Chapter 3 – Leaving Behind the Past

Embry –

My irritation with Paul taking so long to get dressed instantly vanished when we waited for him. I still hadn't fully filled out that paperwork for the school, so while he was dressing, I was writing down personal information in meticulously perfect handwriting, so that the office could read it. Seth laughed at me; I really didn't care. If I didn't spend this much time writing it down, no one would be able to read it, and I would have to write it over again.

My mom was already gone for work, a small travel agency having needed a secretary. She'd written a note before she'd left, telling all of us to have a wonderful time at school and to not worry about walking home; she'd call me on my cell phone, which was sitting next to the note. I sighed in relief. There went worrying about walking home, however, walking to school still seemed like quite a chore.

I groaned and went back to my paperwork. Paul could drive us.

That plan failed when I saw the fees and how you needed a pass for the student parking lot. That didn't bother Paul, however. He was pulling on a jean jacket and grabbing breakfast at the same time. "I'll just park in the parent parking lot. Not a problem."

Seth opened his mouth to argue, but I clamped my hand down before he could say anything. You just didn't argue with Paul.

Edward –

I got my schedule within minutes, having to ignore the thoughts of all of the secretaries in the office, then was sent to another office; the International Small School's office. I internally groaned. More secretaries.

I met Sally, the principal of IHS, and she was a kind enough lady. Her thoughts toward me were more motherly than her younger assistants', and oddly enough, I seemed comfortable with her. I sighed. I was not a typical vampire. Feeling at home at a high school. I couldn't have been a real vampire.

"Your first class is with Diane Downey. This is a Eurasian History class, designed to set you up for your next two years of International Baccalaureate Literature classes. You'll be getting college credit for both of them, so you can skip a few years of college."

Great. Just what I needed. Fewer years in college.

She led me to the door of Ms. Downey's literature class, opening the door quietly and ushering me inside. I walked forward to the older woman at the desk, her thoughts indicating that the younger woman teaching in the front of the class was her student teacher. "Excuse me?"

She didn't even look up. "Put a quarter in the jar and sit at your seat."

Quarter. That's what the girl who had guided us had meant. Tardies for Darfur, the program that made you pay a quarter every time you were late to class. I had a feeling that jar was pretty full, even before picking it up. However, I ignored the thoughts that kept cropping up about it and what it would be going to, and asked, "Might you be Ms. Downey? I'm a new student here, you see, and-"

She didn't even let me finish. "Oh, I'm so sorry! No, forget about the quarter thing! Ms. Yamada?" she asked, continuing when the student teacher stopped her lecture about the Odyssey and turned her whole attention to us. "This is a new student. Maybe he should introduce himself?"

With a quick glance over the class, I recognized a couple people, including the red-haired girl I'd spoken to earlier and the girl who had led my siblings and me to the main office. However, the idea of introducing myself to an entire class seemed less than appetizing to me. "Ms. Downey-" I started, but Ms. Yamada cut me off.

"Yes, of course. Please, step to the front of the classroom and tell us who you are."

I groaned, too softly for any of the humans to hear. Passing through the thin aisle between the desks, I crossed to the front of the room. 'I am Edward Cullen. I'm a vampire. Have fun with the rest of your lives,' was what I really wanted to say, but I had a feeling that wouldn't cut it. "My name is Edward Cullen. I just moved from Forks, Washington."

A girl near the back sniffled a bit. The rest of the class chorused "Hello Edward," lazily. I had the feeling they'd done this before.

"Please, take a seat next to Ilina in the back," Ms. Yamada invited, and so I took the chair. Ilina just happened to be the girl who had led us to the office. She hardly seemed to notice me until I sat down.

"Hello," she said invitingly. She gave a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, but the intent was clear. I was glad I finally had a face to match my memory of her.

"Hello. I'm Edward. Thank you for earlier." Usually, I would have just ignored her, but the fact that she'd helped us out justified talking to her in my mind.

"I'm Ilina. It's not a problem. I just wish I'd known you were coming to Downey's class. I would have brought you here too."

I smiled the slightest bit; my smile was just as pathetic as hers had been. "It's not your fault. I didn't know either. Oh, and Sally's here now. She's in the IHS office," I added helpfully.

She grinned. "Thanks. I'll talk to her during third. Hey, can I see your schedule?"

