A/N: Time for the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it. I'll try and keep the chapters long enough, but it's hard.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except Clare, Micheal, Jesse and Lee.
Still thinking about that strange scent, I absentmindedly gave the teacher- a tall, balding man named Mr. Mason- my slip to sign and he gave it back to me after telling me to sit at the back next to Ms. Cullen.
I began walking down the aisle, only now realising that the scent was much stronger and was continuing to grow.
Jerking my head up in the direction that the scent was coming from, I met the startled golden eyes of a vegetarian vampire. One that wasn't a family member.
I completely froze. She was a vampire, one that I didn't know. She shouldn't be here. My family would have known about another vampire in the area. Once again noticing her eyes, I quickly amended my last statement. Another vegetarian vampire in the area. This was bad.
Over the years, I had found the limitations of my ring. The one that concerned me now was that the ring only lessened my natural scent, enough to avoid suspicion from humans, but it would still be slightly noticeable to vampires. She would definitely know that I wasn't human when her throat didn't start burning, despite how good I smelled. Oh, crap.
Wait, what did Mr. Mason call her? Ms. Cullen? As in the famous (vampire-wise) Cullen Clan? The first vegetarian vampire family, led by Carlisle Cullen, the first and, to this day, only, vampire doctor? Did that mean that the rest of her siblings were here too? The only one of them that I knew by name was Dr. Cullen, but I did know that there were seven of them in total, five of them teenagers. Were all five of them here?
Only after I had asked myself all of those questions did I truly take in anything about her appearance, other than her golden eyes.
She was small, smaller than either Jesse or I, despite the fact that she looked around eighteen. Just like the rest of her, her features were small and delicate, like those found on a china doll. Her hair was ink-black, cropped short and pointing in every direction. Like every vampire, her skin was pale and flawless and she was beautiful.
All of a sudden, I found my fear of discovery diminishing. She didn't look malicious; surely she wouldn't do anything rash. I mean, she was a member of the Cullen Clan, and they weren't exactly known for causing trouble.
No, I shouldn't be thinking like this. Regardless of who she was, she could still be dangerous. I'd just have to keep my distance until I got the chance to talk to my family.
While all of this was going through my head, only a second or two had passed. Quickly unfreezing, I kept walking forward and sat down beside her, not missing her intake of breath when she caught my scent. I also didn't fail to notice the extremely curious looks that I was getting from the other students in the class. Stealing a glance at her from under my hair, I saw that she was still looking at me with a confused expression on her perfect face.
Thankfully, Mr. Mason began his lecture at that point and I turned to face the front of the class, hoping that the girl beside me would do the same. I didn't even know her name, which bothered me. I mean, if she was going to be a threat to me, then I should at least know what to call her and I doubt that she would respond well to 'Hey you!', or, 'Vampire!'. But that would mean starting a conversation with her and I wasn't prepared to do that. Maybe she would just forget about it.
That hope was dashed when I felt her lean over towards me and her scent got a whole lot stronger. What was that? It was some kind of fruit, maybe mangoes. No, that's not right. Maybe...uh, why does it even matter what kind of fruit she smells like? She's about to say something.
"Hi, I'm Alice Cullen and you must be Isabella van Allen. It's nice to meet you." Her voice was like music, just like every other vampire, yet it was still unique.
"Yeah, that's me, but I prefer Bella. It's nice to meet you too." I tried to sound disinterested so that she would take the hint but if she noticed, then she completely ignored it.
"So, how are you liking Forks so far, Bella?" she asked. I was not under the illusion that she was trying to get to know me, for me. She was probably trying to get to know me better to figure out if I was a threat.
For some reason this annoyed me and my reply had more of a bite than I had intended, "There are some things that I could do without," Seeing the flash of shock and hurt cross her face, I quickly realised that because of my tone of voice, she thought one of those things was her. I felt a stab of panic, worried that I had unintentionally insulted her and quickly amended my statement, "The rain, for example, its way too wet here." Ok, that was a lie, I liked the rain. Come to think of it, why did I say that there were some things that I could do without? So far I liked Forks.
