A/N Yo so I only took like 2ish years off from this story. #progress I still have no idea where I'm going with this so there's that. There's a poll on my profile if you wanna take a sec to check it out when you're done here. So here goes, Chapter 4 of Without You;

Bpov

A dreary, nondescript building, surrounded by oversaturated foliage and a mostly empty parking lot? It could only be Forks High, Bella's "home" for the foreseeable future. She sighed as she pulled into a spot slightly removed from what seemed to be the main thoroughfare, one can only magic away dents so many times before it starts to become noticeable after all. After parking, she ran through her mental list of what she needed for the day and what she had to make certain was hidden from normies eyes as she double-checked herself in the mirror ensuring that everything about her screamed "Genius Rich Girl." High pony? check. Sensible name brand shoes? check. High-end smartphone and a Rolex? check and check. Egyptian cotton underpants? check. Emergency potions? check. Tablet to take 'notes' on? check. Lunch? check. Protection amulet disguised to look like a convincing knock off? check. Car magicked to look like it's been only slightly tricked out? check. Though the option to go at near light speed will be missed, it was simply not worth anyone questioning how she got where she did as quickly as she did. She was as ready as she was going to get. She braced herself and stepped out into the rainy morning, everything about her screaming "spoiled rich girl," only the AP books in her bag hinting that she was a "genius" letting people think that that was her big 'secret' and keeping anyone from thinking that she might be hiding anything else. (Though if they did she was prepared for that as well, one could never be too careful.) and made her way around the building to the front office to get her itinerary so that she could finally get her mission started. Rich Genius. Rich Genius. Rich Genius. She repeated to herself as she walked into the building, falling into her character. Her shoulders rolling back and her nose turning up as her posture straightened, a touch of magic, and her hair was as glossy as a shampoo commercial, the nonexistent sun seeming to always catch it at just the right angle. She would perpetually look like the 'popular girl' from a teen movie that the underdog protagonist always seems to have a crush on, like she was walking down a Milan runway during fashion week, not the halls of a forgotten small town's High School. A quick left and she was strolling into the main office just as the warning bell was sounding. Perfect. she thought to herself as she came to a stop in front of the desk. If I time it right. and of course, I will. I should be walking into my first class just in time to make a dramatic entrance. The administrative assistant didn't lookup. Bella waited precisely 45 seconds and then cleared her throat exactly once to grab the older woman's attention.

The red-haired woman looked up, startled like she hadn't heard Bella's entrance. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Bella Swan," was all she needed to say for the woman's eyes to go wide in recognition, no doubt remembering years worth of gossip as she put a face to the name that had been swirling around the small town on and off for the better part of the last decade. It's what humans did after all. Gossip like they had nothing better to do and an eternity to fill. They were nearly as bad as vampires in that sense. They at least had the decorum to act as though they were debating historical events. Humans put up no such facades. The woman, Sharon, her nameplate indicated when Bella glanced at it, proceeded to produce a stack of papers and explain, in excruciating detail, what each and every one of them was for. It was going to be a long day. While the woman, Sharon Bella reminded herself, talked, Bella sent out feelers- being sure to nod/hmm occasionally to act like she was paying firm attention to the information. Something was niggling at the edge of her attention-

"-And this is your schedule and a map of the school," Sharon said, placing the two pages on top of the stack. "This is the one you need all of your teachers to sign and this is the one that you need to sign." she put the last document next to the pile and handed Bella a pen, effectively snapping her out of her preliminary analysis. Bella quickly signed the form, only half acknowledging that it was her agreement to abide by the school's code of conduct, as she did. "Now this is the best route to take to get to each of your classes-" a bell tolled causing Sharon to startle and look at the time. "Oh, is it that late already? You've completely missed homeroom and are going to be late for your first class! I'm so sorry! I got carried away! we don't often get new students here. In fact, the only new students I've had transfer-in in the last twenty years was what? two years ago? and that was a whole family! goodness, it took us ages to find the paperwork to do a transfer! That's how long it had been since the last time it had happened! I think the youngest boy, Edward is in your grade." New family? In Forks? hmmm. Finally a bit of gossip that might actually be worth looking into. Probably not, but one never knows if one never asks. Easy way to start the assimilation process at any rate. Outsiders are a great way to suss out small-town oddities that go overlooked by the locals. And the locals always can suss out oddities in outsiders. win-win.

"Excuse me, but which of these is my schedule? I can't seem to place it?"

"Oh! Here it is!" Sharon said thrusting the paper into Bella's hands upon realizing that she still held it. "I'm sorry! It looks like you have English in building 3 first. With Mr. Mason. And remember to bring back the sheet with your teachers' signatures on it at the end of the day!" Sharon called after her nodding to herself when the door closed shut. "That went well."


