Chapter 5

Alice –

I was waiting for Edward at the entrance to the Band Hall, a smug smile on my face. This was going to be fun.

Like I'd anticipated, he walked out with a girl. My vision had been right. He was going to be pissed.

There was nothing that really stood out on the girl except for her eyes – such large, colorful eyes for such a small body. They were very pretty, but disproportionate on such a thin, heart-shaped face. On the other hand, she was pale, even perhaps as pale as me. If Edward was going to let this one live, she'd have to have at least one make-over by me.

"Kill off one, only to be replaced by another," I hinted, my smug smile becoming more prominent on my face. It took him only seconds to understand that, but I was hiding his expression from the girl by introducing myself. "Hello. I'm Alice, Edward's brother."

She smiled. "I'm Ilina. It's nice to meet you."

I smiled back, still stalling for Edward to gain control of his reaction again. He had to be one of the worst actors ever. "So, perhaps you could show me to a class later?" I asked, still stalling for time.

"Of course! What class do you need?" She seemed more than eager to help.

"Mr. Rivera's. A girl showed me where it was, but I'm afraid that I'm terribly lost."

She nodded. "It's quite alright. Would you like shown now or later?"

Judging on Edward's reaction, it would have to be now. "Now, if you wouldn't mind."

"Not at all."

She led us through the cafeteria confidently, not even noticing the people seated at the tables. Every step or two I would recognize someone from an earlier class, but there were too many people to know them all. I focused on Ilina now.

She seemed nice enough, and eager to please. I was curious if she did this to all new students. I had to laugh. She'd found herself a boyfriend with this tour. I wondered if she'd ever considered that. Only Edward would know.

However, right now, he was still gaping like a fish.

She stopped in front of Rivera's door, flourishing her hands at it. "And this is Rivera's classroom. He's nice, so don't worry."

Finally, Edward had gotten his head back. "Thank you for doing this, Ilina."

She shook her head. "Not a problem. I'll . . . see you in Diaz's later."

My brother nodded. I smiled. Ilina nodded, and then walked away. I guess she assumed that we didn't need help finding the parking lot. Which, we didn't, so it was a good assumption. As we walked through the halls, I smiled. "So, I hope you like her. You're going to be around her for a while."

Edward growled under his breath. "Not if I can help this."

I placed my hands on my hips. "Edward, we just got here, and you can't spontaneously ignore her. See how well that did for Bella?" I know, I was hitting below the belt. But seriously, Edward had to find some courage. "Don't be scared. What is your fear anyways? That for once in your life, you'll be loved by someone who loves you in the same way?"

Edward growled again, this time a menacing sound. I looked at him for a second, and then shut up. I really didn't want to test his patience at a time where he was in shock. That might be a little dangerous.

Seth –

Alright, it had been a long morning, I had to admit. That didn't excuse Paul's rudeness to Embry though. Embry'd had to rewrite all of his paperwork again. We hadn't gotten into class until third period was almost over. "Geez, Paul! Get over it! It wasn't like you wanted to be in class anyways!" Embry was shouting. A scene was slowly forming around us.

"I didn't want to wait for you to rewrite your paperwork either!" Paul retorted hotly.

I seriously wanted this to stop. This was terrible, hearing them argue. However, nothing that I said would snap them out of it. "C'mon Paul!" I pleaded, tugging on the older Quileute's arm.

"No!" Paul ripped his arm from my feeble grip. I'd never realized that he was that strong. A weird spasm ripped through him suddenly, his fists clenched. That twitch seemed to make him control himself again. He took a deep breath, and then walked out to his car, slamming the door. I stood with Embry. Talk about weird.

"What was that all about?"

Embry shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

I sighed. "He had our lunch, didn't he?"

"I've got a 20 in my pocket. What do you want?" He held up his wallet, and sure enough, a twenty-dollar bill was wedged between two 1s.

"I want ramen."

He grinned. "I was thinking the same thing."

"It's decided then." I turned to the nearest girl. She had red curly hair, pulled back into a messy ponytail. "Can you tell us where to get some food?"

She nodded, her eyes flicking up to Embry as well. "You can either go to the a la carte in the school or you can go to the Albertson's. That's twenty minutes away though."

Embry shrugged. "Sounds like a la carte it is. Hey, I'm Embry."

"Beki." Her eyes, hidden behind glasses, dropped to the ground self-consciously.

"I'm Seth. Hey, we'll buy you something if you show us where the a la carte is," I offered.

She smiled gently. She had a pretty smile. "How about if I show you where it is for free?"

Embry laughed. "Even better." He was looking Beki up and down. I had to admit, she was very pretty. She didn't notice, however, as she was calling to the girl behind her. "Hey, Sarah? I'll meet you in the glass lounge later, 'kay? Tell Ilina where I am."

"Alright," the girl behind her agreed. I presumed that she was Sarah.

"Well, let's go then." Without any indication that he knew that he was passing through a crowd, Embry strolled through the throng of people confidently. Beki looked at me, and then followed.

I sighed and shook my head. What a day.

Sarah –

The first thing that registered in my mind when I arrived in the glass lounge was that Ilina had gotten there before me. Talk about an anomaly. The whole day was an anomaly. Beki talking to strangers, Ilina playing tour guide, even the new family that had come today. I didn't trust them. Not one bit.

Maybe it was because my cousin, Sam, had called me just an hour ago and when I'd described the new characters, he'd told me to stay as far away from them as possible. You know, that might be it. Or maybe it's that stare the bronze-haired one gave me earlier. It was like he'd been trying to read my mind. Talk about freaky.

And then the fact that he was driving an Aston Martin frickin' VANQUISH!! Such a GORGEOUS car! I could tell that the beauty hadn't been ignored by Ilina either. Beki, however, had sighed and shook her head at us car-fanatics. Well, if she can't appreciate a beautiful car, that's her loss.

Either way, it wasn't really bothering me . . . much.

"Hey Ils," I said, coming to sit next to her on the heater. Without asking, I took some of the goldfish from her bag. You'd have to understand the relationship between girls to understand why.

"Hey!" she welcomed eagerly, setting the bag between us so that I could steal more. "Where's Beki?"

"Escorting some new students. I think their names were something like . . . Seth and . . . Embry?" The names felt unfamiliar in my mouth.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "So many new students lately."

"I know!" I tried to say around a mouth of goldfish. It came out as mush, but Ilina knew what I was trying to say. I swallowed. "It's weird."

"It is October."

"Ah yes, the time of new students, fresh in the city of Eugene."

She giggled. "Well, I got to know the new students."

"The ones you played escort to this morning?"

"Uh huh. Well, only really one of them," she admitted, her rose-colored lips twitching ever so slightly.

"Which one?"

"The thinner one. You know, the driver of the Vanquish." Ah, I remembered him. The one who had stared at me like he was trying to read my mind.

"Hey, Ils? I talked to Sam . . . he wants us to stay away from them."

Ilina's face fell. I wished I could tell what her eyes were trying to communicate. Finally, she sighed. "I . . . I can't."

My eyebrows rose. "Hey, I know he's handsome, but you can't tell me you've fallen for him."

She shook her head. "Of course not. I just . . . I don't know. I want to know everything about him. He's . . . so interesting."

Oh wow, this was worse than I thought.

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long! I got distracted by my other fanfic. It's coming along very nicely, as is this one.

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