I want to thank everyone who has reviewed and added this story to the alerts and favorites. I'm glad that you are enjoying it. Again, feel free to drop me a line...good or bad. I'm all for construtive criticism! Thanks again! :)
PS Did every read that New Moon will be coming out Nov. 20, 2009? Lol...I think that's great...almost a year to the date of Twilight.
Alice and Edward couldn't move fast enough through the hallways of Forks High School. Literally. They could have practically flown through the halls but they were now filled. Edward's head was frantically trying to find Jasper and Rosalie's voices through all the ones that now filled his ears but he was having trouble. All the while, Alice was obviously panicking.
"I miss something. I screwed up. I'm horrible." she cried softly as she walked next to Edward. She looked up to him with pleading eyes and coiled back when he met her gaze with a glare.
"Shut it. I'm trying to find them and I can't hear over your ranting and everyone else's complaints!" he growled and focused once again on trying to find his siblings voices.
Edward. Edward! Hurry! Came Rosalie's panicked cries. Soon after came Jasper's.
God, I'm stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I'm too weak. He chanted in his head. Edward focused harder and tried to decipher anything that could help him understand what else happened but both were busy calling his name now, making sure that he heard them.
"Anything?" Alice whispered. Edward shook his head and pushed the door in front of him. The supposed cold wind rushed into their faces as they finally reached the parking lot and flew across it. Alice gasped when she saw Jasper bent over to the hood of the Volvo, repeatedly hitting his head on the top while Rosalie rubbed his back.
"Edward's here!" she whispered to Jasper but his blond head did not stop the motion intent on hurting him.
"What-?" Edward began but was cut off by Alice.
"I'm so sorry, Jasper!" she wailed and grabbed onto his arm. He shrugged her off and she stepped back next to Rosalie. Edward looked over at Rose and cocked his head to the side.
"What happened?" he asked. Rosalie looked at him oddly and furrowed her brow.
"Don't you know?" she asked.
"If you'd calm down, I would. But when your intently calling my name instead of thinking about what happened, I can't." he told her icily and pointed to Jasper, who had now stopped the banging of his head. "What happened?"
"And tell us. I want to hear it too. It's my fault anyways. I should have seen something go wrong." Alice cried again and clung to Rose's arm. Rosalie scowled and looked over at her wallowing brother.
"Nothing went wrong." she whispered. "But it could have." Everyone's eyes drifted to Jasper, who remained quiet and still. Edward was the first to look back to Rosalie.
'She's new.' Rosalie commented as her and Jasper walked into the open art room, arm in arm. Jasper sighed and looked over at the fuzzy haired lady at the front of the class. Along with her big poofy hair there was a tiny middle aged woman with think black rimmed glasses that made her eyes look huge if you stared at her. The odd look was completed by a hideous green, blue and orange long sleeved dress. There was no doubt that she would attract attention.
And gossip.
'Looks odd.' he added and un-hooked his arm to pull out a chair for Rosalie an empty table in the far back of the classroom. Rose smiled up at him and curtsied a little.
'Why thank you, sir.' she drawled in her faux Southern accent that Jasper tried teaching her. Jasper flashed her a wide grin and bowed a little.
'Only for you, my dear.' he drawled back and took the seat next to her. They sat quietly as the rest of the students filled the room and the final bell rang. Rose took the time to look around the room and smirk.
No one had sat at their table. No one had sat around them at all. It was like they were the plague or something. Instead of attracting attention, as most would think, they basically repelled it.
'Hello, class. I'm Mrs. Holloway.' she greeted and sat on the end of her desk. 'Mr. Hammond retired just two weeks ago, hence why his name is still on the class list for you all. If it's a problem, ask the front desk to change it. But I see no reason why it should be.' she smiled.
Jasper looked over at Rose when she sighed audibly and smirked. Rose hated the first day of school more than any other day of the year. It was full of introductions and long speeches. And essays on how you spent your summer.
'Be happy your the senior this year.' he whispered to her. She smiled faintly and looked back to the kooky looking teacher as she explained where she was born, where she lived, where she was schooled and every other nit pick detail of her life. By the time she was done with her introduction, it was already 20 minutes until next classes.
'Holy hell, she can talk.' Rose hisses and Jasper smirked as he wrapped one arm around the back of her chair and lightly patted her shoulder. Rose rolled her eyes quickly before the faintest wave of calm came over her. If she remembered that later on, she'd smack him.
'So to fill the last part of class I'd like to paint.' Mrs. Holloway smiled and pointed to the tray of paint trays. 'If everyone could get one tray per two people, I'd like for you too paint a light description of your summer. If you went fishing, paint the lake or a boat. Swimming, paint the beach. You get the drift, right?'
