Reaper101202

Time of my life/Book 3: Losing My Sanity ~3

BOOK 3: Chapter THREE: Intense…

"School will start soon, Lex." Sam announced to me as I chewed thoughtfully on my strip of bacon, perched neatly on Collin's lap. "Yep," I responded simply, popping the P for emphasis. Honestly I didn't like school and I especially hated that I was going to be sixteen forever, not to mention while I would be starting as a junior. Not to mention this would be my first time in La Push High. Hell, I wasn't even sixteen yet; still fifteen. "When do you wanna go school shopping?" Emily asked sweetly, her grin spreading across her face. I blinked at the kind woman, surprised. I hadn't even thought of school shopping. I always hated the school shopping, to be honest. Oh, great; I'm starting to sound like Jason.

"Um, I have no clue." I responded. I didn't even think that Emily would've wanted to go school-shopping with me. I had thought that Sue would go with me but then again, Sue might come as well. Hell, it could be all three of us girls. Collin grinned from behind me as he nuzzled his nose into the crook of my neck. "I'll go with you," He mumbled to me as I felt his grin against my skin. I blushed but nonetheless grinned back. I definitely hadn't thought that I'd be going school shopping with my soul mate.

"NO! YOU WILL NOT!"

Hello, mother. Sue stepped into the house, the screen door slamming behind her. I had no clue how she even heard Collin as he'd barely murmured it to me. "You are not going, Collin. I've already talked her father into letting us have a girl's day of it and I refuse to let any of you screw this up." Sue bit, her eyes darting to every one of the wolves around us. Paul looked near-hysterical at the idea and was most likely planning on crashing our "girl's day". I was thinking that Sue's hormones were kicking in way too early. She was barely pregnant a month and now she's going out being all fiery on the wolves that could eat her alive. Now I was finding Paul's humor.

Collin was clearly put out by my step-mother's announcement. He looked honestly disappointed! I was about to protest when I remembered that Sue had been fiery before; this was not hormones and therefore she would kick my ass. Even if I am immortal, I'm still afraid of my mother. Or rather, step-mother. "I'm sorry, baby," I whispered back to Collin, resigned on the entire point of protesting against Sue.

Sue turned to me with a grin, wicked-looking upon her face. "When do you wanna go shopping, honey? Since Leah already graduated here you're my only daughter I can shop for here!" Sue exclaimed, her expression hopeful. Oh, god. I was gonna have to shop. I liked shopping sometimes but when it's under this type of pressure with a very soon-to-be-hormonal Sue and a woman who will just sigh and shake her head as if it was all fine, I don't exactly find this my cup of hot cocoa (I don't like tea). "I'm not sure, Sue. I was thinking sometime next week." I answered hesitantly. Again; I really did not want to go school shopping.

::Collin::

I stared at her as she sat on my lap, her grin and everything about her just being wonderful. And as she talked I couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for what had happened. Every time I looked at her, the love that I feel for her is mixed with guilt, mixed with some kind of responsibility. Now she will forever be protected from the pain that Edward described and every one of the Pack will keep her away from all forms of danger. Still, Lex wouldn't like that. Alex loves the danger (despite what she says) and she wouldn't give this up for a normal life if her life depended on it. I would rather have us as high school sweethearts, destined to live our lives out and growing old together and then eventually ending up on a porch, old and wrinkled and watching our grandchildren run around. I would rather we die of old age rather than pain and murder.

"Now we need to get you skirts, tops, dresses, shoes, bags, hair-ties, bows, sweaters—," Sue would've gone on forever had Sam not interrupted (bless him and his courage). "Sue, do you honestly think Alex would need all of that?" Sam laughed aloud. Oh, dear Jesus. He was willing to get his ass kicked by my love's step-mother. Sue instantly narrowed her eyes at Sam, sitting down at the seat beside him. I frowned at this as I glanced between the two. Alex looked…pitying. Yeah, he was just in that deep. I kept my hand easily placed at Lex's hip as she leaned against my chest, no longer caring about any of the Pack seeing us being this intimate or calling me a pussy (which they will later when Lex can't hear and kick their ass).

