A/N: TA DA! R&R please.
Chapter 2
Aura POVI'm standing in the kitchen in my Edward Sissorhands pj's making an omelet the next morning around 6:43 AM when someone knocks on the front door. I look up at the door, then down at my omelet, then back at the door. "Just a minute!" I call, taking the finished omelet off the heat.
I look around, grab my Happy Bunny jacket, fling it on, and open the door to find a couple people standing there.
They're both Indian skinned with long black hair and they have kind of the same facial features. One's really tall and the other, obviously his father, is in a wheelchair. The taller grins, showing me a really nice set of white teeth. The contrast is amazing against his dark skin.
"Is Charlie home?" the older asks after taking in my mussed hair and pajamas.
"Yeah he's upstairs. You want me to go get him?" I ask, looking back at the stairs. I shift from my left foot to my right foot.
"No, no, that's fine." The older gives me a long look.
I shift again then move from the door. "Do you wanna come in and wait?" I ask, looking back at the stairs, wishing with all my might that Ch-dad would come down right now.
The younger one rolls the older into the living room and follows me to the kitchen.
I take the omelet out of the frying pan and drop it on a paper plate, not wanting to wash anything more than I absolutely have to. Today's Saturday, so I don't have to worry about being late for school, but I still have a boat-load of homework to get through. The sounds of the TV drifts in as I take out a carton of orange juice. Then I look up at the younger, who's leaning against the counter next to the sink, his arms crossed over his chest as he watches me putter around the kitchen.
He gives me another grin when I glance at him. "I'm Jacob. We used to hang out when our dads fished. We made mud pies when we were little." He gives another small grin and looks away.
I think back into my memories, trying to place his face on one of the kids I used to be around back when I was six or seven and old enough not to accidentally wonder into the lake or pond of river or whatever they were fishing in. "Oh, yeah, I remember. You're really tall now," I state lamely.
He nods a couple times. "Yeah, getting older helps." Another grin. "You've changed a lot, too. I mean, Edward Sissorhands?" He gives a small chuckle and shakes his head slowly. "There was a time when you were scared to even watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. Of course, I was too, so..." He grins and sits opposite to me at the table.
I blink slowly and look down at my food. Then I look back up at him. "Did you want something to eat?" I ask, indicating the omelet on my plate. "There's no way I can eat all of this. I don't know why I even made so much." I try to smile a little at him.
"Sure, why not? I didn't eat much this morning." He stands. "Plates?"
I point at the right cupboard then take my fork and cut the omelet, more or less, in half. When he sets his plate down, I push half off onto it. Then I get up, open a drawer and another cupboard, then come back with a fork and two cups. "Orange juice, milk, coffee, or tea?" I ask, standing next to the table.
"Orange juice is fine," he responds with a small smile as he picks up the carton. He tips it, pours out a cup, then sets it back down. "Thanks for this."
"No problem."
We go into a silence that was the occasional scrape of forks against plastic with the TV on in the living room. I hear Ch-dad thumping down the steps after a few moments and look up to see him walk into the kitchen.
"Morning, dad. I made coffee, if you want some." I say after taking a sip orange juice.
"Thanks, Aura." He gives me a one-armed hug and kisses the top of my head then walks over to the coffee pot. "Morning, Jake. Billy in the living room?" he asks as he puts some creamer in his coffee.
"Yeah, said he wanted to visit you and see Aura again."
"He came to watch the game on my flat-screen, more like," dad mutters before he takes a gulp of coffee.
I jump when my phone starts playing my ringtone, 'Feel Like I Do' by Drowning Pool, from its charger. I'm out of my seat in two seconds flat. "Hello?" I say, leaning against the counter next to the wall.
"Hey, Aura. Can I come over?" Alice chirps into the phone.
I blink. When had I given her my number? Oh yeah, after lunch yesterday. "Now's not a real good time, Alice. A couple of people are here."
"Who? Is it the Blacks? You know, Jacob and Billy?"
"Yeah. Maybe another time?"
"Could I just come pick you up to go shopping?" she asks excitedly. Oh no.
"Let me ask." I look at dad. "Can I go shopping with Alice?" Please say no, please say no...
