A/N: Hey guys, just a quick thank you to everyone that's read my story, and an extra special thank you to those that have followed, favorited, or left a review. I'm very excited to share my work with you all. The question was asked, and yes: Bella will be introduced to the story. Asteria was never meant to take over Bella's spot in the story, and as the story develops I hope you'll enjoy how I incorporate Asteria into it. I've been working on this story for a while, and I'm probably already into chapter eleven or so. Based on the way I'm writing, Bella may not make an appearance for quite a while, but I fully intend to write through the whole Twilight timeline. Consider this a prequel, I guess? Also, you'll notice that setting is a little off as far as the time. I decided to bring Twilight into a more current time, so as of this point it would be October of 2017. I've already changed enough of the story that I figured I would just bring it up to current date. Let me know if you guys have any more questions or comments!

Asteria rolled up to her usual parking spot with a few minutes to spare; what cop was ever going to give her a ticket in this town? That damned silver Volvo drove up just as "Gun in my Hand" by Dorothy began to repeat itself over the speaker system. She let it go while she drained her coffee and threw her bag over her shoulder.

The chorus had just started up again as Asteria unplugged her phone and climbed out. "What song was that" Rosalie said from where she lounged against the side of the Volvo watching her.

" 'Gun in my Hand' by Dorothy," Asteria shrugged. "You should check them out sometime. Anyway, the song has good lyrics."

"I feel bad for your ex boyfriend," Emmett snorted.

Asteria's mouth abruptly formed a grim line as she slammed her car door harder than necessary. "I don't," she said in a flat tone before walking away, mood effectively ruined. She hadn't gotten more than twenty feet before Emmett was in front of her, cutting her off.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you-," Emmett started off.

"I'm not offended," Asteria said in a suspiciously calm, empty tone.

Emmett paused before continuing. "Okay, but I feel like you are."

"I don't get offended and I don't get angry. End of discussion," she said flatly.

Emmett started to say something again before she cut him off. "Your family is one of the one's where everyone always talks about their feelings and doesn't keep secrets, isn't it," she asked with slightly more color in her voice. She didn't bother waiting for a response because she knew she was right. "We're fine as long as we," at this point she made an elaborate hand motion between the two of them, "don't ever do that. Ever."

"Okay," Emmett said after a long pause. The tension was still there, but honestly Asteria could care less as long as she got to walk away and drop the matter. Emotional conversations had never necessarily been her forte, but she was definitely not willing to ever bring up past relationships. Not after the last one.

History was equally tense, to say the least. Asteria tried her best to shrug the whole thing off, but it only took one look at Emmett to realize he was itching to talk about the whole thing again. She bolted out of the room as soon as possible to avoid any more conversation. Hopefully everything would blow over by Monday.

Unfortunately for Asteria, Rosalie seemed uncharacteristically chatty during chemistry. Asteria was already seated when Rosalie entered the room, looking like a queen on a conquest.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but Emmett really does feel sorry" Rosalie said when she took her seat, gracefully turning in her chair to confront Asteria. Asteria took a deep breath, reminding herself that Rosalie and Emmett were actually a couple besides foster siblings, which meant that Rosalie probably had no choice but to bring it up again. "Surely you know by now how much he loves to joke around."

"Yeah, I get it," Asteria responded without lifting her eyes from the notes she took yesterday. "I'm not mad, I just don't like talking about it. I'm not a fan of revisiting every awful moment in my life."

Asteria glanced up and saw a flicker of emotion cross the other girl's face. She couldn't put a word to it, but Asteria knew instinctively that something had gone wrong in Rosalie's past too. The thought cut her deeply for a split second before she stomped that emotion back too.

"I can understand that," Rosalie responded, and Asteria was overwhelmed with the feeling that she really did get it. Thankfully the blonde turned back around in her seat as the teacher entered the room, and that was the end of that.

The lecture that day was boring, broken up only by a twenty minute video on noble gases. As the clip showed how gases dispersed into the air, Asteria got a weird sense of déjà vu and had to focus hard to figure out exactly where it came from.

