Chapter 2

The next day I still got the same rejection. Nothing new, same stares, same snickers, everything. At least I had a friend to go through it with me this time. We were sitting in the huge gym room because the teachers wouldn't let anyone sit outside today, not that anyone would want to, it is way too cold out for that. I never knew how loud a group of people could get. Though I lived in Florida before, I kind of always blocked out everyone around me. But now I had a friend to listen to, so I couldn't do that. I was sitting quietly, listening to the people talking around me. I had very sensitive hearing; I could hear almost any group around me.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I whipped around almost whacking Alysa in the face. But, as I stated before, she is fast, with lightning reflexes. She ducked, just in time.

"Oops, sorry," I said.

"Geesh, did I scare you?" She asked, surprised by my sudden action.

"A little."

"What were you doing anyway?"

"I was just listening to the people around us. I never knew that people can talk about so many different things and so loudly."

"How can you hear what they are saying? And didn't you say that you mostly sat quiet all day at your other school?"

"I don't know exactly how I can hear them. I've always had good hearing. And yes, I was quiet all day, but I learned how to block out everyone. Seeing as I have a friend now, I can't just block you out, so I now have to sit and listen to everyone. Mostly they are talking about me, about what happened yesterday, figures. I knew that they would keep talking about it. Why would I think that they wouldn't? I should be used to this, though I'm not, I got this all the time at my old school."

"If it was so bad in your old school, then why didn't you want to move?"

"I don't believe I ever told you that I didn't want to move."

"Sorry. I just figured, since you didn't talk that much the first day, even when I talked to you, and you keep saying how bad it was, and most kids don't want to move away."

"Yes, I didn't want to move, not really. I did only because my dad was excited about his new job."

"But, if it was so bad there, why didn't you want to move?"

I looked at her, sympathy for what I was about to say to her, but she had to know. "Because I didn't think it would make any difference here, and it didn't. The only thing new is that I have a friend to go through it all with. A really great friend, but I'm still being ridiculed and everyone around me still stares and snickers behind me. They all still whisper about me when I'm standing right there, and don't even care, and making sure that I can hear them. It's still the same." I didn't look at her. I didn't want to see her face change from happiness to sorrow. I didn't want to see her last look at me before she decided that I didn't need her, which, again, people always got me wrong. I did need her. I needed her to help me go through this. I couldn't bear to deal with it again. I just couldn't do it, after already having a friend. I've seen what it's like, to have one to lean on when you need it, and to help go through their bad times. I couldn't bear to go through this ever again, without someone with me.

"I don't hate you for saying that." I looked up suddenly, not expecting this at all. My eyes were wide with the surprise that she didn't hate me. "I understand, it's not any different. I'm sure that you're really glad that I'm with you, and I'm glad that I found you. You don't have to hide your feelings from me. I am a very understanding person."

I smiled, and gave her a hug. "Thanks, and I promise that I'll be as open as I possibly can. Since I'm being open, I'll tell you the other reason why I didn't want to move. My mother died there, in a car crash by our house. She was coming home from work and some drunk ran into her. They both died that day. Miami is the only thing I have left of her."

"That's so sad. My mom just divorced my dad and left me with him, along with my sister. We can still see her, but you, you lost her forever. I know I said I would try not to feel sorry for you, but I have to say this. I'm so sorry." She gave me another hug.

I looked up and saw that they were letting kids out of the gym to go to class. I let go of the hug and walked with her to our first class, the same thing that I had yesterday.

Again, geometry, and again I talked with Alysa, I also helped her after class because I was done and she wasn't yet, only because, again, I had already done this. All you had to do was learn a bunch of equations really, but it's kind of hard to remember which ones go to which problem, but still, she was done with her homework before class was over, just like me.

The next class was science. I was lucky; Alysa was in that class with me, and the next class, social studies. I hated both subjects, like I said, I don't like school any more than any other kid does, but I knew I had to do my best.

