Misfits Amoung Misfits

[Dude, it's allergies. I've had 'em since last Monday. >.>]

{Last post is above =]}

[...I'm an idiot. xD]

"Don't call me that!" She hissed, her hand clamping down on his shoulder again. "Why are you here, in my territory?" Lizzy hissed, her pitch black eyes glaring at the boy. And then she realized how handsome he was-- and it made no difference to her desicion.
She pushed him out of the tree.

"Prey... um, the thing that's eaten in a predaristic relationship?" I said a bit uncertainly, biting my lip. "Like the deer and the lion- the deer is the prey." I said, twirling a strand of hair around my finger as, suddenly, the forest turned cold.

Edward Anthony Masem Cullen was in the forest, with Jasper Whitlock Hale. Little did either of them know about the humans hiding in the trees-- and then would find out the hard way.

"Hello." Luke smiled very slowly. "My name is Lucas Thitmon, but you may call me Luke. And you are?" He asked curiously, a grin forming from the small smile that used to be on his features. She was very pretty, he noticed-- not that he cared about that type of stuff or anything.

Luke brushed her hand away; he smiled at her. "Who says this is your territory, honey?" he asked coyly, laughing a little. "It's a free country, is it not? I can be here."
Suddenly he was ten feet away. "Or here..."
Now he was behind her. "Or right here..."
"Or back here again..." He stood in front of her once more. "...can I not?"

~!~

I nodded. "Yeeep," I said. I didn't notice the cold; I was born and raised in a place that was all too used to the cold, so cold definitely didn't bother me anymore. I yawned. "Uhm...gosh. What one...." I squinted at the page. "How about...food chain?"

Jasper walked besides Edward silently, scanning the forest every so often with his brooding gaze, then glancing back at his fellow vampire, and away again.

~~!~~

Tally gave another sheepish looking smile and coughed once. "Tally Youngblood," she replied stepping back. "May I ask why you are here? And, er, would you like to come in?" She gestured for him to walk into the shabby little house if he wished.

"You can, for now." Lizzy hissed, getting fired up from his calling her "Madame" and "honey". Well, excuse her for not wanting to be called stupid little nicknames. "Until someone, such as myself, takes you down." She swung from the tree, landing on her feet like a cat and snarling. "Which would be right now."

"Hmmm.... the order in which organisms are eaten?" I asked, pulling my jacket tighter around my body. I was getting goosebumps- the tempature must have dropped about fifteen degrees in the past fifteen seconds. "Did it just get about fifteen degrees colder?" I asked Heather, pushing my long bangs away from my eyes.

"Jasper, please stop being so edgy. It's the forest. We've been here for years." Edward sighed, looking at his fellow vampire and rolling his eyes. He knew that Jasper had trouble with resisting, but they were in the forest, for Pete's sake. What human hung out in the forest in the middle of winter?

Tally Youngblood. A good name for a vampire. Lucas pondered. He could automatically tell that Tally was a vampire- she was paler than humans, and the eyes automatically gave her away. "Good name for a vampire." He complimented, stepping into the house with a very simple, "Thank you."

[Can Lizzy win? ]

