February 28, 2012
Happy (early) Leap Day!
The drama continues to unfold, and Nessie has a human moment. It's sometimes easy to forget that fictional characters aren't too different from real life.
I lied about RSM, but outlining the story is proving directional and therapeutic. We'll see how soon I can crank out another chapter.
Enjoy,
evelyn-shaye
Special thanks to my temporary betas, Writting2StayHalfSane and Babykay16. Your critiques were quite helpful!
Chapter Eleven: Caution
For the second night in a row, I was awakened far too early, this time at 2:30 A.M. I hoped that we weren't developing an unwelcome pattern.
Cold hands shook me awake, Alice's this time.
"Please hurry, Renesmee," she urged me, as I sat up groggily. "We understand your and Jacob's need to sleep, but we cannot waste any more time. Both of you are absolutely essential for this discussion."
Another strategy meeting?
I groaned. "Screw discussion," I muttered, turning back to my pillow.
Alice whipped the pillow and my blankets off my bed in one sweep. "Don't even think about it," she growled.
I shivered at the sudden cold and forced myself awake. As I unconsciously went through the necessary motions, Iwondered, Why do vampires have to be so uptight and intent on lengthy discussion? I could already envision a replay of this afternoon: My family members would assume the same roles that they always did, further solidifying their stereotypes. I hoped that eternity wouldn't force me into a rut as it seemed to have done to them.
Vampires need more variety.
I climbed out of bed, realizing for the first time that Jacob was no longer in my room. Strange, but I had thought he would stay with me all night to keep me safe.
I shrugged, relatively unbothered. Jacob deserved to put his apartment to good use, and I needed to go downstairs and get this dumb conversation over with.
"Um, Nessie?" Alice ventured. Irritated, I turned to face her. "You might want to…put on a bra."
"Huh?" I glanced down at the pajamas that I always favored: comfy sweat pants and a camisole. It didn't seem immodest. My annoyance shifted to bewilderment. "What's wrong with it?"
Alice winced delicately. "Your cami's built-in bra just isn't cutting it." When I continued to stand there, confused, Alice stamped her foot childishly and cried, "Are you blind, Nessie?" She leaned in and lowered her voice. "Your boobs are sticking out."
My face flushed bright red. "Oh, ah…" I ran to my closet to examine myself in my full-length mirror. Sure enough, I had grown recently, and my tank top's cotton lining wasn't enough to support them.
Did I have a bra that would fit?
Alice danced in behind me and shook her head in exasperation. "I know exactly what you need," she said. She reached into one of the many drawers of my giant and outrageous chiffarobe and fetched a strapless B-cup. It looked intimidating compared to my normal A, especially with the fancy black lace design.
"Er…" My marvel that I had grown an entire cup size overnight had rendered me inarticulate, with my brain sluggishly racing to catch up with the rest of my body. I wasn't sure how to communicate my disinterest in what was obviously lingerie without insulting my aunt. I finally settled for, "Won't the black show through my yellow?"
"Oh." Alice turned again, this time unearthing a bra with a similar design but white lace. "You probably prefer the simplicity of this one, anyway," she muttered with a disgruntled expression.
I grinned as I clasped it on. The new bra certainly didn't feel that different, and it suited my style nicely. "If you know my preferences, then why do you spend so much money on clothes that I will never wear?"
She frowned. "I can't see your future, so I'm still hoping for the day that you realize just how wonderful fashion is."
"I have fashion!" I protested. "What do you call the outfit I wore yesterday?"
Alice's mouth twitched in amusement. "An exception to the rule, my Nessie." She sighed and reached for my hand. "Come on. Everyone is waiting for us."
She dragged me down the stairs, where the entire family stood tense and alert. Jacob sat uncomfortably on one of our couches.
"Was it really necessary to wake me up at this obscene hour?" I grumbled. Jake nodded sleepily.
Daddy frowned with disapproval. "The sooner we warn you, the sooner you can go back to sleep."
Momma shook her head beside him. Her expression clearly told me that this could've waited 'til morning but that the ages-old vampires needed something to occupy their time.
Again with the variety thing.
"Please keep your rude comments to yourself," Daddy admonished. I lowered my head.
