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When Love Was New Contest
Title of entry: My Electric Touch
Your pen name: Tellytubby101
If you would like to see all the stories that are a part of this contest visit: When Love Was New C2 Community:
My Electric Touch.
A/N: *Cue dramatic opening music*. Hi there everybody! If you aren't familiar with me, my name here is Tellytubby101. *Waves like a crazy person*. (Side note: I think I am a little crazy ... but who isn't? BORING people, that's who!)
This story was prompted by the competition, but Kate/Garrett is sorely undervalued, so hopefully this canon one shot brings forth a new light to their love. By the way, it is all Kate POV!
Totally canon, except the time line is a little iffy – it was hard to discern when what happened in Breaking Dawn, 'cause it was from Bella's POV and she was distracted. So I made my own time line. Starts off after the battle, but there are many flashbacks.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or its affiliates, but I don't mind. I'm happy to play around with the characters.
The droplets of water fell from the windowsill, vague reminders of the snow that once blanketed the area. With ease, I noted the light being split into the spectrum as it passed through the tear-shaped droplet of water, just before it let itself go and fall with a near soundless splash onto the wooden frame of the window. The sun was melting all the snow away, but it couldn't erase what had happened on that snowy wasteland all that time ago.
Only a week since my sister had died. I could have sworn it had been longer than that.
Looking outside, but not really seeing the world beyond the window, I waited and let my mind drift into the thoughts I had been battling to keep at bay. The tyranny of thoughts overwhelming, overbearing, the weight of it all crushing down on my immortal body, destroying my spirit and leaving me dazed beyond reason.
Confusing, it was all so confusing. My mind was struggling in a battle, conflicted and tired, unsure of the unknown. The inner battle was chewing away at my insides, not letting up for a moment, gnawing into my every thought, no matter how much I fought against it all. Never in my existence had my world seemed so upside down. And that thought on its own, terrified me.
As though all my human functions had been reborn again, I felt my stomach twist with a churning movement that I had nearly forgotten with the passing of time. My lungs felt constricted, as though I could not get enough air to breathe with, which was a strange feeling, but quickly the strange feeling became a sickening burn, hurting my head, making it hard to think. There was an odd tingling in my palms, an itchy feeling almost, and I knew that if I were human, I would be sweating as though it were the middle of summer.
The electric power that resided deep within me, sparked to life, building up, making my fragile nerves stand on end as I felt my body tingle and vibrate with the suppressed energy that flowed through my limbs as a poor substitute for blood. Every few minutes, my stomach would feel as though it had either jumped into my throat or sink to my knees, and I wondered whether the electricity in me was making this feeling so strong. But I knew deep down within me that the cause wasn't from within. It was from the man my heart now belonged to.
The day my sister died, I found love. Was there something wrong with me? How sick was that? When I should be mourning the loss of Irina, sister of mine from beyond the age of technology, further back than I care to remember, I was in fact struggling with my infatuation with the nomadic vampire, the charmer who seemed to break through my barriers, the infuriatingly cheeky vampire named Garrett.
It was not to say I had forgotten Irina; I had not forgotten her in the slightest. She wandered my mind and I would never be able to forget her, even if I wanted to, as my immortal mind flawlessly acting flawlessly to retain information, which I considered a debatable benefit of being a vampire. Some aspects of my life I wanted to forget, some things are better left in the dark corners of the mind, to be lost throughout time. But alas, I cannot remove the painful images that were sealed into my mind, trapped in my head like treasures in a vault. In fact, my mind staggered with the weight of both battles; my mind screams in agony over my sister's untimely death – murder, actually – and it stumbles in confusion over the puzzle that is Garrett.
The day we met was a whirlwind of emotions, amazingly strong, so many feelings without name or real explanation. A mist of feelings surrounded me that day, but I never really addressed them. It was all too hard, too confusing. But the feelings welling up inside of me that day were easily outshone by what I could felt now. Like every other part of my immortal life, I could remember that day with such clarity; I swear that I could have been reliving the experience.
Tanya and I were in the living room, talking aimlessly about a variety of topics, never really settling on one subject of choice, too absent-minded to really concentrate on the other person. We needed to hunt, our eyes easily seen as a charcoal black, but I knew that the need for blood was not the reason our minds were so far gone from us. Without words I knew that Tanya's thoughts matched mine; we were worrying over the unknown whereabouts of our sister.
Poor, hurt, misguided Irina, her pain clouding her judgment. In her quest for some level of revenge over Laurent's death, she had spied on the wolves that homed near our cousins, staying out of reach in the mountains. But when she finally saw a scandal that would give her revenge, she hurriedly ran to the Volturi with information. But it was false testimonies on the hybrid child of Bella and Edward. Why she did not choose to come to us first, baffled me. Perhaps if we were better sisters, keeping a closer eye on our heartbroken kin, we might had possibly prevented the entire incident from occurring at all.
Irina betraying the Cullen family was like a knife in the gut, the experience causing my stomach to twist and turn uncomfortably, guilt trickling down my throat like it was acid. The guilt was not really mine to feel for I was not technically at fault in any way; but the tie of sisterhood to Irina made me feel as though I should have been able to stop the entire mess from happening. My role as her sister was to guide and support her. However, I had completely failed in my task, and I quietly feared that she would bring us all to our death.
From a habit still programmed in me from my human years, the anxiety made me tug the ends of my pale blonde hair, occasionally twisting the strands between my fingers, before releasing them and starting again. The tugging sensation was oddly comforting normally, but today it didn't seem to help the nerves building at the thought of Irina at the mercy of the Volturi.
How she could work with them when they had killed our mother—no, I would not let my mind travel down that path. She—our mother—had deserved her punishment for creating an immortal child, and I could not burden my mind any longer with thoughts of that woman. But I would give anything to have her arms wrapped around me once more, providing a comfort that I knew was lost to me forever.
Happiness is but a temporary illusion, befuddling our minds, giving a false sense of security, I thought with a huff. Nothing lasts – I knew that from personal experience. I watched the world change so rapidly over the centuries, watching the unimportant trysts of humans and the world they so carelessly molded for their enjoyment. The face of the world could not stand a day without change and the emotions of any sentient creature was just as ever changing, stability a far off dream, our emotions far too volatile for true peace.
Love also seemed, to me, to be a concept far beyond my reach, an idea that cannot be grasped by my hands. I was much too solitary for a life of mate ship. How could one willingly give over control of their own emotions to another? To consciously allow their happiness be dictated by the actions of another? I would not let myself succumb to such a weakness ever again. My mother held my love and burned me beyond recognition with her death. The only ones I let hold my heart in this day and age were my sisters, whom I thought I could trust with it, yet one of them, Irina, was over in Italy, twisting my chest, burning me as I filled with panic over her safety.
No, love was something I doubted I could willingly give and accept anymore.
Many human and immortal males have claimed love for me as they had laid eyes on my exceptional form. Over the years, I had suffered through many a courtship as male after male had attempted to woo me. My indifference was not as bad as Edward's was before he met Bella – I had more socialistic tendencies than he, but I was still mildly reclusive compared to my rather flamboyant sister, Tanya, who loved the eyes of men following her every move.
The sound of more guests pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked in at the newcomers with a mild interest. From my line of sight, there was only one I could pinpoint, and it was a tall, rangy, male vampire with eager ruby eyes. His long sandy hair was tied back in a ponytail with a leather thong. Expression bright, his posture radiating enthusiasm, I was surprised to feel my lips tug upwards in a smile at his presence.
From what I could see, he was incredibly well off in the looks department, but then again, you'd be hard pressed to find a vampire that wasn't. But with a straight nose, prominent jaw line and slightly hollowed out cheekbones, I could tell that this specimen of a man was especially easy on the eyes. There was a shadow of bruising under his eyes, a clear indicator that he had just feasted, not to mention the bright red glean of his eyes grabbed the attention of any who cared to look.
A few stray hairs that came undone from his ponytail framed his face haphazardly, making him look rugged, in a way that resembled the hikers whom so often passed us by in the woods. Dirt lightly caked his well-worn jeans, his clothes thick, but showing immense signs of wear and tear. His shoes were stained so much, it was difficult to discern their original colour. Definite nomad, I thought as I eyed him some more.
The crimson irises did not bring forth judgment in me on his behalf; there were many a vampire that was good enough, even if they did drink from humans. My lifestyle was not easy, nor did I turn my nose up at those who did not or could not choose my path. Everyone was an individual and I showed him, or her, the same respect that I would expect in turn; I did not want to be judged for my personal life choices.
As if he could feel my gaze, he looked up and instead of looking away or appearing surprised, he grinned cockily and met my gaze with a challenging one of his own. Raising an eyebrow, I smirked at him in response. Not wanting to appear petulant, I held my sudden, strange impulse to poke my tongue out at this newcomer.
If I had blinked, I would have missed the brief movement the vampire exerted to get to me. In the space of a second, faster than was comprehensible to the naked human eye, the man was a foot away from me, polite enough to respect my personal space.
The grin had not left his face, but had lost most of its cocky undertones. Now it seemed more genuine and for some unknown reason on my part, it caused a warm fluttering in my chest, in the region close to my dead heart. I pinned this down to my instincts reactively sparking my electric current of defense in the face of this stranger, a vampire that was basically an intruder to my instincts.
Sticking one hand in his pocket and the other out as one half of a handshake, the man introduced himself in a deep voice, smooth and soft like every other vampire I'd ever heard, but somehow it was different. More beautiful, more seductive than what I would have considered as normal. But then again, there weren't many things that I saw that could be considered "normal" in the eyes of the majority.
