Chapter Fourteen
Renesmee
During the next few days I made regular phone calls to Jacob, but I did not visit him. Nor did I tell him about what happened that night in the forest. I didn't want to think about it much myself, and the last thing I wanted was to hear Jacob rant and rave about how he was right in wanting to drive me home and how I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings.
And so, in an effort to forget about it all, I spent my days busying myself with Esme in the yard and my nights at home in my room reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was my favorite book and although I was an amazing speed reader I forced myself to enjoy every single sentence.
I was able to make the 382 page book last me till the night before the start of school. My dreams that night consisted of Lizzy Bennet feeding scraps to a large fuzzy, russet colored wolf with sad eyes and a large frown. By the morning however, I had forgotten the dream and had only one thing on my mind...
"Okay, how do I look?"
"Wow, you look amazing Renesmee! Nice job with the makeup." complimented Rosalie as she zipped up her high-heeled boots.
"Thanks, I've been practicing." I smiled.
"I can tell. And nice choice with the leggings, Uggs and sweater top. So, how are you feeling about this?"
"Nervous." I admitted. "Mind-numbingly nervous."
"Yeah, but that's typical for your first day of high school. You'll probably feel like that for a week or so."
"A week or so? Oh god..." I freaked.
"Well, don't worry about that now. We have to get going. Do you want to ride in my Beamer? You can make all the human boys hard just by being seen in it." teased Rosalie as she buttoned up her jacket.
"Ew! Just for the record, I don't have any intentions on making the guys of Hope Secondary hard."
"Sure, that's what you say, but I heard all about you and that vampire last week."
"WHAT?" My jaw hit the floor. I grabbed a hold of her arm and pulled her back and away from the front door. "What did you hear? And from who?" I whispered.
"Relax Nessie, don't be ashamed. Alice saw you making out with that vampire... what was his name?"
"Jonathan. And I wasn't making out with him!"
"Yes, that's the one." she said, ignoring my comment. "Like I was saying, she apparently found you moments before your father and when she saw you two going at it, well she froze. She had been under the impression that you were in some kind of danger, when really you were just getting it on with some hot guy. Of course when Edward got there all he saw was a vampire whom was about to bite his sweet little baby and so he reacted. But Alice saw what she saw and later that night Edward saw it through Alice's eyes and well, he called Emmett on his cell and we came back down and the whole family got together to have this big meeting about you, and-"
"Whoa! Hold on! You had a meeting, about me? What the hell did you guys talk about?" I asked, horrified.
"I told you Renesmee, there's nothing to worry about. Edward is super protective, always has been. He felt that you were in some kind of danger, like you had been taken in. He got us all together and made us go on a hunt through the forest looking for the vampire, but we found no trace of him."
"So what now? Is he going to be watching my every move from now on? He hasn't said a word to me about it. No one has, till now." I groaned.
"Like I said," sighed Rosalie as she headed back for the front door, "Every thing's fine. We made him see the light. I don't think he'll be following you around and you're definitely not grounded or anything. But just a word of advice, from me." she added, looking extremely serious, "If you ever run into another vampire again, be careful. Okay?" She softly smiled.
"Yeah, sure. Whatever. Can we go now and promise to never speak about this ever again?"
She laughed, "Sure thing, Ness."
14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14
My first day of high school was not starting off well. My awkward chat with Rosalie this morning made us late and for my first class I was paired up with my father, which only increased my discomfort.
Rosalie and I pulled into the student parking lot just as the morning bell rang. My father was waiting for me at the door and when I met up with him we rushed down the hallway to Mr. Dempsey's chemistry class, and made it just as the professor was closing the door.
"Ahh, you must be the new students. Got lost, did you?" he asked.
"Yes, sir." smiled my father as he pushed me forward and we made our way to the only seats available.
This was not the way I had wanted to start high school. My initial plan had been to be one of the first people into class so I could watch as the others streamed in. Now I was the one being watched, by twenty pairs of eyes. It was nerve-racking.
