Level

My baby's on the level
I try to read her mind
She's on the straight and narrow
I'm guessing all the time...

I recovered miraculously at dusk. Having spent our second 'sick' day learning what was left in my instruction books, I was anxious to get back to the music shop for more. I called out a 'goodbye' from the door before racing to my car and heading into town, in much better spirits now that I'd fed and had a new interest.

Bart greeted me with a hesitant smile when he saw me enter his shop again so soon. 'That one's back. He's just like that wretched little girl who practically lives here...only this one has money...hmm. Maybe Daddy will spring for that Steinway. I'll finally unload it...' "Ah, Mr Cullen! Back so soon! Wonderful to see you."

I put on a phony smile which, I hoped, kept a portion of the sneer it was to cover. "Just looking today, thank you." Dick. I walked with purpose straight past him and he actually backed away. I did enjoy this part of my vampire life...the intimidation at my will. At times like this is was especially satisfying.

Knowing exactly what I was after, I went straight to the bookrack at the back of the shop. Engrossed in the selection (well done, Bart) I almost missed the familiar scent. I'm slipping, I thought to myself as I heard:

'Oh my god, he's back! Shit! Do I still smell like garlic? Thanks MOM! Where's my gum...'

Smiling to myself, and giving her time to find her breath salvation, I picked up a book and casually leafed through it. "Grey with an 'e'," I said quietly without turning. "Surprised to find you here."

"How did you...oh, right. I'm always here. That was sarcasm." She rolled her eyes and smiled from behind her loose hanging hair when I looked over. She had a deep blue streak down each side today. That was new.

"You're enjoying that gum. Is it good?"

She stopped chewing. 'God, I must look like a cow! And a rude one.' "Want a piece?"

"Oh no, thank you. I never chew, myself."

'Yep. A chewing COW!' "Really? Never?"

"No. Never." No need, I laughed to myself.

"You got braces or something?"

"No." I couldn't help but let a little laugh escape.

"Oh. Well, I've got some manky breath right now, so I have to chew. My mom made pasta primavera and went wild with the garlic. Sorry if the gum isn't cutting it."

I was both amused and impressed with her candor. What girl admits that? I leaned in slightly and made a show of inhaling. I didn't have to, of course, but it looked better. "Seems fine to me."

"Seriously?" she whispered, wide-eyed.

I nodded. "Honest. Not the least bit offensive."

She gave me a skeptical smirk. "You must love garlic."

I shrugged. "I don't mind it either way." I didn't season my moose blood...perhaps I should try it next time. I was getting a real kick out of this girl.

"Well, my mom's taking this cooking course? She's going nuts in the kitchen lately. You should come over some time. She makes way too much, every night. I'm getting fat." 'Holy shit. I just asked him over for dinner. What the fuck?'

I let her off on the embarrassing invite blurt; the other comment disturbed me. It seemed way off the mark. "You're fat? Where?" She couldn't weigh much more than 100 lbs! My smallest prey is bigger than her. I caught myself and immediately turned away. She's not PREY!

'Was he checking me out?'

No! I screamed in my head. Not checking you out...you're just another human. Not prey. "So...I uh...I need a different book. I think. Something more advanced. Suggestions?" We both needed to get our minds back onto something neutral. Music.

"Already?" 'Show off.'

I flashed a coy grin. "I'm a quick study. My piano training must have helped too. I don't feel challenged enough."

"Oh. Right. Well, there are intermediate ones... or you could just skip ahead and go for song books. That might be more interesting. Can you read tabs?" 'Ha! Piano training won't help you with that! I could though...'

I made a face at her. "I don't have to read tabs."

"Fuck. You can play by ear, can't you?"

I snickered in response as I browsed the songbook titles.

"God, I hate you...well I don't mean YOU, personally. I don't even know you. I mean that I hate people like you...envy, more than hate. You know. 'Cause I've been playing for years and I still really have to work at every new song. Note by note...over and over..."

"Play something for me." I cut off her rambling.

'No fucking way!' "Oh hell no! You're probably already better than me. Or...you're bluffing. You play!" She challenged me with a coy grin of her own.

I cocked an eyebrow at her. I loved a challenge. "Tell me, what do you listen to?"

"Me? Um...I dunno...why?"

"You don't know what you listen to?" I teased. "Got your iPod on you?"

'Stupid rich kid, assumes everyone has an iPod...' "Yeah...what if I don't have an iPod?"

"I saw you with it last time." I didn't even have to lie. This girl was too easy.

