Chapter Text
Nessie didn't especially want to go to school. She was perfectly fine wasting her days away at home, learning via Carlisle and hunting with Jacob. However, after their recent move, her father insisted she attend school with them. Despite the fact that school would do nothing for her, Edward sought out 'the best' school nearby. He eventually found Berkeley. It was a private school just about five miles away from their new home and, from the looks of the handbook, it was essentially an expensive prison. She'd tried fighting it. She'd begged and pouted and gave her father the silent treatment - quite a feat considering he could read her mind - but to no avail. When he bribed Jacob into attending with a new motorcycle, the jig was up. Nessie would be attending Berkeley Academy today as a sophomore, and there was nothing she could do about it but grin and bear it.
However, that fact didn't make getting out of bed any easier. Her alarm clock went off fifteen minutes ago, and Edward had come in to check on her twice since. Still, she laid stretched out on her bed, one arm thrown over her face. Edward had snatched the duvet off of her and threw it down on the floor and she hadn't gotten the energy to pull it back over her yet. She felt like she was nearly drifting again when Jacob threw the door open.
"Nessieeeeeeeee," he sang, walking over to the bed and plopping down next to her. "Get up, get up, get up!"
The move had also forced them into the same house. Their home in Alaska didn't have a cottage for her and her parents to live, nor was La Push just a few miles away. All of her family, including Jacob, were living under one roof and even though Nessie hated being woken up at whatever god-awful time it was, she kinda loved the fact that Jacob was around all the time now. She wasn't sure why he'd moved with them, considering he hated the smell of her family, and she could tell he missed his wolf pack terribly. Still, she wasn't complaining. She just hoped Jacob was happy.
"Why are you so wide awake?" she groaned.
"It's the first day of school!" Jacob replied and Nessie chuckled at his false enthusiasm.
“Lay with me,” she said, scooting over in her bed and making room for Jacob.
He stared at her for a few moments. Their relationship as of late had been tense, and she didn't know what she'd done to make it that way. Jacob didn't used to hesitate when Nessie asked him to do something with her. Now, it seemed that everything she said required a bit of hesitation on his part. Finally, he sighed and then nodded. “Alright, but we have to get up in five minutes so you can get ready. School starts at eight and it's already six thirty.”
“Promise,” Nessie replied, nodding.
Jacob laid down awkwardly on his back, arms folded underneath his head, and Nessie frowned. She'd wanted to cuddle like they used to. She scooted closer to him, curling into his side and laying her head on his stiff chest. “Cuddle, Jake.”
With a sigh and more hesitation, Jacob curled one arm around her shoulders lightly. Nessie tangled her legs with Jacob's and closed her eyes while Jacob mentally apologized to Edward, who was seething downstairs.
Five minutes passed and eventually, they had to get up. Nessie insisted Jacob sit in her bedroom and talk to her through the open door while she showered since he was already dressed. Well... semi dressed. He looked like he'd rolled out of bed and put on his uniform. Nessie would fix him later.
“Have you read this dress code, Ness?” Jacob asked, reading Berkley's Code of Conduct as a way to try and distract his mind from the fact that she was naked barely a few feet away from him. He could be in the shower with her in two seconds flat if he wanted. Hell, he did want to, but he couldn't. He could still hear Edward growling.
“I have, and I've fought with Daddy over it ten million times already, but he says I'll have to follow it. It gets a bit detailed and ridiculous, though. One bracelet per wrist, stud earrings only and no face jewelry,” she mimicked in a high-pitched, posh accent.
Jacob laughed loudly. “We're going to a private school in Alaska, Nessie, not England!”
Nessie's laughs echoed off the glass shower walls and Jacob's smile grew. She rinsed her hair one last time and then turned off the tap, reaching for a towel and wrapping it around herself as she stepped out of the shower. She towel dried her hair until it wasn't dripping any longer and wouldn't get her shirt wet, and then reached for her clothes only to curse herself. She hadn't remembered to bring them in.
Her closet connected her bathroom and bedroom, but if Jacob were still on the bed, he'd be able to see her the moment she walked through the bathroom door. Which, she thought, she wouldn't necessarily mind, but something told her Jacob would.
Making sure her towel was secure around her chest and shaking her hands a few times in effort to shake off her nervousness with them, she walked out of the bathroom with her head held high. “Sorry,” she murmured as she walked to her dresser. She didn't dare look at Jacob. “I forgot my clothes.” She heard Jacob let out a groan and winced, looking over at him. He'd laid back on the bed and thrown an arm over his eyes.