Still lost in thought, I almost didn't notice her relieved smile. She probably wasn't used to people not liking her. Not that I disliked her, she seemed like a nice person. Then again, vampires were great actors.
I was still wary of her, but I found myself paying more attention to her when she spoke again.
"Really? Personally, I like the rain. I think it's beautiful." She was right, the rain was beautiful.
Once again, Mr. Mason piped up, "Well, it's nice to see that you are making friends, Ms. van Allen, but could you please do it outside of my classroom? That goes for you too, Ms. Cullen."
Blushing at being caught talking in class on my first day, I quickly turned to the front of the room, trying to ignore the other students in the class, who seemed to find all of this way too interesting.
Putting thoughts of Alice out of my head, which was hard seeing as she was sitting right next to me, I focused on the teacher for the rest of the class, disappointed that I had already read all of the books on the reading list. So much for public school being a challenge. Well, in English anyway, I still had lots of classes to go.
It was for the best anyway, I had to stay away from her and her family for the time being.
As soon as the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, a gangly boy with skin problems and greasy black hair leaned across the aisle to talk to me, sparing Alice a wary glance on my far side.
"Hey, I'm Eric. You're Isabella van Allen, aren't you? " He asked in a tone of voice that said he already knew the answer. The why would he ask that question?
"Bella, "I corrected him. Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at me.
"Where's your next class?" He asked, smiling in a friendly manner.
Without looking in my bag, I responded immediately. "Government, with Jefferson, in building six." Maybe I should have pretended to think about that first.
At this point, everyone was looking at me curiously, including Alice who was still packing away her things, one pen at a time. Why should my next class matter to her? Unless we had the same one. I couldn't tell if the disappointed look on her face was because we did or because we didn't.
She answered my question by standing up and turning to face me. "Looks like we won't be sharing the next class. Well, it was nice meeting you, Bella. I'll see you around." With that, she walked out of the classroom, leaving the rest of the students looking shocked.
Confused, I looked at Eric. "What?"
He closed his mouth and faced me again, tearing his eyes away from the door where Alice had disappeared. "Sorry. It's just that the Cullen's don't really talk to people and Alice was acting really nice to you. Must be because you're new." Or because I'm not human.
Shrugging, he offered to walk me to my next class. Huh, the boys of Forks High seemed to be nice enough, even though Jesse painted such a bad picture of them.
I smiled tentatively. "Thanks." Maybe interacting with people my own age wasn't going to be too difficult.
Over the course of the next few classes, I began to recognise more of the faces in each class. A nice girl named Jessica even asked me to sit with her at lunch, but I couldn't help but find something off about her offer.
"Sorry, I'm sitting with my family today."
She raised an eyebrow, or tried to because the other one was pulled up too and made her look squinty. "Your family?" Was that unusual in school? Were we supposed to ignore each other or something?
"Yeah, my brother Lee and my sister Jesse." I said slowly, only getting more confused when she smiled like the cat that ate the canary.
"So, his name is Lee, huh?" She asked nonchalantly. I just said it was. Was there something wrong with her?
"Yes. Why?"
She just shook her head, still smiling. "Never mind. Maybe some other time."
I watched her walk away, feeling as though I had missed something important.
On my way to the cafeteria, I had to endure more staring, whispers which I could have heard miles away and one girl actually pointed at me. All of this was making me nervous, despite knowing that I had my ring on and the glamour was in full affect. Why was I such a big deal? I was looking forward to lunch because I knew that they would be more interested in my siblings than me, because of how I now looked.
Walking into the cafeteria, I spotted my siblings sitting at an empty table with trays of untouched food in front of them. Knowing that neither of them would eat it, I didn't bother to get my own. Waste not, want not.
I moved through the throng of students and sat down beside Jesse, who silently pushed her tray in front of me.
