Chapter Seven: High School Sucks

Forks - January 29th

"She's doing this on purpose." Eliza said out loud to herself, as she hastily ran a brush through her dark hair. The natural brunette waves giving her more of a problem than usual. She was pretty sure the humidity from the waterfall was causing the issues, which made her thankful she was a vampire. A human would have daily frizz issues, she was sure, Henry's short cropped hair notwithstanding. She had spent the last half an hour trying to pick out just the right outfit, before deciding on a pair of flattering black jeans, and a grey long sleeve shirt; underneath a loose fitting thick knit dark purple sweater that matched her eyes. She stopped in front of her floor length mirror, and took a deep breath happy with her look, before nervously looking at her watch again.

"Seven fucking thirty." She said a little louder as she began to pace around her room again. Thirty minutes left, and she felt her nerves balling like a knot in her stomach. Even having scouted out the school the night before, mapping the layout and memorizing the teacher's classroom assignments and the curriculum, she wondered if maybe she was expecting too much. She stopped to ponder why the school mainframe was so poorly secured, and partially convinced herself that the students should already have a well organized cheating ring, to the point where she would be disappointed if they didn't.

No, she absolutely was expecting too much.

She shook her head, as she realized that her emotions were more complex than she initially realized. A combination of worry and irritation with her mother for going off on her own, and a nervous energy about the upcoming day, and all the unknowns that came with it. But that was no reason to lose her cool right before starting a new social situation. It wasn't like she had never been around anyone younger than a…

"Crap." She realized she had absolutely no frame of reference to relate to a teenager. It had never occurred to her that she was old enough to be a great-grandmother in human years. She thought about asking her mother for advice, but Isabella was even more out of touch than she was. Still, Eliza started to open their connection and noticed that her mother was deep in hunt mode, tracking prey and wouldn't be happy if she cut in with an inane question about human teenagers.

Eliza sighed, slung her mostly empty book bag onto her shoulder and headed out of her bedroom and down the stairs. Even with her illicit excursion the night before, Eliza knew it would be different in full daylight with all the students milling around campus. She wondered how they would react to a new person. Would she be subjected to stares like her mother was when she arrived for her first day at the same school so many years ago? Would the other students be welcoming? Would they think she was a freak?

She stopped at the foot of the stairs and forced a deep breath, calming her nerves. Then she started towards the door, until she 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. It was surprising how easily she had found herself warming to the mortal. She knew it had partially to do with his open and welcoming attitude. The rest was likely down to how easily he fit into the household, like a combination butler and personal assistant with a touch of investigative reporter.

She stood in front of the trick door in the basement and couldn't stop a giggle from taking over before she said her code word; "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."

"Access Granted." Eliza's grin widened even more hearing Majel Barrett's voice, using an old phonetic library sample to get the perfect version of the computer voice of the starship Enterprise. It was the only voice that she would ever use for a vocal interface if she had anything to say about it. The door slid open, and she bounded down the short tunnel into the Batcave. Henry was sitting at the main terminal, monitoring Seattle, specifically an active investigation which she was sure her mother was involved in. She was happy Isabella hadn't lied about the threat; one victim was relatively small potatoes.

"I'm headed to school." She said simply, and he nodded once before entering a short command to record everything.

"Hang on a second!" Henry stood and turned towards her. "Your mother got you a present for your first day of school." Eliza's eyes went wide, and Henry let himself enjoy her obvious excitement.

"It is in the garage." He said leading her upstairs into the garage which had been full of boxes the last time she had poked her head inside, earlier in the weekend. Now she was kicking herself for not exploring further. However, this time when she entered, in the middle of the floor, sat a sleek dark purple classic motorcycle, modeled after Kawasaki. Eliza let out a gasp as she saw her present. She rushed over, and knelt next to the motorcycle, running her hands almost reverently over the lines of the body, the label on it identifying it as a replica Ninja.

Right in the center of the handlebars was a little note scrawled quickly;

"First day of school, everyone is gonna stare anyway.
Might as well give them a reason.

Love, Mom"

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 for 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. Speaking of which, it has a fully compliant engine if one of the local cops pulls you over, but Isabella insisted that it sound like an original."

Eliza nodded, and held in a sigh of contentment as she took the gloves and put them on quickly. She then took the helmet from him and carefully slid it down over her head, only to find that it fit perfectly. Henry turned while she was fiddling with the helmet, and when she looked back towards him, he was already at the door, pressing the button to open the garage door. She gave him a wave before kicking the bike out onto their driveway with a laugh.

It took Eliza a few minutes to get used to the motorcycle as she pulled out of the long winding drive, which had turned to gravel roughly a hundred feet from the house, onto the main paved road leading towards Forks. She opened up the throttle with a buoyant laugh, letting herself speed a little as she raced towards 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. The lot was full of older model cars, a few of which were clearly still internal combustion with ugly conversion kits sticking out of what used to be fuel tanks. The edges of the lot, and around a few of the cars were clusters of students gathered in almost painfully obvious cliques. Yet, despite the variety represented and the various degrees in which those groups would naturally care, she still felt every eye on her.

There were motorcycle spots at the end of the first row of the parking lot near the main building, and they clearly didn't get much use, because the lines designating spaces were far less worn than the rest of the lot. Eliza took a moment to survey the area as people whispered to one another before she pushed down the kickstand and shut off the motorcycle. She smiled beneath the helmet because she could savor the reaction of her full reveal, and was about to take off the helmet, when she caught a glimpse of them across the parking lot.

Cullens.

Eliza immediately closed her side of the connection with her mother, the last thing she needed was more images of them distracting her. As much as she wanted to go over and tell them off, she forced herself to barely glance their way. She didn't wait for anyone to get the nerve to approach her, instead she slid off the bike, pocketing the keys, and walked purposefully toward the main building, tugging off her gloves and pushing her stride to get out of view of them before she took off her helmet, which she tucked under her left arm as she passed through the entrance.

