After my initial buzz of finally having the mystery of the Cullens solved wears off, I realize that while my feelings for Emmett have definitely grown, I don't know very much about him, or rather, his past. He doesn't know much about mine either, to be fair. This gives me pause. How do I know that he doesn't just find a human to toy around with every so often? After all, immortality is a long time, it must get boring at points. Is this just me being paranoid because of my past? As I think about all of the new questions I have and the new problems that have arisen due to Emmett's revelation, I find myself spiraling deeper and deeper into my thoughts. I'm reflecting so deeply that I completely miss all visual and audio cues from Jessica throwing me the basketball.
The sting of the ball hits my cheek before I can even get my hands up to swat the ball away. As the ball hits the floor I bend over, hands clutching the right side of my face. Coach Clapp comes over to me and Jessica, who is frantically asking if I'm alright and wrapping an arm around me.
"This is why diligence is important, ladies." He says around his whistle. Jessica glares at him.
"It was my fault, she was looking away and I thought she heard me." I glance up at the coach, who appears to be gauging how badly I'm injured and if it warrants a trip to the nurse.
"Go up to the office, Raquel. The nurse can give you some ice to help it from swelling too much. You should change and take your things, class is almost over, anyway." He turns and walks away.
"Just change," Jess says, sympathy in her gaze. "I can take your stuff to your next class, it's on the way to mine anyway."
"Thanks, Jess, but you don't have to do this. It really was my fault, you don't owe me anything."
"I feel so bad. At least let me do this for you." I can tell Jess won't quit until I give in, so I accept. After switching into my pedestrian clothes, I make my way to the office, hoping I won't run into anyone I know. I open the door to the office, and Ms. Cope begins fussing over me, ushering me into the tiny nurse's office. The nurse, an older woman with graying hair, sticks a bookmark into her book and adjusts her glasses as she looks me over.
"What happened?" She asks, gesturing me to sit on the translucent paper covering a brown vinyl examination bed-slash-cot.
"I got hit in the face with a basketball."
"Well, whoever did it's got a very good throw. Was it a boy? I bet he has a crush on you." She says with a grandmotherly smile, handing me a Ziploc bag filled with ice wrapped with the coarse brown paper towels every school seems to have. I resist the urge to roll my eyes at her outdated thinking. I take the bag with a 'thank you' and hold it up to my eye.
"You can lay down if you'd like. You can go back to class when you feel ready, okay?" I make a noise of acknowledgement.
I continue to lay there, trying to untangle my jumbled up ball of thoughts. I'm not sure how long I've been there when I hear a commotion in the main office. I sit up, curious, when the nurse's office door flies open, hitting the wall behind it. There stands Emmett, blood pouring down his face. The nurse hops up, stammering about going to get some more bandages. She closes the door behind her. Emmett leans against the wall, dropping his hand the moment the nurse is out of sight.
"Hey, Raquel!" He grins, the red sharply contrasting the alabaster of his skin. The overall result is garish.
"Hi, Emmett. Are you okay?" I ask, wary.
"Oh yeah. This isn't my blood. I don't have any. It isn't even blood. Food coloring."
"You have food coloring on hand?" I shake my head, refocusing. "Why are you here?"
"Because you are." He says like it's the obvious answer. He comes and sits beside me. I scoot over, leaving more space between us.
"You're anxious." He states.
"How did you know I was up here?" I look up at him.
"Edward read Jessica's mind. He told me I owed him so that'll be fun to deal with later—"
"Edward can read minds?" I ask, incredulous.
"Oh, yeah. It's annoying. Alice can see the future, and they'll have half mental conversations all the time. It's frustrating." Emmett acts as though this is no big deal.
"You mean to tell me," my voice is too measured, too calm. "That Edward has been reading my mind since we first met?!"
"To be fair, he can't help it. He can try to tune it out but," Emmett shrugs.
"I'm going to kill him!" I'm seething at this point. "Your thoughts are supposed to be private!" I get up and begin pacing. Emmett watches me.
"I'll hold him down for you." He offers, trying to lighten the mood.
I begin to slow down, stopping halfway across the room, facing the opposite wall, remembering why I didn't go back to class.
"What?" Emmett asks.
"What guarantees do I have that you aren't planning on hurting me?" I don't hear the crackle of the paper from the exam table, but the hair on the back of my neck stands up, responding to Emmett's proximity.
"That's what this is about?" He sounds genuinely confused. I turn and look up at him, about to respond, when suddenly I'm seated on the exam table again and Emmett's back at his original position against the wall. The nurse walks in, still flustered.
"Well, Emmett, it looks like we don't have any large bandages. Do you want me to call your father?"
"We can head on down to the hospital. Mrs. Goff won't mind. And I don't think I should be driving while gushing blood." Emmett says smoothly.
"Raquel, do you feel up to driving?" I nod.
