V. Lie Low, Hit the Books, and Google Your Catch-22

It was about half-way through lunch that Angela succeeded in sneaking me out of the cafeteria. Jessica was still in the midst of clearing up all the ridiculous rumors and she was thriving under the attention. I, on the other hand, was mortified knowing the Cullen's could hear every single word, no matter how hushed.

"Thanks Ange!" I sighed as we stepped into our empty bio class. "You were very aptly named. A true angel!"

"Thanks, Isabella," Angela smiled. "Although I've yet to notice eyes covering my body."

I hopped up on the stool beside her at her lab table. "I'll let you know if that changes! How was your weekend?" I took out my biology notebook and textbook as I had been intermittently doing all morning. I knew I'd be cramming until lunch tomorrow. This subject was the worst.

"My parents were out all weekend at a pastoral conference in Seattle," she explained, taking out her study guide, "So I was watching my little brothers."

"Oh, Jess mentioned them. How old are they?" I quietly listened as Angela told me about the twins. My heart ached. I missed my brother.

"Isabella? Are you okay?"

I glanced away from my notebook long enough to meet Angela's concerned gaze. "Sorry. I guess listening to you talk about your family made me homesick."

Her smile was sympathetic. "I bet. Forks must be very different."

"It certainly wasn't what I expected," I laughed nervously, "I'm glad I met you guys though."

"We're glad we met you too! Jessica especially," Angela laughed, "I don't think I've ever seen anyone so attuned to her."

"Guess it takes one to know one," I grinned, "Port Angeles was fun, but I hope we can make a trip out to Seattle!"

"Oh no. Who knows what kind of trouble you'd get into." Angela appeared genuinely concerned for a second before her expression brightened again. "Actually, we have the field trip next week. I think on Tuesday."

"Field trip?" That sounded vaguely familiar. Jessica had probably mentioned it at some point.

"Out in Seattle to the Burke Museum," she nodded. "They should be officially announcing it soon. Probably tomorrow, since we'll need to get permission slips signed. The whole junior class is going!"

I snorted. "What? All ten of us?"

Angela giggled. "Close. I think it's more like eighty-five."

"Mind blowing," I muttered dryly, turning back to my notes. "Hey, you want to test me on this?"

We spent the remainder of our lunch period that way. I finally stood when Angela's lab partner, a guy named Rob, arrived along with the rest of our classmates. "Don't look so glum. You're going to do great!" she said.

"I better," I huffed, "Or I'm going to be so mad."

I gathered my things and trudged over to Edward's side. "You mind quizzing me?" I asked. I figured as long as he was playing nice, I could take advantage of his genius brain.

"If you'd like," he tilted his head in a nod, not looking as pained as he normally did. Perhaps he was more accustomed to my scent?

I didn't dwell on the thought and instead dumped all my stuff atop our shared table. "Perhaps it'd be best to put aside your notes. You won't have access during the exam," Edward suggested.

I frowned and grumbled, "I guess."

"I'm sure you'll hardly need anything. You've been studying all day."

Uh, how does he know that? But like with everything to do with Edward, I didn't question it. Regardless, I opened my notebook to a blank page, knowing I'd need to jot whatever I couldn't remember at the top of my head to review later. The textbook, study guide, and any loose worksheets were all shoved into my backpack.

Of course, Edward didn't even consult his own notes. He shot questions at me from the top of his head.

"When does crossing over occur during meiosis?"

"Uh, prophase I."

"Assuming that flower color is controlled by a single gene, what's most likely true of the allele for red flowers and white flowers?"

"...The allele for red flowers is dominant to the allele for white flowers."

"A black sheep is bred with a white sheep. All of their offspring have a phenotype of gray coats. What is the most likely pattern of inheritance for coat color in sheep?"

"Incomplete dominance…?"

"Which type of inheritance most likely explains the relationship between the two alleles?"

"Codominance?"

"In which phase of meiosis do homologue pairs pull apart and move to opposite ends of the cell?"

"Anaphase I."

And so on and so forth. I was thankful Mr. Banner allowed us a study period because Edward tested me so thoroughly, my brain began to hurt twenty minutes in.

"Who provided the first strong confirmation of the chromosome theory?"

"Um, Thomas Morgan. Could we take a break?"

"Oh. Of course," Edward agreed.

"Thanks!" I flashed him a grin and with permission from Mr. Banner, was excused to go to the bathroom. I didn't. Instead, I veered off in the direction of my locker and grabbed the bag containing Edward's coat, which I'd forgotten to pick up during lunch hour. Mr. Banner was too busy with a couple of students to notice my quick return.

"Sorry, I forgot to give this back on Saturday," I said, handing the bag off to Edward.

His smile was impish. "You needed it more than I did."

"Clearly." Either he thinks I'm the most oblivious idiot on earth or he's not as subtle as he thinks he is.

"Ready?"

I grimaced, rubbing my temple and sighed. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Edward's rapid quizzing began and I struggled to keep up

"Jessica, shut up," I grumbled. The text blurred before my eyes and I had to blink a few times before it came into focus again. "Hey, what time is it?"

"Hm, it's nine. Still pretty early," she said from her splayed position on her fluffy rug.

I yawned. "I've been studying all day. I think I'll call it a night."

"Yes! So tell me what happened," she begged, propping herself up on her elbows.

I rubbed my eyes and slammed my textbook shut. "With what?"

"You gave Edward his coat back!" she reminded me.

"Yeah? So?" Instead of packing up my stuff like I should have, I slumped down next to Jessica, sinking into the fleecy softness with a sleepy sigh.

"What did he say?" Jess continued to prod at me.

