My first class passed by fairly quickly. Though I had already learned the course they had been going over I was fascinated by me being in school with others my age.
That alone was enough to keep my interest held, at least until lunch. By the time the bell rang and we were released from AP Physics I was already burnt out from having to retake classes on things I have already learned.
With my bag in hand I made my way to the lunch room and found an empty table and took a seat. As I was taking my lunch out of my bag the chair beside me pulled out and someone took a seat.
I glanced to my left and smiled when I seen Fayelynn.
"How did your classes go, so far?" She asked as she began picking at her foot tray that consisted of nothing but vegetables and fruits.
I shrugged my shoulders. "It lacked stimulation." I replied as I began eating celery.
"I didn’t see you in any of my other classes this morning so I am guessing you had Mr. Jarvis and Mr. Parkinson. They both teach Freshman classes in biology and Algebra and it is boring."
I shook my head. "I have Mrs. Hardney and Mr. Rovette."
"What classes do they teach?" Fayelynn ask, clearly confused.
"Hardney teaches AP Calculus and Rovette teaches AP Physics."
"Oh. Oh, you are in advanced placement classes. That makes more sense. Lessons too challenging?"
I smirked. "I wish. At least then I’d have some sort of mental stimulation. I’ve already learned this stuff. Two years ago, might I add."
Lunch passed by quicker than I wanted and then it was time for my AP biology class. As I headed to my class alone, I felt disappointment. I had hoped that Jake would’ve arrived by now. I wonder what he was doing?
The Chemistry classroom was set up differently than all my others. Instead of single desks in several neat rows there were two rows of five long desks. Each desk had two chairs to them.
When the teacher walked in he glanced at the class and then moved to stand at the board where he wrote his name.
‘MR. JACOBSON’ it said in neat letters. When he finished he turned back to us.
"If you have taken anything out of your bags, put it back. In my class I have assigned seats, so stand up beside the chair you are sitting in." He said in a cold tone.
Everyone in the class stood and waited as he took out a clipboard.
"I’m going to start calling out names. When you hear your name you will head to your assigned seat. Starting from the right and working to the left.
"Cassandra Ekins, Armander Lool, Kelly Jensens, Peyton Fran. First Row.
"Danny Spence, Kyle Warble, Angela Jet, Lars Petty. Second Row.
He went through two more rows before he got to me.
"Wednesday Little, Tierney Packinson, Renesmee Cullen, Ansel Duerre. Fifth Row."
I moved to my seat in the back and took a seat. Seconds later a boy sat in the chair beside me.
Mr. Jacobson walked down the center of the class, talking. "When you enter my class from now on, this is how you will be seated. If you have issues with the person beside you, keep it to yourselves. I don’t want to hear it."
When he reached the front of the classroom he picked up a stack of papers on his desk and split them in half before holding them up.
"Take out your pencils and put everything else away." The teacher set the stacks on the two most inner desks and everyone took one and passed them back.
"This test will determine whether or not you will remain in this class. If you score under 80% you are out. When you finish you may leave for the day." He said before taking a seat behind his desk and cracking open a thick book.
I pulled my paper to myself and wrote my name on the top before I started.
1. Of the following elements, which would be expected to have chemical properties most similar to those of nitrogen, N?
(A) Br (B) Cl (C) S (D) P (E) Se
I quickly circled (D) and moved to the next.
2. Which of the following is a conclusion drawn from Millikan’s experiments in which charged droplets of oil are observed and their speed while passing through an electric field is measured?
(A) Atoms have equal numbers of positive and negative charges.
(B) Electrons in atoms are arranged in shells.
(C) The value of negative electric charges is a fundamental unit equal to 1.6 x 10 (-19) coulomb.
(D) Electrons and protons in atoms have equal but opposite charges.
(E) Electrons reside in a "cloud" that surrounds the positively charged nucleus.
I marked (C) and continued on with the rest of the test. The remainder of the questions weren’t too complicated to where I was unable to successfully finish, but it made me slow down dramatically - for me - to reread each question and then think deeply to try and find the answer.
50. Which of the following properties generally decreases across the periodic table from lithium to flourine?
(A) First ionization energy
(B) Atomic mass
(C) Electronegative
(D) Maximum value of the oxidation number
(E) Atomic Radius
I marked (C) and then turned my flipped back to the first page of my test. After I put away my pencil I rose to my feet, grabbed my back pack and made my way to the front of the classroom.
When I set my test down the teacher looked up at me.
"Finished, already?" He asked in his drawling voice.
"Yes, sir."
"Do you think you will be back tomorrow?" He asked me.
Confidently I nodded my head. "Yes. I’m positively sure that I will return tomorrow."
His eyes narrowed at me. "How about we find out now." He said as he snatched my test and pulled the master test to himself to begin checking my answers.
After a few minutes he closed both packets. "Did you cheat?" He asked me.
A look of disgust crossed my face at his question. "Sir, I do not cheat."
"Most certainly you have cheated if you got all the questions correct. I’ve been teaching this class for 10 years and never has anyone every gotten 100% on any of their work. 99%, yes. 100%, no."
"Ask me anything you want and I will answer it."
"Why does potassium have a lower first ionization energy than lithium?" He rushed out, in an effort to prove himself.