Ch-dad gives me a confused look. "Alice Cullen? The little pixie-like girl with the black hair?"
"The very one," I reply.
"I guess. Thought you hate shopping," he mutters as he walks out of the kitchen, coffee cup in hand.
"Dad said its okay." I look back at Jake, who's just finishing his orange juice with a clean plate. "I guess I'll see you when you get here."
An excited squeal comes through to me then stops abruptly. "Rose wants to come too. Is that okay?" She sounds wary as she says this. Lemme tell ya, it doesn't sound right with her voice.
"Sure, I don't see why not. See ya in a bit."
"Bye!"
I press the end button and set my phone back down, then turn back to Jacob. "I'm going out," I state in a matter-of-fact way.
He nods. "I got that."
I clear my throat and look at my phone. An idea occurs to me. "Hey, you got a cell?" I ask, looking back up at him with a new light in my eyes.
"Yeah, I do." He gives me a strange look. "Are you asking for my number?"
"Well, yeah. Then I can call you after we get back if your not here and then we could, I dunno, go see a movie or something? Here, I'll even give you my number."
He'd pulled out his cell during my sentence. I reach out and take his while he picks up mine. I go to his contacts list, click ADD NEW CONTACT, put Aura D. Swan into the name box, then put 704-798-6011 into the cell number box. (Not really a number, don't waste your time dialing it.) Then I turn his cell around, take a picture of me giving a promising grin, and save that as the picture for me.
I hand him back his phone then take mine and look at what he's put in. He's typed Jacob Black into the name, his number (not even gonna type that XP), and he'd took a picture of him giving his blinding smile.
"Okay, thanks, Jake." I give him a quick hug, then jump at the knock on the front door. "Damn, I'm still in my pajamas!" I run to open the door and see Rosalie and Alice standing outside. I look out and see two more heads in the Jeep they drove over. "Is that Jasper and Emmett?" I ask, forgetting my pj-ness.
"Uhm, Aura? You're not even dressed yet," Alice comments, ignoring the question.
Rosalie gives a bell-like laugh. "To answer the question Alice chose to ignore, yes, that is, in fact, Jasper and Emmett. Edward's gonna meet us at the mall. I think he said he was going to be in Hot Topic, or whatever it is." (Hot Topic is a magically awesome store. Check it out.)
"Come on in while I get dressed," I say, backing up a few steps. Alice comes in first, Rosalie following close behind.
"Where's your room? I want to look at your clothes." Alice gives me a quick smile and practically bounces in place as I start up the steps. I hit the first step then run up them, skipping a few in between.
I open my door and Alice gives a small squeak. "So much black! Oh my God, Aura!" She flies past me to my closet and opens the door, biting her bottom lip. When she sees more than just black, she gives a sigh of relief. "Oh, but purple and red aren't much of anything. What about some blue and grey and maybe some green and silver?" She looks at me with hopeful eyes. Eyes that are no longer a rich topaz and more of a dull gold. I glance at Rosalie to see her eyes are a little more dark then Alice's.
I shake my head at Alice then slip past her to get to my clothes. "There's more in the dresser, if you want more to complain about," I mutter as I pull down a black mini-dress. I reach down and pull a pair of black knee-high Converse and a pair of black knee-high socks with random splatters of color. Then I walk out to see Alice holding up one of my black leather boots with a six-inch stiletto heel. She's showing it to Rosalie with a grin.
"Where'd you find that? I've been looking all over for it!" I exclaim, running to take it.
She gives a small smile and points under my bed. "The other is under there, too." She looks at the objects in my hands and gives a small shake of her head. "You need accessories." She moves to my armoire and starts rummaging around.
I sigh and tap my foot impatiently. Rosalie looks down at that foot then back up at my face. "Something you need in particular?" she says with amusement and a hint of sarcasm in her tone.
I give her a sarcastic look with a sneer thrown in. "No, I'm just standing in my room, in my pajamas, with two relatively new acquaintances, tapping my foot for the fun of it!" I respond in a snarl.
"Ooo, vicious today, are we?" a voice drawls from my doorway.
I frown at air. "Jasper, I don't recall letting you in." But I'm losing my anger. Its sliding away like the memories of a dream. I'm filled with a calm, under control feeling that makes me stare accusingly at Jasper for a moment, for some odd reason.
