(edited: 14.08.2022)
NIGHTMARES they never seem to disappear, it's because of them that I'm not sleeping right now, but waiting for the sun to rise. It's around four in the morning and I'm lying on my bed reading one of my books, trying to get ready for the first day of school. I read the words but they don't really get into my brain, as I'm too worried about how people will react when they see me.
After my house burned down, I was found in the backyard lying unconscious on the grass. No one could explain how I got there. The police figured out that I had to go down the ladder, before collapsing out of carbon monoxide poisoning.
At the time I didn't really care how I got there, my only worry was that my only family died, but people in town started talking and someone came up with a theory that I was the one who started the fire.
Unfortunately most people believed it, kids at school were bullying me and calling a murderer, their parents were constantly coming to Charlie to tell him that I was too dangerous to be at school.
Charlie of course defended me and told them off, but it didn't stop so I told him that I didn't want to go to school anymore and my psychiatrist advised that for the time being I should study at home. And I did, but not only did I stop going to school, I also stopped leaving the house. Charlie tried to get me out, but the only time that I left was to go somewhere with him, or to visit Billy and Jacob.
I let out a sigh, noticing that it was almost six in the morning. Closing my book, I went to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Leaving I saw that Bella was waiting to use the bathroom.
"Good morning." she greeted me with a sleepy smile.
"Morning." I responded, as I walked past her in order to get to my room. There I got dressed in black sweats and dried my red hair. With that done, I packed my backpack and left for the kitchen, where I found Charlie. He was already ready for work and was simply finishing his morning coffee.
"Good morning kid, ready for school?"
I grunted in response, as I started making myself some coffee for my thermos.
Charlie laughed at my grumpiness "I'll take that as a yes."
About twenty minutes later, Bella and I were walking towards our truck when she asked "So who's driving?"
I didn't look at her, as I answered "You, I'm not feeling too good." which was true. All I needed right now was for the coffee to kick in.
"Okay." she answered in joy, I could tell that she was excited to drive the truck first. The drive was quick and filled with mostly silence, until Bella decided to break it. "I can't believe that you're wearing sweats on our first day at school. I mean, I don't care about looks but don't you want to make a good first impression?"
Looking at her, I could see her fumbling with her hands after we parked. Sighing I responded, waving her off "I don't care, Bella. Most of them already know me and they can fuck off."
With that said, I patted her hands and exited first, hearing her follow shortly. Bella frowned at me, but before she could continue the conversation, some guy called out.
"Nice ride, ladies"
I ignored him, while Bella awkwardly responded "Thanks." before following me.
After we got our schedules from the office, Bella and I started to walk around the school trying to find our classes. People were staring at me and I felt my anxiety rising, but I tried not to show it. I just had to ignore them and they would soon stop.
As we were walking a boy appeared in front of us, making me jump slightly "You're Isabella Swan!" he said to Bella, before pointing at me "And you must be Dorothea Summers! You're the new girls! I mean you're not that new, but Isabella is!"
"It's just Bella." she muttered.
"And it's just Thea for me, so who are you?" I asked in confusion, the boy seemed to beam at us, as if we were some kind of celebrities.
"Hi! I'm Eric, the eyes and ears of this place. Anything you need? Tour guide, lunch date and a shoulder to cry on!"
Feeling the stares of people on me again and it freaked me out, I had to get out of here "What I need is space. Thank you very much." I stated, feeling really uncomfortable, turning to Bella I patted her backpack "I'll see you later, Bella. Good luck."
I followed the instructions on the map that the lady in the office gave me and soon I was in front of my AP Literature & Composition class. I took a deep breath and went inside, where I met my new teacher Mrs. Morgan. After introducing myself awkwardly she told me to wait near her desk, so she could find me a seat and introduce me to the class, so once everyone sat down she got up and said.
"Class, I would like you to meet our new student Dorothea Summers. Please be sure to help her out if she needs anything." everyone nodded at the woman while staring at me with looks of recognition on some of the students.
