Meet the Spartans
Everyone woke me up earlier than usual today. Jacob was already at the house, awaiting dropping me off for my first day at school. Everyone was giving me advice and laying down what rules the school had that I should keep in mind and so on. I was excited for today, but I was still nervous. I wasn't worried that no one would notice me. The soul fact that I was one of the 'foster children' of Dr. Carlisle Cullen alone guaranteed me endless attention. At least, that's what Alice told me.
"Don't be nervous, Nessie. Everyone will love you." Jacob was running his fingers through my hair as he said this. He was trying to calm me down. It was helping. Jacob always made me feel safe. I just wished Jacob were coming with me.
"You don't know that." Jacob laughed lightly.
"Nessie, I haven't met a single person that doesn't love you, especially once they've gotten to know you. Even my boss loves you and he hardly knows you." I smiled at his attempt to make me feel better.
"Now you're just making things up." Jacob laughed lightly and shook his head.
"Would I ever lie to you." I looked at Jacob. He was smiling that goofy smile and I couldn't stop myself from giggling.
"I guess not." Jacob smiled wider and kissed the top of my head. Then he continued running his fingers through my hair. Alice was sitting next to me while I was drinking some donated blood Carlisle let me have this morning.
"And no one will stop looking at you when they see you in that outfit." I rolled my eyes and started laughing lightly. Figures Alice would think about my clothes first. She had picked out my outfit for today. It was supposed to be sunny today, so she dressed me for the occasion. She had me in a pair of light wash skinny hip huggers, held up by a pink belt despite the fact that the pants were tight enough on their own, a light pink shirt with a small white half jacket that was sleeveless and my new white buckled bootie shoes from Charlotte Russe.
I was also sure to wear my plumeria comb in my hair for good luck. Same with both my lockets and my woven bracelet. And Alice spent the entire morning playing around with my hair trying to get it to be just right for my outfit. I had just wanted to wear my hair in a half ponytail crown with my plumeria comb sitting in the spot where the ponytail was restrained, but Alice wanted to do something different. She decided to put my hair in a side sweep messy fishtail look with my comb sitting where the braid rested next to my ear.
"Relax, Nessie. You look beautiful." When Alice was finally done with my hair, Jacob wasn't running his fingers through it anymore. Only playing with the tip of the braid.
"You're biased, Jacob." Jacob laughed lightly and shook his head.
"I'm not biased, Nessie. I have eyes." I looked at him confused, not sure what he meant at first. Then, when I realized what he meant, I laughed lightly too and shrugged. "Seriously, Ness, what are you so nervous about?" I sighed.
"I just am, okay." Jacob and everyone else laughed lightly. Daddy petted my head.
"Don't worry, Nessie. You'll be fine." I smiled at daddy and momma who was standing next to him with reassurance in her eyes.
"If you say so daddy." He smirked a little and kissed the top of my head. Rosalie came up behind me and hugged me around my neck gently with Emmett standing close by ready to do the same.
"Nessie, you'll have them at hello." I smiled at Rosalie and at Emmett. Daddy glared at Emmett over a thought he had. Daddy then rolled his eyes when Emmett started talking.
"And remember Nessie, they can look all they want, but don't let them touch." Momma smacked Emmett on his shoulder and Rosalie elbowed him. Jasper just laughed lightly to himself. I looked at Jasper.
"Anything you want to add?" Daddy laughed lightly at Jasper's eminent response and so did Alice when she envisioned it.
"Don't bite anyone." Those that hadn't already known what he would say laughed. I couldn't help but feel sorry for Jasper. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for him to be surrounded by so much blood.
I finished drinking the donated blood shortly after Alice finished doing my hair. When I was done, Carlisle took the large half gallon cup and cleaned it out with soap and bleach. When he had that cleaned to his satisfaction, he put it away and walked back over to me and kissed the top of my head.
"Good luck, Nessie. You'll be fine." I smiled at Carlisle.
"Thanks, Carlisle." Carlisle gave me one last heartfelt smile before going to the garage and making his way to the hospital. Esme came up behind me and hugged me. Daddy sat across from me at the table and looked me in the eye.
"What's the story?" I sighed. We'd gone over this so many times. I already knew it, but daddy kept wanting to go over it. No one could know I was Edward and Bella Cullen's biological daughter, so we had to tell them a different story.
"I moved in with you guys over the summer after my mom, your sister, and dad had a car accident in which they didn't survive. You are my uncle, momma is my aunt and you were my only living relative that the children's agency had to track down. You're my legal guardians." Daddy smiled and nodded his head.
"Very good." I smiled and nodded my head. "Let's get going. School starts in twenty minutes." I couldn't help but laugh. We were a good distance away from the school, but daddy would still get me there in five minutes tops, I'm sure.
"Alright. I'm ready." Jacob smiled and stood up with me when I got up from the table. I was going to drive with Jacob in the Rabbit and he would follow momma and daddy on our way to school.
After everyone was in their cars, daddy drove out of the garage and Jacob followed closely behind, going only slightly slower than daddy. When we were out onto the road, daddy sped up even more and Jacob followed suit.
"You aren't going to get pulled over or anything are you?" Jacob smiled.
"I hope not. Edward promised he'd flash his lights if a cop was close by." I shrugged and looked forward at the Volvo. As predicted, it took five minutes to get to the school at the speed daddy was driving at. We drove near the front of the school and both parked. When Jacob turned off the car, Jacob and I both got out and daddy and momma followed. I looked at the school for a moment. There were already people staring at me. I breathed in a deep breath and turned around to face Jacob, daddy and momma.
"Everyone's staring at me." Daddy and momma laughed lightly. Jacob smiled.
"You'll get used to it, Nessie." Daddy said to me with a smile. I walked closer to Jacob and hugged him tightly. He hugged me back.
"You'll be okay, Nessie. And my phone will be on all day. So if you need to text me, feel free." I smiled into my nook and breathed him in. I instantly felt better.
"If you promise." Jacob rested his head on top of mine and kissed the top of my head.
"I promise." I smiled into my little nook, not wanting to let go of him. He was my security blanket after all. Daddy and momma walked over and I hugged them goodbye. Momma and daddy both kissed my cheek and the top of my head.
"I love you momma, daddy." They both smiled.
