Hello again. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

jacobblackforever

twilighter97

chocolatease

Illusiional Ice

angelinvestigationsfan

GrlWithoutAName

msnooky

divine divinity

Feenrai

Tear of Mist

Secretly-A-Vampiire

crystal stardust

Angels And Airwaves

buttonbit

Olympic1340

BellaChristopher

twilightgrl61692

Grace in Chaos

Missy Skywaker

twilighter09

XxClairesyxX

And this is from Edward's point of view. It is the last few chapters, but I skipped a large part of Edward's evening. I didn't want to give it away…I suppose that you can guess now. Have a wonderful holiday, if you aren't doing so already, and a safe and healthy New Year! Unfortunately, I'm going away, so don't count on an update until about a week into January. Sorry!

Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer

Chapter Three

EPOV

When I walked into school that fateful day in October I didn't know what to expect. I had left my beautiful Bella less than twenty years before, and my vampire mind had not yet recovered. Esme and Alice had the idea to move to the opposite side of the country, despite the inordinate amount of sun in New Jersey, to get away from Forks. Far away from Forks.

I was expecting another four years of purgatory, but this time I got to be older. While I usually started as a freshman, this year I started High School as a junior. Esme's reasoning was that if we hated it, we could leave sooner, and there was no question: we would not love this town. However, Montclair was voted one of the most liberal towns in the USA, so most likely we would not be called out for our strange pairing that was sort of like incest or for our pale skin, strange eating compulsions, and habitual vacations. That would make up for the brilliance of the sun. Not to mention that Montclair was one of the ten most tree canopied townships in New Jersey. There was plenty of shade.

We started as usual. We introduced ourselves to the principal and secretary, both of which were female and easily dazzled by our vampire charms. I had a strange schedule, but I'd had worse. Esme registered me for simple classes, in order that I would not have to even pay attention in class. She didn't realize how many answers I picked out of teacher-minds even without that. The only person I couldn't read was…I didn't want to think about her now. Actually, I thought I could smell her in the school. She had definitely been in the office that morning, if it was her. She could be in this town and her child had a potent smell, or someone just smelled like her, or it was just my imagination, thinking up ways to meet her here where none really existed. I hoped it was the last choice, for I balked at the thought of her having a child. Unfortunately for me she was thirty-five by now, and thus there was no way that she hadn't moved on like I wanted her to.

My day was uneventful, the normal first-day-of-school. It was dull, my classes were insanely stupid, but that was nothing new. And being in a classroom full of children was just as aggravating as it had been in Forks, if not more, because we had been avoiding all human contact for almost twenty years before we came here. I could only imagine Jasper's pain. I reached throughout the school for his mind; I stretched my senses, widening my horizons so that I could find him, and came upon an oddity.

Although Bella's scent had long since disappeared from my consciousness, here was another shielded mind, one that I could not penetrate. I wanted to look into it further, find out what classroom it was in and go find this person. There had never been another who could deflect my power like Bella. Maybe it was not as uncommon as I thought. But I did not have the chance, because my Math teacher asked me a question, I answered by picking the answer out of his head. But it had retracted my senses and I was left too spent to extend that far again. The closed mind must have been on the other side of the building. I did some speculation, even though I could not investigate fully. Maybe these shielded minds were more common than my coven and I had thought. Maybe it was because we avoided sunny locales that we did not see any of these shields…after all, before I knew Bella she had lived in Phoenix almost all of her life. Maybe it had something to do with the sun, maybe the sun's rays shielded the mind…I wouldn't have known. I always thought that Bella was the only one.

That class ended and I had fifth period lunch. I sat with Rosalie, alone, for Emmett had fourth period lunch and Alice and Jasper had sixth period lunch. Yes, this would be hell. I still had not forgiven Rosalie for being so unkind to my love, although I had forgiven Jasper for trying to bite her and Rosalie had forgiven me for loving her. Ours was still a hostile relationship. Rosalie said something, but I was tuning her out.

I turned to her, "What?"

