JPOV
I walked out of class and immediately found Alice. My little pixie wrapped her arms around me as she gave me a quick peck on the lips.
"So what now?" I asked her. "What do you see? Is this Ethan boy going to be a – one of us?"
"I don't know," Alice answered, her eyes picking up that distant quality again. "I see…two outcomes. One…he will be changed. Two…he will die. Soon. Early."
The verdict was laid down by my infallible wife. "If you say so, then it must be," I replied simply. "I wonder how she's going to take it."
"Look!" Alice hissed, her gaze locked on a student. "I wonder if that's the boy, Ethan."
He was quite good-looking, in all fairness. His hair was a slightly messy bunch of caramel-colored waves, and he was tall enough. However, he didn't look like your classic extrovert.
"Hmm…I can see now, he is the one," Alice whispered.
The warning bell sounded, and we continued on our way. "We'd better get to class," she whispered in my ear seductively – so seductively that I had to lean down to kiss her gently. "Let's go."
We were back at our lockers and we'd pulled out the books we needed. No doubt my
Alice had some intensive searching to do in this next period. That was just fine. I would just hold her in my arms as she found her answers.
Her eyes were distant all the time, even when the teacher called on her. Which wasn't often, given our constant four point oh or higher records.
When the bell rang, my love snapped back to the present. "Oh, God," she whispered as she clutched my hand tightly, earning me dirty looks from the jealous idiot males in the room.
"What?" I whispered as I held her tightly to me. Her cold-but-warm-to-me skin pressed anxiously against mine. "What did you see?"
"If that boy doesn't turn into one of us – he – he'll – he'll die a very, very early death," she murmured. She looked like she would've had tears if a such thing were possible.
"Oh," I murmured. "What can she do?"
"Nothing," came Alice's verdict.
I had the fortune of spending the next class away from Alice, but with Tatiana.
"What did Alice say about…that?" she whispered, eyes anxious.
I hated being the bearer of bad news. "Do you want to know the full truth?"
She looked at me with frightened eyes that screamed yes.
"She says…that if he doesn't…change…soon, he'll die a very premature death."
The words hung in the air like stones. And then, Tatiana buried her face in her hands.
"Oh, dear God, why me?" she murmured, almost to herself. "What can I do?"
"I don't know," I answered, honestly. "Alice says nothing."
"I don't want him to die!" she hissed. "But I can't take away his soul!"
What was this, Edward Jr. trapped in a girl's body? "That's what Edward said when he first met Bella," I said quietly, trying to reassure her.
"I'm not him! I can't do this!"
I leaned over to pat her on the shoulder, trying to comfort her, albeit awkwardly. "Don't worry, this will work itself out," I told her.
She tilted her head up and took a deep breath. "Okay, don't overreact…."
A boy, who'd been eyeing her, now looked her up and down like the pervert that his conversations I'd been fortunate enough to hear suggested. I glared at him fiercely, and he cowered back.
"Shh, don't get worked up," I told her. "Just…try not to think of that. Concentrate on…the present. The future is not in our hands. She could find another one for him, perhaps."
Tatiana did not look convinced, but did as I suggested. Thank goodness. The wretched feelings radiating from her made me want to just rip my hair out.
…
At the end of the class, I saw the caramel-haired boy approach Tatiana rather timidly.
"Hi," he murmured in a low, shy voice.
"Hello," Tatiana beamed at him. Positive joy and radiance came from her now. I marveled at that effect he had on her.
While they chatted away about nothing in general, Alice came up to me and whispered gently in my ear. "They're certainly happy," she said, placing her small hands on my neck.
"For now."
"What did you see?" I asked, half-dreading the answer.
Her lips were tight. "Isabelle and Timothy will see them at the end of the day. Isabelle
won't be happy."
I sighed. "What a mess for them. I could always calm her down, I guess."
Alice sighed, too. "I really don't know," she murmured. "I think Isabelle's…special trait is the fact that her emotions are so effective, so strong. I don't know how much you'll influence her."
When we walked into the next classroom, Edward shot me us worried look. I assumed that he already knew everything. He gave me a short nod.
Bella looked like she knew it, too. While we sat through the class, I hugged Alice tightly, since the desks in this room were the long, two-people type, and I chose Alice to be my partner, obviously.
The dejection hanging over us immortals were making me go crazy. And the lust coming from the humans was sickening. Perfect solution: to get rid of the dejection, smash every human in this room. Edward glared at me.
Fine! Be that way! See what happens today, after school! I instantly regretted that, because Isabelle's reaction, by Alice's description, didn't really seem to be a joke.
"It's not," Edward whispered, his voice low.
The rest of the time flew by, and my insides were jelly by the time the final bell rang. We made our way to our lockers and went home with a very light homework load, seeing that we'd completed our assignments during class or study hall.
"Tatiana and Ethan appear over there in seven," Alice said, pointing to one turn in the hallway. "Seconds. Isabelle and Timothy, there, in eleven."
The seconds counted down, and sure enough, Tatiana came over with Ethan, chatting away like old acquaintances. I could sense something more, for sure. Ethan's feelings for
Tatiana were much the same as hers.
Oh, crap, Isabelle and Timothy. I felt the abrupt change in atmosphere as they spotted the shy, quiet element of their coven with a human.
If possible, Isabelle's face would've changed color to puce. Timothy put his hand on her shoulder, but it had no calming effect. I tried to step in after that, but like Alice had predicted, it wasn't very effective.
"Hello," Isabelle said coolly, her voice surprisingly controlled. "Who's your…friend, Tatiana?"
Tatiana gulped slightly. "This is Ethan. Ethan, my adopted siblings, Isabelle, Timothy."
"Nice to meet you," Ethan murmured, and I picked up no hint of aversion or fright from him.
"Well…I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Tatiana said somewhat awkwardly.
"Yeah. See you."
Isabelle's teeth clenched. "No, you absolutely will not," she hissed.
Tatiana's expression was one I'd never seen on her before – fierce and protective. "Why not? Why must I stay away?"
"Because you will expose us!" Isabelle said in exasperation.
"No, he's not," my Alice piped up. "I'm certain."
Isabelle glared at her, but Alice just looked back, holding her glare.
"You really want to condemn him to this life, Tatiana? Really?" Isabelle demanded, turning back to Tatiana. "Why would you do that?"
Tatiana was defiant. "I have no idea, but I know that I've found myself in him, and you can't stop me."
Isabelle snorted.
"By that," Tatiana continued, her voice solid, clear, and icy, "I mean nothing, absolutely nothing you do will keep me from him."
Edward spoke. "She means it. It's true, and there's no avoiding the situation now."
"No one knows anything about this Ethan person! I believe that he just moved here today." Isabelle's hard gaze was not one to mess with.
I spent the rest of my sapped-out strength to calm her. It worked, slightly. She turned, her toned-down red hair twirling. "We'll continue this conversation. Away from school."
"Yeah, well, believe me when I say this: nothing is going to work now. And – he asked me out and I said yes."
Isabelle, slightly calmer, flared up again. "You what?!"
"Okay, time for us to go," Bella murmured, pulling us all away. Renesmee shot one last glance at her new friend, interrogated by an Isabelle on the warpath, reluctant at having to leave.
"Nessie. Now," Alice said, pulling her.
"Meet at our place," Edward ordered to them before the rest of us left.
"Poor Tatiana," Renesmee murmured. "Poor Ethan. Poor everyone."
She was absolutely right.