The feelings

I had already agreed to read ""Wuttering Heights"", the novel we were presently studying in English, yet again, it is for the fun of it, and that is what I was doing when Klaus came home.

I had lost track of what the time is, so I hurried downstairs to take the potatoes out and set the steak in to broil.

"Aria?" my father called out when he heard my footsteps on the stairs.

"Who else would it be"? I thought to myself. "Hey, Dad, welcome home."

"Thanks sweet heart." He replied.

He hung up his gun belt and trudged out of his boots as I bustled about the kitchen. As far as I am concerned, he had never shot the gun on the job. But he always kept it ready.

When I came here as a child, he would always have the bullets removed from his gun as soon as he walked in the door.

I guess he now deemed me old enough now not to shoot myself by accident, and not dismal enough to shoot myself on purpose too.

"What did you make for dinner?" he asked warily.

My mother was a creative cook, and her experiments were not always edible. I was shocked, and sad to see that he seemed to

recall that far back.

"Steak and potatoes," I replied and he looked relieved.

He appeared to feel uneasy standing in the kitchen doing nothing, he trudged into the living room to watch TV while I still worked.

We were both more happy that way. I made a salad while the steaks cooked, and set the table.

I called him in when dinner was set, and he inhaled appreciatively as he walked into the dining room.

"Smells so good, Aria."

"Thanks dad."

The room was quiet for few minutes while we ate dinner. It was not uncomfortable. Neither of us looked worried by the quietness of the room. In some ways, we were well fitted for living together.

"So, how did you like the school? Have you made any friends yet?" he asked as he was taking seconds.

"Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Annar. I sit with her and her friends at lunch. And there is this boy, Antonio by name, who is very friendly. Everybody seems pretty okay. With one distinguished exception."

"That must be Antonio Akim. He is a nice kid, nice family too. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of the town. He makes a nice living off all the backpackers who come through here."

"Do you know the Cullen family?" I asked him.

"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure I do. Dr. Cullen's a great man."

"They… the kids are a little different. They do not seem to fit in very well at school."

Klaus surprised me by looking angry.

"People in this town," he mumbled. "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued, getting louder.

"We are lucky to have him in this town, lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He is an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my suspicions, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some troubles with them. But they are all very refined, I have not had one speck of trouble from any of them. That is more than I can say for the children of some folks who have dwelled in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should, camping trips every other weekend… Just because they are newcomers, people have to talk you know."

It was the longest speech I had ever heard Klaus make. He must feel strongly about whatever people were saying.

I backpedaled immediately. "They seemed good enough to me. I just noticed that they kept to themselves. They are all very

desirable," I added, trying to be more gratis.

"You should see the doctor," Klaus said while he laughed.

"It's a good thing he is happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time focussing on their work with him around."

We sank back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I parked and cleaned the dishes.

He went back to the TV, and after I finished washing the dishes by hand,

because there was no dishwasher.

I went upstairs, not willing enough to work on my math homework. I could sense a tradition in the making.

That night it was finally quiet. I fell asleep quickly because I was exhausted.

The rest of the week was monotonous. I already got used to the routine of my classes.

By Friday, I was able to recognize if not a name, but at least almost all the students at school.

In Gym, the kids on my team concluded not to pass me the ball and they also decided to step quickly in front of me if the other team tried to take eadvantage of my flaw. So I completely and happily stayed out of their way.

Alessandro Demetrio did not come back to school.

Every day, I anxiously watched until the rest of the Cullens entered the cafeteria without having him around.

Then I could relax and enroll in the lunchtime conversation.

Mostly the topic centered around a trip to the La Push Ocean Park in two weeks time, which Antonio was putting together.

I was invited, and I had decided to go, but more out of decency than desire. Beaches should be hot and dry.

By Friday I was perfectly relaxed entering my Biology class because am no longer worried that Alessandro would be there.

For all I knew, he had plunged out of school. I tried my best not to think about him, but I could not totally quell the worry that I was accountable for his continued absence, as absurd as it seemed.