Without missing a beat I responded. "Because potassium has more protons in its nucleus than lithium has."
Mr. Jacobson’s face turned a deep shade of red before he continued. "The rate at which sugar dissolves in water increases with stirring. Why?"
"Because stirring exposes the surface of a solute crystal to a less concentrated later of solution." I answered effortlessly.
"Diamond has a high melting point. Why?" He challenged yet again.
"Because, in a diamond crystal, the carbon atoms are held in place by ionic bonds.
"Like I told you before, sir, I did not cheat." Without another word to him I left the classroom.
I made my way over to the quad outside of my Italian class and took a seat on one of the benches to wait until the current class ended. I was three chapters into my book Tess of the d’Urbervilles when a boy took a seat on the bench opposite mine.
"Hi." He said simply.
I glanced up from my kindle. "Hello."
"You’re Renesmee, we sit beside each other in AP Chemistry." He began.
"Oh, yeah, you are Ansel, right?"
He grinned. "Yep. Good job on handling yourself with Mr. Jacobson. I’ve had his classes every year since I started here. He’s quite the character."
"Eh, I’ve seen worse." I replied before looking back down at my kindle to resume my story.
I managed to make in through another page before he spoke again.
"May I ask what it is that you are reading?" He questioned.
I looked at. "Tess of the d’Urbervilles, it’s one of the several thousand on my ‘to-read’ list."
"I take it you love books." He said matter-of-factly.
I grinned and nodded my head.
"Have you by chance, ever read Finnegan’s Wake?" he asked.
In that moment he had my utmost attention. I clicked the lock button on my kindle and put it away.
"James Joyce?"
He nodded his head. "I’m an avid reader, myself, but my tastes are singular. I like to be challenged."
I rose my eyebrow to him. "A challenge would be reading something from Shakespeare or Poe. Finnegan’s Wake is the most difficult work of fiction in the English language. It full of neologisms, puns using neologisms, ancient slang, and portmanteau words, "Wake" is profane, sublime (to some), and totally unreadable. The stimulation your mind would be the equivalent of pouring acid on your brain." I rushed out.
"Touche." He grinned. "But, give the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain."
I let out a obnoxious laugh. "Did you just quote Faulkner?"
He began winding his wrist watch. "I believe I did." He said coolly. "So, Renesmee do you-"
Before he could speak another work I rose to my feet and turned around so quickly my hair made a whipping sound. "Jake!" I shouted as I ran across the quad and jumped into his arms.
He caught me effortlessly and set me to my feet.
"Where were you? You were supposed to be here by lunch." I said as he took my hand into his and we began walking over to where I had been sitting.
"Funeral." He muttered.
I stopped in my tracks as my heart dropped. "Who?" Part of me was afraid of the answer. Afraid it would be someone dear to me.
"Rachel." He said. "Her and Paul were out cliff diving at the spot and she hit her head. She died instantly.
I brought my hand to my mouth as tears threatened from behind my eyes. "Oh no, Jacob. I’m so sorry." I brought my arms around him and held on tightly.
I had only met Rachel a handful of times, but it was enough for me to grow to like her.
"Don’t be. Life goes on." He said coldly.
"No. Don’t you dare say that Jacob Black."
"Renesmee, you need to understand that the world stops for no one. I can’t let this get to my head or it will open up old wounds and tear me apart."
Now I understood. This reminded him of his mothers death. His mother, Sarah, died in a car accident when he was young.
"Jacob." I said.
He didn’t look at or acknowledge me.
I took his face between my hands and turned it so I was able to look into his eyes.
"I love you, Jacob." I said gently and then pressed my lips to his cheek in an innocent peck.
Our relationship was… different. Very different. I was a rare happening; my mother having been a human and my father a vampire, fell in love and had me. I, by nature, was a hybrid - neither one or the other, I was both.
And my boyfriend… or soul-mate if you wish, was a shape-shifter who imprinted on me the day I was born.
Jacob and I are not physical. We haven’t kissed or anything like that and we had just began to say "I love you" to each other -which is slightly unsettling to my parents.
So the peck on the cheek meant a great deal to Jacob.
He smiled at me and brought me into his arms. "I’d be so lost without you Ness. So lost."
And I knew that was the truth
AUTHORS NOTE: Uh-oh, looks like a few things are going on in this chapter.
It seems as if Renesmee made her first friend or two, Fayelynn and Ansel. I wonder how Ansel is going to work in terms of Jacob. Do you think Ansel might be pining for more than just a friendship with Renesmee?
Now, lets talk about Mr. Jacobson. In my mind, I see him as overbearing as Severus Snape in Harry Potter - minus the whole double-agent, and "I love your mother" sort of thing; I think you get the picture. How do you think Renesmee's school year in his class is going to go? Do you think he will eventually lighten up towards her once he comes to terms and realizes that she knows her stuff? Or do you think he will hold a grudge against her for the rest of the school year?
Lastly, the Jacob/Nessie Romance. Yes, it will happen at a snail-pace because Renesmee still see's Jacob as her friend, and Jake still see's Renesmee as the little girl piggy-backing on him while he is in wolf form. But rest assured, they two have a pure, deep love for one another.