Once again, Edward was not in school. A few questions to the other teachers verified that he hadn't made it to any of his other classes, either, nor had his purported siblings offered up any explanations. And, while this was concerning, it did allow him a little more leeway in asking questions under the guise of a concerned teacher than he would ordinarily have.
After a lot of thought on the question of how to figure out what Edward had been looking at in the cafeteria video from Monday, the answer that he came up with was surprisingly straightforward. All he had to do was "forget" to bring his lunch for the next few days, and that was how he found himself walking into the cafeteria on Wednesday and going through the line with the students. After shuffling through the line and a (hopefully) inconspicuous detour, he managed to walk right past Edward's normal seat, and with a slight turning of his head, he was able to see across the cafeteria in the direction Edward had looked.
Initially, nothing seemed to stand out, but then it became obvious what he must have been staring at. Or rather, whom. Bella. She was sitting directly in his line of sight.
He would have to come back tomorrow to be sure, and probably the next day, as well, but if she followed the same pattern as the rest of the students and always took the same seat, then she was the catalyst. Deep down, he knew it was her, but he had to be sure.
"What makes her special?", he thought. It was no secret, after all, that none of the vampires seemed to pay any attention to the other students. He ruthlessly quashed that thought for now, but he would have to think about it later. Glancing down, he sighed at his lunch, which brought a grin to the face of a nearby student, and then headed back to class to eat, and tried to focus on teaching his last class of the day.
As soon as he got home, he switched his computer on, and was surprised to see an email waiting for him.
/
Banner,
Attached is some research on Isabella Swan. Also, you should know that we have an unconfirmed report of Edward several hours north of Forks. He appears to be travelling alone. Destination not certain.
/
He felt his eyebrows try to climb off the top of his head in surprise. It was not unusual for the vampires to range widely while hunting, but it was well outside of normal behavior for any of them to travel during the week. If true, this was yet another change. Also, despite how long he had surreptitiously observed and reported on vampires, he could count on one hand the number of times that the existence of other operatives were mentioned, even in passing. The risk was simply too great.
He skimmed the documents on Bella, but there were no surprises there. Police chief's daughter, parents separated, unknown reason for moving to Forks. No surprises, but also no answers.
/
Sir,
Edward was not in school again today, so this might corroborate the reported sighting of him out of town. I have been unable to come up with a way to ask about him around town without arousing potential suspicion. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Although I cannot be completely certain, it appears as if Edward was looking at Isabella Swan in the cafeteria video before class on Monday. I will check again tomorrow to see if she follows her same seating pattern.
Banner
/
The rest of the week at school was largely uneventful, and his casual circuits through the cafeteria at lunch bore out his initial feeling that Bella had been what Edward was looking at during lunch, but absent Edward or any other new information, he was completely at a loss to explain his reaction.
Thursday and Friday's emails to his superiors were also unfulfilling. No further sightings of Edward had been reported, and his growing confidence that Bella had been the subject of Edward's attention was met with skepticism. It was impossible to really tell through email, but he could just imagine a small horde of people peering into every aspect of Bella's past trying to dig up something that might explain Edward's behavior.
There would be no answers this week, but an email Sunday set his heart to racing.
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Banner,
An unconfirmed sighting of Edward heading towards Forks from the north has been reported. Use caution.
/
He couldn't help a wry chuckle at the "caution" comment, but he appreciated the warning. Clearly, his superiors were concerned by this whole situation. Reading it again, he couldn't help but wonder what tomorrow would bring.