Chapter 2

Alice does school photos.

APOV

Life was perfect.

Almost.

My Jasper wasn't at school today, because he still had burgundy eyes, from his 'accident'. Bella and Emmett shouldn't have been at school today, because they were in too much trouble for dressing in jeans and a t-shirt!

Gross. Vampires are supposed look good for a reason.

I drummed my fingers on the desk impatiently, tuning in and out of my boring English lesson, catching little bits here and there.

That's also when I got the vision.

The girl was sticking her nose in the air at Bella. "No, I'm not. Humans can't crush steel with their fist, and you know it, Bella."

"There is no rational reason to call me a vampire, either." Bella returned the retort, her lip curled.

"Yes, there is! You are cold, pale, you never eat anything except 'tomato soup'," She made quotation marks in the air, " You're super strong, and probably fast, too, and you don't want us to spill a drop of blood just in case you bite our pretty little necks!" The girl screamed, tears pouring down her face.

The class were gathering around, now, very confused looks on their faces.

"Jees, what's wrong with Maddy?" The Mexican girl said angrily.

"She thinks I'm a vampire," Bella said surprisingly calmly.

"She. Killed. Three. Children! CHILDREN!" Maddy tried to fling Bella to the ground, but Bella easily shrugged her off.

I sat bolt upright, the vision ending as quickly as it had begun. I took out my phone from my pocket at vampire speed, using all my control to prevent myself from crushing the cheap Samsung phone to powder, and swiped into the settings to play my ringtone.

"Alice, you shouldn't have your phone out in class, dear!" Mrs Haville called out to me as I ran down the corridor and into the toilets. She was the only high school teacher I knew of so far that called her students 'dear'.

I practically screamed into the phone as loud as I dared, demanding that Bella come home immediately. She needed to take the girl with her, too, because Carlisle might be able to give a jab so she forgets the day's drastic turn of events.

If not, I knew Jasper would calm her down just enough to ensure she wouldn't tell anyone. If he didn't lose control, that was.

I quickly rung the school administration to tell them that Carlisle and Esme had a terrible crash, and I needed to leave, now. I also rang my fellow brothers and sisters, and Carlisle and Esme, telling them to come home as soon as possible, with the car crash excuse.

Then I sped out into the open light, pulling on my rain poncho as I went for protection from the sunlight.

I caught Bella's scent near the tennis court, so that's where I headed. It was 2 seconds until I was beside Bella, who was just standing there, sparkling in the open sunlight.

"You didn't need my clearance, Bella! Just get to the car!" I fumed angrily. "It's not going to be long before people start to come and see what's going on!"

"You!" The 'Maddy' girl squawked. "You are all vampires, aren't you?"

"Calm down, Maddy." I coaxed gently. "You need to relax."

"I'm sick of been told to calm down!" Maddy protested. "No one can calm down when a vampire is about to suck your blood!"

"Shhh. We are not going to suck your blood, but we might think about it if you don't take a chill pill and stop crying like a little baby." Bella snarled.

Maddy let out another wail and continued her protests.

"Let me go! I'll call the police, I swear, they won't like another murder on their hands!"

"Alright. That's it. I'll stick you in our iron maiden, suck you dry, then impale you on a stake, while I drink the blood of your sweetheart, alive!" I teased.

Maddy let out a squeal of sheer terror.

"Alice means it, Maddy." Bella growled. "So you better be quiet."

Maddy's bawling was reduced to a soft whimper just as I pulled my car door open, and thrust Maddy inside.

"Seatbelt." I commanded.

"But-"

"Do as I say, Maddy!" I barked at her like she was a prisoner, something I didn't do very often. I usually tried to make people feel welcome, but this was not the case today. Maddy was simply so stubborn, I had to resort to making her feel threatened.

The ride home was silent. I was still very annoyed with Bella for revealing to the whole class what she was, but something nagged me in the back of my mind, telling me that no one believed Maddy's silly vampire tale except her.

Thank goodness for that.

I didn't really want to move again.

It wasn't until we pulled into the driveway when Bella spoke again.

"I can smell anger on all of them, even Carlisle. I think you're the least angry out of all of them, actually." Bella said fearfully.

"Thank god for my happy nature," I mumbled.

I felt slightly sorry for Bella. Usually she was a nice person, or vampire, rather, and no matter what she did, she didn't deserve to endure one of Rosalie's violent temper tantrums.

