Chapter 1
Bella does P.E
Green bay High School.
Only the second high school I'd attended since I was turned into a vampire.
The first high school that made P.E compulsory.
Ugh.
I stepped into the changing room wearily. I had a clean record so far, but my close call 12ish weeks ago had prompted the next big move. It didn't matter if humans knew what we were any more, but it was pretty hard to go to school if your classmates were absolutely terrified of you.
"Bella!" Maddy skipped up to me, bright red curly hair bouncing as she went.
"Hi!" I tried to sound enthusiastic, and it worked.
"Do you like sport?" Maddy asked, pushing her glasses up to the top of her nose.
"It's alright, I guess." I said flatly, trying to ignore my parched throat that burst into flame every time I took a breath.
"I like beach volleyball." Maddy said pompously. "But it's always so cloudy here. It's more fun when the sand is hot, and you have to keep moving around."
"The last time I played volleyball, I got a bleeding nose!" I exclaimed, changing into some inconspicuous black shorts.
"That makes two of us, then." Maddy said cheerfully. "I always get a bleeding nose when I do volleyball. I'm not very good at it, no matter how much I like it."
Uh-oh.
That can't be good.
At least the Volturi have ceased to exist- or this might turn bad.
"What's wrong, Bella?" Maddy must of picked up on my sudden frown.
"N-Nothing… I just don't like blood."
"Speaking of blood… have you heard about the triple murder in Orford?"
I shuddered.
Jasper again.
We had only been there three weeks, but he hadn't fed once. I guess Lily scraping her knee was a little too much for him.
"Yup. Three elementary school kids. Lily Tupent, Isaac Callum, Eloise Reid. Murdered on a playground on Thursday, 4th February, at 16:03pm, suspected supernatural causes. They were all 3rd grade students at Orford elementary. Their killer disappeared without a trace." I said matter-of-factly.
"I suspect a stray dog- Rottweiler or Staffy, probably." Maddy's brow furrowed, like she was thinking hard. "But I can understand why people suspect werewolves and vampires and stuff. 3 mauled necks is a little… strange, don't you think?"
CRUNCH.
My hand came away from my P.E locker as I examined the damage I had done. The lock was now just a pile of warped metal, the result of being squeezed in my palm like putty.
"BELLA!" Maddy was incredulous. "Did you… just do that?
"Do what?" I asked as innocently as possible.
"Break the-"
"GIRLS!" Mr Brian, our P.E teacher, bellowed. "The boys are waiting for you!"
I use my superhuman speed to my advantage and tied up my last sneaker in a fiftieth of a second, and hurried out.
"Um… gotta go, Mads. See you in the gym." I said sheepishly, hurrying out into the gym at a fast human speed.
"Er…See you!" Maddy waved at me awkwardly.
"Alright, Kiddos." Mr Brian begun. "Today, we'll be playing football in the indoor pitch we have here, since it is raining out."
Oh my god.
Football.
A vegetarian vampire's worst nightmare.
Blood everywhere.
In control… In control… In control… surely not two accidents in a month…
"We have mouthguards for each student, as we can't afford a helmet and pads for every student." Mr Brian explained.
No helmets or pads? It was definitely great that the Volturi weren't around anymore.
"I don't like football…" I muttered.
"At all!" I said a little louder.
"What was that, Miss Cullen?" Mr Brian inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh…nothing. I don't like blood…that's all." I mumbled pathetically.
"Well, I hope there will be no broken skin." Mr Brian retorted. "But I can't promise anything. It's a rough game." Mr Brian pouted at the class. "Any more complaints?"
"Bella's locker is broken, Mr Brian." Maddy said softly from behind me.
"And why is that?" Mr Brain snapped at me.
"Um…" Was all I could say.
"Well, I don't know what to do with you, young lady," He sneered. "Why don't you take this home, just as a reminder of your bad behaviour today?"
Mr Brian handed me a pink detention slip.
"Two hour slot, straight after school. Bring your homework." He barked.
Several students recoiled in fright.
"Now… there are 11 players on each team, which means we will be playing 1 game, with 5 subs. You will be in either the red team or the blue team, and which team are in will be indicated by the colour of your mouthguard. The list for the blue team is as follows:
Adriane
Lois
Lu
Bella
Leo
Fraser
Laura
Cody
Isis
Mechaka
Laura W.
Subs:
Alice K.
