C h a p t e r O N E

Forks, Washington, Present Day

This is insanity, I thought sullenly as I took my usual seat in the cafeteria. Edward nodded in agreement. His boredom was rolling off him in dull waves, as with Emmett and Rosalie. Alice…well, Alice never seemed to be bored. She was something else entirely. I looked on at her affectionately and was caught up in the memory of when she found me.

I resignedly ducked into the diner. Being out in daylight was something I doubted I would ever be comfortable with.

I hadn't hunted in almost a month and I had to repress my thirst, which was almost unbearable at that moment. The few humans in the stuffy little restaurant were doubly tempting to me in my state. I stiffened when I smelled the scent of vampire but decided to ignore it for the time being. I was in no mood for a fight.

I chose a corner booth in the far back and irritably waved away the waiter and proceeded to glare sullenly out the window. I turned when I heard footsteps approaching my table and glanced up at the one other vampire in the place. She was a tiny little thing with inky black hair. Her eyes were the most intriguing gold colour. She was like a beacon, her happiness seeping into me and causing a small smile to tug at my lips. She sat down across from me and stared at me eagerly.

"Jasper," she breathed, making me wonder if I had met her before, although I was sure I'd remember if I had. "You've kept me waiting a long time," she added, her odd eyes twinkling.

I stared at her dubiously, slightly concerned for her sanity. I wasn't about to be bad-mannered to a lady, however. I ducked my head. "I'm sorry, ma'am," I replied.

She proceeded to tell me about her visions, and how she had seen us living with a family of vampires one day. I was surprised when she said 'family' and I had rudely interrupted to ask if she meant coven instead. She merely giggled and shook her head as she told me about a special diet. A diet of animals. I couldn't help but scrunch up my noise in distaste. Deer sounded less than appetizing.

While she told me her story happiness, this time my own, filled me. She added that we were to become the best of friends, and so I took her hand as she led me to a new life.

Edward had been immersed in the recollection with me and was smirking at my nostalgic moment. I paid him no notice and tried, fruitlessly, to ignore the restless feelings of the students who had begun to enter the cafeteria. There was some buzzing about two new people that had recently moved into the small town, and the girl had apparently started school today. The lust and excitement rolling of the rest of the student body was starting to grate on my nerves. They were all acting like a litter of eager puppy dogs.

Alice suddenly gasped, her face going blank as she experienced a vision. Her emotions were changing quickly, finally settling on surprise and disbelief. I looked questioningly at her as I sent a small wave of calm her way. She smiled gratefully.

"What was that?" I asked quietly. She shook her head, confused.

"I'm not entirely sure. But everyone just kind of…disappeared for a little while," she shrugged. I frowned. That was far from normal but I could tell Alice didn't want to talk about it. I scanned the cafeteria, hoping for a distraction. In the hopes of bettering my self-control I had decided to hold off hunting for two weeks. It was not working for me and I stiffened as a short blonde girl walked by too close, her scent washing over me. Edward kicked me underneath the table.

"Sorry," I muttered, embarrassed. He shrugged and looked away before frowning.

"It seems the new girl has made her appearance," he announced, nodding towards the door. I didn't bother looking as it was behind me. I did glance at Edward, however, surprised at his frustration and uncertainty.

"I can't read her thoughts," he explained. I frowned thoughtfully. It was Edward's duty to make sure that no one was thinking suspicious thoughts about us. His ability, no matter how annoying it could be, had gotten us out of danger plenty of times. Therefore, we were all a little uncomfortable with this knowledge. This girl could be a liability and I listened to the conversation surrounding her, paying close attention when we were mentioned.

"Hey, Jess, why don't you tell the newbie about the freak shows? It's not like they'll introduce themselves," snickered Lauren Mallory, a snotty girl who I was going to end up biting one of these days.

"Oh yeah! Okay, see that group of pale kids over there? Those are the Cullens," said Jessica Stanley in her nasally voice. "They moved down from Alaska a few years ago. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen adopted them all. They're pretty weird."

I chuckled darkly. She really had no idea just how 'weird' we are.

"And some of them are kind of together," she continued, her distaste for us obvious. "The body-builder is Emmett, who's with the blonde girl, Rosalie. The short one who looks like she should do advertisements for Peter Pan is Alice-"

Alice snorted disdainfully at this and we all chuckled. The comment suited the little sprite perfectly, not that I'd admit it. The last time Edward had made fun of her height he had ended up in the forest for hours, searching for pieces of his arm. He glared at Alice and me.

"-and the gorgeous one with the bronze hair is Edward," Jessica continued, "They're all kind of stuck up. Oh, and the other blond one, the guy who looks like he's in pain? That's Jasper, he's Rosalie's twin. They're the only two who are actually related," she finished explaining. It was our standard cover story and it worked pretty well. The new girl was a quiet one, as she hadn't uttered a word the whole time, and I felt Jessica's exasperation. She had probably been hoping for another gossipmonger.

I was grateful when the bell rang and I hurried off to my next class, Art. It was the one hour of the school day that I found relatively peaceful. The teacher was a remnant from Woodstock and generally took no notice of us and most of the students were a relaxed bunch, which suited me just fine.

I settled in my seat at the back of the classroom and took out my mandatory sketchbook. I was just aimlessly scribbling a vague outline of Maria when I smelled it. I stiffened in disbelief. I tentatively sniffed and smelled a bizarrely memorable combination of delicious blood and lovely perfume.

Orange blossoms, berries, and vanilla settled around me as I looked up into familiar twinkling brown eyes.

"Why hello there, little mullo."

I updated this earlier than I was planning on, only because school starts tomorrow and I know everything will be super busy for me. Enjoy!

Reviews make me wanna update faster, btw. Seriously. The button is RIGHT THERE. Click it, you know you wanna :)