Niki was so deep in thought, trying to figure out what was bothering her about Edward, that she didn't realize how the weather had changed until she walked out the door to be hit by an icy cold wind. Niki gasped as she looked up at the swirls of white puff floating down to the earth and creating a thin layer of sparkling white mush on the ground.

"Uh oh." Niki muttered. She hadn't put chains on her car that day so she hoped desperately that it didn't start to actually snow. She did not like the prospect of having to drive back to La Push if it did.

Niki hurried to class, dodging an area of the sidewalk where it was becoming clear that Eric and Mike were engaging in a miniature snowball fight. They weren't the only people either but Niki was relieved when she managed to reach the Spanish classroom unscathed. Jasper was already inside, apparently also declining to join in on the fun out in the snow as he read… a book on the history of Persia. But golden eyes lifted from the book when Niki entered and a small smile crossed Jasper's face when he saw her.

"Hey." Niki greeted as she settled in beside Jasper, fighting not to squirm even as her heart skipped a beat at the way his smile made him look even better than usual. "How was your weekend?"

"Good morning." He closed his book. "And it was fine, thank you. I heard from Alice that your weekend was quiet and relaxing."

"Yeah, I stayed at home mostly with my brother, Jacob, and my dad." Niki explained as she pulled out her notebook and pen from her bag. "You must have been glad to have Edward back home, though."

She had tried to sound casual but Niki knew she had failed when Jasper's lips twitched with apparent humour even if his voice was carefully neutral as he responded.

"Our mother Esme was the happiest to have him back. She likes having the family together."

"But not you?" Niki asked, raising a brow. Jasper chuckled.

"I love my brother - and the rest of my siblings - most of the time but sometimes, it's nice having some space to think." He answered, and Niki was puzzled at the laughter in his voice like he was thinking of an inside joke. He did that a lot she'd noticed.

Still, she agreed lightly, "Well, I can relate to that, I guess. My house used to be so rowdy when my sisters were still home, and we only have the four of us. I imagine it must have been worse when you were younger with so many of you guys being the same age."

Jasper's smile tightened just a little bit and Niki sensed she had stepped on some kind of landmine. Before she could try and retract her statement, however, Jasper answered casually, "Yes, it could be bad at times. Rosalie especially can be a bit unbearable, and Edward and Alice have their own quirks that can make life a bit trying at times. But generally, I think we got along quite well even in the early years."

There was something in his tone that suggested some deeper meaning to his words. But what that could be, Niki had no idea. And as Ms. Goff called them to attention, she reluctantly turned away from Jasper to pay attention to the class.

Jasper's odd manner stayed with Niki even as she walked to lunch. Her thoughts paused momentarily when the walk to the cafeteria turned out to be quite treacherous as a result of the freshly fallen snow. The slippery ground was not the problem for Niki - it was avoiding the various snowball fights that were breaking out everywhere that required her to stay on alert to avoid being hit by a misfire. Angela was just as cautious, if not even more so than Niki as her tall height unfortunately made her much more susceptible to being hit even accidentally.

Luckily, they made it into the cafeteria safely. They had arrived before any of the others so they settled into their seats at their regular table and chatted while they waited. But even as she chatted with her best friend, Niki's eyes wandered absently toward the Cullen table. The Cullens were for once looking to be in a better mood as they chatted amongst themselves, apparently as excited by the snow as the rest of the school. Niki smiled despite herself; so they really could be normal teenagers too.

At that exact moment, Jasper looked over and his gold eyes locked on Niki. She looked away quickly, embarrassed to be caught staring - only to find Angela watching her.

"You seem to be getting close to the Cullens." Angela observed. Unlike Jessica or Lauren, there was no jealousy in her tone, only curiosity. Niki nodded.

"I don't understand it either, but they're really quite nice when you get to know them." She confided in her friend. "Even if Alice is really, really hyperactive. She would put any five year old on a sugarhigh to shame."

Angela smiled at that, before both girls looked over as a trilling laugh carried over to their table from the Cullen table. Several people stared at Alice with a mixture of shock and curiosity as she laughed at something someone at her table must have said.

