School is seriously killing me. No one ever tells you your senior year is this wildly busy… so my apologies for taking so long to post this chapter. The good news is, this is a bigger chapter than normal, and I should be ready to post another next week. Yea, progress!

One more little note to set your minds at ease: I don't want to give anything away, but this is not going to be a Jacob/Bella fic. I've planned it and marked it ExB, and that's the way it will stay. I do admit to having a big weakness for Jake (and his triceps), and I have written a JxB story in the past, but that's not where this is going. So don't panic. I'm simply using him (much like Bella and Stephenie Meyer, I guess) as a vehicle for Bella to find out more about Edward and the rest of the Cullens.

. . . . .

I must not have heard the stones against my window. But Jake's gentle, persistent knocking did the trick. I groggily opened my eyes, a tinge of terror striking my heart until I saw his hulking shadow through my window, framed in the moonlight.

To anyone else, the dark form of a giant man blocking out the entire night sky would have been the furthest thing from reassuring, but to me, it was the most beautiful sight I could imagine.

I toddled over to him, opened the window and watched him lithely slip in. I latched the window behind him and closed the shade.

Wordlessly, I crawled back into bed, tucking the covers tightly around me. Jake settled in beside me, his warmth seeping into my skin through the comforter and three blankets that separated us.

The rest of the night passed in fits of groggy wakefulness and strange dreams. Vampires in the form of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise (was that a movie?), a silent film reel of a black and white woman being dipped and sucked dry by a dashing man in a tux with tails. Blood in rivulets and then rivers flowing from throats, down torsos, pooling on the floor. Edward's glorious face—now and in the photograph.

The dreams didn't give me answers. But they did give me clarity. The contrast between Edward's perfect beauty and the ugly goriness told my heart what my mind could not. He may be a mystery, but he was most certainly not a monster.

The glowing red numbers on my alarm clock read 4:26 when I turned over and nuzzled my forehead against the warm muscles of Jake's broad shoulder. "I'm not scared of him, you know. No matter what he is."

Jake's soft breathing stopped for a moment, and he turned over on his side to face me.

"You should be."

"I know. I mean, I think I know. I feel that, somehow. That I should be terrified. But I can't be afraid of him. He's… he's too—too something. Too good? Maybe just too perfect to be bad."

Jake sighed stared into my eyes. "Bells, sometimes perfect is a sign that something's not quite right." His voice was raspy with sleep. "Like, sometimes it's a mask to hide something very not perfect underneath."

"What do you know, Jake?" I sat up, suddenly awake and more alert than I'd been in days. Maybe since I'd fallen under the spell of the boy in the photo.

He sat up, too, reaching for me until I pushed him away, frustrated by his avoidance. We were best friends. We told each other everything, and I wasn't used to him holding back on me.

"Please. What do you know? Something's off. You're acting all wrong."

His eyes looked past me, focusing on some distant point over my left shoulder.

He shook his head at me, but wouldn't meet my eyes. "I can't say."

I struck out at him with the pillow from his side of the tiny bed, glancing it off of his shoulder and sending it tumbling to the floor.

He smiled a sad, half-smile at me.

"I want to tell you. I do. But I can't. It's not mine to tell."

"Jaaake—" I whined a little, hoping to sway him.

"Bells, I just can't. Don't ask me to."

He bit his lip, and I held my breath through the pregnant silence, hoping he'd change his mind.

"But I can tell you that monsters do exist. We're…" he sighed again, heavily, and collected his thoughts. "They're just not all created equal."

. . . . .

Morning struck a low blow after a night of interrupted sleep, and the sun's rays sent me blindly grabbing for my extra pillow to hide my eyes.

Instead, I found a half-empty bed. I remembered Jake and our strange middle-of-the-night conversation.

I dug the heels of my hands into my eyes and took a few deep breaths. Our exchange was foggy, but I remembered Jake warning me to be afraid of Edward. And monsters.

That boy. I had long worried that he'd take it badly whenever I fell for someone. Not that I had fallen for Edward, I was quick to remind myself. But still, there was something there. Lots of somethings there—intrigue, longing, confusion, attraction. Definitely attraction.

But not fear.