"We'll let you return to your beds as soon as possible," Grandfather said gently. "First, Bella has important information for you and Jacob."
Momma stepped forward from beside Daddy. "You two may have noticed that I had my shield up the entire time last night," she began. "It was merely a precaution on my part—Edward didn't even ask me to protect us—but our assumptions as to the coven's talents were merely that: assumptions. I wanted to be extra careful and lend my gift however I could.
"I am probably the only one who noticed Braden testing my shield."
My mouth dropped. Of course Braden knew that Momma was a shield, since he had called us all by name at our first encounter outside the school. But there had been a strange shiver from her shield right after Braden suggested allying ourselves for the next two years….
"I'm surprised that you noticed, Nessie," Daddy answered my thoughts. "What Bella doesn't know yet is that I sensed a tenor of annoyance in Braden's thoughts when Carlisle responded to his offer of friendship so calmly and neutrally. Jasper, perhaps, also noticed."
"There was confusion, as well," Jasper replied. "It's my guess that we didn't meet his expectations somehow. But it wasn't Braden's emotions that caught my attention."
"Whose, then?" Grandmother asked.
Jasper answered, "I wasn't paying much heed to his followers, since they were emotionless except for an undercurrent of loyalty, but Ashton surprised me when Carlisle informed them of our vegetarianism. Braden and Leanna were overwhelmed with suspicion and fear of the unknown, by my read. Ashton, on the other hand, reacted with an enthusiasm that overpowered any emotions I've sensed from him since we met. Leanna's, too, I suppose were more distinct that I was used to from her."
"But we saw his enthusiasm," Rosalie interjected. "It didn't take a gift to see his interest in what Carlisle had to contribute. He's like a vampire nerd." I had to giggle.
"Perhaps, though, you didn't see the way his enthusiasm diminished completely the moment Braden stepped forward to speak with Carlisle again."
I stared at Jasper, confused by his observation. "Would that have anything to do with his stopping Leanna after school and Daddy not being able to read her thoughts?" I asked.
"Insightful again, Nessie," Daddy commended. "Perhaps, if we hear the rest of Bella's account, the rest of the pieces will fall into place."
Momma leaned forward again. "As Nessie pointed out, yes, my shield fluttered a bit when Braden offered his solution to be temporary allies," she continued. "I would compare it to Chelsea's attack on my shield five years ago. Braden's assault threw me slightly off guard, but when I recovered my wits,"—Daddy grinned at her pun—"I strengthened the…elastic, I suppose you would call it, and it never wavered again, even when I was shielding Carlisle from a distance afterwards."
"So Braden is more powerful than we thought," I deduced. A sense of foreboding was growing inside me.
Daddy nodded. "Yes. As Bella and Jasper have attested, Braden is quite powerful. We're still not exactly sure how to classify him"—he frowned in thought—"but we contacted the Denalis earlier this evening, while you were asleep. We hope that Eleazar will be able to assist us."
"If Braden is a shield, Eleazar may not be able to tell us much," Momma said dubiously.
"Knowing that he's a shield could prove useful, though," Carlisle threw in. "It might be best to set aside our preconceived notions until we hear Eleazar's opinion. If his thoughts complement ours, then we can compare notes."
"Until then, though, we must all be on our guard," Daddy cautioned. "Bella has agreed to shield us whenever she is capable."
"It will be good practice for me," Bella added, smiling with excitement. "I haven't tested the limits of my physical capabilities when I'm not running on adrenaline, so I'm interested to see how I hold out."
"I know you'll be perfect," Daddy murmured. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. Momma tilted her head toward him with an adoring smile. I guessed that they had patched up the small hole in their relationship.
Daddy nodded subtly. "I never thought I would say this, Nessie, but please make sure that you and Jacob stick together while we're at school. I don't want to take any chances." He winced at the prospect of my being in danger.
I glanced at Jake with a disbelieving look on my face. He stared at me with a similar expression, apparently drawing the same conclusion. Daddy was ordering us to hang out?
"Don't get any of those ideas," Daddy growled. I glanced up at him in surprise, but he was glaring at Jacob, not me.
Jake blushed. "Keep out of my head," he muttered.
