Nessie's Life

Chapter 19

The next day at school was hilarious. Mom and I were dressed like supermodels, because as Alice's parting gift, we had let her dress us for school.

When Jacob saw me on the way out the door, he had decided that his t-shirt and khaki shorts were too casual. So he changed into Emmett's white button down shirt (with sleeves rolled up to his elbows), a black vest, and dark jeans.

The effect it had on him was stunning, even though he thought he "reeked of bloodsucker." Dad wore his usual clothes, but he dressed nice out of habit regardless.

When we finally all made it to the Volvo, we waved goodbye to Alice and Jasper, who were going to spend some alone time in the amazon. They deserved it after being separated. Emmett and Rose were going to lie low here in Vancouver for awhile. The huge house that Carlisle had bought was finally filled to capacity.

Things were going pretty smoothly at school. The dramatic exit we had made yesterday in Rosalie's red convertible followed by today's choice of designer clothing definitely was not helping our "blend in with the crowd" status, but I was the only one who was worried about this.

If I really thought about it, everyone seemed to accept us as completely human. Sure, we were different, a little too beautiful and a little too rich, but people's imaginations seemed to stop there. With one exception...

Shelley. Like I said, she noticed things. At lunch, I grudgingly agreed to bring Jacob to sit with the girls. Instead of drooling over him and trying to win his attention like everyone else, she just studied him with her eyebrows knit together.

She was hardly a distraction from the rest of them, who acted exactly as Shelley and Sutton had pointed out at the mall yesterday. Mackenzie and Beth were focused on me, while everyone else continuously spoke to Jacob. He just smiled and ate and acted like his normal, perfect self.

Unfortunately I wasn't the only one who noticed his perfection. At one point Shelley and Sutton went to the bathroom together. I knew it was wrong, but I listened to their conversation through the wall. I could easily distinguish Shelley's voice over the buzz of the cafeteria.

"I'm trying to figure out what it is about him. He's not like the triplets... he's beautiful, but in a healthy way, you know? "

It was harder to pick out Sutton's less familiar voice. "He's definitely gorgeous. But people just don't get that huge at age 17."

Shelley was really determined to figure us out. "I don't know how to describe it. It's like... Nessie and Jake are both unusual, but they're on opposite ends of the pole."

Wow. Shelley always surprised me with her insight. When I heard their footsteps approaching the bathroom door I pretended I'd been talking to Jake the whole time.

Things got even stranger when dad came over to our table to borrow Jacob and I for a few minutes. The girls looked genuinely disappointed. We walked outside and around to the back of the building.

Dad turned abruptly and said, "Nessie, there's something off about that girl Shelley. She's playing tricks with my mind reading. She's kind of like Bella, but not entirely. I can hear some of her thoughts. I only hear trivial information though. When she starts to think about something insightful or provocative, she fades away. I guess I never noticed before because I wasn't that interested in her. But today I was trying to learn more about her since you're planning on spending the night with her..."

I shook my head, trying to take this in. "So she has powers even though she's only human?"

"It's not unheard of," explained dad. "Bella had her shield as a human, she just couldn't project it yet. It was just a part of her, a sort of extension of her natural guardedness."

Suddenly something clicked in my mind. "Oh. That makes sense, if you think about Shelley's personality. She's very shy around some people, but she becomes more and more open as you get to know her. So her selective shield probably comes from her selective shyness."

Dad nodded. "This is interesting. I'll have to discuss this theory with Carlisle."

Suddenly our very serious conversation was interrupted when Jacob bursted out laughing.

Mom asked, "What on earth is so funny?"

"S'not that funny," explained Jake. "I was just thinking about how that Shelley girl always looked kinda familiar. It's been bugging me ever since I saw her. And then I realized that the person she reminds me of is you, Bells. Not you now. The old you. Seriously, if she had darker eyes and was clumsier, she could be your clone."

Mom frowned slightly. I thought about what he had said and realized that it was sort of true. Maybe not clones, but at least relatives. That could be the reason I was so interested in Shelley in the first place.

At that moment the bell rang to move to sixth period. Students poured out into the courtyard. I grabbed Jacob's hand and pulled him towards study hall. I wasn't sure if I loved or hated how the crowd always parted around us when he was with me.

"I wonder," he said as we entered the classroom, "what gift I would have if I were... like you guys."

As we sat down, I non-discreetly placed a hand on his cheek. I rarely used this form of communication away from home. Since he was a great mechanic, I pictured him being able to fix anything with a single touch.

He laughed, and then sighed. "I love it when you do that. Your mind is so interesting. It's way more complex than mine."

"Doubtful," I said. "I bet if I could hear yours it would be ten times better than mine."

The teacher told everyone to settle down and start working on something. I tore a page from my purple notebook and wrote:

What are we doing after school today?

I passed the note to Jake. When he read it, a mischievous smile turned up the corners if his mouth. He started scribbling his reply. It took a lot longer than I expected.

When he finally passed it back to me, I scanned over it. When I finished, I shot him a weird look and he grinned. I sighed and wrote:

You're insane.