Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, oh yes she does, nobody else.
Ok this is the long chapter I promised you. I hope you like it. Some reviews would be nice : ).
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So this was Forks High, it was bigger than the Res school, but I suppose most people would consider it small. I arrived early, hoping to avoid big crowds, the last thing I wanted to do was draw attention to myself. I just wanted to get my schedule sorted out and get to my first class with as little fuss as possible.
I parked my bike in the student lot near a metal grill where I could chain my bike without having to worry about it getting stolen. I pulled my bag and light mac from the box and shoved my helmet and riding jacket inside. When I locked the box it was the safest place they could be for the rest of the school day. I chained my bike to the railings with one of those combination locks.
Once everything was secure I went to the office to retrieve my schedule. This was handed to me with little fuss, along with a map of the school. I made my way to my first lesson, English. I liked English.
The teacher was already in the class when I arrived, but no other kids were. The teacher motioned for me to come inside with a friendly grin stretched across her lightly freckled face. I stopped just inside the room, not sure where to sit.
"Good morning!" The teacher observed in a light melodious voice, her very blue eyes wide and friendly. "You must be Esther Black."
"Yeah. Essie." I corrected, forcing myself to look at her.
"Our new girl from the Res."
"Yep. That's me Miss…Hannigan." I said, checking my schedule for her name.
"It's not assigned seating so you can sit wherever you please." Miss Hannigan said, indicating the empty desks.
I nodded and chose the desk in the centre of the second row; I was trying to make it with the learning after all. I took out my notepad and pen and waited for the lesson to start.
"Before the others arrive I'd just like to sort something out with you."
"What's that?" I asked, slightly worried.
"Well usually when we have new students we have them come up front and tell the class a little about themselves, would you like to do this?" She asked me lightly.
"God no!" I gasped. "I just want to get on with the learning, I'm on my third strike with my parents as it is." I explained.
"Very well, I shan't put you on the spot then." Miss Hannigan said with a smile.
I smiled back uncertainly.
"Come in." Miss Hannigan sang to the people who had just appeared at the door.
The group entered, looking at me curiously. I looked down at my book and scribbled in the margin pretending that I didn't notice them.
"Hi. How was your summer?" Miss Hannigan asked the newcomers cheerfully.
"Fine." They chorused uncertainly.
That new teacher's creepy friendly… One of them was thinking it was the boy with the red hair.
I glanced quickly over my shoulder at him. He was pulling his things out of his bag as he frowned at Miss Hannigan. I turned my attention back to the teacher and tried to scan her mind.
The kids seem friendly enough… She was thinking. Easy now Ebony it'll be just like when you were training. Don't let them know you're new to this…
Then I lost her mind, it had been too long since I'd last fed for me to keep it up.
Miss Hannigan greeted everyone in a friendly manner as they entered; this got her as many curios glances as they gave me. I kept my head down and tried not to notice the stares.
The chair beside me scraped on the floor and I looked up to see a girl with brown hair, brown eyes and a warm smile sitting next to me. She looked vaguely familiar.
"Hi, it's Essie isn't it?" She whispered.
"Yeah." I said, giving her my full attention. Now I had a better look of her I got an impression of forests. "Hannah…right?"
She nodded. "We met the day Mike fell in the brook." She whispered and I could here the humour in her voice.
"Yeah. You were with that other girl…Ollie wasn't it?"
"Olivia." She corrected darkly. "Always Olivia."
Is that right? Well at least I have something to annoy her with now if she starts anything.
Just then Miss Hannigan called the class to order.
"Welcome Juniors." She said cheerfully. "I'm Miss Hannigan and I will be your English teacher for this year. First of all I'll hand out your reading list for this year." She said, handing a pile of papers to the person in the front right desk. "Take one and pass the rest along."
There was a rustling sound as the papers made their way around the room. Miss Hannigan went on to describe what we'd be covering this year. I suppressed a groan, I hated induction lessons, and I just wanted to get on with learning. I decided that at least I could practice my handwriting so I picked up my pen and began to take notes.