"Ugh, we gotta head out, honey; you start Driver's Ed today!" Sue seemed completely energetic and completely moody. So note to self: manage not to comment on this. Sue might just kick my ass. Lex wrinkled her nose ever-so-cutely as she reached up and scratched at the scalp of her head, a trait that she didn't exactly want to do something. "Um, Sue," Lex began, frowning to herself. Sue raised her eyebrows. "The Cullens suggested that I take a, um, Driver's Ed class with one of their, ahem, private teachers." Alex finally announced. I turned to stare, shocked beyond belief. Of course we'd all known that a driver's license would be a problem as every time she would go in to renew the license, they might notice that she doesn't age. But then again, we'd never thought about how the Cullens have the same problem. We never think.

"Oh," I had no clue as to how this seemed to put off Sue. "Alright; I mean, you should go to one of their…teachers…I mean, you're meant to stop aging soon so it'll be fine…" And this part honestly caught me off guard as well as everyone else. No one had thought to tell the parents that Lex had stopped aging. I had never thought she'd put it off. Alex reached behind her ear, scratching at that spot; yet another trait. Okay, let's just say she gets itchy when she doesn't want to do something. "Sue, how about we have a family dinner tonight when I get home?" Alex actually seemed a bit cheerful when she said this but then again, she was a brilliant actress when things weren't that big.

I don't understand how Alex having already stopped aging wasn't a big deal but Alex didn't seem to think it was so…yeah. "Sure! That's a fantastic idea. Oh, but can we have lasagna? I've been craving lasagna so much!" Sue was definitely on her mood-swings. "Okay, sure. Do you want take out or homemade? I'll ask my dad if you want homemade." Alex answered, her smile faltering just a second. I squeezed Alex's hip, attempting to reassure her however she just glanced worriedly to me. She didn't want me to give a sign that something was wrong. "Oh, if I smell it cooking then I might lose my appetite. Let's just order in!" Sue cried out, her grin huge. God, to be honest I was scared as hell of her.

"I gotta head over to the Cullens, anyways; I'll take you," I announced to Alex. Though Sue faltered a bit, she didn't seem any bothered by this. Paul cocked an eyebrow in my direction. Did I mention that I hated him for having us send out the mind-reader? Well, then again I can't really blame him; Ed would've found out no matter what. If he'd just spent a second with Alex he would've been able to trudge it up in a second. Lex grinned in my direction, her entire being proud and glad. "'Right, we can head out now." Alex murmured to me, her eyes glancing in the direction of my lips. Something told me if she thought this was a trap to make out with her, she'd be fine with it.

"Stop it; you're heading to a mind-reader's house." Paul snorted. Instantly Alex frowned. She knew now that even if Ed hadn't known before, he would know now. "Of course we'll keep it under control." I hurried to answer. I didn't want Alex knowing that I knew about her incident. "Okay, let's go." I announced, plucking up Alex's legs as I stood. Instantly I was carrying her in the way that I would love to in a matter of two years. In two years, she would be legal (as far as anyone else knew) and in two years, we could instantly get married. In two years, I could be the happiest man on Earth (okay, half man). Alex released a squeak, instantly wrapping her arms around my neck to keep from falling (even though I'd never let her fall). I was sure that she wouldn't get hurt if she fell but that didn't get rid of the fear.

"Off we go!" I exclaimed, shifting Alex to one arm only, just to point at the door with a proud look. I was definitely going to be Lex's knight in shining armor. "Fine, fine, fine; let's just go before you decide to make me face-plant in the dirt." Lex remarked, rolling her beautiful green eyes.

:::::::

"No one's brought it up," I assured Ed as I paced the doorway, attempting to make sure that no one in this house entered through the study door. Though I was sure that everyone in this house could hear, I had no clue if they understood. "I managed to inform my family; I wish not to keep secrets from them." Edward answered with a self-reassuring nod. And though I was positive that if Lex ever found out that everyone knew, the more people the worse, I was somewhat reassured by the fact that I was not the only one who knew of what happened. The entire Pack and now the Cullens knew of her incident and I felt that others could understand me rather than have me being pulled apart once they discovered this. If Sue discovered this ever happened, she would instantly blame me and I knew that without her approval and Lex's approval things would be very, very rocky.

