Union Academy

by insider0987

Bella's forced to attend Union Academy after discovering the truth behind the weird symptoms her body's been enduring. Once there she learns that there're others like her who are also trying to balance out some normalcy in their lives while learning to control their newfound abilities. They're hormonal teenagers yet the ultimate biological weapon, talk about puberty.

2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

"And there's nothing wrong with me in the land of make believe, This is how I'm supposed to be."

"Okay, girls, be quiet."

"Hey, why-"

"She's sleeping, hush!"

"She looks dead,"

"Shh!"

I blinked my eyes a few times to wear off the grogginess of mornings. I think this time was hardest part of my day, who would want to escape a heavenly cocoon of blankets? Especially after last night, I wasn't exactly ready to face the world head on. Of course, I had done my own sort of pondering last night and decided that Union Academy is probably the best place for me right now considering I'm not in control of my sensory ability whatsoever; right now, that's the utmost priority for me if I want to live a close to normal life. That being said Union Academy could help me achieve that. Besides, I was pretty convinced that their image as the villain had absolutely dissolved in the information Mrs. Cullen told me last night. All in all, I needed to trust people here so I could come to terms with the reality of who I am, what I'm capable of, and what other people are capable of.

"Can we wake her up?" A voice whispered behind me.

"No! Let's just wait a bit."

I rolled over to see who the loud whispering culprits were. To my sleepy hazed shock, I saw three girls sitting comfortably on the opposite bed; each one wearing their pajamas and looking eagerly towards me.

Who were they?

"Hello," I grumbled as I tried to sit up while simultaneously attempting to cover my yawning.

Hello, morning breath!

"Good morning!" The girl in the middle could only be described as a mini pixie with the enthusiasm she was displaying; high pitched voice, cheesy smile, and sitting perched as close as possible to the edge of the bed, it seemed fitting. She had short black hair, extending outwards, which complemented her petite figure. Her brown eyes were bulging with excitement like it was Christmas morning when, in reality, it was just Sunday. I didn't know who she was but I remember Mrs. Cullen telling me that my roommate would be here in the morning so I'm figuring this was her or one of her friends would be. After Mrs. Cullen left last night I had dutifully unpacked my belongings and organized them in my entitled drawers and closet. I had also set up my laptop and books on my desk before I showered and got into bed. Of course, sleep didn't come so easily but after a few hours I managed to slip into a slumber. "I'm Alice," the girl in the middle continued, "I'm your roommate, I'm sure Esme told you about me."

I nodded "Yes, she did. I'm Bella." I smiled at her but I couldn't help but wonder so many things concerning Union Academy each time I looked at her and her friends. How long have they been attending this school? What're they capable of? Regardless, I reminded myself that these were questions I couldn't ask so early into meeting them. For now, I'd just have to ignore my urges and continue with regular conversation. After all, we still are regular high school students.

"It's really good to meet you, I've been waiting forever for a roommate," Forever? "So I was super excited when Esme told me you were coming. Right before school started, too, so that's great! I can tell we're going to be great friends." She beamed, displaying cute dimples.

Alice's friend playfully shoved her, "Alice the girl just woke up, relax a bit. Hi, Bella, I'm Angela. It's nice to meet you." Angela was the skinny girl on the right with long brown hair tied in a braid and glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. "I'm across the hall, my roommate's Rosalie." She gestured to the gorgeous girl sitting on the opposite end of her. Rosalie had model beauty; well they all did in actuality. They each had a face you wouldn't be surprised to find on the cover of Teen Vogue. In Rosalie's case, she seeped beauty out of her t-shirt and pajama shorts. She had honey blond hair with crystal blue eyes that any boy would love falling in to. "Hey, it's good to meet you too." She smiled sweetly, showing off her incredibly white and straight teeth.

"Yeah same to you, all of you." I smiled at each of them.

Angela grinned and rose from her position on the bed, "Well, Rose and I were just here to quickly meet you and drop Alice off. We need to get dressed for breakfast and I'm sure you do too," She waved over my still sleepy form, half covered in my blankets. "We'll come back when we're ready to head over for breakfast. Don't worry; we'll get some caffeine into you soon."

"Thanks, I could really use that." I decided I liked Angela.

Rosalie began to follow Angela out the door "See you later, Bella." She waved before closing the door and then it was just me and Alice.

"Your friends seem nice," I commented.

Alice moved to lean against the wall as she replied "Oh, yeah! They're great, you'll love them almost as much as you'll love me," She stopped quickly to give me a cheeky wink which I chuckled at in response. "No, but really we're super stoked that you're here. It's been a while since we've had a new student and even longer since I've had a roommate. So how'd you sleep?" Alice asked.

