Thanks to Gothic Girl 3000, La Belle Morte, LiTlTe BeLlA sWaN, and MrsBellaEdwardSwanCullen for reviewing.
Medusa Sparrow-Descouedres: Thanks so much for the beta piece, always indebted to you!

2. Forsaken

All through the lesson I tried to act as normal as possible, but the temptation was always there. I wanted to sink my teeth into his neck, to taste the warm flow of blood that would course down my throat, to – I gritted my teeth, clenching my fists to keep the thoughts of luring him out of my mind, thinking instead of how Edward and Bella would feel if they heard about this, how disappointed and pained they would be, and sat as far away from Alex as I possibly could.

When I peeked at him through my long blanket of hair that I had covered the distances between us with, I could see his neutral expression, and if he noticed my unusual behaviour he didn't comment.

I was glad, and when the lesson ended, I raced outside the class to the girls' toilets, locking myself in a cubicle as I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes.

I let out a shuddering breath, realising how close a call it could have been. I was furious at myself, wondering how Edward could stand it every second of the day.

My eyes watered and I blinked furiously, trying not to cry. When several minutes had passed, I reluctantly came out of the stall and went over to the mirror; nothing had changed, my eyes just looked a little wider than normal.

I breathed in deeply, easing the tension in my chest, and then walked out of the toilets to face my next lesson. Since Alex was in all my classes, I tried to behave better but didn't manage to succeed and when the lesson before lunch ended, I saw Alex vanish from of the classroom quickly, his mouth a thin line. When he disappeared out of sight, I stared after him, feeling awful.

I gathered my bags slowly and waited until the room cleared, then went to find my family. They were coming out of their class, and Edward and Bella looked concerned when they saw me.

"Lizzie?" Bella asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I tried to convince her but it wasn't working. I inherited my bad lying from her, so it was obvious what I was trying to do.

We walked into the cafeteria, and my eyes roamed the room as I tried to catch sight of Alex. I finally saw him sitting at a table right near the back of the hall, ignoring the look his friends were giving him from their table in the middle.

"Elizabeth?" Edward was staring at me, a crease in his forehead. I snapped back to attention and focussed on what he was saying.

"Yes?"

"I asked you where you would like to sit." His gaze flickered to Alex, and I knew he was wondering why I was looking for him.

"Actually can I sit with my…friend today?" I asked, keeping my thoughts blank.

Edward frowned, but Bella nodded. "Sure." Her eyes also flickered to Alex.

I smiled at her and walked over to Alex's table. I set my tray down on the table and pulled out a chair, hesitating.

"Mind if I sit with you?"

"Sure, why not?" He answered. His voice was expressionless.

I grimaced and sat down fidgeting with my hands as I tried to overcome my nervousness. "I'm sorry, I didn't properly introduce myself, did I? I'm Elizabeth Cullen."

Alex looked up. "I know."

I didn't ask how. "What's your surname?"

Alex hesitated before answering. "Alex Black."

I didn't recognise the name. "Oh. So, um, I wanted to say I'm sorry for…treating you how I treated you in class. It's not how I normally behave, and I wanted to say I'm really, really, sorry."

Alex cracked a smile. "Don't worry, I know I smell bad."

"No, I like your scent actually." Unfortunately.

Alex was staring at the table in the corner where Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice, Edward and Bella were sitting, Bella and Edward slightly turned towards us.

"Are they your siblings?" He asked.

I nodded.

Alex frowned. "You don't really look that much alike."

"I take after my father mostly. My brothers and sisters, they take after my mother, except for Rosalie, she takes after my father as well, and so does Jasper."

Alex nodded. "So your mother would have dark hair?"

I smiled. "Yeah. But we don't really take after our parents that much."

Alex smiled back, though the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "I see. I'm sorry, I have to go…I have to hand in an assignment so I need to finish it quickly." He stood up and walked away; I knew he was lying, his breathing rate changed and his eyes also changed slightly, so as he walked away I was left at the table, my face burning with mortification.

I avoided the others and after dinner I walked to my next class alone, keeping my head down as I twisted the combination codes for my locker. I reached inside for the books I had left there, when I heard my name being called.

"Hi Elizabeth!" I turned around to see who was calling me and saw Marianne smiling at me cheerfully from the locker next to mine.

"Hi Marianne." I smiled back, dropping my eyes.

"Hey, I wanted to say sorry about what Alex did back there. It's not normally how he acts like, you know?" She looked at me apologetically. So I wasn't the only one who had noticed his odd behaviour, the whole school knew what he had done. That particular piece of information really boosted my morale.

"It doesn't matter. I don't think he likes me much and I'm fine with that." I shrugged.

Marianne looked horrified. "No, he doesn't not like you! Really! You and your brothers and sisters are all wonderful, plus you're gorgeous and you're all so nice as well! What's there not to like?"

"It doesn't matter." I insisted.

Marianne took hold of my arm and steered me to my next class. "Yes, it matters to me. Alex is my friend, and so are you; just because he's being mean doesn't mean he can get away with it." She led me inside and since she was sitting next to me, talked to me about her life, asking questions about me, until our geography teacher, Mr Vauxhall, came.

All day Marianne stayed by my side and left me at the car park with a 'see you tomorrow', walking over to her car. I smiled after her, though still worried about Alex's behaviour.

When Edward came with Bella, I stayed silent the whole drive home. I immediately got out of the car and went to my room, needing some time to myself.

"Angel?" it was my Mom. Bella came inside and shut the door softly behind her, sitting at the end of my bed. I leaned my elbows on the window, staring out. It was a nice view. Esme had decorated the gardens with neat rows of flowers; climbing roses, green ivy, blue hyacinths, lilac lilies, white orchids, and red tulips. The garden was a vibrant mass of color.

"Lizzie, are you alright?" Bella asked, sounding worried.

I tore my eyes away from the scene, looking at her. "Sure, why wouldn't I be?"

"I think everyone saw what happened today."

"Don't they always; it was nothing, really."

Bella sounded mad. "If it was nothing then I wonder why you're acting so strange?"

"I'm not."

Bella snorted. "I may be eternally eighteen, but I'm not stupid."

I smiled at that. "You must be what, thirty five now?"

Bella smiled. "That makes me sound old."

"Trust me you're not." I assured her. "Anyways, how are classes with Edward?"

She grinned. "He dazzled the teacher to persuade her to let him sit next to me. Thank god the story is we're adopted; it wouldn't go off too well if everyone thought Edward was having unholy thoughts about his sister."

I was unable to contain my laughter. "I think all the girls are disappointed that he's with you."

"I was under the impression that they all want Alex."

"Do you know why he's so popular?"

Bella looked surprised. "You don't know? He's the quarterback of the soccer team."

I raised my eyebrows. Well, how about that. I hadn't known. We talked some more, and after Bella went away I went out of my room, trying to appear normal, and then did some homework and went on the net, downloading some songs into my Ipod, also getting my outfit ready for tomorrow.

It grew dark outside and I tried to sleep but couldn't, tossing and turning restlessly. I finally gave up on the sleep idea and sat on the love seat next to the window, looking out at the starry sky.

The full moon was out, throwing a silvery light onto everything. I opened the window and shivered as the cool night air rushed in; I heard wolves howling, and the sound sent a prickle of ice down my spine. It sounded familiar, even though I had never heard it before.

Finally I was lulled to sleep by the shimmery light of the moon, and my dreams were filled with images of Alex; when I awoke I couldn't remember what I had dreamed about, only remembering the sound of the wolves under the pale, full moon.