My pen moved automatically writing down what the teacher said while my mind drifted back to the Res school. I imagined what me and Harry would be up to now, probably holding a note conversation at the back of the class.
I frowned when I read the last sentence I had written,
"I thought since there's not much time left now we could discuss a few local legends. I'm especially interested in those of the Quileutes."
I looked up at her in shock. We had covered our legends in the Res school cause it was part of our heritage, but I wasn't expecting it here in Forks.
"So, do any of you here know any local legends?" She asked brightly.
I sat up strait, placed my pen carefully on the desk, folded my arms and subjected her to one of my best stern Sam faces. I wasn't going to say anything.
"Yes?" Miss Hannigan said, indicating the person behind me.
"Going back about five years ago there was this crazy old guy who thought there were vampires living in the woods." The boy said with a laugh.
"I was thinking of something a little older than that." Miss Hannigan said with a sigh.
"People say there are wolves around here." Hannah said quietly. "Really big wolves, as big as horses."
"That's just hiker's tales." A girl at the back scoffed. "Nobody's ever got a picture of one."
That's cause we're too fast.I thought smugly.
"Yeah but there's been sightings over the last forty years, big wolves and all different colours." Another boy pointed out, it was the one with the red hair.
"My grandparents saw one when they were kids. It was big and black, they thought it might have been a bear until the Chief's daughter saw a whole pack of them up close." Hannah added.
Good old Grandma Bella, that was before she knew about the Quileute gift and was frightened they were gonna eat her, never mind the fact they were protecting her against a ravenous vampire. She was all worried who would get her first, the wolves or the leech.
"It's funny you should mention the wolf sightings." Miss Hannigan cut in. "Did you know the Quileutes believe that the wolf is their brother. It is against tribal law to kill them because they help protect the tribe. One of their legends goes so far as to suggest that some of their ancestors could actually turn into wolves." Miss Hannigan informed them.
"What? Like werewolves?" A girl asked.
"No!" I snapped sharply before I could stop myself.
"Do you have something you wish to add Essie?" Miss Hannigan asked.
I felt every pair of eyes in the room turn to me curiously. Damn that woman!I could feel the heat rising up inside of me, I had to get control of my anger, I tried to push it back down.
"It's not like werewolves." I said through my teeth trying to control my breathing. "It's to do with Taha Aki and the wolf who helped him rid the tribe of the evil spirit warrior who had stolen his body. After that Taha Aki could take the form of a wolf or a man, an ability he passed onto his sons."
"Would you care to elaborate on what a Spirit Warrior is?" Miss Hannigan asked.
"No." I said firmly.
"And why not?"
"Because I don't want my cultural heritage ripped apart by a bunch of misunderstanding kids just cause you ain't done a proper lesson plan." I said stubbornly.
"I thought you might like to share your heritage with us. To help us understand it better."
Yeah, I could make you understand it, but for that you'd have to realise that it isn't a legend but our history, it all happened. I thought coldly.
I drew in another steadying breath, god I was feeling hot again.
"How would you like it if I started poking holes in your cultural heritage?" I said in a low voice.
"You have a point, but if you don't explain it to us then how can we hope to understand? You must admit that from an outsiders point of view it does sound considerably like werewolves."
I sighed.
"There are differences." I said. "First and most importantly my people never saw it as a curse. In the legends it was how Taha Aki's sons became warriors. It gave them the strength needed to protect the tribe from the Cold Ones. Secondly, it's not triggered by the full moon; it's there when they need it. And they weren't monsters that went around eating women and children, they protected the women and children from the monsters who wanted to do that. The Cold Ones."
"What's a Cold One?" The red headed boy asked.
"Would you like to answer that one Essie?" Miss Hannigan asked with a pleased smile.
"You can call the Cold Ones by many different names." I said with a smirk. "Flea. Leech. Bloodsucker. Vampire."
"Vampires?" A boy with dark hair and bad acne gasped. "You've got vampires in your legends too?"
