The next morning, as I brush my teeth, I ponder what to tell my parents about last night. I tried to cover the stitches with my hair, but besides looking like I'm trying to relive my want-to-be-emo-but-my-mom-won't-let-me-dye-my-hair-so-I'll-settle-for-straightening-it-and-making-a-fringe-myself-instead phase from middle school, there's no way for me to feasibly hide it for a few weeks, or however long it'll take the stitches to dissolve on their own. I brace myself and head downstairs.
"Oh, honey, are you alright?" My mom asks, wrapping her arms around me and examining the stitched up gash. "Will told us you had a fall while you were out. I warned you those heels were death traps." Thank the Lord for my little brother.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Mom. I just feel bad that I didn't get to take Will out to dinner because I needed to get stitches." I shrug.
"He's not upset with you! He said he had a nice time with Mrs. Cullen, eating cookies with her. How lucky that you're friends with one of the doctor's sons. Why didn't you mention it?" Her head is tilted in feigned innocence, ready to pounce on any morsel of information I offer her. Oh no. Abort mission.
"Y'know, Mom, I gotta go. School, remember?" I say, slyly removing her arm from my shoulders and rushing out the front door.
When I pull up to the school, the Cullens except Edward are gathered around a red convertible. I hop out of my car, and Emmett heads over to me.
"Glad to see you're still in one piece." He grins. "Did your parents give you a lot of grief over what happened?"
I lean against the driver's side door. "Will handled it, so I'm in the clear. What's with the new car?"
"Edward abandoned us to bring Bella to school, so we took Rosalie's car. She doesn't like to show it off because as you can see, it draws a lot of… unwanted attention." He's right, many upperclassmen boys, and even a few girls are gawking at the glossy red vehicle.
"Edward brought Bella to school?" I ask, surprised.
"Yeah, she forgot her jacket in Jessica's car and Edward was worried she'd freeze or that last night shook her up too much." A look of disappointment must cross my face because he adds, "I'd have offered to drive you, too, but I assumed your "I can walk" policy extended to your driving abilities."
I smile. "It does. Plus I wouldn't want to add to the carbon footprint of this town."
As if on cue, the Volvo swerves into the parking lot, expertly parking alongside the convertible. I watch Edward and Bella get out of the car and head towards the buildings.
"You want me to walk you to your class?" Emmett offers, following my gaze to his brother.
"How about I walk you to your class?" I ask, and he laughs.
"Sure. Come along." I walked alongside him until he stopped suddenly.
"This is it." Emmett is still smiling. I smile back.
"I'll see you later." I say, turning to go.
"Wait. Do you wanna work on the project after school today?" His eyes are hopeful, though he tries to hide it.
"Sure. I have to get Will, but I can drive you to my house, if that works for you?"
"It does. Bye, Raquel." His excitement is noticeable in his voice. I turn and head towards the English building, feeling his eyes on me until I'm out of sight.
I'm one of the last ones to arrive at lunch, and one of the first things I notice is Edward and Bella sitting together apart from everyone else.
There goes my moral support. I think to myself. I take a seat next to Jessica and pull out the container with the garlic knots in it. Jess starts to reach for one, and I smack her hand away.
"These are for the Cullens as a thank-you. Edward and Emmett helped me yesterday. I fell down and got a bad cut, Emmett came and got me and took me to see his dad." I say, and Jessica's mouth falls open.
"You got stitched up by the dreamiest doctor in town?" She whisper shrieks.
"He can stitch me up anytime." Angela says, fanning her face as though she's about to swoon.
"What did Emmett do?" Jess asks, her eyes hungry to dissect his behavior.
"He just took me to his house and then to mine." Jess practically deflates with my blasé answer. "Now, if you'll excuse me." I say, taking the container and standing up. While this is a thank you, it also has the ulterior motive of proving or disproving, I force myself to add, that the Cullens are vampires. I'm suddenly nervous, palms sweaty. I take a deep breath, I'm sure if they're vampires they'd be able to smell my fear. I turn and make my way over to the Cullen table, with one chair unoccupied. I glance at Edward out of the corner of my eye, but he just looks amused. Maybe they aren't vampires after all.
