Jane
The cafeteria was relatively quiet a few minutes into lunch. That, and something else, bothered me. I had the feeling something would happen, but I wasn't sure what it was. I looked around the table for reassurance, but everybody else looked bothered too. Everyone – which consisted of Thing One, Thing Two, Edward, and Bella – all wore the same expression, one that people usually showed during awkward silences. This silence was pretty awkward....
The silence was broken by the loudest scream I had ever heard. When I realized it came from me, I felt a huge pain in my abdomen, like someone had just run me over with a speeding car. I bent over the table, clutching my sides, crying from the pain. I gasped for air, and white sparks were the only thing I could see. I tried to turn in the seat so I could move to the cool floor, but the white sparks disappeared, and there was suddenly nothing but a high-pitch ringing in my ears that quickly disappeared too.
__________
I hurt. It was the only word to describe the pain I was in, before, and now. I hurt. One tiny part of me was afraid to open my eyes, and the big part was yelling OW but staying paralyzed. Whether it was my own body that was responsible, or drugs, or some other weird connection, I didn't know. All I did know was that moving would hurt.
You're breathing, stupid, the Voice of Reason told me in its tiny, high voice. Does that hurt, or does it feel good?
It feels nice, I replied lightly. So opening my eyes will feel good too, then?
Duh!
Inner Jane smiled, and I looked for the nerve system so I could open my eyes. I found it quickly, letting them open slowly, in case it did hurt. When I realized it didn't feel bad – it didn't feel good – I let them snap open.
Umm, I thought, seeing dark above me and light that seemed far away.
Lights off in your bedchamber, Reason told me. Light-switch be somewhere.
I felt around for the button I had pressed a few times before, but my fingers brushed against cold metal, and a dim light flicked on. I realized it was a touch-lamp, and I carefully tapped it two more times. The light was bright, but it didn't hurt my eyes. I felt almost numb. I have my own room, I realized. Sweet.
I looked around for some way to make my awake-ness known. I found a little switch, and flipped it. The lights in the room went on, and I saw that the switch was connected expertly to the lights. Nobody came for a second, and I almost gave up.
When I thought, Well, this sucks, the door opened. I didn't know who it was, because the hall lights drowned the figure to a shadow with their horribly bright light.
"Hello cello," I said, feeling better suddenly.
"Hi," the person said sadly, closing the door. The hall light disappeared, and I finally saw Renesmee. "I'm sorry."
I stared at her and blinked. I looked around me to see if I was connected to anything of importance, but the only thing was the hospital bracelet. "You already apologized for running away," I mumbled. "Unless you're saying you attacked me with some kind of voodoo doll."
Renesmee shook her head and walked over to my bed. She pulled up a chair beside me, and I sat up carefully. She looked straight at me, and I knew she'd been crying. Her face was red, and her eyes were a little puffed.
"What's wrong?" I asked quickly. "Are you okay?"
She shook her head again, this time in anger. "There is no way either of us will be okay after today. I... don't know." She wiped more tears from her face. "I think I did cause you that pain."
That threw me off the rail. Easily said, I was confused. "I'm confused," I admitted. "How was that possible? Did you use a voodoo doll?"
"No," she whispered. "But... okay, this is way too hard. My dad told me to stay away from your cousin, and I tried to. I thought I was away. But..."
I shrugged. "You weren't. Okay. Did he attack you or something? It's possible, from my family.... Wait, who is your dad?"
Renesmee tried to steady herself with a deep breath. That seemed to make her feel worse. "When you followed me home, you passed out. It wasn't overexertion, though. It was shock. My dad is Edward Cullen, and my mom is Bella Cullen. They are not Masen and Dwyer."
That sunk in, and it seemed familiar. It didn't shock me, though. It reminded me of the conversation. "Right. I remember now. Got it. Tell Alice she's strong for her size."
Renesmee looked happy under the torment. It looked like she was happy to have someone on the inside. "I'll do it. If you don't kill me. This gets me back to the point. No, I was not away from Alex. And I wasn't away from David, either."
"I don't get that. Did you three fight or something? And how does it relate to me?" I was starting to get scared. I knew my mind was doing the normal avoidance of the worst possible answer, which was usually the right one. It made me shake.
Renesmee took two things out of her pocket. One was a hair-tie, and the other was an everyday rubber band. She tied her hair up, and put the rubber band around her wrist. The way she looked at it, I thought she was going to punish herself with a little snap of the rubber against her arm. Like it would hurt at all. She opened her mouth to speak, but she quickly closed it and snapped the band.
"Don't do that," I scolded her, pulling it off her wrist and pulling it until it broke. She still watched the place where it used to be. "Why can't you tell me what happened?" I asked quietly.
She started sobbing, and I didn't know what to do. I sat back, scared of her reaction. I was really lost when she put her hand out and touched my forehead, like she was going to put a picture there.
A picture did show up there, and I let out a small gasp. I knew it was too important, so I didn't pull away, even though I was terrified. The image in my mind was the road, and familiar surroundings, seen from the inside of a car. It went dark for a second, and then it came back. There was a spiked feeling that made me want to be sick, and I saw Alex and David crossing the road. They turned to look straight at me – or maybe it was Renesmee – and the image went white.
She pulled her hand away, and I gaped at nothing. She touched my stomach, right where the huge pain was earlier. She couldn't say anything, and I was afraid she would crack and explode. I doubted that I could get a sound out myself.
"Ohmygod." My mouth barely moved as I mouthed the word.
