My lessons were much easier to understand now that I wasn't confined to the study all day. But my days were still stressful, in their own way.
I was still mostly used to Esme, Carlisle and Bella. So when I was handed off to Jasper and Emmett as part of my schooling, it made me really nervous. I watched them both closely, not sure if I could trust them, or even if they really liked me.
Emmett was apparently really good at building, so that's what he was teaching me. Jasper was with us, too, but seemed to mostly be following Emmett's lead. Today we were building a fountain to go beside Esme's garden. It sounded simple, in theory, but there was a long list of instructions to assemble it.
Was this a joke? There was no way I could do this.
Jasper sat next to me on the ground, holding the instructions in front of both of us as he read them aloud. Every now and then, he would stop, pointing to a word for me to read. It was usually pretty easy- words like of, to and or. Every once in a while, I would completely blank on the sound a letter made, though, like when I couldn't remember if it was a J or a G that started the word 'Go'. When that happened, Jasper would say the word for me, and I would repeat it back.
Emmett seemed more focused on math, and I found it kind of difficult to go back and forth between the subjects so quickly. As soon as Jasper and I read off an instruction, Emmett would call me over, asking me to help him figure out the measurements. And, every time, I would struggle to count out the correct inch on the ruler, despite not always knowing which number was which.
After what must have been close to two hours, we finally got the fountain done. Jasper connected it to some pipe thing, and we watched as water began slowly streaming out of it. Jasper was pleased, but Emmett seemed bored.
"Hey, Ammie," he called, and I glanced over. "Do you think you can make the water do something a little more... interesting?"
I grinned at that, bringing my hands up in front of me as I concentrated. Slowly moving with the current of the water, I pushed my hands out suddenly, completely altering the direction of the current. The fountain now seemed to be defying gravity, the water shooting straight up and then morphing into the shape of a heart. Because I had altered the current, it would remain that way, even after I walked away.
"Wow," Emmett said, poking at the water. It was temporarily disrupted, but quickly pulled back into its shape. "That is really impressive, kid."
It was hard for me to fight back my proud smile, but I managed pretty well.
"What else can you do?" Jasper asked me.
I shrugged. "I grow stuff a lot. And I can alter the wind, water, fire and the earth. So I guess anything to do with that. And I turn invisible, obviously. But that doesn't do much good, since it doesn't even work all of the time. Nessie saw me the first time we met, even though I was using my power."
Emmett began walking into the yard, waving me after him. He gestured for me to climb on to the swing and I did, allowing him to push me. "Can you have the wind push you back and forth?" He asked. I nodded, and brought the wind to me, showing him what I was capable of. I didn't need to worry about my hair being blown everywhere, because Esme had put it firmly in two braids that morning.
"You know that your power works fine now, right, Darlin?" Jasper asked, standing in front of me. Thankfully, he was far enough away that I didn't accidently run into him as the swing came forward. I couldn't have stopped on such short notice.
I nodded. "Yes, Sir. I know. But I just mean it can glitch, I guess." Unlike with Edward, calling Jasper 'Sir' came without thought. Something about him screamed 'powerful', and there was no denying his presence was an authorative one.
He shook his head at me, grabbing the swing to bring me to a stop. I allowed him to do so, easing back on the wind. "No, it can't," he clarified, offering me a hand to help me stand up. "That was just because you were weak from not getting the nutrients you need. Renesmee is the same way. Now that you always have both blood and human food in your system, your powers should be fully within your control. You just didn't have the strength to keep it up before."
As he led me back towards the house, I considered his words. That sort of made sense. But it was strange to think about- with how averse I had been to human food in the beginning, it was weird to think that I had been less powerful due to my unwillingness to eat it.
Koda and Nessie were just coming down the stairs from the study as I entered the dining room. I grinned as they sat down on either side of me. Somehow, even with our lessons being totally different, Carlisle still managed to align our lunch and recess times together.
