Broken Soul • Emmett Cullen

chapter ten

"Honey, wake up," a kind voice soothed softly, gently prodding Alaina awake. Her large brown eyes slowly fluttered opened to see the familiar face of her mother beaming down at her. Her aging face looked tired, but the way her mom looked at her always made Alaina feel so, so loved.

"Why are you waking me up so early?" she groaned, her voice foggy from sleep. Usually, the shrill beeping of her alarm clock coaxed her out of bed, not the kind nudging of her mother. She sat up in her bed, stretching her arms wide above her.

"Well," her mother said slyly, raising her eyebrows suggestively. "You have a boy waiting for you downstairs."

"I'm sorry, what?" Alaina said confused, stifling a yawn. She rubbed her eyes to try to wake up.

"His name is Emmett and he says he's your friend from school. He wants to drive you to school today. Do we like this boy?"

Her eyes opened wide and she could feel her heart involuntarily beat a little faster. Alaina held back from her gut reaction answer of no. "Yes, we have gym together and he drove me home yesterday when I missed the bus. He's Edward's brother."

Her mother gave a knowing nod, familiar with Bella and her crush. "So, this Emmett," she drawled while Alaina got out of bed. "Tell me about him. He doesn't look like he's in high school."

"He's a senior," Alaina explained, pulling on a sweater and jeans that she laid out the night before. "But he's, uh, old for his age."

"He seems like a nice boy, Alaina. He wanted to make sure we knew who he was before he drove you to school, and he has a great sense of humor. I actually heard your father laugh before he drank his coffee."

Alaina froze. "Wait," she said, quickly throwing her long brown hair into a messy ponytail. "You didn't leave him alone with dad!" Her father was one of her favorite people in the entire world, but he did have an effortless time embarrassing his daughter. Pulling on tennis shoes, she raced downstairs, hearing a familiar booming laugh radiating from the kitchen.

"Good morning, sweetheart," her Dad said when he saw her rush into the kitchen. "Emmett was just telling me about how well you played volleyball in phys ed."

"Did he now..." Alaina said shrewdly, narrowing her eyes. Emmett's eyes were playful and a goofy grin was placed on his face. She could tell he was enjoying making her feel uncomfortable. "Well, we better get going."

She walked towards the door and could hear Emmett following behind her, saying goodbye to her parents. "Don't be a stranger!" Her mother said. Alaina groaned in response. She quickly walked outside to the car waiting in the driveway.

"I don't like surprises like this," Alaina said grumpily, opening the door of his Jeep and jumping in, making sure to put on the harness before Emmett unnecessarily helped her. "You could have just asked me if I wanted a ride."

Emmett turned the key in the ignition, causing the car to roar to life. "I could have, but you would have said no." He noticed that her parents were watching them from their porch, so he gave them a friendly wave before driving off.

"You're right. I would have," she said, her voice cutting with annoyance. "I can take the bus."

"You hate the bus," he said simply and Alaina groaned in frustration. She found it incredibly annoying that almost everything he said was matter-of-fact, and she hated even more that he was almost always right.

He began driving down the road at breakneck speed, weaving in and out of traffic effortlessly. Alaina gripped on to the leather seat, her knuckles turning white. "Can you slow down? You're going to get us killed!"