Three...two...one...exactly 93 seconds late. Perfect. Just late enough to cause an entrance, but not late enough to disturb the lesson. Bella thought to herself, only using a smidge of magic to see what was going on on the other side of the door. She didn't REALLY need it but she liked to err on the side of caution. Humans tended to be predictable in their unpredictability after all. And she had a job to do, no room for pedestrian errors. She took a deep breath to steady herself, suddenly nervous at the prospect of starting at a school just filled to the brim with muggles, mortals, humans. And whatever else might be lurking in the shadows powerful enough to warrant your being here. Now, stop stalling and open the door. She adjusted her demeanor and pushed open the door, allowing herself to fall into her role once more. As one the class all snapped their heads in her direction, the teacher, Mr. Mason, her mind supplied, closing his mouth when he realized that he didn't recognize the person entering the room, a rare thing in a town their size. "Hello, is this Mr. Mason's English class? I'm Bella. Swan. Your new student?" her words had the effect she hoped they would, as all at once whispers broke out and the teacher's Mr. Mason. Why do humans have such strange names? face broke into a smile.

"Yes, welcome Ms. Swan! I'm Mr. Mason. You can take the seat next to Eric. Oh, here's your copy of the syllabus and the book we're reading," he handed her both items and she glanced down at the syllabus, one page, double-sided, and muttered a quick thanks. It contains the reading list and not much else. She scanned the list absently as she walked to her seat and noted that she'd already read them all, why was she surprised? It was good though. Especially if the rest of her classes went like this. She would have more time for reconnaissance and experimenting if she wasn't being delayed by homework and studying. She pulled out a notebook and pretended to take notes while instead, she sent out feelers, she would do a full sweep of the town later in the week but for now, she should familiarize herself with the different 'vibes' of her classmates.

So much anxiety. And horniness. Gods human teenagers are horny and anxious. No wonder the average mortality rate in the country is dropping. They use up all their energy in their teen years, and for what? Stressing over exams and sweating over boobs? I mean magical teens aren't much better but we don't waste this much emotion over such lame stuff. Except for werewolf-exam-guy. But he was an outlier that proves my sentiment. And the school reevaluated how they administered testing after that incident. Not enough to hamper the market for uppers by any means, but enough that anyone stupid/desperate enough to abuse experimental potions was identified and given appropriate assistance before such abuse could occur. And sure some still fell through the cracks, probably the system was new so she couldn't give concrete numbers, if there even are any, but could only make broad assumptions based on historical data. Nothing she would sigh her soul away over of course. And she was going off course. But she had to or she was likely to have a panic attack (Or shove her tongue down the throat of the guy next to her-which she was pretty sure was what he was thinking about at the moment if his specific combo of anxious horny was anything to go by) right there if she kept trying to get the feel of the school's population. She had to start smaller or her father was going to have to arrest her for public indecency. Or something. Just breathe Izshabell. Just breathe. You wouldn't have been given this assignment if they thought your chance of failure was too great. Well, probably not. Ugh, this class is so boring! I really have to work on sensing humans without getting so overwhelmed. Or I have to masturbate more often. Now, focus! Class ends in less than two minutes and you have things to do! She blinked once to clear her head and refocus her attention onto the class laid out in front of her. Just in time too.

"-By the end of class on Friday, that will give us plenty of time to review for Monday's exam. Ms. Swan, stay a moment after class and we'll discuss getting you caught up. Any questions? No, alright then. Feel free to stop by during lunch any day this week if you change your minds.-" the bell rang, punctuating the end of his sentence and signaling the end of the period. Bella slid her things back into her bag and made her way to Mr. Mason's desk, ignoring how the rest of the students slowed down to listen in. Bella rolled her eyes. Gods humans are predictable. "Alright Ms. Swan, so you can see what we've already covered so far this year, I'll print out the notes this weekend to give you on Monday and we can work out getting you copies of the books and schedule you a time to take abridged versions of the quizzes so you have them as reference for the final. I know it's a lot-"

"Um, Mr. Mason? I've already read the books on the reading list, so it's all good. I can take the tests whenever or I can have my old teachers forward my assignments if that helps at all…"

Jasp Pov

He felt it. By god he felt it. He didn't know what it was of course, but he felt it all the same. The overwhelmingness of it all. All the feelings he's usually able to keep at bay suddenly overwhelm him. Choke him. Worse even than when he was a newborn. Just discovering his abilities and why he was feeling all these things that weren't his to feel. Why he suddenly knew what it was like to lose people he had never met. To feel love for someone he would never know. That ache in his chest over feelings that would remain unrequited, or worse, were requited but unable to be fulfilled. It was like that first decade, but worse. So much worse. He could feel his nails digging into his palms, desperate to keep himself in control. His senses suddenly overwhelmed. His body craving something. Wanting. oh god, the absolute Want.

