A/N: I know what you're thinking: another reversion of Twilight? How many of those am I going to have to read through? Well, at least one more if you plan on skimming through this. But anyways, it's in Rosalie's POV, if you hadn't already noticed. With that being said, I must warn you that some of the scenes were based around the first chapter of Midnight Sun (I believe I quoted, like, two or three sentences overall, while anything else was merely mentioned in passing. I'm not exactly sure if there areany Midnight Sun quoting limitations, so please correct me if I'm wrong. I'll change it immediately.) Hopefully, you won't find the characters too OOC, otherwise that sort of defeats the purpose of this ff, haha. Okay, well I hope you enjoy. I'll stop rambling now...
Disclaimer: All characters, et cetera belong to the amazingly talented Stephenie Meyer. Without her, a lot of us Twilight fans would have nothing to do in our spare time...
"First Sight"
Forks.
Of all the places in the entire universe, Carlisle had to choose Forks: the gloomiest place in the world. Precipitation is a constant; I've grown to think of this place as the "land without sunlight." Not that that's a bad thing, of course. I mean, I can't even go out in the sunlight without causing a commotion. But that's besides the point.
The point is that I detest Forks. Especially Forks High School.
"Miss Hale, by any chance do you have the answer?"
Ah, another thing I detest: Forks High faculty members. In this case, Mr. Varner.
"Yes Mr. Varner," I replied, not even glancing at my work. "It's twenty-three."
Mr. Varner consulted his teacher's guide before informing me that my answer was indeed correct. Not that I needed his assurance to know that I was right. I'm always right.
I cast a contemptuous glance across the room in Emmett's direction, hoping that he'd look up. He did, as always, and gave me a small smile. Silently, I cursed the fact that the letters "C"and "H" didn't fall simultaneously; our alphabetically assigned seats were so far away from each other.
"Well, class," Mr. Varner announced, closing his guide, "That about sums it up for today." He chuckled at his pathetic, ill-placed pun, while the rest of the class remained silent, eagerly awaiting the bell. "Homework is on page one-eighty-five. Numbers one-through-fifty, odd."
The disappointment emanating through the tiny class of students was almost tangible: Forks teachers always tended to slip in homework at the last minute, much to everyone's dismay.
As the bell that signified the end of fourth period rang, I sureptitiously gathered my things, before making my way out into the hallway. I found Emmett, flanked by Alice and Jasper, waiting for me just outside the door. I joined them immediately, glad to be in the presence of my family once again.
"Where's Edward?" I asked, surprised that the final member of our tight-knit family was uncharacteristically missing. He always met us in the senior hallway after fourth period.
Alice was the first to respond, her tawny eyes glinting mischievously. "He's doing a little research," she said, smiling.
Her context confused me, but I was feeling rather apathetic today, so I didn't press on the matter. Instead, I just rolled my eyes--my answer to all things trivial--and started walking off towards the cafeteria. The others followed suitely, the grace in their stride uncanny. I could feel the eyes of a few bewildered students boring holes into our backs. It was amazing how some people still managed to be shocked by our looks and overall appearance; I would've thought that by now, the entire school populace would be well informed on the fact that we're freaks. A majority of the school already seemed to know that, and did a fine job at ignoring us. Not that I minded; I didn't come here to make friends. None of us did.
"He said he'd meet us in the cafeteria, later," she added quickly.
We approached the cafeteria at a painfully slow rate, trying to blend in. Being a member of the Cullen/Hale congregation kind of hindered that aspiration, however; I could still feel the gawks even as we entered the large room at sat down at our usual table.
As we put our stuff down and got into the lunch line, Alice suddenly stopped, wheeling around. Sure enough, there was Edward in all his brooding glory, filing in through the double-doors and placing his school paraphernalia on our lunch table. He quickly joined us in line, his face expressionless.
Alice was expectant. "So?" she asked apprehensively.
He met her with dull eyes. "'So?'" he echoed, frowning.
"So who is she?" Alice queried, rocking back and forth on her heels, her inky black tendrils bouncing in unison with her rocking.
At this, Edward smiled. "As if you don't know."
"Fine," she huffed, folding her arms across her chest. "But at least say it to them for their benefit."
I assumed that the "them" Alice was referring to would be us; the other, can't-see-into-the-future-nor-read-minds Cullens. I'll admit, I sort of wish I had one of their talents, but hey--extreme beauty does have its benefits, so I'm not complaining.
"Oh right," Edward said. "Well, it would seem that there's a new addition to the Forks High population." He was frowning again, most likely out of irritation. Edward regarded the student body with about as much respect as all of us did.
'A new student?' I thought; I knew Edward could hear me.
