The Special Two

Sunlight broke through the open windows and I groaned before I tried to mentally close them. Unfortunately the light continued to poke and prod around my eyes until I sat up completely aggravated. I looked around and fell back into the pillows, it wasn't my house. I've always had problems remembering where I fell asleep, it's really annoying. My hair lay in a wild mess around my face and I was in the same clothes I had worn to the Cullen's house last night. The house smelt too clean, I sniffed, not clean really...just empty. I frowned. None of the Cullen's were empty to me, were they dead? Absolutely. Did they smell weird? Positively. Were they empty annoying lonely shells of a human? Only one.

My feet hit the floor with a loud thud that I was sure everyone in the house could hear, but they didn't sleep so I didn't feel the need to try and sneak around. Besides, Alice probably saw me getting up already anyway.

I was greeted by Emmett when I had finally reached the kitchen. He grinned in a way that forewarned me of his comments, "Nice hair Clara. Is it the latest style?"

I grumbled a response and reached into a random cabinet before I realized the Cullen's didn't eat. "Food." I muttered while I stared wide eyed with a blank expression at the empty cabinet before me. It took me a few seconds before moving on to another cabinet that shared the same lonely fate. "Food." I sighed sadly.

"Esme is out buying you something to eat this morning. Alice has everything for the party at your house. You should have been here yesterday this place was stocked. Man! If I was human..."

I threw a random kitchen utensil at him and walked towards the living room, where I caught my reflection in one of the many windows. "Oh my God..."

I immediately began to think of what I wanted to do with my hair today, before Emmett caught both my hands and held my wrists. "Don't!" He said quickly as if trapping my hands would disable my ability.

"What?" I said, his cold hands waking me up much too quickly for my liking. But I was up and there was no going back to sleep now. "You're freezing." I commented before pulling my hands away.

"Alice doesn't want you shifting today. She wants everything done like you were a human."

I plopped down on one of there nice comfy sofas, "I am human." I argued.

"You know what I mean. She wants Rose to help her do everything by hand, just like they did with Bella's prom."

"Oh joy." I sneered, "This is my lucky day. I've always wanted to be just like Bella."

The words were regretted as soon as they left my mouth.

"Woah, mood swing much?" Emmett said before he took the seat opposite to me. "You know when you first moved here you used to be happy."

I ran a hand through my tangled hair and took a deep sigh, "I know. It's this whole shape shifter thing. My eighteenth birthday is the day that everything is supposed to happen; it's making me feel like a mental patient."

"Well-"

I held my hands up, "Don't." I warned and sighed, I wasn't in the mood for Emmett's light hearted jokes today. My emotions weren't mine anymore and it made me feel like a shell of a person. I felt the tears welling up behind my eyes and closed them forcefully, willing them to go away. "This isn't how I was supposed to be here. Not here." I murmured, more to myself, and tried to unclench my fists.

Having a mental breakdown on my eighteenth birthday wasn't exactly highlighted on my calendar. I don't know how long I stayed on the couch, my fists clenched and slowly coming undone, but my sensed perked up when I smelled food from the kitchen. I got up and looked gratefully at Esme who gave me a look that made me feel like she knows it all. It was comforting.

I reached towards the plate full with bacon and eggs and smiled thankfully.

"This is delicious Esme." I commented with a mouth full of bacon. She waved off the comment with her hand. I ate until I hit the bottom of the plate which surprised even me, the plate was quite large.

After I finished my breakfast Alice took me upstairs into her bedroom where Rosalie was waiting with what someone might be able to recognize as a smile. There was every beauty product imaginable lying in neat and organized piles centered around a chair.

"Let's get started!" Alice said happily and clasped her hands together.

I sat down in the comfortable beauty chair and closed my eyes, allowing them to do whatever they pleased with my style for tonight.

***

My reflection stared back at me, and while she didn't look entirely happy she did look beautiful. My hair, which was now several inches passed my shoulders, was in big loose curls that framed my face and bounced when I walked. Alice had kept my makeup relatively simple. My eyes were lined lightly with brown and my eye shadow was a collection of light pinks and medium browns that made my gray-blue eyes pop. Mascara was given to them generously and it lengthened my already long lashes. My lips were colored like a crumpled pink rose and then glossed over. I smiled to reveal my straight white teeth and looked down at my light pink pumps.

