During a rare sunny day, I excitedly dress in clothes that aren't made to combat the rain. I choose to go with a floral patterned shirt sleeve top and a pair of light high waisted jeans. I style my hair into a loose French braid and apply some light makeup.
As I head down stairs to grab some breakfast and my lunchbox my mom packed for me, I get a ping from my phone. It's from Alice.
'Won't be at school today. Our parents are taking us hiking, gonna miss you :('
'Aw! Well you guys have fun! And be careful!' I text back quickly, sad that I wouldn't see any of the Cullen siblings today.
'We will!'
I sigh and head to school. I have to suffer through my first period with no Alice to hype me up for the day, though Eric and Mike snuck over to my table to keep me company. Our teacher raised a brow, but didn't say anything. I continue the day, spending time with Jessica and Angela, who I have a lot of fun with. During lunch they bring up my close relationship with the Cullens again.
"It's still so strange how close they are with you. They literally never used to talk to anyone else," Jessica tilted her head in contemplation.
"Maybe they just like talking to someone who knows how it feels to move to a small town where everyone has known each other since kindergarten," I point out. Angela nods her head in agreement and I sigh in relief. Jessica decides to let it drop, but I'm sure it won't be the last conversation.
Mike and Eric soon join us at the table and cut in. "I hope that we get another sunny day when we go to the beach this weekend. I wanna surf without freezing!" Mike says scooting closer to me.
"Uh yeah! But the chances of that are low because of today. This was like our one sunny day for the month," Eric sighs flaring his arms out to soak up the sunlight. We decided to take our lunch outside at the rare opportunity, and it seems all the other students are as well.
"Are you going to swim Karina?" Angela asks curiously.
"I might, but probably not. I just like relaxing on the beach, especially if it's going to be rainy," I shrug.
Angela smiles happily, "Cool. I don't really like swimming all that much, so it'll be nice to not have to sit on the beach alone while everyone else is swimming."
"Ang, you're not gonna swim at all?" Eric asks and the girl instantly looks unsure.
"I mean- maybe. I might." At the quick back pedal, I smirk towards the girl. She just turns away shyly. I guess I'll have to work on my matchmaking abilities this weekend.
My last few classes are boring without Jasper or Rosalie to keep me company and I count down the minutes until the day ends. Luckily, I have work at the diner right after school to look forward to.
Working at the diner has been a good learning experience, forcing me to not be shy with new people. I've finally started to learn some of the regulars who frequent, and many of them seem to like me well enough. Cora was a big help, even helping me clean up the broken dishes I dropped on my first few days.
I walk into the diner straight from school and put on my apron to begin my shift. Cora greets me happily and I get to work. Luckily most of what I do is just the waitressing aspect and cleanup intermediately. I go around helping Cora take orders for everyone.
"Cora, you did great with finding your new hire. Karina is just the sweetest young lady," one of the older women, Milly, says. She was one of my favorite costumers and was the cutest older woman I'd ever met.
"Yeah, she does really well with helping me out. Glad to have her," Cora winks over at me. I smile happily and take back the couples order that I had taken to the kitchens.
The rest of my shift went smoothly and I left with a happy smile towards Cora and began my trek home. It was dark out by the time my shift ended and I walked home carefully. I didn't think crime rates were all that high in such a small town, but I still wanted to be careful.
When I got home, I noticed my moms missing car. She must be working late tonight. I went up to my room to work on some homework and fell asleep shortly after. During the night I had strange dreams.
I was skating across a frozen lake, practicing my skating techniques that I had taught myself. I felt at ease and skated to my hearts content. I was soon joined when I felt hands around my waist lift my body into air. My joyous laugh echoed through the otherwise empty area. When my feet touched the ice again, I turned to look at my companion.
My smile grew as I took in the sight of wavy honey blonde hair and a resident smirk. I grabbed his hands in mine and giggled as I dragged him around with me.
"You know, I didn't think I'd ever find someone like you, sunshine," Jasper pulled us to a stop on the ice. He pulled my body close by my waist and I eagerly wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Nor I, my dashing southern gentleman," I teasingly whispered as I stood on my tippy toes.
Our moment was ended quickly when his eyes flashed red and I gasped in shock, pulling away quickly. As soon as I took a step away from him, I fell through the ice. My body sunk under the freezing waters, going deeper and deeper. I screamed and the water filled my lungs in a rush.
