A/N: Alright, I'm back so soon. I just needed to get this chapter out, and I'm excited for you to read it. It's long, so get comfy! I appreciate the warm welcome back and reviews you all left for chapter 4. I'm so glad you are enjoying the story. I spent this week really getting into the plot details and mapped out the rest of the story. I'm not sure how many chapters it will end up being, but I know exactly where it is going. Please know that my writing is fairly rusty right now, and I hope to improve as I get back into it. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

5. Apprehension

The popcorn ceiling in my new room grew boring to look at while I lay under the heavy down duvet Renee sent me as a going away gift. Where I usually enjoyed the enveloping weight of a blanket, this one felt as though it were pinning me to my mattress. I kicked out my legs in frustration, huffed, and rolled to my side. I could see the blinking light of my laptop on my desk as it charged. I narrowed my eyes at it in the darkness, as if it offended me somehow. I continued to stare at it as the words in the email floated across my mind's eye. E. Masen. The words leapt out at me constantly, every time. Realistically, from my search, I knew the last name "Masen" was relatively popular one. But I couldn't shake what a weird coincidence it was the first initial was an E.

"I didn't know they could change professors so last minute," I had said to Angela as I sat in her room before I had said goodnight. I sat on her desk chair as I watched her fluff out her own new duvet over her bed.

"I'm sure it happens all the time," she said absentmindedly, grabbing a pillow sham. "I mean, my aunt teaches over in New York and she took a new position a week before her classes were to start. It was probably hell to get ready that fast." I nodded and gazed at the floor. I hated that I hadn't been able to – under any circumstance – explain to Angela what was really bugging me about the email. I couldn't just say, "I have a weird, unshakeable feeling that I already know this professor and he's a 108-year-old Vampire who has aliases I don't even know about. And oh yeah, surprise – he's also my ex-boyfriend."

Desperately, I wished I could have told her that it wasn't just "sudden changes" and where my tuition was really going that were the issue. For the first time in a few months, I felt the all too familiar frustration of wanting - needing to tell someone what was really going on. How many times over the last six months had I wanted to do the impossible? Explain to Charlie where my night terrors came from, why I screamed whenever I dreamed of fire because it wasn't that I just saw it in my mind, but that I felt it again and again throughout my body, spreading its way through my veins until I finally pulled myself out. I was always convinced that the sweat I'd awake in was more due to physical memory than fear from a dream.

And then, there were times when Angela and I would share stories with each other at the sleepovers we started having. She would often complain to me about something Ben did or said that upset or annoyed her. And then how easy it was for her to talk about a future they had planned together. I would sit and listen, and wished I could share my own experiences to her very ordinary human ones. Except, mine weren't ordinary or human at all.

They were so very, very different. In these times, the actual horror of my situation would become clear. While I knew on some level when He was still in Forks our situation and relationship was vastly different than the typical teenager's, I had never admitted to myself the simple danger that existed for me. It hadn't been until that moment in the clearing when Laurent was taken out by Jake's pack that I came to realize this. How many times had I been alone with Him? Countless, in fact, there were seldom moments when we were around many others. Before, I hadn't really contemplated the degree to which my life had truly been endangered. I hadn't really cared. My whole mind and body had just constantly screamed for Edward that it didn't matter to me. It was only throughout the detox and withdrawal that I felt the perilous nature of my relationship settle in to the truth of what it is – a danger.

And yet, there was still the illogical part of my brain that ignored this. I knew, deep down, that I had never truly been in danger with him. I knew he was too good to do what he warned me of time and time again. I had trusted him implicitly, allowing him to hold each fragile beat of my heart in his hand until he eventually ripped it from my chest. How strange to think of a vampire letting you bleed for him without tasting even a drop. Ironically, I never knew the ways in which he would actually come to hurt me and how they wouldn't be physical at all. And even more frustratingly, as I thought of the name in the email, some small light of hope thrummed out in my heart.

Now, tucked away in my college bed, I felt suffocated by the duvet. I glanced around the room, and my eyes landed on my laptop once more. I shook my head at myself. The chances of my hopeful apprehension were slim – and I praised myself that this relaxed me more than it disappointed me. Too many times had I internally compared myself to an addict, one that had made too much progress to relapse but relished the idea at the same time, like some strange force inside myself celebrating at the idea of my failure to resist. I knew I was being silly – so ridiculous that I got out of bed and brought up the search engine once more. I would be more thorough this time.

