Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

ALICE WALKED TO HER NEXT CLASS, FRENCH. SHE LOOKED

around, and Carina wasn't there. Alice let out a sigh of relief. Her French teacher, Madam Singh said that later in the year they would only speak French later on in the year, so they needed to pay attention. Alice looked at the clock, she did this for the next five minutes, she was nervous without Jasper. The bell rang causing Alice to freeze. She really didn't want to scare Carina away. She packed her things, the halls only held a few wondering students. All of whom were looking at their schedules and maps. She walked into her science class. As she walked in she saw Carina talking to a girl in the back of the class rooms. Like her vision, she sat at the desk at the door.</P>

"Good afternoon class I'm Mr. Lee. I'll call roll. Don't worry in this class you can choose where you sit. Now let's see is Terri Brown."

"Here."

"Tina Brown."

"Here."

"Matthew Cain."

"Present."

"Is Carina Canning here?"

"Here."

"Alice Clark."

"Here." Alice felt someone staring at her. She turned to see Carina glaring at her. While staring at each other they drowned out the teacher's voice.

"Now," Mr. Lee said loudly to silence the class, "you may choose where you sit but in this class there are a lot of partner projects. The pairs are in alphabetical order since there are twenty-six of you. For example Terri and Tina are partners. I want you to find your partners, if you don't know who your partner is then please, look on the board." When he saw that neither Alice nor Carina had moved he said, "Carina, Alice your partner. Alice, why don't you go and sit by her?" Alice gathered her things and went to sit by Carina, who seemed mad.

"Hello I never introduced myself Alice Clark. You're Carina correct?" Alice extended a hand.

"Just don't talk to me. Rotten luck I get stuck with you." Carina practically growled.

"Look Carina I don't want any problems but I do want to be friends." Alice said determinedly. Carina looked shocked; she hadn't had a real friend in years.

"Alice sorry, it's just if you were in my position you would have reacted the same way, having other vampires here, after not seeing them for so long. What are the odds of meeting others in school? I think we can be friends. Who were the other three?"

"The big one is Emmett, the blonde girl is Rosalie, and they're mates. Then the other blonde is my Jasper."

"Oh he's your Jasper." Carina smirked.

"Yes my Jasper." Alice smiled. "I want you to meet Carlisle and Esme our parents."

"How many of you are there?" Carina asked shocked.

"Seven. Edward is the seventh; he went on vacation for a week."

"Is he enrolled here?"

"He's a junior like us."

"You know I would love to meet Carlisle and Esme."

"Ms. Canning Ms. Clark do you know the answer?" Mr. Lee asked.

"Mitosis takes place in all cells." Carina said

"Except it doesn't happen in the gametes, meiosis takes place there." Alice finished.

"Good." He turned to the rest of the class. Carina and Alice smiled each other.

"So I'm curious, how old are you?" Alice asked.

"I'm ninety."

"How long have you've been drinking animal blood?"

"About nineteen years."

"Are you serious? Only ninety years and you're in school? Is this your first year in high school?"

"Yes to the first two, but no to the last this is my third year." The bell rang.

"That means sixteen years after you became a vegetarian you started school."

"Vegetarian? Good one. Yeah after seventy-one years of one thing then changing overnight, but I missed interaction with others."

"You're amazing, only nineteen." Alice repeated shaking her head. They walked to Carina's car. Then, suddenly, Emmett was behind her, Rosalie on her left and Jasper next to Alice on her right.

"Hello Jasper." She nodded at Jasper. "Hello Rosalie." She nodded at Rosalie. She looked around everyone was gone. She reached behind her and flipped Emmett into a bush so fast he couldn't react. "Hello Emmett." They stared at her. "What? I don't like people standing where I can't see them." she walked over to Emmett and held out her hand, "Sorry Emmett, no hard feelings?" He looked at her then took her hand and smiled,

"No hard feelings. You're alright."

"Thanks so I'm going to your place I guess."

"You two go in Rosalie's car," she pointed at Rosalie and Emmett. "Jasper and I will go in Carina's car. Is that alright?" Carina shrugged. She gave Alice the keys.

