The Full Moon
Year Two, Chapter Fourteen
Home School
Jacob's Point of View
Nessie had spent most of the past month, while I had gone back to high school, dividing her time between home school lessons with Esme and hanging out with Huilen and Nahuel. I didn't really like them, I mean they EAT people, so what's to like, really? But Nessie thought it was important to be nice to them. They came all the way here for her birthday, and to tell us about the Volturi, . . . and they saved her from them last year, so I guess they weren't the worst monsters on the planet. And, not that I didn't appreciate what they did for us (Nessie) but was happy when Nahuel and Huilen left last week.
They were there for Nessie so I had put up with them for her, even if that technically meant I avoided them the entire time they were here. They didn't come here to see me anyway.
As soon as I came home each day from school Nessie would meet me, excusing herself from them when they had been here, and we would go to our bedroom, where I would do my homework and study and she would hang out with me. Nessie was actually a great help, and even ended up helping me learn how to play the guitar for my music class. I can't say that I was getting any good at it, but was very grateful that Esme soundproofed the walls.
It was currently the first week of October and I had been trying to play a new song on this stupid guitar for the past hour. All I needed to be able to do was just get through a song, just once, for class on Friday. I had not been able to make it all the way through it in its entirety yet without making a mistake though.
"Jacob, here let me show you. You just need to move your fingers like this." She grabbed the guitar out of my hands and proceeded to play the section of the song, that I had been struggling with all afternoon.
"I didn't know Edward taught you how to play guitar too, I thought it was just the piano."
"He didn't. I've just been watching you do it for the past two weeks. And you have been playing that same section over and over. I don't think I would be able to play anything else though." She said before hiding her face behind her hair.
She was embarrassed? I should be embarrassed.
"I bet you could, Nessie. You are amazing, you know that?" I said as I slid her hair out of her face so I could look directly into her eyes.
"I don't think so, I really -" she tried moving her hair back.
"Sorry sweetheart, could you hold on for one minute?" I wanted to reassure her but needed to grab my ringing cell out of my bookbag. The caller ID said it was Billy. Was there a problem at home? Was he okay?
"Dad. Hey, what's up?" I tried not to sound too panicked.
"I just called to congratulate you son."
"What? Why? What did I do?" I didn't remember anything.
"You became an Uncle today, and I'm now a proud grandfather. Rachel had her baby about an hour ago. They're both doing great. And Paul should be back to normal shortly."
"What happened to Paul?"
Billy was laughing on the other end of the line so much it didn't seem like he could talk. I took the moment to look over at Nessie, who had heard everything. The news seemed to bring Nessie out from behind her hair. She must have been as excited by the news as I was. "He'll be fine. He acts so tough all of the time, but he lost it at the hospital. It was really funny seeing the kid freak out.
So does this mean I'm an aunt? she asked me quietly with her gift.
"Hold on dad," I said into the phone before turning to Nessie. "Well . . ." I didn't know how to break it to her. But I didn't have to.
"Why not?" she asked reading the look on my face.
You're their uncle. And you are my Jacob and I'm your Nessie. Your other half. We're two halves of the same whole, aren't we? Completing each other. Always orbiting the other . . . like satellites.
"Your right Nessie. Or should I say Aunt Nessie." Wasn't I the one who, just last year, said that Imprinting was more of a connection for a Wolf to someone than a wedding ceremony?
Nessie was happy and congratulated Billy herself. Then Billy ending up talking to me (us) for over an hour before he said he needed to go. But he promised he would email, well actually he would find someone who knew how to email me, some pictures of Rachel and her baby. She and Paul had had a son, which they named Jeremy Paul Black, soon to be Lahote. Rachel and Paul still hadn't gotten married yet, but Billy mentioned that they planned to when they had time in the future. He sounded a bit irritated, like he wasn't sure it would actually happen. I could understand that. He wanted his daughter to get married to the man she had had a kid with. It made sense on a parental level.