Ok, maybe a glimpse of it when I'd read the terrifying list of things on the websites I'd visited. And maybe a tingle of fear when I'd first said the word—vampire—that seemed to fit everything about him that was perplexing me, as disturbing and unreal of a thought as it was. And perhaps even a bristle of terror when Jacob hadn't refuted my suggestion, but had almost seemed to go along with it. Still, I knew I wasn't afraid of Edward. I couldn't be. Not with those kind eyes. Whatever this was, it was definitely something other than fear.

I couldn't explain the pull I felt toward him, and I definitely couldn't explain the possible breaking and entering or the near collision in the parking lot. But I knew I had to try to figure out what my heart was telling me.

But while I didn't know exactly how I felt about Edward, the one thing I did know was that Jacob wouldn't approve of anything between me and Edward unless it was utter rejection of him on my part.

. . . . .

I'd dallied in bed so long that I was running late, which wasn't unusual for me.

I parked my truck in the school lot and looked both ways before stepping out to cross the pavement. I unconsciously searched for the Cullens' Jeep before I realized what I was doing. Whether I was looking for them or simply wanted to avoid a second collision in two days, I wasn't sure.

I waved to a few friendly faces, skirted behind a gaggle of awkward freshman to hide from Mike, dropped my bag in my locker and took a gulp of air to calm my head before heading off to biology. Where I knew Edward Cullen would probably be waiting. Unless, that is, my tirade at the emergency room yesterday had scared him off.

I entered the formaldehyde-scented room and saw that I'd have no such luck.

Edward was sitting in his place, right next to my chair. A small white bag was resting on the desk directly in front of my seat.

I paused by Eric Yorkie's desk to ask him about an article I'd promised to write for the yearbook (or perhaps to waste a little time before the final bell), and then pushed forward to my seat. In one smooth and coordinated-for-me movement, I slid into my chair and used my biology book to push the white bag out of the way and toward Edward—the direction from which I was sure it had originated.

I saw the flicker of a smile glance across his lips, and I had to focus on my righteous indignation in order to keep from smiling myself.

Trying to curry my favor with gifts? After attempting to dent my car and practically getting me run over, there had better be a whole lot of expensive something in that baggie.

I fought the urge to look at him. I had to punish him in some small way for his behavior the day before. So instead of responding to his advances, I opened my book and pretended to review the chapter for the pop quiz that we were usually assaulted with first thing in the morning.

Again, luck wasn't with me.

Mr. Banner cleared his throat and waited for our attention. "Class—we're going to skip the usual quiz over the chapter and get started with our in-class assignment. I trust you've all read the chapter I assigned yesterday. It will help you greatly with today's lab."

A few kids groaned; a couple more seemed strangely confused by the news that there was a quiz to skip. Mr. Banner ignored the rustling and continued on.

"We're going to be breaking into your assigned lab partner pairs and identifying cellular structure using microscopes."

This time, I groaned. I'd been lucky enough to not have a lab partner—at least back when there was an uneven number of students in the class. With the addition of Edward Cullen, there was now an even number of us. And there was no escaping the fact that I'd be paired up with him. Not only would I have to probably pull his weight on our labs, I had to work in tandem with the boy who'd conspired to hurt my beloved truck and possibly rifled through my room and my private papers. And the boy with whose past self I very well may have fallen in love.

As I groaned, he chuckled. I glared at him, unable to keep from looking in his direction.

He was so beautiful, he took my breath away. Even though I was still confused and angry enough I could have spit at him, his ethereal skin made my heart beat faster and my stomach flutter. I couldn't decide if I wanted to kick him or kiss him. I blushed at the thought of my lips pressing against his.

Just then, my fluttering stomach rumbled. I blushed even deeper, recalling that I hadn't had time to eat breakfast after lazing in bed ruminating over my feelings about him.

Edward turned to me then, his eyes smiling even though he was trying to keep his lips from following suit. He held the small white parcel out to me.

"You really should eat breakfast, Bella Swan. It is the most important meal of the day, after all."

I was too swept up in his brilliant amber eyes to do anything other than his bidding. I took the bag. Begrudgingly, I opened the carefully folded top, never taking my eyes from his.

A heavenly scent wafted from the bag, and I peered down to look inside.

A beautiful, lightly browned pastry peeked out at me.

"Your stomach was rumbling yesterday, so I figured you weren't much for eating before school. My mother was making these to take into the hospital for the nurses, so I thought I'd bring one for you. It's a recipe she learned at a cooking school in France years ago."

I was speechless.

I was touched and irritated at the same time. What was with this guy?