Brady
I groaned. Maybe if I were sub, there was less of a chance that someone would break skin and find themselves sucked dry.
"Your mouthguard, Miss Cullen?" Brady said to me pleasantly, flashing his best smile.
I rolled my eyes at him. It was normal for humans to find us dazzling.
His face fell as I snatched the little plastic box containing the mouthguard. My initial reaction was to crush the box with my fingers and chuck the mouthguard behind me, but I knew better than to expose myself in front 28 humans. Instead, I gingerly prized the box open with my fingers and popped the mouthguard in.
It took two milliseconds to realise that was a bad idea.
I spat the mouthguard out at vampire speed, but even that wasn't fast enough to save its pitiful little life.
There were puncture marks where my teeth had been, creating a hole in the middle of the flimsy rubber. In addition, my venom had dissolved the edges, creating an I've-got-acid-in-my-mouth effect.
I would definitely have to keep this away from public eye.
I stuffed the remains of my mouthguard in my pocket at human speed, but not before Mr Brian found out what I had done.
"Where is your mouthguard, Bella Cullen?" He asked sharply.
"Uh, I think it broke, Sir." I said lamely, switching to my 'Rosalie' frame of mind and putting on a cute smile.
'Sir' frowned. "Miss Cullen, that rubber was designed so no one could accidentally bite through it." He said tersely. "Are you sure that you just don't want to wear it? That could land you in a double detention, you know."
His false smile was thick with malice, just as his scent was.
Why did he have to pick on me?
I reluctantly pulled the small piece of mouthguard out of my pocket and showed it to Mr Brian, who shook his head in confusion.
"How could this happen, Miss Cullen?" He pressed, in an obviously baffled tone.
"It was already a little broken, Mr Brian." I said innocently.
Mr Brian scrunched his forehead up, trying to fit 2 and 2 together.
"I know you're lying, but-"
"It is possible, Mr Brian." Maddy chimed in. "I saw her crush her locker singlehandedly."
"Impossible!" Mr Brian yelled, echoes bouncing around the gym. "People can't crush steel with their bare hands! What kind of story is this?"
"Mothers have lifted cars to save children," I suggested.
"Not helpful! There was no emergency!" He hollered. "This is just ridiculous. Seriously, Maddy Vale, do you really think Cullen here could smash steel with her bare hands?"
"Well, I definitely saw it, and you can see her locker, as proof."
Maddy folded her arms, pouting. Mr Brian took long strides over to the girls' locker room.
As for I, I was in a mental muddle.
Would I just let these humans betray us?
Would they put the pieces together, and figure out who I was?
Who we were?
I flittered along behind the rest of the class, who were eager to find out if I really had the superhuman strength that Maddy had let on.
Stupid Maddy. She had no idea of the danger she was thrusting herself into. Why did humans have to be so… curious?
"This is definitely… off…" Mr Brian's voice trailed off. He knit his eyebrows and pulled his hand through his short, bristly hair.
Maddy lightly tapped me on the shoulder.
"I think you have a little explaining to do, Bella," There was obvious concern in her tone. Just the hint of fear, too. It was nice to know, that through all her betrayal, she did care.
As I peeked over Mr Brian's bulky shoulder, I saw the source of the problem. My handprint was engraved in the steel mess, my uncanny strength permanently etched into property of the school.
"It can't be real… how could Bella do this? Mr Brian's mood changed rapidly from anger to disbelief.
I pushed through the queue of confused students, trying to think of a plan at vampire speed.
But there really was no explanation. The only explanation I had was too kill them all, and that would only make matters worse.
Mr Brian grabbed my wrist and thrust it forward into the handprint. Much to my dismay, it was a perfect match. In addition to my misfortune, my strength caused the locker to also come crashing down, causing some students to let out a soft scream. Mr Brian was staring at me, bug-eyed, but Maddy had her eyes narrowed, and was looking suspicious.
Too suspicious.
"Bella, what do you have for lunch today?" Maddy tipped her head to the side, drumming her fingers impatiently.
"Tomato soup, same as always." I lied casually.
"Hmm. I wonder then, if you would be able to sit outside, in the sun, with me?"
I peeked through the high window of the gym, and to my horror, it had slid out of it's hiding place behind the clouds and the rain, and was now soaking the outdoor eating place in unwanted sun.