I appreciated the fact that she would even care at all over how I was handling the transition so I replied in earnest, "I thought it'd be worse but I actually feel okay. I think that everything Mrs. Cullen told me was something that I had been searching for. I'm still not entirely used to everything, though, a part of me still feels like this is so surreal but at the same time I know that this is a good start."

Alice nodded, grabbing some of the blankets and wrapping them around her "I get what you mean. I remember my first night here. That's why I offered to let you sleep alone last night; I didn't want you to be too overwhelmed. I'm happy that you sound like you have some sort of acceptance, though. It gets better, I promise. First, we have to go to breakfast, though. The food here is great, you'll love it!" She got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom, pretty much prancing her way there. Giddy at 9am, who would've thought? Alice opened the door and called to me "Here, Bella, you can have the first shower, I'm sure you need it more than I do."

Bless her.

"Thanks a lot, Alice." I hoped the sincerity in my voice was noticeable enough for her. It was big of her to let me have the room last night and the first shower. As far as rooming arrangements go I think there's not going to be any issues.

Alice laughed, a chiming sound you would expect to find in a Snow White movie "Don't thank me girl, I'm just saving myself because you reek! Now shower up so I can go after."

I laughed with her "Okay, okay I'm going!"

After Alice and I finished getting ready we headed over to Angela's and Rosalie's room before breakfast. It was right across the hall but everyone was bustling in the morning, in other words, everyone was going out of their way to stare long and hard as they passed by me. Their eyes practically screamed 'new girl'. Alice was quick to reassure me, though, "Don't mind them, it's just unusual to have someone new so late into summer. The last guy we got came two months ago and he arrived with dozens of other people. Don't sweat it, though, they just think you're the shiny, new toy."

Rose opened the door and let herself and Angela out. I've learned that the doors lock themselves automatically and are encoded to open with the occupants' fingerprints only. Bravo, Union Academy, on security.

"You all ready?" Rose asked as she led the way to the elevators.

"Where's breakfast?" I asked as we squished ourselves into a packed elevator.

Alice hit the button for the first floor and answered me once the doors were closed. "Meals are served in the building next door. The gym is there too along with the library and pool."

The door opened and I rushed to get out before being trampled by the tortuously starved girls. "There's a pool?" Despite my original love for swimming I didn't think that that could be a reality here until I learned how to contain my sensory ability. Apparently, most people don't like the pool to randomly turn into hot tub mode and then switch to the Arctic Ocean setting.

This seemed to catch Rosalie's attention instantly, "Yeah, the school tries to get everything on here. It's big too and has temperature control so it always feels amazing!" She beamed. "We obviously can't have a swim team but we each have to enroll in a sport so I chose swimming and it's been the love of my life ever since." We walked out of the building and followed the direction the other girls were walking in. As Alice promised I could see everyone walking into the building right next door; it was pretty close and clearly within walking distance.

Alice snorted "Yeah right! You can't keep your hands off Emmett for more than two seconds and that's just so you can wipe your ass before you go make kissy faces at each other again!"

Angela and I couldn't help but giggle, but now I was eager to know who Emmett was. As if Alice knew what I was thinking she went on to explain "Emmett's my brother who Rosalie was so quick to pronounce her undying love to as soon as she saw him,"

"Okay, not true!" Rosalie protested. "In fact, after we met it took us three months to start dating."

Alice nodded in defeat, "Yeah, she's right. Now she whispers his name in her sleep."

Rosalie groaned, "Alice!"

"I'm just kidding, you know I love you. Anyways, Bella, as luck would have it she's dating my brother and I'm dating her brother." Alice elbowed Rosalie on the side.

Now that's news! "Wait so you swapped boys?" It was pretty laughable, the type of thing you'd hear about in a TV drama or teen romance novel.

Angela was quick to answer, "Oh, yeah. Rosalie's brother is named Jasper and he's head over heels for Alice. I could say the same about Emmett too."

"That's cute," I commented. This was so surreal. I had to remind myself I was at Union Academy. Just last week I was on the phone talking to my best friends about boys and suddenly I'm here with people I just met having girl gossip.

We entered the second building and I was introduced to a long blast of AC. It resembled the hallways of pretty much any indoor school, minus the lockers and preppy posters on the walls. While we continued to follow everyone else in the direction of the cafeteria I made a mental note that the entrance was the first double doors on the left side. I'd have to ask Alice about the remaining doors in the long main hall some other time.

"So where are you from, Bella?" Angela asked.

I turned to see they were all looking at me expectantly, "I'm from Florida."

"Ugh, the weather must be amazing for beach days! Or does it rain a lot?" Rosalie commented.

I shrugged "It's pretty bipolar but I guess you get used to it. Do you have any idea where we are?"

The three of them shook their heads "Beats me." Alice answered.

