Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.....but I sure wish I did!
Summary: EJ Cullen breaks the most important family rule of all. How will will his father deal with him? WARNING: CORPORAL PUNISHMENT
The bell rang and I sprang from my seat forcing myself to slow my speed not to attract attention to the humans. It was becoming more difficult to subdue myself as my physical strength and speed continued to grow. Today was exceptionally hard, I wanted to get out of here; I had plans.
I was waiting for Nessie at the car, she was lingering again. For someone who was practically forced to go to high school she sure seemed to enjoy herself. It didn't bother me most days as I enjoyed seeing her have fun with someone besides Jacob or myself. It seemed healthy.
I was so antsy I couldn't contain myself; tapping my foot on the gas pedal I enjoyed the smooth purr of my engine. The sound only pumped me up more. I threw in a CD and blared "Killing in the name of" by Rage against the machine; perfect for today's festivities. My pulse wouldn't stop racing as I fantasized about the evening. Hurry up NESSIE. Finally she strolled towards the car and when she was about three feet from the car I threw open the door almost slamming her in the leg. She climbed in.
"EJ, what's your problem?" "What are you in such a hurry for?"
I slammed my foot on the gas pedal and pealed out of the parking lot with a screech, leaving part of my tires behind. I took it up another notch as we hit the last stop light heading out of town. Sound waves bounced off buildings with eminent force as we sped past with a mission. "Killing in the name of….."
I slammed my hands against the wheel in rhythm of the song we were listening to. I easily hit 125mph as we approached the MLK loop. I had to drop it to 80mph to make the turn. I got a quick flash of a cherry slurpee and a 7-11 sign. It was Nessie's way to tell me she wanted to stop. At the last second I yanked the wheel to the right, crossing into the exit 330 off ramp. I wasn't really in that big of a hurry my festivities didn't start till this evening but driving fast was just more fun. Before I could put the car in park Nessie had the door open and legs hanging out. She gave me one hard glance over her left shoulder to make sure I knew she was pissed.
"I'm sorry I was just joking around." I nudged her with my shoulder at the slurpee machine to make her a little off balance.
"You're still not that good of a driver you know."
Her voice was a bit lighter so I knew she wasn't really mad at me, just annoyed because I wouldn't listen to her when she told me to slow down. I grabbed a 32oz green Monster from the cooler and waited for her at the checkout counter. "It's on me" I said as I flashed her an apologetic look. For a Cullen you wouldn't think buying a $2 Slurpee would be a kind gesture, however my wallet was still bare. My parents weren't shy in the car department but for some reason they felt it necessary that we earn our spending cash.
We plopped down outside on the curb.
"Do you really need to be drinking a Monster right now? You seem pretty energetic already."
"Probably not but it can't really hurt me; can it?" I retorted. Nessie looked at me briefly then turned her head away watching the regulars head in and out of the store. Half heartedly she asked;
"So are you going to tell me what plans have you so hyped up?"
I could tell she wasn't anticipating my plans to excite her so I thought I'd build them up a bit. It sure would be fun to have someone come with me. Specifically someone I knew would get as much enjoyment out of this as I would.
"Have you ever wanted to break the rules Ness?"
"I kind of feel like I do that every day just living mainstream." She replied, still paying more attention to the students and early work crowd that walked out with Big Gulps in hand.
"So would you tell me already?" She asked, certainly not amused with my beating around the bush.
Why does she have to act so old sometimes? Am I the only one that wants to live a little.
"You might want to come with after I tell you, it would be more fun with you there". I jutted out my lower lip and tilted my head down so I was looking up at her.
"JUST TELL ME E.J.!"
Clearly not entertained I decided to just come out with it. "Okay okay, well…..there is a blood drive at the elementary school tonight from 7-9pm."
"Yeah So?" She replied, taking her gaze off me once again to watch Mitch Wilcox walk in. Less than a second passed when her head swiftly turned in my direction. Her light green eyes pinned mine almost to the wall.
"OH MY GOD" She gasped. "No way Edward Jacob you can NOT be serious?"
Well, I had her attention now. People rarely called me Edward Jacob, actually I'm not sure if most people even knew that was my name so I knew this struck a nerve.
"Have you lost your mind?" She barked, more statement than question. Her eyebrows grew closer together and that's when I could see my father in her face. She always ruins everything; I should have kept this to myself.
Knowing I was in this alone I stood up ignoring her question. This was supposed to be her cue that this conversation was over.
"You don't have to come if you don't want to Nessie, nobody is holding a gun to your head!"
"How stupid can you be, you know you're going to get caught" I could tell she was scared for me as I was engulfed by her nervousness.
"Don't you want to know what it feels like just once?" I pleaded, hoping I could get through to her.
"I already know and you know what it can do to us." Referring to our desire to hunt humans.
"Where not the same as them Ness, we don't know". I replied hoping for a change in emotion.
As unsure as we were to what would happen, we were pretty confident that our desire to hunt humans was much more subdued then our full bred family members. It had always been a Cullen rule that we were not to drink human blood, mostly as a precaution.
