Chapter 12. Nessie POV: Past

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

A/N: Originally, chapters 11 and 12 were together. But I decided to split in half, hence the two chapters in one day =)

My teachers believed me when I claimed that I had a doctor's appointment. But then, when I explained the same thing to Mr. Varner, he asked he asked who my doctor was. So who could I say? I only knew Grandpa Carlisle. When I gave him Carlisle's name, he just nodded his head. I wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean.

Mom, on the other hand, knew I didn't have an appointment. She figured I just overslept. Mom seemed to have laid off the rude insults, and I supposed we were generally nice to each other.

So when lunch time rolled around, I grabbed a lemonade and a sub sandwich and perused the cafeteria. No way was I sitting with the rest of my Cullen family today. They'd ask too many questions. Besides, I wasn't quite ready to talk.

Mom had motioned for me to join her table with all of her other friends, but I just wasn't up to it. I needed some time to think so I chose a secluded, inconspicuous table off the side on the opposite side of the room from the Cullens.

I was staring at my sandwich, wondering how humans could make a sub so tasty, when two chairs were pulled out across from me.

I took a napkin and dabbed at the edges of my mouth, waiting for Uncle Jasper and Uncle Emmett to talk.

When they still hadn't said anything, I spoke up. "Hey boys, what brings you over here?" I questioned. Uncle Em wore a big, goofy grin and Uncle Jazz, usually the calmest out of all of us, looked irritated. He refused to meet my eyes with his glare, choosing to look elsewhere instead.

"We just figured that since you didn't sit with us today, that we'd join you." Emmett said.

I smiled. "Be my guest." I gestured for them to make themselves comfortable. "Would you like a piece of my sub?" He knew I was just teasing them because we both knew that I knew they were vampires. The only food they ever had on their plates were most likely props.

"No thanks," Uncle Em replied, "We don't eat meat or pork or whatever."

"So you all are vegetarians?" A smile played at the corner of my lips.

Uncle Jazz rolled his eyes. "Yes. But you already know that, don't you? And we both know what context of the word 'vegetarian' that we're talking about.

I shrugged. It was true. No need to lie. "So what exactly brings you here?"

Uncle Em looked past my head at something and he smiled. "Tell me what you know about vampires."

I ignored his question. "Why'd they send you all over here? Why not someone else?"

Again, they looked past me, before returning their attention back to me. I sighed. "It's not like I'll run or anything. It would cause a scene. I fit in well with everybody, so they wouldn't think too much of it. On the other hand, that would mean bringing attention to yourselves, especially with your strength, Emmy." I eyed Uncle Em's muscles speculatively.

"Choosing your words carefully?" Uncle Jazz asked.

"Of course," I replied. I gave a sly smile and Jasper rolled his eyes again.

"How's she feeling Jasper?" Em asked. This time, he didn't bother to speak low because they knew I could hear either way.

"Confident," I said before Uncle Jasper could speak.

Uncle Jazz just rolled his eyes again. Rolling your eyes isn't such a great habit. I did it too though, maybe I got it from him. "Haughty," He said.

"Am not!"

"Yeah you are, I can tell." He said with a chuckle.

I folded my arms and unscrewed my lemonade cap. I fiddled with the cap, twisting it in my fingers. I was unsure of the sudden silence between us so I looked up. They were still looking past me.

"What are you looking at?" I turned around anxiously.

They were staring straight at their family, probably Dad. They must've been having a thought conversation with him because he gave a subtle nod.

But when they saw that I was looking, I received a scrutinizing look from Dad, a rolling of the eyes from Auntie Rose, and a death glare from Aunt Alice. I'd never seen Aunt A so mad.

I shrank away from their stares and returned to eating my sub. After a bite I said, "Tell your family it's impolite to stare."

Uncle Em laid his hands on the table. "Okay, here's the deal. We have questions and you have answers. How do you know about vampires?"

"I know a few." I replied coolly.

Unsatisfied with my answer, Uncle Jazz spoke up. "How do you know about our abilities and how could you run so fast?"

"What happened to one question at a time?"

Uncle Em busted out laughing. Uncle Jazz's face hardened into a mask. "Okay, how can you run so fast?"

I shrugged. "I've always been good at running." I stole a glance at the others from across the room. I was surprisingly satisfied with the glare I received from Dad.

"Why did you call me 'Uncle Emmett' on the first day?" Uncle Em asked. Dang, I didn't think he'd remember that. My cocky smile faltered.

