…Chapter Two…

…Bella…

Taking a deep, unneeded breath, I straightened up from the Jeep and slung my book bag over my shoulder. I could do this. It was only my fourth trip through high school after all, unlike my siblings who were going through for the umpteenth time. This time I was getting to start as a Junior with Alice, which meant that I'd only have to suffer through two years of high school before moving on to college. Surely that wouldn't be so bad?

Come on sis, let's go. We need to pick up our schedules and find our classes, Rosalie said as she wrapped her arm around Emmett's waist, her voice a whisper in my mind. They were walking towards the office. Alice and Jasper were sharing one last kiss by the Jeep's door and then they, too, started for the school.

I trailed behind them. Once again alone, and left behind. I sighed and sped up just a little. Jasper held the door to the office for me and I felt a gentle flow of calmness pass into me. Giving him a smile I stepped into the room and moved to stand next to Alice as we waited for the secretary to notice us. It didn't take long and I could hear her mental voice exclaim over the five of us before her. I tried not to roll my eyes when I heard her thoughts as they rested on my brothers. Ugh…how old was this woman? And she was thinking things like that about them? I had to hold back from making a gagging noise.

Alice gave me a sympathetic look and wrapped her arm around Jasper's waist, marking her territory. Rosalie did the same with Emmett. Noticing that, the woman, Mrs. Cope, had the grace to try and restrain her thoughts. I did get quite the mantra of too young too young too young from her as we left the office and made our way to our lockers. We had arrived early and there weren't that many students around yet. It only took one glance at the map and our schedules and we had them memorized. We all had a couple of classes together, that would make the day go by somewhat faster.

At an intersection of hallways, Emmett, always the clown and chief cheerleader, held his fist out. We all placed our hands on top of his and at his jovial "Break!" we laughed and headed towards our lockers. We planned to meet up in the cafeteria for lunch.

I found my locker first and the others moved off to find theirs. By the time I got to my homeroom the hallways were becoming jammed with students. Each and every one of them had to take a good hard look at my face. Once again I had to work to control my eyes to keep them from rolling at the thoughts that I heard. Just once couldn't high school students come up with something new? High school was a cesspool of lust, minor intrigue, hurt feelings, power plays and just a touch of learning.

Two years, just two years and then I could go to college again. I enjoyed my time at places of higher learning very much. The give and take of educated minds that chose to be there, learning from the professors and soaking up knowledge.

Just before I reached my class my attention was caught by a scent. I stopped in my tracks. The boy walking behind me crashed into me and I had to pretend to stumble forward while mumbling an apology to him for stopping in front of him.

What was that aroma? It was a little spicy and just a touch sweet as it touched the back of my throat and I felt a rumble begin in my chest. I took a deeper breath in to try and pinpoint it…exquisite.

While I was trying to sort it out the boy that bumped me was trying to talk to me. He had decided that I had stopped on purpose to make his acquaintance! He couldn't be more wrong. The thoughts in his head started out mild; he thought this was a great way to meet one of the new kids. He thought that all of his friends would be jealous that he got to meet me first. He was first, right? He just knew that I was going to fall for him. HE was on the baseball, football and basketball teams. Surely I was almost worthy of being around him. These thoughts rushed through his mind in the space of time that I was searching for the source of that heavenly scent.

I nearly choked over his thoughts. I needed to nip this in the bud, that's for sure.

"Hi, I'm Mike Newton, your guide to all that is Forks High School. Can I help you find your class? Can I carry your books? Can I take you to the moon and the stars?" He thought he was being suave and debonair and all I wanted to do was laugh in his face. I had to play my part though.

