makayla. : Thanks! You're so sweet. I hope you continue to read and have fun with this!

overlordred: Thanks darling! My biggest pet peeve is nerd superiority. Seriously, guys like that are everywhere and the worst. I'm at a point where I don't put up with it anymore. I remember a classmate was ranting about how Star Wars was ruined now because there were no white guys to cheer for, and I lost it. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter ;)

You know, I didn't even realise that I passed 20K words. Like, what?! I've never written that much so quickly before! I owe it all to you guys for the support. Honestly, I've written fanfiction before for other things, and this is the nicest fandom I've ever encountered, so thank you so much!

Enjoy this chapter!

...

Alia didn't pay much attention to gossip, but even she couldn't ignore the buzz around the school. There was a new girl moving to their town and school, which was all anyone in the town was talking about.

Inadvertently, Alia knew more about this person than she knew about most of the other students at school. They were a she. Her name was Isabella Swan. She was the divorced chief of police's daughter, switching back to him because of custody or something. She hoped this new girl liked attention, because that was what awaited her at Forks High.

Monday came and so did she. Alia caught a glimpse of the new girl, surrounded by a crowd of popular kids at the centre lunch table who were all eagerly asking her questions. "Poor her." Alia commented to Edward, who glanced over to where she was looking. Isabella looked uncomfortable by all the attention.

"The fuss will blow over." Edward shrugged. "They just really want something new."

Edward was listening in that general direction in the back of his head while he and Alia talked about their next classes. It was his responsibility to make sure that no one noticed anything weird about his family. Oddly, he couldn't hear anything coming from the new girl.

"Who are they?" Ah, and she was asking about his family.

Jessica Stanley, a girl with typical mean, vulgar, teen girl thoughts answered eagerly. Of course she's already crushing on the Cullens. "That's Alice Zhao, Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. They all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife."

"They are... very nice-looking."

"Yes! They're all together though — Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they live together."

"Which ones are which? They don't look related..."

"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. Emmett's the black one. Alice is obviously the short Asian. The Hales are the blondes, twins — and they're foster children."

"They look a little old for foster children."

"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."

"That's really kind of nice — for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything."

"I guess so." Jessica Stanley said with hesitant agreement. "I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though." If only Jessica Stanley knew how right she was.

Edward got bored with the conversation despite his curiosity about why he couldn't read the new girl's mind. This had never happened before, but he figured that there were always odd types of people out there. He only got drawn back in when Jessica Stanley thought of his name loudly as a response to Isabella Swan asking, "Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?"

"That's Edward Cullen. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time."

"And… is that girl with him a Cullen too?"

"Ha!" Jessica laughed contemptuously. "Alia Verma? As if. She's always following Edward around." Maybe Dr. Cullen is trying to adopt her to continue his collection of ethnics. That's probably why Edward hangs around that loser.

"Then they're…"

"No way. He's totally out of her league." Jessica sniffed, offended at the thought, for it made it the several times Edward rebuffed her advances all the worse. "They're best friends, apparently. But I bet he just lets her hang around to get her to do all his homework."

"Edward? You okay?" Edward's focus snapped back to Alia who was waving a hand in front of his face.

"Sorry," he said. At her expectant gaze, he lied "I'm just a little tired."

Oh. Immediately, she was sympathetic. "If you weren't allergic, I'd give you my coffee."

"I'll survive." Edward grinned. "Really."

"I think that has to be the worst of your allergies." Alia said sadly. "No coffee. No tea. No soda. What do you even get to drink?"

Edward managed to keep his face straight. "Just normal fluids, I guess."

Alia nodded, unaware of the mirth he felt, and looked over again at the centre table. They keep looking over here. No surprise, I guess. Of course, Alia would notice the two girls unsubtly talking and looking over at Edward and Alia's table. Makes sense she's interested. Alia thought, glancing at Edward quickly. She's pretty too. That thought was made wistfully before she cleared it and ignored the girls.

Edward wished he could tell her that she was radiant, but had to hold himself back, as he always did. Noticing his eyes on her, Alia smiled unknowingly and he smiled back. They forgot all about the new drama at school and resumed their lunch.

When the bell rang, Alia drained her coffee with scrunched up face. For all that she professed to loving it, she hated the bitter taste, but insisted on drinking it black for the full effect. In some ways, Edward was grateful. The lingering coffee lessened the potency of her rich, tantalising scent, easing him on days like that Monday when his thirst was particularly bad.

