My name is Renesmee Cullen. I'm five years old, but I look seventeen. It's a little annoying, because until I have children, I'm the baby of the family. And I can't wait to marry Jake.
I admired my beutiful ring. It sparkled under my bedroom's light. It looked like it had grown on my finger. I felt stupid taking it off, but what seventeen year old walks around wearing a wedding ring? I'm already strange enough as it is, coming from a family who adopted eight kids, six of whom are impossibly beutiful.
I can't imagine myself as being Mom's sister. l don't look anything like my mom. She's so much prettier. Even with ugly brown contacts on her eyes. My hair is my only pretty feature. Rosalie and Jasper wear the contacts too. Theirs are a perfect coppery green. They do help us blend in at our new school, though. It's such a nice school.
It's large, sprawling, and has such a pretty veiw of the mountains. Mom says I shouldn't be spending so much time looking out windows, I've only gone to high school twice.
I disagree. It's the most boring thing I've ever attended in my whole life.
I twirled my hair around my finger. I remembered how alarmed my mom and Aunt Alice had been when they had to face working with it after I accidentally chopped it all off. Don't ask me how. My mom told me she hoped it grew back before I stopped aging. It was only half the length it used to be, and I didn't really mind. It ws just as pretty. But my mom kept whining about how perfect my hair used to be and how she wanted me to look just perfect for my first wedding.
I tried to just not worry about it.
I stared in the mirror in front of me as I fumbled to clasp my necklace. It was my favorite, a bright red ruby hanging on a silverywhite chain. It nestled right in the center of the hollow at the base of my neck. I liked how cool it felt on my skin, though I prefered Jake's warm hand clutching mine.
The thought of Jakob sent shuddders up my spine. He was so perfect. So, so, natural. Being with him was like breathing. Being away from him was holding my breath.
I thought ruefully that I was holding my breath right now.
Jake was in La Push this week. I missed him terribly. He's not perfect, that's for sure, but he completes me and he's the most human thing in my life. Even though we should be complete opposites.
I missed his musky smell. I told myself again that today was Friday and he would be home tomorrow. But tomorrow sounded too far away.
I couldn't wait till we were married. Then we could go back to La Push together. I loved that house because that was the only place I ever saw Grandpa Billy. Jake loved that place because it held all his memories. His mom, his dad, his sisters, every single minute of his life centered around that place till the day he met me.
I searched around my bag for my lipstick. Yeah, I'm allowed. Something about fitting in with girls my own age. I smeared some onto my lips. It was bright cherry, "The perfect shade!" as Alice put it. I knotted my hair back, and let it fall again. I'd look silly.
I grabbed my denim jacket off the back of my desk chair. I took one last look at my bedroom, rumply bed and lavender walls, before quietly shutting the door.
I waved hi to Rose, silently stalking up to her, and touched the bare flesh on her arm. I sent out a picture of Alice's canary porche. It was some kind of gift for racing around Italy or whatever. No one ever went into details around me. They said I was too young and wouldn't understand.
I try and trust their judgement. Sometime's it's hard though. Like trying to get a license. What seventeen year old living in the middle of New Hampshire doesn't drive? It's not the city. Even though Twin Mountain, New Hampshire, is kind of tiny. Okay, it's really tiny. It's stuffed in the middle of a state park or national park or whatever. But it's got prime property. We don't have a huge hunk of private property with two lakes at the end of it for nothing.
I know, I know, what's bad about spending 8 minutes in a car with my mom, Rose, and Alice? Nothing. It's just really awkward when we get to school. Two cars for eight people? I feel bad for the guys. They have to deal with being in a confined space with Jake. He has to deal with our smell at all times too, though. You can deal with eight minutes.
I just really want a car. Maybe next year I'll get one. Alice will want to top the house. By my next birthday, I won't age anymore. I want to stop aging before I look older than most of my family. Carlisle, and Esme are the only adults in our family. It makes our cover a little easier.
There's the Cullens, Swans (me and mom), Hales, and a Black.
We really mess people up at school. I mean, a big swarm of people who all live in the same house segregating themselves for all eternity? Nah, me, my mom, and Jake try to branch out. Too bad Jake scares half the kids at school.
I snapped out of my thoughts as Rose nodded yes. I gave her a thumbs up and dashed down the stairs to go have some breakfast. "Goodmorning, Nessie." Nana Esme said. She was standing at the stove, where the smell of bacon wafted from. Even though she only had to cook for two of us, and today only me, Nana Esme always went full out. I guess because she's been such a good cook for a hundred years and never gotten the chance to feed someone?
She started to dish out my meal. "Thanks, Esme. This looks delicius."
"You're welcome. Enjoy!" She slid a plate covered with bacon, a breakfast wrap dripping cheese and egg, and a lot of fruit salad. I picked up my fork and started stuffing my mouth.
Alice bounced down the stairs. "Bella's gonna get mail from Mike Newton!" she announced.
I had no idea who Mike Newton was and didn't really want to find out. Just then my dad walked down the stairs. "Mike Newton? How did he find us?"
"I don't know, do I?"
"Mike?" Esme tutted. "He's the one who worked at the camping store, right?"
"Yeah." said Alice and dad.
"We'd better brace ourselves." Edward said.
I hope Mike Newton isn't someone bad.
Just then my mom came down the stairs. This was going to be an interesting morning. "Mom, Alice says you're getting mail from some Mike Newton guy?" I told her.
"Mike Newton!" she gasped.
"How'd he track us down?" my mom asked.
"I don't know." said Alice. "Maybe he found us on the web. Don't they have some kind of website that lists all the phonebooks in the country or something?"
"Yeah, don't they?" I piped in.
"Maybe, but still, how did he find the Cullens?"
