chapter two

No one was waiting for me in the parking lot.

That was reassuring at least—for the moment they would at least show me the common courtesy of thinking I might be a human. It probably wouldn't last very long, sadly.

I had the unfortunate luck of getting back to school right at lunch, meaning the entire school would know that the new student had ditched the first few periods of class on her first day. I would have a reputation, I supposed.

It also meant that when I walked into the cafeteria, everyone and their dog was staring at me, whispering, giggling, and shoving their energy into my face.

It instantly pissed me off.

I was nearly finished gathering my lunch—a sprite and a small sandwich guaranteed to taste bland—when an apple appeared in the corner. I made the mistake of looking up at my offender, giving them the perfect opening to snatch my tray from my hands.

The blond vampire, Jasper, from this morning was smiling down at me with a slightly uneasy posture, my tray in his too perfect hands that could easily destroy me. "Hello, Isabella—"

"Bella," I corrected quickly.

"Bella," he repeated, the name somehow making him more comfortable. "Bella, I would like to buy your lunch as an apology for this morning." He was looking at me with this hopeful and expectant look.

I felt like saying no would be like kicking a puppy.

"..You don't need to do that," I quickly declined. "I already forgave you."

He looked like he might argue, lips twisting down before he turned towards the register. I quickly followed, peeved he hadn't listened to me. But he placed the plate down before the cashier and just stood there. He didn't make one move to pay for it for me, respecting my wishes.

I grinned up at him—it was obviously hurting him to not help me. I quickly slid the lady that was staring up at Jasper with a glazed look in her eyes my lunch money before trying to gather it back into my hands.

Jasper beat me to it. "At least allow me to make it up to you by inviting you to sit with my siblings and I."

It wasn't hard to find the group of vampires trying to mingle among humans, each of the four staring us down. They looked like Jasper (or I) was going to descend into madness and start killing humans.

It was a bit unnerving. I think the energy they were giving off was worse than the humans.

"..I think I'm going to need to pass. Hard pass. Outside sounds best right now."

He looked slightly appalled that I would rather sit outside than near his family. The look didn't last long, but he still led the way outside, holding my tray hostage.

"I'm not getting rid of you, are I?"

His brow raised as he paused at the door, his hand on the handle. He peered down at me like I was an exotic animal, head tilting as if gauging something. "Do you truly want to?"

I blinked up at him, his question making me uncertain. Was I cautious of him? Yes, he was strong enough to kill everyone in the cafeteria, except maybe me. Protection magic makes that hard. Was I necessarily afraid of him? Not really. Besides, if my father knew of vampires existence in his town and they were still there.. That's saying something.

"Dunno," I shrug, nodding towards the door. "I will if you don't keep moving your feet, though."

He pushed the door open with a soft chuckle, the air blowing against me. I took a sharp breath as the pressure around me from the intense attention that was being shoved against me increased. It felt like someone had just barreled against my mind, pulling my eyes towards the perpetrator.

The boy—vampire—looked frustrated, his copper hair matted into what was the current style while the female next to him with a pixie cut looked more so. The pain they were trying to cause me frustrated me—I couldn't figure out what I'd done to deserve it and what the pain meant. Were they trying to get into my mind and invade my privacy? The thought brought a white hot anger that had Jasper ushering me out of the cafeteria, cutting my vision off from them.

"I apologize for my siblings," Jasper was saying as I tried to calm myself. I wrapped my jacket around me tighter and he led me over to a section of the wall that had not been drenched in water. It allowed us to sit down in relative cover without the rain hitting us.

"Yeah, well. If they were doing what I think they were trying to do.. Well, they better not be," I grumbled, plucking the sandwich off the tray he still held.

"What did you think they were trying to do? Besides glare at you."

I glanced up at him, brow raising. "Hm." I supposed he wasn't going to just come out and say anything. "You never know with you people."

He blinked at me. "You people?"

"Yeah, that isn't working for you, Jasper. And I know the moment I say the word, your 'siblings'," I held up my fingers to make the quotations, "are going to descend upon me. So tell me, what do you think I am?"

He looked slight shocked I would just come out and say it, but I wasn't one to beat around the bush. We weren't going to play a game of beating around the bush for months before having a heartfelt conversation were we come out of the closet about what we are.

Not my style.

He took too long answering so I just gave it to him, shrugging. "I am a witch. You're a.." I paused, looking up at the blond girl that had appeared next to Jasper. That was super unnerving. She definitely wasn't there before.

"What? Say it," she smirked. "Out loud."

"You're a faerie," I deadpanned, frowning at her. "You should at least pretend to blend. I can't change memories yet to cover up for you vampires."

Jasper blinked at me, shocked. "You're not afraid of us?"

"Do I have any reason? You're vegetarian, yeah?"

The girl grinned at me, flipping her long mane over her shoulder. "I like her," she declared as if I wasn't right there, nodding. "Rosalie."

"Bella."

"You don't have a very strong scent," Rosalie observed, head tilting as she stared down at her. "And the sound of blood flowing through your veins is muted, too."

Ashes and the sunstone. I sent a quick prayer of thanks to Charlie before nodding up at Rosalie. "Makes it easier, hmm? Less chance of getting my throat ripped out."

"Edward and Alice are flipping out," Rosalie informed Jasper. He let out a sigh.

"I know. She has a barrier. They can't stand not knowing."

"So being like everyone else," I added, including myself before taking a chomp of the apple he added to my tray.