"Yep, sure do. They used to come across the sea, cold and beautiful, but deadly. Ripping, tearing, killing and making more of their kind with their poisonous bite."
"Hey, maybe Old Man Newton wasn't so crazy after all." Someone called from the back of the class.
This drew some laughs, but Miss Hannigan looked angered, I couldn't think by what. Maybe because the lesson had ran away from her now?
I shook my head sadly; this was why we kept our legends to ourselves.
"There's one thing you're all forgetting though." I said aloud. "None of it's real, it's all just stories."
"Exactly." Miss Hannigan said with a smile.
The bell rang.
"Your homework for tonight is to read the first chapter of Pride and Prejudice, pick up your copy on the way out." She said, indicating the pile of battered books.
I grabbed a copy and shoved it in my bag as I stepped outside.
"What have you got next?" Hannah asked me.
"Biology with Dr Chaney." I said, consulting my schedule.
"Me too." Hannah said with a smile. "You'll like Dr Chaney, she's my Gran."
"Really?" I asked intrigued, wondering what it would be like to have a relative for a teacher.
"Yeah. Come on." She said enthusiastically.
I followed her through the light drizzle to the Bio building. There was a tall boy with chestnut brown hair waiting by the door, Hannah took his hand and kissed him chastely on the cheek when we reached him. I recognised him as the other person in the woods that day.
"Hi." He said, with a smile.
"Hi." Hannah said back, before placing her arm lightly around his waist and turning to look at me. "Essie, you remember Colin?"
"Yeah. Good to meet you again." I said, holding out my hand.
Colin took it and shook it.
"Nice to actually get a chance to talk to you this time." He remarked. "I think Olivia monopolized your time in the forest."
"Not to mention the fact that she totally insulted me." I pointed out.
"She's like that all the time. Just ignore her, the rest of us do." Colin said with a dismissive shrug.
"I'll give it my bets shot." I promised.
"Shall we go in now?" Hannah asked with forced cheerfulness.
We entered the lab and Hannah introduced me to Dr Chaney, a tall middle-aged woman whose brown hair was touched with the first signs of grey. It was surprising to think that this is how old Bella should look; she went to school with this woman. Back then Dr Chaney had been Angela Webber.
Dr Chaney smiled at me and shook my hand as she looked at me with something like recognition. I caught a flash of Bella from her mind, human Bella, a picture from over forty years ago. Of course it was the eyes, chocolate brown, they were Bella's eyes.
After my introduction with the teacher I found an empty desk at the back. Hannah was Colin's lab partner and everyone else stuck with the same partner they'd had for the past two years, so it looked like I was working alone. I didn't mind though, it meant I had less temptation to muck around.
It was ten minuets into the lesson when there was a knock at the door. The scent reached me before the door was opened, blowing in through the gap by the floor. It reached me sweet and appealing, there was only one type of creature who smelt like that.
"Come in." Dr Chaney called.
The door opened and my body locked in place as I forced myself not to run. A boy stepped in; he looked like he could pass for sixteen…eighteen at most. But that meant nothing, he could be a thousand and still look like that, that was the thing with vampires.
He was fairly short with a slight body, but there was an obvious hint of hidden power in the way he held himself, or perhaps I could see it cause I knew it was there. He was alabaster pale, of course, but it seemed more pronounced by his very black hair. It was neatly clipped to ear length where it curled. I could almost see bay leaves sitting on those curls; he made me think of a young Roman Emperor. In fact he looked a bit like the statues that Nero had carved, how he truly saw himself.
His eyes flickered around the room once, but I knew it was enough for his vampire brain to take everything in. I relaxed slightly when I saw the flash of gold, well obviously he was vegetarian, a carnivore wouldn't have been able to stand being this close to all these delectable young humans without letting a little of his true nature show through.
"I'm sorry Dr Chaney." He said in a low well-cultured voice. "I am having a little trouble finding my way around."
"Well you're here now." Dr Chaney said with a smile. "Toby is it?" She asked, checking her list.
"Tobias." He corrected.