"Spunk? It's much more than that, young one." She snarled, flipping her hair back away from her face and rolling over until she was in a perfect fighting stance. "Oh, afraid to hit girls? Little wimp." She taunted, backing up and then running, climbing up a tree and then dropping off, her feet landing perfectly on top of Luke's head. "Thickheaded male say what?"

~~~

"Me too." I stuffed everything in my bag and started to climb the tree we were perched in. "This is going to fail epically later, but whatever." I kept climbing, getting about ten feet up until my foot slipped, and then I was dangling by the crook of my arm over a ten-foot drop. "Heather!" I cried, slipping down an inch farther.

Edward heard a scream from somewhere, and his head whipped around to look at where-ever it had come from. He could faintly smell human... and then the wind blew their direction, and it was even stronger. Two of them, both girls, younger than twenty. And probably never going to live to see twenty, now that Jasper had smelled them.

Z-Z-Z-Z-Z

"My job." He smiled. "I heard something crash? A coffee cup?" He chuckled, motioning to the brown splotch on the floor. "It requires me to come." His eyes were sparkling. "Out of curiosity, why did you chuck a cup of perfectly good coffee at a innocent door?"

Tally arched an eyebrow. "Job?" she echoed, stretching out the word and curiously rolling it on her tongue. "Are you training to Batman's replacement or something?" she teased, grinning at him a little.
Then her eyes followed his and she winced. She darted off to grab a rag and dropped to her knees, sopping up the mess. "Uhm," She glanced over her shoulder at him, pursing her lips. "I was just..." She sighed and shook her head. "Hissy fit," she finally said, her tone flat and mortified.

-------

Jasper's nostrils flared and his fists clenched. "Edward," he said, his voice wavering only the slightest. He looked at his fellow vampire friend; and then, he disappeared.

I screamed too, my eyes wide. "Holy fudge dipped monkey nuggets!" I wailed, standing. And then I considered how idiotic that statement was, 'fudged dipped monkey nuggets.'
Whatever.
I ran underneath her, putting my arms out as if to catch her, then yanking them back to my chest. "DON'T FALL!" I wailed shrilly. "Please, don't fall! I can't catch you! Maybe..." I looked at the tree.
Imposing.
I'm afraid of heights. And where Amanda was...that was a height.
I started to hyperventilate.

~~{}~~

{Sure, why not? ;D}
Luke didn't have that much time to react. "I'm not afraid to hit girls, it's called chivalr--" Down he went after being stood on. He wiggled out from under her, eyes wide. "That wasn't very polite," he snarled, lunging at her before he finished speaking.

[....Where'd he go? To eat me? Remember, la tua cantante. xD]

"I can't exactly control it!" I yelled back, slipping down a few inches. My palm gripped the branch, but it wouldn't hold long- the branch was already dipping lower and lower under my weight.
And then it snapped, and I plummetted to the floor of the forest, landing on my feet but hearing something crack. "Ouch." I muttered, forcing the tears out of my eyes as I hopped on one leg, lifting my leg up and looking at my ankle. Twisted, if not broken. Crud.

"Jasper!" Edward cried, chasing after him. "Where are you going? They're not worth it!"

"It's not very polite to invade a girl's space either." Lizzy said, punching his face with every word. "Now, get your sorry butt up and show me some of the chivalry." Her eyes were glowing now as she pulled the boy to his feet with his shirt.

[That's Lizzy for ya. Fighting to flirting in a second. xD]

"We all have them." Luke smiled, kneeling next to her and helping to mop up the now-cold coffee. "It's just something nobody talks about." His hand was on the small of her back gently. "Is something wrong? What happened that made you have a hissy fit? If you don't mind my asking."

{Maybe. xD And what does that mean? xD}

I screamed again when she fell and gagged when I heard the crack of her bone. My hand covered my mouth. I babbled into my hand, looking panicked; then I ran over. "Sit down," I squealed. "Please! Omigosh, omigosh, what do I do, uhh...Does it hurt really badly? Here, I'll--I'll--I'll make you an icepack."
I leaned against the tree and yanked off my boot, then my sock. Boot back on, I packed the sock with cold stuff (i.e., snow). Then I went to give it to her, hand trembling.

Jasper's eyes were wide. He was trying desperately to control himself, but he was so hungry. He hadn't fed in a while; he couldn't remember why. Jokingly, he thought, Oh, am I about to break my diet?
He caught himself against a tree, and clung to it, his normally large eyes even larger than normal. Shutting his eyes, he turned his head downwind, and breathed deeply. He couldn't kill two mere children. He couldn't.
But their smell was so enticing...Especially the one....

-----

Tally thanked him with a heavy sigh and a nod of her head. Then she glanced up at him, pursing her lips. "Yes," she said. "There's something wrong. Actually, I was just thinking. Became overly frustrated with myself. And I do mind your query, yes, as well do I mind your hand on my back." She brushed his hand away before standing and going to wring out her towel in the sink.

~~{}~~

Luke hung there like a naughty puppy; he pouted. "So you may attack me but I'm not aloud anywhere near you?" He laughed. "Women." he said, shaking his head. "The most complicated things on Earth. Let me go, Love, unless you want me to deliberately come closer and free myself." He winked at her.

[My blood sings for him. xD]
[I really really wanna make a template for my Luke. xD]
{*folds arms* I find it hilarious that in the Haven, Luke can hug Tally for minutes, yet here he can't even put his hand on her back. xD]

"It's fine, Heather." I muttered, leaning against the tree I had fallen from and wrapping the ice pack around my ankle. It hurt like crazy, and a few tears rolled down my cheeks as it throbbed. "Can you grab my cell phone out of my bookbag? I'll call my mom."

"Jasper!" Edward cried again, following him up the tree. Coincidentally, it was the one Amanda had fallen out of and the one that she was leaning against. This wasn't going to be pretty.