"It barely hurts now, anyway." I hand the nurse the lukewarm bag of semi-melted ice and follow Emmett to the parking lot. I climb into my car, and Emmett takes the passenger seat.
"So you don't trust that I won't hurt you?" He phrases it like a question, but there's an undercurrent of sadness to his words.
"I don't trust your motives." I say neutrally.
"Please explain."
"I was stalked back in Virginia. I still don't know by whom, I don't know why. I'm sure you can imagine that it's hard for me to trust anyone at this point—please don't break my car." Emmett's hand is squeezing the overhead handle so hard I'm scared he'll pulverize it on accident. His grip loosens infinitesimally.
"You mean to tell me," his voice comes out choked with anger, "that some lunatic terrorized you to the point that you left your home and came all the way across the country?"
"I guess so. I felt so guilty about it. I still feel guilty about it. I made Will leave all of his friends—he doesn't know why we moved, by the way. I made my dad quit his dream job, I completely uprooted the home my mom built for us. I feel like it's all my fault, but the police wouldn't do anything unless the person tried to hurt me physically, Psychologically, however, is fair game." My tone progressively gets more bitter, thinking of how I was brushed off by the police, who had the audacity to laugh about the boy who they claimed just didn't know how to express his feelings.
"I'm sorry, Raquel, I didn't know."
"I know. That's why I have trouble trusting any guy's motives. Not that you seem like an obsessed stalker or anything, but to be fair, you are a vampire." Emmett's laugh is deafening in the small, enclosed space of my car. "I should feel freer here, but to be completely honest, it's the not knowing who did it that messes with me the most. Since I don't know, I can't be sure they didn't follow me. We didn't tell anyone outside of family where we went, but there's no guarantee he didn't find out." I sigh.
"Is your real name Raquel?" Emmett asks, somewhat bashfully. I laugh.
"Yes. Will and my dad call me Quel though. Will had some trouble learning his 'r's when he was little, so he shortened my name and it stuck." I see a flash of white as Emmett grins.
"Will I ever get to call you Quel?"
"Maybe. It depends."
"On?" He prompts.
"If you answer all of my questions."
"You drive a hard bargain. But I guess." I laugh at his fake chagrined expression. "There are some things that would be better for me to explain at my house. That sounds like a line, I know, but I have a feeling that you won't believe me without proof."
"Then can I get answers on Saturday?" I tilt my head, looking up into his honey-colored eyes.
"Sure. If you feel comfortable walking into a den of vampires."
"I've done it before." Emmett laughs again.
"That you have. Bleeding all over Esme's floor, I might add."
"Oh no! I didn't mean to make anyone suffer." I add apologetically.
"If I was Edward, I'd say "we're all suffering; we're vampires."" Emmett adapts an overly glum expression and tortured voice.
"I don't sound like that." Edward's voice leaks in through the crack in my window. I whip around, surprised to see him there, holding my backpack. I didn't hear him walk up. I'm immediately reminded of how he invaded my privacy. I unclip my seatbelt and climb out of the car, carefully keeping my thoughts blank. I turn to face him, take a deep breath, and put on my best award-winning smile.
You lecherous vampire creep! How dare you invade my privacy you goddamn monstrous bloodsucking worm! Who the hell gave you the right to eavesdrop on my thoughts, Jackass? I sure as hell did not give consent for you to just frolic around reading my mind like a good-for-nothing bat! You jerk! You idiot! You ultimate disgrace and imbecilic sponge! You are a moron who deserves to have to listen to my mental screaming for the rest of your undead life! I think. After my monologue I begin blatantly shrieking in my mind. Edward winces. He looks around me.
"You told her?!" He asks Emmett as he climbs out of the car. I'm winding up to smack Edward when Emmett catches my arm.
"As hot as it would be to see you take Edward down, you'll only hurt yourself."
"I. Don't. Care." I glare at Edward, who's holding out my backpack as an olive branch.
"You say that now, but when you have a broken wrist, you're really going to regret that statement." Emmett says jovially before he softens his tone, taking hold of my wrist. "Hey, look at me."
I listen, turning my face up towards his, but my expression doesn't relax.
"You of all people should understand where I'm coming from, especially after what I just told you. Is it not enough for my life to be intruded upon externally, but internally now, too?" As I speak, my hand clenches into a fist. Emmett looks down and gently straightens out my fingers before he answers.
"I do understand," He says patiently. "but punching Edward in the face will just cause you more harm in the long run. Besides, he doesn't pry on purpose, but sometimes we need to make sure humans aren't suspicious."
Even though I've relaxed my grip, Emmett holds onto my hand.
"I can assure you, Raquel, that I haven't gone digging around in your head," Edward begins cautiously, choosing his words wisely. "But to be fair, you have a very loud mental voice. It takes more work for me to tune you out."
