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"Cullen, Reneesme" was called out by her principal. Along with the voice came a sense of relief and release.
She rose quietly, fluidly before the entire college, moving languidly to her valedictorian. Four years of mind numbing lectures, silly teenage melodrama, petty acts of vandalism by petty roommates. All for the sake of the flimsy sheepskin document that would decide her future. She moved towards freedom while savouring the anticipation contained in the four short steps to the waiting valedictorian. As she received her diploma she turned to smile at her family and in turn basked in the happiness radiating from them. She smiled at the faintly melancholic satisfaction shining in her mothers eyes, the twin looks of pride reflected in her father's and Jake's. Her family was happy. She should be too and yet something felt amiss.
As a child, Reneesme had always wanted to keep those around her happy. It hadn't been difficult. She had succeeded quite easily. Except for an insistent gnawing at the back of her mind that kept telling her that not everyone in her family was happy and her rebellious mind summoned the image of Leah. She had employed every tactic in her arsenal to bring a smile to Leah's face-mostly it had no purchase on the tactiturn female wolf. On a rare day, it might bring a sardonic twitch to her face followed by a condescending half-smirk that revealed exactly what Leah thought of her antics.
It was difficult for her to pinpoint when the feeling or rather the need to make Leah smile began. It might have something to do with the only occasion where Leah was asked to babysit Reneesme. On that day, she had briefly glimpsed a side to Leah that she was certain was the real her. A voice in the back of her mind, one that sounded suspiciously like her father's, asked her to wait patiently for the right opportunity and told her Leah was not going to be easy to handle. And so she did.
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