Chapter 2: Recognition

Chapter 2: Recognition

Thunder Mountain High School has a total of 425 students (including me) and 27 teachers. It is slap bang in the middle of Juneau, although the place is so small that it isn’t very hard to be in the middle. The campus isn’t big, but the school is fairly new, so they still have plans to expand. It would be tolerable; not as big as my last school. Closer knit friendships could be formed in a place like this.

My first lesson was Calculus. The teacher sat me next to a bubbly, smiling girl with brown hair tied in a ponytail and green eyes framed by thick lashes. She sprang up as I went to take my seat, hand outstretched.

“Hi, I’m Hannah Berry!” she trilled, “I love your hair! Where do you have to go to get that colour? It’s gorgeous. Oh! I’m sorry, I’m so rude. What’s your name?”

Like she didn’t already know. I was probably gossip here.

“I’m Vanessa Wolfe, and the hair is natural.” I smiled shyly. People always commented on my hair. It made me stick out even more. I used to complain, but when Jacob suggested dying it, I was so horrified I never said another word on the subject. I wasn’t changing one thing about my physical appearance; my reflection in the mirror was all I had to remind me of my parents.

Hannah sat down, apparently forgetting that she was waiting for a handshake, and I sat too. She continued to babble on about this that and the other, asking the odd question in between. She was ‘convinced that we would be BFFs in no time’, and invited me to sit with her group at lunch. I accepted, grateful that I wouldn’t be sat alone. Despite all the excess energy, Hannah was a really nice girl, and the only one in the whole class who even tried to be friendly. We had identical schedules, which made her even more excited, and she walked with me to every lesson.

We had Music right before lunch, and I felt almost optimistic as I introduced myself to the teacher and took the seat beside Hannah. The other students gave me curious looks as they entered if they hadn’t seen me already, and a few of Hannah’s friends came over to say hi. One of the boys, a chirpy boy with glasses perched on his nose, nervously introduced himself as Freddie. The girls giggled as he retreated, but I ignored them. I was surprised to see a boy in this class; it was an elective block, and most of the other boys had headed for the wood shop rooms on the other side of campus.

Miss Lucas called the class to order then, and they ran to their seats.

“Now then, as I’m sure you’re all aware, we have a new student today.” She waved me forward, and I went to stand at the front of the class. I kept my eyes down and bit my lip, trying not to blush at this public exhibition.

“Vanessa has just moved here from Seattle, so I want you all to be welcoming and help her get settled.” She turned to me. “Now dear, I have a little tradition in my class. Each new student must either sing or play a song that has a special meaning for them and tells us something about them. So...” She gestured to the space in the middle of the loose semi-circle of desks. “Take it away.”

I stepped forward nervously. I liked singing; it was another escape. To be so utterly lost in melody and lyrics was heaven. I thought I was good, but I had never sung with an audience before. Even Jake hadn’t heard me before.

“Well, um...” I began, unsure of how to begin, “I’ve always liked ‘Butterfly Fly Away’ by Miley Cyrus. I could sing that, I guess.”

Miss Lucas smiled. “Of course dear. Is there any particular reason why you would choose that song?”

I thought for a moment. “It makes me think of... my brother. My parents... passed away when I was quite young, and he pretty much raised me.”

Hannah gave me a sympathetic look, and some of the other girls ‘awed’.

One of them didn’t seem to be paying attention at all. She was scribbling on a drawing pad, so all I could see of her was a mop of spiky black hair. There was something familiar about the girl, something I couldn’t place.

Everyone was waiting for me to start, so I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and started singing.

“Tucked me in, turned out the light,

Kept me safe and sound at night,

Little girls depend on things like that.

Brushed my teeth and combed my hair,

Had to drive me everywhere,

You were always there when I looked back.

You had to do it all alone,

Make a living make a home,

Must have been as hard as it could be.

And when I couldn’t sleep at night,

Scared things wouldn’t turn out right,

You would hold my hand and sing to me.