Before I knew it, science was over, and it was time for lunch again. As soon as I walked into the room everyone stopped and stared at Alysa and me, wondering if I was going to start a fight again. I had no intentions on screaming at someone today, or any other day, because I had no intentions on sitting with Chanler ever again.

"Just ignore them," Alysa whispered in my ear, noticing that I was staring each one of them down as well. "They aren't worth it," she hissed when I didn't stop staring.

Finally I turned around to face the front of the lunch line, trying to forget about all of the eyes watching my every move.

I went through the line, only getting the main menu and an apple; I had promised my dad that I would eat healthier, though I had no intentions on fulfilling it, only when he's around, maybe.

I punched in my number, for the lunch, on the small number pad and followed Alysa out. She stood still, just outside the door. I wondered why for a moment, and then I noticed that almost every seat was filled. In other words, there was no place to sit.

I looked at her, about to ask if she could see any spots left open, but then I noticed that she was staring at something and I followed her gaze. There was a spot open, and she was staring at the table that held those spots.

It looked like everyone was avoiding that table. Then I understood why. There were five beautiful people sitting there. Though they looked beautiful, they also looked very dangerous, but I was just judging, I had taught myself to judge, but make sure my judgments were true. I was not going to let myself judge someone harshly, because they could be in the same situation as I was.

So, forgetting about the astonished looks I got, even from Alysa, I went over to sit at the table. That's right, I like danger. I'm a rebel. I laughed inwardly at my thought; I also carried a large smile, looking at the astonished looks on everyone's faces made me want to laugh.

I plopped down next to a girl with blonde hair. There was also another girl at the table, the rest were boys. The other girl bore red hair, and she seemed, to me, at least, to be the prettiest out of them all. They all had almost white skin, which wasn't natural, but I didn't mind.

There was a boy on the other side of the girl I was sitting next to. He had dark brown hair. On the opposite side of the table, in front of the girl I was sitting next to, there was another boy, he had blonde hair, and next to him was the only other girl, the red-head. And, sitting right in front of me, was another boy, he had brown hair also.

As I looked at all of them, casually, I noticed they all had violet eyes. The most beautiful pair of eyes I have ever seen on any human being. I found myself getting lost in them as they all turned to stare at me, all except the red-head. Instead of turning her eyes to me, she glared at all of them, like she was warning them of something. As soon as they saw her glare, they all averted their eyes. I had no idea why they all did this, it made me wonder, but then I remembered what I came here for.

"Uh, hi, I'm Rosalie. These were the only spots left in the lunch room, so could I please sit here?" I asked, a little unsure of what to say to these beautiful faces.

All of a sudden someone grabbed my shoulders and yanked me to my feet. I turned around to see Alysa. She grabbed my wrist and dragged me away from the table.

"What the hell do you think your doing? You don't even know who these people are," she snapped at me.

"I don't know anyone here except you and Chanler. So what's your point?" I asked.

"I mean, you don't know anything about them," she answered.

"So, I still don't see your point."

"They are dangerous. No one messes with them. They are to be left alone. They don't want attention, and I don't want to see you dead because of this."

"You know what? I have learned not to make judgments about other people. If I judge others, then how am I going to get others to stop judging me? Have you ever asked them if they didn't want attention?"

She didn't answer, instead she thought about what I had said.

"That's what I thought. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go back to the table so I can eat."

I left her standing there, thinking about what I just said. Then, when I was about half way to the table, I heard her timid footsteps as she followed me, agreeing with what I had said.

I sat back down at my tray, and it didn't seem as awkward this time. I don't know why, but it just felt like I was supposed to be there, like it was my duty to be there.

I heard Alysa sit down next to me, still timid.

"They're all staring at us," she whispered, so quiet that I could barely hear her.

I looked behind us, yes everyone was staring at us, but that was their problem.

"Not them." She sounded irritated.

I looked back to the table, and she was right, they were staring at us, but not the redhead. Why didn't she stare like the rest of them?

