Chapter 34: Getting My Shop On

The last bell of the day finally rang, signaling the end of art class. As I began to pack up my things, Renesmee walked over to me.

"I'm glad you're going to be staying with us, Anira," she said, smiling. "I know you have mixed feelings about my family, but living with us has to be better than living all by yourself, right?" I grinned back up at her weakly.

"There are certain advantages to it, yes," I agreed. "It does get kind of lonely when I'm not supposed to make any emotional attachments to the humans around me." She raised her eyebrows.

"Why not?"

"Well, my job on Earth is to protect the humans, and if I'm emotionally attached to any of them, I might protect those humans more than the others. It wouldn't be fair." She frowned.

"But you are emotionally attached to a human," she pointed out. I sighed.

"I know. But that isn't hard to hide. As much as I hate to deceive my own kind, if they think I'm actually going to live my whole life without a friend – no matter what species I am – they're crazy. The fact that you and your family are still around, on the other hand, is going to be a considerably more difficult secret." I let my breath out in a huff. "The fact that I plan on living with you! I don't even want to think about it. If they ever decide to check on me, for any reason, I don't know how I'm going to be able to conceal that. At that point, our lives would all be in danger." There was an extended silence.

"Oh," she said awkwardly. Then she looked towards the door. "Aunt Alice is waiting for you." Nice how she didn't even bother to hide the real family relations anymore.

Renesmee grinned smugly. "I'm glad she finally has another shopping partner, too, danger or no danger. I don't think I could take another all-day mall extravaganza."

"I heard that!" Alice's voice called from the hallway. "Come on Anira, let's go!" I chuckled.

"It's a fate worse than death," I agreed, grabbing my stuff and walking out of the classroom. Alice was leaning against the wall, pouting.

"You're so slow!" she whined, grabbing my wrist and pulling me down the hall. Again I was surprised by such casual contact. It was like she wasn't concerned at all about the consequences. Frankly, other faeries would cringe at something so detestable. Touching the undead. Eww. However, I was indebted to these vampires, and so I couldn't afford such a reaction. Maybe that was why she wasn't worried.

"So how long is this shopping trip going to last?" I asked curiously. She grinned.

"You went to sleep last night, right?" she responded, her expression mischievous. I shuddered as I remembered the previous night, and the horrifying dream that came with it.

"Yeah," I mumbled. What did that have to do with our shopping trip, anyway?

"And you don't have to sleep every night, correct?"

"Right…"

"Well then, we have until school starts tomorrow!" she gushed, doing a little happy jump mid-stride.

I was starting to understand why nobody wanted to shop with this chic anymore.

"I don't think many stores stay open that late," I protested, not at all wanting to shop all night. I didn't care if I needed to suck up to the blood-suckers; no household was worth that kind of cruel and unusual punishment.

"Relax, I was only kidding!" she said, laughing. Then, slightly quieter, "Maybe." I rolled my eyes.

"I will shop with you for as long as it takes to find the "necessary" items you mentioned this morning," I said wryly. "I don't know how many things I'll need for a big birthday party, but I guess that as long as you keep thinking of stuff, we'll keep shopping for it." She clapped excitedly.

"Trust me, I'll never stop thinking of things to shop for," she said.

The nearest shopping mall with enough stores to satisfy Alice was in Cedar Rapids, about 20 minutes away. Or, if you were with a crazy speed-demon vampire, 10 minutes away.

"Don't you think we're going a bit too fast?" I asked, watching the trees zip by us nervously.

"I'm not going to crash, if that's what you're worried about," she scoffed, glancing over at me and raising an eyebrow. "And even if we did, you're about as indestructible as us, right?" I paused.

"Yeah, something like that," I muttered.

In reality, faeries weren't much less vulnerable than humans. Our skin was tough enough to resist all weather conditions known to man, but if I were to crash into a tree at 120 mph, I was as good as gone.

She gave me a funny look, then sighed dramatically.

"Fiiinneee," she said, easing off the gas pedal. "I guess I can slow down a little bit." It was quiet for a few minutes. "So… if you're not as indestructible as we are, how are you stronger than Emmett?"

"Being strong and having tough skin are two very different things," I replied. "I have a lot of muscle in my body that, obviously, you can't notice. The structure of them is a lot different than the structure of the human muscle system. It's made of a much more durable material, and so it's a lot easier for us to hold our ground when lifting objects. Our most powerful source of strength comes from our wings, though. They may look thin and fragile, but they're made of a substance stronger than plexi-glass. However, our skin is only slightly tougher than a human's, and just as easily penetrable. Our bones and muscles may be strong, but they're also rigid, and so they are only a little bit harder to break than a human's. You and I are kind of like steel and iron. Steel is a lot sturdier, while iron is easily broken, when under enough pressure." I frowned. Did I really trust her with this information? "The only reason I'm telling you this is because you've been acting a lot less like you want to kill me recently, and I'd like to think I can trust my judgment on that." She laughed.

"Please, Anira, the last thing I want to do is break your bones. You're practically a sister to me." I pursed my lips.

"You don't have to say that," I said quietly. "You've shown me a lot of hospitality by taking me into your home. You don't have to pretend to like me, too." She turned her head to look at me, her eyebrows scrunched together.

"I'm not pretending," she said sincerely. "I mean, sure, we didn't exactly like you at first, but after we all talked on Friday night… well, we realized after you left that you really do look just like Irina, but with longer hair. After we figured that out, it was hard not to think of you as our long-lost cousin. Plus, you gave me a lot more insight into my past. At least, if what you say is true. It'd be nice to have someone around who could help me figure out more about my human life. Or my faerie life, I guess." I didn't know what to say. I was touched.

"That means a lot," I said, smiling warmly. "It's good to know I'm not considered an enemy anymore." We sat there and smiled at each other like idiots for a good 3 seconds, the silence growing more and more uncomfortable. I cleared my throat awkwardly. "So what all do you have on your shopping list, anyways?" Her grin turned sly.

"Well, we need streamers, party hats, gift bags, invitation cards, balloons, a piñata, a mattress, a bedframe, some blankets…"

"Wait, wait, wait," I interrupted. "What in the world are the mattress and bedframe for?"

"Oh, it's not for the party," she explained. "If you're going to be living with us, and you intend to go to sleep during that time period, we're going to need something for you to sleep on. Because, obviously, we don't need beds."

"I know you don't, but wouldn't you have them anyway? You know, to uphold the human charade and everything?"

"Well yeah, but those are our beds. We need a nice, clean, new bed for you. You can't sleep in a bed that doesn't fit your personality!" I rolled my eyes.

"I think I'll survive." She pursed her lips.

"I'll bet I can get you to change your mind," she said. I raised an eyebrow. "We may not sleep on the beds, but we still use them. Often." I stared at her blankly for a few moments before her meaning clicked in.

"Oh." I jerked my head away and stared out the car window, my cheeks flaming. "I guess you're right. A new bed would be nice. It has to fit my personality, after all." She snickered and shifted the car into park.

"Then let's go get one," she said.