Okay. There was a problem with Chapter 3 the first time I tried to post it, this is my 3rd attempt to fix the problem. I really hope it works.
(Chapter Three)
"You'll do fine." Esme said, patting my shoulder as I took a deep breath. We were standing outside of the local DMV, forged papers in hand, so I could finally get my driver's license.
Emmett had taken me out in his massive jeep for some driving lessons, but it turned out to be a mudding free-for-all and eventually he got out of the car and let me chase him around and try to hit him with the large vehicle.
So I wasn't sure exactly how much I had learned… But we had fun, maybe that counted for something? I looked up at the big 'Forks Department of Motor Vehicles' sign above the cinderblock building.
Maybe not.
"Okay. Let's do this." I said, hyping myself up.
"That's the spirit," Esme said, smiling when I opened the door for her. My shoes squeaked on the streaked linoleum floor as we moved to the front desk.
It had been ten, jam packed days with the Cullens. We spent the first day talking mostly. I got the full backstories on most of them, their human lives and how they became vampires and what they had been up to until I made my grand entrance.
I had a slight feeling of suspicion when Esme and Rosalie told their stories they were holding something back. But I couldn't be sure and I wasn't going to pry either, I had been less than forthcoming when I spoke of my past.
Orphaned at eight. Stuck in the foster system till I was twelve. Ran away. Moved around doing good deeds and performing 'street magic' to earn fast cash along the way. That's all I was willing to share for now.
But I liked it with them.
They were kindhearted, if not a little self-involved. I still thought they should be doing more with their immortality, but they weren't hurting people and they seemed to be doing all they could to make me feel like part of their rag-tag family.
I felt like a new toy sometimes. One of them was always dragging me from one place to the other from the time I woke up to when my head fell back onto the pillow at night.
I was a little tired of the whole 'perfect pair' thing though. They were all so in love with their significant others. Even Edward, although it caused him physical pain to be around Bella. I felt alone around them at times, but I was still happier than I'd been in a long time, so I put up with all the sappy stuff.
"Can I help you?" The bored lady at the DMV front desk asked, pulling me back to the present.
I stood up straight and squared my shoulders. "I'm here to get my license."
"Parent or legal guardian present?" She asked, looking slightly less bored when Esme walked up. It was hard not be impressed by her beauty.
"I'm Ivy's legal guardian." Esme said, passing the forged papers and proof of residence to the woman, snapping her out of what I liked to call the dazzle-trance.
"Take a seat, we'll call you back momentarily." She said after a cursory glance at the papers.
Esme sat next to me in the blue plastic seats, my knee was immediately bouncing up and down with nerves. An eternity later, they were calling me back. Esme smiled at me as the door closed between us, leaving her to wait in the lobby and me to face my fate with my driving instructor. I took a breath and clutched the car key in my pocket with a shaking fist.
He followed me to Edward's Volvo and watched carefully as I clicked my seatbelt into place, checked my mirrors, and started the car. "Take a left out of the parking lot." He said in a sleepy voice.
I drove slow—well, right at the speed limit which was slower than I normally would drive—and followed every instruction to the letter. And within the next thirty minutes I was skipping from the DMV with a shiny new driver's license in my hands.
"This is so great!" I said, hugging Esme again, nearly hurting myself when I forgot she was basically made of stone. "Thank you!"
"It was my pleasure." She said laughing at my enthusiasm. "Care to drive us home?"
I smiled and took the keys back from her and drove us to the Cullen's house. (I was having a hard time referring to it as 'home') Esme got in the drivers side and took off back to town, leaving me with my 'siblings' who promptly picked me up and cheered their congratulations.
"Thanks guys." I said with a laugh when I was once again on two feet.
"The stages of human life: growing up, getting a license, graduating, marriage, kids… It's just so exciting!" Rose said, her gold eyes shining with mirth. "I love having a human sister." I was a little startled by her bluntness, but not offended. Rose really did think I was a life-size barbie sometimes.
"Have you thought about where you want to drive to first?" Alice asked.
"I've really been missing the ocean." I admitted. "The waterfall through the woods is wonderful, but… well I guess you'd have to be a water elemental to understand. I'll probably head over to LaPush beach first."
There was a slight damper on everyone's enthusiasm at my words.
"What? What did I say?"
"It's just…" Alice said quietly. "We can't go with you."
"Why?" I said, looking up at the cloudy sky. "It's not even sunny!"
"Let's go inside, its kind of a long story." Jasper said, leading the way to the living room.
One seated, Edward began to talk. "The Quileute tribe lives at the coast in La Push. They have a long line of werewolf ancestry." He then told me of their first run in with the inhabitants of La Push decades ago and how they convinced the werewolves they weren't killers. Human killers at least.
"Werewolves." I said with a smile. "I see."
"We're not scared of them." Emmett scoffed, his bulging muscles rippling in defiance.
"I'm pretty sure you're not scared of anything Emmett." I chuckled when he nodded in agreement.
"We made a peace treaty with their leader. They won't attack us if we stay off their land. So, if there are any remaining werewolves alive over there, they will try to wipe us out if we set one foot over the boarder. And that's a fight we would rather avoid." Edward finished.
"So no vampires can cross the boarder?" I asked for clarification.
"No vampires." Alice confirmed.
