This took way too long to get up, I'm really sorry about all the waiting!
Cara:
My breakfast tasted stale in my mouth, the bread too dry and the orange juice to sour. Monday mornings may be excruciating on their own, but add the fact that its yet another first day- the second one in four weeks- just makes it that much worse.
The Pack found me and Jake around eleven- still in the cave- and called a makeshift meeting. The plans had been made, shifts set, boundaries drawn. Everything seemed so smooth, so well thought out and I remembered that they had worked with the vampires once before…
To protect Bella. I pushed my plate to the center of the table and waited for Jake to pick me up. At least I wouldn't be starting alone this time. I'd have Jake and Paul with me. Dad didn't know about my change of schools, it was only temporary after all- why cause him trouble?
It had all been arranged thanks to Edward, the bronze haired one. In order to keep a closer eye on the people of Forks, the three of us- Jake, Paul, and I- were "attending" Forks high. Sam circled the town limits watching the woods, Embry and Jared kept an eye out at La Push High School and Leah watched over Billy.
That nervous flutter I knew too well leapt in my stomach at the sound of the Rabbit pulling up outside. Seconds later, I heard the horn. I slowly rose, hefted my bag onto my shoulder, slipped on my shoes and locked the door behind me. Dad was still sleeping.
Paul hopped in the backseat as I skipped down the steps, overly aware of the shadows in the trees by my house. What could be hiding in there? Watching me? I gulped down the lump in my throat.
"Seat belt" Jake ordered as he pulled into the street. Rolling my eyes, I clipped in and stared straight ahead, not looking at the trees that whizzed by.
"So… you ready for your first day at school, Cara?" Paul asked from the back. I glared in the rear view mirror and he chuckled. I guess my death glare needed some improvement.
"Shut up, Paul" Jacob said and he did, though I could see his grinning reflection. I curled my fingers around Jake's hand, splayed on the seat between us, and drifted off in my own thoughts.
He'd said he loved me. It was the first time he had actually said the words "I love you" to me and just thinking about it made my heart flutter. I knew it wasn't the first time he'd said the words ever, but I realized that didn't matter. Sure, imprinting bound us together, but that wasn't by choice. To say "I love you"…. It just made everything much more real.
Paul was off on a rant about God knows what. Half the time its about girls and the rest of the time its about something completely random- like having an even amount of peanut butter and jelly on opposite pieces of bread to make the perfect sandwich. I had learned to tune out his voice.
I glanced out the window and realized how close we were, past the border into La Push. The thin layering of trees grew thicker the further away from the beach we got. All evergreen and tall oaks. Cringing, I realized how much I hated the color green.
"We're here" Jacob announced as he pulled into a crowded parking lot, full of second hand cars and students. A few heads turned at the loud, angry roar from the Rabbit, but otherwise, we found a spot totally undetected.
Well… not totally. As we headed towards the main office, I heard a few snippets of conversation and reeled at the words.
"Isn't that that Jacob kid?"
"After lunch?" Paul hounded me all day about my schedule, beaming when he had the same classes.
"Physics" I answered in a dull voice, rolling my eyes up at Jacob. As the three 'new kids' we got a lot of attention. Forget the fact that we were all so different looking than the Forks kids, but we just had to be the new ones too.
"Leave the girl alone, Paul… you'll know if you're in the same class if she's sitting next to you" He chuckled that low, rumble I had grown so accustomed too but hadn't heard the last few days. Since all this started. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we walked toward building four for gym, pulling me tight against his chest.
"Yeah, yeah… have fun in phys-i-cal e-du-ca-tion." Paul called, pronouncing each syllable, and headed off to English in Building two.
Forks High was shaped like a box, the four buildings- five if you count the office and nurses room- facing each other. It would be nice on a sunny day, benches placed around the campus with tall, sweeping trees standing up nearby. Too bad it was overcast.
The gym was filled with the sounds of laughter and conversation which momentarily ceased as we entered, no longer holding hands. A few kids stared but the rest looked once- long and hard- but went back to their conversations.
"So, are we doing this?" I asked, trying to keep my hands from shaking and my knees from caving. Gym. My worst nightmare.
"Doing what?" Jacob asked, his eyes glued on the students. His jaw muscle jumped, teeth clenched. Outside of class he was his normal, relatively happy self, but as soon as walked into the room, a wall came down. Serious Jacob came out.
