Ch 4

In the kitchen stood a tall auburn-haired girl with high cheekbones and bright blue twinkling eyes. I liked her friendly and affable nature immediately. "Hey!, I'm Kristie, but everyone I like calls me Kris. What's your name?" her voice gushed out.

"Uh, I'm B. . ." I paused for a half-second. I was in a new place; new me, new name. "I'm Marie," I said with a smile.

"Well Marie, have you been here long? Oh there is so much to do! Have you gotten your books yet?" As she spoke I showed her the room. Her eyes wandered about before she turned to me "That other bed must be for me?".

"Um, yes it is. And I got here just last night. I was going to get my books tomorrow."

"Oh good, we can go together then. Wonderful, I have the window near me. I can get a little claustrophobic without it." Kris said as she put down her things and looked at my side. "Is that all you have? "

"Well, yes, for now. I did get us a window and shower curtain. I didn't know there wouldn't be one." It was weird to shower and change without them. There were many things I needed that I had never thought about.

"Good eye, Marie. Do you know what stores are around here yet?"

"Just a few, they are a half-mile walk though." I responded.

"That's not a big deal, I drove my car here. What's your major?" She asked with interest.

"I'm undecided actually. I might do English? I'm just taking general classes this semester." A yawn escaped from me.

"Oh, well, I should let you sleep. I need to also, I've been driving for days."

"Days? Where are you from?" I've never driven beyond a few hours. Between Jake, Charlie, and him, they wouldn't have let me. The latter would have run down the freeway and demanded he drive back to Forks.

"Far. Hey, I'll just make my bed real quick."

"Do you need help getting things out of your car?" I asked.

"Yes please!" I didn't notice before but she did look exhausted. After I helped her with three loads of items, I used the bathroom as she made her bed. In my striped pajamas, I watched as she struggled with the fitted sheet corners. She didn't ask for help so I snuggled into my covers and closed my eyes. The time difference was getting to me. I had taken the melatonin to see if it worked and hoped it would put a stop to my nightmares. I'd hate to terrify my roommate on the first night. I fell asleep quickly.

I woke up and momentarily forgot where I was and who was with me. It hit me that I've never shared a room full-time before. I liked my roommate but it was still weird nonetheless. Kris was still sleeping and she had a lot to do today. Should I wake her? I didn't know how long she had actually been driving for. I decided to get a jump on my day but to keep it down. I'd just finished putting my dishes away when she appeared, she looked rather confused but as she looked around as a joyful recognition came to her face. I guess we are all adjusting.

"Morning, Marie." I looked around for a second until I realized I was Marie now. I'll have to get used to that. "How'd you sleep?" I asked. "There is freshman orientation at two today also."

Kris stuffed an apple in her mouth and gave a thumbs up as she sat down. As talkative as she demonstrated last night, she could also be in a comfortable silence. As nervous as I still was, I felt a lot better knowing that I had a friend. Really, my only friend these days is my roommate, whom I barely know.

"Why did we get so many rugs? It's just the two of us." I inquired as we put our Walmart bags in the car. "One for the bathroom, a welcome mat, and two kitchen mats?"

"One for each of us. " Kristie explained enthusiastically. There was a little bit of Alice in her, but much more moderate and tolerable?. We made our way to campus to do those errands and to finally get our books. It felt nice just to walk around and explore some of the buildings. I was in awe that this was my reality now. I was about to be embarrassed, but then I saw her expression matched mine. There was so much more to learn and see. We took many wrong turns and found several dead-end hallways, but we found the book store. I couldn't help but buy a UNM t-shirt as well, and this shirt fit me.

My stomach was all butterflies tonight so I decided to cook lasagna. It would also be handy to have something already made the week ahead. The semester started tomorrow morning. As I stirred, combined, and baked I didn't notice Kris observing me from the couch. I was simply too distracted.

As we ate, we compared schedules. We had a history class together and that was it. "Why are you taking archery?" She asked.

"I needed another credit and it seemed doable. I haven't been the best at sports in the past." I responded. "What major are you going for?"

"Hm, I'm not completely sure. I might do computer science or math " I raised my eyebrows, impressive.

"We both are undecided, amazing." I said quietly amused.

"Who knows what they want to do at 18, anyways?" Kristie grinned as she finished off her food. As she got up to put the plate in the sink, she paused before completing the action.

"I sure don't. I'm headed to bed, I've got class at 9am. I said as I yawned and waved good night.

My archery class was in five minutes. I know I said archery seemed doable but it was really one of the last 1 credit classes left in this time slot. We were in this random side room attached to a basketball court. I sat down on the floor with the rest of the class, as there were no chairs. It was a mixed group of people, which should be interesting. "Welcome class, to Archery 101. I am Professor Charles and I have been teaching this class for 15 years. Every semester, each and every student has been able to hit the targets by the end. I am confident you will too. We will first go through the syllabus and then get your assigned bows and arrows. You are responsible to keep track of them. For those who would like to enter, there is an archery contest at the last week of the class. It isn't required. The homework for today will be reading this booklet before Friday, it has the safety rules and general information." he said as he held it up. It wasn't long. "For those who wish for extra practice, the schedule will be posted on the wall for when this room is available." It was a multi-purpose room, there were wrestling mats, pull-up bars, and of course all the targets. I was about to pick my equipment up when two rambunctious boys raced up to beat the other. My eyes widened as I gave them a wide berth.

"Cut it out guys, you nearly scared this girl to death."

"Sorry…" they both mumbled.