I close the gap so that I'm standing right behind Edward's usual chair. Alice smiles up at me, her inky hair fashionably disheveled. Jasper looks like he wants to puke and avoids all eye contact with me, and Rosalie just looks unimpressed. I'm stunned again at how incredibly attractive they all are, like the cast of a reality show about teenage models and their struggles in high school. I save Emmett for last, his eyes are twinkling and he's leaning back in his seat, grinning up at me.
"Hey," my voice shakes, and I cringe internally before clearing my throat and continuing, "I forgot to mention it earlier, but my mom made these for your family as a thank-you for last night." I set the container on the table.
"Thanks, Raquel." Emmett says, unruffled by the sudden presence of garlic, "we'll enjoy these. Thank your mom for us, would you?" I nod and turn to go back to the table, where most of my friends are balking at me.
Time to observe. I think to myself once I get back to my seat. I keep an eye on the Cullen table, just to see Emmett open the container, pull out some bread, and begin eating it, no sign of disgust or revulsion on his face.
"I can't believe you had the courage to go over there!" Jess whisper yells, pulling on my arm.
"Maybe if you actually tried talking to them, you wouldn't be so intimidated by them."
"Or maybe you have magical powers. Or," Her eyes take on a coy glint, "maybe you and Emmett are closer than you say." I give her a look that says get real.
"I mean, first Bella and Edward and now you and Emmett," Jess turns to Angela, "Looks like it's going to be me and you as the sole powerful, single women at this table."
"Is that so, Miss Can-we-reschedule-I'm-going-on-a-date-with-Mike?" I raise an eyebrow while Angela laughs.
"Point taken."
After Spanish class finally ends, I lead Emmett out to my car. He goes to take the front seat on the passenger side, but I frown at him across the hood.
"What do you think you're doing?" I ask.
"Getting in your car? For a study date before our officially scheduled study date." He quirks an eyebrow at me. I try to fight the urge to blush, fail miserably, but keep trucking on.
"No, I mean, why are you getting in the front seat? That's Will's seat. You can hop in the back." Emmett looks surprised, and I smother a laugh.
"What? Why?" He asks, as though he didn't hear me right.
"My car, my rules," I say as I open the door. I roll down the back passenger window to ask, "are you coming or not?"
Emmett grumbles but cooperates. When I pick up Will, he seems ecstatic to see Emmett.
"Hey, Quel, hey Emmett! Why are you here?" My brother twists in his seat.
"I'm helping your sister with a Spanish project. She really needs it." He says the last part like he's conspiring with Will.
"I sure do, Mr. Estoy-embarazada." Emmett laughs. Will turns back around.
I attempt to blow past introductions to my mom, but she has other plans.
"So, Emmett, how did you two meet?" She sing-songs, using a dishtowel to dry off the counter.
"We have Spanish together." Emmett replies, enjoying the look of pure pain on my face.
"Mom, this isn't an interrogation. Can we please go work on our project?" She smirks.
"Of course, sweetie. Keep the door open." She orders, pointing at me with the dishtowel. I groan before shoving Emmett towards the stairs, desperate to escape. I direct him up the stairs to my room, where he makes the too-big furniture look small.
"You can sit at the desk." I offer, not wanting to have the image of Emmett on my bed in my mind. We start working, conjugating verbs and creating the contexts in which we would use the different tenses. My hair is getting longer; it keeps falling in my face.
"Hang on." I say, getting up to rummage through a box I still haven't unpacked. I find an old hairclip I've had since I was little, it's green and has a little bear with a blue bowtie on it. I pin my hair back and turn around to get up off the floor. I'm closer to Emmett than I realized, and I nearly bump into his knee. I start to back up when he raises a hand and gently touches the hairclip.
