CHAPTER 2 - EDWARD POV

A diminutive neon tennis ball lands back into the palm of my hand. I look at it and wonder where it has been before it made its way into the ditch just before the road that leads to my house. I twirl it around twice, following every faded white line with my eyes before gripping it tightly, causing the ball to turn to dust. It sprinkles out of my hand and onto my chest.

Ruined.

I sigh and brush my hand on the front of my jeans, hoping to get the grit off my hand.

The trees are passing by slowly as I walk down the gravel road leading from my house. I do not want to run, but instead I want to watch nature as she did. I take in all the different shades of green on various leaves, the way the bark's color fades and darkens depending on where it is. When it begins to be too much, I let out a deep unnecessary breath and force myself to look up at the clouded sky.

Overcast in Forks, what a shocker.

I let out one more deep breath before I look back at the road ahead of me. No car is in sight, no person is running along the side of the road; I am the only thing semi-being within a fifty foot radius, as it should be.

I am not a thing meant to be around humans. I am the creature of their nightmares, not their friend.

The dirt beneath my feet crunches as I walk down it with too much force in my step, but I can't bring myself to care about dusting up my shoes. Alice will most likely have a different pair for me after her latest shopping extravaganza. I accelerate my pace into what the average human would consider a moderate jog, wanting to see what she did when she went for a run.

The world is just as beautiful, if not more. The colors on the foliage around me blur into one massive green that sends a jolt of warmth to my frozen body. I don't want to be here, and yet I cannot bring myself to turn around.

Its torture, but every fiber of my being welcomes the pain in.

My impatience begins to set in, and I can no longer stand the slow pace. My body is craving one place, and one place only-my meadow. I pick up my speed and break into a fast run, even to a vampire. I am at the meadow within seconds, and the ache in my body for the opening that offers me freedom vanishes almost instantaneously.

I slow myself to a light walk and make my way through the bushes. It does not even matter that I come here nearly every day, the sight of the sun streaming in over the tops of the trees amazes me. I stand at the edge of the clearing to see how each plant looks under the sun before setting my gaze on a tree all the way across the meadow.

I try to block all thoughts of her out of my mind, but I can't. I can't stop the image of her leaning against the trunk of the tree, her head thrown back in laughter, her smile lighting up her face and her eyes sparkling with joy. Before my daydreaming can get out of hand, I shake my head quickly.

"Snap out of it." Anger is in my voice. I stuff my hands into my jean pockets and sit down in the middle of the meadow.

The sun hits my skin, causing it to light up and reveal who I really am. I bring my knees up to my chest and cross my arms on top of them. Dropping my chin down onto my arms, I look straight ahead, allowing my mind to wonder.

Another school year is approaching, too quickly for my liking. I have tried to converse Carlisle out of staying here another year, claiming that I had 'heard' people catching on, but he didn't fall for it. I then came up with another alternative.

My next plan had worked, up until now. I try to bore myself as much as possible just to stretch the summer out longer. It doesn't work as well as I had hoped, but it makes the time pass slightly slower. Now, I am forced to make an appearance in the quaint halls of Forks High five times a week.

I'm already dreading the day school will start up again. I'm not entirely sure how the people of Forks High School will treat me this year, and to be honest, I am starting not to care. I already know how this year is going to be.

I'm going to walk as quickly as possible without raising suspicion.

I will avoid all contact with humans, unless absolutely necessary.

During the senior parties Emmett will most likely throw at the one place we do not have to secrete, I will hide away in my room or the meadow.

The table nearly pressed against the back wall of the cafeteria will no longer be empty.

I will do anything and everything I possibly can to make myself just another shadow in the filled hallways. I promise myself I will not think about people's words or thoughts about me, rather just shrug them off. I will get through this year as quickly and quietly as I can, leave Forks, and never come back.

It is a perfect plan, one I hadn't found a single flaw in yet.

Avoid the avoidable. Be invisible. Move on.