Caterpillar in the tree,

How you wonder who you’ll be,

Can’t go far but you can always dream.

Wish you may and wish you might,

Don’t you worry, hold on tight,

I promise you that there will come a day,

Butterfly fly away.

Butterfly fly away,

Got your wings now you can’t stay,

Take those dreams and make them all come true.

Butterfly fly away,

We’ve been waiting for this day,

All along you’ve known just what to do.

Butterfly,

Butterfly,

Butterfly,

Butterfly fly away.”

I opened my eyes as the class applauded and took my seat. I realised there were tears on my cheeks, and hastily brushed them away, embarrassed to be crying in public. Hannah squeezed my hand reassuringly, and I smiled at her. The black haired girl was still sketching furiously, and I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I knew her from somewhere.

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Hannah’s lunch table was crowded when we arrived. She introduced me to everyone I didn’t know, and they immediately started asking questions. It felt like Jake’s quizzing this morning. I was glad when they finally seemed satisfied and I could eat my lunch in peace.

Trying to distract myself from the dirt I was putting in my mouth, I scanned the lunch room, taking in the separate groups. They all seemed to polarize as they entered.

The smart kids sat together, pouring over textbooks and discussing homework.

The comic book geeks were next to them, swapping action figures and comparing story lines. They were currently locked in debating who would win a Spider-man vs. Batman showdown.

On the other side of the room were the popular kids. Three tables were pulled together to accommodate a gaggle of football jocks in black and white jackets, along with their giggling cheerleader girlfriends. The obligatory pink-clad dumb blonde clique sat next to them.

In the middle were three or four tables of kids who didn’t fit the two opposites, but branched into several different stereotypes. Thankfully, Hannah and her friends seemed to be fairly average, not belonging to any group in particular; except their own.

One table in the corner had no occupants. Although some tables were clearly getting crowded to the point where people were eating lunch off their laps, no one made any move to sit there.

The buzz of chatter suddenly picked up in force. People were craning their necks towards the lunch queue. Hannah grabbed my arm excitedly and started bouncing in her seat.

“Oh Nessie!” she gushed (she had discovered my preferred nickname earlier), “They’re coming, they’re coming!”

“Who’s coming?” I asked, mystified.

“The Cullens.” She replied, almost reverently, pointing to the six figures just settling themselves at the empty table in the corner.

Chapter 1: First Day

Chapter 1: First Day

The beeping of my alarm clock jolted me out of my dream. I moaned and buried my head in the pillow.

Not that I wanted to go back to sleep. There was nothing that would make me want to face those horrifying images again. They were worse than other nightmares, because they were memories; real things that had really happened. I just didn’t feel like getting out of bed yet.

Resigning myself to the fact that getting up was necessary - if only to avoid being forcibly ejected by Jacob - I rolled over and pulled back the covers. I dressed quickly in jeans and a t-shirt, glancing at the clock when I was done.

7:15 am, Monday January 7^th. The first Monday of the new semester. My first day at a new school.

It had been ten years since I last saw my parents and the rest of my family. It was three years since Jake and I realised I wasn’t growing any more. I’d managed to get through freshman year in Florida before Jake picked up an unfamiliar vampire scent on one of his routine sweeps, and decided it was time to move. Again. We were always moving around, so no one could see that I was ageing too fast or that Jacob wasn’t.

Now we were trying to settle down a little, so I could finish school. We had chosen Juneau in Alaska, and Jacob had managed to land himself a job at a garage about 5 minutes from our new house. Not that we were exactly short of money- the stash we had found in my backpack hadn’t quite run out yet- but it would look suspicious, 2 people living alone with no source of income.

I heaved myself out of bed and plodded into the kitchen. Jake was already up, sitting at the counter reading a newspaper and eating toaster waffles (the only thing he could cook).

“Morning sleepyhead!” he said, almost brightly, when he saw me. Jake had this weird way of always acting like I had made his day just by walking into the room. It would have been freaky with anyone else, but, with Jacob, it was comforting.

