Bella is desperate to learn more about the Cullens, and it's probably not just because she likes the way Edward makes her heart flutter. Edward wants to understand who Bella is and why he can't read her mind. Is this an an unlikely association forced by exigent circumstances, or a friendship... or something more?

It's summer again, which means only one thing: fanfic season! Please leave a review if you can—even a few words is a huge boost and it means the world to me.

The previous day had brought some clarity to my scattered and (I could see now) irrational weekend panic. Calling the FBI had made sense after eight hours of terrifying nightmares, but much less in light of what I had learned. There were vampires in the world; unbelievable, and yet… so what? There were other kinds of evil in the world too, but everyone kept living anyway. If Edward was to be believed—and I was now sure that he was—the Cullens were not evil. Or at least, they were trying not to be. That thought gave me hope.

I dragged myself out of bed at last and went through the motions of getting dressed, brushing my teeth, and making coffee. Charlie hustled out the door, and as I asked him when he would be home it struck me that he'd been uncharacteristically early yesterday. How had Edward known? My heart fluttered a little—I had finally thought of an excuse to ask questions at lunch. I knew I was fixated, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

I sat through my morning classes impatiently. I finished my English in-class assignment while wondering why the Cullens were in high school. I even took being called on in Trig in stride, distracted by the question of where vampires came from.

I did my best to listen and respond to Jessica as we walked to the cafeteria. Just because vampires existed didn't mean that I should immediately drop everything else, I reasoned, before realizing that just by making that argument I was already thinking about vampires instead of paying attention to Jessica. I shook my head in disgust, and Jessica picked up on it.

"Are you okay, Bella?" she asked, sounding sincerely concerned. "You've seemed a little off this week."

"Just… stuff, I guess." I wasn't good at talking about my feelings on a good day, let alone when all of those feelings were caused by—and I was thinking about them again—vampires.

Angela joined us in the lunch line. She and Jessica immediately started talking about something that had happened in some class that I wasn't in. I listened with half an ear as I loaded my plate with a grilled cheese and tomato soup.

"What do you think, Bella?"

I had no idea what I was being asked about, because I had just spotted Edward Cullen sitting at a table by himself. The rest of the family were several tables away, looking somehow incomplete. I realized that I was staring and still hadn't responded to the question, so I took a hint from Jessica's scandalized tone and did my best impression of someone who was engaged in the conversation. "Terrible," I said.

"Yeah," Angela agreed, so I must have said the right thing.

Jessica looked back at me as she and Angela started for our regular table. "Are you coming, Bella?"

I swallowed. "I'm actually going to sit somewhere else today."

"Oh? Where?" She sounded surprised.

Was my mouth always this dry? "With… Edward."

Her eyes opened wide, but Angela pulled her away before she could say anything. I mouthed a thank you at Angela over my shoulder as I turned toward Edward's table.

He looked up with a smile as I approached. "I didn't know if you'd come."

"How could I not?" I said, sliding into the seat across from him. "This is the most interesting thing that's ever happened to me."

He covered his smile with one hand. "I could say the same."

"I don't know if I would believe you," I said, skeptical. "I'm not that interesting."

"Untrue," he argued, "but you're also the first human I've spent this much time with in… well, in a while."

I thought about it and then shrugged, conceding the point. "Fair enough."

He poured ranch dressing over his vegetables. "You must have come up with more questions?"

I stared at his plate, fascinated. "You don't eat that stuff, do you?"

"No," he said, artfully rearranging the carrots in a way that made it seem like there were fewer of them, "but it would look strange if I didn't pretend."

That made sense. What was it that Charlie used to say? "You should never speed when you've got a body in the trunk."

Edward looked surprised. "What?"

I hadn't realized I'd said it out loud and found myself blushing furiously. "It's just a saying. If you have a big secret, you have to make sure you follow all the little rules to avoid being caught."

His surprise melted into thoughtfulness. "Appropriately morbid."

Seeing him fiddle with his food reminded me that I needed to eat, so I dunked my grilled cheese into the soup and took a bite. "Why do you go to high school?"

