A/N: so sorry I've been gone for so long. I got a new computer a while ago and kind of lost the story in the transition. Don't know how fast updates will come (it depends on my schedule), but comments always help :)

10. Apologizing

So far we had endured two months of school. It was pretty much the same every day, but we tried to make it as interesting as possible for each other. At nights, I found new ways to keep myself entertained without hanging out with Edward. I wrote a song on the piano, read hundreds of books, hunted, and spent time with Carlisle at the hospital when he had the night shift. I was developing quite a high tolerance for blood as long as there wasn't too much, he even let me help with some cases when no one was around to see. Because of my new-found forms of night entertainment, my bitterness towards Bella disappeared completely. Our relationship still remained awkward though. I still owed her an apology, and she was always a little tense around me.

My chance to make it up to her came before school one day. We were all hanging out in the parking lot as we usually did. I wandered over to the river that passed by our school, I watched it for a while then went back to reading my book on the bank of the river. About ten minutes later, I looked up from my book to see the rest of my siblings had scattered as well. Alice and Rosalie were by the cars chatting and the boys had walked off to quietly mock their least favorite teacher. I noticed Bella walking towards the river bank a few yards downriver from where I was. She was being followed by Tony, my little stalker boy.

That boy was so annoying. He followed me everywhere and was completely in love. I hated it. Apparently, he had now fallen in love with Bella. She was trying to get away from him, but he was following her. He definitely could not take a hint. He noticed me standing a few yards away and began to look between the two of us, as if trying to decide which one he loved more. I rolled my eyes and Bella looked at me pleadingly. I tried to think of a way to distract him and I came up with an idea that amused me. It would be more entertaining than school at least, I grinned slightly.

I pretended to go back to reading my book while I watched Tony out of the corner of my eye. As soon as he looked back over towards me, I pretended to slip off of the rock I was standing on and into the river.

"Tony help!" I screamed as I fell in.

I felt myself being pulled under and dragged downriver. I held my breath, water in my lungs wouldn't affect me, but it was uncomfortable. I saw Tony run away from Bella instantly to go get help and I held back a smile, trying to keep up the drowning charade. I floated past where they had been standing and I felt two strong hands pull me out of the water. I looked up to see Emmett standing waist deep in the river pulling me out.

"I'm not gonna ask," he whispered as he held me close and climbed out of the river. "Act cold," he told me quietly as students and teachers ran over to us looking panicked.

I heard his teeth chattering and I made mine chatter as well. I curled up close to him and made myself shiver as I heard the commotion of adults shouting orders at students. They sent all the students to their classrooms and brought me and Emmett to the nurses office. It was winter so the water had been very cold, any human who fell in would be in great danger of going into shock or getting hypothermia. Someone called an ambulance for us and we were wrapped in blankets as soon as we got inside. I realized that falling in the river may have been a mistake to due the drama it was causing, but it was a nice change from the average boring school day so I didn't really care.

The ambulance arrived a few minutes later and we were rushed into it. The EMT's tried to pull me away from Emmett but I pretended to start crying and clung to him, refusing to let go. They gave up and figured I wouldn't die between school and the hospital. We got to the hospital and they brought us into the emergency room. Again, I refused to let anyone touch me. I screamed any time any of the nurses came close, so they moved us to our own room in order to stop frightening other patients. A nurse walked in and tried to reason with me.

Emmett held up a hand to stop her, "I'm Emmett Cullen, and this is my sister Kaelyn. Could you please get Dr. Cullen for us?" He used his most charming voice possible and it took the nurse a moment to recover.

"Oh! Of course! I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were Dr. Cullen's children," she stood up and turned to leave the room just as Carlisle walked into the room.

"Nurse Hamilton, I see you've met my children," Carlisle smiled sweetly. "I'll take it from here, thank you." He gently ushered her out and she left without a word as Carlisle closed the door behind her.

Emmett and I immediately dropped the charade and I smiled innocently, "Hi daddy."

Carlisle smiled slightly, "Hi Kaelyn. So, which one of you would like to explain this to me?"

Emmett shrugged, "Don't look at me, I have no idea what was going on."

I smiled weakly and told them both the story. I finished and waited, expecting to get in trouble.

Carlisle just nodded, "Alright. Well, no harm done."

He went to get us some dry clothes and blankets. We changed and he wrapped me in the dry blankets as he explained that I would have to keep up the charade a little longer. Emmett laughed at me and I glared at him. He hadn't gone all the way into the water and hadn't been in as long, so it would make sense that he was warm again. I, on the other hand, had been fully submerged for a few minutes and would still be cold.

I sighed and pulled the blankets tight around myself as Carlisle picked me up. We walked out of the room and Emmett followed us. Carlisle walked up to the nurses' station and waited for one of the nurses to look up.

"Oh, hello Dr. Cullen!" One of the nurses looked surprised when she noticed us. She looked at me then back at Carlisle questioningly.

He smiled kindly at her, "My daughter fell in a river earlier today. She's alright though, but I think I'm going to take her home and keep an eye on her for a while. Will you tell Dr. Sanchez that I've left please? He can page me if he needs me."

The nurse nodded and we walked out to the car. Carlisle put me in the back seat and I shook off all of the blankets as Emmett climbed into the front.

Emmett smiled mischievously, "Do I get to go home too, or do I have to go back to school?"

Carlisle laughed, "You can do whatever you want."

Emmett did a small happy dance in the front seat and laughed.

"Freak," I mumbled playfully.

"Hey now, I'm not the one who fell in a river," he teased.

I shrugged, "At least it got Tony away from Bella."

Both Emmett and Carlisle nodded in agreement and we were all silent for the rest of the way home. As soon as we got there I left the blankets in the car and ran inside. I went to the family room and curled up on the couch. I pointed at the cabinet where we kept the movies and picked one out. I moved it into the DVD player as Emmett walked in and sat down on the couch next to me. He and I spent the rest of the day watching movies and chatting.

I heard the front door open and knew it was the rest of my siblings coming home from school, but I didn't look up from the movie I was watching. Suddenly, I felt a pile of books fall into my lap.

"Your homework. If you're feeling up to it," I heard Edward say sarcastically as he playfully smacked my head.

I looked as pitiful as I could and pouted, "Hey I'm sick and injured, be nice."

"Oh whatever," Edward rolled his eyes and smiled as he walked away.

Bella turned to follow Edward as he walked away. I reached out and touched her arm, "Bella..."

Her eyes widened as she turned to look at me. "I'm sorry," I told her, "for the way I've treated you so far. I've been childish and I'm sorry."

Bella smiled warmly at me for the first time since I had known her, and I saw Edward turn and smile too. Bella nodded slightly and she and Edward went upstairs.

I took my pile of homework to the dining room and sat down to do it all. I finished math and Spanish first, then moved on to social studies. I opened my folder and saw there was a new sheet on top—we had a project. I rolled my eyes and read what we had to do. I groaned as I read the sheet: My Family History Project. My family didn't have a history... well, not one that I could do a project about. This should get interesting.