Chapter Eight
"That girl was not normal. Becca said that I was screaming, and she just touched me, and bam. I just kind of… stopped. And she said that during this whole ordeal Seth was shaking. Like shaking bad. I wanted to know what was going on here… I don't know something just didn't feel right. So I decided to do some research. I was on the computer for a while and all I had come up with was crap. I mean I've found a couple of Quileute legends, but those all said that the answer to my question was that Seth and all hid friends were werewolves. Uh… no. And suddenly I realized that I should just quit it. I was being paranoid. So I closed my computer and fell into an, oddly enough, dreamless sleep.
The next morning I realized that I wanted to do something I've never done before. I wanted to go to school. Sure I'd been to preschool and pre-K, but I couldn't remember that. After the… you know my parents decided it would be best if they just homeschooled me. Don't get me wrong homeschooling is nice, but I wanted to be normal. "Mom, please! Nothing is going to happen, I'll be fine!" I tried. She ran a hand through her dark brown hair, "You don't know that!" she screamed. "S'il vous plaît maman! Je vous en supplie! Je veux être normale, ce qui est mal à cela ?" my mom was French and Becca and I had been raised speaking French just as much as we spoke English. We had a tendency to switch to French whenever we got mad. "Fine, fine but you have to bring Henry with you," she said. "Bring Henry!" I screamed, glancing over at the mountain of a man standing in the corner, "Everyone would stare at me! Please, mama!" I begged. And finally with a sigh she gave me what I had been begging for, "Oh alright."
….
My first day at school. It was… wow… it was crazy. I was suddenly hit with a wave of fear. Not only was I the new kid, but I was the new kid/ freak with a messed up face. My feet were stuck on the ground, "Come on my little ange doux," my mom said, taking my hand and leading me into a small, red building. I smiled and took her hand. I caught myself counting how many steps it took to get there. Fifteen…sixteen…seventeen. We were soon in a small waiting area that had fold out chairs and a bulletin board. Mom led me through a door and we were in another small room. There was a women sitting behind a desk who introduced herself as, "Ms. Cope," she was short and stout with red hair, small brown eyes, and bright green glasses. She handed me a schedule and I kissed my mom goodbye.
Even though I was sixteen I had started this year as a senior. Which I didn't understand. I wasn't all that smart. My first class was Calculus taught by Mr. Varner a balding fat man who cringed when he saw me. I had decided not to wear my glasses to school. "Please introduce yourself," he said stiffly. I didn't like this man. He was very obvious with his staring. I don't think he's taken his eyes off of my face since I walked in here. "M-m-my name is Riley A-Ace," I whispered. "Sorry. I couldn't hear you," he said. "My name is Riley Ace," I said louder, lifting my head to face the class. I saw a few girls eyes go wide as they turned to talk to their neighbor. One girl, I noticed, didn't even lift her head. She was buried in some book. I turned back to Mr. Varner who smiled in a kind of fake sympathetic way and pointed to the seat in front of the book buried girl, "You can sit there," he told me. I ducked my head and walked quickly over.
"Oh my god, look!" I heard one girl whisper. "Her face is so wrinkly, and yuck," said another. "I think that's a burn scar," said one with a brain. I sat down and listened to Mr. Varner talk math in a bored, monotone voice and realized that I had already learned this. My tutor Mr. Pruner had taught it to me last year. So instead of listening to him drone on I decided to take a nap. I leaned my head down on the desk and tried to tune everything out. One noise, the clock, wouldn't go away. Tick. Tick. Tick. It was getting louder and louder and giving me a headache. The one thing that brought me out of it was Mr. Varner hissing, "Ms. Kay. If you plan on learning anything I suggest you put down the book." I turned around and saw the girl set down her book and role her eyes. I glanced at the cover. The Shining by Stephen King. Horror. Interesting.