The cafeteria came into sight soon and once we got inside I could see hundreds of kids sitting down and eating, joking with one another. Across the room a buffet style breakfast was waiting for us with people already helping themselves to the surplus food. It looked absolutely delicious, mountains of pancakes situated beside waffles galore. There were so many eggs, each cooked differently you'd think a whole barn was taken out. Cereals, milks, fruits, coffee, and everything heavenly in the mornings were making my mouth cry in deep want.

"Let's go get our plates, the boys said they'd find us once they showed up. They were probably up late last night." Rosalie began leading the way as I dutifully trailed behind her. Once we got to the buffet section I piled my plate with waffles which I dribbled syrup onto. We quickly grabbed some coffee and sat down at an empty table.

"What does everyone usually do when there's no school?" I asked after swallowing a bite of probably the best waffles I've tasted in my life.

Alice jumped in quick "I have to take you to Esme's office right after breakfast. I also have to pick you up so we'll hang out after, too. We can introduce you to everyone since there's going to be a pool party today. It's quite fitting with it being the last day of summer."

Too bad there won't be any swimming for me.

"Sounds good," I replied, delving into a bite of more waffle goodness. As conversation mellowed out I found myself growing comfortable around the three girls. I felt like I had to keep reminding myself that I was at Union Academy and although everyone looked normal, they all had a sensory ability. "Hey Alice?" I asked. Hopefully it wouldn't be too soon to ask about hers. It wasn't like I had any etiquette on this, though. "I'm obviously still new to this and everything but I was wondering, Mrs. Cullen said that everyone at Union Academy has an ability and she gave me all this background and reasoning to back it up. You don't have to answer if you're not comfortable but what's your power?"

She quickly chewed and washed it down with a gulp of milk. "If you ever have questions about that kind of stuff come to us. A lot of people can be really cocky and demeaning but just know that no matter what your sixth sense is, you have it for a reason. Not everything is going to be fire balls and lightning bolts but you can make it into grenades and hurricanes, honey."

"I think I know what I can do but I'm not sure," As soon as the sentence escaped my lips I regretted it instantly.

Oh, yeah, I'm so cool Alice. I can be hot and cold without knowing it. Want frost bite while we watch a movie? Fun!

Uh, no.

"Oh really? What is it? Wait never mind I'll tell you mine first." Alice said to my extreme relief. "Last summer, I started getting symptoms and at first it was just insane headaches with extreme jumpiness all the time. I felt like someone was going to pop out and scare me. Everyone moved in fast motion and it was exhausting. After I came to Union Academy I was able to reel it in and understand my sixth sense better. Basically I can see someone make a move before they actually do it. When you grabbed your fork two seconds ago I saw you make that move before you completed it. My brain processes it in milliseconds much faster than anyone. Like when people play basketball and fake left, I would've already anticipated that earlier on and kept going right. I'm not sure how to really explain it but all I know is that I've never lost a fight. Obviously, my sixth sense appeals to the eyes, in the case my own, so if you blindfold me I wouldn't be able to sense a thing." As strange as it sounded, that was very neat. I was only scratching the surface of Union Academy but I couldn't help but be intrigued. The only issue was that I couldn't imagine little Alice in a fight.

"That's really cool, real convenient too although I never pictured you as a fighter. How many fights have you been in?" I asked, pretty alarmed that someone would even think of hurting her.

She popped a pancake bit into her mouth and spoke around it, "Not a real fight." She continued chewing and motioned to Rosalie to explain to me. "The school has spar fights for us." Rosalie began. "We train kind of like how you would at a boot camp and they teach us how to fight with and without our sixth sense. It's not so bad but it's extremely frustrating when you go against Alice. She sees your every move so she gets out of the way before you can grab her. Sucks real bad." Rosalie complained teasingly.

Boot camp? The first thing that popped into my mind was Hilary Duff in her Cadet Kelly movie: mud, ropes, and barbed wire. "How long is boot camp?" I questioned in hopes that I wouldn't have to suffer too long, the Lord knows how far my idea of 'roughing it' gets.

Rosalie shrugged "All year but it's not too bad. It's like gym but more focused and pretty challenging. We run, learn hand to hand combat, shoot, work with our sixth sense,-"

"What's a sixth sense? You all keep saying that. Is that what everyone calls their sensory ability?" I interrupted out of pure curiosity because I kept hearing people use that term.

Rosalie nodded "Yeah, pretty much but I do like the sound of sensory ability. Catchy."

"So what's your sensory ability?" I pushed.