"You didn't," he says. Then he smoothly pushes off the doorjamb, walks over to Alice, and kisses the top of her head. "We were gettin' lonely out there. Emmett's watching the game down there."
As if to punctuate that statement, Emmett gives a loud laugh that makes me look at my doorway, expecting him to be right there. I sigh, frustrated, then turn and stomp out of my room to change in the bathroom, muttering obscenities all along the way.
When our little party of four walk down the steps, Emmett is staring raptly at the screen as the Dallas Cowboys and the Carolina Panthers play each other. He groans when the Cowboys score. "I knew I should've gone with them. I just knew it." He sighs heavily and looks at Jasper. "Guess you're going to win that bet, huh?"
"Looks like," Jasper says in his smooth voice. I look at him a moment, just thinking. If I didn't already have this weird obsession with Edward and if he didn't have Alice, I really do think I would have gone after him.
Then my phone chirps in my pocket, alerting me of a new text. I withdraw it from the hoodie I had been wearing before and see that its from an unrecognized number. Probably Edward. I open it.
Were r u guys?
I roll my eyes to the ceiling then back down to the phone. Defiantly Edward. I text him back;
Still my house. Not even left yet. XP
He responds with a quick 'Ok, see u in a few.' and I put my phone back in my pocket. "Come on, guys. We've got to leave now." I say the last part to dad when he looks up at me. I lean over and give him a quick hug. Then I look back and see the four beautiful people filtering out of the Swan residence one by one. Jacob stands in the kitchen area doorway, one beauty forgotten. His arms are crossed and he's watching the pale girls and boys walk out with suspicious eyes.
I skip to him and give him a long hug. "You kinda smell good, Jake," I mutter into his chest. His laughter vibrates me. "Seriously, you do." I'm not kidding. It was a woodsy smell, like pine needles, with a hint of Irish Spring and Old Spice deodorant.
"You smell good, too." he takes another deep breath then lets me go. "See you when you get back?" he asks hopefully.
I give him a look. "I told you I would. Do I look like the type to lie?"
He chuckles. "Do you want me to answer that?"
I stick my tongue out at him then rush out the door and the blow of the Jeep's horn, grabbing my red plaid messenger bag as I do. "Bye Jake!" I call over my shoulder.
"Bye Aura!" he calls back, sounding amused.
"Call ya later!"
Then I slip into the Jeep's back seat, clamber over Alice, and drop into the middle of the back seat, between Alice and Jasper. This is gonna be a kind of awkward ride. (Understatement)
~Ten minutes later~
Jasper POV
Aura's looking at her hands, her emotions going from anxious to confused to excited all in the span of five minutes. She's such an enigma that I find myself examining her often. Today, her hair is pinned back off her face with two sparkling red clips. Her make-up is done by the two experts in the car, Rosalie and Alice, with her eyeliner lighter than what she'd like, most likely. She's got on the dress and shoes and socks she was holding in her room and the jacket she had on over her pajama tank-top. Alice had insisted on her wearing ear rings, a necklace, and few bracelets.
The ear rings are black spider webs with sparkles on it, the spiders hanging down under the webs. The necklace is a black lace choker with a large platinum skull and crossbones hanging from it. The bracelets are cuffs, the one on her left arm a gold band that's kind of what I'd expect an Egyptian princess to wear. The one on her right is the same, only silver. The contrast is very nice.
She glances up and catches me staring. Again. For the eighth time. In ten minutes. She stares back a moment, her emotions going from whatever they were, maybe bored, to embarrassed. Ah, she had caught me looking at her, but that meant I had caught her looking at me.
"Something the matter, darlin'?" I drawl, watching her shudder as she looks away. Odd, I don't feel any revulsion coming from her. Just something like curiosity followed by anger.
"Why would there be a problem, Jasper?" she replies in her quiet, calm voice. She has that voice even when she's radiating anger loud enough to be heard from a car when she's inside a house on the top floor.
"You seem a little angry. Who's done what?" I ask, tilting my head as I stare at her unabashedly. She blushes from the attention and looks away.
