CHAPTER TWO
ROSALIE
Once my entire family save for Esme left the house, I abandoned my book for the first time all night and dressed myself. I wore my loosest white dress and spent little time on my eyeliner wings and red lipstick. I did not have anyone to doll myself up for, but old habits die hard.
I sat down in front of the television and flipped through the channels until I found a marathon of black and white movies. I missed them and, more than ever, today felt a strong wistfulness. The world was so much simpler many moons ago.
After Breakfast at Tiffany's concluded, I heard Esme on the phone and paused the television to listen in. Wonderful; I knew already she must be talking about me.
"Rose needs help," she said in a hushed tone, which made me grind my teeth. "I think she could use support right now."
"I'm not going to live with the Denali Coven, Esme," I said, loudly enough to be heard in the other room. "I like Forks. I do not want Chief Swan's daughter to run me out of town."
Esme changed her conversation topic, which led me to believe I made the right choice.
Or so I thought, because not quite three hours later, the doorbell rang. Alice, Edward, Jasper and Tanya would not be home from school yet and Carlisle certainly would not be done at the hospital. Esme went to answer it and I sighed before rising and going to join her.
Once the door opened, I glanced between Kate and Irina.
"It's good to see you," I said graciously, embracing them both one at a time. Just because I was miserable about my precarious new situation did not mean I had to be rude. "I'm certain Tanya will be very happy you have come to visit."
"We came for you, Rosalie," warmly said Kate, smiling at me in a reassuring fashion. "We heard about the singer and thought you could use some support."
"I suppose I could," I politely stated, although I was clueless as to what anyone could do about my situation. The only option I saw was to either get rid of Bella or force myself to be strong. Perhaps I could transfer out of art class and avoid her in the hallways.
Anything but be forced out of Forks by the freak.
[X]
As soon as my family returned home, we gathered in the more spacious of the two living rooms. Everyone spoke at once. It was louder in here than it had been in ages and I found myself at a loss for words. At last, when things quieted, my newest sister addressed her old coven.
"Where are Carmen and Eleazar?" asked Tanya, seeming slightly hurt by their absence.
Kate and Irina exchanged a glance that made me narrow my eyes.
Irina explained with a placating smile, "Eleazar is helping the Volturi with something and she accompanied him."
Tanya frowned, her eyes flashing with a deeply wounded luster. "He would never go back to them. And Carmen wouldn't let him."
"It was about a…" Kate locked eyes with Carlisle and I narrowed my eyes. "A coffin in Spain. All of our kind would aid the Volturi when it came to that."
Carlisle nodded, startling me. He had no hatred for the Volturi, but I did not think he would be so calm about such a vague statement. I tried to figure out what he and Kate could possibly mean.
"I hope there is no trouble there," said Carlisle, frowning with a severe look in his gilded eyes.
"Probably not," Kate calmly replied, flashing a smile. It was not confident enough for my liking; she was clearly hiding something, as was Carlisle.
A coffin in Spain? What was that supposed to mean?
Nothing good, judging by the unease of Kate and Carlisle when they spoke of it.
[X]
That night, while my family still entertained the Denali Sisters, I stood in our unused kitchen. Suddenly, Alice hopped up onto the counter. She wore an expression of pure, smug superiority.
I immediately demanded, "What did you see?"
She gave me a coy smile. So, I imagined it was nothing to do with a coffin in Spain, as I had hoped. What a useless and abominably frustrating gift.
"Nothing you won't find out later," she chimed as she looked me up and down, jumped down from the counter and scurried away.
Sometimes, I did not even know how to handle my own family.
[X]
After three days of watching soap operas and old movies on my sofa, I decided to bite the bullet and go back to school. The night before, Emmett and I went out hunting and I knew it would be enough to keep myself under control if that awful girl threw herself at me again.
I took extra care when selecting my clothes. After being gone, I wanted to look fantastic. I chose a red sundress and scarlet cardigan with nude tights and crimson heels.
"You look like Red Riding Hood," said Alice with a bright smile.
