this town * cullen

chapter three

            

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest excessively as I walked through the hall, trying to find Renesmee without looking like I was. I was beginning to panic until her bronze hair caught my attention when I finally had gotten to the cafeteria without incident. Her smile lit up the room as she ushered me over, and grabbed onto my bag to drag me along towards a table.

We sat at an empty table, just the two of us. I had noticed the stares of others as she tugged me along, and I had even met the eyes of my sister. She seemed confused, and the others at her table stole her attention. I wouldn't be surprised if she would forget it before lunch even ended.

"I usually sit with my family," she explained as we sat down at the table. Maybe it was incredibly obvious the whole room was staring. She didn't have her own lunch, and I felt awkward as I pulled out my own.

"Then why are we sitting over here?" I asked, pulling out a bag of goldfish to eat. She shrugged, but began to explain herself.

"I wanted to talk to you. Seemed weird to sit with them if I wanted to get to know you." The excuse was sound, and I blushed at her words.

"Well, what do you want to know?" I asked, plopping a goldfish in my mouth. Before I could let her answer I spoke again. "Do you want some of these? Since you don't seem to have lunch?" I asked, holding up the bag. She shook her head and I nodded, setting it back on the table.

"Have any siblings?" she asked.

"A little sister," I nodded, "Her name is Farley, and she's a freshman," I added, knowing it would be better to answer the question fully instead of with simple answers. I wanted to get to know her, and I would have to be open if I wanted her to be. "Do you?"

She seemed to think for a moment about this question, and it was such an odd thing to hesitate about. I didn't like my sister, but surely she liked her family if she sat with them.

"They're all adopted siblings, so I'm technically an only child," she answered, the hesitation not evident in her confident words. "They're still my family, though. I love them a lot," she smiled.

"I don't mind my sister, but she mostly hates me I'm sure," I shrugged.

"That's actually a shame, family is important," she frowned slightly, the action looking wrong on her lips.

"It doesn't bother me. She's still my sister whether she wants to admit it or not," I laughed.

"Nice way to look at it. Where did you move from?" she asked, getting out of the awkward conversation easily.

"Virginia," I answered. I wondered what my friends back east were doing; probably better things than I was. I was sure, too, they were already out of school. Though, they didn't have the pleasure to be around Renesmee, so maybe I was the one having the better day.

"Such a long way! We've moved a bit, but mostly stayed northwest," she shrugged, but also still amazed at the amount of travel we took to get to Washington.

The rest of lunch was spent talking to Renesmee about various things in our lives. I felt most of the questions came from her, and I could barely get a straight and full answer from her. She was still intriguing, though, and I wondered how someone so beautiful could live in such a small town.

Are you out of school yet? I hate time zones. Noah's text came to my phone as I got home from school. My mind was still reeling with thoughts of Renesmee.

JUST GOT HOME I sent before anything else, continuing to text without much pause. There was a cute girl I met and she talked to me first omg noah im DYING I sent, setting my phone down on my desk as I sat in the chair in front of it. I couldn't help but smile while thinking over the day's events.