~Chapter Eight~

"She totally did that on purpose." Eliza thought to herself as she ran a brush through her hair. She glanced at the clock for the fifth time in the past 10 minutes. Eliza would never admit it, but she was actually nervous about going to school. She was excited about the prospect, but she couldn't help the nervous twinge she kept feeling. Class started promptly at 8 o'clock, and it was already 7:30. Eliza had scouted the school over the weekend, getting an idea of the layout of the grounds. She had found an open window on the third floor of the building and explored the school thoroughly in the darkness of the night. She didn't want to be utterly clueless when she arrived for her first day of classes.

To Eliza it would be a completely different situation though. The school would be full of people, she wondered how they'd react to a new person. Would she be subjected to stares? Would people be welcoming or would they think she was a freak? Eliza wondered as she hoisted a mostly empty book bag onto her back and headed out of her bedroom and down the stairs. She had spent half an hour trying to pick the appropriate clothing, before deciding on a pair of flattering black jeans, and a grey teeshirt; underneath a dark sweater that matched her pants.

Eliza reached out to her mother, and could tell from the images she received that her mother was in full out tracking mode, so Eliza made no attempt to talk to her so as not to interrupt her hunt.

Eliza remembered at the last moment to poke her head down into the Batcave, as she'd dubbed it, to tell Henry she was headed out. Eliza had found herself warming to the mortal, as he had an open and welcoming attitude, and seemed completely at ease in their company.

"Hang on a second!" Henry stopped her after she poked her head down. She waited as he came up the stairs and gestured for her to follow him out the side door to the adjoining garage.

"Your mother wanted you to have a present for your first day of school." Henry said as he stepped aside to let her see. Eliza had poked her head in the garage earlier that weekend and had only seen boxes of all shapes and sizes, but she hadn't bothered to explore further. However, this time when she entered, in the middle of the floor, one of the boxes was opened. Eliza let out a gasp as she saw her present.

Sitting in the middle of the garage floor was a sleek looking Kawasaki motorcycle, a dark purple in color. She knelt closer to the motorcycle, running her hands almost reverently over the lines of the body, the label on it identifying the model as a Ninja. Right in the center of the handlebars was a little note which was short and sweet.

First day of school, everyone is gonna stare anyway.

Might as well give them a reason.

~Mother~

Eliza folded up the note and slid it into her back pocket with a grin, turning the key in the ignition and savoring the sound and feel of the engine springing instantly to life. Eliza turned to grin at Henry who was holding out a black helmet and a pair of gloves to her. She frowned a moment at the helmet before looking up at him, the question obvious on her face.

Henry shrugged a little, "I know you don't need it, but I also doubt you want a ticket for riding without a helmet."

Eliza sighed slightly, taking the gloves and putting them on quickly. She then took the helmet from him and carefully fit it over her head, only to find that it indeed fit well. She looked back up to see Henry press the button to open the garage door. She gave him a wave before kicking the bike out onto their dirt drive with a laugh.

It took Eliza a few minutes to get used to the motorcycle as she pulled out of their long dirt drive, onto a paved road, finally taking off toward the school. Eliza knew that she could move much faster than the bike, but there was just something enjoyable about riding it, and feeling the power beneath her. She made a mental note to thank her mom when she wasn't mid-hunt.

By the time Eliza arrived at school the parking lot was almost full, but the ride there had done a wonderful job of ridding her of the nervousness she had been feeling. She assessed the parking lot as she pulled in. She mostly saw what looked to be used and older vehicles. There were clusters of students gathered in different areas around the parking lot and on the sidewalk, and she felt every eye in the area on her.

