I froze, my eyes focusing on the door as though it were see through. The knock came again, somewhat quieter this time. Curiosity got the better of me as I stood up and flung open the door. I was met by a petite girl with wavy brown hair and warm, friendly eyes. She flashed me a smile and extended her hand,
"Ah I'm so glad you've finally arrived! My name is Bella, I live opposite you," she said, gesturing behind her quickly at her own door. I grabbed her hand and shook it.
"It's nice to meet you, Bella. My name is Alice," I replied, adding a smile of my own. I glanced over her clothes out of habit, noticing that she wasn't in the school issued uniform that was still on the shelf in my wardrobe.
"Oh, we don't have to wear uniform when we get to seventeen, only on formal days, like when important visitors come or we have ceremonies, which is a relief because it's disgusting," she added with an eye roll. I laughed just as a bell began to ring through the halls. Bella gasped and reached out to grab my arm.
"Come on it's time for lunch, I want to introduce you to everyone else," she said, immediately leading me down the corridor.
The lunchroom was impressive. White walls framed the small colonies of lunch tables, making the room seem open and inviting. By the time Bella and I had waited in line and got our food, the hall was pretty full. Bella immediately began to lead the way towards a table where four people were sat; three boys and a girl. I immediately began to feel nervous as I looked them over. The girl was beautiful. She had long, blonde hair that cascaded in waves down the side of her face. Her features reflected something you would fantasise about having from the pages of a magazine. The three boys she was sat with were equally good- looking, all with masculine features, one blonde like the girl, another brunette, and the last a somewhat bronze colour. The one with the bronze hair turned on our approach, flashing a dazzling smile at Bella. She sat down beside him, giving him a peck on the cheek. I sat down quickly, an air of calm overcoming me.
"Guys I'd like you to meet the new girl, Alice," Bella said, gesturing to me. "Alice, this is Rosalie, Emmett, Edward, and the blonde one is Jasper." We all exchanged quick a quick 'Hello' and fell into an awkward silence. The most muscular of the three boys, Emmett I think Bella had said suddenly leaned forward
"So, what's your gift then?" He asked curiously. I stared at him blankly. Gift? What was he talking about?
"I-uh I don't know what you mean. I don't have any gifts." They all shared quick glances with each other. Was I missing something here?
"You must have a gift otherwise you wouldn't have gotten yourself landed here. What is it your parents sent you here for?" Emmett pressed. Understanding flashed upon me. They meant my visions. My 'gift' was supposedly my visions. "Ah, she knows what we're talking about now. We'll show you ours if you show us yours." Emmett added, waggling his eyebrows. I laughed and nodded in agreement. Did this mean these people were like me too? Maybe my parents really were trying to help by sending me here. Emmett cleared his throat bringing me out of my reverie. He raised his hand to face me; open as if he was waiting to receive a high five. He slowly lowered it to lay palm down on the table, flashing me a brief wink before he began to press on it. I watched in open eyed amazement as his hand began to sink into the table, leaving a handprint as though it had been carved.
"Whoa, what WAS that?" I said in amazement. Emmett laughed and lifted his hand away from the table.
"My gift is my strength. I am able to create an impact on any material or substance, as well as being one awesome person to have on your team in a game – or fight." The blonde girl, Rosalie rolled her eyes beside him.
"My boyfriend is such a charmer. Now it's my turn." Rosalie lifted her gaze to meet mine intently, looking over me before she closed her eyes, drifting into silence. What happened next was baffling. Her body appeared to be shedding from the root of her hair to the tip of her toes. It was over in seconds. I gasped as I was now staring into a mirror image of myself. Rosalie had taken on my appearance.
"Alice you should see your expression right now," she laughed, quickly turning back into her normal self. "My gift is transformation. I am able to turn myself into anybody I set my eyes on within seconds." I could only nod in amazement as I processed what Emmett and Rosalie had just displayed. There was no way my gift was as cool as theirs.