"A bear?" He asks, a teasing glint in his eyes.
"Yeah. Why? You have a problem with bears?" I ask, looking away.
"No, I like bears. Grizzlies especially." I look back to see him trying to contain a laugh.
Soon after, my mom comes upstairs. I fight the urge to drop my face into my hands in anticipation of the embarrassment she'll cause me.
"Dinner will be ready soon," she tells me before turning to Emmett, "would you like to stay with us for dinner?"
Emmett looks at me, enjoying my discomfort. "As tempting as that is, Mrs. Lewis, I'm going to have to decline. One of my parent's rules is that we eat together, and I'd hate to anger them." My mom looks thrilled.
"Oh, that's lovely! Maybe we'll need to implement something like that around here."
"I can drive you back, if you'd like." I offer. Emmett graciously agrees and follows me out to the car.
"That wasn't so bad." He grins.
"For you!" I say, "You're lucky my dad was at work. If you thought she asked a lot of questions, that's nothing compared to my father. He'd ask for your address, phone number, birth certificate, criminal record, and social security number before you even stepped foot in the house."
"And we can't have that." He mutters, suddenly thoughtful. Emmett helps me with the directions to his house, laughing when I turn the blinker on to the wrong direction. I drive down his driveway, stopping in front of the house where he parked last night. I look over at Emmett, and he's already staring at me.
"What?" I ask, worried. I begin to fidget with my hands.
"You look cute like that." He nods towards my hairclip. I'm about to thank him when he leans over, lightning quick, and pecks my cheek. I'm pretty sure I short circuit because I'm so frazzled, but he just chuckles and hops lithely out of the car.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Raquel." He says, closing the door. It takes me a second to remember how to drive the car, but when I do, I can't help the smile that crosses my face.
Back in my room, I take the opportunity to call Bella.
"Did you see what happened at lunch today?" I ask the second she picks up.
"You mean your stunt with the garlic bread? Yes." Bella sounds amused, like there's a smile in her voice.
"See? They can't be vampires if Emmett had no problem choking down garlic bread." Bella sighs. "What?" I ask.
"I—nothing. You should ask Emmett yourself."
"Really, Bella? I should just go up to him and ask point-blank, "are you a vampire?"" I can't believe she's genuinely suggesting such a thing. Bella hesitates.
"Trust me, Raquel." I reluctantly agree, but I genuinely doubt I'll be able to muster up the courage to confront him.
I'm right. I can't go through with it. Despite the rain the next day, I tell Jess and Angela that I'm going to go sit outside. I find a bench outside the cafeteria that's exposed to the elements, but since it's only sprinkling, I take a seat. I take off my rain jacket and set it down so that I won't get a giant wet spot on my jeans. Granted, that leaves my clothes exposed, but frankly, the chilly rain doesn't bother me.
I'm not sure how much time passes, but the bench creaks with added weight. I look up at Emmett, who wraps his jacket around my shoulders.
"Don't you need it?" I ask.
"Naw. I'm healthy as a horse. Haven't had even a cold in years." He grins as though he told a joke.
"Well, thank you." I say, wrapping the coat around tighter myself. It smells like him, a sweet scent that I have trouble identifying. The aroma is a delectable mixture of oranges and something woodsy, like the fresh smell of wet earth around a babbling brook. I find myself taking deeper and deeper breaths, wanting to inhale as much of the scent as I can.
"You usually aren't so subdued. What's up?" The rain doesn't seem to affect Emmett at all, he looks down at me with concern while rain dampens his hair and drips down his beautiful features.
"It's just—nothing." I chicken out yet again.
"No, really. What's bothering you?" His eyebrows furrow.
"Are you a vampire?" I blurt out the words. I silently curse myself out, hating that I just asked him that. Now he's really going to question my sanity.
"That depends." Of all the ways I thought he'd reply, this wasn't even close to being on my mind.
"On?" I prompt.