"Hello there. My name is Garrett. What's a beautiful specimen such as yourself doing all by your lonesome?" His complement was cheesy and clichéd, but it brought a sweet smile to my lips. I also realized belatedly that Tanya had left me, probably a while back, and I was indeed standing in the middle of a room alone, most likely appearing quite the recluse to Garrett.
Politely, I shook his hand and started to tell him who I was. "Strangers call me Katherine, but you can call me Kate. Pleasure to meet you." His ruby red eyes gleamed with a certain sparkle, but before I could look into that anymore, he ducked his head a little.
The smooth player lithely pulled my hand up from where it was still connected in a motionless handshake and gently kissed the back of it before saying in a low voice, "Believe me, the pleasure is all mine."
Garrett was quite the flirt, dropping flattering comment after comment throughout our conversation. We talked for a while, but only touching easy topics. He must have heard through word-of-mouth that my sister was the one who told on the Cullen family, as he tactfully diverted the conversation from coven and family to things like books and movies. Garrett proved in his book choices to be an old age romantic at heart and I showed that I absolutely loved crime thriller novels. For a while he teased that he couldn't read books like that without getting hungry.
We had spoken for what must had been hours upon hours, talking of nothing of immense consequence, the both of us merely getting to know each other, but time flew right by without pause. Time was harder to measure when one never changed or grew tired. When I was in Garrett's cheerful company, it stood still — not due to boredom on my part, but because it was all so relaxing, as though we had not a worry in the world. Not once did I get tired—metaphorically—of his company, his lively companionship refreshing.
Quickly, we were engulfed into a personal bubble, a blanket tightening around us, pulling both Garrett and me into a private world where only we were allowed.
Still, I had tried to keep him at arm's length, unwilling to let anyone in easily, especially this charming stranger who was wooing me with a little too much ease. It puzzled me slightly that this socialistic male never settled down in a coven, but when I asked about it, he shrugged and said something about not finding the right person for himself yet.
That was something I found difficult to believe too – he was quite the package; Garrett was easy on the eyes and had a wit as sharp as a blade, his dry humor cracking me up constantly during our conversation.
That man made me laugh so easily, without even batting an eyelid! He could read me so well; in a day of knowing me, talking with me, I swore as though he knew what made me tick. My coven were close to me, but somehow I had bonded with the stranger quicker than most. It was unsettling, but not in a bad way. Refreshing was a better word to describe the feeling.
For a while we talked about the benefits of having a stable coven and home against the benefits of a nomadic lifestyle. He told me wonderful stories of how he traveled the world and met new vampires. It had been many decades since I had led a nomadic life, traveling from place to place like birds migrated from country to country, not a care in the world for setting down roots, only needing to enjoy life to its fullest. A pang of longing went up my spine as I stared into Garrett's eyes, a tantalizing red, with flecks of black splashed through the iris. But I attributed the feeling to my sudden want to get back out on the open road again.
The signs were there, I had just ignored them. After all, isn't it said that ignorance is bliss?
Two days after our first encounter, Garrett had sought me out again, asking questions on my way of life, how I drank from animals instead of humans. Garrett made for some riveting conversation, listening to my reasoning intently, instead of butting in like most vampires did, moaning about the taste or the smell. Afterwards, he asked gentle, prodding questions, really digging into why I did what I did.
"How long have you lived like a 'vegetarian'?" Garrett asked me, his eyes trained on my face.
Shrugging in reply, I said, "Oh, a couple of centuries, give or take a few decades." Music flowed around us, and I paused for a moment to hear the gentle tones of a piano play some soft lullaby music I was unfamiliar with. It was very sweet and soothing, but a little too much so for my taste.
Scratching his chin in a needless human gesture, Garrett probed some more, "Doesn't animal blood make you weaker than human blood?"
"Oh no, that's a common misconception," I explained patiently. "You are still as strong as you ever are, but many like to use that excuse to continue hunting down humans. Personally, I think that the entire thing makes you stronger, not weaker. You gain not only strength of mind from the restraint you learn, but also perspective on life. It makes everything less savage, less primal and real bonds can form past the blood lust."
"Hmm," hummed Garrett, seemingly deep in thought at my explanation. Looking up into my eyes, he grinned suddenly and said, "I like the golden eye thing you have going on there, I might have to try hunting animals for a change."
Rolling my eyes, I doubted he would; many casually threw out a comment that they wouldn't mind to try hunting my way, but I've learned over time that they never actually did it. The few that did couldn't usually stomach the strange blood, especially after being used to the sweet elixir of human blood for so long. Even the members of my coven took time to adjust to the new taste.
Jasper Whitlock surprised me in that category; he had survived for decades upon decades on the nectar of humans, but when little Alice tugged his sleeve to the Cullen house to become a "vegetarian", he tried harder to accomplish the task – more so than any other vampire I'd ever witnessed. I knew the story well; it was love that changed his ways.
Ahh, to submit yourself so willingly for love … I could not yet see the lure in it. The joy must be overwhelming to release yourself to another so freely without expectation of the other. My love for family was different to the primal love of a mate, and from listening to explanations of the feelings, I was unsure whether I wanted to experience it or not.
"How about you show me round the block, and we go grab some drinks, right now?" Garrett's voice broke through my thoughts and I was sure that my eyes were wide in surprise at the absurd suggestion. Absurd in the notion he was asking me to drink from humans. Absurd that his question sounded almost as if he was asking me out on a date. Nonsense, I thought, quickly disregarding my second thought.
"I don't drink from humans anymore," I said stiffly, a little peeved that he would even suggest it, especially after my passionate rant on the whole subject.
Laughing, he said, "No, no, you misunderstood. I want you to teach me how to drink from animals." My jaw literally dropped at his statement. Then suspicion reigned over the surprise and my eyes narrowed just the slightest, a nearly unnoticeable movement – unless you had the eyes of a vampire.
If this man drank animals, he would be perfect, a voice in my mind cheered happily before I could stop it. Utilizing all my mental strength, I had squashed the voice into submission, silencing the wistful thoughts.
"Why would you want to do that?" I managed to ask in a neutral tone, my voice strong and not betraying my emotions. Actually, I myself was confused to what the feelings swirling within my body were. There was definitely elation, a strange happiness, but I knew it wasn't just because there was a chance I could convert someone, Garrett, to my lifestyle, to stop him drinking from humans.
Was I feeling happiness because of Garrett? At the idea that I could spend, perhaps, more time in his company? Was that why I was feeling like this?
"Why wouldn't I want a chance to test myself?" he quipped back quickly, and he flashed a bright grin that I cannot help but return. Struggling to stay nonchalant, I shrugged indifferently, but I cannot seem to get rid of the smile on my face.
Shaking my head in acquiescence, I pull the cuff of his long shirtsleeves gently, tugging him outside. If he so wished, he could have stopped or pulled ahead, but he willingly let me pull him along, peacefully following me as I moved him towards the forests that enclosed the Cullen's land. When we finally got out of the house, the fresh air filled my lungs, bringing along with it the scent of trees, moist dirt, and most importantly, deer.
"Smell that?" I asked Garrett, turning around to see him sniff delicately at the air, his nose wrinkled a little in disgust. "You sure you want to do this?" I questioned him again, now unsure whether he was really up to it.
Garrett turned to me with a frown, but I saw the spark in his eyes that indicated joy. Placing a hand over his heart, he said sadly, "Are you already trying to remove yourself from my presence? Am I that despicable?"
Laughing, while shaking my head in denial to his joking accusations, I took his hand in mine, an action I did instinctively, and pulled him with more fervent speed now, to the forest and the bounty of animals it provided. While we ran, my attention was focused strongly on the hand that enclosed mine, the strange, foreign warmth surrounding my fingers. But also my mind was strangely excited at the contact–usually I was indifferent to the advances of another vampire–but somehow, this touch was different. A small part of my mind, a quiet voice, noted with suppressed glee that Garrett made no move to release his hand, nor did he show discomfort in the action.
Soon, I knew we would have to break, but for that moment, I relaxed and let the peaceful joy flood my system. In that split second, a tiny moment shorter than the gap between human heartbeats, my mind realized something was wrong and I suddenly needed to make some space between Garrett and I. Too close, my mind screamed. Not close enough, my heart whispered. My heart, my once vital organ, never really had much say in my immortal life, so for it to suddenly pip up was unsettling, and though I would never admit it, it scared me a little.
Finally, we reached a clearing, and I spun around, deftly releasing Garrett's hand and I started to coach him on hunting, ignoring the pulsing of the crackling electricity that was building within me. I still felt the shadow of his touch on my hand, but I ignored it. I turned a blind eye to the way his eyes seemed to glow when he looked at me.
Self defense mechanism. Even in the early days, I was instinctively trying to protect myself. I was trying to shield myself from the weakness that was love.
Watching the drips of the melted snow, I pushed back down the feeling of warmth that came along with the mention of Garrett. But it was too late; I knew that I was smitten with Garrett. I cursed the sting of Cupid's arrow and cursed at how it somehow landed directly in my heart, amazingly passing through every barrier I'd ever erected. Yet, I could find strength or the will within myself to tear that arrow out, to push Garrett away.
Though I was not a lonely creature, I generally found more comfort in the independence of solidarity than in the ties of companionship. Trust thyself only and another shall not betray thee. To know that you only have yourself to look out for, yourself to blame, it makes everything appear in black and white, eliminating the different shades of gray. There was too much confusion with giving away parts of my soul, too many strings attached. But I knew that I was bound to Garrett, tied to him with my heartstrings, entangled in an intricate web of twisting, turning knots that seemed to keep me grounded. Yet, I strangely felt comfort in that bind.
