Chapter 35: Stop Staring at me Like That!

Our shopping trip did not, in fact, last all night. It did, however, last a lot longer than the stores were willing to stay open. We did a lot of window shopping after about 10:00 pm.

"Can't we just sneak into one store?" Alice had pleaded, clasping her hands together desperately. I just shook my head. I may have been desperate enough to live with vampires, but I wasn't about to give in to any more bad behavior. And breaking into a store, even if we didn't plan on actually stealing anything, was still not exactly gold-star worthy.

All in all, we managed to get a mattress, some really fancy blankets, and a really nice bedframe that reminded me a lot of the ones we had back home. It was a dark, mahogany wood that spiraled high above the floor and created a beautiful canopy of fake leaves over where the mattress would go. I insisted that I pay for it, since it fit my style so perfectly, and it was pretty expensive.

She wouldn't let me pay a dime.

We also got our hands on some suitable streamers and party hats, though she was a little miffed that we didn't have more time to look at them. We were practically kicked out of that store for being too slow.

"We'll just have to go back tomorrow," she decided as we were walking away. I grimaced. Goody.

After a few arguments about what kind of invitations I wanted, we finally decided that we would just hand-write them when we got back to her house (after I blackmailed her by saying I would never shop with her again if we didn't). I didn't find the balloons terribly important, but she insisted that if I got my way with the invitations, she would get hers with the balloons. It seemed like a reasonable compromise.

So she dragged me to the nearest party store that was still open and bought at least 100 of the stupid little rubber things, plus two helium tanks to fill them all up.

We didn't get back to Palo until about midnight. And even then, I didn't get back to my house until 3:00 in the morning, considering she wanted all of our hand-written invitations to be just right. It didn't help that everyone else was conveniently doing other things and couldn't possibly stop what they were doing to join us.

It really was a good thing that I didn't need sleep every night.

After about three hours of just reveling in the silence of my condemned house, I decided I should probably do my homework for school. By the time I was done with that, it was 6:30. I still had an hour and a half before I had to be at the bus stop.

Well, what did normal people do in the morning two days before they got kicked out of their house? I figured I'd start packing my things.

Since I didn't have a suitcase, I wasn't exactly sure what to put my stuff in. If I used my backpack, where would I keep my school supplies for the next two days? And I didn't have enough room in just my "ninja bag." I finally just decided to shove as much as I could into as many portable storage units as I had available.

By the time I had to leave, all of my clothes were stuffed into my indigo shoulder bag, and every nook and cranny I could find in my backpack. I would just have to carry anything else I wanted to take with me by hand when the time came.

The school day went by uneventfully, except for the awkward moments when I was trying to hide the fact that I had socks in my pencil bag. Vincent and I sat with the vampires at lunch again. They talked to me as if I were already a part of their family. Even Rosalie condescended to speak a few words to me. The only weird part of the day was the fact that every single one of them kept giving me really weird glances. Every time I saw them in class or in the halls, they all gave me the same look. They seemed… expectant. Like they had done some huge Earth-breaking deed and were just waiting for me to notice. The problem was, I had no idea what it could be. Everything appeared completely normal within the hustle and bustle of high school life. For once. What motive could they possibly have to give me that look?

I got my answer after the final bell.

"Hey Anira, Edward wants to talk to you," Renesmee said, smiling with that same expectant look in her eye. I frowned as I once again tried to decipher the meaning behind her gaze.

"Why?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh, I don't know," she said casually. "I didn't ask." I groaned.

"You definitely do know," I mumbled. "You just don't want to tell me." She laughed.

"Come on, just go talk to him!" she said in amusement. After one last suspicious glance up at her, I finished packing my art supplies and followed her out the door. She probably knew exactly where Edward was, too, since she was in on the joke. Whatever it was.

We walked out to the parking lot together and up to her family's two very expensive-looking cars. All of her family members were already there. Everyone watched us approach with the same expression they'd worn all day. I was starting to get tired of feeling so out of the loop.

"Hello Anira," Edward greeted, smiling at me.

"Hi," I muttered. He chuckled as he no doubt read my thoughts.

"Why don't you come home with us today?" he suggested, not bothering to answer the question in my head. "I believe you have some of your things packed already? Or would you prefer to carry all of your clothes around school again tomorrow?" I frowned. Naturally he knew about that.

"I guess I can come to your house," I said grudgingly.

"Climb in the car then." I hesitated.

"Um, I think I'd rather fly," I said, looking away awkwardly. As much as I appreciated these vampires, and as much as I was really starting to like them, I wasn't quite ready to be stuck in a small space with all of them.

He shrugged. "Suit yourself. We'll meet you there then. You might want us to take your backpack, though." I handed him the bag and watched everyone pile into the cars, then snuck off into the bushes to prepare for take-off. I heard the motors start from the parking lot and smiled.

"I'll race you," I thought challengingly. I wanted to see how fast I could really fly.

I heard the engines rev in agreement. They accepted my challenge.

I shot up into the air at the same time that they pulled out of the parking lot. I passed them within seconds, but as the traffic thinned and the road below became more deserted, I soon saw them again. They were probably going at least 100 mph, if not more. But then, so was I. On a spur-of-the-moment decision, I decided to fly closer to the ground so they could see me better. It wasn't like I had to hide my talents anymore, anyway, and besides, there were no cars to be seen for miles. And I would know that better than anyone; I could see the whole town from my vantage point in the sky.

I slowly lowered myself down until I could clearly see each person where they sat in each car. Then I descended even more, until I was flying at the same height as the cars, just three feet from the ground. It was exhilarating. I waved to Emmett and Renesmee as they turned to look at me, grinning cockily. They both stared at me with shocked smiles on their faces before waving back. Even Rosalie looked amused from where she sat in the driver's seat. Then I sped up, forcing my wings to move even faster, until I was flying beside Edward's car. I waved at the other four vampires just as ecstatically as I had to the first three. Edward rolled his eyes, but couldn't hide the impressed look on his face. The others stared at me the same way Emmett and Renesmee had.

I finally landed on their porch just seconds before the two cars parked in front of their house.

"Ha! I win," I announced, my hands on my hips and my chin lifted high in exaggerated triumph. Before any of the blood-suckers could respond, I heard the front door open behind me and an eerily familiar voice say my name.

"Irina, is that you?"

Tanya.