In Paris 1723

Chapter Fifty-Three

Chapter Fifty-Three - Graduation

*Genevieve*

Sitting down next to Carlisle and Esme, Theo and I both settled down as we watched as the graduation ceremony began.

Esme was quickly pulled into a conversation by a few other parents, while Carlisle was busy shaking hands with former patients he had helped at the hospital.

Lauren's older sister, Verona, was quick to spot us, strutting over towards us and offering us a beaming smile. "Theodore! Genevive!"

She pulled me into a tight hug before pressing a kiss to my cheek. Her eyes flashed with excitement before she turned her attention towards Theo, whose mouth had thinned, his brow furrowed as he stared at the brunette. "Verona Mallory... a pleasure."

"You and your manners!" Verona giggled and waved him off playfully. "You both are still as gorgeous as I remember! Genevieve, I love your outfit! You have to tell me where you got it! And Theodore, you look dashing, may I add. Anyways, how have you guys been?"

We both shrugged, which seemed to not be enough for Verona. She let out a little huff before crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at us, "oh, come on! You're both recent graduates! Life has to be good! Renny told me that you three are good friends!"

Renny, I thought bitterly, I forgot her sister called her 'Renny'. A piss poor choice for a nickname if you ask me.

"Did she," Theo muttered, glancing over at me through the corner of his eye.

"I mean, I couldn't believe it when she told me, but she insisted that you three were as thick as thieves. I mean, really she was so excited!" Verona took another gulp of air to continue her rambling before she was cut off by the start of the music. "Oh! Look at that! We'll catch up later, yeah?"

We both halfheartedly nodded and watched her strut away towards her and Lauren's parents, the three of them chatting away as they continued towards their seats. Their mother, Mabel, glanced back over at us, letting her eyes linger on Theo for a few seconds before turning back to her husband and nodding along with his words.

"At least she's better than her mother and sister," Theo mutters, "I mean, she's the one one in that family that hasn't tried to suck up to me."

I sighed as I glance over at Theo. I hated to admit it, but Verona Mallory was at least a half-decent human, unlike the other three members of her family. She had yet to suck up to anyone in the family, and hadn't thrown herself towards Theo when she believed that I wasn't looking.

Her father, an older man named Richard, had tried to get Theo to invest a rather large amount of cash into an 'up and coming' project that was, according to him, 'sure to succeed in the upcoming years'. When Theo politely declined, he huffed, but nodded his head out of respect and moved on towards Carlisle and Esme.

Their mother, Richard's wife, was on a whole another level. Mabel Mallory was an enigma to us. She certainly wasn't human, but she wasn't a vampire or wolf. Carlisle wasn't able to figure out,  Alice wasn't able to see anything about her, and Edward had trouble reading her mind. She radiated beauty, much like how Rosalie did, but it was on a slightly dimmer level. She had an almost angelic glow around her, despite the seemingly constant sneer that adorned her otherwise rather pretty face.

"Honestly," I scoff and walk back towards Esme and Carlisle. Theo just lets out a quick snort before following after me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, and pulling me closer towards him.

Sitting down, I looked over the large crowd of students, almost immediately spotting Alice and Jasper, who had scooted their chairs closer together. Jasper had thrown his arm around Alice's shoulders and could often be seen glancing over at her with proud and adoring eyes. Edward and Bella however, had slipped away, blending into the crowd of students, all of whom were just hours away from graduating high school and moving on in their lives.