Love meant pain. Years ago, I loved several people with free abandon, but when the Volturi came, when they punished my mother, I lost the appeal of an open heart, my anger and pain sparking me to rise defenses, ensuring that this would never happen again.
When a friend leaves you, the pain is not overwhelming. It was survivable. But to lose a loved one – the agony was indescribable. The ache, the torturous pain was all I could truly think of. My body was practically flawless, but I wasn't sure whether my mind and heart could take another battering of losing another loved one, someone who was imprinted on my heart, forever seared into my soul, a person who cared for me, understood me, and loved me in return. My mother, my sister ... that was the affection and care of family. But the pain must double when it is the love of a mate.
Raw and bleeding were the only ways to describe how I felt when Sasha, my mother, was killed. It was all so fast; in one minute, a person could appear to be a permanent part of your life, a concrete pillar to lean against, and in the next moment, all of that could be ripped away from under your feet, letting you fall, fall fast into the darkness.
The idea of support was tempting, alluring, but also it scared me. Dependence was weakness in my mind.
Love was a gamble; it was as if you were falling, falling hard from the sky, and your loved one was your parachute, and you needed to believe they wouldn't let you crash. But if they did, the feeling was sickening and hollow, painful and gut wrenching. Yet, if you let them carry your weight, the feeling of flying, the experience of love, was like nothing else.
I saw how Edward was in the year he tried to leave Bella. He was nearly crippled at the pain of it all. And his loved one was still alive. Love was a weakness. But a voice in my heart whispered, "You can see the happiness between mates. Garrett could bring you that utter contentment if you let him." But I couldn't let myself be so vulnerable. I was vulnerable with Garrett, and it felt freeing, but so terribly draining.
Love was handing someone the controls to a bomb that could utterly destroy and cripple you, but you had to trust them to not push the button. My problem was that I could not find the trust to hand over the trigger.
Hunting with Garrett was an interesting, intriguing, and enlightening experience, to say the least. My eyes were continually drawn from my kills to watch the graceful, feline-like leaps of Garrett as he attempted to grab his feed with his skilled hands. From the corner of my eye, I continued draining my buck as I watched him struggle with his own, making a mess as he fumbled with the kill.
It took time before one really got into this feeding method, so I thought no less of him for being a messy eater. Style and method took time to develop and I knew that even time wasn't enough for some. The few times I had hunted with Emmett, well, I had felt as though he got more blood on his clothes than in his belly.
This was Garrett's second trip to hunt animals. I was surprised when he asked me to hunt just a week and a half after his first try. Everything about Garrett was surprising, but it was an admirable trait to be persistent, I guess. He told me that he loved adventures and challenges, and he considered sticking to this diet to be one of the hardest challenges he's faced in a while, so he took it up with a fierce determination.
His perseverance was endearing to me, but his subtle touches more so. Oh, I definitely noticed the way he would casually brush up against me, finding reasons or openings to gently brush his hands up and down my arm, and on the odd occasion, he would tuck some stray hairs behind my ear.
Garrett's touch set me on fire unlike anything else could.
With every touch, with every word he spoke, I practically felt my walls fall apart, even as I struggled to keep them up. It didn't take long for him to understand my quirks, my habits, and he used all that knowledge to help open me up, crumbling down my brick wall, digging away at the foundation, and I feared that without my protection, I would soon be laid bare for the world to see.
I really enjoyed his company during hunts, which was generally lighthearted and jovial. For some reason, he's taken a liking to gently teasing me, and it led to a battle of wits a few days back, in which we threw back comments like we were playing tennis. Our banter was always interesting, and the past couple of weeks I've spent talking to him, getting to know him, always surprised when we seemed to act in sync, somehow acting as one. It was as if we had known one another forever, and we could laugh out loud about anything.
Today however, in the seclusion and the shady branches of the trees around us, it seemed as though tonight was the night for secrets and whispered voices. Owls hooted as we whizzed past their homes and the squeaks of terrified animals seemed to filter through the air in a strange kind of background melody.
Finished with my kill, I wandered to a clearing that Garrett was sitting in, his legs propped out in front of him, ankles crossed, his entire body braced by his arms, which were thrown back behind him. Without a word, I sat down beside him, matching his pose, and we silently looked to the stars, our attention being grabbed momentarily by the utter beauty of outer space.
As my eyes followed the tail of a burning comet, Garrett finally spoke up. "Are you nervous about this upcoming battle?"
I shook my head and said, "I'm a perfectly competent warrior, so I do not worry for myself, but yes, I am worried for my family."
"Are you worried about Irina?" his voice was quiet, and I could pick up his definite American accent, so smooth compared to my words, hampered minutely by my accent acquired from my time in Russia.
Sighing, I turned to him and tried to explain, "Of course I'm worried, she's my sister. But it's more than that. She betrayed what we considered to be family! Knowingly, and in good conscious, she made her way to endanger the Cullens. And to the Volturi no less." I spat out the name of our self-proclaimed "royalty" with a slight hiss to my tone.
"Yeah, those old bastards in Italy are definitely schemers. Have you met Aro? That old bloke freaks me out," he agreed, his eyes – now a dark orange colour – meeting mine with an intense gaze.
Drawing my knees up to my chest, I mumbled, "Yes, I've met Aro before. He was the one who graciously let us live." My tone became more sarcastic towards the end of the sentence, and I finished with an ungraceful snort. "How my sister could even think about going to that man..."
"What?" asked Garrett, his voice saturated with surprise. I turned away from Garrett and started drawing meaningless scribbles in the dirt. There were several moments of pause before I answered, and even my reply was unsatisfactory.
"It was nothing, don't worry about it."
He pulled my chin around, forcing me to face him. His eyes were sympathetic, but I wanted no one's pity. I pulled my face free of his grasp, but I could feel his eyes were still staring at me, burning a hole in my face.
"Let's get going, shall we?" My plea sounded flat and strained, even to my own ears. I hastily stood up; my movements graceful even in my slightly flustered state.
"Kate, what is it?" Garrett asked me, already up on his feet, his hand tugging on mine, trying to get me to open up. His voice was beseeching and soothing, "You can tell me."
Shaking my head, I choked out, "No, I can't." As I made a move to leave, I heard Garrett speak once again.
"Is this about your mother?" My quiet gasp at his statement seemed so loud in comparison to the silence of the forest. The silence that followed seemed louder though, or maybe that was the intense ringing in my ears?
Spinning around reflexively, I asked in a halting voice, "How – how did you – how did you know that?"
"I asked around," he told me, his voice clear, but his volume no higher than a ragged whisper. But I heard him. Of course I heard him, how could I not?
His eyes widened in shock as I ran to him and started to pummel him in the chest with my hands, screeching at him, "You have NO right, no right whatsoever to dig in my past! Who do you think you are?"
Easily, his hands wrapped around my wrists and halted my barrage of half-hearted attacks. All the fight in me left my body in an instant. I was just so tired now. My body slumped, and as impossible as it sounded, I felt absolutely drained of energy in that moment. Belatedly, I realized that I was sobbing dry, tear less weeping noises. Garrett was opening up old wounds, deep, jagged tears in my soul that never really healed, cuts caused by the passing of my mother, of Sasha.
"My mother, my mother, she was an angel, and they killed her," I gasped through the dry sobs that racketed through my frame, causing me to quiver, to shake from a mixture of pain and fury, emotions that sliced deeper than words could ever truly describe. "How can someone kill an angel?" I asked desperately, not really expecting an answer, but just trying to voice my agony and confusion.
Garrett was good to me in that breakdown. He simply held me, his comforting touch on the sides of my waist, his face full of empathy, letting me cry into his shirt, letting me get it all out, not badgering me with questions. It was like he understood. There was a certain kinship between us in that moment. I didn't understand it, nor did I try to, but it felt nice. I had not let myself think of my mother in so long, it was as though all this emotional turmoil had built up and had finally crashed through the dam, breaking the banks. I couldn't talk about this with my sisters much anymore. They tried to bury the pain as much as I did, but there's only so long you can ignore something.
Soon, I was fully engulfed in Garrett. His essence, his presence, his smell, all surrounded me, driving me toward a state of calm that I never knew existed. There was peace with him.
After some time, I pushed him away from me, stumbling a little, all the while wanting to desperately escape from this, from everything, but he caught my arm, forcing me once again, to look at him. The orange of his eyes reminded me of a dying sunset, burning with a suppressed fire, overflowing with compassion.
"Talk to me," he whispered, his other hand moving to stroke my cheek. I leaned in at his touch and sighed deeply, closing my eyes for the briefest moment, somehow feeling relieved, if only for the smallest amount of time.
When I opened my eyes, I gazed up from beneath my lashes and I had to stifle a gasp. It was night already; time had passed so quickly! But what caught my breath was Garrett bathed in the dappled moonlight, looking at me with concern. The way the moonlight hit his hair, made his blond locks shine almost as though it was silver. A faint glow emitted from his skin, caused by reflected UV rays from the gorgeous full moon. It was at that moment I realized how beautiful he was. I had acknowledged he was good looking, but I never really saw the beauty that was standing before me now.
"Everything. She sacrificed everything for an immortal child," I rasped out, my voice feeling as weak as my body did in that moment. Another wave of vulnerability hit me as I confessed this secret, somehow fearing rejection from him. It was an irrational feeling I could not shake, and it caused my instincts to go into hyper drive, this absurd feeling of being threatened.
"Your mother?" questioned Garrett. Nodding, silence enveloped us once more, but it was neither strained nor uncomfortable. A certain fog of peace seemed to surround us, and the quiet was comfortable. We listened in an odd contentment to the birdsong that cut through the night air, filling it with a natural beauty.