The main hallway to the office wasn't crowded but there were a dozen or so students who all turned and stared at her as she entered the school. She didn't hesitate, refusing to show the nerves knotting up her stomach again, and made her way straight to the office. A few of the students followed her with their eyes, mostly the boys, until she disappeared through the door marked administration. When she entered, she walked right towards one of the two service windows, where a woman, who looked to be in her seventies, sat peering down at a tablet shifting through what appeared to be school records.

She felt a wave of déjà vu, as she glanced at the name plate above the service window; Miss S. Cope. There was simply no way she was the same woman who helped her mother on her first day of school almost a hundred years ago. She took a shallow breath and approached, curious if she were about to encounter a ghost for the first time.

"Can I help you sweetie?" The woman behind the desk 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, her voice stuttering a bit more than she would've liked.

"What's your name dear?" The secretary asked as she shifted through a few pages on her tablet

"What's yours?" Eliza blurted out and winced at the rudeness of her slightly inappropriate question.

"Oh, of course. I'm Sharon Cope, students here call me Miss Cope." Miss Cope smiled brightly, clearly happy to converse.

"Sharon." Eliza mused, and let loose a question to satisfy her curiosity. "Did your mom work here too?"

"No, but my Great Aunt Shelly did, oh maybe a hundred years ago." She cocked her head at Eliza, who managed to keep her face neutral. "You know, you're the second person to ask me about that. One of the Cullen kids asked about my Aunt when they arrived."

"Elizabeth Irutlova. Although I usually go by Eliza. My sister and I were both supposed to start today, but she got stuck handling some issues that came up during our move." Eliza said changing the subject.

"Welcome to Forks High, Eliza. Here's your school issued tablet, you'll need to keep it in good condition and turn it in at the end of the year. Your schedule, map of the school grounds and buildings, textbooks and your digital key for your locker are already loaded. You'll need to set up a password after starting it up the first time, and there is an app you'll have to have your teachers sign to show they've accepted you into their class. Here is your sister's tablet, make sure she goes through the same thing tomorrow when she comes in. 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 way she explained it felt rote, but kind, then her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper and she winked. "Don't worry, some of the students may be cliquish, but they don't bite."

Eliza took the paper with a grin and winked back. "That's okay, maybe I do."

"Oh, that's funny. You're funny. Nice to meet you Eliza." Miss Cope said with a laugh.

Eliza smiled graciously and ducked out of the office and headed directly for her locker. She felt a small surge of joy as she pressed the key icon on her tablet and the locker clicked open, another distinctly school related thing she had finally experienced. Then she dropped off the helmet and gloves, before she turned with a small bounce to her step towards her first class, which was listed on her schedule as history. The school had started to fill up, as students finally entered from outside, yet when she made it to her first classroom there was only the teacher and one other student there.

The teacher looked up as she entered, his thick mustache and glasses was an interesting look, but his tweed suit and novelty tie made him seem intentionally strange. She walked right to his desk and handed him her tablet with the app open.

"Miss Cope said you have to sign this?" Eliza said as brightly as she could, not wanting to seem sullen or sarcastic. The teacher rolled his eyes, causing her to frown slightly.

"Right, you're one of the Irutlova sisters. I thought you were both assigned to this class this morning." He looked at the tablet and sighed as he looked back up at her.

"My sister was stuck dealing with stuff from the move, she'll be here tomorrow." Eliza explained again, already starting to grow a little tired of this particular lie.

"Alright, not an auspicious start." He said narrowing his eyes and examining her face. "The school also has a strict policy about colored contacts, you'll have to remove those." He pointed towards her violet eyes with clear annoyance, and she finally let her face fall completely.

"I'm not wearing contacts." She said with a flat tone of voice, her own frustration making her concerned that her entire day was going to be underwhelming and frustrating. Had she actually been excited about this?

"How is that natural?" He scowled, and tried to look closer at her eyes to see the edges of the contacts she wasn't wearing. She was aware her eyes were unusual in the human world, but not unheard of, unlike the vampire world where only four colors existed, amber, arterial blood red, dark blood red and black.

"Dye drops, they'll be like this for at least a year. Anything else?" Eliza quipped, hoping to placate the teacher to a degree. He nodded with a small grumble and looked back at her tablet.

"No." He signed the app and pressed his thumb in the square next to his signature to authenticate it, and shook his head in frustration. She took the tablet back and was about to take a seat up front when he cleared his throat to draw her attention again. "We have assigned seating, the seat next to her is open."

"Okay. Thanks." Eliza said again with an unusually flat tone of voice, and was tempted to not say anything, but she always prided herself on being polite.

The student wasn't looking up, but that didn't mean she hadn't paid attention to every word exchanged between Eliza and the teacher. She stole a quick glance at Eliza through a curtain of dark hair which otherwise obscured her face. She was slouched over, with her tablet case open and vertically placed on her desk. An actual paperback book hidden behind it.

"I haven't seen one of those in… a long time." Eliza remarked on the book, physical print having fallen out of fashion decades ago.

The girl looked up from her book and looked around as if she were stunned someone was speaking to her. "You're talking to me?"

Eliza nodded and smiled at her widely, holding out her hand. "Yup, Eliza Irutlova. I'm new here."

The girl stared at Eliza's hand for a moment in disbelief, before finally taking it after several long seconds, and giving Eliza a slightly awkward and twisted smile.

"Um… Hi, ah. I'm Hailey. It's nice to meet you." Hailey's face quickly dropped into a small frown as she stared at Eliza, obviously in an attempt to figure her out. In turn Eliza smiled as she looked at Hailey, examining her face as well. The girl was attractive, in a shy demure kind of way. Her mildly dusky complexion and typically Latin features hinted at a Hispanic heritage somewhere in the family, her long straight black hair and warm brown eyes gave her the looks of someone who could turn heads when she grew into herself a bit more. At the moment, she was obviously an introvert, dressing in loose fitting and unflattering clothes designed to hide any curves and present a profile that most would ignore or belittle rather than examine and admire. The real book completed the vibe, making her seem lost in her own world, a bookworm and low on the social totem pole. At least according to copious amounts of 'research' Eliza had done over the better part of a century into literature, movies and television.

