I stood at the end of the sink counter watching Rosalie as she puffed her hair in the mirror. A flush filled the awkward silence as Bella exited one of the cubicles.
"So Alice, what do you think to the guys then?" Bella asked, turning on the tap to wash her hands. I swallowed and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear.
"They all seem really nice." Bella and Rosalie shared a sideways glance. Rosalie stopped tinkering with her hair and turned her full attention to face me.
"You seemed to be getting along well with our Jasper," Rosalie commented, her voice rising towards the end interrogatively. I felt my eyebrows rise slowly. Ah, so this is what our 'freshen up' chat was about. I couldn't help but feel slightly exposed as both Rosalie and Bella stared at me, calculating my response to being put on the spot.
"Yeah, I hope to get along with you all whilst we're stuck here," I responded, a small smile spreading across my face. Let's see what they make of that one.
Satisfied with my response for now, we exited the bathroom and headed to our first class – English.
Upon entering my first classroom, I was struck yet again by the landscaping. Instead of the typical single desks in rows I was accustomed with at my old school, the room was instead laid out in a circular structure with all the chairs exposed to one another. There was nowhere to hide. Bella had informed me whilst we were walking here that our specialist classes were one on one with Mrs Jenks. This was the time we got to improve our skills and get a hold on controlling them. In the meantime we were stuck with the same boring curriculum in all high schools. More students began to file in as Bella, Rosalie and I took our seats around the edge of the circle.
The last three people to sit down took their seats opposite ours. One boy with dark skin and dreadlocks took his seat beside a pale girl with flaming red hair. On her other side sat a blonde boy. As I rested my eyes on him, his gaze flicked across to mine. A few moments passed as he continued to stare at me, clearly unaware he was making me uncomfortable, or he just didn't care. A playful smile spread across his face as the redhead turned to occupy his attention. I looked down at my lap flushing.
"Don't worry about him, he's called James. He's a total ass," Rosalie whispered, her eyes narrowing in his direction. I gave her a brief nod and focused my attention instead on the teacher.
About half way through the class I felt James' gaze on me once again. Suddenly my arm began to jerk around I a spastic motion on its own accord. I heard the redheaded girl snicker as it happened again. Rosalie glanced sideways at me startled by the movement before understanding flooded her face.
"Knock it off James!" She shouted. I glanced across at James as his smile widened. Clearly thriving off of the provocation, my other arm began to jerk simultaneously with the other. "Bella!" Rosalie added, glancing across me. The jerking suddenly stopped. I shot Bella a grateful smile and returned my gaze to James. He held both hands up innocently.
"I only wanted to get the pretty girl's attention," he said slowly. A flush rose up from my neck. Taking pleasure at my embarrassment he continued, "I'm James by the way, I control the physical motions of the body."
I wanted to smack that cheeky grin off of his face. However, as this was my first day, I didn't fancy making any enemies just yet.
"Consider my attention caught."
Two could play at that game.
Later in the day we were once again sat all together in the lunch room. Rosalie had relayed the antics of the English classroom to the group.
"If he gives you trouble again Alice, I'll break into his room and crush his precious furniture," Emmett stated matter-of-factly. I laughed in response.
"I'm sure that won't be necessary Emmett, but thank you," I responded, laughing once again.
"So Alice, when is your first session with Mrs Jenks?" Edward asked. I quickly opened my bag and retrieved my timetable.
"It's tonight at six in her office," I responded before continuing, "What is Mrs Jenks' special gift?"
"Nobody knows, she never reveals it in front of anyone, but it must be something impressive if she is the head of a school like this," Edward responded. "Hey Alice! Just think, when she teaches you how to control your visions you will literally be omniscient!" Bella rolled her eyes as I raised my hand to my mouth in an attempt to hide my smile.
I wiped a sweaty hand down the side of my jeans and knocked on the office door. It opened instantly as though she knew I was there the whole time, merely waiting for me to knock on the door to acknowledge I was ready for the lesson.
"Alice, welcome."
Mrs Jenks opened the door wider to let me in. She gestured at one of the sofas in the centre of the room. I sat down and waited for further instruction.
"Your gift of seeing visions of the future is extremely rare, but not unheard of in folklore. It is important for us to identify how potent of a skillset you have. Please inform me of the progress you have made so far."
I stared at her as she watched me expectantly. I shifted in my seat before beginning, " Well, the visions are pretty new to me. At first they gave no indication as to when they were going to arrive, bt the more I have had them, I can tell if they are going to come on."
"Well Alice it sounds like you have already made some progress with your visions, the ability to identify them shows you are already on your way to managing them. Now let's try and induce a vision."
I left Mrs Jenks' office mentally drained. Progress was slow initially and it took a solid hour to formulate any sort of a vision. As time passed, I got more comfortable with the task at hand. The visions weren't anything particularly interesting, the menu for tomorrow's lunch, the outfits the gang would be wearing. As I stood to leave the office though, Mrs Jenks had stopped me, a slightly troubled expression altering her features.
"Alice, with these visions there might come something you don't want to happen or see. I should warn you that trying to change the future is very dangerous. It only postpones the problem, it doesn't evict it. Just whatever you see…. Go along with it."
I had been too shocked to formulate a response at the time, so I offered her merely a nod. A feeling of unease spread through me at what she may have been hinting towards. Somehow I got the impression that Edward was right, and Mrs Jenks skill set was beyond what anyone could believe.
A/N:
Hi Guys, long time no see! I know it has been ridiculously long since I last updated this story, but here is the next chapter for you all! Any comments or reviews about the story would be greatly appreciated! I would love to hear your thoughts on the characters and whether you love or hate any of them (sorry if you do haha) Thanks for reading! :) xoxo