Chapter Nine: Evil Little Hybrid
Soon after our call to the helpless, panicky Bryn was over, and we were sure he was checking his computer history, we were, once again, bored. This is when I truly wished that dad knew what it felt like to be a newly teenaged girl, struggling with virtually everything. My eyes darted around the room, searching for anything that looked fun. They chose a Wii game. I had received Disney Sing It: Pop Hits, last Christmas. I already mastered some of the songs and was gradually working on Let It Go from HatchingPete on Disney Channel. Merci helped me hook up the microphone, while I popped in the disc.
"Who wants to go first?" I asked. Two hands shot up, Dallas's and Uncle Emmett's. This group of girls really loved to sing and I did too, but I didn't like being watched by my friends. I always liked some attention from my family and the pack, but not them. There was too much to risk, like my fairly decent reputation. They, however, could sing whenever they wanted to, because they were funny and it didn't really mattered what they did; they were cool enough to pull it off.
"Dallas can go first; I saw her hand before you," I said, glancing at Emmett. He gave me a death glare that turned into a vicious, yet somehow playful, grin. It was as if he was saying directly to me, "Dude, my hand was definitely up before hers! I am a vampire after all, and don't you remember? – we have the fastest reflexes… in the universe!" Dallas smirked cutely in Em's direction, causing him to huff and flop back onto the couch. Jake was flung a foot into the air, since Emmett was so strong. Jacob landed back on his stomach, causing Emmett to laugh.
"What song?" asked Merci, she was in control of the Wii remote, as of right now. Dallas was motioning for her to scroll up and down, while she looked for a song.
"That's good!" she said, when the remote landed on La La Land by Demi Lovato. She grabbed the microphone and began singing, acting out the odd music video that went along with it. She always joked around when she sang, but she could be good. I begged her to be in the school production of 'Alice in Wonderland,' but she just couldn't handle it with soccer and basketball games. She would have easily gotten whatever role she wanted. When she finished, Stella volunteered me, but when I tried to refuse, Stella began chanting, "Nessie, Nessie," and was followed by everyone else in the room.
"Ugh, fine," I grumbled. I gently took the remote from Merci, showing there were not signs of actual anger in me. I scrolled down the list until I found I'm Only Me When I'm with You by Taylor Swift. I knew all the words by heart, so I had no need to face the TV screen. And then I began, "Friday night, beneath the stars, in the field behind your yard, you and I are painting pictures in the sky…"
When I turned back around to see the screen, and noticed that my score was just a few points away from being perfect. The girls looked at me, bewildered. I assumed they didn't know I could sing well. I returned the microphone to the coffee table, and took a seat next to Jake,where I silently buried my face in his sweatshirt. No one spoke for a while after that until Emmett decided to break the awkward silence.
"My turn!" he boomed. He snatched the remote from Merci and it landed on Let's Get Crazy by Hannah Montana. He was only singing it because he knew it would get a good laugh.
"Life is just a party so come as you are…" He was way off key and his pitch was terrible, so his singing resulted in an extremely low score, even for him. I nearly had to cover my ears due to his whale calls. And his 'singing' ended the game of Sing It.
"Wow, Nessie! I didn't know you could sing like that!" Mari said. I peeked out from Jacob's protection. Dallas yanked softly on my ponytail, trying to get me to emerge from my hiding.
"Thanks," I sort-of whispered. Everything was silent until I heard dad call from the kitchen, "Girls, the pizza's here!" Everyone jumped up. We all headed to the kitchen to get some food and then sat back down in the living room. Before the party, I dared Emmett to eat a slice of pepperoni pizza in front of the girls. And I knew this task would be terribly difficult for him to complete, but Emmett still didn't' back down to a challenge.
We sat down on the floor in a big circle. The girls and I were nibbling on our pizza, while Em gawked at his with a disgusted expression on his face.
"Do I really have too?" he wined.
"Yup," I replied, smirking.
"You're an evil little hybrid; I hope you know that!" Emmett whispered back. I just kept on smiling, and soon enough, Mr. Stubborn took a bite. He flinched at the taste of it and then, taking a peek at me to see if I was looking, which I was (how stupid did he think I was?) swallowed with great force. Then he began gagging, and successfully coughed it back up.
"Yuck! How do you eat that!?" he questioned. Dallas leaned in near him to whisper, "It's a secret." We all burst into a fit of laughter.
Therefore, Emmett lost the bet and I was now owed a shiny, baby blue Mustang-Convertible on my sixteenth birthday; if only I could get through my thirteenth.