"Charlie Swan's daughter?" Emmett asked, surprising me. He was never one to keep up with school news, or even world news, for that matter. I didn't think he cared. "Heard the faculty talking about it," he added quietly.
Edward nodded. "Yeah," he said. "The name's been going around for a few days now. Apparently, everyone was expecting her."
'Yes,' I thought, 'Everyone except us.'
"We never expect anything, though," Edward reminded me, motioning towards Alice. She giggled before saddling up alongside Jasper. As usual, he was looking as tense as ever. I pitied the poor guy; he was still so new at this. We should have never brought him to school. At least, not this early in the game. He didn't say anything, he merely listened to our conversation.
I grabbed a salad and a bottle of water as I swiftly passed through the line, then returned once again to our table. Emmett sat down next to me, grinning as usual. "What?" he asked mockingly, "Not hungry today, Rose?"
His question caused me to send a harsh glance in the direction of that junior, Lauren Mallory. Just last week, I had overheard her while I was in the the girls' room--applying make-up, of course. What other reason would I have to go in there? She had the nerve to call me anorexic, mentioning the fact that I never ate at lunch. So I decided that the next day--which Edward would so rightfully blame on my ever-present tenacity--that I would eat something, just for her benefit. I did, of course, but I don't even remember what it was. And, if you're not one who wontedly eats, you know just how disgusting the whole ordeal was for me. Of course, thta meant I had to get rid of the substance later, and during fifth period I caved. Again, I went to the girls' room, this time to hack up whatever it was I had eaten at lunch. Lauren was there, obviously, and is now under the conviction that I'm bulimic. Needless to say, my family was amused. I sure as hell wasn't.
My sudden ranting was halted when another junior--Eric Yorkie, I think--walked past our table. I could see in the mirror of his glasses my own reflection, and wondered instantly whether or not I should've applied more mascara. I always have make-up trouble; it never stays on for more than an hour. My hair, on the other hand, was looking perfect, as usual. I smiled satisfactorily. Yes, beauty did have its benefits.
To a common Forkian, it would appear as if all of us were staring off into the distance, silent as we didn't eat our lunches. Of course, the lunches were merely for show; we didn't need to eat--at least, not human food. But in actuality, we were all having our own private conversations. Myself discluded, however. I was actually staring off into space. Edward and Emmett were most likely having some sort of mind-conversation while Jasper and Alice were, of course, being, well...Jasper and Alice, for lack of a better term. Alice was looking concerned while Jasper just sat there trying to think about anything besides tearing the entire student body to shreds.
Then, Alice did something unexpected. She stood up and stalked out of the cafeteria, looking like some four-foot-something ballerina star. I pitied the girls here who aspired to be dancers when they grew up. One look at Alice would crush their dreams for sure. She was almost too graceful, sometimes.
None of us glanced at her as she disappeared from view; we were too fixed on keeping up our apathetic and aloof appearances. Jasper tensed across from me, but nothing else. None of us acknowledged her departure in the slightest.
We continued on with our mini conversations, this time both Jasper and I not partaking. Suddenly, Edward perked up, his eyes stuck on something across the room. The topic of their chat suddenly switched to an unexpected topic: the new girl. I could hear them chuckling darkly, most likely parodizing either our "disposition" or the girl. I couldn't tell, but it didn't really matter. I was only half-paying attention to their conversation, so I was only able to catch small snippets of it. Something about "dirty laundry" and "scandal." I'd have to ask Emmett about it later. Their inane chatter continued on for a while, with Edward humming his responses so fast that no human could hear. Emmett didn't even open his mouth, he just thought his replies.
For a moment--just a moment; even I barely caught it--Edward's face fell. He looked almost staggered as he stared across the room. I took the initiative then to lock on to what--who--he was looking at, as Edward quickly composed himself. I should've known: the new girl was staring up at him with wide, doe-like eyes.
So this was the famous Isabella Swan that everyone had been talking about today. I cursorily looked the girl over; there was nothing outstanding about her. She was almost as pale as us, with ordinary brown eyes and ordinary brown hair. How on earth could someone as nondescript as her shake my brother so tremulously?
I saw Edward glance around searchingly, probably filtering through the minds of the other students. He turned back to the Swan girl, with apparent disappointment. I took that as a signal to leave.
"Shall we?" I murmured, tapping him on the shoulder so fast that the movement was almost invisible. He blinked twice before nodding. As we left the building, Emmett once again inquired about the new girl, and Edward merely shrugged in response. Apparently, he wasn't up for discussing it anymore. Plus, it kind of irked me that Emmett was so interested in her in the first place. What exactly was so special about this spectacularly boring girl?
Edward chuckled as he walked by me, and mumbled in a low, hushed voice, "Don't worry. He's not interested in her in that way." He had obviously been listening in on my thoughts, much to my distaste. But then again, when Edward was around, there were no secrets, so I let it go.
