Moonrise | Paul Lahote

7

"Jenna, come sit with us!"

Jenna stopped, surprised to see Alice waving at her from where she sat with Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie at one of the picnic tables outside the school cafeteria. She'd just been walking out of the cafeteria with Bella to walk around the school before class started, and Alice's call took her by surprise.

"Um, I'm gonna go see what she wants," Jenna told Bella.

"Yeah, whatever," Bella responded distantly, too busy watching as Edward crossed the parking lot, heading towards his car.

Unlike before, the Cullens no longer seemed so hostile towards Jenna. Alice and Emmett were practically bouncing in their seats while the Hale siblings were more reserved, giving her acknowledging nods.

"Hi," Jenna said, giving them a little wave.

"Sit next to Jasper, sit next to Jasper," Alice told her, clapping her hands like an excited toddler. Amused, Jenna did as she was told.

She could swear Jasper seemed to relax a little once she sat, his face softening and his eyes relaxing. "Hey," he smiled at her.

Jenna smiled back. Simultaneously, a large, beefy, stone-cold arm dropped over her shoulder.

"Wolf girl!" Emmett boomed, giving her a beaming smile.

Jenna made a face at the name. "I'm not even a wolf."

"You smell like one," Rosalie wrinkled her nose.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Emmett cut in. "it's fucking gross, I can barely breathe."

"Why are you sitting so close to me, then?" Jenna punched him in the side. Lightly– she didn't want to break her hand. "Also, can't you guys just, like, stop breathing?"

Emmett stared at her, stunned. "I forgot about that."

"Idiot," Rosalie said fondly, smacking him on the shoulder.

"I think it's a good thing," Jasper said quietly. At Jenna's questioning glance, he explained, "It blocks out the scent of the other humans."

"Speaking of scent, do you know that yours is really weird?" Alice piped up. "Your blood-scent was never really appealing to us, even before you started hanging out with wolves."

Jenna's brows shot up. "Really? Wait, you can smell my blood?"

"Yeah. Different people taste different, and they have different smells. Like Bella. She smells really good and strong."

Something clicked in Jenna's mind. "Is that why Edward is so weird with her?"

"Partially," Alice admitted. "Also because he's just a weirdo in general."

"So he isn't going to eat her, right?"

"No!" Alice said forcefully, eyes wide. "We're vegetarians, we would never eat people. He's probably into her or something."

"Okay, good," Jenna nodded, relieved.

Rosalie cleared her throat delicately. "Can we stop talking about eating people, please? We're freaking her out."

"Yeah. How about we talk about... how you found out in the first place!" Emmett chimed in, looking excited. "Did you really get attacked?"

Jenna groaned. "Didn't Carlisle tell you?"

"Not the full story," said Alice, equally as excited as Emmett. "He always leaves out the juicy details."

"There isn't really that much to tell—"