"Ok Tobias. Here's your text book." She said as she handed him a copy of the book she'd already distributed to the rest of us. "You're lab partner is Essie, our other new student this semester."
He nodded, accepting the book, and glanced at me. I frowned slightly, he may be vegetarian, but he was still an unknown vampire. It was hard enough trying to fool the humans into thinking I was normal, never mind his keen vampire senses. What if he noticed there was something off about my scent?
He walked over with the sure steady stride of someone in complete control of every muscle in their body. He sat down beside me as Dr Chaney continued the lesson. This gave me a good excuse to ignore him for the next fifty minuets, despite the fact I knew he kept glancing at me from the corner of his eye.
"Before you go I need to assign some homework." Dr Chaney said pleasantly.
The class groaned and sat back down.
"In three weeks time you will in your pairs be giving a presentation on one of the subjects we'll be covering this semester. To make it fair I think you should pick your subject at random." Dr Chaney explained, holding up the type of plastic bucket that kids use on the beach.
She took it around the class where each pair put their hand in to pull out a folded piece of paper. There were some groans and some sounds of triumph as each one was presented with their subject. There were only three left by the time she reached Tobias and me. I reached out without looking; I didn't see that he was reaching out also. Our hands brushed and I hissed slightly pulling my hand back at the unexpected cold.
I looked at him in slight annoyance; he just smiled and gestured for me to choose.
What a gentleman!
I rolled my eyes then reached into the bucket, pulling out the first piece of paper my fingers touched. I pulled it out and unfolded it as Dr Chaney moved on to the next table.
"So what subject have we got partner?" He asked lightly.
I gave a snort at the irony.
"The Theory of Evolution and how it applies to the development of predator and prey." I replied flatly.
I could see he was about to say something else.
"Gotta go." I said, rising to my feet. "Trig class awaits." And I left before he could respond and still pretend to be human.
I couldn't believe it when I walked into Trig a couple of minuets late thanks to Dr Chaney. I was met by another appealing sweet smell, but it was different from Tobias's scent. For one it belonged to a female vampire.
On my first quick scan of the room I didn't spot her, but I did see the only empty seat next to a spotty boy with grease slicked hair who smelt as if he hadn't washed in a while. I gave the teacher, Mr Tucker, a quick apology then made my way to the empty seat.
I passed the girl on the way. She looked like she could pass for seventeen, maybe pull off early twenties. She had an open friendly face curtained by long strait brown hair that shone with warm honey high lights under the florescent light. She smiled at me curiously as I passed by her, a frown playing on my face again. So how many vampires are in this school?
I pushed these thoughts from my mind as I settled down to work.
Other than the vampire Trig was, well Trig. I did my work studiously, I had promised my parents, and math did come easy to me so they were expecting strait A's in this class. I think that was probably why I played up in Math so much. I know it used to annoy the hell out of my teacher that I would play up all lesson and still manage to get good grades. It was too easy for me that was the trouble.
Not long into the lesson I knew why the tiny girl with the frizzy red hair and chosen to sit next to a vampire rather than this boy. He smelled funny, scratched a lot and picked his nose when he thought no one was looking. He spent most of the lesson gobbing spit balls at people through the tube of a broken biro.
I made a mental note to try and get here early enough next time so I wouldn't have to sit by him again. He was very distracting and I felt a wave of shame at all the disruption I had caused for other people in the past.
When the lesson ended I went to lunch, thankful that the vampire left before me, not hanging around. I bought pizza and fries and a bottle of mineral water, soda always made me hyper. I scanned the cafeteria; I could see the vampire from Trig sitting with another very pale girl with true ginger hair, the colour of the fox. They were pretending to eat their dinner while scanning the students around them. The brown haired one gave a barely perceptible nod and the ginger one turned to look at me, if I'd been fully human it would have been too quick for me to notice.
I heaved a sigh and made my way to a small empty table, hopefully I'd be left to eat in peace. I began eating, enjoying the pizza and the fries where the right amount crispy. Then a shadow fell across the table. My nostrils quivered and I resisted the urge to run.