“What sport are you going to take for the requirement?” she asked, trying to relieve the tension as she pilfered through her lingerie drawer to find a matching set of underwear.
“Football, probably.”
“Cliche.”
“Oh, shut up,” Jacob replied, but she could hear the smile in his voice. She smiled back victoriously while she attached her bra.
“What are you going to do?”
“I'm going to be a sophomore. The sports requirement doesn't apply to me for another two years.” She pulled a white camisole over her head before reaching for one of her white, button down blouses off the hanger.
“Well it won't apply to me until next year! Besides, you might as well get it over with now. Who knows where we'll be in two years?”
'Hopefully still best friends,' Nessie felt like saying, cause lately she just wasn't sure. “Exactly. No point in me doing it now if we might not even be going to this dumb school then. Are you doing yours this year?”
"Nah, probably not," he agreed.
She pulled up her skirt and finished tucking her blouse into it, before calling Jacob back into the bathroom. By routine, he sat on the bench while she did her hair and makeup and made small talk with her. In her old house, they'd just be getting ready to go to La Push or to Charlie's, but now the routine took a bit longer. They were going to High School. Nessie shuddered again as she bent over to retrieve her hair dryer from under the sink. She couldn't believe Jacob had agreed to go to school, just so she'd go. When she turned around to call him a traitor again, she noticed his teeth were clenched and he was staring at a fixed point on the wall beside her.
“What's the matter?” she asked, lying her fingertips lightly against his forearm to show him how he looked through her eyes.
“Please don't bend over at school. That skirt barely covers your ass,” he replied through clenched teeth.
Nessie rolled her eyes and returned to the mirror, plugging her hair dryer in. “Why do you even care?” she muttered under her breath, turning it on immediately after to drown out any reply Jacob may have. Wickedly, she turned to her side, bending forward again to dry her hair. With her eyes closed, she couldn't see Jacob's expression, but she hoped he was seething.
Her hair dried fairly quickly, fortunately for Jacob, who was reciting the alphabet backwards in an attempt to keep his thoughts from Edward. Stashing the device away, she turned back to the mirror and reached for her eyeliner. She didn't need makeup, in Jacob's opinion. He'd never told her so, considering her body belonged to her and his opinion didn't matter when it came to it. Still, he thought she was beautiful enough without it.
Nessie added some mascara, light eye shadow and lip gloss. All the while Jacob stared at her in the mirror, watching her with strange interest. She wasn't sure why he sat in here and kept her company while she went through all of this, when he could've gotten another hour of sleep instead, but he did and she was grateful.
She reached for his hand when she was finished and pulled him to his feet, guiding him out of the bathroom and back into the closet. He sat down on the ottoman while she looked through her heels, trying to find some that met the school's close-toed, three-inch policies. She'd have to go shopping for more this weekend.
Jacob took the shoes from her and laid them on the ground, facing him. She held out her hand and he took it, balancing her as she stepped into her shoes, eyes on her face instead of her feet. He supposed she didn't really need his help anymore, not that she ever had, but when she'd stepped into the heels Alice used to buy her when she was younger, it placated him to have a hold of her 'in case she lost her balance.' It'd become a sort of tradition, and on the rare days when she dressed by herself, he missed it. She looked up at him with a smile and his world was stopping again.
Nessie took a snapshot of this moment and held it safe in her brain. The times when Jacob looked at her like she was his entire world, they meant the most to her, and they were coming few and far between lately. Jacob tended to avoid looking at her now, always looked at the ground instead. She pried her hand from his gently and pulled away before he remembered himself and the cloud of doubt covered his eyes again, grabbing her tie from the vanity and threading it through her collar. She stared at herself in the mirror, reminding herself of the promise she'd made in her mind when she'd first started noticing the distance between herself and Jacob. If he wanted to go, she wouldn't make him stay. She was almost positive that's what this was. He missed his family, the pack, La Push and he'd only moved with her family to appease her. Maybe she was becoming a burden, now that she was older. Maybe he'd realized she was in love with him.
As she finished, Jacob stood up and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “You'll be fine,” he said. “High school isn't as big of a deal as the movies make it out to be.” He thought she was worried about school.
Nessie smiled in the mirror at his reflection and he kissed the back of her head, leaving her to go into the bedroom. She grabbed her blazer off its hanger on the way out. Jacob presented her with the school's Code of Conduct, opened to the page on Dress Code, where her father had highlighted everything he felt pertained to her. She rolled her eyes and took it from Jacob, mentally checking everything off.
