A/N:Thanks for reading this story and a very special thanks to Safety Pins for reviewing my previous chapters! Weirdness takes a whole new level in this chapter. And as a teaser to keep you reading, let me just say that: All will be clear in Chapter 6. It's written vaguely, on purpose. Okay, enough already! Read the story and review if you want to! - MissMei92

THE TALE OF ELIZABETH CULLEN

A year later. Elizabeth has adjusted to her new existence, living with vampires. She keeps the secret, well enough.

Seraphina and she are now the best of friends. But she can't stop thinking about how much she likes Kyle, who has also grown into another good friend of hers.

She still can't get Natasha off her case too, considering the whole glue/paint incident.

I'm lying on my soft, powdery pink bed, thinking about what I'm going to do later. Which is nothing. Since, my whole family has to go hunting today and it's just too dangerous for me to be around them when that happens. So, Susan, the good vampire receptionist is coming over to baby-sit me. I should probably make full use of my time, after all. Maybe read another book or play on my swing or call Seraphina. But I don't really want to do any of these things. I'm not sure what I want, but I know it's something important. Yet, I don't know what it is!

I sighed and pulled myself, somewhat reluctantly, off the bouncy surface of my bed. I glance at the clock: 1.47p.m. It was going to be a long day. Susan should be over any second now, but for now I'm alone, since my parents left 10 minutes earlier. Watch T.V. or play on the computer? Tough choice. Not. I opted for the computer. I'd had enough of mindless, brain-cell killing cartoons for awhile. I pushed the purple button and the screen flickered to life, a dozen white lines of information flashing quickly across the black window. I was just going to listen to some music or play Neopets but I felt like logging in to my school's private chat-room.

Of course, rich kids have much better things to do than spend their Saturdays chatting online but there sometimes was an occasional bored visitor here. I checked and saw 4 names. First was mine, and then I saw Seraphina's there, which I was going to click on so I could start messaging her, but she suddenly logged off. I shrugged and looked at the next name there: iluvbarbie&ken.

Oh, I knew who that was. Seraphina hated her the most. Not because of anything else than the fact that she was the No.1 fan of Barbie. Her name was Denise Springston. And she was more preppy and bubbly than any cheerleader could have been. Which totally collided with Seraphina's brooding, studious nature. No wonder Seraphina had logged off.

I would have chatted with her, but only if I was desperately bored. Which I wasn't, thank goodness. Besides, she logged off in less than a second after Seraphina did. So I was alone with the last name: greenboy1234. Who was that? I'd never seen this name here before. I got curious and clicked, typing 'Hi' and 'Which class are you in?' Wilde Heights Academy divided each grade into different classes, according to how smart you were. Seraphina and I were lucky to be in the same class this year, again.

But I obviously wasn't lucky enough because Natasha and Rachel were in the same class as us, this year too. I'd practically given up trying to avoid their angry gazes, and had resigned myself to damage control. The computer speakers made a ringing-cum-beeping noise. The mystery person was responding.

greenboy1234: hey, same class as u.

He was? I didn't think I knew him...but then again I was always more interested in talking with Seraphina and Kyle. So much I barely noticed my other classmates. Still, his name didn't ring a bell with me. I had to question him further.

ElizabethC. : seriously? because I don't know you.

greenboy1234: figures.

ElizabethC.: excuse me?

greenboy1234: you wouldn't have noticed me, huh?

greenboy1234: you're all over Kyle.

My jaw dropped. This was uncomfortable.

ElizabethC.: what's that to you? he's my friend!

greenboy1234: hmm.right….

ElizabethC.: jerk.

I was mad now. I logged out without another word, and I heard the door unlocking downstairs. Susan was here. I shut my computer down and practically jumped down the whole flight of stairs. I was not happy. "Hey, Elle! Have your parents left already?" Susan smiled at me and hung her raincoat up on the wooden rack nearby. I hadn't realized it'd been raining. How was my family going to hunt in this weather?

"Yeah, they left awhile ago," I replied, flustered from my previous chat experience. I combed my hair with my fingers, trying to erase the tangled mess, which was my thick hair. Susan then started talking about how the rain would be clearing up soon so my family would still be able to hunt. I nodded and said, "Oh…" and "Yeah," when appropriate but I couldn't stop obsessing over how annoying he'd been. She didn't notice my mental absence and still chattered non-stop about the weather.

Susan had been a weather forecaster for the news in her human life. She'd been a really good one too. It wasn't just her impeccable interpersonal skills and her fluent way of speaking, but it was also because she just knew how to predict weather changes and once, she even managed to predict a hurricane correctly. But, of course, no one listened to her until it was too late.

Which was why, being a vampire now, she could state the weather for the next 7 days so confidently, you'd think she controlled it. Which came in handy whenever we wanted to plan activities, since you know vampires can't walk in the sunlight without glittering or play baseball unless there's a thunderstorm. The sad thing about Susan was why she was a vampire.

It was only a coincidence that she'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time. A thirst-crazed vampire had been nearby when she'd gone to a forest for some work-related weather observing. It'd bitten her but someone else stopped and destroyed the vampire before it could kill her.

She wasn't sure why she couldn't remember who it was who'd saved her but whoever it was had stayed with her throughout the 3 days of transformation. But when she woke up in a cottage in the middle of nowhere, and another vampire was waiting for her there, that vampire said that he wasn't the one who'd rescued her. She'd been dropped here, but he didn't know by who.