A blurry memory came to her of pulling out her family's book of shadows one night and flipping through the pages. One of Asteria's grandmother's passages came to mind. It was something about auras, being able to sense the energy people gave off. Her grandmother described it best as a sort of hazy cloud surrounding someone that could be seen out of the corner of the eye, like a trick of the light. It was supposed to be the person's own energy that was colored by emotions or a natural disposition.

Mentally shrugging, Asteria supposed there was nothing better to do with her time. She tried to squint and move her head at different angles wondering how on earth it was supposed to work. After several frustrating minutes, she let her eyes go out of focus and the images around her get blurry. Trying not to blink, she turned to look at the boy sitting to her left at another table. A swirling cloud of vibrant yellow and deep green surrounded him and seemed to move like the push and pull of waves.

Gasping, Asteria blinked and jolted upward, effectively knocking her notebook and pen to the floor. The teacher glared at her momentarily as she reached down with shaky hands to pick up her notebook. Rosalie handed her the pen with a skeptical look on her face. Asteria simply shook her head and refused to make eye contact for the rest of the period.

As the bell rang, Asteria rapidly threw her belongings into her bag. Her hands still shook slightly. "Are you okay," Rosalie asked. "You look a little pale."

"I'm fine," she shrugged it off while heading out of the door. Either my family isn't entirely batshit crazy, or I've gone off the deep end too. Asteria headed straight for the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face while carefully avoiding ruining her makeup. Feeling slightly better, she took a couple of deep breaths and made her way out the door.

Asteria couldn't tell you anything that happened during her English class. She passed a note with Rachael, but otherwise let her mind wander and come to terms with what had happened. Yes, she was aware of the random instances that had occurred before, but this definitely felt like something more. Anything peculiar that had ever happened before was unintentional, something that if she closed her eyes hard enough she could write off as nonsense.

No, this was a deliberate step towards real witchcraft. Asteria felt something deep in her core that this was the beginning step to something and she was unsure exactly what that meant. While the whole thing had been a shock at first, Asteria had to admit that nothing ridiculously awful had occurred. Maybe this didn't have to be the plague Asteria had always felt it was.

They thankfully had an easy day in Spanish, finishing up watching The Incredibles in Spanish. It was supposedly an award for high test grades, but she felt like it was an excuse for the teacher to play games on her computer.

Instead of watching the movie, Asteria used the time to further mull over the whole situation before finding a hidden reserve of bravery. Taking a deep breath, she once again relaxed her eyes before looking at the student in front of her, seeing a deep blue glow surround the girl. Curious, she turned her head to look at other students around the room.

An absolute sea of colors surrounded her, all glowing almost obnoxiously bright. Asteria felt her hands begin to shake and began to feel lightheaded and dizzy. She tried to blink the sight away, but began to panic when her normal eyesight wouldn't return. She felt a cold hand encase her wrist and looked up to see Alice.

Weirdly, Alice didn't seem to have a full aura like the others did. Sure, Asteria could see tinges of bright pink, yellow, and cool blue, but it was faint, like it had been muted compared to the others.

"Hey, are you okay," Alice whispered urgently to her with a look of concern.

Asteria blinked rapidly again and was grateful when her vision returned to focus. She nodded her head at the other girl, too tired to speak.

"Are you sure, you look really pale," Alice responded.

"I think I'm having a migraine," Asteria said.

With that, Alice was out of her chair and whisked up to the teacher's desk before Asteria could stop her. She saw Alice whisper to the teacher before she came back and scooped up Asteria's things. "Come on, I talked to Senora Schaeffer, I'm supposed to walk you to the nurse's office."

Asteria briefly thought about arguing before realizing that she could at least lie down for a few minutes. She hesitantly stood up before feeling her head spin rapidly. It was like she did a full three-sixty spin. Alice grabbed her wrist again and helped her steady herself before leading her out of the room. Her hand really did feel cold, and Asteria idly wondered through her head rush if Alice had poor circulation.

"Are you sure you're okay? Can you walk," Alice asked sympathetically.

Asteria only nodded again, which added to her earlier vertigo. She could have sworn Alice rolled her eyes as she looped one arm around Asteria's back and led her to the nurse's office. Alice made sure she was checked in and laying down before heading back to class.

