I walked into the cafeteria and grabbed a tray before getting some small healthy foods and looking around for a place to sit. I was a little surprised that the school actually had healthier food than the diner had.
The school year had been going for long enough that the groups had already formed, but it was still early enough in the year that people barely noticed if someone sat at another table, but it was still slightly noticeable when they had someone they didn't know sit next to them. This was especially so with people from outside of Forks since almost everyone here had grown up with each other. I decided that it would be for the best for me to sit somewhere people wouldn't bother me as much.
I took my tray over to a table that was empty by the windows and sat down. It was a little weird since it felt like everyone was staring at me, but I figured it was because of my silver hair and bright blue eyes. Also the fact that I wasn't a student probably drew a good bit of attention by itself.
"Um, you are sitting at our table man." I heard a deep voice say from behind me.
I turned around and saw a group of very beautiful individuals who I instantly recognized as the Cullens. I gave him a smile and said back to Emmet. "What, scared that I'll cramp your style?"
Emmet just gave a smile that looked like he was trying not to burst into laughter while the rest frowned at me. I just ignored their looks and kept eye contact with Emmet while my smile grew wider.
"I like him, he has guts." Emmet said with his grin widening to match my own.
I instantly put 500 points in strength and then told him. "It seems to me that the others in your group don't like me. So how about a little contest."
"Oh, and what might that be?" Emmet said with an even wider grin. I noticed that Edward was having a look of constipation as I felt him trying to read my mind only to be blocked by my mental defenses.
"If you can beat me in arm wrestling I will gladly leave this spot, but if you can't then I get to sit here as long as I want." I told him while putting my arm on the table with a grin.
"Confident aren't you?" Emmet said with an even wider grin. He was probably imagining my surprised face at how easily he would beat me. I could also see Rosalie also trying not to smile. Alice had a look of concentration and some shock after Emmet had already sat down. Edward got a look of surprise right after Alice did and started to try even harder to read my mind. It didn't work in the least and I pushed back on his mental probe a little bit.
Edward then had a look of shock that he quickly masked before looking at me with a mixture of curiosity and well hidden worry.
Emmet took my hand in his and I looked at them before saying. "So who wants to start us off?" My arm looked like a twig compared to Emmet's hulking muscles.
Rose then said. "Start." In a mild and slightly bored tone.
Emmet started to put a little bit of pressure into his grip and began to try and push my hand down only to tense up in surprise when he failed to move me.
"My turn then." I chuckled before pushing Emmet's hand down to the table in a quick and smooth motion.
After I let go of his hand he and the rest of them stared at his hand in a look of dazed disbelief.
"Looks like I get to stay here." I said before grabbing up an apple and taking a bite.
"You, how, why?" Emmet said in confusion.
"You know, this is a very wide world full of all sorts of surprises, it is impossible for someone to know everything, especially if it is something usually left hidden." I said with a smirk causing the others to have a light intake of breath.
"Why don't you all sit down before you cause any more of a disturbance? Also if you don't stop glaring at me Edward I'm going to make you eat food that I'm sure will make you feel like crap compared to your usual diet." I told him with a smirk as he glared at me as if he was ready to pounce on me at any second.
I added in my last 100 points into agility just to be safe. It was nowhere near where I would need to be to outrun any of them, but it would certainly let me dodge any sudden attacks.
They all nodded grudgingly before sitting down gracefully.
"You know, the lot of you might think you're special or something, but honestly you guys suck at disguises and really aren't anything all that special." I snorted.
What do you mean, also what do you know about us? Edward all but growled out at me.
"I also take offense to that, I am a very unique person." Emmet said with a fake frown and a raised eyebrow.
"Sure thing snowflake." I told him with a smile that caused him to smile as well. "As for the answer about what I know. You are a bunch of idiot vampires who are probably not older then 150 years old at most." I said with a quiet voice.
I heard another sharp intake of air before I said. "As for what I mean." I pointed at Jasper. "You have an empath in a room full of horny and hormonal teens. They are all hungry and thirsty and this is probably absolute hell for him, the fact that he has so much control to not kill everyone here means that he has the will power of a fricken saint. It does however make him have less control over keeping the hunger out of his eyes. If anyone were to look close enough they could probably tell he isn't quite normal and would think he might shoot up the school."
Everyone looked at Jasper in shock. "Is it really that bad?" Alice asked him with worry.
