Renewal [Emmett Cullen] (1)

Bonus chapter 1: Emmett's pov 1

The bell rang for the first class of the day. As usual I was the first one, grabbing my normal seat at the back. I settled into my chair and let my books—props; they held nothing I didn't already know—spill across the table.

I was the only student who had a table to himself. The humans weren't smart enough to know that they feared me, but their survival instincts were enough to keep them away. The room slowly filled as they trickled in from the carpark.

Just like yesterday, today was going to be a boring day. Edward and I joked that high school was like purgatory. The tedium was not something I grew used to; every day seemed more impossibly monotonous than the last. When became a vampire, I was enthralled by my new abilities; everyone dreams of having super speed and strength and enhanced senses and I got that.

What I didn't anticipate was high school, especially the students. I flunked out of high school in my human life, maybe the universe was trying to punish me by forcing me to repeat it over and over again. Though I wasn't forced. Carlisle never forced us to do anything, I was obliged to, for the sake of our identity.

Anyway, I was eager to get through the day. Last night Jasper beat me in a wrestling match. It would take all of my limited patience to make it to the end of the school day to orchestrate a rematch.

Suddenly, someone caught my eye.

The first thing I noticed were her eyes, they were hazel, her pupils lined with a rim of green. Her long, thick hair was a warm blonde colour, lightened by the sun, framing her heart shaped face. When I noticed she was in a wheelchair, I immediately felt remorse, something I don't experience often.

I could clearly see that it was a strain for her to be the center of attention. I could sense her shyness from the way she held her slightly hunched shoulders, as if she was expecting a rebuff at any moment. She pulled into the only wheelchair friendly desk at the front of the room.

For the entire 60 minute lesson, I just watched her. It wasn't like I was missing anything, it was highly doubtful Mr. Russo, a man of no more than average intellect, would manage to pull out anything that would surprise someone who has repeated high school as many times as I have.

Reading rarely held my attention but watching her read did. I was transfixed on everything about her; the way her jaw clenched when people stared, the way she rubbed her scar on the back of her hand.

Wait, was I was staring? I have never felt this sort of fascination before. As vampires living in the human world, we crossed paths with humans every day, but why today? Why her? No one, even vampire, had ever captured my attention like this before. I felt such a strong pull towards her, I wanted to learn everything about her. I wanted to protect her from the rude comments I overheard about her. Gosh, I sounded like a stalker.

Unfortunately the bell rang for the end of class. Her hands fumbled with her notebook and it fell on the ground. This was my chance to meet her. In a split second, after I checked if anyone was paying attention, I retrieved it for her.

"Excuse me, you dropped this," I said, using my soft voice I reserved for not scaring humans. Her eyes met mine and widened, hopefully not in fear. For once I wished I had Edward's annoying ability to read minds.

"Thanks," she said softly, her voice quiet and clear.

"I'm Emmett," I introduced myself. It was the polite way to begin.

"Eleanor," she replied, her cheeks slightly flushed. Eleanor, an older name, like mine.

"See you around Eleanor," I said with a grin before leaving the room. I wanted to continue talking to her but best not intimidate her on her first day.

Alice was the first person I saw when I entered the hallway.

"I had a vision," she said as she pulled me away from the door, in a voice too fast and high for human ears.

"That's new," I mumbled.

She smacked my arm, "It concerns you. Your future is intertwining with Eleanor's."

My eyes widened in shock.

"Wait, what?" I hissed.

She shook her head, her eyes blanking out and then returning to normal, "I can't see anything concrete, there are too many possibilities. But I'm confident the two of you will be together." I didn't say anything, the brevity of her words clinging onto me.

"Go talk to Carlisle," she advised. I couldn't walk as slowly as I should as I darted from the school. If anyone had been looking at me, they might have suspected that there was something not right about the way I moved. No one was paying attention to me, their eyes drawn to the new girl wheeling out of the classroom.

I hopped into the Volvo, feeling a disarray of emotions; mostly fascination from meeting Eleanor but currently, at the forefront of my mind was fear. Fear for being around a human so closely. Fear of my abilities and my potential to destroy something so precious. I needed Carlisle.

I reached the hospital in a few minutes, hurrying through the automatic doors to his office. Thankfully he was alone.

"Carlisle." He'd heard my approach, and was alarmed as soon as he saw my face. He jumped to his feet, leaning forward across the neatly organized walnut desk.

"Emmett, is everything alright?"

"A girl started school today, Eleanor. Alice sees us together, our futures are ... interlacing. What if I can't control myself around her?" It has happened before and both times I didn't regret it, eternity was a long time to wallow in guilt. But maybe I would regret it with Eleanor. If what Alice saw was true, which it usually is, that we become close. I couldn't allow my recklessness destroy my future. I was considered a young vampire, my self control definitely wasn't perfect.

Carlisle frowned, pondering this. "Your self control has tremendously increased in the past several decades."

He circled the desk and put his hand on my shoulder, "I have faith you won't. You should too."

I exhaled the breath I was holding with a sense of relief. Hearing him say it made all the difference.

"You should go back," Carlisle said with a reassuring smile. I nodded and returned to school for the start of the period just before lunch.