Chapter 2: Hard

Nessie's POV

I slumped back down into my chair. Why couldn't life ever be easy? First there was my battle with cancer, then I lose my parents, and now I've apparently lost my people who I'd come to consider my second family, the Denali clan?

Maybe I was just doomed to live a miserable life. At least I was declared officially cancer free back in July. When I first received my osteosarcoma diagnosis just prior to moving here I'd only been given a year to live. The doctors were sure I wouldn't live long enough to see my next birthday. Not only did I surpass the year mark but slowly I got better. Until this year when they were not able to detect any cancer in my body. I was in remission now. There was a strong possibility that my cancer would come back one day though.

That was the only piece of good news that I had received this Summer. It was a shame that my parents didn't live long enough to see it. Or hear it rather

I tried to think of a way to make conversation with my abnormally beautiful neighbor. But I was discouraged when I looked at him. He looked angry. What he could possibly be mad about was completely beyond me. Had I done something to offend him? I thought back on our brief interaction and couldn't figure out what I could've done.

Once class started I tried to focus on what the teacher and not the beautiful angry boy I could feel looking at me.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" I finally asked him thirty minutes after class had started.

"I'm just curious about you that's all," he answered in a way that made it seem as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well instead of staring at me like a total creep why don't you just ask me what you want to know?"

His lips twitched until they formed into an amused smile.

"How long have you lived here?" he asked me.

"I have lived here for five years," I answered him.

"Where did you live before you moved here?"

"I lived in Los Angeles, California. Then my dad got a promotion and we had to move out here," I missed the warmth of Los Angeles. "Where did you live before coming here?"

"Chicago," he answered. "So what do you like to do when you're not in school?"

I tried to think of an answer to his question that didn't sound depressing. Truth be told it had been months since I'd done anything that I used to love doing. I used to play baseball and I loved ice skating as long as I wasn't feeling too sick from the cancer or the chemotherapy treatments. I also used to love playing the piano.

"I used to play baseball. I also used to ice skate. I used to play piano also. But it's been months since I've done either of those things. Now I spend most of my time watching Netflix, Disney , or HBO Max. We have a lot of streaming services,"

"Why did you stop playing baseball and ice skating? Why did you stop playing the piano?"

"It's kind of a long story,"

"I think I can keep up,"

I took a deep breath to calm my emotions. "My parents died a few months ago. I haven't felt like doing much of anything lately," It was hard not crying.

"I'm really sorry about that," even he sounded sad. "So who are you living with right now?"

It was the one question I hoped he wouldn't ask. "With my sister and my younger brother. My older brother left for college. But he sends us money so it's fine,"

"You mean to tell me that you are living alone?" he sounded upset for some reason.

"No I don't live alone," I said a bit more defensively than I meant to. "I live with my sister Lucy and our younger brother David,"

"and how old are they?"

Great. He knew exactly what questions to ask. Questions that I did not want to answer. Well I was going to refuse to answer. God only knows what would happen if I told anyone the truth. Two sixteen year old girls and one eight year old boy living in a house without any adults was bound to get attention. Unwanted attention.

Edward was waiting on an answer. I tried to think of a way to get out of answering the question.

"Does it matter?"

He looked away from me. "I suppose not," he said. "But I am curious how the three of you are managing,"

"We're managing quite fine actually," well that was a complete lie. Yeah my brother sent us money but it wasn't enough. We barely had enough money to pay bills and put food on our table. Sometimes it wasn't enough. Then there was my unpaid medical bills from my cancer treatments.

"Who do you live with?" I asked him hoping to turn the conversation around.

"My parents and my siblings. Right now we are staying with extended family that we have out here until we get our own place,"

I thought about the Denali clan once again. They had to be related. "That extended family they wouldn't happen to be the Denali family would they,"

"They are," he sounded upset. I wondered if the Denalis had done something to upset him. "How exactly do you know them?"

"Oh my siblings and I have known them since we first moved here five years ago. Up until a few weeks ago we used to visit them several times a week. Then they started avoiding us like we were the plague,"

"Oh really?" he looked curious and angry at the same time. "When exactly did they start avoiding you?"

"It started two weeks ago. Tanya flat out told us not to stop by for any visits. Then they stopped taking our calls. Weird,"

"Two weeks ago. That is when my family and I came to stay with them. They never once mentioned that they knew either,"

"Why would mentioning me matter?"

"Oh it matters more than you can understand," he was about to slam his hand down on the table but he stopped himself just in time.

"You're mad about that?"

His pitch black eyes flashed toward me. "Mad? Oh no that's nowhere near accurate enough to describe how I am feeling," he looked like an angry animal about to launch an attack. I cowered slightly under his gaze.

The bell rang.

Please Review