Old Soul

Chapter Eight: Give It to Me Straight

            The next morning, as I brush my teeth, I ponder what to tell my parents about last night. I tried to cover the stitches with my hair, but besides looking like I'm trying to relive my want-to-be-emo-but-my-mom-won't-let-me-dye-my-hair-so-I'll-settle-for-straightening-it-and-making-a-fringe-myself-instead phase from middle school, there's no way for me to feasibly hide it for a few weeks, or however long it'll take the stitches to dissolve on their own. I brace myself and head downstairs.

"Oh, honey, are you alright?" My mom asks, wrapping her arms around me and examining the stitched up gash. "Will told us you had a fall while you were out. I warned you those heels were death traps." Thank the Lord for my little brother.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Mom. I just feel bad that I didn't get to take Will out to dinner because I needed to get stitches." I shrug.

"He's not upset with you! He said he had a nice time with Mrs. Cullen, eating cookies with her. How lucky that you're friends with one of the doctor's sons. Why didn't you mention it?" Her head is tilted in feigned innocence, ready to pounce on any morsel of information I offer her. Oh no. Abort mission.

"Y'know, Mom, I gotta go. School, remember?" I say, slyly removing her arm from my shoulders and rushing out the front door.

When I pull up to the school, the Cullens except Edward are gathered around a red convertible. I hop out of my car, and Emmett heads over to me.

"Glad to see you're still in one piece." He grins. "Did your parents give you a lot of grief over what happened?"

I lean against the driver's side door. "Will handled it, so I'm in the clear. What's with the new car?"

"Edward abandoned us to bring Bella to school, so we took Rosalie's car. She doesn't like to show it off because as you can see, it draws a lot of... unwanted attention." He's right, many upperclassmen boys, and even a few girls are gawking at the glossy red vehicle.

"Edward brought Bella to school?" I ask, surprised.

"Yeah, she forgot her jacket in Jessica's car and Edward was worried she'd freeze or that last night shook her up too much." A look of disappointment must cross my face because he adds, "I'd have offered to drive you, too, but I assumed your "I can walk" policy extended to your driving abilities."

I smile. "It does. Plus I wouldn't want to add to the carbon footprint of this town."

As if on cue, the Volvo swerves into the parking lot, expertly parking alongside the convertible. I watch Edward and Bella get out of the car and head towards the buildings.

"You want me to walk you to your class?" Emmett offers, following my gaze to his brother.

"How about I walk you to your class?" I ask, and he laughs.

"Sure. Come along." I walked alongside him until he stopped suddenly.

"This is it." Emmett is still smiling. I smile back.

"I'll see you later." I say, turning to go.

"Wait. Do you wanna work on the project after school today?" His eyes are hopeful, though he tries to hide it.

"Sure. I have to get Will, but I can drive you to my house, if that works for you?"

"It does. Bye, Raquel." His excitement is noticeable in his voice. I turn and head towards the English building, feeling his eyes on me until I'm out of sight.