All Things Twilight belong to the Awesome Stephenie Meyer: HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHENIE '08

Chapter 9: Hysteria

Anna and I ran from the back of the school to the cover of the trees. It didn't take long. All of the sports fields were placed to the side of the school, so the back was a straight shot to the forest. We didn't cut often, and when we did it was normally the entire day. It was exhilarating knowing what we were running to, and I could almost feel Anna's excitement rolling from her in waves.

We slowed once we were in the deep cover of the trees. Both of us were giggling incessantly as we hiked deeper into the forest. I wondered whether the wolves had heard us yet, we weren't being quiet. Their hearing was just as good as mine. I couldn't hear their heart beats or paws, but we were being considerably louder.

As my giggles slowed I listened for the gently padding of the paws I knew would come. I didn't have to wait long, but I was surprised to hear the soft graceful steps of the human feet that belonged to the men. They had phased. I pulled Anna towards the sound with a wink, they weren't far away now and it wouldn't take us long to get to them. I had a great sense of direction anyway, the perks of vampirism.

Jacob and Seth stood waiting, the white teeth standing out against their russet skin as they smiled at us. Jacob tutted playfully as he started towards me. His arms were open ready to embrace me.

"Cutting school? I'm appalled Renesmee Cullen."

"I believe you did your fair share of cutting, Jacob Black." I giggled, walking into his waiting arms.

"So I'm the bad influence?" he laughed.

"Always," I said dramatically I leaned my head against his broad chest and inhaled his scent. It calmed me immediately.

"So, what brought on this pleasant surprise?" Seth asked nuzzling his face into Anna's neck.

"Boredom, annoyance, impatience, you can take your pick." Anna laughed.

"And here I thought it was that you wanted to see me."

"Oh, poor baby." Anna giggled as Seth picked her up so she was level with him.

I dropped to the floor crossing my legs beneath me, we didn't have long. We would have to make some kind of an appearance at lunch, otherwise people would notice. After all, we had been the constant topic of conversation before the mysterious new boy. Jacob sat beside me and I leaned into his warm chest. I felt better just being this close to him. All my previous grievances seemed to flutter away.

"So, you wanna talk about it?" Jacob asked his husky voice low as he played with the loose strands of my bronze hair. I knew he could feel the calm settling over me, but I was sure his curiosity was getting the better of him. It wasn't as though he ran around the school every day so this was certainly not routine.

"It's nothing huge, just the usual stupidity. Knowing you were out here made it easier to leave." I sighed. The feeling of his fingers moving gently through my hair was distracting, it felt nice. I let my eyes slide closed and I felt the awareness I always felt with him so close. An awareness that was so close to feeling completed, whole, it was almost overwhelming.

"I'm not complaining" he chuckled, pulling me closer into his side.

We sat like that for a while; there was always some form of contact between us as we talked quietly. Seth and Anna sat close by, holding hands and enjoying the others company. It was the perfect hour. There was no pressure to pretend I was something I wasn't. The canopy of the trees protected us from the worst part of the rain, but the small drops that made their way through dampened the ground below us. I was tempted to drop the rest of the day, but I knew it would make the teachers suspicious.

Especially in Spanish, due to the antagonizing relationship I had with Miss Baker. She was sure to notice my absence. I sighed quietly as I realized I didn't really have a choice. I was sure he could feel the tension in my body as I made my decision. His lips dropped to the top of my head and his hands rubbed my arms gently.

I wanted to spend lunch with Jacob, but having put off hunting for longer than usual I needed to keep myself fed. Otherwise the thirst would take control. In a school full of kids, that was not a risk I was willing to take.

"I should go eat." I admitted to Jacob meeting his warm eyes. I hated admitting my procrastination to him.

"When was the last time you hunted?"

"I was with you."

"Ness, that was almost a month ago."

I smiled sheepishly. I knew I should take better care of my thirst than that, but the human food made it so much easier to put it off. It dulled the slight burning until it was almost unnoticeable. Regardless, I knew I should never leave it this long. I was endangering every human life around me. I had an amazing amount of self control but it wasn't perfect. It had taken me years to get the taste of the donated blood from my palate.