Shrugging humbly Rosalie started, "My story isn't as cool as Alice's. I pretty much got my sixth sense last summer, that's how Alice and I met. My symptoms weren't really noticeable except now that I look at it, I had only been dating or attracted to foreign guys who couldn't speak English. Anyways, everything was normal and it was my sophomore year. I was in Spanish class and this really hot foreign exchange student got into our class. He spoke Spanish perfectly and could speak English pretty well so there wasn't really a language barrier. One day he asked me to the movies so I went and everything was going smoothly until we started making out. It was the strangest thing ever. It wasn't even that long but afterwards I couldn't understand the movie. I was even thinking in Spanish! It was crazy. I asked him to take me home and that's how I showed up at Union Academy. They had me undergo really strange training but now my sixth sense is basically language tasting. If you know Japanese and I kiss you with tongue, sorry my sense appeals to taste; I can gain it as a language. It's weird, I know. At least I'm fluent in sixteen languages, so far." Rosalie winked. "Imagine my surprise when I realized Emmett knew Portugal."

I laughed "Wow that must be awesome for traveling!" My fascination continued as I heard each of their stories. I totally couldn't wait to meet more people and hear their stories too but for now I wanted to listen to Angela next.

"Yeah if they ever let us travel." Rosalie joked yet I could hear some underlying coldness in her voice. Whatever it was, I chose to ignore it. "What about you, Angela?"

Angela was already done with her breakfast and easily answered. "I got here May of this year when- oh my, gosh." Her voice dropped at the end of her fragment and finished with a gasp. Suddenly, all the conversations in the cafeteria came to a halt as everyone stood up to stare at a point behind me. Instantly, I whipped my head back to see what had caused everyone to drop everything and stare. Men in white uniforms began bombarding the cafeteria, machine guns in their hands. They came from all three entrances of the room, even the main one. A group of about a dozen boys was standing in front of them, arms raised and the ends of guns between their shoulder blades. They all sported bruised up and bloodied faces. Their clothes were covered in dirt, blood, and sweat which just added to their fatigued look. A few of them were even limping. Obviously a fight had gone down.

"Oh, no," Alice whispered as they came closer, about five feet away.

Rosalie gasped in shock "Emmett!" She didn't waste any time and even I didn't anticipate her running to him. It was just a distance of eight feet for her yet it was much too late to stop her from getting out of our reach.

"No, Rose!" Alice shrieked and ran up to try and yank Rosalie away but it was too late for her to stop. One of the men in the white suits stood in front of the boys to block her but in Rosalie's haste to get to her boyfriend she slammed straight into him. "Let me go!" She screamed and in the time span of ten seconds she maneuvered a skilled leg kick to his knee while simultaneously jabbing his stomach, causing him to release her. She took advantage of the freedom instantly and continued running to the line of boys that looked like they had gotten into a fight with a bear. Unfortunately, it didn't take more than five seconds for the man Rosalie had escaped from to pull out a gun from his belt. My heart dropped to the ends of my toes as my lungs expelled all the oxygen in my system.

No, no, no, no!

Then, I noticed Alice had left me and was creeping up behind the man with the gun. She smacked the revolver out of his hand, tossing it to the ground at my feet. It didn't end there, she sent a kick to the back of his knees, effectively making him lose his balance and fall to the ground. The grace in which she moved left no doubt in my mind that each step was calculated to perfection. Not a moment later another man moved to attack Alice and suddenly I found my mouth and feet moving on auto pilot. "Alice!" I screamed, stepping forward to help her. Fortunately, she already had the situation handled, disarming him before he had even reached for his weapon.

"NO!" A voice behind Alice roared and then the first gunshot erupted.

A single second of silence followed. Right after, Alice's body crumpled to the ground and behind her a real fight began. The line of white clothed officers began grabbing the boys. I noticed Rosalie among the herd and saw that a group of three men were trying to take her away from an enormous guy with blood dripping down his face. They were both putting up a fight but she was soon wrenched from his arms as he received a quick but powerful hit with a police bat to his back. It was absolutely awful, my body began moving towards the entrance we came in but Angela quickly pushed me in the direction of the fight, "We need to check on Alice!" Swallowing my own fears, I willed my brain to focus on getting to Alice. The cafeteria was a mass of moving chaos. Everyone was surrounded and fights had broken out all throughout the room, gunshots adding to the already escalating conflict. I had no time to decide in which direction to go; I just had to help Alice.

Move, dammit!

I followed Angela to Alice's small collapsed form. Once we reached her it was hard to swallow the fact that one of my only friends could be dead. Her body was entirely limp and her eyes closed tight, a picturesque corpse. Please don't be dead! I checked her pulse as fast as I could with my jumbled brain and almost erupted into tears, she was alive.

"She's okay but where's the bullet hole?" I demanded. I kept searching for blood but remained shocked to find absolutely none.

Angela looked at me like I was crazy "They don't use bullets. It's a tranquilizer but we need to find where it hit her to take it out, otherwise she'll be knocked out for days which is crazy dangerous."

