A/N: Again, I own nothing except that which springs from my head. Reviews are loved along with helpful criticism. I did forget to mention, POV will switch between Edward and Jillian.
Songs for this chapter are "Today" by Smashing Pumpkins and "I Will Possess Your Hear" by Death Cab for Cutie.
JPOV
I woke to someone shaking the foot of my bed and sleepily kicked at whoever it was. Ginger giggled and made a comment about my needing a shower and hurrying so I don't miss breakfast. Grumbling I tossed my covers off me and made my way to the bathroom. The warm water felt good on my skin and the smell of my Cucumber Melon bath stuff helped make me feel refreshed. Stepping out, I walked into my room and glanced out the small slit in my curtains. Gray, cloudy but not as damp as yesterday as I decided on my dark skinny jeans and white short sleeved blouse. I would be fine in a sweatshirt so I didn't worry about it being to cold. It was still the middle of September and not so cold yet. I kept my hair up in the towel as I bounded down the stairs and into the small kitchen. Amy had tried painting it some bright yellow color to make it look more cheerful, but it only made it look worse in my opinion. Luckily, Charlie had replaced most the cabinets and put newer lighter colored ones in. I never did know how much Chief of Police made but my dad had nothing better to spend his money on until I came home. Ginger was sitting at the table with toast and coffee reading over the town's newspaper. As I gathered things for my bowl of cereal I looked out the window and noticed Charlie's cruiser was gone.
"He left us note on the fridge. I barely got up as he left," Ginger mumbled through her mouthful of toast. A post-it stuck to the fridge telling us to have a good day and that he'd see us at dinner. I smiled at it as I opened the refrigerator to get the milk.
"I doubt there's anything that interesting going on in town. It's not like there's car chases on the highways out here almost non-stop," I said as I sat at the table across from her.
"Actually, I was hoping that we'd be the cover story. You know, 'long-lost Michaels daughter returns with cabana girl in tow'. But we don't even get a two line blip on the last page. I'm so disappointed," she said mockingly serious before both of us burst into fits of laughter.
"Do you miss being home yet?" I asked and her grimace was her response back.
Ginger's family was well to do in a sense. They weren't billionaires but her new black Lincoln Navigator outside said something about how well off they were. Despite the money, Ginger barely knew her family. Both her parents were constantly too busy with work and social engagements while her older siblings were more concerned with burning through the family wealth as fast as possible. Ginger remained the only sensible one of the lot which probably came about because of her close connection to her grandmother Francesca. I had loved Francesca. She was one of those feisty old ladies who spoke her mind and didn't care if you liked it or not. Grandma Evelyn and she had been best friends which had caused me and Ginger to become best friends when I moved to San Diego. Francesca died suddenly when three years ago and Ginger came to live with us taking for awhile before my own grandmother died, just as suddenly. Knowing she had to stay with me, she told her parents she was leaving with me and taking her trust fund and car with her. Even though Ginger won't admit to it, I'm sure there was something she blackmailed each of her parents with in order to come with me. Her parents knew less about what she was than Charlie did, but she also had to only deal with one power growing up. My own outnumbered hers. I was silently munching while mulling my thoughts over when her voice pierced through them.
"I see your hair is still wet. Hurry up and I'll help you fix it so we can go."
I did as she said and followed her up the stairs to our bathroom. Before, it would've taken me thirty minutes to dry my thick hair. With Ginger focusing, it took five and about the ten to curl it. I ran my fingers through my hair quickly, softening the curls to look more natural and went to my room to grab my backpack. I met Ginger in the car who already had the heater running, not like she needed it. We drove silently towards the high school, me nervously wringing my hands, her smiling happily to herself. I could feel the ends of my hair lightly flowing from the light breeze, even though there was no breeze in the enclosed car.
"Lili, calm down. You're getting overly excited and I'll smack you if you start creating a windstorm in my car," Ginger said giving me a sympathetic look.
