A/n: Hey, guys. So updates are a little slower lately. That's a combination of school kicking my ass and my personal life going to shit. I'm just having a lot of issues, all my friends are having issues with each other and I'm just so worried and it's stressing me out, and I lost my best friend because I'm just not able to be in love with him. So yeah, I'm just trooping through it. Hope you're all okay, if anyone's struggling you can always message me here or on my tumblr, magnuxs. I'm always always here to talk to anyone who needs it!
Chapter Twenty Four - Justice
Renesmee POV
The family worked tirelessly. Every day when we came home from school, we would drop our backpacks and get to work. I mostly spent my time alongside Carlisle, doing tasks for him and learning about the equipment needed to build a laboratory. Tatiana seemed to resent the time I spent alongside my grandfather. You know, MY grandfather?
Juliet took an interest in working with Esme, designing the interior things. One afternoon, they showed me the rudimentary plan.
"See, here," Juliet pointed at the drawing board, her hair tucked in a messy bun. She didn't even check if I was listening, she was completely lost in her plans. "We're going to build several homes, kind of like your cottage back in Forks. Everyone has their separate home, see, and then there will be a bigger house right here. That'll have a bigger kitchen, the lab, Carlisle's office, some guest rooms, see?"
Juliet traced her finger over the plan for the main house. "And then there's the pool - it gets really hot during the day, and then cold at night, so Esme let me put in a hot tub. We can put up string lights around it. Okay, see?"
"I see," I laughed. "This is really cool, Jules."
"Thanks," she beamed. "We added lots of windows and decks, so the nature of the place is integrated seamlessly. Isn't that great?"
"It's so great," I answered. "Like a permanent vacation."
"Exactly. We only had so much space, though. Look over here," she moved to the computer on the desk and waved the mouse. A 3D model of the land we purchased came to life.
"We planned a sort of pack house here," she showed me. "So it has a bedroom for Jake, Seth, and then spares for the rest of the pack when they visit. A big kitchen, too, and just a lot of space for the big guys."
"The vampires will stay out of there as much as possible so the pack feels welcome and easy," she continued to ramble. "Okay, now over here is the main house, and then right here is Bella and Edward's house. Your room is in there. Here's Rose and Em's, and then there's Alice and Jasper's. My room's in the main house, cause I still live with my parents."
"Perfect," I said. "What about when we get too old to live with our parents?"
"When we want some space, or our own lives, we can add more cottages. We have a lot of space, we just have to remember to be smart with it. See, there's the pools, and then there's Bella's farm. We mostly hunt, but you know I'm not a fan of blood, so we're growing food like fruits and veggies."
"Well, I see nothing wrong with it," I told her. "The weather's getting warmer, you want to go get drinks?"
We got a ride from Emmett into town. Juliet and I got these crushed ice drinks from the gas station, called Slurpees, which we'd become hooked on after Seth showed me the delight of sugary, soda-flavored slush in a cup.
We wandered around town. It was only April, but it was hot already. Across the street were two unwelcome faces.
Of course, Harper and Jess crossed the street deliberately to "bump into" us.
"So you're stalking us now?" Jess sneered. "Why can't you just get over Harper already?"
"Okay, you came over here, not the other way around," Juliet pointed out. "Also, I don't know if you noticed, but uh…"
Juliet pointed to the promise ring, prominent on her finger. "I'm very involved."
"Right," Harper snorted. "You're just trying to make me jealous."
"Of course she is, Harper," I told him very seriously. "I mean, because obviously you weren't jealous enough when you lost your marbles over Juliet existing within ten feet of another male. Obviously you weren't insecure enough when you felt the need to steal her phone and read her private conversations, and obviously you didn't care enough when you lied to everyone and spread photoshopped conversations."
"Harper didn't do any of that," Jess snapped, grabbing his arm. "Get away from us, you psycho bitches!"
"I will," Juliet said. "I'm going to go right home to Seth, and show him exactly how much I love him and don't regret leaving Harper for him. Bye, now."
We shoved past them, loping down the sidewalk together. In the background, Jess was shouting at Harper about something. Juliet just laughed and took a sip of her drink.
"That was interesting," I deadpanned. "You think they're going to try something at school?"
"Oh, most likely," Juliet nodded. "Who cares? We're leaving soon, anyways."
"End of June."
"End of June," she agreed.
I ended up being right - Harper did try something. Pretty soon, Juliet's phone was blowing up with text messages from Jess, Harper and a few of Jess's friends. They were even targeting me, now!
A few people who were on our side sent us the obviously falsified pictures Harper was attempting to spread again. This time, though, we knew exactly what to do about it.
"You girls ready?" Rosalie said. We nodded, putting on our saddest puppydog faces.
"EXCUSE ME!" Rosalie snapped, bursting into the office. The secretary jumped, a look of intense fear plastered onto her face as Rose stalked up to the counter, black high-heels clicking dangerously on the floor.
"I'd like to speak to Principal Nevin immediately," Rosalie said icily. "There's an incident."
"Y-yes, certainly, of course," the secretary picked up the phone. "John, I'm sending some students in to see you. Er, Rosalie Whitlock, Renesmee Cullen and Juliet Keat."
"Her name is Juliet Cullen," Rosalie growled. "Thank you very much."
Rosalie led us, straight-backed and chin high, into the principal's office. He motioned, a little nervously, for us to sit down. Rosalie chose to stand, crossing her arms.
"We're here today, Mr. Nevin, because of an unfortunate incident that has gone on too long," Rosalie announced. "I'd like to know why such an obvious case of bullying went unpunished or uninvestigated."
"Would you like to explain, Miss Whitlock?" Mr. Nevin folded his hands.
"Your student, Harper Moran, stole Juliet Cullen's phone several months ago and went through it. Then, he falsified photos of her and text conversations, choosing to spread them around school. This resulted in even teachers talking about her, so please, do not pretend you didn't know. Recently, with the help of his new girlfriend, Jessica Pettis and a group of her friends, they've started targeting my sister Juliet and now my other sister, Renesmee," Rosalie listed, giving him the vampire stare. "Would you like to see some of the disgusting images?"
"Miss Whitlock, we didn't know the extent of the incident, it seemed to be a mutual disagreement from both sides," Mr. Nevin scrambled. "We had no proof of the incident."
"No proof? Laughable," Rosalie snapped. "All you had to do was call in one student and they would show you proof. Better yet, call in Harper Moran and ask to see his proof. Oh, wait, you won't. You won't because his father is a donor, isn't he? And you wouldn't risk offending him. Well, Mr. Nevin, if Harper Moran, Jessica Pettis, Annie Christian, Lena Durham and Jenna Saint aren't thoroughly investigated and punished, you can assure yourself that my father, Doctor Carlisle Cullen, and mother, Esme Cullen, will be contacting our lawyers and the media, not to mention the police. This has been a case of cyberbullying, stalking and harassment. Thank you for your time."
Rosalie spun on her heel and motioned for us to get up. Juliet and I left the office, escorted by Rose, who kept a hand on each of our backs. Once we left the area, we dissolved into giggles.
"You scared him shitless, Rose," I wiped tears from the corner of my eye. "That was priceless."
"I wish we'd videotaped it," Juliet agreed. Over our heads, the PA system crackled to life.
"Excuse the interruption, would Harper Moran, Annie Christian, Jenna Saint, Lena Durham and Jessica Pettis please report to the office immediately. Thank you," the secretary said. We only laughed harder.