Takoda finished his sandwich first, but then he asked for a second one, and ended up finishing that around the same time as me. He was still in his school uniform, so we couldn't do anything too crazy during our recess break. We eventually made our way over to the swings connected to the big playtoy, and Koda pushed me while Nessie sat on the swing next to me, chatting away about her day and how she hadn't studied for an upcoming spelling test.
Thank goodness I didn't have to worry about spelling tests.
After a few minutes, I offered to switch places with Koda. He shouldn't have to always be stuck pushing me just because I couldn't figure out how to kick my legs correctly to swing myself. But he just shook his head, assuring me that he was fine with pushing.
Nessie started going really high, and threw herself off the swing as it was going up. She flailed through the air, laughing as she landed on her feet. The impact was rougher than she expected, though, and she immediately fell to her knees after landing.
I was just about to do the same when Bella appeared on the porch, calling us all over. She didn't sound very happy. But I was pretty sure I hadn't broken any rules, so she couldn't have been upset with me, right?
Bella looked at her daughter as we approached, and Nessie bit at her lip. "Renesmee Carlie Cullen," she scolded, "How many times have I told you not to jump off the swing like that? Did you just rip your tights?"
Renesmee's pinafore just barely covered her knees, and she pulled it down a little bit lower. I was pretty sure I had heard a ripping sound when she had fallen, though. "I'm sorry, Mama," Nessie said, looking nervous. "I forgot. I won't do it again."
Bella began walking down the porch, and I backed up, hoping she wouldn't think I had been doing the same. I hadn't even know there was a rule about jumping off swings. Renesmee tried to step back, too, but her Mother was faster, grabbing Nessie's arm and pulling her pinafore up to assess the damage.
There were two big holes over both of her knees. Nessie's left knee was even bleeding slightly, though she hadn't given any indicator that she had felt that. The blood had rubbed off on to the white tights, and even if they were mended, they would still be stained from that, as well as the grass she had skidded across.
"Mama, I'm sorry," Renesmee protested, but her Mother just pointed her towards the house.
"Up to your room," Bella ordered. "You knew better. This is the fourth pair of tights that have been ruined because you can't stay on the swing as you're supposed to. Your father will be up in just a few minutes to deal with you, I'm sure."
Bella turned to us as Renesmee trudged inside. "Camellia and Takoda- I'm not sure if you two have heard the rule before, so fair warning: Jumping off the swings is not acceptable. Renesmee has been hurt several times doing so, and it is also an easy way to ruin clothes. So if you are on the swings, I don't want to see any of that. Understood?"
Koda and I nodded, and Bella turned to walk back into the house. The window to the bedroom I shared with Renesmee was open, and already I could hear her talking to Edward, trying in vain to talk herself out of a punishment.
"Come on," I gestured to Koda, leading him further away from the house. "She wouldn't want us to hear. Let's go to our swing!"
We ran together to the far side of the yard, and it felt nice to know that this was our place. We never came to the big tree with Renesmee- she would want to swing, too, so if I was with her, I always went to the swings on the playtoy. This was where Koda could push me, or he could swing as I climbed the tree, or we could even just sit in the grass to pick flowers and weave them into crowns and bracelets.
Today, we were on the ground, pulling at the tall strands of grass. Koda was showing me how to blow on them to make a loud whistling sound. At first I thought he was trying to trick me, and was just making the whistle sound with his mouth. But after a few minutes of trying, it finally worked for me, and I grinned.
How had I spent most of my life wandering through meadows, and had somehow never realized there was an instrument right under my nose?
We tried hard to make a song out of the whistling, but it never sounded very good. The piano had a much prettier sound to it. But it was fun to try, especially when Koda started using sticks as a drum against the tree and dirt.
When I looked back towards the house, Bella was back on the porch, watching Koda and I play. I put down my piece of grass and raced back towards the house, not needing to look behind me to know Takoda was following. He always followed me.