White blouse, long sleeved, buttoned all the way to the top and tucked into her skirt. Check. Plaid school-issued skirt, at the waist, no shorter than finger-tip length. Halfway check. It was a bit shorter, courtesy Alice, but she hoped the school wouldn't notice an inch or two. Black, closed-toe flats or heels, less than three inches high. Check. Tie and blazer, check, check. She ignored the rest and threw the book back onto the bed, pulling her cell phone from its charger and grabbing her backpack off her desk.
She turned back to Jacob, who was still standing in the middle of the room, looking forlorn. “What's the matter, now?”
Jacob shook his head, reaching for her and pulling her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his back, placing her head against his chest. She was a great deal shorter than him, a fact he liked to point out as often as possible, but today, his heart didn't seem set on it. “You're just growing up too fast, kid,” he said.
Nessie rolled her eyes, but ignored the nickname this time. “Done growing, hopefully.” She pulled away from his embrace, tightening his tie instead. “Come on. Momma will kill us if you don't eat before we leave.”
Jacob sighed. “Here goes nothing.”
Downstairs, the rest of the family seemed to agree with Jacob. Rosalie's skirt was noticeably shorter than the requirements, shorter than hers even, and she'd moved her wedding ring over to her right hand, refusing to take it off. Emmett's blazer was about to burst at the seams and Esme was promising him she'd fix it tonight. Alice was sitting in the corner with her arms crossed, pouting angrily because she couldn't tell how most of their day would go due to Jacob and Renesmee attending. She'd chosen to wear tights and flats with her uniform. Jasper stood next to her, smirking down at her with his blazer thrown over his shoulder. He reached out and rubbed her back consolingly. Bella was still cooking breakfast for Jacob, also wearing flats instead of heels, and Edward was staring down at his wife's skirt angrily.
Edward's eyes cut over to Renesmee in that moment, eyeing her skirt as well. She knew he appreciated it about as much as Jacob had. With a huff and crossed arms, she made her way over to the table and sat down, Jacob sitting next to her.
“Can we go over the story again?” her father asked, and it said something about her mood that he had asked instead of simply telling her they would.
“I'm Renesmee Masen, sister to Isabella Masen. We were adopted by Esme and Carlisle after our parents died in a house fire. We were sleeping over at a friend's house. Esme and Carlisle were good friends of our parents and were appointed our Godparents when we were born. I'm in Grade Ten and Mom's in Grade Eleven. You're Edward Cullen. Alice Cullen and Emmett Cullen are your siblings. Your parents were addicted to methamphetamine. After a tip from the school, you were taken from your parents and put in the system. Esme and Carlisle adopted the three of you to save you from being split up. You're in Grade Eleven, Uncle Emmett is in Grade Twelve, and Aunt Alice is in Grade Ten with me. After you guys were adopted, Rosalie and Jasper Hale were. They're twins, and both in Grade Eleven. Their parents passed away in a car crash. Carlisle was the doctor on duty when they were brought in, nearly unharmed except for a few broken bones and lacerations. Jacob was Esme's childhood best friend's son. He never knew his father. When his mother passed away, Esme begged Carlisle to take him in. He's in Grade Eleven. You, Alice and Emmett are the only ones who wanted to take the Cullen last name.”
Edward smiled when she finished. “Great,” he said quietly, walking over to her and kissing her temple. “It will be okay,” he whispered against her hair. “I promise.”
To nearly anyone else, it probably seemed like Nessie was nervous about school and Edward was calming her nerves. She smiled smally, looking around the room a bit. She could tell her mother knew what was on her mind, and it seemed that maybe Carlisle and Esme might also, but that was it. Alice and Jasper were watching TV, or pretending to, Rosalie and Emmett were standing against one of the walls, talking quietly, and Jacob was... shoving his face. “Thanks, Daddy.”
“When you're done with your breakfast, we'll leave. We're cutting it a bit close,” Bella said to Jacob.
“What cars are we taking?” Jacob asked.
“You aren't taking your motorcycle.”
Jacob started to argue, but Edward ignored him.
“You, Bella and I will take the Volvo -” Renesmee groaned, but Edward ignored her as well. “and Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and Alice are taking the Mercedes.”
Nessie walked over to the cabinet and grabbed a glass, pouring water from the tap into it and taking a swallow to ease her dry throat. Jacob walked up behind her a few seconds later, placing his dirty plate and glass into the sink beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked. Nessie hesitated, but nodded, refusing to look up at him and staring into her glass of water instead. Jacob sighed and opened his mouth to say something else, but Edward interrupted him.
“We need to go, Renesmee.”
