Chapter 3

Bella couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Mike heading towards her lunch table with a girl beside him that looked almost identical to Rosalie Hale. Bella shook her head as if to clear it but couldn't seem to make herself look away. The only difference between Rosalie and this girl was the clearly human appearance of this new one. Tan skin, blue eyes, delicate rosy cheeks; health and beauty screamed from her every pore. Bella wished more desperately than usual that Edward had not skipped school today. She also wondered if Alice had seen anything about her.

Mike and the new girl sat at the end of the table, too far for Bella to hear their conversation.

Bella turned slightly to her friend Angela, sitting beside her and asked, "Who is that?"

Angela turned to look. "I have no idea. Is she related to Rosalie?"

"Not that I know of," Bella murmured, still transfixed.

Lunch passed quickly and Bella tried hard not to stare directly at this new girl. She couldn't help glancing over at her every few seconds though. There was something about her that she couldn't put her finger on, but this new girl was somehow too perfect. Not in the inhuman way Rosalie was, but in a different, no less sinister way. She smiled too quickly and there was something very cold about her eyes.

The doors at the back of the cafeteria opened as a group of students came in. Bella felt the cold air blow around her face and lift her hair up at the same time that the new girl looked directly at her for the first time. Bella froze automatically. The new girl sniffed the air, still looking at her, eyes locked, with a puzzled expression on her face.

The bell rang and everyone but this girl and Bella stood up. Their eyes held. Bella's eyes betrayed fear at the unknown while the new girls simply looked confused.

The spell was broken when Mike tapped the girl on the shoulder to reclaim her attention and she looked up at him, pasting a smile onto her face. She left with him and did not look back at Bella.

The next two periods passed in a blur, until finally it was the last. Bella tapped her foot impatiently during the beginning of her last class but stopped immediately when she saw the new girl walk into her English classroom, five minutes late. Bella froze like a deer in headlights for the second time that day even though the new girl had not spotted her yet. She watched her speak to the teacher for a moment before they both turned to face the class, smiles on their faces.

"Class, we have a new student all the way from California. Please welcome Ana," the teacher announced, placing his hand on the small of Ana's back and pushing her forward slightly. If he had wanted her to say something, he was let down as Ana smiled swiftly around the room and then walked quickly to the back and sat in the empty seat that was usually Edward's, directly beside Bella.

Bella stayed quiet the entire period, not even daring to raise her hand to answer a question for fear she would miss something important about the new girl, Ana. She kept glancing at Ana out of the corner of her eye, wondering what she was doing and who she really was. Truthfully, it appeared that Ana was just taking notes from the class. At one point the teacher called on her to answer a question, having already affirmed from her that she had read the book they were currently studying. Ana had answered the question correctly and calmly, impressing the teacher immediately. Bella wanted to like her, remembering what it had been like on her first day of school here but she still couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about Ana. Bella sniffed the air beside her, trying to be subtle. She smelled like sunshine and something else, but not that sweet smell that emanated from all the vampires she knew. Ok, so Ana clearly was not a vampire and there was no way she could be a werewolf, so what did that leave? Human, as far as Bella knew.

The final bell rang and Bella knew that if she wanted to ask Ana anything, now would be the time. But she hesitated and instead watched as Ana left the classroom, only to be greeted by Mike Newton directly outside of the classroom door. Ana jumped back in surprise as Mike, red faced and out of breath, said he'd had a class nearby and would like to walk her to her car. Bella smirked, knowing his last class was on the other side of the campus. The smirk left her face when she saw Ana smile shyly at Mike and accept his offer. Mike was thrilled; Bella was suspicious.

Bella drove directly to Edward's house to tell him what she could about this new girl. His family could find out where Ana lived tonight and use their gifts to determine what she was, if anything. Bella swallowed hard at the thought of telling Rosalie that there was someone out there who looked like her and was likely human. Maybe she could let Edward deal with that.