Jacob sighed. "Go eat, and tonight I'll take you hunting. Drag you if I have to."

"Would you stop being so dramatic," I laughed, "It's not as though I wanted to put it off. Life got in the way."

"Sure, sure."

I leaned into him and smiled. Knowing what I wanted he met me half way, his lips crushing against mine. It was a shadow of the kiss he'd given me last night, but still perfect in every way. It still left me dizzy.

Yep, there went life getting in the way again. As usual I was all too willing to be distracted. His lips pulled away from mine slowly. As my eyes fluttered open he swooped in and pressed his lips to mine again several times. My lips curled into a smile as he continued his small assault on my mouth. The smile turned into a giggle.

Jacob's warm hand ran down the side of my face. I peeked from under my lashes, wondering whether it was safe to resurface. His smile was warm and welcoming as I continued to open one eye at a time. Rolling his eyes at my dramatics, Jacob gracefully hopped to his feet and pulled me up with him. His arm wrapped around my waist.

"We'll be here all day if you need us. If not, I'll pick you up out front. Same time as usual."

I nodded, enjoying the deliberate dominance he was trying to reprimand me with. His lips brushed against mine briefly. "I love you."

"I love you too." I whispered.

"Anna, Seth, time to go." Jacob's voice was back to normal now, and I couldn't help grinning at my best friend as she rolled her eyes at the request. Still, she stood up with Seth and made her way over to us. She knew as well as I did that Miss Baker would cause problems if we didn't show.

"Bye guys." I said, standing on the tips of my toes for one last kiss from Jacob. He obliged me, and I could feel his smile around my lips.

"Go and behave yourself." he whispered.

I nodded and started back towards the school. We only had forty-five minutes to get back and eat before the bell sounded. Anna sighed impatiently beside me, showing me her displeasure at leaving the love of her life. I continually forgot how relatively new this all was to her. As much as I hated leaving Jacob's side, I had done it often enough to get around the discomfort of it. Anna didn't have that luxury, and she was human. Her life was so much shorter than ours.

"You'll see him in two hours." I laughed. I was hoping to distract her from her grumbling.

It didn't take us long to get back to school, which gave us thirty minutes to eat and get to class. We entered the cafeteria, wary about the stares we were sure to endure. Especially seeing as we were normally the first ones here. Thankfully, nobody noticed. All of the students had their eyes drawn to a table across the cafeteria from where Anna and I sat. It was almost comedic, but most certainly surreal.

"Children of the Corn," I mocked in an eerie voice.

Anna giggled and leaned into me, her voice low. "It's seems the new kid is good for something."

I nodded and picked up some of the normal, below average, offerings they forced us to eat. We made our way to our table. Not one person averted their eyes to us. It was almost as though we were invisible.

"This is awesome." laughed Anna, dropping into her seat. "If so inclined I could do something out of the ordinary and not one of them would notice."

"No more living under the microscope, I could get used to this." I laughed.

There was a low murmur in the room as each table whispered their opinion of Matthew. I could hear the new voice in the sea of whispers around me as I sat silently eating my cold food. The accent was the most obvious thing, but it still didn't spark my interest enough to look for it. Tommy and the other guys were filling him in on all the hot topics of conversation.

They had nothing interesting to tell him and I could tell by the bored tone of his voice that he was already tired of this place. I couldn't blame him, he'd been the most interesting thing to happen here in the four years I'd been in attendance, and that was ignoring all of the gossip I had caused. I hadn't seen everyone this stirred up since the whole Jacob incident.

"Tommy's boring the poor guy," I laughed, shifting some of the food around my plate.

"What's he saying that could possibly bore someone?" she asked sarcastically.

"He, like, opened his mouth," I said giving it the valley girl edge, playing along.

Anna laughed loudly at my weak attempt at humor, and I wished she hadn't. Some of the eyes that normally scrutinized our every move, decided to pick up their old habits.

"That lasted." I laughed. Making a face at Anna, who was still giggling on her side of the table. "Will you shut up, you alerted the vultures."

"Aw, crap."

