Something Sweeter - Alec Volturi

XV. Normalcy

Sixth period English was pretty much identical to every other class that day. Since it was the first day of the school year, most of the time was spent listening to Mrs. Robertson slowly go over the syllabus and review the class rules. Mrs. Robertson insisted on utilizing every second of her time allotted with us which made the singular hour drag on. As a result, my interactions with both Alec and Liam were limited to the little we had at the beginning of class.

When the bell rang and dismissed us I haphazardly shoved the stack of handouts into my backpack. Just like every other class, I wasn't worried about wrinkling them since I fully intended on recycling them as soon as I got the chance. I certainly had no intention of looking at them ever again.

I slid out of the hard plastic chair and tried to exit the classroom quickly in order to avoid having to talk to both Alec and Liam. My only objective for the day was to survive with as little drama as possible. Jane had already worn out my patience, and that was before I could even get to first period.

"Do you want to walk to class with me?" Liam asked before I could make my escape.

"Sure," I said, slowing my pace.

"Nice to meet you," Liam told Alec.

"You, too," he said without returning a smile.

I gave Alec a small wave before following Liam out of the classroom.

Spanish class was just as uneventful as the rest of my day. I had to admit that having a friend made class marginally more tolerable.

Liam had a sunny demeanor and relentless optimism. I enjoyed talking to him because he was so normal. To him I was an ordinary girl with regular teenage problems, like college applications and whether or not it was my turn to wash the dishes after dinner. He made me feel normal.

When the school day finally ended I quickly bade Liam goodbye and booked it to the parking lot. I climbed into my Jeep and took a moment to close my eyes and breathe. I felt comforted by the now familiar interior of the car; I could fool myself into feeling like I had personal space.

My moment to peace was interrupted by someone knocking on the passenger side window. I begrudgingly opened my eyes and glanced over at the source of the noise, only to find Alec peering at me through the tinted window.

I rolled down the window halfway and leaned over the center console. "I don't know you," I said, humorously bitter.

"We have two classes together, remember? May we ride home with you?" he asked. His sister was standing a few paces away from him, hovering near the back door of the Jeep.

"No. Catch a ride with the Cullens," I smirked. I hit the lock button on my door, snapping all of the locks down, and slowly rolled up the window.

Jane looked quickly between her brother and the car. She appeared flustered, as if she couldn't fathom how someone would have the nerve to tell her no.

I popped the car into reverse and slid out of my parking spot, making a point to strip them of my attention by focusing on my driving. I didn't look back at them until I had pulled out of the school parking lot and glanced at my rearview mirror. They were still standing in the vacant parking spot, unmoved.

I cranked up the radio and laughed out loud as I cruised out of sight.

* * *

When I arrived back at the cottage I was greeted by Felix and Demetri's empty stares. They were lounging in the living room, so I couldn't avoid them when I walked to my bedroom. Their vacant expressions were incredibly eerie, but I couldn't blame them. If anything, I felt bad for them. They must have been bored to tears in Forks and the only reason they couldn't go home - me - wasn't budging.

I didn't take their lack of warm and fuzzy feelings personally. I'd be pissed if I were them, too. I was, however, very curious about what they were thinking behind those lifeless eyes.

'Maybe I should start being nicer to Edward...', I mused.

I closed the bedroom door behind me and dropped my bag on the floor at the foot of the bed. None of the doors in the cottage had locks, which was annoying. It made sense, though, considering that everyone but me could easily knock the whole building down like a house of cards.

Without bothering to change my clothes, I kicked off my shoes and flopped down onto the large, warm bed. The queen sized mattress felt like heaven after a long day out of the house. I forced myself to get up long enough to grab my iPhone before crawling back underneath the comforter. I popped my headphones into my ears and cranked up the volume of my latest Spotify playlist.

There, safely tucked into bed, I was able to hide in my own little universe and drown out the horrors of my real life.

Curled up under the covers, enveloped in good music, the exhaustion from school set in and I slowly drifted off to sleep.