Deciding to skip the formalities, I went straight to business. "Did either of you know about the coven living here or did it surprise you as much as it did me?"
Jesse gave the surrounding room an uneasy glance, looking for the coven in question and responded quietly. "We had no idea. I called Micheal in between classes and he didn't know either. We're used to avoiding nomads, not vampires that live in a certain place for long periods of time. I guess none of us expected it."
Lee leaned forward, sliding his unopened soda towards me. "We had one of them during third period. A big guy called Emmet, and he seemed just as surprised, if not more so. Micheal thinks that we should be polite, but not give anything away. As you know, he has great respect for Carlisle Cullen, despite not seeing him for over two hundred years and he doesn't think that they'll tell them about you. Just to be on the safe side though, he wants us to be careful. You especially."
Feeling better now that I knew what the others thought of the situation, I opened my soda and took a long draught, waiting for the moment when they would enter the cafeteria.
It turns out that I didn't have to wait long.
I had just put the can down when I heard nearly-silent footsteps over the din of the students. The far door opened and in came five vampires.
They ignored the rest of the student body and as soon as they had gotten their food, they sat at the farthest table in the room.
My eyes were immediately drawn to Alice, the one Cullen that I had had contact with. Golden eyes met brown ones as she turned her gaze in my direction, which, for some reason, caused me to blush. I quickly surveyed the remaining members of her family.
Of the three boys, one was big, muscled like a serious weight-lifter, with dark, curly hair. From his size, I was betting that this one was Emmet. Another was taller, leaner and while he was not as muscular as Emmet, he still looked strong. He had honey-blond hair. The last was lanky, less muscled, with unruly, bronze-coloured hair. The remaining girl had long, blond hair that fell in waves down her back and looked stunning.
All of their eyes were focused on our table. The bronze-haired boy, the honey-blond boy and Alice all had frustrated looks on their faces.
Before either group could do anything, Jessica sauntered over to our table, focused solely on Lee, whose expression became annoyed.
"Hey there. I'm Jessica, Bella's friend." Wait, I only spoke to her once. I didn't even know her last name, how could we be friends?
Lee gave me a look that said he didn't believe her and proceeded to cross his arms and lean back in his chair.
"I was just wondering how you liked Forks and if there was anything that I could do to make your stay more...enjoyable?" She asked in a tone that was obviously meant to be seductive and was failing miserably.
Everything would have gone ok from then on, Lee would have turned her down gently and everyone would have been fine. Or, at least it would have been, had Jessica not pulled up a chair closer to Lee, and right in front of Jesse, blocking her from view and excluding her from the conversation.
The obvious insult to Jesse didn't sit well with Lee, who had no patience for people who insulted his family. Narrowing his eyes at her, he casually picked up the apple from his tray and began twirling it. "Something that could make my stay more enjoyable?" His voice became low and sultry and Jessica's breathing hitched when he leant towards her. Fully expecting a kiss, she angled her face upwards. Unfortunately for her, Lee had other ideas. When he was centimetres away from her lips, he said in that same low, sultry voice, "You could always stand up, walk back to your table, tell your friends I let you down easy and never bother me again."
Jessica's eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed in anger. "Whatever, you're not worth it anyway." Standing up in a huff, she stalked back to her table, trying to retain as much dignity as possible and once again failing miserably.
Chuckling, Lee put his apple back on his tray and started humming to himself, satisfied. Jesse on the other hand, burst out laughing. "Did you see the look on her face? That was fantastic!"
Glancing back at the Cullens, I see that they are all still looking in our direction, but now they have small smiles on their faces. Obviously they don't like Jessica either. As soon as they see me watching, their smiles turn to curious looks, still trying to figure me out.
Sighing, I turned back to my table and start eating my lunch, which consisted of a salad with rather flaccid lettuce a bottle of lemonade.
Just as I was finished, the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch and the beginning of more classes.
