same highly admirable qualities could result in her being taken advantage of and being hurt. This thought gave me pause. I had been searching for two weeks for the answer as to why she brought about such a strong reaction in me but other than pain I had never given a name to it.
I stopped watching the clouds scroll by and closed my eyes and admitted to myself that Edward was right: I felt an overwhelming desire to protect this frail human. Now why this was has slowly begun to dawn on me. She is like Her in that she is one of those rare creatures that actually cares about others more than herself. After decades of encountering people, both vampire and human alike, who were easily persuaded to look the other way and not help their fellow man, simply because they deep down did not want to inconvenience themselves, I have become extra sensitive to those who are impossible to influence, purely because ignoring others' needs goes against the very fabric of their being. And she is most definitely one of them.
However, before I could process this any further, I began to feel my tension ease and be replaced with an eerie calm.
I opened my eyes and looked straight up to be welcomed with the sight of Jasper's questioning gaze and Alice's knowing grin. I secretly wished that Alice was not there so I could voice my new thoughts to Jasper, but then again I wanted more time before I did so.
"Who won this time?" I finally asked.
"Well, not you," Alice lightly jeered, at the same time Jasper simply stated, "We tied."
I sat up and shrugged, "I wasna in the mood for moose or elk. Next time find something more challenging."
"If you wanted to experience more of a 'challenge,' why didn't you ask Emmett or Edward?" Alice questioned, slightly offended.
"Because I wanted the pleasure of your company," I replied throwing my arm around her shoulders. She's annoying, but cute. "And besides have you seen Emmett eat?" I shuddered dramatically and made an exaggerated grimace, "It's disgusting."
Before she could note that Edward is a far more fastidious eater than Jasper or her, I turned to Jasper and challenged, "Wanna see who can get to the Range Rover faster? First one there gets to drive!" and took off knowing either way that the two of them would find a way to be "coupley" cute.
"Hey kiddo, Old Tink and Zach are coming over to watch the game tonight. You don't mind do you?"
I looked up from my ever-so-riveting history text to see Ian's excited-yet-guilty face. "No, but don't expect me to join you. I have a paper to write."
"Nah, didn't expect you to, especially since that one is what due on Tuesday. Or is it Thursday?" He cheekily replied.
"Ha, ha. It's Tuesday, but I prefer to not have it hanging over my head all weekend." I got up to wander into the kitchen to find out if we had enough food for two men and a growing teenage boy. "Do you need me to fix anything for dinner?" I threw over my shoulder.
"Nope. We have plenty of leftovers, including that casserole that I made the other day." I crinkled my nose at this. Ian is a great cook, knows it, and likes to experiment on occasion. This last one was a definite fail in my opinion, but he liked it. Hopefully, his quests won't be as discriminating in their tastes as I am.
"Alright, then. I promise to wander down and say hello either before the game starts or before they leave." I returned to the den, picked up my book, and made my way upstairs to my room.
When I got there I noticed that the sun was peaking out behind the clouds, so I plopped on my bed and enjoyed the view before returning to the grind.
I was glad the Daniels' crew was coming over. I'd been here practically a month and had not seen them yet. I would have seen them last week but they came over while I was at Jeffrey and Maggie's competition. I was glad to go, and it had proven to be more fun than I thought when the words "band competition" were mentioned. The school received second place, which was quite an achievement since they were competing against far larger ones in the district that had more money to devote to their programs. However, I had been really looking forward to seeing them, especially since they are the few in the area who can speak French fluently. My little conversations with Mr. Keegan are just not enough, especially since his attendance is so erratic.
Although I'm envious of his opportunity to experience the outdoors, I don't resent the fact that he gets to. I admire the Cullens for making family traditions like that a priority.
I do resent, however, his insinuating that I might not be able to handle having Jeffrey for a lab partner.
"So I wanna thank you for helping me earn twenty bucks today," the Imp grinned mischievously at me before class even started.
I whispered back, "How did I do that?"
"Well, Jasper bet that you would last longer than Tombs' previous partners before there would be an epic fail."
"And you bet what exactly?" I hissed, irritated for some unknown reason that he had witnessed that disaster.
"That you wouldn't even make it through the first one, of course," he goaded. "No offense, but I don't see how you can stem the inevitable. You're too soft."
At this recollection, I vowed that I would make Jeffrey Toombs the best chemistry lab partner ever. But before I could launch into a full-out strategic planning session, I heard Old Tink's booming voice announcing his arrival.
"Where is she? Where's my Cadie, ma petite?" Ian's muffled response was not going to be sufficient in pacifying the man, as evidenced by his great huffs of protest, so I got up and made my way down to greet mon oncle.
As I was entering the room, I overheard Old Tink inform Ian that his daughter Ronnie was bringing her fiancé to meet the family this week all the way from New Orleans. His voice was gruff with either irritation or happiness. It was difficult to tell.
"Long time, no see, Harrison," I teased as I attempted to hug the great bear of a man, who was my father's long time friend. I say attempted because when this powerful man reciprocates the gesture, your body automatically tries to push against him to prevent him crushing you.