School was not like I thought it'd be. It was boring and slow and I knew almost everything the teachers taught. In PE the coach, Coach Clapp, didn't want to let me in on anything. He had me doing all the easy stuff. I'm not a fragile doll! I wanted to yell. But I didn't. I stayed quiet and I did what I was told. I was most scared at lunch. Almost all the seats seemed to be full and people sitting next to the empty ones would give me looks that said, "Please don't sit here. Please don't sit here." I was about to run and hide in the bathroom when suddenly a girl appeared. She was tall with waist length light blonde hair and green eyes, "Hi," she said in an unreality happy voice, "I'm Lexie Mallory. Want to sit with me?" I was to surprise to talk so instead I just nodded and followed her. It was obvious by the looks people were giving us that she was extremely popular and she was someone who wouldn't normally associate with someone who looked like me.
The table was full of beautiful people with only one empty seat, obviously meant for Lexie. She smiled at me and pulled up a chair from the closet table, putting right next to her chair. The girl that had been sitting next to Lexie before obviously wasn't very happy with me sitting there. I sat carefully in the seat, eyeing everyone at the table. "So everyone this is the new girl Riley. Riley this is… ok so that boy right there is Jackson Night. That's Hannah Elsberry. That's Sawyer Kenly. That's Cassie Grey. And that is Jenna Geller," she introduced, ending with the girl that was glaring at me. "So, what are you doing moving here so late in the year?" Lexie asked. "My family decided Washington would be better than California," I said slowly. "You're joking. Washington better then California?" Lexie laughed. "Hold up. Did I hear your last name was Ace?" Hannah asked. I rubbed my wrist and nodded. "Like as in Evette Ace? My mom has this magazine with her on the cover and she is like totally awesome," Hannah told me. I nodded. "Hey, wouldn't that make your dad Carter Ace?" Hannah asked. I nodded again, rubbing harder. "Oh my god, my dad has like all of his movies!" she squealed. Everyone at the table turned to me, "Your parents are famous? Do they know Johnny Depp? That is so awesome!" they all said. Jenna turned to me, "Hey, if you don't mind me asking. Why is your phone like that?"
Everyone stopped talking and turned to me.
"An accident when I was little," I said. "What kind of accident?" Jenna asked. "An accident," I said. Lexie smiled, "Alright. Riley, to survive at Forks High you have to know who to be friends with and who to avoid. Hear me?" I nodded. "See that girl over there?" she asked, pointing to the girl in my Calculus class whose last name was Kay. She was reading a book. I was glad they weren't talking about me anymore. "That's Sienna Kay. She's a total loser so I'd stay away. And those guys? Hanging with them is social suicide. Stick with us and you'll be fine though," she said. I almost laughed. I really almost did. Because what kind of person would say that? Maybe Draco Malfoy. Lexie seemed so nice at first, but telling me to stay away from losers and geeks? It's like the antagonist from a high school movie.
I nodded, even though tomorrow I planned on staying away from Lexie. She grinned showing off pearly white teeth and started talking about the new designer bag her dad got for her. I rubbed my wrist until the bell signaled Lunch was over. The rest of the day past by quickly, and when I got outside I saw Seth's car waiting to pick me up. Huh. He was leaning against the car door, typing something on his phone. A group of girls, including Lexie and Jenna, were talking about him. "Oh my god! Look at his body! Yum!" "He's a La Push boy, why is he here?" they squealed. I walked quickly over to him, keeping my eyes on the ground. After Emily's I was afraid that Seth wouldn't want to talk to me, but he wasn't scared of me after the ice cream parlor and he wasn't scared of me after Emily's. We even went on a second date and Friday would be our third.
He smiled when he saw me and opened the passenger door. Becca would tease him about being a gentleman if she were here. "Hey Rye," he said. "Hey Seth," I said, getting into the car. We talked as he drove me home. He pointed out a diner near my house and warned me that it was a crappy one and not to go to it. I made a mental note to never go to Lee's. He dropped me off and waved goodbye and I walked inside. "Rye Rye! How was school?" Becca yelled, running up to me and giving me a bone crushing hug. "It was fine," I laughed. "Did you make any new friends?" she asked. "You sound like a mom," I told her. She grinned, "Well did you?" she asked. "I don't think so. There was this one girl…" I said and explained Lexie to her. Becca laughed, "She sounds like a bitch!" she said happily. I smiled and nodded then went upstairs to my room and lay down on my bed. I watched the fan go around and around and around and in a matter of minutes I was asleep.