I jerked up from my bed, shivering at the memory of the freezing waters. I checked the clock next to my bed and saw the time read 2:30 am. I sighed and slumped back against my pillows. I shivered again at the memory of the dream. It was so strange, but I tried to wipe it from my mind and fall back to sleep. It took forever to fall back to sleep and I woke up the next day exhausted.
I spent most of the morning trying to cover up the eye bags and dark circles I had under my eyes and just dressed in a pair of comfortable black sweatpants and pull over. I tied my hair into a bun and rushed to meet my mom in the car. She looked exhausted as well, though I knew it was probably from her long shift.
When I got to school, I sighed tiredly. Despite being here for almost two weeks, the stares still continued. It was disconcerting and uncomfortable, especially since I knew I looked a mess. I passed by everyone quietly, my usual temperament, watered down. I couldn't shake the memory of my dream, Jasper's red eyes and the freezing waters.
I made it to art class early, and sat quietly at my desk. Alice soon entered after and sat next to me with a frown.
"Are you okay, Karina? You look exhausted," Alice asked worriedly.
I tried to smile, but it was a weak one. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just had trouble sleeping last night."
"Did something happen?"
"No, I just had a nightmare. It's fine though, I'll sleep early tonight since I don't have work. I'm glad you're back today, though." I try to assure the girl, but she doesn't seem to believe me much.
The rest of class and even in my next ones were long and quiet. I just couldn't seem to pull my mood out of the pits that it had fallen into like I did in my dream. Everyone seemed to notice instantly and had bugged me about it all morning. I just brushed everyone off and told them all I was fine.
When lunch rolled around, I just sat quietly, chiming into the conversations occasionally. Angela kept sending worried looks, and I knew she wasn't the only one. I had glanced over at some point and saw Alice and Jasper frowning and looking over at our table. Even Edward and Rosalie kept looking over. Everyone's concern just made me want to curl up and hide away.
When lunch ended, I braced myself for my next class. I knew Jasper would probably question me too. I felt my shoulders slump further as I entered the classroom. Jasper already took up his spot at our table and watched me closely as I took my seat next to him.
"You don't look like someone who just had their first sunny day yesterday," Jasper commented. I looked over in his direction and examined his eyes carefully. They were still the same pretty golden color as usual, no red in sight. I frowned as I began to wonder about his and his siblings strange color of eyes. I don't think I have ever seen anyone else have the same eye color as them. And how did they all have the same eye color even if all of them weren't blood related?
I paused and looked away before speaking. "I just didn't get enough sleep last night. I'm fine." They were the same repeated words I gave everyone when they asked about my current state.
"Losing sleep after missing us for a day?" Jasper teased lightly. As he spoke, it felt like the deep pit that was in my stomach loosened and I felt my mood pick up again.
"Ha, you wish," I smiled my first real smile of the day at him and his answering smirk made me relax even further.
Jasper didn't push me for any more answers after that, and for that, I was grateful. Despite my worry about feeling tense around the boy due to my dream, it seems my worries were unfounded. If anything, being around him brought back some of my usual happiness. It was so strange how this boy that I had only known for almost two weeks could make me feel this way.
And at that thought, I felt a rush of embarrassment as I remembered the beginning of my dream. I was definitely beginning to crush on him and even my self conscious wouldn't let me deny it. I slumped down in my chair, feeling a flush overtake my face. I tried to avoid looking at Jasper and pretended to pay attention to the lesson.
When I took a peek at the boy, he was still looking at me. His face was scrunched in confusion, though his face still held a smirk. Being caught peeking at him made me blush even harder.
"You doing alright over there, darlin'?" Jaspers honeyed voice didn't help matters more and I ducked away from his gaze again.
"I'm fine!"
From then on, the rest of my day didn't feel quite so dreary. I would occasionally catch myself drifting back to the memory of my dream, though Jasper and Rosalie kept my mind of the topic every time I slipped. I felt grateful to them both and had tried to keep my mood up even in my last class.
When I got home, I went instantly to my room for a nap. I climbed in my bed quickly and settled under the covers. I paused when my phone pinged with a text and I pulled it out to look who messaged me. It was Jasper.
"Have sweet dreams tonight."
I smiled brightly at the sweet gesture. This time, I fell asleep to no dreams about red eyes and freezing waters. This time, I dreamt of honey eyes and a cool embrace.