Twilight and New Moon belong to Stephenie Meyer.
This chapter took a little longer than usual, because I had to rework how some things were going to happen. Also, I spent an entire day trying to learn how to water ski. Thank you to LaLaLovely47 and barnbum5 who have helped me out with quite a few things.
"I'm not sure if this is a good idea, Brendon." I said while holding the bike helmet. He had convinced me to come over his house so we could talk more after school. At first I was hesitant, not because he was a vampire, but because he was a guy I had just met. Especially after he said he was attracted to me. But I knew we would need to sort everything out before we could go on with our lives as normal. Not like my life was normal or anything.
The thing was, Brendon rode a motorcycle. Charlie had hated them, he had seen too many teens recklessly driving on them, thus getting themselves killed. If either of my parents heard I was riding around Jacksonville on the back of a bike, they would freak. I fingered the helmet nervously. Brendon rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Bella, honestly, do you really think I'm going to crash? Truly, I could drive this thing with my eyes closed." He must have seen my shocked face, because he quickly added, "Not that I will, I was only kidding."
"Don't you want a helmet?" I asked. But he just shook his head and chuckled.
"That's the only one I have with me. And if by some force of God we did manage to crash, I think I would actually be in better shape without the helmet than you would be wearing it."
I laughed. "Fine, but if I get in trouble it should be on your conscience." I put the helmet on. He slid on the bike gracefully, and I got on behind him, not quite as stylishly. I think I actually kicked him as I was doing it, but he didn't say a word. As he pulled out, I say Amber glaring at me from across the parking lot. How would I explain this?
But my thoughts were suddenly lost as Brendon peeled out of the parking lot and began to race down the road. Going this fast on a motorcycle was a lot different than going this fast in a car. The wind whipped around me threatening to release the death grip I had around Brendon's waist. The other cars sped by, looking as if they were moving backwards. When we finally did stop at a red light, I released the breath I had been holding. Brendon turned around to look at me.
"Are you alright?" he asked, but his face didn't look concerned, it looked like he was about to burst into laughter. I glared at him, and he must have been able to see through the helmet, because he did laugh. When we took off the next time, he went a little slower, but not much.
When he pulled into a house, I wasn't really surprised to find that it wasn't a house. It was a mansion. Right on the edge of the St. Johns River, it sat with a large lawn around it, unusual in such a populated area. The brick driveway led up to a yellow clay home, a beautiful deck to the left hand side that could be entered through arches. It looked to be only two stories high, but it covered a lot of ground. On the top was a square tower, or perhaps a steeple, that reminded me of a Spanish missionary. The entire area was covered in trees, an every window had a box of beautiful fresh flowers.
Brendon pulled around the back of the house where the river was visible, and it was gorgeous view. He pulled the bike into the garage, where more expensive pieces of machinery were visible. Convertibles, sedans, all cars that I couldn't afford in my wildest dreams. As we got off the bike, which of course was not the only one, and I handed the helmet back to him, Brendon asked,
"So what do you think of my home?"
"It's…charming." I answered. His face was skeptical. "Well what am I supposed to say?! The place is huge, gorgeous, and has a great view! It's practically perfect!" I said, and he laughed. He led me through a door in the garage that entered into the house. He showed me around the rooms. The kitchen, living room, study, den, patio, all of them full of expensive, insanely clean things. I gazed in awe at everything, and noticed everything's size.
"Brendon, this house is huge. How many people live here?" I questioned him.
"No people live here." He said with a wry smile. I hit him on the arm, even though I knew it wouldn't do anything.
"You know what I mean."
"It's just my sister and her husband and me." He said.
"You have this huge house, and only three of you live here?!" I asked, incredulous. He nodded, and I shook my head. Some people led such wanton lives. "Tell me about your family," I said, to change the topic, '"What are they like?"
"Well, my sister, Emmeline, is an interior designer. She's actually quite well known in the Jacksonville area. She did our entire house." He told me as we walked into the living room and sat on the couch. I could tell why she was well known, the place was lovely.
"You two should work together," I said jokingly, "You'd be able to get them to like something even if it was hideous, then have them pay you ten times the amount." He laughed.