When Carlisle heard Edward's yell, he had gone into the forest, yelling for Emmett to follow. And now he was there, looking at Amanda's ankle with interest and concern. "Jasper, get out of here." He hissed, helping Amanda to her feet. "You don't want to be a monster." And then the wind blew the wrong way, and Amanda's hair flew in Jasper's direction.

Lizzy smiled, her eyes still sparkling. "I disagree. Males are more complicated- one second you're trying to kill me, and the next you're hitting on me." She giggled, running a hand through her golden blond locks.

He chuckled to himself, putting his hands behind his back. "Well, since you're okay then, I guess I can go back to the forest. Nice to meet you, ma'am." He tipped his hat in farewell, and then walked out the front door, shutting it quietly behind him. He began to job towards the forest, his favorite tree coming into view.

{Ah! Lol! That's cute. xD}
{*tilts head* Template?}
{*giggles* I know. =D Tally and I are bipolar like that. xDD}

Tally snorted softly to herself as he left, calling, "Nice to meet you too. Watch out; I heard there were wolves out there." She shrugged and got out her broom.
Alone again.
Silently, her movements slow and lethargic, she swept up the shattered ceramic cup.

------

I froze, watching the scene unfold before me. Some guy helping Amanda to her feet. Three more guys in the tree she'd just fallen out of. My normally slightly large eyes were huge in fear, and I just stood there, mouth agape. The term "fish out of water" would be insulting the fish. I was just being an idiot, period!
My lips formed, "Amanda!" but no sound came out. I slowly backed up to her back pack and started to look for her phone, staring at the man who was near her. Did she know him? If she did, I must look like a total mental patient to them, I thought.

Jasper lunged, gasping audibly--

but Emmet came to the rescue, Emmet caught him. "Whoa there, Killer," he grunted, using a tone one would use to scold a dog. "Where do you think you're going?" He wrapped his arms tightly around Jasper's chest.

Jasper, in shock, thrashed about a little.

~~{}~~

Luke grinned back at her, enjoying the sort of bipolar chemistry between the two of them. "I like it better when I'm hitting on you than anything, Love," He looked her over. "My, are you beautiful." He got away from her slightly, standing now near a tree. "Why were we fighting again?"

I followed. Every neuron in my brain screamed at me to turn around and run off for help--STRANGER DANGER!--but I followed like a good little girl and prayed that this dude wasn't some sort of child predator.
I walked alongside of Amanda, carrying her backpack and my own, as well as trying to juggle the study guide that was still out. I stuck that in my mouth and hobbled on, tripping over something every two seconds; I tend to trip over my own foot when I'm nervous.

Jasper finally stopped fighting. His eyes closed slowly and he tilted his head back, clenching his lips together tightly. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, not moving.

Emmet didn't let him go. He looked at Edward for help. "Can you help me cage this bad-boy?" he asked, glancing at Jasper with a bit of an amused expression.

~~{}~~

Luke gasped. "Well, darling, I'm very sorry about that." He loved it when he didn't even have to work hard to seduce them.
He Smiled at Her Lovingly, reaching out to stroke her cheek. "Do you forgive me?"

[Plan: Jasper's all tortured at home, so I limp out to the forest and start to cry because I caused all this, he comes out to tell me that he's sorry for not controlling himself and that it's not my fault, I forgive him, he helps me up since I can't walk... and then Alice sees us.]

We got to the house okay, and I grabbed my bag from Heather. "Where are we?" I asked, glancing at Heather. "I am Carlisle Cullen. I apologize for Jasper's behavior." My mouth dropped open. Wide open.
"Jasper Hale?" I squeaked. "Yes."
I grabbed Jasper's wrists, leading him farthur into the forest. "What happened?" I hissed as I let go of his wrists. A lion ran past, and I pounced.


"Anyway, what happened back there?" I asked, leaving the bloodless carcas behind. "It's like she was Bella or something."

"Of course." Lizzy smiled. And then it all went wrong.
"Hello Lucas, Elizabeth." Alexi dropped out of the tree, landing between them. "Ah, I rather hoped you would meet. Lucas, apparently your power even works on the ones I believe to be strong. Maybe I was mistaken." She glanced at Lizzy. "You let him do this? Ah, perhaps I was mistaken after all."

{Plan = Very niiiiice. ;D Let's do zat, shall we!}
{Does Alexi know them already, may I inquire?

Luke had been about to either kiss Lizzy or whisper something in her ear when Alexi arrived. He looked rather agitated. "Excuse me, you just ruined a moment!" he snapped, glaring at her as he crossed his arms.

~~{}~~

Jasper's first response was to mindlessly ask what a lion was doing in the middle of the forest, but he bit that back. He looked confused. "I don't know," he murmured, staring off into the forest. "I suppose maybe that was the case. She smelled, Edward, so--"

"She needed to take a shower, then," Emmet cut in with a boyish grin. Jasper gave Emmet a look and Emmet rolled his eyes, exclaiming, "Lighten up!"

Jasper sighed and dismissed the childlike behavior from Emmet, continuing, "She smelled strongly. It was alluring, hypnotizing. I was...I was weak." He pursed his lips.

[How am I doing with playing them? =]]

------

I looked at Amanda and then back again, my eyes wide. I'd read the Twilight series, yes, and I had fallen in love with Edward, and then with Jacob. But then I'd put the books down and gotten sick of it all when the media jumped on the band wagon, along with every other teenaged girl.
I was stunned; these names, this guy...it was all too familiar...just like that book--
No, it was impossible. Books are books, stories are stories, life is life. There's a difference between the three, and it's called reality.
I just started at the alleged Carlisle, my mouth slightly agape.

[Yay! ]
[Alexi knows them, but they don't know her. xD]

Lizzy laughed, but glared at Alexi. "Who are you, might I ask?" She said, standing up and leaning against a tree. One might see it as casual, but this was her way of beginning a battle. "Alexi Jager, Elizabeth. And I suggest that you go about your buisness. This boy should have nothing on you." She pointed to Luke. "He will only hinder you and your strength, as he has already done."

