Bella

When I arrived at school on Monday morning, I decided that I needed to confront Edward with what I had discovered about him. I immediately set out to look for him, desperately hoping that I could get him alone somewhere so that I could speak with him in private. I was feeling extremely nervous; I had enough butterflies in my stomach to rival a... um… place that has lots of butterflies. That was common anytime I expected to see Edward, but this time it was especially bad. I knew perfectly well that Edward being a vampire sounded completely absurd. Yet, somehow, I was positive that it was true.

I was nervous about how he would react when I told him. Would he laugh? Would he tell me I was crazy? Or would he just give in and have me for an early lunch? I decided that none of those possibilities really seemed that bad, so what was I so worried about? If I didn't talk to him soon, I knew that I would end up forgetting all about it. After all, there is only so much I can fit in my brain at once.

Before long, I had spotted him. He was standing in the courtyard behind the science building; alone. I froze in my tracks, glancing around for the rest of the Cullen kids. I saw them grouped together at one of the tables across the courtyard, and I knew it wasn't just a coincidence that he was alone. He must have wanted to talk to me, too.

The way he was staring at me got my nerves even more worked up. He was resting his right shoulder on a tree, and his hands were casually tucked away in the pockets of his dark jeans. He was wearing that know-it-all smirk that he seemed to like so much, the one that said "I know exactly what you're thinking." I shivered at the thought that maybe he did know what I was thinking, but I couldn't help felling self-conscious, anyway. I pulled my compact mirror out of my bag and did a quick check for any abnormalities on my face or teeth, just in case; all clear. I shrugged it off. Maybe he was looking at someone behind me or something.

I was beginning to feel sick; the butterflies in my stomach were really getting the best of me. I decided that maybe I should take a walk, I didn't want to throw up right there with everyone (Edward) looking at me. I started toward the woods, walking right passed Edward on the way. I couldn't resist noticing how nice he smelled as I passed him. His scent was almost as intoxicating as his perfect face.

As I passed him, he turned to follow me. As I glanced back at him, he quickly shifted his eyes downward, his smug expression remaining unchanged. Why was he following me? Maybe he was feeling sick, too. I didn't know what to do, so I just kept walking. As I neared the edge of the woods, I heard what I thought was the tardy bell in the distance behind me, but I couldn't really be sure. Sometimes I had some difficulty telling the difference between a real bell and the ringing in my ears. It didn't matter much anyway; I had forgotten what class I was supposed to be in. I would have been just as late if I had stuck around trying to remember.

Edward

I made a point to arrive at school extra early on Monday morning. I wanted to be there before Bella, knowing full well she may get lost or trip and fall if I weren't there. The better part of last week had yielded an unfortunate absence of clouds, making way for sunshine that was all too rare in Forks. Being a vampire, I was unable to venture out into the sun, thus, my absence from school was necessary. Instead, I had gone hunting with my family. It's just as well; I was beginning to get hungry, and it is extremely dangerous for me to be around Bella unless I had recently eaten. Still, I could only imagine the kinds of trouble she had gotten herself into while I was away.

I positioned myself strategically in the courtyard behind the science building, giving myself a clear view of the parking lot. Not that I needed it, I could hear the deep rumble of Bella's truck from about a mile away, and I could probably start picking up her thoughts just as she was approaching school grounds. However, I wanted her to be able to see me right away. I expected that she would be anxious to see me, and I was just as anxious to see her. I liked her. She was exactly my type, simple and quiet; a follower. I had never been particularly fond of girls who were thinkers. With so much going on in their heads, I often tire of trying to keep up, and end up doing away with them fairly quickly. Those types were always a burden, but Bella was different.

It wasn't long before I had heard the sound of Bella's truck, roaring up the street. I immediately parted from the company of my family. I knew that she would feel intimidated by them, and she may hesitate to approach me if that were the case. By now I was able to pick up bits and pieces of her thoughts, as well. I listened carefully as she pulled into the parking lot, and struggled to park her enormous truck in a compact space between two SUVs. I laughed a little to myself; that was such a Bella thing to do.