"Then try harder." I spit out, my anger reigniting like a breeze blowing on a dying flame. I snatch back my bookbag and throw it in my car. As I rev the engine, Emmett knocks on my window. I roll it down further.
"Yes?"
"I'll see you tomorrow?" He sounds unsure, as though I'm genuinely planning on running away.
"I'll be here." I reply. I'm about to roll my window back up when, so quickly I question if I just imagined it, Emmett kisses my cheek again. It feels like I got pecked by a living ice cube. I feel heat rush into my cheeks, not only because of the sudden lack of freezing cold.
"Good." He grins at my reaction, patting the driver's side door, a metallic clang reverberating throughout the vehicle. I'm about to pull away when he stops me again.
"Can I help you?" I ask, mock-annoyance coloring my tone.
"Do you want to ride to school together tomorrow?" If I didn't know any better, I'd assume Emmett was nervous with the way he kept running his hand through his coal-black curls, flopping back to their original position every time he completed the motion.
"Sure. I'm driving." I add forcefully. Emmett beams, pleased by my answer.
"Yes, ma'am. You'll pick me up at 7." I roll my eyes and finally back out of my parking space before heading west to pick up Will.
At exactly seven the next morning, I find myself on Emmett's doorstep. How I managed to remember where his house was is beyond me, but somehow I didn't get lost. I raise my hand to knock on the whitewashed wooden door when it flies open, so forcefully I'm positive it's going to be flung off of its hinges.
"Good morning, sunshine!" Emmett hollers, picking me up and swinging me around before depositing me back on the porch.
"You have way too much energy for this time of the morning. Did you spike your deer blood with caffeine?" I quirk an eyebrow at him. My sarcasm loses its edge when I let out a huge yawn, the kind that completely takes over your features.
"Haven't tried that before. Jasper, write that down!" Emmett calls over his shoulder.
"They're in there? Am I supposed to say hello?" I whisper, even though I'm sure they can hear me. I can feel my heart start to speed up. I was supposed to have more time to prepare.
"Calm down," Emmett attempts to soothe me, closing the door behind him. "They're going to wait to meet you officially until tomorrow. They didn't want to freak you out so early in the morning."
Emmett manages to make it down all the porch steps in a single stride. He moves so fast it gives me vertigo.
"How are you so chipper and full of energy?" I grumble, following after him.
"Just excited to spend time with you." He winks. I roll my eyes.
"No more canned cheesy lines, please."
"One more? I promise, it has an original spin on it." He manages to pull puppy-dog eyes on me, the expression one of innocence that one wouldn't expect to find on a vampire's face. I let out a hefty sigh.
"Fine." I agree begrudgingly. He waits until he gets into the car to drop it on me.
"I may be from Tennessee, but you're the only ten I see!" His laughter is explosive. I groan and drop my face into my hands.
"That's so bad. I had higher expectations." I shake my head before turning to look at him, curiosity burning. "Are you really from Tennessee?"
"Born and raised. And turned, too." Despite the nonchalance of his answer, I can feel his eyes gauging my reaction. I turn onto the main road and begin heading towards the school.
"And when was that?"
"Don't you know it's impolite to ask a vampire his age?" I shot him a glare. He sighs dramatically before answering. "I was turned in 1935. I was twenty years old at the time—"
I take a minute, processing that Emmett was born in 1915, and that it was likely his siblings were born around that time, too.
"Then why do you repeat high school?" I demand. "You don't look like a high schooler."
Emmett's grin doesn't fade, clearly he's entertained by my reaction. "It's easier for us to stay in one place longer if we pretend to be younger. I'm the oldest of my siblings. Physically, at least. Edward says the jury's still out on mentally."
"And how old are they? Physically."
"Alice and Jasper are nineteen, Rosalie's eighteen, and Edward's seventeen."
"So, when you said that Rosalie saved your life," I begin, the pieces starting to fall into place.
"Yeah, she carried me to Carlisle and begged him to change me. I was in the middle of a fight with a black bear and I wasn't winning, to say the least."
"When you said you like bears…" I trail off.
"Call it a vendetta or a grudge, or whatever you like. That hairclip did look cute on you though."
"Quit trying to change the subject."
"Just stating a fact." He throws his hands up in a gesture of innocence.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but why did Rosalie save you?" I ask. Emmett lets out a brief chuckle.
"She says I reminded her of a friend's baby from her human life. She thought there was a chance we were soulmates, but we're more friend-soulmates, if that makes sense." I nod.
I park the car, and we sit in silence for a few minutes. I'm processing everything he just told me, and I'm contemplating why he's bothering trying to pursue a relationship with me. Is he just trying to have a pet-human-kind-of-friend? Do they do this often? I'm too scared to ask, not because I don't have the courage, but because I'm scared of the answer.