I didn't have time to question how strange it sounded, I needed to help search for the tranquilized. However, when I looked up I caught sight of a helpless Rosalie. She was being pulled away by two men, one grabbing onto her hair and jaw as he spit menacing words at her while the other grabbed her roughly by the waist and arms to keep her from escaping. With all the commotion occurring, everyone was in a battle of their own and either couldn't see the desperate situation Rosalie was in or was too busy fighting one of their own. I couldn't leave her. "Angela we need to help Rosalie!" The men's grip didn't loosen at all but after one of them punched her straight in the face I shocked straight up. I didn't even wait for Angela I just ran to where Rosalie was, blood already boiling.

As soon as I reached her I wasn't thinking logically at all. I didn't care if I didn't know the first thing in fighting; the desperation on her face was evident, especially with blood dripping down her nose, as we made eye contact. It was all the motivation I needed. I reared my arm back and with all my strength punched one of the men in the back of the head. Pain erupted on my knuckles like wisps of flames but I ignored it as I gave him round two. This time, the pain was numbing and my adrenaline continued sky rocketing.

Unfortunately, the two seconds of success were short lived. The guard quickly spun around, slamming me against the wall. I think my head left a dent on it with the force of the collision. Tears sprung to my eyes but I refused to show any weakness. I tried kneeing him in the stomach or the groin but he quickly wedged himself closer to me with one hand as he reached for his gun.

No!

In a last ditch effort I tried punching him but he had anticipated the movement and grabbed my wrist before my arm could reach his face. He held it for a second before hissing and dropping it immediately like it was hot steel.

Like it was hot steel.

I understood the look of horror he was giving me because I had seen it on a few other people as well. I understood why he fumbled for his gun: I was a threat. I understood that my freakish ability that had always been a burden could be the reason I lived.

Without a second to spare I launched myself onto him with my palms ensnared around his neck. He let out a horrified scream you'd only hear if you were thrown into the unforgiving fire of hell. Quickly, he pushed me away from me with the strength of a running ape making my body collide with the brick hard floor. My shoulder throbbed in absolutely horrendous pain with the force behind the push but I still moved to get up.

"Bitch!" The white suit man tackled me, his knees on my inner elbows, restraining me in position. The weight of him over me was unbearable; my heart pounded harder to keep circulation flowing through my body despite the man's knees on my arms, my lungs wheezed for any sweet oxygen it could afford, and lastly my legs kicked out fruitlessly. The man displayed the loaded weapon he had in his hand and I knew there was no hope so I relished in the satisfying sight of the burn marks around his neck. He leaned down, four inches from my face and said "I'm going to enjoy this." There was sick malice all over his voice as he lowered the t-shirt lower from my chest until my bra was on display. "What a shame you're not human." He whispered as nausea combined with horrific fear coursed through my system.

"Fuck you." I spit on his face.

He wiped it cleanly off as I felt the end of the gun move right in between my breasts. I braced myself for what came next but, surprisingly, the pain I was expecting was nothing more than a bite and the aftermath was just a numbing drowsiness. The sound of the shot itself was the most bothersome, super loud.

Stay awake!

I closed my eyes a few times out of exhaustion and stopped struggling.

I peeked my eyes open slightly to let them adjust to the lighting. Aw man, not only was the light bright white but the sheets were white too as well as the bed I was on.

Where was I?

I realized it was a mistake trying to sit up after a wave of intense soreness shot through my shoulder whenever I moved it.

"Shit." I muttered to myself. What the fuck had happened happened? Why were men in white uniforms shooting at students? The boys! Was it possible that the guys that had walked into the cafeteria got beat up by the men in the uniforms? From what I had seen, the uniformed men wouldn't hesitate to throw a punch or two.

Looking around the room I was in I noticed that the walls were replaced by curtains as they would be in an ER. I wasn't really hurt except for… the man in the white suit; the men in the white suits who had guns.

Alice!

I had to get out of here to check on Alice, see if she was alright. And Rosalie! Last I remembered Rosalie was also trying to fend off one of the men in white, hopefully she hadn't gotten too hurt.

I sat up without trying to move my shoulder too much and swung my legs over the side of the bed, a pang of dizziness came but luckily it passed with a few deep breaths. I looked down to see that I was still wearing my own clothes and my shoes were tucked into a corner of the room, near the exit. Slipping them on quickly, I was about to leave the room when I heard voices from outside.

"Why would they?"

"Listen, don't you dare try to defend them and say that all of this is okay."

The first voice was a feminine voice and the second a male, I didn't recognize either but it could've just been because they whispering.

"It doesn't matter, it happened. You know a lot of people don't like what's going on and there's obviously going to be protests."

"You call that a protest? What happened isn't a protest, it's a threat! It's a miracle no one died."