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 an oversized tablet that was clearly not a school issued device, preventing her either on purpose or by design from offering a hand in greeting. Eliza noticed a quick dark look the girl flashed at Hailey, who responded by glaring back at her with a deep frown.

"What are you looking at, freak?" The venom in Jennifer's voice pegged her as a classic popular mean girl, which surprised Eliza to the point that she leaned forward in curiosity.

"That's so… how are you actually real? Do people just put up with you being a bitch all the time? I mean are you going to call her names now?" Eliza's biting sarcasm juxtaposed with her wide eyes and a genuinely excited smile. Jennifer's mouth opened in shock, and then she shut her mouth with a snap of audible irritation, clearly unable to think of anything to say. Hailey let out a loud blast of a laugh, which drew Jennifer's attention again and just as she was about to lay into her, Eliza cocked her head and started to chuckle.

"What?!" Jennifer practically screamed at Eliza, completely losing what little composure she had left.

"Nothing, you approached me. I'm Eliza by the way. Nice to meet you." Eliza held out a hand, and Jennifer glared at it and then up to Eliza's open expression with a mix of anger and confusion.

"Miss Thomas!" The teacher called out in a stern and mildly angry voice. "Time to take your seat."

"Sorry Mr. Moss." She glanced at Eliza's hand one more time before turning on her heel in a huff and stomping her way over to a desk on the other side of the room.

"Thanks for that. I've never seen anyone do that to her before, well except for Rosalie, but when you're that pretty you can be standoffish." Hailey said in a voice just loud enough for Eliza to hear and not draw attention to herself.

"I can imagine." Eliza said neutrally, not wanting to show how much she disliked being compared to a Cullen, especially the one who had been a bitch to her mother from the very beginning.

"I saw you pull up in the parking lot this morning! I can't believe your parents let you drive something like that, my mom would beat me over the head with a frying pan before she would let me on a motorcycle." Hailey said with a touch of jealousy, turning towards Eliza a little and in effect opening up to her.

"Mom gave me the bike." Eliza said without thinking, before remembering that she had to think of Isabella as her sister while they were in school. Hailey looked surprised and mildly impressed.

"She must trust you." Hailey said looking down. Eliza took note, because there was something in the way she said it that made her think there was more to that story then could be said in a brief introductory conversation.

"Yes, implicitly." Eliza said, choosing her words carefully. It would've sounded odd to say that the trust went both ways, and was more than a familial bond, they trusted each other with their lives on a regular basis. The teacher raised his voice slightly calling attention to the fact they weren't listening to the lecture, Hailey immediately went back to her book, and Eliza turned forward and actively participated in class.

Forty minutes and five questions answered successfully, Eliza realized she may not have the whole school thing down yet. She knew knowledge wasn't always the most popular thing to have, but real life couldn't be nearly as dramatic as it was depicted on television… she was sure. She looked over at Hailey as she put her books in her bag and got up.

"What did I do wrong?" Eliza asked feeling a deep wave of disappointment, Hailey shook her head at the question. Then leaned over.

"I'm not really the person to ask, but when you figure it out let me know." She was smiling, but there was a deep sadness there that Eliza could almost feel.

"I will." Eliza said warmly, letting her natural enthusiasm for life come through her smile. Hailey closed her mouth and her eyes darted away before she turned, and walked away without another word. Eliza wasn't sure, but catching Hailey's profile as she moved through the class, she could swear there were tears starting to form in her eyes.

"That went well" She thought to herself, before gathering herself and her new textbook and supplies and heading off to Biology.

The room held special significance in Eliza's mind, as the first place her mother had laid eyes on Edward Cullen. She was terrified that he would be sitting at that same station waiting for her. Instead, there were thankfully no Cullens present, and the only open lab space was in the back next to a girl with ash blonde hair and a beautifully gothic style of dress. While she stood out from the rest of her peers, she was staring at her school tablet instead of interacting with anyone like most of the rest of the class was doing.

The teacher, Mrs. Greene, must have been gorgeous when she was young, now she looked rather severe with light blue eyes that surveyed the room coldly, high cheekbones and black hair pulled back in a tight bun. She signed off on Eliza's attendance app, handed her a code for a second textbook to download, and assigned her to the lab station that was empty, all while staring at Eliza with a look that sent a chill down her spine. Eliza moved to the back of the room quickly, and set her bag down and took a seat on the high stool. Her partner glanced at her nervously, before trying to smile in greeting. Eliza held out her hand as always, and gave the girl the biggest smile she could. Determined to have at least one good interaction on her first day of school.

"I'm Eliza, nice to meet you." Eliza's bright tone of voice drew the attention of a few of her classmates, and her lab partner looked around the room in embarrassment before shaking her hand quickly.

"Um, hi. Madison." Her voice was unique and a bit odd, perhaps from growing up around a parent with a European accent.

"Can I call you Maddie?" Eliza said with a grin. Madison winced slightly, but then shrugged.

"I guess." Her reply was less than enthusiastic.

"Okay, Madison then. I love your style." Eliza corrected, adding a compliment in an attempt to salvage the conversation. She did have to spend an entire semester partnered with this girl, building up a friendship was important. Thankfully, the fashion praise garnered the right response, and a small appreciative smile crossed Madison's lips.

"Thanks. I love your bike." Madison said opening up a bit.

"It seems to be popular." Eliza shook her head slightly, Isabella had been almost prophetic that people would gawk and fawn over her if she arrived at school on a motorcycle.

"Hailey was jealous, her mom is pretty strict about that kind of stuff." Madison added, connecting her to the girl she had met in first period history.

"She mentioned that." Eliza muttered quietly, suddenly aware that the entire class was staring at them. She sat down and pulled out her school tablet and started it up for class.

"You've met Hailey?" Madison said in surprise, ignoring the classroom's stares and moving closer to Eliza.

"I have history for the first period." Eliza explained easily and glanced over to Madison who was looking at her curiously.

"Oh, and you actually spoke to her?" Madison's voice was strange, curious for sure, but there was something else Eliza couldn't put her finger on.

"Yes, kinda." Eliza confirmed, and Madison looked back towards her tablet breaking eye contact. She stared down at it for a few seconds before responding.

