When Choice Meets Fate

Thank you again for each of you that are reading, following and reviewing my story, you make me smile.

A/N: As always, Stephenie Meyer owns it all, at least as far as it pertains to Twilight. That is, everything except my unique spin on it, of course.

Chapter Two: School Days

Edward POV:

I grin to myself as the christening colors of dawn drifted from the horizon across the sky. I waited without twitching or moving as the sun light crawled across the forest, then onto the ledge of the house where I sat. As the natural light crept upon my skin, a cascade of glittering colors exploded from it. Still I stared, out over the landscape, waiting for the time to leave. It struck me as so odd that as many times as I'd relived this day I'd never been giddier for my first day of school; aside from when I was a child. I'd been imagining this day since I'd seen her face in Alice's visions. It had been nearly three week since we had arrived and I didn't think I could wait to meet her for another minute, much less another day. She was beautiful, long chocolate brown hair cascading well down her back, he frame was slight, but she seemed strong minded. I look forward to our life together, to finally have a mate! I stood, pausing to reign myself in, I have to meet her first. Still we were early, but I couldn't delay any longer. I rounded up my "family" and we piled into my silver Volvo, speeding off toward Forks High School. We park in the same parking spot that we've parked in for the last sixty years or so and climbing out we walked inside for what seemed to be the millionth time. But today, I couldn't even be bored with this if I tried. As I stepped into each classroom I scanned the lot of faces, searching for the only face which held my interest, with no luck until Biology. Originally I believed that it too would be a loss but right before the bell to signal the start of class, in she walked. Suddenly I found myself shy and I couldn't bring myself to look at her. I ran my eyes around the room and realized…oh no, this is the only one left. With that, she was sitting in the seat next to me. My brain almost imploded, she was sitting next to, sharing my lab table. We'll have to share lab equipment and what if we get the chance to, to touch? I shook myself straight and took a deep, horribly unsatisfying breath. Without warning, my throat was on fire! I could breathe, or even think; I was overwhelmed with the most delectable smell I could have ever imagined. I had smelled human blood before but nothing compared to this aroma. Venom pooled on my tongue and I immediately began calculating the time it would take me to clear the room before even the first person could scream. Then a thought occurred to me. I could hear every heartbeat in the room, counting the breaths of every single body, but the scent was smothering; like it was sitting . . As the realization dawned on me, I risked a glance up at her face and saw the last thing I expected. There, staring at me was a beautiful set of deep brown eyes. The sensation of her was too much; like all of the oxygen was sucked out of the room and all of the sudden it was if my body needed it and only it. I held my proverbial breath and watched, waiting for the sounding bell. As soon I could stand it no longer I barreled out of the room, almost knocking her out of her seat.

Alice POV:

After witnessing his catastrophic experience upon meeting this girl, I knew Edward would be searching for me and boy would he be angry. So I decided to take the bull by the horns as Jasper would say and get this out of the way. As he forced the door open and stormed past me I asked in my sweetest voice, "So, she's human huh?" He whipped around and forced himself to casual saunter up beside me. His eyes were molten with anger, and thirst. "Why the hell didn't you tell me she was human?" He whispered angrily, too quickly for any of the human ears that surrounded us. "I don't know, Edward. Maybe because I didn't know that! I showed you everything that I knew. For that matter, why didn't you know, I showed you the whole vision too!" He sighed, rubbing his temples. "I know, Alice I know. But what does this mean? Am I to be the one to change her?" I held up hands in surrender, "I don't know Edward but can this possible wait until after school. We'll talk to Carlisle, he always know what to do. "He nodded, then turned and stalked away. At that moment, I made it my mission to befriend this girl, this human. For Edwards sake, and hers in fact; that girl was in desperate need of a fashion advisor! After admonishing her quietly, I bounded off toward my next class.

I was delighted to find that she and I had our next class, Beginners French together. I quickly claimed the seat directly in front of hers. I waited until most of the other students settled into their seats before I turned to her. "Hi! I'm Alice. Are you Bella?" She flushed bright red but nodded. I continued to prod, "So, where are you from?" She flushed again, making the smell of her blood fill the space around her. I wrinkled my nose, trying to focus. Edward was right, she smells yummy! Shaking my head, I smiled brightly at her. She still hadn't answered. Boy, getting answers out of this girl is light pulling teeth! As the professor called everyone's attention to begin class, I sat back and spent the next hour imagining all of our future shopping escapades together. We'd go to Paris, and New York, and Japan, as well as countless other places. Finally a shopping partner! Sure Rosalie tolerated it but she didn't have the appreciation for my styling talents that this one would, I just knew it. All at once, the bell was ringing and it was time for lunch. I met Jasper, waiting in the hallway for me, and with a quick kiss we headed to the cafeteria together.

He let me do all of the talking on the way, which wasn't abnormal for him. In the spirit of where I met her, I spoke in fluent French. Telling him all about her, and how great I knew they would be together. By the time we reached the table where Emmett, Rosalie and Edward were already seated I was beaming uncontrollably. After a quick glance through our French class conversation, he grinned as he watched her blush. We settled in and began to relay what we'd found out to Emmett and Rose, until she walked in. Immediately all of our noses were on edge, and I took hold of Jasper's hand, distracting him as best I could. His whole body shuddered and he choked on the smell. "This is insane," Edward muttered, "She's over half a room away and still it smells as if she is right here. I don't understand, how could she be human?" He sat, tearing apart his sandwich as I put the straw for my juice between my lips and gave the impression I was drinking. Rose shifted in her chair, and Emmett reached across himself, scratching his arm. This was all a part of our act, the game to appear human. We had perfected it of course, it was like a dance. Lunch was over too quickly and I spent the rest of the afternoon doodling my way through each of the rest of my classes. Another hour, another year as high school student, but as we rode back toward our home at the end of the day, I couldn't help but think about how much more interesting this year was going to be.