I found her scent today, and I followed it, but when I got to the classroom she was gone. Rosalie thought seriously.

"Which classroom?" I asked desperately. I knew that it was impossible that she was still around, waiting for me, but it was possible that she had a daughter who could lead me to her, or a son. And it also gave me hope! I wasn't going crazy after all!

Room 205 in the main building.

And my hopes skyrocketed. If her daughter/son was in the main building she was probably an upperclassman and I would most likely run into her before the year was out. And I may possible have a class with her next year. If I could dazzle her child, maybe I could get close to her.

I wanted to see her so badly that I was thinking about her all through lunch as I sat with Rosalie on the steps of the amphitheatre.

And then I had sixth period orchestra. I was to play piano, but when he asked, I said that I played any instrument, and it was true. So he asked whether or not I would be willing to take various places when people were absent. I was horrified, but gave my consent.

My last class was an English class, it was a double period class. I walked up the stairs from the orchestra room on the first floor. My English class was in room 205. It was the same room that Rosalie had smelled my Bella in.

I got there and the door was locked. I could have looked in the window, but I was busy checking that this was the right room. Rosalie said that Bella's scent had left this room but I smelled that she had entered recently and not come out yet, and that was fairly recently. I also sensed some of her scent lingering in the room. She was definitely in there, and had gone in a lot. And it was definitely her scent. What was my Bella doing at Montclair High?

And a horrible thought occurred to me. Maybe she was a vampire now! Maybe another vampire had caught up to her when we left. Maybe she had been changed and this was her first run through High School? Oh my God, this was exactly what I had wanted to prevent. But, or course, I ruled that out right away, my throat was burning. I wanted her just as much as I wanted her that first day in Biology, but I had better self control by now. I wouldn't massacre anyone. In fact, I would kill to look at her, to talk to her, but not to eat her.

I triple checked that this was the right room and knocked on the door. I took a deep breath, I was sure that Bella's scent would be like a train wreck inside. I needed to get air now.

I had to stop shaking; I knew that Bella was in this room, did I want her to see me like this?

I gripped my schedule tighter and felt the fabric of the paper ripping underneath my fingers, I didn't care. I had this schedule memorized anyway. I heard a slow human jog to the door and then it opened. Bella's scent hit me full force. I kept my head down to avoid having to receive it full in the face.

But it would be rude not to look at the person I was talking to. I looked up and asked, "Is this English 3?"

And then I realized who the teacher was. I was flabbergasted. Bella Swan, my Bella, and she was now Ms. Swan, my English teacher. Unless she was married and I had to call her something else. Her hands gripped the door and doorframe tighter and I could tell that she was trembling.

She took long breaths to calm herself before speaking. "Yes," she squeaked, "You must be a new student." She invited me in.

I was horrified; I would have to spend two periods with her every day? This was torture. I couldn't believe this; I couldn't act like her student, could I? But there were no other available general English classes for juniors. "Yes." I said.

She moved further back from me and instructed me where to sit. I smiled and thanked her.

She sat at her computer, "You must be Edward Stewart." She said, she looked confused that we had changed our name from Cullen to Stewart, it was necessary. We could not remain Cullens that soon after our escapade in Forks. We were rather well known there, due to Bella and my relationship, and we know how fast word spreads.

I said, "Yes." I didn't want to use up too much of my air supply. I could already hear some of the thoughts from the teens around me, the boys were jealous and worried, and the girls were fawning and drooling. Just like usual.

Bella seemed like a fun teacher, "Well, while I'm over here, I may as well call roll." She called everyone's name, and everyone was there. She was very cheerful as she announced that. A few people laughed. I was not among them.

She went back to the board, "Alright," she said, "to recap for Edward," she tripped over my name, "We have just started our Shakespeare unit today. Do you know anything about him that you'd like to share?"

"No." I was almost out of air.

She seemed to come to some sort of realization. "That's alright." she told me softly.