"Don't take it personally, Hailey is pretty closed off. Just show that you aren't being fake and she'll warm up." Madison looked over and gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I'll keep that in mind." Eliza nodded, if it was that easy then there shouldn't be any issues moving forward, except of course, for the thousand things about herself that she had to hide.

"Class, let's get started." Mrs. Greene said standing up. "Access page two-hundred and seventy-two in your Essentials textbook and click on the live link for the frog dissection simulation."

The teacher picked up her own tablet and then pushed out a decently rendered but translucent holographic image of a frog to each station. Eliza followed the teacher's instructions and grinned as the program loaded with an interface showing the same frog displayed in front of her. She pressed her finger against the image on her tablet, and the hologram moved in real time.

"Neat." Eliza could help but giggle a little, the simple joy of the interaction making her smile even wider.

"It's just for reference." Madison advised, moving a little closer to Eliza. Then the teacher launched into her lecture, going through the basics of the frog's anatomy, their progress showing up on the hologram as they cut up the simulation in graphic, yet bloodless, detail.

They managed to get through the entire lecture in almost silence, although Madison was very smart and knowledgeable, guiding Eliza through the exercise with the patience of someone who would make a wonderful teacher. Eliza tested this by acting a little lost, despite the fact she was already very well versed in anatomy. Madison never got frustrated or upset with Eliza's obvious questions, unlike Mrs. Greene who frequently snapped at any student who bothered to ask her a question. At the end of class Madison lingered for a moment as Eliza started to gather her belongings.

"What's your next class?" The question was expected, but Eliza was happy to make any conversation.

"I have a math placement test with Franklin." Eliza frowned, she was prepared for math to be the most boring subject because she had already dived deep into theoretical mathematics decades ago.

"Yeah, third period is almost always math or English for Juniors. Don't worry though, Mr. Franklin is one of the best teachers on staff. I'm in his class next, so I can introduce you." Madison said with marked enthusiasm.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Eliza said feeling good about the progress she had made with Madison at least, a potential friendship in the making.

Madison led her to a class in another part of the main building and while there were some students already gathered around a few desks in similar groups she had seen in the parking lot, the class was mostly empty. A tall lanky man with handsome features and thinning hair stood as they entered. He immediately held out a hand and gave Eliza a warm smile.

"You must be Elizabeth, I heard your sister is out today. I'm looking forward to meeting her too." His tone and excitement in meeting a new student was almost infectious.

"This is Mr. Franklin." Madison said before splitting off and heading to a seat in the back of the class.

"Good choice." Mr. Franklin said leaning closer to Eliza, making her cock her head at him in confusion. "Madison and Hailey are brilliant young women, but they are not graced with social skills. I applaud you for connecting with them on your first day."

"Well… they strike me as good people." She looked over at Madison who was already focused entirely on her tablet.

"Let's get started." He said with a big grin, and led her next door to a smaller empty classroom. He motioned towards the teachers desk. "It's more comfortable than the students' desks and I'm going to be next door doing my lecture. When you're done with the test, just send me your answers and come next door. It's okay if it takes you the entire hour, it is pretty comprehensive. If you get to a point where you cannot answer the questions, that's fine. This isn't graded, it's just to see which class you are ready for."

"Thank you." He smiled again and nodded once before leaving her, less than a minute later a new icon showed up on her tablet which opened up the test. Eliza started to frown as she blew through the painfully simple questions in front of her. Perhaps her own knowledge base was too broad for high school, history had been a rehash of things she learned in her first few years of education. Biology was interesting as far as the technology on display, but the actual dissection was simplistic at best. Now even math was looking to be disappointing. She had been given an hour, she finished in less than ten minutes, even while making sure to get a few wrong intentionally so that it wasn't a perfect test.

She dawdled, not sure if she should pretend to take longer. After a few seconds she shrugged, listening to his lecture would be more interesting than sitting in an empty room for an hour. She grabbed her tablet and moved next door, he looked mildly startled as she entered. His example up on the white board peaked her interest even further. He wasn't coddling his students, he was challenging them and it made her smile.

"Excuse me class." He said and walked over to her. "Having problems with your test?"

"Nope, done already." She said with a small shrug. He furrowed his brow at her, and nodded once, his expression sympathetic. "Can I take a seat?"

"Sure, we'll talk after class." He said motioning towards the one empty desk next to Madison.

"Test too hard?" Madison said as Eliza sat down.

"Not at all, I finished." Eliza said quickly before Mr. Franklin started his lecture back up, Madison gave her a strange look but went back to listening to Mr. Franklin. Forty-five minutes later he wrapped up his lecture, leaving an unfinished and complex equation up on the board as the homework assignment.

"Miss Irutlova, can I have a word with you?" His friendly smile was gone, and he was sitting at his desk when he called her. He set his tablet down and waited for the last student to leave. Through the open door she caught Madison giving her a sympathetic smile from the hallway. He got up and moved over to the door and closed it before turning and folding his arms. Eliza leaned against his desk feeling very confused, she had no idea why he was suddenly angry at her.

"I don't know how you got past the school anti-cheat safeguards, but we do not abide cheating. I will be reporting this to the principal and you will be in remedial math starting tomorrow." He sighed and moved back towards his desk.

"I didn't cheat." Eliza said crossing her own arms, feeling defensive. She would not allow anyone to call her something she wasn't.

"You answered almost every question correctly, with perfect supporting work in nine minutes. The questions you did get wrong were suspiciously wrong, as if you answered that way to avoid suspicion." He was shaking his head in anger and disbelief.

"I'll take it again, you can monitor me. I didn't cheat." Eliza said feeling like she was being attacked for having knowledge. He tilted his head, considering the possibility, he had never encountered a cheater willing to take the test again.

"Okay, say I believe you. Finish this equation now, in front of me and I'll take your word that you did not cheat on the test." He motioned towards the white board, hoping to follow her thinking as she hit a wall on the notoriously hard and abstract equation he usually gave students to solve to gauge their abilities at the beginning of a semester.

"I'm guessing you don't just want the answer?" Eliza said with a deep frown, she hadn't expected anyone would be smart enough to catch her intentionally imperfect test.