"Hon," a voice interrupted her as she lay down on the cot with her eyes shut. "The bell is about to ring, do you think you're feeling well enough to go to lunch?"

Asteria opened her eyes and looked up at the nurse. "Yeah, I think I'm feeling better now."

"Okay honey, if you feel worse after lunch come back. Make sure you try to eat something though," the older woman smiled sympathetically.

Asteria stood up on sturdier feet and grabbed her things before walking straight to lunch. She promptly sat down at their table without grabbing anything to eat; her stomach still felt slightly queasy.

"Hey," Rachael greeted her as she sat down. "I waited for you outside building C, where were you?"

"Oh, I had a headache so they sent me to the nurse's office," Asteria replied.

"Feeling better," Rachael asked as the rest of the group joined them.

"I'm fine, I just don't feel like eating anything," she responded.

"Well you look like crap," Natalie said cheerfully. "Are you sure not eating is gonna help? You still look like you might pass out."

"Thanks mom," Asteria replied sarcastically. "But I'll be fine." She glanced around and almost thought she caught a disapproving look from Alice Cullen, which was impossible considering the distance they were from each other.

Statistics came and went, shortly followed by geography. Asteria kept her head down and focused on taking good notes for once. By the end of class her head was almost back to normal, and she felt like despite being tired, she felt no adverse affects. Of course, the whole thing had still terrified her and she was determined to ignore it ever happened.

Asteria should have known better as she grabbed her stuff and headed out of the door. "Hey," Rosalie called after her. "Are you feeling better? You seemed unwell in chemistry, and Alice mentioned at lunch that she walked you to the nurse's office."

"I'm fine," Asteria snapped. She felt like a short fuse after everything that day. "Just leave me alone."

She walked out to the parking lot as fast as she dared. Speed wasn't her friend at the moment, but Asteria wanted more than anything to get the hell out of there. She saw Alice at the Volvo already with Edward and Jasper and frowned deeper as she reached for her keys. Her scowl seemed to have the desired effect as she caught Edward whispering to Alice, and it seemed no one else was going to attempt talking to her.

Asteria backed out of her parking space viciously, nearly taking out a junior before booking it as fast as she dared. She got home in record time and threw her stuff down in the living room before trudging up the stairs.

The whole day left her feeling unhinged inside, like she opened Pandora's Box inside her soul and she feared she would never get it back to the way it was. Mostly she felt bone weary, and collapsed on the bed still in her shoes.

Asteria woke up to the sound of Natalie knocking on her bedroom door and saying "hey loser" which told her that A. she forgot to lock the door and B. she forgot to set an alarm. Jolting upright, Asteria smoothed down her hair and caught sight of Natalie laughing at her.

"Nice room, by the way," Natalie commented while looking around. It was the first time she had been over, and she had apparently let herself in. Charlie was working the late shift that night.

"Thanks," Asteria replied shortly while going to the mirror and checking her makeup. Her winged eyeliner was smudged, so she shrugged and deepened it into a smoky eye before adding more eyeliner to perfect the original wing. She pulled her hair back into a half-up hairstyle which would manage her wavy bed head with style.

"Whoa, chill dude. Are you still feeling like crap," Natalie asked.

Asteria shrugged while changing her shoes out for her nicer heeled boots. Combined with her black skinny jeans and grey jacket, she was hoping to combat the chilly wind that had blown in with the arrival of October. "I feel like I desperately need a drink," Asteria responded while moving the carpet aside to reach her secret booze stash.

Natalie whistled low. "That's a hell of a hiding place. You hide all of your booze in there?"

Asteria kicked the carpet over it before the girl could get a better look. "I know what's in there too. Start tryin' to steal it and I'm gonna kick your ass."

Natalie grinned at her. "Well come on, pack your shit and let's go. We have a team to cheer on."

Asteria threw a bottle in her bag and the two flew out the door and into Natalie's old Volkswagen Beetle. The thing might have broken down every other week and been covered in rust, but it fit Natalie's personality to a T. They hustled it down to the football field while blaring music and cussing out other drivers from inside their warm car. The windows were up thankfully, so no one else heard them.