"No hood," I politely protested, but I did smile back. Alice posed it as a compliment.
Alice hummed in thought and then chirped, "Okay, Snow White and Rose Red?"
"And who is Snow White?" I inquired, laughing faintly at her excitement.
"Me, of course," she brightly explained, twirling to show off the loose white blouse she wore with powder blue designer skinny jeans. "We're Snow White and Rose Red and I love it!"
"Why would you not love it?" I said, grabbing my bag and heading for the door.
I refused to be afraid.
I refused to be beaten by Bella Swan.
[X]
The day went well, but art class came whether I wanted it to or not. I contemplated going to the nurse's office to hide, but then I realized that would be letting her win. And so, I attended to class like I always did and gathered materials to finish my pink masquerade mask.
"Hey," Bella said, sounding far too confident for someone so mediocre. She seemed like a timid little thing last time I met her.
"What do I have to do to make you stop interacting with me?" I demanded, remaining focused on my pink paints and half-finished mask.
"Uh, I'll…" Bella blushed. "I'll leave you alone. I'm—I'm really sorry."
"Good," I icily stated, although I did feel a twinge of guilt.
Especially when she stumbled on her way towards the art supplies and had to catch herself on one of the shelves. Then, the paints rained down. I looked at her for the first time today and began to smugly smirk before I realized no one was helping her. I cursed at my own foolishness as I got up and picked up the paints. I avoided meeting her gaze as I neatly stacked everything back in place.
"Th-thanks," said Bella, blushing again. I ground my teeth to keep from thinking about them in her neck.
"I only helped because I was quite rude to you a moment ago. I do not want anyone to think of me as bitter or hateful," I earnestly said, taking half a step back towards my seat. "But, please, Bella, I am not interested in a friendship or anything more."
She wrung her hands and hung her head. "I understand."
"Good," I said, and I returned to my mask.
When Bella Swan sat down again, it was on the other side of the room.
Perhaps things could work out without me having to move to Alaska.
[X]
After school finally came to a close, I stood outside of Building Three, staring down at the sister who was muttering under her breath as she flipped through a folder. Alice took ages rifling through her backpack. She could not remember if she had her homework or not and I sighed as I stepped into the parking lot. I heard and felt the car rolling behind and began to count to three before I would dash out of its way. One, two—
Suddenly, someone collided with me. I flew backwards and smashed against the pavement as the car swerved out of the way. Bella Swan was on top of me, I knew from the smell. The very pungent scent. I started to panic when I felt her hot blood on my cold skin. My eyes fixed on the girl I thought in a moment's time would be my public prey, but I managed to shove her off me and rushed away, grabbing onto Alice's raincoat. She secured her arm around my waist to hold me back while Jessica and two senior boys helped Bella Swan up off the ground.
"I'm really fine," said Bella, her blood infecting me from afar. I stopped breathing but knew it would not be enough for long, so Alice ushered me into Edward's silver Volvo. She slammed the doors shut to seal out the scent and sight of Bella's blood.
"Did she just throw herself in front of a car trying to save your life?" Alice asked, bewildered.
"Thank you for the warning," I grumbled, mostly sarcastically. "I assume that was the vision you still won't tell me about."
"It's not the vision, and it's amazing what Bella did!" Alice's eyes lit up.
"How," I snarled as I grabbed wet naps from the center console and scrubbed the blood from my porcelain skin, "is that amazing? I didn't need help."
"Rose, for someone so beautiful, you are so clueless about love. The important thing is that she thought you did," dreamily insisted Alice, her eyes sparkling so brightly that I felt sick. "She's so in love with you. I told you so."
I hissed and said bitingly, "If you do not stop trying to set me up with the human I struggle not to murder just from smelling…"
Silence.
Alice at last said, "Were… you gonna finish that statement?"
I rolled my eyes and glanced at the ambulance in the rearview mirror.
"I was leaving the consequences up to your ample imagination."
[X]
Thirty minutes later, I sat on a bench in the hospital with Alice beside me. Carlisle called about Bella, mostly to make sure I was alright after being around her injuries, and then told us to meet him here. Clearly, someone must have mentioned that she flung herself in front of a truck for me.