"No one. I'm a little mad at myself, actually," she admits, staring down at her twined hands on her lap. She starts twirling a ring on her right hand.
"Why's that?" I ask, pressing the matter when she really doesn't want it to be pressed. I can tell that from the irritation that passes quickly through.
She looks up, meeting my eyes. Whoever said eyes are the window to your soul never met Aura, unless her soul is a blank purple sheet of whatever souls are made of. She flicks her tongue against her teeth, making her tongue ring clink quietly. She takes a deep breath and looks back down at her hands, cautious resolve coming through to me.
"Because I promised something that's going to lead to nothing," she murmurs. Then she gives a flash of absolute sadness. "Sorry, Jake. We're only gonna be friends," she whispers to herself.
I close my eyes and lean my head back against the seat. Alice is putting off her usual cheer. Emmett is putting off excitement. Rosalie is putting of curiosity. Aura is now putting off hyper vibes, making me look at her once again.
"Did you drink coffee before we left?" I ask, eyeing her apprehensively.
Alice gives a beautiful laugh. "Oh yes she did. And a Monster Energy 'B F C.'" She giggles again and sighs contentedly.
I close my eyes and rub my temples. "Alice, darlin', we're not supposed to give her sugar." Aura's heartbeat takes an increase and her emotions turn to fear and lust?
"I can't help it! She drank it before we got there!" Alice gives me a little pout. I reach behind Aura and cup her cheek.
"Never mind. If Edward want's someone to blame, he can blame her." I nod at Aura's back. Alice gives another laugh and I pull my arm back reluctantly.
Aura gives a quick giggle and turns to Alice. All of a sudden, she warps her arms around her tightly and hugs her. Friendly love radiates off her. Alice just gives out joy. Then Aura turns to me. She gives me a large grin then hugs me. Again, the friendly love, only this time, that hint of fear is back.
I sit stiffly for a moment then slowly put my arms around her lightly. Her fear evaporates. Was she afraid that I would push her away? That's a stupid thought. I take a deep breath of her scent (white jasmine, cherry blossoms, peach, and a small bit of apple blossoms), letting it fill my senses. I feel the bloodlust raise its ugly head and I push it back down. She gives me one last squeeze then pulls back, taking her warmth and scent (well, a little of her scent, its all over the car) with her.
While Aura grins at her hands in her lap, her hyper happiness radiating all over the small space, Alice gives me an alarmed look. "Did you make her do that?" she fast-whispers to me.
I slowly shake my head, still looking at the human girl that's now humming a song that sounds a lot like a song by Marilyn Manson. (Yes, I have heard some of his songs.) I tilt my head to the side. "The Beautiful People?" I inquire of Aura.
She looks up, still grinning. "You heard some Manson?" she asks, excited.
"Yeah, just a couple CD's. They were Edward's and when he plays them as loud as he does, its hard not to hear some. Even if you're outside about a mile away." I murmur the last sentence to myself. She hears.
"That loud? Wow, that's amazing. Doesn't that hurt his ears?"
"I don't know about his, but it hurts mine," Rosalie mutters from the front seat. Emmett glances at her then back at us.
"I don't know," he says. "I kind of like him. He's a little weird, but his music is okay." He shrugs and turns into the parking lot of the mall we had all agreed on prior to picking Aura up. Aura looks out the windshield, practically jumping out of her seat in excitement.
"Yeah, a little weird," she murmurs with an eager smile. "I can't wait for shopping!" she squeaks.
Alice looks at me, then at the bouncing human, then back at me. "You're starting to twitch," she whispers. Her eyes are as wide as dinner plates as she raises them to my face. "Jazz, you're twitching!"
Vampires twitch? That's odd. Of course, when Carlisle said that vampires can't get tattoos and piercings, that was only to stop us from getting either. Maybe he lied and we can twitch. Of course, why would he lie about twitching? I blank my mind to stop my train of thought. That would just lead to a dull rumble in the back of my head, similar to a human's headache.
Emmett looks up into the rearview mirror and stares as well. He pulls into a parking place with perfect accuracy, still staring. "Dude, what's up with that?" he asks to anyone who will answer.
Rosalie just shakes her head at me, a blank look on her face. "Calm her down." She nods at Aura, who is watching my eye twitch with great interest.