I couldn't really understand the context the voices were speaking out of but my best guess was that it had to do with the cafeteria fight.

"Look, you know the rules. The boys broke them and they had consequences."

"Rules? Of course I know the rules but it's the schools job to administer those consequences not the S force! If you want to talk about rules then look to the fact that a bunch of minors were abused today, how many violations is that?"

"Oh, please, don't give me any of that abuse bullcrap. You should be happy that their request to use real weapons instead of bats and tranquilizers is being looked over very slowly. It could have gone down a lot differently if they were using tasers and bullets."

"Oh I'm happy and you bet that I'm going to go out of my way to make sure that request gets denied! This isn't the first time that an incident like this has occurred! These kids could have been seriously hurt or wounded! Just wait until-"

"Until what, huh? No one outside of our operation is going to know because Union Academy, the S force, and Brains is restricted to the public so don't get your hopes up about justice because odds are it'll be a cold day in hell when you find it."

S force? Brains?

"Fuck you. Keep your men away from my kids!"

"They're not kids, they're genetic monsters. They're breaking all the laws of evolution, of nature! How can you even represent them in the Circle?"

The Circle?

"Cry me a river and while you're at it go drown in it! You of all people shouldn't be judging people in the Circle. If they ever found out what you-"

"Yeah, yeah I've heard this speech before but you wouldn't ever tell them, right? Not unless you want your family to know just how loving their father could be."

"I'm serious, just one more screw up and you're done."

"If you don't want to see them hurt again, then end it here."

"This is people we're talking about, innocent lives!"

Far off footsteps could be heard from the left causing the conversation to end. I could hear their footsteps heading in the opposite direction, indicating their departure as well.

I didn't know what to make of the conversation I had just heard. It was hard to decipher all of it but I did manage to catch the argument surrounding the events of the cafeteria conflict. It didn't escape my notice that the people that were speaking were whispering for a reason. Everyone in here was most likely knocked out so they weren't just practicing common courtesy to not wake us up. They most certainly had something to hide. The worrisome part was the fact that soon those tranquilizers could be turned into bullets, if the request they'd been talking about had been accepted Alice could be dead I could be dead. I felt a strong urge to tell someone, alert Mrs. Esme, but after overhearing the conversation I couldn't help but feel hesitant on who to trust. Of course Mrs. Esme seemed like a lighthearted woman, her passion for her kids was evident each time she spoke but, for now, I'd feel more comfortable waiting until I could absolutely trust an authority. Besides, I couldn't go up to anyone with a story of anonymous actors. I hadn't seen them or properly heard their voices, who'd believe me? I know I wouldn't.

The pair of footsteps that caused the speakers to leave was getting closer. I decided since it was probably the closest help I could get I should probably leave now.

Emerging from the curtains I checked my right real quickly in the small chance that the people who were talking would still be there. They weren't.

"Hey, are you feeling better?" A voice on my left asked. I looked to see a model straight out of Doctors Monthly. His golden hair was cut short, allowing his strong cheekbones and green eyes to be prominent features, his sexy doctors look was complete with the stethoscope wrapped around his neck, an ID badge to prove his identity, and a handy dandy pen on his left breast pocket.

I wouldn't mind getting a checkup.

"Miss? Are you okay?" He asked again.

"Uh, yeah," I stammered. "Actually I'm a bit lost."

He grinned and I swear the heavens opened up. "That's not a problem…?" He left his sentence hanging, the universal indication that he wanted to know my name.

"Bella Swan." I said.

His eyes lit up at my response, "Ah, Bella. It's finally good to meet you. You've made great friends; their waiting for you in my wife's office I'm sure you've met her already, Esme?" I nodded quickly, they make a cute couple. "They've been hounding me on when'd you'd wake up and I was actually just on my way to come find you. Do you want to head over there now?"

"Yes, please. Thank you."

It was warming to hear that my friends were concerned for me but, overpowering my humbleness, I was relieved to hear that because it meant that there was somebody to worry over me, meaning that Alice, Angela, and Rosalie were okay.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked as we walked out of the big room of curtain covered smaller rooms.

"Yes, thank you Doctor Cullen." I replied.

"Oh, call me Carlisle. Alice has talked nonstop about you in the waiting room I feel like I already know you."

I giggled nervously, what has Alice said when we're just getting to know each other?

"Are Alice and Rosalie okay?" I asked while we were walking.

"Yes, they're both okay. Rosalie told me what happened and I have to commend you for it. Alice is alright too; more worried about you than anything but I'm happy my daughter has found great friends worth worrying over."

Daughter?

"Wait, you're Alice's dad? And Mrs. Cullen is her mom?" I stammered, surprised out of my mind.

He laughed a bit, "I would hope I'm her dad." I choked a bit and he seemed to sense my shock, "No I'm just kidding, yes. Esme is her mother and I'm a very proud father."

