Broken Soul • Emmett Cullen

chapter nine

The next day at school, it was clear that Alaina was still shaken up from the previous night's events. When she was dropped off, she ran upstairs and spent the entire night reliving the exact event she was trying so desperately to escape. Her dreams were filled with nightmares of strange men and stale beer.

Even now before the school day even started, her hands were still shaking and she was still on edge. The first bell rang and she was so started she dropped her English book. Sighing, she closed her locker and went to grab it, but saw another pair of hands reaching for it.

"Wuthering Heights?" A cool, clean voice asked, although it sounded more like a statement. Her long, blonde hair was curled perfectly and she looked as if she just stepped off of a runway in Paris. "You're in English with my brother, Jasper. I'm Rosalie."

Alaina stared at her dumbfounded. Why the hell was Rosalie speaking to me? "Uhh, yeah. We sit next to each other," she said stupidly, too intimidated to even look her in the eyes for more than a few moments. Her beauty was indescribable, and Alaina felt wrong just standing next to her. "I'm Alaina."

"I know," she said simply. "To get to the point, my brothers told me about what happened last night. I'm sorry that happened to you."

Her voice sounded sad and sincere, and Alaina wasn't sure what to say. "Thank you," she said awkwardly, accepting the book that Rosalie was still holding.

"I'll see you around, I'm sure," she stated, turning on her heel and walking down the hall. Alaina could feel more than one set of eyes watching her, no doubt just as confused as she was. The second bell rang, which caused Alaina to jump out of her thoughts. She walked quickly to Mrs. Crawford's classroom and made it just in time before the final bell rang.

"Alaina," Mrs. Crawford said seriously, her giant glasses making her look like an eccentric bejeweled beatle. "You were almost late for one of the best days of the year!"

"I'm sure glad I didn't miss it then," Alaina said, holding back a laugh. She took her normal seat behind Jessica and next to Jasper, giving them both a small smile.

Turns out, the best day of the year was the Wuthering Heights movie from 1939, which caused the entire class to groan in unison, but Alaina didn't mind. She loved when teachers put on movies -- it gave her time to think and her mind to wander.

The black and white movie shone throughout the dark classroom, but Alaina's mind was elsewhere. She couldn't stop the feeling of dread and fear in her stomach about last night. And the more she thought about it, the more questions she had. How did they find us? How did they know what was going on? What would have happened if they weren't there?

The thoughts were bubbling almost uncontrollably when a wave of calmness spread over her. She felt serene, even meditative... a far cry from how she felt just moments ago. She furrowed her brows and let her mind wander back to the terrifying men in Port Angeles, but the feeling spread over again. No matter how hard she tried, her brain physically would not let her think about something that caused her stress and anxiety. Okay, that's it. I'm officially going insane, she thought, giving up, and succumbing to the movie that was playing in the classroom.

Soon enough, the bell rang to signal that it was time to change classes. The rest of the morning, Alaina felt like a zombie, just moving from class to class and not retaining anything. All she wanted to do was make it through the day, go home, and sleep.

"Hey girl," Angela said when Alaina sat down at their lunch table. "I'm sorry we didn't meet up after dress shopping."

She shrugged in response. "It's no big deal. Did you get the red dress? I'm going to take it personally if you didn't."