After getting some blood inside us, Ana and I sat down across from each other in the living room. There was a pause as we just gazed at each other, then Ana took in a breath and asked, "So you find this Edward irresistible?"

I glared at her, and I knew that if I still had blood coursing through my veins, I would have blushed. "It's not like that," I insisted, but who was I kidding? It was pretty much like that. I sighed. "It's like every time I'm around him and I smell him, I just want to touch him. And it gets worse the longer I'm around him." Even then, thinking about it, I could imagine my hands all over his body and I could feel his hands on mine. I wondered how warm his flesh felt.

"Wow, you've got it bad," Ana said, snapping me from my rather exciting thoughts.

I groaned. "Why is this happening, Ana?" I asked. "No other mortal has had that effect on me."

Ana grinned and even giggled a little. "Bella, he's your mate!"

I stared at her for a moment, trying to keep my flare of anger from coming forth. In her life as a human, Ana had been a matchmaker, and she seemed determined to continue that profession even to this day. She had never bothered me about a "mate" but I'd seen her set up friends of hers, some with other vampires and some other mortals. It looked like I was due.

"Ana, if you want to set me up with someone, wouldn't it be easier for me to meet another vampire?" I asked with a shake of my head. Why bother with mortals, anyway? They might not want to become vampires, and besides, they were so fragile.

"Because no vampire we've met has made you feel this way, have they?" she countered.

"Well," I started, but I couldn't finish. It was true. I hadn't felt this way about anyone, mortal or immortal.

She grinned. "He's perfect for you! I knew he would be. I just knew, when I saw him in that bookshop-"

"What?" I interrupted her. "What are you talking about? You've met Edward?"

Ana grinned. "I saw him, Bella. I didn't talk to him. I saw him in that little bookshop in Port Angeles a few weeks back, and I knew just then that he was absolutely perfect for you!"

I narrowed my eyes. "Is this why you had me go to Forks High?" I asked.

She grinned. "That's not the only reason, Bella! You really do need to get out more. I want you to have friends. It was just convenient that Edward also goes there."

I rolled my eyes. "But I still don't understand. He's my 'mate'?"

"He's kind of like a soul mate," she explained. "Vampires have to have mates, too, you know, even if we can't exactly have children. We get lonely and seek companionship just like humans. But most of the time, when vampires who aren't mates enter into a relationship, it usually ends badly."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because we're vampires," she explained with a smile. "It's hard enough being friends with most vampires. Try being the girlfriend or wife of just any one, and you'll have problems." She paused here and bit her lip, like she was deciding whether or not to say something. "That's why vampires who have a lot of vampire friends don't see them too often, and why it's rather rare to find vampires living together in covens. We're just so darn difficult!"

"I see," I said, taking all this in. It was true, I knew. In my travels during my life when I was alone, I stayed with other vampires for only a few weeks at a time. They'd start to get on my nerves, and once I got into a bad fight with a younger male. I almost died in that fight, and quickly learned to reign in my temper around vampires. "But Edward is mortal," I pointed out after another moment to think.

"So were we all at one point," she said. "Sometimes a vampire will find out his or her mate is already a vampire, in which case, all is fine and dandy. But most of the time, a vampire's mate happens to still be mortal, and there lies the challenge."

"Challenge?" My brow furrowed at her words. I wasn't liking where this conversation was going.

"Most vampires will eagerly claim their mates, but humans, especially those who don't know anything about us, will be more reluctant to go along with it. Most humans fear the very thought of vampires, let alone what the real deal is. For you to claim Edward, you'll have to do more than a bit of courting."

"Whoa, whoa," I said, throwing up my hands in a "stop" gesture. "I didn't even say I wanted to 'claim' him! I don't know even know him, and in case you forgot, he's already suspicious of me being a vampire."

"Don't let that concern you, dear," she told me soothingly. "I'm sure all he needs is to get to know you a little better. Then he won't be so on edge."

I looked at her dubiously. "Are you implying we tell him about us?"

Ana just smiled. "He wouldn't be the first human to know about us." I stared at her, incredulous, and was about to voice my protests when she said, "But that'll be your decision. He's your mate, after all."

I thought about that for a moment. I imagined showing Edward Masen my fangs and telling him that vampires exist, but the only outcome I could see was Edward recoiling in fear and running to rally the town against us. I shook my head. "It seems better for everyone involved if I just don't bother," I said, more to myself than to Ana, but she heard me anyway.

"Oh, you'll bother," Ana said with certainty. "You'll see. Edward is going to ignite passions in you that have long lain dormant. I can already see it happening, and I'm not just talking about the, ah, more physical passion you're experiencing right now."

"What other passions are you talking about?" I asked, and was surprised at her answer.

"I saw that copy of The Great Gatsby in your backpack." There was a glint in her eye. "That book came out after you lost interest in reading, right? You haven't read more than an article's worth of literature at a time since the turn of the twentieth century."

"I haven't read it yet," I said, but mostly because I had forgotten about it. A lot had happened between my checking it out the previous day and right then. "But I do want to." I admitted to myself that I hadn't wanted to read a book in decades. Was this interest in that little book that significant?

"See? It's already happening." She laughed. "Don't be afraid of Edward, dear. He's not a threat. Just get to know him, become friends. See what happens from there. And invite him to dinner!"

I sighed at her insistence, but realized she did have a point. Edward did affect me, radically. What did I have to lose in getting to know the boy? But I still thought it was a bad idea to just invite him over into our vampire lair.

Still, my mind was opened to the idea of Edward as my friend. Not mate yet. I wasn't sure how that would work out with a mortal, and I wasn't even sure if I could stand being around Edward for very long. But friend was a good start, and I made a promise to myself to talk to Edward more the next day.

Later that night, I wandered into my room, glanced around, then picked up my backpack where I had thrown it on my way in earlier in the day. I pulled out the copy of The Great Gatsby that I had picked up at the library and flipped it open, skimming over the first few sentences. I sat down on my futon, then lay down, and when I looked up again, I had finished the book and the sky was beginning to get light.