Bad things aren't supposed to happen to little girls. Don't talk to strangers. All the nannies say don't talk to strangers. But this man wasn't a stranger. I was sure I'd seen him before. Maybe at daddy's work? Oh no, he's coming back
I woke up with a start and the sudden need to go for a walk. So I ran a brush through my hair and went for one. I was walking past that crappy diner, Lee's, when I heard a scream coming from the forest behind it. I turned to face it and saw a flash of brown hair and a large man. I was sure I'd have a fit. Curl up on the ground and scream, not being able to do anything. But I didn't do that. I heard the scream and I ran right into the forest. After I came back my parents didn't want anything to happen to me. I was given body guards and extra security, but what if one day I was out on my own? How would I protect myself? I was enrolled in martial arts classes and gymnastics. I was fast, I wasn't fragile. I could protect myself, but I'd usually be too scared to. Not today, though, today I was fearless. I ran until I could see the man. He was holding a struggling girl. She was tiny, with long frizzy brown hair, and… wait! Sienna Kay. That was Sienna Kay from school! She was kicking and screaming, but he was big and she couldn't fight. I ran into the scene and let loose a swirl of kicks and punches. He was big, sure, but he was clumsy and slow. I wasn't. I kept hitting and hitting until he wasn't moving anymore. I turned to Sienna who was looking at me with scared eyes. "Who are you?" she asked in an English accent.
I looked up at her carefully. She was wearing a smock that had a little circle saying Lee's stitched on it. I stood up and offered her my hand, "Riley Ace," I introduced. "You're that new girl," she said. I nodded, "Yeah," I looked down at the bloody pulp of a man, "Call 9-1-1," I said. She nodded and whipped out a cell phone. "Hello? Yes, someone just tried to kidnap me. Yes. Uh huh. Okay. No. Right. Uh huh. Okay," she said and hung up, "Police are on their way," she told me then looked down at the guy. "How the bloody hell did you do that?" she asked. I smiled faintly, "Black belt," I said. She opened her mouth slightly then smiled, "Awesome," she said. I heard a siren and soon enough we were surrounded by police. They were questioning us for a while before two cars appeared. An elderly woman stepped out of one and my parents and sister stepped out of the other.
My mom was on me in a second, "Mon bébé, mon pauvre bébé. Êtes-vous d'accord? Mon pauvre petit ange. Qu'est-il arrivé? Êtes-vous blessé? " she was saying over and over again. "I'm ok mom. Nothing happened to me. I'm fine," I said. She didn't seem convinced and was looking me up and down to see if I was alright. My dad was talking to the chief. Chief Swan I think. My sister had run up with my mom and was talking to me in quick French. "Calm down. I'm fine. I didn't even have fit. Sienna was the one attacked," I said. We all turned to look at her. The old woman had had run up to her and was hugging her tight. She grabbed her hand and led her over to us. "Grandma, this is Riley. She saved me," she said. Her grandma gave me a grateful look and started hugging me. My hand went to my wrist. They were taking the man into custody right now, although Sienna and I would have to appear in court. I really don't like courts… Sienna and I got to talking and soon enough we arranged to meet later on. I had a feeling that we were going to be good friends. There are some things you can't share without ending up friends and going through a kidnapping is one of them.
Meaning of the French words.
S'il vous plaîtmaman!Je vous en supplie! Je veux êtrenormale, ce qui estmal à cela?- Please mom! I'm begging you! I want to be normal, what's wrong with that?
ange doux- sweet angel
Mon bébé, mon pauvrebébé. Êtes-vousd'accord?Mon pauvrepetit ange. Qu'est-il arrivé? Êtes-vous blessé?- My baby, my poor baby. Are you alright? My poor little angel. What happened? Are you hurt?
Two chapters in one day? Gasp. Happy Easter everyone! I do want ya'll to know that I need at least five reviews to update.
Disclaimer- I don't own twilight. Sugarishfreak created Sienna. And that quote at the end was J.K. Rowling's except her's was There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.