I closed my eyes and took in deep breaths trying to think of things that calmed me. The woods were a good one. Tall green trees, the filtered light that came through, the quiet that enveloped you the deeper you went. I opened my eyes as Ginger pulled into the parking lot. We were a few minutes early and only about four cars were parked in the same area. Stepping out, I looked around before I saw the sign over the front office. I walked carefully next to Ginger across the parking lot hoping to not fall. I wasn't particularly clumsy but I had enough good luck on my side that attracted bad equally. Walking into the office felt like walking into any other school office, frightening. Again I felt the light breeze fall around me and again I calmed myself down before Ginger could give me her "look". The secretary handed us our schedule and a map of the school before sending us off. We had no classes together since I was a junior and Ginger was a senior but I was happy to know we had lunch together. She walked with me at least to my first class before heading further into the campus towards her own. I walked in to class and handed my paper over to the teacher sitting in the front then moved my way towards the back, trying to stay as unnoticeable as I possibly could. I was not good at making friends. Besides trying to hide what I was, I just always felt awkward. I knew I could be a bit dorky in my humor but it was easier for me to ignore people than for me to make friends. People continuously glanced my way and during class I could hear murmurs of "new girl" and "Chief Michael's daughter". I thought I heard one say "pretty" but I doubted that it referred to me. Finally the bell rang after learning nothing in my history class and I was prepared to run out the door when a kid named Eric offered to walk me to my next class.
And so it continued throughout the day till lunch. Some boy or girl offering to walk me to class while asking me the same questions over and over. The only one who I liked was a shy quiet girl named Angela who didn't pry but you could obviously tell wasn't stupid. I didn't like stupid people like the girl named Jessica and the boy named Mike who I'd just met. They all but demanded my attention and then invited me to sit at their table. I had known people like them at my old high school and I already knew they had nothing I wanted to hear. And it was getting old reminding people not to call me "Jill". I snapped at Mike as we stood in the lunch line that it was Jillian or nothing at all. Only Charlie called me Jill and only my friends called me Lili, Ginger being the only one who called me that. I looked around to lunchroom searching for Ginger only to find her surrounded by people at the same table I was invited too. I knew she would have no problem making friends. She had always been the born leader which made me wonder why God chose me for my future destiny. I put on a smile and sat across from her and her new senior friends while Mike and Jessica flanked me on both sides. Ginger answered most of the questions thrown our way. Basically she had been adopted by my grandmother and when she passed we both preferred to come live with Charlie. More truth than lie so I was happy with the story. I quietly ate my food while glancing at Ginger every now and then to roll my eyes at whatever gossip Jessica was throwing my way that I could care less about. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mike staring at me in an obvious way. I looked away across to the other side of the room where I finally saw them. Three amazingly beautiful people sat quietly at a table alone together, not eating, not speaking. I looked over each one of them before my eyes rested on one boy in particular. He was lean but not skinny and had striking bronze hair. His skin was paler than mine but on him it worked. Like him being tanned would somehow mar his beauty. Silently I almost wished he'd turn so I could see his eyes when I felt the breeze again. The light air that swirls around me every time I got excited or nervous. A side affect, is what Ginger called it. Just how her temp was about six degrees higher than normal was a side affect of her power. But unfortunately I had about five side affects for five different things.
"I see you've found the Cullen family," Jessica said giggling, "They're even more confusing than you guys. You see they're adopted…." I tuned out and tried not to full on stare as she gave me the run down on the "odd" family. I didn't care much about them, only one interested me so far and she hadn't mentioned him yet. I still hadn't looked away from the table but none of them had looked my way until Jessica said his name. The minute "Edward Cullen" tumbled out of Jessica's mouth, his eyes found mine. Blushing because I had been some stupidly caught, I looked quickly down at my plate. Ginger's giggles brought my eyes up to her face, where she wore a grin that could light a Christmas tree.
