The Life Of A Teenage Half-Vampire

The Life Of A Teenage Half-Vampire Part 25

We made it to the house in such a short period of time; I looked in the back seat to see Renee and Phil hanging onto each other for grim death, whilst Kayla sat in the front next to me with a wide grin on her face. Isabelle had fallen asleep, cuddling up to her pink teddy Renee gave her. It was so cute.

Alice had gone crazy; lights completely covered the exterior of the house, the kind of display you would see at Christmastime in the suburbs. It was beautiful, but extremely bright. A pink carpet ran from the driveway to the interior of the house, with "18" balloons tied to rocks bouncing lightly in the cool breeze. As we walked inside, Alice quickly covered my eys before I could see anything.

"Hey!" I squealed, trying to pry Alice's stone cold fingers from my eyes. Unfortunately, Alice was a lot stronger than me... a bonus to her being a full vampire.

"You can't see it yet," Alice giggled delightfully. "Not until everyone's here."

"What does it matter?" I asked, getting frustrated. My sense of sight was so strong; it felt odd not to have it, even for the smallest period of time.

"Because you left me in charge of planning and throwing your eighteenth birthday party," Alice laughed. "And I can do anything I want." I was getting worried now, and a part of me wondered if I wanted to see what she'd done.

"I didn't choose you, my parents did," I sighed glumly.

Alice led me out into the yard. I could smell Esme's freshly planted lavender; it was beautiful. Alice let me go, and I opened my eyes. I gasped as everyone from my year at school, my family, my friends... all standing before me. I hadn't expected so many people... I was almost certain that everyone I had ever met was here, and my face lit up as they all shouted "happy birthday!"

I held Isabelle in my arms; she was sound asleep. As I joined in with my friends, I handed her over to my mother, who took her inside. I noticed Clare, Quil and Mira all huddled in a corner, talking rapidly amongst themselves. I was too far away to hear them, but they all looked nervous about something. I decided that I would dance; Alice had even hired a DJ!

It was on the dancefloor, as I showed off some little moves that I had definitely not inherited from my clumsy mom, that I met Cody Marshall. I had never seen him before, only heard people talking about him. His beach blonde hair was scruffy, but his blue eyes balanced it out. He was tall; his figure was a different type of tall to Jacob.

"Hey, Renesmee," Cody knew who I was... I smiled happily. "I'm Cody. Cody Marshall. I go to Forks High... I'm friends with heaps of guys from La Push High, though, including your husband."

"Ex-husband," I said curtly. "I don't think I've met you before. But I have heard about you. You can call me Nessie," I added with a flirty smile. He returned the smile; his teeth were a beautiful white, for a human.

"You have a pretty awesome family, Nessie," Cody said admiringly. "Looks like you can afford anything when you're a Cullen."

"I guess," I laughed. "I've just been brought up this way, since I was born."

"Which ones are your parents?" he asked, looking around. I had to think of how to explain this.

"Well, my parents are dead," I lied. "My sister Bella and I were both adopted by Carlisle. Bella married my brother-in-law Edward about four years ago. It's one of those things in my family... we all marry young."

"Carlisle is quite an amazing doctor," Cody said, looking at him. "So... young. I'm sorry to hear about you and Jake. Didn't you guys have a kid?"

"Yeah, my daughter Isabelle," I said, watching my mom walk out of the house; she must have been checking on Isabelle.

"Jake's always been a little... obsessed," Cody said thoughtfully. "He would always talk about this girl... and we always thought it was you. But he... he never talked about you much at all. I didn't get why, you're a beautiful girl." My face blushed at the compliment.

"Thanks," I murmured shyly. He laughed, noticing my easy embarassment.

"Do you want a drink?" Cody asked suddenly, looking at the bar over the other side of the yard. "I'm parched."

"Uh... sure, I'd love one."

I had never felt gushy about a boy before. Jacob had always been the only man in my eyes, but once the bind of the imprinting was broken, I had realised that I would be able to fall in love with someone else. I knew it was probably too soon, but I didn't see the harm in flirting. I had a feeling I would remember my eighteenth birthday forever... Cody would make sure of that.

I spent the rest of the evening moving around between friends. After most of them went home, Cody and I sat in the corner of the yard, talking about our lives. I was determined to learn anything and everything about him. He was the exact opposite of Jacob...

"So why did you do to La Push High?" Cody asked as we huddled in the yard. Mom had seen me making friends and decided to look after Isabelle for the night, though she had done nothing but sleep.

"I went there... because of Jacob," I answered truthfully.

"You should've come to Forks high," he grinned. "It's a small school, too. La Push is mostly Quileutes."

"Yeah, I know," I agreed. "My parents both went to Forks High."

"Really?" he gasped. "It's a wonder your adoptive parents didn't send you or your sister there."

"Well, Bella, she didn't go to school around here," I lied. "She went to boarding school. I refused."

"Okay, fair enough," Cody agreed. "You should come to my school, though. But I guess... you only have like, six months left of high school left. Pretty daunting, isn't it?"

I couldn't believe he felt exactly as I did.

"Yeah, it's like you read my mind," I joked. He laughed, but then his face went serious.

"Do you believe in witches?" he suddenly asked. "Or... mythical creatures like werewolves or... vampires?"

"If I told you the truth, you wouldn't believe me," I teased.

"It's an odd question, I know," he laughed. "But I have this mate at school... he's really into this stuff. He reckons that there used to be a family of vampires around here... like, last century. What a freak!"

I laughed, but I knew the truth. It was hard to keep a secret like the fact you're a half vampire sometimes.

"It's a little silly," I agreed. After all, I didn't choose to be who I am, not that I would give it up for anything.

We talked late into the night, and early into the morning. My family had slowly moved into the house; Renee, Phil and Kayla all headed back to my cottage (Kayla had spent the majority of the night hooking up with Quileute wolf Brady). Charlie and Sue headed home after Alice went camera-crazy, suggesting she make a scrapbook of the party. I agreed.

When Cody suggested he probably should head home, it was around 3am. We parted like friends would, except we exchanged cell phone numbers, and ke kissed me on my cheek. When he did, I felt a chill down my spine. Cody made me nervous; but he also attracted me to him without effort. I felt amazing; a fresh start for a new chapter of my life.

I had Isabelle in my arms as Cody left; she awoke, and was thinking about him after he departed. Could it be possible that we would have a future together?

No. For us to have a future, he would have to know my secret...

Only time would tell how this would play out; I liked Cody, but his life could be in danger if he got into a relationship with me, and again if I told him our secret. I hated this; maybe we could turn him into a vampire, and we could live together for eternity.

I had to focus my thoughts on something else.