V. Wait a Minute, Who Are You?
I stared up at the tall, lanky boy towering over me and awkwardly shuffling his feet, failing to recognize him. For as much as I knew about the characters and plot of the book I was currently stuck in, I only vaguely recalled their descriptions. My classmates certainly looked nothing like their movie counterparts, with only the vampires being striking in appearance.
"I'm sorry," I said, patiently ignoring the boy's flinch, likely anticipating my coming rejection. "What's your name again?"
"Oh!" He waved his hands in front of him in an abashed manner. "Sorry, I never realized I didn't introduce myself. I'm Eric Yorkie." He stuck out his hand clumsily.
I politely shook it once before pulling my hand away. "You can call me Mar."
"So, Mar," he continued, "about the spring dance…"
"Thank you for asking," I said, "but I can't go with you."
"Oh," he said, unable to hide his disappointment. "Why not?"
"A few reasons," I said shortly, annoyed that he refused to take my unequivocal rejection at face value. "I have to go to class now."
"But the bell hasn't even rung―"
"Bye, Eric," I said pointedly, already walking away without even bothering to remind him that it was technically girls' choice.
Fortunately, in light of the dance soon approaching, my bit of drama with Eric was hardly worthy of gossip, and I continued my day as routine dictated. For all that my friends continued to bug me about my supposed attendance, I stubbornly kept my answer to a maybe.
For one, I didn't even dance. But also, I didn't like participating in social events on my own, and since it seemed like all the girls I knew already had a date lined up, there was a possibility I wouldn't attend. And when Tara had asked Sean, Brandon had become my last resort, except he'd made it all too clear that he loathed such events. So, unless I could convince Brandon to be my support buddy for the dance, I would be a no-show seeing as I was unwilling to entertain Eric's infatuation with me.
As expected, the girls at lunch were all gushing, discussing the kind of dress they wanted to buy or had already bought, bemoaning the fact that some still hadn't asked out the boy they liked, or bragging about securing their date of choice.
"Have you decided whether you're going, Mar?" Jessica predictably asked me at some point.
"Nope. Still undecided," I said and took a bite of my pb&j.
"Boo," she said with a pout, before being dragged back into another conversation with Lauren and Samantha.
Happy to remain unbothered, I continued to munch on my sandwich. Even if I didn't attend, that did beg the question of whether or not I wanted to risk going dress shopping with the girls. On the one hand, I wanted to try on a dress or two. On the other hand, I didn't want to be sexually assaulted.
Decisions, decisions.
It was as I swallowed down my next bite of sandwich that I realized the table had grown strangely quiet, and for a second, I thought everyone was staring at me. But after another moment, I realized they were all looking somewhere over my shoulder.
Curious, I twisted around just in time for the hulking form of Emmett Cullen to come to a standstill beside my chair.
"Mar, was it?" The boisterous sound of his voice was uncomfortably loud in the cafeteria and only served to draw more attention.
My skin prickled with discomfort as numerous eyes fell our way.
"Uh, yeah?" I said dumbly, staring up at the neat arrangement of black curls.
"So, the spring dance is coming up soon," he said conversationally, dragging over a nearby chair and straddling it, balancing his forearms along the top of the backrest and leaning forward to meet me at eye-level, lips curled up in a large, dimpled grin.
"So it is."
My short response did little to chase him away. If anything, his grin stretched wider. "Well, you see, I was thinking of going myself. Would you mind terribly if I accompanied you?"
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Or maybe a combination of both would be the appropriate response? What sort of practical joke was this?
In reality, all I did was stare blankly at him.
"Just as friends, of course," he tacked on when the silence dragged a little too long. "I'm sure we'd have a grand time together."
I continued to stare at him in disbelief, before leaning aside to peek around Emmett's large frame, briefly eyeing the rest of the Cullens sitting on the other side of the cafeteria. Jasper and Alice both appeared amused, Alice actually having the nerve to audibly giggle. Edward had an expression of long-suffering and Rosalie's face was buried in her hands, as though she couldn't bear to witness the shame of her husband's antics.
When I turned around, I accidentally made eye contact with Lauren. "Say yes or I'll kill you," she mouthed.
I looked back over towards Emmett. "…Who are you again?"
Somewhere behind me, I heard a muffled gasp of laughter. But actually, no one had ever pointed out the Cullens to me by name, like Jessica had done for Bella in the book, so if he weren't fictional, my question would've been legitimate. As it stood, I was merely stalling for time.
"…I'm Emmett," he said, my question only managing to throw him off for a mere second, before he quickly regained his confidence. "Hah. Guess I should've started with that."
"…Well, thanks for the offer, Emmett," I finally said, when I failed to deduce a motive behind his entire venture, "but I can't go with you."
His grin didn't falter in the slightest. "You know where to find me if you change your mind," he quipped, standing up with a swing of his leg and sauntering back in the direction of his family.
I looked after him, wondering what on earth had been going on through his head. He was actually insane if he thought I would say yes. Vampirism aside, like hell would I face Rosalie Hale's wrath.
At last, I turned back around in my seat, resigned to face the indignation of all the girls sitting at my lunch table.
After school, Jasper actually had the nerve to join me in the library.
I gave him the stink eye as he moved to sit across from me, before returning to my assigned reading for English.
I heard Jasper heave a sigh. "Have I done something to offend you, Mar?"
I kept my eyes glued to my book, though the printed words had lost their meaning at his intrusion.
"Is this about Emmett?"
"A little warning would have been nice," I snipped, shooting him a hard look from under my lashes.
"A warning would imply that any of us knew what Emmett was up to," Jasper said, his voice layered with a tired amusement. "He certainly took us by surprise."
"Doubtful," I scoffed under my breath, recalling Alice's laughter.
"Perhaps," Jasper allowed with a lift of his shoulders. "All the same, most of us wouldn't have known to warn you. But, on behalf of myself and my siblings, I offer our sincerest apologies."
"Uh huh," I said, and ducked my head back down.
"Though I am curious…"
"What is it?" I asked, looking back to him impatiently. Having already lost my focus once, it would take a while to regain it, but his continued interruptions would make that impossible.
"If you truly did not know Emmett's name," he said, "do you not know mine?"
I dropped my gaze to stare back down at the book in my hands and shrugged. If he weren't a book character, I probably wouldn't have. And as funny as it might be to pretend otherwise, he was a known empath easily capable of sensing deliberate dishonesty a mile away.
When I didn't immediately answer, Jasper chuckled. "It's Jasper, if you didn't know."
I shot him a quelling look. "Can I get back to my reading now, Jasper?"
"By all means," he said, moving to pull his own book out.
Fortunately, the remainder of my homework session went free of further interruption.
A/N: For anyone who's curious, the title of this fic is from the song Faraday Cage by Elliot Moss :)
