Chapter 9

When Jake parked the bike, I ran off into the house. I didn't care if anyone was watching; I was running full half-vamp speed.

First, I ran into the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife I could find, fast. Then I ran up to the room, hiding the knife in my shirt. I wasn't sure if anyone could tell, they didn't seem concerned.

I ran up to my room (well, technically dad's old room) and threw the knife on the floor. Was I really going to do this? Was I seriously going to add more scars to my arms?

Yes, I was. I dove after the knife and cuddled it up against my chest. I pulled up my sleeves but before the blade touched my wrist, I heard a familiar little pixie voice.

"Nessie," she said, coming into the room, not knocking, "Don't do that. It's not good. You'll make everyone upset, besides, do you really want to inflict pain on yourself?"

I nodded and tears rolled down my eyes. Within a few seconds, my dad had entered the room also. He must have been reading Alice's thoughts. He took a more serious stand; he grabbed the knife away from me.

"Nessie!" he yelled, "How can you even think about this…?"

I could tell he wanted to scream louder, but didn't want to cause a huge scene.

"I-I-I," I stuttered fore I couldn't find a reason why, it just seemed like a thing I was supposed to do or something, "I'm sorry," I hung my head low, "I've got to get some rest. I've had a tiring day."

"So, I've heard," Dad smiled then picked me up in his arms, placing me down on the couch. What was up with me lately always ending up sleeping in my clothes?

That night, I dreamt about three men. One was clearly Jake. The other one… well, it sort of reminded me of my Chemistry partner Blake. And, the third one, I had never seen his face before. But he was gorgeous. He had shaggy blonde hair with green eyes, absolutely adorable. I asked him what his name was… and that's when the dream ended and I woke up.

I woke up to Jacob entering my room with a tray full of food.

I immediately sat up and combed through my hair, "Jake? What are you doing here?"

He placed the breakfast tray on my lap, "Well, I am your friend now, correct? Friends always bring each other breakfast. At least, they do in my world." He smiled, and I couldn't help but smiling back.

I ate the breakfast he gave me and then went to get changed. I didn't have time for a shower this morning, so I'd just have to put on some extra deodorant and perfume.

This time, I caked my own make up on, and made sure to wear long sleeves.

I checked my watch. It was 7:30, five minutes after first bell. Where was my family? They were never late. Never!

By the time I finished up in the bathroom, grabbed my book bag, and put on my all-time favorite necklace, I had wasted another three minutes.

"Dad!" I called out, jogging down the stairs at a normal human speed, "Mom! We're late!"

But neither mom nor dad came up to me, it was Jake.

"You ready?" He asked with a huge smile on his face.

"Where's everyone else!?" I asked sort of ticked.

"They left a half an hour ago. I thought I'd let you'd finish up before I brought you."

"What!?" I yelled, angrier than I should have been, "Jake! I don't need you to drive me to and from school anymore! Ugh!"

I grabbed his hand and ran outside, well, at least he had the truck with him. I decided to drive. I didn't care what Jake said, I was driving. I didn't have my license yet, but I didn't need Jake driving me anywhere.

When we reached the school, I jumped out. I saw Jake blowing me a kiss out of the window.

I had forgotten to what it had been like before Jake and I started dating. He was always more of a brother or a father, so I couldn't really be mad at him for showing a little affection.

Heaving a deep sigh, I blew one back at him. He smiled then drove off. Though, inside, he might have been dying… he must have known something that I didn't.

The lady at the front desk in the office wasn't very glad to give me a pass to class. She was irritated and now I wouldn't be able to show up late, because of her hateful glare.

I walked fast down to my first class, chemistry. Well, at least I could pass notes with Blake. That could be interesting.

As I opened the door, a pair of gold eyes flashed to me in the darkness. Everyone was staring at me, and not at the screen which was showing some sort of science movie.

He looked sort of angry, but I owed him no apologies. This was all Jake's fault.

I gave my note to Mr. Sparkle, and he was just about as happy as the lady at the front desk.

There was a note on my tabletop when I sat down.

Why were you late? It read.

Blake looked over at me, grinning, then back at the movie.

Oh, just woke up late. I admitted.

Then why was the rest of your family here on time? He asked

Because they're buttheads and they think it's funny to let their baby sister be late.

I knew that was a lie. They probably thought Jake would be responsible enough to get me up in time. All the accusations go to Jake.

He didn't write back, he just looked over at me and gave me a firm nod.

I didn't watch the video. It was boring, and took up the whole class. I took out my journal and started doodling. I thought about drawing something, maybe a landscape. I thought about drawing the hills of Switzerland, or a beach on the coast. Maybe I could even draw just flat plains with nothing but a couple of birds inhabiting it. But in the end, it just turned out to be a portrait of a hotel room. Something about the way everything was organized made me relax.

When the teacher dismissed class, I tried to dash out of the room quickly, in hopes of dad not catching up. But, he did. He grabbed my shoulder and turned me around to face him.

"Renesme," he sighed, "Why were you late?"

"Jake woke me up late! It's not my fault!" I added a grunt then walked away. I wasn't in the mood to talk to my father. Why did he care if I was late anyways?