He pushed a plate of waffles towards me and went back to the paper. I wrinkled my nose, but sat down and started eating. I didn’t have time to hunt this morning.

Note to self, I thought as I chewed. Must convince Jake to let me go out tonight. I NEED MOUNTAIN LION!

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“One more time.”

“Jake, we’ve been through this...”

“I know, I know, a thousand times. Just humour me.” He gave me his best ‘please Ness’ eyes. If there was one thing Jake knew how to do- and do well- it was the puppy dog look.

I huffed, defeated. “Fine. One more time.”

He grinned. It was infuriating and adorable at the same time. Did I just call Jacob adorable?

“Ok, if someone asks your name, you say...”

“Vanessa Wolfe.” I was used to my new name now. It was almost like another life.

As Jacob continued to quiz me on my cover story, I thought about the two people that inhabited my body, switching places as necessary. I had lived this way so long now; they were distinct and separate in my mind.

Renesmee Carlie Cullen, the real me, the one that came out in the house and around Jacob.

A ten year old vampire/human hybrid, daughter of Edward and Isabella Cullen. Living with her mother’s best friend, hasn’t had any contact with her family for most of those ten years; doesn’t even know if they’re still alive. Has lived in Washington, Rio, Texas, Michigan, Florida and Alaska (in that order).

Vanessa Lucy Wolfe, 16, daughter of Christian and Melinda Wolfe (tragically killed in a house fire at a friend’s house when she was only 6). Living with her older brother (27), no other family. Just moved to Alaska from Seattle. She was the one everybody else had to see. For my safety and theirs.

Vanessa had her problems, her share of grieving to do, but it wasn’t as bad as mine. She was my escape. She knew her parents were gone, never coming back. I had hoped, in the beginning, that someone would find us. Even after we moved far from where they had any chance of finding us, the tiniest glimmer of hope that the next knock on the door would be my mom and dad remained in my heart. It still hadn’t gone away; though I had eventually given up hope that they would have survived, it refused to budge, staying locked in my heart.

Once Jake was satisfied that I knew every detail inside out, he kissed my forehead and pointed me in the direction of the front office.

I stood on the kerb, watching the little red VW Rabbit disappear around the corner. I felt so alone, standing there, feeling the stares on the back of my head. This was going to be even worse than last time. Everybody here already had their little groups. I was going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Something flashed in my peripheral vision, drawing my eye to a pristine silver Volvo and a bright red BMW parked across the lot. Ice stabbed at my heart and I shivered. Blocking it from my mind, I took a deep breath and headed for the office.

Prologue: Run

Hey guys! Yet more musical inspiration, this little gem popped into my head while I was in Paris last May. Inspired by Miley Cyrus’s ‘Butterfly Fly Away’, this is a Renesmee POV story with an alternative ending to Breaking Dawn. I won’t go into too much detail, only that the change is just after Alice and Jasper reappear.

Enjoy!

Glitterb1234

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Prologue: Run

Everything around us was a confusing blur of motion. I couldn’t understand what was going on, only that Caius had started it and it was very, VERY bad.

Over the tumult of animalistic noises - snarls, growls, whimpers, shrieks and the occasional sickening snap - I heard a familiar voice, shouting. The voice was close, but fading every second.

“Run Jake!” Momma half screamed. “Hurry! You don’t have much time, run!”

I felt Jacob turning, heading for the trees at the edge of the field.

“No!” I wanted to shout, “No, I don’t want to, take me back!”

But my voice was lost, choked by sobs. Tears blurred my vision and the horrible noises filled my ears.

I buried my face in Jacob’s fur and clung on as he rocketed through the forest, his legs pumping furiously, leaving behind everything I had ever known.

The sound of the fight faded into the distance, but my mother’s voice echoed in my head, over and over again, like a horrible nightmare.

Run.

Run.

Run.