"Work it out, that's not something you should be able to solve in your head." He was staring at her intently. The main problem was that she could solve it in her head easily, her vampire mind capable of separating out the pieces and solving each part simultaneously. She had to stop her mind from working it out normally, and slowed down to deal with each piece as a human would. She found it was a good exercise in blending in, and after a frustratingly long two minutes she had the full solution up on the board. She looked over at him and he had the same wide smile she was originally greeted with.

"Shit!" She almost said out loud. She may have worked too quickly after all. "That should be right, right?" She tried to show a little lack of confidence in her work.

"I expect most of my students will come in tomorrow frustrated and confused. A couple who I know are pretty good at math will have the wrong answer. Madison might have a solution, although I doubt she'll have a thorough support for that answer. What you did would take me at least ten minutes if I didn't already know the solution. There are universities that would be happy to give you a full ride based on what you just showed me. More to the point, you just tested out of almost every course I have. I have one math elective course that is for my advanced placement students. It would count as your math credit, would you like to take it instead? It only meets Friday so it would free up your Monday thru Thursday third period for another subject." While his awe and enthusiasm for her was infectious, it was also troubling.

"Um, sure. Sounds like fun." Eliza said, feeling blindsided. She hadn't really prepared to tone down her own knowledge and skills. It truly made her realize the point of the high-school charade, it was a performance, and one she would have to figure out over time. This was a mistake, perhaps a costly one. He quickly wrote her a note excusing the tardiness, and sent her towards her next class. The teacher sighed when Eliza showed her the note and had her sign the attendance slip.

"He is always doing this to me. Please take a seat Miss Irutlova." Eliza nodded and surveyed the room. No familiar faces, no impending drama and only one open seat next to a short red-headed boy with bad acne and an inability to look at her directly without blushing furiously.

While her enthusiasm for the day was already waning, she had enough left to be social so as she sat down she looked over and gave him a small wave.

"Hi, you're Eliza right?" He stuttered slightly, but he had a surprisingly warm and deep voice.

"That's me, I guess I'm famous today." Eliza said with a forced smile.

"Maybe, but I found out your name from Hailey and Madison." The boy said in explanation, perhaps the third member of their group.

"Are you friends with them?" Eliza's question implied curiosity, but only in the broadest sense of trying to figure out what the circle of people she had sided with was like.

"Mostly, we hang out at lunch most days." He said nodding a little, as the teacher stood and cleared her throat.

"Okay everyone, please hand in your quiz. Ms. Irutlova, you're exempt from today's quiz but I expect you to be prepared for tomorrow." She said clearly as she read the role and everyone sent their results to her and she confirmed she had them and sent back the results. The boy sitting next to her was named Justin, and he looked excited when he turned in his quiz, but frowned when he got back the grade.

"How'd you do?" Eliza asked with a sympathetic tone of voice.

"Um, not great." He shook his head and set down his tablet as the teacher began her lecture. The next thirty-five or so minutes were decently well thought out, the teacher had some good points but ultimately it was all information Eliza was familiar with. At the end of class she knew that lunch was next, and that meant she might run into them. Her only hope was that they were on another lunch period.

As she made her way towards the lunch room with Justin in tow, she stopped by her locker and dropped off her tablet and bag. She glanced at her helmet and gloves, wishing for an instant to get out of the whole endeavor, but she couldn't give up after one bad morning.

The cafeteria was as old as the rest of the school, but well maintained. The hot food line was long, and it looked as though it was all on a pre-packaged plan. Justin had a small card with his picture on it already in his hand.

"Justin, do I need one of those?" She pointed at the card and Justin looked at her with a touch of confusion.

"You didn't get one? Did your parents not enroll you in the lunch program?" He frowned as he spoke, and a couple people in line gave her a dirty look.

"Um, I have no idea. What's the lunch program?" Eliza replied not happy with the lack of information.

"It's our school's way of delivering a healthy, economically sound and efficient program for students to have the right fuel for their growing bodies." Justin said, puffing out his chest a bit.

"Did you memorize the program mission statement?" Eliza said incredulously.

"Yeah, it's funny because it's none of those things." Justin replied with a big grin. "You are forced to choose between two options, one is the healthier choice and the other is more indulgent. Except both are crap, with too many calories. The card reader is barely functional so there is always a line, and the good choice is always gone in minutes. Practically every student has to join up, unless you buy out of the program. Then you can bring your own lunch, or you can buy one here."

"Oh, well that's fine I'm not really hungry." Eliza said, shaking her head in frustration. Glancing at the Cullen table she found they had noticed her and were staring without any discretion. They had been talking in a whisper so low that not even Eliza could hear it, but when they saw her look they increased their volume, starting with Edward.

"I can't read anything, her mind is blank." Edward said quietly to his family. "Did you catch her face, is it her?"

"It's not her." Alice said firmly.

"I'm not so sure, she sure as hell looks like her." Emmett said almost loudly enough to be heard by their closest neighbors.

"The coincidence is far too great. Perhaps she is a descendant." Jasper offered, although even his tone was less than convincing.

"Perhaps it's fate, and she's returned to me. My soulmate." Edward said waxing romantic, Eliza had to shut her eyes to hold in her anger.

"It isn't her." Alice said again, her anger clearly growing. The tone in her voice almost drew Eliza's attention.

"Alice, are you sure?" Rosalie said with a far gentler tone of voice than Eliza expected, this time she had a look, if nothing else to make sure she was connecting the right voice to the right person. They were on the far side of the room, yet when she turned to look at them fully they all gasped.

They all looked exactly like they had a century earlier, different clothes and different hairstyles, notwithstanding. Rosalie looked curious, Edward was wide eyed and his mouth was hanging open slightly, Emmett looked shocked but excited, Jasper mildly concerned. Jasper was sitting next to the strange woman they observed when they came upon the house days earlier, her proximity all but confirming she was Jasper's mate. Given her features and stature, Eliza thought she would make a marvelous Wonder Woman. The stranger was frowning, and that frown only deepened when she took in the expressions of everyone else at her table. Eliza looked at Alice last, and found that her expression was far harder to read. She could see the anger, but also a bit of shock and confusion, yet her eyes conveyed a deep unrelenting sadness that seemed eerily familiar.