"Did I ever tell you that you smell really good?" Emmett's voice sucks me out of my thoughts, catching me completely off guard.
"Huh?" I ask, smelling my shirt, unsure of if he's teasing me. He laughs.
"Well, I guess I should say your blood smells really good, but apparently that's not very romantic." I blink at him, really trying to process what he's saying.
"What do I smell like?" I blurt out, genuinely curious.
"Like," he makes a big show of sniffing around me, causing one corner of my lips to turn up. "vanilla and something fruity. Lime? Yeah, that's it. Lime and vanilla."
"I'll have Yankee Candle make a customized candle of my scent to give to you." Emmett guffaws at that, unclipping his seatbelt and climbing out of the car, dwarfing it next to his size. I follow, locking the doors behind me. Emmett comes around to my side of the car.
"Are you walking me to my class again today?" His eyes are crinkled with good humor.
"Why? Does it bother you?" I ask, somewhat haughtily.
"No, I like it. I think it's sweet." I'm pretty sure he's aware of the effect his compliments have on me, my cheeks heating up in response.
"Well, come on then." I say, grabbing his freezing hand and tugging on it. Emmett looks down at our hands, then back at me, and back to our hands again. Embarrassed, I let go, but before my hand can fully swing back to its position at my side, Emmett grabs it again.
"Was that not okay?" I ask, slightly sullen.
"No, you just caught me off guard. Believe me, this is more than okay. You're very warm." The blush returns in full force.
"I've always wanted to be someone's personal HotHands heating pack." Emmett laughs again before gently tugging me in the right direction.
Outside of his class, he turns to face me, keeping our hands joined.
"Just so you know, I'm leaving after lunch with Edward and Alice today to go hunting." My face falls. "It's just a precaution for tomorrow. I'd rather not be too focused on wanting to eat you than actually enjoying your company." His golden eyes twinkle.
"After all," he adds, "you are, as the kids say nowadays, a snack." He winks, smiling when I start cracking up.
"I said no lines!" I protest, my laughter dying down.
"But it made you laugh!" He protests.
Emmett pats my head, but the gesture doesn't feel condescending. When I reach the English building, Bella smiles at me.
"That looks like the glow of young love." She singsongs at me. I shoot her a playful glare.
"That obvious, huh?" Bella giggles. "Did you ride with Edward today?"
"I did. Why?"
"He, Alice, and Emmett are leaving after lunch. I drove today, do you want me to take you home? We could hang out at my house for a while and then I could drop you off, if you'd like." Bella nods enthusiastically and we hammer out the details before Mr. Mason rushes in, tie askew, his hair barely combed.
After lunch, Emmett, Alice, and Edward all leave as expected, and at the end of the day I wait for Bella at my car. After picking up Will, we head to my house. On the porch, there's a cardboard box. Will dashes to pick it up.
"Quel, it's for you!" He shouts as I'm getting out of the car. He takes it inside, Bella and me following him. He sets it on the kitchen table before grabbing a snack and taking off to go play video games in his room. I cross the floor to see what the box is. I didn't think I'd ordered anything online lately.
"There's no return address." My voice turns the statement into a question. Bella shrugs. I grab a pair of scissors and cut through the packing tape.
"I'm so scared to open it." I tell Bella, who joins me at the table and holds the tabs on the other end.
"Then we open it together." She states matter-of-factly. With my eyes half closed and my body cringing away from the box, we flip the tabs over on the count of three.
"You can look. It's a stuffed… bear?" I look inside to confirm Bella's finding. A typical Build-A-Bear was the source of my fear. I pick it up and squeeze the hand.
"I love you!" The bear "says" in a high-pitched, squeaky voice. It sounds like someone has distorted their voice. I'm still puzzling over the appearance of the bear when Bella speaks again.
"Did Emmett get it for you? That's really sweet. A little soon for "I love you's" don't you think?"
"Yeah, I guess. Maybe it came with the voice box." I say, starting to feel more convinced.
"Or you have a secret admirer! Do you think it could be Eric?" She adds slyly. The idea of a secret admirer makes me sick to my stomach, but the odds of the situation repeating itself on the opposite coast have to be slim to none.
"I hope not." I mutter, putting the bear in back in the box and taking it upstairs. I shove it in a forgotten corner of my closet. I resolve to ask Emmett about it. If it was a gift from him, I'll salvage the bear. If not, to Good Will it shall go.
Bella stays for about an hour, and we work on schoolwork and chat, mostly about the Cullens. When I drop her off at her house, and return home, I feel exhaustion, excitement, and nervousness settling into my bones. I'm not sure why this is more daunting than going, albeit unknowingly, into some vampires' den while bleeding, but in many ways, it just is. They say knowledge is power, but I'm beginning to wonder how true that sentiment is. I'm still mentally preparing myself for meeting Emmett's family, now that I know the whole truth when I fall into a dreamless sleep.