"We love you too, Renesmee." I smiled and didn't let go of them until I heard the bell that announced classes would be starting soon. I took a deep breath, waved goodbye to them, especially Jacob, and turned to where daddy pointed out was my building 4 English class. I waved goodbye as I walked away and didn't stop looking until I entered building 4.
I followed a few kids to a class in the building. There weren't a lot of people there yet. The ones that were there were reading a book or a magazine. I was grateful for the lack of attention. I walked up to the teacher who was sitting behind the desk to learn where I would be sitting.
"Excuse me, sir." The man looked up from his book to look at me. He looked surprised of something at first, but then recovered himself.
"Can I help you? Are you one of the teachers?" I shook my head with a small smile.
"No. I'm a student." He looked at me skeptically at first. Then he shrugged and opened his grading book to tell me where I would sit.
"Name?"
"Renesmee Cullen." He looked through the rows until he found my name.
"You're sitting mid center. Take your seat, class starts shortly." I smiled and nodded and he nodded back politely. I saw the person sitting behind me and smiled at her politely. She didn't stop looking at me last I saw after I sat down. A few short moments after I sat down, I felt something touching my hair. I looked behind me and saw the girl from before. She was petting my hair.
"Why are you touching my hair?" She smiled and sighed.
"You have really pretty hair is all." I stared at her a moment before smiling politely.
"Thanks." I turned around to face the front again. A few moments later, she was petting my hair again. I turned around to face her. "Please stop touching my hair." She just smiled.
"Sorry. It's just so pretty." I sighed.
"Thank you, but please stop touching it." I looked forward again and didn't expect her to talk again.
"I'm Madison by the way." I sighed and turned around to face her again, smiling politely.
"I'm Nessie." She gave me a confused but was still smiling.
"You mean like the loch ness monster?" I kept a straight face and made sure not to yell at her.
"No. Not like the loch ness monster. It's like Renesmee." Her face stayed confused.
"Okay, then what's a Renesmee?" I took a deep breath.
"You are joking right?" She started laughing.
"Yes, I'm joking. That's a pretty name, Renesmee." I smiled politely again.
"Thanks." I felt someone tap my shoulder to my right. I looked around to that person. It was a guy with brown hair and brown eyes. He had kind of a baby face, but looked like a nice guy.
"Are you from around here?" I shook my head. Insert daddy's story here.
"No. I'm from California." Madison commented.
"You're from California?" I nodded at her. "Aren't Californians really tan or something." I smiled lightly.
"Yeah. I forgot to paint on my skin this morning." Madison and the other guy both started laughing at my joke. Both had their heads laying on their desks from laughter. I waited for them to stop laughing, but it was a while before they did. I didn't think it was that funny. Madison finally took a deep breath and looked at me.
"That's a good one." I smiled and waited for them to finish completely. Then the guy sitting to my right said something.
"So why'd you move to Forks of all places?" I looked at him. Insert daddy's story.
"My mom and dad died in a car crash a few months ago. Edward Cullen is my only living relative. My mom was his sister." He looked confused.
"Edward Cullen?" I nodded my head. "I thought he was a foster kid or something." I nodded my head again.
"Yeah. My mom and uncle were adopted by different people." Their faces both became aware.
"I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been hard." I nodded and made my face look sad.
"Yeah. They're in a better place now." They both nodded their heads. The guy next to me changed the subject.
"I'm Matt." I smiled kindly.
"Nessie."
"You mean like the loch.."
"No." My tone was a little harsher than it should have been, but that didn't seem to deter him. He smiled and laughed lightly.
"Is that your full name?" I shook my head.
"Renesmee." He smiled wider.
"Pretty name." I smiled back.
"Thanks." The bell rang again and I looked forward. The teacher who had been sitting behind the desk stood up and tried getting everyone's attention.
"Everyone, class has started. Look up here." Once everyone was looking at him and he had our attention, he continued. "I'm your English teacher Mr. Preston. How's everyone doing?" Everyone mumbled or said they were fine or that they missed summer.
After that, he started handing out literature books while telling us about what our curriculum would be for the first semester. The first thing we would be going over would be Romeo and Juliet. One of my least favorite plays. The story itself is a good concept, but Romeo is so fickle and Juliet's the same way. First one is obsessed with Rosaline, one doesn't want to get married, then they see each other and that all goes out the window. I mean, they knew each other not even a week before they got married. Then at the week mark, they kill themselves because Romeo couldn't wait five minutes to see if Juliet was in fact dead. The play just annoys me. But I knew the story, so I was rest assured that this wouldn't be a hard unit at all.
He showed us where in our books the play could be found and started giving us a summary of the play beginning to end. I noticed that most were texting on their phones. I wanted to text Jacob. I had reached my phone, but when my hand got into my white, large purse that Alice had bought me the other day, the bell rang, announcing the end of first period. I looked at my schedule to see what my next class would be. I needed to go to building 2. Then I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around to see who it was and saw that it was Matt with Madison standing right behind him.
"Where's your next class?"
"Building 2. Algebra." Madison's face fell and Matt's face lit up.
"That's my next class too." I smiled politely. Madison commented.
"I have earth science next." She sighed remorsefully. I tried to ignore her over reacting. "What do you have third period."
"World History." Her face lit up again.
"That's what I have too. I can't wait. I'll be sure to save you a seat." With that, Madison walked away. I watched her as she walked away, waving goodbye a little more enthusiastically than I would have deemed necessary. Then Matt got back my attention.
"Come on, Nessie. I'll show you the way to the building." I smiled and thanked him for his help. I followed him to our math class while he talked endlessly about how he was hoping to join the school baseball and basketball teams and what he had done over the summer. I tried to pay attention to him as best my interest level would allow.
When we got into the class, Matt said hello to the teacher who was standing up front sitting on her desk. She had short, dirty blonde hair that was styled it a pixie like hair cut and wore really cute black rim glasses and a nice pair of black suit pants with white pin stripes and a vibrant purple top and the same color shoes. Alice would have loved her and been very proud of me for noticing. She smiled at Matt when he said hi.
"Hey, Matt. You're sitting in the middle front row." Matt complained half heartedly but took his seat. I wondered briefly how they knew each other, but I didn't think too much about it. She looked at me and smiled. "Are you new around here?" I smiled and nodded.
"Yeah. I just moved here from California." She smiled and nodded.