"It keeps us up to date on things we would be familiar with if we were really human, and it allows us to stay in one place longer," he answered. "We'll live in Forks—with a break for college, maybe—for another ten years or so before anyone thinks to ask questions. Then we'll move on and start over somewhere else."

The sadness in his voice echoed my own feelings about childhood. "I've done that. Without the immortality, though."

He looked up at me with a half-smile. "Yeah?"

"I've lived in, um, nine places," I said. "Ten, if you count Forks twice."

"What was your favorite?" he asked, sounding like he cared.

"Phoenix." I sighed.

He looked like he was staring straight at my soul and I felt butterflies. "What did you like about it?"

I remembered our first conversation, in Biology, and how it had ended abruptly when he had predicted that class was about to begin. With a start, I realized that I had three examples of him knowing something was going to happen before it actually had occurred—four, if I counted the car accident.

"Bella?" he asked, a crease in his forehead.

"Can you see the future?" I blurted, unable to prevent myself from asking.

His face went still. "Why would you think that?"

"You knew when class was about to start, you knew when my food was coming, and you knew when my dad was on his way home," I listed on my fingers. "And you knew that Tyler was about to hit me."

"Anyone who was looking would have known that," he said.

"Fine. That doesn't explain the other things."

He sighed. I fidgeted, wanting to break the silence but determined to wait for the answers I was looking for.

"I wish you hadn't noticed, but since you have… no. I can't see the future." He paused, looked around, and lowered his voice. "I'm a telepath."

Across from us at the regular Cullen table, three people stiffened. I ignored them, too busy considering the ramifications. "You're a telepath." Anger washed over me and I gripped my tray, ready to leave the table. "You've been reading my mind this whole time?"

"No," he said, and I froze. "I can't read your mind."

"I don't understand."

"You're the first person I've ever met whose thoughts I couldn't hear." He sounded frustrated.

"Why can't you?" I asked, torn between feeling flattered and feeling singled out.

"I haven't the faintest," he said, with half a scowl. "Your father is a bit foggy, but you..."

"You've read my father's mind," I said. "Of course you have, he's the chief of police and you're… well, you." The butterflies turned to lead in my stomach. I leaned my forehead against my hands, trying to find words to express my discomfort. "That seems horribly unethical."

"What if it were you?" he asked. "What if you woke up tomorrow and you could read minds?"

I hesitated, trying to look past my gut reaction. "I don't know."

"Exactly. It's not as easy when it's real."

"I guess that makes sense." I was still vaguely dissatisfied, but since I didn't have the words to explain why I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Thank you."

I squinted at him, expecting to find mockery on his face, but he looked solemn. "You really can't read mine?"

"Cross my heart," he said, with a sudden smile. "I can pick up surface thoughts from anyone in this room—maybe a bit more from the ones I know well—but you? Nothing."

I pulled one corner of my mouth down, still skeptical. "It doesn't seem logical that I would be the onlyperson whose thoughts you can't hear."

He shrugged, somehow making the gesture look elegant. I was momentarily envious; I was never graceful. "It's not. It's not logical that I can read minds, either."

"Fair enough."

Across from us, Alice rose quickly and flitted over, planting both hands on the edge of our table and posing nonchalantly. "Hi Bella! Remember me? You do! My name is Alice! We're going to be friends," she said brightly to me all in one breath, ignoring Edward's attempts to hush her. As soon as she had finished, she whirled and darted away.

"Is she always like that?" I felt slightly disoriented by the onslaught.

Edward smiled ruefully. "Alice is unique."

"Can we be friends?" I asked bluntly. "Is this a friendship or—" I didn't know what kind of word to apply to it.

"Technically," he said, "I believe that it's an unlikely association forced by exigent circumstances."

"Oh." For some stupid reason, I felt rejected. Had I wanted to be friends with him?

"Or… a friendship," he added.

I felt warm, though whether it was from embarrassment or delight I wasn't entirely sure. "I don't think everyone in your family would be happy about that."

His mouth twisted. "Who do you mean?"

"Rosalie," I said. "I don't think she likes me."

He seemed relieved. "She doesn't like change. She has nothing against you as an individual."