The boy with dark brown hair whipped his head around to look at the redhead, like he heard my thoughts and was wondering the same thing.

After a few seconds he turned back to me. That was odd. I heard a growl erupt from his chest, like he was angry with me, or with someone.

When everyone heard his growl they all turned to him. He looked at the girl sitting next to him, and then shook his head.

"Uh, you guys never answered my question. Is it alright that we sit here?" I asked, wondering what that was all about, but not daring to ask.

They still wouldn't answer.

"Fine, be that way. We'll sit here anyway." Well, they're definitely not polite.

I heard another growl erupt from the dark brown haired guy. I stared at him; he was seriously starting to freak me out. It was like every bad thought I had about them he growled at, but I didn't see how he could even know what I was thinking about.

I watched as a smile slowly spread across his face as I thought this. How the hell does he do that? The smile disappeared, but I could still see it in the corners of his mouth.

I just stared at him. Then I shook my head, to clear it, and started on my lunch.

I didn't eat much of it; I was too annoyed to eat anything. So when I was finished I got up and went to dump my tray, but Alysa pulled me back quickly.

"Stay here," she hissed in my ear. She obviously didn't want to be left alone with them. So I stayed with her.

For the first time I noticed that none of them had trays. I wondered if they had eaten at all.

Alysa was done and she got up suddenly, and walked away briskly. She seemed to be in a big hurry.

I got up and walked behind her.

"Those people are weird," she said to me when we were out of ear shot.

"They obviously have a reason for not talking," I answered.

"What were you doing that irritated the big guy?"

"I don't know, it was like he was reading my mind or something…"

"That's creepy. I told you they were dangerous."

"Just because one of them can read minds, if he can, that doesn't mean they're dangerous."

"Sure. Oh, did you notice that the one right in front of you was staring at you the entire time?"

"He was?" I paused to think. "No, I guess I was too busy wondering about the one growling at me, that I didn't look at any of the others."

"Well, it looked like he liked you, but there was also something else, kind of like hesitation. Just thought I'd let you know. They are still freaky."

"Well, buckle up, because we have to go sit over there again. There aren't any spots left, still. And the teachers have that rule that you have to sit where you were after dumping your tray. Ready?"

"Not wanting to, but having to. So irritating." We both took a deep breath. "Ok, I'm ready."

We walked back to the table. None of them looked up and it was even creepier than having them stare at you. Because they know that your there, they just decide to ignore your presence, and that can get very creepy.

The rest of the time was spent in silence. The only sounds were the hushed whispers of the kids behind us, whispering words about us. Alysa and I never turned to look at them. Instead we decided to sit as still as possible.

As I sat there I tried not to think of anything, nothing important, at least. He never growled, not once, so I must have been doing a good job, or he was trying to ignore my thoughts, as well, if the could even hear them.

Finally the staff let us leave. But, even when we were as far away from them as we could be, we never said a word to each other. The rest of the day I never said anything.

It was even worse when I stepped into my last class of the day. I gasped as I looked around the class. My eyes fell on one of them. The one that Alysa said had stared at me. He was totally still, staring to the front of the class. His eyes were wide, for some reason, like he was scared.

I looked around the room and to my horror I noticed that the seat next to him was the only seat left in the room.

I took a deep breath and walked over to the teacher's desk. He was an old man who looked like he should have already retired or he was going to this year, hopefully.

He looked up to me. "Ah, yes, I've heard of you. I was wondering when you were going to wonder in here. Well, I'm sure everyone in the room already knows you and I'm pretty sure you've seen the only spot left in the room, so go, take your seat," he said waving his hand as to push me off.

First impressions are often wrong, but I think I was right on about this one. That man was awful.

I rolled my eyes and went to sit in my seat. Obviously my partner wasn't going to talk to me at all, so I acted like he wasn't there at all. I sighed and turned my attention to the already talking, rude, teacher.