"So, I can still go? I'm a human… technically." I said with a sly smile.
"No." Edward bit, shaking his head emphatically. "If something happens, we won't be able cross and help you."
"What's going to happen to me? An elemental? In the ocean?" I said, my mind made up to go no matter they said. "Last time a vampire attacked me in the ocean I survived, he didn't. And if there are werewolves over there, there should be no vampires in the immediate area besides y'all."
"Why do all the humans in my life insist on going across that damned line?" Edward said to himself.
"Don't treat me like a baby. I can handle myself. Don't you remember how we met?" I reminded.
"We were taken off guard." Jasper said. "It would be different now. And you wouldn't only have to worry about vampires; werewolves are just as dangerous, if not more so because they're so unpredictable."
"Oh really?" I said, narrowing my eyes. "Is that how you want to play it?" They all looked in agreement with Jasper, totally doubting my fighting abilities. "Fine. Emmett, outside. It's time to fight."
Emmett's face lit up - he loved violence so much it was actually cute.
"No way!" Rosalie cried. "You'll hurt her, Emmett. You can't kill our new sister."
"He won't!" I yelled right when Emmett said, "She can handle it!" I smiled, at least he thought I was tough.
Not wanting to listen to a debate, I shot to my feet and ran outside as fast as I could, aiming towards the water fall.
"No you don't!" Emmett yelled behind me. Before I knew it, I was pushed, rather hard, down a four foot drop into a dry part of the creek.
I scrambled to my feet, scraped and bruised, but not enough to distract me… or more importantly to make me bleed. No one needed that headache right now.
There was a small puddle of water at my right hand, I managed to pull it around my fist like a diamond-hard glove before Emmett dragged me to my feet. Edward, Jasper, Alice, and Rose protested at the top of the creek, telling Emmett to go easy on me.
But there was no need. Emmett was laughing in triumph as he faked a bite to my jugular so I pulled my arm back and punched him as hard as I could in the face with the ice glove.
It was like a crack of thunder when the glove met his face. He yelled out in pain and surprise, dropping me onto the forest floor.
I melted the water that protected my hand and quickly wrapped it around Emmett's eyes and froze it like a blindfold in a few quick gestures.
"What the—?" Emmett bellowed, tugging at the ice.
I scrambled to my feet and took off, cheered on by the audience.
The waterfall pulsed ahead of me, sending gallons of crisp water closer to me. I reached out and pulled, making spikes stick up around me in a wide radius. Then gathered more spikes with hovered the air and finally covered both my hands in ice gloves.
Emmett was snorting with anger like a raging bull when he managed to climb from the creek. Ice was still covering his face, so he was using smell and hearing to locate me.
"Hey Emmett." I taunted. "Want to come this way?"
"You'll regret this, little human." He said, scraping away a few layers of ice at his eyes. I took pity on him and melted it.
He blinked a few times, taking in my fortifications.
"Here goes nothing." He said running towards me so fast he became a blur of color.
I pushed, blunting the ends of the spikes so they wouldn't stab into him, and sent him back again with a sound of grating metal. He slammed into a tree and broke it in half. The huge trunk, unfortunately, was falling right where I stood.
"Crap." I muttered, jumping and rolling out of the way as the huge limb crashed into the ground with enough force to rattle my teeth.
I reached for more water and just as it started to come forward, Emmett was in front of me, smiling wickedly.
I screamed in surprise, but managed to freeze the ground he stood on. He looked down in amusement before stomping his feet, breaking up the ice into big chunks.
He was distracted like I'd planned. I pulled a river of water from behind me, sent it up over my head like a huge wave, and crashed it on top of him before he could react. Then I did my thing, turning the torrent into a block of ice.
He was frozen. I had won.
"Ha!" I yelled, dancing around his frozen figure. "I told you I could handle myself!" Alice, Jasper, Edward, and Rose were right behind me in a flash.
"Impressive." Jasper said, knocking on the ice with his fist, a small smile tugging the corner of his lips.
"Okay, Ivy. We get it. Now unfreeze my husband." Rosalie barked in annoyance with just a dash of worry.
"Alright, alright." I touched the ice with my finger and it immediately melted pouring down and splashing everybody. My converse were soaked to the socks by the cold water, but I quickly dried them out.
"You—!" Emmett began accusingly as he wrung water from his clothing. "Rematch! That wasn't fair!"
Edward chuckled and patted his muscled shoulder. "From my vantage it was, brother. You should have been looking up."
"Now, I am taking my new license and borrowing a car, and driving to LaPush tonight to play in the ocean. I will be perfectly safe." I said seriously, leaving no room in my tone for argument.
Edward sighed and ran a hand through his hair in irritation. "We can't stop you, obviously. But we are getting you a waterproof cellphone and you have to call one of us when you get there and when you leave. Agreed?"
I shrugged. "Hey, I'm not going to pass up a new cellphone. Especially a waterproof one. I agree to your terms, Eddie."
Everyone was laughing and we walked back to the house highlighting the fight and were greeted by Carlisle and Esme who wanted to know what all the commotion outside was about.
Needless to say, they weren't very happy with Emmett or myself.
Oops. I forgot I had parents now. And sometimes, what they didn't know, wouldn't hurt them…
I really hope that worked! So sorry! If you can read it, I hope you like it!