I shifted uncomfortably, wanting to just get the hell out of this school and never come back but I had to endure it for Charlie. And for Bella.
"Now, now where should you sit" continued Mrs. Morgan as her eyes scanned the class in front of her "Oh! You can sit next to Miss Hale. Rosalie please raise your hand."
Soon a gorgeous blonde haired girl raised her hand looking a bit annoyed, as her light eyes seemed to glare at me. I gulped a bit, feeling so intimidated by the beautiful girl that I ignored the slight feeling of nostalgia, as I noticed her golden eyes.
Feeling the stare of Mrs. Morgan, I smiled tightly at her and went to sit down next to Rosalie. When I sat down, I just pulled out my books and listened to what Mrs. Morgan was talking about. I didn't want to bother Rosalie so I didn't speak to her or even look at her even though I could feel her stare on my skin.
Half way through the lesson I felt someone poke me from behind. I tried to ignore it but whoever it was, didn't give up so I finally turned, feeling my temper rise. Then I saw a boy who seemed to enjoy the fact that I turned, he grinned at me and said quietly.
"So, you're the Summers girl. Is it true that you burned your house down? Along with your parents?"
This made me flinch, as my mind replayed everything that happened that night. I shook my head and tried to turn around not wanting to listen to him anymore, but he grabbed my upper arm tightly saying "Come on, now. Don't be shy. Speak up. Did you–?"
Before he could finish, in a blink of an eye his head was hitting the desk with such force that I thought that his skull might crush, he let go of my arm in the process. Then I felt someone quickly turn me around and I noticed that it was Rosalie, her golden eyes were now slightly darker as her expression looked almost murderous.
"Mr. Jones! What do you think you're doing?! This is the last time that I let you fall asleep in this class!" yelled Mrs. Morgan at the boy who was talking to me, looking mad.
The boy now was holding his head, as he said angrily "I wasn't sleeping! It was this psycho who hit my head on the desk!" he pointed towards Rosalie who was sitting innocently, as if nothing happened.
"And a false accusation to that! Please stop lying to me Mr. Jones! I could clearly see that Miss Hale and Miss Summers were sitting straight as I turned. If it was Miss Hale I would see her turn around." said Mrs. Morgan looking even more pissed off "That's it, please stand up Mr. Jones! You're going to the principal's office, I've had enough of the sound of your snoring and you hitting the desk on my lessons!"
I just sat there shocked, as the Jones boy left the classroom, I turned to look at Rosalie who was looking at me too. When she noticed that she had my attention, she simply wicked at me with a smirk and then returned to making notes again as if nothing happened.
I stared at her in shock, before whispering "Thank you."
The rest of the lesson was quite nice, Rosalie and I still didn't talk to each other but the atmosphere around us was calm and nice. When the bell rang, I packed my things, noticing that Rosalie was already packed and leaving. It didn't surprise me, I mean she helped me but we weren't friends, so I just let her go and do whatever she wanted.
After a few more boring lessons I went to the cafeteria. Once there I sat at one of the empty tables pulling out my thermos and history book knowing that's my next class. During my lessons I noticed that I was way ahead from others which made me being here a little easier, teachers also didn't really pay attention to me which was good.
To be honest, I just wanted to graduate and move away to open a flower shop. But above all I wanted to be alone, I don't need anyone and sure as hell I don't want anyone needing me.
I was so distracted by my own thoughts, that I never noticed people who just entered the cafeteria and were heading towards my table. That is, until I heard someone clear their throat. I looked up to see a group of teenagers looking a bit too old to be still going to high school standing near me, I also noticed Rosalie among them.
They clearly were waiting for me to respond, so I stopped thinking and said "Em... hi?"
A fairy-like girl smiled at me widely and said in an excited voice "Hello! Can we sit with you?"