Of course I noticed that others were whispering, more than likely about me, but I decided to ignore them. I didn't need to get into another fight.

The class was boring and dreary, but all social studies classes are. You just can't make it fun.

After what seemed like forever, the bell rang and I walked with Alysa to our next class.

"I bet that was awkward. It didn't look like you talked to him at all," Alysa suddenly said on our way to English.

"Uh, no we didn't. I ignored him because he was ignoring me. So I don't really know if it was awkward or not," I answered.

"Wow, you're good at that."

"At what?"

"Ignoring people. If I were you, I would be scared to death sitting next to him, and his family."

"So they are a family?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you about them after school," she said this only because class was about to start.

I actually liked this teacher a little because she found a way to make English fun. But I didn't have a lot of fun because I had some things on my mind, and the teacher didn't pay attention to me, and finally, I was glared at every two seconds. So I guess that would be some reasons why I wouldn't have fun.

When the final bell rang, I hurried to pack my things and walked out to the parking lot. I saw Alysa sitting on the stairs, waiting for her father or me. I ran over to her, sitting down, and saying, "So tell me. What's the story about them?"

"Ok, yes, they are all a family, but they are all adopted. Their last name is Schale. The girl next to you was Ryana and the one that kept growling at you was Aeronne. The girl across the table from us was Aislynn and your new partner in social is Nicias. The last one was Lucius. Their parents are Chirstian and Niama. It is also said that they have a pet hamster named Cail and he's a dwarf hamster. So that's all their family."

"But how did they get that bad guy rep?"

"Oh, they came with that rep. Have you seen them? They look evil."

"Not evil, just either misunderstood, or wanting to be left alone. I intend to find out too. Do you want to help?"

"Uh, not really, but I'd like for you to report to me, please?"

"Of course! But we can't tell anyone. They obviously worked hard for their rep and we can't crush it. Got it?"

"Yeah. Does this mean you're going to sit with them again?"

"It sure does."

"Darn you. I guess I have to be part of it."

"So you're helping me?"

She nodded. "What else am I going to do?"

I gave her a big hug. "Thanks you, thank you, thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome." I let go of her and started watching for my dad. "I hope my dad gets here soon. I have to get to work."

I turned to her. "Where do you work?"

"At Kealing's Pet Store. My family owns it. Why, do you need a job?"

"Uh, kinda. I need to get a car of my own."

"That's great! We've been looking for someone for a long time now, and it would be great to have you working there! I'll ask my dad tonight and get back to you tomorrow."

I looked up and saw my dad's truck coming up the road. "Ok, thanks, Alysa. See ya tomorrow!" I said as I walked up to the on coming car. I hopped into the front seat, throwing my school bag in the back.

"So how was the day?" Dad asked as he started the car.

"It was Ok. I might have a job. At Kealing's Pet Store. Alysa's family owns it and Alysa offered me a job today."

"Well that's good. Now you can buy your own car."

"Yeah, that would be nice." I bit my lip. I was pondering if I should ask him about the Schales. Finally I decided I would. "Dad, have you heard anything about the Schales?"

He seemed to be thinking. "I think Mr. Schale works in my group. So I'll probably meet him soon, but other than that, I don't know them. Why, did you make friends with them?"

"No, they wouldn't talk to us. People at school say they're dangerous, and scary. But I don't believe them. Would you?"

"You know what I think of stereotyping."

"I know, dad. I feel the same way."

"Have any of those people actually tried to get to know them?"

"I don't think so, dad."

"Well then you shouldn't believe them."

"Yes, I know."

"Now, you know I'm going to start working tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, dad."

"Well, I'm not going to be able to take you to or from school any more."

"Well, how am I going to get there then?"

"Now, hold on. You didn't let me finish."

"Oh, sorry."

"I got my police car today, and I'm going to be driving that most of the time. So, this truck will be neglected. I guess, until you can get your own, you can use this one."

My eyes lit up and grew wide. "Really? Are you sure?"

