Violet Forsythe has finally found peace.
She successfully escaped a coven of malignant vampires, worked hard to get an education, and has actually managed to pull herself together.
But, as old acquaintances begin to resurface, the life that Violet w...
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"Don't you think this is a little ridiculous?" I asked aloud to no one in particular.
It was mid-morning, and I was jammed into my Black Jeep Wrangler with the whole gang, on my way to meet with Mark at a small, quiet coffee shop that wasn't too far from the hotel.
Seemingly a recurring pattern, no one responded to me.
Unbelievably, I'd managed to convince Jane not to ditch Renesmee while she was out returning the rental car she was driving the night before, so there were six of us trying to make due with a five seat vehicle.
Of course, squeezing into a car with so much palpable hostility was a challenge, but I was able to coordinate everyone well enough.
Felix had to sit in the front of the car because he was too damn tall to fit in the back, which was completely understandable. But, then Jane threw a fit about having to sit next to Renesmee, and I wholeheartedly rejected the idea of being seated next to Demetri. Then, Jane insisted that, even though she was the smallest person in the group, she would not tolerate sitting on anyone's lap or allowing anyone to sit in her lap (i.e. me).
So, without much room for any other options, we settled on Renesmee driving, Felix sitting in the passenger seat, Demetri and Alec each by a window in the back seat, with Jane in the middle and I was shoved into Alec's lap.
Not that I minded.
Alec was nice enough, which was surprising considering how bitchy his twin sister was. He was much more personable than Jane, to say the very least; although I couldn't help but notice that he was a bit more attentive to me, as opposed to Renesmee.
Or maybe I was just imagining things.
Nonetheless, I didn't mind being forced into such close proximity to Alec. I quickly found him to be sweet, funny, and quite handsome.
Which was really for the best, considering how awful Renesmee's driving skills had suddenly become. I knew from personal experience that Texas driver's were God awful, but Renemee's erratic driving wasn't consistent with how she drove the night before.
In fact, her driving ability had regressed so much that it almost seemed like she was speeding up at road bumps, instead of slowing down.
"Sorry," I apologized sheepishly to Alec after Renesmee went barreling over a particularly poorly paved section of the road, which sent me bouncing.
"No need for apologies," he insisted with a beatific smile. "It's not your fault that Renesmee can't drive."
"I can drive," Renesmee said from the driver's seat as she pumped the brakes abruptly, causing me to lurch forward in Alec's lap.
Thankfully, he'd managed to catch me before I fell, and he was nice enough to keep his arms around my waist in order to secure me to my seat while we endured the rest of the ride with Renesmee behind the wheel.
"I already suffer from memory issues," I said to Renesmee. "If I get another head injury, I'm going to scream."
Renesmee hit yet another pothole way too fast, and I swear I caught a glimpse of her smiling when I looked at the rearview mirror.
Eh. Who knows? I was probably imagining things again.
* * *
"I think I'd rather be left out in the bushes, in the middle of the night, like yesterday than have to listen to this," Felix grumbled.
Renesmee had parked Violet's Jeep at the back of the parking lot of the coffee shop, but Alec, as well as everyone else in the car, could still hear every word of Violet's tedious interaction with her friend, Mark.
Alec hadn't formally met Mark, but even so, he found him to be awkward, dull, and very two dimensional.
But, perhaps he was biased.
"This is insufferable," Demetri said in agreement.
Mercifully, Renesmee had gone inside to drink a cup of coffee on the opposite side of the cafe from Violet instead of waiting in the car with the rest of the group.
Spending time with the Cullen girl was annoying enough— Alec couldn't imagine what it would be like to be around her without Violet around to distract her.
"How much longer do we have to wait before I can start blasting the car horn?" Felix asked. His question was more aimed at Jane.
"The only reason why we're tolerating any of this is because we can't risk stressing Violet out and triggering her gift," Jane said bitterly. "We'll give her ten more minutes before we send somebody in."
"I'm assuming it's safe to say that based on Renesmee's continuous efforts to whip Violet up into a tizzy that she isn't aware of her untapped potential," Alec said.
"I'm inclined to agree," Demetri said simply.
"Why do you think she can't remember any of us?" Felix mused.
"I suspect her mind is trying to protect itself from the sheer amount of trauma you all inflicted upon her," Demetri said with an accusatory note in his voice.
"Oh? And your hands are clean?" Jane asked sarcastically.
"She doesn't remember her brother at all because you refused to let her kill Heidi," Alec said to Demetri with judgment coloring his tone. "In her head, it's as if he never existed."
"Regardless, I don't see why we need to involve this Mark character," Demetri said coolly. "This is a complete and utter waste of time."
"As much as it pains me to say it, we need to play nice," Jane said. "We have a second chance to make a halfway decent impression on Violet. It would be unwise to squander it."
