Chapitre sept. For those of you that don't know French, that translates into chapter seven...

So... yeah. Is there much to say? I don't really think so. So, enjoy the chapter, and I would love to have a few reviews to read if you so choose =]

Esme Platt

"Well, it's dawn. I guess we better get going to school, huh?" the blonde boy.. err... Carlisle (I had a tendency to keep forgetting his name) said. I watched as he stood up and brushed a few strands of loose hair from his face, and then turned his light, ice-blue eyes on me. "You ready?"

Pulling myself to my feet as well, I replied, "Actually... why don't you and I skip today? We could fake 'calling in sick' and I could show you this area that I like to go to. I think you would find it pleasant as well."

He blinked, astonished. "Uh, sure."

"If you don't want to miss school, you don't have to. It was only a suggestion. I get it if you wanna keep your perfect attendance record or something." I looked at him expectantly, waiting for his answer. Please say yes, I pleaded in my mind, You're an interesting person to me. As if my thought had been willed into his head, he nodded eagerly and contradicted my statement.

"No, I'll come with you. It'll be nice to have a break from school for a day, at least."

I also nodded, turning my back to him and beginning to lead the way.

"So where exactly are we going?" Carlisle inquired, his eyes wheeling around the unknown area and taking in the new surroundings. I smiled to myself at his curiosity.

"Just wait. We're almost there," I replied, pushing past one more thin blockage of foliage and revealing the area that I liked to think of as my second home. "And here we are."

No matter how many times I saw it or how long of a period of time I stayed here, the gorgeous sight never ceased to take my breath away. A large, sandy colored cliff jutted out above the dark blue shining water beneath. My mother, before she has passed away when I was nine, always described the color of my eyes as just barely a shade lighter than the water. The waves rolled gently over the sea, and above, the pearl-white clouds moved swiftly across the sky, as if symbolizing that one day everything would follow in their path and slowly slip away into a land of nothingness.

"So, what do you think?" I finally asked, turning around to see Carlisle staring wide-eyed at the breath-taking sight.

"It's amazing," he breathed. "How did you find this place?"

"My mother used to take me here when I was younger." I shrugged lightly. "That's why I wanted to move back."

"So you haven't always lived in Wisconsin?"

I shook my head." No. I lived here until I was about nine, then my dad and I moved to Ashland. He had gotten a job here little while ago, so we moved back."

"And what about your mother?"

I hesitated, internally debating on whether or not to answer his inquiry. As if sensing my uneasiness, he quickly amended, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

once again, I moved my head back and forth in denial. "No, its all right. She died when I was nine, so it's just kinda hard to talk about, if you know what I mean." I lifted my gaze from the ground to meet his eyes. To my surprise, the amount of sympathy that filled the pools of blue was much more than I had expected. Though, there was a hint of something else behind the irises that I just couldn't put my finger on.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "That must've been horrible; especially when you're that young."

"It was," I replied quietly, "but I think I'm finally getting over it. Hopefully -" I cut myself off at the start of my sentence, realizing that I was about to delve a little too deep into information on my personal life. Carlisle didn't need to know anything about that just yet; if at all.

"Hopefully what?" he pushed on, leaning in a little bit towards me.

"Oh, nothing. Just started thinking aloud for a moment." I looked back towards Carlisle, only to find myself staring into his eyes. I wasn't exactly sure how long we both sat there staring at each other until he finally broke the silence.

"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. But I want you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to, that I'm always here."

I nodded, "Sure. Good to know." He smiled gently at me and then turned back to look out over the beautiful water.

"If you don't mind me asking," he began tentatively, "What were you doing in the forest for all that time? Were you here? Or did someone, like, kidnap you or something?"

I looked at him, a little surprised by his sudden onslaught of inquiries. "You're one to ask questions, aren't you?"

Carlisle's cheeks seemed to flush into a bright pink. "Sorry. I don't mean to interrogate you or anything."

"Don't worry about it." I fought the urge to smile at his embarrassment. I wasn't one to smile often, and I'm sure that Carlisle had noticed that over the time we'd known each other. I had no intention of trying to change the way he thought of me; if he thought anything of me in the first place, that is. "But, no, I wasn't in the forest. I was here, like you said."

"Why did you... well, run away for so long like that?"

"Um... no reason. I just... I just needed some time to myself for a little while. I needed not to be around people; especially those imbeciles at school."

"Very true," he murmured, before throwing yet another question at me. "Didn't your father wonder where you were?"

I sat in silence for a few moments, contemplating on whether or not to answer truthfully. "Um... no, most likely not."

Confusion replaced the glimmer of that one little something that I couldn't seem to figure out in Carlisle's eyes, "Your own father... he wouldn't worry about the disappearance of his daughter?"

Suddenly becoming fascinated with a blade of grass on the ground, I shook my head, "No. The only thing he'd be concerned about that involves my disappearance would be that he would no longer have anyone to take advantage of, to beat up, to get him his ninth bottle of beer every night." My voice halted immediately as soon as the words left my mouth. Damn, I thought, I didn't just say that. Not to him. I didn't... yes I did. Why? I snuck a quick glance at Carlisle, who's eyes held a disarray of confusion and sympathy.

"Um... I best be going," I mumbled, fumbling to stand up from the ground and escape from Carlisle's gaze as fast as humanly possible. "I'll see you at school tomorrow." I spun around in a streak of black and walked swiftly towards the thick lining of trees, but was stopped by a hand closing around my wrist.

"Don't go," Carlisle's soft voice begged, "Don't be ashamed of that. It's not your fault."

"Yes it is. It's most definitely my fault. Now let me go." I pulled my wrist from his grip and kept walking, picking up my pace. I'd made it through the trees and back onto the trail we had taken before, and just as I was about to push through another layer of foliage, two strong arms caught me around the waist.

"Stop it, Carlisle!" I whined, struggling to remove his arms from my body, "Just leave me alone. None of this concerns you in the slightest." Before I could unclasp his arms from my waist, Carlisle had turned me around and secured me in a tight hug against his chest.

"As of now, yes it does. You're part of my life now, and I'm part of yours. There's no turning back."

… well... xD Thoughts? Ideas? Constructive criticism? Thank you for tuning in! :)