"Is Nessie coming back out soon?" I asked Bella, glancing back up at my bedroom window. I didn't hear any crying, so her punishment must have ended a while ago. Usually she laid on her bed and cried for a pretty long time after she had gotten into trouble. I knew because she always wanted me to sit and listen as she vented about how much she despised spankings.
Bella shook her head, holding a hand out to me. Though I was more used to holding Esme and Carlisle's hand, I still put my hand in hers and allowed to lead me back towards the front door. "No, Honey, she was put down for an early nap. And it's time for yours now. Esme will be upstairs, waiting for you. Be quiet, though- try not to wake up Nessie."
I felt a pout forming on my face, but tried to hide it. Carlisle really didn't like pouting, so Bella probably didn't, either. "What about Koda?" I asked, glancing back at him. "Where's he going to nap?"
"I can sleep on the floor in Ammie's room," he offered. "Or we could share a bed. Ammie said she usually sleeps with Nessie or her parents, and my sister climbs into bed with me a lot. So we can both sleep fine, even if it's crowded."
I smiled, because he referred to Carlisle and Esme as my parents, and also because I thought I might get to share a bed with Koda, who was naturally warm and always felt safe.
Bella laughed quietly, once again nudging me towards the house. "That's good to know, Takoda. Maybe you two can have a sleepover on a weekend. But you know the schedule for schooldays- Jake is already here to take you back to your Aunt and Uncle. He's in the living room."
Koda hugged me begrudgingly, promising to see me the next day as he walked to the living room and I made my way up the stairs. As promised, Esme was in the bathroom already, and washed my face more thoroughly than usual.
"What were you doing, Camellia? Eating dirt?" She said jokingly as she wiped the final smudge of mud off my cheek, but I only laughed because of how close she was. I hadn't been eating dirt- but I had been blowing on grass.
Naptime passed in a blur- I was getting much better at sleeping in a bed, and my sleep schedule was regulated now. I only woke up because there was movement beside me as Renesmee climbed into bed with me. She sniffled and wrapped her arms around me as she lay next to me, still upset about her punishment. I patted her arm as she fell asleep again, but couldn't manage to sleep very well with all of her thoughts being pushed into my head because she was touching me.
Apparently Edward had utilized the paddle that Carlisle kept in his office. Nessie was definitely not planning on jumping off the swing again anytime soon.
Rather than going back to sleep, I just closed my eyes and watched Renesmee's dream. It was strange, how quickly the images flew by. Most of her 'dream' was just clips of faces and places- especially of me, her parents, and Jake. I appeared a lot in her dream, mostly just sitting beside her.
In all of them, she would glance over and take note of me. 'Oh look, my sister is here.'
It made me smile, even if she only referred to me as her sister in her dreams. I had never heard her call me that aloud.
Edward made his way in to wake us up after a while, and smiled when he found us in the same bed. He didn't seem to be annoyed at Renesmee, despite having punished her right before naptime. It actually seemed like he was being more gentle than usual, offering her a choice of which dress she wanted to wear for the day. Maybe having to punish her upset him, too. Carlisle had said before that he didn't like me being hurt- he just preferred I learn from a punishment rather than having to learn when the consequences were something more dangerous.
Maybe Edward wanted the same for Nessie. Too bad we didn't really get any screentime. If we did, maybe I could have argued that my punishment should be losing TV, instead. That was the problem with living in a house that was overseen by Carlisle- a man who was born in 1640 saw no purpose to watching TV. The only electronics he seemed to use were a pager that connected to the homephone, and the record player that he would put on quietly to play classical music sometimes. Even a record player seemed a little modern for someone from that time period, so maybe I should consider myself lucky that I got to listen to music, at all.
Renesmee had heard from Brady that it was possible to make something called a 'string phone', which would allow us to talk back and forth by connecting two cups to a rope and talking into them to eachother. It seemed sort of silly to me, since we both had good hearing anyway and rarely needed to raise our voices. But Nessie wanted to, and it meant I got to decorate the little paper cups, so I was happy as I painted the cup and stuck little plastic jewels to the paint before it could dry.