When we parted that day, all the feeling of bliss quickly turning into confusion. That level of comfort with someone I had met a mere few weeks earlier was disorientating. It was as if the gravity of the world had shifted, or was it just my center of gravity out of balance? Also, I realized later, that as much as I felt weak, vulnerable and threatened, I did not have the want to slam a few thousand volts of electricity into his body. It was as though I knew he would not hurt me. And that level of comfort was a weakness.
Staring out through the glass, looking far off at a tree dripping with melted snow, I saw a bird ruffling its feathers, trying to get dry, I remembered how I tried to avoid Garrett, but his grin was like a beacon to me, and I could not stay away. We never did speak again about what had happened in the woods, but I could tell something had shifted between us. Beneath the easy banter, something had changed. But I had no clue whether the change was for the better or not.
Soon enough though, he did find out about my ability to shock others into submission, to fully knock them out with the touch of my hand. He chose to interrupt a training session I was having with Bella.
"They say you can put a vampire flat on his back," Garrett was coming closer to me, obviously intrigued at this information. There was also an adorable, cheeky glint to his eye, mischievous energy just flowing from him.
Grinning coyly, I agreed, "Yes. Curious?" I taunted him a little, sticking out my palm and wiggling my fingers, teasing him like he had been teasing me. But I would be a little surprised if he wasn't curious. This man was always trying to find answers; he sought them out, not through books, but through experience.
We never really did talk about abilities. It was sort of an unspoken rule that you don't go around asking about abilities, unless you wanted to sound rude. And there was never a real opening in our conversations to say, "Oh, by the way, Garrett, I have enough electrical power in me to keep a town working for a very long time." As time went by, I still did not feel the need to tell him. I was not ashamed of my gift, but I did not brag about it, telling every person I met about my power.
Giving off an air of polite indifference, Garrett shrugged his shoulders a little too casually, and then said lightly, "That's something I've never seen. Seems like it might be a bit of an exaggeration..."
"Maybe," I replied quickly. Verbally challenging his masculinity was a sure bet to get a reaction out of him, so I arranged an unassuming look on my face, lulling him into a false sense of security. "Maybe it only works on the weak or young. I'm not sure," I lie through my teeth; visions of various vampires lying flat on their back as I zapped the hell out of them run through my mind in rapid flashes of memories.
There was no way Garrett would be standing if he touched me now. My skin was alight and crackling with the pure energy. I could feel it growing from the warmth of my palms, flowing up my arms and tingling the skin it touched. Building up the flow, stopping it from dying away, it strengthened to a point where it would be able to a send out dose of pure electricity, more powerful than any tazer imaginable.
"You look strong though," I purposefully look him up and down before continuing, ignoring his cocky grin, and continued, "Perhaps you can withstand my gift." I bear my hand out in a clear invitation, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smiling and breaking the façade.
His confidence as he stretches out his index finger to meet my palm is nearly admirable, but as his cockiness, more often than not, leads him to trouble, I'd prefer to be without it. The second our hands make contact, his orange eyes gleam and widen, before he gasps, and instinctively closes them.
Garrett's knees quickly gave way, buckling under his weight, causing him to kneel over backwards. Before he hits the ground he is out of it, unconscious just from my very touch. His head hits a piece of granite with a loud cracking noise and somehow that snaps me to my senses.
What have I done? Garrett is surely going to detest me now! Why did I have to show off? I don't want to lose him ... but why is keeping him so important? I cut my internal ramblings off short, confused by my irrational panic of losing him. Yes, he was a friend, but they come and go in my life so often, why was Garrett exceptionally special?
My entire being was flooded with an unexplainable relief as I watch his eyes flutter open, looking as though he was just awakening from a nap, slightly confused, but no worse for wear. As he took in his surroundings, quickly remembering what had just occurred, he grinned widely at me, lifting his lips in my grin, the one with the mischievous undertones and the innocent glint in his eyes.
The possessive in my mental thoughts cut me short – his smile was not specifically mine. But as I analyzed it, I felt like it was mine. That smile never graced his features unless his eyes were on mine, I was sure of it! At that moment, a flood of insecurity shot through me like ice in my veins. What if there was someone else who owned that smile?
When his grin changed into a wondering smile, I could not help but smirk at his dazed response. A seemingly breathless, "Wow" left him as he reviewed what happened.
Raising an eyebrow, I asked with a skeptical tone, "Did you enjoy that?" His happiness was a little too much so, and it was a little scary when judged with the reactions of previous vampires. They took it with anger or surprise, but not with the grace, joy and acceptance that were all being emitted from Garrett.
With a laugh, he replied, "I'm not crazy, but that was sure something!" His shook his head disbelievingly as he slowly got to his knees.
"That's what I hear," I quipped back sarcastically, rolling my eyes at his unbridled enthusiasm. But there was a strange burgeoning joy rolling inside of me – he wasn't running away screaming at me for my powers. In fact, he seemed to relish in my abnormality, and found the good in my rather shocking powers. Dusting himself off, he gingerly returned to his normal height, now towering over my frame once more.
Tightening his ponytail, he looked me dead in the eye as others were distracted, before ducking down and began whispering in my ear, my body super aware of his proximity, "You sure know how to bring a guy to his knees. But you don't need an electric current to do that to me, sweetheart."
Thankfully, he left to join the larger pack of vampires before he noticed my tiny shudder at his words. It wasn't a shudder of disgust, but of ... longing? It felt innocent enough, but dangerous somehow. There was no way I could be feeling something other than friendship for Garrett, could there?
For a while we passed the realm of acquaintances and quickly changed into one of good friendship. However, it was all too soon before I found that my feelings were beyond friendship, and a lot longer for me to finally acknowledge the feeling as love. It wasn't a bolt-of-lightning type realization, but more of a slow building, inevitable conclusion.
It was fitting then, that I did not experience love-at-fist-sight. I probably wouldn't have been able to deal with such a thing. Slowly building up my feelings definitely was the safer route, the right choice for my subconscious to make, and the entire thing would have worked, if only I did not find love on the day my sister died. It made the entire ordeal so much more conflicting than before.
Shifting slightly in my seat, an unnecessary movement, but instinctual nonetheless, I turned my gaze to the heavens, looking at the skies sporadically covered by the white clouds that blotted out the sun. Was my future written in the stars? Was my destiny already laid bare on a mat of fate and future, free for all the deities in the sky to see? Or were the strings of my life tugged and cut by some unknown source, playing around with my life for their benefit, enthralled by the utter control they have over my heart and soul? This loss of control was unsettling. It was disturbing. But it was freeing in so many ways.
Sometimes, when I was without his company, I would subconsciously seek Garrett out. As we grew closer, I noticed that some of the secret touches, the subtle glances, were initiated by me. My body and soul longed for him, but my mind held me back.
Unlike any other creature I had ever met, Garrett seemed to understand me like others did not. Eventually, I did tell him the entire story of my mother, but Garrett never pushed me for information, letting me slowly think aloud my thoughts to him. He did not fear my power, but saw the amazement in it. His very essence called to me, and there was only so long that I withheld myself from experiencing its joy. Perhaps I held out so long because I did not want to burden myself with another person on my heart, unsure of whether my long dead organ could handle the weight of caring for another soul, especially when holes, gaping, ragged holes had already been made with the passing of previous loved ones.
Irina would have wanted me to be happy. So would my mother. But they don't know how hard it is; knowing that giving into the feeling would mean weakness. Tanya, though she was my sister, still did not fully grasp the turmoil bubbling inside of me. I was alone, but ironically enough, the only person that could possibly understand my particular conundrum was Garrett. And I didn't know if I could talk to him yet.
I was not sure whether I could forgive him for what he did on the field. My rational, logical side knew that I should be thanking him, for saving not only me, but also everyone who was there that day, but my emotional, irrational side screamed that I could not. The torrent of noise in my mind was loud and confusing, but I was thankful that I had time to figure all this out.
That stunt he pulled on the field, pinning me to the ground, disenabling me from getting my just revenge, it was definitely a poignant – and enlightening – moment. It was then that I fully grasped my emotions, realizing them for what they were; it was love. When I hurt him, shocking him with my arms and body, mindless in my rage, a small part of me realized what I was doing, and became horrified that I was even harming him.
Eventually, I did stop, but there was still anger in me for the things that the Volturi did to my sister. If it were anyone else, I was sure that I would have thrown him or her off me, regardless of the damned consequences. However, it was Garrett. The gentle words he cooed in my ear, his vain attempts to calm me, to make me regain my senses, they worked when I was sure words of others would not.
The plume of smoke spiraling upwards, up to the sky, dissipating as the winds tore it apart, soon left no trace that that smoke and ash was once my sister. The white, the blindingly pure white that covered the field took on an angry tinge of red. Hate, anger, agony, all of which ripping through my soul and mind, caused me to bubble with electricity, crackling with an energy that I haven't felt in decades, the pain fueling the burn within me, making me more powerful than one could have thought.
Revenge. Justice. Pain. I wanted to deliver those things to the Volturi. To Marcus, to Aro, to the guards that ripped my sister to shreds with no word of warning. Inciting a fight was all I could think about. Cries of anguish burst through me without conscious thought and I tensed my muscles, seconds away from leaping on the first vampire I could get my hands on. No longer did I fear death in the face of this larger purposeful action.
My insides felt as though they were liquidated, sloshing around, leaving me with an uncomfortable churning feeling. The sides of my brain throbbed as if I were some intoxicated human, my ears matching the throbbing with a strange ringing noise I was sure no one else could hear. Every nerve in my body was tensed, feeling strung tighter than piano wire, aching for some outlet for the pain. Still weak from the last loss I had felt, my heart was crippled once more, no words really describing the empty hollow feeling I now had. Thus was the pain of once more losing a loved one. And that was why I found love to be a weakness.