"It is bearable, but having so much thirst and hunger around me is a little difficult." Jasper whispered with his light whisp of an accent. "I didn't want to worry any of you."
"Ha, you lot don't even realize that he can also feel your own thirst as well. By not feeding until you have to it is basically making him feel the thirst of 5 vampires on top of his own. He is dealing with not only his own hunger, but yours on top of it and I have serious respect for someone with such a strong sense of self restraint."
Everyone let out a light gasp in shock.
"It isn't uncommon for an empath to end up feeding and not stopping if he is surrounded by starving vampires or newborns. It'll cause him to also feel that same sense of starvation and can often drive them to madness until they either die or get away from those feeling so hungry."
"The next thing is the ridiculous levels of grace you all move at. I get that you are trying to avoid using to much force, but nobody moves like that. It is a clear give away. Watch how the normies move sometime and try to copy them."
I could see everyone nodding.
"You are especially bad at this." I said while pointing at Rose who had a look of disdain. "You naturally walk with grace and a perfect posture that is just like some girls at beauty pageants have, but that isn't something that a normal high school girl would have. This is even more noticeable in a tiny town like this."
"Last, but not least is the super clear skin. Alice here should have plenty of knowledge of make up and I know the lot of you can get ready for school fast enough in the morning. So why don't you use some blush and foundation creams to make your skin tones be a bit more human. Maybe use some eye shadow to cover up the bags under your eyes. You could even use some hair coloring to add a sense of change that would draw attention off of your looks. It might be irritating to have to wear it, but if it lets you blend in better it is all the better. Not to mention that you can then use the make up to make it look like you are aging and the smell from the make up could cover up some of the smell from the people here."
"Thank you for all the advice, but can we know what you are?" Edward said with a little less hostility in his gaze.
"Also why can't any of our abilities work on you?" Alice pouted as she squinted at me.
"Edwards and Jaspers abilities won't work on me because their sub conscious is protecting them from entering me." I said with a slightly evil grin. "I have a very powerful mental defense that they couldn't hope to force their way through without me inviting them in first. As for why you can't see me, that is because I am outside of the strings of fate and therefore can't be seen unless I decide to touch into the string."
"Why would our subconscious need to protect us from you?" Edward nearly growled as he was tensed.
"When you first got your ability and started hearing all of the voices it hurt and caused massive headaches right?" I asked with a smile to Edwards glare. "That is because your brain couldn't handle all of the voices and it eventually toned down to a bearable level. This was because your subconscious had to help out or it could have driven you mad from the constant assault on your mind."
"So are you saying that my brain is trying to protect itself from pain. What, are you a bunch of people in one?" Edward asked while everyone stared in curiosity.
"No, I am simply defending my mind from you, however if I didn't you could potentially end up trapped in my mind and end up getting lost for a very long time. Same with Jasper and his ability. My brain is like a giant maze where you can get trapped forever if you aren't careful."
"That sounds terrible." Alice said with a shudder. "Are you okay yourself?"
"Thank you Alice for asking, but I'm okay. I'm long used to this. As for what I am, well that is my own secret, but for now I am simply a human with knowledge of the supernatural parts of this world." I said with a smile.
"Who are you and what do you want from us?" Rosalie growled out at me quietly while glaring at me. She had obviously been unhappy with me pointing out her shortcomings.
"I am me and I have the feeling that you'll find out who I am here in the next class. As for what I want, well we can talk about that later. I figure a fair trade will be good."
I saw Alice get a glazed look in her eye before coming out of it and having a stunned look before growing into a huge grin. "That's going to be hilarious." She said while looking at me.
Edward looked at her before gasping in shock and looking at me with a mix of shock and admiration.
"Now you two, don't go ruining my fun." I lightly scolded them.
Emmet started whining about how it wasn't right to keep secrets and Rose had a look like she ate a lemon.
Edward looked at me and said in a serious tone. "I am terribly sorry for my behavior sir, please forgive all of us for being so rude." This of course caused Rosalie to stop growling and glaring at me as she looked at Edward with a worried look. Jasper and Emmet looked between me and Edward in curiosity.
"It's fine Edward. Even I would have a negative reaction in such a situation as yours. Plus I know it is only because you are worried about your families safety and that is something I find to be a good trait in someone." I told him with a smile and a nod.
