{{Charlotte's POV}}
I woke bright and early the next morning at five. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I decided to get dressed. I was downstairs at 7:00 watching the morning news, there was nothing do to for the next twenty minutes.
Dad came out of his room and stood across from me.
"What?" I asked. He was staring at me like I had done something wrong.
He held out the phone towards me. "Call him. You're not leaving until you do."
"Why?" I whined. "I promised I would call him, and I will. He's probably not even up this early." He pressed the phone into my hand. "Fine." I quickly dialed his number.
"Hello?" a groggry voice asked.
"Seth? Did I wake you?"
"No." There was creaking on the other side. "Well, yes, but it's fine."
"Okay." How was I supposed to bring it up?
"Charlotte what's wrong?"
I looked up into my dad's face. He nodded and walked out the front door. Another day of disappearing...
"Charlotte?"
"Uh, well, I―"
"Wait a few minutes. I'll be there a while." I heard things being thrown around. I couldn't let him come all the way out here for such a little thing.
"No. No. It's fine. You don't have to come out here."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I―I just wanted to tell you something. It's nothing huge, but my dad thought I should tell you anyway." I paused to see if he would say anything. "Yesterday, before I came to apologize, I went to see my mother."
A moment passed. "Did anyone go with you?" he asked.
"No. I just went after school. She bought me a laptop and I wanted to thank her. She didn't leave a number, only an address."
He sighed. "Please, tell me next time when you go see her."
"Why?"
"I can't let you wonder on your own in the woods. You need protection. I can't sit here worrying about if you're dead or alive. I'm sorry, but I don't trust your mother."
"I don't think she'd hurt me on purpose. She's my mother."
"I still don't trust her. She's a vampire! They are dangerous."
"And so are the Cullens. They haven't hurt me. The most they've done is welcomed and protected me." He sighed. "If you don't trust her, then you should at least trust me." I paused. "I'm going to see her again this weekend. If you're so worried, you can come, but I'm not breaking a promise to her."
"Charlotte―"
"I have to go. I'm going to be late for school." I hung up and placed the phone on the couch.
I sighed. Why did we always have to have a disagreement? Everything was just fine yesterday. He didn't have to know, but it might be better if he knew sooner than later.
I grabbed my keys and purse and headed for school.
I couldn't concentrate. Everything had been going downhill ever since my birthday. If getting a year older meant all this, I would rather stay the same age forever.
"Miss Duckling!"
I blinked and snapped to attention. Mr. Broads was standing over me.
"Yes?"
"Here is your paper." He dropped it on my desk and walked away.
My grade was at the top circled in red. 77. I sighed and stuffed the paper in my purse. At this point I really didn't care. I had other things to worry about.
I went throughout the day in a daze. I noticed Alice and Jasper did not show up. I'm sure there were other things they had to do as well. They had all the time in the world to go back to school. I'm sure they weren't in any hurry to graduate.
The next day went on in the same way—going through classes barely noticing anything important. Skye and Xavier left me to my thoughts. I was glad I didn't have to explain why I was feeling so down. I'm sure I would end up lying, like I did to Jessi and Carla.
Saturday finally came around. My mother and I hadn't really planned on a time that I should come, so I was planning to leave at around three. That should give enough time for the day to get started.
I sat on the swing in the backyard staring at the trees across from me. Something moved just inside the trees. I blinked and focused. It moved again. I slowly stood and made my way to the outskirts of the trees. It was growling. I squinted and leaned slightly forward. Its breath softly blew my hair aside. I turned to move away just as I saw it. The sandy-colored wall disappeared and stood in front of me. His warmth radiated towards me. My hands ran through his fur.
"You shouldn't be sneaking around, especially in broad daylight."
He let out a barking laugh.
"So I guess you're coming with me." He nodded. "I was hoping you would. She's not all that bad. Give her a chance."
His nostrils flared and he disappeared from beneath my fingers. He was back a few seconds later in his human form.
"I can't guarantee that I'll warm up to her," he said.
I shrugged. "It's a start."
We left a few minutes later.