First, he terrifies me in school and then stalks me into the woods. Then he—possibly—breaks and enters and digs through my personal papers in the middle of the night. Then he tries to assassinate me (or my truck. But close enough.). Now he brings me homemade French pastries.

Hunger and gratefulness won out. I smiled ruefully at him and nodded at the small package.

"Thank you."

Mr. Banner suddenly appeared in front of our table, his eyebrows raised accusingly.

"Perhaps you two would like to get started on the lab?"

I nodded, fumbling with the bag in my hands.

"And Bella, be a good example for our new student." Mr. Banner nodded at me meaningfully. "You know there's no eating in the lab for safety and cleanliness reasons."

I smiled guiltily at him, folding over the top of the bag and putting it away in my backpack while he watched.

Edward snorted quietly as the teacher receded from our table. The sound seemed so out of character for his proper self that it broke the ice. I pushed him lightly with both hands, giggling in spite of myself.

"Maybe you should just try to identify some cells there, Mr. Cullen." I tapped at the microscope between us with my pen and looked down my nose at him, mocking.

He winked at me, sending a shower of sparks flying in my stomach.

"The first one is anaphase. I'm so good at identifying cells, I don't even need the microscope, Miss Swan." He crossed his arms and pushed the microscope back toward me. "So maybe you should give it a go. You know, just to practice. There will be a test on this later."

His fake-stern voice and arched eyebrow got the best of me and I giggled louder, embarrassing myself. But for some reason, I suddenly didn't care.

. . . . .

The bell rang for lunch, and I packed up my Spanish book and notebook. Fighting my way through the swarm of students in the hallway, I made my way to my locker. Jessica was digging in her locker, just two down from mine.

She turned toward me, a sly smile on her face.

"So, you didn't tell me you had a thing for one of the new kids."

I stared straight ahead. This wasn't really a conversation I wanted to have with Jessica. She was a pretty good friend, for the most part. But I knew about her competitive streak when it came to boys, and I'd seen how things could get ugly if she felt like she was being out-gamed. I'd seen it happen with other girls at the school, and I didn't want to start something with her over what was potentially nothing with Edward.

I decided to play dumb.

"That's because I don't." I turned look at her, hoping that my feigned innocence was believable. I wasn't much of an actress.

"Um, whatever, Miss Thing. I saw you and Edward Cullen practically making out in biology. And did he bring you breakfast?" Her hand popped up to her hip, and she cocked her head at me.

I shrugged and shook my head.

"We share a table and we were assigned to be lab partners. I can't help that. And we kind of had to talk to do the assignment. What do you expect me to do, be rude to him?"

"No, but you were giggling and falling all over him. It was just a little gross, that's all." She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair behind her. "I mean, you're not usually the slutty type, and it doesn't really look good on you."

"Seriously, Jess? You're going to get all catty about this? I thought we were friends." I stared at her until she squirmed and broke eye contact. I wasn't letting her get away with acting like this. "You know I'm not really the slutty type. Besides, jealousy doesn't exactly look good on you."

She took a step backwards and dropped her hand from her hip.

"I mean, do whatever you want. Just don't be surprised if he asks me to prom. Not to be mean or anything, but you don't seem like his type.…" Her eyes looked past me and her face brightened as the bitchiness suddenly receded.

I felt him standing next to me, but I couldn't look at him. Jessica kept talking.

"Oh, hi Edward. I was just telling Bella how nice it is that she's making friends with the new kids. She isn't super popular, so it's good that she can branch out a little, you know?"

She giggled and tossed her hair. Bitch.

Edward just stared at her. Then he turned to me. "Want to sit with us at lunch? I told my sister Alice that I'd introduce you two. She's been dying to meet you."

Jessica huffed and spun on her heel at his wordless dismissal. Edward stayed focused on my face as if he hadn't even noticed she'd been there.

"Uh, ok," I stuttered, not sure what to do. I was intimidated by the thought of meeting his siblings, but there was no way I was going to sit at my normal lunch table after Jessica's little display.

Edward smiled down at me and pushed my locker closed, his arm reaching out past my shoulder. I awkwardly turned to face him, but realized I was trapped between his body and my locker. A nervous giggle escaped my lips, and the corner of his mouth curled up. I watched his lips part in what felt like slow motion.

"You smell nice."