"She heard us, clearly not human." Edward said with an almost melancholy twinge to his voice, as though the idea of his ideal version of Bella was still human a century later. She caught a flash of intense anger from Alice, as the rest of the table looked at Edward as if he was an idiot.

"Nice Edward, show some tact." Rosalie said as she sent Edward a withering glare over his lack of etiquette. "Hi, would you like to join us?" Rosalie offered, meeting eyes with Eliza. The offer took her by surprise, as was Rosalie's apparent consideration of her feelings. Eliza had no intention of interacting with them though, and shook her head slightly in response. "Of course, a proper introduction later perhaps?" Rosalie countered, and again Eliza shook her head and quickly dashed out of the lunch line.

"Later Justin, I'll see you around." Eliza said at the last minute, refusing to look back at the Cullens as she left. The last thing she heard was the beginning of a small altercation among them as Emmett told Edward to sit down, and Alice excused herself from the table.

Eliza made her way towards administration, to speak with Miss Cope, half tempted to withdraw from school entirely. Instead she used the time during lunch to address two issues that had arisen so far.

"Oh, hello again. You caught me eating my salad. What can I do for you Eliza?" Sharon said with a bright voice as Eliza entered the office.

"I have to pick a new class for the third period, Mister Franklin placed me in his Friday slot, and I think I need a lunch card or something." Eliza elaborated, feeling like she had backed herself into a corner.

"Ah, well yes. Your guardian, Mister Jansen was very specific that you and your sister have difficult dietary requirements and won't need the school lunch program, and Mr. Franklin already mentioned your need for a new class. I pulled up the schedule, and there are two options that I see. Would you prefer early twenty-first century entertainment with Mister Mossier, or Home Economics with Mrs. Ruth?" Eliza tried not to let her eyes show her excitement, but there was no question which course she wanted to take.

"Mister Mossier's class please." She wasn't as successful hiding her feelings in her voice, but she wasn't sure she cared. The task was done, and somehow she managed to get something good out of it. Plus advanced mathematics might actually be interesting for her.

"Yeah, I'd go with that too. I was born in 22', so I grew up with most of that stuff. Gotta love TSwift. Sorry, Taylor Swift." Miss Cope smiled, and giggled a little.

"I know who she is, shame about her last album." Eliza said somberly, she had listened to all of her stuff in one long sitting a couple of decades earlier, and did some research into her life.

"Yeah, but my favorite song is on that one." Miss Cope smiled back, yet let out a slightly sad sigh at the same time. Eliza could see there was a story there, but she didn't want to monopolize the woman's time.

"Anyway, later Miss Cope. Thanks for the help." Eliza bowed her head slightly, and turned to head out.

"Anytime dear." Miss Cope said waving as she returned to her meal.

Eliza ventured outside and sat on the steps waiting for the lunch period to end. Sitting in the pavilion across the parking lot sat a lone figure which took her a moment to recognize as Alice Cullen. She stared at her for a while, trying to work out what was wrong with her. Alice's anger, her absolute refusal to believe Eliza was Isabella. It didn't make sense. The Cullens never actually cared about Isabella, Eliza was sure of it. She was a pet, perhaps liked for a time, she was cast away without a second thought. Even Alice and Esme had not bothered to say goodbye, the two that had claimed to love Isabella as family.

She was tempted to call over and confront the tiny woman, but something deep inside told her it was a bad idea. Instead she picked herself up and headed back inside, Alice turning at the last minute and they met eyes for a second. The expression on Alice's face was utterly unreadable, but she finally recognized what was going on behind her eyes… it was the same deep sadness Isabella tried to bury on a daily basis, a feeling that Isabella masked with anger and hatred.

She slowly made her way to her next class; Chemistry, and arrived several minutes before the class was to start. There was only the teacher, finishing up her lunch, and a single student at the back of the classroom again; Jasper Hale. She almost swore under her breath. Instead she focused on the teacher who looked up as she approached and gave Eliza a somewhat welcoming smile.

"Elizabeth Irutlova?" She said standing and extending a hand.

"My name is Shelly Newsome, but I insist my students call me Shelly." Eliza shook her hand, which felt a little awkward for some reason Eliza couldn't put her finger on.

"I prefer Eliza." Eliza said taking her hand away and pulling out her tablet. Shelly motioned for the tablet and signed off on her attendance. Then turned towards the lone student in the back.

"Jasper doesn't have a partner yet, so I've paired the two of you for the semester. If you need to get caught up on something I'm sure he could help, he's my star student."

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 the Cullen she knew the least about, save for Rosalie. Back in the day, he was closed off because he was still getting used to being around humans. She didn't favor him with her usual smile as she settled into the chair and placed her tablet in front of her. He gave her a half smile, but he was clearly concerned and it took him several seconds before he looked her directly in the eye. Then he finally leaned over and held out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Jasper." He sounded mostly friendly, but guarded. Eliza stared at his hand, and then looked back and forth from his hand to his face several times, before shaking her head and looking back down at her tablet.

"I know." Her short reply garnered the response she thought it would, and caught the look of confusion that quickly spread across his face out of the corner of her eye.

He waited for a little while for more, but when it became obvious that she wasn't going to say anything else, Jasper decided to turn his unspoken question into a spoken one.

"Is it okay if I call you Eliza? Or is there another name you'd like me to call you?" His inquiry was polite, and his mild southern drawl was pleasant to her ears, but implied a question that Eliza had no intention of answering.

Eliza frowned for a moment before starting to reply quietly, "I do prefer Eliza, but I..." She paused in mid sentence as the connection with her mother suddenly opened up wide.

"There's a major problem. After school, grab your work clothes. We have to take another trip down memory lane." Isabella sounded more than a little angry, and oddly nervous. Eliza frowned, sending a wordless question back to her mother, to which she received the memories of the events that Isabella had experienced earlier in the morning all at once. She organized them quickly in her mind, and began to play them when Jasper called her attention again.