"No one blames you, Collin. Everyone understands that what had happened had been off of your watch. Even Sam knows it wasn't your fault. In fact, he blames himself." Edward informed me. I frowned at him. Why on Earth would Sam blame himself for my love, my responsibility, being decapitated? Edward flinched at my thoughts, at the mere memory of a memory that wasn't even his own. "He believes that if he hadn't called you out to help, you would've been able to save Alex before she had been thrown into that window." Edward explained. This, however, made no sense. Lex had been thrown into the window on my watch and my watch alone. It had happened right before my very eyes and I had done nothing to protect her.

"At the time you knew that she didn't want to be protected; you knew that she was independent and she does as well. She knows that this is not your fault and she doesn't want you to blame yourself." Edward said. I frowned at him. Maybe I'd come to Edward just for this; just to reassure myself that I wasn't blamed; that I couldn't be blamed. I snorted suddenly as I remembered Sue and Emily's discussion before we had left. "Did you hear anything about school shopping?" I chuckled to Edward as I paused in front of the study door, jamming my hands into my cut-off's pockets. Edward chuckled as well, obviously remembering something.

"Oh, definitely; she was definitely afraid to go shopping with her step-mother and Emily who wouldn't be sympathetic at all." Edward chuckled. A booming laugh echoed through the entire house as Emmett had obviously heard. I grinned, knowing that this was brilliant. Emmett was the most humorous in the family and if he knew then he could lighten the mood as much as possible. Having him know was definitely a pro for me.

September 1st, 2011: First day of school: Alex PoV:

I grimaced at the entirety of the school. Though the Tribal School was very small, for a very small population, it still seemed too large for me. I was a very small person and it appeared that I might be shrinking. I was somewhat glad that Sue had forced me to wear high heels in the school since I was so short. However my step-mother had also forced me to shove myself into a tight-as-all-living-hell black sweater, the sleeves draping off of my arms in wide light curtains yet the torso nearly suffocating me, and wool pleated pinstriped skirt along with a set of leggings. The shoes were a set of very, VERY high odd heels; they appeared to be black and white Converse on super-thin stilts. They were cute and very sporty however this was weird.

My step-mother had gone on to convince me that since she was "becoming as large as a brick-house", she wanted me to look at least somewhat sexy. My father had only gone with the skirt as long as I wore leggings. "Why can't I just skip this and go to Italy?" I grumbled, irritated with myself for having gone along with this. I could've easily boarded the next flight to Italy instead of going to the first flight of school. I would've been fine with shopping in Italy and coming back pricelessly.

Sue had also somehow convinced me (I was half-asleep) to wear makeup in the lightest tone. My hair had grown just past my shoulders, appearing darker than it was yet still a vibrant red. My step-mother had dressed me in a coat of cherry-red lipgloss and the lightest of all white eyeshadow. I had managed to fully surpass the driver's test within the first week (though I was fully tempted to crash the car) and had managed to snag a car; just a simple Ford Diesel truck. It was simple, black and not too flashy. Not to mention the entire parking lot was practically full of trucks so I blended right in however was just a bit cleaner than the other cars.

"We could've walked," Jason grumbled as we stepped out of the truck and fell to the ground. Jason had miraculously grown several inches above me however was just as pale. His dyed black hair had faded at the tips, slowly bringing back the vibrant Irish red in his hair however I suppose he was proud to have colored tips. His piercings had all been replaced with a gage the size of my thumb, the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen. It'd been a miracle that he had convinced dad he could do that. Sue had screamed so loud our ears were left ringing for hours. Dad had cracked up at Sue's reaction before insisting that it was permanent and he can't do a thing about it now. Dad was oddly happy about the disgusting unnatural holes in my brother's body.

He had gone all out, decked in black. On me, black was a natural color; on him, it was an emo color. So that made us the Goth twins (thank you so much, Jason). He wore a completely black set of jeans, a studded belt that might get him in trouble later and amazingly he had trudged out his old black leather jacket and a V-neck. He wore a set of Converse that appeared to be the same kind as mine except without the super-heels.

