Chapter One: Newcomers
APOV (Athalie)
"Um...hi. I was wondering if you'd like to come join us." A small brunette vampire stood in front of me and my friends, looking at us curiously as she proposed her question. She looked nervous, afraid of us almost, and I almost laughed. She had friends, that group of 4 at the corner table. We were no threat, no threat at all.
Everyone turned to glance at Susan, the loudest, most outgoing of us all, and our voted spokesvamp for the group. She stared back at us, looked at the vampire in front of us, then at the group in the corner. I could hear the talk of the humans, wondering what we would do. They were curious as to why we looked so much like their classmates that kept to themselves, coming up with vicious rumors to hide their lack of knowledge. Let them talk. It didn't bother us one bit.
After what felt like an eternity Susan nodded, and we followed the brunette through the tangled mass of students and lunch tables to the small secluded corner, where 5 other vampires were seated comfortably, making small talk with one another that ceased as soon as we approached. We all sat down, in a small cluster, not sure what to do. There was a moment of awkward silence, and I turned my gaze to my hands clasped in my lap, letting the others do the talking.
"I'm Susan, and this is my merry band of freaks. Don't be shy guys, introduce yourselves." Susan said with a chuckle, sticking out her tongue at the three of us. Raven lifted his hand and gently flicked her on the nose before tucking a piece of her reddish-auburn hair out of her eyes. She smiled up at him and I could almost feel the adoration and love they had for each other that continued to last, and grow, through the ages.
"Last time I checked you were the only freak around here." Celeste teased back, immediately slipping into the more comfortable form of communication over the awkward silence. She scrunched up her face and made a dramatic eye-roll at her sister-in-law, once again showing her flair for the "dramatic arts". "I'm Celeste Gilbert, Raven's biological younger sister." She said, playing with a strand of her hair, the same color, if not a bit lighter, as Raven's blonde locks.
"And I'm Raven Gilbert, Sue's boyfriend, for school purposes." Rave finished, giving his mate a loving look from under his own mop of messy blonde hair. A small smile graced my lips before I shot a quick glance at the table across from me, wondering if anyone would notice me beside my family.
"Hey. I'm Emmett Cullen, and this is my little beauty Rosalie." One of their vampires said, rather loudly, taking over the introductions. He looked to be a football jock, if he were human, with his broad shoulders and muscled body. His hair was short but curly, and he had one arm draped protectively around a gorgeous, slim blonde's waist.
"This is Edward Cullen, and I am Isabella Masen. Call me Bella though." The brunette who led us here spoke now, clutching the hand of the bronze haired boy next to her, who I assumed was Edward, who gave us an easy smile in welcome.
"I'm Jasper Whitlock, nice to meet you all." A tall, lean blond with a southern accent ended, shooting my two sisters a wide, easygoing grin. I glanced at him for a second, but looked down at my hands quickly. He was attractive, for human standards definitely, but tiny, flawed indentions laced up his bare arms where his button-up shirt sleeves were rolled back, as was his neck. They were vampire scars, made by another vamp's venom. That realization proverbially chilled my blood. Who was this battle-scarred southerner?
"That's Athalie Sterling, by the way. She doesn't talk much." Rave said, smiling reassuringly at me even as 5 pairs of curious vampire eyes turned to examine me. I attempted to smile back before looking back at my hands, which now started to tremble slightly. I hated when attention was drawn to me, and Raven had done it on purpose. Bastard.
"Hello Amber." Jasper murmured in his molasses-slow way, reaching his hand across the table. I stared at it for a second, as if I had never seen the gesture before in my extended life, before taking it in mine, looking down at the empty table between us instead of into his obsidian eyes. Jasper shook it twice, then let go, seeming to understand my hatred of being touched.
"We might want to get to class; we're going to be late." Rosalie's voice jarred me out of my thoughts of her odd brother, and I looked up suddenly, glancing around the table. "Who has what classes?"
"Art." Susan said happily.
"Woodshop." Rave said.
"Creative Writing." Celeste murmured, shooting Susan a dagger-eye look. I smiled to myself, thinking how antagonistic those two could seem towards each other. Sue had scored the last open spot in art, and only Celeste could make that one tiny thing into something grudge-worthy.
