( crossfire! )¹ ─ ᵗʷᶤˡᶤᵍʰᵗ ✓

chapter thirteen.

( CHAPTER THIRTEEN )
BETTER HOMES AND NIGHTMARES

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18 MARCH 2008

CARTER AWOKE WITH A SPLITTING HEADACHE. All through the night, nightmares had plagued her. Every one ranged from the night of the fire to being all alone in an empty, black expanse with no escape. For days Carter had been more reserved and those closest to her had definitely noticed, even though that group currently consisted of only three people. She hardly ate, she hardly slept, she barely talked. She spent the majority of her time on her computer or at the public library reading varying books about folklore and the supernatural. Robyn had tried to persuade her to go out and do other things, like spend time with Bella or Jacob, but Carter didn't want that. She only wanted answers.

A loud yawn escaped Carter's lips and she groaned as she rubbed her eyes to wake herself up more. She had to go to school again today since it was only Thursday and, as usual, she wasn't looking forward to it. It didn't take her long to get dressed since she had showered the night before and as she was putting on her black, heeled combat boots her cellphone rang from its spot on her nightstand. Mentally sighing, she finished lacing up her boots quickly and then hurried over to the device. Bella's contact name and a small picture of her Carter had managed to sneak while the girl had been reading some weird book was flashing at her. Knowing she couldn't simply ignore the call without being interrogated for it later, she pressed the green Answer button and lifted the device to her ear.

Bella didn't even give the girl a chance to say a proper "hello" before she was frantically speaking. Carter listened as intently as she could as she wandered around her room in search of her bag that she had carelessly thrown somewhere after returning home from school the previous day. Bella explained that the day before Edward had stopped by (which Carter already knew seeing as the window above her desk in her room had a perfect view of the Swan residence) and told her that he wanted the girl to meet his family. Carter bit back any comment she so desperately wanted to throw out about how quickly he was moving his relationship with the Swan girl forward. They hadn't even been dating a week and he was already asking Bella to meet his folks and his siblings. But then came the kick in the ass that Carter really should have expected: Bella Swan wanted Carter Steele to go with her, as in with her to meet her boyfriend's family that she had no interest in knowing. Bella didn't give her much of a choice to decline either, seeing as how a few moments after practically ordering Carter to go with her she was hanging up.

Carter pulled the device from her ear and glared at it, the screen now telling her that the call had been ended. Tossing her phone on the bed carelessly, she continued to search for her bag and eventually found it shoved underneath her bed. Grabbing her phone and the keys to her Jeep, she quickly walked out of her room and jogged down the stairs. She glanced around the downstairs area and realized that Robyn was nowhere to be found, guessing that she had already left for work to make up for the time she had taken off while sick. Taking her time, she checked to make sure her aunt hadn't left the coffee pot on like she sometimes did before heading out the front door and locking it behind her.

As she drove to school, purposefully driving under the speed limit so that maybe she would get to miss first period, despite knowing she'd still make it on time, she thought about how meeting the Cullens after school would go. If it went bad, well, she could end up being a delicious dinner for them all. If it went well, then it went well and there wasn't much more to it. She hoped to God it went well; being someone's dinner was not on her to-do list. When she pulled into the parking lot, she found an open space near Tyler's van (that she now hated with a passion after almost being killed by it) and pulled in swiftly, putting Roscoe in Park before shutting off the engine.