'Yes.' the class answered dully. Rose looked over at Jasper as he started to move from his seat and she grabbed his hand. He looked at her oddly and she nodded her head in the direction of the crowded paint tray.
'I'll be fine. Let me be the gentleman.' ho told her and pulled his hand away. She sighed in relief when most students moved way to let him walk through and grab a pain tray. She felt a little bad for doubting him but she couldn't help it.
Sure, she was worried about the person that he could hurt but she was more worried about loosing him.
'I suck at this.' Rosalie groaned after about 10 minutes of painting. She slammed her brush down on the ledge of the easel and glared at her picture. 'After so many years on this Earth, you'd think I'd learn a few tricks but no, not the blonde.' Jasper chuckled and set his brush down lightly to look at his sister's painting.
He couldn't help but bite his lip. It looked like Rosalie wanted to paint an image of her fixing up Carlisle's car over the summer. But instead of a sleek Mercedes all Jasper saw was a black blur in a box.
'Don't laugh.' she warned, not even looking at him.
'I wasn't.' he smiled, still looking at her picture.
'I know you want to.' she told him, a little aggravated now.
'What? Are you the empath now?' he joked, trying to make her smiled. Didn't work.
'And how might you two be doing?' Mrs. Holloway exclaimed, walking to the back table where the twins sat. Jasper tensed a little and Rosalie patted his leg under the table.
'I don't think I'm cut out to be an artist.' Rosalie said as nicely as she could. She could see everyone in the class pause and look back at them. Everyone was used to everyone almost ignoring the Cullen's and Hale's. Only every once in a while would a teacher call on them for answers. But Mrs. Holloway was new; she didn't know the unspoken and unwritten rules of the Cullen's and Hale's.
'Oh deary, practice makes perfect. Let's see." the teacher gushed and moved behind Rosalie to look at her picture. Jasper almost laughed when he saw the look on her face. It was priceless. 'Well, not everyone is Van Gough, right?' she stuttered and Rosalie silently fumed.
'Now how about you darling?' she smiled and moved over to Jasper's picture. Rosalie now realized that she didn't even look at his yet. She peeked over and smiled when she saw his. It was a very detailed, and very well painted, picture of their backyard. The creek, the mountains and the forest all in the backyard.
'Oh my dear.' Mrs. Holloway gushed. 'This is amazing!' she cried in excitement.
And though nothing in the normal world moved in slow motion, Rose swore she saw time slow down in an instant. At first the teacher's hands were clapping together in front of her chest and the next thing she saw was her hands coming down right onto the boy in front of her.
Jasper.
Rosalie's eyes widened when Mrs. Holloway gripped Jasper's shoulders and slowly slinked around to hug him. Jasper's eyes flared and his nails dug into the chair he was seated at. Rosalie was already on her feet, like the rest of class, and as she went to grab the teacher's arm, she did the unthinkable.
Everyone gasped as Mrs. Holloway kissed Jasper's cold, hard cheek. It was then the teacher paused and moved way from him. As soon as she let go, Jasper was out of his seat and everyone watched as the Hale twins flew out of the room without another word.
"Oh." Edward gasped when he saw the scene unfold in Rose's head. "Uh oh." he gasped again looking over at Jasper. Rosalie nodded sadly and rubbed Jasper's arm. Alice looked between the two of them and frowned.
"Go on, please. One person still left out!" she told them quickly.
"Their new art teacher was a little touchy feely." Edward explained and shot his eyes over to look at Jasper. Alice's eyes widened and she looked to Rosalie, who nodded.
"How touchy feely?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"She kissed him and hugged him." Rose answered this time. Alice gasped and moved over to Jasper quickly. She grabbed his arm again and smiled when he didn't shrug her off.
"Why would she do that?" she mumbled and stroked the back of Jasper's hand.
"She got a little excited over-"
"A little!?" Jasper exclaimed cutting Edward off and scaring both Rosalie and Alice. Jasper barely spoke and when he did it was always soft. It had been a very long time since they heard him yell like that. "A little excited? Just a little? The woman grabbed me and kissed me, Edward! Kissed me, a human kissed me! That goes beyond a little excited." he said and used his finger as quotes for the last three words. Edward held his hands up in defense and nodded.
"I know you're upset." he said calmly. "But so is the teacher. I can hear her now. She's upset that she upset you."
"She should be!" Jasper yelled exasperatedly. Rose laid a hand on his shoulder and then her chin, trying to calm him down.
"Calm down." Edward begged softly. Jasper glared at him and pointed a finger in his face.
"Why don't you go let a filthy human love and rub on you? Then we'll see how freaks out." he growled and turned away from Edward. Alice stepped in the middle and held a hand up to both men.
