A Little Convincing

By Childhood Aspirations

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the characters. Salina Johnson is my own creation.

Chapter One: New Girl

I was standing in front of my locker, changing books for Biology when Edward materialized next to me. I nearly dropped all my stuff. My heart stopped for a split second before starting up again.

"Edward! What are you doing?" I yelped. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I lowered my voice. "Somebody's going to notice you speeding around one day and then where will you be?"

He smiled mockingly. "I highly doubt anyone could see me," he said arrogantly. "Besides, if someone did…" He smiled. His very white teeth sparkled dangerously. "I'm sure I'd be able to think of something."

I'm sure he would.

I was going to say something when I noticed the serious look on his smooth pale face. He was watching me inscrutably.

"What is it?" I asked, frowning. "Is something wrong?"

"Possibly," he said enigmatically. Alice walked past us at that moment, uttering a cheerful hello. I smiled back at her, but I didn't fail to notice the look she slipped to Edward, one of secrets.

There was something going on here that I didn't know about, and I had a feeling they weren't going to tell me what it was.

"Edward…" I said warningly once Alice was gone.

He flashed me his trademark crooked grin, the one that makes me melt. "Yes, Bella?" he asked innocently. I glared at him. He was doing it deliberately, trying to make me forget by dazzling me. I forced myself to look away.

"I'm not going to drop it, Edward," I told him firmly. He gave me his own glare, irritated that I wouldn't let it go. "What's going on?"

"Alice saw something," he said reluctantly with a sigh. "Danger. Danger surrounding you, of course. She couldn't see what specifically, or why, or who…" He studied me. "Maybe you should skip PE today."

I protested, which didn't really make sense, since PE certainly isn't one of my favorite classes. But I didn't want Edward to spend the whole day protecting me.

More than he usually does, anyway…

"What about skipping Biology instead?" I suggested sweetly, teasing him. "We're not doing anymore blood testing or anything like that today, are we?"

He grimaced. "No. Educational video, I think. Emmett slept for most of class, so he really couldn't tell me anything useful." He slipped his arm around my waist and took half my books from me, stacking them on top of his own, which he held effortlessly in the crook of his free arm. "And, for the record, there's no way I'm going to let you skip Biology." His golden eyes sparkled at me. My heart pounded into overdrive. My cheeks flushed as I noted his faint smile and knew he'd heard it.

No fair…

I sniffed. "I wouldn't want to skip Biology anyway," I said, trying to pretend that it wasn't because I was miserable when I couldn't be with him. "But I shouldn't skip PE. The coach might get suspicious, and besides, you know that Mike Newton will be wanting to know why I wasn't there."

Edward growled low in his throat. The sound made me shiver. He did not like Mike, or the way Mike looked at me, or the thoughts that went running through Mike's head whenever he looked at me… Even if I couldn't understand what both Edward and Mike saw in me, it was kind of nice to know that Edward was so possessive of me.

And then there were the times when it wasn't so convenient…

But those times didn't come along very often. Most of the time I'm too busy continuing to fall head-over-heels for this vampire.

I love Edward.

A lot. A lot, a lot…

We made our way to the back table. That back table will always have special significance in my mind because of all that happened back there: the smoldering looks, the dazzling, the conversations that served only to convince me that Edward can pretty much do anything he wants to me and I'll still love him… I'm beginning to notice that all of it is really on Edward's part.

I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing…

The teacher waited impatiently for everyone to sit down hurriedly as the final bell rang. "New student today, class," he said shortly. "This is Salina Johnson. She just moved here from…" He looked at her. "Where was it again?"

"British Columbia," she said distinctly. Was it just me or did her expression convey that she found our teacher a bit slow. It had to be just me. I was sitting in the back row. How could I tell?

British Columbia, huh? That explained the accent, the strange lilt of certain words and syllables that you wouldn't expect any emphasis to be put on. I studied this new girl, trying to keep my mouth from falling open. She had to be the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen, barring Rosalie and Alice, of course, but they aren't human, so they don't count.

Salina had long, wavy hair, a reddish auburn that…reminded me of Edward's hair? Even from where I sat, I could tell that she had green eyes, the brightest green eyes I had ever seen. They reminded me of jewels. Her figure…I looked away before the pity party could overtake me. Nonetheless, life just isn't fair. I glanced over at the vampire sitting next to me. His face was expressionless, except for the small frown he wore. I wondered what he was thinking.

I glanced up to find Salina inspecting the class. Her cool gaze swept over the room, taking in the students and then dismissing them just as quickly, as though she found them dull and uninteresting already. I tensed in apprehension as her eyes turned toward us. She looked right past me, but stopped on Edward. I stiffened. Edward's frown deepened.

"Why don't you take a seat over there, Salina," the teacher said, preoccupied, motioning in the vague direction of the back. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. No, please. Don't come sit by us. Please, don't…

Saline gathered her books and walked slowly to the back of the class, still watching Edward out of the corner of her eyes. He didn't look at her at all, not even a glance, but he seemed troubled. She sat down at the table right next to us, squeezing in next to two guys who were staring at her, goggle-eyed.

I thought ruefully to myself that nothing any guy had thought on my first day could ever compare to what they were no doubt thinking now.

But that was fine, really. I didn't need any guys to be thinking lustful thoughts about me.

Class started and I tried to forget the new girl sitting just across the aisle from me. I kind of wished that I could trade places with Edward, but I didn't want to offend her. Such an action would be too obvious.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a hand tapped my arm. Salina was leaning toward me, green eyes intent.

"Hello," she said quietly.

"Hi," I stammered, staring at her.

"I'm Salina. Nice to meet you." She held out her hand and after a moment I realized that she wanted me to shake it. I gave her an apologetic smile and accepted the handshake quickly. She straightened and directed her attention back to the teacher.

A small smile curved her pouting lips.

A feeling of lightheadedness overtook me. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, hard and fast. Wha-? What was happening?

The last thing I remember before I passed out was Edward catching me up in his arms and running for the door of the classroom. And a snarl from his lips once we were in the hall.

And a malicious little chuckle.

A feminine one.