"I do believe it is time for your next class." I said as the bell went off and the students in the hall all started to rush about.
I stood up and brought my tray to the garbage as the Cullens followed behind me.
"You do realize that you guys could simply bring a thermos with your drinks instead of wasting food like this every day." I said with a frown as I watched them dump their full trays in the garbage. "All you would need to do is say that it is a special drink that tastes terrible but is part of a diet Carlisle made for you all based on your personal physical needs."
"I never thought of that, it is a good idea." Edward said with a nod. He was acting much friendlier then he had been earlier.
"It would make things a bit easier for me if we could feed daily." Jasper said with a light smile.
"Remember Jasper." I said with a grin. "You're a saint now so make sure you keep up the smile and wave tactic."
He just smiled a bit more while shaking his head and Alice leaned up to give him a kiss on his cheek.
"I don't care if you have good ideas, if you put my family in danger I'll kill you." Rosalie said under her breath to me as she walked past me.
I left the lunchroom and ended up following Edward into the biology class where I sat down next to him. He was rather surprised, but he didn't say anything. The other students were rather curious about who I was and why I was so friendly with Edward, but none of them had the courage to bother us and would just send looks my way.
The teacher was a nice man who had everyone take out their books before doing roll call. Once he had called everyone he noticed me for the first time.
"And who might you be young man? I don't believe I have you in my class." He asked with a smile.
"Well you see, I was sitting at the diner downtown eating a meal when two officers decided to arrest me and bring me here having believed that since I am so young that I am skipping school. I tried to explain to them that I had already graduated, but they didn't believe me. So now I am here for the time being."
"That is quite the situation, though I must admit that you do appear to be a minor." He said while nodding his head.
"I am legally an adult, but I am also only 17 years old. So it is understandable for others to be in doubt." I told him with a calm smile.
"Well that is indeed quite the case, and what is your name?" He said with a smile.
"Edward may I borrow your biology book for a second?" I asked as Edward handed his biology book over to me with a small smile while the teacher watched in confusion over the sudden change in the conversations direction. I then turned the book over to show the back where a description and a picture of the author were located and pointed at my picture.
The teacher looked at the picture and then at me and back and forth repeatedly before starting to hyperventilate.
He turned around and walked out of the room robotically while Edward just had a huge crooked smile.
The rest of the class just looked between the door the teacher had just walked through and me in curiosity.
After a couple seconds we heard the teacher yelling out at the top of his lungs. "I have The Alex Hale in my classroom." And letting out laughter that was fading away as he ran through the halls repeating himself.
Everyone turned to me before I pointed at the back of the biology book again while tapping it a few times. They all grabbed their books and flipped them over causing me and Edward to chuckle.
I got to hear numerous gasps from the students as they came to realize that the picture of the Author was in fact me. I had written this book and many others for schooling purposes back when I was 14. They had become an almost necessary book for schools to have due to the ease with which they explained things to students.
All of the students read the Author explanation on the back and let out even more sounds of disbelief as the door was thrown open and the principal and a few other teachers came in and greeted me. They apologized for not recognizing me and greeting me when I came and became angry when I told them it was fine and how I had been brought in. I thanked Edward for letting me borrow his book and returned it to him before standing up.
I was brought to the principles office where chief Swan was called in and was grilled over what had happened by the principal. Chief Swan promised to have a talk with all of the officers and told me that he would be showing all of them my picture so that this wouldn't happen again.
"It is fine, this sort of thing is normal for me and they were simply doing their jobs. They were even kind enough to pay for my meal at the diner, so I do hope you won't blame them too much." I told him with a smile.
"Thank you for being so understanding." He said with a nod and a strained smile.
"I was wondering if you could give me a ride back to the diner chief Swan, my car is still there?" I asked him.
"Sure." He said with a nod. "Though you can just call me Charlie. It is easier and hearing someone call me chief Swan, it makes me a little uncomfortable with all the formalities."
"Alright, thanks Charlie. Also you can just call me Alex." I told him with a nod before turning to the principal. "If you wouldn't mind I would like to on occasion come in to do a surprise lecture at your school, if that would be alright?"
"Of course, I would be beyond overjoyed to having someone as esteemed as yourself come here to teach, as would all of the staff." He nodded his head while shaking my hand as if I had just given him a great gift.
"I think I'm going to have to look this guy up." I heard Charlie mutter from behind me.