Our next subject was Phys Ed. Jasper and Emmett were both in this class, but that was no shocker. We had inadvertantly negotiated our way into having all the same classes, aside from calculus and government. For some reason, they wouldn't let Jasper switch those.
After changing into what could be considered the most tacky gym uniform in the entire country, I met them both out in the center of the gymnasium. Several poles with nets draped between them were lined up along the middle of the basketball court, and a score of bright neon-yellow balls sat precariously stacked in a crate. As class was called to order, we were informed that the next unit we'd be studying was volleyball.
We broke off into groups of six, each team having three members: how fortunate. Of course, Emmett, Jasper, and I made up the unstoppable Cullen/Hale alliance. The game began with the other team serving; we thought it'd be nice to let them have the ball first, given the fact that they were going to be humiliatingly defeated within the next five minutes or so.
Emmett and Jasper took turns scoring, while I merely watched from the side. It was a moot point to try and come between those two and their competitions.
It was easy to tell that they were holding back on every hit; had this been a game played at our house, the ball, and the opponents would have been long since destroyed. They were being very careful.
Soon enough, as the game reached twenty-to-nothing, Coach Clapp came over, glancing skeptically in my direction. "Miss Hale?" Coach Clapp inquired. "Do you plan on joining this game anytime soon, or are you just going to watch as your brothers mop the floor with their opponents?"
I ignored the fact that Coach Clapp had referred to Emmett as my brother, and let out an exasperated sigh. I turned my back and rolled my eyes to the ceiling, catching the ball as Emmett tossed it my way. Both he and Jasper were stifling laughter as they watched me approach the serving line. I once again sent an irritated look in the direction of the gym teacher before serving it as hard as I could--without crossing human boundaries--across the court. It connected dead-on with one of the opposing team member's face, and she fell over screaming like there was no tomorrow. I rolled my eyes again; I hadn't even broken her nose with that light hit.
Jasper and Emmett had covered their mouths in an attempt to not succumb to their laughter. The girl's teammates rushed to her side, lifting her up by the arms and ankles to rush her over to the infirmary. I was grateful that there was no blood spewing from her banged up face; who knows what could've happened had there been.
Coach Clapp, as opposed to going off and tending to the poor girl, rushed over to me, and instead of an expected chastisement, sputtered out, "Hale! That was amazing! Have you ever thought about going out for the FH volleyball squad?"
'Volleyball squad?' I thought incredulously. As if! Did Coach Clapp honestly think that I'd be interested in some extra-curricular activity?
"So what do you say?" Coach Clapp prompted, anticipating a response. I sighed again, as my teammates finally broke out into peals of laughter.
"Sorry Coach Clapp," I responded, feigning an apologetic tone. "But I don't think I'd be able to. Senior year has proved rather arduous this year, and I wouldn't like to fall behind in my studies."
Coach Clapp looked positively crestfallen, but shrugged it off anyway. Thankfully, the class was called to an end shortly after, and I quickly rushed to the locker rooms to change.
I met Emmett and Jasper outside of the girls' locker room, as smug looks assumed position on their palid faces.
"Nice serve, Rose," Emmett chuckled, draping an arm across my shoulder.
"Yeah," Jasper agreed, finally deciding to talk. "That girl's probably going to be in the nurse's office till next week." The two chuckled darkly, obviously not caring about the girl's welfare. I can't say I really did, either.
Their laughter was contagious; by the time we reached building two, I was joining in along with them. It was there that Jasper parted from us, eager to catch up with Alice before his next class. The lucky guy was off to calculus next, while Emmett and I were headed towards government.
We took our seats beside one another--luckily, this class didn't have assigned seating--in the farthest corner of the classroom. Placing our bags down neatly, we pulled out our textbooks. The books, of course, being about as useful as our lunches; we already knew everything in them, thus making them a tad bit obselete. We opened them to the page written on the blackboard regardless, attempting once more to blend in.
About half-way through class, I turned to Emmett--well, not really turned, but sort of angled my head differently so that he knew I was trying to get his attention. He responded with a slight nod, signifying that my signal had worked.
"Edward was acting weird today," I hummed in a hushed tone, quieter than usual.
"Really?" Emmett's brow arched slightly, his palid expression a bit skeptical. I brushed it off, and continued.
"Yes. Today at lunch he actually looked a little...taken aback by something..."
"Are we talking about the same Edward Cullen here?" he laughed. "I've never seen Edward 'taken aback' by anything."
I sighed, frustrated. "Neither have I, for that matter," I mumbled. "That's why it stood out so much today."
Emmett nodded. "Maybe it's nothing, though. We could just be overreacting."
"Or maybe it's something. Something he's not telling us." I sighed again, sullenly wishing that I could miraculously attain Edward's gift right now. It would sure make the situation a lot easier to handle.
