Chapter Four

I almost didn't go to school the next day, but the Voice happily reminded me that missing your second day of school wasn't the way to blend in.

At least there were less people staring at me today. I was grateful for that, because I didn't think I had the energy to keep up the character of Bella Swan the entire time.

I hadn't slept much the night before -again. The rain seemed to be in competition with the wind over which could bang louder against the house.

My tiredness disappeared, though, when I entered the cafeteria at lunchtime. My eyes swept the room until I found them. Four of the potential Erasers, the Cullens, were sitting at a table across the room, but the one from Biology, Edward, was nowhere in sight.

I did a quick 360, but he wasn't in the room. I followed Jessica to her table and we were joined by her friends. I ignored their conversation for the most part, only contributing the occasional 'yeah' and 'hmm'. I kept my eyes on the doors and windows, waiting for Edward to arrive. I got more and more tense, but when lunch ended he still hadn't shown up.

I walked to Biology and again my eyes swept the room, but Edward wasn't there. The class started and I relaxed, finally accepting that he wasn't going to jump out and rip open my throat.

The rest of the day passed quickly, if not a bit unpleasantly. I gave the wrong answer in Trig -unsurprisingly- and then had to endure a whole class of pretending to be bad at volleyball. My anger grew with the Voice constantly nagging me to 'blend in' every time I forgot to act clumsy. I vented my frustration by "accidently" hitting someone in the head.

When the day was finally over I trudged to my truck. I was pulling out of the parking lot when I saw the Cullens getting into their car. I had yet to see them interacting with anyone in the school other than each other. Their isolation was definitely preferred by them. But if they weren't human, which I was positive they weren't, why did they do such a sucky job of blending in?

I texted each of the flock when I got back to Charlie's. Nudge was doing really well, already having sleepovers with her newly acquired friends. Iggy had quickly taken over the cooking in the house he was staying in. Fang said he was fine, and Angel said that Gazzy was causing trouble at school, prompting me to call him and give out.

"Come on," he complained on the phone. "I think I've found my untapped artistic talent."

"I don't care if you've discovered you can paint masterpieces with a brush up your nose. The teachers' bathroom is no place for paint bombs!"

"But-"

"I don't want to hear it. We have to keep a low profile. That means no more pranks, Gazzy. Understand?"

"Yeah, okay," he mumbled.

I had a feeling that this wasn't the last of this argument, but I let it go for now.

None of the flock had reported seeing Eraser-like people in their school. Whatever the Cullens were, they only seemed to be in Forks, which I was relieved about. Now I could focus on finding out what exactly the Cullens were.

Is that wise, Max? The Voice chimed in. They seem to be leaving you alone. It might not be sensible to get yourself involved.

I ignored it. I had to at least dig a little. If I knew what they were I would be able to guess if they were a danger or not. And I had the perfect opportunity that night at dinner.

"So, how did you like school?" Charlie asked while we ate. "Have you made any new friends?"

I shrugged. "A few people. Some girl named Jessica, and a guy, Mike."

"That must be Mike Newton. Nice boy- nice family."

I glanced at Charlie. Best to start with an innocent enough question.

"Do you know the Cullen family?"

"Dr Cullen's family? Sure. Dr Cullen's a great man."

A great man. Some would describe Ter Borcht as 'a great man'.

I wasn't sure how to get the information I wanted without raising Charlie's suspicion.

"They…the kids…are a little…different. They don't seem to fit in."

Charlie surprised me by looking angry.

"People in this town. Dr Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could work at any hospital, make ten times the salary he does here. We're lucky to have him, and all those kids are well behaved. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived here for generations. And they stick together the way a family should –camping trips every other weekend. Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk."

Camping trips? No person who spent that much time outside would be as pale as they were. But they seemed to know more about blending in than I had given them credit for. They seemed to keep a flawlessly low profile.

I shrugged, trying to backtrack and change the subject.

"They seemed nice enough. I just noticed they kept to themselves." I hesitated before asking another question that I had been thinking about for a while. "Is there any chance of me going flying tonight?"

I knew the answer before I finished speaking.

Charlie looked pained and uncomfortable.

"I don't think that would be a smart move. Even if this place isn't lit up at night like a city, if anyone saw you…We have to stick to the rules the Witness Protection laid out. For safety's sake. I'm sorry, Max."

I started at the sound of my real name. I hadn't heard anyone call me that since I had left the flock, weeks ago. Loneliness swept over me like a bucket of ice-water.

I nodded at Charlie and spent the rest of dinner pushing food around my plate.

The rest of the week was uneventful. I got into a routine. Each day I would watch the Cullens for any change in behaviour, but they never showed any interest in me. I finally started thinking that maybe no one at this school wanted to kill me. Which was a unexpected relief.

The rain had quieted down, but I was still having trouble sleeping. I was always just awake enough to feel myself tossing restlessly in bed.

The weekend dragged by. I missed the flock despite texting them every night. But more than anything I missed flying. Without school to force me to act as Bella Swan, I had nothing to distract me from the ache in my wings.

