LET DOWN

eighteen.          i'm sorry

▬ CHARLIE WATCHED WITH furrowed brows as Cori trudged down the stairs, her beanie pulled down low and her coat zipped up to her chin. She looked absolutely miserable. Usually, she'd be bouncing down the stairs, yelling at Bella to hurry up and wearing a smile that was entirely too bright so early in the morning.

"Cori?"

She turned towards him, managing the smallest of forced smiles. "Yeah?"

"You okay?" He shoved himself to his feet as she nodded her head, forcing her smile to grow even wider.

"Yeah, I just, uh, didn't sleep great."

"What happened with Emmett? He usually stays a while, but he pretty much ran out of the house last night."

"Uh, yeah, we broke up."

His thick eyebrows raised in shock. "You did?" She nodded, giving him a sad smile as she twirled Bella's keys around her finger to give her hands something to do. "I-I thought you liked him." He scratched the back of his neck, not really sure how to do girl talk, atleast he assumed this was girl talk.

"I did." She mumbled. "But, um, it didn't work out." She shrugged and Bella made her way down the stairs, her brown eyes on the back of her sister's head.

"Cori-"

"Um, I'm gonna go." She mumbled as she turned towards the door. "Have a good day at work." She gave Charlie a smile and he nodded before she left the house, closing the door behind her.

"You know what happened there?" He asked, looking at his oldest as they both stared at the door.

"No." She lied then they heard the trunk rumble to life and leave before a horn sounded from outside. "Gotta go." She mumbled and he nodded his head as he watched her leave before raising his coffee mug to his lips.

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▬ CORI SAT IN BELLA'S TRUCK, her phone in her hands and her thumb hovering over Paul's contact. It was so easy. She could click the green button and she knew he'd pick up, he had texted a few times asking if she was alright. But she wasn't sure she was ready to talk, especially now knowing what the Cullens were – which she still hadn't wrapped her head around.

Vampires were real.

Shapeshifters were real.

It was a lot.

She let out a small huff, shoving her phone into her bag before she pulled the keys from the ignition and jumped out of the truck. She tugged her beanie down a little as she crossed the parking lot and instead of heading for the Cullens, like she normally would, she walked right by them. She didn't even spare them a glance.

And thus, the whispers began again. She was used to them by now. She had pretty much been the talk of the town since she arrived, so she didn't pay them much attention. Even when they got worse.

In gym, she sat on the bleachers with a book, telling the coach that she had a massive headache and the nurse told her to sit out any physical activity. In history, she told the teacher she had lost her contacts and could no longer see the board – she didn't wear contacts. He let her take a seat at the front of the classroom. In algebra, she ignored Alice. Not sparing her a glance as she followed along with the teacher.

And by the time lunch rolled around, Cori had successfully not spoken a word to almost anyone. A smile never even graced her lips, which was odd for the young Swan. The girl was usually all smiles.

She didn't bother getting lunch, not having much of an appetite, then she sat at a table that was empty. Once she got comfortable, her earbuds went into her ears and her eyes were trained on the words before her. She loved that she could so easily get lost in whatever book she was reading now more than ever.

Emmett leaned forward, his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand as he watched the girl. His heart ached and his eyes held a sadness none of his siblings had ever seen before.

He didn't want to go to school that morning, but he knew it was the only way he'd see Cori and he needed to know if she was okay... he didn't like the answer.

"She's doing everything possible to avoid us." He huffed. "She moved seats, she sat out in gym. She won't even look at me."

"She's hurt." Jasper told him, he had been checking in on her emotions throughout the day. He was worried about her, she didn't look like herself. "Heartbroken."

"So am I." Emmett mumbled.

"What's she thinking about?" Travis asked, looking over at Edward, who sat next to Bella at their table.

He turned and looked over at the small human, a small smile tugged at her lips as she read the book in her hands, and Edward's eyebrows creased a little.

"What?" Bella asked.

"What kind of books does she read?" He asked, shaking his head a little as if trying to shake the image from his mind.

"Why?" Travis asked, his eyebrows pinched.

"Um, let's just say, it's not pg13. More like rated r."

"No way." Rosalie chuckled, looking over at Cori, who gave away no indication that she was reading anything other than just a normal book. "Cori reads spice."

"I'm sorry, what?" Emmett asked, his eyes wide.

Rosalie nodded, a smirk pulling at her lips. "It's always the innocent ones." She hummed.

Cori felt eyes on her, she had all day, but she knew who was looking at her. It had been the same pair of golden eyes all day. The same pair of eyes she had avoided all day. She simply pushed her hair back over her shoulder and shifted a little in her chair, leaning forward so her elbows rested on the table but she never looked away from her book.

"Oh, God." Edward mumbled, his eyes squeezed close. "Never again." He shook his head and steered away from her thoughts, not wanting to see anymore than what he already had. "I am never reading her mind again."

"Damn, how bad is it?" Travis asked, if it had made Edward want nothing to do with her thoughts then it had to be something really spicy.