She left Jacob behind with a frown, taking her backpack from her father's hand and walking out the door. She felt Jacob fall into place beside her, a warm hand hovering near the small of her back, not touching, but close enough. She smiled despite her mood as he opened the back door to the Volvo and ushered her inside.
The ride to school was quiet, other than Jacob reminding her to put her seatbelt on. Otherwise, he stared out the window and her parents stared out the windshield, holding hands on the console. She seemed like the only one literally buzzing with a million thoughts and anticipation. Slyly, she reached her hand out to graze Jacob's lightly. What's wrong?
As she'd gotten older, she'd learned to show more than just pictures and emotions. She'd learned how to make her voice sound through the other person's head, asking questions or giving her thoughts on a matter without having to do so out loud. Of course, this didn't protect those words from her father, still, but they were still at least a smidgen more private than if she'd spoken them.
Jacob turned his attention from the window for a moment, looked at her and smiled smally, shaking his head.
She frowned, forgetting her own mood as her mind became overwhelmed with worry about Jacob's. She relayed the images from this morning: his awkwardness whilst holding her and waiting for her to get dressed, his forlorn face and “You're just growing up too fast, kid.”
What did I do?
His face fell a bit and Nessie wondered if that was good or bad. He gripped her hand more tightly in between them. “Nothing, Ness. It's not you, I promise.”
It was the first bit of sound other than the car's engine, but no one turned to look at them or even acknowledged that Jacob spoke.
It's not you, it's me?
Jacob chuckled. “It is, though. Just dealing with a few things. Didn't mean to take it out on you.”
His eyes felt like they were burning holes in her with their pity. She looked away, down to his shirt instead. The collar was rumpled and his buttons weren't done up all the way. Remind me to fix your uniform. You're absolutely helpless.
“Hey!”
If they could only stay like this all the time. None of the awkwardness, none of the hesitation. Just Nessie and Jake telling secrets and cracking jokes. Her father cleared his throat in the front seat and Nessie met his eyes in the rearview mirror.
“Go over your schedule for me, Renesmee?”
Nessie rolled her eyes playfully, but obliged. “English first period with Aunt Alice, Algebra II second period with Uncle Emmett, Biology third with you and Momma, American History fourth with Uncle Jasper, Piano fifth with you again, Study Hall sixth, Health and PE seventh and eighth with Jake and Uncle Emmett. The only person I don't have a class with is Aunt Rosalie. You've got me properly surrounded, Daddy.”
“It wasn't intentional. We've all got classes together,” Edward mumbled from the front seat.
Nessie knew her schedule was worked out meticulously, though. Her father worried too much about her.
They pulled up in the student parking lot just five minutes before the first bell. Jacob jumped out of the car first, complaining about how compact the Volvo was and how he needed a lot more leg space than it allowed. He walked over to Nessie's door, opening it for her and taking her bag. “C'mon kid, let's go find your first period.”
“I'm perfectly capable of finding my own classes, Jacob,” Nessie chastised, but secretly, she was just happy he was talking to her again. She reached up to his tie, untying it as she talked. “Why don't you find yours? Economics, if I'm correct? An entirely different building than the English classes?” Jacob stuck his tongue out at her while she straightened his shirt and retied his tie. You're supposed to have all these buttons buttoned you know? Don't wanna get a point on your first day, do you?”
He rolled his eyes. “That points system is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of.” Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie pulled into a space next to them. Nessie watched as they all climbed out of the car, Jasper grabbing Alice's hand and Emmett wrapping his arm around Rosalie's waist. Rosalie's hand snuck into the one of Emmett's back pockets and her father wrapped an arm around her mother's shoulders. A horrible loneliness settled into her bones, aching deep and relentlessly.
“Where'd you go?” Jacob asked, pulling her attention away from her family. She returned her eyes to his and tried to banish the urge to claim him like her aunts were claiming their mates. But Jacob wasn't her mate.
Jacob took a deep breath and then held his arms out for her. “C'mere.” She fell into his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist tightly, clinging to the back of his blazer. One of his hands played with her hair as the other rested on the small of her back. He kissed the top of her head. “I don’t know what's going on with you lately, Ness, and it scares the shit out of me. I wish you'd tell me what it was so I could fix it. It's driving me insane.”
Nessie wished she could tell Jacob that he was the one acting strangely, putting distance between the two of them, but the promise she made herself rang through her head once again, so instead, she pasted on a fake smile and pulled out of his arms just as the bell rang.
“Off with you!” Nessie declared, waving her hands at Jacob.
Jacob laughed, but it was forced. He was confused at her change of emotions. Still, he leaned in and pressed his lips to Nessie's forehead.