Maddy smiled thinly. This time, I knew, that it was I being stupid. I had provided too much evidence that I wasn't human, or not quite. Crushing the locker door with me fist when Maddy mentioned vampires for the first time today. Biting through my mouthguard. Saying I was scared of blood, then saying I had tomato soup for lunch.
Stupid.
Stupid.
Stupid me.
But it was almost as if Maddy was being slightly sadistic. She still believed the more bogus side of vampire folklore; the fact we could burn in the sun.
I'd show her. Maybe that would be enough to quell her beliefs. She already knew far too much.
"Sure!" I replied, sounding as confident as possible.
"Alright, then. Meet me in the cafeteria, lunch hour. The weather is going to be lovely." She smiled pleasantly, but her eyes had a slightly evil look to them. I hoped the rest of the class didn't figure my secret out, too.
Mr Brian suddenly cleared his throat.
"Perhaps Bella would like to tell us… how she did this? Maybe give us a demonstration of such strength?
"When hell freezes over," I muttered.
"Do you realise, young lady, what you could achieve with such talent? Such incredible strength?" He blabbered.
"Talent?" I hissed, incredulous. My temper was on the rise.
To my surprise, most of the class remained silent after that.
A good two minutes later, Mr Brian finally broke the silence.
"Well, stuff Bella's incredible strength! Why don't we act like a normal class and continue the lesson until lunch hour?" He bellowed, cracking his knuckles. "And, do you know what? I think we'll leave football, too. We can get out the sponge balls and play dodgeball, instead!"
A few classmates mumbled in agreement. Most of us weren't interested in football.
Maddy looked uneasy, however. In fact, she looked as though she never wanted to be anywhere near me, ever again.
"I hope I won the trip to Florida," She mumbled, supposedly to quiet for me to hear. "Nice and sunny, and no Dracula women."
Oh, there will be. There's a quadcoven living there, hunting off the backstreets.
"Why don't the blue team go on this side?" Mr Brian pointed to the far left end of the basketball court behind the football pitch. "The red team will be on the right."
I tried to start a conversation with Maddy, as we slowly meandered over, not with much success.
"You're so overly superstitious, you know." I said, pretending to pick my immaculate nails.
"No, I'm not. Humans can't crush steel with their fist, and you know it, Bella." She said stubbornly, sticking her nose in the air.
"There is no rational reason to call me a vampire, either." My lip curled, and it was my turn to stick my nose in the air.
"Yes, there is! You are cold, pale, you never eat anything except 'tomato soup'," Maddy made quotation marks in the air, " You're super strong, and probably fast, too, and you don't want us to spill a drop of blood just in case you bite our pretty little necks!" Maddy screamed, tears pouring down her face.
I made a timid attempt to calm her down, to no avail.
"Maddy, you are over-"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Maddy bawled. We had the attention of the whole class, now.
"Jees! What's wrong with Maddy?" Mechaka said angrily in her thick Mexican-Spanish accent.
"She thinks I'm a vampire," I explained calmly.
"You. Killed. Three. Children! CHILDREN!" Maddy roared, and pounced at me clumsily, trying to tackle me to the ground. At that moment, my phone rang.
"BELLA!" Alice screeched into the phone. "GET YOUR BUTT OVER TO THE HOUSE NOW! TELL THE CLASS THAT CARLISLE AND ESME HAVE CRASHED THEIR CAR, AND YOU GOTTA GO!" I imagined Alice turning purple at this. The only time Alice was madder at me was every morning, when I didn't wear clothes with the Alice tick of approval. "BRING THE GIRL WITH YOU, CARLISLE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GIVE HER SOME SHOTS, SO SHE FORGETS TODAY!"
I hung the phone up, replaying Alice's frenzied words over and over in my mind. This would be the second time we'd have to move in a month.
"There has been an emergency. Carlisle and Esme have been caught up in a car crash. I need to go, now." I fibbed quickly.
"LIAR!" Maddy yelled, before collapsing into mirthless sobs.
"Maddy, you're coming with me." I said sternly. "I need to take you to the nurse's office, so you can calm down."
"You're… gonna kill me cause I know too much!" She cried, before falling into another crying fit.
"No deaths, I promise." I said, smiling to myself.
Maddy kicked, punched, and even bit me, so I settled for the classic fireman's hold, hitching her behind my shoulder, as I carried her out of the gym, and into the open sunlight.