Chapter 1. First Sight

My face. Reflected in the glasses of a boy I don't know. It was rather disappointing. I looked so..sharp. And cold. A cruel beauty. The girl everyone hates but wants to be so badly. I start to feel rather sad. If only they knew how gladly I would trade places with them. But, I must not dwell upon these thoughts as Edward is bound to be making his rounds about our minds, So I must focus on something else, if he has not already seen.

Oh, my lovely mouth. Thank heavens for lipstick, My pale face and red lips look very striking. Alice should invest in some pale pink. It would look very becoming on her. So adorable and pixie-like. Aaa, me. Such a beauty. No other girl can compare! What was it? Purer then any gem, more sublime then any flower - A perfect girl. Yes, that is me. Look no further.

I don't think he is paying attention to me any more. Him and Alice are having their mind conversations. Which are really very clever. If Alice wanted she could be quite the ingenuous thinker. Not that I am ungrateful to have a shopping partner as daring as her. Ah, my dear Alice, stay with me. You are one of the brightest points of becoming a Vampire. Her and Edward must be discussing Jasper, who hasn't hunted lately. He is trying to build up his endurance. I glance over at him. Poor thing, what must it be like to struggle with that hunger? A girl walks by, her hands in her hair, the heater blows her scent in our direction. I smell the sweetness, feel the venom in my mouth. I swallow it down. I have no desire for this blood. I feel no malice towards this girl. Edward kicks Jasper underneath the table, and I feel so sorry for him. Not just for the thirst that I have never felt, but for Edward's kick. Not that it would hurt Jasper,far from it. We all know Edward can and does read our thoughts, but, it is awful to know that he was certainly listening, especially as Jaspers thoughts must have been very...hungry.

"Sorry" Jasper mutters, looking down.

It's the confederate in thirst for death. Now THAT I have felt. Alice leans over and whispers "You weren't going to do anything, I could see that."

Liar,liar, pants on fire.

Edward grimaces, confirming my suspicions. "It helps if you think of them as people" Alice suggests, her voice so fast it is like a hum. She tells Jasper of what little she knows about the girl. Jasper just turns and looks out the window. I silently feel this is best. Let him get over it, talk himself out of it. Let his mind escape from thoughts of the girl. Alice senses this too, she gets up taking her pointless food over to the trash. Edward looks at Jasper, then at Alice. I wonder what he is thinking. It's not fair. He gets to read our minds and yet, we don't get to read his. His head swivels around. Someone must have thought his name. I turn my head too, though more carefully then Edward. He is looking over at where the boring popular humans were. They had a new new girl. What's her name? The Police chiefs daughter. Swan..... something Swan. A pretty last name. I wondered why she was brought here. I wonder if it is anything scandalous that I should try to coax Esme and Carlisle to find out. She's nothing special. Brown hair, pale skin, brown eyes. She looks rather bored and unhappy. Well, I would be unhappy too if I looked like her. I laugh softly, more out of disgust then mirth. Shallow. I can't believe I thought that. The generic mean snob. That's me. Still though, why does she dress like that? she looks homeless. And has she heard of this invention called "Make-up?" No? How about "Accessories"? Edward's voice breaks my inane mental banter.

"Jessica Stanley is giving the new Swan girl all the dirty laundry on the Cullen family" He says to Emmett. Emmet must have responded in his mind, which irks me. Why can't the rest of us join in the conversation?

Edward answers to whatever Emmet thought. "Rather unimaginative, actually. Just the barest hint of scandal. Not an ounce of horror. I'm a little disappointed." he pauses and then he seems to be concentrating. I tear apart a piece of lettuce from my unused salad. All of a sudden, Edward's brow furrows. He blinks and turns his head towards the table where Jessica sat yammering away to the new girl, who is staring at us. Noticing Edward looking at her, she blushes and looks away. What could be bothering Edward so much? Did she think Vampire? The bell rang, we all stood up, grabbing our food trays. As the others went over to the trash can, Edward stayed seated, apparently unaware that lunch was over.

"Shall we?"I said, interrupting his focus. He looked away from whats-her-name and stands. His attention to her unsettles me and I glance over at her. Her face is so pale, I can see her veins. She might want to get some foundation to cover them.... Emmett speaks, " So,is the new one afraid of us yet?" Edward shrugs. Not the most informative way to assure us, but, he would tell us if there was any danger.

I head off to Trig, wondering if I can bully my family into watching To Die For with me. Probably not, as they can make any actors performance seem flat without much effort. Nicole Kidman was supposed to be really good in it though.. Maybe I could get Alice to watch with me, we can paint our toenails that pretty opal color....

I was glad to be outside. As much as I enjoyed the ability to learn as much as I wanted, about whatever I wanted. High school was not the most fun place ever. I met up with Emmett at his history class and, holding hands, walked to the car. Alice and Jasper were already there and Emmett instantly tried to get Jasper to promise to give him a rematch when we got home, but, he wasn't in the mood. Emmett wasn't taking no for an answer, however. I slipped into the car and sat behind the passenger seat. I poked my head next to Alice's, I hoped she wasn't to worried about Jasper to be in the mood for a girls movie night. "Alice, do you want to watch To Die For tonight? I'm going to and I was thinking we could paint our toenails that pretty opal color." Before Alice could answer however Edward had arrived at the car and had slammed the driver side door. He was breathing heavily, like he had surfaced after a long time underwater.

"Edward?!" Alice asked, alarmed. Emmett was momentarily distracted from Jasper's refusal. "What the hell happened to you?" Instead of answering, he jerked the car into reverse and screeched out of the parking lot. We were easily going at 70 mph before we turned the corner. I looked toward Alice, as did everyone else. She shrugged, as if to say "Don't look at me" She paused then turned sharply toward Edward. "Your leaving?!" We all stared at Edward now. "Am I?" He said through clenched teeth. I saw Alice's face tighten "Oh." was all she said. Another pause."Oh." She said again. "Stop" Edward groaned. "Sorry" she said, her eyes wide. She was quiet and then said softly " I'll miss you, no matter how short your gone. " I looked at Emmett, to see if he had any idea on what was going on. From his face I could tell he was as apprehensive as me. We were almost at the turnoff to our house when Alice said "Drop us here, you should tell Carlisle yourself." The car jerked too\ a stop. I got out, I would make Alice explain when he left. Alice touched Edward's shoulder. "You'll do the right thing." Not a vision. An order. "She's Charlie Swan's only family. It would kill him too."

"Yes" He sounded uncertain

Alice pulled out of the car and joined us on the road, we were all silent as we watched the car speed away. As soon as the car was out of sight we all pounced upon Alice. "What happened?" We were all desperate to know what had caused Edward to leave. She looked worried, but said in a moderately calm voice "The new girl. Bella Swan." (Bella. Thats her name) Apparently her blood is.. especially appealing to him." I gave her a withering look. "Well, perhaps the most appealing blood he has ever smelled. I'm amazed he managed to get through an hour. He will either leave town and go stay with Tanya and her family or....or.." She faltered "Or he will go to the Swans home and...." She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't have to. And all of a sudden I was furious. Mad at Bella Swan for driving my brother away. Just who did she think she was anyway? That hideous dresser, that frankenstein. "Rosalie!" Alice said loudly, she sounded shocked and I wondered what future she had seen. I hadn't even gotten far enough to think of what I would DO to her. Emmett put his arm around my shoulders in a comforting gesture, saying, "Come on Alice, she wasn't actually going to do anything." Alice sighed and nodded. I sighed too. I didn't think she would want to watch To Die For with me after the events of the afternoon.