We were at school, at the usual "Cullen" table, in the corner of the cafeteria. Humans did think of us as beautiful and alluring, but their instincts would kick in if they dared approach us. Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, Edward and I were sitting around the table, our trays of food untouched. Of course, we pretended to eat. We tried to be convincing, too. But human food is so… well, think of it this way. It's like eating dirt to a human. Don't ask how I know. But this is serious, because if anyone noticed that we weren't eating, along with some other evidence that we weren't human, and put two and two together, our image would be ruined. We'd have to hide away from the people in on the secret until they died, and then come back. Provided the Volturi didn't rip us up and burn the pieces first. Even with all that on our minds, lunch was boring. Lunch is a waste of time when you can't eat, seeing as that's the whole point of lunch.

Jasper had a wild look in his eyes. He was staring at a smaller girl across the lunchroom, probably wondering how satisfying it would taste to drink her blood. He actually made a motion not unlike licking his lips. I cursed at myself. How could I have let him get so thirsty? Some lover I was. I kicked him under the table at the same time Edward did. He winced.

Rosalie and Emmett were gazing at each other adoringly. (That was a first. The only times Rosalie wasn't looking at Emmett or her prey was when she was looking in the mirror. I swear, she can spend hours beaming at her own reflection!) Then they looked away, trying not to look like a married couple. I'd bet it wasn't that easy, seeing as they'd been married so many times. I guessed we'd have to go to their wedding in a few years…again.

Edward… He had a dark look in his black eyes (even though we hadn't hunted for a while, this shade of black was darker than I've ever seen), presumably not thinking happy thoughts. I followed his dark gaze, wondering who could have possibly irked Edward to this point (he's always been the control freak) and I saw the girl in my vision. I'd long since forgotten about that evening I spent with Jasper by the lake in the moonlight.

Isabella Swan was sitting at the table that was farthest from us as possible in the long room we knew as our cafeteria. She was surrounded by seven curious people with 'I-want-to-know-you' attitudes. You could tell by their facial expressions. However, if you really wanted to know what they were thinking, all you had to do was to ask the mind-reader. Edward.

Isabella tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear and resumed blushing under all the attention, and avoided all the marveling gazes. I knew she was staring at us. I could feel the heat of her intense gaze on our backs. Anyways, all of the new people (if there were any) stared at us. After all, we were unusual.

I spun my head around and back so quickly that to the human eye, it would appear that I hadn't moved at all. However, a quick peek to us vampires was like a photo taken. I could then examine the picture carefully. We vampires have a better memory than most humans, and we can see things a lot more clearly. She was sitting with Jessica Stanley and several of her friends. If I had known Isabella, I would have advised her to stay away from Jessica. Jessica, according to Edward, only liked people for their popularity.

I had also caught Eric Yorkie waving at her. Jerk. Just because she was new didn't mean he had to gawk at her like it was love at first sight.

Personally, I wouldn't have minded the attention, but seeing how Isabella flushed when she felt someone's gaze on her, I thought she would have minded;

I shook those thoughts out of my head and, with another quick glance in their direction, I saw Isabella staring at Edward. She had looked up, and whispered something to Jessica. Jessica answered her quickly. I smiled, thinking that she found him physically attractive like the rest of those stupid air headed excuses for girls in this school.

Edward felt her stare on his skin and stared right back with that malevolent black stare. I shuddered, wondering how she must have felt right then. You look at a handsome guy, feeling curious, and then he stares right back at you with the eyes of the devil. Ugh.

Isabella automatically dropped her head, letting her earthen brown hair fall like a curtain, protecting her face, but not before I had seen her reddened cheeks. She turned towards the girl sitting next to her, Jessica Stanley, and asked her a question. Jessica giggled, and whispered something into her ear. Jessica spun around and glared at Edward.

I stifled a guffaw of laughter. So Jessica hadn't quite gotten over her wounded pride over getting a harsh rejection from him when she asked Edward out. I couldn't blame him, really. Jessica was too plain for the liking of Edward. But was Isabella?

Isabella was very mysterious. She was shy, and didn't like attention. That was about all the information I had managed to gather. I couldn't wait to meet her, and decipher some of her expressions. I also would dish all the negative things about Jessica and maybe I'd earn a best friend! (I have nothing against my fellow vampires, but sometimes they, not including Jasper, of course, get really boring.) And then, who knows? Maybe I'd finally get to dress someone up!

My surroundings blurred, and I had another vision. This time it was more normal. The bell was going to ring soon, and I wanted to finish my essay. I could have done it quicker than the human eye could see, but that was hardly normal, was it? I also had a bunch of essays I'd collected over time, but at least another essay gave me something to do. I got up, scooped up my untouched tray to dump it, and then glided out the cafeteria doors as quickly as possible.

