A/N: Ok, so I wanted to do something different with this chapter…don't hate me! =P
I've never written a multi-person narrative and this ISN'T going to turn into one but I thought Chelsea should get a chapter of her own.
Enjoy and please review!!!
3 jj
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Chapter Twenty-One
(Chelsea's POV)
The last 24 hours have been the craziest of my life.
I meet a guy, fall in love with him after, like, a minute and then I find out that he's secretly a shape shifter. And his family is full of other shape shifters. And vampires.
Freaking vampires!
I should be watching out for a van full of men in white coats who've come to strap me into a straight jacket and haul me off to the loony bin but instead, here I am, in the arms of a 115 pound, half human, half-vampire/shape shifter girl racing through the woods at what feels like 60 miles an hour. She's so fast—and strong. I feel like I'm flying—it's incredible.
Too incredible to be real. But it is—and it's my life now. Because of him—Aiden, my Deni. Who would have thought that me, Chelsea Woodrow, unassuming, uncomplicated me would find true love at 17 years old. It sounds too ridiculous to be true but it is. I know it. I feel it. Everything tells me that this is it. And that this is only the beginning.
****
"We're almost there. It'll be just another minute. Are you ok, Chels? You're not going to throw up on me or anything are you?" Ana's voice was barely audible above the sound of the whirring wind around us as she ran.
"No, I'm fine! This is crazy!" I clutched Aiden's clothes tight to my chest with my left arm—my right one was hooked firmly around Ana's neck. We were out of the woods less than a minute later—the sunlight was blinding. It took a few moments for my eyes to readjust.
When I regained my sight, we were in her driveway—her entire family was there too, waiting for our arrival. Ana set me down gently and stood between her mom and dad. It was so strange knowing that he was her father—he didn't look any older than 25. Standing in between them now, it was undeniable that they were her parents—the resemblance was uncanny. Aiden emerged from his house wearing fresh clothes. He came over to me and wrapped one of his big, muscular arms around my waist. His arm was blazingly warm. Strange that I had never noticed the heat before.
"Chels, I want you to meet my family. Of course you know those three," He motioned to Ana, Bryce and his mom, "This is my dad, Jake. My grandparents, Bella and Edward. My uncles, Emmett and Jasper. My aunts, Rosalie and Alice. And these are my great-grandparents Carlisle and Esme."
The vampires—with their pale, complexions and gold-hued eyes were so breathtakingly beautiful. They looked like angels. The tiny one, Alice, looked up towards the clouds then back to me and smiled. Bright beams of sunlight peeked through and shone down onto them. They sparkled like billions of diamonds in the sunlight—it was the most magnificent thing I had ever seen. I wanted to reach out and touch their skin but I thought it would be rude—and weird. Edward laughed. The mind reader--he probably heard what I was thinking. I looked at him questioningly and he nodded.
How awkward.
He started to laugh—and the rest soon joined in. It was unlike anything I had heard before—their voices were musical—their varying pitches created the perfect harmony.
"Chelsea," Edward spoke, "We're so happy to see you again so soon."
"Thank you. For having me again. All of you. You have no idea how happy I am to be here—like this."
"Oh, I think I know." He tapped his temple. Ugh.
"Are you hungry dear? I could make you guys something to eat for lunch." Esme asked as she ushered me towards her house. She looked like an old-school movie star but far more stunning.
"Actually, yes, please. I'm starving." I skipped breakfast this morning in the wake of all the craziness from last night's dream.
"Me too!" Bryce yelled behind us.
"You're always hungry." Ana teased him.
****
We were all seated around the long dining room table. Esme, Bella and Nessie came out of the kitchen with trays of food. It wasn't lunch—it was a feast. Jake, Bryce, Aiden—even Ana—devoured the food in front of them. I couldn't help but stare.
"Wolf thing. Big appetite." Aiden explained with a mouth full of food.
I looked at Emmett and remembered the ziti incident. I almost choked on my food. Then I remembered something else from yesterday. I decided to be brave and ask him, "Emmett, yesterday, when you were laughing in the kitchen…it was because of what I said, wasn't it? Thanks for having me for dinner?"
They were all laughing again. "You are an observant human, aren't you?" Emmett responded with a huge, menacing grin. His teeth looked razor sharp--dangerous.
If I were observant, I would have immediately noticed how very un-human they were. Now it seems like it should have been apparent the first time I met them.
***
After we ate, Aiden took me to see his room. I was surprised by how immaculate it was. Not a single thing was out of place. His room was huge—his closet was bigger than my bedroom. The amount of clothing he owned was impressive—for a guy.
"Yeah, I know. My aunt Alice…she goes overboard on the shopping. We were like her personal Barbie and Ken dolls growing up. I don't wear half of that stuff."
I walked over to his computer area and browsed his music and movie collection.
"Wow, that's a lot of kung fu movies." My heart skipped a beat at the sight of them.
"Yeah they're my favorite."
"Mine too!" I was too embarrassed to admit that to anyone but I didn't have to worry about Aiden—I could tell him anything.
"Want to watch a movie?" He nuzzled up next to me. His breath on the back of my neck sent shivers down my spine.
I was barely able to squeak out an answer, "Ssh-uure."
"Pick one out." He kissed my cheek as I handed him Shaolin Master Killer—one of my favorites. "Good choice. I'm gonna get some soda's and something to eat. Be right back."
****
It was difficult to concentrate on watching a movie when I had so many questions formulating in my head. Since it was just the two of us, I decided it was time for a little one-on-one investigation.
"How many others like you are there?"
"Like me specifically or shape shifters?"
"Both."
"Back in Washington, where we were born, there are a bunch of us shifters. As far as I know, Bryce, Ana and I are the only ones of our kind. Ana isn't a shifter but she is Quilete—she's got the wolf stuff in her blood."
"When did you guys move here?" I was fascinated.
"We moved to Maine when Bryce turned ten. I was 13."
"So, you're not 17?" I wasn't surprised—he looked older than most 17 year olds.
"No, I'm 23. Is that—ok?" His thick, dark brows crinkled together. "My grandpa is like 90 years older than my grandma Bella. So six years isn't that bad when you think about it like that."
"No it's not. It's cool—I dig older guys." I laughed quietly to myself. "How old are Ana and Bryce?"
"Ana is 25 and Bryce is 20."
"Wow, she looks amazing for 25."
"She's going to look like that forever."
"Lucky girl. I would kill to be 17 forever." His brows deepened again but this time he looked sad. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's nothing."
***
With 20 minutes of the movie left, I started to fall asleep against Aiden's warm, solid chest. My phone vibrated in my pocket, waking me up—Uh oh. It was a text message from my sister. "It's Alex" I scrolled through the message, "She says she's coming home tomorrow—for the game."
"Awesome, I want to meet you sister!" Aiden exclaimed.
"No, you don't. She's not a nice person. She's awful."
"But she's your sister." His head tilted to the side. He looked confused. With his tight nit family, I was sure he didn't understand how it was possible for two sisters to not like each other.
"Trust me. Alex has…issues—to say the least."
"You two don't get along?" It was touching how concerned he looked.
"No, we don't. It's not like I haven't tried but she's just…she's Alex. She gets away with everything because my dad is afraid of her. He thinks she's going to hurt herself is he doesn't let her have her way. Alex is dating the quarterback at Cony High—who also happens to be my ex-boyfriend. My own sister stole my boyfriend from me. That's the kind of person she is."
"That's…horrible. How could she do that to you?"
"I'm over it. Besides, it worked out in the end for me, didn't it?" I grabbed his hand—it was feverishly warm.
"Yes. Yes it did."
****