"That's weird. You're a weirdo, Jazz." She gives some light, pealing laughter. "That's okay, though. Because I'm a weirdo too. So you're not alone in your weirdo-ness. Oh, Edward's a weirdo! Where is he? Is he still in Hot Topic? Come on, guys, lets go!"
I hold my hand out in front of me. Its shaking slightly. I look at Aura then at Alice. "When will this end?" I hiss, not liking the human reactions to the human emotion coming off of the hyper human girl.
Alice gives a small smile. "I can't tell. Its not a conscious decision." She lets out a loud "HA!" Then covers her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide and laughter making her body shake.
Alice POV
Vision~~
Aura runs up to Edward and gives him a long hug, her face in his shirt. "Jazz was twitching in the car on the way over!" she exclaims happily. "Everyone stared at him like he was crazy. Why are you here and not in Hot Topic?"
They're standing outside, right next to a main entrance. Edward is looking down at Aura, his expression showing nothing.
Aura pulls her face back to look up at him. "I had coffee and Monster," she explains. "Jasper said they weren't allowed to give me sugar. Why? Why can't I have sugar? Alice laughed on the way over at nothing, I think she's a weirdo. Jasper's a weirdo. You're a weirdo and I'm a weirdo! Maybe Rosalie and Emmett are weirdos too!" She's talking fast enough for a vampire to have trouble hearing what she's saying.
Edward puts his hand over her mouth. She blinks then looks into his eyes. She obviously loses her train of thought as she stares. "You had coffee and an energy drink?" he asks calmly. Oh shit.
Aura blinks again. "Yeah, I was eating breakfast with Jacob Black this morning and I had woke up at maybe five in the morning, so I was tired and I drank a cup of coffee or two or three and after maybe a hour, maybe, I drank my Monster 'B F C' and made an omelet then shared half with Jacob and I didn't start bouncing until later around five minutes after getting in the Jeep. Then Jasper started to twitch, it was his eye, and his hand was shaking and Alice laughed at nothing then we got out of the car and I came and hugged you!" She flashes a bright grin at him.
"You had breakfast with Jacob Black?"
OH SHIT.
End Vision~~
I clamp my teeth down on my bottom lip and shake my head violently, trying to lose the premonition before Edward catches it and gets pissed off before he even talks to Aura, then our shopping trip would be ruined.
I watch my vision unfold, creeping slowly away with Jasper's hand in mine. Rosalie and Emmett follow my lead and we all four slip silently inside. I stand inside the door, watching to make sure nothing serious happens.
Aura POV
Everything is buzzing and the colors are a wild swirl. I notice Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie sneak around to go inside and then look at Edward. He's still fuming that I ate with Jake. For some reason, that sounds too funny and I giggle.
Edward looks down, his eyes a very opaque onyx. Funny, a moment ago they were rich gold... "Aura, love, go inside and shop." It's a request, not a demand. "Please, love. I'll come back, don't worry." He gives me a light hug and I feel his lips touch the top of my head. "I swear to you I'll be back. Just go inside."
I take a step back and look up at him. "I don't want you to go. This is like our first date! If you go, its like you're skipping out on me!" I feel a wave of despair wash over me, dragging me into the big black ocean of depression. Another fail at a relationship into the books. Too bad I really like him. "Never mind," I sigh, looking down at my shoes. I scuff the toe of my right shoe against the ground. "I guess I'll see you at school, huh?" I turn and start to walk away.
"Wait!" he calls after me.
I don't. I'll call Charlie. Or Jake, I think as I pull my cell out of my pocket. Wait. Can Jake drive? I sigh in frustration. A cold, hard hand closes around my left wrist then spins me around. I don't look up, my low self-confidence making my cheeks flush bright pink. What does he want? I think, even my inner voice sounding angry and wary.
"Where do you think you're going?" he murmurs to me, putting two fingers under my chin.
I pull my face away and glare at the sidewalk, feeling my hyper high slide away. "I'm going to call either Charlie or Jacob and I'm going home. Going out was a stupid idea," I growl, feeling my back get stiff when Edward leans down to see my expression.
