Heavy Hearts | Quil Ateara [3]

vingt et un

Stress built up in her chest, mixing with amusement from the family around her. Alice zoomed around with last minute party details that she was attending to- the stress oozing from her made Andy squirm in her seat.

With most of the school's graduates showing up for a party at the mysterious Cullen home, Andy believed that the amount of emotions in one room would drive her to not wanting to eat anything. It happened most frequently when she was around girls her age, they held such negative feelings towards themselves that it burdened her no matter how good she was becoming at categorizing her own feelings and that of other people. Practice was making it easier but she could not yet figure out how to distance herself without distancing her own emotions and she doubted she truly ever would.

Perched on a counter in the kitchen, stealing mouthfuls of food from platters as Esme prepared them, she tried to eat as much as she could before guest began to arrive. Bella stood on the porch, staring into the night silently. It was easy for her to perceive how they were all keeping something from her but she didn't bring it up believing that it would have been too inappropriate.

Feeling tension growing, Alice appeared in the kitchen with Jasper close behind her, orders coming from the former faster than she could understand leaving her in a daze as the pair were a blur around he kitchen.

Rolling her eyes, Andy hopped down from her spot on the counter and made her way to the front room. Bella was tucked under Edward's arm as they conversed with Alice- the female vampire gesturing to boxes of carefully organized music.

Bouncing to her sister's, Andy tackled her in a hug squeezing tightly as Bella's anxiety and annoyance rushed into her. The two wobbled for a moment before Edward finally decided to steady them, a tiny smile present as he watched them interact.

"Hey Bells!" Andy spoke in her sister's ear, smiling when the girl flinched at how loud she was. "What has everyone so stressed?"

"It's nothing, can we tell you later?" Bella urged, the couple moving off somewhere into the house.

Finding herself alone, she didn't enjoy the uneasiness that settled over her at being still. She felt like she was in the open and wished that she had Mr. Darcy at her side at make her feel better about all of this.

Whatever was bothering everyone was certainly something that they wished to keep from her for as long as possible. They never once addressed what had occurred in Bella's room, nor had they let her in on what had the coven acting so jumpy.

Moving to a place near the door, Andy was ready to let guest in when the bell rang- greeting Jessica kindly and listening to the girl begin to prattle on. The Stanley girl was hyperactive, talking of one thing to the next- Andy needed only nod to keep the girl going.

The rest of the group's conversation was quieter, rising in volume when Bella made an appearance. Before she could move on to anyone else the doorbell rang again and her sister tugged her along to answer it.

The rest of the night was spent in the same fashion, her hand linked tightly with Bella. She had acted like a buffer, the original anxiousness and hesitance of each newcomer rubbing off on er and sliding away when they found themselves feeling more comfortable.

Many people spoke to them, congratulations were thrown their way in each conversation. Though the party was meant to be a joint affair, Andy only thought it peculiar when the center of attention was on them.

Maybe it was the lights, she thought, the way they hit the stone like skin of vampires makes them look intimidating- like true monsters in the dark. Emmett was worse, flashing his teeth at teens from his spot against the wall anytime one went near the snack table.