"Let's just chill out." she suggested and Rosalie scoffed.
"We could if the person who you could the job wasn't sexually molested by a freaky teacher!" Rosalie growled, even more upset now that she finally has seen how stressed Jasper is.
"He wasn't molested, Rose." Edward frowned.
"She kissed him! Who in their right mind goes and kisses people they don't know? Especially a teacher to a student!" Rose yelled. "Can't she be arrested for that? It's not like it hasn't happened before." she pointed out and went back to consoling her brother. Alice raised a brow at Edward and he rolled his eyes. Rosalie had a habit of taking things too far. Jasper had a right to be upset but he'd cool off later. Rosalie would want to burn the lady at the stake though.
"Now, Rose. We're all upset but we need to-"
"Oh if you say chill!" she threatened him. Edward was about to loose his cool when he saw Jasper's head shoot up and look across the parking lot. The girls noticed this too and in seconds all four were looking as a tiny black, and new, Audi parked in the parking lot. None of them had seen the car before. In fact, they were the only ones with the nice cars in town. All the students at Forks High drove hand me down's or used cars. This car was not a hand me down or used. This was brand new.
"Edward." Alice whispered, wondering if he heard anything from them yet. He held up one finger and stared intently at the car. A few seconds later the both passenger and driver's side doors opened up and two girls stepped out.
The one driving was tall and slender with dark brown hair that hung just past her shoulders. Her face a light peach color and her eyes were a bright blue. She looked very serious as she stepped out and almost immediately found the eyes of the Edward and his siblings but didn't hold their gaze long.
This one was tall but not near as tall as the driver. She looked nothing like the first one though. This girl had long dirty blonde hair that fell to the very bottom of her back. Her lips were at a natural pout and she had the faintest tan to her. The driver must have mentioned the stares because the girl turned to look at the curious eyes and they were greeted with a pair of electric green eyes.
It was like Jasper was sucked into her when she looked at him. His body went rigid but as soon as that happened the brunette yelled to the girl.
"Bryce." Jasper turned his head immediately and looked at the ground, not seeing the lingering look the brunette gave them. He just kept replaying the name in his head.
Bryce. Bryce.
"Who are they?" Rosalie asked as the girls walked to the front office.
"Not sure." Edward mumbled and looked at Jasper for a second.
"Well, did you hear anything?" Rose asked. She was always the nosy one.
"The brunette was hoping the blonde-"
"Bryce." Jasper interjected softly. Every stared at him, almost in shock, and he cleared his throat. "We know that's one name." he mumbled.
"She was hoping that Bryce would calm down. And Bryce was wishing very hard to go home." Edwards finished and then smirked. "Apparently, she likes the Wizard of Oz too." They looked at him confused and he just shook it off and turned back to Jasper.
"Are you okay?" he asked. Jasper took a deep breath and nodded slowly, not really knowing whether he meant about the accident in the classroom or the obvious, to Edward at least, staring match between him and Bryce. Edward smirked and Jasper sighed. He meant the staring match.
"Yeah, I'm fine." he answered weakly. On both accounts. He added for Edward and continued for the girls when they raised their brows simultaneously. "I am. She was just too close." he muttered.
"How about we go home for the day?" Rosalie suggested as brightly as she could. "We'll go home and relax. It's only the first day, nothing new." Edward and Alice both nodded in agreement and finally Jasper caved.
"Fine. But only because I want to wash the human off of me. She was funky." he grumbled and opened the passenger side door. Everyone smiled as he shut his door and Rosalie waved the Edward and Alice.
"He'll be fine. I'll come back by later and drop the car off for you." she told them and crawled into the driver's seat. Oblivious, to the fact that her brother didn't take his eyes off of the black Audi as they pulled out.
"Why can't we just stay at the hotel? I can get a job. I know how to work. I'm not that inept." she argued to the brunette who was currently driving, who was trying her best to ignore her.
"Because this is a small town, Bryce. They will now we are new. They will also know that we are teenagers and need to be in school. If we just get jobs and pass on school, they will talk." the brunette told her as calmly as possible. Bryce glared at her and looked out the tinted window of the car.
"Then why move to a small town?" she asked and looked back over to the driver.
"Because it's small." she sighed and looked over at Bryce. "A bigger city will have more news coverage. They will have more procedures for students and we don't need all that. We need to stay as conspicuous as possible."
"What if the news does travel here, huh? Don't you think a small town will be more likely to spot us though? We'll be up front and center in this town, Adeline." Bryce nearly yelled. Adeline stepped on the brake suddenly and sent Bryce, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, flying towards the dashboard. A small scream filled the car but before Bryce could hit, Adeline's arm flew out and across her chest, stopping her.