What had been going through her head at that moment, though, had nothing to do with her unwise parking decision. Among the mumble-jumble that were her thoughts, I was picking up words and phrases here and there that sounded remarkably similar to "vampire" and "Edward". I found myself a bit alarmed. Never before had anyone figured me out this quickly. Even the smartest ones knew that I was different, but vampire never occurred to them, as far as I was aware. It was not until it was too late that they finally realized what I was, and even then some of them still didn't get it.

I leaned casually against a nearby tree, and watched her cross the yard slowly, heading in my general direction. She hadn't noticed me yet, but I could tell she was busy fretting over this new idea. Normally I would not hesitate to put an end to her right away, but I decided that I would give her a chance. It didn't matter much what she knew. Bella was so exceptionally taken with me that she would surely keep quiet, just because I told her to. In fact, I was confident that I could quite literally have her mother for lunch today and Bella would still accept me with open arms, provided I bat my eyelashes at her in the right fashion.

Suddenly, I became aware that I couldn't hear her anymore. For a moment I thought I had let my mind wander to the point where I had lost concentration. I soon realized, though, that Bella's mind had just gone completely blank. She stared at me for what seemed like forever, wearing an expression of utter confusion. I loved it when she made that face. I watched her hastily take a mirror out of her backpack, and turn her back to me just enough to partially shield her face from me, but not enough to conceal what she was doing. She smiled into the mirror, obviously checking her teeth for the presence of anything that didn't belong there. I chuckled. She was so self-conscious, always thinking there was something wrong with her. That was one of the things I liked most about her. After careful examination, she put the mirror back in her bag, and swung it lazily over her shoulder. She turned to face me again, appearing even more puzzled than before.

She began walking toward me, and I kept my nonchalant facade up without a flaw. The word 'vampire' had not returned to her thoughts at all, but I was briefly picking up 'sick' and other words like it. Instead of walking up to me, Bella walked right passed me. I turned, confused, to keep facing her as she passed. I was having trouble figuring out what she was doing. The wavelength of her thoughts was so weak that I could hardly make them out, and there was an underlying high-pitched ringing that accompanied them, which was irritating, to say the least. My nose caught her scent, and suddenly it mattered very little to me that I had just eaten. I began to follow her, and we walked toward the woods, the tardy bell flooding the air around the school as we retreated away from it.

Bella

And so I marched on, taking note of how good the woods smelled this time of day. It had rained earlier this morning, so the air was infused with the combined scents of rain and fresh pine. I drew in a large breath and exhaled slowly, fully appreciating the simple beauty of this town. I used to loathe Forks, and the rain that accompanied it. Thank goodness for Edward, he changed my mind completely. Now I love Forks, simply because it is where Edward lives.

We were still walking further into the woods, Edward following a short distance behind me. I tried to remember why we were in the woods in the first place, but had no such luck. I had accidentally filled my head with little things, which replaced the big thing. I was becoming increasingly confused, so I put my backpack down and stopped walking. That was when I realized that I had walked so far into the woods that I would probably not be able to find my way out very easily. I hoped that Edward had been paying attention to which direction we had gone so that he could lead us back.

Just then, it occurred to me that since Edward was a vampire, he would easily be able to find our way back. Vampires must have amazing sense of direction. I let out a little sigh of relief. Then another thing occurred to me; that was what I was trying to remember! Edward was a vampire, and I had come out here to tell him that he'd been found out!

I stood there for a moment waiting for him to say something to me. I tried to listen for his breathing, but couldn't hear it. Did vampires even breathe? I couldn't be sure. I decided to drop the subject immediately, before I forgot everything else, again. I snuck a little peek over my shoulder; just to be sure that Edward was still there, in case he had lost interest and turned back somewhere. Sure enough, there he was. The look on his face was serious now, almost concerned. I worried that he might think I was stupid, just standing there and saying nothing. I knew that the longer I waited, the worse it would be, but I just didn't know how to start…

"Bella?" he prompted softly, right on cue.