And somehow, I don't know how, but somehow Jason had not yet discovered a razor so his chin was completely stubbly in vibrant red stubble that clashed with his hair. It covered all around his chin and just barely over his lip. He looked a lot older than he is. He was fifteen and weird. Maybe he would stop aging like me (hey, we're twins! It could happen) and look as old as he does now.

"Shut up, Jason," I grumbled as I shut my door and pressed the automatic lock button. Jason rolled his never-gonna-change green eyes that completely matched mine before moving ahead of me. Don't think I missed the stares that several of the local girls sent him and his butt and this is all I have to say to that: EW! I rolled my eyes at the typical reaction before I set off, my heels clicking against the pavement and my messenger bag banging against my hip. The moment that I stepped past the lot of cars several wolf-whistles rang out. I turned to glare in the direction of the whistlers, nearly expecting it to be Paul or one of the guys however I doubted as much.

Instantly my eyes lay upon a boy, one of several in a crowd. And don't even go there; he didn't catch my eye because he was cute (not that he wasn't but I'm totally in love with my soul mate, thank you very much). It was because he was staring straight at me, attempting to smolder and smirking wildly. He was surrounded by several boys in the group, nearly all of them wearing thick blue and white letter jackets with a wolf on the heart. All of them appeared very cute but not my type and this boy was definitely not my type. If anything he looked like my brother (ew).

His eyes were a dark color; obviously a dark brown yet looked nearly black. They were perched neatly beneath a set of thin eyebrows and perfectly placed in a coat of russet skin yet nothing like the velvety tone of my Collin. He wore a blue t-shirt beneath the jacket he wore and his hands were jammed messily into his jean pockets. His feet were cloaked in a set of deep blue Vans. His hair fell lightly around his face, swung to the right as his right ear seemed to be pierced with an emerald stud. His chin was clean-cut but he definitely looked the part of the jock. He was nowhere near my type.

"Sensa possibilità," I chuckled to myself, the Italian translation ringing in my head: No chance. I walked further on, ignoring his continuous smirks and confident smiles. "Quarterback; Brett Draco," Kim announced with a clear of her throat as she stepped up to me. I smiled at the shy girl that I somehow knew so well. "Doesn't matter to me, Kimmy cub," I chuckled as I swung an arm around her tan shoulders. She had actually gone cute for the first day of school. Her hair was fully straightened and she appeared to have blush on but I could never tell if it was real or no. She looked so small yet so tall beside me. She wore a purple vest over a black tank top and a set of dark-wash skinny jeans, hugging her waist. Her feet, however, were in a pair of black leather flats so she was on her soles whereas I was lifted to normal height.

"You look absolutely pretty, K-cub," I announced as I kept my arm wrapped around her waist. Kim grinned at me as she glanced me over. "You do too; I actually like that outfit." She responded as we walked down the hallway, my heels clicking against the linoleum. Kim smirked in my direction as the several masses of teenagers seemed to part for the pale one coming through; me. I stuck out like a sore thumb in snow. "Your brother made a huge scene earlier, looking like he was about to combust with confidence." Kim chuckled. I wrinkled my nose in distaste as I thought of this. "The girls in the school all think he's pretty cute. I mean, he is but I have Jared so I'm pretty satisfied with what I've got." Kim rambled. I stuck my tongue out in more distaste as we discovered the front office.

"Hardly; my brother is anything but cute. I don't understand what teen girls are thinking when they see him and honestly I would hate to be Edward at this time." I scoffed as I unwrapped my arm from her waist to open the door and enter the office. Kim entered behind me, obviously planning to show me my classes and such. However someone else had a different plan. "Collin," I acknowledged with a fine smirk upon my face as Kim cocked an eyebrow at my lovely soul mate. Collin looked even hotter than usual in a full set of dark-wash jeans and a tight-as-all-fuck t-shirt. His hair draped slightly around his face yet it was nothing like Brett or my brother's hair. His lovely grey eyes stared at me, the most wonderful thing I'd ever seen and especially in a perfect moment like that.

