Angela Weber's POV
I was a year ahead of Alice and Edward in school growing up; although I was the same age as them. My parents had always pushed studying and education right from a very young age, and on top of that, most things came naturally to me. That was why, early on, I had been pushed up a grade level.
But in a small town like Forks, it didn't really matter, and with smaller class sizes, I was often in the same split-grade class as the two Cullen kids, and before she went missing, Bella. As a result, we grew up together, and although we weren't best friends, we knew each other well.
In high school, I was a bit of a floater… drifting from one group of people to another. I had friends, some of whom were closer than others, but often times you could find me sitting one on one with another person, listening to their stories, troubles, or adventures. I didn't mind… and in fact, I enjoyed those moments in my life… even when they were difficult.
It was during one of those times when I really got to know Edward Cullen.
It was the start of our senior year, and over the summer news had traveled like wildfire. Everybody knew about the Cullen kid who had tried to kill himself on the first day of summer vacation, and while I didn't like to entertain gossip, there were times when it just seemed to be everywhere.
When I saw him sitting outside on the bleachers at lunch during that first day back to class… he seemed different, and I found myself drawn to him, sitting next to him and waiting for him to talk when he was ready. It took four or five days of the same thing, but eventually he did.
Up to that point, everyone had known that he still met with the Chief to look over her case and ensure that it never became completely dormant; but nobody had realised that it had taken this much of a toll on him. He told me that he felt her connection… he knew that she was alive and out there. He was so sure, that I couldn't help but to believe him and from then on, whenever he needed someone who was willing to actually sit and listen as he talked about her and her disappearance, or what she had been like when they were kids, he found me and we talked. Eventually we became a lot closer. Never anything more than friends, but definitely close.
September thirteenth, I turned on the news in the staff room at the school. I was working on grading papers, but liked the background noise while my class was in the library. When I heard the news that a woman and her child had been found, I knew without a doubt it was Bella, even though they couldn't say for sure yet. Edward called me later that night to fill me in on what he could.
When I found out that Bella's daughter would be joining my class at the school, I made a vow to watch out for her, ensuring Edward (and Bella) that I would help her as much as I could.
That was why I panicked the day that the class came in from recess and sat down at their desks, and I noticed that Nessie wasn't there. When I asked the class if anyone had seen her, Cassidy told me that she had wanted to be alone and had gone to sit out at the hill at the back of the yard. She hadn't seen her since then.
Asking the class again, there was no further information. Nobody had noticed whether Nessie was there or not, and nobody had seen her go anywhere that they remembered.
Assigning the class some time to read quietly, I left the room, poking my head next door and asking Mr. Wallace to keep an eye on them for me while I hurried down to the office. Informing our secretary what was going on and asking her to pull the visitor log, she sent Mrs. Strathroy our vice principal into the room to question the rest of my class, while Mr. Jeffries our principal came out to the yard with me, ready to help me search for Nessie. If she was out here, we would find her. The yard was fenced and locked in. Ironically it had been Bella's disappearance twelve years prior that had pushed the school board to move us into a safe-school system. Locked doors and yards. Visitor logs. Alert systems. Theoretically Nessie had to be somewhere.
Calling her name, we looked over every outdoor surface, eventually returning into the school and looking through the washrooms and change rooms. When we couldn't find her, we knew it was time to call Edward and give him the bad news. Asking first, I assured Mr. Jeffries that I would handle it and he nodded at me, allowing me to use his office to make the call, while he left to assure that the school was in proper lockdown procedure, and that no child – or adult – inside could leave.
"Edward Cullen." I could hear the concern in his voice as he picked up the phone. The school number had probably been visible on his caller ID.
"Edward, its Angela. Where are you?" I breathed out, bracing myself.
"Just running errands… what's wrong? Is Nessie hurt?" His voice was panicked now and I tried to remain calm.
"I need you and the Chief to come to the school. I know Bella's in the hospital right now but…" I began but he cut me off.
"Tell me what's wrong Ang!" he barked at me.
"She's missing." I blurted out. The line went silent. I couldn't hear anything for several moments and then it was like a rush of air, and I heard a car door slam.
"Tell me what happened."
As I launched into the story, I could almost feel Edward's tension. Once I had explained what we knew and told him that the school was in lock-down, he let me go so that he could call Chief Swan. Leaving the office, I let Mr. Jeffries know that I was going back outside to look. She had to be somewhere.