"I know what you are," I blurted. I waited anxiously for his reply, which took longer than I would have expected.

"Do you?" His tone implied that he wasn't taking my statement seriously. "What am I, then?"

Crap! I forgot again! The sound of his voice had apparently distracted my brain just long enough to wipe it clean; again. I urged myself to think, to really concentrate. I couldn't think under pressure to begin with, but the fact that it was him standing there, awaiting an answer made it a thousand times worse. I thought that I should go over what I did know, and that might help me remember.

"You're so cold," I muttered aloud. I thought of the one time that he had accidentally allowed me to touch him. His skin had been rock-solid and cold as ice. What did that mean?

"Yes?" Edward prompted again, his voice still smooth and comforting. My heart skipped a beat at the sound of it.

"You're impossibly fast," I continued, remembering the time that I was almost hit by a van in the school parking lot. One second Edward was all the way across the lot, and the next he was in front of me, pushing me out of the way.

"Say it, Bella," he commanded. This time his voice was different. It was impatient and cold. I thought I might have even heard a hint of anger. I was compelled to think quickly, I desperately wanted to give him the answer he was asking for, but I just couldn't remember.

"You're so strong," I was trying so hard to picture what I had been so deep in thought about on the way to school this morning. I was thinking so hard, in fact, that I had hit a deer and didn't even realize it until I saw it in my rear view mirror, and noticed a small dent on my hood. What had I been thinking about?

"Say it!" He hissed, seemingly through his teeth. Now he definitely seemed angry. My head was spinning, presenting me with a whirlwind of random ideas and words. I just had to pick the right one. I did my best to slow my brain down, and to tune Edward out so I could think more clearly. 'Cold,' 'fast,' and 'strong,' Those three words could only mean one thing…

"Vampire," I blurted. Whew! Although I was relieved to have finally come up with an answer, I found myself holding my breath. Edward wasn't saying anything. I couldn't decide whether that was a bad thing or not.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, he stepped forward, until he was only inches behind me. He put his face to my right ear and whispered, "Are you afraid?"

Afraid? I was shocked that he even had to ask that question. Although he tried to appear tough and dangerous, I knew better. Edward wouldn't hurt a fly.

"No," I declared. He snickered, and backed away from me. I turned to face him, and found that he had turned his back to me.

"Edward, please," I called to him, but he didn't turn around. He clenched his fists so tight that it looked as though they might shatter like glass under the pressure. "I'm not afraid of you, I trust you. I know that you wouldn't hurt me."

"I'm a monster, Bella," he enunciated every syllable carefully and slowly, as if he were speaking to a small child that couldn't understand him. His voice was cold and detached; it was like he wasn't using his own voice. It was the voice of a stranger, one I didn't recognize at all. I was convinced that it was all an act, just an attempt to scare me away. I began shaking my head defiantly.

"I don't believe that,"

He turned to look at me just then. He seemed to be studying my expression very carefully. I didn't know what he was looking for. One thing was for certain, if it was fear he was looking for, he wasn't going to find it.

"I warned you," he whispered, and began slowly walking toward me. He was staring at me with such intensity that I had never seen in him before. His eyes were fixed on mine, and it seemed that there was nothing in the world that could break his gaze for even a fraction of a second. Anyone else would have been terrified, I'm sure, but this didn't work on me; I knew better.

I knew that he was expecting me to run away. Instead, I started toward him, matching his speed. As the distance between us grew shorter, he smiled at me. His smile was so peaceful, so glorious that it seemed to fill my soul with an unmatchable happiness. Everything around me faded, until all I could see, all I was aware of was Edward. I felt my lips turn up into an involuntary smile. I felt blissfully happy, as if there was nothing in the world that I would ever need to worry about again. Edward was all there was, all there would ever be.

At the point where the distance between us came to a close, he took me in his arms.

