( crossfire! )¹ ─ ᵗʷᶤˡᶤᵍʰᵗ ✓

chapter seven.

( CHAPTER SEVEN )
UNEXPECTED PROPOSITION

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27 FEBRUARY 2008

DAYS PASSED BY AND SOON all the attention at school had drifted from Carter to Bella. Carter was now old news, despite her interesting past when it came to what happened to her family, but being old news was something she was grateful for. She felt bad that Bella was the new talk of the school because it was quite clear that the girl was not one to feel superior with the attention of everyone on her. She was reserved and awkward and quiet, and Carter couldn't help but wonder why she always looked constipated or like she was in pain in most situations. That aspect of her reminded her of Jasper Hale, whose staring had increased dramatically. Not only had his staring increased, but the stares of his adoptive siblings (with the exception of Edward who hadn't been seen in school for an entire week) had begun. After her little incident with the lunch tray last week, they had taken an interest in the mysterious brunette. Carter simply thought that they were running behind on the so-called "trends" and were just now catching up on what everyone else had already surpassed.

Nothing too eventful had happened since Bella's arrival. The only thing that had been exciting, in Carter's opinion, was that Robyn had managed to find an old, somewhat beaten up Jeep in a pretty baby blue color at a car dealership on the other side of town. They were warned that it had a few problems and some things that didn't work quite right on occasion, but Carter didn't care. She was just glad to have a vehicle of her own so she didn't have to rely on Robyn to take her everywhere (not having to ride the bus home anymore was a huge plus, as well.)

Carter had so dutifully named her new Jeep after her favorite janitor from the psychiatric hospital, Roscoe. He was an old man with white hair, but he was one of the happiest men Carter had ever met. He also wasn't afraid to bend or break the rules every now and then. There had been several times where he had walked past Carter's room at night and saw her still awake due to the fear of the nightmares or flashbacks she would have; he would snatch a bottle of liquor from the assistant director's office and they would share it together while he told her stories of his life. Then there were the times when he would comfort her when he found her crying and cradled her until she fell asleep. He was like the grandpa that Carter never got to meet. Sadly, more than a year ago he died of a heart attack in his sleep while he was at home in bed. That was one of the only times where Carter felt true sadness.

Carter sat on one of the middle steps in front of the stairs at the end of the school day, listening to music on her iPod at full volume. She was waiting for most of the cars to clear out of the lot before she left school grounds herself. In her hands sat Before I Die by Jenny Downham, her eyes scanning the words on the pages as she read. Carter found the concept of the main character's number one priority on her To Do Before I Die list being to have sex a little absurd, as Carter herself wouldn't deem that to be as important as many of the other things to do. But she got past her slight disliking of that detail and continued to read it, but so far was not too terribly impressed since she preferred science fiction and horror novels over teen dramas any day. She wanted to give it a shot, though.

Carter bobbed her head to the drumbeat of her music. She could feel many eyes on her once again but ignored them. She knew it was the Cullens. Whenever they stared at her, she felt uneasy―like they were looking right through her and into her soul. She felt as if she had to protect herself and be ready to flee or attack at any moment. They had no intention to harm her, but Carter didn't know this. They just wanted to know what she was, if she was anything at all.