"If you find it sexy or not." His grin returns after a moment of contemplation. I roll my eyes and lightly smack his arm.
"In all seriousness," he continues, looking at me curiously, "where did that idea come from?"
"Will you tell me the truth if I tell you?"
"That depends." He laughs when I shove him harder.
"I'm being serious!" I say, laughing despite myself.
I immediately become serious. "Bella was the one who thought of it. She called me, we did some research online, and then she took me to a museum that she went to with a childhood friend of hers. They specialize in cryptids, and the man working there let us look through his files on vampires."
"And all the pieces snapped into place?"
"No, the opposite actually. Nothing fully made sense. But then, there was a picture at the museum." I look down at my hands, fidgeting.
"Let me guess, it was a picture of me with someone else, and they were wearing a shirt that said "I'm with vampire" with an arrow pointing at me." Despite his cheerfulness, there's a tightening in his eyes.
"No. It was a picture of some of the town's early residents. There were five…" I struggle for the right word, "people that looked uncannily like your family. Although, I hadn't met Carlisle or Esme at the time. It's just too much of a coincidence. I was the one trying to convince Bella that it couldn't be true. And I thought my theory was further confirmed yesterday, but when I called Bella to talk about it, she acted strange. Like she had a major secret. And then she told me to ask you." I bite my lip, worried that he's genuinely going to think I've lost my marbles.
"I see." So few words are unlike him. He rubs a hand over his face, as though trying to wipe away his expression. I quietly begin to remove the jacket when his hands clamp down over mine.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I figured you'd want me to go. You either think I've lost my grip on reality or you hate that I've figured out the truth."
"I don't want you to go." He says, serious for once. I relax a bit.
"I didn't want you to find out like this, if at all, to be honest." He starts. "Frankly, I wouldn't have told you, but since Edward's broken the rules, well, so can I. You may have to protect me from Rose, though." He winks, and I laugh at the idea that I could protect him.
"But you ate the garlic bread!" My indignance and sense of betrayal is overshadowed by my words.
"Part of the charade. And I wanted to make you happy." I'm struck by how sweet the gesture was.
"You can still digest human food?"
"No. Let's just say I did not have fun dealing with it later." Sweet moment, ruined. At that moment, more people begin to walk by and give us funny looks.
"I can't say anymore here, but I'll tell you more soon. There's a lot you'll need to know." He pats his knees and gets up.
"Need to know?" I ask, following after him.
"Sure. You didn't think that I was going to stop flirting with you just because you know the truth?" I cover up my shock and the thrill that rumbles through me.
"So I'm not in danger because of what you… are?"
"That's something we'll have to talk about later. My family doesn't drink from humans, only animals. Accidents do happen, though." He begins to walk with me towards the gym.
"Not comforting, Emmett." I shoot him a semi-serious glare.
"You're still alive, aren't you?" He grins, enjoying my discomfort. Another thought occurs to me at that moment.
"But I was bleeding in front of you! All of you!"
"Carlisle's used to blood, he's a doctor, remember? He's been doing it so long he's almost immune to it. For me, it wasn't a pleasant experience." He grimaces in memory.
"But you held my hand."
"I did. I wasn't the best in terms of control at the beginning of my existence like this. I was worried, but I knew with Carlisle there you wouldn't be in any danger even if I were to…"
"Try to drink me like a juice box?" Emmett's laugh booms so loudly I'm convinced they can hear it across campus.
"Yes. But I like you too much for that, Raquel." At this point we're outside the gym, Emmett leaning against the wall. I scan his face, looking for signs that he's joking, but when I don't find a trace of humor on his face, my cheeks heat up, blush becoming prominent.
"I-I should get to class." I gesture to the locker rooms. Emmett chuckles.
"Okay. I'll see you next period." He grins, ruffling my hair and walking the other direction. I watch him go, when he turns around about 30 feet away.
"Quit staring!" I blush harder and hurry into the locker room, actually excited for Spanish class for once.