Simple, easy to remember, and very doable, just as long as my siblings don't intervene. I think they know to leave things be the way they are. I think they realize I need my own space, but I'm still not sure if they'll allow it. They have all been practicing how to block their thoughts from me-something I found both relieving and annoying all at once. It is times like this that make me think whether or not I made the right choice joining Carlisle.

I'm a vampire. Nothing I can do nor say will ever change that fact. So why should I fight against the beast I will never tame? He is there, he always has been, and he's awake now; wide awake inside of me. I will fight him, but I never will win the war against him. The creature is a growing force, and each day I spend in the shallow halls of the Home of the Spartans, he grows stronger.

He's waiting to come out again.

A droplet of water lands in my messy bronze hair. I look up at the sky and see rain beginning to fall to the ground. Just as I rise to my feet and brush off the back of my designer pants-Alice will kill me if I get it dirty-it reaches the ground, soaking me within seconds.

Not wanting to face Alice, I dart out of the meadow muttering one last goodbye. I run, fast enough to avoid getting wet, but not fast enough to brag about. I want to take my time and enjoy the simple things in life, running in the rain.

I arrive at the end of my driveway all too soon. Stopping, I stand there, allowing the water to soak through my clothes. I don't care anymore. Clothes are clothes, completely replicable. I want to walk in the rain, and feel it freezing just above my skin. I do just that.

Slowly, I make my way down the long gravel driveway, not making an effort to step around the puddles, but walking straight through them. My jeans are dirty and wet, my hair is flopping in my face, and my shirt is clinging to my chest; I don't care one bit.

I rub the cuff of my jeans in the mud just to spite Alice before I jog up the wooden steps to my house. I turn the doorknob slowly, trying to be as quiet as I can but I know it won't do a bit of good with vampire hearing.

Out of respect for my mother, Esme, I kick my shoes off on the doormat. I try to ring out my hair, but it's just too wet to make any difference.

"Edward? Is that you?" Esme calls out, knowing full who it is.

"Yes," I say back, to help my sanity if nothing else. "Coming."

I shake my legs once more, trying to get enough dirt off of them so that they won't track puddles throughout the house, and make my way to the kitchen where I know I'll find Esme cooking. Despite the fact no one in our family eats, Esme has been making it an effort during these past couple of months to bake goods for the families' hospital patients.

I ignore the horrible scent of chocolate filling my nose and plop down in the barstool at the counter she's working at. I watch as she stirs different ingredients in a large bowl, a look of concentration etched onto her face.

She pauses, puts the spoon down and looks up at me. I don't bother reading her thoughts; instead I focus on the mush inside the glass bowl.

"Edward, honey, would you like to bring these to the hospital when they're done?" she asks the question, but knows the answer. I'm not sure why she even bothers. It's a waste of breath, a waste of energy, a waste of time.

Even though I am theoretically a doctor, I hate hospitals. They reek of death and pain. Everyone's thoughts in the waiting room are agonizing. I find that it's better to avoid them at all costs.

I shake my head and mumble a 'no'. "Not today." I add in to give her something to look forward too.

She smiles softly at me before averting her attention back to the task at hand. I stay in the chair and watch as she takes a metal spoon and scoops chunks of doe out, places them in rows on the pan, and goes back for more. She speeds up the process slightly, and is finished in no time.

"Alice and Emmett should be back soon, and I'm just going to freshen up before I take the cookies." Esme says, dropping the rag she uses to clean the kitchen into the sink. She starts to leave the room as she speaks.

I watch her as she goes, and I say what I have every afternoon this summer. "Okay. I'll be in my room if you need me." I know they won't need me.

It makes me wonder just who does.


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Next: Chapter 3 - BELLA POV
"Are the 50s coming back or something? Or are you just into the whole country thing?" I raise an eyebrow at him and he cracks a smile. "Wait, don't tell me I'm going to have to start wearing overalls and milk cows somewhere in the back." I add in for my own humor.

Charlie rolls his eyes. "No milking cows is my thing," I think my eyes are about to pop out with the way they're so wide. "You'll be out in the field growing corn."