"Hey lab partner, can I sit down?" Tobias asked cheerfully, a human wouldn't be able to detect that it was forced.
"It's a free country." I said despondently, not even bothering to look up.
He sat down across from me with his tray laden with food.
"Hello, I'm Tobias Hannigan." He said formally, thrusting his hand into my line of vision.
"Essie." I replied casually, shaking his hand. The cold didn't startle me this time because I was expecting it. I still didn't look up.
"So are you one of these Quileutes I've heard tell about?" He asked smoothly.
I growled under my breath, and then looked him in the eye.
"What do you want leech?" I demanded in a voice too low for humans to hear.
"So you know what I am." He replied with a wry smile.
"It's a bit obvious." I snapped. "You're as pale as a sheet and you smell sickly sweet." I hissed, folding my arms.
He smirked and I reviewed the last sentence in my head.
"And now you've got me rhyming." I groaned.
He chuckled.
"Don't laugh at me leech." I growled.
"Forgive me, I was merely marvelling at your prowess as a poet." He observed.
"Don't patronize me either."
I could feel the heat rising in me again. Push it down, push it down, never let it surface, you don't want to phase. You don't ever want to phase.
"Got quite a little temper on us haven't we." He teased.
"Do you really want to push me?" I shot back.
His eyes ran over me in an analytical fashion stopping for a brief second on my hands that were shaking slightly on top of the table. I pulled them back and hid them under the table.
He looked back up at my face and smiled.
"Probably best not to." He mused, "We wouldn't want you 'fursploding' in front of all these people now, would we?"
"That's not a problem. Yet." I growled. "I'm in complete control of my shape."
He looked at me doubtfully.
I glanced around the room for a moment, trying to find something to calm my mind and they locked with a different pair of gold eyes across the room. The brown haired vampire from Trig smiled at me timidly. I turned back to Tobias.
"Shouldn't you be sitting with your sisters." I demanded.
He glanced over his shoulder at the other two who looked as if they were deep in conversation now. He turned back to me and shrugged.
"Marlin and Layla don't want me cramping their style." He said with a laugh.
"So you've come to cramp mine instead?"
He looked as if he was about to laugh, but thought better of it. He let out a sigh, "You just looked so lonely sitting here by yourself."
"I want to be by myself, I thought I was making that pretty obvious."
"Oh yes. The children here are as nervous of you as they are of us." He conceded.
"You can't read minds can you?" I asked, worried.
"No." He chortled. "I'm just very good at reading people."
I glared at him for a moment, wondering if this was true. Other than my projection my other powers were a bit touch and go, they came and went with the blood. Right now my mind reading was on the blink, so perhaps my shield was as well.
"So did you have any other reason for sitting here, other then bugging me to death?"
"Are we not lab partners?" He asked.
"Yes."
"And have we not been assigned homework that requires us to work together?"
"I suppose." I conceded reluctantly.
"I merely wished to iron out the details of when we are to meet up."
"I guess we might as well get a head start on it." I sighed warily.
"So, you're place or mine?" He said with a grin.
I rolled my eyes, was he trying to be funny?
"Since my place is out of bounds for you, and there's no way on god's green earth you'd catch me setting foot in a viper's nest, I think we need to find somewhere neutral."
"Such as?"
"The library in town. The library seems good." I said as I finished off my water.
"The library it is then." He observed.
"Now I got to be getting to my lesson." I said, getting up and dumping my tray.
History, well what can I say? Tobias walked in just behind me. I sat down quickly in the nearest empty seat that was next to someone. Tobias smiled at me before he took a seat at an empty table.
"Hello!" A petulant voice said beside me.
I turned and groaned slightly when I saw who I'd sat next to.
"Hello Olivia." I said with a manic grin.
"Are you lost? Do you want the junior high down the road?" She demanded.
"Look, I know we don't like each other but that creepy new kid keeps following me to every class and sitting by me. He won't let me alone." I pleaded.
