"Ah," said the teacher, Mr Green I think his name was. "Everyone, this is our new student, Edward Mason. Please make him feel welcome."

I froze. He couldn't be here, there was no way he could be here. This couldn't be happening.

I glared at Edward as he gave Mr Green his slip and was directed to the only spare seat in the room.

The seat next to me.

Edward looked at me curiously, whether he was trying to figure out why he couldn't hear my thoughts or why I was glaring at him I didn't know or care, and our eyes locked.

Black eyes met gold.

I looked down, twirling one of my braids around my finger.

His eyes were pitch black, meaning he hadn't hunted over three weeks. My eyes were only ever that black if I hadn't hunted for over two weeks, but he was older than I was and therefore had more resistance.

I listened, while staring at the desk, as he took his seat and Mr Green began the lesson.

What an idiot! Who does he think he is endangering not only himself but his whole family, not to mention me or the children!

I snuck a glance in his direction and was shocked to see him looking so sullen. Edward's whole body screamed depression from his slumped shoulders to his blank face right up to those black eyes, which, by the way, were now staring back at me.

I turned my attention to Mr Green, but I was only half listening as he began to explain how to properly dissect a flower.

A few minutes into the lesson and I couldn't take it anymore. One, I could feel his eyes boring holes through my skull, which, needless I say was ANNOYING and two, I was scared for the children, well mainly Lila who was seated two rows in front of us and smelt pretty good, to me anyways.

I turned to glare at Edward and was overwhelmed by the blackness of his eyes and his stiff posture. He was barely passing for human. The consequences of coming to school thirsty were haunting him now but so was something else. None of this would have happened if he had gone hunting.

Why did he have to be so stubborn!? Sighing I leant down and grabbed the flask of bears blood out of my bag. I always had it with me whenever I was going to be surrounded by humans, just in case. I've learnt that you can never too careful.

Today I had bought two. There was no way I was leaving Forks, not until I graduated first. I opened it up and pushed it across the desk to Edward.

I watched with mild amusement as his eyes widened and darkened, if that was even possible, at the smell of the bear's blood. Edward looked over at me, apparently he hadn't realised I was a vampire yet. Interesting.

I raised an eyebrow at him then nodded trying to encourage him to drink. And he did. He drank the whole frigging thing.

When I say drank, I mean skulled in the space of three seconds.

Edward put the cap back on and pushed it in my direction but his eyes were still too dark for my comfort.

"You're a vampire," he said too swiftly and too quietly for human ears.

"And you're an idiot for coming to school thirsty," I replied in the same manner as I swapped out the first, now empty, flask for the second flask which was full of a mountain lions blood. His favourite.

I pushed the second flask towards him.

"Marie and Edward, I'm glad to see you're getting along but please no eating or drinking in class!" Mr Green warned although it sounded more like he was pleading for us to stop than warning us not to continue.

"Sorry Mr Green, Edward was hungry and I thought some tomato soup would tide him over until lunch," I explained easily.

"I'm just not used to the different timetabling here yet, sorry sir," Edward added, giving my story more credibility.

"Very well then," Mr Green excused us and continued with the lesson.

Edward drained the second flask and I was relieved to find his eyes were now amber in colour.

"Thanks," he whispered at vampire speed and volume.

"Don't let it happen again. If you slip up your not the only one who will suffer the consequences," I answered in kind letting some annoyance colour my voice.

I turned back to the front of the classroom and listened as Mr Green finished instructing us on how to dissect a flower. Was it just me or did every year level in every school do flower dissections?

As soon as the teacher had set us loose with various sharp objects and a flower each Edward decided to start talking.

"I'm Edward Mason," he said offering his hand.

"Marie Penn," I answered shaking his hand. It ended up being more of a brush because the moment our skin touched a bolt of something travelled up my arm and, judging by his expression, Edwards arm too.

"You know that a pen is a female swan," he stated trying to make conversation through the awkwardness that had enveloped us.

You have no idea how often I have heard that line. Edward, as a fellow vampire, should've known better. Did he want to get his ass whooped by a girl?

"Yes Edward I know, it is my last name after all," I snapped as I carefully cut down the stem of my plant.

I looked back up at Edward and, I guess if I'm honest with myself, I wasn't all that surprised when he appeared taken aback.

"Look, I'm sorry," I said, not really knowing why I was trying to explain myself, "but I've met guys like you before."

"Oh really? And guys like me would be?" he smirked, any appearance of being put out now gone. Edward knew just which buttons to push, didn't he?

"Yes," my voice betrayed my irritation as I began waving the scalpel at him, "They are conceited, arrogant and go around pretending to fall in love with girls then as soon as the girl falls in love with them it gets too hard so they drop the poor girl leaving her heart broken, and then, if that isn't enough they up and leave town and are never seen again!"

I glared at him, daring him to contradict me. I expected to see a cocky smirk or an eye roll, but what I saw surprised me.

Guilt. And pain.

Not physical pain, but emotional pain. Something I had seen too often in my own features. We stood there staring at each other for a moment before throwing ourselves back into our work with an enthusiasm I, for one, didn't know I possessed when it came to dissecting a flower.

I didn't so much as look at Edward for the rest of the lesson even though he kept looking over at me.

As soon as the bell rang I was out of there. I probably walked a little too fast but there was no way, no way in the world, I was hanging around Edward Mason any longer than absolutely necessary.