I rolled my eyes and shoved another imitation chicken nugget into my mouth. I hoped our brief stint of silence would allow everyone to return to their staring of the newest anomaly. All hope was lost when I heard the one question I hoped wouldn't come up. It came from the new voice in the crowd.

"Who the hell is that?" Matthew's voice was full of some emotion I couldn't put my finger on, but it didn't sound good. It sounded curious. Great, another face that pointed and stared, that was all I needed. I hoped he would make a nuisance of himself and go digging around, trying to find out where I came from. That was an automatic withdrawal from school when my family found out.

"Oh, shit."

Anna's eyes widened and another paroxysm of giggles spilled from her. I never cussed, out loud. I ducked my head and covered my eyes. Nothing good would come of this; I really didn't want to move yet. I fought the urge to look for the face that matched the voice.

"What is the matter?" Anna asked breathlessly.

I shook my head to stop the inquisition and listened for the answer. I knew Tommy would have plenty to say, it was his favorite story. He would tell it to anyone who would listen.

"That's Renesmee Masen."

"R . . . What?"

"Ruh-Nes-May." Tommy laughed wittingly.

"Her older brothers and sisters graduated before we started, but there were plenty of rumors floating around about that. All of them are adopted, she's the youngest one, home schooled until she started here. She keeps to herself a lot. She's dating Jacob Wolfe; he graduated already, two years ago. He's also banned from school grounds."

"Why?"

Tommy chuckled grimly, and I couldn't resist looking at him. Unfortunately, my eyes never got that far. The sapphire eyes of the boy next to him locked with mine. It wasn't that I couldn't move my eyes; it was more that I didn't want to. The deep blue was mesmerizing and captivating. My breath caught slowly in my throat as I appraised him a little more. We were shamelessly staring at one another. It was obvious he'd lost interest in anything Tommy was saying.

His raven black hair had that tinge of blue to it when it caught in the light. His pale complexion was almost translucent in the light, and those eyes. I didn't even hear what Tommy said to him as he leaned over and pulled his attention away.

Matthew looked at Tommy briefly but it was enough to release me from the hold. There was an instant wave of guilt and confusion washing over me as I realized what I had been doing. What was wrong with me? I had a boyfriend, I was an Imprint. Without thinking I leaned across the table and grabbed Anna's hand.

"We're leaving." I squeaked, my voice shaking. Whatever had just happened had rattled my cage and I needed to get away from it. Nothing had ever sucked me in like that before and it scared me to death. It was like being hypnotized.

"What?"

"Anna, please."

She nodded, not asking another question and followed me out the door. I had my head down, my eyes on my feet as I breezed through the door as quickly as I could without it looking too fast. Anna was a second behind me.

"What just happened? That Matthew kid's eyes followed you all the way out."

"I know." I answered a little too harshly, it was almost a growl.

"Does someone have a little crush?" she laughed playfully.

"What, no . . . of course not, Anna."

"I was talking about him! What's with you?" she asked eyeing me suspiciously.

"I feel . . . weird." I admitted and let my body slump against the wall. I tilted my head until the crown of it was pushed against the wall. My eyes were on the ceiling, too ashamed to look anywhere else.

"About?"

"Anna, I was just staring at him like he was a unicorn with four horns! How could you miss that?" I dropped my head down again to look at her. I was surprised at her indifference.

"I didn't think he was that bad looking." Anna laughed.

"Neither did I!" I hissed through my teeth. That was the problem of course. I had been lost in that one moment to the sapphire orbs that seemed to call to me. Almost taunt me from across the room. It didn't help that I felt guilty about the emotions that ran through me. I was Jacob's imprint, I loved Jacob, and every part of me belonged to him, mind, body and soul. So why had this guy suddenly ruffled my feathers? How had he been able to get in my head so quickly? I waited for some kind of reassurance from Anna. I didn't know what I had expected her to say. I didn't even know why it was so important for me to have justification for this.

Anna laughed and patted me on the head. "It's not a crime to think someone's hot, Ness. You love Jacob; you know that better than anyone. You are his soul mate; it doesn't mean that you can't form an opinion about someone."

"Do you look at other guys that way?" I asked impatiently.

