The first time Edward heard about her was, contrary to what one might have expected, actually through Carlisle. The blond man had jokingly told him about how many times he had been subjected to conversation about the new arrival in town by his patients. Edward, not knowing about what he was talking about, had asked for more information. Carlisle had then explained that Zehira Zeidan -one of the most influential fashion icons in the world, according to Alice anyway- was receiving her teenage niece to live with her for the last two years of the girl's highschool education.
Edward had laughed and said that it was no wonder the town was so excited, since they so rarely had anything interesting happen to them.
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The second time Edward heard about her was through Alice. It was a relaxed day for the Cullen family, one of the last few days of the winter holidays so they decided to spend it as a family. It was during a game of Monopoly that Alice had her vision. The rest of them didn't think anything of it, as it was a pretty common occurrence for her to have one. But Edward had seen it as well, through his sister's mind, and it had worried him. He wanted to say something about it, but the black haired pixie-like woman had shot him a warning look, so he had agreed to just add it to the many secrets he and Alice kept between them.
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The first time Edward saw her was on a Monday morning, through the many eyes of the unsuspecting student population. He had been surprised at her, as she was clearly nothing he had ever expected, not that he had particularly thought about her much in the first place.
The girl was very beautiful, and that was saying something because he, as a Vampire, had seen his fair share of beautiful women in his lifetime, and seduced quite a few of them himself. In truth, Edward thought very little of the human race; according to him; humans were weak, ugly in comparison to his own race and far too shallow. The only redeeming quality they had was their intelligence, and even that was few and far between.
(But in the deepest recesses of his dark, twisted mind, he envied them greatly.)
The new girl was exotic, in every sense of the word. She was taller than the average female, standing at about five-eight, with a figure most males would immediately take notice of and judging by her muscle tone, he could tell that she worked out, probably doing a type of martial arts. She lived up to the Egyptian stereotype of beautiful women, with tan, bronze skin, though not as tan as others he had seen, graceful feminine movements and a hypnotizing voice which he heard carried many other foreign accents that she had picked up, adding all the more to his first thought of 'exotic'. Her facial features were even more unique, brandishing large, extremely light caramel colored eyes, which looked like his own sometimes, mauve colored hair which he could tell was natural by his superior eyesight, unblemished skin, a pointed nose, plump dark pink lips and a slightly narrow jaw.
To be honest, the girl could have passed as Vampire, only if her skin wasn't so tan.
He was also interested to note that, through much observation (because she was literally the only interesting thing within a five mile radius), she was very intelligent. She even, dare he say, seemed bored with her classes. She was peculiar, and he found himself observing her with even more interest. He could tell that she was naturally a recluse and did not appreciate the company of her fellow students. She had a very sarcastic sense of humor, bordering on morbid or mocking, but he also noticed that she could be kind if she wanted to, but it was rare. He tried searching for her mind throughout the first half of the day, but was frustrated to find that he just could not find her.
It was unnerving, but he didn't think that much of it.
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The first time he actually saw her with his own eyes was during lunch hour, when he and his siblings had made their way in. As always, as soon as they made their entrance, he was assaulted by the mixed thoughts of the student body, most filled with awe, others envy and quite a bit of jealousy. But as always, he ignored them, and this time he was focused on someone in particular.
There she was, sitting at the table in the middle of the dining hall, looking completely bored and out of place. She didn't look up when they entered, obviously not thinking anything of it, but it was only when she realized everyone was staring at them that she looked up to see what all the commotion was about. Edward was surprised, and only slightly amused to find that she didn't look particularly impressed by them.
"They're kinda ugly don't you think?" She asked casually. Rosalie faltered mid-step, unnoticeable to the human eye but visible to the rest of them. Japer looked surprised, Emmett looked amused and Alice vaguely insulted, but mostly interested.
He later heard that she didn't particularly man it literally, but in the sense that most beautiful people were arrogant, which was true. Rosalie was the perfect example. Said blond had actually been quite enraged by her statement, bristling like an insulted cat and shooting death glares at the girl in the middle of the cafeteria, who seemed completely oblivious.
He heard her ask who they were, only to surprise him, as well as the rest of his siblings as she defended their family's honor and put Jessica in her place.
She was interesting; most people wouldn't do that, especially if they hadn't even met the family and so he found himself even more fascinated by her.
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The first time he smelled her was during Biology, and as soon as her scent his unsuspecting nostrils, all that previous fascination turned into resentment.
Never in his life had he smelt something so strong. So alluring. So damn appetizing.