"I have no problem."  Emmett and Rosalie were already gone. Carina, Alice and Jasper got in Carina's car. Alice got in the driver's seat. Japer got in the back seat. "Jasper is it okay if I sit with you?"

"Okay?" Jasper said, sounding like a question. She got in and closed the door.

"I'm guessing by the scars you have that you weren't always a vegetarian."

"Yes but how can you tell that by the scares?"

"Because of these," Carina took off her sweater and revealed her arms. Jasper stared in shock. "Yep tends to be a universal tale-tell sign, don't you think."

"How old are you?"

"I'm ninety. Seventy-one years as a non-vegetarian, and nineteen years as a vegetarian. This is my third year in high school. Am I missing something Alice?"

"No give him a minute." Carina counted in her head for fun. When she reached sixty seconds Jasper asked,

"So why did you change?"

"Wait a second that was exactly one minute." Carina said.

"I can see the future." Alice said.

"So you saw me coming?"

"Yes, are you going to answer Jasper's question?"

"It's complicated."

"We have time." Jasper said.

"I tell you then you tell me, deal?" They shook hands.

"Okay so I was seventeen when I was changed. I was told that I fit the vampire world well. It was 1910. The coven I belonged to lived by my parents. After the change I saw fliers around the neighborhood and in the police station. I felt horrible that I couldn't tell my parents what happened. My coven leader, Estelle, to me why but I still felt bad. So I visited them secretly. I had a sister we were extremely close, if all the pictures around that had us together and laughing." Carina's eyes stared pass Jasper.

"I saw my parents die. One night they were in the living room reminiscing. My sister had left for college in America. We lived in Mexico. It was a robbery gone wrong. My parents were stabbed repeatedly. The police never found the men that murdered my parents. I didn't think they would. I took care of them. They are the reason I was able to resist the blood of my parents; I was so focused on revenge that I went after them.

"My sister went to Italy for a trip. I followed her, after I got permission from Estelle. I met the Volturi." Jasper hissed. "I know I didn't meet all of them. I only met Alec, Jane, Felix and Demetri. I don't know what happened.

"My sister was kidnapped. I tried to find her but I hit a dead end. They found her body; since no one was there to claim her they buried her of there. I was there, I couldn't believe it, she was only twenty-one. They left the grave unmarked. When they left I put her information on the gravestone. Towards the last years of my non-vegetarianism I started to see the faces of my victims, you know as people with others that love them and would be devastated without them. I couldn't kill them without remorse anymore. So I ran in 1982. I made friends with a vampire named Debbie; she taught me a new way to live, which I accepted without thought. After about thirteen years our friendship fizzled out so I went away and started school. And that's the end."

"Whoa okay so I was a confederate army general. A vampire named Maria changed me because she thought I had potential, at the time I had no idea. It was after Benito do you know of him?" Jasper asked.

"Yes he's the wacko that used new-born armies, in Mexico to gain land. After the Volturi came and killed everyone with knew borns others followed but on a low key. Since you're bringing him up I'm guessing Maria was one of the followers."

"Yes she was careful with who she chose. My power is being able to control others emotions. I was one of the very few that survived the year mark. She trusted me and my friend, Peter," he felt some hate but ignored it, "to 'get rid of' the new borns that reached their mark.

"I found out he loved one of the ones we were sent to destroy, I let them escape. Five years later he came back and convinced me, in one conversation, that there was a better life out there, one without constant fighting. I was already depressed by that point so I left with them. After a few years I left them too. I could feel everything my prey felt.

"I was in Philadelphia. There was a storm, and I out during the day¾
something I was completely comfortable with yet. I knew standing in the rain would attract attention, so I ducked into a little half-empty diner. My eyes were dark enough no one would notice them, though this meant that I was thirsty, and that worried me a little. She was there¾
expecting me, naturally." He chuckled once. "She hopped down from a high stool at the counter as soon as I walked in and came directly to me. It shocked me. I was not sure if she meant to attack. That was the only interpretation of her behavior my past had to offer. But she was smiling. And the emotions that were emanating from her were like nothing I'd ever felt before.

"'You've kept me waiting a long time.' she said"

"And you ducked you're head like a good southern gentlemen and said, 'I'm sorry ma'am." Alice said from the front seat.