I had only been in the classroom for about twenty minutes before Bella sat down at her desk and made this announcement. "I have to go to the nurse, I think. All of you turn to page nineteen in your books and begin reading Romeo and Juliet please? I would like a summary of the first fifty pages due on Monday. We'll be discussing more then." I wasn't surprised, she had been looking progressively worse throughout the class. She left without her bag. My first instinct was to gather her things and run after her, but I stopped myself. She was still called , but who knew what was going on.

A security guard came and watched the class while she was gone. When the final bell rang, I left class. I hadn't taken one breath throughout the last hour and a half. When I got the parking lot I had a huge problem. "Alice!" I called, I saw her first but Jasper was hanging off of her of course and Rosalie was following me. Emmett was still nowhere to be found. But then he appeared as if from nowhere. He thought he was hilarious.

Alice turned to me, "Yeah?"

"She's my teacher," I said softly. Alice looked confused, and then comprehension lit up her face.

"Bella." She breathed. It was not a question, but a statement.

"Why didn't you see?"

"You told me not to! Remember?" She quoted me, "Don't be looking for her future, either. We've done enough damage.' And now we've run into her thanks to you."

"Well, I just came down to say that I'm staying late to talk to her."

Rosalie's eyes bugged, and Alice's did too. Emmett and Jasper seemed unfazed. Jasper had withdrawn from anything having to do with Bella, as he still blamed himself for our departure. And I'm pretty sure that Emmett didn't care, he wanted us back together.

Alice was the first so speak, "What!" she screeched. "What are you trying to do? Ruin her life again? Listen Edward, you told me not to look for her future, but I was already so attuned to her, some things are unavoidable. Edward, look into my mind." I'm sorry, I've tried to keep these things from you, but now you need to see them. She thought to me. And then I started seeing images that I didn't want to see. They were all Bella. One was Bella, her spirit broken and her body bleeding in the forest outside of her house just after I had left her there. And then Bella was stumbling up the stairs to her room, and lifting the lid on a CD player. I remembered taking my CD out of it. And then Bella was looking at a scrapbook. She saw that I had taken her pictures of me, and then she fell. Her knees gave way, and she sank to the floor. She cried silently, the tears running down her face, pressing her cheek against the wooden floor, and her body sometimes convulsing in actual, physical pain. And Alice showed me another one of her old visions; Bella was starving herself, refusing to get out of bed for a week.

I clutched the sides of my head in pain, this was much worse than those first few months when the voices threatened to overwhelm me. This was a thousand times worse. "Stop!" I shrieked, "Alice, you're killing me!" Jasper looked like he was in pain too, of course he was, he could feel mine, and Emmett seemed to want to do something, but brute strength could fix nothing this time.

But Alice didn't stop. She showed me Bella throwing a tantrum when her mother came to remove her from Forks, and then collapsing into tears when her mother left. And another, Bella was breaking all of the CDs that she owned, walking out of the TV room stone-faced when Charlie was watching, and then, tearing the stereo that we'd given her out of her car, leaving her with bloody hands and leaving the stereo broken beyond repair. And then there were snippets of the months and months that she went to school and did not even speak to anyone. And one last one when she was walking across a street in Port Angeles to see a man in a bar…I knew that face. It was one of the men who almost gang raped her.

I sank to my knees in pain, still holding my head, trying in vain to tune Alice out.

This is what we did to her, Edward. She didn't recover until she met someone else. I could see her with him for a while, and then they disappeared. I was so afraid that she had died; I went looking for her online. I found that she graduated from the University of Alaska, so she was alright. The only reason left that I could not see her is that she was happy, and no longer needed me to see her and help her. You need to leave her alone. Just be her student and you'll be out here in two years. You'll only need to take her class for an hour and a half each day. Just be her student. Don't go talk to her. Promise me. Please.

I shook my head at her, I still could not promise. "Did you have any visions of me?" I asked her hoarsely, still on the ground. I knew that she did. From when I was in 'hibernation', before I came back to the family. I had suffered just as much as Bella had. I needed to see her. I shakily stood up, my head was pounding. It was the first time I'd collect had a headache in over a century. Alice nodded her head, "Then you know that I need to see her."