Before I could leap, another vampire was trying to stop me, but I shocked them without a second thought. From my peripheral vision, I saw a huge mass running towards me, at the least minute I registered them as Emmett, but I shocked him before he could stop me. I felt no regret for my actions – these people did not just lose family, they wouldn't know what I was going through. The current was now unstoppable, flowing from my fingertips to my toes, covering every inch of skin, protecting me as I aimed for the Volturi.
A familiar scent assaulted my senses and before I could dodge it, Garrett had flung himself on me, successfully pinning me to the ground. Thrashing around, I tried to get away, relying on my shocking abilities to stun Garrett, but he refused to budge, holding down my wrists as I attempted to escape. I could feel his body spasm above me, his groans of pain making me realize that he was actually going through all the agony that my power brought, but he made no move to get away from me.
Why? It confused me momentarily, a fraction of a second my mind left the death of my sister and wondered why Garrett was doing this. But my sister's memory flew back in my face, and I stopped my over analysis of Garrett and his actions.
Blackness covered my sight and I hissed involuntarily as Zafrina's power covered a blanket of darkness over my eyes. My other senses remained intact, so I easily felt Garrett stop shaking and writhing on top of me. His noises of pain stopped and I nearly froze in surprise. The current was still going strong over my body; the electricity so potent I felt as if I could shoot bolts of lightning off my hands.
"If I let you up, will you knock me down again, Katie?" he whispered at me, his voice trembling slightly from the exertion.
Feeling breathless, I did not answer back with words, choosing rather to release some anger with a few snarls. The larger part of my mind was thinking about Irina, and mourning her, but there was a small part of me that noted the pet name he called me, also memorizing the feel of his body on top of mine... But I quickly snapped myself out of that train of thought.
Carlisle's reasoning pierced my brain, his smooth voice trying to speak reason. My body slumped, not because I really heard him, but because I knew the fight was over. I could not get to the other side without someone stopping me. The only voice I heard right now was the voice of Garrett, clear with his American accent, his breath tickling my ear, his words trying to coerce me into peace.
Oddly enough, I did find peace in his presence, with his words. And it was then that I realized that our bond was definitely above and beyond the realm of friendship – it was love. All this time, I was tingling with the feeling of love. My mind was muddled but this fact stood clear above all else. But the feeling was different. It felt empowering, not weakening.
As wind blew the snow, my sight was suddenly returned and I looked into the deep red eyes of Garrett, slightly regretful he had to hunt humans in his preparation for this day, seeing more than the irises, feeling as though I could look into his soul and he could see into mine. It was an odd, new, emboldening feeling.
Thus was the power of love.
For a shining moment, I felt true bliss at my epiphany, but then reality set in and it horrified me. This was neither the time nor place for declarations or realizations of love. How could I find and accept love on the day my sister died? It sounded terrible to my own ears and shallow. I wanted to get up, but Garrett made sure to keep me pinned down, his eyes shining with concern and something else.
He had the sparkle in his eye when he smiled at me, but he wasn't smiling now. If it wasn't a sparkle of amusement, then what was it? When I saw my reflection in his irises, I saw I had the sparkle too. And another thought hit me with the speed of a crashing car – was it a sparkle of love? Did he want me as I did him?
Closing my eyes, I willed these thoughts away. A fight was coming, and I wanted to have a clear head so I could sufficiently bring punishment to those who killed my sister.
The tense build up to the fight made me feel almost alive again, but the thing that nearly set my heart pumping again was the quasi-declaration of affection Garrett gave.
We were standing, his arms wrapped around my shaking frame, still trembling from the loss of Irina. The fight was coming, we knew it. Anticipation tightened like a knot in my stomach. Garrett was stroking my blonde hair, and I felt mildly comforted in that moment.
He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "If we live through this, I'll follow you anywhere, woman." It was not the most conventional thing to say, but Garrett was never a conformist, even in his human years.
Playfully, I muttered, "Now he tells me." I knew that the others surrounding us could probably hear every word, so I couldn't really say everything I wanted to say. But what did I want to say?
The sound of footsteps brought me forth from my thoughts and soon enough, the footsteps sounded within my room, but I didn't take my eyes from the window and the dripping water. Without turning, I knew it was Garrett. He wanted to know where we stood. After the confrontation with the Volturi, he pulled me to the side and asked what we were. He proclaimed his love and affection for me, and asked if I felt the same.
At that moment, I had no answer; there were too many things running through my mind. It was like I was trying to look at a portrait and name the person featured in it, but a child had run their fingers through the paint when it was still wet, befuddling the image, leaving the once clear message lost in the tangles of colour and textures.
I knew I loved him. But the question was really whether I could hand my heart over to him. It was still a jumbled mess.
But he waited for me to figure things out. As I sat quietly, mulling things over, I heard him move around the house, occasionally speaking to Tanya. When he said he would follow me anywhere, he really meant it.
Days had passed and I was unmoving, just sitting in front of the window, thinking. It was understandable to know that Garrett wanted to see where we were. Vampires and love were as interchanging as a Rubik cube, confusing to those who don't know the pattern, easily done wrong, numerous paths that end up with the same result, but the journey nonetheless was always a battlefield for the mind.
Over my alone time, I had reviewed everything, and I knew I loved Garrett. Fear of another weakness, another possible loss, held me back from exerting any action towards this feeling. But I did feel this way, and I did not want to spend an eternity wondering, "What if?" Though I could not say I only lived once, considering the fact I had lived numerous lifestyles, I felt as though it was time I seized the moment, and stopped over analyzing things.
My mourning period would never truly stop, but Irina, and my mother, too, would not want me to waste away in their memory. As much as I cared for them, and missed their presence, I had to acknowledge it was time to let go somewhat, and finally live my life.
I love Garrett. Plain and simple. The only barrier was me, who was confusing and twisting the issue, until it became complicated. But in the end, all that really mattered in the face of things was that I love Garrett. Testing the phrase in my mind, I played around with the words, and it just felt right to say it. So I did.
"Garrett?" I whispered, my voice clear but quiet. "I love you." A feeling of righteousness flooded my being and my shoulders relaxed with the minutest slump, as if the confession had released a weight, a burden that I wasn't even aware had been residing on my shoulders. After a second, I realized that Garrett's only reaction was a sharp gasp, and I suddenly was nervous, again fearing rejection, which would be a stab in my heart while I was in this vulnerable state.
But suddenly my fears all dissipated when stone hard arms wrapped around my frame and I felt a chin rest on my shoulder. From the peripheral of my vision, I could see that Garrett was smiling, a gentle upward tug of his lips, his expression seeming peaceful.
"I love you, too."
Those four words tickled my ear when his breath passed them, making me shiver, but warm with an unprecedented joy. Turning around, I returned the hug, tentatively, gently, and nervously. I had had lovers before, but they were more sexual partners than partners of the mind and soul. All of this was new. But I knew that Garrett had not loved anyone before, and it thrilled me that we could experience this together.
My face was tucked into his chest, and I breathed in deeply, finally finding peace. Mumbling, I felt as though I had to give an explanation for the wait Garrett had to endure before I came up with an answer, "I have never been in love before, love as in with a mate." I paused for a second before continuing, my sentence halting and slow as I tried to eloquently explain my emotions and thoughts.
"Love always meant weakness for me. It was like a chink in my armor to care for someone. So for a while, I was in denial. But when I finally acknowledged the emotion for what it was, it was just after ... my sister died," I choked up a little, unable to say her name aloud, but I persevered through my explanation, "And I felt sick for finding love when someone else I loved had died. It felt wrong for me. But finally, I decided I couldn't ignore it, and I just wanted to be happy, and I wanted to be happy with you."
At the end of my confession, I felt Garrett's soothing touch on my back and he murmured in my ear, his face mostly buried in my hair, "I understand – well, as much as one can. If it means being with you, I will show you how love is no weakness, how it can be strength. You can confide in me, talk to me; let me share your burdens. Love is a strength, Katie."
"Then you shall be the man keeping me afloat and alive in this crazy world, right?" I sighed into his chest with contentment filling my soul, squashing down the negative energy, filling me with something indescribable.
"Yes," he answered back immediately. "And your electric touch will continually start my heart, keeping me alive that much longer," he joked quietly, his tone half-serious. My eyes stung, preparing for tears that would never fall, but I knew I would be crying happy tears for this moment. Everything was in overdrive, trying to overwhelm me, but it all felt wonderful. Utterly, absolutely, 100% perfect.
"Don't worry," I say into his chest. "I'll zap you every now and then to keep you an honest man." Playfully, I send a gentle, tingly current through my palm and up his spine. He jumped a bit, not from pain, but from surprise.
"Wouldn't have it any other way," he quipped back with a grin, before ducking down to steal a gentle kiss from my lips.
A/N: Was that "Awww" worthy enough for you? I think it was. Sweetness and angst galore. *Wipes away tear*. Is there any better combination?
My overwhelming gratitude to Project Team Beta for getting Vi0lentSerenity and mcc101180 to beta my stuff. They helped so much! Kudos goes out to them!
Cookies for reading, but reviews are showing me the love. :-)
By the way, if you want to see how I go in competition, just put this story on your Alert List and I post up a notice on what happens.


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Can fraxel laser work for new red stretch marks?
Doctor Answers 2
Stretch Mark Treatment
However, I often layer lasers for best results. You could treat the redness and the stretched skin simultaneously. For the redness I would start with the Vbeam and then follow with a treatment of Fraxel to improve the stretched skin.