Asteria looked around for Charlie, eager to get the interaction out of the way so she wouldn't have to worry about proving she was there. It didn't take long to see the cruiser parked on the road next to the entry to the football field, and see Charlie next to it directing people in and out. Small town cops really didn't have much else to do, she supposed.

Walking up, she belatedly realized that Charlie was in conversation with Dr. and Mrs. Cullen, and Asteria tried to backpedal miserably before she got stuck. Unfortunately, Dr. Cullen turned his head and caught sight of her just as she tried to turn around.

"Ah, there's Asteria," he called loudly enough that Asteria couldn't ignore it. She walked over to the group, desperately hoping no one could hear the liquid swish around in the bottle in her bag.

"Hi Dr. Cullen, Mrs. Cullen," she greeted politely. "Hey Charlie." She belatedly realized that Natalie had left her to fend for herself and promised silently to give the red head a piece of her mind later.

"Asteria, glad you made it. Couldn't miss out on a home game your senior year," Charlie said.

"And how has your senior year been so far," Mrs. Cullen asked.

"Very good," Asteria nodded. "Classes have been pretty usual."

"That's good to hear," Mrs. Cullen smiled warmly. "Are you adjusting to Forks well?"

"She's got a nice group of friends," Charlie thankfully intercepted for her; that man was a blessing sometimes. "The Greene's kid, Natalie, and I think the Ellis's daughter Rachael, right?"

"Yeah, they're both great," Asteria nodded along. She made a list of things in her head that she would rather be doing: juggling chainsaws, tedious paperwork, selling her kidneys on eBay…

"I believe you have a few classes with our children as well," Dr. Cullen stated.

"Uh huh, I've got classes with Emmett, Rosalie, and Alice. They're great," Asteria said. She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and froze when she heard the liquid slosh around, but it seemed like Charlie missed it.

"You know, your kids are extremely well behaved," Charlie continued on. "You've really done a great job." Asteria caught Mrs. Cullen's eye and thought she saw a disapproving look. If the woman had heard the bottle and knew what it was, it didn't appear she was going to call her out on it.

"Thank you," Dr. Cullen replied warmly. "Although in truth we can't take any credit; they are all wonderful, and Esme and I are eternally grateful to have a family with them."

If Asteria didn't get out of there soon she was going to choke on the amount of happy feelings Dr. Cullen was spouting.

"Well," Asteria awkwardly broke in, "I think I see my friends over there. I better go track them down before I lose them in the crowd."

"Alright, enjoy the game," Charlie said.

"Be safe," Mrs. Cullen said. Asteria was now one hundred percent sure Mrs. Cullen knew what she was up to and just walked faster. She prayed no one would say anything to Charlie. They were getting along so well, and she didn't want anything to ruin it.

Asteria was so lost in thought that she didn't see Alice waving at her from next to Jasper until they walked up. "Hey," Alice greeted. "I hope you're feeling better."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Asteria said dismissively, eager to find her group and disappear from the crowd of people surrounding her. "Thanks."

"We were just going to find Carlisle and Esme and sit on the bleachers with the rest of us. You're welcome to join," Alice invited kindly.

"No thanks," Asteria said. "I've already got a spot, sorry. Enjoy the game."

Asteria walked away without realizing she was heading straight towards Madison until it was too late. The other girl was surrounded by her clique. They all had sodas and popcorn in hand, ready for the game.

"Huh, look who decided to show school spirit for once," Madison sneered.

"Do yourself a favor and leave me alone tonight," Asteria responded. "I'm not the one you want to mess with."

"Oh, why's that," Madison laughed. "I saw Chief Swan talking to the Cullens. Is he trying to pawn you off on them too? It would be better, don't you think, for all the orphans to stick together? Or maybe the Cullens were trying to get you, so they could pair you up with Edward. They have that weird cult thing going on."

Asteria tried to push past the other girl, knowing she was in no mood to take the other girl on. Not after that day. Asteria turned around to go back the direction she came. One of Madison's posse tried to block her but she easily shoved the girl aside.

