"Aren't you two cutting it a little short for getting new school supplies?" the lady at the cash register asked as she scanned all of our supplies the next morning, an hour before school was supposed to start.

"We just moved here, and we aren't sure where our stuff got put," I told her. "Can you please hurry? We do have to go to school to get our schedules and figure out where we're going."

"Whatever, honey," the lady said with a shrug. She blew another bubble with her bright pink bubblegum, and I felt the childish urge to reach out and poke the bubble so it would pop and get all over her face. I glanced sideways at Edward, and he seemed to feel the same way. We shared a look and then reached out together, using vampire speed of course, and popped the gigantic bubble.

The pink stuff went all over her face. Edward and I had the decency to look shocked.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. She tried to pull the bubblegum off her face, but it was stuck there.

"Can you just give us our total?" Edward hinted.

"Sure, hun," she said. She pulled enough away from one eye to be able to peak at the register. She pushed a few buttons, told us our total, accepted our money, gave us change, and sent us on our way.

We waited until we were in the car to burst out laughing.

"I was so tempted," I admitted with a laugh.

"So was I," Edward agreed. "She had it coming to her, she really did."

"At least she wasn't hitting on you," I pointed out.

"She didn't have to. Her thoughts were bad enough," Edward groaned.

"But she didn't do anything about it," I reminded him. "Most men can't read women's minds, so she probably thought that she was safe only thinking it."

"I suppose," Edward agreed reluctantly. He started the car and we started the drive back home. "Let's go pick up our share of the siblings, and we can all head off to school again."

"At least we know nothing will happen today," I said happily.

"We don't think anything will happen today," Edward corrected me. "The future isn't set in stone."

"Can't I be optimistic?" I asked.

"I'll let you be realistically optimistic," Edward answered, "but not stupidly optimistic. If we think nothing will happen, then we're setting ourselves up for disaster."

"How do you think Victoria will do?" I asked. Victoria was posing as a junior. Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper were posing as sophomores. Alice, Edward and I were posing as freshmen. We made sure that Victoria had at least one of us in all of her classes, so that if she started to lose control we could be there to help stop her.

"I think she'll be okay," Edward said. "She seems pretty determined that she's not going to slip up. She doesn't want to disappoint you, especially not after the past two weeks."

"Why?" I asked as we pulled up to the house.

"She feels bad for confusing all of us into not believing you," Edward answered. "She knows that it was hard on you. She joined our coven because of you, because you saw the good in her, and she appreciates that. She doesn't want you to think that she's evil."

"Everybody slips at least once," I said.

"You probably won't," Edward pointed out.

"We don't know that," I told him. "I may find somebody who is the same to me as I was to you, and I won't have any practice abstaining from human blood. I may slip too."

"Let's not talk about slipping," Victoria growled as she slid in the back seat. "I'd rather not think about it."

"It's such a cheery topic," Alice protested teasingly as she slid in after her.

"Or not," Jasper added as he got in the other side. "I'd prefer a different topic as well."

"Party poopers," I grumbled, sticking my tongue out at them.

"We're ready!" Rosalie called from the BMW.

"How come the supposed junior in the family has to ride cramped in the Volvo when there are only two people in the BMW?" Victoria asked.

"You know Rosalie and her cars," Edward answered dismissively. He put the Volvo back in drive and pulled around so that we were leading.

"How big is this school?" I asked.

"There's a grand whopping total of about 500 students," Jasper answered with a grin. "Slightly bigger than Forks High."

"Well, that's a slight improvement," I said happily. "We won't be such a big deal as new students."

"We're vampires with unnatural beauty, grace, and intelligence. We're still going to be big news," Edward assured me.

"I'm not quite as intelligent as the rest of you," I said. "This will be embarrassing."

"You have a college degree, Bella," Alice pointed out. "We're posing as freshmen. How many freshmen do you know who have college degrees already?"

"Not many," I admitted.

"You'll be fine," Victoria told me. "Now I, on the other hand, have not been to high school since I was a human. This will be difficult for me."

"I'm sure you'll do great," I assured her. "We can tutor you at night if we need to."

"Great." Victoria moaned. "Just what I want. It's always been my dream to go to high school all day long, and then come home and get tutored all night long. Yeah, that's my lifelong dream, right there."

"I'm glad we can be so instrumental in helping you fulfill your dream," Jasper teased her. A pale hand shot out and Jasper's head snapped forward. He sat back grinning, and Alice's hand hit Victoria in the back of the head.

"Hey, no rough housing in my car," Edward protested, but it was only half-heartedly. He was enjoying the show.

"Guys," I protested when they didn't quit hitting each other.

"Yes?" Alice asked innocently before hitting Victoria again. Victoria spun around, and Jasper was the next to pull Victoria's hair. They ended up rolling around on the floor and seat in a blur almost too fast for me to see.