"I can't imagine why your family would trade all that sunshine for constant rain, but hey, whatever makes a family happy." I wasn't about to explain the false story, but Matt did it for me.
"Her parents died in a car crash a few months ago. She moved in with her uncle, Edward Cullen." The teacher looked at Matt, then looked at me.
"I'm sorry to hear that." I nodded and pretended to be sad again.
"Thanks." She smiled at me reassuringly.
"Well, I'm glad that you have such a kind uncle to take care of you. And your aunt too. Edward and Bella were such good students. I always heard good things about both of them." I smiled appreciatively.
"Yeah. They're great. Edward said he would help me with everything I needed help with." I took everything in me to keep a straight face. It felt so weird calling daddy by his name. Her smile widened.
"You'll find no better tutor than Edward Cullen."
"Yeah, I know." She laughed lightly, then reached behind her to get her seating chart. She looked at it a moment.
"Renesmee Cullen?" I nodded. "Do you have a nick name I should know about?"
"Nessie." She smiled and wrote it down under my name. "Okay, Nessie. You'll be sitting to the far right in the front seat." I nodded my head.
"Thanks." I walked over to the seat that she had pointed me to and sat down with my purse in my lap. I heard Matt complain to the teacher, who he called Ms. Yardale, about putting me so far away from him. I laughed lightly and rolled my eyes. I sat in my chair waiting for class to start. Someone sat in the seat next to me and behind me, but I didn't pay attention to them at first.
"Hey." I looked up at the voice behind me that I had heard. She was a red head with curly hair. It reminded me of Shirley Temple. She wore a lot of eye makeup compared to the eyeliner and mascara that I was wearing. Once again, Alice's orders.
"Hi." Her smile widened and she also glanced at the girl sitting next to me, who was a short haired brunette who was chewing on her gum way too loudly. Even a human could hear it. She smiled politely rather than happily, like she was just as forced to talk as I was.
"My name's Candy. And you?" I questioned whether or not that was her real name, but figured I wasn't in a position to ask.
"I'm Nessie." Both girls started laughing lightly and kind of rudely. Oh please no.
"You mean like the…"
"No. Not like the loch ness monster." They both laughed lightly again.
"Well, sorry. This is Megan." I looked at the other girl who waved lazily at me.
"And her name isn't really Candy, it's Candice." I acknowledged hearing her, but otherwise didn't react.
"Just call me Candy." I nodded.
"Will do."
"What's your full name?" I sighed.
"Renesmee." She smiled.
"Matt says you're one of the Cullens or something." I nodded.
"Yeah. I'm Edward Cullen's niece." I hated saying that. She smiled.
"That is so cool. My sister said that they had, like, a huge house. Biggest she'd ever seen."
"Who was your sister?"
"Christine Frans. She went to Bella Swan's graduation party. She was a junior at the time." Which explained why I had no idea who she was.
"That's cool." Ms. Yardale called for our attention and introduced herself to the class. When she finished introducing herself, she had everyone around the class say their name and share something about themselves. When it came to me, everyone actually stared at me. I sighed.
"What's your name and what's something you want to share with the class?" I sat up straight in my chair and breathed.
"I'm Renesmee Cullen. You can call me Nessie." Everyone waited for me to continue. "I…um….." I wasn't sure what to say. There wasn't a whole lot I was even allowed to tell them. "I like rabbits." It was the first thing that came to mind. Everyone laughed.
"Rabbits are pretty cool." I smiled and nodded. My introduction finished that little activity and got us started with the lesson. She handed out our books and instructed us to turn to chapter 1.
I listened to her lesson intently and was sure to take notes. Mostly because I didn't want to give into the temptation to text Jacob. I figured I could wait until lunch at least. That way I'd have a little more information to give him about my day. When class ended, I got up from my seat and was suddenly surrounded by a crowd of people. Matt, Candy and Megan being in the front.
"Where's your next class?" Candy asked me hopefully.
"World History." She became happy and so did Matt.
"Same as us. Come on, walk with us to class." Candy took it upon herself to grab my hand and pull me with her into the hallways with Matt following closely behind. Megan went the other way and waved goodbye to Candy.
Candy and Matt babbled on as we walked over to building 4 for our next class. I wasn't paying attention to them anymore. I already knew what they were talking about. Matt was repeating what he had said earlier and Candy was talking about her summer, leading the bulk conversation. When we got into the class, I was taken by surprise when someone ran up to me and hugged me. I realized that person was Madison.
"Oh, Nessie, I missed you." I laughed nervously and patted her back.
"Yeah. You too." She giggled and hugged me tighter. Matt became sad looking and Candy started laughing. I wondered what it was they knew that I didn't. After a moment, Madison still hadn't let go of me. "Um……I let go and you haven't. Why?" She giggled.
"Sorry. I was excited is all." Excited being the operative word. She walked with me to the teacher's desk. It was a man who was balding and was wearing what looked like a tweed jacket.
"Um…sir." He looked up.
"Oh, hi. Name?"
"Renesmee Cullen." He nodded his head.
"Nice to meet you. I'm your teacher, Mr. Garrison." I nodded.
"Cool." He then rolled his eyes for some reason and looked back at me with an annoyed expression.
"Okay, let me get one thing straight. I don't have a hand puppet named Mr. Hat, I'm not in the closet, nor am I openly gay, I don't have an assistant teacher named Mr. Slave that I sleep with and abuse in front of the class, I never had a sex change and became a lesbian, and I never had a sex change reversed and became straight again." I backed away a foot or so.
"Please sir, your personal life is none of my business." The kids who'd heard the conversation started laughing. He looked at me a little longer shaking his head.
"Just sit down. You have a seat next to Miss Cleever." I gave him a confused look.
"Who?" Then Madison hugged me again.
"That's me. I got Mr. Garrison to let you sit next to me. Isn't that great?" I sighed. Wonderful. I smiled and laughed nervously.
"Yeah, great." She took my hand and led me to where her seat was and pointed at my seat after she sat in hers. When we took our seats, Matt and Candy walked over to join us.
"So how do you like Forks High School so far." I smiled awkwardly and lifted my fist up half heartedly.
"Go Spartans." They laughed lightly at my joke.
