Four

A boy around my age stormed in, his bronze hair wind-blown, his jaw clenched as if in anger. Even though he looked absolutely livid, he still looked mind-blowingly beautiful. Even more beautiful than Jasper.

His skin was the same pale colour. His eyes were black as onyx. All his features were perfect, as though he was an ice sculpture.

Mr. Vladovski was the first to break the silence.

His voice was flat, and he said clearly, "Mr. Cullen. This must be a record. You're only-" he checked his watch dramatically "- two minutes late."

The bronze-haired boy stared coldly at the teacher with a gaze so intensely frosty that I almost felt the temperature in the room go down. I shivered.

Mr. Vladovski said, "A spectacular entrance I'm sure, but you can sit down now."

The boy strode through the room, not seeing or maybe not caring about the student's who were gaping at him. His black eyes bored into the wall opposite the door, and his teeth clenched as he powered through. But when he got to about a foot from me, he froze, dead in his tracks. His head swiveled slowly in my direction, and his mouth opened and closed, speechless.

Was he really staring at me?

For a split second, light seemed to flash through his eyes, and he relaxed

His expression on his face melted, and he gazed at me, confused.

He sat down next to me carefully, and clenched the tabletop with a furious strength. Only when the teacher shook his head and turned back towards the whiteboard, the beautiful boy let go of the table. My eyes widened.

His fingers had left marks where he was gripping it.

And then so quickly that I almost missed it, I saw his hand smoothly wipe the edge. I blinked, and the marks had disappeared.

But when my mystified gaze combed the floor, I saw minuscule shavings of wood gently floating down to the ground

Jasper…

I quickly turned around to see Alice already standing next to me. The expression on her face was inscrutable. She touched my arm, and asked me anxiously.

"Where is she?" Her lips blurred as she spoke.

I answered quickly. "I just sent her off to her next class. Advanced English. With Edward."

Her eyes widened. "No! What if he loses control? It's highly possible that Indie is his singer."

She yanked my arm. "We have to tell him. He'll need at least some warning!"

We quickly walked through the long hallway, going the opposite direction to the other students. I hardly paused to register the surprised and curious looks on their faces.

Just as we pushed open the double doors and stepped into the fresh air, Edward stepped out of his car. He still drove the silver Volvo around. It was parked over two parking places. After eighteen years, it looked like an antique compared to the sleek cars designed nowadays. It was only from Rosalie's constant servicing, that he still got it to move.

He stepped out, his bronze hair messy and unruly from the wind as always. And with his permanently withdrawn expression on as always. I always got so gloomy around him.

"Edward." Alice called.

I saw him look around, searching for the source of the sound. He looked disappointed to see us. Edward hardly ever talked to us – his own family – anymore.

We walked over to him. He just looked warily between the two of us. I felt his pain rip through him as he saw how successful Alice and my relationship still was. I looked away; I couldn't bear it.

"Edward." Alice reached out towards him, trying to maintain his attention. He had looked uncaringly away, gazing at the horizon. He slowly turned to look at her face.

Alice's eyes glinted with excitement, as she spoke faster than usual.

"I had a vision yesterday night. You won't believe it… I can see that. But I've got to try."

He looked at her, his face dead. He cleared his throat, but his voice still cracked from the disuse. "What is it, Alice?" He only said this for courtesy. I could see that he really didn't care at all.

"Edward, I saw you kissing a girl. And you were sparkling."

He didn't even blink. His eyes remained cold, unresponsive.

Alice was really sad now. I could feel her own confusion, though she tried to hide it. She had to be confident, otherwise Edward really would not believe her.

"And then I saw that same girl, come here. She's the new girl! She's Bella… reincarnated!"

Edward continued to just look at her calmly, as if waiting for her to say, 'April Fools!' I had to admit; 'reincarnation' even sounded ludicrous to me.

"You're making that up Alice." His voice was weary. "I'm getting a little tired of your stories… and this one's gone just a little bit too far."

"No, I'm not making it up. It's not just a story; it's true! You must believe me Edward. And I saw the look on your face when you were kissing her. It was bliss, happiness! The same look when you were with B-"

"No one can compare to Bella."

Edward's voice was unnaturally quiet, the way it was when he was bordering on furious.

"I'm not comparing Indie to Bella. I'm comparing the looks on your faces." She replied calmly.

"That's impossible. I only yearn for one person, one only! Do not compare that ridiculous figment of your imagination to Bella! Do not!" He pushed the words out from between his clenched teeth.

Alice didn't back away, or back down. I felt the frustration radiating of her, and the building tension between them. Instead, she hissed back at him, "It's not a figment of my imagination, and you know that! If you do not listen to me, you will make the stupid mistake of missing the best thing that will ever happen to you in your life!"

Edward's eyes narrowed, and he glared at Alice viciously.

"Bella was the best thing that has ever happened to me! You know that! I do not want your useless visions taunting me! I do not even want you to talk to me. Leave me be!" He lifted an arm to push her away.

In a flash, I'd stepped in front of Alice. Edward's blow landed on my chest, harmless. His eyes widened in terror at what he had been about to do. Only now did Alice look shocked. Edward had never used violence before on us. My eyes were narrowed. I was furious. Edward just stared at me as I fought to calm myself. If I got any angrier, the situation would get out of hand.

I lifted my shaking fists to my head, and gradually, I felt calm overtake me. I was in control again.

Edward turned his head towards Alice, his sad eyes begging her to forgive him. She nodded back in return; her eyes warm, understanding.