I took my seat on the far side of the room, against the window in the second row. My father sat next to me and looked completely relaxed as he flipped open his binder, grabbed a pen out of his picket and jotted down the date and course name. I rushed to copy him.
"Alright everyone, I'd like to take a moment and welcome you all back to chemistry class. I'm sure you've probably forgotten everything that you struggled so hard to learn last year. So I figured we'd do a little test this morning in order to assess the damage."
The students groaned collectively as Mark Dempsey handed out a five page quiz and a bubble sheet. Without instruction the students went silent and got right to work on the quiz. I found this one to be just as easy as my first test with Principal Morgan. I tried my best to pace myself and yet unlike last time, I put down all the correct answers.
I just couldn't lie on a chemistry test; I loved chemistry. Even towards the end when the questions changed from basic chem to in depth quantum physics, I marked down all the correct answers. So what if the teacher viewed me as the next Albert Einstein? Could that really be seen as a bad thing?
After thirty minutes my father stood up and handed his paper in at the front desk. I followed behind him and as I headed back to our table, I caught the curious glances of a few students. Whether they were sizing me up because of my appearance, existence or how I had completed the test so quickly, I couldn't tell.
I was glad when I reached my seat. I spent the rest of the class time sneaking glances at those around me.
Fifteen minutes later and Dempsey was collecting everyone's papers. "Well, I'll have the results in for Wednesday's class. I'm sure a lot of you were thrown by the last ten questions on the quiz. For all of you who are wondering whether or not you took quantum physics last year, the answer is no. But that is something you will have to look forward to for this semester. I figured I'd put a few questions on their to give you an idea of what we'll be working on."
"Well, the bell's going to go in a few minutes, so you may as well leave now. Hope the rest of your day is as exciting as this first period was." he teased.
"Har, har." joked a tall, blond boy as he threw his messenger bag over his shoulder and made his toward the door. Just as he was about to walk out, he caught me staring in his direction, misjudged the width of the door and slammed into the frame.
"Oh, shit Jesse, that must have hurt!" laughed another blonde boy, as others chuckled.
"Language, Luke." cautioned the professor.
"Sorry, Mr. Dempsey." replied Luke in a sing-song voice as he left the classroom behind the embarrassed Jesse.
"Ahh... and so it begins." sighed my father as he grabbed his binder and made his way out the door. I was scared to ask what he meant by the comment and so I simply followed behind him, tight lipped. Out in the hallway my mother was waiting.
"So, how was it?" she asked.
"It was okay. We spent the entire class doing a quiz."
"Ew. Well that doesn't sound like much fun."
"It wasn't, but we've got English next right? Hopefully that will be better." I was desperately trying to stay positive.
"Well, there's only one way to see. Do you want to head to class now, or did you want to stop at the bathroom or something?" asked my mother, just as the bell went.
"Nah, let's just head to class. I want to get a good seat."
As we headed down the crowded hallway, I got my first good look at the students of Hope Secondary. In some ways, it seemed exactly like what I had seen in the movies. The bell signaled the end of one class and the beginning of a ten minute break. Student's filed out of the classrooms on either side of the hallways, and immediately found their friends. A few girls were standing in a huddle beside the door to the women's washroom, one kept throwing glances at Jesse who was across the hall with Luke and two other guys, whom were talking, laughing and sizing up the girls around them.
Things did seem Hollywood like, except for the fact that in movies it's the popular cheerleader whom everyone turns to stare at as she walks down the hall, flipping her hair and giggling with her friends. It's not the new half-human-vampire who feels totally out of place, nervous and on the verge of throwing up that people stare at. But in this case, that's exactly what was happening.
"Breathe Renesmee, don't forget to breathe." murmured my mother.
"Right, breathe... right." It was tough. I looked straight ahead and held my binder as though it were a shield as we made our way down the hallway. I caught Jesse's dense stare as I walked by, and I was tempted to stop and say something to him, but I noticed Alice and Jasper standing at the front entrance of my English class and I nearly ran the rest of the way to greet them.
"Hey! How's it going? How are you guys? What's new?"
