A/N: Okay. So… Two reviews… Don't know how to feel about that… Thanks to Amazon Black and a Guest for reviewing! Plus, I may have lied to you in the last chapter about getting ready to end it. I think I'm gonna take it to 25-30 before it's over. But, good news, there will be a sequel. No name yet, but I promise to release it once I figure some stuff out.
Enjoy!
*Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight Saga!*
Chapter 18: What's With All The Secrets?! (RPOV)
The good thing about summer school, is that it only lasted a week. And since it was Tuesday, that meant only three more days left.
Thank God.
I was standing in front of my full-length mirror, adding the "finishing touches," Alice had "suggested," on an outfit completely picked out by her: an orchid colored dress that hit just above the knee. It also had a surplice neckline, a self-tie belt, and cap sleeves.
"Ren, could you come down here for a sec?" Bella yelled up the stairs.
"Yeah, be down in just a sec!" I yelled back, and slipped on my black converse because there was no way in hell I was gonna wear the five inch heels Alice had laid out. I walked downstairs where everyone was already waiting. When I reached the bottom step, I said: "What's up?"
"We're going to go camping this weekend- it's supposed to be beautiful out. You wanna come, or do you just want to stay here?" Bella asked, cutting right to the chase.
"Camping?" I asked incredulously. "You guys are going camping?" Bella nodded. "I can imagine you going camping, but... Alice and Rosalie? They're going camping?"
Everyone in the room laughed.
"Ya know, she brings up a good point- Blondie and Pixie don't look cut out for the 'outdoors'." Jake laughed.
"Hey, just because we have fashion-sense, doesn't mean that we don't like camping!" Alice exclaimed.
"Then just because you have fashion-sense, doesn't mean you have the right to torture Bella and me like we're Barbies." I said back to her.
"Thank you!" Bella yelled.
"It's not called torturing; it's called making you look good enough to make people think you have fashion-sense. It's to help you." Alice explained.
"I have fashion sense!" I exclaimed. "It's just... Different from yours." I said quietly.
"Whatever! Black is not fashion!"
"Neither is pink!"
"Ha! So you admit black isn't a real color!"
I pointed a finger at her. "I never said that! I just said pink is not fashion!"
"Alright, alright. Break it up." Edward called out, still laughing. "It doesn't matter what color is 'fashionable,' or whatever, just that she has clothes." he told Alice. I grinned and, like a child, I stuck my tongue out at her, making everyone laugh again. "Second, do you want to come this weekend or not? It's entirely up to you."
"Not," I answered. "Ironically enough, I don't like camping. I don't like the bugs, dirt, or the animals that could come eat me at any moment they deem worthy. So, not."
They all laughed at me again.
"Okay. Well, I'm not going, either, so I guess we'll have to fend for ourselves." Jake stated. "Can you cook?"
"I can't boil water." I replied.
"Pizza, then?"
I nodded enthusiastically.
He gave me a thumbs up. "Done."
"I'll leave stuff for sandwiches, as well." Esme told us.
"No need. Will eat pizza every day, right Ness?" Jake said.
"Yep," I laughed.
"Still." Esme started. "You need more sustenance than pizza."
"I beg to differ, sweetheart." Carlisle told her with a laugh. "They are teenagers. Well… Renesmee is. They seem to be able to inhale it and get all the nutrients they need."
"Thanks, Doc." Jake told him, a grin on his face.
"You're welcome, Jacob." Carlisle laughed again.
"When are you guys leaving?" I asked.
"Right after you. But we'll be back Saturday." Bella answered.
"Gotcha."
"Well, now that that's settled… It's time to get Renesmee to school, and for us to go." Edward said grudgingly. "Renesmee, Jacob's taking you to school."
I nodded, and walked over to the door to grab my bag from the rack next to it. Jake came around me, opened the door, and we both walked out- the rest of the Cullens were right behind us, though is was clear they didn't want to leave. Bella ran over to me.
It caught me off-guard when she wrapped her tiny arms around my neck. Instinctively, I tensed up. When she didn't let go, I slowly relaxed, gingerly embracing her back.
"Take care of Jake. He may seem tough, but he's really just a big baby." she whispered in my ear with a laugh.
But I didn't laugh. I simply replied back with: "I will."
This family was making me feel things that I had never felt before. Not only were they making me feel loved, they were making me love them back- an emotion that up until now, I'd never experienced. The simple thought of someone or something ever loving me seemed… Inconceivable.
But this family… This family was something I'd never experienced. I'd never seen a foster family so loving, so… carefree. Though I'd only been with them a little over a week, I… loved them.
And the crazy part was that… It seemed so… simple to love them- hell, to want to love them. Like it was what I was made to do. Like it was something I'd done my entire life.