Huh. Even though Jake had assured me that his intentions were good, maybe Daddy was right about certain impure thoughts in Jake's mind. The knowledge intrigued me, especially in light of the most recent alteration to my physique. I glanced surreptitiously down at my chest with a small sense of pride, but halted those thoughts immediately: Daddy was within hearing range.
"When will the Denalis get here?" I asked in an attempt to change the subject.
Daddy faced me; his expression didn't betray any reaction to my thoughts. "They'll take about three days to travel. They want to hunt along the way due to our new…arrangement."
I nodded. I didn't want our Alaskan friends to get caught up in an iffy situation on our behalf.
The family fell into small talk, so I took my leave. I needed sleep if I was going to deal with Braden's coven at school in the morning.
I crawled into bed and snuggled into the mattress. Something felt uncomfortable, though. I sat up. Oh right, my strapless. I reached back and unhooked it, throwing it unceremoniously onto the floor.
Stupid bra.
It surprised me that I was still growing so quickly. I supposed that it wasn't exactly unnatural to move so suddenly from an A-cup to a B-cup, but I had been an A for about a year-and-a-half. If I were human, would I have been that size for the proportionate amount of time before slowly transitioning to a B? It was entirely possible, I reasoned. And a B wasn't really that big, just different.
As I fell asleep, a million thoughts swirled in my head. How did Alice know that I would need a new bra size? Was Jacob really that attracted to me? Did he have impure thoughts because he noticed my sudden change?
Maybe I should move my bra to the closet in case Jake comes in….
The next day of school, Tamara had gotten over her short bout of depression, for which I was thankful. Now she and Garet were making exciting plans for the weekend. Garet's mom had offered to drive her, Tamara, and Jonathan; I informed them that my brother Emmett was willing to pick up Jacob on our way, since he and I lived close enough together.
"I didn't know that you two were in the same neighborhood," Garet commented.
"Only more or less," I answered. "Emmett really doesn't mind at all." I wanted the topic to stray away from my connection with Jake before Tamara sank into depression again.
Tamara, however, either didn't notice or chose to ignore it. "Well, that works out perfectly, then," she said. "The movie starts at 3:30, so I figured we could meet around 2:00 to grab lunch, if you wanted." We all nodded our assent.
"Good! Afterwards, I still wanna do the overnight, if you girls are game. Did you ask your parents, Nessie?"
I glanced swiftly at my family's table, sending my request Daddy's direction. It was really convenient that he could still hear me when we were both under Momma's shield. Even my friends were being shielded at the moment. He nodded easily. "Yeah, they're cool with it," I replied.
"What about you, Garet? Your family usually goes to church on Sunday, right?" Tamara checked.
"We do, but they're fine with my missing one week," Garet answered. "They're gonna pick me up on the way home, though, so we can eat lunch as a family."
"That's fine," Tamara said. "Guys, have you figured out how you're getting home after the movie?"
"My mom can get me since Garet's mom is driving us there," Jonathan answered.
"What about you, Jacob?" Tamara asked. I noticed that her countenance brightened when she faced him. "Do you need a ride? I'm sure that we could take you on our way."
I glanced at Jacob. It probably wouldn't be a good thing for her to find out that we live together, I thought, lightly brushing his hand.
It took some effort for Jake to hold in his laughter. "Don't worry about it," he replied. He couldn't conceal a grin. "I've already made arrangements."
"I wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone," Tamara said with concern. "We really don't mind."
"And I'm really fine, Tamara," he answered with some force. "Please don't worry about it."
Tamara shrank back. "Fine," she muttered.
I felt bad for her, but at the same time, I was annoyed. Did she really need to force herself on my friend like that? Too bad we weren't allowed to tell them about the supernatural world. If they understood us at all, Jake could lie that I was his imprint and we wouldn't have to worry about Tamara's feelings anymore.
Other than the small cafeteria drama, the rest of our first week was pretty boring. Braden barely glanced at us after our meeting Wednesday, even with the offer of alliance still hanging in the air. Daddy hadn't addressed it last night, but I assumed that everyone agreed with my thoughts on Braden's strategy. If he did possess a gift of more than persuasive leadership, he could win us over, possibly brainwash us. Only Momma would be able to resist, but if he gained control over even one of us, would her shield be enough to turn us back?
I was afraid to ever come to that point.
