Please. I beg of you. Don't hurt me. I have had soooooooooo much work its not even funny. So don't laugh. Yeah you too. I mean it. Anyways, so I got this latest chapter up soo, read on!
I'm the writer. You're the reader. Readers Read On!!! ~Case Haley
August 21
I sat up sharply as my alarm blared its way into existence. I scooted to the other side of the bed, slamming my hand down heavily on the illuminated silver button. Silence. I climbed out of the bed, placing my feet on the cool wooden floor and taking in the room around me. My room was designed in the same Victorian style as the rest of the house—two bay windows, a canopy bed, and a carved white wooden dresser along the wall. I stood up slowly, stretching my hands over my head as I walked across the dark room to the calendar situated on my dresser. August 21. I had officially been in Forks for a month now, though it seemed nothing had changed since I first arrived. Though I could not ignore the overwhelming beauty of the house, it still felt strange. The large bay windows never seemed large enough to capture any sunlight and the dark colored walls made the large house feel increasingly cramped. I flicked on the light and made my way to my closet. At least I was alone. Alec had disappeared the morning after we arrived and I hadn't heard from him since. Not that that was a bad thing; in fact, I found his absence to be quite relaxing, though I found the silence of the house to be quite eerie. With so much free time alone, the majority of my days had been spent adjusting myself to a more human lifestyle. While I chose not to leave the house, I had managed to become increasingly human by maintaining a strictly human diet. Not the most desirable way to go about it, but it was necessary. Just because I could survive off it did not make it any less bland. I huffed, picking out a navy blue sundress and tossing it onto my bed. I was beginning to warm up to Heidi's wardrobe, even though it had replaced mine. I glanced towards my boots, placed neatly against the wall. I smiled fondly, thinking of my friends in Volterra. If I had been told when I had been dragged across Europe to Italy that I would one day miss Volterra, I would have laughed. I sighed, feeling a lump building in my throat. With a final glance towards the dress on my bed, I turned and left my room.
I padded down the carpeted hall to the Victorian staircase that led to the main floor, passing numerous oils paintings that adorned the wall. I trailed my hand down the wooden banister pausing to admire the flowered Van Gogh mounted on the wall half way down the staircase. I reached the wooden landing of the foyer and headed immediately towards the kitchen. Despite my hunger, I took the longest root to the kitchen, passing through my favorite room of the house besides my own: the vintage style parlor—complete with its own grand piano. At last I wandered into the dark kitchen. I tiptoed across through the dark room towards the pantry. Of all the human foods available in the house, I had found cheerios and coffee to be by far the most tolerable. I reached for the yellow box on the top shelf, before finding a bowl. From the small circular window above the sink, I could see rays of pink and gold sunlight peeking through the trees. At least it would be sunny today. I poured myself a bowl of cheerios and proceeded towards the coffee maker. I flicked the button on and turned towards the table. I jumped, spilling half my cheerios, as I realized I was not alone.
Alec was seated at the table across from where I stood, his eyebrows raised in bored surprise.
"What are you doing here?" I all but shouted, my heart still racing from his surprise. How long had he been here?
"Nice outfit," he retorted.
I felt an involuntary heat rush to my cheeks as I glanced down at my attire. I was wearing a pair of striped boy shorts with a blue tank top that I increasingly realized, was particularly sheer. It was perfectly fine for sleeping in at home. Alone. However, my embarrassment quickly faded into anger.
"What the hell are you doing here Alec?" I hissed, leaving the room in search of a broom. I found it almost immediately and returned to the kitchen, using the opportunity to duck below the table as I cleaned.
"You have an appointment," He said shortly.
I exhaled deeply.
"You've been gone for the last month and you choose today to show up because I have 'an appointment,'" I huffed. I propped the broom against the wall and began pouring myself another bowl of cereal. I turned back to the table.
"An explanation would be nice," I spat, pulling back a chair and plopping into the seat across from him.
"The high school has summoned you. They want to meet with you," he said, tossing and catching the keys to the Audi.
"I'm sure that'll be fun," I mumbled through a mouthful of cereal.
"Well luckily for you that fun begins at 8 o'clock this morning," he said, catching his keys a final time. He pushed his chair back from the table, standing up sharply. "I'll be in the car."
Without a second word he was gone. I turned around to look at the iridescent glow of the clock above the oven. 7:05. I laughed dryly. He would do something like that. The drive to the school took thirty minutes, which meant I had less than fifteen minutes to get completely dressed and ready to go. I stood up quickly, placing my bowl in the sink, before rushing towards the stairs.