And Alice's mind flashed into a vision, it was me, sitting in her classroom, and Bella sitting at her desk. Her voice was harsh and it said to me. "You may leave now Mr. Stewart."

Her mind flashed back to the present and she raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'You still want to go?'

I didn't answer, but left immediately. I head Alice say to our siblings, "Well, at least I tried."

I had been waiting in her classroom for fifteen minutes. She had been with me for ten. Neither of us said a word. Finally she said, "Edward, go home. The school day has been over for fifteen minutes. Your siblings are probably waiting for you."

"They've gone home without me." I told her "I've told them that you are my teacher. They understood my need to stay late and talk to you."

"Well, I've been here for ten minutes and you haven't said a word." She was obviously annoyed.

"I was waiting for you." I didn't want to admit that I was afraid to talk to her.

"Well, talk now then. I have a staff meeting in five minutes." Of course, she wouldn't put her life on hold for me again like she had so many years before.

"I'm sorry." That was all that I really wanted to say, after seeing Alice's visions, though, that put those words into a whole new light.

"I know."

"I've missed you." I wanted to say that too.

"Bullshit." She was harsh, but I'd never expected my fragile little Bella to be so fiery, and I'd most definitely never heard her curse before.

"I've never heard you curse before."

"No, you haven't. There are a lot of things that you don't know about me." She was very angry.

"I'm sure." I didn't want to use too much air.

And then she exploded. I shouldn't have said that, "Of course you're sure, goddamn immortal freak! -it-all Cullen. Well get this: I'm thirty–five, I wear reading glasses, I teach at Montclair High School, I dated a fucking werewolf for a year and I have a four year old daughter!"

A werewolf! How much trouble could she get into! But that wasn't what worried me. She had a daughter. With whom? The werewolf? I resisted the urge to growl. "I'm sorry." she said, "I should not have exploded like that. You may leave now Mr. Stewart."

I left, walking slower than a usually human pace, let along vampire pace. I heard her call my name "Edward! Tell Alice that I named my daughter after her." After Alice. After my sister Alice. She named her daughter Alice. Alice Swan? Alice Black? Alice Cullen. It should have been Alice Cullen.

I decided to see where Bella went after school. I knew it was wrong, but I'd done it once before, and I didn't feel too bad doing it again.

Bella went to a house with two cars already in the driveway and parked her car before going inside. I wondered if it was Bella's house, but it wasn't, because an older woman opened the door to let her in. It was a friend's house. I waited outside, in the bushes, for her to come out. I wondered if she was eating dinner at her friend's house. But she came out ten minutes later with a small girl in her arms. The girl was short and thin, wearing a pair of embroidered jeans and a thing long sleeved shirt. It was exactly the thing that I thought Bella would dress her daughter in. I could see that Alice's skin was noticeably darker than Bella's. Maybe Alice was that Native werewolf's daughter. My fists clenched. I didn't see Alice's face, because her shoulder length stick-straight hair was covering it as she hid her face in Bella's shoulder. She was obviously tired. I tried to reach into Alice's mind, and I could. She was thinking normal four year old thoughts about home and bed and sleeping, I found it strange that there were no thoughts of her father at home.

I followed Bella on foot to her house, it was an apartment building, and I scaled the back wall and found the window with her scent on it. It was a two-floored flat, the bedrooms, closet and bathroom on the top floor and a family room and kitchen on the bottom floor. Bella gently put Alice to bed after giving her a bath. She was so gentle and loving. I wanted that to be our child. But I knew that was impossible, and I was happy that she could be able to love a child even if it was not mine.

Bella eyed her school bag for a little while, but turned away and got some chocolate cake out of the freezer and sat down in front of the TV, she was watching Robin Hood, something I loved in my youth. An hour later, Bella got ready for bed. But before she fell asleep, she went to check on Alice. What a loving, caring, person. I watched Bella's face as she turned out Alice's lights and it was melting with such joy and love. It was the same face that she used to make toward me. Now her love was all for Alice. I almost fell off of the building.

