The last chapter! :-( But to soften the blow a little, it's Edward again! Yay!

Thanks to my amazing beta, Amanda, for her encouragement! And for not minding being bombarded with new chapters and new re-writes!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer – I'm just playing with them!

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Epilogue

Things had definitely not changed at Forks High School. Sophomore year could easily have been Freshman year. The material was different, but the teachers, the students and the ridiculous things in their heads had not changed. I was sick of Forks. Sick of high school. And, most of all, sick of eternity. I sighed loudly as Rosalie drove us to school in the Volvo.

There you go again with your sighing, thought Alice with a giggle. You know, they should make sighing an Olympic sport; you'd be gold medal winner every time.

I growled quietly under my breath and she giggled again.

'Stop winding Edward up,' said Jasper gently from his seat on the other side of Alice.

'Nah, ignore Jasper,' said Emmett, full of high spirits. 'Wind Edward up. It's fun!' He twisted around from the passenger seat to grin at me. I narrowed my eyes; favourite brother or not, Emmett could be incredibly annoying.

'He's just annoyed about being in high school again,' said Alice.

'Aren't we all?' muttered Rosalie.

We had arrived in the parking lot and everyone spilled out of the car. With vampire grace, of course. Alice linked her arm in mine as we made our way towards the school

Sorry, I shouldn't be so mean, Edward. But you're being very childish, you know. And anyway, we've already had a month of sophomore year. Graduation will be here before you know it.

'I know, I know,' I sighed. Alice grinned at me and I rolled my eyes. And she accused me of being childish.

I had been silent in the car on the way home. My mind was entirely preoccupied by what I had heard in the mind of Jessica Stanley. She had decided (again, much to my irritation) that she fancied me.

I had had no problems with Lauren Mallory since my conversation with her a month into freshman year, but Jessica seemed to come back to me with increasing regularity. Not that she had ever said anything to me about it; I intimidated her too much, but I was sick of hearing her childish fantasies. There was only so many times that you could see yourself seducing someone in their mind; especially someone that you had absolutely no romantic feelings for whatsoever. In fact, I had more romantic feelings for most rocks than I had for Jessica Stanley.

I explained all this to Alice when we got home, more than usually aware of the annoyance and frustration in my voice.

It'll pass, Edward. You don't need to do anything this time. It's a stupid human crush, and you'll be free from her before the year is out. Trust me.

I grimaced at the thought that I might have to wait nearly half a year before I drifted out of Jessica's mind. 'Thanks, Alice,' I said. 'That's sort of reassuring.'

She smiled serenely. No problem, Edward, she said as she disappeared to find Jasper.

I was going to go mad in Forks High School. Slowly but surely, I was going to mad from boredom. The prospect of another day tomorrow stared me in the face and I wished, not for the first time, that it wasn't even more boring if I left the family. I knew from experience that I was much better off when they were around, but I wished I didn't have to do all the annoying charades that went along with it.

What make it so easy for the others to be content living in this way? I wondered, not for the first time, or the last I suspected, if Esme was right. If it was my lack of a companion, a soul mate. Maybe if I had someone to share eternity with, eternity wouldn't be such a depressing prospect.

I shook my head obstinately. I just couldn't accept that another person would make my existence meaningful. No, Esme had to be wrong.

Edward! Do you want to come hunting? Emmett's thought interrupted my reverie and I jumped up from my sofa gladly. Hunting with my favourite brother was just the thing to take my mind off high school. I raced down the stairs with rare enthusiasm and headed out into the dusk.

The next day dawned grey and drizzly. Despite Alice's assurances that I was wrong, I had been hoping for sunshine; the possibility of legitimately missing school was incredibly appealing. But Esme refused to let me for any reason other than sun. She was taking the high school charade much too far, in my opinion.

I sat at the back in English as usual, hardly listening to Mr Mason talk about the use of disguises and secrecy in Twelfth Night. Next to me, Alice was finding his lecture about hiding identities hilarious, but I couldn't have cared less.

The inane thoughts of my classmates swirled around me, each human the same. There was no variety in the ideas, no surprises to be found in the minds. I wondered idly if I would ever find a human who could surprise me, interest me, hold me. I doubted it.

I sank further into my seat and drifted, unsure if this purgatory would ever end.

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I hope you've enjoyed reading this – I had a lot of fun writing it! Please review if you liked it. And also if you have any constructive criticism to offer. :D

Thanks for reading!

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