A/N: I hope everyone had a good Christmahanakwanzaka! Now that the holiday is over hopefully I can get some more reviews =)
Shelly J88 and Leslie1984...to address the abrupt ending to the last chapter...I wanted to post a chapter before I went to the movies so I decided that was the best place to end. Sorry! Hopefully this chapter makes up for it.
Annikasmommy...thanks again for letting me use "Annika" and "Anabear" in my story.
This chapter turned out better than I expected. Enjoy!
And please review! =)
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Chapter Twenty-Five
We arrived at Tristan's massive colonial twenty minutes after the Alex concession stand fiasco. There was no sign of her or Annika at the party so we decided to stay. Bryce and his date—Mel, the girl from my algebra class—met up with us.
As usual, all eyes were on us.
Even with the music as loud as it was, I was easily able to hear the whispers about my family.
"Whoa. Check out the blonde. She is smokin'!"
"Look who showed up…Ana and her freaky family. I wonder what Chelsea is doing with them."
"Chelsea and the new guy are together?"
"Hello tall, pale and handsome!"
I spotted Nick in the crowd and waved to get his attention—it wasn't hard.
"Hey, Ana. Is this your brother and sister?"
"Uh, yeah. This is Rosalie and Emmett. Guys, this is Nick."
"Hello. Ana here has told us all about you." Rosie gushed, bumping my lightly with her hip. Nick blushed.
"Hey, man. Nice to meet you." Em stuck out his cold hand—I quickly pushed it back to his side before Nick had a chance to see it was out for a shake.
"So, can I get you guys anything to drink? Beer? Soda?"
"I'll take a soda please." I replied politely.
"You want anything mixed in?"
"No, she doesn't" Em sternly answered for me. Grandpa Charlie kept beer in his fridge. I've never smelled—let alone tasted—alcohol in my life.
"Anyone else?" Em and Rosie shook their heads no. "One soda coming right up."
"Oh, he's adorable, Ana. And he's totally into you." Rosie whispered.
"Ugh! Not now Rosie!"
****
Nick handed me a red cup, "Here ya go. One soda. It's diet, not like you need it or anything. It's all we have."
"Hey, we're gonna go find your brothers. Come get us later?" Rosie looked from me to Nick and smiled, "Have fun."
Emmett wrapped his arm around her waist and led her through the crowd to find Aiden and Bryce. My mind started to wander aimlessly as I took in the crowd around us. I was brought back to my current situation with Nick when he cleared his throat rather loudly.
"Are all your brothers so bulky and…scary looking?"
"Ha! Edward and Jasper aren't as big but the scary part…let's just say I have very overprotective brothers." I swayed mindlessly to the music to avoid looking at him.
"So, hey can I ask you a question."
"Shoot." I could only imagine what he could be wondering.
"So, Rosalie and Emmett are your brother and sister right?"
Of course. He was just as curious as everyone else—"Adopted brother and sister. Yes. And yes, Rosie and Emmett are together—in the biblical sense."
"I was just wondering. I'm sure you know already but…there have been…rumors."
"Oh, I know." I was starting to get upset—for the second time today. But I quickly calmed down since Nick had the decency to at least ask me.
"And the rest of your family?" He looked genuinely interested in learning more about me.
"There are three other couples. Nessie is with my brother, Jacob."
"Is it…weird?"
"No."
"Ok, then. Good to know." He swayed side to side to the beat of the music and leaned in close to my ear, "So…do you wanna dance?"
"Sure." I put my cup on the nearest table and grabbed Nick's outstretched hand—it was very soft for athlete hands.
We were dancing and having a good time until Tristan came running towards us at full speed. "Nick! You gotta get outside. Alex and Franklin are here…causing drama."
My stomach dropped—I was fairly certain that my family would be at the center of the commotion.
From the front door, I saw Alex and the boy named Franklin with other boys wearing Cony High letterman jackets as well as Annika, Brandi, Chelsea, Aiden, Bryce, Rosie and Em.
Aiden and Franklin were arguing. Franklin and his friends outnumbered my family two to one but that didn't matter—if it came down to a fight, my family would be on the winning side.
