Renewal [Emmett Cullen] (1)

[11- He Knows]

When mom pulled the car up to the school, I noticed that the Cullens were all facing each other, serious expressions on their faces, like they were engaged in a extremely important conversation. But their mouths didn't seem to move. I allowed trivial, mundane tasks to cloud my mind, hoping that by pretending everything was still normal, it would be. I was still wary of Emmett and although I didn't want to make him suspicious if I purposely avoided him, I wasn't sure if I was entirely comfortable being around him, and his family. I wanted to believe he had no intent to hurt me, after all he seemed so nice.

Jasmine waved when she saw me, "Did you finish the history paper for Mr. Roessler?" she asked as my mom drove away.

"Umm yeah, what about you?" I responded as we headed to our class.

"Just! Spent all night trying to find the best sources," she admitted, "Is something wrong?" she asked in a low voice now. "You seem . . . anxious," she added, noticing the crinkle that formed between my eyebrows.

I smiled sheepishly. "Is it that obvious?"

"Not really." She was probably lying to make me feel better.

"You don't have to talk about it unless you want to," she assured me. "I'll listen if you think it will help." It was so easy to talk to Jasmine. When she asked a question like that, I could tell that she wasn't just morbidly curious or looking for gossip, like Sophia would have been.

"Well I haven't decided what college I want to go to and my parents are worried," I rambled, pretending that it was the worst of my problems at the moment. I mean it wasn't like I could die by vampires today because I uncovered their deepest, darkest secret.

She nodded genuinely, "I guess you qualify for late entry so you shouldn't worry if they'll accept you. Just focus on where you want to be in 5 years and choose something that will get you there." We talked until the bell rang for class.

When I rolled into English, Emmett was sitting in his usual seat, his lips seemed to be forced upwards, an attempt to smile. His eyes were gold, just like Saturday. He had continued asking me questions until Mr. Russo entered the room and set up the TV to show us a movie. I knew he could tell something about my demeanor was off, I tried my best to give him the shortest answer possible, as quickly as I could.

As the teacher approached the light switch, I noticed he slid his chair slightly farther away from mine. It didn't help. As soon as the room was dark, there was the same electric spark, the same urge I felt to be closer to him but at the same time I knew what he was capable of. Knowing his secret didn't seem to change the way I felt about him, only the way I saw him. He wasn't just this exceptionally good looking guy, he could be a killer.

I sincerely tried to watch the movie, but at the end of the hour I had no idea what I'd just seen, something about impact of Shakespeare on society. I sighed in relief again when Mr. Russo turned the lights on, finally glancing at Emmett. He was looking at me, his eyes ambivalent, like he was aware that I knew something I shouldn't. The look on his face suggested he knew I knew.

My heart pounded more quickly and as soon as the bell rang, I raced out and headed to math. I tried to rationalize my thoughts, if somehow Emmett found out I knew he was a vampire, he could have tried to kill me yesterday or the day before but he didn't. Hopefully he never would.

For the rest of the day I tried my hardest to avoid Emmett. Every time I saw him in the hallway I would continue to look at the floor to evade his glance.

Finally it was the last class of the day. I entered our chemistry classroom and took my usual seat next to Emmett.