"Thank you, but no…this is my classroom and I've never wanted to become an astronaut so I won't be needing a tour of space." I sidestepped the arm that he attempted to throw over my shoulders and slipped into the room. Thankfully the teacher was already inside and I took my admittance slip up to her desk and handed it to her. She signed it, handed me a math book, and sent me to a desk about a third of the way back and off to the side. Mike didn't make an appearance and I was grateful that he didn't share the class with me. As the teacher handed out worksheets I took the time to try and analyze the scent that had caught me off guard. I couldn't recall ever having smelled anything that wonderful before.

Once the class was over a couple of the boys tried to talk to me. Their thoughts were all about scoring with the new kid. I assured them that I could find my next class on my own and thanked them as I quickly moved out the door and towards my next class. That scent wafted over me again in the hallway, but there was a mass of teenage bodies around me and I couldn't pinpoint it. Although I did decipher that two of the facets that made it up were something like that men's cologne, Old Spice…and leather. I loved the smell of leather. There was a third element that I couldn't quite identify in the small whiffs that I could catch. It was a subtle musk and stirred something in my soul. It made me feel a little anxious, like something was about to happen, something good…

Alice passed me in the hallway when it was time for third hour. She smiled widely at me but her mind was busy with Gregorian chants…in Japanese? I didn't even know she could do that. When I looked a question at her, she just blew me a kiss and mouthed, later.

The effect of her blowing the kiss to me set the small minds around me on fire. I just laughed to myself. At least the kiss would change the rumors up a bit. They were always the same: We were SIBLINGS, and several of us were INVOLVED. Boring! At least those that had seen Alice and Jasper together were now linking the three of us. Well, at least it was different.

Damn, that scent blew over me again, immediately catching my attention.

As I tried to get a deeper breath of the enticing aroma, the freshman boy I was standing next to thought I was sniffing--and appreciating--his Axe cologne. Ugh, what was with these boys and drenching themselves in noxious concoctions? Didn't they know that their own personal scent was much more appealing?

I quickly sniffed, trying to get a reading on his scent. Once I did, I realized that the girl that was glaring at me from down the hall was his complete opposite in aroma. Her mental blasting of me assured me that she had already realized that he was the one for her. She must have based that on his scent before he doused himself in that hideous spray.

I quickly turned my sniff into a huge sneeze, right onto his shoulder. I was careful to keep the venom in my mouth, and didn't actually spatter anything onto him. But he thought that I had and that cured his crush on me immediately. I apologized profusely and pretended to wipe his shirt off with my hand. I had to control the laughter that wanted to bubble up out of me as he backpedaled away from me as fast as his skinny legs would carry him. The girl from down the hallway came to his aid, wiping his shirt down with a tissue and glaring at me over her shoulder. Wow, she really felt strongly about him. Good for her…I certainly didn't want him.

Yes, sometimes it was easier just to make a bad impression. I should have used that tactic on Mike. He had smiled widely at me each time he passed me in the halls. He kept doing that stupid thing where he held his hand to his ear and would mouth call me. Yes, I was going to sneeze on him just as soon as I could.

I was grateful when lunch time finally rolled around and I could sit with all of my family around me for a brief respite from the mental pounding I was getting from all of the teens in the surrounding area. My gift was more like a curse when there were all of these unrestrained minds near me. I was becoming more adept at keeping my awareness out of minds, but it took a lot of effort on my part. It was much easier to sink into the minds of my family. They were known and I could just bask in their public minds. They actually tried to keep it quiet in there for me.

We all had prop food before us. I hadn't been able to face the gray meat that was offered, so just took an apple and a soda. Emmett had been the only one to take the hot meal. He was wondering exactly what kind of animal it had come from. He looked at it like it was a science experiment. Rosalie whispered that if he even thought about tasting it, she would not be kissing him for a week.

Alice caught my attention and began smiling at me…Listen, there…three tables over…your name…

She was right. I heard a voice say my name, both out loud and in her mind. I focused on the conversation behind me. They were going on about the debate team…and Alice had nearly promised that I would join!