He closed his lips quickly as if to stop the words, but he was too late. Then he turned and started to walk toward the cafeteria. I stayed pressed against my locker, still a little stunned. He looked back over his shoulder when he realized I wasn't beside him.

"Aren't you coming?"

I took a deep breath and caught up to him. I was hyper-aware of his presence, and of the stares of other students. I felt even clumsier next to his fluid movements and statuesque presence, and I knew I probably looked like a mess next to his perfection. He didn't seem to notice the stares, instead, he strode confidently toward the cafeteria.

He opened the cafeteria door, motioning for me to go ahead. I started to pick up a lunch tray, but he caught it and took it easily from my grasp. "Can I buy you lunch?"

My heart skipped a beat and I blushed at how ridiculously enamored I was. Less than 24 hours ago, I was threatening him in the hospital hallway. Now, I was swooning like a girl on the cover of a Harlequin romance novel. It was just lunch, but it felt like the most romantic dinner date I could imagine. I fumbled for words.

"Sure. I, um, I usually just have a salad. You know, mystery meat and all." I wrinkled my nose and shrugged.

He laughed and escorted me to the salad bar.

"Yeah, my family and I pretty much only eat free range meat." He smiled like it was some kind of private joke. "So we aren't much for eating in the cafeteria, either."

We both piled up salads in our bowls, and he paid the cashier.

Then he motioned to me to follow him and headed to the table by the windows where his brothers and sisters were sitting.

The tiny, spiky-haired girl I'd seen him with on the day of my accident bounded out of her chair and slammed into me with a big hug.

"Hi! I'm Alice. I've been so eager to meet you!" She held my hand in between her palms and hopped up and down three times.

Edward shot her a look, and she smiled sunnily at him. "Just making her feel welcome. You know I'm the only sister of yours who is liable to…" Her gaze settled on the stunning blonde at the corner of the table. She was staring unblinkingly at Edward as if she wanted to strangle him—or worse.

Edward shook his head.

"Bella, this Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Miss Sunshine herself, Rosalie."

The two boys, both already standing politely, reached for my hand simultaneously as Rosalie pushed her chair back and stood between them. She crossed her arms slowly, glaring at me, and ran her tongue over her teeth underneath her tightly closed lips.

She blew a frustrated huff of air out of her nose and turned on her spike heel. Gathering up her expensive-looking purse, she stalked away from the table without looking back.

Edward looked at the giant guy he'd introduced as Emmett, who grinned and shrugged at him. "But she's a wildcat in the sack."

I stared, agape. Weren't they siblings?

Edward just chuckled and shook his head. He turned to me and shook his head. "Just ignore her. We all do. Well, all except for Emmett."

He winked and Emmett's booming laugh filled the cafeteria.

"So, um, are you guys not really related?" I finally found my voice.

Edward stared at me for a second before chuckling again. Emmett's laugh thundered through the cafeteria. Even Alice and Jasper joined in.

"No, silly," Alice patted my arm. "We're all foster kids. Dr. Cullen and his wife, Esme, took us all in when we were already teenagers. Since then, Rose and Emmett got together, and I'm with Jasper. But it's all legal, I promise."

Her tinkling laughter put me at ease, as did the explanation and I giggled along with the group.

The rest of lunch flew by, and I headed off to English class, Edward stopping by my locker with me and toting my books to class.

His desk was one row over and two seats in front of mine, which offered me the perfect vantage point from which to watch his profile. I studied the wild angles of his hair, the straight plane of his nose, the square bend of his jaw that led down to his adorably dimpled chin. I watched his shoulders rise and fall, his long fingers hold his textbook and tap a light rhythm against the edge of the desk.

I eased open my folder of research and peeked behind the first benign piece of paper to one of the photographs I'd studied for so long. I compared the dying boy to the one sitting in my class. The similarities were more than eerie. They were dead-on.

My conversation with Jacob echoed in my head. "…Sometimes perfect is a sign that something's not quite right… sometimes it's a mask to hide something very not perfect underneath."

Edward's sudden friendliness and welcoming attitude were in stark contrast to the day before, when he'd apparently asked his brothers and sisters to create a diversion to keep me from class. And I couldn't even think about the dichotomy between his behavior now and that of visiting—and rifling through—my bedroom uninvited and in the middle of the night.

Something was off, and I had to find out what was going on before I fell even harder for the real Edward Cullen.

. . . . .