"You are so funny, Nessie." Madison patted my shoulder. Then I saw her reach for something. I looked over to see what she was reaching for, but found out what it was really quickly when I saw a flash. I blinked my eyes at the bright light. Madison sighed. "You're so pretty, Renesmee." I laughed nervously.
"Thanks I guess." Matt looked at Madison.
"I hope you plan on sharing that photo." I sighed and shuttered. I wasn't having a fun time at high school. I tried not to think of the many reasons that comment was wrong. I was relieved when class started and Mr. Garrison announced that we were starting the unit with Greece. I always enjoyed Greek history. He even announced that we would be reading the Iliad and the Odyssey. Two books I've already read and really liked.
Mr. Garrison handed out our books and told us to read the first chapter tonight for homework. The chapter was on the battle of Thessaly. He even promised that we would watch 300 at the end of the unit if we were good and if we got our parent's permission. Madison was trying to talk to me the whole class period. I always politely nodded at what she was saying, but never really said anything back.
I was relieved when class was over, and even more relieved to find that neither Madison, Candy or Matt shared a class with me next period. I was hoping this whole 'new kid in town' thing would wear off soon. I wasn't crazy about it. At least I had a great bunch of stories to tell Jacob and the others that they would get a kick out of.
My next class was Earth Science in building 1. I didn't have any trouble finding it on my own. When I walked in, the teacher smiled at me and introduced himself as Mr. Peters. I introduced myself as Renesmee Cullen and told him to just call me Nessie. When he found my name, he pointed me to the seat that would be mine for the rest of the semester.
I walked over to the table he'd pointed to and saw the girl that was sitting there. Mr. Peters said that she would be my science partner. When I got to the table, I smiled at her then looked back forward. I wasn't sure I wanted to talk to her. Something about her made me uncomfortable. She had dark black hair with millions of colors under her top black. Peek-a-boo colors Alice liked to call them. She was wearing a KISS shirt and black leather pants with a silver looking belt and black, high heeled shoes.
She started staring at me after a minute. When class started, the teacher, first, handed out our books and let us know what we were to do today. He wanted us all to do a practice activity with some rocks that were on all of our tables. The first chapter would have the types of rocks they were and we had to identify them with our partners.
When he finished explaining, I opened the book and looked through all the listed rocks. I started putting everything in their right order after reading them all. We were the first ones done. The teacher came over to make sure we did it right, and praised us when he found we had. Then, the girl sitting next to me finally spoke to me.
"What's your name?" I looked at her. She didn't really look interested.
"Renesmee Cullen."
"Aida Mathews." I smiled politely, then looked back at the book. "You said Cullen?" I looked at her again. She suddenly looked interested.
"Yeah."
"The family the reds in La Push hate so much?" I shook my head.
"The Quileutes don't hate us. They're family friends."
"Ah huh." I looked forward again, not really wanting to talk anymore. "My dad used to work with Carlisle Cullen." I didn't look at her.
"That's cool."
"He's one of the brain specialists. He noticed something weird about Doctor Cullen. He doesn't seem to age." My heart raced, but I thought of something.
"That's the beauty of Olay face products." She laughed without humor.
"Whatever you say. But he's also never there on sunny days like this." I shrugged.
"Whenever the weather's good, we go camping. It's our thing."
"Ah huh. He never sees him eat lunch either."
"Carlisle usually eats lunch in his office." I was getting annoyed with her, but I didn't let it show.
"So what's your relation to Dr. Cullen?"
"I'm his foster son, Edward Cullen's, niece. My mom, who was his sister, was killed in a car crash and Edward is my only living relative."
"What a shame." We went silent for a moment. I was hoping that the conversation would be over with that. But I wasn't that lucky. "So where're you from?"
"California."
"Where in California?"
"San Diego."
"Awesome. I hear it gets really sunny out there." I nodded.
"Yeah, it does." I heard her go through her bag to look for something. When she found what she was looking for, she held it in front of me. It was a small makeup mirror. I could see both our images in the mirror. I looked at her now. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing. It didn't work anyway." I looked at her a moment, then turned around to face the front of the class. Then I felt something hit my arm gently. When I looked, I saw that it was a cross.
"Now what are you doing?" She looked annoyed.
"Nothing." I sighed and looked forward again. I almost leaped for joy when the bell rung, signaling the end of class. I found my locker so I could put away all the books I had accumulated in the past few hours. I smelled a vaguely familiar scent, but didn't think much of it until I closed my locker door. I saw Madison and Matt standing on the other side of me with big smiles on their faces. Madison grabbed my hand.
"Come on, Nessie, let's go to lunch. Candy and Megan already have a table picked." She didn't give me a chance to accept or decline before she pulled me with her to the cafeteria. As Madison said, Megan and Candy already had a table and were waiting for us to show up. Madison sat me in a chair and instantly took the one next to me, which also had me sitting next to Megan. After a few minutes, three other people joined the table. Their names were Kevin, Randy, and Mackenzie.
"So you're the new girl we've heard so much about." Kevin was nodding his head approvingly over something as he said this. I smiled politely like I had been doing for most the day and nodded.
"Yeah." Mackenzie spoke next. She was the first sincerely welcoming and halfway sane sounding person I'd heard all day, with exceptions to Ms. Yardale.
"It's nice to meet you. Madison showed me the picture she took of you. You're really photogenic." I smiled.
"Thanks." I heard a chair scoot closer to me and realized, when I looked over, that it was Madison.
"What would you say if we were to put this in the newspaper? 'San Diego's Best and Finest'." I sighed.
"I'd say no." Her smile became pleading. Kevin spoke next.
"Come on, Nessie. It's not every day that Forks gets newcomers." With the exception of the entire Cullen family and Bella Swan, yeah, you never get newcomers.
"I'd still rather you not, if that's okay." Madison seemed to pout.
"But Nessie, you're so pretty. Let the whole school know." I heard someone, other than myself, sigh in exasperation.
"Madison, if she doesn't want to be on the paper, don't make her." I looked towards the voice. It was Mackenzie. I smiled at her gratefully and she smiled back. Madison, and a few others at the table, sighed.
"Oh well. There's always the homecoming dance." I looked at her.
"I thought only upper classman were allowed to go to that." She smiled and nodded.
"Unless a lower classman is asked by an upper classman, which I was." Candy rolled her eyes.
"You act as if you're the only one to be asked." Megan smirked in humor, but otherwise said nothing.