Bella walked solemnly up to the front door, with a brooding look to her eyes. The annoying girl kept asking where the human skulls were, her voice, weak from screaming, quivering softly. I scanned the future for police interrogations, a dead Maddy, or us leaving, finding none of the above. Instead, I found myself standing with the kids from my homeroom, smiling for the camera. It could only be one thing.

School photos.

Bella opened the door as slowly as possible, savouring every second of not been shouted at by Rosalie. I silently hoped with Bella that Rosalie would be violent with her words, and not her actions, because we both knew that she was going to be violent.

And she was exactly that.

"I'M GONNA MURDER YOU, BELLA!" Rosalie roared as soon as Bella walked through the door.

"HOW DARE YOU EXPOSE US! IF THIS HAPPENED THREE MONTHS AGO, WE WOULD ALREADY BE DEAD! HOW DARE YOU CRUSH METAL IN YOUR HAND, IN THE PRESENCE OF A HUMAN!" Rosalie pounced on Bella, teeth gnashing. Maddy screamed, and the sobbing fits began once more.

I watched in awe as Rosalie and Bella wrestled on the ground. Rosalie was going to be violent verbally and physically.

"IF THE VOLTURI CAN'T DO THE JOB, I WILL, BELLA! I SWEAR, I WILL!" she boomed, trying to bite Bella's head off.

The rest of the family, including a now VERY angry Edward, tried, and succeeded, to pull Rosalie off Bella. Emmett tried giving Rosalie a kiss, but she pushed him away.

"Don't you DARE touch Bella, Rosalie, or I'll leave you to the werewolves to finish off!" Edward snarled.

"And then you'll kill yourself," Rosalie said, looking a little smug.

"I won't, if that's what makes you happy." Edward retorted.

"Yes, you so will. You can't bear to live without her." She crooned.

"No, I won't!" Edward cried.

"Yes, you will."

"Won't."

"Will!"

"For goodness sake, you two. Can you ever stop arguing?" Esme stepped between Edward and Rosalie, who were in a crouch position, ready to pounce upon each other. "We need to remember why we are here. A human has exposed us, revealing our secret, and when she returns tomorrow to school, she may tell everyone she sees about us. There is only one possible solution…

"You are going to let me live?" Maddy croaked, her hysteria dispersing.

"Yes, we will let you live." Esme said in a hushed tone, staring at the floor.

"But… not with us in your brain." Carlisle appeared from around the corner, brandishing a syringe. Rosalie and Edward disappeared out the door, as did Bella, for they were still in a mood, and didn't want to risk losing control. It was only now that I realised I was so preoccupied with our 'exposure', I hadn't noticed that Jasper wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Where was Jasper when we needed him most?

The scent of freely flowing blood finally caught me, smothering me in a distinctly human smell. I could almost feel my eyes go coal black- and I could tell Emmett was having the same problem; both he and I hadn't hunted in a couple of weeks.

I watched Carlisle silently as he put a small white bandage on the now-unconscious Maddy, and carried her gently to his car.

I got another vision of Carlisle explaining Maddy's wee temper tantrum to her parents, who seemed very ashamed and a bit embarrassed. It was followed by a vision of me being the star of the class for our school photos, wearing my favourite Chanel lingerie. The vision reminded me of Rosalie on a good day- shallow, vain, and craving the centre of attention.

But at least I got to wear a new dress of my taste, without Bella rudely interfering.

"Alice, that is just ridiculous. There is an emergency, and all you can concentrate on is how you look in the school photos?" Edward, who seemed to have cooled down a considerable amount, poked his head through the door.

"Well, we are staying here, as far as my visions can tell." I pouted at Edward, who rolled his eyes.

"I think. Rosalie thinks we should move, of course, but Bella and I think it will be far to suspicious if we just… moved away… when people start asking questions." He explained.

"I agree. Humans almost seem… scatterbrained, when it comes to suspicion. Bella might attract attention for a couple of weeks, but she will be 'been and gone' on the popularity scale by next semester, when Jasper might be of enough self-control to be around people again."

"I should go and see if Bella is alright. Rosalie hasn't stopped shouting at her since we left the house, and it's barely even her fault." Edward winced. He didn't like it when Rosalie, or anyone, was mean to Bella, but Rosalie releasing her full fury on Bella had crossed the line.

I knew he was going to explode at Rosalie before today ended.

I even saw it.

Monday

I was right.