"We'll ask him about it tonight, then," Emmett replied, still facing forward.
"Okay," I agreed, allowing the conversation to end there. I hope my dissatisfaction wasn't too evident to Emmett.
The rest of the class passed by monotonously; I don't even remember what the teacher had been discussing for the hour-long period. At long last, the final bell rang, and we all retreated back to our lockers to gather our belongings. I met Jasper there, given the fact that our surnames were congruent and his locker was right beside mine. Alice caught up with us, and then finally, Emmett. Together we trekked out to Edward's silver Volvo, ignoring the light rain that dusted our perfection. It was only then that I realized our driver was missing.
"Where's Edward?" I asked, again regarding his odd behavior.
"Oh," Alice said, her tone unusually dull and noncommittal. "He had to stop by the office for a moment. Something about a class change."
'Class change?' I wondered suspiciously. 'What's that all about?'
"Nevermind him," Emmett said, gaining enthusiasm. "But we've got a rematch tonight, isn't that right, Jazz?" Jasper let out an irritated sigh; he didn't allow anyone else to call him "Jazz." That was Alice's pet name, and Alice's alone.
Emmett came up alongside him, and punched Jasper in the arm. Not nearly at full strength--not even Jasper could handle that, I think--but enough to jostle him a little. He recovered quickly however, and soon the two were exchanging punches. Brotherly punches, that is.
Ugh. Boys and their competitions. I mean seriously; they're as old as the hills and yet they still act like little kids!
As we approached Edward's Volvo--the nicest car in the lot--Alice groaned. "We don't have the keys..."
"Alice," I said sternly. "Please."
She sent a querying glance in my direction before I pushed her petite form out of the way and began tinkering with the door. Honestly, the locks on cars nowadays are so easy to pick. In a matter of seconds, I was finished. I cast a smug look at Alice, who only smiled in response.
As we all got into the car, she turned to me and said jokingly, "Did I ever mention how grateful I am to have a big sister who's an expert technician?"
I smiled in response; sometimes it was so easy to like Alice.
We waited several minutes before Edward finally showed up. He was paler than usual, his breathing erratic.
"Edward?" Alice asked, concern ringing in her bell-like voice. He shook his head.
Emmett then asked, "What the hell happened?" Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had caught on to Edward's befuddling behavior today. Edward ignored him, too lost in concentration to respond. He merely threw the car into reverse, sending all us passengers into disarray as we spun out of the parking lot.
He was driving at an alarming rate--well, not really all that alarming for us, but if any of students were to notice...
I shuddered at the thought. Something was really wrong.
In the two front seats, Alice and Edward were having some sort of intense conversation; one that none of us could hear. They were talking solely through their minds and visions. Once again, a pit of jealousy welled up in the pit of my non-functioning stomach. I hated being discluded. Beside me, Jasper and Emmett waited apprehensively, their pretend-fighting halted for a suspended moment.
Suddenly, Edward burst out, clenching his jaw acutely. "Stop!" he said to Alice, who quickly mumbled a short apology. He looked as if he was in pain now, his hands trembling slightly as they held the steering wheel in a death grip.
"I'll miss you," Alice said quietly, but loud enough so that the three of us in the back could all hear and then stare at each other in bewilderment. Edward was leaving? "No matter how short a time you're gone," she added tentatively, before motioning for him to pull over. He agreed, and slowly the car rolled to a stop at the turnoff to our driveway. I looked towards Emmett, who sent me a concerned look before leaning over to open the car door. We ambled out of the car silently, too shocked to speak. And for me--for all of us, for the matter--being shocked was a rarity.
Alice whispered a few more words of encouragement before following us suitely. Her eyes looked troubled.
Next thing I realized, Edward was zooming away, reaching ninety before he was fully out of sight. I stood there baffled, before turning to Alice.
"Looks like we're walking today," she said suddenly, sending us all a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. I could tell it was forced.
She started to walk off but I stopped her, putting a cold hand on her shoulder. "Alice."
She turned, blinking, her expression feigning confusion. "What, Rosalie?" Jasper and Emmett regarded us with fixed eyes.
"What's going on with Edward?" I asked, my temper flaring. "What's wrong with him?" My hand tightened on her shoulder.
Alice's face fell, her expression growing somber. "It's Isabella Swan," she murmured. "He..."
"He what?" I prompted when she paused.
"He...He wants to kill her."
It was going to be a long walk home for the family of misfit vampires.
A/N: Okay, so chapter one is now complete. I hope you all enjoyed, but if you didn't, that's okay too, lol. Feel free to comment/flame/critique/whatever. Any kind of review is welcome. Well, the next chapter will be coming out...err...shortly, I hope.