Edward's POV.
The normal flood of voices soaring around him, the ones only their owners and he were privy to, were all carrying on the same way this dreary Forks afternoon. Unlike the usual pondering of homework, test results, and less conventional hormone-induced daydreams, today the streams of thoughts the mind reader procured from the student body were all centrally focused around the new girl in town. Edward Cullen leaned in over his untouched lunch tray, bored with the topic. He hadn't seen her for himself, but in the mind's eye of several of his classmates she seemed like nothing out of the ordinary – brunette, plain face, a little on the short side. He couldn't fathom what all the fuss was about, how every male on campus had already fascinated how he would lure her into the moonlight and be her escort to this year's prom. Come to think of it, Edward realized, this was her lunch hour as well.He'd seen that meathead Mike Newton stressing over how his hair would look when she joined his table for the meal as promised. He'd be able to take a peak for himself.
Turning up the volume to listen more intently to the "voices" he found circulating in the company of this Isabella Swan, he tried to find a new pitch among the monotony. Right where she would have been sitting, there was no voice, no sound, utter silence. It was as if no one were even sitting there. Squinting slightly, he cocked his gaze just enough to take in the table in question. There she was. Dark waves cascaded down across her shoulders as she hovered above her food, shielding her eyes from view. A delicate hand curled out around a stalk of celery, and then he noticed it; even though she seemed plain from afar, he could now see with his own eyes how much frailer she seemed than the rest of her classmates. Her skin was pale – that was odd in and of itself, wasn't it? Hadn't she supposedly moved back from Arizona, where sunshine was prevalent? – so pale in fact, it seemed almost translucent. He could see the blue veins pulsating beneath the skin even across the room, but he averted his gaze from her slender wrist. No Edward, you mustn't concentrate on those. You know better. You know where your mind will wander to.
Reigning himself in, he kept his eyes in her direction until she lifted her head… and their eyes met. She shifted them quickly to the left, to pretend to be included in on her newfound friend's conversations, but it didn't prevent the split second their eyes had met. Her eyes weren't quite as plain as he had first thought; they were wide, a deep chocolate brown that seemed more fluid than your average brown eyes, framed in naturally long, feathered lashes. Edward concentrated on them even after Isabella – no, Bella. She preferred to be called Bella, she'd been telling everyone she met that today – had looked away. Maybe if he concentrated a little longer, he would hear her mind as well. Then again, why was he bothering so much? Her mind couldn't be any more interesting than the other minds that roamed these hallways. His family, the Cullens, were his only exception to that rule. They stood out in that way, in every way really. The students and teachers alike kept their distance from them and gave them leeway they reserved for no one else. They were humans after all, and though their conscious minds couldn't guess at why they naturally avoided these strange siblings, their instincts told them to stray away for their own safety. Edward couldn't help but smirk to himself as he acknowledged how right they were. Natural selection made the Cullens predators, and the mortals they walked among on a daily basis their prey. There was no denying that ultimate truth.
Patience rewarded him. Curiosity blazing in her rather lovely orbs, Bella chanced another peak at the Cullen table, at Edward in particular. She flushed when she realized his eyes were still on her. A small victory for him, but there was still one problem. No sound. No voice. Nothing spoke to him besides those eyes. How could that be possible? For nearly the century he'd been an immortal, he'd never crossed paths with someone whose mind was completely blank. No, that can't be possible,he mused. Everyone had thoughts, even the mentally deranged, and it was clear that this girl definitely did not belong in that category. Could she be blocking him from entering her mind? Doubtful. She was human, that was obvious. Edward could see the blood circulating through those veins.
"Hey man." For the first time in several minutes, he took his eyes off of Bella Swan to face his lunch once more, taking a steadying breath. His bulkiest brother, Emmett, had nudged his arm to get his attention. Edward hadn't realized he'd been so absorbed.
"Hm?" he replied, trying to sound nonchalant.
"You alright? You look like you've just seen a ghost," Emmett snickered.
Edward cracked a grin at the look Alice shot him for the pale joke. "Of course. Just bored."
"Bored? On a day like this? This is the most excitement you're gonna get. Just look at that fresh meat." Reflexively, Edward stole another glance in Bella Swan's direction. "Oh wait," Emmett continued on mockingly. "You've have been for the last five minutes."
"Shut up," he scoffed, sulkingly ripping his pizza in two.
"Is she afraid of us yet?" his brother inquired, unabashed.