"I never said that. I just said that I was asked to the homecoming dance." Madison didn't seem to have the usual sparkle in her eye when she said this. Kevin looked skeptical, as did everyone else.
"And who asked you, if we may ask?" Madison answered without missing a beat.
"Kelly Fennel. She was on class counsel last year when she was a sophomore. She's trying for Junior class counsel right now." Everyone looked surprised.
"She asked you?" Megan asked, sounding like she still didn't believe it. Madison nodded. "I thought she had a boyfriend." Madison nodded.
"They had a fight last month over summer break. She wants to 'get back at him'. At least, that's what she said." Madison rolled her eyes when she said this.
"So, basically, she just asked you to the dance as revenge?" Madison nodded at Candy's question.
"Pretty much." Then Madison looked at me hopefully.
"That's why I was hoping to put your picture in the paper. That way, it's more likely one of the upper classman guys will ask you to the dance and I won't be alone." I could actually see stars in Madison's eyes. Kevin rolled his eyes.
"The dance isn't even for another month and a half."
"So? I was asked a week before school even started. I don't doubt someone as pretty as Nessie will have any trouble finding a date for the dance in such a short time." I was beginning to get freaked out. More so than I already had been.
Everyone kept talking about the dance and what the decoration plans might be and who they hoped would ask them and so on. I pretty much smiled politely throughout the whole conversation. I went up with them when they all got their lunches. I wasn't surprised that they didn't have mushrooms, capers, or sauerkraut, but that didn't stop me from being sad and at a loss as to what I would eat.
I finally settled on bottled water and an orange. I figured I could maybe put it in my mouth now and then, keep the pieces in my hand, and they would think I was eating. When we sat back down, I was a little embarrassed that I had the least amount of food of everyone at the table, but no one looked surprised by that, so I didn't draw attention to it.
"Why is Aida staring at us?" I looked up from my orange to look in the direction that Megan was looking. I saw Aida sitting with one other person at a table in the far corner of the cafeteria. The other girl was wearing jeans and a baggy shirt, even though it was obvious that she was smaller than her clothes let on. I didn't look long. I noticed that they were both staring at us too. Candy responded after she looked.
"They didn't even bother to turn away their heads when we looked. Freaky." I resisted the urge to ask who she was, but as it turns out, I didn't even need to ask. "Have you met her yet, Nessie?" I looked back at Candy and sighed.
"Yeah. She's my lab partner in Earth Science." Everyone laughed lightly in humor and in pity.
"Wow. Good luck with that. Aida's a freaky one. And we don't say that lightly." I looked at her confused.
"What do you mean 'say that lightly'?" Kevin answered me this time.
"She's a freak. Like really a freak." I wondered what their reasoning behind that was. I already knew she wasn't a vampire. If she were, I would have smelled it and she wouldn't have had a heartbeat. And her eyes wouldn't be brown. And she wasn't a half breed either. Her heart rate would have been a lot faster and her scent would be sweeter.
"What makes you say that." Everyone looked at her, then looked back at me. Candy answered my question like she was telling a ghost story.
"She worships Satan." I blinked my eyes several times and gave her a shocked expression.
"I'm sorry, what?" They laughed.
"It's true. She's really open about it. I swear, during seventh grade, she wrote a paper about how Satan and his son were going to take over the world or something. It was so bad. One of the teachers had to force her to go back to her seat." I wasn't believing this. I'd heard of people that did this sort of thing, but it seemed so out of character for a small town girl.
"Are you guys trying to be funny or something?" They all shook their heads and Kevin, without permission, put his hand on mine.
"No. It's true. Her and her dad and sister moved her from Seattle in the second grade. Her sister had a lot of friends here, but most of them were upper classman, so they're off at college now. But that's who she's sitting with. Her sister, Coralline. She's a senior now." I looked again. They were both still looking at me, so I quickly looked away.
"Ah huh." Madison moved Kevin's hand and took it in his place.
"You have to believe us. She's really freaky." I nodded.
"I figured that when she threw a cross at me." Everyone at the table had shocked, then amused expressions.
"Oh my god." Said Megan.
"She thinks you're a vampire or something?" Oh god. Madison's face became horrified and offended.
"That's ridiculous. Why would she think someone as beautiful and sweet as you is a vampire? Vampires drink blood and don't come out during the day. And they're supposed to be ugly." I'm in trouble. I was lucky that they seemed to have all the wrong ideas, but I wasn't sure if Aida was as believing in the stereotypes as everyone else was.
"I don't know. She said it had something to do with Dr. Cullen." They all looked confused, then they started laughing again.
"Oh yeah, that. Her dad never sees her eat in the staff room and he goes camping on sunny days. That's why." I nodded.
"That's what she told me." Everyone laughed again. But something else bothered me. "But Carlisle works at a different hospital in Olympia now, so how would he know?" Carlisle had started worrying that everyone would start noticing that he never aged, so he had changed hospitals. The only reason he was working today was because the weather in Olympia was horrible today compared to Forks. They kept smirking.
"That was only last year when he started working in Olympia. She thinks that's all the more proof that he's a vampire. Running away from witnesses." They all rolled their eyes. I was relieved that they at least didn't believe it. That made this situation so much easier.
"Is it safe to assume that none of you talk to her?" Everyone laughed again.
"Hell no. That girl sends chills down my spine." Candy spoke for everyone. Everyone changed the subject after that. I was relieved that they had. Madison kept begging me to try and find a date for the homecoming dance so I could go with her. I said I would try, even though I had no intention to.
Aida and her sister were still staring at me by the end of the lunch period, but I tried not to pay attention to them. Everyone at my table except Megan, Randy and Matt were in my next class. They happily led me to our next class, still talking about their summer and the dance and everything else there was for them to talk about. Spanish class went by without a single hitch. I took the time after class to talk to Mr. Fernandez entirely in Spanish, hoping to ensure a place in a higher Spanish class.
It worked out pretty well. He said that he was impressed with my Spanish skills and he would arrange for me to be put in a Spanish 3 class by the end of this week. I thanked him for his help and walked to my next class. Madison had stayed behind for me even though I'd asked her not to worry about it. She and just about everyone else was in my study hall that period and would be in my gym next period. I took the time to finish all my homework during study hall, even though everyone was trying to talk to me. The whole class was crowding around me and some even asked me what answers I got on the math homework.
