SKIN DEEP
six | curious was the cat

A knock sounded at the front door early the next morning, which Imogen ignored as she continued to eat (with very little enthusiasm), a bowl of porridge her mother had prepared for her.

Evelyn very eagerly skipped to the door, somehow in an extra good mood this morning. Imogen knew she was going to be annoying as hell for the next few minutes. Thankful that she wouldn't have to ride to school with her mother anymore, Imogen had told her mother the news the moment she woke up.

Ever since that moment, Evelyn hasn't wiped the smile from her face, despite the scowl that her daughter's held. 

From where she sat on the tall stool around the kitchen island, Imogen heard her mother's voice welcome Isabella Swan into their home. "Hello. You must be Isabella Swan. I've heard so much about you."

Imogen heard a shocked tone in Isabella's voice, "You have?"

Bella knew, just as Imogen obviously did, that Imogen only knew a couple of facts about Bella and therefore couldn't have told her mother much about her.

Evelyn continued to gush at the teenager, "I'm Evelyn, Imogen's mother. You're the first girl I've ever known Imogen to make friends with, so it's an honor."

Imogen swiveled round - yes it was a swivel round chair also - and glared at Evelyn. Her mother faltered slightly, before continuing to smile at the pale teenager, who was actually almost as pale as her daughter. 

"Mother, we're acquaintances," Imogen stated a-matter-of-factly. Isabella didn't glare at Imogen as Imogen was actually telling the truth, but instead smiled thankfully for putting a stop to Evelyn's gushing.

Evelyn glanced between the smiling Bella and actually un-scowling Imogen and smiled, "Okay, then."

Imogen left the cold, sloppy porridge on the kitchen island and reached down for her shoulder bag, standing up in the process. Reaching backwards for her roller bag handle, she walked past her mother and grabbed a hold of Isabella's sleeve, pulling the taller girl out of the house with her.

Imogen practically made a beeline for the parked truck of Bella's before her mother managed to say anything else, but just as they were getting into the truck, Evelyn managed to shout to Imogen: "Remember, you're in my class today!"

Slamming the truck door shut behind her, Imogen got comfy and rested her head against the window. Isabella wanted to make conversation as Imogen was the only one in her school she knew and so wanted to make sure she wouldn't be alone if she was too awkward to talk to anyone.

"Your mother teaches at the school?"

Imogen sighed and took her head away from the vibrating window, "Yes. That and a doctor here is why we moved - well, mainly the doctor aspect." 

Isabella focused on the road, only looking at the terminally ill teenager for a second to say, "What's so special about this doctor?"

Imogen stared at the road ahead of them, her eyebrows scrunched up, "I keep asking myself that very same question." A couple of minutes passed before Imogen decided to speak up, "So, Isabella, why'd you move here? Bad break-up? Kicked out of school?"

Bella chuckled, thinking that Imogen was joking while Imogen was just trying to seem polite for once. At least Bella took what she said well instead of kicking her out to walk. Shaking her head, Bella answered, "Nope, none of those things. Just giving my mom and step-dad some peace while they travel."

Imogen nodded, and whispered under her breath, "Wish my goddamn parents would travel."

"You don't get along?"

Smirking, Imogen answered the question, "I don't get along with them."

"Why not?"

Bella was the cat, and curiosity was about to kill it. 

Imogen set a glare on Isabella, not wanting to talk about it, "Life." 

***

Sighing, Imogen sat down at the only seat in class that was available. Her mother watched as she took the seat before starting the class, a smile gracing her lips as she set them off with work. 

Jasper was the one she had to sit by, which didn't bother her much at all. She would prefer to sit by him as he was calming to her - surprisingly - and anyone else in the class would probably gossip with her or something. She thought that Jasper didn't look to be someone who would do that.

As the class set to work, working in pairs, Imogen turned to Jasper, openly speaking to him. He watched her carefully before relaxing slightly as he took what appeared to be a sniff. "There seems to be something pulling -" then she thought of her mother and frowned, "no, pushing me towards you Cullens."

First of all, Carlisle was her doctor. Then she ended up with Edward before she was moved to her mothers class to be paired with Jasper.

Jasper smirked slightly, the turn of his lips seeming to not belong on his flawless face which contained no imperfections. The same couldn't be said for his neck and arms, which Imogen's eyes were drawn towards the silvery scars once more.

Her eyes fluttered back up to stare into his golden ones when he spoke, "I'm not a Cullen." Imogen rose her eyebrows up in confusion, about to open her mouth and splutter out the first sentence that came to her head, but he continued, "Some of us are called Cullen, the other's called Hale."

Imogen smiled, forgetting the moment of embarrassment that Jasper had actually saved her from. It then dawned on Imogen, "Oh, you mean because some of you date, so that way it doesn't seem so weird?"

He shook his head, a small chuckle escaping his lips that were curved upwards. "Yeah, something like that."

After a few minutes of Imogen writing down notes - which she did under the watchful eye of her smiling mother - Jasper spoke again, drawing Imogen right in. "So, why do you call Edward, Edwardo?"

Imogen waved her hand in the air while blowing her fringe out of the way, "I say Edwardo because he's posh, but also because I love handing out annoying nicknames."

Jasper was confused but chuckled at the small girl besides him, "Aren't nicknames supposed to be an abbreviation of a name?"

Imogen stared at Jasper, noticing how entranced and confused her was with her, "Maybe so."