Renesmee's Point of View
Grandma Esme was continuing my homeschooling, just like she said she would, right where the rest of my family had left off back in Forks. I believe she was beginning to run out of things to teach me at a High School level. We had already gone through all of the course books my family had. She wasn't really even teaching me anymore either. Most recently I would just read the course books, or we would switch off reading to each other. Afterwards we would have a discussion on the material. I had perfect recall so there was no need to study anything or go over something more than once. Occasionally I would need to ask her a question when I would come across an unknown word (normally it would turn out to be some sort of slang), or on the rare occasion when I would not understand something. This mostly happened when there was a cultural reference that I was unaware of, having been so sheltered, and only being a single year old. Thankfully Grandma Esme came up with some interesting solutions to these problems.
I had wanted to move on to college coursework, but Grandma Esme had another idea for now. But she did promised that in a year or two it might be possible for me to actually go. In the meantime, she wanted me to study humans to help me gain some cultural references "among other things". She didn't go into further detail on that subject and I thought it was best not to push, judging by her tense demeanor when she had said it. She didn't think I was ready yet to go out in public, but thought that I might be in a few months.
For now, she suggested I watch television. Not all day long, sitting on the couch like Uncle Emmett sometimes did when there was a sporting event on, but intermittently throughout the day. She asked me to study a variety of TV shows – sitcoms, drama, cartoons, movies, documentaries, reality TV (which she was quick to point out were not the same as documentaries and not really based on reality), games shows, etc. . .
Grandma Esme was always around to ask questions when I came upon something that was perplexing to me. Oddly I found television more confusing than advanced calculus. That at least made sense. Math was logical, there was a right and wrong answer. Television characters seemed to be bumbling their way through life, making the same mistakes over and over, never learning anything, even on the shows where the characters were suppose to be highly advanced scientists or geniuses. The entire point of some television shows seemed to be to see how much one person could, not only screw up their own life, but the lives of everyone around them, and then laugh at the mess they made. I'm not sure what I was supposed to be learning from this, but it made the time go by quicker once Huilen and Nahuel left, until Jacob returned from school. I loved my Grandmother but needed other people to talk to.
It was becoming easier, little by little, over the past month for me to exist with Jacob being away from me, for so long, at school, in a way. It still hurt, but I was dealing with the pain it caused me, better. I tried to not let him see it after that first day. I could tell that him knowing how upset I was only made things harder for the both of us.
Now that Huilen and Nahuel had gone back to South America I spent the remainder of my time, while not studying television programs, when my Jacob was at real school, reading. I made it my goal to read every book in the house.
Jacob's Point of View
Nessie and I were laid out on our bed, while I did my homework. Damn, I hated it.
I think Nessie was starting to get frustrated with me since it was taking me a ridiculously long time tonight. She must have gotten bored because she climbed on my back and started braiding my hair. I didn't keep it very long these days so there was not much for her to do, and it ended up sticking up in tiny points, I must have looked very strange. But it made her happy, and kept her occupied while I tried struggled to translate a story from English into Spanish. Even though I had taken Spanish, before back in La Push, it hadn't been my best subject. This time I wasn't completely lost like I use to feel in class, on the Reservation, and seemed to remember most of the stuff I had learned before. But this new stuff wasn't easy and I was getting frustrated.
"Alright Jacob, try these on," Alice said, suddenly appearing in our doorway, tossing me a pair of shorts. That was quick. I assumed it would've taken her more time to find a fabric I wouldn't set on fire when I phased. Whatever. A homework break seemed like it would be a good idea right about now. It was so frustrating I was even willing to go with Alice without a fight.
Ha! Ha! Ha! She started laughing hysterically. What was so funny? "What happened to your hair?"
Oh . . . the braids Nessie put in. Since my hair was so short they released with only a couple sweeps of my hand. Alice stopped laughing so I must have gotten them all out.
"You're one to talk," I snickered, pointing up at her own lopsided spikes.
"Yeah well I make this work," she snapped back before telling me to meet her in the backyard in three minutes . . . "or else."