I straightened my back as I whipped my attention back to her and she just smiled at me. "What? Are you crazy? We're supposed to blend in to the background, not join in extracurricular activities!" My voice was quiet and intense as I snarled at the grinning munchkin across from me.

"This will be perfect. You will blend in, like a normal teenager, and they are smart. You might even enjoy yourself." Before I could sink into her mind and really figure out what she was up to, she started back into the Japanese Gregorian Chants. What a brat.

"Just listen to what they have to say. I've spoken with a couple of them and they are nice kids…and, like I said, smart."

Rolling my eyes I sank into the one girl's mind. Her name was Sandi and she was getting ready to move across country. She was worried about the team--the family--that she was leaving behind. She told the one boy, he had green eyes and bronze hair, that he could talk to me in his next class. We apparently would be sharing AP Biology together.

Then I nearly growled when they all, everyone at that table, laughed and thought, The right sort, you mean someone with brains?

He, Edward Masen, said that he would talk with me and he was laughing as he looked over at our table. It made me mad to think that he…that they…had already judged me and I scowled when I caught his eye on me.

Suddenly his mind was confused. He was wondering what he had done. As he went back over his thoughts, he couldn't find anything. He then hoped that I would be able to measure up, although he didn't think they'd ever find anyone as smart as Sandi, but maybe I'd come close.

I felt ashamed. They hadn't actually been mean to me and I had taken what they said, and thought, wrong. Alice and Jasper were both grinning at me now. I rolled my eyes again. "Okay, I'll think about it…but what will Carlisle think if I join the debate team?"

Jasper spoke up, "I think that he'll be glad that you are blending in. We all know how hard it's been for you. This might be fun." He leaned forward and his voice dropped even lower, which seemed rather silly to me. None of the humans near us could have heard him anyway. "Your control is excellent and you might like having some others to talk to. You know, people closer to your own age."

He grinned at me again. It was the family joke that I was the youngest. I had only been a vampire for 23 years and I had been changed when I was only 18. They liked to lord their ages over me. They were all much older than I.

I shrugged while thinking about the debate team. It might be interesting at least. I'd give it a shot, that is, if Edward Masen decided I was the right sort…I sank into the mind of one of the other girls, Angela. I had to get out quickly. She was only partially attending to the conversation about Halloween that was now going on. Her thoughts kept slipping back to her boyfriend and his talented tongue. Ugh…not the place for me to be.

All of my siblings were now listening to the debate team table and when the boy, Gary, brought up the costume that Jessica had worn, or barely worn last year, we all chuckled a bit. I had met her in one of my classes and it seemed to be the kind of thing that she would have done. She had tried to pump me for information about my brothers. I hadn't given her any.

We had seen some very inventive costumes over the course of our lives. Why did teenage girls always want to wear the smallest amount of fabric? When I said that out loud Emmett just looked at me and shook his head. Rosalie leaned over and said, "Emmett is very fond of my French Maid costume…"

Gak! I had to rush to get out of her mind before she could show me how fond of it he was…they all laughed at me while still focusing on the other table.

Andrea, the other girl at the table really stirred the entire group up when she suggested they come dressed as cave men and women, to meet the median IQ of the school. Somehow that just hit me as funny and I started to laugh hard, then I choked when the aroma that I had been searching for all day filled me. I found myself trying to suck as much of it into my lungs as I could. I had to have it. Emmett started whacking me on the back, which didn't help matters at all.

"Stop it, Emmett, I'm fine," I choked out as I knocked his hand aside. Edward Masen had become concerned with my choking fit and had wondered if he should come and help me.

"What is up with you, Bella?" Rose asked as I tried to breathe in more of that scent. I wondered how everyone would take it if I just leaped to my feet and started rushing around sniffing all the people in the room. I would look like a psycho and I'd be placed into a home…I wondered briefly if they would come visit me.

Maybe they could actually help. I quickly told them about the scent that I had been chasing all day long. How it was calling to me like nothing ever had before.

