part 18

I was going to talk to Carlisle, but he was talking with the humans. I decided to talk with Edward. Despite Bella being the room, it was fairly simple to get Edward's attention with my thoughts. He walked up to me and knelt by the couch I was on. "I should leave now... I just realized: What if I phase?" He didn't seem disturbed "We've already addressed the issue. Weren't you told?" He paused a moment and tuned into several people's thoughts "Ah- there was a misscommunication as to who was going to talk with you. I apologize. Jasper has a pretty good idea of how upset the wolves have to be to get you to phase. If he cannot prevent it, he will discretely pull you out of the room."

I couldn't believe it. That was the plan? A roomful of ivy league graduates and this is what they come up with? Maybe I'd heard wrong. "Jasper?" I asked quietly "Have a little faith. He can handle it" Alice claimed. I hadn't even realized she was there. "He shouldn't have to" I said. I had never talked back to one of the vampires before, but I felt very guilty for the burden I was placing on his shoulders. I knew how much I hurt him just by being near. "He's already agreed to do it. Once he gets you out he can leave if he needs to" Edward insisted.

Things went well for awhile, but eventually one of the wolves got frustrated with something. I started trembling. Sue saw Jasper and I leaving, but Charlie didn't. As Jasper guided me by the arms down a corridor and into the library, it was easy to see how hard he was working to control himself. Gently, he shoved me into an armchair. I was surprised to see that Seth had followed us. I wondered why and I worried that Charlie would notice.

"Can you at least try to clam down?" Jasper asked, teeth clenched. That seemed to upset Seth. Jasper backed away from me: we were starting to taste each others emotions. Jasper whirled around to face Seth "Go let everyone know she's fine." He ordered. "Is she?" Seth retorted defiantly. "Just go. Carlisle and Esme are worried." Seth left reluctantly. Jasper turned to me. I was trembling harder. I tried to apologize, but he knew I couldn't talk and calm myself at the same time.

I didn't phase, but it took me way too long to stop trembling. I knew Jasper was suffering, but that only lessened my ability to relax. Finally, the shaking stopped and Jasper slowly relaxed. "Are you alright?" He asked wearily "Yes. Are you? I'm so sorry: that took far longer than it should have." He shook his head "There's more activity and more stress; it's makes sense that it would take longer" He was almost completely relaxed now.

Jacob came in to check on me. He was anxious about something. I was trembling before he even stepped in and writhed when he did. Seth entered just in time to see me phase. "Out." Jasper ordered "Go get Alice to help Juliet look like she did before." Jacob obeyed. Seth didn't. Phasing still hurt, but wasn't quite as bad. I was only a wolf for about forty-five seconds. Seth sat on the floor with me the whole time, while Jasper tried to relax me. When Alice came in, I was just phasing back. I had forgotten the sensation of my bones disappearing. Alice didn't attempt to get Seth out of the room. She just nudged him out of her path to me. "Jasper, I'm going to need a new pair of shoes. It doesn't have to be a perfect match, but make it close please." He nodded and left.

Alice tamed my hair and straitened out my dress. Seth brought me a glass of water. I hadn't realized how thirsty I was until I started drinking. I tended to forget my human needs these days. I had begun to categorize my needs and appearance into human default, vampire default and werewolf default. Alice fixed my make-up as Jasper walked in with a brand new pair of flats to replace the ones I'd destroyed.

Jasper decided we should reenter in pairs to minimize attention. The vampires went first. Seth and I decided to wait about two minutes. No one seemed frustrated with me, but I was sure it would come when Charlie left.

Seth and I ended up talking for five minutes instead of two before we remembered to go back. He supported me as we walked to a window seat. My ribs hurt, but phasing hadn't caused a huge problem. Seth was so easygoing that I started to relax as we watched several vampires play chess. I ended up playing Alice. She won in less than thirty seconds. A few hours later, I played Edward while the others made plans for dinner. It had grown pretty quiet "Checkmate" I said, almost like a question. Everyone turned to us in shock and I worried that Edward might not react well to losing. He studied the board a moment, then flicked his king over and congratulated me.

Edward gave the others a play by play of our game "Because Bella is right here, I could only catch her primary thoughts. She thought about her bishop (which would have been the obvious choice to attack my queen) then used her knight. It was very impressive. Instead of trying to think of something random, which would have made me wary, she lulled me into a false sense of security." After that I played several people, and lost badly to each. I wasn't good at chess, I was just good at predicting people.

I played and lost to Edward and then Renesmee. She kept talking with me after we were done. She kept encouraging me to place my hand on her and show her something. I wasn't terribly successful, but she was patient. Jacob came up behind her and pulled her into his lap as we talked.

Before long, Seth came up behind me and asked Jacob what time the bonfire was. The idea of a bonfire in the supernatural world was creeptastic, but it didn't sound weird in context. "Can I go?" Renesmee asked. Jacob's eyes lit up "Let's go ask your mama and daddy" As he was standing up he flashed a grin at Seth "You should come too Juliet. You'd like it." I didn't say yes, but I followed Jacob to talk with Edward and Bella, leaning on Seth.