"We should kill her," I said and Alice gasped. "We should. I don't want to move again."
"I don't think she'll find out," replied Alice, frowning from pure concern. "And it's so cute and sweet she saved you!"
"She did not save me," I hissed through my teeth. "I was seconds away from moving. I'm just smart enough not to draw attention to myself."
Alice's eyelashes fluttered. She looked irritated, but I ignored it.
"I already told you this," Alice stated. "She tried to save you. That's romantic."
"Many people have loved me," I replied, as cold and inflexible as steel. "Many people have done drastic things to even look at me for a few moments. She is no exception."
Alice shook her head and a smile crept onto her lips. I knew that look. It was the one she wore when she had a vision that contradicted someone's fierce beliefs.
"What did you see?" I quietly demanded. "What was that vision?"
"I saw you coming home one day after a date and telling us you were in love with Bella," Alice chirped, predictably unable to keep the cat in the bag, as always. She already made quite the record keeping it from me for four days. Never tell Alice Cullen your secrets.
"We would need more substantial proof than that," I said. "Perhaps I was… being sarcastic."
"The look in your eyes was enough to tell," insisted Alice. "You were obviously in love with her in my vision and I'm usually not wrong."
"I'm not falling for a human. Point blank. In fact, I'm not falling for anyone. I don't do intimacy and you ought to know that after so many years." I knew I was right. Maybe in the future I would toy with Bella Swan's emotions for a moment or two; I had my flames with enamored brunettes in the past. Yet, Alice was reading into something I knew would not be there. She wanted me to be in love, wanted me to find a mate. She always did.
But I knew Bella Swan was not my mate.
Maybe—only maybe—someone was to be mine, but not her.
[X]
"I had to lie in the records about her vital signs," said Carlisle as he drove me and Alice home from the hospital. I rolled my eyes, sick of hearing about Bella. "They were very unusual, and she was surprisingly unscathed. If the pavement wasn't enough, surely the collision with Rose should have broken a bone or two. I wonder…"
"Why our gifts don't work on her?" Alice chirped. "Maybe that has something to do with it."
"What was weird about her vitals?" I asked, hating myself for perpetuating the conversation but awfully curious about Carlisle's comment.
"Her fever indicated that she should have been dead," he explained, brow furrowed.
I bit my lower lip. She was unsettling to all of us, not just me.
Alice asked, "Do you have any thoughts about why?"
"No," admitted Carlisle. "But I've encountered creatures other than just vampires. I would imagine she is one of them, albeit none I have had extensive experience with. It would perhaps explain why your gifts do not work on her."
"Should we run?" I asked, as much as the thought sickened me. It was not fair.
Alice said, "I think we should get to know her and find out more. Maybe she's friendly."
I rolled my eyes, making sure Alice caught sight of it.
Carlisle decided, "Alice has a point. I must admit I am curious."
"I already have a plan for how to get started," said Alice, smiling.
I groaned. "Ugh. What?"
"I'll take her shopping!"
"That's your plan for everything," I said with a sigh.
"You can come."
"I am afraid I have a prior commitment."
"I didn't even tell you the day yet."
"Well, what day are you going?"
"Saturday!"
"I am afraid I have a prior commitment."
Alice rolled her eyes, yet played along. "Just what is this prior commitment, dear sister?"
"Emmett intends to break his record for pull-ups. I intend to be a witness."
Alice smiled. "Have fun."
"I will."
[X]
Upon arriving at home on Thursday, Alice spaced out, then looked horrified. My skin tingled; that was the look of a girl who had a frightening vision.
"Does your shopping trip go poorly?" I teased, but when she did not laugh, I knew it was even worse than I thought.
Alice gasped out, "We have to tell Kate and Irina."
"Tell them what?" Jasper asked, wrapping his arm around his mate.
Alice calmed in his arms, but only could muster one word. A name. "Eleazar."