"Nessie, do you mind staying here, just in case these shorts are not as fire proof as Alice thinks they are?" She just nodded. "Thanks, I'll be right back, sweetheart," I said as I gave her a peck on her forehead, before jogging out.
Once outside I saw that we were the only two out here this time. Good, I really don't need to give everyone another peep show. Slipping behind a bush, I quickly changed into the shorts. "Okay Alice, I'm ready. You sure this is gonna work this time?"
"Jacob Black, are you doubting me . . . again?" Great! I pissed off the psycho pixie.
Hmmm? Did I need to roll my eyes? Or would she be able to see herself freaking out at my reaction to her annoyance? I rolled them anyway. And for a little added bit of fun said, "Well normally no, but after last time -" I couldn't finish my sentence having to duck whatever it was that she just threw at me. "Okay, okay." I guess she wasn't in a joking mood anymore.
Less than a second later I phased into a Wolf, the shorts felt like they were still there, Alice gave me a nod and I phased back. I didn't feel the same warmth like last time and when I looked down the shorts were right where they were supposed to be.
"Wahoo, never doubt me again," Alice started jumping up and down.
"Great, so do you want them back now?"
"No keep them. I'll make up a couple dozen more to start you off with. Wear them under your clothes, so you won't have any more accidental exposures. I'm thinking I can make some as cargo shorts for the summer, boxers for under your pants in the winter, and maybe even a few as bathing suits . . . "
I was going to mention that the last "accidental exposure" was entirely her fault and was also the only time it happened in front of Nessie, I was not too happy about that. Neither was Edward and Bella for that matter. But I had already pissed Alice off enough for the day, and I had wasted enough time, I wanted to get back to Nessie.
Alice was still talking about different styles and colors, but I stopped paying attention. "Sure, sure." I cut her off, "I need to go . . . homework isn't going to finish itself. I'm sure whatever you make will be fine. Thanks." I blabbered as I took off running back into the house.
When I arrived back in the bedroom, Nessie was right where I left her, but my Spanish assignment was completely translated.
"Nessie, did you do this?"
"Well it seemed to be giving you trouble so I thought I would help."
She was so sweet. "Thank you, but doing it for me, isn't really helping. I actually need to learn this."
"Oh. Alright, is there anything I can do to help, then?"
She was wonderful. We spent the next hour finishing my homework, together. She even ended up assisted me with math after the Spanish assignment was completed.
Everything was going great, but I was starting to feel . . . hot? Well hotter than usual, anyway.
"Jacob, are you sweating?" she asked, fingering my cheek. When she pulled her hand back I saw that it was wet.
I reached up and touched my forehead. It was damp. Huh? Was I getting sick? I haven't been sick since I started phasing.
"Grandpa Carlisle, can you come here please." Nessie called. Three seconds later he appeared in the room.
"What can I help you with Renesmee?"
"Its Jacob, he's sick." Nessie seemed to be panicking more and more as the seconds passed.
"Nessie, calm down, I don't think I'm sick. I feel fine, just hot."
What if something was wrong though? The last time I felt this hot was when I had a fever, right before I phased for the first time. Maybe something was happening to me, again. I've been living with Vampires for an unprecedented amount of time. When I originally phased it was just from the scent of the new Vamps around La Push. What if something else was happening to me? What if the next time I phased I was unable to change back, and was stuck as a Wolf forever?
"Jacob, did you hear me?" Carlisle was speaking but I hadn't heard a word.
"Sorry Doc, what did you say?"
"I was wondering if there was anything that you have been doing differently? You may just be having a reaction to something. Have you started using a new deodorant or laundry detergent? Or something along those lines?"
"No Doc, nothing like that."
"What about your diet?"
My cooking skills were limited. It was a wonder Billy and I hadn't starved to death from some of the concoctions we attempted over the years. "Just what Bella and Esme make," I replied. The two of them seemed to be competing with each other to see who could outdo the other. Not that I was complaining. I've never eaten better. At least not since my mother passed. That seemed to satisfy the Doc so he moved on to other possibilities, convinced my friend and his wife would not do anything to poison me.