Alia was grumbling about Biology all the way to class. When they sat down, Alia double checked the homework she'd done haphazardly the night before, and shrugged, leaving it on the corner of the desk for Dr. Banner (dubbed 'the Hulk' by Alia) to collect.

Everything went to hell when Isabella Swan walked into the classroom and stepped in front of the heater, wafting her scent towards Edward.

Alia noticed him stiffen immediately, but didn't make the connection to the girl being directed to sit in the one empty seat a few desks behind them. The Hulk began lecturing, but Edward could only try to control the monstrous thirst that rose in him. All he wanted was to devour Isabella Swan, damn the consequences. But then he'd have to kill all the witnesses. All except for Alia, whom he would never kill but instead doom to something worse. He'd have to turn her while she stared horrified, at the murders he had just committed. It was that thought that stopped him from lunging back towards the new girl with the heroin-like blood.

"Edward." Alia put a hand on his forearm, to which he directed his gaze onto her. He saw his face reflected in her dark brown eyes, his expression unhinged and feral, the beast that he'd been trying for so long to keep hidden away. Alia didn't recoil, but he did, clenching his hands into fists on the desk. "Are you okay?"

"Am I boring you, Miss Verma?" their teacher asked dryly, pausing his lecture to look to the two of them in the front row.

"Um… Edward is sick, Mr. Banner." Alia said. "Can I take him to the nurse?"

The Hulk frowned and looked at Edward. Mr. Perfect actually gets sick? Yeah right. Well, whatever. "Alright, then. See him there and be back in ten minutes, Miss Verma."

"Thank you." Alia said, getting up and blushing at the attention on them.

Edward couldn't trust himself to speak and followed after her in the most normal pace he could manage, making his way to the nearest locker and resting his head against it. "Shit. Shit. Edward, what's wrong? Talk to me, please." Alia was hovering around him, panicking.

He finally took a breath in, free from the demonic scent, and able to think clearly once more. "I'm fine now."

"Like hell you are." Alia said. "To the nurse, come on."

"No need. I'm going home." At the look on her face, he snapped. "My father's a doctor. I'll be fine!"

She swallowed, and he immediately regretted his tone. "Okay. If you think that's best. Do you… want me to come with you?"

Edward put a hand on her warm head. "Thank you, but I should go alone. I'll see you, okay."

Alia watched him go with worry gnawing at her. He had looked tired before, but in class he looked like he was in really bad pain, like her whenever she was on the worst day of her period but amplified. Still, Carlisle would take care of him. She'd have to trust in that. She went back to class and muddled her way through.

When she got out of class, she was surprised to see Emmett, Jasper, and Alice waiting for her. Alice linked arms with her. "Edward told us you need a ride."

"You talked to him? Is he okay?"

The three of them exchanged looks that had Alia worried. That worry lessened somehow when Emmett grinned at her. "He's made of pretty tough stuff, kid. He'll be okay."

"But what's wrong with him?"

"He hasn't been feeling well lately." Alice said as they walked.

"Can I see him?"

There was another moment of silence after that. "He's going to Alaska." Alice finally said with a bright smile. "For a little bit to visit family and rest."

Right. Edward had mentioned the family that the Cullens had in Alaska. Still, Alia worried. He was fine during lunch for the most part. What if he got worse and worse? She hated that she couldn't do anything to help and had to leave it up to chance.

This worried mood plagued her for the drive back to her house. Though Alice and Emmett's chatter in the car almost managed to distract her, it was Jasper that she appreciated the most. He was quiet, as he usually was, but his presence made her feel like he understood her worry.

Edward was gone for the next few days. Alice and Jasper sat with Alia at lunch, and tried to act normal, but it wasn't the same without Edward. Then, there was the matter of Biology class…

It was one of the classes Alia didn't have with Alice. Therefore, the Hulk assigned the new girl, Isabella Swan to be her lab partner. Alia waved at her awkwardly when she came to sit next to her in Edward's seat. "I actually did the reading for today, so we should be okay." she joked.

"That's good to hear." Isabella said with a small smile. They began working on that day's lab.

Alia noticed up close that she was really pale. Like, near pasty. "You're probably tired of hearing this, but you're from Arizona, right Isabella?"

"Bella." A brief flicker of resignation crossed her face. "Yeah. I know I don't look like it."

Alia felt bad for asking, immediately. Bella didn't say anything else, so she asked, "Um, are you liking Forks?"

The girl beside her was quiet for a moment. "It's nice to be with my dad. The weather though..." she sighed, looking out at the pouring rain with a melancholic expression on her face. Alia realised that she had never seen someone look so homesick before.