“I missed you,” she whispered, despite herself.
“Didn't go anywhere. Bye, Kid. See you at lunch!”
Her first professor seemed nice enough, though strict. Professor Radburn wanted a book report every month and outlined each of the eight books they'd be reading in class. However, she promised to assign no homework other than the reports and that there would be no at-home reading required of the books they read in class. Nessie thought that seemed pretty fair, and she'd already read most of the books they were going to read in class anyway.
In Economics, Jacob was doing his best not to think of Nessie with her father sitting beside him. Lately, it was difficult. Especially with how his morning started and how Nessie looked in her uniform. He knew the uniforms weren't meant to look like they came straight from a porn video, but Nessie made the strangest things appear sexy. Nessie was quite sexy.
Edward growled beside him and Jacob apologized fervently in his mind. I can't help it! He looked at Jacob with a disapproving glare.
“You'll learn to,” he hissed.
“Mister Cullen, did you have something more important to discuss with Mister Black? Am I interrupting you? Shall I stop explaining my syllabus so as not to distract you?”
Jacob snickered quietly.
“No, Professor Avery. I apologize.”
Professor Avery stared at the two of them for a few more moments before continuing his lecture. Edward cut Jacob a look that showed he meant what he said.
When the bell rang, Jacob stood by the door to the Algebra II classroom, only to be dragged away by Edward. “You won't be seeing her after thinking inappropriate thoughts about her all period.”
“It was one thought!” Jacob argued. “The rest of them were harmless!”
Emmett met Nessie halfway instead, picking her up in a tight bear hug. “Emmett!” Nessie complained. “I can't breathe!”
“Missed ya, sis!” Emmett joked.
They were nearly late to class, but slid in just as the bell rang, earning a disapproving glare from the Professor. Nessie elbowed Emmett. “Thanks a lot.”
Syllabus reading and ice breakers were getting boring quickly. She hated having to stand and introduce herself only to hear “what a unique name” and “how did your parents come up with that?” and “do you have a nickname?” She told everyone she preferred Renesmee, even though she actually liked Nessie a lot more. Nessie was for friends and family and she wasn't going to be making any of either here.
Biology with her parents was the worst yet. She knew they'd met in a biology classroom when her mom was a human, but the loved up glances and sly smiles was driving her insane. Next time, she swore she'd sit in the back, as far away from them as possible.
Jasper made her feel better afterwards in American History, smirking. Nessie slipped a hand onto his wrist discreetly. Were they always this bad? He nodded in response as the professor began droning on about the syllabus.
At lunch, she got a reprieve. Due to the school's close monitoring on the students' eating habits, the whole family had to get trays of food. At least, she reasoned, the school only monitored how many times a student skipped a meal and didn't go through the line and not how much they ate off their tray.
“How's your classes so far, Ness?” he asked around a mouthful of food.
“Interesting,” Nessie replied. “Except for biology.”
Her mother stuck her tongue out at her and she rolled her eyes.
“What's everyone think of us, Daddy?”
Edward glanced towards Jacob for a second and smirked before replying. “That we're strange but attractive. A boy in our biology class has a bit of a thing for you, but he's worried you're with Jacob and he won't have a chance.” he admitted.
Jacob growled beside her, while Nessie glared at her father. He held his hands up and mouthed 'you asked' in response. She turned to Jacob instead. He was staring down at his tray, spearing his green beans with his fork as if they'd personally offended him. “Okay, Jacob?”
“Peachy,” he mumbled.
Nessie's gaze fell, looking to her tray. She'd been relatively excited about the lunch today. Lasagna was her favorite human food, and though she was certain it would taste nothing like how her family made it, you couldn't muck up lasagna. However, her mood was all over the place, as was Jacob's, and though he'd told her otherwise, she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd done something wrong and messed up their friendship. If Jacob wants out, I won't make him stay. If Jacob wants out, I won't make him stay. If Jacob wants out...
She looked up. Her father was staring back at her pityingly again. Stop that.
The rest of lunch dragged by slowly and while half of Nessie wanted to get away from Jacob as soon as possible, the other half knew she had two classes with him that afternoon. She was long away from being home free.
Piano class was probably the highlight of her day even though she shared it with her father. Upon arrival, the professor handed out a pre-test instead of a syllabus and explained that afterward, she would have each student play something on the piano for her. Nessie and Edward both knew they'd aced the pre-test, smirking at each other confidently as they passed it back. Professor Emerson called each student one by one up to the piano. Most of them played their best rendition of chopsticks or Mary Had A Little Lamb.