He was a good vampire too, feeding off animals, but he couldn't control himself around humans, as much as he tried, which was why he lived there all alone. He taught Susan how to feed on animals too, but while he was lonely out there, he didn't want Susan to be condemned to the same existence as him. He gave her a choice. She could stay with him or she could try to go back to living among humans.

Susan was sad to leave him too, and afraid that she couldn't control herself like him. But he assured her that he was an unusual case and that he'd been an incorrigible drug addict in his human life which was why he couldn't control himself, even now. She finally decided to try and left for a small town near New York, where she'd lived before this. She was successful in her attempt, but she didn't forget him and she still visits him once in awhile. She hasn't been a vampire long, though, and in vampire years, she's only about as old as my mom. Which explains why she's less old-fashioned than my family. Like when she calls me 'Elle'.

Susan started taking flour and eggs out, placing them on the counter of the kitchen. She was going to bake. I knew she loved baking but it was superfluous to do it for herself since she couldn't eat it, anyway. But she didn't mind baking cakes for me. I lifted myself up onto the marble kitchen counter and watched her move around the kitchen, mixing and measuring the ingredients, while melting butter and brown sugar into a soggy, yellowy mess inside the frying pan. I loved the smell of baking. It was my favorite.

"What are you making?" I asked, playing with bits of the dough. "Gingerbread men," She started kneading the dough, really quickly. "You can help me decorate them later," She continued, now rolling the thick, smooth brown dough out. I decided to go call and invite Seraphina over, if she wasn't studying, so we could both eat gingerbread men together. I dialed, it rang and then, "Jeffrey residence! How may I help you?" Their private receptionist answered.

I was always surprised that they had a private receptionist answering their household calls but I'd gotten over the weirdness of talking to a stranger, long ago. "Seraphina Jeffrey, please." I politely requested. "Of course, wait one moment, please," Her smile bounced over the telephone wires and jumped up into my face. "Redirecting," Her voice disappeared, and I heard Seraphina's instead.

"Elizabeth, what is it?" She sounded strange, worried even. "Nothing, it's just that my family's out shopping and I'm being baby-sat by Susan again. So, you wanna come over? Susan's baking gingerbread men," I chirped, and tried lowering the amount of prep in my voice, to avoid Seraphina's wrath against preppiness. She seemed relieved, actually. "Yeah, sure. I'm dead bored here," She laughed but it wasn't a happy laugh. It was a nervous one.

She hung up promptly afterwards. I placed the phone back on the receiver. "Elle, what did Seraphina say?" I heard Susan call from the dining room, where she was now cooling her gingerbread men. Wow, vampires can cook fast. I skipped over there quickly and inhaled the smell of ginger-cinnamon which was wafting in the air. Susan smiled at my action. She retrieved the icing mixes she had prepared earlier and handed me a spoon.

I started applying red and pink icing to my gingerbread men while she carefully, like a surgeon was while conducting an operation, designed cute, smiling men with brown sugar buttons and green apple shirts. We were almost done when the doorbell rang, loud and shrill. I ran to answer and pressed the 'OPEN' button for the wooden gate. I then unbolted the front door and saw Seraphina, grinning sheepishly in front of me. She was slightly wet from the still-pouring rain but I saw her driver shake his head in annoyance at her.

It was obvious that she hadn't waited for the umbrella to follow. He drove off, after that. I smiled back at Seraphina and she stepped inside my house. I grabbed her hand and we bounded off for the dining room, where we were soon chomping down on gingerbread men, the sugary taste crumbling in our mouths. Susan didn't eat, of course, but she was pleased that we were enjoying her cooking.

While we were eating, Seraphina whispered to me something, in an anxious voice. "I need to speak with you, alone." She was serious in her tone. I nodded, not fully understanding, but grabbed a couple more gingerbread men and we went to sit in the living room. Susan respected our privacy and tuned out of her vampire hearing.

I leaned in to hear Seraphina. "Just now," She took a harsh breath, "when you called me…I thought you were mad at me," Her voice was unsteady. "Why would I be mad at you?" I asked her, bewildered at her statement. "Did someone named 'greenboy1234' message you just now?" Now I was shocked. "How did you know about that?" She couldn't keep my gaze and looked down, ashamed, I realized.

"He asked you about Kyle? Didn't he?" She looked ready to cry. "Yeah, he did…but he's suppose to be in our class. Do you know him?" I asked her gently. "He knew you liked him because…he tricked me into telling him!" She started to cry now, and I could sense Susan prick her ears up at our conversation. I tried to comfort her but I didn't really know how.

"Seraphina, it's okay. It's not your fault…I mean, he's in our class and like, the other kids all see us together, who wouldn't think it?" I tried to make it all sound logical but failed. "It is my fault! I shouldn't have told your secret but it's like he knew exactly which buttons to push which would make me mad! Mad enough to tell!" She nearly shrieked. I had to calm her down before Susan would come in to see who was hyperventilating.

She buried her head in my shoulder, still crying. "The worst part is…he's not in our class." I froze. "What do you mean 'not in our class'?" I asked her, my voice was shaking now too. "Every student has a username which is permanent for use on the school's website." She looked up at me now, her eyes hard. "But...I just ran a check through the website for that username…and it doesn't exist." I became rigid with fear. "So…" I was shell-shocked. "So…I don't know what that means," Her voice was fearful too.

My head was spinning now and I could have collapsed if I wasn't already sitting down on the sofa. Someone who wasn't in our school, logged on to the school website with a non-existent username, pestered Seraphina about my crush on Kyle, and then annoys me with that piece of information while lying about who he really is? It was nonsensical! And how had he known that both Seraphina and I would be online at the same time?