"I guess it's different from what you're used to, huh." Alia said, also turning to look at the rain. "Even though it sucks at first, I think it's worth it. The smell of the rain is just incredible. And you'll never find such awesome wildlife anywhere else in the world except for like Canada and New Zealand. We technically live in a rainforest, a temperate one that is. And… I'm probably boring you, sorry." Alia laughed sheepishly. Bella was looking at her with wide eyes. They were a really pretty shade of brown, much lighter than Alia's own. "My point is that the rain can be as great as the sun if you take the time to appreciate it."

"You're not boring me." Bella said sincerely. "I just… hadn't thought about it like that."

They worked silently for the next half an hour. Alia was a little annoyed that Bella was easily doing the lab work and didn't want to come across like an idiot, so she made sure to do the work more carefully than normal so it wouldn't look like she wasn't depending on her.

When the lab was handed in, Alia was surprised when Bella initiated conversation. "I noticed your friend isn't here." This was the most interested Bella had looked all class. "Is he okay?"

And now Alia was missing Edward again. "Edward's fine. Just resting for a few days."

Bella nodded, but still looked deep in thought. She glanced over at Alia curiously. "How long have you been friends?"

She supposed it made sense that Bella would want to talk about something interesting instead of the weak smalltalk and philosophical ramblings Alia had started off with. She still couldn't help but be a bit disappointed, though. She thought about the question for a moment. "Hmm, about two years now? It started over a book."

"Which one?"

"Wuthering Heights."

Bella's face lit up in understanding. "So you both liked it and bonded that way?"

Alia couldn't help but laugh. At Bella's confused look, she clarified. "Oh, God no. I argued against him in class, because his opinion was pretty stupid, honestly. So stupid that I actually got angry and spoke up for the first time. I guess I made an impression so we started hanging out after that."

Reflecting on it, she wondered if it was pity that drew Edward to talking to her. She liked to think it was respect for her opinion, but knew deep down it was probably the former. She still distinctly remembered the way the rest of the class had laughed at her. If it weren't for Edward validating her point afterwards, she probably never would have spoken up in class again.

"It sounds like you two are close." Bella said with a soft, wistful smile.

"I guess we are." Alia said.

They sat in silence for the rest of the class, and Alia was grateful that Bella had no more questions about Edward. When the bell rang, Bella was the first to go, after offering Alia a smile.

Over the next few days, Alia almost got used to Bella Swan as a lab partner. They also had the same English class, but sat a ways apart. She seemed nice enough and Alia noticed that she grew more comfortable with the new school once the attention began to fade from her.

However, when Edward came back on Friday, showing up in front of her house instead of his siblings, Alia couldn't hide her relief and her worry as she hugged him tightly. "You piece of shit!"

"I missed you too." Edward was grinning when she drew back. He looked much better, with a slight glow to his skin and flush to his cheeks. "Tell me what I missed and I'll tell you about my trip."

Alia wished the car ride was two hours longer so they could both get their fill of conversation. But there'd be time enough for that. Edward was okay, dispelling her worst fears of terrible terminal illnesses and him collapsing in the Alaskan snow.

Edward too, after a few days of reflection and properly sating his thirst, walked into Biology fully prepared for the scent of his siren.

He thought of Carlisle, his father, who would always believe in him no matter how low he fell. Edward wanted to be like him, to maintain his morality despite the curse he was under. He thought of the rest of his family, all comfortable and safe in Forks, and how a mistake from him would uproot them all again and tear a rift in their relationship. He thought of Alia, and their stupidly normal friendship. The lure of blood hadn't managed to corrupt their relationship so far, and he wouldn't let it do so now. He maintained these thoughts as the scent made its way to him.

He didn't lose control.

He breathed in slowly, still being hit by the full effect of Bella Swan's scent, but maintaining the rational part of his mind. He couldn't help but sigh in relief. It would be possible, then, to retain whatever humanity he had left.

Looking at Alia, as she talked eagerly, he couldn't help but smile, feeling the burden from the past week rise from his shoulders ever so slightly.

Yes, it would all be worth it, wouldn't it.

...

Oof, bet you weren't expecting this, huh.

I'm not a fan of Bella bashing. She is what she is. I just didn't want it to feel like Edward and Alia are a thing either because Bella doesn't exist or because Bella is secretly a terrible evil bitch. She's not going to feature much in this story from here on. And you don't have to worry about Edward becoming weirdly obsessed with her for no reason, or her being an 'accident magnet' (meaning no almost car crash or attempted rape). She's just normal here, doing her own thing.