I stayed at Bella's house all night. No man ever came to her home. Was she a single mother? Was Jacob on a business trip? After she fell asleep, I snuck in through the window. Her alarm rang at five-thirty and she went to take a shower. I moved silently to the kitchen. It was raining that day, perfect weather for us vampires. Would she not go to school? Was she that upset?

I was contemplating Bella when I heard her voice. It startled me out of my reverie. She was saying, "Ali! Alice, dearest, it's time to get up!" She sighed, "How many more minutes do you want Ali?" she asked.

I heard a small feminine voice, "Ten!"

"How about five?" Bella was compromising.

"Alright," Alice agreed, "That's more than two!" Apparently two was the usual compromise.

I heard Bella coming down the stairs; I sat up straighter and brushed my fingers through my hair. She set her things on the kitchen table before she noticed me, and screamed.

I don't know why I stayed. I'm just a love struck idiot.

She was looking at me with fear, and then Alice started screaming, "Mommy Mommy! Where are you?" Bella's expression turned from surprise and horror to loathing, and hatred. I had disturbed her daughter, and now I was going to pay hell for it.

Bella ran up the stairs shouting, "I'm coming sweetheart!" and then, more urgency in her tone, "Where are you Alice?"

"I'm here Mommy!"

"I'm sorry Ali, there was a spider downstairs and it scared me."

"Oh"

"Well, hey, you're awake now. Why don't we get ready for the day?"

Alice huffed, but I heard them go to the bathroom. Bella was a great mother and teacher.

Bella dressed her daughter and then said, "Put these on, alright, and then come down for breakfast!"

Bella came down the stairs faster than I knew she could go without tripping. "What the hell are you doing in my apartment?" She actually hissed at me. "You really scared Alice; I don't know what you think you were doing by coming here, but get out, now. You are my student, remember?"

I had to think of something to say. I don't know why I didn't. I suppose that I hadn't been expecting her to be angry. I used to come into her house all the time uninvited, and she was totally fine with it. I guessed that this was sign that she really had moved on. "Yes. I remember, but our conversation ended badly yesterday. I wanted to apologize. I was trying to hide my emotions from you, but I ended up seeming like a jerk."

"Edward. There is something I want to make clear to you." She was terrifying. "I am your English teacher, and you are my English 3 student who just moved here from, where, LA?" She was quite angry, and she was making fun. She knew that I couldn't have been in LA, one of the sunniest places in the USA. It was the lie that we had told when leaving Forks. "And let me tell you something about that conversation ending badly yesterday. It ended. And it ended for good. If I want to talk to you, I will talk to you. If you want to talk to me, come before or after school. I don't want you at my house. Ever. And stay away from Alice. If you even look at her I will kill you. I have Jacob's number on speed dial. He could be here in four days if I asked him to be. And he could rip you limb from limb. Now get out, Alice is coming downstairs." So Jacob was the lucky fellow. Well wasn't that just fine. She went from a vampire to a werewolf. Bella really was a danger magnet.

I had to know if I was right. "Can I ask you one question?"

"Yes. One."

"Is she yours?"

"Alice? Alice is my daughter, yes. Now get out. I'll let you out the door, so that you don't have to go through the window as I'm sure you did last night." Alice was coming down the stairs. "Get out. And if you ever talk to me as anything other than your teacher again, I will have you destroyed."

I saw myself out. I watched as she put her daughter in the car and started toward Montclair. I went home.

After sixth period, I went to Bella's English class in room 205. I sat down before she even walked in. Most of us did. She divided us into groups and assigned us to discuss Romeo and Juliet. I didn't talk much, the smell was overpowering if I took a breath. But I watched Bella a bit. It turned out that she actually did wear reading glasses. How interesting. She was only, what, thirty five?

When the eighth period bell rang, she suggested that we do something fun. Someone called Henry by everybody else's thoughts suggested pictionary. We played a game, there were three teams, each team had one person draw and the rest of us had to guess what the word was from Romeo and Juliet. It was actually sort of fun. And I was unable to find the word in the teacher's mind, so I was making my own guesses without saying them aloud. I still wouldn't waste my air, but I was also participating in my head. However, it was not totally new or interesting, I knew Romeo and Juliet by heart. I spent most of the game looking at the facilitator, Bella.