"You held out your hand and I took it without stopping to make sense of what I was doing. For the first time in a century, I felt hope."

"I told him of my visions and Carlisle. We went to find them. I think we scared them. Most vampires freak out at how many scares Jasper has and I don't think it helped called them by name and asked what room we could have."

"Alice I wanted to apologize for how I acted. My old coven, we never trusted other vampires. Hell we barely trust each other. Out of fifteen vampires in my coven I only trusted two of them. Jasper just so you know I was created because of Benito too. But once we were created, we were given a year of training and if we didn't pass a test, well then we were destroyed."

"You don't have to apologize. Look we're here." she grabbed Carina's wrist and dragged her inside. "Esme, Carlisle this is Carina." Alice introduced Carina as soon as she saw her 'parents'.

"Nice to meet you ma'am." Carina nodded to Esme. "Nice to meet you too, sir."

"No need to be so formal." Esme said.

"Okay."

"Alice congratulations on not scaring her away." Carlisle said.

"Are you kidding? If Emmett couldn't scare her I couldn't." Alice said.

"Emmett didn't try to scare you did he?" Esme asked.

"He did but he learned his lesson." Jasper said laughing. Emmett growled.

"Esme you should have been there. At lunch we had a plan to corner her if she tried to run. So when we, Carina and I, got to her car Emmett was behind her, Jasper to her right, Rosalie to her left. Carina said hello to Jasper and Rosalie. Then she flipped Emmett into a bush, and then she greeted him. She apologized afterwards."

"Emmett is you alright?" Esme asked trying not to laugh.

"Carina you fit well with us would you consider joining our family?" Carlisle asked.

"I'll give it some thought. I haven't been with others for a while."

"Oh you must have been lonely." Esme said sympathetically.

"It's been a little lonely, but not for the past two years. I became friends with humans. I stay in touch for a while."

"Carina if you want I can tell your story, it seems that you hate repeating yourself." Alice said.

"Sure go ahead." Carina said. Alice told them word for word everything Carina told her and Jasper.

"So you helped train new borns too?" Esme asked.

"Yes." Carina took off her sweater. Esme gasped. "I couldn't take it anymore. So I left. I never regretted it. I only felt bad that I didn't say good bye to the ones I cared about." Carina said ruefully. Esme walked to Carina cautiously and hugged her softly. "Even if I say no I can still visit, right?"

"Of course." Esme said as she released her.

"You better visit, not that you have a choice, partner." Alice winked.

"So, about that project that's due next week."

They talked late into the night. It was two in the morning when Carina looked at her cell phone.

"It's two in the morning. I'm intruding now. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, I'll see you tomorrow at school. Carlisle, Esme is it okay if I come again tomorrow after school again?"

"Of course you're more than welcome anytime." Carlisle said.

"Thank you." She hugged Esme. She took Carlisle by surprise by hugging him as well. She then hugged Alice and Rosalie. "Bye, see you tomorrow."

"I don't get a hug?" Emmett asked pretending to be hurt.

"Fine." She hugged him too. "Don't get jealous Jasper you get a hug too." Jasper was passed surprised, he was shocked. No one had accepted him that fast, besides Alice. "Adios mis amigos." Carina bowed and left.

"I like her." Emmett said when he couldn't hear the sound of the car anymore.

"I think we all do." Jasper said, shock still wearing off.

"She even won over Rose." Emmett said in a stage whisper.

"Yeah she did." Rosalie said.

"I really do hope she says yes, she really does get along with everyone beautifully." Esme said.

"All but one. How will Edward react?" Rosalie asked all of them turned to Alice.

"I don't know he made me promise not to look for his future until he comes back." Alice said.

"We're just going to have to wait and see." Carlisle said.

The rest of the week flew by. Carina and Alice worked on their project for two hours everyday (at human speed). Each day convinced Carina more and more that she should stay. She hung out with them everyday. She was always laughing. They already felt like family.

On Friday, she went to tell Alice first because she knew if she didn't Alice would get upset.

"Alice, Jasper." She called as she went to them.

"You know you don't have to yell. We can hear you if you talk normally." Jasper said.