Depending on your stretch marks you may need multiple sessions of either laser for best results. It is also important to keep in mind that stretch marks are very difficult to remove but can be improved with laser treatments.
It is important to consult with a Board Certified Dermatologist with plenty of experience treating stretch marks to see what treatment is best for you.
Learn more: http://www.totaldermatology.com/cosmetic/laser/fraxel/
Fraxel for stretch marks
If your stretch marks are red then the V-Bream laser works much better in removing and treating these stretch marks. Fraxel can sometimes work on white stretch marks but it can take many treatments and does not always work. I have found the eMatrix to work very well on stretch marks as well which is something that you should consider for white stretch marks. For the best results please consult a board certified dermatologist with a great deal of experience with lasers.
Learn more: http://www.michelegreenmd.com/fraxel-dual-laser
These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship.

subset: commoncrawl


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You definitely need GPS or detailed instructions to find this business in downtown Covington, Virginia. I have been a Choice Rewards customer for about 7 years and adore this chain of motels (Comfort Inns, Quality Inns, Sleep Inns, etc.). But this one is NOT one of their better ones. Expensive (close to $100 on a weeknight, not during any special event week), and really cramped parking. Room was clean and bed was very good. Complimentary breakfast was adequate. Selection of tv channels was poor, only about 20 or so. Next time I might travel the extra 30 miles to Lewisburg, WV to stay at a different Choice motel, or even stay at a different motel in Covington.
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Let us know when your receive great advice so we can thank our lawyers and point others with similar questions in the right direction.Got it!
My wife and I hired an immigration attorney to adjust my status through marriage. We think it has taken too long for the lawyer to send in the petition. We turned in everything they asked for. I was brought into this country at the age of 4 from Mexico with a visa but it has since expired. I am now 22 years old. I did get a dwi 2 years ago. I don't know if that would be a reason for him to take so long. I have called a few times and the paralegal keeps saying the same thing that she already looked over everything and it looks good and she's just waiting on the attorney to review and send it off. What would be a reasonable time frame for the attorney to prepare and file the adjustment of status after we turned in all he asked for?
1-3 months.
The lawyer could be checking your DUI info. Or, if you lost your I-94, that may cause delay.
PROFESSOR OF IMMIGRATION LAW for over 10 years -- email@example.com -- www.capriotti.com -- This blog posting is offered for informational purposes only. It does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Also, keep in mind that this is an INTERNET BLOG. You should not rely on anything you read here to make decisions which impact on your life. Meet with an attorney, via Skype, or in person, to obtain competent personal and professional guidance.Ask a similar question
How much time has passed? Every attorney works differently and sets their own schedule. Schedule a meeting and go back to discuss expectations. This is something that should have already been discussed. My colleague has indicated 1-3 months. However, in my own personal opinion, once I have all of the necessary documents, all forms are reviewed by a client and signed, all filing fees are paid - the package is sent out within a week. But that's just me.
Irene Vaisman, Esq. 11 Broadway, Suite 615 New York, NY 10004 (646) 253-0516 This is not legal advice and a client attorney relationship is not created. For a free consultation call (646) 253-0516.Ask a similar question
I completely agree - if we have everything and it has been reviewed, a week is reasonable.
It's been almost 2 months since i turned in everything they asked for. When they explained the whole process to my wife and I it seemed pretty simple. They made it seem fast and easy. I was told the paralegal would put everything together and review it and then send it to the attorney for him to do the last review before sending it off. We paid half (his fee) up front and we're supposed to pay the other half (filing fees) when they're about to send it off. I'm starting to believe it was a mistake hiring this attorney. I'm afraid he's just going to keep putting my case aside since he already made his money.
schedule an appointment to see the attorney
Typically 4 months if everything has been done correctly.
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Assuming that the attorney has everything that he or she requested from you then it should not take too long. But as someone else mentioned, there may be something missing from your supporting documents or some of your information was incorrect or inconsistent. I would set an appointment with either the attorney or the legal assistant working on your case and see what's going on with the case before you conclude that the attorney is doing a poor job. If it turns out that they haven't done anything on your case, I would request a copy of your file and see if you can find someone else.Ask a similar question
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COLLEGEVILLE Pa. While supermarkets have long been viewed as serious competition for restaurateurs, upscale grocery chain Wegmans Food Markets Inc. is pitting itself directly against foodservice operators with the debut of the brand's first in-store, full-service restaurant.
Called The Pub, the restaurant is located in the chain's newest outlet, the 132,000-square-foot Wegmans in the Providence Town Center shopping mall in Collegeville, Pa. The restaurant is housed i
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Gator GK-88 Lightweight Keyboard Case
Gator GK-88 Lightweight Keyboard case
• Fits 88 note keyboards
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• Interior (L x W X D): 57.50 x 18 x 6 inches
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Dan Biggar landed a late penalty as Wales defied a host of second-half injuries to edge England 28-25 in a compelling World Cup showdown at Twickenham.
A furious clash was tied 25-25 with eight minutes to go after scrum-half Gareth Davies touched down under the posts, setting up a heart-stopping climax that ended when Biggar hit the mark from 50 metres.
In the closing moments England decided to kick for touch and launch an attacking line-out instead of taking shot at goal, but the gamble failed a Wales held firm.
The hosts led 16-9 at half-time with Jonny May crossing, but they should have been in a more comfortable position given their ascendency founded on a strong set-piece that had seen the flaws witnessed in recent weeks ironed out.
Owen Farrell's kicking kept them in the driving seat - the Saracens fly-half finished with 20 points - but Wales grew in stature as the match neared its conclusion, drawing on all the experience of their big game players to see them home in a famous victory.
Stuart Lancaster conceded the visit of Wales and Australia to Twickenham over successive weekend would define his reign as head coach and he must now hope his players perform a rescue act against Australia next Saturday.
It is a match the World Cup hosts can not lose if they are to progress to the quarter-finals and the Wallabies will be scenting blood.
Lancaster made the biggest selection call of his three-and-a-half-year reign by starting Farrell in place of George Ford and picking Sam Burgess at inside centre and his return was a fine performance by Farrell and a mixed evening from Burgess.
The star of the evening, however, was unflappable man of the match Biggar who finished with a 23-point haul comprising of seven penalties and a conversion.
Wales saw Scott Williams and Liam Williams driven off on the medical cart in the second half and also lost Hallam Amos to injury, depleting the squad's resources ahead of Thursday's showdown with Fiji.
Conceding two penalties inside the opening 90 seconds was not the start England were aiming for and Biggar drew first blood by sending the second between the uprights.
Player Ratings: How did England fare?
Player Ratings: How did England fare?
1/15 Mike Brown: 6
Uncharacteristic knock-on inside his own 22 put his side under pressure, but he made up for it with a try-saving tackle on Folau. A quiet game with ball in the hand though.
Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto
2/15 Anthony Watson: 6
Showed sheer strength to break two tackles and score his try, but unfortunately it didn't spur on some of his under-performing teammates.
Andrew Matthews/PA
3/15 Brad Barritt: 5
His best moment came seconds before he went off as he won a penalty after chasing down Kurtley Beale. Tackling was better this week, but his days in the red rose are numbered.
Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
4/15 Jonathan Joseph: 6
Threatened to break free throughout the first-half but his switch to the wing nullified his role in the game and all of his attacking came outside of Australia's 22.
5/15 Jonny May: 5
Kept very quiet in the first-half and was replaced in bizarre circumstances as he emerged for the second period only to turn and limp off before play resumed.
Andrew Matthews/PA
6/15 Owen Farrell: 4
Kicking from hand was incredibly sloppy, and while he retained his 100 per cent kicking record, he will be blamed for a stupid shoulder charge on Matt Giteau that saw him sin-binned and end any hope of an English fightback.
(GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)
7/15 Ben Youngs: 5
Nowhere near his best again and his inability to provide quick ball seriously hurt England's chances. Replaced early after the break with Richard Wigglesworth.
Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto
8/15 Joe Marler: 4
Romain Poite set his crosshairs on the Harlequins loosehead and he was withdrawn before he was sent to the cooler. Three penalties for angling in – exactly what the Australian doctor ordered – put paid o his World Cup.
David Rogers/Getty Images
9/15 Tom Youngs: 6
One awful lineout throw but his play with ball in hand bordered on the excellent when England were under the kosh in the first half.
David Rogers/Getty Images
10/15 Dan Cole: 6
Had his hands full with the challenge that Sio brought and his departure in the second half suggested he had lost the battle. Looked a different player when not going forward in the scrum.
Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto
11/15 Geoff Parling: 5
Took the very first lineout when England still had high hopes, but his effect faded dramatically and you wouldn't have known that he was still on the pitch come the final whistle.
Rogan Thomson/JMP/Rex
12/15 Joe Launchbury: 6
Bizarrely named man of the match although he tried his best to have an impact on the game. Looked broken as he walked off the field, but his time will come.
Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto
13/15 Tom Wood: 6
A unit in defence once again but even he couldn't live with the brilliant Hooper. Never loses through a lack of trying.
Andrew Matthews/PA
14/15 Chris Robshaw: 5
His days as England captain look to be over bar one meaningless outing in Manchester, and he was completely outclassed by his opposite number. His missed tackle on Israel Folau can sum up England's World Cup.
David Rogers/Getty Images
15/15 Ben Morgan: 7
One of the standout first half performers as he put his body on the line for the cause. Tired in the second as the pace caught up with him, but one of the bright stars on a deeply dark night.
Wales were suffering at the scrum and when a second was driven backwards Farrell was able to land a long-range penalty, the kick offering respite amid a breathless start to the 127th meeting between the rivals.