Bryce shook silently and slowly looked over at Adeline, who was fuming.
"I am not going to let you under mind me and question my reasons, Bryce. I'm doing what's best for you. For us." she said through gritted teeth. "And this town is best for right now. Now, you know how this works. Forget everything. Don't talk about it. Don't think about it. Just relax and try to enjoy this." She removed her arm from in front of Bryce and gently pushed the gas pedal in. Bryce bit her lip nervously and looked back out the window. Adeline didn't usually explode like that and for good reason, Bryce hated it. It made her nervous and scared. But Bryce knew she was pushing it today.
Adeline saw her biting her lip and sighed.
"I'm sorry." she whispered. "I didn't mean to yell or get angry. But I don't like this either, B. I just want you to know that." she finished and Bryce stopped her biting.
"I know." she whispered back. "I'm sorry too. I guess I'm just nervous about school. It's smaller than all the others and that means I'll be more noticeable."
Adeline sent her a small smile and patted he leg as she pulled into the parking lot of Forks High School. "Don't worry. We'll be fine as long as we keep it together and stay under the radar. Okay? Trust me?" she smiled. Bryce nodded slowly and reached for her bag in the floor board.
"Humm." Adeline hummed and Bryce looked over at her. Her lips were pursed together and her eyes were narrowed, looking at something behind her. Bryce turned in her seat and saw four students gathered and talking by a silver Volvo. She then noticed that they were all looking over here.
"Oh great. They know we're new already." Bryce groaned but Adeline stayed quiet. "What is it? What's wrong?" Bryce asked, starting to get a little paranoid.
"Nothing. Just keep calm. Smile if they do. Wave if they do. Be nice." Adeline told her and opened her door quickly. Bryce scoffed at her last comment and threw the strap of her bag over her shoulder before she climbed out of the car.
"Be nice." she grumbled and stepped out of the car, slamming the door. I just wanna go home. Lord, what I wouldn't give for a pair of ruby slippers. She thought to herself and looked over at Adeline, who was looking back at the people. Why did she always have to attract attention?
Adeline shot Bryce a tiny glare and nodded to the group of people before looking away and staring forward. Reluctantly, Bryce turned to the students and to her surprise they didn't look like students. They looked a little older and completely beautiful. All four of them with their golden eyes and oddly pale skin.
Bryce stared at each one, wondering why such beautiful people were in this tiny of a town. The shortest of them was a dark haired girl who's hair stuck out in every which direction but looked like it was styled to perfection. Her head was tilted curiously as she too stared back at her and Adeline. The girl next her made Bryce want to run. She was gorgeous. Her long blonde hair, blonder than Bryce's, hung to the middle of her back in waves. Self consciously Bryce touched a hand to her own hair and quickly moved her eyes from the girl.
The boys with them were hardly what Bryce would call, well boys. One had tousled bronze hair and, from what Bryce would see, was pretty tall. And though he was about as gorgeous as a male model from GQ, it was not him that grabbed her attention. It was the last male that was with them.
He looked almost like an angel, which made her chuckle. He had the lightest blond hair that accentuated his golden eyes and near perfect skin. Bryce would normally wonder why him and the ones with him were so pale but it didn't bother her. It fit him. Like he was made for it.
She almost gasped when his eyes met hers. They held the gaze for a split second before Adeline called from in front of her. Quickly, Bryce tore her eyes from his and jogged a few steps to catch up with Adeline, who was now looking back over at the group of people.
"Let's go." she mumbled and opened to the door to the building.
So, as you now know, there's more to the story than just the resident vampires of Forks. But we'll get to that soon enough. As for the rules...
Rules for The Cullen's and The Hale's
1- Don't look them in the eyes...if looks could kill, their's would certainly do the job.
2- Don't sit near them...they'll either glare at you, move away from you or make you want to move or die.
3- Don't talk to them...you'll only regret it.
4- Don't talk badly about them when Edward is around...it's like he knows.
5- Don't touch them...very few people managed to get a feel and they never said much about it after that.
6- And do not, what so ever, look at Emmett Cullen...Rosalie doesn't take too well to that.
The list goes on and was composed by students who had been around the odd family to know the ins and outs of it all. Forks High School knew exactly how to maneuver around the Cullen's and Hale's without causing trouble. At first, they were all just curious but now the wonder was gone. They knew now that they were just different.
They didn't know how different but they didn't want to find out anytime soon.
I think I've walked too close to love
And now I'm falling in
There's so many things this weary soul can't take
Maybe you just caught me by surprise
The first time that I looked into your eyes
-Your Arms Feel Like Home by 3 Doors Down