Olivia looked at me doubtfully for a moment, and then she turned her pale eyes to Tobias who waved slightly when he saw us looking. We quickly turned away, but not before Olivia's eyes had widened and her heart beat increased.
"You're complaining about him stalking you?" She gasped, looking at me as if I'd gone crazy.
"So you think I have to put up with it just cause he's good looking?" I asked. "I'm not interested in him."
"That's right, you've got a boyfriend."
"Harry is not my boyfriend." I snapped.
"Ok, no need to bite my head off." Olivia said, holding up her hands.
I heard Tobias chuckle and I turned to glare at him.
"See, he keeps laughing at me all the time. And patronizing me with the way he talks."
"Well if he's bugging you that much just ignore him." Olivia said with a shrug.
"I would, but he's my lab partner in Bio and we've got a project to do together."
"Well good luck with that." Olivia said with a snort.
Then we couldn't speak anymore as Mr Wilcox called the class to order.
Last lesson was PE. I liked PE because anything physical came naturally to me, what with my mixed heritage. I didn't like PE because I had to remain average. I had to blend in with the mid-rangers because there was the possibility that if I was picked for the school teams then I'd draw attention to myself. The last thing a freak like me wanted was attention.
I changed into my kit amongst the excited babble of the girls describing there first day back. When I entered the gym everyone was grouping up, I belonged nowhere. I stood against the wall with my head down, waiting for the teacher to arrive.
The sweet smell hit my nose once more.
I groaned and looked up to see Tobias approach, with the brown haired female.
"Hey lab partner." He said with a friendly grin.
"Hey lab partner." I mocked childishly.
"This seems like a good time to introduce you to my twin sister Marlin." He said, indicating the brown haired girl who smiled shyly.
"Hi. Pleased to meet you." I said, shaking her hand, funnily enough I couldn't bring myself to be as shirty with her as I was with Tobias.
"Hello. You must be Essie." She said lightly.
"That's me." I observed with a grin.
"You have pretty eyes." She said. "You can always tell a lot about somebody by their eyes."
"Like, are they a vampire? Are they vegetarian? Are they hungry?" I quipped.
"You can laugh, but you only hide behind humour because you're scared." Marlin said serenely.
So what, the vampires were psychoanalysing me now?
"Ok, so I see you've all formed into teams." The coach said in a booming voice.
"What?" I asked, looking around shocked.
"Looks like we're gym buddies as well now, partner." Tobias said, nudging me on the arm.
I narrowed my eyes.
"You planned this." I growled, feeling the heat rise again.
Must stay calm. Must stay calm.
"I like to win." He stated. "So only the best for my team."
"Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not supposed to be drawing attention to my athletic prowess. So if you want me on your team your gonna have to get used to being average." I said in a sing-song voice.
"You tell him Ess. Honestly, sometimes he's such a show-off." Marlin commented with a shake of her head. "We've all warned him about it."
I couldn't help but smile; I liked Marlin, even if she was an unknown vampire.
Tobias glowered, "I think I can cope with life in the slow lane." He muttered.
"Now I didn't say anything about the slow lane." I chided.
"We don't want to be the worst team." Marlin added. "Because that would also draw attention to us."
"Right now if you'd all like to gather around." The coach boomed, motioning us forward.
He proceeded to fill us in on the rules of basket-ball. What a snore-fest, I just wanted to get on with playing, but that would have to wait until tomorrow.
When the lesson ended I rose quickly to my feet and darted to the changing rooms, I didn't bother changing, I shoved my clothes into my backpack, slung my backpack on and made my way out to my bike. I quickly pulled out my helmet and jacket from my box and chucked my bag and mac in. I unfastened the bike lock, pulled on my safety gear and was roaring out of the car lot just as Tobias appeared at the entrance to the gym.
I waved to him, and then pulled out onto the main road. If I could just make it to the border then he couldn't follow me. I was only honouring my parents' wishes anyway, they told me to come strait back to the Res after school, and that's what I was doing.
Too bad Fang Boy…
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Thank you for reading,
Please review,
Gemma x