Madison never left my side. Near the end of the class period, Madison told me about someone who would be in our gym class next period that she wanted me to meet. He was a junior and hence a candidate to ask me to the dance. I just nodded my head and said I would meet him. I didn't agree to go, only to meet him.
I had all my homework done by the end of the class period. How I was able to do that with so many people breathing down my neck the whole time, I'll never know. We all changed and Madison made sure to have a locker right next to mine in the locker rooms. I noticed that Aida was in our gym class too, but I didn't pay attention to her. I wish I could say the same for her.
The gym wasn't huge, but it was enough to fit half the school. We were starting with a Basketball unit. All classes were of the same curriculum. Coach Clapp and my gym teacher, Coach Randal, taught together. The whole class broke up into teams for two basketball games. Madison immediately grabbed me and took me over to the guy she had told me about and his group of friends, indicating that we were all a team.
"Nessie, this is Greg. Greg, Nessie." Greg was a light brown haired junior with stubble that I imagine he thought made him look attractive, but in all honesty made him look thirty. He had brown eyes and looked like he was very proud. Greg smiled when he saw me and I smiled back politely.
"Nice to meet you Nessie."
"Yeah, you too." Though Madison still forced herself into the conversation, she made sure that Greg and I were talking to each other most of the class period. He did most of the talking while I tried to pay attention to the game. Our score was pretty close. The other team was filled with kids that were on the basketball team and I was the only girl on the team that wasn't frightened of the ball.
Halfway through the game, I stole the ball from the other team and started making my way to the hoop. I was about to throw the ball when I felt someone practically jump on me screaming about a ball hitting her. I didn't even need to look behind me to know it was Madison. But when I let go of the ball, it went full force against the wall and made its way back. I held my hands up to protect my face. When the ball hit my hand, it hit the tips of my fingers and made a loud popping sound that made the whole gym look at me.
The basketball had popped the moment it hit my fingers. I froze. There was no way I'd be able to explain this. I heard everyone start screaming and asking me if I was okay, so I took advantage. I let the limp basketball fall to the ground and held my hand and made myself look like I was hurting.
"NESSIE!!! Oh Nessie, I'm so sorry!!" Madison was still hugging me and everyone else was surrounding me asking if I was okay. I let them think that my fingers were hurting really bad. Maybe I could convince them that I'd sprained the bones or something. The coaches ran over to us and started asking me the same questions. They both asked Madison to take me to the nurse's office, and she readily agreed, taking hold of my shoulders and pushing/pulling me with her to the nurse.
After the nurse looked at my fingers, she told me that I would be fine and that my fingers weren't broken. She did ask if I was feeling alright. A high fever. I told her I was fine and that my body was just naturally a little warmer. I told her that Carlisle thought it might be because of my high metabolism. She had noticed that my heart rate was a little higher too, but I blamed that on said metabolism. On the way back to the locker room, Madison was insistent on apologizing to me.
"Nessie, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have jumped on you. It's just that ball hit my back so hard that it startled me. Please say you forgive me." I sighed.
"Yes, Madison, I forgive you." Her eyes sparkled and she hugged me.
"Oh thank you Nessie." I sighed again.
"Sure. Anytime."
"And by the way." I looked at her.
"What?"
"What did you think of Greg?" I held back the urge to roll my eyes. I shrugged instead.
"He's nice, I guess." Her smiled sparkled too.
"Good. Because he really liked you." Oh goody.
"Is that so?" She nodded.
"Yep. And I asked him if he had picked a date yet for the homecoming dance and he said he was still looking. So what do you say, Nessie?" I sighed.
"I don't know, Madison. I'd rather not." Her face became sad and shocked.
"Why not? He's a nice guy and he's really cute. And if he asks you, you'll be able to go to the homecoming dance with me."
"I know, Madison, but I'm not really keen on the idea of going to a dance with a guy I hardly know." She whined.
"Please, Nessie? At least consider it." We had already reached the locker room and were changing. Class hadn't let out yet, but it would only be two more minutes before the seven minute bell rang.
"Give me until it's almost time for homecoming. If I like him enough, I'll go." She smiled and started bouncing before she hugged me.
"Yay. Thank you Nessie. I promise, you'll have a great time."
"Sure, sure." She giggled again and hugged me tighter before she finally released me. Then the bell rang, and the locker room filled with the girls from the class. Some immediately ran up to me and asked if I was okay. I told all of them that I was fine and that they didn't need to worry about me. When I finished getting dressed, I went to the front of the locker room with the crowd of girls that were already there to wait for the bell to ring. When I got there, I heard someone clear their throat to get my attention. I looked up and saw Aida staring at me.
"You did quite a number on that ball." I smiled awkwardly and nodded my head.
"Yeah. It was already too soft."
"Ah huh." I looked ahead, but she kept talking to me. "I'm assuming that you weren't hurt too bad then." I nodded, but didn't look at her.
"Yeah." I felt her touch my arm. I looked at her. "What are you doing?" Her face looked annoyed and disappointed. Then she sighed.
"Nothing." I sighed and looked forward again. A moment later, she spoke again. "You're skins harder." I froze. I'm sure she wouldn't have noticed, but I could. "What's with that?" I sighed.
"I don't know." I didn't know what else to tell her. It was the first thing that came to my head to say to her.
"Do you wear perfume? It's really nice. You smell like peaches and sunflowers." I smiled kindly.
"Thank you, but no, I don't wear perfume." She smirked at that and I felt a chill go down my spine.
"Is that so?" I nodded.
"It's the body wash and deodorant I use." I hoped she would believe that. Her face became less hopeful, but not completely shot down.
"Interesting." I almost did a happy dance when the bell rang. I nearly jogged back to my locker to drop off the rest of my things so I could leave. I went to the spot that Jacob, momma and daddy had dropped me off at. My heart soared with relief when I saw Jacob sitting on the hood of his Rabbit waving and smiling at me. I ran over to him and practically leaped into his arms.
"Jacob!!!" He opened his arms and let me hug him around his neck. He hugged me back and started laughing lightly.
"How was your first day?" I buried my face into my nook.
"Horrible. I don't want to go to school anymore." Jacob made me face him. His eyes were shocked.
