Renewal [Emmett Cullen] (1)

[09- Assignment]

"Did you get contacts?" I asked, breaking the silence.

He seemed puzzled by my unexpected question.

"No."

"Oh," I mumbled. "I thought there was something different about your eyes." He shrugged, and looked away.

In fact, I was sure there was something different. I vividly remembered the flat black color of his eyes — the color was striking against the background of his pale skin and messy hair. Today, his eyes were a completely different color: a strange ocher, darker than butterscotch, but with the same golden tone. I didn't understand how that could be, unless he was lying for some reason about the contacts. But never less, staring into them made me feel extraordinary — sort of like my bones were turning spongy.

We talked about everything, without the distraction of teachers and other students I got to know his personality a lot better. Emmett's fingers strummed his laptop keyboard so swiftly and by 1, we had almost finished the report.

"So what should we do next?" Emmett asked while adding the final touches. I wheeled over to the window, it had stopped raining but the sky was still covered by a thick blanket of clouds.

"Do you want to play catch on the driveway? I think I still have my football. Dr Cullen said I needed to work on my arm strength." He smiled, the dimples in his checks became more prominent.

At first I struggled to throw it but my muscle memory slowly kicked in and my passes became more gracefully. Emmett effortlessly threw perfect spirals, one after another. With his size and natural skill, I was surprised he didn't have college teams knocking on his door trying to recruit him.

"What other sports do you like?" He queried as he threw the ball to me.

"I did a lot of track. But basically any sport with a ball, I must have tried at some point."

"What about surfing?" He said with a childlike smirk.

I grinned, "Yeah, tried that. Failed miserably. And don't even get me started on dance!" He let out a boisterous laugh.

I bit my lip, trying to hold back my laugh, "Don't laugh. The choreography was a nightmare!"

"Tell me more about your family," I said, trying to move the conversation away from me.

"Not much to tell, we moved here about 2 years ago from Alaska. My mom, Esme wanted to move to a small town and Carlisle got a job here so we stayed," I felt like he was purposely being vague, I was sure there was more to it. That was the same story that I heard from Jasmine and the rest of the school.

"Why does everyone at school seem to avoid you?" I asked, speaking too soon. Shit, did I actually just say that out loud? I really wish I thought about the words that came out of my mouth.

He smirked, "You aren't," he said, flashing a grin.

"If you haven't noticed, I'm not like everyone else," I replied, beckoning my wheelchair.

"I know, you're special." My heart stuttered as my cheeks flushed bright red.

I looked down at my watch, "Shoot, its almost 2, the game's about to start!" We retreated inside, Emmett on the couch waiting patiently for it to start.

"I forgot, do you want any lunch?" I remembered, almost completely forgetting that it was way past lunchtime.

"No thanks. I'm on a special diet." I nodded, promptly preparing myself a bowl of soup, slurping it down before the game started.

I rolled next to the couch, latching the brake on my wheelchair. I shuffled around, trying to get a good view.