When the professor finally called Edward, Nessie sat, genuinely curious at what he would play. Would he show off or keep some of his talent hidden? When he started playing the first few notes in the lullaby he'd written for her mother, Nessie couldn't contain her smile. They would be showing off. Professor Emerson sat in silent admiration, watching her father with a look she'd seen on peoples' faces countless times. A few students clapped when he finished, and Edward stood, turning towards the Professor. “Very beautiful, Mister Cullen. May I ask the name of the piece?”
Nessie wondered if he blushed easily when he was a human, if he would be blushing now if he could. “Bella's Lullaby, sir. I wrote it myself a few years back.”
He was praised a few more times and then dismissed. The students after him tried a bit harder, but none could compare. “Renesmee Masen?” Nessie stood, walking towards the piano. “What will you be playing for us, Miss Masen?”
“'River Flows in You' by Yiruma,” she replied, turning to catch her father's reaction. He gave a slight, proud nod. She rested her fingers on the keys and took a deep breath before starting to play. The whole day's stress melted away. None of it mattered. Jacob Black didn't feel the same way she felt towards him and it wasn't a big deal. She hated school, but it would pass. If Jacob wanted out, she wouldn't make him stay. She could think that with confidence now, with her fingers pressing against the keys and producing something so beautiful, so extraordinary, but she knew when she was done, it would fade away.
“Well done, Miss Masen,” Professor Emerson said as she finished. She opened her eyes. The bell rang and she walked back to her seat. “We'll do the rest of you tomorrow. Have a great afternoon.”
Edward threw his arm around Nessie's shoulders. “You did well, sweetheart,” he praised quietly.
“Thanks, Daddy,” she replied.
Study Hall was quiet, and she was so, so thankful. She pulled out her phone & earbuds, pressing each earbud into her ear without much thought. She didn't have any homework thus far today, so resting through this period seemed like an excellent idea. She'd just pressed her head into her folded arms on top of the table when someone tapped her shoulder.
“Can we share? Left mine at home and the silence is driving me insane.”
Nessie smiled. “Sure, Jake, but no complaining about my music.”
Jacob rolled his eyes. “I'll try not to.”
Someone shushed them as she passed a bud over. She couldn't lie down now, not with Jacob starting on his homework and the cord stretching like it was. She stared slyly at Jacob's arm bracing the back of her chair unconsciously, and then looked up at the rest of her family to see if they were paying attention. No one at the round table was, save her father who looked up for a millisecond before returning his eyes to his work. Nessie slid her chair over a tad, alerting Jacob. She ignored his questioning gaze, settling against his left side instead and closing her eyes. Jacob sighed, wrapping his arm around her and kissing her hair. “Rest, Ness.”
Health class was embarrassing from start to finish. Nessie didn't quite understand why she needed to take a class outlining human reproduction and puberty, considering she couldn't have children and was already done growing, but everyone at Berkeley had to take it once before graduation and this just happened to be Nessie's unlucky year. Unluckier even, because Jacob and Emmett would be joining her. At least it wasn't her father.
Their last class of the day was P.E. and Nessie was happy the day was nearly over. She, Jacob and Emmett joined the group of students surrounding the coach and a pile of duffel bags. The bell rang and Coach Jesse began his instruction.
“When I call your name, please come forward, get your duffel bag and then head to the locker rooms to change and choose a locker. Inside each duffel is two shirts, two pairs of shorts, a hoodie, a pair of sweatpants, a water bottle, and a combination lock. You are required to dress out every single day. Today, we will just be in the gym, but water bottles are required for any outdoor activities.”
He started calling off the names, Black and Cullen being two of the first called, leaving Nessie alone. People were staring at her, whispering, but their words were loud as cannons to her. She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment, opening them slowly enough to be considered normal. When the coach finally called her name, she reached for her duffel and tried her hardest not to run towards the locker rooms.
Inside, she was surprised to find the other girls changing in the middle of the locker room instead of going into bathroom stalls. She didn't know why she expected them to be modest. They were all very pretty and fit, but for some reason she'd envisioned this happening a bit differently. Still, not wanting to be the odd one out when she was already attracting attention, she started changing as well.
A blonde girl and two brunettes came in the room last, chattering excitedly. “He's so good looking though! It's sad that it's wasted on her,” one of the brunettes whined.
“I think they're all taken, Ana. Except Black, but he'll be mine,” the blonde replied smugly.
“What makes you think he isn't taken? Just cause he doesn't parade it around? I think the short girl in our class is his.”
