Chapter 7: Last Day of Normalcy

Nessie's POV

He eyed me with as much intensity as I eyed him. He kept hitting the ground with his right hoof. Kicking up a lot of dirt in the process. Oh how I wanted nothing more then to be on his back again. I missed Red Wolf as much as I missed the sport of racing.

His future, however, remained uncertain. Just like mine. After he threw me off he had been immediately taken to a veterinarian for examination. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him. No broken bones. Not even a thrown shoe. He had only sustained a few bruises from the incident. That was that.

Everybody just thought that he'd suddenly turned agresssive for no reason. So nobody wanted to ride him. Usually when horses were no longer able to race they were retired and sent to the breeding shed. However due to his 'agressive' behavior that was no longer a viable option either. Nobody wanted to that risk that he passed on his 'agressive' behavior to his offspring.

It hurt that people thought of him as agressive. I knew that wasn't the problem. Wolf was not an aggressive horse. Something else happened on the race track that day. I was going to find out what had happened and I would clear his name. Somehow.

"Vanessa get back from there!"

I spun my wheelchair around and saw Ethan, my second best friend, running toward me frantically. Ethan was the son of Red Wolf's rightful owners. We'd been friends since we were eleven years old.

He yanked my chair backwards despite the fact that Wolf posed no threat to me. "Jesus Christ you know how dangerous that horse is,"

"Dangerous? He is not dangerous Ethan,"

"That horse is the reason you are in this wheelchair,"

"No he is not," My mind wandered back to the red eyed girl I'd seen in the stands that day. I didn't know how exactly but something in my gut told me that she was the true reason I was in this chair. I just didn't know how to prove it.

Ethan took a deep breath. "Look I didn't come here to fight. I was just-I just worry about you that's all,"

"Thanks but I wish you'd worry a little less,"

"I don't think that's possible," he replied. "But enough of this already. Do you want to go have some lunch then maybe catch a movie afterwards?"

"Sure," I couldn't stay mad at him. I never could stay mad at him. Yes he often got on my nerves and sometimes infuriated the hell out of me sometimes but then I'd forgive him five minutes later.

I could feel the sun's rays beating down on my skin as he helped me get into his car. The weatherman had forecasted that today would be bright and sunny. It would be the last bright and sunny for the nexy several weeks. Alice actually predicted that Kentucky would not see a sufficient sunlight for the next four months. Meaning that starting tomorrow my family would be free to roam around the city. My parents, aunts and uncles were already in the process of enrolling in school. My school of all places. Today would be my last day of normalcy before my family really started to turn my life upside down.

I shuddered as I thought about all the implications that my family's presence could bring. I hadn't told them about Aro's visit during our reunion yesterday. I'd also managed to avoid thinking about it to avoid my father's suspicion. I still wasn't sure how I imagined to pull it off. I knew that I had to tell them soon though.

"Are you okay Vanessa? You seem a little off today,"

"I'm fine I just have a lot of things on my mind that's all,"

"Such as?"

I thought about how I should answer for a full minute before finally saying "Family issues but I really don't want to talk about it,"

"is your brother giving you a hard time again?"

"No that's not it. Look I really don't want to discuss it right now. Can we talk about something else please?"

"Okay. What do you want to eat?"

"Cheeseburgers," I answered.

"How did I know you were going to say that?" he laughed.

I was surprised to see Seth and Jacob at another table as soon as we arrived. Jacob noticed me right away. His face remained expressionless as Ethan and I walked passed them and sat down at a table across from them.

"That guy over there is staring at you,"

Crap I had hoped Ethan wouldn't notice Jacob.

"Really? That's nice," I tried to play it off as much as I could.

"Do you know him?"

"No," I was surprised by how easily I was able to lie.

"Well I think he likes you,"

I almost choked on my soda. The idea of Jacob liking me was so absurd that it was funny. Jacob has been a teenager longer than I'd been alive. He would never look at me that way.

"Not possible,"

"Are you blind Vanessa? It's totally obvious that he's into you. You know just because one asshole took you for granted and dumped you doesn't mean there aren't other guys who are genuinely interested,"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

He blushed and started to fidget nervously. "Look I don't know how to say this but I like you. For a long time I've wanted to be more than friends but I didn't say anything because you were with Liam. But now that you're not I was kind of hoping that maybe we can be together. So will you be my girlfriend?"

Whoa I was totally not expecting that. Yet the idea made me happy so I answered "Yes I will be your girlfriend,"

"Really?"

"Really," I answered.

"Awesome! I was hoping you'd say yes so I got you something,"

He pulled out a small black box. Inside of it was a ring. A real diamond ring. I was shocked.

"What is this?"

"It's a promise ring,"

"How-I mean what?"

"It's a 12 carat diamond ring. A promise ring. If we ever get engaged I will get you something bigger-"

"I'm sorry but I can't accept such an extravagant gift,"

"You can and you will," he said as he placed the ring on my finger.

At a table nearby I heard the sound of glass smashing into a million pieces. I jumped at the sound. I looked around and saw Jacob with shards of broken glass in his hands. His body was shaking uncontrollably. A sign, if I remembered correctly, meant that he was about to phase. He was beyond angry though I had no clue what had upset him so much. He ran out with Seth quickly chasing after him.

"Well that was strange,"

"Yeah it was," I agreed. "Let's just get out of here and go see a movie,"

I couldn't stop thinking about Jacob for the rest of the day. I tried to push him as far away from my mind as possible but I couldn't. I didn't like seeing Jacob that angry. It bothered me more than it should have perhaps. I guess it was because he was my Jacob and I didn't like seeing my Jacob upset.

Ethan took me home later that evening. There was nobody else home. Or so I had thought anyway. As soon as I opened the door to my room I caught Chris rummaging through my stuff.

"What are you doing in here?!" I yelled.

He looked at me like a deer caught in headlights.

"I need money. I know you have cash. I saw it,"

"So now you're going to steal from me?! Blackmailing isn't enough anymore?!"

"Look you don't understand. These guys I'm dealing with are asking for more money and if I don't give it to them-"

"I don't have money! Oh and I'm done funding your drug addiction! Get the hell out of my room already!"

Surprisingly he left without saying a word. I honestly didn't know what I was going to do with him anymore. I looked at the shiny diamond ring Ethan had given me and decided to lock it up. I was sure it wouldn't be safe around my brother.

I was exasperated. Of course my brother had seen my cash. Only I had already spent that cash on the private investigator. I'd given him half of the money upfront. I still owe him the other half.

"Are you okay?"

I nearly had a heart attack when I heard my father's voice.

"Dad!"

He held me as tightly as he could do so safely.

"What are you doing here?"

"I had to come see you again. I couldn't wait until tomorrow. So I-" dad suddenly tensed up.

"What's wrong?"

"Someone has been in here. He's still here,"

Dad put me down before leaving to investigate. My heart started beating really fast? Was it the Volturi? Was it Aro here to fulfill his promise and kill me. I heard a commotion in the hallway. Then my dad returned a minute later.

"What's wrong dad?"

"It's your brother,"

That was the absolute last thing I was expecting him to say.

"It was him that I smelled in here. He's like you Nessie. A hybrid whose human side has become more dominant,"

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