It was Dad. Edward.
Everyone looked pretty shocked that he'd gotten up and talked to all of them. I knew this was probably pretty rare; as vampires, we keep to ourselves, mainly. And though we're gorgeous, we don't exactly fit in.
And I probably looked like a white cat among a bunch of black cats at this table. My strange beauty and pale skin matched those sitting at the Cullen table. I was a vampire. Sort of.
Did he know that?
Sudden fear gripped me as I glanced up at my father. Could he read my mind? But as I gazed at him, I somehow got the sensation that he had no idea what I was thinking.
This just keeps getting more interesting by the moment, huh?
"Uhm, hi there," I said, smooth as possible.
"I'm Edward Cullen," he introduced himself. Like he needed to. Everyone was gaping at him like Brad Pitt had appeared at our table. We all knew him.
"I'm Ren- Abigail Bird," I replied hastily, inwardly chastising myself.
He looked faintly amused. "Well, Ren-Abigail Bird, can I borrow you for a moment?"
I felt highly uncomfortably doing that. He was my dad, but he had no idea. Bella was his wife, but he had no idea. And I wasn't even born yet, and he had no idea. Yet he seemed interested in me. Does anyone else think that could lead to some awkward situations?
But I had no choice but to nod and slowly stand up. "I'll be right back, guys," I called over my shoulder. I couldn't help but notice the way both Jessica and Mom- Bella- gazed at Edward. Jessica looked more in love than my mom, but still. I felt ashamed by the fact he'd come over and not paid his future wife a single glance.
Yup. This day was going to suck.
Heads turned, eyes widened, as everyone saw Dad... Edward... walking the the "new girl"- as I guessed I'd probably been dubbed by now- walking from the cafeteria. I swallowed hard. Our pace was slow and careless, graceful and somehow matching.
Because I'm your freaking daughter!
Sighing, he pushed open the door that led from the cafeteria into a small, quiet lobby-like room that held pairs of stairways and some fake plants. We were utterly alone. As Dad glanced around, he seemed almost anxious.
He slipped his hands into a pockets and turned to me, eyes smoldering.
"Who are you, really?" he asked in a low voice.
I blinked, taken aback. He sounded mad, and I immediately felt guilty (when a dad gets mad at you for any reason, it's just sort of a natural reaction). But I held my head up and glared right back.
"My name is Abigail Bird," I said firmly. I put so much strength into the five words, I almost believed it myself.
So did he. Almost.
"Look, I- I don't know if you understand this. But I have a question."
"Shoot," I said carelessly.
Dad stared at me, expression thoughtful and dark. He finally took a quick breath and said quietly, "You have a pale complexion. You are impossibly beautiful," he added bitterly, "and your skin is..." He reached out for a moment, and touched my hand to check my skin temperature. I automatically felt his mind open up, and I knew what he would say an instant before he said it. Silently I sent him the word through ours minds, and he stiffened, staring at me with wide eyes.
"Cold," he said, sounding distracted and confused.
I just smirked at him as our hands moved, and I lost the connection.
"And your point is?" I inquired.
Dad (should I start calling him Edward? It might reduce the weirdness of this whole situation; buy a little bit, anyways) just stared wordlessly at me. Suddenly he drew close, teeth pulled back in the starting of a snarl. I leapt back, shocked, as he spoke. "Don't play games with me. Are you a new addition to the Volturi?"
The Volturi. A small shiver went down my back. I remembered them. When I had just been days old, I'd watched as they'd all come to my house. They'd had the intention of killing me, because they thought half-vampire children were threats to revealing the existence of vampires. Had it not been for Alice and the ancient Nahuel...
I shook my head quickly, but it was too late. Edward (I'd decided to just go with that) had seen me shiver, and misinterpreted it. "Are you here to spy on us?" he whispered. "Because my family have never broken any laws.
You have no business here."
I stared at him; he'd gripped my arm, and though it wasn't really hurting despite his iron-clad grip (I'd inherited his baffling strength, which comes in handy for moments like this), it was starting to annoy me. And besides, he was jumping to answers like an idiot.
"Okay, first of all, bucko," I growled, "Let go of me."
He blinked, and then dropped his hold. "That didn't hurt, did it?"
I just rolled my eyes and went on. "Secondly, I am not part of the Volturi." I hesitated, and saw a decision before me. Either I could act dumb and somehow convince him that, despite all my vampire qualities, I am indeed an innocent human girl, or I could go ahead and admit I'm a vampire, and somehow make him think I'm from a different clan or whatever. I thought the second choice complimented this ugly situation better, so I finally sighed and muttered, "Look, Edward, I know what you're thinking. And you're right."
He stared at me through wide eyes. "You're a..." He swallowed hard. "A vampire?"
I hesitated, then nodded briefly. "Yeah." Here I was, spilling my guts to my pre-Bella father, and I hadn't even been here fifteen minutes. It's a crazy world.
He stared at me, and only then did I notice how dark his eyes were. Back in my time, he always hunted, and never let himself get too hungry, though with Mom a vampire now, he didn't need to worry about killing her
(Yeah,my family's pretty dramatic. We'd make an blockbuster movie alright).
"How is that possible?" he hissed. "Carlisle said we were the only vampires in Forks."
"Well, your dad's wrong," I said shortly. "Look... I'm a loner, okay? I don't have any clan or family. I traveled here because..." I struggled to create a story he'd believe, while make it one not too complicated, so that when I told it again, I'd get it right. "Because I was attracted to the weather."
He stared at me, and lifted a brow. Faint amusement pricked in his eyes. "You moved to Forks because you like rain?"