I immediately knew it involved that mysterious coffin in Spain. I also knew this would not end well for the Denali Coven. Alice called Carlisle and strode into the backyard.
My siblings and I all eavesdropped. Alice spoke loudly, so, we were not truly to blame for it. She told Carlisle about a vision of Eleazar and Carmen, that they were in darkness, in danger and Carmen was screaming at someone she did not see.
"What did he say?" Jasper asked his mate.
Alice somberly answered, licking her rosy lips, "He said he was coming home, to check on Esme, and not to go anywhere."
All we could do now was uneasily wait.
[X]
At last, the patriarch of the Cullen Coven made it home. He looked nervous, a rare emotion for him. Carlisle always had a calm superiority about him that matched his timeless and collected appearance. Right now, however, he appeared disheveled.
"Carlisle," pleaded Jasper, the perfect person to pry answers out of anyone, "what happened?"
The father of our coven sat down. I began to chew on my lovely lips.
"If Eleazar and Carmen found something in Spain, terrible things might happen," he stated. "I hope the vision does not mean…"
"Please, love, be clearer," begged Esme, setting her hand on his shoulder.
Carlisle nodded. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he looked prepared to explain something dark and dangerous.
"I don't often speak of my time with the Volturi," he began, "but I suppose this story would be told eventually. It began with the first vampire, an Egyptian woman named Amunet. She was remarkable, I am told. I never properly met her. By the time I became involved, she had been alive—for lack of a better term—for almost five thousand years. Of course, it was not her knowledge or beauty or the fact that she was the first vampire in history that made her so special. Perhaps it is a gift, or perhaps a side-effect of her creation, but she was truly immortal, truly indestructible. She was respected by all our kind for millennia, but, in the late 1700's, she became incredibly dangerous to humans and vampires alike. Her schemes were nightmarish. Enough so that even I agreed wholeheartedly with the Volturi that Amunet needed to be stopped, but she could not be burned or torn to pieces."
"Then what could you do?" prodded Edward.
Carlisle suddenly looked ashamed, more so than I had ever seen him.
He quietly admitted, shame in his golden eyes, "We built a coffin of stone and buried her alive almost a mile under Barcelona."
My lips parted from shock and revulsion. The rest of the coven looked as disgusted as I did.
"If she was securely held, why would the Volturi need to go check on her?" asked Edward, for our benefit, I assumed. I clasped my hands together and tried to focus.
Carlisle sighed before saying, "Kate did not specify to me why they asked for Eleazar's help and Alice's vision was not very clear. I am certain we will know more soon, but for now, we must go on with our lives as we usually would."
"I figured out who Carmen might've been yelling at. She said a name and maybe she was yelling about this person or maybe to this person," said Alice, beginning to pace anxiously. "The name she said was Angelique. Does that mean anything?"
Carlisle did not speak. He rose and walked outside, standing on the porch in the dead of the night, staring blankly forward.
I knew then that things were even worse than I previously feared.
BELLA
The day after my first day of school, I woke up with an even worse fever. I promptly hurled in the bathroom, tears dripping from my eyes while my stomach painfully contracted. Charlie overheard and briefly panicked over how to care for a sick kid. I told him I could manage and he was grateful.
Sadly, school was out of the question today. I was hoping to continue getting used to Forks and my new friend Jessica. Mostly, I was hoping to see Rosalie Hale again at art class, whether or not she hated me.
I could not help but see her face in my mind.
She had big, bright cognac eyes. Incredibly full rosy lips that lured me in like no other feature ever had on any person alive. And I needed to stop thinking about it because I was incredibly confused. I never had a real crush in my life and I had no clue why this one hit me so viciously. Maybe it was making up for all the ones I never had in the past.
Charlie knocked on my door and I stopped thinking about Rosalie.
"Bells, do you want me to stay home with you?" He rubbed his neck, clearly uncertain what sick-kid protocol was.
I looked up from what felt like my deathbed. I never had been so ill in my life.
"It's fine, dad," I stated in earnest, tucking myself more tightly into my soft bed. "I'm just not immune to Forks flu yet."
