LET DOWN

five.            strawberries

▬ TRAVIS WORE A SMIRK, his arm draped over his wife's shoulders as they sat in history class, waiting for the rest of the students to arrive. Behind them, his brother, Emmett, glared at the back of his head. The blonde under his arm sighed and turned in her seat, leaning her elbow on Emmett's desk.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing." Travis answered.

"He talked to her." Emmett gritted out, his glare unmoving from the back of his brother's head. "I told him not to."

"I complimented her spike." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

"Who?" Rosalie asked, looking between the two.

"The girl Alice saw." Travis lowered his voice as more and more students filed into the room before the bell. "Her name's Cori." He looked over his shoulder at his brother.

Emmett reached out and smacked the side of his head, which led to Travis turning in his seat and smacking him back then the two just glared at each other.

"I wanted to make sure it was her before-"

"It was her." Travis argued. "You heard Alice this morning. She said That's her. Can't get much clearer than that."

"Stop it." Rosalie huffed, shaking her head. "You're acting like-"

"Mister Cullen." Both boys turned towards the teacher. "Emmett." He corrected and the older boy sat up a little straighter.

"Yes, Mister Rooney?"

Instead of answering he turned and that was the moment Emmett noticed the girl that stood at the front of the class, her books cradled to her chest and her bottom lip between her teeth. "You'll sit back there with Mister Cullen."

"Okay." She hummed, taking the slip he signed, then she made her way towards the back of the classroom, her hands tightening around her books when people watched as she passed them.

"Cori." Travis grinned as she passed the table he sat at and he turned in his seat as she sat down next to his brother. "I knew we'd see eachother again." He mused and she just offered up an uncomfortable smile, which Rosalie took note of.

"Stop." She lightly smacked her husband's arm. "You're making her nervous."

"Oh, sorry." He rushed out. "Not my intention." His smile morphed into one more comforting than the one he wore before.

"I-it's not you." Cori told him, her hands shaking a little, which Emmett noticed and he wanted to help, to offer comfort but he wasn't sure how or if she'd even accept it. He was a stranger. But he hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her since he saw her at the front of the classroom.

She smelt sweet. Like strawberries.

"Then what is it?" Emmett asked, the first time he had spoken to her and she turned to look up at him. He made his chair seem small, his shoulders broad, his muscles big. He was huge. Cori felt like a little kid looking up at a giant. She was mesmerized. He was handsome to say the least. His hair dark, his skin pale, his eyes the color of gold. She blinked a few times, mentally shaking herself a little.

She lowered her voice, leaning closer to him. "People are staring." She glanced around the room and each of them did as well, all seeing that all eyes were on them. They knew why. The Cullen family didn't exactly talk to anyone outside their family. "I don't like it."

Emmett wasn't sure why, but that made his stomach churn and the need to protect her grow, even from the stares of people that needed to learn to mind their own business. But he couldn't do much other than glare at them, which was enough for most of them to look away. He was big and looked mean and that alone was enough to send anyone running.

"We got your back." Travis told her, giving her an award-winning smile and she couldn't help but smile in return.

"Thank you." She hummed and he nodded.

"Oh, by the way, this is Rose. My w-girlfriend." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. "And Emmett, my brother."

"I hear you have a killer spike." Rosalie gave the girl a small smile, in hopes of easing her nerves just a bit more. She didn't really like humans, but she also didn't want the girl to feel uncomfortable. And it seemed that her husband had taken a liking to the girl, so might as well get used to it.

"It was a lucky shot." She shrugged, her cheek flushing.

"Like hell it was." Travis waved off how she downplayed it. "She's so small, I didn't expect it but she never touched the net. It was impressive. Wasn't it, Em?"

"Yeah." He nodded and Cori blushed as she looked from Travis to the boy beside her. "It was."

When the bell rang and the teacher started class, Emmett watched as Cori sat up a little straighter before leaning from side to side, trying to get a glimpse of the board as she squinted her eyes. He leaned a little closer to her and she froze, turning her head slightly to look at him.

"You can copy my notes." He whispered, sliding his notebook towards her the tiniest bit. It was the only time he was glad he had actually taken any notes, he hated taking notes. But they all had to keep up appearances.

"Thank you." She gave him a wide smile and that was it, he was a goner. He'd do anything to see that smile again. He slid his notebook towards her and she glanced over his messy, but readable scribble.

"I'm a little ahead." He told her, reaching over to turn a few pages so she was where she needed to be to follow along with the teacher. She smiled at him again, a silent thanks, before reading over his notes and he just watched her. His chin in his hand, his elbow on his desk.

As he watched her, he regretted not being the one to approach her first. It should've been him and not his brother. He should've walked right up to her the second he saw her in the parking lot that morning, introduced himself and offered to show her around.

But he's an idiot, at least, that's what he'd tell you.

He was cautious about this girl before she even moved to Forks. The second Alice had told him about her vision, about the girl that now sat beside him, he was skeptical. Sometimes her visions didn't happen, sometimes they changed.

