The next day, Edward Cullen didn't show up at school. But someone- someones actually- did.
I was on my way to homeroom when I saw her- long blond hair, dressed immaculately, tall and lithe from her time doing gymnastics. Every part of me was screaming it wasn't possible.
"And then he said- Bella, are you listening?" I ignored Mike and pushed my way through the crowd, heart pounding.
Soon, we were face to face. "Bella?" The girl asked. Tears welled up in my eyes as I recognized the sound of her voice.
"Rachel? Oh my God, Rachel!" I threw my arms around her, and she reciprocated, which was unlike her- she wasn't a hugger, but then again neither was I.
"People are staring," she whispered. She pulled me into the girls' room, checking under the stalls to make sure they all were empty. They were. We were alone.
I used the paper towel to dry my eyes and blow my nose. Rachel wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. I pretended not to notice.
"The last thing I remember, I was dying. And now I'm here," she said.
The mention of her death, and the fact that she was alive right in front of me, almost brought me to tears again.
She smiled. "Hey, don't cry again. I already had Tobias do the same thing this morning."
My heart leaped in my chest. "Tobias? He's here too? What about the others?"
Rachel shook her head. "So far, it's just me and him. And you."
"Did he mention being visited by the Ellimist?" I asked.
"No. But get this- he's not a nothlit anymore. He's back to his human form, and he's aged like we are."
"That's great! Where is he staying? I'm with my father. Where are you staying?" I asked.
"He's staying with his mother and father. My dad transferred to Forks in this universe, and I guess so did Tobias's family. He actually gets to know his parents now!"
I frowned. "Wait, is Elfangor still in his human morph? Is he a nothlit? Or is he still an Andalite like Ax?" My head was swimming, trying to keep up with the changes in this world.
"I'm not sure," Rachel answered. "We should get to homeroom though. Talk more at lunch?"
The bell rang. I nodded. "See you at lunch."
I declined sitting with my newfound group of friends to sit at a table with Rachel and Tobias. I gave Tobias a hug when I saw him, and glanced toward the Cullen's table. Edward wasn't there. Good.
"So the Ellimist is behind this?" Tobias asked, keeping his voice low.
"Yeah. He told me that there was a world where I belonged, and I told him to show it to me. And then this happened. I'm here. I don't know why." I shrugged. "And Edward Cullen looked at me like he wanted to kill me."
"Who are the Cullens?" Tobias asked, and I told both my friends about Angela's description of the Cullens yesterday and what happened in biology. When I glanced over, I saw that the Cullens were watching us.
Leaning in closer to my friends I said, "Why don't we talk about this after school? We can go flying." They agreed.
After school, we morphed birds and flew around town together. I was in my harrier morph, Tobias in his red tailed hawk morph, and Rachel in her bald eagle morph.
You never should have trusted the Ellimist, Rachel told me in thought-speak, the way we communicate when in morph.
What I want to know, Tobias interrupted, is why we still have the ability to morph. If there were no Yeerks, we should have no morphing ability. Elfangor would've never given us the power.
Maybe our morphing powers are an anomaly, I suggested. Tobias, since Elfangor is your father and he's alive in this universe, you should ask him.
Okay. Too bad we can't ask Ax, Tobias replied. I'm sure he'd love to see his older brother again.
Maybe the whole team will find their way here. I doubt the Ellimist and Crayak are only interested in Bella, Rachel said.
But the Ellimist told me that Crayak isn't involved, I told her.
Like I said before, you should have never trusted the Ellimist, Rachel repeated, sounding annoyed.
We flew in silence on the breeze. The thermals were good for riding that day. And then, our peace was shattered.
Suddenly, the light was blocked out. Above us was a Yeerk ship, which we called a Bug Fighter, because it looked like a giant beetle. And it began to fire at fire at us.
TSEWW! TSEWWW! TSEW!
The Dracon beams just missed us. Another one fired and clipped my wing.
Ah! I cried out, feeling my wingtip smoking.
You okay? Tobias asked in alarm.
I can still fly, I answered.
Follow me, I'll lead us out of here, Tobias said, sounding on edge.
He flew ahead, riding the breeze with a naturalness Rachel and I didn't have. His years of living trapped in his hawk morph made flying like second nature to him. I let the harrier's mind and instincts guide me and soon I was flying alongside Tobias and Rachel.
Ahead of us was a dense forest. We dipped and dove down, aiming for it. The Bug Fighter couldn't follow us. It would be difficult to avoid the trees, but what else could we do?
Ahaha! Rachel laughed, exhilarated by the danger. She cleared the area well, with Tobias following.
I realized my mistake too late. I was flying way too fast into the forest, and I was inches away from slamming into the hard bark of a tree.
I screamed in terror and pulled up, my talon bumping a branch, and I fluttered to the ground next to my friends.
That was too close for comfort, I said. We listened. No sound of the Bug Fighter or Dracon Beams. It was like it came out of thin air and then vanished into thin air.
We demorphed. My feathers disappeared, leaving me a hideous looking naked bird, and I began to grow to my original size. My talons softened and became feet and legs. My wings turned into arms, with my fingers popping out of my wings before they became hands and arms. My ears appeared, my beak softened into a human mouth and nose, and my eyes went from the strong vision of the harrier to weak human vision.
When we were demorphed, I said, "Tobias, you should really talk to your dad tonight."
"I will," he said, looking shaken up.
"If the Yeerks don't exist in this world, why are they here?" Rachel asked.
"Crayak's trick? Somehow he might be doing this," I said, though I couldn't imagine how.
"We'll get answers," Rachel muttered. "There's got to be an explanation for this."
Shaking aside our nerves, we morphed wolves and ran to our separate homes. Just when we thought we were free, we had something to deal with.