~~~

I glanced at my friend, biting my lip and looking confused. "And let me guess- you're a vampire that eats animals? And you're also a doctor? And Edward can read minds?" I asked. He nodded. "Yes. It's all true. And Jasper- he's not as... controlled as we are. His past lifestyle doesn't help with the new one he's trying to adapt to."

"Jasper, we're all weak at some point. You just need to lay off a bit- go home and relax." Edward soothed, his now-golden eyes compassionate. "Come on- I'll go with you. It happens to everyone at some point, Jasper- you just went through yours." Edward continued with things like this until they got to the house.

[Fantabulous!]

Luke couldn't get Tally out of his mind. He was bored of sitting in a tree, waiting for something to happen. All he could think of was Tally- her eyes, her sarcastic comments, her pushing him away. So intriguing, to find another vampire after all these years. And he had pushed her away.

{*claps hands*}
{*gasps* Stalker. xD}

Jasper listened to Edward, but his words went in one ear and out the other. He put on a face to please the guy; one that said, "Yes, I'm listening. Yes, I agree with everything you're saying. Thank you for comforting me." But his eyes told another story. They looked off, far away, as if he were remembering something. Or trying to forget something. Either way, he wasn't really listening to Edward.

Emmet nodded and put his two cents in every so often, but he got bored with Edward's babbling, too. After a while he leaned over to him and whispered, "Edward, he's not listening."

I resisted a fan-girl squee of joy. "So you're all...not fake?" I blurted, unable to contain myself any longer.
Then I realized how stupid that was, and went back to trying to play it cool. I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms and saying, "I mean, it's, uh, it's cool to meet you, Mr. Carlisle Cullen Sir Dude."
Sir dude? Really? Ugh, Heather...

{Yea! =]}

~~{}~~

Luke's eyebrows shot high up to rest far upon his forehead. "Excuse me, but, uhm," he stepped back and waved his hand, "Bye. Don't know you, and don't want anything to do with you, Alexi Jager."

{Does that mean I bring Tally back in?}

[Yup!]