Because of her helmet, Eliza saw them before she smelled them, but they stuck out like a sore thumb. The Cullens. Even their eyes were on her as she pulled up and parked in an area reserved for bicycles, one that obviously didn't get much use. She took a moment surveying the area as people whispered to one another, before she kicked down the kickstand and shut off the motorcycle. Eliza didn't wait for someone to get the nerve to approach her. Eliza slid off the bike, pocketing the keys as she did. As she walked purposefully toward the main building, she tugged on her gloves, pulling them completely off. With the length of her stride, Eliza entered the school before tugging her helmet off and tucking it underneath her arm.

She made her way straight to the office, enduring the stares of the few students who'd entered the school early and weren't hanging around outside. When she entered the office, she walked right to the desk where a woman who looked to be in her 70's manned the desk.

"Can I help you sweetie?" the woman asked in a friendly voice.

"Yeah. I'm starting classes today. I was told to swing by here to pick up my schedule?" Eliza responded

"What's your name dear?" The secretary asked as she shifted through a few papers.

"Elizabeth Irutlov. My sister and I were both supposed to start today, but she got suck handling some issues that came up during our move." Eliza replied

"Welcome to Forks High, Elizabeth. Here's your schedule and this map will help you to get you to your classes, as well as the location and combination of your locker. Have your teacher's sign off on each class you attend, and then bring that slip back at the end of the day. If you run into any trouble or can't find a class, most of the students should be able to help you get where you're going. If they can't, feel free to come back here." The secretary said kindly, then her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper and she winked. "Don't worry, some of the students may be cliqueish, but they don't bite."

Eliza took the paper with a grin and winked back. "That's okay, maybe I do." her reply caused the secretary to laugh.

Eliza quickly made her way to the location listed for her locker, open the combination lock with ease, and dropped her helmet and gloves off, before lifting her bookbag on her back and headed toward her first class, listed on her schedule as History.

The school was starting to fill up, as students finally entered from outside. She made it to her first classroom and there was only one other student there. She spoke to the teacher for a few moments, before he handed her a book signed her slip and then directed her to a seat in the back of the class next to the girl already sitting there. The girl's dark hair obscured her face, but she already had a binder on her desk, and was slouched down with a book in her hand.

Eliza made her way and slid into the seat next to the girl, who glanced at her and then shyly averted her eyes. Without waiting for the girl to work up any nerve, Eliza held out her hand. "Hi there, I'm Eliza Irutlov. I'm new here."

The girl looked up from her book and looked around as if she was stunned someone was speaking to her. Eliza saw the girl's eyes focus on her and then widen in shock, that was quickly covered up by a tentative smile and it took her several seconds before she took the hand, "Oh...hi I'm Hailey. It's nice to meet you." Hailey frowned at Eliza as if trying to figure her out.

Eliza smiled as she looked at Hailey. She was attractive in a shy demure kind of way, and her slightly dusky complexion and darker features hinted at a hispanic heritage somewhere in the family.. She had the bookworm vibe about her. Hailey looked like she was about to say something else, when she was interrupted by a high pitched voice.

"Hi! You must be the new girl! I'm Jennifer Thomas!" The owner of the loud voice was a bubbly bottled blonde staring down at Eliza as she stood by her desk, though her arms were wrapped around the binder and books, so a hand wasn't offered; Eliza noticed that she seemed to shoot a glare at Hailey, and said "What are you looking at, freak?" which caused Hailey to duck her head back into her book.

Eliza was frowning as Jennifer snapped at the girl "Hello, I'm Eliza." she said politely if somewhat coldly, a fact that seemed to pass by Jennifer completely.

"I saw you pull up in the parking lot this morning! Like, that was SO cool!" Jennifer continued, "I can't believe your parents let you ride a motorcycle, my parents would like... flip out!" She bubbled on, offering to show Eliza around, offering to "let" her sit with her and her friends at lunch. She only paused long enough to ask Eliza where she was from.

Eliza dodged the question, having expected it. "We've moved around alot, but we were in Portland last." This fact started Jennifer off on a tangent on how cool it must have been to live in a big city. She kept talking until the bell sounded for class to start.