I blinked and tried to smile, feeling very confused "Yeah, sure. I was about to leave anyway, so the table is yours." with that I started gathering my things, but the girl stopped me by sitting next to me and putting a hand on my shoulder, pushing me back down with surprising strength.
Okay. What the actual fuck?
"Stay with us! I'm Alice Cullen by the way, we all would really love to meet you" she said as the others started sitting down. I nodded at her feeling really uncomfortable with sitting with a group of strangers. But Alice didn't seem to notice as she hugged me.
Okay, so officially I was feeling weird as hell, I looked towards the others as they all looked ready to facepalm. After a moment a blonde guy looked at me apologetically and poked Alice.
"Alice, she's uncomfortable."
Thankfully, it made Alice let go and say "Sorry! I just feel like we're already best friends!" I nodded slightly at her, counting down minutes to the end of lunch, as she started talking again.
"Okay so, this is Edward Cullen." she pointed towards the bronze haired guy, I nodded at him and he returned it with a slight smirk pulling at his lips.
"This is Emmett Cullen." the way too big for high school standard, guy smiled at me brightly and waved, I just lifted my arm not quite waving, as Alice continued "This is Rosalie."
"We already know each other." responded Rosalie with a small huff. This made everyone from her group look at her in confusion, this made her roll her eyes "We have AP Literature & Composition together."
The others still looked at her in confusion, as Alice finally pointed towards the honey haired guy, who looked like he was nearly twenty to be honest "And this is Jasper Hale."
Jasper smiled at me, it looked a little pained but I didn't judge him. The situation made me painful as well.
"It's a pleasure to meet you."
I nodded and simply responded to all of them "Thea Summers."
For some weird reason I relaxed a bit, as some of my uncomfortable feelings disappeared. All of them smiled at me politely, but it was Alice who spoke up first. Again.
"You're not eating anything?" she looked quite worried.
I looked around at them, noticing that none of them had a tray "And you guys are?"
"We're on a special diet." Edward responded, smiling as if it was some sort of inside joke.
"Well I'm not hungry, besides that's all I need." I gestured towards my coffee.
Alice looked like she was ready to argue, so I thought about making a quick escape. I didn't want to listen to them telling me what to do when we hardly met.
"Is school up to your liking?" asked Jasper, changing the subject as if he felt my need to escape.
I raised an eyebrow, as I noticed a slight slip of an accent in his voice, that sounded really familiar "I suppose so, although I'd prefer to study at home."
"And why's that?" he asked again, frowning a bit.
"I just... don't like crowds." and also I'm a bit fucked up in the head, I thought to myself.
Suddenly, Edward snorted but tried to cover it up with a cough.
"Jasper doesn't like crowds either!" Alice exclaimed, taking my attention away from Edward and earning a slight glare from Jasper. But she completely ignored him as she focused on me once more "You know me, Rosalie and you should go all shopping together! That would be so fun! I promise that we'll find someplace without crowds."
I was really confused by how nice Alice was to me, she really acted as if I was her best friend. It was... cute. But so fucking weird.
"I'll think about it."
Alice hugged me once more, giggling with excitement "I can't wait! I'd love to give you a makeover!"
"She said that she'll think about it Alice, calm down." said Rosalie rolling her eyes.
The bell rang and Alice let go of me still smiling in pure bliss, I just awkwardly patted her hand.
Quickly, I took my book and coffee, saying "It was nice to meet all of you."
I turned to leave, but in my hurry I managed to trip over my chair. I nearly fell on my face, but a cold and weirdly comforting arms grabbed me firmly, saving me from such a fate.
"Are you alright?"
I looked up to see Jasper, his eyes were slightly darker than when we sat at the table, but it must've been the trick of light. Stepping away as if burned and nodded, checking if I spilled my coffee.
"I'm fine, I am the one who should be apologizing." I responded feeling embarrassed, but the feeling soon, way too soon, disappeared as a wave of relaxation washed over me. I felt so comfortable that I almost started falling asleep. Not wanting to make a fool of myself, I rubbed my eyes "I've gotta go. I don't want to be late for my history lesson."