So when he saw her sliding out of that beat up, red truck, he wanted to be sure this was the girl. He wanted to be certain that Alice's vision was true before he got close to the girl. For her safety and the safety of his family.

Now sitting beside her as she chewed on the cap of her pen, her eyes moving from his notes to the teacher then to her own blank notebook, he was certain this was her. This was the girl. With her crystal blue eye, her ink-black curls, and that smile, that smile that would've stopped his heart if it still beat.

There was no doubt. This was the girl for him.

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▬ "YOU REALLY DON'T have to walk me to the cafeteria." Cori mumbled, her fingers fumbling over the other as she trailed behind Travis and Rosalie, Emmett to her left. "You've already walked me to all of my classes."

"Can't leave you stranded now." Emmett gave her a smile and she returned it as she looked up at him. Her head tilted back and she reached up to adjust the beanie on her head. Travis had told her he knew a shortcut to the cafeteria, through the courtyard, and it was cold so she had pulled her hat back on over her messy hair.

"I would've found it eventually." She shrugged, her voice a mere mumble. "I just don't wanna be any trouble."

"You're not." Emmett bumped her lightly with his elbow, something he had done a few times throughout the first half of the day. He wanted to be closer to her, to hold her hand, to bury his nose in her hair, but he'd settled for a small graze here and there. He didn't want to overstep, she already seemed uncomfortable with all the stares she was getting. And even though he knew his family was the reason everyone was still so shocked, he couldn't bring himself to leave her side unless absolutely necessary. "We're headed that way. Just makes sense to take you with us."

"That, and we're friends now." Travis told her, looking over his shoulder at her as they approached three people that seemed to be waiting for them. "You're stuck with us." He grinned and Cori couldn't help the bubble of joy that filled her chest.

She had friends. She'd made plenty in her years of visiting her dad, but this felt different. She wasn't sure how she had managed to befriend the biggest source of school gossip on her first day. She wasn't sure why Travis had even talked to her in the first place.

She'd heard a few things about the Cullen family when she was in her algebra class, it was the only class so far that she didn't share with Travis, Emmett, or Rosalie.

And people talked.

Most whispered about why they had opened their ranks for the likes of the new girl when they hadn't for anyone else in the past two years of attending the school. And it wasn't like people didn't try, they did. Most striking up conversations only to be shut down or ignored completely.

"Who's she?" One of the two boys that waited for them asked, his eyes moving to the small girl that looked even smaller amongst her new peers. His hair was copper and stood on end, his eyes the same golden as the others. His frame was lanky and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Guys, this is Cori." Emmett smiled, his hand gently pressed into her back to bring her forward. "Cori, this is the rest of my family. Ignore Edward." He pointed to the boy that still looked confused by her presence. "That's-"

"I'm Alice." The girl cut him off, springing forward, almost bouncing on her toes as she extended her hand, which Cori shook. A warm smile on her face. Her hair was chopped short, a whimsical look to it but it seemed fitting. "You're in my algebra class."

Cori swallowed hard, her hands tightened together to keep herself grounded. "Yeah." She nodded. "You gave me a pencil, before I even asked. I have it, if you want-"

"Keep it." She waved her off with her hand before reaching back, her hand grabbing the wrist of the boy behind her. "This is Jasper." She pulled the blond forward, his face tight almost like he was in pain. His shoulders back, his back straight. A complete contrast to the girl that stood at his side.

"Hello." He nodded his head, the word simple but she caught the faintest hint of the southern accent he had.

"Are you sitting with us?" Alice asked, a hopeful look dancing in her eyes.

"Oh, I was gonna find my sister." The blue-eyed girl shifted on her feet. "But maybe next time." She offered up, not wanting to disappoint the girl despite having just met her.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Travis jumped in, his eyes moving from Emmett, who had yet to look away from Cori, to his sister. "Alice, back off a little." He mumbled, his voice so low that Cori missed it as her eyes dropped to her boots. "Let's head inside. It's cold." Not that the cold bothered him or his siblings, but he could see that Cori's nose had turned pink and her cheeks weren't far behind.

Travis and Rosalie were the first ones through the door, Alice and Jasper following and Edward was next.

"Need something to hold onto?" Emmett asked, offering his hand to Cori as they followed his siblings. He had noticed that sometimes she gripped her hands or whatever she was holding when she was nervous. He even saw her grip the edge of her desk in history when she caught a couple of girls glancing back at her in the middle of the lesson.

"Oh, no, I'm okay."

"I don't mind." He gave her a kind smile and despite having just met him, she was comfortable with him. She slowly placed her hand in his, a small gasp leaving her lips at the coolness of his skin. His hand was bigger than hers by a lot but as he held the door open for her she gripped his fingers as best as she could, knowing that all eyes would be on her.

She was right.

Everyone watched as she held onto Emmett's hand and he just smiled, relishing in the feel of her small hand in his. But it faded when he heard the next few words that came from Jessica Stanley's mouth.

"Who the hell is she?"

He tugged the girl closer to him, as though shielding her from the gossip that was sure to ensue. And she let him, staying in step with him past the table her sister sat at.

"That's my sister."