Abruptly, my head started pounding, and there was a loud ringing in my ears. The world around me was spinning, and if it weren't for Bella holding me up, I would've fallen to the ground. Suddenly, I was gone.
Jake and Momma were fighting again. Over what, I had no earthly clue. Whenever they weren't joking, they were fighting. The funny thing was, that I'd rarely seen Mom and Dad, themselves, fight, like I had seen Aunt Rose and Uncle Em on many different occasions. Even Alice and Jasper fought more than what my parents had.
I guess on some level, they were just like Grandma and Grandpa.
Back on topic, Ness.
Anyway, Momma and Jake were fighting. And badley. Though I didn't know what it was about, it seemed pretty bad- ya know, considering the vase that just went flying through the house. It seemed worse than the fight they'd had when I was just a baby, and Momma had just found out that Jake had imprinted on me.
Which lead me to believe it was something like that.
"Renesmee? Can you hear me? Open your eyes. Please."
A voice slowly pulled me out of the weirdest dream I'd ever had. I slowly opened my eyes to find nearly the whole family leaning over me. Carlisle was checking my pulse, Edward, Bella, and Jake were touching me- both hands were occupied and Edward was running a warm cloth over my forehead,- Esme was standing behind Edward, and the rest of the family were spread out around the couch they had laid me on. The one thing they all shared was the concern for me in their… black eye? How had I not noticed the black eyes?
My head was still a little foggy- all my thoughts were jumbling up. I tried to sit up.
"No, no, no…" Edward gently pushed my shoulders back onto the pillows. "Don't try to sit up just yet, darling. Take it easy."
I looked around again. "What happened?"
Everyone in the room exchanged yet another concerned look.
"You don't remember?" Bella asked me gently, still holding my right hand.
Slowly, I shook my head, trying to gather my thoughts. "No. Not really. I just remember you hugging me… Telling me to take care of Jake because he was really just a big baby-" we all cracked smiles, "- and you were getting ready to go camping. But it's all a little blurry."
Bella bit her lip and looked toward Edward as he turned to Carlisle. "Do you know what caused it?" he asked.
Carlisle slowly shook his head. "I can't tell for sure. She's not running a fever or anything, so I don't think she's sick. Maybe she was thinking about something before she collapsed that she just couldn't handle. Did you… Dream… of anything while you were unconscious?"
I'd forgotten about the "dream" I'd had. I nodded. "Yeah… But I didn't really see anything…" I thought about the dream. "A vase. Somebody threw a vase through the house. And there was fighting- a man and woman fighting."
Everyone in the room froze.
Bella was the first to ask another question. "Do you remember any… names?" she whispered brokenly.
"Somebody named 'Momma,' and 'Jake.'" I replied. "Wait- does that mea-"
"Did you see any faces, Nessie?" Jake asked, interrupting me.
I shook my head. "No. No faces. Just yelling and the vase."
Carlisle nodded. "Okay… Did the voices sound familiar?"
I squinted and thought about it. "Kinda, but I can't place them."
"Okay. Renesmee, I'm going to call the school and tell them you won't be coming in today." Carlisle informed me.
"And we're going to leave tomorrow." Edward added.
"What? No. You don't have to. I feel fine." I told him. For some reason, my mind was telling me that it was important for them to go- that they needed it.
"Renes-" Emmett started.
"No. Really, I'm fine. You can go. Don't worry about me."
It was quiet while they debated.
"Okay." Carlisle relented. "But you are staying home, and Jacob will give me hourly reports on your wellbeing. If I believe you are feeling well enough tomorrow, you can go to school. Until then, you must rest. Okay?"
I nodded. "Okay."
"All right. I guess we'll go." he said grudgingly, and stood up.
"Jacob, keep her fed and hydrated!" Bella told him sternly.
Jake nodded. "You got it, Bells. She's not leaving my sight."
Both Bella and Edward seemed comforted by that statement.
"Okay. Renesmee, text me if this dog doesn't do his job." Rose told me calmly.
I chuckled and adjusted the pillows behind my head. "Will do, Rose."
"Get better, Kiddo." Emmett told me, ruffling my hair, and he and Rose walked out the door.
"Bye, Nessie. See you Saturday!" Alice said as she hugged me.
"See ya, darlin'. Hope you feel better." Jasper followed his fiance outside.
"Nessie, I mean it. If you need anything just tex-"
I didn't allow Bella to finish. "-text you. I know. And I will. Just go." I laughed.
She sighed. "Okay. I'm going." She leaned down to kiss my forehead. "See you Saturday."
Stunned, I just nodded. It was even more shocking when Edward did the same thing. "See you later, honey."