"I have history now as well, so let me accompany you." Jasper offered, looking weirdly guilty as he watched me yawn and drink more coffee.
"Huh...? Oh, history, yeah, okay. Let's go." I said struggling to shake the sleepiness off, it didn't feel natural. Was it my insomnia coming at me with revenge?
We walked together out of the cafeteria to the hallway, Jasper weirdly hovered over me every time I rubbed my eyes and yawned, trying not to fall asleep. That's when I noticed just how much taller he is than me, I was just barely reaching the top of his shoulder. The honey haired boy was like a walking tree.
Soon we got to the classroom, Jasper opened the door for me and I smiled at him kindly. It turned out that the lesson had already started and the teacher didn't look happy with our late appearance.
"You're late Mr. Hale." the teacher looked at Jasper before turning to me "And you Miss..." he looked down at some paper before adding "Summers. I hope that it won't happen again, now go sit down, you'll be sitting together."
Jasper nodded only at the man while I mumbled "I'm sorry." and followed Jasper to his desk, which was in the back of the class. Once there he pushed the chair back for me, and once I was seated he sat down as well.
During the lesson I fought the sleepiness away, already thinking about changing my coffee brand or maybe add more of it for the next time. Jasper kept on sending me worried looks, every time the teacher asked me a question, as if I would fall out of my chair instead of answering. Thankfully after grilling me for some time, the teacher moved on to someone else.
Feeling Jasper's eyes on me again, I turned and asked "What is it?"
He frowned, before glancing at my notebook and then back to me "Why were your answers so... simple? You have a lot more written in your notes."
I huffed out a small laugh and looked at him "Jasper, do I look like someone who has the energy to go out of their way to make a detailed answer?"
Jasper looked like a deer in the headlights, he was probably trying to find an answer that wouldn't offend me in any way. Finally, he just decided to change the subject, making me smirk a bit "So, em. How do you know all these details from your notes? Some of them aren't in our textbooks."
"I read a lot of books and I have a good memory, so I don't really forget things easily." I felt a wave of encouragement and started to talk again "Also I always wanted to move away from here, so I'm interested in other places and their history. When I was a kid I wanted to move to Texas, for example."
Jasper smiled at me and said "You know, before I was adopted I lived in Texas."
"Really? That's cool, do you miss it?" I asked, surprising myself with how genuinely curious I was.
His smile became a little strained, as he answered "No, actually. I made many mistakes when I was there and now I feel like I don't deserve..." he stopped himself for a moment in a lighter tone "Anyway, the heat was unbearable so I wouldn't recommend it."
I nodded and asked more questions, avoiding certain topics that could make him feel uncomfortable.
The lesson passed quickly and pleasantly, even as we walked out of the school we were still talking and even laughing. That's when I noticed Bella waiting for me next to our truck.
I finally felt all the weight come back to me, as it dawned on me that I had to go back home. It saddened me that even if for the first time in three years I felt carefree for a moment, it was still just that. A moment.
Looking back at Jasper, I saw that he also noticed that it was over and we had to separate. I just met him today but I still really enjoyed his company and humor.
"I guess that this is where we separate huh?"
"Unfortunately, but we'll see each other tomorrow. I really would like to get to know you better, Thea." Jasper answered with a small smile.
"Well, I would like to get to know you too. Preferably, when I'm not trying to fall asleep every five seconds." I joked, but Jasper looked a bit guilty for something, so I cleared my throat and added "Until tomorrow then, Jasper."
"Until tomorrow, Thea" he responded.
And for the first time in three years I smiled truly.
So how did you like Thea's first meeting with the Cullens?
And what do you think about Thea's and Jasper relationship in this chapter?
If you have any question or idea please leave a comment ;)
(post edit note:)
More edits are coming in the near future.