Charlie flashed a quick, subtle smile of a stoic man and went to go get ready for work.
I suffered through the day, reading classic novels to try to keep my mind off of my symptoms. I fished Leonardo diCaprio's Romeo and Juliet out of my half-unpacked camping bag and then watched it while half-asleep.
Charlie brought Nyquil home with him, and, after I took it, I conked out.
That night, I had the strangest dream of my life. I chalked it up to the medicine. I dreamt that I woke up and got out of my bed. I dragged my bare feet like a zombie out into the backyard and walked outside into the dark, verdant forest that stretched for a long ways behind my house.
As I walked, I saw a mountain lion. It eyed me like I was a snack and I began to step backwards and away from the angry wild animal. It growled and something inside of me flicked on like a light switch. I let out an inhuman growl of my own and felt fire surge through my blood before my paws suddenly hit the muddy ground.
Paws.
I snapped and snarled and the mountain lion fled, whimpering.
Once I collected myself, I bounded through the woods like a liberated wolf, drinking in a thousand different scents that I never knew existed. I ran and ran and ran.
Then I woke up and contemplated my strange, vivid dream.
Then I took inventory of my body and noticed I was stark naked and curled on top of my covers. It was… strange, but I was feverish yesterday and last night so perhaps I undressed in my sleep. I used to eat in my sleep back home in Arizona. Once I unknowingly devoured half of the fridge. My mom laughed about it but I still felt humiliated.
After I got dressed in clean pajamas, I walked downstairs to get tea with honey and lemon, I saw Charlie standing frozen in our kitchen with a bewildered expression. Once I walked in, I understood why he looked so baffled. The whole place was turned upside down and at least half of our food was devoured. Crumbs and wrappers were strewn across the counters and table.
"That was probably me," I admitted, abashed and humiliated. I wanted to vanish into thin air. "I didn't eat much yesterday and sometimes I sleepwalk."
"It's no problem, Bells," said Charlie, sounding relieved now that he knew what happened at the crime scene. "Why don't you get some more sleep so you can feel better?"
I nodded, but I kept thinking that it was a problem.
To tell the truth, I thought I might be going insane.
[X]
The next night, I had a similar dream about running through the woods in the body of a wolf. I saw myself leave my room and race through the woods, surrounded by scents and sounds. Again, I woke up stripped in bed, probably from the fever again. But the third night was different. I bounded deeper and deeper into the forest this time. I saw a deer, nervous and running, as if pursued by a hunter. I followed it in the shadows and saw who tracked it. A flash of blonde hair, a glimpse of golden eyes.
My Rosalie Hale. Chasing a deer for some reason.
When she glanced my way, I ran away in the opposite direction.
On Thursday morning, I no longer felt sick, and, while I thought I was having an endless hot flash like the ones I got once or twice a month, my skin felt normal to the touch.
So, I was fully prepared to return to school.
And see Rosalie Hale.
[X]
Jessica was the bubbly, cheerleader type. It was not something I was used to, or usually looked for in a friend, but I genuinely liked her and did not want to judge her on the surface level. In gym class, I awkwardly stumbled through getting my clothes on. I tried to conceal the purple stretch marks on my legs and sides of my chest while I dressed myself in a bathroom stall.
When I walked out, I saw Jessica sitting on the glossy wooden bench.
"I was waiting for you," she said, beaming. "You're on my team for tennis today."
"I—that might be a bad idea," I anxiously said. "I'm—I don't have great hand-eye coordination and I'd probably accidentally decapitate you with the racket."
"I'm willing to take that chance," said Jessica, and I heard the undertone in her words. No one else would volunteer to be on my team. Everyone still seemed frightened of the idea of having a new kid, especially in January instead of September.
"Okay. Cool," I awkwardly said, walking out into the gym with Jessica and grabbing a tennis racket.
We played against Lauren and Angela, two other girls who sometimes talked to Jessica but never talked to me. The two other girls got several points ahead of us within minutes, thanks to my blundering. Jessica clearly was losing her patience and I wanted to crawl under the bleachers and hide for the rest of the day.
