TERRIBLE THING mike newton (1)

CHAPTER TWO

chapter two !
fight club

EDWARD LEFT THAT night. He explained to Carolyn, as he hastily packed, that he had Biology with Isabella Swan and couldn't stand being so close to her. She was his blood singer. And so, her brother ran off to Alaska, to stay with their cousins in Denali for a little while. Carolyn missed him; though she wasn't close to anyone one sibling in particular, the lack of Edward's presence was noticeable throughout the Cullen household. Apparently, his disappearance was noticeable at school, too.
Bella Swan watched their table each and every day at lunch, waiting for Edward to appear. Rosalie and Carolyn were rather annoyed by her constant staring, as she sat with her friends and tuned out every word they were saying. Carolyn was half tempted to walk up to her and ask why she was so obsessed with her brother's disappearance, but thought not to, as that would mean being near Mike Newton. Speaking of Mike Newton, he was also staring at the Cullen table, but for a different reason.
     His gaze fell on Carolyn, and she was well aware of that. He sat in his chair, slouched with his arm over the back of it. He was chatting half-heartedly with his friend Eric, a scrawny Asian boy who was far too invested in his job in the school newspaper. Mike was a conventionally attractive boy. He was tall, with an athletic build and a nicely shaped face. His hair was blonde, blonder than Carolyn's and his eyes were a striking blue. Her eyes were brown once upon a time. She frowned at the thought. There wasn't a whole lot Carolyn could remember about her past life, but she could remember her brown eyes and the distinctive giggle of her little brother. Quite honestly, Charles was one of the only things she could remember about her life before being turned; she could remember the exact shade of brown his hair was, and the way the sun shone on his face and the way he laughed so merrily it would cheer up every soul in the room.
     "You okay, Car?" Jasper asked, feeling the shift in her emotions. He sent her a concerned look, most likely knowing what was going through her mind even though Edward was the telepath.
     "Yeah, I'm fine," Carolyn gave her brother a weak smile, trying to reassure him that she was fine, despite the fact that she wasn't. Jasper didn't look convinced, but decided not to push it. Carolyn had spent many nights with Jasper, playing chess and talking about their past lives. The two probably had one of the strongest connections out of all of the Cullen siblings, just based on their ability to understand each other.
     Carolyn spared another glance towards Mike Newton, and their gazes connected. She frowned, putting on her mean face and storming out of the cafeteria.

•

THE RETURN OF Edward Cullen brought more pain than pleasure. He had decided that it was too hard to stay away from Isabella Swan. While Alice was thrilled with his decision, Carolyn and Rosalie were not. The Cullen coven were already heavily watched by the Volturi, who were the sort of governing body over the world's vampires, due to the extraordinary gifts that Edward, Alice and Carolyn held, so to risk a human finding out about their nature would be to sentence the whole family to death.
     Edward heard these thoughts from his sisters, but chose to ignore them. He was infatuated by the girl. Simply not being able to read her mind was enough for him to not be able to stay away; she was an enigma. He had also saved her from a car accident, but revealed himself at the same time. Carolyn just wished he could consider the danger he could be putting them all in. This was the source of their first argument in over a decade.
     "How could you be so stupid, Edward? Can't you see the danger you're putting us in, let alone her?" Carolyn yelled, after getting in a heated debate that started when Edward read her thoughts about Bella.
     "It's not something I can just explain! Of course I don't want to put anyone in danger, least of all this family but I can't make myself stay away," was Edward's reply. Carolyn found her self getting more and more angry. Keeping Aro's hands off of her had been hard enough for the last two hundred years, but if he is given a reason to charge the Cullen's with some sort of crime, not only will Carolyn be in the Volturi's hands, but Alice and Edward as well.
     "Think about me. And Alice. You really want us to fall into Aro's hands? Maybe you have no regard for yourself, but we are family." Carolyn spoke harshly, but softly, before storming out of the house and into the Washington woods.
     She ran for a while, and then walked, stumbling across a well used hikers path that she decided to follow. The woods of Forks were calming, even if she preferred the bustling city life. The green canopy soothed her mind, and she decided she didn't want to turn back for a while. So she kept walking, until she stumbled across a familiar face. Mike Newton.
     The blonde boy was walking down the path, opposite her in full hiking attire. He didn't notice her at first, having one ear filled with an earbud playing music. He only noticed her when he was a few feet away from her, and he stopped dead in his tracks. She was beautiful. He was enchanted every time he saw her, but here in her dishevelled state, clearly upset, she looked more gorgeous than ever before. He found himself unable to speak, just like every other time he tried to talk to her. He looked at her clothes; a black jean skirt and a grey, long sleeved shirt with a pair of heels. Hardly hiking attire, but it flattered her so well and accentuated her curves.
     "Are you going to stand there and stare at me all day?" her tone wasn't necessarily cruel, more upset and distracted.
     He snapped out of his trance, a goofy smile plastering on his face, "Hi," he said, giving her a small, nervous wave. Internally, he chastised himself for such a stupid action. Really, "hi"? And then wave? God, Mike, you're a dumbass.
      "What are you doing out here by yourself. It's dangerous." Carolyn replied, fully aware of the mysterious murders taking place in the area that were most likely the result of nomads passing through.
     "I could say the same to you, and you aren't really dressed for it." He laughed awkwardly, and continued after she just kept looking at him, "My parents own a hiking store. Hiking is just kinda in my nature. What are you doing out here?"
     "My brother and I got into a bit of a spat. Just needed some air." Carolyn said bluntly, moving to sit down on a fallen tree. Mike sat next to her, and she tensed at the sound of his heartbeat and the smell of his blood. Simply, he smelt delicious, but not so that she couldn't control herself.
     "Wanna talk about it?"
     "Well, lets just say my brother is a dumbass. He doesn't really have any sort of hindsight." Carolyn said simply. She couldn't just tell him about all the vampire drama and the impending doom of Marcus, Caius and Aro.
     "I get it. I mean, kind of.  I don't really have any siblings, but my cousins and I got in a fight once over what popcorn was best and we didn't talk for, like, a week or something," he rambled. Carolyn could hear his heart rate picking up, and saw that his palms were getting more and more sweaty. His rambling was endearing, it was cute. Mike was cute. Carolyn hated these thoughts, but they were always there. He was annoying, but cute.
     "Mike, shut up," she laughed, which was the most angelic sound Mike had ever heard. "It's a bit different from you and your cousins, but I appreciate the sentiment."
     Mike smiled widely, "How come we never talk, huh?" He tried to play off the fact that the reason they don't talk is because he was too chicken to even mutter a word to her before this encounter, but Carolyn wasn't going to let it slide.
     "Maybe because you're too afraid to talk to me," she said, shocking him. Carolyn laughed at his shocked expression, "You don't think I haven't noticed you staring all the time?"
     Mike was at a loss for words. He always thought he was being so discreet. He never once noticed her gazing at him, and of course he never knew that Edward could read his mind and frequently told his sister the thoughts Mike was having about her, unless they were too disgusting to say. And Mike did have those thoughts.
     "I should get back. Carlisle will be worried. It was nice talking to you, Mike. I'll see you around school."
     Carolyn turned back the way she came, and disappeared into the trees. And Mike smiled the biggest smile he had ever worn on his face.