"Psychology." I murmured when all eyes were on me expectantly. Without vampire hearing I doubt anyone would have heard me, except maybe Rave. He always knew how to take care of me, as if I were his younger sister, instead of Celeste, who could take care of herself.
"Susan go with Rosalie, she has that period as well. Raven, the woodshop class is right next to the gym, room 109." Edward said, taking control from Rosalie. "The English room you want, Celeste, is right next to the Art room, so you can go with the girls. And Jasper will escort you to class, Athalie." He finished before everyone rose to dump their trays and head off to class. Celeste pressed her lips to my cheek in parting and Susan tugged my hair playfully, then both they and Raven were gone, leaving me alone with the Southerner.
"Come on, we have psychology together." Jasper said, smiling kindly at me as he got to his feet, picking up both of our trays. I kept my gaze down and also rose, waiting at the table until he returned. He gave me another quick, easygoing smile, and I let him lead me out of the deserted cafeteria.
"Why are you in that class?" I asked, forcing myself to make small talk as soon as we reached the hallway. I didn't want him to think of me as rude, especially when he was being awfully nice to me, carrying my books like the Southern gentleman he seemed to be as he very literally escorted me to fourth period Psychology.
"I'm trying to understand why some people react the way they do. It'll help me with my power." He answered, leading me into an almost empty classroom. Apparently very few people wanted to take psychology these days, and who could blame them with "easy A" electives like art and drama? No one wanted to work for grades in this day and age.
"What's your power?" I questioned next, suddenly very, very interested. Other vampire's powers engrossed me to no end, and from what I read from these new vampires, most of them had some talent or other.
"I'm an Empath. Do you have…special skills?" Jasper replied. I opened my mouth to answer him, suddenly very eager to share with the scary warrior-vamp, but before I could the warning bell rang and the teacher walked in. The man was stern, and his first order was to open our books and turn to page 131, ending any possible chances for Jasper and I to finish our conversation.
EPOV (Edward)
A couple weeks went on with these new vampires staying with us, and even though we weren't as inconspicuous as before, none of us wanted the new clan to leave. With 9 vampires at this school, including myself, it was nearly impossible for people NOT to notice us, but we managed just fine, changing our hunting habits to further away with the rise in the vegan vampire population.
"Edward, what are you thinking?" Bella asked at the end of one day. We were standing outside, by my Volvo and Rose's M3, waiting for the others to arrive. The Sloane clan never drove, but preferred to run to wherever they were staying at, saying it kept them "healthy". It was more dangerous that way, but they understood our need for an unobtrusive life, and followed it.
"Jasper has been alone since Alice…and he seems so lonely. Maybe…maybe Athalie could cheer him up a bit." I said thoughtfully. Those two had seemed to be gravitating towards each other naturally, and I could read from my brother's thoughts that he had some fondness for the shy vampire already.
"You want to force them together?" My love questioned.
"As much as possible. It'll be good for him." I responded, kissing her on the forehead chastely.
"What'll be good for who? What are you guys talking about?" Jasper asked, choosing that particular moment to walk over to us. I knew he had heard most of the conversation, but perhaps he hadn't heard the part where we were talking about him.
"Oh, nothing." I said, opening Bella's door before walking over to the driver's side of my old Volvo, sliding in quietly. It's about time I got a new one, I thought in regret.
Man, what's with them lately? First they ditch me all the time and now this? Well, at least they're not acting like bodyguards again. And yes, Edward I know you're listening. Drive. Jasper's thoughts read loud and clear, and I snickered as I pulled out of the student parking lot, shooting my brother A Look. He was clueless. How thick could his skull be?
A/N: This is the first chapter….obviously. If you've read my other story first, you'll notice a lot of changes. First of all, I made the paragraphs bigger, added more detail. Second, there's less mistakes. Also, I promise not to add the wrong chapter. Oh. And I'm making the plot longer, so it doesn't seem like Jasper just falls for Athalie/Amber like its "love at first sight". She's also a bit more wary of our battle-scarred boy. And I'm also going to add chapters that weren't in the first one. So…yeah. Thanks for reading. Please, review! I love feedback. ^_^ ~ C