Nessie was stuck between wanting to tell the girls Jacob wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole and hiding before they realized she was nearby. She didn't have time for either, apparently.
“Hey, Masen!” the blonde called.
Nessie turned slowly. “Renesmee,” she replied.
The blonde looked at her for a moment before smiling cattily. “Renesmee,” she corrected with fake sweetness. “What's the story on you and Jacob Black?”
If Jacob wants to leave, I won't make him stay. “No story,” Nessie said, and it hurt, but it was the truth. “Just close friends.”
“So he's on the market then?”
“I suppose.” Nessie put her hair in a ponytail and shoved the duffel in her locker, locking it. “I could put in a good word for you if you'd like, feel around?”
The girl smiled. “Would you really do that?”
“Sure thing...” she hinted for the girl's name.
“Tiffany. I'm Tiffany, and this is Ana and Samantha.”
Nessie nodded. “Tiffany, alright.” She walked out of the locker room, head head marginally high. It hurt, pretending that she wanted Jacob to be with someone like Tiffany, that she'd be okay with it, even go as far as to match-make.
Jacob was leaning against the wall of the girls' locker room when she came out, Tiffany right behind her. Jacob watched Tiffany walk by with mild disinterest, eyebrows raising at the eyes she was making at him. “Oh, yeah. I'm supposed to be asking if you want to sleep with her.”
Jacob spluttered. “What?”
“Tiffany. She wants you.”
“No, I gathered that. She's been making it quite obvious since Latin. What do you mean you're supposed to be asking?”
Distantly, the coach blew his whistle. Nessie started walking towards it, Jacob trailing behind. “She asked me what we were. I said best friends. She said she wanted you. I offered to put in a good word for her. Now here we are,” she explained, without looking at him.
He reached out for her upper arm. “Ness, why would you offer to put in any kind of word for her? I don't want her.”
Nessie looked up at him and shrugged. “How would I know that? I don't know your type. You've been really unhappy since we moved and I thought maybe if you had a girlfriend, or someone to at least.... you know.... you might feel better,” she said, looking anywhere but at him.
He stared at her for a few moments, ignoring the coach instructing the other students on what they were doing for the rest of the day. With a sigh, Jacob shook his head, pulling his hand away from Nessie's arm and pulling her into a hug. He trailed her fingers through her hair as he whispered, “I don't want any of them, Ness.”
“When you two are quite finished, I'd love to get on with my class,” Coach Jesse finally called, and Nessie and Jake pulled apart, walking over to the rest of the group. Tiffany was shooting daggers her way. The coach went down the line of students numbering them 1 - 4 and Nessie sighed and crossed her arms when Jacob was put into the same group as Tiffany.
“Why you pouting, beautiful?” a boy asked, walking up to her. “I'm Chris.” He was tall, but not nearly as tall as Jacob and a bit thinner than Jacob as well. His skin was tan and his hair fell in black, fringy waves. He checked most of the boxes for what society called 'attractive', and when Nessie caught Jacob's eyes over the boy's shoulder, she noticed he was seething.
“Renesmee,” Nessie finally answered, plastering on her fakest smile.
“You're new, right? To the town, I mean?”
Nessie nodded. “Yeah, my family just moved here about a month ago, I think?” They'd moved in twenty four days ago, but spouting that out might seem a bit strange to a human.
“How are you liking it so far?”
“It's alright. I miss home.”
The coach blew his whistle once more and explained the game they were about to play. Nessie kept up a conversation with Chris throughout the class in a valiant effort to keep herself from looking over at Jacob and Tiffany. At the end of the class, they offered to put up the balls. “Is it cool if I get your number? We could text?”
She thought for a second, noticing Jacob hovering by the locker rooms out of the corner of her eye. Chris was a nice enough guy. Even if he bored her a bit, she could probably get over that with time, right? She could probably learn to like him, be attracted to him. “Have your phone?” she asked.
Chris smiled and nodded, taking it out of his pocket and handing it to her. She typed in her number and saved it under a new contact bearing her name and a few cute emojis. They split ways at the locker rooms, Nessie throwing Jacob a smile to calm him down a bit. It wouldn't do for him to get angry just because someone was showing interest in his 'little sister.'
As she rounded the corner in the locker room, she heard the last bit of a conversation before the entire room hushed. “Don't know what she's playing at. One man's bed isn't enough for her? She's gotta have Chris and Jacob?” Obviously Jacob had turned Tiffany down himself. “I mean, she's not even all that pretty. She looks like a child!”