"Listen Edward." I spoke quietly. "I spoke to her."

It wrenched my heart as I saw Edward's face lighten with hope.

"Not Bella. Indie."

He just stared at me mutely, unbearably sad.

"She doesn't look a thing like Bella; she has black hair and blue eyes. But sometimes, I see flickers of… Bella… in her. She thinks like Bella, but also like Indie. If that makes sense. But it's mostly Bella."

Edward still looked disbelieving.

Alice stepped forwards again, and opened her mouth to speak.

"Haven't you seen Michael Newton? He's the Mike Newton! Reincarnated. I saw him chatting Indie up! Just like with Bella. And also Indies' parents' names are Renee and Charlie. Don't you think it's even a little bit odd?"

"Of course there are some differences." I spoke, continuing Alice's train of thought. "For example… Indie went running this morning."

We all knew Bella was almost disabled when it came to physical activity.

I continued, "I met here there, when I was timing my sprints. I accidentally… ran into her." I snickered. "She thought she'd run into an invisible wall."

"But look at those similarities!" Alice interrupted me, throwing me a frown for showing Edward the unnecessary differences.

She continued, counting each item on her fingers. "She blushes easily, she's independent, all those names that are exactly the same-"

Edward interrupted Alice, "I'm sorry, but I need to get to class now."

And with that, he whipped around and pushed through the doors without a backwards glance.

Alice and I looked at each other, speechless at his abruptness.

"I didn't even get a chance to tell him about my other visions." Alice spoke softly to me.

We watched Edward's retreating back.

"I'll keep an eye on him." Alice muttered to me.

"Me too." I replied.

Edward…

The more I walked down that hallway, the angrier I became. I realized that Jasper had been calming me down the whole time. Sometimes I became very infuriated with my brother's talent. He could be fooling you completely, and you would have no idea.

I stormed along the hallway, feeling the tension build up inside me.

I didn't believe one word of their speech. Bella reincarnated. How ridiculous! I mimicked Jasper's words sarcastically in my head.

"Of course… there are some differences."

Well obviously! Because Indie or whatever her name was, was not Bella reincarnated! She was Indie!

Those names… they were all something which neither Alice nor Jasper seemed to have heard of.

Coincidences.

I stormed through the hallway, letting my friend called Self-Revulsion consume me.

I had killed the love of my life.

She had died for me. Because of me.

And my brother and sister wanted me to just forget that? And move on? Impossible. It was almost blasphemous.

When Bella had died – I closed my eyes as the pain lashed through me- I vowed to myself that I would not kill myself. I would punish myself forever. By staying alive. Without Bella, my one true other half.

I was frustrated with Jasper and Alice's constant schemes to make me happy. I didn't deserve it.

Just leave me be.

I pushed open the door, with more force than was required. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten that all I needed to open doors was a light tap of a finger.

The door crashed against the wall. Everyone in the classroom was staring at me with shock in their eyes.

I could see the teacher's lips moving, but I didn't hear him. I could still feel the anger burning through me, but I pushed on, towards my seat. I stared at the far wall. But when I got to about a foot away from my seat, I caught a whiff of the most luscious, mouthwatering scent I had ever encountered. Bella's scent. It was the exact same. I remembered it perfectly; eighteen years would never change the way I remembered it to be. Strong, overpowering, sweet.

As I looked up, I saw a petite girl with long, layered black hair and uneasy blue eyes.

"She's the new girl!" Through my frozen mind, I dimly remembered Alice's words.

I bit back the venom rising in my mouth, and desperately tried to control my raging emotions.

I could handle this. I had done it before… with Bella.

But time had made resisting the siren's call, extremely difficult. As difficult as it was the first time.

I could do it. I had to.

My eyes searched her face as I sat down, and I received yet another shock.

I couldn't read her mind.

I sat down, and went through the exact same memorable experience as I had two decades ago.

Indie…

Well that was memorable, I thought as I left the classroom.

Throughout the whole lesson, the bronze-haired boy had looked in intense pain, and he never moved an inch. He had been as still as stone. His tension intimidated me, and I lowered my face, flicking my hair over one shoulder. It made a perfect shield from my neighbour's strained expressions.

I'd listened carefully when Mr. Vladovski was reading through the roll.

"Miss. Chi?" he called out, bored.

"Present." I heard a girl answer from somewhere at the back of the classroom.

"And Mister Edward Cullen?"

Before anyone could reply, the teacher gave a little giggle and answered his own question.

"Oh rightio! With an entrance like that, how could I have missed the legendary Edward Cullen?"

Hm. So his name was Edward.

This guy obviously thought of himself as some bad-boy. I rolled my eyes. I hated those kinds of guys.

And he had some serious anger-management problems.

I tried to act nonchalant, as if I didn't care about his obvious anxiety. But the more I acted like that, the weaker I felt on the inside.

Why did this guy keep looking at me that intimidating way?

I spent the whole lesson staring at my numerous sheets, leaning uncomfortably away from Edward.

When I did that, Edward looked at me curiously. I twiddled my pen in my fingers and kept the curtain of hair between us.

The bell finally rang. Both Edward and I stood up at the same time, but he left the room in a flash, whereas I had to maneuver myself between the mess of chairs, desks and people.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Michael, the surfer-wannabe, open his mouth to try and talk to me. I hurriedly pretended to not see him.

I was glad to be out of the class.

But when I got to the door, I found some people waiting for me.