Searching the school yard again, I made sure that I looked through every corner of the yard, the playground, and the sides of the school. Seeing Edward's car come around the corner and headed towards the school, followed by the Chief's flashing lights; I was about to come inside to meet him when the walkie-talkie that the yard monitors used, and that I had grabbed on my way out, went off.
"Angela." It was Mrs. Strathroy's voice calling and I answered quickly.
"Yes?"
"I have a student here saying that there was some teasing happening from the Leech twins, this student saw Renesmee run towards the outdoor classroom area, just before the bell rang." She told me and I groaned.
If Alec and Jane Leech had been involved, I doubted it was harmless teasing. Those twins had already been on our radar, oftentimes picking on kids smaller than them. They had only just come back after a weeklong suspension for hitting and fighting with one of our older students.
Hurrying towards the back corner of the yard, I continued to call Nessie's name. I had already searched back here, but after hearing that this was the last place she had been seen, I had to look again.
"Nessie!" I called one last time. There was no sign of her anywhere. Turning back towards the school I could see Edward making his way out towards me. I didn't know what I would tell him. I had lost Bella's daughter, when I had sworn that I would look out for her.
Taking a step towards him I glanced around again, and then I paused, hearing a rustling noise.
Looking around again, I focused, trying to hear where the noise had come from.
"Nessie?" I called again and waited.
I heard the rustling noise again and at first I thought it must be the wind moving through the brush and the trees; but then I heard her voice.
"Ms. Weber?"
Looking up, I tried to find her voice, but I couldn't see her anywhere.
"Where are you Nessie?" I called back, taking a few steps backwards, and gesturing to Edward.
"Up here!" Her voice was quiet and as I strained against the brightness of the sun glinting off the snow I saw her. She was sitting up in the tallest evergreen tree we had, clinging to the branch she was straddling and staring down at me. I had no idea how she had gotten that far up, the view obstructed by several smaller clusters of branches.
"Are you alright Nessie?" I asked as I moved underneath her, watching her carefully.
"I'm stuck." She said as Edward reached me, looking up at the same thing I was. From the angle she was on, hidden at the back of the tree, it was no wonder I had missed her the first few passes.
"It's okay Sweetie, we're going to get you down." I called up, and before I could finish the sentence Edward was at the tree, looking to see if he could climb up himself to get her.
"We've got Renesmee. She's stuck in a tree out by the outdoor classroom, but she appears unharmed." I spoke into the walkie and waited for acknowledgement before focusing back on Edward and Nessie. I listened as he coaxed her to slide down one branch lower, simultaneously climbing one branch higher himself. He was going as high as he could be supported, but he would need her to come down a little bit as well.
After several long minutes, she was able to make it back down a couple of branches. Edward's voice never angry, and always patient while she shook and froze, and then continued.
He was halfway up to where she had been and finally she had come down enough that he could reach up and grab a hold of her as she slid one more branch down. By now, there was a small group of people waiting, each of us holding our breath as Edward had Nessie climb onto his back and hold on tightly while he maneuvered his way back down and out of the enormous tree.
Finally swinging himself back down to the ground from the lowest branch, there was a collective sigh of relief as Chief Swan hurried over, pulling Nessie off of Edward's back and wrapping her in his arms. When I saw the tears flowing down his cheeks, my own began to let out, the fear and adrenaline fading now that we knew Nessie was alright.
"I'm so sorry!" I mouthed to Edward as the rest of the staff cleared out and began to head back to the school. Edward shook his head though, coming towards me instead.
"Thank you. It wasn't your fault." He responded.
"Nessie. I think me and you and Grandpa need to head home and have a talk." He said, turning back to the pair who were now holding hands.
"I'm sorry Edward." Nessie sniffled out. And then she looked at me, and I noticed the red scratch mark on her cheek.
"I'm sorry Ms. Weber. I was just trying to be alone… But Jane and Alec… they kept following me. I didn't know how high I got up there… and then when I tried to come down I fell a little bit and I got too scared to move." She looked up at me, her eyes huge with fear.
"It's alright Renesmee. We'll all sit down and talk about that tomorrow. I'm just glad that you are okay." I smiled at her, reaching out and offering a hug. She took it before pulling back and looking up towards Edward.
"Can we talk about Momma?" She asked quietly and he nodded, glancing back at me before taking her hand and starting to walk.
I couldn't help but to feel for that girl. The life that she had lived and the horrors that she had seen. Once again, I vowed for myself to look out for her even further from now on, especially here at school.