"'Kay." I muttered.
Carlisle and Esme both hugged me- Carlisle giving orders to Jacob and Esme reminding us both that there was money in the bread box for anything we needed and sandwich meat in the fridge.
Once we were alone, Jake sat at the end of the couch, putting my feet in his lap, and turned it to a LifeTime movie.
"Hey, can you get my phone out of my bag, please?" I asked him sweetly. We'd only been watching this movie- #Popfan, I think was the name of it- a little while, but I needed to tell Nik that I wouldn't be in today.
"Sure," Jake said simply, picked my feet up off his lap, stood up, and laid my feet back down on the couch. He walked over to the door, and picked up the black and grey "New York" shoulder bag. He shifted through its contents for a bit. "Ness?" he asked, drawing my attention from the movie and to him.
"Yeah?"
"What's this?" he asked, and held up the pack of cigarettes Nik had given me the day before.
"A pack of cigarettes?" I told him in a questioning tone.
"Why do you have these?" he asked calmly. Okay, maybe a little too calm.
I shrugged. "Why do you think?" I couldn't come up with a better response.
"How'd you get these?"
"Nik gave them to me yesterday."
"Nik? He gave these to you? Did he start you on these?" Jake shouted. He was so mad, he was shaking. Like… visibly shaking.
I flinched, though this wasn't the first time I'd been yelled at by a foster member. "No. I started smoking a few months ago when I left a foster home and lived on the streets. Great way to keep warm in December." I snapped at him.
"Do you know how dangerous these are for you? Nessie, you might be different, but we don't know how something like this could affect you!" he shouted.
I froze, and he seemed to recognize his mistake. Jake stopped shaking, hell, it looked like he'd stopped breathing.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"Nothing," he shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it."
"No. Tell me. How am I different?" I urged. On some level I always knew I was different. Knew the things I could do- run faster, lift the heaviest- set me apart from other people. But I also knew that those things was only half of what made me different. I just never knew what. And this guy, a random friend of my foster family, seemed to have that answer.
"Nessie, just let it go. Please." he pleaded.
"No. No, Jake. Tell me. I don't remember anything from my past! The first memory I have is waking up in a hospital." I sat up. "If you know something- anything… Please. Tell me."
"Nessie, it's not that I don't want to. It's that I can't. I don't know what would be too much for you. I'm not gonna risk hurting you."
"What does that mean?" I asked again, exasperated.
"That you'll remember everything when you're ready. You won't believe a thing that comes from my mouth otherwise."
I didn't answer. Didn't know how. Jake handed me my phone.
"I'm gonna make popcorn and get a drink. You want a water? Or soda?" he walked into the kitchen.
"Soda, please!" I answered back with a grin as I went to my messages and pressed Nik's name.
Me: Hey, won't be at school today. Thought you should know. -Ren
Jake came back a few minutes later with a huge bowl of movie theatre popcorn, and two glasses of soda when my phone went off.
Nikolas: Why? Are you okay? If this is about last night, I'm really sorry, Ren.
Me: No, it's not about that. I didn't feel great this morning so Carlisle- being a doctor- decided that I should stay home for a day.
Nikolas: Oh. Okay. Do you think you'll be here tomorrow? Because I have some stuff to tell you.
Me: Depends on if Carlisle deems me fit, lol. But I should be there. What do you have to tell me?
Nikolas: Nothing that can't wait until tomorrow. Plus, I think it should be done face-to-face.
Me: … Okay…
What is it with all the secrets?!
I sat my phone down on the table beside the couch. Grabbing the pack of cigarettes and the lighter, I got up from my seat on the couch.
"Woah, woah, woah. Where do you think you're going?" Jacob asked me, standing as I wobbled to my feet.
My answer was simple: "If you and the only friend I have are gonna keep secrets from me, then I'm gonna go outside and smoke."
"I don't think that a goo-" he started to say.
"Do not start with me, Jacob Black. You can tell me not to smoke when you tell me how I'm different. Since you don't want to do that…" I held the cigarette and lighter in face and repeated, "I'm gonna go smoke!"
Though I could tell he didn't like it, he begrudgingly let me go. I smiled, and went out to the porch. I sat down in the swing they had facing the forest and lit a cigarette.
A/N: Sucky way to end it, I know. But… Ren is getting closer to figuring everything out:)
Also, I have decided that there will be a sequel to this story. Next chapter I'll probably post a few title suggestions and you all can review to which one you like best. If I agree with you, I'll give you a shout out once it's all said and done. This chapter is dedicated to one of my many best friends- Dawn- whose birthday is this week! I'll be the first to say, though a few days early, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Okay, so tell me what you think, please! I love reading all of your reviews!
Laters,
~Em