Disclaimer- Twilight and everything in it belongs to Stephanie Meyer. I suppose I'll get over it one day.

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When I woke up, it only took one glance in the mirror to tell that I was a mess. My eyes were red and puffy and my hair could've been nesting grounds for some exotic bird. This caused a slight panic. I wasn't normally picky about my looks, but it was the first day of school, so I wanted to look somewhat nice. Or at least, as nice as possible, considering my thoroughly average looks. After a shower, I pulled on a light blue sweater and a pair of jeans, going for comfortable rather than stylish. I ate a breakfast bar and made for the door, then stopped and grinned, the memory of my new truck coming back to me. I hopped in and put the key in the ignition, starting a bit at the roar that could rival the noise of that from a particularly bad thunderstorm. Oh, well. At least it was mine.

The drive to school was uneventful. The premises were designed oddly— there were multiple buildings, despite the fact that one large building could have easily fit the tiny number of students actually attending. I arrived early, parked in a random spot, and exited my truck, making my way towards the front office. There was a woman behind the main desk with red hair and in a purple t-shirt. Her thoughts went from simple curiosity to full-blown Spanish Inquisition when I introduced myself as Isabella Swan.

'Oh, of course- Isabella! Charlie's daughter! Didn't she come from Arizona? Hmm… I must have gotten that wrong. She looks so pale! I heard her mother was cheating on Charlie. I can't wait to talk to Mrs. Stanley… unless she finds out from her daughter…'

Slightly repulsed by the amount of gossip that seemed to be surrounding me, I forced herself to respond to the lady's polite "Hello" in a civil manner. Luckily, I had had lots of practice with people thinking in less-than-flattering ways, but rarely towards me. I generally laid low, preferring to let Renee be the adventurous one.

She gave me my schedule, a map, and a slip of paper that my teachers would have to sign, smiling politely all the while thinking up horrible bits of gossip to share with her friends. By the time we had finished, I was wearing a grimace thinly concealed as a smile, and it was to my great relief that I finally escaped the small office.

'I wonder what her problem is.'

Rolling my eyes, I headed back to my truck to wait for a reasonable time to head for my first class. Just as I picked up one of my favorite novels — Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen — I noticed a shiny silver Volvo pulling into a lot. It was gorgeous in comparison to every other car here, but as I realized moments later, nothing compared to the people that soon emerged.

My jaw literally dropped. There were five people, if you could call them that — angels might be more accurate — climbing out of the car with more grace than a professional dancer could hope for. My eyes were immediately drawn to the biggest one of the group, a man with dark brown hair that curled slightly at the ends. He put grizzly bears to shame. By his side was a girl almost painfully exquisite to look at, with golden blonde hair almost down to her hips. She couldn't be compared to any model — that would be an insult to her beauty. The other girl was the polar opposite. She was just as lovely, but she had cropped black hair, and she was tiny- I doubted she was 4' 8", and very skinny, but not in a malnourished way. Practically glued to her side was a tall male with hair nearly the same shade of blond as the first girl's. But they were not the ones who drew my attention.

Standing by himself was a boy with hair the most amazing shade of bronze. If the model had looked gorgeous, he was even more so. More than that, though, there was something about him that made me stare at him longer than any of the others, though I realized it had not been long. I had just been in my own world.

All had the same deathly pale skin tone. All had the same butterscotch eyes.

All were impossibly, intensely, heartbreakingly beautiful.

I have never tried to read someone else's mind before. It had always been my gift acting up unintentionally. Even when I was eight, when I first had the ability to do so, I realized that it was wrong, an invasion of people's privacy. I swore to never violate people's minds intentionally.

I didn't think twice before diving into the minds of the angels.

It came easily, naturally, to place my mind in that of theirs. I sat back and listened to everything they were thinking.

The only thing I could detect from the blond male was that he was in a huge amount of pain… from his throat? Shaking my head, I looked into the mind of the black-haired pixie.

'Ooh, I need to plan a shopping trip sooo badly, I haven't been in weeks…'

The oddest thing interrupted her train of thought. An image of a pale pink strapless dress flashed though my mind. And it seemed as if the girl had seen it to. But this was completely different than her just picturing the dress in her mind. It was almost as if it she hadn't seen the dress yet, but was going to. It was very odd. She continued:

'That has potential, but I would need to do some serious alterations to the hem. Maybe give it an empire waist? Oh, that would be so much cuter!'

I shook my head. I was beginning to suspect that girl had a gift, possibly as strange as mine. Or maybe I was just looking too much into this.

I peered into the blond's mind, then just as quickly pulled out. She was reminiscing about some R rated scenes with the large male that I did not need to see. They were definitely together. Thinking back, I realized the blond male was probably together with the pixie. I had heard the same loving undertone to their thoughts. Not as glaringly obvious, but just as strong, if not stronger. I checked in with another person's thoughts.

'Aw, man, I hate school. I can see where these humans are coming from. Six hours a day of absolute crap. But hey, Eddie, gives you a chance to flirt with all your admirers, huh?'

I blinked. That was from the largest male, and I could have sworn he was… talking to one of his companions. In his mind. I felt horrible confusion, and a glimmer of hope. Maybe I wasn't the only one with my talent. But none of them were looking at me oddly, wondering why I was so obsessed with stealing their thoughts. so I assumed that I had misinterpreted the big one. And then… The bronze haired one (Eddie?) looked directly at the big one and rolled his eyes.

Excited, I dove into his mind.

Sure enough, his mind was filled fuller than I would've thought possible with the mental conversations of those around him. He didn't have nearly the mental control I did, and I assumed he couldn't block them out. I supposed the pixie had a gift too. But my attention was drawn back to the bronze haired male as I registered his feelings of surprise and confusion.

'Hmm… that's odd… I don't… no. That's not possible. The beautiful human in the truck… I can't read her mind!'

I was embarrassed to discover that I lingered for much longer over his lovely mental voice — like velvet — and the fact that I could have sworn he called me beautiful than the fact that he was alerting the rest of his family to me, his mind-reading anomaly. I realized I had been staring at them, book forgotten, for far too long. I packed up my school supplies, rushing off to my next class— English, Building 3. I steeled myself, telling myself to not look back, don't look back at the strange group.

I failed.

Just before I entered, I glanced over my shoulder, to see five pairs of perfect eyes the color of molten gold burning a hole through my soul.

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Oh. My. Gosh.

I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW! I have actual PEOPLE reading the words I WROTE!

This chapter is dedicated to the wonderful people that have left me reviews—

Melorama

AnnyaVolteri

pumpkinmykitty

TinyButDangerous

Really, you guys probably made my week. But thanks to anyone who bothered to even check it out! I truly appreciate it.

Anyhow, back to the story. So, no, Bella did not actually talk to the Cullens yet. But she learned so much about them. Now, Bella knows that Edward has the gift of mind-reading just like her, and she at least suspects that Alice can read the future. Next chapter is the scene in the cafeteria. SPOILER— she sits with the Cullens :)

Update: Ok, SO SORRY, but I forgot to add this, and it's sort of important. Should I add the Cullen's POV? Or should I stick with Bella?

-Anna