I searched her mind for her intent. Usually, strangers avoided us. She seemed to be going out of her way to help me. Her intent was pure. With a bit of resignation, I handed over my schedule. She raised her eyebrows as she read it. "You're taking Spanish Three already? Wow." She pursed her lips slightly. "And during second period as well. I have that with you, as well as Band . . . Wow. We have everything but fifth together."

I shuffled through her mind. During fifth I had Advanced Algebra (although I could go much higher, I'd asked for Advanced Algebra. I couldn't quite remember why now, but . . .) while she was suffering through a Bio/Chem. class. I could tell she could easily do the next step up in Science, but they couldn't schedule it. I had to feel sorry for her.

"Are the teachers observant?" I asked with curiosity as she handed me back my schedule.

She laughed. "I wish. Nope, you could get away with anything. For heaven's sake, you could probably kill someone with the attention they have, and they'd never know."

Wow. Disconcerting choice of words there.

"Good to know," I murmured. It was good to know. I'd have to tell Jazz, Alice, Rose, and Em later.

"Ilina!" Ms. Yamada interrupted our conversation. "Why was Odysseus and Kirke's relationship so misogynistic?"

"Because of the fact that Kirke was about to kill Odysseus, and once he outwitted her, using the help of the gods, of course, all she wanted was to sleep with him," she answered deftly.

Ms. Yamada nodded once, ending the conversation right there by standing over us while we worked on the worksheet that was being passed out.

Ilina -

I showed Edward to our second period, taking my seat on the complete opposite end of the room away from him and thought about what I'd heard and seen today.

Beki had said that Sarah wasn't fooled by this newcomer. He was different, she could tell. Sarah's cousin, Sam, had told her that she shouldn't trust people with Edward's description. She was going to call Sam tonight.

Then again, when I'd talked to Edward, alone, he'd seemed kind enough. He'd seemed trustworthy, and his siblings seemed normal enough. Then again, I didn't get paid to think about them either.

While I was pondering this, Edward was introducing himself in flawless Spanish, with the right amount of accent and stress on every word. This made me only the slightest bit curious; he could have taken Spanish back in . . . where was he from again? Forks, Washington? Sarah's cousin, Sam, lived about twenty minutes away from there, in La Push. Perhaps he knew Edward from somewhere.

The teachers seemed extra observant today, and so as I poured over my Spanish homework (an hour and a half early), I stayed quiet, speaking only with my thoughts. I didn't get called on; it was too big of a class for that. Edward had filled up the last empty seat.

Finally, the bell rang. I'd escort him to Band, where some of my closest friends were. They could tell me if I should trust him or not. "Ready to go?" I asked, even though he had already adroitly packed his things in his bag.

"Yes."

As we walked, I tried to make conversation. "So . . . what instrument do you play?"

He turned toward me, finally looking me fully in the eyes. I gasped. His eyes were a bright tawny color, the most beautiful eye color that I'd ever seen. I lost my train of thought for a minute, until he said, "Piano."

I smiled, trying to reorganize my thoughts. "I always wanted to play piano. I got to where I was alright at it, but I never really was any good. How long have you been playing?"

He gave a smile, like I was missing out on a joke. "Quite a few years now."

I nodded, trying to act like I understood.

"What do you play?" he asked genially.

"Flute and saxophone," I answered, just as amicably.

He nodded. "Two very worthy instruments. Ever played piccolo?"

I nodded. "I miss it, to tell you the truth. I played it for two years, but then . . . when I came to North, Bill, our band director, didn't have one, and I didn't have the money to buy one." I shrugged. It was no big deal. I'd save up for one after the Band Canada trip that was going on in May.

He looked interested. "Really? My sister, Alice, used to play piccolo, but she doesn't anymore. Perhaps you'd like hers? It's brand-new."

My jaw dropped. He was offering me a brand-new piccolo? I laughed nervously. "Perhaps you should check with her first."

He chuckled. "Perhaps." Again, I felt like I was missing out on another joke.

A/N: Okay, here's Chapter 3! It's sort of a longer one, it was four pages long on Microsoft Word, which is generally longer than any of my other ones. I'm trying to be fair about what I update. Next is a FFX-2: AS, and then afterwords is another Twilight! Woot!

Yup, Edward's part in this chapter is extremely long. I thought his opinion was best in this chapter, since it's his first day in school. I won't just do Edward, Ilina, and Embry though. I'm thinking of doing Alice in the next chapter, so tell me what you think about that!

So, there's a cute little purple button down there that loves to be clicked . . . so do it! And make a Melody happy! Review!!