"Carlisle's a doctor. I guess he's sending the mail to Carlisle in hopes that he gives it to you?" Esme said.
"Ugh, why Mike Newton of all people!" mom lamented.
"Hey, I'm sitting in the dark here." I said, all thoughts of breakfast wraps and bacon gone from my mind. "Who is Mike Newton?"
My dad laughed nervously. "Uh, he was this guy at Forks High who had a major crush on your mom when she was human. She'd never go out with him, although she did go out a couple times with your fiancé." My mom hit him hard on the arm.
"Don't lie to your daughter about her husband!" my mom whined.
"Hey! He's not her husband yet! And you did go out!"
I picked up my fork again. I was picking at the fruit with no enthusiasm when my mom said, "Apologize to your baby right now."
My dad caught her glance. "I'm sorry Ness. I shouldn't lie about your husband to you even though I hate him."
That got him another smack. Alice laughed. Emmett came down then. "What's everyone laughing about?" he asked, utterly clueless.
"Uh, well, my mom's getting a letter from some guy who had a crush on her in high school and dad badmouthed him and my future husband. So my mom smacked him and Alice went hysterical." I told Emmett. He laughed his happy booming laugh while I recieved death glares from my mom, dad, and Alice.
I hurredly got up from the table to dump my food. "Come on, we'll be late for school if we don't hurry up."
Me, my mom, and Alice set out to retrieve the contents of our backpacks. I had to stay way more organized than the two of them because I didn't have their impossible super speed.
I grabbed my math binder, my science and history notebooks, and my ELA super binder with the added accordian folder. I also found my French folder. I managed to stuff it all into my bag and carry it down to the door.
Alice scanned me over when I got there. "What's with the shoes, Nessie?" I stared down at my feet. I was wearing bright pink clogs, which looked really odd when I finnally looked at them at the base of my jeggings. But hey, I was wearing a pinkish floral shirt. Why not get a little crazy?
"I wanted to look a little crazy." I told her as I walked past her to the car. I left her in the doorway, trying to process what I told her.
I opened the yellow car door and slid into the backseat. Rose and my Mom weren't out yet. I silently drummed my fingers on the door. Where were they?
I watched all the guys pile into their car, only three of them again.
You can make it to tomorrow, I told myself. It's six in the morning. You can hold out till tomorrow when the love of your life returns.
Five minutes later everyone finnally emerged. Rose looked stunning as ever, in a green minidress over jeans and a blue shrug tucked on her shoulders. I envied her. She looked, so, perfect.
She opened the door to the seat behind my mom and squeezed in.
We drove off in silence. We passed the bridge, and turned onto the main road. No one said anything. When we turned onto 11th Avenue, Mom finnally broke the silence. "Can someone loan me a pen?"
I scrambled in my backpack looking. I pulled out a blue one with very little ink left. Oh well. "Hey, mom, does this work?" I asked, passing it up to her.
"I guess. Thanks, Ness." We finnally pulled into the school parking lot with a collective sigh of relief.
We all piled out in the farthest corner of the school parking lot. I started walking for the school doors. Clonk, clonk, clonk. Maybe Alice was right. Maybe the clogs were too much and too annoying. But they did catch attention.
Some junior took one look at me and gave a long, hard whistle. I tried to ignore him and kept on walking.
I headed for my locker, trying to muffle my every step. I did an okay job, not everyone stared. I think.
I was overly relieved when I finnaly reached my locker. No more weird stares about walking too loudly. Phew.
I jammed my combo in three times before my lock would finnally open. Ugh. This would be a long day, I could tell. And boring. That's why I was shocked by the note fluttering out of my locker.
I hurridly grabbed it and uncrumpled it.
Meet me at the water vending machine durring lunch. We need to talk.
-Jasper
A note from Jasper? Since when did we talk?
I decided to go. But Alice was coming with me.
I headed off to French, the note clutched tightly in my hand. I had to show Alice. After all, Uncle Jazz is her husband.
I pushed through the throng of people, but I still didn't see Alice. Oh well, I'd catch her later. I realized with a shock I was still carrying around my pink backpack. I turned around and threaded back to my locker to dump all my stuff.
My locker looked pretty normal. It was blue with a sandy tan inside. The only distinctive thing about it was the mural I had drawn on the inside of the door. I'd stayed after that day, saying I'd run home, because I can run kinda fast. I'd spent three hours painting a mural of me and Jake holding hands by the lake before Jake finnally phased to come looking for me. He wasn't mad at me for not coming home. He just kissed me and told me to close up shop.
That day was perfect, I smiled to myself.
I opened my locker with my note hand and was shocked to see another note. I picked it up quickly.
Be there on time. Don't bring anyone.
-Jasper
This was bad. Why did he want me to come alone? I looked around and saw Jasper's blond head bobbing away.
Uncle Jazz will be in so much trouble.
It was so hard to sit through French without going insane. As my teacher droned on about adjectives, I tried to figure out what Jasper wanted. Why would he want to talk to me?
It didn't add up. And I wasn't going to figure this out anytime soon.
I wasn't very relieved when the bell finnally rang and I had to leave for math. Because I was never going to figure this out.
Walking in the hallway was when I had my inspiration.
I was going to kill uncle Emmett! He must have dropped the note for me. He was constantly pranking everyone else, so why not me? I was the perfect target, because he could outrun me. Ha! I'd show him.
When I got to lunch, I was in such a hurry to get to the vending machine that I completly missed the guy standing in front of me with the tray of spaghetti. My head collided with the tray, and I fell on the floor in pain. When I looked up, I saw Uncle Emmett staring in shock at the plateful of spaghetti I had just plastered his shirt with.
I just barely heard him mutter, "That's the last time I try to pull a prank on her."
I glared at him.