EPOV

I slowly pushed my food around my plate. The voices in my head were tedious. All minds circled around the new girl Bella Swan. She wasn't pretty by vampire standards, or even human ones for that matter. Yet every one of the sheep-like males fancied himself to be in love with her. Just then she entered the cafeteria. Without looking our way, she got a tray of food and followed Jessica Stanley to a table across the room from us. She picked up an apple from her tray and twirled it in her hands as she listened to Jessica's prattling. I tried to hear the girl's thoughts, but it was as if the seat was empty. Had she moved? I glanced over trying to locate her, and at that moment she looked over. Her eyes widened in shock and she dropped the apple, which rolled across the floor to my feet. Suddenly she stood, mumbling to Jessica that she'd be right back, and then swept across the room and out the exit. Ignoring the stares of my siblings, I got up and followed. I followed her scent until it led into a closed classroom. I stood outside and listened as Bella talked to someone.

"Phil… there some of them here… five of them… I know…Yes I'm sure… golden eyes… in the cafeteria… yeah… NO… No you're not… you're staying with Renee… No Phil…. I can handle this…. Yes I know… I will … yes… uh-huh… ok… yes... alright… yes I'll be safe… I know… Love you too, bye."

Footsteps neared the door and I took off back into the lunchroom.

BPOV

I glanced over at the table of vampires as I opened the doors to the cafeteria. Of the three boys, one was big, muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark curly hair. Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and was a honey blonde. The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy bronze hair. He looked like the youngest, but that meant nothing. He could be twice as old for all I, or anyone else, knew. The girls were opposites. One was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, and her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back. The short girl was pixie-like, thin to the extreme, with small delicate features. Her hair was deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction. All of them were so different, yet so alike. Everything about them screamed vampire if you knew what to look for. They were chalky pale. They all had eyes with varying shades of gold, with the bronze haired boy's eyes almost black. They weren't eating; they were inhumanely graceful, even in their stillness. And if I concentrated, I could smell faint whiffs of the sweetness I always associated with Phil. All this told me what they truly were.

Now a normal human being, upon discovering their secret, would have run as far and as fast as possible. However, being raised since the age of 5 by a vampire does something to you. Becoming both daughter and best friend to said creature has its effect as well. The result was a sense of acute relief anticipation and joy at the thought of getting to know them. But at the same time I realized that getting to know ME was probably the last think they'd want to do. They'd have to act human and I'd have to pretend to be an ignorant human, and that would be irritating to both them and me. But I so wanted to meet them...

Ultimately it was the sight of an approaching Jessica that made my mind up. Walking up t o the coven, I watched their heads turn at the same time. I smiled widely and saw several of them frown, but the small one smiled back tentatively. I took one last deep breath of their sweet fragrance as I neared the table. Yep. Totally vampires.

"Hello." I said as I came to a stop in front of them, trying not to show just how I happy I was to be near them. "My name is Bella Swan. Jessica Stanley is being annoying, so I thought maybe I could sit with you." The blonde girl looked furious, while the others looked curious. I know what they were thinking- what kind of a human wants to sit with a coven of vampires. Always careful, I studied them as they decided. The blond girl was leaning forward, with one hand in front of the weight lifter, as if ready to defend him. He must be her mate. The blonde male had a similar stance with the pixie, yet he looked merely cautious, so they must be mates as well. Which left the bronze male unmated. He was staring at me with a look that could only be described as frustration. The black-haired girl was strange. Her face was blank, her eyes seeing something that wasn't there. I wondered if she had a power that caused her to blank out like this. Just then she shuddered slightly then smiled reassuringly at her blonde mate.

I saw all this in a minute. The blonde boy opened his mouth, I assumed to tell me no, but there was a thud from under the table and he jumped slightly. "Ow, Alice." he whispered. Louder, he said "Sure Bella, sit here." He pointed to the seat beside the pixie.

"Thank you." I said gratefully. I slid into my seat. "So… um…" I realized that I didn't know their names.

"Sorry, we didn't introduce ourselves." The pixie said. "I'm Alice Cullen, these are my brothers, Edward and Emmett-" when she said Emmett's name, he smiled the same toothy smile that Phil used to use when he read the villains lines in bedtime stories. Without thinking, I laughed out loud. The Cullens stared at me as if questioning my sanity, then Alice continued with her introductions "And this is Rosalie and Jasper Hale."

I wondered what to say next, settling with a human response- "How are you all related?" I knew there was no physical kinship between these five, but if I was going to be friends with them, I'd need to know their cover story.

"Emmett, Edward and I are adopted, while Jasper and Rosalie are foster kids, they're twins."Alice informed me, speaking as if reciting a well-known line.

I smiled inwardly. It was a very good line and she told it well. "That's really sweet of your parents to take you all in." I said, playing along with their charade

They all smiled in relief that I had bought it. "Yes, they are very kind people." Jasper said, his face still cautious

Not knowing what to say, I pulled my drawing pad out of my bag and began sketching to face of the redhead boy. A few minutes into my drawing, I heard a soft voice on my left. It was so low and quick, I shouldn't have heard it, but I had not lived with vampires for 12 years for nothing. While my hearing wasn't near vampire quality, it was far more advanced than a normal human's. I could hear him fairly easily if I concentrated.

"Ugh. What's wrong with this girl?" Jasper hissed softly

"What is it?" Edward asked.

"There isn't a speck of fear in her. With Jessica she had been on edge, but she's happy content and comfortable sitting here. When Emmett tried to scared her, she felt… wistful and nostalgic, thoroughly amused. What the heck is she thinking Edward?"

"I can't hear her. It's like she's not there. What do you see Alice?"

"I see her becoming great friends with us. That's a definite. Everything else keeps changing. I see glimpses of us facing down a golden-eyed vampire. She's standing behind him, almost like he's protecting her from us. But he can't make up his mind whether to come."

'Shoot. Phil will ruin everything.' I thought. 'He better not come or I'll tell Mom he tore page 274 out of her 'Complete Tolkien Companion', then taped it back in.'

The soft voices continued "A vampires coming here? Awesome. I love a good fight."

"Wait, something changed. No, he won't come."Alice said excitedly.

"What I'm worried about is how she knows a vampire." Rosalie sneered

I gulped, dropping my pencil. What if-? No, there's no way they'd find out, right? Right? "Wow." Jasper gasped. Now she's feeling fear. No not fear, not quite fear. More like worry. Intense worry. What could she be worried about?"

'Oh nothing, just my whole family being turned over to the Volturi.' I thought. 'Maybe if were lucky, Alec will numb us before we die.' Luckily for me, just then the bell rang and before I could expose myself more, I jumped to my feet. "Thanks for letting me sit with you." I said hastily, and then left the lunch room.