A/N: Here we are, chapter 3. Let's see who's interrupted Bella's lunch.

– Bella's POV –

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

I haven't heard that voice in eighty-five years. It was as velvety smooth as I remember. But it didn't hold the same hypnotic tones or make me feel weak in the knees.

I was glad about that. I'd been worried. Silly, maybe. But the hold he had on me when I was a human was terrifying. Only, I didn't see it back then. I had my eyes firmly shut to anything but Edward Cullen.

We aren't that girl anymore.

And we never will be again.

I figured, one day, we'd cross paths. Eternity is a long time, after all. And the world isn't nearly as big as people think. Not for a vampire.

I never set out to find them. Not when I was new to this world and all alone. Or when I celebrated my first decade as a vampire. Why would I? They left me. Not the other way around. They made themselves clear; I wasn't about to go crawling back where I wasn't wanted.

If he couldn't love me as a human and stick by me through the good and the bad, he certainly wasn't going to cage me as a vampire. I'm not a gilded cage kinda girl. And, as far as I can see, the Cullens lived firmly in their superficially attractive, but constraining little bubble, where everything is perfect.

Sorry. No. That's not me.

I'm a hot mess and I like it that way.

Lifting my eyes from my book, I reluctantly looked at the vampire I'd once been so in love with my whole life came to a crashing halt when he cruelly dumped me in the forest behind my house.

Why he couldn't just do it in the house, I'll never understand! Did he really need to drag me out there just to break my heart?

He looked exactly as I remembered. The perfectly beautiful Adonis. The hard, square jaw. The soft curve of his full lips. The straight line of his nose. The untidy, bronze hair. Eyes the color of dark butterscotch. He was still tall and lanky without a lot of defined muscle, like any normal seventeen-year-old boy.

Yes, there was that, too.

He was still a boy.

I don't know why I was so surprised. After all, he's a vampire. We're an unchanging species. I've been a vampire for eighty-five years and I haven't once changed in all that time.

Not physically. But in every other way, you are an entirely different woman.

Yes, I suppose she was right. I didn't have the luxury of remaining the same ol' Bella Swan. Not when I had to learn to survive on my own.

My eyes shifted from Edward's pale form to the tiny creature beside him. She wasn't as overly hyper as I remember. She was . . . still. Serene almost. This was new, well, at least to me. Back when I'd known her, I can't recall her ever being so still.

Like Edward, she looked exactly the same. Tiny. Deep black, cropped hair, pointing in every direction. Big, round golden eyes and long, delicate eyebrows.

She was, as you'd expect of Alice, dressed impeccably. But she looked like a high school student. She wore a pair of dark wash jeans, a deep green floral, button-up tank top, and a cream cardigan with a pair of knee-length dark brown boots. She looked like a regular seventeen-year-old high school girl. Only very pale.

Nothing she wore looked like it cost more than fifty bucks. I'm pretty sure I have those same jeans at home. I got mine from Target. I can't imagine Alice knowing what Target is, let alone shopping in one!

Eighty-five years have passed. Maybe she's changed.

That was always possible, I guess. Some vampires are capable of change when there's cause for it. And this was certainly a big change for Alice. Nothing she wore looked like it came with a designer label or was overly expensive.

Edward, on the other hand, was dressed in perfectly pressed grey trousers, a pinstripe light blue button-down shirt, a grey sweater vest, and a dark blue cardigan. I'm surprised he wasn't wearing a dicky bow. Ah, but he did have on a pair of loafers.

Well, I'm not impressed. Thank the lord above your taste in men has VASTLY improved! What on earth attracted you to this . . . this . . . I don't even have a name for what this is!

I don't remember him dressing like an old man. I swear, when we were in high school, he used to wear tennis shoes and hoodies. Yes, they were designer and likely cost more than Charlie's house but at least he looked like a teenager! He wasn't wearing sweater vests and loafers!

My perusal of them only took seconds. I'll always be thankful for my vast vampire mind. No matter the form I take, my mind is always set on vampire mode.

"It's Phoebe, actually," I said, pushing my glasses back up my nose. "I don't know anyone by that name, sorry."

