Chapter 1 – New Girl
School was boring. Of course, for someone like me, who'd graduated from high school countless times it would be.
I tuned out from the multitude of voices in my head only by tracing patterns in the plaster of the desk before me. Patterns which did not exist. The only way to rest myself from the gift I had.
Reading human minds was so easy for me. Not one mind eluded me yet, and this was good. Little did I expect this was about to change.
I had heard so many times that there was a new addition to the small student population here. Within my own mind I laughed that it took so little to stir them all up. It was just an ordinary human girl. Most of the human males were constantly picturing themselves in love with her. I knew this was only because she was a new thing for them to look at.
There were four voices that I tried to block out of courtesy, rather than distaste, my two brothers and two sisters. They were used to the lack of privacy with me around. I tried not to listen to them, give what privacy I could.
Though it was worth my time, because I did not need to hear them so much, I still knew.
Rosalie was always thing about... herself. She was so interested in her image; it was rare for her to think of anything else.
Emmett fumed over a wrestling match lost against Jasper late last night. He was waiting impatiently for the end of school today, so they could have a rematch, at home of course.
Jasper... he was suffering. I hid a sigh from this.
Edward. Alice, my last sibling, called my name in her head, and I turned my attention to her mentally in an instant. My head did not turn to her, but stayed as it was. Rarely did anyone catch us at these mute conversations.
How is he holding up? She asked.
I frowned, the set of my mouth changing very minutely. It looked as if I frowned out of boredom, nothing more.
I could see her watching Jasper with her peripheral vision. She was alarmed now, I could tell from her mental tone as she said, Is there any danger?
I slightly shook my head, enough for her to notice but no one else.
She relaxed. Let me know if it gets too bad.
I did not respond this time. It was not that easy to listen to Jasper's struggles. It was not, in my own mind, a good idea for him to test himself like this. He may never become as easy as the rest of us to control his thirst. Why could he not accept that?
Two weeks had passed by since our last hunting trip. No difficult time span for the rest of us to handle. A little uncomfortable if humans walked too close. Instinct told them that we were dangerous, they rarely came very close.
Jasper was dangerous now.
A small girl stopped to talk to a friend near us. She tossed her short sandy hair. A heater blew her scent towards us.
I was used to the way it made me feel – the dry ache in my stomach, the automatic tightening of my muscles, the excess flow of venom in my mouth...
Normal for me to handle. Not so easy when monitoring Jasper as well.
Jasper let his imagination flow away from him. He was picturing it – getting up from his seat next to Alice, going to stand next to the little girl. He'd go to whisper something to her, but allow his lips to touch the arch of her throat...
Quickly I kicked his chair.
I heard shame and rebellion in his head. He would have to hunt tonight.
Edward Cullen.
I instantly looked across to see who it was that thought my name. Briefly my eyes locked onto two chocolate brown eyes, in a heart shaped face. I turned my eyes away from that girl, she was not the one to have thought my name. The girl on the left was the one.
Finding that groups thoughts very uninteresting, I turned myself back to monitoring Jasper.
Then I muttered to Emmett, "Jessica Stanley is giving the new Swan girl all the dirty laundry on the Cullen clan."
Emmett chuckled under his breath. I hope she's making it good, he thought.
"Rather unimaginative, actually. Just the barest hint of scandal. Not an ounce of horror. I am a little disappointed."
And the new girl? Is she disappointed in the gossip as well?
When I tried to get an answer, which came from listening to her mind, I was startled. I was unable to grasp her thoughts. It was as if she'd left, but a quick glance up told me she was still where I'd seen her. I was surprised; she was watching me, and my family with interest.