"Oh. Right. Well, I probably listen to the same stuff you do, except the classical shit. There's none of that on mine." 'He'll laugh at the amount of emo stuff I've got. No way is he getting his hands on it.' "What's on yours?"

Flashing a grin, I pretended to give it some deep thought. "All different stuff really. But I'm mostly into alternative right now, as you can tell." I swept my hand towards my face. Bored of always being the studious loner, we decided to give me a new personna in the last town. Alice pierced my eyebrow on a dare and when that went off without a hitch, she put a small ring through my bottom lip as well, near the side. Somehow, she talked me into darkening my hair as well. I normally didn't let her touch my hair. I left that to Jasper. He was fucking her...he could walk around with stupid-looking hair, not me. Yet here I stood, Alternative Edward. A little dark and dangerous. Always mysterious. Humans still avoided me so it wasn't so bad. I hadn't bothered to change it yet. "Linkin' Park, Killers, White Stripes, My Chemical Romance..." I rhymed off bands that were going through her mind.

"No shit," she stated, stunned.

"What have you played most this week?" I asked, challenging her to be more forthcoming.

"Um...I've been listening to The Raconteurs a lot..."

"Yeah? Awesome. Give me a week and I'll learn one of their's for you." I only needed an hour, tops, but I wanted to be more realistic.

"A week." 'This guy is unreal!' "Okay hot stuff. You're on. And no more skipping school so you can learn it faster."

What? My head snapped around to look at her. "Who says I skipped?"

"Well, you haven't been there since we met the other day..." 'I looked for you.'

Of course we'd go to the same highschool. There was only one in town. "I wasn't skipping, for your information. I was sick. My whole family got it." Carlisle's ruse came into play. "Why haven't I seen you at school before?" Why hadn't I noticed her? Or heard her. I'd remember her voice. It was pleasing to my ears, not annoying like the majority of teen girls.

'Uh, 'cause you're fucking gorgeous and could have any girl...why would you even notice me?' "Yeah. Despite my model-like features and knock-out body, surprisingly I'm not very popular," she quipped.

I grinned at her sincerely. "You are unique, Grey with an 'e'. I'm sorry I haven't paid more attention at school now. To be honest, I try to avoid everyone, so it's not you." I didn't want to hurt her feelings. She seemed like a really decent girl. And more importantly, she didn't bullshit. "Seriously, I get the feeling people aren't so into us unique individuals..."

"Like if you don't conform to their idea of cool, you're nothing..." She added onto my remarks.

"Exactly."

"I'd rather be a freak than a phony."

I squinted my eyes, examining her with a grin. "You're not a freak," I said softly.

'Oh fuck, he's hot when he does that...calm down. Think of something cool to say.' "Are you saying I'm a phony?"

"Well...in a way...Grey with an 'e', you are," I taunted, drawing a deep blush in her cheeks. Oh fuck! No no no no...don't flirt! Don't make her more attracted. Don't... just don't. Do. Anything. "I should go."

Hastily, I picked up 3 books and went to find Bart. I put 3 $20's on the counter and gave a wave to Grey. As I made my way to my car, I wondered why she didn't use her real name and more importantly, how long it would be before I slipped and called her Isabella anyway. She was so candid with her other words in comparison with her thoughts, what was the big deal about the name?

The first drops of rain fell as I approached the BMW. You were right Alice. I sat in the car for several minutes waiting for the windows to clear. With the rain, the temperature had dropped as well. I could see just fine through the fog, but a teenager driving through town in a BMW with fogged up windows was just begging to be pulled over and ticketed. I knew that well enough. As I waited, the sky opened up. Huge drops bounced off the roof, sounding like thousands of pellets hitting it. I spotted Grey running out of the music shop, holding a plastic shopping bag on her head. It was hardly doing the trick. She was soaked already. Shit. I should back up and go the other way. Just leave. Don't get involved.

I put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb. Rolling down the passenger window, I shouted out, "So you want a ride, or would you prefer to swim?"

Grateful, she ran to the car and hopped in. "Thank you thank you thank you!" Rain dripped off her nose, even inside. "I'm soaked!"

"I noticed," I quipped with a grin, myself completely dry.

"I'm wrecking your car! Sorry!"

"It'll dry. Are you cold?" I was fine myself, but she was shivering. I turned the heat on high for her. "I should finish letting the windows clear..."

She nodded her agreement and continued shivering, holding her hands against the vent. "I wasn't expecting rain," she commented.

"Obviously. So where do you live anyway? I'll need to know where I'm going."

"It's actually not in town. You don't have to go out of your way, just drop me someplace near. If you're going north, that is."