****
"Don't. Talk. To. Her." Aiden towered over Franklin. Had I been that boy standing in front of my brother, I would have probably peed my pants. Aiden seemed to grow an extra foot in a matter of seconds. Nick and I quickly moved to Chelsea's side. She reached for my hand—she was trembling and her palm was sweaty. I squeezed it lightly to reassure her that everything would be okay as long as we were there.
Aiden was shaking violently—Rosie was the first to notice it. Her head quickly turned in his direction which got my attention—I could feel the heat rolling off him from where I stood. He was staring at Franklin, murderously. He needed to get out of here—fast—before our greatest fear was realized.
"Emmett! Bryce! Get him out of here!" Rosie yelled. "The woods—they're not to far from here. Go!" She said just loud enough for the non-humans to hear. "Chelsea you have to stay here." She grabbed Chelsea's arm gently pulling her behind me before darting off to follow Em.
"Aww, Chelsea. Is your boyfriend scared?" Franklin was swaying side to side and his words were horribly slurred. I couldn't figure out what was making him behave so oddly.
Alex threw back her head and started laughing—falling forward into me in the process. "What is that foul stench?" I pushed her off then leaned in close to sniff her. It was that same pungent smell from the game.
"Are you saying that I smell?" Alex's mouthing was gaping—she was at a loss for words. I was not ready for what happened next, thankfully—Rosie was.
Alex pulled her fist back and lurched forward to hit me. Rosie flashed to my side lightening fast and caught Alex's closed fist in her hand.
"Now that was probably the dumbest thing you could have ever attempted."
Alex's knees buckled as Rosie applied more pressure—twisting her wrist ever so slightly applying more pressure.
"Ouch, bitch! What do you think you're doing?" Alex winced.
"You should apologize to my sister before I make you scream."
"I'm not apologizing to anyone!"
"Rosalie, please stop!" Chelsea pleaded—she pulled on Rosie's jacket sleeve.
Rosie's grip around Alex's fist tightened even more and Alex let out a blood-curdling scream.
"Ok! Ok! I'm sorry! Now let go! I think you broke my hand!"
Rosie let go of Alex's hand. She cradled it to her chest like a cat would an injured paw. "What's your problem, lady?"
"My problem is your vile, repulsive attitude. You reek of alcohol and you tried to hurt my little sister."
"Hey, that wasn't cool, dude." Franklin was holding Alex—very unsteadily. He handed her off to Annika who took her inside the house to the party. As he got closer, Nick came to our aid.
"Hey, man, Back off. Alex was the one who started it." Nick put his hands to Franklin's chest and pushed him back a couple feet.
"No, she hurt Alex. That bitch needs to pay." He pointed a wobbly finger at Rosie.
"Hey, I said back off. You're drunk," Nick tried to reason with him, "Go inside to the party before you do something really stupid."
Franklin and Nick stared at each other for a few moments before Franklin finally turned and started walking away. Nick was coming back to Rosie and me—then the worst thing imaginable happened.
With his back turned to Franklin, Nick was unable to see the oncoming punch. Nick took a hit to the face—before Nick could react, Franklin's friends were dragging him by the arms back to the house before a full-blown fight erupted—but that wasn't the worst of it.
When Nick finally faced us again, the smell of rich, warm, delicious blood hit me like a Mack truck. I scoured his face for the source of the enticing scent—in the moonlight, his bright pink lip was glistening with the darkest, freshest blood I had ever smelled. I inhaled very deeply and my lips curled upwards exposing my sharp teeth. It took every ounce of sheer will power I had in my body not to pounce on him right then. I tightened all my muscles, praying they would freeze in their current position.
Though I had an aversion to animal blood—human blood was a completely different story. There was no sense comparing the two—human blood was the sweet nectar that all vampires craved—full-blooded and hybrids alike. The smell of it made my throat water. I had never tasted human blood. Technically I have—Mom drank donated human blood when she was pregnant so in essence, I have. My cell phone rang over and over in my pocket—Rosie's started too. It had to be Alice. She must have seen this moment happen.
I balled my fists and licked my lips. But, before I had a chance to attack Nick, Rosie slammed into me and dragged me to the car—shouting at Nick all the way, "Sorry, Nick! We gotta go. Now. Ana will see you at school on Monday."
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Thanks to Finger Cracker who gave me the idea for Ana freaking out over Nick's blood!
Quote from next chapter: "Ana almost had Nick for dinner."