But as he thought of the numerous ways of which he could lure her away like the prey she was, he actually caught sight of her from his own perspective, and not the monster's inside of him. He saw how she was sitting completely still, as far away as possible away from him. He realized that somewhere along the line, she had put down her ponytail and let her thick, wavy, long hair completely cover he neck and in response, muffle the scent of the tantalizing blood underneath. She had slowed her breathing, keeping it subtle and if he didn't know any better, it would have been as if she knew what was going through his mind. His thoughts of devouring her. As if she knew her effect on him and was deliberately helping him (or saving herself) by becoming as small as an inconvenience as possible.
But obviously, that was not the case, because there was no possible way that she could know what he was or what she was doing to him. But the mere thought of it was enough for him to calm down and regain his bearings and his sense of control, though the burning in his throat was still there, all he had to do was survive until the end of class, and then he would be free of her.
For the duration of that class he hated her, despised her, and utterly loathed her. Because who was she to just waltz in and threaten to destroy everything Carlisle and the rest of his family had worked so hard to achieve. The semblance of normal life which was so hard to find for those of their kind.
She; with her mouthwatering scent of scented spices, tulips and mint, was unlike anything he had ever smelt.
And then that hatred turned to himself, at his weakness because really, it wasn't the girl's fault for smelling the way she did.
He hated how he had almost snapped, as if all his hard years of self-control had gone to nothing in the mere presence of a human.
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The first time he spoke to her was on the following Monday, during Biology class. It was the day he had finally returned after his week in Alaska, and much to his own chagrin, as soon as he had seen her that day, his interest had resurfaced.
Especially when he heard the type of music she was listening to. It wasn't the volume at which it was playing (loud enough that almost the whole parking lot could hear) but instead, it was the type she was listening to. Edward had first heard it on the highway, when they had first approached the school thanks to his superior hearing, and he had found himself enjoying it. The woman singing sounded like she was straight from the fifties, using a soft voice, breathy notes and cheeky tones. It was different, something that the average modern teen would not like, instead preferring the fast pop tunes, crude rap songs and loud dance music but she, she was enjoying every minute of it.
He had spent the rest of the morning wondering if he could borrow the CD, just to hear more.
Lunch was spent observing her, much to the incredulousness of his siblings. He made no effort to conceal his stare, and Jessica Stanley had noticed, and decided to tell the object of his interest. The girl (after almost chocking to death from the force of Jessica's shove), had nonchalantly turned, and looked him straight in the eye. Much to his frustration, even after his millionth time of trying to delve into her mind, he failed. He was even more frustrated to see that she didn't outwardly react to him in any way. She didn't seem angry, happy, annoyed, anything at all –and with what seemed like a resigned sigh, she had turned away, her thick purple curls obscuring creating a curtain, blocking him out.
Biology came quickly, and as much as he dreaded speaking to her, he was eager as well. Alice had assured him that he would be alright and so, he decided to take the risk of conversing with her.
She walked in, paused briefly when she caught sight of him, before continuing as if she had done no such thing. She sat in her seat, ignoring his existence completely and opened a new page in her notebook, writing the date and title in her neat but still bold, cursive writing, so uncommon among teenagers.
He decided to make his move, and when he greeted her softly, despite is efforts of trying not to scare her, she jumped in surprise before looking at him. She blinked a moment before returning the greeting, seeming quite uninterested as she did so, scanning over the previous week's notes. Irrationally, he found himself bothered by her lack of interest in him. He was not used to such treatment, especially from a young teenaged female.
He decided to try again, first by apologizing for his previous week's rudeness and then by introducing himself. The raised eyebrow and blank look received in return told him that she wasn't impressed.
She asked how he knew her name and he wondered if she was really so oblivious by the whole town's interest in her, but he humored her by answering anyways. She let out a halfhearted hum, before returning to ignore him again, much to his bemusement. She then confronted him about his absence the previous weeks and he told her his ready-made lie, stating that he had familial problems. She smirked, and proceeded to pretend to understand about how his 'grandmother's sister's cousin's brother's daughter's friend's cousin's pet gold fish' had died. He was amused, because he knew that she was joking, and the sarcasm in her voice only added to his previous conclusion about her special sense of humor.
They exchanged idle conversation for a few minutes, and he was increasingly surprised by her answers. He learned that she was blunt and straight to the point. She said what was on her mind and wasn't afraid to do so. When his skin accidentally made contact with her own, she hadn't jumped or reacted, instead calmly pushing it aside with her index finger.
She was different, and he was intrigued.
Here it is! First chapter of Tracing Footsteps! Hope you liked it!
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