"You what?" Jasper frowned, and his guard was now completely up.

Eliza glared at him, and shook her head distractedly, "Never mind, Eliza's fine."

"Mother! You said you'd let me know if there was any action!" Eliza scolded, as she finished reviewing the memories of the combat that could've gone in a much different direction all because she had felt the need to experience high-school.

"No, I promised I'd get you if I needed help, and I didn't." Isabella replied, her metal voice leaving an impression of calm confidence. Eliza felt herself grumbling, while it was true that Isabella was able to fend off her attackers with relative ease, it bothered her that she took on a five-to-one fight without so much as a word of alert or warning sent to her daughter.

"Okay, so where are we going?" Eliza asked after getting over her own worry and moving on. Her tone, curious as she split her attention to listen to the lecture the teacher had started.

"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 in Seattle, and the Quileute should have some answers." Isabella replied in a rather neutral way, her mental voice nearly as calm as before, but Eliza could tell she was also affected by the thought of going back to that place after what had happened to her the last time she was there.

"Meet you at the house after school, after I make sure I'm not followed." Eliza said with a touch of annoyance.

"Have a fan club already?" Isabella's sent back sounding more than amused.

"Not exactly, although the Cullens are already proving to be… problematic. They are not what I expected, especially Alice and Rosalie. Most are trying to figure out whether or not I'm you, in fact one of them is trying to talk to me now. And while I'm sure they'll find where we live sooner rather than later, I think it would be prudent to hold that off until we get through confronting a bunch of overgrown mutts. That and I'm pretty sure Henry would not enjoy unannounced visitors." Eliza truthfully admitted.

"Good point. Out of curiosity which one is being a nuisance? I don't want to look and find out." Isabella's question struck Eliza as odd, she didn't usually bother.

"Jasper." Eliza sent back simply.

"Hmmm, does he look like he's in pain?" Isabella's annoyance was clear, and Eliza quickly drudged up the memories of him struggling with his thirst from nearly a hundred years before. It was clear that he had mastered that part of his existence.

"Not really, he looks a little pissed that I'm basically ignoring him though." Eliza quipped, hoping to elicit any kind of laughter from her mother.

There was silence for several seconds before Isabella replied, expressing the sound of a sigh across their connection. "I shouldn't be surprised that they cannot tell the difference between us. I'd tell you not to do anything to antagonize them, especially on my behalf. They aren't worth it, but I'll just save my breath. Just don't get too creative. I'll see you when you get home."

Eliza dithered for a moment, not sure if she should bring up Alice or not, but realized there was no reason to hold back that information. "Alice could tell the difference, in fact she was pretty emphatic and angry about it. She berated Edward in particular, hell even Rosalie picked on him. It was kind of great."

"I… I'll see you soon." Isabella shut off her side of the connection pretty tightly, but Eliza could feel a glimmer of emotion slip through, of pain and rage. A deep hurt that Eliza knew about all too well.

"Can you at least tell me where you're from?" Jasper asked finally, after giving up on waiting for Eliza to respond.

"Oh, I'm from here and there; I've moved around a lot." 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 was confidant in her lie, for a second before she realized the slip and already knew the follow up question was inevitable.

"We?" Jasper's eyes rose along with the tone of his voice, leaning forward slightly.

Eliza shook her head slightly, disappointed in herself. She dropped her playful expression and turned towards the teacher who was deep in the middle of his lecture. Slowly and intentionally she 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 have no interest in your family, and I have no need to tell you about mine. Yet I will say this, I am not who you think I am, and while I do have the answers to the questions your family has been arguing about, they are not my answers to give. Edward will not be able to hear me, Alice will not be able to see my future, so you will just have to be patient, and extinguish any expectations you have." She didn't give him a chance to respond, grabbing her book bag a second before the bell rang and left the room with the kind of haste that made it clear she was done with him.

Eliza headed toward her last class of the day, Phys ed. The teacher was a friendly older man who insisted the class called him Gary. He was stocky, and muscled but had a small tire belly which gave him a strange silhouette. Since it was her first day, he explained that her uniform was ordered as per her preferences during registration, but hadn't come in yet. In an effort to not leave her out, he called for a game of dodgeball. Of course she knew the game, mostly for the relatively cruel way it was depicted in movies and television shows she watched and re-watched on a daily basis.

The reality was a little disappointing, she could easily dominate the game if she wanted, instead she opted to go out somewhere in the middle of the pack so she didn't stand out. The second game had Hailey on her team, and she found herself protecting the girl from a couple of the other students, including Jennifer Thomas, seemed to have it out for her. Her need to safe-guard the girl outweighing her need to hide from the masses. At first Hailey wasn't sure, but quickly realized what was going on and played along, a wide smile starting to form on her face. Eliza caught a throw from one of the final three girls on the opposing team, just as the last two on her own team were eliminated. Jennifer and some tall athletic girl with dull brown hair and strong Germanic features that Jennifer was using as a human shield and walking ballista.

Eliza crouched low, and smiled. "Get behind me Hailey, we got this."

"Whatever you say." Hailey muttered quietly from behind her. "I've never made it this far before."

The tank on the other side grabbed two balls, one in each of her large hands and smiled viciously at Eliza. Then without so much as a feint she launched the balls at Eliza dead center. Eliza twisted her body, and caught one, then reached out with her other free hand to catch the other and lob it at Jennifer. It hit her belly and knocked her on her butt.

"Did we just win?" Hailey said, sounding deeply confused.

"Freaking Marvel wannabe." Jennifer shouted across the gym, making Eliza smirk at her.

"Nah, I'm a DC girl." Eliza said causing Jennifer to stare at her in confusion. Sure it was a deep cut, since DC had gone out of business nearly eighty years before, and Marvel bought up the rights to all the DC heroes. She wasn't fond of the merger era, but the new Avengers were pretty nutso, with that last fight between Superman and the Hulk who had gone off the rails again.

"I don't think she even knows about DC." Hailey said quietly.