"I have suggested it to her before, but she is very opposed to the idea. Emmeline is a very composed and organized person, and the idea of cheating like that seems very wrong to her. Not that it is right in any sense, but making the next fashion trend to have something like a trashcan as a center piece has always been a fun idea of mine." We both laughed at the absurdity of it.
"And her husband, your…brother I suppose?"
"Yes," and he nodded, "Frederick, or Derik as we call him, is my adoptive brother. He and Emmeline found each other almost 60 years ago."
"I'm glad for them," I said, but the idea made the pain start, and I took deep breaths as Brendon continued.
"Derik gives different lectures at the Jacksonville University, and other colleges around the area. Only at night of course. During the day he usually helps Emme with her work."
"Why is the house so insanely clean? It looks like it's some sort of hotel." I said glancing around. He sighed and rolled his eyes.
"That's Emme. Like I said, she's very composed and organized. She must of had OCD or something, because when she's not working, she's cleaning."
"And you? I know so little about you. Are you from America, or somewhere else?"
"Yes, I'm from America. I was born in Baltimore in 1846. That's where I met Derik. We traveled for a while together, and eventually met Emme. With my gift we decided to move here. We knew we wouldn't be bothered by others."
"When did you decide to change your diet?" I asked, trying to make the question sound as normal as possible. His look was questioning, so I added, "You don't kill humans, right?"
"No," he replied, "That was an idea that we all came up with. None of us ever liked the idea of hurting others, so when we moved here, we changed our 'diet'. Not just because we needed to keep a low profile, but because what we were doing seemed wrong."
After that, we sat in silence for a while, as I gazed around the living room. After a while it became very awkward, and I started to get fidgety. When I turned to look, Brendon was staring at me.
"How did you know?" he asked, leaning casually into the couch, "How did you find out about vampires? And how did you know we don't kill humans." his eyes full of confusion and wonder.
"Your eyes," I answered for the last question, "They're not red, they're amber. And as for your existence, well, I knew some…vampires…back in Washington." I answered slowly. This was not a topic that was comfortable to talk about.
"You knew some? Did everyone know about them?" he inquired, his eyes wide.
"No, it was just me." I answered, but the mystified look didn't leave him.
"How come you knew, and everyone else didn't. Why did they tell you?"
I took a deep breath, because I knew I would have to come out with it eventually, even though it would hurt. He would keep prying until I told him everything. I just needed to get it over with.
"I fell in love with one of them, and eventually I found out the truth." His eyes grew wider, and he asked,
"You fell in love with a vampire?" I nodded, and he asked, "Who was he?"
"His name was…was Edward Cullen." I said as quickly as possible, why trying to hold myself together. Saying his name was hard, but I was surprised to find that it didn't hurt as much as before. Not as much, but still enough.
"Did he have a family?" Brendon questioned.
"He had two sisters, two brothers, and an adoptive mother and father." And I watched as he became awe struck.
"So large a family, I never thought that was possible. So then, why did you move to Florida?" he questioned.
"It turned out that…Edward…didn't actually feel the same way about me that I felt for him. So once he and his family were gone, I moved here."
"You wanted to escape your memories of him." Brendon said. It wasn't a question, just a statement of fact. I nodded. His eyes were suddenly filled with ancient understanding and regret.
"It hurts you, to talk about him. You must have cared for him very much. I won't bring him up again, I promise." He said solemnly. I smiled, happy that he understood, and happy that he was willing to be my friend, even if I was broken.
I glanced at the clock. "Renee should be coming home soon," I mumbled to myself, and when I saw him looking at me funny, I added, "She doesn't know I'm here. She can sometimes get a little over the top when she's worrying."
"Well then, how about I get you home?" he offered getting up. "We can continue talking tomorrow, if you want."
"Of course," I told him, and I meant it. "Only, I have one condition."
"What's that?" he said perplexed, as we walked into the garage.
"Can you drive me home in a car? Your driving on the motorcycle kinda freaked me out." His face was stunned for a second, then he broke into a wide grin, and we laughed together.
Hopefully, this chapter helped you to learn a little more about Brendon. Please review, as always. I got a ton of reviews for the last chapter, and was insanely happy! The people who have constantly reviewed, thank you so much! You rock my socks!