"Yes, just until you have enough for your own."

I shrieked and hugged him. He wasn't looking at me so when I hugged him he jumped.

"Still driving, Rosalie."

"Oh, sorry," I said and let go. "Thank you so much. I love you!"

"I know, just take care of it, please," he said as we pulled into our driveway next to the big white, shinny new police car.

He turned it off and threw the keys at me. I caught them in my left hand, grabbed my bag out of the back with my right, got out of the car, and went into the house.

I sighed and told him that I was going to my room to do my homework, and unpack a little.

When I got to my room, I found that I didn't leave much homework to work on, so I was done in a short while. I started unpacking a few boxes, but soon gave up on that, too.

I walked over to my computer and clicked on the Internet, hoping that dad had got it for us. It opened to google, so he obviously did.

I know it would be kind of rude to do this, but I had to know. I typed 'Schale' into the search box.

Many links turned up and I clicked on the first one. It had a picture, taken of the parents, I'm assuming. It looked like leaves and branches were surrounding the picture, so the taker must have been hiding in some bushes or a tree.

The couple must have been in their back or front yard. Their backs were turned to the camera and a big blue mustang sat in front of them. One of their sons or daughters must have been in the driver's seat.

The caption bellow the picture read 'Christian and Niama Schale talking to their eldest daughter, Aislynn Schale (driver's seat of car)."

I scrawled down and read the first sentence. 'For those of you who have not been to my site yet, the Schale family are vampires, and I assure you, I am not crazy, my mom took me to a doctor and he said so himself.' I blinked. Vampires? They can't be vampires. If they were they would want to be drinking our blood at school, and I don't think they do that. I decided to read on. 'Don't worry. If you live next to them or know them, because my sources say that they don't drink human blood. I'm not sure exactly what they drink, but it's not human. But be warned, they can change as fast as a flash of lightning can start a fire. I believe them to be very dangerous.' That was it; I wasn't going to read that anymore.

I flipped back to the search engine, but I could only find sites that called them vampires, or sometimes some other weird monster I had never heard of. None of them seemed to have asked them if it was true either. So that was another reason why I didn't totally believe them. But I decided to call Alysa anyway.

The phone rang twice then someone picked up. It sounded like her father.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Is Alysa there?" I asked.

"Yes, who is this?"

"This is Rosalie. Can I speak to her?"

"Ah, the girl she told me about. I understand that you are looking for a job?"

"Yes, sir, I am."

"Well, you found one. I'll have Alysa tell you when you'll need to be there. Glad to have you on the team, Miss Cardum. I hope you and your father are getting settled in pretty well?"

"Yes we are thank you."

"That's good. Oh, I'm sorry I'll let you talk to Alysa now."

"It's no problem, thank you."

He handed the phone to his daughter and she said, "Hi, Rosalie. So why'd you call?"

"Go to an empty room where no one can hear you," I told her.

"Ok." She was quiet for a minute. "Ok, I'm there. Is this about the Schales?"

"Yes it is. Now listen. It's only a hunch. I would have to ask them if I wanted to know the truth, but I think that there is a small chance that they might be vampires. I looked them up on the Internet and it was flooded with sites about vampires, but there was also other monsters listed, so obviously these people aren't sure about it. Alysa, are you still there?"

"Y-yeah, I'm still here. You think they're vampires?"

"Yes, I think they might be."

"But that would mean that people would be disappearing. Wouldn't it?"

"Not necessarily. They probably can feed on anything with blood."

"Yeah, they probably can. So what are we going to do?"

"Well, we either have to prove it, or make sure it's not true, which means that we have to get on their good side."

"Rosalie, you should be getting to bed, you have school in the morning," dad yelled up that stairs.

"Just a second, dad!" I yelled back. "Sorry, I have to go. Dad's all about the curfew thing." I rolled my eyes. "See ya tomorrow, bye."

"Bye, Rosalie."

I hung up the phone and went to change, and then I went to bed.