Two
Luckily for me, Social Services let me stay here with the Cullen's, thanks to a kind psychologist who fervently explained that taking me away from the people I had bonded to would cause more emotional trauma. I'd met with Mrs. Miles twice so far. I had been filled with anxiety when she had first arrived at the house, and had a full-blown panic attack which resulted in me almost losing consciousness until Jasper had appeared, to hold me until I was able to calm down. Luckily for me the auburn-haired woman, with her big, round glasses, hadn't made me talk, in fact, we went for a walk in the overcast sky, Alice had come with us, holding my hand. Two days later, Mrs. Miles appeared again, and this time she distracted me by deciding we should bake cookies. Having something to do kept my anxiety under control and I was able to talk a bit but I was still very uncomfortable with this woman watching and evaluating my every move.
I'd been staying with the Cullen's for almost a week when I had a disturbing dream of those awful people searching, looking for my replacement. The horror filled my body until a shriek of rage erupted from my throat. I didn't know who was crouching by the bed Carlisle had set up in the attic, but whoever it was, was tall and bear-like. It took a few moments for my yes to adjust in the pitch darkness, but once I could see his outline clearer, my fears dimmed.
Emmett. I'd barely spoken to the lumbering bear-like guy even though I forced myself to sit on the couch beside one of them with my dinner every night. Esme was always checking on me in a motherly way which was nice, but I wasn't used to it. She often appeared during the day with snacks because I kept forgetting to eat. I'd heard her fretting to Carlisle the other night that I was too skinny and she was right. I was almost fifteen and I had the body of an eleven-year-old. The starvation had frozen my puberty. Carlisle was talking about hormone pills and trying to get me started on them but I had balked. Remembering how he had looked at me when I was in the shower was enough to make me run to the toilet each time. It was still hard to swallow down the food Esme carefully prepared for me, but I had this urge to please this woman who wanted nothing more than to comfort me. I even welcomed Jasper's talent during dinner whenever I got too anxious or if something triggered me. I hated that he suffered along with me, but whenever I started to feel guilty, he or Alice would hug me until emotion passed.
Emmett moved into my sight, and I reached over flicking on the lamp.
'You, okay?'
What a dumb question. 'No.' I replied shortly moving my legs as he sat down on the bed. He looked around the bare room and I followed his gaze. It looked pretty much like the room I had lived in before this, but bigger and nicer. I leaned back, settling down in the covers. Emmett got up and I was very surprised when he tucked me in, and squeezed my hand gently.
'Get some sleep, I hear Alice is going to take you shopping tomorrow.'
He chuckled at my horrified face as he flicked the lamp off and left, leaving me to think of ways to get out of it.
I'd seen Alice's, not to mention Rosalie's wardrobe's each morning as I borrowed their clothes, clothes that I hadn't returned yet. My idea of clothes were jeans and t-shirts, seeing as all I'd been allowed to those ugly dresses. I didn't know what my style was but it wasn't as expressive as Alice's and Rosalie's. I got the feeling she'd bully me into wearing something I would hate. Then another thought entered my mind and my breathing picked up until I was dizzy from lack of air. I didn't know how to act around people. Hell, I'd barely left this house since I had come here. I didn't feel the worry coming off of someone until a floorboard creaked. I sat up; eyes wild.
'It's me.' Rosalie whispered. The beautiful slender girl with long gorgeous light blonde hair stood awkwardly near the bed. She barely spoke to me but when she saw me flinch at someone's touch or cringe away from something I saw on the television, I felt her sadness. Watching me in pain, hurt her which is why I hid up here most of the time. I didn't want anyone else suffering like me.
Rosalie sat on the bed, smoothing the quilt. 'Do you want to talk about it?'
'About what?' I asked in confusion. There was a lot I wanted to talk about but as usual I was tighter than a drum.
'What made you scream...' She trailed off and I blinked remembering the nightmare.
I shuddered. 'I dreamt they were searching for a replacement.'
'They won't find anyone. Carlisle has the police searching for them.'
I frowned, the police couldn't even find me for five years, so I didn't really believe they'd find these god-awful people now. 'Do you want me to leave?'
'Not really,' I sighed as I shifted over to make room for her. I was surprised when she curled up on her side next to me. Her face shone in the darkness turning her into a night light. It was kind of cool.
I took a breath steadying my erratic heartbeat. 'Do we have to go shopping tomorrow? All those people...'
Rosalie laughed softly. 'No, we can look online together tomorrow if you want. We will go to the mall one day though. That, you can promise Alice.'
'Okay, maybe when I'm more human.' I replied as she laughed although it sounded a little sad, I had no idea why but I wasn't about to ask. Rose and I grew quiet, even her emotions became quiet and I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, only the dent in the bed showed that Rosalie had been there.
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Two days later, I woke up to a sun filled room and smiled. Throwing the quilt off of me, I darted from the bed, rushing down the stairs to find Alice in her wardrobe choosing the ballet shoes she was going to wear. She picked a pair with a slight wedge making her an inch taller. I wasn't even sure how tall I was but I was only a few inches taller than her, yet I was skinnier than her.
She gave me a small smile. 'So let me guess, you want jeans and t-shirt.'