"List of people with the surname 'Masen' in Washington," I muttered to myself as I typed into the search bar. I rolled my eyes at how ridiculous the search sounded and hit 'enter' anyway. My earlier search did not feel good enough. I just needed to see that were others by this name in the Olympic area. If I could tell this side of myself that this was in fact possible, I felt that I could put my mind at ease.

As I hit 'enter', the page loaded, multiple entries popped up, one after another in a list of names that matched my search, recognizing some from my earlier search. I read through them, noting that Masen seemed less popular here than I thought. My heart sped up in my chest. The list was shorter than what I had anticipated. I couldn't tell if this made me more or less nervous.

Anita Masen

B.A. Masen

Dawn Masen

Easton Masen

Emma & Jack Masen

Elizabeth Masen

Eden Masen

Ethan Masen

Edison Masen

Gregory E. Masen

Stephen Masen

V. Masen

None of these names gave anything away, nor hinted at the presence of any vampires I knew. I bit my lip as I ran through the frustratingly short list again. I narrowed my eyes at Gregory E. Masen. It was possible for someone to work professionally under their middle name. Out of the small amount of Masen's in Washington, this was the only one closest to E. Masen. Even if this wasn't the new instructor, I somehow found it comforting that there certainly was no 'E. Masen' listed, and agreed to disagree with myself that I was complete okay with this.

You know they're smarter than that, my thoughts screamed at me. C'mon, Bells. You really think they would list their names under 411?

"Anything to blend in," I muttered as a I snapped my laptop shut, plugging it in to charge. I heard the fan slow down once I closed it, presumably resting from a hard Internet workout.

I wrung my hands nervously as my eyes fell onto the supplies list I had written down for myself. Angela was set on buying all of her textbooks from the bookstore the next day after New Student Orientation, and insisted I go with her. I was eager to get a look at the bookstore myself and so I had listed every textbook and novel I needed for this semester. Under "Gothic Literature" I had written down various titles. My eyes glanced over names like Edgar Allan Poe, Frankenstein, The Mysteries of Udolpho, and finally: Dracula. I reached for the list and flipped it over.

Out of sight, out of mind.

The next day was a whirlwind and busy enough that the change in professor was far from my mind. New Student Orientation was exactly what I thought it would be – a short, concise tour of the college and the amenities we had access to as students. We received a short welcome speech from the Dean of Arts and then senior students showed us around.

Angela's favourite part was inevitably the social clubs we were bombarded by at the end of the tour. The tour had conveniently ended in a large hallway that had multiple booths set up, most loudly decorated in the theme of whatever club they were advocating for. Angela headed straight to one that had large, cut out evergreen trees around it.

"That must be the outdoorsy kind of club!" She squealed, pulling her shoulder bag up as she ran over to it. "Meet back here in 20?" She called over her shoulder, grinning at me as she hurried off to explore hiking and whatever other activities were "outdoorsy". I cringed at the thought of climbing up mountains and through thick trees, kayaking or making a fool of myself with any of the sort.

"Sure," I called back and then found myself standing awkwardly alone in the middle of all the tables. I quickly side stepped to a nearby wall as a bustling group of guys, each at least six feet tall, came through, clamouring over each other to grab a football. These must have been some of the football team's players our tour guide had mentioned.

"Oops, sorry," one of them laughed as they nearly trampled over me. Over his shoulder, he threw me a nod, his shaggy black hair tumbling over his forehead, his smile etching dimples into his cheeks. I managed to nod back to him, signalling my forgiveness but I couldn't help feel they should watch where they were going. He wore a light green and white jersey with "Jeffries" sprawled across the back in large, white block letters, over the number 15.

"Jocks, am I right?" I turned at the sudden voice to see a tall, gangly girl pushing her glasses up her nose. "Seriously, I went to school with that guy, and he's probably the nicest of them all." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh," I said, and shrugged. "I don't know many, er, jocks, I guess." She laughed at this and tucked her light waves behind her ear.

"Well, consider yourself lucky, as far as I'm concerned. The Marmots are a good team, though I've heard. Maybe he'll actually get to win some this year." I managed a small smile at her joke and then awkwardly shrugged my bag up my shoulder, glancing at the tables behind her. I wondered for a moment which one she had come from, as I assumed she only really wanted another member in one of the clubs.

"Well, I'm Danielle," she carried on, extending a hand.

"Bella," I replied, as we shook hands. Introducing myself, I was suddenly back in Forks High School as the shiny new girl. Only this time, I reminded myself that there were others just as new here as myself. Danielle smiled at me, a warm inviting smile that almost made me feel like I known her for years.