Edward huffed. "I know it's you, Bella. I can smell your scent."

I could smell his scent, too. And, let me tell ya, he did not smell nearly as appealing now as he had when I was human. It wasn't bad, by any means. He smelt like fresh wildflowers, orange blossom, honeysuckle, and sweet marshmallows. It was a unique combination, a little overly sweet for my taste, but not terrible. I could see how it would've appealed to the younger, teenage me.

Alice, on the other hand, smelt like home. A steaming hot cup of coffee on a cold night, mixed with the earth after a rainstorm and sweet honey and jasmine. It, too, was an odd combination, but it drew me to her and reminded me of something, I just couldn't place it right now.

"Um, Phoebe," Alice said softly, "may I sit with you?"

I looked back at her. "Sure."

With a bright smile, she took the seat opposite me. "I'm Ali Platt." She introduced herself. "It's so wonderful to meet someone new! My family and I moved down here last year after my sister married Dr. Carl Cullen. He bought Esme that big white mansion out by the Sol Duc River. I think his ancestors used to own it, or something."

I nodded and couldn't help but return her smile. "That's awesome! I just moved in with my Aunt Muriel. My parents are recently divorced. Mom's gone off with some stud about ten years her senior and dad works abroad so Aunt Muriel offered to take me in." I shrugged.

"Whereabouts are you living?" Alice wondered.

"Aunt Muriel has a cottage in the forest," I told her. "Beautiful place with a little garden and lots of places to explore."

"And hunt," Edward commented, still standing beside the table.

"I wouldn't know about that," I said in my sweetest voice, "I don't hunt. I couldn't possibly harm an innocent animal."

"Of course, you hunt, Bella," Edward hissed, far too quietly for the humans to hear him, thankfully. "You're a vampire!"

Alice's eyes moved from me to Edward's. "That doesn't mean she hunts animals, Edward," she said calmly.

"Don't be ridiculous, Alice." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Bella knows about our way of life, why on earth would she choose something different?"

Alice rolled her eyes and turned to look back at me. She was about to speak when Edward interrupted her with a huff. "We're obviously not getting any answers out of you here, Isabella. You will meet us at our place after school and answer my questions."

And there went my patience.

Stay calm. You are in a public place. With far too many human witnesses. Remember, we cannot kill them all.

We can try.

Some will run. And escape.

Oh, fun. A hunting expedition.

They're innocent children. I believe you're the one who insisted on that rule, not me. I just abide by it. Are we breaking the rules now?

No. No killing children! I may not have many morals but I do have some, and that's one of them. A biggie.

Then you must remain calm. No killing the boy in public.

Damn.

I took a deep breath and then slowly rose to my feet, gathering up my belongings. Then I turned to face the boy I had thought myself so in love with all those years ago.

It's funny how time changes things, isn't it? Physically, I haven't changed at all since he abandoned me in the forest. But mentally, emotionally, and intellectually, I like to think I've grown and changed considerably.

I'm stronger these days.

Losing him and his family did that to me. It forced me to change. Forced me to adapt. To grow and evolve. If he wanted the compliant, submissive, doormat I'd been when we were dating, he should've turned me himself. But he didn't. At the first sign of trouble, he ran away like a naive, selfish little boy.

So, yeah, I guess the heartbreak did change me.

There's no way in hell I'll ever go back to the person I used to be. I like the woman I've become. She may not be completely innocent; she's done things the human Bella never would have thought herself capable of. But I feel like I'm more me now than I've ever been. I have no interest in, nor do I plan to ever change.

This is me.

Either accept that or get the fuck outta my life.

"We don't have anything to discuss, Edward," I said simply, calmly. Ignoring his sputtering, I turned to Alice who was positively beaming at me. "It was wonderful to meet you, Ali. Maybe we can talk again sometime."

Her smile lit up and she gave a little bounce, like the Alice I used to know. "I'd love that! It was great to meet you, Phoebe!"

With a wink at the little Pixie, I turned on my heels and headed for my next class.

"We need to discuss this, Isabella!" Edward shouted across the cafeteria. "I'm not finished with you."

Without turning back, I made an offensive gesture toward Edward and disappeared into the corridor.