"You know what," I said. "Quit ganging up on Victoria."

"We're almost to school," Edward commented. They instantly sat back in their seats and looked innocent. One second they were a blur, the next second they were there. It was so funny that I burst out laughing.

"What?" Victoria demanded crossly.

"You guys," I managed to get out before dissolving into giggles again.

"Pull it together, Bella," Edward told me. "Otherwise people will look at you funny when you get out of the car and can't walk because you're laughing too hard."

"I don't know, that might be fun to watch," Jasper said mischievously.

"Don't you dare," I warned him, turning to glare. I knew that my eyes had turned black.

"Okay, okay, I won't," Jasper said. "Calm down, Bella."

"We're here," Edward said. I turned around, picked up my bag, and climbed out of the car, closing the door behind me.

"We're off to see the secretary, the Wonderful Secretary of the School," Alice sang quietly to the tune of "We're off to see the Wizard" from The Wizard of Oz. I turned to look at her quizzically.

"I watched that movie last night," she explained with a smile.

"Why would you watch that movie the night before school starts?" I asked.

"Because she thinks the munchkins are cute," Edward answered. He ducked to avoid Alice's hand as it shot forward to hit him in the back of the head.

"Humans," I hissed under my breath so they would hear, but the humans wouldn't.

"I don't think they're cute," she hissed at him, ignoring me.

"Oh yes you do," Edward said with a grin. He tapped his head. "I know all, remember?"

"I hate you," Alice informed him.

"I love you too," Edward said with a grin. He took my hand, and we walked towards the front of the building.

"Look, new kids," I heard a girl whisper to her friend. I tried not to look at her, because I should not have been able to hear her. I was glad that I couldn't blush anymore.

"And so the rumors begin," Jasper sighed.

"What took you guys so long?" Rosalie asked flippantly when we walked in the front door. She and Emmett were standing by the office door.

"I drove a little slower so I could have fun watching the fight in the back seat," Edward told her. "It was quite entertaining, actually."

"What was it about?" Emmett asked.

"We'll tell you later," I promised him as some humans walked past us and into the office.

"Woman secretary," Alice said, "Guys, go get our schedules and make sure they don't need fixed."

"Yes, Queen Alice," Emmett said with a mocking bow. He went in the office, followed by Edward and Jasper, and then the rest of us.

"We're new here," Edward informed the secretary. Her eyes were about bugging out of her head when she saw all of us.

"I can see that," she finally managed to get out. "You're the Cullens, Hales, and Swans, aren't you?"

"I'm Edward Cullen and this is Alice Cullen and Emmett Cullen," Edward said, pointing out Alice. "These are Rosalie and Jasper Hale, and Isabella and Victoria Swan."

"Yes, I have your schedules here," the secretary said. She put them on the counter and spread them out.

"Thank you," Edward said. He handed them out, and we all quickly compared schedules.

"I don't have American History with any of you," Victoria announced quietly.

"Ma'am?" Edward asked, taking Victoria's schedule and mine, since I handed my schedule to him. "Do you think that you could switch Bella and my schedules so that we have American History during third block?"

"I'm sorry, sweetie," she apologized. "That's a class for juniors only. You'll have to wait for a few years."

"Are you sure you can't make an exception?" Edward asked, unleashing his eyes. I almost felt jealous.

"No, I'm afraid I can't," the secretary finally managed to say. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I told her, even though it wasn't. "We'll just wait." I grabbed the schedules from her and pulled Edward away. We all went outside the office so that we could talk. Victoria looked worried.

"What if I slip?" she asked worriedly in a whisper.

"We'll know if you start to have problems," Alice assured her. "Wait long enough for us to get there to help you."

"What if I can't?" she asked, her eyes wide in fear.

"You have to try," Emmett told her. "Just wait as long as you can. Ask to be excused, if you have to. Say you have girl problems, or something."

"Like you know anything about girl problems," Victoria snapped.

"No, but I know that's a good excuse for you to get out of class, especially if it's a guy teacher," Emmett said smugly. "Men don't ask, they just tell you to go because they don't want to deal with it."

"I guess," Victoria said uncertainly.

"They do," I assured her. "Most teachers just tell you to go if you say you're having a girl problem. If they don't let you go to the restroom, just ask to go to the nurse. They'll eventually say yes."

"And if they don't, then just leave," Rosalie added. "When somebody comes around with a detention slip, you just say you were having girl problems and had to go to the restroom, but the teacher wouldn't let you. If that doesn't clear it up, then Carlisle will call in and excuse you from the detention. It will be fine."

"What if I can't control myself?" Victoria demanded.

