Chapter 4 – Talk About Strange

Alice –

I twirled my pencil around in my fingers gently, rolling my eyes at whoever was currently answering a question. Incorrectly, of course. My hands never dropped the pencil; perfect dexterity. I felt a slight twinge of annoyance with Edward. Eugene, Oregon seemed like a hellhole to me. Rose and Jazz weren't too pleased with him either. Emmett was the only one who seemed content with North Eugene High School.

"Alice?" Mr. Madden asked. I looked up compliantly. "Would you like to fill in the word?"

"Ambidextrous."

Mr. Madden nodded, turning his back to me again. I sighed slightly. The boy next to me looked at me with a little more curiosity than he would have if I weren't stunningly beautiful. I resisted the urge to glare back at him. My temper was not exactly the best today. I'd let Jasper tear him to pieces later.

A vision came to my sight, and I pondered over that. Interesting, to say the least. Eugene would not seem as boring anymore after this.

Edward –

Ilina and I walked into the band room quietly, or as quietly as one could with that extremely loud knob for the door. I held the door open for her, as gentlemanly as I could, before searching around with my eyes for the band director.

I was only taking this course because of Esme. She loved how I played my piano, and she wanted more pieces. You know, I could understand that; a hundred years of the same pieces had to be boring.

Bill Robbins was a middle-aged man, with a bald spot on the top of his head. He seemed nice enough, and his thoughts were relatively kind. I instinctively smiled as I walked up to him. "Mr. Robbins?"

He looked over to me. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion, trying to remember if he knew me or not. Obviously he didn't since I'd called him 'Mr. Robbins'. "You must be the new student."

I nodded. "Yes, sir. I'm Edward Cullen."

"What instrument do you play, Edward?" He was assuming trumpet. Did I really look like a trumpet sort of person? Don't answer that.

"Piano, sir."

His eyebrows came together again. "Please, call me Bill. How well do you play, Edward?"

"Fairly well, si--Bill. I've been playing since I was young." It felt weird to call a teacher by his first name. Blame it on my old-fashioned mind.

He nodded once. "Alright. Go sit down, we'll see how well you do today."

I walked over to the piano bench. It was a beautiful piano, no question about it. My stone hands lavished over the splendid keys, stroking each black and white key with the slightest amount of pressure.

Now that I was finished marveling over the instrument I was to play, I looked around for Ilina. Of course, she would be in one of the farthest seats away from me. She seemed engrossed in a conversation; I scanned her mind for the topic. Apparently it was about some audition that she and the girl on the end had auditioned for. Something called WIBC.

Bill tapped his baton on the large stand in front of him, and the talking ceased. Then, he began to conduct. And there was music.

Ilina –

Edward was good at piano, definitely. All of the flourishes with the melodies that we hadn't heard before were suddenly there, making the pieces more complex, more beautiful. Marina, Mallory, and I chatted about that busily between pieces. Everything just seemed prettier with the piano. Or maybe it was just the way that Edward played it.

Wind Ensemble ended early, so I walked over to Edward, who was playing a piece on the piano. He scooted over to the edge as I approached, and I took that as a sign to sit next to him. He took no notice of me, just continuing to play. He was extremely good.

After a moment, the music came to a poignant note, decrescendoing into its final chord. He looked at me with an expecting smile. "Hello."

"Hi," I said faintly, my mouth dry.

"You said you play?" He asked.

I nodded. "Only a little."

He wasn't going to let me get away with that. He waved his hands at the awaiting keys, his expression hopeful. I only inhaled and blew the air out loudly through my mouth, consenting. My hands quivered as they took their position. In comparison to his beautiful playing, anything that I played would sound like child's play.

I played a little bit of 'One Winged Angel' by Nobuo Uematsu, not a terribly hard piece. It sounded alright, just . . . pathetic. I finished on the F key, looking back at him with a passive expression on my face. "I told you I wasn't very good."

He shook his head. "Much better than I expected, with your description earlier."

"You're only saying that to be nice."

"No, of course not," he protested. An embarrassed smile broke onto my face just as the bell rang.

"Doing anything special for lunch?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Nope. Just hanging out with a few friends. What about you?"

He shook his head. "Probably going home." That same grin broke onto his face, that one like I was missing out on a joke again. My lips slipped into a pout before I realized it. I wanted to know the joke.

I shook my head, smoothing out my expression. "Okay, well, have fun with that. Do you need help finding Diaz's class? I can meet you in the Glass Lounge after lunch ends, if you'd like."

He looked like he was internally debating about something. "No, it's alright. But thank you," he finally said after a moment. I gave a gentle grin, and then nodded. He had his secrets, just as I had mine.

A/N: Sort of a short chapter, but it's a transition chapter. There's an insight into Alice's mind, as mischevious and awesome as Alice is. I don't own One Winged Angel, but I wish I did. The song Edward was playing was going to be To Zanarkand, but I decided against it at the last moment.

For those of you who are wondering, the werewolves will be back in the next chapter. I didn't really want to do another chapter where they had a very little part. Beki and Sarah will be back as well.

Inspiration: A whole bunch of Nobuo Uematsu songs.

Wait for Chapter 5! Or, tell me what you thought of Chapter 4 with the cute little purple button down there!