She blushed a little, "Sometimes, and then I compare them to the man I love. They never measure up."

"You are a romantic." I laughed, letting the relief spread through my veins. The small pang of guilt still sat like a lead weight in my mind. This wasn't just a simple once over like she was talking about. I knew how I had reacted, and I knew my own mind, and I had no idea what the hell had just transpired. Whatever happened to me in that room had shaken me.

Anna rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Stop looking so guilty."

I grinned. No wonder she was my best friend, she knew me better than almost anyone. I was just glad that Jake hadn't been around to see my rather embarrassing ogling. It would have hurt his feelings. But somehow, I knew that if he had of been there, I never would have looked in the first place. My draw to him was too strong to care about what went on around me. I was always oblivious when I was close to him. Anna was right, no one would ever measure up to Jacob, and it didn't matter how many lifetimes I lived.

"Come on," Anna sighed. I followed her towards Spanish. I would be quite happy to never see Matthew Derby again for the rest of my existence.

Jacob, as he had promised, sat in the car waiting for us. Seth was in the front seat, but jumped out of the car when he saw us. His arms folded around Anna when she reached him and I could see the look of pure contentment once again fill his features. That's always how it had been.

I climbed in the front seat and leaned across the small dividing console looking for a kiss. Jacob grinned and pressed his lips against mine. My heart crashed in my chest and I was finally able to feel normal again, to breathe. The incident in the cafeteria had alarmed me. Thankfully, Matthew hadn't been in one of my classes.

We all ended up at my house, in front of the colossal screen on the second floor landing. We'd pushed the theater seating out of the way and sprawled across the floor. Esme had brought us some popcorn. Of course, Jacob and Seth hadn't taken long to polish it off. Jacob was laid across the floor, his neck propped up by the pillows we'd dragged into the room. My head was laid on his chest, the pounding of his heart thrumming in my ears.

I hadn't been able to really concentrate on the screen and what was happening. Being comfortable in my own home had brought back the fears from yesterday. The fears that made what had happened today look silly and unimportant in comparison.

In all honesty, I had convinced the others to stay with me because I was hoping to get a call from Orion. I was hoping she would see something more and call me. It was selfish of me to expect her to risk being discovered again just to give me piece of mind. The smaller communities in Brazil still believed in the legends. If she was seen, it could cause a lot of trouble. She'd taken a risk yesterday. Smaller villages held stronger beliefs than the large cities. If she had been spotted, if anyone would have assumed what she was, they would hunt her down. And the South Americans weren't willing to go down without a fight.

I tried not to think about it, but it was a constant in my mind. I didn't need trouble in my life, not while things were going so well for me. I was happy, ecstatic even. I knew it couldn't possibly be what I feared the most. Alice was still keeping an eye on Italy, she would know if they decided to make a move.

Even though I knew better than to bet against Alice, I couldn't see where else trouble would come from. They were the only threat to me, weren't they?

"We were supposed to go hunting." Jake whispered his words mingled with a yawn. The sound vibrated through his chest leaving the side of my face tingling. It pulled me out of my disturbing thoughts. I lifted my head and looked at him.

"I was hoping Orion would call with more information." I admitted gently. I hadn't said anything earlier because I knew it would make him worry.

Jacob hated seeing me suffer, and I knew he was blaming Orion for scaring me. He wasn't able to look at it as objectively as I did. I knew that she was looking out for me. With danger nowhere to be seen, he saw it as scare tactics. He still hadn't forgotten the frosty reception he'd received when we'd visited them.

"Ness, honey. Is that why you've been so quiet?" His arms wrapped around me and he pulled me closer to him. I curled up under his arm and let my head rest against his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to worry you." I whispered against him. I let my eyes wander to his, the depth of them never ceased to amaze me.

He rolled his body until he was curled around me. My legs laid loosely over the top of his, my face was buried into his chest as his warms arms circled around me holding me closer. I rolled onto my back in the tangle of his arms and smiled.

"I wish you would stop trying to make me feel better about things." he sighed gently. "When will you understand? I will do everything in my power to keep you safe."