Alice had insisted on painting my toenails even though no one would be able to see them. They matched my fingernails in their light pink texture. I pulled my hand up to admire my father's leather bracelet and smiled. It was like he was here with me in some small way. I glanced back at the mirror to my pale yellow strapless cotton dress. It had multiple folds in the bodice, and then it synched and flowed all the way down before it was cut off right above my tanned knees. Alice's outfit looked like it was designed just for my tall tan body.

I turned down the hall and down the stairs where the party was in full bloom. Multicolored lights flashed in my eyes as soon as I came into the living room.

"Happy Birthday Clara!" Jenna, I think, said as she passed with a boy I didn't recognized. The house was packed with bodies sliding passed one another. There was a dance floor in the living room and I made my way over, I was going to dance the night away.

After an hour my feet were tired from all the dancing and I leaned comfortably over the kitchen counter. In exactly twelve minutes I would be eighteen. I would become someone entirely new; I was going to be an adult. My legs robotically carried me over to the punch bowl, I'm pretty sure it was just Kool-Aid, and I filled the crystal cup to the top before drinking it.

"Everyone!" I heard Alice yell, "Fireworks are starting outside." Her face was filled with excitement as the party moved to the left and out my doors. I stayed inside for a few minutes before I turned to go outside.

Three strong knocks caught my attention and I made my way to the door, my heels clicked obnoxiously behind me. I smoothed out my dress and twisted various knobs to open the large door and when I did, my body froze.

"Can I come in?" He said smoothly, his brown eyes twinkling with adoration.

My body stood still, until the initial shock wore off. I walked away from the figure dressed in blue striped dress shirt and jeans, my heels snapped at the floor. I went into the kitchen and then turned back around, completing my pacing motion.

My curls bounced slightly as I stopped, "Why are you here?" I said softly, my gray eyes meeting his chocolate ones. The lights continued to strobe across the room. I heard Alice call two minutes from outside but it seemed far away now.

It took four long strides for him to stand before me, in all of his breathtaking glory, and he was close enough to smell. "I wanted to see you."

His husky voice made chills run down my spine, "But Bella isn't here." I said in a raspy voice and immediately wanted to slap myself.

Instead of yelling or running out like I assumed he would, he gave a pained smile. He stared to his right, to the living room, and looked back at me. "I'm not here to see Bella, Clara. She doesn't mean anything to me like what you do." He pulled out a small black box and handed it to me. His warm hand brushed mine and my cheeks flared up. Stupid, stupid emotions.

I opened took the top of the box and placed it on the counter, and simply stared at what I saw. "Oh my God." I muttered. "How did you...?"

I held the jewelry in my hand and the cool silver chain felt like ice against my heated skin. My eyes could hardly pull away from the oval moonstone the size of the nail on my index finger. Its blue sheen glittered to into various shades as it reflected light.

Jake smiled and took in from my hands; I turned around and lifted my hair up as he clasped it for me. It hung against the bottom of my collar bone.

"I had to ask Sam where jewelry stores were in Seattle, their really isn't anything here worth giving to you." He paused for half a second and smiled when I turned around, just inches away from him. "It reminded me of your eyes, that day on the beach, remember? When you were sitting on the rock,"

"And you gave me your sweatshirt." My eyes danced as I looked at him. "I didn't think you would remember that day, let alone what color my eyes were." I admitted, completely flustered.

"That's the day I fell in love with you, Clara. I'll never forget it." The honesty in his voice warmed my heart.

Then I screamed.

He held my upper arms as I crouched and screamed again. The flesh felt like it was being ripped off my arm slowly. Tiny pricks were shooting from my scar and they felt like they were digging around the muscle and tissue. Hot tears moved down my face rapidly and my throat tightened.

"What's wrong? Clara! Can you hear me? Clara!" Things around us were levitating and shattering in mid-air, I saw the flowers on the table wilting and coming back to life. Pieces of glass plates and windows were jumping at us and falling to the ground.

"My arm." I said through gritted teeth and I looked at him. My knees gave out and I left standing solely because of Jacob. Jacob, who was getting fuzzier every time I looked at him. The only thing I felt was the pain erupting from the small scar on my arm and I couldn't make out anything besides the blood rushing through my veins.

The last thing I saw was Jacob's tortured expression.