Throughout the class, Eliza noted the speculative frown that Hailey kept giving her, as if she couldn't quite piece something together. However when the bell rang it was mostly forgotten as Eliza was 'treated to' an 'official tour' by Jennifer, who insisted on walking her to her next class, which was Biology so she wouldn't get lost. The teacher was a severe looking older woman who signed off on her attendance slip, handed her a book and assigned her to a lab station all without looking up from the book she was paging through. The lab station she was assigned partnered her up with a slightly overweight kid that was stunned when she introduced herself.

If anything he was almost more shy than Hailey had been in Eliza's first class. It almost took a physical nudge just to get him to share his name, which turned out to be Justin. He was tall, and dressed in a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. He kept his hair cut short, and it was obvious he was used to wearing a hat. While he was very shy when it came to anything beyond "Hi" and "It's nice to meet you", once the teacher told them they could begin disecting the frogs, Justin became more assertive explaining things to Eliza as they went. She didn't need the explanations but Eliza made sure to give the impression of total attention, which seemed to be a surprise all on it's own to the timid student.

When the bell rang, Eliza thanked him for all his help, to which he spent 30 seconds stuttering out a "You're welcome."

The rest of Eliza's morning classes continued in that same vein. Teacher's signing off on her slip, giving her a book, and mostly welcoming her to the classes. People greeted her between classes, offering to show her around and help her. Eliza made the mistake of mentioning to a teacher that her sister wasn't able to make it today, which caused another round of questions as that factoid whipped around the rumor mill. Eliza received more than one compliment on her eyes, though more than once she was asked if the striking violet color was due to contacts.

She made it through the first 5 periods of the day, waving off more than one offer to escort her to the lunch room, to which Eliza said she wanted to stop by her locker and the bathroom. Eliza went and dumped all of the books she'd gotten from teachers, save for the mathbook, in her locker. She entered the lunchline on the side, picking food at random and setting it on the tray she picked up. She paid a few dollars to the lunch lady for her meal and then went out into the main area of the cafeteria.

Eliza almost laughed, every head in the room turned at once to look at her. It was obvious enough why, many people were just getting their first look at the new girl. With some effort Eliza kept her face fixed with a slightly disinterested thoughtful look. She carefully made her way over to the table where Jennifer Thomas looked like she was about to have a seizure waving frantically for her to join. She recognized the faces of several people that she had been introduced to throughout the day, including several guys who gave her more than a quick once-over. Eliza also noted that Hailey was sitting off in a corner table with Justin, and another girl who definitely seemed to favor the gothic look.

She sat down at Jennifer's table, observing the other table from the corner of her eye, and tuning Jennifer's babbling out since it only required occasional nods to indicate interest. Jennifer introduced the people at the table, something Eliza only half paid attention to. There were her friends Jessica and Brittanee, who Eliza instantly could tell seemed to be the social queen bees. It took her about 30 seconds to realize that Jessica and Brittanee had about as many original thoughts as the chair she was sitting in. They seemed to hang on Jennifer's every word and laugh sycophantically at anything she so much as smiled at.

Then there were several guys who made their introductions, Kevin, Cameron and Jay. All three were large, over 6 feet. Kevin was clearly the largest and most muscular, and looked to be about 6'5; and the other two males seemed to defer to him slightly. Cameron was slightly shorter, and slightly less muscular, while Jay was slightly taller but more wiry. The three of them were obviously considered the alpha males of the school.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the reaction of the people she was most interested in, the Cullen family. Eliza was careful not to let the slightest sign cross her face. The look on the face of every one of the Cullen's was priceless. Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper all wore stunned expressions, their eyes not moving from Eliza as she crossed the room to sit down. Jasper's mate whose name Eliza still didn't know had a puzzled frown, one that deepened when she took in the expressions of everyone else at her table. Edward's expression was even more comical. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open, moving slightly but no sound escaping. Alice's face was a mixture of shock and confusion as she watched Eliza sit down. Their expressions were something she made sure to etch firmly into her mind, as she tuned her ears in an attempt to hear what they were saying.