Bella DID attract plenty of attention, and definitely more than enough.

Luckily, it was the admiring sort of attention, rather than the suspicious sort of attention.

"Did you really crush the locker with your fist?"

"Wow, Bella. You are sexy AND strong!"

"Are you cat woman in disguise?"

"Do you have a superhero cape? Can you fly?"

"Were you bitten by a radioactive spider?"

That one made me laugh. The last time I'd heard that, it came from Bella.

But it wasn't until German class, where Bella, Edward and I were lazily filling out our 'German verbs' booklet, I heard the news I really wanted to hear.

"School photos are next Thursday," Mrs Zubereiten informed us with a thick accent. "So dress nicely, because you are all going into the yearbook." Several students groaned, including Bella. "Your homeroom teacher has emailed you with additional details, but I'm just letting you know in advance." She smiled in anticipation and rubbed her hands together. "Now, can anyone translate those sentences into German for me?"

"Its Schule Fotos sind am kommenden Donnerstag, So schön zu kleiden, den Sie sind alle in das Jahrbuch geht.

Ihre Klassenlehrerin hat Ihnen weitere Details per E-Mail, aber ich bin einfach nur dass Sie im Voraus wissen, Mrs. Zubereiten, if I were to translate your first three sentences." I said confidently.

Mrs. Zubereiten looked impressed that I knew.

"Well done, Alice. Have you studied German before?"

"A wee bit, I guess. I've been to Germany a couple of times, though."

"You and Edward should go to the extension class," She mumbled.

I then saw one of the most upsetting visions of my life. It was Thursday- sun was streaming through the clouds, dosing the school in warm, inviting, beams of light.

Thursday.

School photos day.

"Damn!" I suddenly shouted, startling everyone except Edward and Bella.

"Alice, please don't cuss in our class." Mrs. Zubereiten frowned, hard lines of disapproval set in her forehead.

"Sorry. I just remembered… um… something that I forgot to do after school today." I said quietly, staring at the grain on my wooden desk. Edward was shaking his head, smirking to himself.

"You know, I will find a way to sneak myself in for school photos, Edward. I'll run so fast no one 'll see me. What's wrong with that?" I whispered to Edward as soon as we left German, half an hour later.

"It's just so silly, Alice. Why do you want to sneak yourself into school on a sunny day, just so you can be part of the homeroom photo? It's absurd."

I scowled at Edward. "Its just… I finally get a chance to make a fashion statement to the school, that's all. "Everyone here has a bad sense of style, including you, Edward. I've fussed over you and Bella for eight years, now, and you deny my only opportunity to make myself a fashion queen? The Volturi are gone now, Edward. There's no one there to kill me if I become America's next top model."

Edward and Bella both burst into laughter as I sulked. Both of them detested my ludicrous fashion ideas.

"Alice," Bella said more seriously. "You shouldn't become a model. You should be a designer, scanning the future for the next hot fashion. You'd be great!" Bella giggled. "But not on Thursday, if it's sunny. You could create rainy day outfits, instead!"

Edward looked sullen. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Bella, love. We need to keep a low profile, so no one starts asking questions. ESPECIALLY after last weeks events. We just need to calm down for a bit, and try not to get too involved in anything. Do you agree, Alice?"

"No." I grumbled. "I'm determined to turn up to school photos, even if you guys don't."

"But Alice, they could be outside!" Bella cried.

"Then let me sparkle."

"Carlisle would never let you do that, Alice."

"I'll talk him into it."

"If somebody else finds out…"

"Then happy early Halloween."

"We'll have to move!"

"No, we won't."

Bella sighed in defeat.

"You know you can't do this, Alice. It's totally unrealistic."

"Is it?" I asked, reaching into my bag for my canteen, trying to get the last drop of Elk blood.

Bella held up her own bottle, which was still ¾ full of grizzly blood. "You can have this, if you stop planning to expose yourself."

"Please don't try bribery, Bella!" I let out an exasperated sigh.

"Please don't!" Bella whined.

"C'mon. Don't you trust me, Bella? I won't do anything too stupid, I promise."

"Of course I trust you, Alice. It's just…"

"That's settled then!" I smiled broadly to Bella. "I'm turning up to school photos on Thursday. I have got biology now, with Emmett and Rosalie, so I'll see you!"

I skipped off to my next class happily as ever.

Life was almost perfect.

And one thing was certain.

I would be attending class photos on Thursday.