"They look like they're in a good mood." Angela noted and Niki nodded. Angela paused before she added thoughtfully, "You know, they've changed though. Since they started talking to you, they seem… more human, if you know what I mean."

Niki nodded again. "I totally understand what you mean."

She peeked over at the Cullens again as she spoke, and Niki was surprised to see Jasper's mood appeared to have dipped slightly in the course of the last minute. She wasn't sure why, but Rosalie looked just as put off suddenly so she assumed the Hales must have argued or something. There was no other explanation for their sudden mood change that she could think of.

Mia, Bella and the others arrived then, but Niki was concerned to see Bella looking faintly green. She wondered if Bella was sick to her stomach as she had only bought a soda for lunch, but she had been fine earlier. Niki wondered what could be wrong. She knew Bella disliked the cold, she hated it even more than Niki did, but this seemed a bit overkill if she was acting up about the weather. It was only after watching the other girl for a while that Niki realized the snow had nothing to do with Bella's sudden illness - Bella was constantly staring at the Cullen table. At Edward.

Edward's head turned at that moment, his eyes flickering over to first Niki and then Bella curiously. Bella's head dropped instantly, ducking her face into her hair, and Niki realized what the problem was at the same time Mia did.

"He said he was sorry." Mia whispered to her sister, getting Bella's attention quickly. "Earlier when I had Calculus with him. I think he's planning to apologise to you in Biology."

"Did he say why he was mad?" Bella asked, sounding rather anxious.

Niki was somewhat surprised at the other girl's reaction. Bella had never struck her as the type who was bothered by the people around her. It was why Niki hadn't been surprised by the fact that Bella apparently didn't have any friends in Phoenix and why even now, Mia and Niki were closer friends. Bella just never really cared for anyone enough to speak up and had always been content with just being with her sister for as long as Niki had known her. Then again, Niki supposed it wasn't usually the case that someone went out of their way to show just how much he apparently loathed her within five seconds of looking at her.

"It seems it was a misunderstanding." Mia was explaining to her sister although she couldn't quite keep the skepticism out of her voice. Niki was glad she wasn't the only person who suspected Edward. "He said he didn't mean to look angry at you, you just reminded him of someone."

"Really?" Bella asked, sounding a little bit more relaxed but not convinced. Mia just nodded.

"Ask him when he apologises." Niki suggested, drawing the sisters' attention to her. "It's probably better that it comes from him anyway."

"What are you three whispering about?" Jessica interrupted, glancing over her shoulder curiously as she tried to see what they had been staring at.

The girls quickly looked away but Jessica had already seen and she looked faintly surprised.

"Oh. Edward's back." She commented and Niki rolled her eyes at the faint note of hope in the other girl's tone.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, Mike, weren't you saying something about a snowball fight after school?" Niki diverted the group's attention expertly.

Mike pitched in enthusiastically and Jessica's attention was quickly stolen by the blond boy once more. As the others chimed in with the planning while Bella played with her soda absently, Niki leant closer to Mia.

"So, you don't believe his story either?" Niki whispered. Mia snorted.

"You mean that ridiculous story about a family emergency in Denali? Hardly." She scoffed. "The only question I have is how he convinced his parents to allow him to take so much time off school."

"Yeah..."

Niki glanced over at the Cullen table, only to jump when she noticed Edward glancing her way. They both quickly broke eye contact but not before Niki also saw an interesting sight at the Cullen table. The mood at the Cullen table seemed to have taken yet another turn as they all appeared to be on edge. It wasn't that obvious but Niki had started to get to know Alice and Jasper somewhat well over the course of the last two weeks. And she could easily tell that Alice looked thoughtful while Jasper looked almost… anxious. It was the best way Niki could describe the uneasiness that seemed to radiate off of him as he kept his eyes fixed oddly determinedly on the far corner of the room. And then there was Rosalie: Niki didn't know the blonde at all but it would have been hard to miss the sudden furious glare she seemed intent on drilling into the side of Edward's head.