"Ah, but you already have everything to do with me, young one." Alexi smiled lightly, her eyes glinting. "You just don't know it yet." Lizzy nodded, looking at Alexi with a newfound wonder. "Haven't seen you around much, Lex. Glad you're back." Alexi winked in return, and Lizzy nodded.

~~~

I laughed, sending Heather a look that said, "Sir dude? Really?" I turned back to Carlisle, trying to keep a calm expression on my face. "Yes, we are real, Heather." He seemed to ignore the Sir Dude thing, which I found good, because Heather was already embarrassed enough.

Edward appeared to not be listening, but he did stop jabbering on and on and on. He just looked straight ahead until the trio walked into the house- and he saw Amanda. Or rather, he smelled her. Uh-oh.

[Yup.]

Tally lay in her hammock now in her backyard, flipping through pages in her book boredly. She stuck her leg out and planted it on the ground, kicking once. Slowly, the cloth human half-cocoon rocked back and forth.

-----

My face was dark red and I stood there bashfully, not saying a word. I just nodded.

Jasper gave Edward a dark look. "They're here," he snarled, seeming frustrated. "I thought he was taking them home--their home?!"

"Guess not. Common, Jaspie!" Emmet sang, brushing past the two of them. "We're hoooome!"

Jasper looked at Edward pleadingly, saying not a word.

~~{}~~

Luke stood there, saying nothing. "I'm confused," he announced.

"You should be." Lizzy commented, tossing her golden locks behind her. "Alexi and I have known each other for centuries, and she hasn't updated her Facebook in three years." Alexi laughed. "Hey, being a vampire takes a lot of time, you know." Lizzy rolled her eyes. "I still get on!"

~<3~<3~

Amanda got writer's block, so she just kinda stood there. And stood there. And twiddled her thumbs while standing there. And breathed. And did other normal human things. Until the post was long enough and looked elite, so she stopped typing.

"Just stay here." Edward muttered, walking into the house after Emmett. "Carlisle?" He said quietly, and explained the situation.

I could jsut barely hear what they were saying,
"La tua cantante...."
"Yes, thirst...."
"...Torture... pain...."
Only one thing: My being here was forcing Jasper into exile. It was obvious. This was all my fault. And I hated it.
"I'll be back." I muttered, not knowing if it was true or not. And I slipped out the door Jasper wasn't at and half-ran, half-limped into the forest, where I collapsed on a rock and cried.

Luke was in a tree, staring up at the cloudy sky and wondering what was going on elsewhere. He was so bored and so lifeless at tiems like these- there was nothing to do, nowhere to go, and no one to talk to. Except that girl Tally...

Jasper got frustrated with just standing there and doing nothing. He pulled his lips into a straight line, going around the house, towards the back. He heard a door slam, and wondered if Edward had decided to go out that way.

When he neared the door, he smelled that girl.

Her scent seemed to curl around his sense, making him almost dizzy. Something inside of him flared with delight, and his eyes went wide in surprise. Unable to control himself, he followed after that amazing aroma, walking along through the woods.

It was a beautiful day, though probably chilly to a human. Sun shone through the bare branches, casting blunt shadows down onto his pale skin.

He reached the girl and hung back, seeing she was crying. A feeling of uneasiness came over him, and he pursed his lips. "Are you alright?" he asked slowly, trying to Calm her.

I lingered, afraid to leave without Amanda, yet terrified to follow and leave the vampires. I was still quite frazzled, mind you, and my mind was racing a million or so miles an hour. I was wondering what my mom would think when she found I'd gone home with a stranger--what my father would do when he found out the strangers were all guys--what the vampires could do to me--if I smelled so good, like Amanda did?--was I in trouble?

My mind bounced from subject to subject like a wayward ball.

[][<\3][]


Luke snorted, rolling his eyes and murmuring, "Facebook, pshht, that's so 2009...." He straightened his back. "I, unlike you two, despite the internet and never use it. Partially because there's no Wifi in the middle of the woods, but, whatever." He rolled his eyes.

Now, however, he was wondering who this Alexi girl was. Well, he knew who she was--he knew her name--but she'd ruined a perfectly good moment between him and Lizzie, which frustrated him, of course. He sighed, tapping his foot and crossing his arms; universal signs of annoyance and low tolerance.

--~--~--

