BELLA'S POV(BPOV)

This was the time of day when I wanted to sleep.

High school.

Or was purgatory the right word? If there was any way to atone for my sins, this ought to count toward the tally in some measure. The tedium was not something I grew used to; every day seemed more impossibly monotonous than the last.

I stared at the cracks running through the plaster in the far corner of the cafeteria,

imagining patterns into them that were not there.

My name is Isabella "Bella" Marie Swan Cullen, and I'm a Vampire. But don't worry, I drink animal blood rather than human. That's why my eyes are gold.

I belong to a special family of Vampires called the Cullens. There's seven of us— Carlisle and Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, Alice and Jasper, and then there's lonely little me. Mateless and alone.

We all wear the Cullen crest. Each part of the crest represents something different: the lion represents strength and ferocity, which is a characteristic of vampires. The hand is faith and sincerity, showing that we are loyal to each other. The trefoil at the bottom represents perpetuity, which is lasting forever, showing the vampires' inability to die naturally. I have a necklace with diamonds around the crest, though I don't always wear it. I also have a small wrist cuff. Rosalie also has a necklace, only hers has metal crestents around it. Alice has a ribbon choker, Carlisle (my creator) has a ring, Esme (my vampire mother) has a silver bracelet, and Emmett and Jasper have wristcuffs, too, only theirs are larger.

Humans were all the same in my eyes.

Today, everyone was consumed with the trivial drama of a new addition to the small student body here. It took so little to work them all up. Just an ordinary human boy. The excitement over her arrival was tiresomely predictable—like flashing a shiny object at a child. Half the sheep-like girls were already imagining themselves in love with him, just because he was something new to look at.

"So, the new boy is coming today." Emmett said.

"I know." I said, sighing. "Everyone is so excited."

"It's just some human boy." Rose said. Rosalie and I get along pretty well. Esme and Rosalie bonded over abusive men, but Rose and I bonded over our human lives. Being admired for our beauty, spoiled by our parents, and growing up in a hard time. For me, it was the heavy pressure to get married, even when I didn't want to. For Rose, it was the great depression.

Rosalie and I are probably the most beautiful girls in the world. Our beauty rivals each others'. It just depends on people's personal preference. Short or tall? Blond hair, or brown hair? Sexy body, or model body?

"I know," I sighed and flipped my hair back.

That's when I heard a boy ask, "Who are they?"

"The Cullens," Tyler Crowley answered. "Dr and Mrs. Cullen's foster kids. The Cullens and Hales."

"The tiny pixie is Alice, and she's really weird. She's with Jasper, the blond one who looks like he's in pain." Mike Newton said.

"The blond girl is Rosalie, and she's so beautiful it seems impossible."

"She's with Emmett, the burly one."

"Who's she?" The boy asked. I rolled my eyes.

"That's Bella Cullen, but she doesn't date. Apparently no one is good enough for her. She's Emmett's younger biological sister." Mike told him.

Emmett is not actually my older brother by blood. I may be older than him in Vampire years, but in the world of humans, however old you are in human years counts. So Emmett was changed at 20, me at 18. But since we have the same hair color and look alike, we often play as siblings, like Rosalie and Jasper do.

When the bell rang, I hurried off to Biology 2.

I made it a few minutes before the bell rang. I sat down at my table.

That's when the new kid, Edward Masen, came in. He was cute and good-looking, I guess. Red hair, green eyes, fair skin.

Edward Masen walked into the flow of the heated air that blew toward me from the vent.

His scent hit me like a wrecking ball, like a battering ram. There was no image violent enough to encapsulate the force of what happened to me in that moment.

In that instant, I was nothing close to the human I'd once been; no trace of the shreds of humanity I'd managed to cloak myself in remained.

I was a predator. He was my prey. There was nothing else in the whole world but that truth.

There was no room full of witnesses—they were already collateral damage in my head.

I was a vampire, and he had the sweetest blood I'd smelled in eighty years.

I hadn't imagined such a scent could exist. If I'd known it did, I would have gone searching for it long ago. I would have combed the planet for him. I could imagine the taste…

Thirst burned through my throat like fire. My mouth was baked and desiccated. The fresh flow of venom did nothing to dispel that sensation. My stomach twisted with the hunger that was an echo of the thirst. My muscles coiled to spring.

Not a full second had passed. He was still taking the same step that had put him downwind from me.

The scent swirled around me again, scattering my thoughts and nearly propelling me out of my seat.

No.

My hand gripped under the edge of the table as I tried to hold myself in my chair.

The wood was not up to the task. My hand crushed through the strut and came away with a palmful of splintered pulp, leaving the shape of my fingers carved into the remaining wood.

Destroy evidence. That was a fundamental rule. I quickly pulverized the edges of the shape with my fingertips, leaving nothing but a ragged hole and a pile of shavings on the floor, which I scattered with my foot.

Destroy evidence. Collateral damage….

I knew what had to happen now. The boy would have to come sit beside me, and I would have to kill him. The innocent bystanders in this classroom, eighteen other children and one man, could not be allowed to leave this room, having seen what they would soon see.

I flinched at the thought of what I must do. Even at my very worst, I had never committed this kind of atrocity.

The face of the monster in the mirror mocked me.

Even as part of me shuddered away from the monster, another part was planning it.

Edward sat next to me, and I held my breath. I distracted myself from his scent by planning how I would kill everyone in this room.

After an hour of pure torture, the bell rang. I got out of my chair, and almost used my super-speed to run out of the room.

I skipped gym and sat in my Red Audi. I own two cars: a red Audi, and a red 2005 Ferrari 360 Modena.

Once that class was done, I headed into the office to try and get a schedule change. But sadly, there were no other classes I could take instead of Biology.

I sighed, thanked Ms. Cope for her help, and went out to my red 2005 Audi A8. Though it was only 30 degrees out, I wore a grey tank top crop top with a criss cross v-neck, black pants, a black leather jacket, and black high heels with mesh details.

My siblings joined me shortly later. Emmett got into the front seat, the others in the back. I didn't even give them a chance to strap in before I was driving down the road.

"What's wrong?" Jasper asked, sensing my distress, anger, and fear.

"It doesn't matter." I snarled.

8 minutes later we were home. I got out of my car, flew into the house, and up to my third floor bedroom. I threw a bunch of clothes into a bag before running downstairs, past Esme, and to the garage. I threw myself into my Ferrari and started driving.

Driving North.

Away from Forks.

Away from my blood singer.