Alice smiled that smile again and tried to divert my attention from the aroma while everyone else looked at me like I was nuts. "They are talking about you again…"

I glanced over my shoulder and briefly caught Edward's eye as they gathered their trash. He was telling Sandi that he'd talk to me in class. Taking a quick peek into his mind, I saw that the Biology class was going to be about dissecting worms. That should be interesting…better than a boring lecture anyway.

Returning to the mystery of the wonderful aroma I asked them if they had noticed anything odd about the smells that filled the school.

"Too much cologne and perfume makes it hard for me to even breathe in this place," Rosalie opined. "Although I did see a few couples that were hanging on each other where their scents were so attuned, it was like they were made for each other."

Jasper, Alice and I had extra gifts in our vampiric natures: empathy, precognition, and my ability to read thoughts. But we all had extremely sensitive senses of smell. And just as I had seen that the freshman who I had pretended to sneeze on was a perfect match to the girl that came to his rescue, we could all see that sort of thing in the humans around us.

Quite often during our trips through high school and college, we'd see couples that were totally wrong for each other, at least based on scent. We were never surprised when they broke up. On the flip side, we'd see couples that were totally right for each other too. And always their scents would be point and counterpoint.

I often thought that we'd make a killing if we opened a matchmaking business. The clients could fill out their applications; we'd sniff them, subtly, then set them up with people that they'd find irresistible.

Each of the mated couples in my family had noticed the scent of their mate before noticing anything else about them. It didn't matter that they wouldn't ever be able to procreate with their mates, which seemed to be the reason humans sought out that opposite scent, but it did lead them to something along the lines of love at first sight. It happened suddenly and completely. It was almost like imprinting in the Quileute Tribe that lived near here. They were shape-shifters that Carlisle had made a treaty with over seventy years ago. They imprinted on mates that would ensure strong offspring for the tribe.

In my forty-one years on this earth, I had never come close to smelling anything as good as this spicy, leathery aroma was to me now. The thought crossed my mind that it would be hideous if the smell was attached to some old grizzled janitor at the school. A man that was seventy five years old, with no teeth and an equally grizzled wife at home.

I guess if that were the case I could steal his pillow and keep it close to me just to enjoy the fragrance. Alice was smiling again. That can't be good.

They all agreed to keep their noses on the alert for something that I couldn't even describe well. It was nice to know that they were at least thinking about helping me, even though they really didn't know how.

Except for Alice, I knew she was hiding something. Ah, now she was cataloging her shoe collection. How many pairs of black spike heels did she really need? She was up to pair number twenty-nine and there was no end in sight. Apparently I was not to know what she was up to.

Making plans to meet at the Jeep after school, we threw away our uneaten lunches (Emmett had not taken a bite of the mystery meat) and headed out to our next classes.

That aroma just kept teasing me. It was there, just ahead of my senses. Maybe I was going crazy. I didn't think that vampires could go crazy, but maybe I would be the first.

Checking the map in my memory, I walked through the halls to my AP Biology class. I wondered how Edward Masen would check to see if I was the right sort to join the debate team. Did he have a pop quiz for me to fill out?

The teacher, Mr. Banner, signed my admittance slip and directed me to the lab table in the back, the table where Edward Masen was sitting. He told me that since I was new that Edward would be able to help me to get up to speed. That would certainly help him to find out if I was any good, if I had any brains…

The first thing I noticed as I got closer to the table was that the aroma was getting stronger. It swirled around me and I sucked it eagerly into my lungs. It was bliss…it evoked thoughts of warm sunny days…it was the remembered taste of chocolate…and it filled me like nothing else had in my entire life.

Dragging in another deep breath I reached Edward where he sat on a high stool at the lab table. That's when I noticed that he was also breathing deeply. He opened his deep green eyes as I touched his mind and was shocked at what I read there.

We spoke at the same time, "It's you!"

A/N…They are both smelling something wonderful.

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