"It's only one class," Jasper reminded her. "Just try your hardest, and we'll come to help. I'm not going to tell you it's easy, because it's the hardest thing you'll have to do on a regular basis, but it is possible. Just keep in mind that these people are all alive and have lives of their own, and that if you drink from them, you will ruin their lives. You will ruin the lives of those who care for them. You will force us to move again, because we'll have to get out of town before anyone can accuse us of being vampires. You will have to live with the knowledge that you took away a child's chance at having a long, happy life. If you think about these things, it will make it easier to resist."

"Hi," a girl said, coming over to our group and elbowing her way into our circle between Edward and Alice, "You guys look new. Can I help you find anything?" She smiled at all the guys, ignoring the girls.

"We're fine," I snapped at her. "We can find our way just fine, thanks."

She ignored me and reached for Edward's schedule, since he was the closest male to her. "Let me see your schedules. I can tell you the best way to get to your first classes."

I linked my arm through Edward's, effectively hiding his schedule from her in the process. "I think we can find our way just fine, thanks," I repeated.

She glared at me, glanced around to see that the other guys were also taken, and then flounced away.

"Protective, much?" Emmett teased me.

"He's mine," I defended myself. "Just because some courageous girl decides to come say hi doesn't mean that I'm going to just let her flirt with my husband."

"Wait, what happened to us not even being able to hold hands because we're ninth graders?" Edward asked me teasingly.

I glared at the girl's back as she dished to her friends who were clumped next to some lockers further down the halls. "That was before I realized just how stupid human girls can be."

My family laughed at me, and we broke up our little circle. Edward and I headed for our first class, his arm wrapped protectively around my waist. People whispered as we passed, but we ignored them.

"Hi," a guy said to me as we passed. I ignored him, but he started following us. "Hey, are you deaf? I said hi."

"Hello," I answered patiently.

"Are you new here?" he asked.

"I'm a freshman," I answered, "So yes, I'm new."

The shock was evident on his face. "You look too old to be a freshman."

"Looks can be deceiving," I told him.

"I guess," he said. He seemed to be debating whether or not to continue talking to me.

"Bye," I told him dismissively. He took the hint and went back to his group of friends.

"Nicely handled," Edward complimented me. "Much better than that girl back by the office."

"I can be diplomatic if I want to," I said with a shrug, "but I didn't feel like being diplomatic with that girl."

"I feel sorry for Victoria," Edward said as we arrived at our first class. "She's the odd member out, and thus she will be submitted to endless flirting."

"I wouldn't want to be a guy who flirts with her," I giggled as we walked up to the teacher's desk.

"May I help you?" the teacher asked. He seemed surprised that we were in the class and not talking outside.

"Do we have a seating arrangement?" Edward asked.

"Alphabetical by last name," the teacher answered. He pushed a paper across the desk to us and we bent over it, searching for our names.

Once we found our seats, which were across the room from each other, we went to sit down. As students trickled in we received several curious stares.

I could tell it was going to be a long day.

As predicted, it was a long day. By the time third block rolled around, the time when Victoria had a class by herself, I was ready to scream. Edward and I had art during that time. I was grateful that the teacher let us sit next to whoever we wanted to. Edward and I grabbed seats across the room from everyone else. We were relatively alone, with an empty seat on all sides of us.

That didn't last, though, when more students came in seconds before the bell. They sat around us, and we were no longer alone.

As the teacher droned through the first day handouts and information, Edward and I didn't really pay attention. We passed notes back and forth, talking about nothing in particular. Suddenly, Edward stiffened up, his eyes glazing over.

"Edward?" I whispered quietly so no one else would hear. "What's wrong?"

"Alice just had two visions," he answered quickly and quietly. "The first is about Victoria."

"Do we need to go help her?" I asked.

"Yes," Edward answered, "But not because of a human. Apparently her friends decided to check up on Luella a week early. They're going to take a vial of human blood and open it outside the open window."

"That will send her over the edge," I said with a grimace.

"The second vision is about Victoria's friends," Edward said. "They're going to try to kill one of us."

"Who?" I asked worriedly.

"I'm not sure," Edward answered. "I couldn't tell who it was."

"I'll go help Victoria," I said. I waited for the teacher to get done with the handout he was reading to the class before raising my hand.

"Yes, Miss Swan?" the teacher asked.

"May I go use the restroom?" I asked.

"Can't you wait?" the teacher asked.

"No," I answered.

"Hurry back," he said. I jumped up and practically ran out the door.

I found Victoria's class easy enough. I knocked on the door and waited for the teacher to come open it. But I wasn't fast enough. I caught the scent of human blood on the breeze coming in the window. I looked through the little window in the door and saw Victoria stiffen up, her eyes turning a dark black, the animal inside of her rearing its ugly head. I was too late.

A/N: Sorry about the wait, everyone. I'm sure you all know all about the joys of writer's block...

I'll try to have the next chapter up a little faster. Thanks for your patience and continued support of my stories. :)

Until the next chapter,
Addie