"Hey Nessie, how was your first class?" asked Alice all smiles.
"Good. Well, boring but good, you know?" I rushed.
"I think you need to relax, Renesmee." commented Jasper as a wave of calm came over me and those around us.
It was wonderful, the feeling of being calm. Having all the nervous thoughts in my head come to an abrupt stop. "Thanks Jasper... I needed that..."
"Anytime." smiled Jasper. "Would you like me to meet up with you after your class? I could offer you some relief from your nerves."
"Yes, please. If you don't mind." I smiled lazily.
"Okay, we'll meet you back here. See you later!" waved Alice good-bye as she took Jasper and his calming effects down the hall with her.
My mother lead me into the empty English class and we took a seat at a table in the first row, again beside a window. I swung my purse across the back of my chair and flopped my binder on the desk. Thanks to Jasper I was still feeling pretty good about myself and the day was looking completely rosy, until my mother just had to ask,
"How are you coping, honey?"
"Hmm? What?"
"You know... with the smell?" she asked.
"The smell? What... oooh... you mean that smell."
"Yes, Renesmee. That smell. How are you dealing?" she asked, her face full of concern.
"Um, I haven't thought about it much." I commented just as student's began to file into class. I turned to watch the student's file in. I was interested to see how human teenagers really acted in school, where they sat, what they did with their books and belongings. My attention was side tracked when my mother slid open the window, allowing a cool, crisp, fresh breath of air to blow right into my face.
Nice one Mom, very subtle...
I knew she was just trying to make things as comfortable as possible for me, but didn't she trust that I was strong enough to stop myself? This wasn't the first time I had been surround by humans. I was used to their smell by now. Sure some were more tempting than others, but I was always able to control my instincts and walk away.
Slightly annoyed with my mother I lost track of those coming into class. I took a quick glance over my shoulder and saw that nearly every seated student was staring right back at me. I recognized a few students from my chemistry class, but before I could stare any longer the teacher walked entered.
"Bonjour!" smiled a petite woman in her forties with a light French accent. "Good morning everyone and welcome back. Those of you whom have taken French class in grades ten and eleven already know who I am. My name is Madame Beauchamp and I will be teaching you grade twelve English. This morning I will go over the course outline, which includes the novels that you will be expected to read and later you will all be assigned your lockers for the year."
"Lana, could you distribute these sheets for me, s'il vous plaît?" asked Madame Beauchamp to a tall girl in the front row that I recognized as the girl who had been huddled by the women's washroom, staring at Jesse.
The page was the course outline. It listed ten different novels that were expected to be read by the end of the year. I scanned the list. Six books were classics that I had already read. Pride and Prejudice was amongst them. The other four were more recent works; their titles gave them away. My Affair with Julia written by Andrea Jones had most likely been published in the last twenty years.
When the papers had made their way around class, Madame Beauchamp guided us through the expectations of the course. Unlike other courses, English was to be had for the entire school year. It was mandatory that we pass English in order to graduate, and she gave us test dates and let us know how we were to be graded in the course. I could tell from the sharp attention of those around me that this was important information. The atmosphere was different from that in chemistry. I was glad that I wasn't the only one whom was nervous.
After nearly an hour of introduction and a few notes, Beauchamp pulled out a box filled with strips of paper and indicated that as our names were called that we were to step forward and draw a locker number and combination out of the hat.
"Last year I had too many problems with students complaining about their locker situation, and so this year I leave it completely up to chance." she explained as she began to list names in alphabetical order. There were few people in the class with last names from A to C and so my mother and I were the fifth and sixth people called. Of course, Madame stumbled over my first name.
"Re-niz-me Cullen? Is that correct?"
"Actually it's Renesmee. Ruh-nez-may." I corrected as I reached into the hat and pulled out a strip of paper.
"Ah, I see. That is a beautiful name. I believe you and your family are new to the school?"
"Yes, ma'am. We're originally from Washington state." I smiled.
"Wonderful," she smiled and then called Kaitlyn Davis up.