I hung back after class. Alice had asked me to do something for her.

Another kid stayed back. He was asking questions about the assignment for class, questions that had already been answered.

She said, "I'll be right with you, Edward."

When she was ready I told her, "Alice wants to talk to you."

"My daughter is at school." She answered haughtily.

"You know who I mean. She's devastated. She wishes that she were in your class. But she's pretending to be a sophomore this year."

"She'll be in my class next year, then. I'm sure that she'll live. She has who?"

"Mr. Athian."

"Oh, he'll be a good teacher for her."

"I know. But you'll be even better."

"Thank you. What did you want to talk to me about? Oh, of course, I have to give you various assignments and such." She wrongly assumed my purpose for staying later; maybe she did that on purpose. I was sure that she didn't want to associate with us ever again. She handed me various papers. "This is for your parent and you to sign. I want it back on Monday." Did she really think that I would have my parents sign it? I decided to sign it and give it to her then.

"Bella." She was rattling on and on about things I didn't want to hear.

"I am called Ms. Swan at this school, Edward." She told me. I guessed she was serious about now wanting to associate with me other than teacher/student.

"Ms. Swan, then, are you just going to ignore my sister's plea to you? We're all suffering, but her most of all." That was a lie. I was suffering most.

She seemed to reconsider, "I'll talk to her. When is her lunch period?"

"Sixth."

She laughed; I hadn't heard that in years. It was such a relief. I was glad that I had caused her to laugh. "That's underclassmen lunch."

"She knows, she's upset." That wasn't a lie.

She laughed again, "I'm sure that she is! Tell her to meet me at Starbucks tomorrow during 6th lunch. I'll drive her back to school."

"Thank you. From all of us." Yes, all of us except for Rosalie.

"You're welcome Mr. Stewart. Oh, hey, hold on a minute." She wrote on a picture of her daughter, "Give this to Alice. I'll see you tomorrow." She took off her glasses and put them in her purse. I signed the syllabus and placed it on her desk before rushing out of the classroom. If I had remained any longer, I would have been unable to control my thirst. I needed to hunt. I called Carlisle and told him that I would be back by morning.

When I got home around four in the morning after running and taking a few deer from Eagle Rock Reservation Carlisle was waiting for me. Emmett and Rose were busy in their room; Alice and Jasper were playing chess and Esme was drawing.

"Edward."

"Yes?"

"I am required to discipline you."

I was confused. "By whom are you required to discipline me?"

"Ms. Swan and the Montclair High School. Did you know that forging another person's signature is a federal crime? Well, I did and so does Ms. Swan. She wasn't happy with that trick you pulled. She knows that you were unlikely to bring me a syllabus and she knows that even if you did I wouldn't care if you forged my signature, and she probably knows that we forage signatures on an almost daily basis. But she had to go through the motions of what the school required and it made her very upset to have to call this house. It made Emmett upset too." That explained why he was so busy with Rosalie. He was upset.

"Oh."

"Yes, oh. I want you to write an apology to Be – Ms. Swan…" he trailed off. "Never mind, that would probably upset her more." He thought something to me; she almost called me Dr. Cullen on the phone today. This is very hard for her.

"And you think it isn't for me?"

No, but you are only making this harder for her. Just act like you do usually. Don't be a thorn in her side.

"Thanks. But it seems like everyone's telling me what to do, and I don't need you to be one of them." I said under my breath. Carlisle looked stung.

Fine, you go ahead and do what you wish and I promise you that nobody will envy you the consequences.

I shrugged off his warning and started crashing on my piano. I started playing angry pieces, but the song soon turned into Bella's lullaby. I couldn't avoid it. My life, or existence, was awful. The only thing that I was thankful for was that Alice Swan was too dark skinned to be Mike Newton's daughter.