"You remind me a lot of my uncle," I said.

My smile was back up, but it didn't fool Uncle Jazz. "She's hiding something," he whispered to Uncle Em.

I laughed. "Go figure, Jasper. I'm hiding a lot of things."

He looked irked. "So how did you-"

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. I slid my remainder of the sub across the table to them. "Take care of this, will you?" I stood up and pushed my chair under the table. "See ya later, boys."

They looked stunned as I walked across the room, avoiding the exiting flow of traffic, to the Cullen table. I walked up to Dad and said, "What can I say? I'm a girl with lots of secrets. But next time, you shouldn't spy on people's conversations. You may not like what you hear."

He was speechless, so I gave a small, teasing wave to Aunt A and Auntie Rose and walked away.

I guess Uncle Jazz and Uncle Em had approached them because I heard Em laugh. "She's good."

I heard a loud noise similar to thunder. Uncle Em most likely just got smacked by Auntie Rose. She commented, "Did you guys smell her as she walked past? She smelled like dog."

"Maybe she has one," Uncle Em suggested.

Aunt Alice must've still been mad because she muttered, "Nessie tripped me…"

Dad hadn't said anything until now. "Where's my car? I saw you all running here."

Aunt Alice was probably scared. I'd be too, though. "Well, we kind of had to leave the car somewhere." Before he could express anger, she added, "We left it near the house! It's not our fault we found her snooping around our yard! In my vision, I saw Carmen, another vampire, and I leaving our house. Jasper and I left to investigate. We didn't know Carmen was still in town or where she was staying. Nessie was in the forest by our house when we saw her, so we had to ditch the car there!"

I opened the doors of the cafeteria and hurried to get out of there before Dad started yelling.

In art class, Aunt Alice just glared at me the whole time. We're desk partners, so the awkward silence was thick between us. I darted out of the classroom the second the bell rang. Aunt A was scaring me.

I was met by a cold fierce wind as I exited the building and walked into the parking lot.

I hugged my arms close as I crossed the parking lot, looking around for my ride. "Hey Nessie, do you need a ride? I'm going to Port Angeles, but I can take you home." Mom called me over. I looked across the parking lot as I walked. I noticed Dad staring at Mom.

"I think someone's supposed to pick me up," I said.

She was standing by her truck now, with my i-pod in her hand. I had let her borrow it last night when she came upstairs. "Jacob?" She asked.

"No…" I said.

"No, seriously. Jacob is over there." She laughed.

I turned and saw him on a motorcycle waving me over. I blushed and surprised myself with a smile. "I'll go over and see what he wants."

She nodded and let me go. "Jake!" I exclaimed as I walked over there.

"Hey Ness," he greeted. His nose turned up, as if smelling something disgusting.

"Aww come on Jake. The Cullens don't smell that bad." I teased. I realized that wasn't the smartest thing to say. He didn't know I knew all about shape shifters. For all he knew, I saw him as a wolf once. Yet, he did know about my gift.

Before he could respond, I pointed to the extra helmet on the seat. "Is that for me?"

He smiled. "I wasn't sure if you'd want to go anywhere with me after seeing me as a wolf yesterday. But it you want a ride-" He gestured at the bike. "May I be of service?"

I laughed and played along. "Of course."

So I hopped on the back and we raced through the parking lot. I held him tightly, breathing in his woodsy scent, not daring to let go. I didn't know what overcame me.

We purposely rode right by my Cullen family who were standing near Aunt Rosalie's convertible. Someone must've gone to get it during school. They all stared open mouthed at me. So, I gave them a dashing smile.

Uncle Jazz couldn't contain himself. "Is that a-"

Uncle Em smiled. "Yup. She runs with the wolves."

"Well that explains the smell," Aunt R commented. I had to laugh at that one. Jake probably figured I was happy because of the thrill from riding.

"Guys, I'm feeling lust coming from Nessie." I heard Uncle Jazz say. Was that what I was feeling? Lust for Jacob? Definitely something new. I wasn't sure what to think of that.

I trusted Jacob as we maneuvered over the ice. He wouldn't let anything happen to me.

As we left the school, I heard lots of commotion and yelling. However, I didn't think too much of it as we were leaving. All I could really think of was the boy I was holding as close to me as I possibly could.

A/N: Okay so how was it? Tell me what you'd like to see in the next chapter, which by the way is in Jacob's POV. =)