"I wouldn't be so sure, Alice. From what I've deciphered in your thoughts, your gift sounds rather amazing." Edward said, a slow smile spreading across his face. I felt my eyes grow wide. Did he just read my mind? Could he see- no hear what I was thinking? "Yes Alice this is my gift. I can read people's minds, well, except for Bella's." He shot an affectionate look at Bella.
"Oh my god, that is seriously creepy – and awkward." I blurted, earning laughs from around the table. Bella suddenly straightened and turned to face me.
"Well I guess that just leaves mine and Jazz's gifts left to show, before we get to see yours," she said, turning to face Emmett. "Now Alice, I want you to try and hit Emmett." I looked at Bella in disbelief. Was she serious? Emmett nodded encouragingly, pointing at his cheek. I swallowed and slowly extended my hand across the table, increasing the force as I went. It was as though the air was repelling me. No matter how much force I placed in my arm, my hand would not budge past about half a meter close to Emmett. "Alice, this is my gift. I like to call it a shield. I used to only be able to do it mentally, but whilst I've been here I've mastered the ability to perform it physically too. If I exerted my mental shield to you, anybody here with gifts like Edward's would be useless against you," she finished simply. I suddenly burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, before covering my mouth with my hand in shock.
"Sorry I don't know what happened I didn't-"
"And that would be my gift," Jasper said, cutting me off. Startled, I turned to face him. He'd been so quiet I had forgotten he was there. Looking at him properly for the first time, I was struck by how attractive he was. Edward cleared his throat with a chuckle, causing me to blush.
"Don't blow up his ego, Alice, he can probably sense what you're feeling," Edward stated, as a way of explaining his outburst of laughter to the table. I blushed further. Then it was as though an air of calm came over me once more, then joy, sorrow, anger, jealousy, then confusion.
"The confusion you are now feeling is your own feeling, not my gift. My gift is the ability to influence the emotions of people around me. It appears to work on a different wavelength of that Bella's mental shield functions on, as I am still able to affect her with her shield intact." I was quickly taken in by his voice as he spoke to me. His voice was masculine, although gentle. A great sense of comfort washed through me, I was sure was my own doing, not Jasper's. His eyes were a pale honey colour that transfixed me completely. I mentally shook myself and looked down. I needed to get a hold on myself. I had just experienced massive upset in my relationship with Jacob, I didn't need to be occupying my thoughts with another guy, when I had bigger issues to resolve.
"Speaking of those issues, would you care to show us your gift now?" Edward asked, causing everyone to focus on me. I cleared my throat.
"See the thing is, my gift isn't really something I can trigger optionally like you guys, at least not yet. What I have are visions of the future, I haven't been having them long, and I have no control over them. One of them hit me at such a bad time I totalled my car. I got into a lot of trouble, which is how my parents ended up sending me here." I stopped talking and looked up. Everyone was staring at me with wide eyes.
"Wait did I hear you correctly, you hear the future?" Bella asked her eyes wide. I nodded in answer. "Oh my god that's amazing! Think of the possibilities you will have when Mrs Jenks teaches you how to control it! I've never heard of anybody in the whole Academy with a skill like it!" I smiled at her slowly, stealing a glance at the rest of them anxiously to see what they were thinking. Once again an air of calm engulfed me. I glanced at Jasper to see him smiling at me. I returned it and looked back down. Bella and Rosalie shared a smirk.
"Right, well it's nearly time for lessons, so me Bella and Alice are gonna go freshen up and we'll see you in class," Rosalie said, rising from her seat. I stood up and followed Bella and Rosalie out of the lunchroom.
A/N: Thank you for reading the next chapter in Lakeview Academy! I know i haven't been uploading much on my stories recently, but i just haven't really had much time to fully devote to doing it, so thank you for bearing with me and persevering! Reviews would be greatly appreciated with how you think the story is going, your opinions on the characters, the Academy etc. Thanks again for reading, i really do appreciate it :) xoxo