"Huh? Nothing really. He spent the whole class quizzing me in preparation for the exam tomorrow," I explained around another yawn. My eyes slid shut.

"Aww, he was helping you study? That's so sweet," Jessica gasped.

"I guess? I wouldn't call chromosomal basis romantic," I snorted

Jess groaned in frustration. "Why must you be so difficult, Isabella? He obviously likes you!"

I opened my eyes long enough to grin at her. "Quit being such a romantic. I've known the guy for like, a week." Sorry Jess. Can't explain anything about vampires and singers and mental shields. It's so dumb.

"You are ruining all my hopes and dreams," she cried.

"And what are your hopes and dreams?"

She sat up, hands waving excitedly. "That you, me, Angela, and Lauren will all have boyfriends by next month! And we'll go to the spring dance! And then prom! And summer plans too! It'll be perfect!"

"I guess that's not a terrible dream. Albeit, pretty short-lived," I giggled. "It doesn't have to be Edward though." Actually, I'd prefer it not to be a high school boy. Edward's technically the oldest one...or is that Jasper? Are those my only options? High school kids or vampires?

"I still say he likes you," she grumbled and then grinned again. "Valentine's day is in two weeks! We should totally set everyone up!"

I nodded. "Yeah. Angela likes that Ben kid right?"

"Yes!" Jess squealed. "That's perfect!"

I grimaced. "I'll have to talk to Tyler though. He hasn't asked me out since last week, but Lauren's bound to get fed up sooner or later."

Jessica matched my expression. "Yeah, you should. I get it, he almost killed you. Doesn't mean he has to marry you to make up for it."

I rolled my eyes. "You're telling me."

"Face it, Isabella, everyone is in love with you. For a while there, I thought Mike was too."

I hid a wince and laughed instead. "Uh, Cullen is not in love with me and Tyler is delusional."

"I'm still rooting for Edward," Jessica gave me a cheeky grin.

My returning smile was weak. I had been here for two weeks already and still, I saw no sign of waking up from whatever lucid dream I was experiencing. At this point, it feels like this is reality now. I sat up abruptly. "Hey, Jess. Could I use your computer?" Unlike the ancient monstrosity that sat in Bella's room, Jessica's was a newer model (for 2005.)

"Sure," she waved me off. "I'm gonna take a shower."

"Good idea," I teased her, concealing my relief. Jessica was nosy by nature and this would be easier without her hovering somewhere over my shoulder.

After she logged in for me, I eagerly took her place at her desk. I became engrossed as I Googled anything that could come close to my situation. Anything from "becoming another person" to "body possession." As you might imagine, it all ranged from multiple personality disorder to demonic activity. One specific article had me fearing that I really had gone crazy. But no, Edward really was a vampire. And there's no way Bella could've known about all the kids attending Forks High. I am NOT crazy.

I continued my fruitless search regardless, switching from general articles to more personalized accounts. That was a mistake. Reading about other's personal experiences made me think they were crazy. And if that's how that sounded, there's no way I could ever speak up. Ugh, at least Edward can prove he's a vampire. I just sound like I belong in the loony bin. I wonder if this is how Alice felt.

My eyes were burning from strain and I was ready to give up when I ran across an article reviewing a book titled By Proxy. I'm basically the protagonist of a book. Maybe this is it. I clicked on the link and rubbed at my eyes. As I skimmed the book's excerpt, my eyes widened with renewed energy. My heart thumped loudly against my rib cage as the words branded themselves into my being:

It is a curious thing to experience life after death. Not in the manner of ascending to an afterlife, but in the way of being given a second chance. When I think of my first life, it is with a bittersweet regret that my loved ones have been dealt a great injustice. And when I think of my second (current) life, I look into the eyes of those who love the body I presently inhabit with a great shame.

The first and last lines gripped me especially. Is that what this is?! Did I die…? Quickly, I glanced through the article, but didn't find anything helpful. Just a blogger praising and criticising the author's work (a woman by the name of Zaire White.) I followed the link at the bottom and cursed. To buy the book I would have to drive out to the nearest Barnes & Noble, which had the closest options of Olympia or Tacoma. A two hour drive that would probably be made longer by Bella's monstrous truck. And I didn't even have a debit card to make the purchase online.

"Isabella?"

I nearly shouted in surprise when Jessica's mom snuck up on me. "Oh, uh, hey Mrs. Stanley…" A quick glance to the time stamp in the corner of the computer screen revealed that it was nearly midnight. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize it was so late!"

"Don't worry, I called your dad earlier and let him know you'd be staying over," she said, suddenly handing me a stack of folded clothes atop a blanket. "You can borrow Jessica's extra set of pajamas. Both of you have been studying all afternoon. You should go to bed."

"Definitely! Thank you so much" I stammered, clutching the fleece blanket and soft pjs.

My flustered smile seemed to amuse her. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mrs. Stanley," I called as she shut the bedroom door behind her.

With a resigned sigh, I turned back and took a moment to erase my Google search history before shutting the computer down. Despite the tired ache in my bones, I didn't swap clothes until I'd packed away my mess of notes and worksheets. I wasn't sure what Jess would need for her exam tomorrow so I neatly stacked her study materials on her desk, near her backpack.

Lights turned off and changed out, I slumped down next to Jessica and found her physics I textbook clutched in her hands. The last thing I remember was tossing the thing onto the floor before falling into a fitful sleep.

A/N: So, I will definitely be addressing how my OC found herself in this situation, otherwise she's never going to let it go lol! It's not going to be dragged out or anything like that, but it has to happen before anything further can develop with Edward.

Anyway, pretty please let me know your thoughts, feedback, or any questions you may have! Thanks so much for reading everyone! :)