With yet another glance back at the strange Isabella through the glass, circular windows in the doors, I saw that she was still looking at the place I'd just been. Oops. Did I stalk out of there too fast? Then I saw the mixture of jealousy and admiration in her wide eyes.

I smiled; glad that she liked the way I walked.

I walked up the stairs, and skipped to my locker. I always left the places where there were too many people. I loved it when the corridors and the hallways were nearly deserted. Especially since I was thirsty today, I craved the taste of human blood. It wasn't a very good idea to stick around me when I was in that mood.

As I glanced behind me to see that no one was watching, I found a piece of paper and grabbed a pencil someone dropped on the floor. Then I knelt on the floor and began to write messily on it speedily. Then I shook my head slightly, and searched for another piece of paper. I began to write the same thing, except in my regular, flawless calligraphy, yet maintaining the same breakneck speed. After I was done, I crushed the pencil into splinters of wood, accidentally. I flung the pieces into the trash can, and prepared for my next class, Gym.

Gym was definitely my least favorite class. Any class where you had to wear the same, ugly uniform as the rest of the students was a stupid, meaningless class in my book. I could exercise perfectly well in my designer clothes and not get them ruined! And it wasn't like Coach Clapp could brew up an exercise that would make a vampire get tired and start to sweat.

We were supposed to stay in the middle of the gym floor as Coach Clapp filled out the attendance form and gave it to some poor student to run up to the office and hand it in to Mrs. Cope. Today, that unlucky person was Rosalie. Rosalie was in a bad mood today, so she glared at him angrily before getting up and loping away.

We were separated into cliques, as usual. It was Tyler, Eric and their cronies in one corner. Then the second corner belonged to Angela, Jessica, Lauren, and their girlfriends. (Angela was the only one there that I approved of. She was nice, while the rest of them were… rats.) The third corner belonged to the rest of the students. The fourth corner belonged to… one guess… the Cullens. Us.

However, since Edward was in Biology now, Emmett was in English, and Jasper was in Spanish, it belonged to Rosalie and me. And since Rosalie was delivering the attendance sheet as fast as possible, yet not attracting too much attention, I was the only one in our corner.

Coach Clapp blew his whistle, and told us to find a partner for badminton. I knew we would play badminton today, so I didn't really listen carefully. I got up and retrieved my own badminton racket I'd brought from home.

I couldn't find a partner. Since Rosalie wasn't here, I would have to ask someone else. Seeing that Angela was free, I started towards her, only to stop again as she paired up with another short, blond girl with wan eyes. Lauren was the only one left, as Jessica was sent to the office because of an overdue library book. I shuddered at the same time Lauren muttered "freak" under her breath and stared right at me.

I whipped my head around and returned her stare with a chilly stare. Her eyes widened and she looked away, scared. My eyes must have been blacker than I had thought.

Then Rosalie returned, faking an out-of-breath expression, saving me from the horrors of partnering with Lauren.

"We have to partner up," I said, as low as I could manage.

She nodded once, and took her badminton racket.

With a smug glance at Lauren, who had to partner up with Coach Clapp, I headed off to the fourth net, starting up a game with Angela and the short blond girl. They were a good team, and very good, for human standards, but we demolished them easily. It wasn't a fair match, but when is life ever?

After the monotonous substitute finished lecturing us (our English teacher was at home, nursing her baby), I jumped out of my seat in a fluid motion and made a beeline for the silver Volvo, to drive my siblings home. I needed to hunt as soon as possible. In the car, I could think more clearly, I thought, as I raced towards it.

I meant to fling myself into the car. However, I found that Edward was already in it, and Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett were getting in. I saw Edward's black, baleful expression and I grimaced. Then my vision blurred, and I had another vision—a new record.

Carlisle was trading cars with Edward because his had more… gas or something? I didn't understand. Then there was a flash and I saw snow. No, Edward was lying in the snow. He was staring up into the sky…

Oh. I got it now. Edward was running away from something. I didn't try to delve deeper. All I cared about was that he was leaving.

"You'll come back soon, right?" I whispered as he revved up the engine.

"Mmm…" He didn't answer, pointedly avoiding my gaze. If I guessed right, Edward thought that running away was a cowardly and selfish thing to do.

"We'll miss you, you know that, right?" I asked.

He didn't answer, but the speedometer went up and up and up.

Then, suddenly, as we pulled up into our driveway, he leaped out of the car and bounded away.

"Enjoy your run!" Rosalie called after him smugly.

Edward chose to ignore that, and resumed sprinting through the forest in the direction of Alaska, if my visions were correct.

We slowly got out of the car, Rosalie and Emmett's faces masks of confusion. Jasper understood that he was running away from something, though, and that he was feeling painful, I'd bet. Painful, that rang a bell.

Painful!

My vision!

Edward was running away from Bella.