It was almost a minute before Emmett, whose voice was deep even in a whisper, broke the ice. "Holy shit... is that the new girl? She looks like…"

Rosalie had struggled to get her expression under control, which was slightly more restrained "The resemblance is there." she allowed.

The one whose name Eliza didn't know yet spoke up. "She's one of us. No heartbeat." The woman stated quietly, causing 5 other heads to whip around to look at her for a few moments before looking back at Eliza for independent confirmation

That reaction caused Eliza to laugh out loud. Fortunately for her, Jennifer laughed at the same time, which made others think she was paying attention, and kept her minimal part of the conversation up.

"She's right" Jasper murmured, "There's no heartbeat. She's one of us. But I don't think it's... her."

The group at the Cullen table looked at Edward after they'd confirmed with their own ears that Eliza had no heartbeat. She heard Edward say in a strangled voice. "I... I can't read her." She managed to keep a smirk off her face, as they all turned again to regard her with wide eyes.

Then she heard Jasper speak up. "I'm having trouble reading her clearly, it's like something is partially blocking her. I see flashes of amusement, and anger." The only person that didn't say anything was Alice, who was looking at her with an expression that Eliza could only call haunted.

"Is it possible that its Bella?" Emmett asked

It was Alice that shook her head firmly, her voice was decisive. "It's not her, she looks similar, but it's not... the same. She's someone different. Perhaps she is a descendent or relative?"

"A descendent, that just happens to be one of us? I... think that's a bit big to be a reasonable coincidence..." Jasper responded, still frowning, though his face showed doubt.

"I don't... think it's her." Edward said, but doubt filled his voice as his eyes remained fixated on her.

"We need to talk to Carlisle and Esme. They need to know about this." Eliza heard Rosalie say insistently.

Hearing enough for now, Eliza smiled at her table mates who had each been babbling a bit about themselves, and trying to impress the new girl with inside jokes. Eliza excused herself, feeling every eye in the room on her when she left, and dumped her tray in the trash before heading through the doors.

Eliza made sure to take her time before heading to her next class, Chemistry. Eliza arrived just before the bell rang. She introduced herself to the teacher who signed off on her slip and handed her the book for the class. "Go ahead and take a seat next to Mr. Hale. You can partner up with him, and if you need to get caught up on something I'm sure he could help."

Eliza almost groaned. She should have known her luck wouldn't hold out that well. She didn't let her exasperation show on her face, as she made her way over to the study table, and took a seat next to Jasper Hale.

She didn't favor him with a smile as she settled into the chair, and took out her binder to at least look like she was taking notes. He stared at her for several long moments focusing on her eyes, before he finally leaned over and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Jasper."

Eliza looked back and forth from his hand to his face several times, before turning back to the appearance of taking notes, not bothering to shake his hand, giving him a short, "I know." in response, causing further confusion to spread across his face.

When it became obvious that she wasn't going to say anything else, Jasper decided to turn his unspoken question, into a spoken one. In a polite request with a slight southern drawl, "Is there a name you'd like me to call you?"

Eliza frowned a moment before starting to reply quietly, "My name i-" She cut off as her mother's voice suddenly rang in her head.

"There's a major problem. After school, put on your work clothes. We have to take another trip down memory lane." Isabella's voice rang in her mind quite suddenly.

Eliza frowned, sending a wordless question back to her mother, to which she received a playback of the events that occurred for her mother in the morning. She was busy watching the events that had occurred that morning to her mother.

Jasper frowned at the statement that was cut off mid-word and prompted "Your name is...?"

Eliza frowned, and responded almost distractedly "Elizabeth, but I prefer Eliza."

"Mother! You said you'd let me know if there was any action!" Eliza scolded her mother.

"No, I promised I'd get you if I needed help, and I didn't." Isabella's voice replied calmly.