"Hah, right. I'm Shelah and these two goofballs are Andy and Tom. Are you a freshman?"

"Is it that obvious?" I asked, my cheeks reddening.

"Hey, it's ok. Everyone has a first semester at some point." I relaxed as she spoke. "I'll see you next class. I have to catch up with the boys."

By the end of the week I was exhausted. Reading each syllabus for each class was honestly a little bit overwhelming. There was just so much to do here. Free fitness classes, intramural sports, art clubs, random "restaurants'' in the culinary building, theatre plays, and I saw a group doing capoeira. I had no idea what the latter thing even was: Kris and I just sat there and watched it for a while after our history class. I did some research at the library that day. It is a Brazilian combination of dance and martial arts. It started out with the Portuguese slaves in the 16th century. No one actually gets hurt and the two people that are in the middle of the circle at that moment do very impressive flips and twists. Normal people can do amazing things. I've gotten used to feeling so insignificant and being the "weak and clumsy" human that had to be protected. Compared to a vampire, what human didn't get the muddy end of the stick?

I spent most of my free time on Friday getting more supplies, getting binders to keep track of all my notes, and organizing my calendar for the month. I never remembered being this busy before. There were clubs in Forks but they were all small and not popular. The library had four floors, each level had a different level of talking and noise allowed. The upper two levels were for more serious study while the first and second were sociable and relaxed. There were even study rooms that students could reserve.

There was a café on the first floor of the library with overpriced sandwiches and chips, helpful for long occupied days. As I was in the line for the printer, I saw the girl I sat next to in English walking by with five books about the Persian war in her arms. She did a tiny wave with her free hand. After I waved back I checked my watch. I had twenty minutes until I needed to leave for Archery. I was about to find out if I could actually do this.

"Pull back your arm until your index finger is close to your mouth, just a little further. Let's check your form... " As the TA adjusted my fingers and lifted my elbow up an inch. "Ok, now let go." The arrow landed closer to the target than before, even though it didn't quite reach it. "It's alright, we'll work on it," she soothed as she moved to another student. Half an hour later my arms were shaking. I don't know if I ever tried to do anything beyond the norm arm-wise before. I wiped my palms on my jeans before putting the bow into the case. I was sweaty and was ready for a shower. While inhaling and pursing my lips, I let my breath go in a long sigh. I didn't know what I expected but I thought I would be better at this.

"How'd you do?" asked Shelah as she put away her case next to mine.

"Well, not great," I replied sheepishly. Shelah gave a small laugh.

"Yeah, it took me a bit to catch on when my parents taught me. Don't worry, you'll get better." Shelah encouraged while she beamed. I don't think I've ever met anyone this genuinely happy before. Jessica was enthusiastic but competitive and Angela was quietly content. Jake was enthusiastic but put out easily, especially when things didn't go his way. Shelah's optimistic attitude did rub off on me though. I walked home feeling a little better about things.

Saturday Kris and I decided to go for a long drive. She wanted to explore and I needed to decompress. After driving around Albuquerque for an hour or two, we got lunch at this place called Owl Café and shared a huge plate of fries. She needed to look at the menu for a while, which was unique since it was a basic burger, fries, and shake place. And the rest of the menu looked amazing, too. "We NEED to come here again. I want to try the Chimichili Dog next time and the New Mexico Red Exotic shake," she said as she pointed to the picture. "Is there anything you want to try?"

"The chicken strips for sure, and I'm always up for a milkshake, they're my favorite. Yeah, let's come again," I said with a smile. It's taken a while but I could actually taste this meal's full flavors. Before I left Forks the little I ate tasted like cardboard with salt.

As I was perusing the library to pass time before I had met my English partner, I was scanning the rows of titles. I found this helped me take my mind off certain things. They had everything here. I was about to move to the next row when I read "Mosquitos Don't Bite Me: All the Tricks and Home Remedies to Keep Yourself Free of Pests."

I abruptly stopped, nearly causing someone to run into me. "Sorry." I called out softly as they pushed on past me. Whoops. This was it! The answer to the question I didn't know I was asking. My blood apparently smelled amazing, and if this book or another like it might help me be less noticeable to vampires, It definitely would be worth it. There were three of these in a series; one focused on herbal remedies, another on tips for mosquito-free parties, pools, and beyond, and this all around book I had in my hand. I grabbed all three and another book on herbs in general. If this worked then I might just be 'one of the many' when it came to human scents. And ultimately, if I ever came across the Cullen's again...I might just get away with hiding from them. It was a long shot, but I had to try. I jumped on to the nearest computer, found an herbal shop fifteen miles away and jotted down the address. I would ask Kris to take me when I got home, which wouldn't be till much later.

I knew she would agree but I didn't want her asking why it was so important. Kris was knee deep in books and paper writing in her yoga clothes when I got home. She looked super focused and I chickened out, for days. There was never a good moment to ask. We were just so busy. Friday in archery class I was able to get the form easier and my arms shook less each time. I even hit the target!. Shelah high-fived me after, Andy and Tom tried to as well but I flinched and pretended I was scratching my head instead. Each day in class we stood next to each other in line, but I hadn't really talked to Andy or Tom. Each time they tried to, my mind would flash back to Forks, getting hit on repeatedly by Mike or Jake looking excited to see me only to coldly banish me later. It hurt and I couldn't risk more rejection or unwanted attention. They looked confused by my brushed off response but never said anything. They looked to Shelah who just shrugged her shoulders. The ache in my heart and soul never truly went away, but I learned to keep it at bay by keeping busy. I wasn't ready for more pain.