Lee turned to me before I could stand up. "We'll see you at the end of school. Be careful." His eyes flicked to the Cullen's table to tell me just who I ought to be careful of. As if I didn't already know.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Besides, I can handle myself." Giving them both a reassuring smile, I began walking to my next class, which was biology.
I had always found this subject interesting when Clare was teaching me at home but I highly doubted that this school had the basic biology of the average vampire. I suppose photosynthesis would have to suffice.
When I entered the classroom, I quickly noticed that there was only one free seat left and it was next to Edward Cullen.
Mr. Banner signed my slip and handed me a book, telling me to sit next to 'the Cullen boy'.
As soon as I was seated, Mr. Banner began talking about what he was going to be covering this year. I had taken down the skeleton, the heart and the vascular system when Edward asked me in a low voice, "What are you?"
The pen in my hand jerked, gouging a hole in my notebook. I really hadn't expected him to outright ask me. Maybe drop some subtle hints and try and weasel it out of me, not just come right out and ask.
Seeing my startled expression, he continued, "I know that was rude, but my family and I are very curious and considering that you already seem to know about us, we just thought that it would be fair to level the playing field."
Fear spiked in my stomach. The last time a vampire had found out about me he had attempted to go to the Volturi with the information. My family had only just managed to stop him and since then, we had avoided other vampires.
"I'm truly sorry if this is making you or your family uncomfortable, but I'm sure that you understand my reluctance." I was really hoping that he would just let it go.
"I do. However, it is extremely rare for my family to meet other vampires who adhere to our diet and we would really like to get to know you and your family. We will not pry into your nature, I promise, but my father, Carlisle, is very eager to meet all of you."
I thought about this for a second. They seemed like a nice family, from what little I'd seen of them but telling them would just be putting them in danger. If the Volturi ever found out, which I believed was inevitable; any vampire that had failed to tell them of a new supernatural creature would be in trouble. My father Micheal used to work for them, something that he was not proud of. It was actually where he met Carlisle and was so impressed by him, that he changed his lifestyle and left. He knew Aro and he also knew that if Aro found out about me, it would be bad. My thoughts went to Alice for some reason and I knew that keeping it from them was a good idea.
Sighing, I turned to look at him, "I'm sorry, but I just don't think that that's possible right now." Edward looked genuinely regretful and began paying attention to the teacher.
As soon as the class was over, I grabbed my bag and left, head down.
The rest of the day was spent trying to distract myself from my thoughts of the Cullens, which was a lot harder than it sounded.
By the time the day was ended, I basically jogged out to the car, eager to be home.
Lee and Jesse were already waiting for me and I wasted no time getting in. However, while Jesse was pulling out of the parking lot, I found myself once again staring into the eyes of Alice Cullen. Our eyes stayed locked together until she disappeared from view and the entire ride home I kept thinking of reasons why I couldn't tell them.
The moment the car was in our driveway, I pulled open the door and shot out, shouting over my shoulder, "I'll be back in an hour." Knowing full well what I needed to do, my siblings merely nodded in response.
I ran into the forest surrounding our house, easily as fast as a vampire, enjoying the feel of the wind whipping past my face. I needed to go faster than this and there was only one way to do that.
Pulling off my jacket until I was left in my shirt, which had carefully concealed slits in the back, I quickly willed my wings to unfurl. My ring may have been able to shield my appearance and make the tattoos on my back disappear, but when my wings came out, the glamour dissolved, revealing my true appearance whether I was wearing my ring or not.
To anyone standing beside me, it would look as though a mass of tiny, dark blue lights were flowing from my back. In another moment, they would see that those lights coalesced to form two, large, snow-white wings.
Bending my legs, I shot upward into the air, going faster than the human eye could see but, for some reason, my thoughts kept going back to a tiny vampire called Alice Cullen.
A/N: Well, I hoped that that was ok. I tried to make it extra long for those who asked. Also, for everyone out there who asked questions, like SaneTwin1-2, all will be revealed soon. R&R.