Well she forgot to mention that bombshell. One of my only friends is the daughter of the dean and a doctor.

We arrived in front of a door after walking through a maze of hallways. Dr. Cullen held it open for me and walking in felt like arriving on the red carpet.

"Bella!" Alice exclaimed as she hopped off of the sofa she was anxiously perched on. I saw Rosalie move towards me from the other end of the room, followed by Angela.

Alice was probably a head shorter than me yet the moment she wrenched me into her arms, beside from the pain racing through my shoulder, I felt enveloped in security. She was short and skinny but she packed a lot of strength and her secure grip was absolutely comforting. After an appreciated moment she released me to look me over, "Are you okay? I heard he shot your chest, close to your heart that's so dangerous! How do you feel? Rosalie told me what you did, I'm so happy you're okay, Bella."

"Alice, shh, I'm fine I promise. How are you? What about you, Rosalie?" I asked Alice but then moved to make eye contact with Rosalie.

"I'm okay, thanks to you. Really, Bella thank you so much. You barely know me yet you went out of your way to help me, I guess I kind of owe you one." Rosalie's eyes were watery, scaring me a little but I was reassured with the evident gratitude on her face. I'm guessing they were tears of joy.

Angela came to hug me quickly, "Glad to see you up, Bella."

"Glad to be up," I joked.

"Is your mom in here, Alice?" Dr. Cullen asked from outside the door.

Alice looked at me quickly and then replied "Uh, no. She went to have a chat with Edward; she's probably on her way back by now."

Dr. Cullen nodded, "Okay, I'll see you girls later then."

After Dr. Cullen left I took in my surroundings and noticed the room was rather large for an office but I guess with incognito federal funding, they had the ability to splurge. The mahogany desk at the back of the room was evidence enough but the nice leather sofas in the front corner were the perfect add on. In addition, aside from the furniture and the girls a dozen guys were scattered all over the room as well as two other girls who stood talking together.

Since Mrs. Cullen wasn't here yet it gave me some time to question Alice. "Alice, why didn't you tell me that your Mom was Mrs. Cullen?"

She shrugged, "You never asked."

"Um, that's not a typical get to know you question." I replied.

Alice began walking away, "Right now that's not important. Come meet Jasper." She led me to the couch area where a few guys were lounging and talking together. She carelessly sat on top of one of their laps and he instinctively wrapped one of his arms around her waist. "Jazzy, say hi to Bella."

"Hi, Bella. It's good to finally meet you." As he said that I detected a bit of a Southern accent. His curly blond locks reached down to his forehead and his blue eyes were exactly that of Rosalie's as well as his nose.

"Nice to finally meet you too," I replied warmly.

Rosalie grabbed a hold of my hand and had me sit down in between a guy I didn't know and her. Beside her sat a massive, muscular guy. He had dimples on his cheeks, showing them off as he smiled at Rosalie. Despite his enormous built; the dimples, brown, cheery eyes, and brown curly hair gave him a sort of boyish charm, lowering the intimidation meter.

"I'm Emmett." He said, holding out his burly hand.

I reached to take it in mine but right when I was about an inch away he swiped it back quickly and said "Too slow!" I couldn't help but laugh at this kiddy game.

"Hey, Bella, I'm Mike." The guy I was sitting next to said. I offered him my attention and noted his eyes were a lighter shade of blue with, of course, I messy mop of blond hair.

"Nice to meet you." I said.

"Thanks, Newton, but I wasn't finished." Emmett protested. I looked over at him and he had a slightly annoyed look on his face. "I just wanted to thank you, Bella. Rose told me what you did and I'm just really glad that you were able to help her before those piece of shit-"

"Well that's all I got to hear to know Emmett's talking." A loud voice announced from the door. He was tall, about 6'8" to 7 feet with wild bronzed hair that gave off a total bad boy persona. His jaw was sculpted perfectly, along with the rest of his muscular built. As soon as we made eye contact I was startled with how absolutely green his eyes were, just like the forest behind the dorms. He came inside, approaching our general direction and never releasing eye contact with me. Mammoth butterflies crowded in my stomach and a traitorous blush sneaked its way to my cheeks. He was absolutely gorgeous.

"Hush, Edward. I need to talk to everyone so just please hold off the antics for now." Mrs. Cullen came from behind Edward and sat him on the opposite end of the couch, beside Angela and a boy who had his hand entwined with hers, effectively breaking our eye contact. "Ah, Bella, it's good to see you. How do you feel?"

I feel like a bunch of white suited men shot down a cafeteria, but I guess it's okay because it was just tranquilizers, not bullets. "Uh, fine."

