SPRING || ROSALIE HALE

S I X

Marcus shook his head and pushed the door open with his hand, speaking over Bella's yells, "this is gonna take awhile, here's a 5."

Raymond snatched the money out of his dad's hand quickly and ducked under his arm, stopped in his tracks and turned to his father, briefly glancing back to the bickering father and daughter. He pointed a finger in their direction, "protect your husband, Bella is ruthless."

"And he's the one holding the gun," Marcus snorted but turned to stop the yells from Bella.

|•|•|•|•|

Raymond was balancing on the balls of his feet, looking over the various amount of chips and candy. He had debated heading towards the cafeteria but in order to get there he had to go through the waiting room and one look in that direction had indicated at least half of the schools population and that had promptly led him to turn in the other direction. He wasn't a shy person but his inner Bella would definitely come out if all those people were shouting thousands of question at him.

A hand suddenly shot out at the same moment he went to press the keys. The touch was ice cold and gentle, so soft he'd almost entirely forgotten the touch of her skin. The olive toned hand held a few rings and instantly he knew who it was, a bright smile gliding onto his face.

When he looked towards the persons face he breathed a little more even, "I'm fine mom."

His mothers beautiful face scowled at him, "These are gonna leave more scars!"

She was a figment of his imagination, a true testament to the lack of sanity he actually obtained but even so he didn't care. This women was his mother, from the wrinkles in her eyes to the scar above her right temple, every part of her was real to him.

"I'm sorry," was the only thing he managed to speak watching as the women grew wary.

"It's alright, it was for Bella," the mother understood, of course she would. "You'd do anything for her. She's your best friend."

Raymond nodded softly, filling with warmth the longer she spoke. It'd been awhile since she had last appeared, he wondered if it had anything to do with his happiness as of late. Forks hadn't been his first choice to find joy but there was things in this town he couldn't deny.

His mouth dried, hoping to keep her around a little longer but realized soon she'd disappear, still, there was something he needed to say, he needed to ask. "Mom, am I going crazy? Your dead, and I can still see you."

The women allowed his hand to fall back, finally looking up at him and staring at her son. There was something there, like a flicker of secrecy he caught before she was pressing her lips together and holding back a laugh. This ghost of a women was so alike to his mom he doubted his own words, watching as she placed a hand to her mouth and chuckled into it, identical to the mother with life. She shook her head as soft laughs continued to escape and managed to speak, "son, you're not going crazy, I promise."

"Then what is it?" He questioned, allowing the words to hang in the air like he was meant to answer it himself.

His mother pressed her hand against his cheek, her icy touch just another tally to the reasons he might be insane as she kindly answered, "oh Raymond, there is so many thing you need to learn about yourself. So many things you will discover in your most desperate time."