I went to her drawers and pulled them open. I'd found some green leggings with black diamonds printed on it and paired them with one of Jasper's navy shirts. I didn't bother running back to my room, Jasper wasn't anywhere near and Alice had already seen my sickly thin body. She didn't wince like she used to. So, I changed, not caring for my lack of underwear, which I'd already tossed in the washing basket.
Alice shook her head in amazement at me as I stared at her.
'What?'
'You're forgetting socks.' She said with a sigh.
'Oh,' I looked down at my tiny feet and shrugged. I usually went barefoot. I had about a month until my seventeenth birthday, not that I was counting or anything. Alice tore the cardboard and the plastic that secured three pairs of patterned purple and navy socks and handed them to me. I dutifully pulled the navy-blue socks on and smiled gratefully at her. I knew my non-existent fashion sense frustrated her to no end, but I didn't care for clothes. Maybe in time I would, but right now, I was more interested in what was for breakfast Esme was cooking for me. Yesterday it had been cheesy scrambled eggs with chocolate and raspberry muffins. I hoped Jacob hadn't arrived already and scoffed the lot of them already. The fear made me slide across the hall instead of walking.
'Careful!' Alice called moments before I hit the banister. I felt the pain course through my hip, but ignored it. Cold hands steadied me before I could fall over it. I flinched involuntarily as I realized with a start that it was Carlisle. Where had he come from? I hadn't seen or sensed him in the hallway while I was skidding down it.
'Steady there,' He cautioned with a grin.
'Jacob didn't eat my muffins, did he?' I asked but he only chuckled shaking his head.
'He's not here yet.' He let me go and I carefully padded down the stairs with him behind me. Once I was safely down the stairs, I was back to my usual skidding down the hallway, ignoring the chuckles that came from the living room as I did my usual skid-run. Esme sent me a glare as I skidded and collided with the granite bench, but as soon as I sat on the seat, plucking a warmed-up muffin of a white plate, she smiled as she returned to the small pot stirring something that might be chocolate custard.
Once it was done, she poured the goo into a little bowl and handed it to me. I tried it, and was instantly pleased with the warm mixture.
'Do you like it? I added cocoa powder for a change.'
I nodded. 'It's yummy.' I assured her. She walked to the fridge, and looked inside. It looked a little bare since I had eaten all of the tubs of yogurt, the sliced deli meat, two packs of hot dogs, the chicken burgers, and the salmon that Esme had marinated in lemon and lime juice which had been delightful.
'What would you like for dinner?' She asked me, grabbing out the last bit of orange juice. Motioning for the carton, I downed the rest, making a face. Orange juice would and never be my favourite to drink. I got off the stool and walked to the pantry, which was full of cans of different soups I had been sampling for my lunches. I found the various cans of salmon and noticed the bruised potatoes that sat in a small container. Surely, they needed to be eaten soon. A fleeting memory passed my mind and I blinked. Every morning it had been the same. I got up, got dressed, walked into the kitchen where Esme would spoil me with food. I almost felt guilty. Almost. Like most mornings, she always asked what I wanted for dinner.
'My mom used to make fish patties with canned salmon and mashed potato.' I said with a sad smile and Esme smiled at me.
'Let's go look up some recipes.' She said guiding me back to the island where my unfinished breakfast waited. I finished it while we looked through the numerous fish patty recipes. Walking to the pot, I poured the cooling goo into my bowl and placed it in the fridge. I knew if I ate too much of the sweet goo, I'd be hanging over a toilet within minutes which sucked because I enjoyed eating now. Picking up the last half of my muffin, I went to find Rosalie who was sitting with the laptop on the cream-coloured L shaped couch. I sat in the far corner, rubbing my arms because it was cold when Jasper wandered in, saw me in his shirt, smirked a little before tugging off his jacket and handed it to me while Alice sighed in desperation.
'Thanks.' I said pulling it over my head. It went straight past my butt and I hugged the fabric to my body. I'd gotten used to the dirty blonde-haired guy assessing me at all times, ready to calm me if I had a bout of panic. I still flinched whenever someone touched me unexpectedly but I was slowly learning that their gentle touches meant me no harm.
Jasper sat next to me, and Rosalie leant a little closer to me as she opened a site for a department store that would deliver to our town. Almost immediately, I noticed there were some books on sale and searched through them trying to find books I recognised. I found The Hobbit and bit my lip. My dad had loved this book and had been reading it to me before he died. We never got to finish it.
'Can I?' I asked as my mouse hovered over the shopping cart.
'Whatever you want, Loony.' She promised with a smile. It was the first thing I added and then I went back to looking for clothes. I found plain coloured t-shirts and matching tank tops, all in matching colors of purple, green, and navy. Then I added some jeans and some different coloured jeggings and leggings which I thought were cool.
After thirty minutes I was done with shopping. I'd had a few sets of everything and it would get to me by the end of the week. Strange. I didn't know how to feel about actually owning anything when the only thing I truly owned was my backpack. I decided not to overthink it and watched as Jasper turned the television on. Flipping through the channels he settled on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
'Seen it?' He asked turning to me.
'I've only seen the first two. My foster parents bought me both books and were reading them with me.' I said smiling at the memory. Jasper and Rose exchanged a look but I was too busy watching Draco get his ass handed to him by Potter. Within seconds I was glued to the screen.