"-Mr. Hale?" came a foggy voice from somewhere above him. Other scattered and concerned voices started to make their way through. Fuzzy and incomprehensible, barely registering on his overwhelmed mind.

"-he alright?"

"-take him home-"

"-wasn't feeling well-"

"Jazz, honey, just focus on my voice alright? Nod if you can hear me." he nodded, eyes unfocused, breath coming in jagged and forced, body memory for a body he hadn't inhabited in over a century.

"-think we should call an ambulance-"

"-it's fine really- already texted our dad- fresh air- Come on Jazz, you gotta stand up. It's ok. I got you." the world swam in front of him, the world unbalanced. He was suddenly reminded of a hazy memory from his human days. Drinking with his unit in a tent in some field God had long since abandoned. The war seemingly miles and years away. He couldn't remember the details. Where they were, or when, or even most of their faces and names, just the feeling of drunkenness and youth and mistakes waiting to happen. He suddenly had a flash as the world turned sideways and he felt his body collapse against the hood of a car, a face, and a name. Jenkins. The sky dark, everyone else asleep except for them. The world was quiet. Still, in a way it sometimes was before something life-changing took place. He couldn't remember anything, but in that one moment, he saw Jenkins lit up only by starlight and somehow knew. Knew in his unbeaten heart that Jenkins was important in a way that Maria had never been. Never could've been. And the image was gone. As quickly as it had come. And the overwhelmingness of everything receded, as quickly as it had come. And he was left with a headache that wasn't his and shaking hands and a feeling of something he couldn't quite put a finger on and wasn't entirely sure wasn't his. At least. Not entirely. Suddenly there was a hand in front of his face, hold a bottle of what he assumed was water. He blinked at it in confusion. Belatedly taking it from the hand, opening it, and pouring the contents into his mouth. He swished for a while before spitting the liquid onto the ground, unsure if it expelled a foul taste or introduced one. He closed his eyes and, in a move that was quite uncharacteristic of him, groaned. The feeling of shame, entirely his own for the first time in nearly an hour, suddenly overcame him and he rubbed his face with his hands, suddenly understanding why Edward pinched his nose so frequently. Edward. Fuck. whatever had affected him so must've also affected his brother, at least to an extent.

"Right here." He opened his eyes and took in his surroundings for the first time. He was outside. Leaning against the hood of a car that was decidedly not theirs and that he didn't recognize. His wife and brother in front of him. The former hovering worriedly and the latter looking about how he felt. Absolutely wrecked. What the Hell?

"No idea. And the car belongs to the new girl-"

"Bella," Alice supplied.

"-Bella. And no, I don't know if it was her or not, I can't read her mind." the pair looked at him dumbly. "It was the first place I tried to look after you started having your," he waved his hand in Jaspers general direction "episode or whatever. and, nothing. I found where her mind SHOULD be but it's not. She sat next to Eric though, found him easily enough. Unfortunately. The dude was ready to jump her the moment she walked into the room. He should pray that her father never learns to read minds or the dude's a dead man. He was watching her but wasn't actually paying attention so he was useless. But based on what I could tell she seemed to exhibit similar symptoms to what Jasper did. Though to a far less extreme extent. Perhaps she's a Gifted human? Is more sensitive than average but not to the same extent as those with our inclinations? At any rate, she seemed to snap out of it around the same time that we did and then was talking with Mr. Mason. Apparently, she's already finished the reading list. Not entirely sure what happened after that because we're up to the present now. Carlisle thinks you should go back to the house though, as a precaution. That's where they think you're going anyway. And we'll discuss it more after school. If it's able to affect the new kid as well as you then it's something we should all be concerned about."

"But it might be nothing," Alice interjected, "it's possible it was a freak thing or someone/something just passing through."

"Either way, we agreed that we'd keep an eye on the new girl to make sure she's alright and another on anything out of the ordinary. So, go home. Be gross with your girlfriend and get control of yourself. Ok?" Jasper nodded. Suddenly exhausted and feeling more human than he had in his entire second life. Edward gripped his shoulder and gave him a look that suggested that they would be having a conversation in the near future. You okay? He thought at his brother and received a single nod in response. He rolled his eyes and instantly regretted it as the world threatened to turn sideways again. Alice grabbed his arm and pulled him towards their car, shoving him into the passenger's seat and driving away. Leaving Edward alone in the parking lot as he made his way, now late, to his next class.

A/N so that went in a random direction. Also, this was like the third attempt at this chapter cuz the void kept eating the file. Leave a comment if you have thoughts about the fic and feel free to check out my poll and other fics. Til next time.