"Have you come across anything in the woods recently?"
Nessie wasn't scheduled to hunt for another few days so I hadn't been out either and told the Doc so.
"Alright. . . What have you done today," he asked, seemingly lost for new theories.
There wasn't much to tell. Esme made me waffles for breakfast, then I went to school, ate the crappy cafeteria food for lunch, more school, when it was over I came right home and Bella made me some nachos. Then I started my homework. That's it.
Don't forget about the new shorts Aunt Alice made you," Nessie added.
"New shorts?" He had heard about her first attempt and asked how this latest version fared.
"She was successful," Nessie told her grandfather.
"Jacob, are you still wearing them?"
"Yeah, why? You don't think she did something to them, do you?" She wouldn't do anything to me, would she? She did get pretty made at me for doubting she could make them fireproof in the first place. But I don't think she would still be mad enough to do anything.
"Alice, could you come here for a moment please," Carlisle said in the same calm voice he always used.
"I'm here, and am offended to even think that you would suggest I would ever do anything to harm Jacob."
"Of course not, Alice. No one here thinks that. We just need to rule the shorts out. Could you tell me what materials and chemicals you used to create them."
It turned out she used something called Kovenex, which was a material that ironing board covers, firefighters suits, fire blankets and a bunch of other things were made with. It was great for stopping things from catching on fire but unfortunately the Doc figured out that, in my case, since I was naturally so hot, it also trapped my body heat in, making it unable to radiate off of me and reflected it back. That caused me to overheat.
A few minutes after taking the shorts off I felt completely fine and my body temperature returned to normal.
"Don't worry Jacob," Alice said, taking the shorts back. "I will find something that works, don't give up hope."
"Sure, Alice. Whatever" I really didn't care about the stupid shorts, but it was Alice, so I wasn't going to say anything to her.
Renesmee's Point of View
"Grandma Esme, I have a problem."
"What is it sweetheart?"
"Well, you know how I have been spending the days reading in between studying human interactions on the television and our course work?"
"Yes dear. Do you have any questions about what you have read so far?"
"Not exactly, it's what I have not read that is giving me problems. I have found that some of the most interesting books are the medical books in Grandpa Carlisle's office."
"You're reading his medical books?" she looked concerned. "I was unaware of that. I thought you were reading the books in the library. Did you happen to ask him if that was alright before you started reading them?"
"No, I did not think to even ask. Why would it be a problem? Will he be mad at me?" I know they were old, so I had been extra careful handling them, as to not do any damage.
"I'm sure he won't mind, but you should ask in the future. It might be better to wait to read some of those books until you are a bit older."
Older? So she wasn't worried I would break his more delicate books. "Why do you think I need to wait?" What was going on. First she didn't want me studying college level material, until after I completed her "social training", now she doesn't want me reading some of the books in the house.
"Nessie, darling, it's just that some things might be a bit too advanced for you."
"Yes, but isn't that the reason that I am reading everything? So that I can learn more."
"That is true dear, but some of his books contain information that may be too advanced for you. Or you may find some things disturbing or uncomfortable. Other things, in the older medical books are no longer relevant and are now known to be incorrect or have been disproved. It might be best if you went through everything in those books with Carlisle."
I guess that made sense. "Alright, but can I interest you in a compromise? I will hold off on reading his books until he can go over them with me, if you will teach me Greek and Latin in the meantime." I was learning so much. Unfortunately many of the words in his newer books were in Greek and Latin and there were entire older books completely in those languages.
"Well Nessie, that might be a very acceptable compromise, but unfortunately I do not speak Greek or Latin. But how would you like to learn it together?"
"We could do that?" That could be so exciting.
"Of course, it would be fun. You can learn almost anything online, nowadays. Would you like to start tomorrow?"
I didn't even need to think about it. "Yes please."
"Wonderful."
The next day Grandma Esme googled "how to learn to speak, read, and write Greek" and a bunch of websites came up. After a bit of searching we found one that looked promising and began.