Jasper chuckled a little, his golden eyes still on Cori as he read her emotions, drawing everyone's attention to him. "I think it got interesting." He mused, his drawl thick, and they all turned to see the young Swan lay the book down and take a breath as she leaned back in her seat.

"Is she not eating?" Alice asked, seeing no food in front of the girl. "Maybe you should take her some food." She looked over at Bella.

"Uh..." Bella looked at her tray, there was nothing on it that Cori would eat.

"Here." Emmett pushed his lunchbox across the table. "I still packed it."

"Alright." Bella gave him a smile as she stood up, taking the lunchbox with her as she crossed the cafeteria. "Cori." She looked up at her sister, her smile gone and her face blank as she pulled her earbuds from her ears.

"What?" Bella simply held up the lunchbox. "Not hungry. Take it back to Emmett." She turned back in her seat, her eyes on her book but she couldn't bring herself to focus on it.

"Come on, Cor, you gotta eat." She sat down. Cori ignored her. "Cori."

"I told you, I'm not hungry." She huffed. "Just leave me alone, Bella."

"Okay." Bella nodded as she stood up, but left the lunchbox before she walked away. Cori looked at the lunchbox, her heart swelled a little. He had still packed her lunch, but she wasn't gonna fall back into that. She pushed herself up, leaving it on the table as she made her way into the hall. And Emmett deflated into his chair with a sigh.

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▬ CORI WASN'T SURE WHERE else to go. She wasn't sure if this was even the best idea, all she knew was that she needed her best friend even if they weren't exactly on speaking terms. So, she raised her fist and knocked on the wooden door in front of her, then she waited.

Terrence smiled when he opened the door and there stood the youngest Swan, her blue eyes as bright as he remembered. "Well, it's been a while, stranger." He chuckled and she managed a small smile as she looked up at him. It was so obvious that he was Paul's dad, they had the same smile, the same nose, and the same eyes.

"Um, is Paul here? I really need to talk to him?"

"No, uh, he's out. Um, you can check at Sam Uley's. He's been hanging out with him a lot recently. Though I can't complain too much, his grades improved some and he even does his own laundry." He chuckled lightly and she managed a smile.

"Thanks." She hummed before she turned, but she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "It's good to see you again, Terry."

"You too, kiddo. Come around anytime." He gave her a warm smile and she nodded before making her way down the steps and towards Bella's truck.

Cori had spent hours looking, checking everywhere the boy might be but she couldn't find him. Upset, cold, and more than a little tired, she sat on the beach, her knees pulled up to her chest. She couldn't stop the rush of tears that welled up behind her eyes, it had only been a few days and the break up was still very fresh.

And her chest still ached. And most of all, she couldn't fathom how she had missed it, how she had let them all lie so easily... how she believed it.

It didn't help that everyone at school was talking about it. It had even knocked Bella and Edward from the top spot of school gossip. She had overheard one girl saying that Emmett had finally come to his senses because she just wasn't good enough for him. It was hell. Absolute hell. Even more so to watch her sister fall more in love with Edward with each passing day.

"Munchkin?"

She looked up, her teary eyes landing on Paul then she scrambled to her feet and rushed towards him. She quickly wrapped her arms around him, her face buried in his chest. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She repeated as he wrapped his arm around her and rubbed her back, glancing back at Sam and Jared, who were with him getting ready for a small soccer game. He nodded his head, letting them know to start without him.

"For what?" He asked, his voice soft. "You don't have anything to apologize for."

"You tried to warn me. I didn't listen." She hiccuped. "You tried to warn me about them." She squeezed him, her arms as tight as they would go. "I'm sorry."

He knew she was talking about the Cullens and his first thought was that they hurt her, but he didn't smell any blood and she seemed fine, other than being in hysterics.

"What happened?" He asked, pulling back a little before he squatted down so they were closer to eye level. "Did they try to hurt you?" She shook her head. "Talk to me, Munchkin, please."

"I know what they are." She whispered. "They lied to me. He lied to me. It was all a lie." She sobbed and he saw it, the broken heart behind her eyes. He wasn't sure what to do or say so he simply wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him, lightly kissing the side of her head.

"I'm sorry, Munchkin." He smoothed his hand over her hair. "I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" She sniffled, still holding onto him.

He shrugged. "A lot of things. How everything went that day. And I hate seeing you like this. I don't like seeing you in this much pain. I wish there was something I could do."

"Can you make me forget?" She mumbled against his bare shoulder as she leaned into him a little more, letting his heat radiate into her. "I wanna forget he ever existed. I wanna forget everything."

"I wish I could." He mumbled and she hummed, using her sleeve to wipe her nose, but she never pulled away from the boy. "Hey, do you wanna meet some people?"

"Okay." She nodded, though she didn't feel up to it, she knew she needed to do something other than wallow in her self-pity.

"Alright." He gave her a reassuring smile as he pulled back and stood to his full height. "Want my hand?" He held his out and she latched onto it, giving him a soft smile as she followed him down the beach towards a small group of people; three girls and two guys. And her smile grew a little when she saw Rachel, but she never released Paul's hand as she leaned her head against him.