When they saw her, they closed their mouths, and that really should've said something to her. They were cowards. They wouldn't have said that to her face. They grew silent when she came into the room. However, she stared at her feet as she walked to her locker, throwing her uniform into her backpack and tossing it over her shoulder. She would shower at home. She couldn't be here anymore.
Jacob and Emmett called her as she stormed through the gym and towards the parking lot. The bell rang as she walked through the last set of doors and students started trickling from buildings. She walked a bit faster, tossing her backpack on the hood of the Volvo. Tears were already running down her face and if her father didn't hurry with the keys so she could hide her face behind the tinted windows, she may just tear the door off.
Jacob caught up to her, pulling her into his arms. “Nessie, what's the matter?”
She sobbed, tears and makeup smudging his blazer. Jacob rubbed her back and kissed her hair as she cried regardless. “Nessie, I can't make it better until you tell me what happened. You're killing me here.”
She heard the locks in the Volvo click and she scrambled away from Jacob and into the safe confines of the backseat. Through the window, she could see her father shaking his head slightly at Jacob with a dark expression. After a few moments, the rest of the family got into their cars and started home silently.
Jacob moved his hand over in between them, pressing his pinky against Nessie's and curling them together in a silent plea for for her to share at least a fraction of the thoughts running through her head with him.
You can't fix it, Jake.
“I can try,” he replied aloud. “I'd like to at least make you feel better.”
Nessie didn't comment back. She'd stopped outright crying and had resorted to staring out the window sadly while the occasional tear still fell.
Tiffany's a bitch, she finally shared.
Edward cleared his throat from the front seat, but Nessie ignored him.
“What'd she do to you?” Jacob asked incredulously.
Nessie scoffed. There's nothing she could DO to me, Jacob.
“Ness,” Jacob said seriously. “Come on, babe.”
Nessie looked up. Jacob had called her many pet names over the last eight years, but babe was definitely a new one. She wrapped her finger more tightly around his, replaying the entire conversation she'd unfortunately overheard. Edward growled from the front seat again, pulling into their garage.
Jacob pulled his hand away from Nessie's, running it through his hair instead. “Go get changed and we can go for a run if you want.”
Nessie nodded and walked upstairs. Whilst changing into a pair of shorts and a tank top, her phone vibrated loudly from on top of her dresser. It was an unknown number.
U ok beautiful? U looked upset when u left class.
Chris. She'd forgotten all about him. If she knew what was good for her, she'd ignore his text and politely distance herself from him until he got the hint. Tiffany would hate her either way, but maybe she wouldn't say such mean things about her behind her back anymore. Besides, what would she do with a human boy? A knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts. “Ready to go?” Jacob asked.
Nessie nodded again, throwing her phone on the bed without answering Chris.
They walked most of the way through the woods near the house in silence, though Jacob said they'd be running. Once they were pretty far in, Jacob stopped, pulling Nessie down to sit next to him on a fallen tree. He was silent for a few more moments, and Nessie fidgeted, worrying a hangnail on the side of her thumb.
“You can't think what Tiffany said was true, Nessie. You're beautiful. So, so beautiful. Inside and out.”
Of course she knew that, rationally. She was half vampire, made to be beautiful so she could lure in prey. But she was only half vampire, so maybe she had a glitch. Maybe she just thought she was beautiful and the people surrounding her had always told her she was beautiful so she believed them. Maybe she wasn't beautiful to human standards like the rest of her family was. But then, Chris had called her beautiful as well.
“Why were you so angry at Chris today?”
Jacob's features darkened. “Chris who?” he tried.
Nessie looked at him disbelievingly. “Jake.”
Jacob sighed, running a hand through his hair. “He wants in your skirt.”
“Probably,” Nessie commended, and Jacob spluttered. “But I'm old enough and smart enough to make decisions about my own body, don't you think?”
“I never said you weren't. I just don't like him.”
“You don't know him.”
“Neither do you,” Jacob pointed out.
“You're right. But he's sweet, and he likes me.”
“He isn't good enough for you.”
“Again, my decision to make, so do you think you could maybe stop giving him death glares from across the room?”
“Probably not, no.”
“Why not?” Nessie asked indignantly.
“Cause I don't trust him.”
“Look, I get that you're trying to play big brother here, but I've already got two uncles and a father doing that and I could really use a best friend on my side!” Nessie cried.
Jacob smirked a tiny bit. “Oh, I am not playing big brother, Ness.”
Nessie ignored him. "I don't understand you in the slightest."
"You will one day," Jacob replied, and Nessie absolutely hated when he treated her like she was a child.
They ran back home eventually and the first thing Nessie did was pick her phone up off the bed to reply to Chris's text.