Edward

And so she marched on. I tried my best to keep a safe distance between us as I followed her, even though a truly safe distance would have been an entire continent. Her scent was being carried my way by the breeze, and I found it unbelievably difficult to focus on anything else. I kept reminding myself that I would leave her completely unharmed, however true that might have been. I couldn't be bothered to listen in on her thoughts as we were making our way through the woods. She was busy sorting things out in her head, and that's all I needed to know. I would simply wait until she had finished.

After a very short while, she brought the journey to an abrupt halt, when she suddenly stopped walking. She swung her bag off her shoulder and tossed it carelessly onto the ground beside her. I saw her sneak a tiny little peek over her shoulder at me, apparently checking to see if I was still there. She seemed satisfied, turning to face forward again. Her thoughts slowly began to make a bit of sense, and once again, I heard 'vampire' in them. I was beginning to think we would be doing this all day if we didn't move things along. However, I knew that to expect Bella to begin the conversation was surely expecting too much, so I took the initiative.

"Bella?" I prompted her. I knew that a slight push was all she needed.

"I know what you are," she blurted. I smiled to myself. Now, now is when the fun would begin.

"Do you?" I teased. I knew she was dead-on, but I couldn't help having just a bit of fun with her. "What am I, then?"

Apparently, I had pushed her too far. She seemed to have completely lost control of her thoughts. I rolled my eyes, thankful that she still had her back to me. I had never realized the severity of Bella's situation before now. I was well aware that she would need guiding when it came to having opinions and making decisions, but I never imagined she would have such trouble thinking in general. I grimaced as I watched her try to remember, yet again, the whole point of this journey.

"You're so cold," she muttered. At least she was on the right track.

"Yes?" I encouraged. I had no choice but to tune her thoughts out, again. Her head seemed to be spinning in a whirlwind of random ideas, and I just couldn't keep up.

"You're impossibly fast," she added. This was getting frustrating. Even Maria, the girl that had become infatuated with me three years ago, had not been this bad, and I had considered her entirely incompetent at the time! She had not lasted nearly this long.

"You're so strong…" I had had enough.

"Say it, Bella!" I hissed through my teeth. I was tensing up, and I feared I might lose control due to my frustration with her.

"Vampire," she spat.

Finally! I took a moment to calm down, and then I slowly walked up to her. I could hear her hold her breath, clearly aware of my close proximity to her. I put my mouth to her right ear and whispered, "Are you afraid?"

I desperately hoped that she would say yes. If she would just tell me that she was afraid, I would turn around, and walk away. I would spare her now and I would never go near her again. If only she would say yes…

"No," she declared, as sure as anything. I couldn't believe it. This girl was out of her mind. I snickered, and turned my back to her. No sooner had I done that than I heard her shuffle noisily around to face me.

"Edward, please," she begged. "I'm not afraid of you, I trust you. I know that you wouldn't hurt me." I turned to face her again, and I put all of the severity I could muster into my expression.

"I'm a monster, Bella" I put it as simply as I could, without actually demonstrating it. I studied her face, searching for even an ounce of fear behind her seemingly confident attitude. However, I didn't find it. I could see that she was somehow completely convinced that I was harmless to her. This girl honestly believed that she was safe in my presence. This girl was a very stupid girl.

She shook her head at me as she said: "I don't believe that." she spoke firmly. With those words, she had condemned herself.

"I warned you," I whispered to her, as if to divert all of the responsibility from myself, and onto her. I started toward her at a slow pace, as I knew she would not run. She began to walk toward me, too, exactly matching my speed. It was almost as if she were saying 'I've made my decision, and I'm sticking to it, whatever the consequences may be'. But I knew that she wasn't expecting any consequences. What she was expecting, was far different than what she would get.

As I got nearer to her, I smiled at her, out of instinct. We vampires hunt by dazzling our prey into such a state of infatuation that they lose their grip on reality. I could tell that it worked. She smiled back at me, and I noticed she started walking faster.

At the point where the distance between us came to a close, I took her in my arms. And just like that, she was done.