Innocent

VALERIE:

When I woke up and started eating a bowl of cereal, my thoughts surrounded  the fact that tomorrow morning, I wouldn't be eating cereal.

It was exhausting, going to a bon fire and hiding something so awful from my friends - my family. I had to keep reminding myself that everyone would be safe if I just acted like nothing was wrong, and dealt with everything as it came.

I will have to stay with the Cullens, so they can teach me to hunt animals - I never really imagined that scenario turning around on me. I won't be able to see anyone, and I don't think I'll want to. Not when I may sink my teeth into their necks.

And what about my family? My mom and dad? They still don't know about any of this. Should I tell them before I'm gone for several weeks without a decent explanation? Or is there no hope for me to see them ever again?

School? It starts in three weeks, I know I won't be ready by then. I'll get screwed over and held back and I won't graduate or go on in life like I wanted to. I won't go to college or get married or start a family or do any of the things a normal girl gets to do! 

But when the hell am I gonna realize I'm not normal?

I stopped eating and propped my head up on my hands, hanging over the bowl. I breathed slow, keeping calm and composed. There's no reason for tears.

An explosive knocking came from the back door in my kitchen. I didn't flinch, expecting the numskulls right about now anyway.

I unlocked the door and opened it. A sea of balloons was glaring in the sunlight. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The chorus sang.

I scratched the side of my head, smiling as best I could. "Guys, how am I supposed to fit thirty balloons in my house?"

"Like this..." Paul started shoving the mass of balloons into my tiny doorway. Paul barely fit through himself, but eventually all the balloons were inside. "See?" He said, out of breath.

I kissed his jawline, unable to reach any higher. "Thank you."

Embry, Quil, Jared, and Jacob all cleared their throats oh so subtly. I follwed the line and kissed each of them, too.

I got to the end, and was presented with someone I didn't realize was here. "Oh. Hi."

She had her red hair pulled back, and her eyes had shadows beneath them. She half smiled. "I got you a lollipop bouquet." She held it out to me. It looked like a bunch of flowers wrapped in a pink ribbon, but only designed that way.

There wasn't any reason to hold grudges. I smiled for real and wrapped an arm around her. "Thank you, Nikki."

She hugged me tighter, and I felt an apology.

The lollipop bouquet slipped out of my hands. "Ooh, can I have one?" Embry tried to find a place to open it.

"If Embry gets one, then I want one!" Paul dove for the lollipops, but Jake snatched them away. He returned the bunch to me.

"So why are you still not dressed?" Quil asked me. "How are we supposed to make this the best birthday recorded in history if you're wearing pajamas?"

I looked down at my pants dotted with pawprints and kind of laughed at the irony. "I guess I should change, then?"

They all nodded.

I was digging in my dresser and choking back tears that were so close to overwhelming me when I heard knuckles rapping against my already opened door. 

"It's just me." Nikki said after I jumped out of my skin.

I turned back to my dresser. "Did you know they were doing this?"

"Paul told me last night." She invited herself in, sitting on the corner of my bed. "It's sweet, how much they care about you." 

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"Valerie, you have to understand where I'm coming from."

"I get it." I said softly. "You had to protect your sister, you did what you had to do."

"It still isn't right. You didn't do anything to deserve -"

"I did. I deserve this, it isn't fair that Beth is being used because of me."

She rose to her feet. "That doesn't make it okay for me to use you."

I slammed my dresser closed, unable to find the shirt I was looking for. "There's nothing we can do about it, so just drop it, okay?"

We both heard the creaking in the hallway and braced ourselves for the listener of our conversation.

Of all people, Seth poked out from around the corner, his face indicating he heard every word. "Is everything okay?"

I let out a groan. "Can everybody just let me get changed by myself for five minutes?"

They didn't budge, but I didn't expect them to. I needed to be more specific.

I had a plan incase something like this happened, but I didn't know if I could make Seth believe it. "Nikki, can you tell them that I'm not really up to whatever they're planning today?"

She nodded, catching the hint and leaving the room.

I chewed on the inside of my lip, feeling his stare beating on my back. 

"Val?" His voice was so innocent.

"How much did you hear?" I pretended to look for the shirt I now realized was in the laundry.

"Enough to tell that something's wrong." He stepped further into my room.

"Um," I kept my eyes low when I shuffled over to my bed. I waited until he sat next to me. "I had a really bad dream - a nightmare. And it's bothering me."

His thigh touched mine, and he took my hand out of it's tucked position to hold in his own. It made it harder to lie.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

I huffed, frustrated as one tear betrayed me. "It just seemed so real."

He made it disappear with his thumb before it could roll halfway down my cheek. "Talk to me." He begged.

"I don't remember alot about it, but I was turned into a vampire...and you didn't want me anymore."

He didn't react at first, but then a splutter of laughter escaped. "That's all?"

"It's not funny!" My voice broke with more tears.

"Hey, it's okay, don't cry!" He pressed my head into his chest, but still chuckled to himself. 

"Then why are you laughing?" I cried, using his t-shirt as a tissue.

"I'm not." He promised, holding me close. I still heard a smile in his voice. 

"Yes you are. What if you wake up tomorrow and I'm a vampire? Would you laugh then?"

He stroked my hair. "That isn't going to happen, Val."

It caused me physical pain to hear him say that. "But what if it did? Would you still want me?"

He basically rolled on top of me, squashing my body into the bed. He waited until I groaned and slapped him to prop himself up on his elbows.

He saw that my tears were legitimate, and dropped his playful attitude. "We've been through alot." He said, brushing away the hair that stuck to my dampened cheeks. "You of all people should know that."

I nodded a little.

"And I know that I wasn't really there for you like you were for me."

"But-"

He cupped his hand over my lips. "But I promise you that from now on, I'll always be there, no matter what."

I saw in his eyes that he was being sincere, like I knew he would be. It just hurt to know that this is all I could tell him about what will happen in the next 24 hours. I can't warn him about my "dream" becoming a reality.

"Please don't cry." He dropped his head to rest on my chest. "There's no way in hell that I will ever leave you again." 

I lifted his chin to see his face. "Even if I try to bite your head off?"

"Even if you try to bite my head off."

"But when Bella turned, you all hated her. It made sense, vampires are your natural enemies. So why wouldn't you hate me?"

He sighed, like the question was stupid. "One, you aren't Bella, and two, I could never hate you."

"What if I'm one of those crazy newborns that runs around bloodthirsty and out of control?" The possibility just occured to me. "Your job is to protect people from those monsters. What would you do then?"

"That's simple." He smirked. "I would shove a deer down your throat until you decided that they tasted so much better than humans."

"But-"

"Valerie," He covered my mouth again. "Shut up."

He used my stunned expression to his advantage, leaning in to kiss me. I gave in and framed his neck with my hands, trying to pull him closer. He pressed his body down on mine, inviting a moan to break my throat before I coud control it. It gave him more confidence.

He pulled back just a few inches. "Happy birthday, by the way."

I smiled big, easily forgetting everything that didn't have to do with Seth. I pushed everythibg out of my mind, focusing only on what was in front of me. It wasn't long before we were completely absorbed in eachother.

I started to tug his shirt over his head, but he caught my wrist.

"What's wrong?" I pouted.

His eyes were locked on my window, as he seemed to be listening intently.

"Seth?"

"Do you hear that?"

The screaming was out of a horror movie. It raised goosebumps on both of our skin.

"What the hell is that?" I slipped out fron beneath him and looked out the window. My stomach knotted. "It's coming from next door." 

Our eyes met because we knew that the only reason someone would scream that way is if they've been bitten. 

If that was the case, someone next door was being turned.