A/N I've been away for just a short while…Sorry to have kept you waiting. Thank you for coming back, if you have. And also hello to any new readers : )

Bella's POV

As the familiar building loomed before me like a bad omen, I shuddered. Nothing like visiting your old school as a different person to give you the shivers. Forks High School, Take Two. Hopefully this time there wouldn't be any vampire waiting to kill me… I pushed that thought away, unwilling to remind myself of a subject which hurt Edward so much.

Edward, this time, was beside me as we walked down the hallway. His hand was firmly around mine, and he smiled reassuringly at me. Even though my heart had not beaten for months, it felt like it would soar out of my chest. I would have been sweating if I were human.

Marie Cullen. That was my new name. I had been too shocked to speak at first, when Alice had come up with the whole plan. Then I had asked her if she was crazy. Of course, being Alice, she just grinned her impish grin and told me that it would all work out fine. It was hard not to trust a vampire who oculd see the future.

Edward's thoughts flooded my head like calm waves, soothing me.

No one will recognize you- you look completely different. And this will be good for our cover- people will get suspicious if they see an extra Cullen walking around, and if we don't all come back to school.

He had suggested moving away, but I had downright refused. I wasn't going to leave Charlie. It was hard watching him suffer, but he was getting better slowly, and I needed to be there for him, even if he didn't know it. I couldn't leave my old life behind just yet. That was another reason for coming back to school. Esme had insisted that, although I could do as I wished, it would be good if I finished my education. At this I thought about how inferior I felt to the Cullens intellectually.

It was strange thinking of myself as Marie Cullen. Marie was my middle name, and so I was slightly used to it, even though it reminded me of being told off as a child, when my mother would say, "Isabella Marie Cullen, come here this instant".

I felt a twinge of regret as I thought of Renée. I had tried to keep the thought of her at the back of my mind. She was fragile and whimsical, and I wasn't sure how badly my death had affected her. I sometimes talked to Alice about my old life, and how I was worried about my family. I couldn't talk to Edward; that same look came back into his eyes whenever I mentioned my death. Even though I had tried to forgive him, he would not forgive himself.

Our relationship was strange. Not in a bad way, but in the way that we tried to keep it as light as possible. There was so much between us; the life I had lost, all the secrets which I knew, my unquestionable love. But even though it was hard, we had decided that it would be best to get to know each other better, to try and fall in love the conventional way, as I thought of it.

As we entered the receptionist's office, I kept my eyes down. Alice had given me contacts to hide my very unsubtle eyes, but I was still self-conscious. Also, there was the added fear of being recognized.

Jasper, who was there for emotional support, literally, felt my panic. I felt my worry disappear as a wave of calm surrounded me, and smiled my gratitude. As long as Jasper didn't touch me, his power would work.

Edward cleared his throat, and the receptionist looked up.

"Excuse me, but this is Marie Cullen. She has been adopted by my parents; I believe my mother, Esme Cullen called earlier this week."

She sat for a moment in silence as she processed his words in her head, and then typed something into her computer.

"Oh yes, I see. Marie Cullen. Welcome," she said, smiling warmly at me. I smiled back, remembering not to show too many teeth, and thinking about how it should have been 'welcome back'.

"Here is your schedule. I'll leave it to Mr Cullen to show you around." She smiled at Edward as I took the sheet of paper, and we left the office. As we turned the corner towards our first class, I whispered to him under my breath.

"Did she recognize me?"

"No," he reassured me, "No one has, yet."

"Yet." I repeat, still frantically glancing around.

"Just relax. I'm glad we seem to have most of our classes together." He said, changing the subject. I smiled.

"Yes, although, ironically, I don't have Biology with you. I guess I'll have to fend for myself among the scary humans."

We both laughed quietly at this, and he stopped in the doorway of the classroom, suddenly reaching out to trace my jaw with his gentle, long fingers. So quick that no human would have seen, he leaned forward to kiss me in the briefest of moments.

"I love you." He said, his eyes soft. I smiled, slightly surprised.

"I love you, too." I replied fervently, still in a whisper. For a moment, we stood, transfixed in each other's gazes, until the teacher walked past us into the classroom and announced that the class was about to begin.

The morning passed slowly, and I now understood what Edward had said to me the previous day; that I could leave if I found it too dull. As a vampire, my mind could think of several things at once, and I found I could understand and learn ten times faster than before. And so, the lessons seemed to merge into one long, boring monotone, only brightening when Edward winked at me, or held my hand under the table, or kissed me quickly in empty corridors.

He was with me the entire time, making sure I was happy, not feeling thirsty- however ridiculous that would be, considering the hunt we had been on yesterday, and my 'immunity' to human blood- and that I wasn't thinking about my old life.

When lunchtime came, it felt so surreal that I thought I would laugh. When, before, I had spent my first lunchtime gazing at the Cullens in wonder, now I sat with them, the object of more attention than I had even gained as Bella Swan on my first day. It was slightly disappointing, though, that as a vampire, the people who had been friendly to me before now regarded me with awe and fear.

When I told Edward of how I had been so entranced by the Cullens on that first day, he laughed a broad laugh- causing many people to turn and stare- and admitted with a sheepish smile that he had been curious about me, too. When I puzzled over this, he explained that I was so new to him, someone whose thoughts he could not read, so frustrating but interesting.

Eating was less traumatic than I had imagined. We all bought food, but we sat with it on our trays in front of us, instead talking or just sitting in silence. The stench I could tune out, so it barely troubled me as we all sat, watching the world about us. Silence, as a vampire, was more comfortable than as a human- not awkward, but something that you settled into easily when you became tired of talking. Not that we were ever physically tired, and not that Edward ever stopped questioning me about my likes and dislikes, books I had read, films I had seen.

Last thing, I had Biology. It was strange to be without Edward, after having him there, constantly all day, but it was nice to be silent and think of everything. To be honest, I was pleased with myself- that I had gone through almost a whole day without trouble. No one had recognized me, and I had never slipped up. It was easy enough to answer to a different name, and being with the Cullens made me an actress; we all tried to be normal, although our façade sometimes slipped.

As I sat by myself, the bell rang, and Mr Banner closed the door after one boy came in, late. Listening to the teacher, I learned that his name was Mike, heard him being reprimanded, and also heard the teacher suggesting he sat next to me to help me with the new class. I almost laughed at this; I had been in this class before, and had been in an advanced placement class in Phoenix.

As Mike came towards me, he walked into the path of the fan which was keeping the classroom cool on this unusually hot day. As he stood, smiling at me, I inhaled, breathing in the full scent of him as it was blown towards me by the fan.

Suddenly, I gripped the table top, my thoughts going haywire, my eyes wide, my fingers clawed. The scent of his blood was the most powerful thing I had ever encountered. It hit me like a herd of elephants, and it was all I could do not to kill him. Mike was just an ordinary human, but I wanted his blood more than I had ever wanted anything in my whole existence.

A/N Da-da-da!!! Wow, I hope you like the new chapter, especially the thick coating of irony in this last bit. Please review and I will write more soon xxxxx