"Yes, actually!" I said defensively. "It's safe for... our kind. You know that better than anyone," I added smugly.
Edward glared at me, then sighed and glanced away. "Wow. This is... well, pretty amazing. I've never known many vampires outside my family." He turned and stared right into my eyes, so sharply that I actually winced. "But I can't..." His voice trailed off.
"What?" I inquired uncertainly.
He closed his eyes. "Nothing."
There came a slurping noise from behind us, and I glanced around to see a young man with that popular skater-boy haircut, this time in a shade of pale blond. He had a mop, and an obnoxiously bright yellow bucket of soapy
water. He smiled broadly at us.
"The mop made that noise. I didn't. I don't drool," he said shortly, revealing a perfect set of white teeth behind his lips.
Edward and I stared at him, unsure of how to respond to that. "Good to know," Edward finally replied smoothly, and turned to me. "Look... I think you need to meet my family. They'd be honored."
I stared at him, eyes wide. "What?" I'd only been here for minutes, and he was setting a date for us! I was right. This was going to become really awkward.
"You should go with the young lad," the boy said with a pathetically high accent that made me think of a Scottish dude. "He's clearly interested in you, lassie." He rose his brows at me playfully. Twice.
Hell, no! That was my freaking dad right there!
"I'll just get back to you on that," I growled to Edward, staring at the boy. He looked familiar somehow. Maybe it was his gray eyes...
"Alright. But- Abigail, look, lunch is ending soon, and you'll need to find your way around the school. Want help?" I saw no eagerness in Edward's eyes, just a curiosity and growing friendliness. I chewed my lip. Before I started settling in with this world, I wanted to ask questions. I needed answers. And the last thing I needed right now was school.
"Oh, I'll be fine. Just go," I told him, trying not to sounds annoyed. It still felt incredibly weird to be talking to him like we were classmates, instead of the kin I alone knew we were.
He nodded, and cast the boy a last look before turning out of the room, and the glass door closed behind him as he walked away, hopefully back to his Cullen table, where he would see Mom and set this story on its right course.
I sighed, and put my head in my hands, leaning against the wall and inwardly wailing. This was too much. Period.
"Boy troubles?" the boy asked lightly, as he slopped water all over the sickly-colored tiles of the floor. The mop made a weird squishy noise as it rubbed over the surface of the floor. For some reason it reminded me of an octopus. I stared at it as I replied.
"None that you need to be worried about."
He chuckled. "Oh, well, you've got a point there. I can't help you with Edward. But I can help you with this whole weird time-travel problem you've got going on."
My heart skipped a beat, and my head snapped up. What?
He just chuckled and mopped up the last of the water, gripping the bucket with his strong arms and turning to leave the small room. "Well, have a nice day."
"Wait!" I exclaimed, arms flailing as I stepped in his path, my eyes wide. "You know about the pocket watch? The time travel thing?" My voice rose an octave as I finished that sentence, and I inwardly scoffed at myself. Such a child.
He just offered a polite smile and shrugged, nonchalant.
I offered up my best daggers-in-her-eyes glare and shot it at him.
"Scared yet?" I growled.
"Mmm." He turned and smiled at me. "I'd say more charmed than scared, girly."
I crossed my arms. "Who are you?" I demanded.
The boy sighed and glanced longingly at the cafeteria floor. "Guess I won't get my job done today. I'll have to serve another detention tomorrow, mopping the floor."
"Guess so," I frostily agreed.
He just shook his head, with this stupid smile on his face the whole time, and dropped the mop into the soapy bucket; leaned against the wall, and stared at me, his boyish playfulness fading. "I don't know who you are, but I was told to expect a crazy girl who seems out-of-place. A crazy girl who stumbled upon something very special." He pointed to the bulge in my jean pocket. "The pocket watch."
I stared evasively at him, not betraying any emotions. For all I knew, this was some trick, and this kid was guessing and getting really good at it. But that possibility seemed less possible as the moments slipped by, and finally I realized I had to trust him. But first, I needed something.
"Alright, so you're right about that," I said in a low voice. "But before we spill our guts out, by all mean, bless me with the knowledge of your name." Heavy sarcasm coated my voice like bitter honey, but he seemed to enjoy it.
"The name's Elijah. And you?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Abigail Bird," I said automatically.
Elijah cocked his head knowingly, and glanced at his nails, picking at one. "I was also told that, when asked your name, you would lie first."
I stared, baffled. This was so unfair! How did he know these things? So far he was proving to be more of an annoying stranger than anything helpful. Maybe I could beat him up. Would that knock the cockiness out of him?
I blinked.
Somehow I didn't think so.
"Alright, my name is Renesmee Cullen," I snapped. "Happy now?"
His eyes widened. "Cullen? As in Edward Cullen?" He stared at me, interested. "I knew this would be cool."
"What is this? Tell me everything you know, human!" I growled, stepping closer to Elijah and narrowing my eyes. The 'human' bit slipped out, and though it caused exactly zero fear in the boy's unusual gray eyes, it made me feel a little bit more powerful. Because I was more than human, and if he did anything that made me mad, I had a certain power over him that I'd certainly use as a threat. It suddenly occurred to me that having vampire powers could come in handy when raising reckless children.
Elijah just crossed his arms, and chewed his lip for a moment before looking back up at me. "Okay, look," he finally said. "There's no way to put this right, so here it goes. I'm a time-traveler."
Hey, all! Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you read this. I'm having fun with this; but what do you think? A penny for your thoughts, friend.