* * *
7:20 read the orange clock radio inside the Audi.
In exactly fifteen minutes I had managed to completely and successfully make myself presentable. I glanced at Alec as we pulled out of the driveway. He looked exactly as he had the last time I saw him, except perhaps, his eyes were a brighter shade of red. Though he didn't look as annoyed as the last time I saw him, his demeanor still echoed his contempt.
The car was completely silent as we sped down the small wooded road to Forks. I looked towards the radio, hoping to use it to break the thick silence that had enveloped the car, but I thought against it, remembering the last time I had attempted to adjust the radio.
"Where were you?" I asked slowly, glancing away from him to watch the sunrise.
"Does it matter?" He replied slowly.
I shrugged and there was silence again.
"Canada," he finally replied slowly.
I turned towards him slowly.
"What's in Canada?" I asked.
"Others," he replied shortly.
"Others? Other vampires?" I asked.
"No, caribou," he shot sarcastically.
I huffed.
"What did you do?" I asked finally.
"I was testing the evarian Aro gave me," he said, his voice void of emotion.
I'd never thought to do that. I guess it would be better to double check before I placed myself amongst enemy vampires.
"It wasn't for your benefit," he added, "I don't give a damn if you succeed or not."
I rolled my eyes as the car continued on. At least there was an actual conversation before Alec shot it down. I sighed. Welcome back Alec.
* * *
The engine faded to stop as Alec pulled into a parking spot outside the large brick building. I push open my door and stepped out into the parking lot. The sun was considerably brighter now and I reached for the sunglasses atop my head. I glanced cautiously towards Alec. He was wearing his dark sunglasses and a green hoodie that covered his face from the sun. It had seemed like miles to the entrance way as we left the parking lot but I soon found myself standing in the middle of the gray-locker lined hallway of the school. Alec removed his hoodie and placed his sunglasses on his head. Under the fluorescent lights, Alec looked particularly pale. The dark circles under his eyes—an odd red-brown because of his contacts—seemed to stand out even more. I followed him down the vacant hallway. Did Alec have the right day? There was no sign of anyone in the school.I was preparing to ask Alec when a loud voice startled me.
"Hi! Y'all must be here for the meet and greet this mornin'!"
I turned around slowly to a very short and energetic girl around my human age. Her blonde wavy hair was pulled into a high ponytail over her head with a pink ribbon. She was dressed in pink from head to toe: pink tank top, pink jacket, pink skirt, and pink shoes. Even the eyes shadow above her wide brown eyes was pink. With her bright outfit and strong accent, I had no doubt she had been raised far from Forks.
"I'm Missy Tadum," she said, offering me a tan, manicured hand, "I'm on the welcomin' committee. I was new here last year so I'll know about what you're goin' through."
I shook her hand slowly.
"You must be Emma, I'm guessin'?" She said, looking at the clipboard in her hands. She paused, eyeing Alec with wide smile. "Whose your friend here?" She asked. Her brown eyes stared intently at Alec with a hidden desire that made me want to vomit.
"Connor," he replied calmly before I could answer her.
She giggled loudly.
"So how do you two know each other?" She asked, her eyebrows raised. I watched her smile fade by several molars.
"Cousins," I replied quickly.
She giggled again and I wondered I still retained the strength to snap her neck.
"Well now, let me give y'all a little information about the school," she waved her hand gesturing us to follow, "The school was built in…"
Her voice faded away, though her mouth kept moving. I heard Alec chuckle to himself beside me. It took me a moment to realize what he'd done to her. I would have said something against it, but the memory of her voice was enough to prevent me from doing so.
"So let's go then?" She asked finally, her voice returning.
I nodded and followed after her. She dragged Alec and I through the entire building, pointing out this and that. We passed through every hall, every room, and Missy had something to say about each of them. Beneath his contacts, I watched Alec's eyes grow darker and darker. By the time Missy finally stopped, his eyes were black.
"We're about done now, so we're gonna head to the cafeteria for horaderves," She said as she lead us merrily down a flight of stairs.
I winced at her pronunciation of French, but said nothing. There were several people in the cafeteria when we arrived, around twenty or so. Missy entered, beckoning us to follow. As I stepped forward, Alec caught my arm. I turned back towards him, pulling my arm from his grip.
"Yes?" I asked annoyed.
"I'm leaving," he said shortly. His black eyes glanced towards Missy, who had left us at the door to talk to a group of people across the room. "Before I snap her neck and fling her body across the room."