"Why? Were they mean to you?" I shook my head. I lifted my hand up to touch his face and showed him my whole day. I showed him the over enthusiasm, the Satanist, the guy Madison wanted me to go to the dance with and everything else that happened that day. By the end, Jacob had laughed, looked concerned and even looked annoyed when I showed him the part with Greg. "Wow. What a day." I nodded.
"Yeah. You see what I mean." Jacob sighed.
"That Aida girl might be a big problem." He put me down and motioned with his head for me to get in the car. When we were in the car and he was driving out of the parking lot, I looked at Jacob and smiled nervously.
"You don't think she's figured it out do you?' Jacob sighed and rubbed his face with his hand.
"I think she thinks she's figured it out, but she's figured it out with all the wrong information."
"Which means?"
"It means that Edward has some planning to do. It wouldn't surprise me if they decided to send you to a different school." I sighed.
"I'm not sure I really want to though. I mean, what school would I go to? Everything's either too far away or isn't taking more students." Jacob sighed.
"I don't know. That's for Edward to decide. He might have to wait until there's a parent day or something. And who knows, as long as you avoid Aida as much as you can, I think you should be fine."
"You think so?" Jacob looked at me and smiled.
"Yeah. I do." I smiled at him. "But as far as Madison is concerned, looks to me like she has a crush on you." This confused me, then I became aware.
"Great. So she is a lesbian?" Jacob nodded.
"Either that or bisexual. Either way, she likes you. There's no doubt about that." I sighed heavily and Jacob chuckled lightly. Then his voice became serious. "Are you planning on going to the homecoming dance with Greg?" I smiled at his tone. It made me sort of happy that this bothered him. It meant that he cared.
"No. I don't want to. If I go, I'd want to go with you." Jacob laughed lightly.
"I'm flattered Nessie, but only students are allowed to go to those sort of things. If I tried taking you, they'd throw me out the gym doors." I giggled.
"It would take the whole staff to do that." Jacob laughed harder with me.
"Are you calling me fat or something?" He asked teasingly.
"Of course not. I'm saying it would take all of them to hold you down and manage to force you out of the building. And that's just in your human form." Jacob kept laughing.
"Thanks for that, Nessie." When Jacob was finally on the road, we made our way back to the house. I only hoped that daddy wouldn't over react to the Aida situation. Science was the only class in which I had to talk to her. But if I talked to the teacher, maybe he'd be willing to give me a different partner.
Jacob asked me a few more questions about my day, particularly if my fingers were okay. I sighed and told him I was fine. Jacob took his time driving back to the house. He knew I wasn't ready to face daddy and the others yet. I knew daddy would have plenty to say about Aida. As far as everyone else, I wasn't sure what he would have to say about that. Compared to Aida, Madison was the least of my worries. When we reached the house, Jacob slowed the car down and once again took his time driving us to the house. But when we reached it, daddy and the others were waiting for me at the door. Jacob let me get out so he could park the car in the garage. Emmett was the first one to get to me.
"So? How'd it go?" Daddy already knew the story and already looked concerned. I held Emmett's hand and showed him my day. But when I got to the parts about Aida, he didn't seem nervous. "Is that what teenagers are into these days?" Emmett started laughing.
"Emmett, this is serious. This could become a problem." Everyone looked at Emmett and daddy confused. Momma came to me and took my hand. I showed her what I showed Emmett.
"You mean like a Satanist, like she worships Satan." I nodded.
"Pretty much." Everyone became more confused and started crowding around me. I showed Jasper next, then Alice, then Rosalie, then finally, Esme. Esme looked concerned.
"What are we going to do?" Daddy sighed at Esme's question.
"We could always send her to a different school. But if that Aida girl is anything like I think she is, that will be evidence to her." I walked over to daddy. Jacob was already back from parking the car and followed behind me.
"Maybe you should let me stay there. Hope that this interest wears off." Emmett chuckled.
"That's what we all hoped for Edward and Bella, and look how that turned out." Daddy hissed at Emmett.
"That's not funny Emmett." Emmett shrugged and laughed. I looked at daddy and noticed he was nervous. But he looked more than nervous about just Aida. There was something else wrong. I think Jacob saw it too. I suddenly noticed it on everyone except Emmett.
"Edward, what's going on?" I heard Jacob say from behind me. I looked in the house and saw Nahuel and his sisters standing in our living room. I looked at daddy.
"They just showed up. Alice lost sight of Stefan and Vladimir weeks ago. Nahuel and his family came here around noon today." I looked in the house again and noticed everyone else. Nahuel, Huilen, Citclali, Yaretzi and Atzi were there. But I saw two men standing there that I didn't recognize. Yaretzi smiled shyly and waved hello at me and I waved back, still looking confused.
"What do you mean lost sight of Vladimir and Stefan?" Daddy's face stayed serious and I heard Jacob sigh behind me.
"Last month, Alice saw that Vladimir and Stefan were planning to come here. But they made several side trips before doing so. The only side trip that Alice saw, though, was when they went to Lithuania. But we don't know why they went to Lithuania. After that, Alice lost sight of them. Nahuel and the others told us that Stefan and Vladimir found them last week and told them they needed to come here."
"Why?" When I asked this, I heard a deep, handsome voice with a heavy Brazilian………no, a Portuguese accent. It was rich and silky and was enough to make a woman melt. He answered my question.
"They didn't say. They just told us that it was urgent that we go to you at once." It was a man that didn't look Brazilian. He looked European. Portuguese. I walked into the house so I could get a closer look at him. The man standing closest to Yaretzi was tall, with slightly tinted skin, but was still very pale. He had longer hair that would have been the style in the eighteenth century and his clothes were unusually proper. He was wearing khakis with a dark polo shirt that he must have stolen from somewhere. His stature was proud and strong, like a man that could determine your fate. I assumed this was Rafael.
"Rafael?" He half smiled and nodded.
"Yes." I looked at Yaretzi, who smiled back at me. She looked at the man that was standing on the other side of her.
"This is our son, Marcelo." Marcelo smiled politely at me.
"Nice to meet you, Marcelo."
"You too, Renesmee." His voice was as beautiful as his father's. He had the same European accent but it was tinted with a Brazilian slur. It was mesmerizing. He looked just like his father but had mach tanner skin and darker hair. His hair was also shorter, more modern. He wore a white t-shirt with a pair of light wash jeans. Much more casual than his father. He was also less muscular looking, but was far from scrawny. He was the perfect balance of his mother and father. I looked back at Nahuel.