I tried stretching them at least once a day in my mouse-box bedroom, but it wasn't the same. Muscles ached to be used and I was forced to ignore them.

Monday came, and with it came snow. I spent the day dodging snowballs thrown by my new friends. Or, more like Bella's new friends.

The snow reminded me of the time the flock had spent in Antarctica. None of these snowball fights could compare to the snow-battle the flock had had 300 feet in the air.

I did allow myself a moment of fun by hitting Mike in the head with a snowball, then moving so fast that by the time he turned around, he thought it had been Eric who'd hit him.

I smirked as Eric received Mike's falsely-placed revenge.

My good mood vanished though, when I walked into the cafeteria. There were five Cullens at their table.

My eyes darted around. Maybe they had something planned, that's why one of them had left-

I shook my head. All I knew for sure was that they weren't human. It was obvious they were dangerous, but so were me and the flock, technically.

I watched them from the corner of my eye and acted normal. I could hear laughter from their table and glanced over.

My eyes met Edward's and I looked away.

I got more and more anxious about Biology class, and then mentally slapped myself. How many bloodthirsty Erasers had I made whimper in pain? I could handle one of...whatever the heck the Cullens were.

I was the first to get to class. I slid into my chair as the teacher left a microscope and slides on the table. I slouched in my seat and drew on my book as the room filled up.

I didn't look up when the chair next to me moved.

"Hello."

There was that honey-like Eraser voice.

I glanced up with a face full of distrust. The look would discourage most people form pursuing further conversation.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. This guy was either brave or stupid. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."

I raised an eyebrow, making it clear that I didn't believe his bull about not 'getting a chance'.

I didn't answer, just turned to face the front of the class.

The teacher explained today's lesson. Something about mitosis in plants. I knew it would be easy. Growing up in the School, you learn a lot about science.

What wouldn't be easy would be partnering up with Edward. I had planned to ignore him and keep away from him. So much for that plan.

"Ladies first, partner?" he said.

I glanced at him with half a glare, half a 'get me out of here' look.

"Or I could start, if you wish." The smile he had had on his face faded, and then I felt bad.

He was obviously trying to be nice, even if it was just a trick to get me to drop my guard.

I sighed and dragged the microscope over to me.

I studied the slide briefly. "Prophase."

"Do you mind if I look?" He caught my wrist as I was removing the slide. His fingers were ice-cold and I jerked from the shock.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, pulling his hand away. I watched him as he examined the slide and confirmed my result.

We did the other slides and were finished before anyone else. I looked around and then glanced at Edward. He was staring at me and had that frustrated look on his face again. We analysed each other for a moment before I spoke.

"Did you get contacts?"

He looked puzzled. "No."

"Your eyes are different." I didn't mean to sound as accusatory as I did.

He shrugged, and looked away. I had obviously found one of the things that made them different from humans.

I remembered the pitch black of his eyes that last time I had been this close to him, but this time they were a yellow-gold. I started going through all the creatures I knew of to find any that changed eye colour.

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" he said, breaking me out of my thoughts. Man, this guy was talkative today.

"I guess."

"You don't like the cold." It wasn't a question.

I thought of the Arizona heat, where I had last seen the flock. I pictured us flying, higher into the cooler air, through the clouds that made your clothes soggy…

"Or the wet."

"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live," he mused.

"You have no idea," I said darkly. My wings started to ache as a reminder of how long they had been denied flight.

"Why did you come here, then?"

No one had asked me that, not in such a demanding way. I thought of Itex, of how Jeb and I had been attacked on the way to the airport, making it clear the danger the flock was in.

"It's complicated."

He smiled. "I think I can keep up."

I sighed and launched into the cover story that had been drilled into my head.

I told him about my made-up mother's remarriage, about 'Phil', my made-up stepfather, and his inconvenient made-up job.

"And you mother sent you here so that she could travel with him," he surmised.

"No, she did not send me here. I sent myself." It was technically true. I loved my mother, but she couldn't tell me to do anything I didn't want to.

"But now you're unhappy," he pointed out.

"And?" I challenged.

"That doesn't seem fair," he shrugged.

I laughed without humour, thinking of all the injustice I'd experienced. "Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair."

"I believe I have heard that somewhere," he agreed dryly.

I shrugged. "So that's all."

"You put on a good show. But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."

I grimaced and looked away.

"Am I wrong?"

I ignored him.

"I didn't think so," he murmured smugly.

Anger rose up in me. "Why does it matter to you?"

"That's a very good question," he said quietly.

I sighed and ignored him for the rest of the class. When the bell rang, Edward got swiftly to his feet, but I had been ready.

I cut him off on his way to the door, and breezed out of the class.

I know that this story is following the book very closely, but it's necessary to get the story where it needs to be.

The plot will veer off in later chapters, to include Itex, the flock and...other stuff. But that's a surprise. :D

Hope you enjoyed it. Leave a review to tell me what you think and if you have any suggestions.