Biggar failed with an ill-advised drop-goal but made amends with three points from the tee before Ben Youngs almost slipped through a gap that appeared temporarily in the wall of red shirts.
A drop-goal from Farrell was not a thing of beauty but it found the mark to level the score at 6-6 heading into the second quarter and soon after Mike Brown and Sam Warburton squared off as tempers frayed over a tackle by Dan Lydiate on Tom Wood.
"I'm so frustrated to have allowed Wales back into the game in the way we did, we've talked a lot about discipline and breakdown penalties, and we gave some dumb ones away which kept them in the game."
For the third time Wales' scrum was demolished and while Farrell obliged with the three points, better was to come from England when they ran in the first try in the 27th minute.
Line-out ball was worked to Anthony Watson who was tackled without a moment to lose but the hosts persisted, creating space down the blindside that Ben Youngs exploited clinically by sending May over.
A critical moment had arrived for Wales as they struggled to make an impression on the gainline and continued to suffer at the set piece, but they responded by finishing the half with a flourish when Scott Williams took advantage of Burgess drifting out of position to race through the midfield..
The outside centre was unable to produce the final pass, but the run led to a penalty from Biggar that was cancelled out early in the second half when Farrell replied in kind.
Player Ratings: How did Wales fare?
Player Ratings: How did Wales fare?
1/15 Liam Williams: 7
Strong at the back and his positional play was excellent. Grew in stature in the second-half and threatened on a number of occasions.
2/15 George North: 8
Had the second half of his life, even if he didn't cross the whitewash. A quiet opening 40 was soon forgotten by bursting runs from his own 22 and also chipped in in defence with an important tackle on Brown to win a penalty when England were attacking.
3/15 Scott Williams: 6
One surging run in the first half nearly led to a try for the Welsh, and gave them a welcome three points before the break. However, his night was cut short by a nasty looking injury after a tackle from Barritt.
4/15 Jamie Roberts: 7
His battle with Burgess came alive when he ran into a Burgess-Farrell wall and came off second best. However, he repeatedly bashed the English defensive line and was still standing come the end. The poor bloke will feel it in the morning.
5/15 Hallam Amos: 6
Departed with a shoulder injury which unknowingly paved the way to Wales's only try. Kept quiet throughout.
6/15 Dan Biggar: 9
Extraordinarily reliable from the tee and his kicking from hand was impressive too. Struggled to control the game in the first half, but more than made up for it in the second with a match-winning performance.
7/15 Gareth Davies: 8
Few will have had the scrum-half being the one who made the difference, but he did what all good 9's do in sweeping behind and profited with his side's only try.
8/15 Toby Faletau: 7
Showed his strength whenever he was caught at the base as he stayed upright for long enough to receive support. Very impressive in the air, too.
9/15 Sam Warburton: 8
Looked distraught when he gave away a penalty in the closing minutes, but the pain on his face will be more through his exploits than anything. The flanker was rewarded when the final whistle went after a hard night of constant tackling.
10/15 Dan Lydiate: 6
Could have penalised for a no-arm tackle on another day, but got away with it under Jerome Garces. Not as impressive as he would have liked and replaced late on.
11/15 Alun Wyn Jones: 7
A commander in the air that gave Wales the lineout advantage, and he tackled himself senseless throughout the 80 minutes.
12/15 Bradley Davies: 6
Took a nasty knock in the first half but managed to recover to last until he was replaced by Charteris in the second. Neither stood out nor disappointed – solid, in other words.
13/15 Tom Francis: 5
Questions over his fitness died away, but he struggled to cope with Marler's pressure and left early after the break.
14/15 Scott Baldwin: 5
Started well from the lineout but as the half wore on he became a touch wayward. Struggled in the scrum, and was replaced by Ken Owens early in the second.
15/15 Gethin Jenkins: 6
Penalised for a penalty metres out from his own line that he was lucky to stay on the pitch for, but his durability ensured Wales retained a presence in the front-row until the last.
An unbearably tense third quarter continued with the fly-halves exchanging kicks and while England remained in control, Wales were still a threat and underlined the point when George North charged out of his 22.
The Welsh trailed 22-18 heading into the last 20 minutes courtesy of Biggar's laser-guided boot, but their cause was dealt a blow when Scott Williams was carried off on the medical cart.
Play swung frantically from end to end, Twickenham rising to its feet when Richard Wigglesworth and May combined down the left before wing Hallam Amos came to Wales' rescue.
A nerve-shredding finale was assured when substitute Lloyd Williams chipped ahead after a break down the left wing and Gareth Davies was the first to arrive, gathering and falling over the line with Biggar converting.
Biggar saved his best to last by landing the match-winning penalty from inside his own half to end England's seven-match winning run at Twickenham.
There was still time for England to have one last chance, winning a penalty with two minutes left, but the call to play on and not take a shot at goal ended in them coughing up possession from the line-out.
Think of yourself as a Rugby Union expert? Why not try and tackle our World Cup quiz?! Answer the ten brain teasers below, and share your results with your friends!
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- Wales Rugby


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Om Bárbara
Hello! My name is Bárbara, from Spain. I'm here in Sweden working as Au pair for one year.
Since I'm biologist and I have grown up around animals due to my father is a veterinarian, I really love animals. At home I enjoyed very much go for a walk with my dogs or my porcupine, or playing with my cats (even when day make a mess in my hands =P).
Here in Sweden I'm working as au pair, take care of 4 sweet kids in the south of Stockholm. But they have no pets, so I miss it so much. I'm not able to keep animals here, because the father is alergic, but I would enjoy walking dogs in the mornings and evennings, and also on weekends (full-time).
Thank you very much for your atention, I hope I can help you with your buddy! =)
- Boendetyp: Lägenhet
- Antal egna hundar: 0
- HLR certifierad


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Members of The Deslondes performed with Hurray for the Riff Raff before leaving to pursue their own music. They draw from old-time country, while Hurray harkens back to folk traditions, and Sunday on the Lagniappe Stage they had the classic honky-tonk sound down.
As timeless as their songs of heartbreak and working class life can sound, other songs had Beatlesque melodies and harmonies. The songs aren't self-consciously old, and singer Sam Doores' "Depression Blues" borrowed as much from R&B as anything else, with a bridge that had a "Shout"-like rave-up.
Though the band is musically assured, the Deslondes may be democratic to a fault. As they rotated through singers, it was easier to connect to their songs than them. Considering the quality of their songs and sound, the Deslondes should have time to work on that.


text:
(n)(e)(w)Battery Grip/Holder for CANON Digital Camera EOS 5D Mark II?BG-E6+Hand Strap
http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/pict/300944827341_0.jpgUS $54.99 (0 Bid)
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text:
Published to WebDev on Jul 22, 2017
The setting is accessible via the menu "Project ... Project Settings ... Description of the current configuration"
When to use unicode ?
If all the languages and data, use the Latin alphabet, the encoding of Unicode strings is not necessary. Conversely, if the project combines different languages with different alphabets, the use of Unicode strings will be mandatory.
A wizard is available to accurately assess the effects on the application. It is accessible via the menu "Project ... editing Audit ... UNICODE assistant transition".


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LONDON – The euro crisis is not yet over. After months of relative calm in the eurozone, financial markets are again gripped by uncertainty, owing to political instability in Italy and the banking crisis in Cyprus. Are the eurozone's struggles finally becoming too much to bear?
Last month's election plunged Italy into political deadlock. While the center-left coalition, led by Pier Luigi Bersani, won a comfortable majority in the lower house – thanks to the bonus that Italian electoral law grants to the largest coalition – it gained too few seats in the senate to govern effectively.
Having ruled out a grand coalition with either the anti-establishment Five Star Movement or former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right party, Bersani will depend on senators' willingness to support specific measures. But this approach is inefficient and unstable.
As a result, Italy – and the European Union – is headed toward the kind of political and financial turmoil that followed Greece's general election last May, when a similar failure to produce a parliamentary majority forced another election the following month. The crisis in Cyprus – which threatens to cause the country's banking system to collapse and force Cyprus out of the eurozone – could make the situation even more difficult to manage.


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Outlook 2007 is configured with two email accounts: the primary account is a pop account and the second account is an exchange account. The exchange account is used for calendar and stuff like that, and the pop account is the primary account that sends and receives email.
After making some changes, the exchange server is having issues, which is okay, as this server is being decommissioned. Most users show their outlook as "disconnected" however they are able to send and receive email since the pop account is the main account. A few users however, are not able to open Outlook completely, and get an error message about exchange server.
What option in outlook will allow the user to launch outlook even if the exchange server is down?
7 Replies
Nov 9, 2011 at 9:36 UTC
I think you may be looking for cached mode. you will find the chec box in the mail account properties in the same area where you specify the username and servername with the check name button.
Nov 10, 2011 at 2:12 UTC
Indeed this error usually occurs if outlook is set to be using Exchange in online mode
You can go to Control Panel - Mail and either remove the exchange account or reconfigure it to run Cached mode,which - if they can access the exchange - will remove the error
Nov 10, 2011 at 4:30 UTC
As mentioned by PsyWulf
I have also come across users having multiple instances running locked each iteration out check task manager the most number off outlook.exe running is 10 - close them down outlook opwen as normal - however, this is more a user error that exchange error per se
Nov 10, 2011 at 10:47 UTC
So using Cached mode fixed the issue for 1 user only, 3 or 4 other users are still having trouble, outlook refuses to open and complains about not being able to connect to Exchange.
I don't understand why it does that but it worked for the one user.
I was about to remove the Exchange account from outlook but I am worried that they will lose all the information in there. They use the internal exchange for calendar and appointments and things like that.