Suddenly, a tennis ball flew directly at my face. I thought it might break my nose, but I moved in one fluid, fast motion and smacked it with the racket, landing it between Lauren and Angela and essentially getting me and Jessica on the board.
I stood in place, stunned and frozen.
Why? Because I, Bella Swan, clumsiest human on the planet, just whacked a ball with a racket with perfect precision. It smashed down on the court directly where I was aiming and Jessica shrieked from excitement. I zeroed in on the game and started to dominate gym class with a fervor, stunned by how easily and agilely I moved.
After gym class, I held a crumpled paper with the list of sports tryouts in my hand; the gym teacher forced them on me. I did not even bother to clean myself up in the locker room and had to drag myself through changing back into my normal clothes.
Only one word was in my mind. How?
How was, I, Bella Swan, clumsiest human on the planet, suddenly so athletic?
[X]
In art class, Rosalie Hale had her eyes fixed on the mask she gracefully painted. I walked across the room and sat down across from her. She deliberately did not look up at me.
"Hey," I said, feeling weirdly confident after gym class. Usually, it was quite the opposite.
"What do I have to do to make you stop interacting with me?" Rosalie coldly demanded, still not lifting her eyes from her pink paints and half-sequined masquerade mask.
"Uh, I'll…" I felt my heart pounding and my face heating up from the humiliation. I thought I might throw up from embarrassment and anxiety. "I'll leave you alone. I'm—I'm really sorry."
"Good," Rosalie coldly said and I nodded, blinking back tears.
I went to go get my plaster for making my mask and then, that preternatural ease vanished, and I stumbled over my rain boots. I caught myself on one of the shelves before I could faceplant, but the paints rained down on me. I dodged them and blushed bright red while the class stared. I began to pick them up, on my own, since everyone in the room seemed rooted in the spot.
Suddenly, I smelled the scent of Rosalie Hale. She smelled like rosewater and cherry blossom, an odd combination that was sweet and sharp and beautiful. She picked up the remaining paints and I got to my feet.
"Th-thanks," I said, hanging my head. I could not feel worse right now.
"I only helped because I was quite rude to you a moment ago," calmly stated Rosalie. "I do not want anyone to think of me as bitter or hateful." She began to walk away and I felt relief before she stopped and I began to internally panic again. "But please, Bella, I am not interested in friendship or anything more."
The message was loud and clear. "I understand," I said earnestly.
I gathered the plaster and went to sit down in the only other open seat; it was one not beside Rosalie Hale, because I now knew she did not want me.
Three times I started over my mask. I never could get it right, which was why art always took me hours upon hours. My work was never good enough until I deemed it almost perfect.
Today, I felt particularly perfectionistic.
Art class was not as fun as it usually would be.
[X]
In the parking lot after school, I walked towards my truck. This morning, I could not find a space near the school, so I had to take quite the walk.
Suddenly, my skin prickled and instinct made me pivot towards that jock Tyler's car. I saw why I noticed it; Rosalie stood rooted in place, about to be hit and hurt. My heart began to race; I could not let this happen.
I ran towards her and took a leap like Baryshnikov, tackling her out of the way just as the car recklessly backed up and smashed into another kid's vehicle. Rosalie's body felt like a brick wall and it knocked the winds out of me when I collided with her. My arm bone made a sickening crack and I felt the three stinging, painful gashes in my skin. Some of the blood poured onto Rosalie, and she shoved me off of her, running towards her sister.
A crowd gathered around me, helping me to my feet and calling an ambulance. I glanced around for Rosalie but did not see her before they ushered me to the hospital. That probably was for the best, since I knew Rosalie did not want me like I wanted her.
It ached like a pulsing bruise, but I knew I had to respect her wishes.
[X]
At the hospital, Carlisle Cullen stitched up the gash on my arm.
"This doesn't look as bad I imagined it would be. You lost enough blood for a much larger wound," he said as he worked with his impressively nimble hands.
I said, trying not to flinch at the stitches going into my warm skin. "I, well, I thought it was worse too, and I thought I'd have more bruises, actually."