I was so caught up in my decorating that I actually jumped when Esme appeared in the doorway, announcing that Mato was on the porch for me. Nessie stood with me, walking down the stairs at my side. "This is weird," she whispered. "He never comes to visit, unless Sam or Jake bring him along. And then he complains the whole time. Maybe he wants to fight again."
We both giggled as she threw fake punches at the air in front of us, but managed to pull ourselves together when we reached the front door. Mato was standing on the porch, his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the railing.
"Hi, Mato," I greeted, elbowing Nessie when she snickered at my cheerfulness. "Did you come here by yourself?" Takoda had mentioned that, despite being slightly older than us, Mato wasn't supposed to go through the woods without an adult. The same applied for Brady and Collin- Seth seemed to be the youngest who was allowed to roam freely.
He shook his head, pushing away from the rail. "Nah, I had Quil drop me off. He was on his way to Claire's. Her bedtime is at seven, so he'll come get me a little after that. I guess you guys have an early bedtime, too? It is a schoolnight."
His tone wasn't exactly mocking, but Nessie still seemed offended. "We do not," she shot back, and I wondered if 8 o'clock was really what she considered to be a 'late' bedtime. "Just because you have to go to bed early doesn't mean we do."
Mato's face took on the same smile it usually did when he spoke to Koda- the snarl-like grin that meant he was about to be sarcastic. "I go to bed when I want," he informed her. "I try to turn in by around 1 am, though. Some of us have actual jobs. Like protecting people. If I had to wake up to play dolls and giggle all day , I would probably try to get to bed by around midnight, though. Hard work, isn't it?"
"Children, enough!" Rosalie's voice called from inside the house. She walked out on to the porch, looking sternly between Nessie and Mato. "Either play nicely, or sit quietly. Why don't you all go find a game to play in the yard? There are some toys in the shed."
Renesmee sent Mato a side-glare, but sighed. "Yes, Aunt Rose," she mumbled, spinning around to stride away. She ran to the shed, pulling out a jump-rope. Mato scoffed under his breath, and something told me he wasn't too into jumping rope.
I matched his leisurely pace as we walked across the yard. "Do you really go to bed at 1 am?" I asked him quietly. Esme and Carlisle would never allow me to go to bed that late- they were disapproving if I was even a couple of minutes late for my 8 pm bedtime.
Mato shrugged. "Sometimes. My Mom doesn't really care." Though I thought he would have sounded happy at that, his tone was uncharacteristically sad. The sarcastic smile had dropped from his face, which didn't seem to happen too often. Even now, though, he had a slight frown, as if he were carrying a constant burden.
He paid no attention to the jump-ropes or hula-hoops, and dug through the tub of outdoor toys until he came across a box of chalk. "Come on, Sticks," he said, and I only knew he was referring to me because Nessie was so far away. "Let's go to the cement."
I hurried to keep up with his longer stride, looking at him strangely. "Why did you call me 'Sticks'? My name is Camellia, remember?"
Setting down the box of chalk, he chuckled. "Yeah, but I'm bad with names. And a camellia is some frilly pink flower, right? That doesn't make sense for you. You play in mud and climb trees and stuff. You mess around with sticks, trying to build things. And you sit in trees, like it's where you belong. And you're skinny, like a stick. So that name makes way more sense for you, and it's what I'll remember."
Nodding, I considered his words. Sticks did seem like it made more sense as a name for me. But I had grown used to Camellia, and even if Mato called me by a different name, I didn't want to ask everyone to start using it.
"Just don't go around saying I'm picking on you," he tacked on, glaring up at me. "Renesmee always thinks I'm bullying her and tattles. You better not start doing that."
"I won't," I promised, reaching for a piece of chalk. It had a weird texture, sort of like some of the softer rocks I sometimes found in the dirt. They usually left a reddish residue when I scraped them across trees or bigger rocks.