"It's Old Tink, or just Tink, or Uncle Tink to you, ma petite. No one but my sister calls me by my given name anymore. You know that." He scolded as he set me down. I smirked at this, not because of the incongruity it produced between his chosen title and his physique. No, I had long ago reconciled the pixie-ish nomenclature to this great big bear of a man who had long salt and peppered blond hair frequently worn in a ponytail, a thick mustache, and twinkling light brown eyes. Town legend is that he had received the name because his mother used to bewail the fact that all he would amount to was a "grubby old tinker." However, what amused me was a simple self-whimsy. I was reminded of my earlier designation of the short Cullen girl as "Tiny Tink," and that mental incongruity of Old Tink and Tiny Tink side-by-side was too much to not express in my typical unlady-like snort.
"Hey, Old Man, move over so I can get in on the action too," a voice said from behind Old Tink and from farther above me than I remember from the last time I saw him.
"Zach!" I squealed in part delight and part shock as his fifteen year-old self hugged me with nearly the same amount of force as his father. He had shaggy golden blond hair and brown eyes much like his father, but while his dad was tall and broad, he was tall and lanky, though that might change in the next few years.
"Hey Cadie," his newly acquired deep voice replied, causing him to duck his head a little in abashment. "How do you like your car?"
"Oh, the Hearse? I adore it! I have so many ideas for how I want to paint it. It will take another couple of months to decide what I want to do exactly." I happily replied.
"You call our masterpiece, the Hearse?!" Harrison half cried in outrage, half hooted in laughter.
Ian, impatient to watch his game, interrupted the pleasantries with, "As touching as this moment is, can we continue it later? Maybe during a period break? The game is about to start."
We all shrugged at each other, quite used to Ian's pre-game anticipation. They headed into the den, and I returned to my room and the Napoleonic Wars.
A little over an hour later, I snuck down to the kitchen to get myself some dinner. I was met with the sight of Zach dumping his barely touched casserole into the garbage.
"Don't worry. I have some sandwich fixings and canned soup that you can have instead," I cheerily declared causing him to smile sheepishly.
"I don't know how my dad ate all of that and went back for seconds," he stated in slight awe and disgust.
"His taste buds have been destroyed by that acidic coffee he has at that shop. That's why," I declared as I pulled the Dijon mustard and pastrami out of the fridge.
He nodded in agreement but then asked me, "So how come you're doing homework instead of watching the game? I thought you liked hockey."
"Oh, I do! It's just I hate watching it on TV with the commentators jabbering away. Plus, hockey fans at the stadium are much more fun to watch than our dads alone." I explained. "It's been awhile since I've gone to a game, though." I usually went with Ashley and her older brother and his friends. That was no longer possible since their dad moved them clear across the country to Vancouver for his new job.
"Well, we'll have to go sometime next year. None of the local high schools made it to play offs or you wouldn't have to wait so long." I smiled my acceptance of this endearing invite, but refrained from commenting further as I noticed him tuck-in to devour his monster of a sandwich.
After he finished, he randomly asked me, "So how's it going with your French partner?"
"Uh, good, I guess. Er – why do you ask?" feeling as if the entrance to the rabbit hole was beginning to loom before me again and I was unable to avoid it.
"Ha, noticed you didn't ask how I knew about him," he teased.
It became clear to me that I was not going to get an answer until I did, so I obliged, "Alright then, how did you know about my partner?" preparing for a long list of he-said she-saids.
"I happened to overhear Ms. Girard talking to her sister at mass the other week about how he was desperately trying to get out of having the new girl as his conversationalist partner. Apparently, when he couldn't make any head way with her, he went to talk to the school secretary to try to drop the class." Smack! I hadn't just fallen down the rabbit hole; I had been launched down it with a rocket strapped to my back.
He gazed at me somewhat apologetically, "Now the why I asked is a much easier question to answer. I figured if he was a jerk enough to go out of his way to do all that, then he was jerk enough to treat you like crap, when he didn't get his way, and I wanted to check in with you. But I'm glad to hear that's not the case." I nodded my understanding glumly. To "cheer" me up, he continued with, "I also asked you that because my only other option was to ask you why you fainted in P.E. the other day." He impishly taunted as he went back to watch his game, unknowingly leaving me in a quandary of emotions, the insensitive git.
Now to be fair, I shouldn't direct my resentment towards the messenger. I ought to be, and am, more furious with the source. It was a little unsettling to find out that someone you viewed at the time as a complete stranger, and therefore was given the benefit of a doubt despite his strange behavior, took such an instant disliking to you.
Was his week long absence because of me? It was hard for me to believe this. I mean after all it sounds a little narcissistic. But it didn't make sense for him to request a different partner, when even in that first exchange it should have been obvious to him that I was the closest thing to an equal in skill level in that class as he was going to get.
As I finished cleaning up the mess, I realized it was rather petty to be worrying about what a boy thought about me, when more important things like Lottie and Simon's fate was to be decided in a few weeks.
Then again, it might be a nice distraction. This thought produced a cacophony of voices in my head, mainly my mother exclaiming, "Only you would distract yourself from worrying with worrying, Cadie!" and Ashley declaring disgustedly, "You're hopeless!"
Who knew the Napoleonic Wars would be a subject of refuge for an overworked mind?
AN: Translations -
ma petite = my little girl
mon oncle = my uncle
Next chapter - Confrontation and Surprise Visit