Edward paused, choosing his next words carefully. "Can't tell," he settled on.
Emmett seemed satisfied at this answer and turned back to Rosalie, carrying on with plans for another hunting trip to feed. They had to leave town for the day to do so. No sense in risking exposure or putting the town's citizens in danger by doing it close to town. Swiveling a look across the table, Edward saw that Jasper could really use it. The circles under his eyes were turning a more pronounced shade of purple than they usually allowed, and the iris' themselves were a luminous ebony. Jasper was having the hardest time of them all walking the halls these days; he'd come from a past history as an immortal that didn't include a vampiric vegetarian lifestyle. It was dangerous to let him go so long without feeding, and though Alice kept her ability to see into the future well in check to see if there was any trouble on the horizon for him, Edward kept just as watchful an eye on his thoughts and how they steadily took a turn for the worse. He was imagining how satisfying it would be to turn and rip at a girl's jugular that had the bad luck of walking close enough for her scent to fill his nostrils. Both Alice and Edward's eyes met as she tried to comfort him, coaxing her beloved Jasper to picture the girl as any a person, an individual, while she wordlessly sent a question aimed directly at Edward. They were especially good at these silent conversations; they were the freaks among freaks after all, and had to stay close.
Something's wrong.Alright, it wasn't so much a question as a statement. But it was voiced with intentions to learn the reasoning behind it, still and all.
Begrudgingly, Edward lifted his eyes to the new girl once more, who seemed to be taking extra precaution to avert her gaze from his table at all costs. It pleased him to see how flustered she still looked over their minor transaction. He highly doubted he was only imagining the faint rouge tint to her high, taunt cheekbones. Feeling Alice follow his gaze, he caught her brow furrowing out of the corner of his eye. Does she suspect something?
His head swiveled to and fro infinitesimally, just enough of a motion for someone who was looking for it to detect. Alice, of course, picked it up without fault. Then what...?
It was nothing, he silently reassured himself. It wouldn't even end up being worth the energy it was taxing him now to fret over it. But it baffled him so. He just couldn't help it. Could he?
The bell chimed loudly in his ears, signifying the transition of class hours. Saved by the bell, he almost grinned with amusement at the irony. Biology was next, wherein he had no one to share a lab table with. He could reflect then in peace so long as the teacher didn't aim any questions his way. No one would bother him. He liked it that way.
Finally perched on his stool in the seclusion of his window seat, the other students started to file into the lab room behind him. As per usual, no one even dared to make eye contact. It was just his luck, as today more than ever he wanted to sit in restitution with his own thoughts, muddle over the way lunch had progressed. It just didn't make sense at the time, that's all. No human alive had ever been able to shut out his power, keep their mind from him. Edward had a solution already worked out. This afternoon, he would shoot straight to his Volvo after class with the rest of his family in tow, drop them off at the Cullen estate, and zoom over to the hospital where Carlisle was working a double shift, and he'd ask his mentor and creator himself. Carlisle could fill in any gaps if Edward failed to think of a probably cause by the end of the school day. While Edward was the first companion Carlisle had ever sired, there were still several decades of experience and knowledge his father figure had acquired that he lacked. If anyone would have the answers, it was him.
That's when it happened.
First it was only a slight annoyance. Mike Newton, of course, was the first of the heads to pop up. She's in my Biology class. Yes, this is perfect. I hope she sits next to me. This'll give me an excuse to walk her from lunch everyday… Edward rolled his eyes at the puppy dog fascination this boy had with her. "Ah, Miss Swan! I see you've found your way," Mr. Banner called over the sound of the oscillating fan at the front of the classroom. More heads popped up, more voices calling out her name. So that's the new girl. I wonder if we'll become friends. From the far corner of the room. She looks so pale. It might just be the lights, but damn she looks white as a ghost. From a few seats away. I've never seen Chief Swan's daughter before. I heard his ex-wife was a nutcase. This girl doesn't look like a harebrain though. She looks pretty smart, kinda quiet. Too pretty to be a nerd though. I wonder where she's gonna sit? Edward already knew the answer to that question. Bella Swan had the unfortunate luck of joining the class that contained only one free seat that just happened to be located to his right. It might not be a horrible thing,Edward mused as he began to shift his books to his left side to make room for her. Though such a short distance as being across a lunchroom versus sitting right beside him had never affected his ability before, perhaps it would make the difference now. The thought intrigued him. That is, until she walked in front of that damn fan.