"So you don't know why they asked you to come here?" He shook his head.
"No. But they seemed happy about something. A little happier than I would have liked in truth." Vladimir and Stefan had always fascinated me. They were obsessed with revenge. It drove them insane. I looked at daddy. He sighed when he heard my mental question.
"I can only imagine that the Voulturi are involved in this. That's the only reason I can think of that would make them this eager. I just don't know what they would want with us and Nahuel's family."
"Stefan did say that he and Vladimir had something to show us. It was just them when they came to us, but after they told us to go to you, they said that they would make their way to Volterra and then come here." This took everyone except daddy by surprise. Momma walked closer to Nahuel.
"Why would they go to Italy?" Nahuel shrugged.
"I don't know. They didn't say." I heard daddy hiss and momma walked back to daddy and held him. Everyone came back into the house. I walked over to daddy and hugged him. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. Jacob took a spot close to me.
"Did you already call Carlisle?"
"Yeah, we did."
"Where is he?"
"He's at the airport. The Denalis should be here soon." I nodded. I let go of daddy and looked at Jacob. I walked closer to him and hugged him. He hugged me back.
"You knew about all this didn't you?" Jacob sighed and held me tighter.
"I didn't know about Nahuel coming here. But Edward told me that Alice saw Vladimir and Stefan coming." I looked up at him. His face looked guilty.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Jacob touched my face and caressed my cheek with his thumb. The action made me feel slightly better.
"We didn't want you to worry. You had enough things to worry about. We were hoping that this wouldn't be anything serious. We're still hoping that." I sighed and buried my face back into my nook.
"Don't keep things like this from me anymore, okay." I felt Jacob breathe in my scent and rest his chin on the top of my head.
"I won't Nessie." I smiled lightly into my nook and breathed him in. Rafael, though I'm sure he didn't mean it, sounded rushed and almost arrogant.
"So I assume the future seer doesn't know when they're coming back."
"No, she doesn't." I looked at daddy, staying in Jacob's arms.
"Still?" Daddy nodded. "But they've already told Nahuel and his family. The only way that Alice wouldn't be able to see someone is if they're a werewolf or a half breed like me." Daddy nodded. "Do you think that's it?" Daddy shook his head.
"I doubt either Vladimir or Stefan have the restraint to create a half breed. And as far as werewolves are concern, there are as many werewolves left in Europe as there are buffalo in the United States." I sighed.
"Then what else could it be?" Daddy shrugged.
"We don't know, Nessie. We just don't know." Everyone had the same look of concern and lack of understanding. No one knew what was going on. Not even Alice or daddy. Rafael spoke next.
"How many others are you calling here?" Daddy looked at Rafael.
"Only the Denalis for now. If we need to call on others, we'll do it when it's necessary." I saw Rafael nod his head, then look at Yaretzi. He started mumbling reassurances to her in Portuguese, doing the same to Marcelo, though in a much more fatherly tone. I stayed in Jacob's arms.
I had no idea how I would be able to concentrate on school with all this going on. This involved me and it involved the Voulturi. Of that I was sure. Why else would Vladimir and Stefan send Nahuel and his family? Nahuel and his siblings were all half breeds like me. And Nahuel's nephew was something else. Closer to vampire, but still not quite. No one knew what I or the Voulturi had to do with any of this and I doubted that we would get an answer any time soon. But whatever it was, thinking about it made me shake.
Emmett finally ended the silence by telling everyone that this was, in fact, probably nothing and that we should relax until we know exactly what's going on. Emmett got Nahuel and Marcelo to play a game of gin with him to pass the time. When Carlisle finally got back a few hours later, the Denalis were with him. They were just as confused and baffled as we were. Garret was especially annoyed that Stefan and Vladimir were so vague on their information. He was happy to know that I had started my first day of school today. They asked me lots of questions about that.
I started getting tired around ten that night, so daddy told Jacob to take me home. Jacob said he would stay with me until they got back to the cottage and that he would call the entire pack out on patrol that night and tell them what was going on. Or what we knew would be the more appropriate wording. When I had finished my nightly routine, I went into my room and crawled into bed. Jacob kissed the top of my head when he tucked me in.
"Jacob?" Jacob gave me eye contact.
"Yeah, Nessie?" I looked at him for a moment. He looked nervous. I understood why.
"You don't think this will be anything bad do you? You don't think that Vladimir and Stefan are trying to start something?" Jacob looked at me with puzzlement and fear in his eyes. The fear wasn't for him, though. That fear was for me. I wanted to reassure him, but I didn't know how I could.
"I wish I knew, Nessie." He brought his face closer to mine and started talking in a whisper. "But mark my words, Nessie. No matter what this turns into, I won't let anything happen to you. Anything." I smiled at him. I tried to make my smile as loving as possible.
"I know you will." He smiled at me with the same look I was giving him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he took me in his arms in return. I breathed in his scent and immediately felt safe and warm. I wanted so badly for him to stay with me. I knew that wasn't possible. He needed to tell the pack what was happening. But I hoped. "Stay here tonight."
"I have to tell the pack what's going on." I nodded.
"I know. But could you stay at the cottage? You could still stay here and tell them." Jacob sighed lightly and held me tighter.
"Nessie." I hugged tighter onto him too. Begging him now. "Alright. I'll stay." I smiled into Jacob's neck.
"Thank you, Jacob." I felt him smile into my neck.
"Anything for you, Renesmee." I felt myself getting teary eyed. I hated crying. But when it was over something like this, it didn't seem so bad. I kissed Jacob's neck, wanting to kiss anything. He kissed my neck, then lifted his head from me to kiss my cheek, my nose, my forehead, and the top of my head. When he'd kissed those spots, he lifted his head and smiled at me and I smiled back. "Get some sleep Nessie. You have school tomorrow." I giggled lightly and nodded.
Jacob tucked me back in and sat next to my bed with me, waiting for momma and daddy to get home. Jacob kept his body close so I could hear his heartbeat and smell his woodsy scent. It relaxed me, knowing that he was so close. It took a little longer for me to fall asleep than it normally did. But I fell asleep close to my security blanket, and that made everything seem okay.