"See something you like?" She asked nibbling on a roll.
"Shut it Ging. I was only curious. Sue me," I said with a slight edge. Part of the excitement died while a little anger rose to the surface. I picked up my fork and poked at my salad. Ginger shook her head and arched her eyebrow, letting me know that I needed to calm down. Breathing deep I refocused on my lettuce until Jessica not so subtly nudged my side.
"What?" I muttered.
"Edward Cullen is staring at you. He never looks at anyone. But he's totally staring at you," she whispered with jealousy tinged excitement.
I lifted my head and looked towards the table. I'd already been caught so there was no point in trying to be coy about it. It was true, Edward was staring at me in the most predatory way. I never listened much to my inner voice, always trying to be objective and open-minded, but that inner voice was shouting at me loud enough to get my attention. My instincts told me he wanted to hunt me, that he could even maybe want to hurt me, but they never said to run. Instead my instincts said to hunt him back and for once I was listening to them. I latched onto his gaze, my teal eyes holding onto his ever darkening black ones. I wasn't turning away anytime soon and neither was he.
EPOV
I'd come to the conclusion that school was prison. Of course I'd come to this conclusion several times before along with the majority of the student population. But for me, it was a constant truth. I learned nothing new in these classes, I learned nothing new from the students who seemed to grow shallower and apathetic each time I returned to a high school in America. One more year and I'll go, I thought to myself. I was currently posing as a junior in a small town high school for the umpteenth time in my life and it was beyond depressing. I almost wished I had gone with Emmett and Rosalie to South America. Almost. After I "graduated" I would try to convince my family to go somewhere else for awhile. We'd stayed in America for several years, it was time for a change. My mind agreed, hoping to escape before I let it atrophy in another high school somewhere else. At least today I was not the focus of so many thoughts. No, today they were centered on the two new girls who'd transferred here. Chief Michael's daughter Jillian and her friend Ginger Ruiz who he had taken in when her family died. I picked up random thoughts from the people who'd seen them. Nothing much concerning Ginger since she was a senior and I was surrounded by juniors. She seemed pretty enough, nothing that stood out to catch my attention. It was Jillian that had me curious. Most of the boys in school believed her to be a goddess sent to their school and dreamed of being the one to take her to the next dance. Jillian was pretty, pale, brunette, petite, but no one seemed to no much about her. Her voice apparently was never heard much and no one could decide what color eyes she had. Half thought blue, half thought green. I chuckled to myself wondering how all these guys thought they were in love but didn't even know what color her eyes were. I decided to tune out the thoughts that weren't helping me and instead listen to my own melancholy thoughts. It was times like this that I wished I could still sleep, but being a vampire made it impossible. Even though my family and I were of a vegetarian nature, it was still hard sometimes to be around a buffet and not have a taste. We knew what was at stake should we slip though and it wasn't a risk any of my brothers and sisters were willing to take. I never had much of a problem, no one's blood appealed to me to a point that was a strain against my control. I had been seventeen for over a hundred years and no one had cause more than a passing interest in me, whether in meal form or other. People liked to assume since I didn't date that perhaps my type wasn't a type I was comfortable mentioning. That wasn't the case. I could appreciate a gorgeous woman but once hearing their thoughts, I was disappointed time and again. I knew what I wanted, but I doubted I'd ever find. How're you supposed to find someone intelligent, beautiful inside as well as out, and not afraid of you. I knew that several girls had crushes on me but none them could seriously acted on them. They're not able to when instinctively they're told to run. None of this bothered me much since most of them were much too simple-minded for me. I made my way through the rest of my classes on autopilot, tuning out people's thoughts as well. Now I headed for the cafeteria, a place where I could not actually eat. Not many students would be comfortable if I were to drain a mountain lion in their midst. I fell in line behind Alice and Jasper, my brother and sister respectively, before following them to our table on the far side with a tray full of food I'd never eat. I almost went to the parking lot to sit in my car during the lunch hour, but the death glare from Alice held me to my seat. That's when the thoughts drifted in about the new girls in school once again. I didn't bother to turn and look, I got a clear enough view of them from my siblings. Right now, the attention was turned on to Ginger once again, all talking about how she stood out from the rest. Jasper gave me a look and I focused on the table I had seen her at.