"Where are we going to go?" Eliza asked her mother curiously, pretending to pay attention as the teacher lectured.

"Like I said, we're taking a trip down memory lane. We're going to La Push. We need to find out more about those wolves." Isabella's voice replied.

"Meet you at the house after school, after I make sure I'm not followed." Eliza said

"Develop a fan club already?" Isabella's amused voice came back.

"Oh I have several. Chief among them being the Cullens. They're trying to figure out whether or not I'm you. One of them is trying to talk to me now, so I'm probably about to make it worse." Eliza truthfully admitted. "And while I'm sure they'll find where we live sooner rather than later, I think I'd rather it not be right before we run off to confront a bunch of overgrown mutts. Henry may not enjoy unannounced visitors."

There was silence for several seconds before her mother's voice came back with an audible and disappointed sigh. "Well, I guess I'm not too surprised they can't tell the difference. I'd tell you not to do anything to antagonize them, especially on my behalf. They aren't worth it, and there's no point to it, but I'll just save my breath. Just don't get too creative. I'll see you when you get home."

Eliza zoned back in just in time to hear the tail end of Jasper asking another question. "-an you tell me where you're from?" It wasn't often she zoned out when talking to her mother but that exchange had been particularly important, and interesting. Eliza was beginning to think that this really had been a good idea, even if she hadn't intended for her mother to deal with the issues regarding the Cullens immediately. Her mother seemed resigned to it at this point.

"Oh, I'm from here and there; I've moved around alot." Eliza couldn't resist a little smile as she murmured her reply, enjoying the slight twitch of Jasper's mouth as the effective non-answer irritated him.

A few moments passed before Jasper asked his next question. "What brings you to Forks?"

Eliza had to give him points for determination, and she shrugged. "We wanted to settle down for a few years. This seemed like an ideal place." Eliza realized the slip almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

"We?" Jasper followed up, his brow furrowing in thought, not missing the slip.

Eliza frowned, cursing herself for getting cocky in her own amusement, her face turning serious as she studied the whiteboard the teacher was writing on. It was too late to take back the slip. "Yes, my... family and I."

"I… see. How many are in your... family?" Jasper asked showing he hadn't missed the hesitation on family.

The professor's voice rose at that point to ask if there were any questions, and the bell rang almost as if on cue. Eliza didn't wait as she slid her binder and book into her bag, and then turned to face Jasper. Her dark violet eyes meeting his amber colored ones, speaking too quietly for any of the other students to overhear.

"I will tell you that I'm not who you're wondering I am. I do know the answers to the questions you have, but even if your abilities work on me, the answers aren't mine to give. And since I know Edward's ability is useless on me, your cov- I'm sorry, "family" will have to find another way to get the answers you seek." Eliza turned on her heel, to head for her last class leaving Jasper sitting stunned in his seat. She looked over her shoulder at him and called out and waving a little as she left. "Good luck."

Eliza headed toward her last class of the day, this time it was a physical education class. The teacher was a friendly older man, who was burly and overweight, told her that she wouldn't be expected to dress for that day. He outlined some basic rules about being on time, changing quickly and to participate, and ensuring that it would get her a fine grade. She nodded and then went to take a seat on the sidelines as she watched the game of kickball, picking out people she recognized, most of whom gave her waves or stopped to chat when they had a moment. It seemed that most of her class had gym last period.

When the bell rang, Eliza was quickly out the door. She stopped by her locker to dump her bookbag and snag her helmet and gloves. Students were just beginning to file out of the building as she fired up her motorcycle and zipped out of the parking lot.

She went full speed down the road leading away from the school. She chose a patch on the side of the road, pulling the bike over and standing it up. Eliza then used her ability to conceal herself. Eliza was almost disappointed that none of the Cullens had made any attempt to follow her home. She waited several minutes to be sure, before kicking her new bike into gear and heading home again.