Mato started drawing circles, and I followed suit, trying to understand his pattern. "What are we making?" I asked. He finished two more circles before finally looking up at me.
"An obstacle course," he said, pointing to the chalk box. "Find a yellow one and start drawing trees or something, Sticks. The first part will be having to keep your feet inside these circles. Then the next part will be dodging trees."
Obediently, I found a small piece of yellow chalk and started drawing trees. These were one thing I was good at sketching- I had spent a lot of time sitting in the dirt, using a stick to draw trees and mountains and animals.
By the time our obstacle course was finished, we had several different stages. There was an arrow where you had to sprint as fast as you could, and a hopscotch section, and even a thin line that we pretended was a balance beam. Nessie wandered over as we played, trying to casually observe at first before giving in and joining us as we raced back and forth.
It was too bad Koda wasn't here. He would have loved it. Except maybe the part where Mato fell into me, and we both toppled over on to the concrete. Even though it was just a tiny scrape that didn't even require a band-aid, Takoda seemed to look for any reason to hold a grudge against Mato.
Maybe I would have to remind him of the time he tackled me because he was worried about me getting hit by blocks. Him and I hadn't exactly gotten off to the best start, either.
Esme called us in for dinner at six, and Mato said he wanted to wait outside for Quil to pick him up. It was getting close to summer, so he thought he should be allowed to wait at the edge of the forest alone since the sun was still up. But Carlisle insisted he come inside and eat dinner with us, so he followed Nessie and I to the table.
"You really don't need to feed me," he insisted. "Emily always sends me home with food. It's not like I'm starving or anything."
A plate full of steak, potatoes and asparagus was placed in front of him. "I never said you were, Honey." Esme reassured. "But I'll not have you sitting outside alone at dinnertime. You can go home fed so you can get into bed early. You should be sleeping by 8:30, since you have to wake up to dress your brothers for school. How's your mother doing?"
"How do you think she's doing?" Mato shot back bitterly. I flinched at his tone, waiting for Esme to scold him, but it never happened. Even Carlisle, who usually swooped in and lectured me for any disrespect to his wife, just shook his head, sighing quietly. It was like Mato's mother was a sensitive subject for everyone, and nobody ever wanted to address it.
Alice was the one to change the subject, which was rare. Usually she was in the background with Jasper, mostly observing. "I'm taking the girls to the theater this weekend, Mato. Perhaps you would like to come?"
She was? That was the first I was hearing of it. What exactly was 'the theater'? Was it in public? The Cullens had never taken me out in public before.
Mato rolled his eyes. "No thanks. I'm not into sappy stuff. Maybe ask Koda, though. He's a real-"
"Mato!" Carlisle's reprimand came quickly this time, cutting Mato's sentence off. "That is quite enough. Leave it at no, and thank her for the invitation."
After a moment of silence, Mato sighed. "No thank you, Alice- Aunty," he said, quickly correcting himself when he saw Carlisle's gaze was still on him. "But thanks for inviting me."
I wanted to ask him what was so bad about the theater, so I could try and decide if I should say no, too. But he had already almost gotten into trouble for talking badly about it, and I didn't want to lead him towards a punishment. Instead, I asked if he could come over tomorrow after school again, and he nodded.
"I guess, Sticks" he said. "Only because I don't have anything else to do."
Even as I stuck the asparagus into my mouth (one of the worst vegetables), I couldn't keep the smile off of my face. Though he was sarcastic and had a temper, and even liked to pretend he didn't like anybody, there was no hiding the way the side of his mouth perked up a little when I asked if he could come back. Koda and Nessie both tried to keep their distance from him, and it must have been hard, having the other kids close to his own age avoid him. Especially when it sounded like he tried to avoid going home whenever possible.
But no matter how irritable and grouchy Mato could be, there was no denying that he had just accepted my friendship, in his own way.