I looked at her incredulously. "Just give me the address," I said with a chuckle. "And why don't you put some music on? Your choice."

"Oh! Can I see what you were playing last?" She picked up my iPod and burst out laughing. "You're shitting me! You had The Raconteurs on?"

She put it through the stereo and gave me directions to her house. Along the way, we discovered a few things in common. She was new to the town as well, having moved here just a month before us and we had two classes together.

I shook my head. "I can't believe we've sat in the same classes for a month and I didn't notice a girl with blue hair."

She blushed. Again. Oh no...

"I didn't have blue hair. I just did this..." She pulled up a strand to examine it. It dripped onto her lap. "...on a whim. My mother hates it. Her boyfriend even more."

I smirked. That's why she did it.

"Anyway, I sit in the very back corner in Sociology so I never get called on. Talking one-on-one is fine, but standing up in front of the class making an ass of myself is terrifying. And English...well, you sit with that girl you're always with." 'The really cute one with a really cool style. I wish I could be more like...' "She your girlfriend?"

I roared with laughter. "Alice? Uh...no. She's my sister."

"Oh!" She laughed along with me. "Well, then that would just be really weird."

"Uh, yeah."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to imply you're incestuous. You just seemed really close." She was a deeper red still.

"We are. Close, I mean. We're twins. So we have that twin connection thing..." I grinned sideways at her to ease her mind. "The other guy that's always with her, Jasper, that's her boyfriend."

"Okay...hmm. Good for her finding someone to give her the time of day so soon in this place. That's my house up there...on the right."

"Actually, he came with us. Long story."

"Tell me!" she grinned with curiosity.

I pulled into her driveway. "Um, another time Grey with an 'e'. It's really long. And if you knew the truth, you wouldn't give me the time of day either." The truth, in a joke. Better than lying constantly.

"That's not true," she said earnestly.

Smiling for her again, I reached to turn the stereo down.

"No no no, wait! My favourite song's on next."

"'Together'?" I asked.

It was her turn to smile. "You really do know this album."

"Did you think I just magically made it appear on my iPod to impress you?" I chuckled.

"You think magic impresses a girl like me? Pfft! Please."

"What does impress you?" I asked softly, sincerely wanting to know.

'You.'

Fuck! Didn't want to know that.

"Honesty."

Double fuck. Not getting that here.

"You know, a 'real' person. Not faking anything. Just them, as they are. That's great."

Not fucking great. You get none of that with me. Wait...that IS great. Get out now!

"I should go," I said quietly. "My mom worries...a lot." Well, that was the truth.

'That's so cute!' "Sure. Okay. Well, thanks for the ride. And sorry for dripping on your leather." She opened the door but hesitated before getting out. Why? Just go... "Um, you coming to school tomorrow?"

"Maybe," I replied without commitment. "Probably. There's an umbrella under the seat, if you want to use it." Take it and go! I didn't want to be rude but she needed to get the fuck out. I was feeling very uneasy being with her at the moment, made worse by the fact that I wasn't certain about the reason for it.

"Nah. I'll be fine. I'll run from here." She flashed me a shy grin and got out. 'Shit! That was stupid...if you'd taken his umbrella you'd have a reason to speak to him tomorrow at school. Good one, Isabella. Say you changed your mind...' "Thanks again." She closed the door and made an attempt to run, slipping on the muddy patch in front of her porch. 'Wow, that was really graceful. You've really caught his attention now, freak.'

I moved the car up slightly and rolled down the window. "Do you need a hand?"

She let out a laugh. "All part of my routine...I'm good. This is normal for me." She stood herself up and shook off some mud before waving me off.

The sound of her laughter echoed through my mind as I drove away. I caught myself taking several looks in the rearview mirror, watching her remove her muddy outer clothes on the porch before going inside. She had a great laugh. I wanted to hear more of it. Pulling over, just out of view, I strained to focus on her thoughts. I picked up small pockets, none of it making sense. I didn't know her well enough to read her from a distance. Not yet...

I closed my eyes and griped the steering wheel. "Don't be stupid," I warned myself aloud. "She's human. You'll hurt her. Just leave her alone..." Or would I? Could I be around her, spend time with her like a normal person and just act normal? Could I pull it off? A small grin formed on my granite face. This could be fun; a real challenge. How long could I carry it on before she realized something was wrong with me? How far could I take it? Slamming hard on the gas pedal, I tore off down the wet road without a care about speed limits or the possibility of cops around. I needed to get as far away from temptation as I could.

How can I see the road
If I'm looking at the signs
I'm carrying a load
And stepping out of line...

(The Raconteurs)