Mrs. Cullen pulled at one of the chairs seated in front of her desk and slid it across from the people across the couches. She waved her hands behind her to indicate that everyone should crowd around us. I looked once more at Edward to find that he was already watching me, he smiled slightly and the butterflies turned into an army of moths. Once everyone in the room was presently in front of her she began.

"Alright, now that I've heard different perspectives and Bella's here upon Alice's unending whining," Mrs. Cullen teased her daughter but when I looked at Alice there was no humor on her face. Instead Alice replied with, "She deserves to know, Mom, and so does the rest of the school."

I had an awful gut feeling that this conversation was not going to end well.

Mrs. Cullen nodded yet remained composed "Alice, you're right. And I'm going to do my best to explain everything but nothing leaves this room. As far as I can tell, the S force has attacked my kids with very little motivation and out of this world violence. I'm sorry boys but this will ultimately be up to the Circle to handle. I'm going to review the arguments that will present themselves at the Circle. Basically, since the lot of you was stupid enough to try and get past the fence the S force was within their rights to detain you. The aggravated battery was not within their rights, since you guys told me they attacked first so we're going to use that to our advantage in the Circle. Unfortunately, they're claiming that Emmett punch one of them first. In this case, I believe we at least have the truth on our side. There's more; the S force claimed that they brought you to the cafeteria as a warning to the other students to not try what they had tried but we've already established that unless I'm present and I have given them consent, they cannot come in any building on campus especially with students present and they know that. However, since Rose moved first they claim the entire outburst in the cafeteria was a result of self defense. They're saying how frightened they are by your sixth sense and combat training so they were forced to act quickly. I hope the Circle won't buy that but it's looking good for us. The Circle meets on Tuesday so we'll at least know by then."

"What's the Circle?" I asked. This wasn't the first time I had heard that name, I recalled it from the conversation I had been eavesdropping from earlier.

"It's basically like a Congress for Union Academy. Since we're a secret from public view, if there's ever any issue we can't really call the police so we go to the Circle. We have representatives who debate on terms of consequences for the accusing side." Mrs. Cullen answered.

"What about the S Force?"

"The S Force is our version of the Coast Guard and police. They monitor the fences surrounding the campus and if there's ever any trouble on campus they're the ones who are supposed to solve it. Unfortunately, we're not on very good terms with them." She responded.

I had an urge to ask about Brains but decided I'd go to Alice for answers when we were alone.

"Mom, this is bull. This isn't the first time they've done something like this! Someone's going to end up hurt, why isn't the Circle doing anything? What about the USFG?" Emmett demanded.

Mrs. Cullen shook her head sadly. "They're a part of the Circle so they're obviously going to vouch for themselves. I'm hoping this time the Circle will get involved more, though. As far as the USFG, they have a country to run and sometimes don't like to be bothered with our matters. It's okay, guys I promise to do my best to fix all this. For now, I need you to go back to your dorms and just stay in that building. All activities are cancelled for today. School will resume tomorrow. Bella I've left your schedule on your desk, Alice will help you with any questions. Right now, I have to go guys. The Circle wants to meet with me; I'll be back in time for school." Mrs. Cullen stood up and held the door open for us. One by one we all exited her office.

I was shot at by the S Force, who's supposedly on our side, I overheard a conversation that basically screamed danger, and all I got was no more than a few minutes to explain for it all. No way could I contain my outrage to Rosalie after we left the room, "Wait so that's it? That's all I get?"

"That's all that happened, what more do you want?" A girl I didn't recognize snapped. She was standing fairly close to Edward and I couldn't help the brief jealousy that zapped through me. I could feel his eyes on me but I chose not to meet them.

"Shut up Lauren." I heard someone from the back say. "You weren't even there, you have no idea what went down."

Lauren rolled her eyes and didn't reply.

"It's okay, Bella. We'll talk in the lounge, for now let's just go." Rosalie said.

I nodded, not quite satisfied as I followed them out of the building. Once we got outside I realized it was night time. How long was I passed out?

"If you want to hear what's up with the S Force, you can ask me." A velvety voice beside me said. I checked to see Edward standing beside me, his body heat giving off gorgeous warmth through the chilly night. His emerald eyes were just as vibrant with the lighting of the moon as they had been in the lit up office. This guy was absolutely beautiful. "I'm not one to keep secrets." He said and I felt like there was a hidden meaning behind those words. "By the way I'm Edward." He held out his hand for me to take and as I placed my hand in his I felt a crumpled piece of paper being put on my palm. I glanced up at him as I retrieved my now fisted hand to see his twinkling eyes. Checking the paper I was shocked to see the elegant script the message was written in. When I looked back up he was gone, already catching up with the rest of the group.

A/N: A little long to make up for the shortness of the last chapter, let me know what ya'll think, don't spare my feelings (: Any guesses on what the message says?