"Rosalie especially can be a bit unbearable."

Jasper's words from earlier came back to her and Niki thought she could kind of see why he would say that when she examined the look on Rosalie's face. But what could possibly have pissed her off so suddenly? Or was it that it was linked to Edward's abrupt disappearance to, apparently, Denali?

Edward suddenly stiffened just a tiny bit and Niki frowned as, almost as quickly, Rosalie's expression suddenly wiped itself clean into an emotionless mask. Almost like she had been told to hide her anger. Niki frowned as she glanced amongst the group before resting her eyes on Jasper again. Something was definitely up with them… and she was starting to get curious as to what it was.

The rest of lunch and even Biology turned out to be quiet affairs. The snow had melted by the time they were let out (to Niki, Bella and Mia's relief and Mike's eternal dismay) and with it apparently went Edward's bad mood.

Niki kept an eye on Bella and Edward the entire lesson as she and Angela worked on their onion roots, labeling them with the correct phases of mitosis. The other pair were finished a lot faster than her even as they chatted, although that didn't surprise Niki. Bella was a swot and Niki meant that affectionately. Niki was smart but Bella was an all-round academic and Edward was also definitely more than just a pretty face. Oddly though, Niki thought she saw Edward's lips twitch as the thought passed through her head.

But other than that one weird moment, Niki had to admit by the end that she was no longer justified in her anger against him. It seemed that Edward had succeeded in thawing Bella's wary guard against him and his apology to her seemed to have gone better than it had with Mia. Niki grimaced; she wasn't sure Mia would be happy with how easily Bella had forgiven Edward. But that was just how they were too - Mia was a bit of a grudge-holder while Bella forgave far too easily.

But despite their apparently mended relationship, Edward was still out the door in a heartbeat as soon as the bell rang. Mia stared at his disappearing back oddly; to think she had once thought Jasper was the strangest one in the family. Edward was proving that first impressions definitely weren't everything.

"Hey." Niki greeted as she and Angela joined Bella. "How was it?"

"He said he was sorry." Bella shrugged. "So there's nothing else to say."

Niki privately disagreed but she just walked with Bella out of class. Angela waved them off as she headed to her final class while the other two girls were joined by Mike as they headed to the gym. Mia joined them just before they reached the locker rooms but she was looking oddly flushed. Niki eyed her in concern.

"Hey, you okay?" Niki asked while Mike flirted (badly) with Bella. Mia nodded her head.

"Yeah, of course."

Niki wasn't convinced, but she let it slide. That didn't mean she didn't keep an eye on the sisters throughout the class. Bella was oddly out of it the whole class, which was strange even for her. Mia however was weird too as she reacted slower than usual and seemed to struggle to focus.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Niki finally asked her friend again after a ball hit Mia in the face when it bounced off her own racquet. It was the kind of clumsiness expected of Bella, not Mia.

"I don't know, I don't feel well." Mia admitted. And indeed, she was looking redder than before. Niki had thought it was embarrassment, but feeling Mia's forehead she realized it was more likely a temperature.

"Bella." Niki called, and the brunette came over curiously. "I think Mia's got a fever."

Instantly, concern clouded over Bella's features and the mom in her took over as she felt Mia's face while the coach blew the whistle to signal the end of class. Mia leaned into her sister's cooler touch and Bella frowned.

"I think you're right. Come on, Mia, let's get you home." Bella murmured, not bothering to change as she led her sister out of the gym. Niki followed them to their truck, carrying Mia's bag for her.

She left them once Mia was tucked safely in the truck with Bella and headed for her own car. A loud screech made Niki jump, however, and she turned to see Bella had almost backed right into the car parked behind her before she'd hurriedly hit the brakes. Niki had no idea what could have caused Bella's near-accident until she spotted otherworldly beauty and one-of-a-kind bronze hair not far from where Bella's truck was edging more carefully out of the parking lot. Niki's eyes fixed on Edward Cullen, who had his face turned while he leaned against his Volvo. Even with his head turned, Niki could easily see he was shaking with laughter.