Tally shut the book. She lay in her hammock for a moment, her eyes lightly shut. She started to sing. The song was old, and in another language--a dead language that stumbled off of her tongue with frightening ease. It was English, but a curious form of it. The song lilted to the swing of her hammock, making the whole seen sort of theatrical. She sang loud and proud, unafraid of someone hearing her, because she knew her singing was beautiful, and if someone were to insult her, she wouldn't care anyway.

She ran her fingers through her hair, shaking it loose before letting her arms dangle off the side of the hammock.

Her song continued, growing from upbeat and sweet to lonely yet intimate. A love song, possibly?

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." I said absentmindly, taking a deep, shuddering breath and turning around. "Jasper!" I gasped, stumbling back and tripping over a rock. Which happened to be at the top of a very tall hill. "Ouch!" I tripped and fell backwards, stumbling and rolling and trying to get my balance back until I was halfway down and standing... but, of course, since it was me, when I tried to climb back up, I tripped yet again and got battered up as I managed to keep going down in an embarrassing way. By the time I was at the bottom, my twisted ankle was throbbing, my face was battered and bruised, I had about a million cuts, and I was basically hurting all over. "Sorry." I said quickly, knowing the smell of my blood was going to drive him crazy. But I could barely move to get up and run, so I just stood up and held a tree branch as my little cuts throbbed. This was not the way I had imagined meeting Jasper.

Edward had nothing to say. He simply stood there and was eye candy for the ever-adoring Heather.

"Alexi?" Lizzy said quietly, whispering so quietly that not even Luke could hear. "Listen, he's on our side. He'd be a great ally, but I just have to get close to him. Please?" She bit her lip pleadingly. "Fine, Liz. You always were the romantic. Maybe if you get what you want, you'll stop with this and focus." She teased. "I'll talk to you later, okay? But don't let him get to you." And with that, she was gone.

"Sorry- old friend." Lizzy smiled, flipping her hair gently over her shoulder. "Where were we?" She giggled flirtatiously, her eyes sparkling with delight.

"That's beautiful, you know." Luke said quietly, coming from behind with his hands behind his back. "By the way... I'm sorry about the other day." He gave a small, real smile, hoping that she would accept his apology. And so he stood there and waited for her, his head tilted slightly to the side, a smile on his lips, his eyes sparkling.

[Yo, person. Reply? ]

{}

Tally opened her eyes and glanced up at him. "You think so? Thank you." She stopped singing so that she could speak, but let the hammock continue to sway. She watched him apologize, and mused over how hopeful he looked. She chuckled softly.

"You don't have to apologize, really, it's fine," she told him, nodding her head. She shrugged, too, to show that it was honestly no big deal. She paused for a moment, and then added; "It was my fault, so please don't feel bad or anything. In fact, you're probably the first person I've talked to in a good year, so I'm and was happy to be in another being's presence." She smiled.

----[]----

Luke arched his eyebrow. "Would you care to explain that old friend of yours?" he snorted. "She scared me..." He shuddered, looking a bit perplexed for a moment. Then he shook his head, sighing a little.

"Where were we?" he echoed, genuinely having forgotten.

---~~~---

I glanced at him and then towards the door. Slowly I raised my thumb to my lip and started to bite at my cuticle. I felt so out of place, so small, so confused; and now, I was feeling nervous. Rocking back on my heels, I looked around. "Uhm," I cleared my throat loudly. "Should I, uh, go get Amanda, wherever, uhm, she left?"

I coughed into my elbow and continued, now starting to babble: "I'm really sorry about all of this, by the way, we probably ruined your whole afternoon and I feel absolutely terrible especially because Amanda seems to be causing Jasper a bit of discomfort and I've been standing around quite uselessly and I don't really mean to it's just I really don't think I'm supposed to be here right now if my mother knew where I was I'd be in so much trouble that it wouldn't be funny--" I kept on like that, wringing my hands behind my back and focusing on my sneakers.

Jasper cursed under his breath, watching. The smell of her blood hit him like a freight train, and he stumbled back a step, his eyes shooting wide open in alarm. He watched her fall, feeling his heart sink with longing to help her and at the same time rage with lust for her blood.

He shook his head. He had to help her, there wasn't any way out of it. If he turned to run, something could happen to her. That, and he'd appear to be a, well, wimp. So he chose to run down the hill and helped lift her to her feet, grumbling, "You're quite the clumsy one, aren't you?"