"Probably, the fact that you do makes me happy. Bell is about to go off, see you tomorrow." Eliza turned and gave the girl a wide smile, and in return Hailey actually managed to smile back. Small steps, that's all Eliza could hope for, although giving this girl a better life had to be an easier task than fixing her own mother, which she wasn't even sure was possible.

She quickly rushed to her locker, picked up her helmet and gloves, and dumped her tablet and backpack. Then she weaved through the foot traffic out of the building in time to fire up her motorcycle and zip out of the parking lot before even a single Cullen had made it outside. Just to make sure she wasn't followed, she went full speed down the road leading away from the school, and after finding a patch of dirt that widened the shoulder so that she could stop, she pulled off and waited. She cloaked herself, which extended to the bike, and listened for anyone following her. After a few minutes she was almost disappointed that none of the Cullens had made any attempt to follow her home. She waited a few more minutes to be sure, before kicking her new bike into gear and heading home again.

The trip was pleasant, but short and as Eliza pulled onto their dirt driveway she felt a soft sigh escape her. Her first day of school was over, and it was… ordinary. While a mundane existence had it's appeal, she hadn't realized how monotonous pretending to be a high-school student could be. If it wasn't for her two new potential friends, she was starting to wonder if it was worth her time at all. Deciding to table that particular train of thought, she pulled the bike into the garage. As soon as she was parked she was off and into the house, moving with preternatural speed she changed out of her school clothes into her usual all black outfit that was almost a uniform at this point, complete with an unembellished deep hooded black cloak, and her new riding gloves, because they were sleek and fit the look perfectly.

Eliza made her way downstairs and stopped in the living room. Isabella was standing, or more accurately leaning back, and was in the process of putting drops in her eyes. Her long hair stringy from a recent shower, and her clothes nearly identical to Eliza's.

"What on earth are you doing Mother?" Eliza asked, her expression puzzled. Isabella righted herself, and then blinked her eyes rapidly for a few moments, before turning to face her daughter. She looked different and it took a second to realize why. Her eyes were now a dark brown. Eliza stepped forward and looked closely, but couldn't see the telltale ridge line of contact lenses.

"I thought dye drops didn't work on our kind." Eliza shook her head, furrowing her brow and scrunching her nose.

"Ah, well the Volturi have had a company doing research for a while now. Since the invention of the dye drop, they've been hoping to adapt it to your physiology. Up until now you've had to use contacts, which are not ideal as you are well aware." Henry explained upon entering the room.

"Yeah, they suck, because I can see all the tiny imperfections and scratches that shouldn't be there." Eliza said relaxing her face, happy that there was a new alternative.

Henry peered closely at Isabella's eyes. "Interesting choice, I wouldn't have expected you to go with dark brown. How does it feel?"

Isabella blinked a few times and grinned, "Good, 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. Which is obviously several orders of magnitude shorter than when used on human eyes. I imagine the venom has something to do with it, however they 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 using dye drops anyway. Besides, purple is a lot less noticeable 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?"

"Yes, but I couldn't exactly risk leaving the corpse. Kell is handling it." Isabella said with a small almost unconscious frown. Then took off without another word.

Eliza paused, and leaned towards Henry. "Her human eyes were brown." Then took off after her mother.

"Interesting." Henry said below his breath, low enough that not even Eliza could've heard him.

Eliza quickly caught up to Isabella, who opened up their connection immediately. "Once we get within eyesight of the border, I want you to conceal yourself and only yourself."

"Why? Weren't they allies?" Eliza asked, more curious than anything, imparting a sense of mild confusion through their link.

"Perhaps, but I have no idea who is in charge of the pack now, so we're going in blind. In fact, 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 need you in reserve just in case a fight is absolutely necessary. Second, I'm curious as to whether or not your concealment abilities work against them." Isabella replied, her own emotions rather neutral on the surface. Although she was far more nervous than she let on.

"We already know it works on Children of the Moon and other types of shifters, why wouldn't it work on these wolves?" Eliza replied, and couldn't conceal the hurt in her voice. Isabella rarely if ever questioned Eliza's abilities, and it was strange for her to bring it up now.

"Yes, well I don't count Kira." Isabella replied quickly in explanation but realized Eliza was taking it a bit more personally than intended. "Wolves have a better sense of smell, they are also natural enemies of the vampires unlike our feline friend, in fact we trigger their change. So it's not out of the realm of possibility that they could sense more than we can hide. So, don't drop out of hiding unless you've been spotted, or until I tell you to." Isabella replied.

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

"Well, that's the thing. I absolutely expect them to start a fight, and while they're not to be underestimated, I think I'll be okay. The real challenge will be holding back so as not to land a killing blow, at least before I can talk some sense into them." Isabella replied with a grin. "The line is just up ahead, cloak now." As soon as she said the words she slowed down at a point seemingly in the middle of an ordinary patch of forest. "The boundary line of the treaty. Jacob showed it to me once. Remember, stay concealed unless I ask you otherwise."

"Right. 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!" Eliza said sarcastically through their link, sending images of a dozen lost battles from her favorite genre shows with her words. Yet she had to trust Isabella was right, and as a concession to Isabella's plan she cloaked herself, effectively vanishing on the spot, even from Isabella's sight. Eliza jumped up into a tree, and watched with worry casting her usually bright expression down, as she watched Isabella step forward across the imaginary treaty line. Immediately a chorus of howls erupted and Eliza felt her own nerves settle in her throat.


Author's Notes:

This chapter went quite a bit longer than expected. In the original there are only about five chapters that have high-school scenes and they all focus on a bunch of mean kids. When going through the edit, we shifted the focus onto Hailey and Madison so we could get to know them better. We're not quite sure what role they will play in the long run yet, but there are some tentative plans. Either way by the time we get to Dismemberment, Defenestration, Sporks their story should have a natural pause, which may last for quite a few chapters.

I went a little bit harder into the science fiction here, going with some slightly more subtle technological advances. Holograms in schools, engines no longer operating on internal combustion. Stuff like that. Nothing like flying cars, but enough that it is reasonable to assume we would get to that point.

We hoped you liked the changes. While this is the first long chapter, it will most definitely not be the last.

Next Chapter: Pride and Prejudice