I got the books out of my locker for my next class, and then slammed my locker shut. Not hard enough to make it fall off its hinges, but still firmly.

When I shut it, a blonde head appeared next to me, the guy with the football stickers. He had gorgeous blonde hair that was shaggy, class football style. And then his green, familiar eyes were something else. I used to think I was attracted to brown eyes, but these were beautiful. I would think him to be a vampire if I couldn't smell his blood.

"Is everything okay?"

He was perfect! He was so sensitive and nice and our children would be beautiful… my mind started trailing off.

He gave me a weird look, and then started to walk away. I pulled his sleeve back to me, "No! I mean, sorry… I was just… preoccupied for a second," I explained. He stopped and headed back to where he was before.

"Have you got a lot on your mind?" He wondered aloud.

"Sort of." He was sooooo cute! How could people stand to be around him without attacking him to the ground?

"What--," he looked down out of his watch, "I'm sorry! I've got to get to biology, we can talk after class." He scurried down the hallway and into a classroom, not without looking once more at me. I leaned against my locker and sighed.

"He is pretty cute," I heard a pixie voice beside me. I stood up quickly and looked over at Aunt Alice who was standing in front of the football guy's locker.

Jasper looked up from beside her, a look of pain across his face. She just giggled and danced her way down the opposite way of the hallway. Jasper held her books and followed her, the same blank expression.

My next class, health, was boring as hell. It felt like the whole thing was directed around just saying "No". Didn't they get it? If they cram this shit into our mind, we're just going to want to rebel.

So, anyways, I met up with mystery man after class and we walked down the hallway a little. We avoided going to class, and continued talking. I figured out that his name was Presley (Pres for short) and that he was some high rank football player. Just like I had guessed. He also was very focused on his grades so he could stay in football. He had three older sisters whose names were Paulette, Penny, and Paige. His parents had a thing with naming their kids names that start with P.

We stopped and he turned to face me, "Do you want to go out on a date sometime?"

I brightened up. This was going to be perfect! He could be my first real boyfriend. Jake didn't count since he probably would have killed me if he didn't imprint on me first.

Then again, it was just one date.

I nodded, and then continued to walk down the hallway, "Yes! How about tomorrow night?"

He smiled then wrote his number on the palm of my hand. "Call me on directions to your house, okay?" Then he walked away. I seriously was thinking about jumping on him and kissing him. How could you not love him? He was perfect.

When he entered the class, I had the hallways to myself and I twirled around, screaming a little bit. I danced to the beat of some happy song I had heard on this radio this morning.

Then I sighed. My next class (which I was twenty minutes late for) was with Alice. And information that Alice knew was passed onto dad.

Oh, who cares!? I threw my papers in the air and screamed a little more.

At lunch time, I made sure to avoid my dad or anyone else who might be a little ticked at me for accepting the football boy's date. Wait, what did he say his name was?

I saw my chem. partner, Blake, sitting all by him self. So I walked over there, no one should ever have to sit alone.

He looked up at me with a little smile, "Hi," and then down back at his salad.

"May I sit here?" I questioned, "Or are these spots taken?"
He sat up startled and then gestured to the spot next to him, "S-s-s-sure," he stuttered, almost as if he were in awe of my presence

We talked a ton the whole time. We talked about our family life (Leaving out the whole "life with vampires" theme) and I learned a lot of new things from him. He was really nice.

After school, I went to go catch up with Aunt Rose; she was walking out to the jeep.

"The dog's on his way sweetie," she said while getting in, and then kissed the top of my head.

Jake? Hadn't I told him that I didn't want him dropping me off or picking me up? I groaned then headed back to the same spot yesterday. It wasn't long before his blue truck showed up alongside the sidewalk.

I walked over to him, giving him the angry glare, but then heard my name called from a distance.

I turned toward the direction and it was the football boy. The football team was heading out to the fields and he stopped mid-run to wave. I giggled then waved back. He kept staring at me, in a cute way, as if he were love struck. Then one of his teammates threw the football at his head, and he finally got his head out of the clouds. I giggled a little and gave him one last wave before hopping into the truck.

"So, who's Mr. Hotty with the body over there?" Jacob asked as he drove away.

"Jake!" I tried not to giggle, but he was acting silly, "His name is—well, actually, I forgot his name, I was too busy staring at his—"

"Carry on," he interrupted with a snarl.

"Oh, ummm, and he's taking me on a date tomorrow night," I added thoughtfully.

Jake tensed up; he was shaking, "Jake! Get out of the car!"

He looked over at me, "No, I'm fine. It's just a little hard for me to imagine you on a date with…. Well, anyone," he stated firmly. Then he started shaking again.

I could tell when he was going to lose control, and that would be right about now. I reached my foot over and slammed on the breaks. Then I opened my door and jumped out, "Jake! Go home! I can walk."

He didn't like the sound of that, he continued to stare at me, "Get in the truck!" he yelled. He softened himself. "I'm sorry; I'm fine, just get back in the truck."

I got back in, and the rest of the ride was silent, I didn't want to anger Jake any further.