Getting home in less than five minutes, Eliza pulled onto their dirt driveway and pulled the bike into the garage. She was off and into the house before the sound of the engine stopping had even registered. Moving with preternatural speed she changed out of her school clothes into the black pants, shirt, and cloak with hood and then, pulled on her gloves as she walked back down the stairs.

Eliza stopped in her tracks in the living room. Her mother's hair was still slightly damp from the shower she must have taken, otherwise she was dressed identically. Eliza watched with a puzzled expression on her face as her mother had her head tilted back, and was in the process of putting eye drops in her eyes.

"What on earth are you doing Mother?" Eliza asked, voicing her thoughts.

Eliza watched as her mother tilted her head forward and blinked her eyes rapidly for a few moments, before turning to face her daughter. Eliza frowned further, her mother's eyes were now a dark brown. She stepped forward and looked closely. "Contacts? Why would you bother with those?"

"They're not contacts." Henry said stepping forward to get a look himself. "Contacts make it harder for you to see, because you can see see all the minuscule imperfections and scratches that are inevitably on them. This is more like... a food coloring. It's something one of the new Volturi guards came up with. Sasha I believe is her name, and from what I understand she seems to be a bit of an inventor."

Henry peered closely at Isabella's eyes. "A dark brown, I would have never guessed otherwise. How does it feel?" He asked her.

Isabella blinked a few times and grinned "I can't even tell that anything's changed. How long does it last?"

"I was told it lasted anywhere from six to eight hours. After that the venom in your body starts to break the coloring down, just like it does contacts. She's sent us enough to last damn near indefinitely. So, you won't need to worry about contacts when you're out in public. Would you like to try?" He offered the bottle to Eliza.

Eliza shook her head "No, I'm okay. Most people just assume I'm wearing contacts anyway. Besides, purple is alot less noticeable to people than bright red." She shot a grin at her mother, who just shrugged.

"Let's head out, we need to visit some old stomping grounds." Isabella turned and headed out the door, stopping only to grab a small book bag and handed it to Eliza. "Hang onto this for me until we need it?" She asked.

Eliza took the bag and then grimaced "Ugh, this stinks. Did you kill a dog and then leave it out in the sun to rot for a week or three?"

"No, if I had killed a dog, this might actually be alot easier." Isabella replied and shook her head, and then took off into the forest. her daughter close on her heels.

"Once we get there, I want you to conceal yourself and only yourself." Isabella told her daughter using their mental connection as they moved.

"Why do you want me to conceal myself?" Eliza asked, more curious than anything.

"A couple reasons. I'm fairly certain that the initial welcome won't be friendly. The wolves' have quick and violent tempers, and sometimes it takes a bit to get through to them. I have no idea who to talk to, so we'll be going in blind. I want to have an ace in reserve in case it's absolutely necessary. Second, I'm curious as to whether or not your concealment abilities work against them." Isabella replied.

"It works on everyone." Eliza replied, sounding slightly hurt that her mother was questioning her ability.

"Maybe, but the wolves have really acute senses. They're natural enemies of vampires, that's the whole reason they exist, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that they can sense more than we can hide. So, don't drop out of hiding unless you've been spotted, or unless I tell you to." Isabella replied.

"What if they attack you?" Eliza asked, concern etched in her voice.

"Oh I absolutely expect them to, and while they're not to be underestimated, I think I'll be okay. The real challenge will probably be not killing them before talking sense into them." Isabella replied with a grin and then she slowed to a stop in the middle of the forest. "This is it, the boundary line of the treaty. Jacob showed it to me once. Remember, stay concealed unless I ask you otherwise."

"I just want to go on record as saying; walking onto their land in plain view and waiting for them to attack... best plan ever. Of all time." Eliza said sarcastically. Though she nodded her concession to Isabella's plan and cloaked herself. effectively vanishing on the spot, even from Isabella's sight. Eliza jumped up into a tree, and watched her mother with a concerned look as she stepped forward.