Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, New Moon or Eclipse or any of the characters created by Stephenie Meyer. I do own Artemis, however, so no stealing her. .
Bella smiled when she saw Angela, Ben and Mike already sitting next to Alice and Jasper at the lunch table. Everyone was speaking excitedly to one another about something Bella couldn't hear. But it looked like everyone was getting along without any thought to how everything was supposed to be awkward between the Cullens and… normal people. Bella smiled and silently thanked who or whatever the five were talking about for making today's lunch better than most. It seemed she wouldn't have to be the bridge between the two worlds today.
She glanced up at Edward walking beside her and could tell from the look in his eyes that he was searching everyone's thoughts for what the excitement was about. It didn't take ten seconds before he relaxed and picked up his pace towards the table. Bella rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. She knew Edward loved to know everything that was going on. It annoyed him to no end that he never knew what Bella was thinking. Unfortunately, no one else had the privilege of hiding their thoughts from the nosy vampire.
When the couple got to their lunch table, everyone paused and looked up. Mike smiled warmly at Bella and ignored Edward completely but he stayed in his spot across from Ben instead of moving to sit across from Angela like he normally did in order to gain closer access to Bella. She wondered why for a moment but then thought better of it. Why look a gift horse in the mouth? It was nice to know that Mike wasn't still trying to throw himself at her anymore. Edward took his place across from Jasper and Bella sat across from Alice with a smile on her face. Alice smiled brightly back at her and it looked like she was looking forward to something, anxious, almost. But that couldn't be right, could it? Alice never had cause to be anxious about anything; she knew exactly what was going to happen before it ever did. Bella figured she was reading the emotions wrong and pushed the feeling aside.
Once Edward and Bella sat down, Mike jumped at the chance to tell them (or rather Bella) what everyone was excited about. "You'll never guess what happened, Bella!" he exclaimed excitedly. "There's a new girl in school! She's a senior like us, which is the surprising part."
Ben continued when Mike stopped to take a breath, much to Mike's annoyance, "We don't get many new students around here and when they're seniors, it's even stranger because seniors usually finish out high school before moving here, just to keep everything less complicated."
Angela smiled at Bella and told her portion of the story a little more quietly, "She's in my second hour, Bella. She's very nice. I think you'll like her a lot. I invited her to have lunch with us. I hope you guys don't mind." She finished with a small frown, realizing that she hadn't asked anyone before inviting someone new to the lunch table.
Bella smiled enthusiastically at her, feeling very excited, "Of course not! I can't wait to meet her." She wasn't exaggerating. Bella had been the new girl since she moved to Forks almost a year ago. It was about time the attention was off of her. She cringed a bit on the inside, hoping the new girl didn't mind being the center of attention. Before anyone had time to barrage Bella with more accounts of the new girl, Ben suddenly pointed out someone coming up behind Bella and then waved energetically. Mike turned quickly in his seat and everyone else moved or turned their head to get a good look at who was coming.
Bella's breath caught in her throat. The girl Ben and Mike were now waving at and motioning towards them was the most beautiful girl Bella had ever seen, and that was definitely saying something considering she had seen Esme, Alice and, most importantly, Rosalie. The girl smiled when she saw Ben and Mike waving enthusiastically at her and Angela smiling sweetly. When she walked over to the lunch table, it was like watching a ballerina glide across the dance floor. She was as graceful as Alice when she moved but Bella noticed an immediate difference. Alice had a look about her that she could turn herself invisible whenever she wanted. This new girl looked like you would notice her no matter what; like she would never make a good hunter because no matter how much camouflage she wore, every animal in the forest would see her. No one could pass her up in a million years. "She's not human," Bella managed to whisper. But it was so quiet a whisper that it was like she mouthed the words. Only the other three non-human beings surrounding her could hear her and they didn't respond simply because they knew it was true, but they didn't know what she was.
She smelled both of wolf and of their kind. They scrunched up their noses without realizing it and Edward wrapped his arm around Bella and pulled her close, just in case this new girl didn't have good intentions. When she came to the table, she smiled brightly and Bella, trying to figure out what she was, wondered for a moment if she was an angel. After all, if werewolves and vampires existed, what else was there? The girl had bright blue eyes and dark black hair. Bella assumed she wasn't a vampire because her eyes weren't black, yellow or red: the only colors she had ever seen in the eyes of a vampire. But her fluid movements and incredibly small figure (which reminded her of a smaller Alice, as hard as it is to believe) made it impossible for her to be a werewolf. Not to mention, Bella had never seen a werewolf who was a girl.
The girl spoke first to the humans she had already been introduced to. "Hello Mike, Ben. Hi Angela," her sweet voice brought a picture of angles ringing bells to announce the girl's presence to the front of Bella's mind. The girl turned her smile to the four remaining people at the table, "Hello, other people who I haven't yet been introduced to," she said with a soft giggle. When her eyes fell on Bella, Edward tightened his grip and Jasper and Alice tensed up. "Except for you, of course," the girl said with a hint of mischievousness and a goal accomplished. "You must be Bella."
Bella sent a quick glance toward Mike assuming he's been the one to tell the new girl all about her. "Hi. I guess people around her talk about me a lot, huh?" she said and felt Edward get annoyed at the fact that she wasn't being cautious around this girl that he obviously didn't trust.
The girl giggled, seemingly oblivious to Edward's annoyance, and shook her head, "Angela told me a little about you, yes. But that's not how I knew who you were." Bella was surprised,
Bella was surprised, "Really?" she asked and then wondered briefly if that sounded vain.
"Yep!" the new girl giggled again not giving Bella time to feel abashed, "To tell you the truth, I'd have recognized you in the middle of a crowded street." Bella sent her a confused look and she giggle again at her inside joke before finally letting everyone else in on the fun, "You see I live in La Push. Jacob's told me all about you. By the way, he says 'Hi'."