"Maybe that's normal for orphans though," Madison called after her, clearly enjoying herself. "They have dead parents and don't know how families work anymore. Did your parents die before you got the chance to know what a family's like or-,"

Before Asteria knew what was happening she felt a deep rage bubble up inside of her. Her hands balled up into fists and she heard a scream behind her as Madison's soda seemingly exploded all over her. The foam cup it was in had been destroyed as it went off like a bomb, leaving sticky soda covering every girl in their group. Similarly, the popcorn in Madison's bag exploded outward while the bag was shredded to pieces leaving each of them looking like the movie theater floor after a double feature.

Asteria's clenched fists shook uncontrollably while her head spun. Still, she kept her head up and spine straight as she walked past Alice and Jasper without looking back. A single tear spilled over before she reined it in.

Thankfully Damien was nearby and intercepted before anyone else, having overheard the confrontation between them.

"Hey," he said. "Wanna go get drunk?"

"Dear god yes," Asteria responded. She was vaguely aware of Alice and Jasper watching them, but the only thing she cared about was getting far away.

Underneath the bleachers, Damien whispered what happened to the others while Asteria stood off to the side drinking straight from her bottle and pretending she was unaware of what they were talking about in hushed tones. It was easier that way.

"Hey, sorry I left you," Natalie said. For once the red head looked solemn, something that didn't fit her well. "If you want I can go beat the ever loving shit out of Madison. I just might anyway."

"It's not worth it," Asteria said blankly before taking another drink. "She'll get what's coming to her."

"I mean, she sort of already did," Damien said. "You should have seen that soda explode on her. I don't know what happened, but it knocked her popcorn all over the place too. It was insane. That's what you get for being a frigid bitch though."

"Can we not talk about this," Asteria asked flatly. She felt emotionally and physically worn, and the only thing she wanted was to drink until she couldn't remember. She didn't even care if Charlie caught her at this point.

Her friends noticed her mood, but decided against further comment, something Asteria greatly appreciated. They let her drink in peace and an hour in she was even laughing along with the rest of them. Asteria couldn't stand up straight, something that she found absolutely hilarious. The whole thing was just a barrel of laughs.

"Hey look," she said to the rest of the group, all in varying degrees of intoxication. "I think that's Emmett and Rosalie Cullen." The pair were walking towards them, and Asteria continued to giggle as they walked up. Neither of them looked particularly happy though.

Rosalie took one look around at the lot of them. "You are definitely drunk," she said critically.

"Yes," Asteria slurred, making it a point to draw out the s. "But, nobody cares." She paused to laugh. "Either drink up or get lost."

"Pass, but let's get you out of here," Emmett replied.

"Whoa, whoa, she doesn't need to go anywhere," Matt replied. He was, oddly, the most sober of the group for once. "Look man, we're fine here."

"She's clearly well past drunk, and you're just letting her get worse," Emmett argued, which seemed strange coming from him. Emmett didn't seem like an angry sort to Asteria, which made her laugh more. He pointed in her direction to emphasize his point.

"Everyone's fine here, and she can do what she wants," Damien said while stepping up. "We'll take care of her if she needs it."

"We're taking her home now," Rosalie said in a tone that no one would dare argue with. Damien backed down with hands in the air.

Asteria reluctantly got to her feet and was tugged along behind the couple. "Wait, my bag," she slurred out.

"Emmett has it," Rosalie replied, which is right around when Asteria realized Rosalie had a vice grip on her hip and was tugging her along. They led her out from the bleachers and in the opposite direction of the crowd to a waiting Volvo pulled up at the curb around the far side of the entrance.

Rosalie all but shoved her into the back of it and buckled her in before the car drove off. Asteria looked up to see Alice in the driver's seat while Jasper rode shotgun. "Alice," Asteria asked. "I thought this was Edward's car."

"He lets me drive it. I asked if I could take you home," Alice responded. There was a weird expression on her face that Asteria couldn't quite make out.

"Why," Asteria slurred out. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Alice sighed. The car was silent for a moment before she continued. "Why do you drink so much?"

Asteria looked out of the car window as the images seemed to blur by too fast. Maybe she was drunker than she thought. She made sure to keep her voice and face as emotionless as she could when she responded. "Because, I'm just an orphan that doesn't know how to be normal."

Whatever response Alice or Jasper had, Asteria never heard it. Her eyes closed as she leaned her head against the glass, falling into a fitful sleep.