"Yes. You escaped relatively unscathed." He finished his work and examined my arm. "So, what possessed you to throw yourself in front of a moving car?"
"Rosalie," I croaked, eyelashes fluttering.
"Did she push you?" he inquired, and it took me a moment for me to realize it was a joke. I laughed too late to be appropriate.
"It was coming at her. I just…" My head hurt. To tell the truth, I did not know what happened, nor did I know how I could have moved so fast, or how our collision could have been so forceful.
"I appreciate you helping my daughter," said Carlisle. "But I'd advise you not to throw yourself into potentially deadly situations again. You'll find she's very strong and capable."
"Yeah. She felt kind of like smashing into a brick wall." It was true. That impact would be enough to crush somebody's ribs, from how it felt.
Carlisle gave me a cryptic smile. Before I could ask, Charlie burst through the door.
"Bella," he said, his eyes wide. "You nearly gave me a heart attack! What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't thinking," I earnestly admitted.
Charlie shook his head at me. He began to look calmer, but I still knew I must have thrown him into the panic. I felt guilty knowing he received the call that I was injured.
Carlisle turned to Charlie before he could speak.
"Her discharge papers are on the way. I can release her to you in fifteen minutes or so." Carlisle examined Charlie closely. "She may have been careless, but it was also brave of her to protect my daughter. I am grateful for her selflessness."
"Thin line between bravery and stupidity," grunted Charlie, crossing his arms and broadening his shoulders. "But she's a good kid. You hurt, Bells?"
"Not as bad as I thought when I first fell," I said, hoping it would ease his suffering. My words were true, after all.
Charlie sat down without saying another word. As we waited for the discharge papers, I rummaged in my orange backpack and pulled out the crinkled tennis schedule out of my bag.
"The coach wants me to join," I stated, handing the paper to Charlie.
He cocked an eyebrow, looking puzzled. I did not blame him.
"That's great," my dad at last remarked. "Will you do it?"
"I don't see why not." I shrugged.
Charlie smiled at me. He looked proud and I felt good for the first time all day.
[X]
The next morning, I stood with Jessica in the hallway before first period.
"It was really metal when you jumped in front of a car," she said, smiling and adjusting her backpack on her shoulder.
"Really stupid, you mean," I said with a sigh.
Jessica laughed again. "You saved Rosalie Hale's aerobicized booty."
"Her what?" I asked as a monster inside of me growled.
Jessica smirked with a gleam in her eye. "Pretty little ass? What should I say?"
Before I could think of an answer, the last person I would expect interrupted us. Alice Cullen.
"Hi," she said, beaming. "I was wondering if you two had dresses for the Valentine's Dance."
"I wasn't planning on going," said Jessica.
"Me either," I added, seeing as I was socially awkward and did not have a date.
"Well, you two should come, since it will be so much fun. I wanted to invite you both to go shopping in Port Angeles this weekend." She then sang, "It'll be fuuuuun."
Shopping did not sound fun to me, but I felt compelled to reply, "Sure. What time?"
"Yay!" Alice clapped her hands. "Jessica?"
"If Bella goes, I guess," she said, grimacing.
"You ladies won't regret it. I promise." Alice beamed. She had a marvelous smile. I bet she had braces in middle school. It was an odd image in my head; I found it hard to think about someone so gorgeous and put-together as a gawky tween with metal in her mouth. "And dinner is on me. Consider it a thank you for rescuing my sister."
"Sounds fun," I forced myself to say.
Alice sang, clearly thrilled, "I know!"
Jessica and I exchanged a wide-eyed glance.
A/N: On the topic of Amunet, I must say I'm always hesitant to make OCs, but I knew that with a tougher Bella, I needed much tougher villains to challenge her and Rosalie. James, Victoria and Laurent will appear in this story and have significant roles, but, while they're much stronger than a human, it's unlikely they could pose a real threat to a werewolf. Anxiousness about introducing Amunet aside, thank you so much for reading this far and I hope you're enjoying the show.