"Alright; you obviously have someone to show you around school." Kim chuckled before she began backing out the door. Collin chuckled as we watched her leave, a funny thing. She was probably heading straight to Jared.

The two would most likely "celebrate" their first day as seniors. "Okay, ready to go?" Collin asked once I'd grabbed my schedule from the nice secretary. "Yep." I answered with a grin. I was definitely ready to be a junior at fifteen/sixteen.

::::::::::::::::::::::::

I coughed and hacked as the floorboards creaked beneath me. I turned only to pull in the ladder that I had let down in my odd moment. I reached up, plucking the string on the single light-bulb to illuminate the room and once more give me sight…only after the spots went away (-_-). The moment that I saw the object of my affection, the only string I had with my mother left, I dashed to it. I ignored the rough floorboards against my feet, the thick musk in the air. Everything was irrelevant as far as I knew. I placed my hands, palm-down, on the old wooden trunk. The leather belts and the handles all appeared so worn, so beyond my mother's time. It was too old to have originally been my mother's…unless she was like me.

I'd already come to the conclusion that I had come from my mother's side as dad was nowhere near immortal and seemed to have had no clue in this situation. I frowned to myself as I reached down to unbuckle the belts which they easily gave into. It wasn't very hard to see what my mother had stored in this chest she had always kept secret from all of us. Several books upon books were stacked however there was enough room to give way to one glass box, presenting the shape of a large cube. I instantly recognized the tangled masses within and clunks to be my mother's jewelry. She sucked at keeping organized thoughts much less jewelry.

I chuckled to myself as I withdrew the cube from the chest, pulling it over the side however not without difficulty. The cube was rather heavy as it held massive amounts of jewelry that my mother would never even wear. Instantly I spotted the glimmers of rings and diamonds within the cube. I lifted the lid ever so gently and let it drop against the side of the chest beside me. I reached forward, instantly cramming my hand into the depth of the box and feeling the chains and strings swell against my hand. "Damn," I murmured to myself as I finally found something not even remotely as hard as the others. I pulled out what appeared to be a ring.

It had a smooth banner with a large pendant, a large black pendant with a woman painted in white or carved or something. It was beautiful and appeared very old. Hesitant as all ever could be, I slid the banner onto my ring finger and peered at how large it was on my hand. Then, just as I was looking, something amazing happened. If anyone says that there was a glowing light or a blinding angel from a ring, that person's a Deusch-bag. But instead what felt like a stream of gold ran through my hand, appearing an odd shade of blue from on top of the skin. The stream ran thickly through my arm, running all the way up to my shoulder. And when I took a breath, all felt so clear, so empty and just…careless. It felt as though a great weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. However I knew these things, these feelings of carelessness and freedom, came with some sort of consequence. And that feeling was cut off the moment that ring left my finger.

Though I kept the ring out, shutting the box of jewelry closed and kept the ring nearby. I gently placed the box back within the chest, not completely understanding what had happened. However when my soul mate is a werewolf, my friends are vampires, and I am a creature unknown I know better than to ask or disbelieve. I reached my hand out, gripping onto the first book that my hand came in contact with. I lifted the softly worn book and placed it on the ground, directly next to the ring. The book's cover was soft and careful, very old, and the pages stuck out, ripping from the spine. The only thing holding the entire book together was a flurry of a frayed purple ribbon, chewed and eaten at by moths and age.

When I went to pull the ribbon away from the book, the remains were hardened and very fragile, nearly instantly crumbling in my hand. The book sprung open, stretched from use though I doubted there'd been much use in this book for the past…twenty years at least. Instantly I placed my hand upon the book to shut it nicely. I patted the sides of the book, tucking the pages beneath the cover the best I could. I finally decided that this attic was in no way the best place for reading so instead I stood with the book in hand and the ring in the other hand, making my way to the mouth of the attic.

It was a hard thing to do, shutting that chest was. Not that it was heavy or unwilling but this was my only tie to a woman who had more secrets than possibly even me. With as many books in that chest, I couldn't dare believe that this was all simply a case of insanity and scribbles. My mother was the same as me. My mother was immortal.