"Then will you stay with me tonight? I don't think I can keep the nightmares away for a second night."

"I don't think . . ."

"I'll talk to them," I sighed. "It's just sleeping, Jake."

"Fine, if they don't have a problem with it, I'll stay."

"Thank you." I kissed his throat and trailed my lips over his Adam's apple.

"Ness," his voice was a subtle growl and I couldn't help but giggle. I loved that I affected him like that. His arms pulled me into his chest again, into his warm, protective shell.

Like I had thought, my parents hadn't argued my logic. My mom remembered her human days; she remembered the nightmares my dad had kept away. If Jacob was the only thing keeping the horrors from my subconscious, she would agree in a second. My dad, a little more skeptical, trusted my mom's judgment.

It wasn't as though we could do anything untoward; they were vampires, with the amazing ability to hear everything within a three mile radius. And my dad could read minds. Really, they had no reason to be uncomfortable or worried.

So Seth took the Rabbit home, taking Anna with him. It was hard to avoid the presumptuous grin of my best friend. I couldn't help but laugh at her futile attempt at secrecy. I had, however, explained that nights like these were extremely platonic. Needless to say, she didn't believe me and demanded details when I saw her next. I literally had to push her out the door, with a promise to tell her everything I could remember about my slumber.

I spent a little bit of time with my family before going to bed. Alice had promised she'd seen nothing but would let us all know if something came up. Jasper constantly calmed me, which in the end did nothing but make me extremely tired.

I said my goodnights and pulled Jacob up the stairs to my room. I changed in the bathroom and knocked before going back in the room. Jacob was in a pair of clean sweats lounged across my bed, his hands under his head. He was laid diagonally because even on my monstrously huge bed his feet hung off the end.

"You look tired, honey." Jacob grinned; patting the space beside him.

"I am." I sighed, curling up next to him close enough that I could enjoy his heat, but at enough of a distance to see his eyes.

His large hand stroked the side of my face gently, but my eyes never deviated from his. I could almost see the smile on his lips as he watched me. I loved this man with every part of me, and I knew that he felt the same. We were so content to just look at one another, and for a split second I wondered how anything could have penetrated that.

I pushed out the thought before I completed it, it hadn't. The whole incident had caught me off-guard, and it would not happen again. I was prepared now. The weakness wouldn't confuse me again. I was sure of that.

Jacob's fingers brushed against the frown I hadn't been aware I was wearing. I looked up at him and smiled tenderly. I moved quickly and rolled closer to him, pressing my lips against his. He kept the kiss simple, not letting me push further as I wanted. He held me gently, and my arms were wrapped firmly around his neck.

"Ness," his husky voice against my lips made me smile.

"Yes?" I whispered suppressing a giggle.

"You need to sleep."

"I know,"

He chuckled again and pulled me against his chest so I couldn't assault him further. I didn't want to think anymore, not tonight. So I let my eyes close and just listened to the sound of his heart, pounding in his chest.

A/N: Song: Hysteria by Muse

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas; and thank you for reading it. It's become somewhat a labor of love; I get confused and sometimes suffer terrible writers block, but I also get hugely inspired and write five chapters in one sitting. Nessie has taken on a life of her own in my mind and the story is getting interesting. (I'm at Chapter 27)

I would like to thank Orioncat; she has the patience of a saint and goes through these chapters with a fine tooth comb finding all the mistakes. She's an awesome beta and a fantastic friend. If you get a chance check out her youtube channel (Jackieorioncat).

Vicki, thank you for my Christmas pressie; it's awesome and I love it. Thank you also for being a good friend, and for reading these stories, and thank you for all the free publicity!

Thank you for all of the alerts and Faves; and . . . THANK YOU TO THE REVIEWERS, YOU GUYS STILL MAKE ME BLUSH SOMETIMES AND I'M SORRY IF I DON'T ALWAYS ANSWER YOUR REVIEWS; SOMETIMES TIME JUST RUNS AWAY FROM ME! YOU ALL ROCK YOU ARE FABULOUS!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHENIE MEYER :)

BIG HUGS - TALK TO YOU ALL AGAIN ON FRIDAY - L -