"Her thoughts are difficult to keep up with, they're almost entirely in Spanish and I'm having to translate," I whispered to the table. I kept my voice only at a volume they could hear. "She hasn't even noticed us at all." I kept the last part to myself, the part where she was worrying about Jillian. Why was she so worried about how she was feeling? I went back to staring at my plates not paying much attention. A little bit of embarrassment from Mike I detected but nothing worth noting. I was content just enjoying my own silence when I heard my name spoken out loud by Jessica. This was nothing new but something I hadn't head in a long time. I turned without thinking, wondering what prompted her to say my name when I saw her. Jillian had been staring at us and the moment I turned my head she blushed a dark rose and looked down. Alice caught my thoughts asking what was being said.
"Jessica is telling her about us. Nothing to fanciful this time," I murmured.
"What is she thinking?" Alice asked curiously. Her eyes twinkling in anticipation.
I turned and saw her frowning at her friend as she giggled. Ginger thought she liked, Jillian thought nothing. How could she think nothing? I refocused and listened harder. I heard her voice, so soft and sharp at the same time. But her thoughts were on mute. I was getting frustrated, this never happens to me. I always heard the inner workings on people's minds. Always. I was now staring intently at her when Jessica told her I was staring. I expected her to sneak a glance, try some subtle maneuver to look my way. I was shocked when she turned without hesitation and locked her gaze with mine. What was more surprising is that she didn't look away. She wasn't backing down when her instincts should have been telling her too. I stared straight into her eyes, teal I discovered, and focused. Still nothing. I was growing impatient and angry. I could almost feel the growl at the back of my throat. Then I made the biggest mistake, I took a deep breathe. I could smell her from here. Her blood was so pure, so untainted and somehow powerful. I knew drinking from her would be a heady experience. There was something more though. I wanted to hunt her, chase her. Not just to drink her, but to have her. I found I wanted her in such a primitive way it was scaring me. I took another deep breathe searching for her scent in the many I picked up. I found it faintly it was new and it just had to be hers. So fresh and innocent. Jillian was my dream, my nightmare, and I wanted her now. For the first time I wanted to know if a girl wanted me the same way. I tried to hear her thoughts, tried to find my name in her mind. I couldn't stand and I could feel myself losing control. I had to break this trance before I strode across the room and took her right in front of everyone. I just didn't know if I was going to take her blood or her body yet. I gave up and turned quickly back to the table. I stood up with my tray and headed for the exit, my siblings close behind. Once outside Alice spoke up.
"Don't worry Edward, you're not going to do anything," she said a little too cheerily.
"That's not exactly a vote of confidence Alice. Are you okay Jasper," I asked.
"It's weird. I could feel what she was feeling. It's not like her emotions were over the top, just somehow more…prevalent. Odd," he said and then began thinking to himself.
"I like them. Especially Jillian. She's a cutie and she wasn't afraid. You can tell when they're scared but not her. For a moment I almost thought she was going to hunt you instead of you hunting her," Alice rambled as she slid her hand into Jasper's grasp.
I shot her a look meaning to shut her up. But her comment got me thinking. She didn't look afraid, in fact she looked more prepared to fight than anything. So beautiful and human but strong. I loved to hunt mountain lions and looks-wise she was a kitten. A ferocious kitten I added. What would it be like to tame her I suddenly found myself wondering. Wait, why are you even thinking in that way? I chided myself. I was no better then the rest of these males panting after her without knowing her. I ran my hand through my hair to steady myself as I headed for chemistry, hoping to lose myself in the mundane and forget Jillian Michaels.