"Oh." I have gotto stop saying that. I wasn't sure what I had been expecting, but that wasn't it. "That's fine, then." It rankled, though. My conflict with Edward had made it very clear to me that I didn't want to be disliked. I supposed that nobody really enjoyedit, but some probably didn't mind it that much. I tried to put it out of my mind by casting about for another question or conversation topic, but I couldn't think of anything except for why the tribe distrusted the Cullens—and I wasn't about to ask that, even with my growing trust in Edward.

"Was there anything else you wanted to ask?" he prompted gently, shredding a dinner roll in a way that made it appear to have been bitten.

Surely after he had answered all the questions that I had, we would go our separate ways? The idea of returning to my utterly mundane existence seemed suddenly bleak; I scrambled for something else to ask to prolong our time together. "Why is your last name Cullen if you aren't pretending to be related to Carlisle?" I blurted, wincing at how unimportant and irrelevant the question was.

"On paper, he's legally adopted me because it's my turn to inherit the family assets when we leave this version of our, um, lives. Next time, it will be Alice."

"Do you use the same names over and over again? Won't that get you caught?" I couldn't imagine how it would feel to completely reinvent myself every time I moved.

He sighed, looking wistful. "We try to mix things up without straying too far from naming conventions or our originals. I've gone by Edmund and Edison, just to throw off the records."

"But your real name is?.." I regretted the question as soon as I asked it—it felt too pushy, too intimate.

"Edward." He hesitated, seeming to be about to add more, but then leaned back as if he had thought better of it. "You never did tell me why you liked Phoenix."

I felt momentarily resentful, and then pictured myself as one of the cats we had owned when I was growing up—standing in front of a closed bathroom door, yowling my indignity at being shut out. The image cheered me up immediately. "It's always bright there, even at night. Between the city lights and the stars—I never have to be afraid of the dark."

"That could be any city," he interjected solemnly. "Why is Phoenix special?"

Piqued, I tried again. "It's warm." He looked as though he were about to interrupt again, but I plowed ahead. "It smells warm—like asphalt in the sun. When it's windy, you can smell the desert."

"What does desert smell like?"

"Cactus. Cicadas. I don't know, but it's not… not musty, like this forest." I wrinkled my nose. I had gotten used to the scent of pine and damp earth, but that didn't mean that I liked it.

"I've never been to Arizona." Edward looked interested. He pushed his plate away from him, giving me his undivided attention. "What else do you like about it?"

"You can see for miles," I sighed, picturing the jagged mountains off in the distance. "The sky goes on forever and it feels like you could go anywhere." Not like Forks. The tall trees and low clouds still felt oppressive. "The landscape—" I spread my hands wide, trying to simulate the craggy valley of the desert. "It's not hiding anything, but there are still secrets if you look for them. Arroyos and canyons that you don't notice until you're right on top of them. It's comfortingly known but still excitingly adventurous." The words were tumbling out of my mouth faster than I could think about whether or not they made sense.

Edward's face was focused, a tiny line between his eyebrows. "I think I understand," he said, slowly. "You like the way it makes you feel. You like the person you are when you're there."

My heart fluttered and I felt absurdly, overwhelmingly known. My blush could probably be seen from space. "Yes."

"You're an interesting girl, Bella," he murmured, black—no, they were golden—eyes intense as they met mine.

I realized with some surprise that in spite of his close attention, I was still coherent. What had changed? Before I could pursue that line of thought further, the bell rang. I hadn't realized how long I had been talking with Edward—the conversation had felt so natural. We both rose, discarding our plates before we were swept into the shuffle toward the exit. It wasn't until I noticed that everyone was headed in the same direction that I remembered the assembly was scheduled for today.

"Oh no," I whispered. If Charlie saw me with Edward… I wasn't worried about the paternal consequences, but he might mention it to the Blacks, and that might be disastrous. Edward hovered at my side, looking concerned, but I waved him away. "Go on without me. Please," I added as I saw him hesitate. "I'll explain later."

He frowned but acquiesced, and I found myself beside Jessica as the crowd of juniors poured into the gym. She looked like she was about to burst and I realized that I had no idea how to explain the events of lunch to her. Hopefully I would figure it out by the end of the assembly.