I glanced at him with wide eyes. He stared back, his dark eyes seeming to smirk, before he turned and disappeared down the hall. I slowly turned back to the cafeteria and headed towards Missy.
"There ya are!" She said, waving me over. Placing her hands on my shoulders she turned me to face the circle of people around her.
"Ya'll, this is Emma Durand. She's new this year."
I glanced around the circle at the different faces around me. There was five in all, two boys and three girls. The boy across from me extending his hand, sending me a handsome smile
"I'm Riley," he said taking my hand, "I was new last year like Missy."
He had bright green eyes that stood out against the tan line of freckles across his nose. His wavy brown hair faded towards blond at the ends, as if he had spent a great deal of his summer in the sun. I smiled back at him.
"I'm Emma."
The girl beside his stuck her hand out sharply.
"I'm Margaret Lyle," she said, tucking her dark hair behind her eye. Despite the wide smile she flashed me, I could tell too easily she was not a fan of me; I held back the urge to laugh. "I've always been here. I'm president of the school's French club."
Vrai?
"I speak French as well," I said, flashing her the same fake grin she was giving me.
"Tu parle la français?" She asked smugly.
"Oui, je le parle couramment. Ma mère était française," I replied calmly. I watch her face redden in frustration.
The other three members of the group introduced themselves. I occupied myself my attempting to translate the conversation around me into Italian to myself. As Missy droned on and on about her summer, I began to wish I had persuaded Alec to stay. Finally she stopped.
"Y'all wanna see the punch buggy I saved up for this summer?" She asked suddenly. I looked up the floor.
"Sure, why not?" Drawled Margaret.
I followed an excited Missy back through the school to the parking lot.
"There it is," she said, pointing to the vintage pink Volkswagen across from us.
She stepped out into the street as a deafening roar pierced through the air. A black motorcycle carrying two riders flew passed us, narrowly missing Missy. As it turned the corner sharply, the second rider—a redheaded girl without a helmet—let out a loud whoop. Missy huffed impatiently. I resisted the urge to laugh.
"Unbelievable! They nearly hit me," she yelled, turning back to us.
I turned to Riley, the only one in the group who wasn't showering Missy with sympathetic comments.
"Who were they?"
He laughed, smiling.
"Missy can't stand them," he said, dropping his voice, "But they're some of my best friends. That guy—the one with the helmet—was Jake Black. His family's lived here forever, out in LaPush by the beach. The redhead girl's Renesmée Cullen, but we all just call her Ness or Nessie. She was new here two years ago."
"Cullen?" I asked slowly.
He nodded.
"Yeah. Do you know her?"
I shook my head. So this was the Cullen girl?
"I'll have to introduce you to her," he said, shrugging slightly.
Missy's hissy fit subsided and she made her way to the Volkswagen, dragging Riley and I along.
"This is my baby," she crooned loudly. As she ranted on, I occupied my mind by calculating the force it would take crush the excruciatingly pink car into the size of a Pop Tart. I finally stopped, rounding my answer to something around 230 Newtons.
"Was that your car?" Missy asked, poking me in the shoulder.
I glanced up lazily.
"The Audi?"
She nodded eagerly and Margaret Lyle shot me a jealous glare.
"It's my cousin's," I replied shortly.
She giggled.
"Isn't your cousin comin' here next year?"
I rolled my eyes.
"No."
Missy frowned dramatically while I exhaled deeply. She was definitely going to make this year worth wild. Her pouting stopped as her phone rang—a blaring 8-bit of Barbie Girl. She looked at the pink phone before shoving it back into her pocket.
"I have choir practice in Port Angeles in about thirty minutes," she said, opening the door to the pink Beetle. She slid inside, started the ignition. "Toodles! See y'all on Monday!"
I felt myself smiling as the car drove out of sight. If only it would veer off the road. The same moment Missy's car vanished, the black Audi came speeding around the corner.
"I have to go," I said, walking towards the car. I heard Margaret let out a sigh of relief.
"Bye Emma," Riley called as I opened the car door.
I waved back silently, sliding into the car. Alec eyed me slowly, his bright scarlet eyes amused.
* * *
I stood up, walking over to the bay window across from my bed. So this was the Cullen girl? Though I had known I was not the only hybrid in this world, it was surreal to witness it first hand. I had only seen her for a few briefs seconds, but it was enough. She was far paler than a human, and in the morning light I could see this iridescent glow it gave off. Her hair and eyes were extremely human and I doubted they changed colors at all.
