Broken Soul • Emmett Cullen

chapter eleven

"You're late," Alaina quipped with annoyance, emphasizing every word. She stood in front of Emmett Cullen's red Jeep with her arms crossed in front of her chest and her eyebrows raised.

"I'm two minutes later than normal babe," Emmett responded, his head hanging out the window and a goofy grin plastered on his face. "I, uh, had a date with a grizzly bear."

She rolled her eyes in response and hopped into the Jeep. "You do know how many different ways I can take that, right?" She said, clicking her seatbelt harness into place. "And don't call me babe."

"You know you like it," Emmett smirked. He pulled out of her driveway and gave a polite wave to her parents that were no doubt watching from inside the living room.

And she did like it. She liked every moment she got to spend with Emmett -- every morning driving to school, every afternoon driving from school, even the gym class she used to physically dread. She never thought (in a million years) that when she was finally in the groove of being in a new place, that her day would revolve around Emmett.

She absentmindedly picked at the skin around her nail and the Jeep zoomed towards the school. Placing her head on the cool window of the car, she allowed her mind to wander to the conversation she had with her mother the previous night.

"We should talk," her mother said seriously. Alaina, who was seated on the family room couch, closed the book she was reading and looked at her mother nervously. No good conversation ever started with that phrase. But when she met her mother's eyes, they shone playfully back at her.

"What's up?" she asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"So, it's sort of impossible not to notice a giant tree trunk of a guy coming to pick you up every morning for the past few weeks."

Alaina waited for her to go on, but her mother just looked at her expectantly. "He's just a friend from school. Bella is dating his brother, so since I spend so much time with Bella, I have to spend a lot of time around Emmett." Well, she thought, most of that was true.

"Uh-huh," her mom said, both of eyebrows still raised, waiting for an explanation.

"Mom," she groaned. "He's just a guy from school who is my friend right now, okay? Just because he happens to be attractive does not mean I'm attracted to him!"

"So you're saying you don't have a crush on him? Because you definitely have a crush on him. Don't lie to your mother."

"Are you alive?" Emmett's voice boomed, shaking her out of her daydream. "I mean, I know you are because I can hear your heart racing like you just ran a marathon... but we are at school and I wasn't going to let you daydream in my Jeep at day."

Alaina nodded, feeling extremely dumb. She got out of the Jeep and she felt her mind wander again, with Emmett happily chatting next to her, barely registering that she wasn't paying attention to him. She knew deep down that she had feelings for him... feelings that were more than just friends. But she tried so desperately not to let them surface. Someone like Emmett would never like someone like her. Someone so imperfect. Someone used. Someone incredibly broken.

She could feel her heart sinking as she walked down the hall with him. It will never be more than this she thought sadly as she turned into Mrs. Crawford's English class, waving goodbye to Emmett, forcing a smile.

"Come in, come in," Mrs. Crawford said, grabbing Alaina gently by the shoulder and steering her dramatically towards her seat. "Today we are doing something very, very exciting!" The class couldn't help but groan. Mrs. Crawford's idea of fun couldn't have been more different than Alaina's class.