More Than My Own Life (Twilight Fanfiction)

Classical and Classy

I had barely slept the night before, and my conversation with Carlisle only added to my exhaustion. Though I had shared bedrooms my entire life, and sometimes even had to share a bed with my foster siblings, I was relieved when I entered my room and Claire was not there. She had probably just fallen asleep down in Quil's room. As much as I liked her, I was used to being on my own. A few hours of solitude in my bedroom was exactly what I needed. 

I slid off my dress and pulled on a nightie that came to just above my knees, and I allowed my mind to wander as I pulled out my hairband. I wondered what was going to happen next with Miss Michelle. Would she be informed that I was the one to tell on her? Or would she be led to believe that the surprise inspection was nothing more than random chance? I hoped they would go with the latter option. Even though I was pretty far away from Miss Michelle, she still scared me.

 As I slowly trudged across my bedroom to flip the light switch off, I reassessed the decorations that covered the bedroom. Claire was right. Now that I was relatively certain that my stay here was permanent, I should update the room. Not anything drastic, of course. I would never dare ask Carlisle and Esme to spend money on me for something so unnecessary. But the frills, the butterfly ornaments, the glittery bed canopy... all had to go. Quil was right. This looked like a toddler's bedroom. Even without the Princess theme, I was uncomfortable with how cluttered the room was. I had been raised with nothing but the bare necessities. Sometimes less. 

When I was younger, and had still held some hope of being adopted by a loving family, I had envisioned my perfect room. Even as a little kid it hadn't been like this. I had wanted a simple room, almost vintage in a way. A bed, a wooden desk, a wardrobe. I had even imagined a bookshelf a few times, with a yellowing globe on top of it. Even now, that still sounded amazing. I grinned as a new idea for room decoration popped into my head. I could have a wooden side table, with a lamp and alarm clock... and a framed picture of Jacob neatly placed front and center. I realized that for the first time in my life, I had a crush. And it seemed as if he liked me back, at least a little bit. 

I slid into bed and forced my imagination to calm down. I knew if I let myself keep dreaming things up I would never get to sleep, and the last thing I wanted was to have dark rings under my eyes when I went on the picnic with Jake in a few hours. I frowned as I realized that I had left the curtains open, and rays of sunlight were streaming in from the big windows. For a moment, I contemplated getting back up and closing them, but quickly decided against it. The blankets were far too warm,  and I was far too comfortable. Besides, I couldn't see the light when I turned my back to it and closed my eyes. It only took me a few minutes to fall asleep.

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I felt a tickle against my shoulder and brushed it away. It happened again and I rolled away, burying myself deeper into the blankets. As much as I loved the soft pillows that the Cullens had filled my bed with, the feather that tended to escape them were pretty bothersome. 

There was a low chuckle that brought me close enough to consciousness to become more aware of my surroundings. The tickle touched my shoulder again, then traveled up my neck, under my ear, and across my cheek. "Ness?" A gentle voice whispered. My eyes flew open. That was no feather. 

I turned over in bed to see Jacob. He smiled as he caressed my cheek one final time before dropping his hand. I sat up, disorientated. Why was he in my room? What time was it? Not wanting to look dumber that I already did by looked confused, I forced myself to act calm. "Hi, Jake."

Jacob smiled at me, not fooled at all. "Hi, Ness. It's one o'clock. Time for our picnic." I launched myself out of bed, my adrenaline spiking as I realized I was late. How many times had I been beaten or thrown around for accidently oversleeping? How could I have let this happen? Fear filled me, instinctive and strong.