"Gym?" I said, motioning to the huge basketball court, the bleachers and students.
"Why wouldn't we?" His eyebrows pulled together in confusion and I realized he had never had the problems I'd had in gym. I had been a werewolf my whole life, since I was five actually, but he was newly turned. Well… a year new.
"Never mind" I muttered and squared my shoulders, keeping my pace moderate as I walked towards the other girls. I could automatically tell who was popular and who wasn't. It was easy for me to spot after so many years.
One girl stood at the center of attention, fawned over by the boys with hungry eyes and the girls with envious ones. Her hair was shimmering, light brown, perfect curls all the way down her back. She was average height and petite but something about the angle of her nose made me instantly hate her. Everyone else seemed to love her, though.
Except one girl… off to the side, she stood with her arms crossed, a thin wire hiding under her hair. Headphones I realized. Her eyes were dark and distant, zoning out the babbling and gossiping. I found myself gravitating toward her, but didn't get very far.
"Hey… you're the new girl right?" Oh no. I turned and smiled through tight lips. It was the queen bee of course. She blinked sweetly but I could see the wicked gleam in her eyes. All the other girls stood behind her, like an army of fire ants just waiting for the okay to burn.
"Um… yeah. I'm Cara" I said, flinching at what I knew was coming next. It was always the second thing they said after meeting me.
"Cara? What kind of name is that?" she asked with a grin, the other girls snickered.
"Obviously one you haven't heard before" I answered, crossing my arms over my chest." What's yours? Something generic, right? Like… Brittany or Jessica?"
Well, that was rude. My sudden boldness took me off guard. Usually, when I started a new school, I was the timid girl. The sweet, smart one nobody talked to unless to ask a question or be polite on the lunch line. If they picked at my name, I let it go, not knowing what to say.
She blinked and I grinned, knowing I had hit the nail on the head. One of the girls beside her coughed down a laugh and tried not to smile.
"Wow, good guess. I'm Brittany" she tried to pull it off, the nonchalant thing. But I could see the twinge of annoyance and anger in her blue eyes and it sent a thrill through me.
Nodding, I glanced over my shoulder at the girl with the headphones, who was looking over at the confrontation with mild curiosity. I took a few steps toward her.
"Oh, I wouldn't associate myself with that one" Brittany said with a flip of her hair that made me want to give it one hard tug. Her followers nodded in fervent agreement.
"Why not?" I asked. Out of all of them, she was the only one who seemed mildly interesting. I realized that I wanted to know her, be her friend, maybe? I'd never been friends with another girl my age and I was pretty sure I'd never be close to Leah.
"Cause she's a social pariah. A freak… she's into vampires and all that cult stuff" I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from bursting out in laughter. Vampires? If only they knew that they were talking to a werewolf.
"That doesn't make her a freak" Something made me defend her, maybe I could relate to her. Always being the odd one out, the loner. I saw her eyebrows shoot up at my words.
"Defending the goth? Well, look at that girls… it looks like Elena might actually have a friend now" Brittany sneered the girls name, and once again, her cronies tittered and giggled. Did she know that they didn't actually like her? That they were just afraid of being the next "Elena"? Probably, but I doubt it mattered that much to her.
Just then, the teacher came out of the locker room, whistle wailing. We were doing meter dashes today, racing one another. We were paired off and took turns running around the gym. It was larger than gyms I've seen, twice the size even. Being the rainiest part of the continent, I wasn't surprised that they were big on basketball and indoor track.
I wound up next to Brittany who in seconds had turned from politely curious to cold. She angled her body away from mine, sneered down her nose at me- or up, considering I'm a few inches taller. We stepped up to the line, she stretched as we waited for the last pair to finish their race.
"You know… I'm the fastest runner in town" She said casually but I knew it was meant to make me nervous.
"Oh, really?" I asked, not really caring, but voice dull and flat. She smiled flawlessly and I tried not to roll my eyes.
"Yes… so good luck. Don't trip" Her voice was laced with poison. The coach put the whistle in his mouth and I bent my knees. I grinned at her as the adrenaline built in me.
All my life, I'd shied away from the spotlight, but maybe just this once, I could have some fun. Show them just what I could do. Besides, she deserved a little lesson in humility.
"Break a leg" I mumbled, and as the whistle shrieked, I took off.