My eyes wandered towards the shimmering pool in the back yard. I smiled to myself. I couldn't recall swimming, at least since I had lived in England. It was still warm and sunny outside. I returned to my bed, yanking my duffel bag from underneath it. I dug through it, flinging Heidi's carefully folded clothes across my bed. It wasn't like her to forget…ahh. I pulled the bathing suit out of my bag, frowning almost immediately. Really. The navy blue fabric seemed barely big enough to cover anything successfully. I glanced towards the pool again. It shimmered brightly, as if to mock me. So be it…
I changed quickly and headed downstairs, pausing to grab a towel from the linen closet. As I passed to the kitchen to the patio that led to the pool, I glanced outside towards the driveway. Though the Audi was present, I had not seen Alec in over two hours. I opened the screen door to the patio, grabbing a wooden chair to place by the pool. I sat my towel down, placing the sunglasses on my head beside it. With a running start, I jumped into the pool feeling the cold-water swirl around me. I exhaled a trail of bubbles as I kicked my way to the surface. I inhaled again, letting myself float onto my back. I closed my eyes, rocked by the soft waves rippling across the surface.
"Having fun?"
My serenity was broken as I flipped to face Alec. He smirked smugly.
"When will you learn it's not nice to sneak up behind people without warning?" I snapped, pushing my long hair back and out of my face.
"Sneak up without warning?" he laughed shortly, "It's not my fault you're oblivious."
I splashed water in his direction, but he quickly moved to the side.
"Now that's very mature," he mocked.
"I don't care. Go away," I said, splashing water towards him.
"No. It's my house," he said arrogantly, "I can do what I want."
"Well," I said, splashing him yet again, "Go enjoy your house elsewhere."
He shook his head.
"Maybe I don't want to. Perhaps I've gotten bored sitting on the roof and I've decided I want to swim."
"Well I'm swimming Alec," I shot back.
"I don't care," he said walking towards my chair.
Without warning he pulled his back shirt over his head, tossing over the back of the chair. He was far more built than I would have expected of someone his size. For someone eternally stuck as a seventeen year old, he had the body of a guy in his twenties. I slipped under the water, hoping he hadn't noticed my observation. Or growing blush… As I came up, Alec ran towards the water, jumping over me to dive perfectly into the pool. I waited for him to come up, but he never did. I dove under the water, looking around until I found him. He was lying on the bottom of the pool, his eyes open and his hands behind his head—as if he were relaxing on his bed. Exhaling, I sank down to sit on the bottom of the pool across from him. He turned towards me slowly, his eyebrows raised. He sat up slowly, pointing towards the sky, before pushing up from the bottom of the pool. I followed him, pushing up through the surface of the water.
"Can't you breath?" He asked.
"Does it matter? Besides there are more important questions, like why are you wearing jeans in the pool?" I paused and he stared back at me. I laughed, shrugging. "After a while, I don't need to."
He was silent, as if he were contemplating deeply.
"Well, since you don't have to breathe," he started, an evil smirk growing on his face.
Before I could duck below the water, Alec sent a wave of water my way. It surged, smacking into my face. I dodged the next wave, sending a new one his way. Back and forth. Back and forth. By the time the water fight ended, the sun was already setting.
I climbed out of the pool, walking towards the wooden chair. I grabbed my towel, burying my face into it.
"Are you done with my shirt?" Alec asked from behind me. I stopped immediately, looking down to recognize the shirt I had mistaken for a towel. I dropped it quickly, snatching up my real towel. Alec laughed, placing his t-shirt across his shoulders. He walked towards the patio, pausing to turn back to me.
"Aro told me to 'ensure you have the necessities to replicate a year in the American school system' sometime this week."
I cocked my head.
"Back to School shopping?" I asked.
"Aro didn't word it quite like that, but I guess it something along those lines," he paused, jumping onto the roof of the patio, "He also wants to buy you a new car."
A new car? Hmmm…
"Tired of being my chauffeur?" I mocked.
He let out a dry laugh, jumping once to land on the roof. I walked inside as he disappeared from sight. I walked inside, wrapping my towel around my waist. I returned to my room, careful not to completely soak the Victorian carpet. I glanced towards the calendar on my dresser. August 21.
One more week until my life would completely change.
So que piensas? que penses-tu? ni-hao? that last one was completely irrevelant but hey, I'm running on six hours of sleep and the last half of this was typed in the last two hours. For you non-non-English speakers, whatcha thinkin' ? REVIEW!!! Lemme know what you want, cause ideas are awesome! Well until next time (and hopefully more sleep)
~Case Haley
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Amongst Their Ranks
to be continued..........