"Yes well, how sane will I look if I say your name normally in the middle of a crowd? Anyway I always talk loudly. So get used to it."

"Does that mean you're saying yes?" Alice asked.

"Of course."

"Welcome to the family." Jasper said holding out his hand.

"Don't give me that. I don't want a welcome-to-the-family-handshake; I want a welcome-to-the-family-hug." Carina said.

"Alright." Jasper hugged her. Alice joined in too.

"Does this mean you said yes?" Rosalie asked.

"Yes join the group hug. Come on, Emmett, you too." They did. They stopped hugging after they felt the people staring at them. "Just as a warning get used to that I'm a hugger. It's just me." RING! "I'll see you all at lunch." Carina gave each of them one last hug and left.

The end of third period's bell rang. Carina walked out of class and bumped right into Jasper.

"Sorry Jasper. Guess I'm the only vampire you know that accidentally bumps into others."

"Yeah you are a little klutzy." Jasper said smiling. Carina narrowed her eyes at him trying not to smile. They started walking. "So you're meeting Edward today are you nervous?" They walked into the cafeteria and stood in line.

"No I'm not. I could care less what this Edward thinks. If he doesn't like me then screw him." Carina said shrugging.

"Glad to see you feel that way. Edward is a bit judgmental."

"Thanks for the warning. I think if I can handle ten new borns, I can handle Edward. If he tries to mess with me them he can find out the hard way what happens when you mess with someone who is Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban and Mexican."

"I hear that each of those alone is temperamental."

"They are so am I; I was also when I was human or so I was told." They sat at the table they had been sitting at for the past week.

"You don't seem like the type to let other walk over you."

"Trust me I'm not. You know since I left Estelle's coven I always had this little urge to go back, but since I met all of you I don't"

"Good it never does well to dwell in the past." Alice said sitting down.

"I know but sometimes when you spend too much time alone, you can't help it."

"Guess what I heard. Edward might get his butt kicked today." Jasper said winking at Carina.

"Really? Who?" Emmett asked.

"Carina." Jasper said. Emmett and Jasper leaned in and they began to whisper.

"Carina do you really think you can beat Edward? He cheats." Rosalie said. "He can read minds."

"I think I can handle him." Carina said confidently.

"You know she meant literally read minds, right?" Alice asked shocked.

"I sort of guessed. But I still think I can take him. Bet I can take Emmett and Jasper too." Carina said loudly enough for the boys to hear. Emmett stopped in mid-sentence and glared at her. Jasper looked at her amused.

"Oh really you think you can take us?" Emmett asked.

"No I know I can take you two."

"What makes you so sure?" Jasper asked.

"I just know. If you want maybe this weekend or the next I'll take both of you."

"Is that a bet?" Emmett's eyes glinted evilly.

"Yes. Here's the bet, if neither of you back down by eight tonight, I'll take both of you and Edward at the same time. What do you think?"

"I think you're on." Emmett stuck out his hand, Jasper did too. Carina shook both.

"Carina, are you sure you want to do this?" Rosalie asked concerned.

"They won't go easy on you because you're a girl." Alice warned.

"I hope not, not that much pride in beating boys when they go easy. Don't worry. Alice, don't go looking for the future of this match."

"Okay. How are you so sure that you'll win? You got Emmett once, for which he'll want revenge for, but he was off guard." Alice pointed out.

"I'll be fine, don't worry." RING! "I'll see you next period. Oh boys' losers have to do the winner's bidding for a week. See you at home." she left.

"She's too cocky for her own good. Too bad we're going to have to show her." Emmett said as he got up.

"Yeah it's too bad. I think she's hoping we back down." Jasper said as they walked out of the cafeteria.

"I don't, she seems to think there is no way she'll loose. Bye Alice." Rosalie said. She, Jasper, and Emmett went to there class.

"I wonder what makes her so confident." Jasper said.

"I don't know. We can't ask Alice because Carina made her promise not to look for the outcome." Rosalie said as they sat down.

"She's just afraid she's going to lose. So she doesn't want to know." Emmett said confidently.

"If you say so, personally I'm not too sure." Rosalie shrugged.

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