He pauses in whatever he's going to say when he sees my face. Then he sighs and goes down to a crouch to talk to me face to face. I refuse to look into his hypnotizing eyes. "Aura, don't be like this. I'm only telling you to wait for me to wait for a little bit. Please?" His voice wraps around me, making my stiff back slowly relax. "Aura, love, why are you so angry?"
I blink rapidly and look up at the sky. Slowly, I sink to sit next to him on the sidewalk. He lowers to sit as well. "I'm sorry. I've been rejected and told repeatedly that I'm ugly or that I'm a fat slut that needs to keep her hands to herself or that I'm 'beneath' someone. One, I know for a fact I'm not ugly, I'm different. Two, I'm not fat, they were anorexic. Three, I'm not a slut because I've never had a relationship higher than a friend I talk to almost every day of the school week." I blush at my own statement then plow on. "Four, I'm not beneath anyone. They are beneath me. Unlike those idiots, I'm not someone who degrades someone for sport. I'm not someone who tears at a person until they're crying in the middle of a hall with the entire school laughing at them. I'm not a bully, mentally or physically. They were. They tried to beat you down, make you feel lower than you really are. There's not any of them here because everyone knows everyone in the little sleepy town of Forks, Washington. But in Arizona, you had better believe it. People strutted around like they owned the school. They even had the principal kissing their feet.
"I didn't do anything to them. After a while, I got cold. I lost my feelings. The jabs and jibes stopped effecting me. So they started making me an outcast. In Phoenix, you don't wear black. Its too hot in the sun. But it didn't matter to me. I just stopped feeling it. I got depressed, I built a wall, and I started firing back.
"They were startled at first. 'Someone talked back?'" I close my eyes, remember their expressions. "Then one of the girls stepped forward and slapped me. Oh, I got pissed off. I pushed her away from me. Turns out, I have muscle. Who wooda thunk it? She stumbled and lost her footing in her twenty-inch heels, then fell. Of course, she started to yell and her huge-ass football-playing beau stepped up in my face. I punched him. Hard. So hard, in fact, that his nose broke. My hand hurt like hell because I wasn't in the right stance for it. I just didn't care at the moment. I was finally letting anger out.
"Prissy bitch and her steroid-ridden boyfriend got together their friends and tried to beat me down. I took 'em all out. All twelve of the 'higher-class' sons of bitches went down. The six girls had used nails and teeth. The six guys had used their fists. I ended up with a split lip and a black eye, with various cuts and bruises. I still have scars on my arms, I think. They all ended up either unconscious or close to. I had no idea I could do so much. But it felt so good to let go, I didn't even notice the pain.
"They expelled me. Renee had to enroll me to another school where it happened again, only with suspension instead of expulsion. This was about a year ago. Renee got married. I moved here. She moved to Florida. She's pregnant with a girl. She's going to name her Isabella." I open my eyes and look over at Edward.
His face is drawn and closed off, showing nothing. He turns his hollow eyes to me and stares hard. "Can I see the scars?" he finally asks after a few moments of silence.
I roll up the sleeves of my jacket and turn my arms up. He stares hard at some of the scars, making me squirm a little. "This," he traces one, "is jagged. Its wide and obviously made from someone else. This one," he traces another, "is straight and smooth, probably from a knife or razor. Self mutilation?" He looks up, his expression haunted.
I cough and look away. "From other fights," I lie unconvincingly, making myself wince at the lack of my most-used skill. It had left me when I needed it most? How dare you, skill? How dare you?
He stares in my eyes a bit longer then gives a sharp "I'm sure." He lowers his eyes back to the scars with a peculiar expression. He reaches out a traces a scar that is one of a pair. Its curved and jagged and a very pale white. Its also about two degrees cooler than my body temp. and one I chose to ignore as best as I can. "Where did you get this?"
I gulp and lower my eyes once again. Another secret. "We need to go in. They're probably wondering where we are." I shakily raise to my feet and wave around a leg that's asleep.
He sighs and raises as well, then takes my hand as we walk back. I let him. After telling that story, I might as well.
A/N: ^-^ Well? Good? Bad? Pretty please review. I need to know if that story up there is really that convincing. Probably not, lol. Is it me, or does when you type lol look like someone throwing their arms in the air?