Niki raised a brow, wondering what on earth could have happened for Bella to be so freaked out because there was no other way Bella had broken every ingrained rule in her body to pull off such a sloppy rear-drive for nothing. At that moment however, Jasper's eyes shifted to lock directly with Niki's and she hurriedly ducked and looked away as she hurried to her own car; but not before peeking one more time back to see Jasper still watching her with those brilliant gold eyes before Emmett nudged his brother into Edward's Volvo.

It was only after she had reached home, having spent the entire drive daydreaming over Jasper's eyes, that Niki finally realized what had been bugging her all day about Edward. It had been his eyes.

First, there was the colour: they were a light, golden colour. But like with Jasper, Niki wasn't going to easily forget the black-eyed glare he had given Bella. Which meant that at least four of the six Cullens' eyes changed colour regularly but Jasper had lied about why. Secondly and more importantly: if Edward's family had an emergency in Denali, shouldn't he have looked a little bit more worried as he spoke of it? Or relieved if it was behind them? Instead, he had looked like an actor delivering his lines - perfectly contrite, beseeching and searching Mia and then Niki's gaze for confirmation that they believed him. But why would he care that they did?

Niki woke up the next day with a groan.

Not only had Jasper's gold eyes followed her into her dreams, but when she looked out her window in the morning she had found the whole world was covered in a thin but definitely visible dusting of snow. Everything was covered in the powdery stuff, but the worst part was that the light rain from the previous day had frozen in the cold and coated everything with an additional layer of ice.

"Better be careful driving today." Billy advised as Niki stumbled into the kitchen.

"Good thing we put chains on the car yesterday." Niki mumbled.

"I put them on." Jacob corrected and Niki ruffled her brother's long hair affectionately.

"And you know I love you for it."

Grabbing the piece of buttered toast Billy silently offered her, Niki waved goodbye to her brother and father.

"See you guys later!" She called as she hurried through the cold and into her car.

The drive to Forks was as uneventful as ever. Sliding into an empty parking space, Niki hopped out of her car in time to see Bella getting out of her own truck so carefully one would think she was stepping out onto glass.

"Hey, Bells!" Niki called as she joined Bella where she had stopped by the back of the truck. "Where's Mia?"

"Her cold got worse last night." Bella explained, not looking up. "She's sleeping in this morning and I'll maybe take her to see a doctor after school."

Bella trailed off as she continued to be focused on the snow chains on her truck wheels. But Niki frowned in confusion as she thought she saw Bella sniffing back tears.

"Bell-?"

A sudden, high-pitched screech that seemed to shatter the very air around them made them all jerk in shock and Niki turned instinctively to find the source.

Her eyes flitted across the lot, briefly landing on where Jasper stood four or so cars down from her with the rest of his family. His expression was oddly one of pure terror as he stared right back at her, but what was stranger was that Emmett and Timothy were suddenly holding him back by the shoulders as Jasper started to lunge with an almost inhuman speed toward her. Interestingly, Niki noticed Edward failing to do as his brothers did as his eyes remained locked slightly to Niki's left with an equally horrified expression.

But then Niki's eyes were moving away as they were drawn to the source of the ear-splitting noise and she could only stare blankly for a second as a dark blue van came skidding and spinning, tires locked and squealing against the brakes after hitting the ice wrong, across the parking lot… right toward her and Bella. It took her longer than it should have for Niki to realize what was coming. But the moment it did, Niki was moving. Not that it would help.

"Bella-!" Niki started to yell, reaching to push her friend in a knee-jerk reaction even though she knew there was absolutely nothing she or Bella could do now. The van was feet away and there was nowhere to run.

But just as Niki's hand touched Bella's shoulder, something cold suddenly grabbed her other arm, and Niki found herself suddenly flung back. There was a crack as she was thrown back and her arm flared in pain although it had barely registered before she landed, hard, in a snowbank, hitting her head on the ice as she did. And the world went black.