The scent that drifted off of those dark waves of hair hit him like a wrecking ball, and a thud that didn't do justice to the urgency of the moment resounded in his ears as his hand flew from the spine of his mathematics textbook up to his face, attempting to block off any air entering his nostrils. But it was too late. Her scent was already slowly seeping into his veins like a poison, threatening to eat him alive. Edward had to fight the flames that licked at his throat, threatening to turn him into something more inhuman than his façade allowed. Just then, the dark little man handed the girl a thick volume and pointed her in his direction. Their eyes met fleetingly as they had in the lunchroom. But this time, her pupils dilated in horror as she looked down as quickly as possible. You should be afraid, a feral snarl curled at the edges of his mind, threatening to ensnare him.
It took every inch of his self control to keep from lunging across the table at her, and even more not to sink his teeth into her artery as she took her designated seat beside him. Edward could feel his innards quaking, straining with the effort to remain a safe distance from her. Who are you kidding? the monster cajoled him from within. You can smell the trepidation on her. Go on, enjoy it – bask in it. That's fear. That's her blood calling out for you to take her.
No, another part of him countered. It was the civilized Edward Cullen he'd chosen to present to the world, not the demonic bloodsucker that fate had tried to force upon him. You can't do this. Images of Carlisle flashed in his head, of the life he'd tried to make for his family. Edward his son, Esme his wife. Edward's brothers and sisters, all come together in this life to become one coven, one family knit as tightly together as if by blood. He tried to picture what Carlisle would think if he rushed to the hospital today, not contemplating the possibilities of how Bella Swan's mind could mute itself to him, but instead explaining the details of her death. He knew they would have to leave immediately. They couldn't stay in a place they'd spelt blood. They would have to cover it up, which would prove to be more problematic as she was the Sheriff's daughter. More importantly, he tried to venture whether or not Carlisle would forgive him. Edward knew the answer as soon as he dared think the question – he would be forgiven even before he committed the atrocity. Carlisle loved him, and he would forgive his son for succumbing to his true nature. Thank God, Edward shuddered. Because I can't help but let you down this time, Carlisle . It's too strong, I can't fight it. It's all this girl's fault. I have no chance against her. Her blood's the sweetest I've smelt in one hundred years. I'm so sorry.
But how to do it? He was posed with another more immediate problem. Witnesses, an entire classroom full of them. Closing his eyes, Edward took a quick headcount and did the mental calculations. He could snap at least ten of the student's necks who were sitting closest to him before the others even became aware of what was going on. But it still wouldn't be enough to stop a few screaming before he could finish. That was too risky to chance. Not in the classroom. Somewhere else. He could lure her to the forest after class by turning up his persuasive charm. Bella Swan was intrigued by him; he could manipulate that to his advantage. Of course that plan of action had room for error as well. If Edward was spotted leading her away, being the last person she was ever seen with, the townsfolk of Forks, Washington would surmise the truth even if he destroyed all the evidence supporting it. They would put out a warrant for his arrest, start an investigation into his whereabouts, dig into his personal life and do research that he could not afford to be made public. If they dug hard enough, and he knew they would, they would find reason to speculate that Edward Cullen and his entire family were not who they claimed to be. For all intensive purposes, he and the rest of the Cullens shouldn't exist. If they were exposed, so would the rest of his kind, a direct violation of vampire creed, and the blame would fall on his shoulders. The Volturi themselves would see that his punishment was fitting for his crime – ripped limb from limb and burned in a pile of violet flames. This one girl was not worth that price. Not in a million lifetimes.
You've just got to be more cunning than that, a familiar growl ripped through his thoughts. You can get her on her own, you know how. She has to disappear before she gets to her next class. That won't be so hard, now will it?
Putting up his best airs, Edward couldn't wait any longer. He'd already wasted a precious few minutes of the hour he had to persuade her and get her alone, not to mention make up for the scathing look he'd shot her at the beginning of class. He leaned into the direction of Bella Swan, the burn in his throat rasping past his cool lips as he made his voice like honey, slow, thick, and sweet.
"Sorry about that," he muttered at her ear. He waited until she glanced up at him to make his eyes melt into hers; it was the way he could get just about anyone to do what he wanted. "I didn't mean to give you a scare. I'm Edward Cullen," he nodded politely, an open, friendly smile creeping at the corners of his mouth. "I guess you're my new lab partner, huh?"
Not for long.