Drinking human blood had been one thing on my to-do list once I learned how to better manage my shielding powers. With great concentration I was able to find ways to block / store specific memories or thoughts I did not want my dad to know. The down fall is he knew exactly when I was doing it so he always suspected something. Although I tried to play it off like I just wanted some privacy. Very rarely did he push me to spill my guts because he did feel guilty for hearing every ones personal thoughts.
The blood drive couldn't have fallen on a better night. Everyone except Carlisle and Esme had been out of town. Mom and dad were gone for a conference the past two days and decided to take an extra day to hunt. Rosalie, Emmit, Jasper and Alice were taking a mini vacation.
Ness stood up and glared down at me. "It's your own funeral and I am not going with you".
I stood up and grumbled "Why don't you just go hang out with Jacob, your killing my buzz". I brushed her shoulder as I walked to get into the driver's seat.
We didn't speak the entire way home. I wasn't concerned with her intentionally ratting on me. Although we didn't always see eye to eye we had an unbreakable desire to protect one another and that included the backlash of breaking a family rule. She knew me well enough that no matter what she said I was going to that blood drive. Ness got out of the car first, I watched her walk up the stairs with extra weight on her shoulders while carrying my secret. She didn't like to keep things from Esme and Carlisle and I felt a little guilty for causing her this burden. Why didn't I just keep it to myself? I knew why, she was the one person I told everything to, no matter what.
Inside, the house was booming with Esme's favorite classical music. She greeted me with a huge smile and hug as she spun me around so elegantly to the sound. She loved to dance and I was a little shy since she had over a hundred years of more practice then I. She didn't care she loved to dance with me anyway. She was determined I would eventually be able to dance as well as Fred Astaire. After sharing my day with Esme I eventually made my way to my bedroom.
Carlisle got home around 6pm; I could hear him chatting with Esme in the kitchen. For a family that didn't eat food everyone seemed to be in the kitchen an awful lot. Ness decided to take my advice and had already headed out with Jacob for the evening. I was upstairs in my room picking out my clothes. I scanned my closet for a shirt to wear. Thanks to Alice almost everything in my closet was perfect, god forbid she have a nephew that wasn't up on fashion. It dawned on me then that I didn't exactly have a plan to how I was going to obtain my illegal substance. I did however plan to leave early enough to scan the blood drive before people started showing up. After the blood drive I was going to attend Madison Denny's party since her parents were going to be gone. I guess I would play it by ear at the blood drive.
I glanced at the clock and it was already 6:30pm, I had to hit the road. I took a giant leap, landed 2/3 the way down the stairs, skidded the last ten feet and caught myself about two inches from smashing into the front door. Well, at least I was making improvements. "See you guys" I yelled loud enough for Carlisle and Esme to hear me in the kitchen.
"Wait" Esme responded. "Come in here a second."
Dang I thought I could get by without having to fabricate a story. Not that I hadn't become pretty good and hiding my thoughts and secrets, I just felt bad lying to two of the most perfect people in the world.
Reluctantly I turned and headed toward the kitchen. Carlisle had his arms wrapped around Esme's waist as her head rested on his chest. They both turned their full attention on me and greeted me with smiles.
"How was your day, son?" Carlisle asked with sincerity. He smiled waiting for my reply.
God, why does he have to be so nice? He would be crushed if he knew what I was planning.
"Hey Carlisle, it was alright I guess" I replied. Finding it difficult to make eye contact I tried to distract myself by fidgeting with the mail that was on the table.
"I'm kinda in a hurry though, do you mind if I get going?" I asked while restacking the pile of mail for the third time.
They briefly glanced at each other then back at me.
"No that's fine. Where are you headed off to and what time will you be back?" Esme asked intrigued.
I should have known they would ask questions, why didn't I prepare for this?
I quickly thought of the most realistic scenario I could.
"I'm going to a movie with Mitch and Ryan and we will probably play Maden later."
I didn't want to ask if I could stay over because I knew Esme would call Mitch's mom to ask. Since I was already Mitch's cover for Madison's party I didn't think it was a good idea.
Carlisle removed himself from Esme's waist so he could stand closer to me. "Have fun and be home by midnight" he instructed.
Looking up at Carlisle with my most innocent look I attempted to counter offer. "TWO?" I asked half smiling, knowing full well my curfew never changes.
Carlisle glanced at Esme with a smirk on his face. Esme returned his same look before turning towards me.
"How about 11:30pm" She asked, eyebrows raised.
"Midnight is Peeeerfect" I quickly responded. "See you guys later."
As I turned to make my way for the door I felt a soft hand touch my upper arm. I turned around to see Carlisle looking at me intently. "Please be safe." He asked. I wanted to melt right then and there. I didn't' deserve their concern.
I walked out the door and made my way to my car while contemplating my plans. The further I walked from the house, even if only a few feet I started to feel my responsibility leash weaken. The excitement was starting to come back. The idea of doing something so unacceptable was thrilling.