The really weird thing though, is that with the users who are able to access Outlook, if you set up a calendar event or a meeting request, other users get it, which is really bizarre, since no one is able to connect to Exchange.
Nov 10, 2011 at 4:12 UTC
make a copy of their ost/pst file, usually in their user application folders, this way you won't lose any data when you remove the exchange account.
Nov 10, 2011 at 5:30 UTC
What version is Exchange?
Nov 12, 2011 at 8:13 UTC
It may also have to do with Outlook's message delivery location. Depending on which account was set up first, it would either download the POP email to a PST file, or onto the Exchange server.
This discussion has been inactive for over a year.
You may get a better answer to your question by starting a new discussion.


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Let Love Lead the Way from Shoot4Education on Vimeo.
Principal Jamaal Bowman from CASA Middle School in the Bronx opened the October 17th conference The Call to Educational Justice.
Lost Arts - The Teacher ProjectSo many people I know have a story about a teacher who changed their life. For me it was Eileen Daniel Riddle and James Gilchrist. On a Sunday afternoon in Agoura Hills, Calif. a group of us got together with these Read more
Diane Ravitch: Why all parents should opt their kids out of high-stakes standardized testsOriginal article by Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post The Network for Public Education, a nonprofit education advocacy group co-founded by historian Diane Ravitch, is calling for a national "opt out" of high-stakes standardized testing, urging parents across the country to Read more
Let Love Lead the Way from Shoot4Education on Vimeo.
Principal Jamaal Bowman from CASA Middle School in the Bronx opened the October 17th conference The Call to Educational Justice.
As armed conflicts proliferate, natural resources dwindle, and economies struggle to stay afloat, people across the globe have become used to enduring hardship, injustice, and the rough hand of the corporate state. But inevitably, there arrives a breaking point. When it comes to their children, the patience of parents ends and communities begin to rise up. In Chicago over the past several weeks a group of activists has taken the radical step of engaging in a hunger strike to protect a beloved school from closure by Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The hunger strike, now in its 4th week, is approaching a very dangerous stage. Only recently, after the strikers had gone 23 days without solid food, did Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CPS take the strike seriously enough to engage face to face with the community and the activists.
I spoke to one of the activists, Jitu Brown, at the Network for Public Education Conference in Chicago last April. He told me this tragic story about the destruction of the two neighborhood schools, one a "school of distinction," through a CPS rezoning that violated community wishes. Regarding parents' subsequent flight from the schools, Brown took umbrage with how CPS framed the narrative. "[They said], 'Parents are voting with their feet.' No! Parents are leaving because YOU threw a grenade in the school." That tale echoes in stories unfolding across the country, wherever parents and communities desperately struggle to protect their schools from the chaos and annihilation that comes from above. In so many cases community voices are silenced, the needs of children swept aside and money and politics take over.
Jitu Brown and the Chicago activists have taken the fight to a new level. They insist that Chicago Public Schools engage with the communities they are there to serve. If CPS undertakes any further uncollaborative action, it risks not only a symbolic, but an actual, devastating response.
Jitu Brown #FightforDyett from Shoot4Education on Vimeo.
#fightfordyett #wesupportdyett12
Co-authored by Kemala Karmen
Deputy Director, Co-Founder NYCpublic.org
Sanise Lebron – CASA MIddle School, Bronx NY from Shoot4Education on Vimeo.
In the sturm und drang leading up to last week's New York State budget vote, countless letters were written, phone calls made, and backroom deals negotiated regarding the new education policies Governor Andrew Cuomo had tied to approval of his financial plans. Much of that talk revolved around a new teacher evaluation law and the role high-stakes standardized testing should play in assessing teacher accountability. Should a full 50 percent of a teacher's evaluation, as the governor proposed, be based on the test-score "growth" of his or her students? Would, as critics countered, such an emphasis lead to a diminution of social studies, science, foreign language, and arts instruction since those subjects are not regularly covered by the tests the state administers?
These questions are certainly worthy of debate; after all, there is no consensus as to the validity of the "value-added measurement" theory that underlies the governor's proposals — and notable detractors include the American Statistical Association and the National Science Foundation. However, I have to wonder if, by virtue of this narrow focus, Albany has somehow lost track of what really matters for the children who attend our schools.
Certainly, schools must be places where the transmission of academic knowledge occurs, but a good school offers so much more than that; it becomes a home away from home, it is a place where students thrive because they feel safe and seen and valued, and are given opportunities to grow. Likewise, the best teachers do more than simply inform students of the facts and theories of their disciplines. The acquisition of those facts and theories might, imperfectly, be measured by tests. But that is so tiny in the scheme of things. What matters is that the best teachers care. They inspire. They forge relationships that acknowledge that children are complex beings; they see and address students' needs and possibilities.
Recently, I had a tangible and powerful reminder of these truths. I was watching Jamaal Bowman conduct the weekly "community circle" at C.A.S.A. Middle School in the Bronx. I'd "met" Jamaal, C.A.S.A.'s principal, in a very modern way; knowing that I was looking to film public school experiences, he'd tweeted, "Come tell our story" at me and included a link to a wonderful YouTube video called 7 Habits. It wasn't long after, that I grabbed my camera and headed to the Bronx. In the community circle, students gave all kinds of testimony: shout-outs to teachers who helped them or pushed them that week, apologies for mistakes or lack of effort, and affirmations for the joyfulness of the school. Jamaal conducted the meeting with the inspiration of a revival and the musical skill of a hip-hop DJ.
As I stared into the faces of these 12-, 13- and 14-year-old children, I saw immense joy. It was clear to me that these students learn and share in an atmosphere of understanding. It is an environment where their voices count, and their adversities are shared, validated, and communicated. What was truly remarkable was how the students worked with each other. As each child rose to give thanks or share regret, there was great respect and restraint shown. When the situation called for it, they were buoyant, enthusiastic, and boisterous. At other times, they grew quiet and focused intently on every word. These were middle school kids, but they were not posturing or sizing each other up or feigning boredom! They were in the moment, and as inspired as I was by the potential that existed in this world of school.
I recorded many of the student testimonies given on that initial trip to C.A.S.A., but for me the testimony of Sanise Lebron, an 8th grade student, best revealed the depth and power of what is happening at this Bronx middle school. She shared her story with her entire school. They watched her deliver the anguish in her life with such grace and beauty. Jamaal and his staff, and the students themselves, have created a compassionate space for children, fully aware that real learning cannot happen in the absence of empathy.
Sanise's favorite class is Humanities and she hopes to be a lawyer when she grows up, to help transform her community. She is a winning member on the debate team, a huge contributor to the basketball team, and plays softball outside of school. Her best friends are Makala, Angelina, China, and Rebecca, whom Sanise describes as smart, fun, and always there for each other. Although her father isn't around, she has an amazing mother, uncle, and grandmother who provide her with outstanding love and support. She identifies Ms. De Los Santos, Mrs. Doria, and Ms. Walton as her favorite teachers because they continue to push her and nurture her academically and emotionally.
So, Legislators of New York State, can a standardized test put a value on this?
Source: Michael Elliot
On a weekend in December, I took a borrowed camera and lights and headed out to Montclair, New Jersey. All weekend long, one after another, public school parents and students tromped down the basement stairs in the home of an MCAS member. She and her fellow parent activists had assembled a diverse collection of urban and suburbanites, so that I could record their testimony. They wanted to talk about the changes that they were witnessing in their schools and in their children, changes which they believed emanated directly from corporate education reforms, and in particular, the upcoming PARCC Standardized Tests. (PARCC, an acronym for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, is a multi-state consortium that has engaged the testing and publishing behemoth Pearson to create the Common Core-aligned computer-based standardized tests.)
Parents and students talked about the dramatic changes in curriculum and a flood of test prep in classes and homework. Some spoke about the massive expenditures for technology and testing materials, as hands-on instructional time declined. Parents of children with special education needs and individualized education plans (IEPs), found the implications of these changes particularly troubling. Many were concerned that the test-obsessed curriculum would undermine their community's focus on equity and desegregation. Most devastating, parent after parent described an insidious slide in the engagement of their children with school. They were all deeply frustrated and fed up with being ignored by policy makers and the media.
Getting their story out of the basement and into the larger world is what we did with my borrowed equipment on that cold December weekend.
The Other PARCC from Shoot4Education on Vimeo.


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Rafa Benitez signed Kalidou Koulibaly for Napoli from Genk in the summer of 2014 and there is news today that he wants to sign the giant 6'2″ center-back for Newcastle United in the summer.
Benitez was at Napoli for two seasons until he left last year and was then appointed as the Real Madrid manager in June.
When he was released from that job in early January, he was subsequently appointed as the Newcastle United manager on March 11th.
Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli
Newcastle had been linked with Koulibaly all last year but we failed to sign a top center-back last summer and we have paid for that with maybe our second relegation in seven years.
Newcastle were reported to have bid £19M for the player in early January, but that was turned down by the Italian club who said the 24 year was not for sale at that time.
The player was listed as 6'5″ tall in January but he seems to have lost 3″ since then.
As it turned out Newcastle were unable to strengthen their defense at all in January.
Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich are all said to be interested in signing the Senegal International defender this summer.
Koulibaly was born and raised in France by Senegalese parents, and was eligible to play for both countries.
He played 11 times for the U-20 French youth side starting in 2011, but in early September last year he decided to play for Senegal and made his debut in an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Namibia in the 2–0 win.
If Newcastle can survive relegation this season then we must have a decent chance of getting this player because of Benitez' connections with Napoli.
Rafa will also know first hand how good this lad is and we will be getting a in a very good player.
Newcastle will also try to sign a left back in the summer to further strengthen their defense.
Comments welcome.