"Freshman?" I nodded. "Me too. But my older sister is a senior here."

"It must be nice having someone to show you around," I said.

"Totally! Actually, I was just over at the club tables with her. She got in on helping run the book club this year." My suspicions confirmed, I almost laughed out loud. But the idea of a book club made my ears perk up.

"I haven't checked out all the clubs yet," I said. "I didn't know there was a book club."

"We call ourselves 'Fiction Addiction'," she said, jazz hands and all, a grin on her face. Rolling her eyes, she laughed. "It's a silly name, but sounded better than just 'The Book Club'."

"I think it's cool," I said, nodding. "I love reading," I continued, though it had been a year since I had actually picked up a book. A pang of guilt hit me in the chest as I thought of all the novels I had left on my shelf at Charlie's.

"Well, right this way, Bella! Let's get you signed up!" Danielle giggled and grabbed my hand. She led me to a table that was mostly empty, except for a few other people that were signing their names.

"Only if you want to, of course?" She said, looking sheepish. I laughed and nodded.

"Sure, why not?" Danielle beamed and almost ripped the sign-up sheet from another boy sitting at the booth.

"Hey!" He shouted, throwing her daggers.

"You run the club with me, we already know you're in it," she said as she thrust the paper and pen into my hands. "We meet every Sunday afternoon to talk about our books. Er – that's what we're planning anyway," she said sheepishly. "This is actually the first year a book club has existed here."

"You can see she's very proud of herself," said the boy, ruffling his ginger hair. Danielle lightly punched his arm.

"Listen, Nick. Nobody reads anymore. We must keep the literature alive-"

"Yeah, yeah," Nick said, rolling his eyes. "'Prose before bros' and all that."

"Hey, that would have been a good name too," I joked, and then looked at Nick. "Till you came along?"

"Gee, thanks." he said. "Danielle here was always forcing me to read books in high school. Should have thought of that when I applied to the same college."

"You've enjoyed all of them," Danielle protested. "Well, anyway. I got us another member."

"That makes … two," Nick said. "Two whole members. Damn, we probably have the most popular club." I grinned as he rolled his eyes.

"Everything starts somewhere," I reminded him. "I'm honoured to be the second member."

"You might as well be a founder," Nick said. "But no one could take that title from Danielle!"

"As founder, I could have you removed, you know." Danielle huffed and looked around at the other tables starting to pack up. I glanced at the digital clock hanging overhead in the hallway. Some how, it was already quarter past four.

"What's our first book?" I asked. "I can run back to the bookstore before it closes."

"I thought we could leave that for our first meeting this Sunday," Danielle said excitedly. "I'm in this Gothic Literature class and the book list is pretty good. Maybe we pick something scary!"

"Do you mean the class on Tuesday and Thursday evenings? Room 207?" I felt the anxious pit that had taken up permanent residency in my stomach Angela was not in this class with me, and while I had been the new girl before, I had felt nervous about my first college class alone. Hoped sparked in me that maybe I head met someone else in the same class.

"Yes! Nick and I are both in it!"

"She's thrilled," Nick said dryly.

"Oh, come on," I said. "Gothic lit is cool." He grinned at me.

"Well, I guess we'll see you tomorrow evening," Danielle said brightly. She glanced at the booths around us that had started packing up and added, "I guess we should really be cleaning up." She sighed and started packing up papers and promotion posters she had obviously spent time on.

"You know, I bet there's other people in that class that would want to join the book club," I said. I could tell she was disappointed with the turn out. "Maybe we could let people know about it."

"If you help us find new members, I'll make you a founder!" Danielle grinned as she handed me a pin. It was round with the words "Fiction Addiction" printed across it in bright letters. I laughed and quickly added it to my side bag.

"Thanks," I said, patting it affectionately. I glanced up and spotted Angela looking around for me at the end of the hallway. "See you guys tomorrow," I added and turned to go meet Angela.

Once we met up, Angela told me all about the activities the outdoors club had planned for the last few weeks of summer, while the weather was still warm enough for water activities. She was excited to finally learn how to kayak and had managed to convince Ben to join with her. She had met up with him for a while and let me know they were planning on hanging out at his dorm that night.

"I hope that's all right," she said. "I don't think I'll get to see him much before Friday this week."

"That's fine, Ang," I said. "I should probably call and update Charlie, anyway." I hadn't heard from Charlie since we arrived in Olympia, and I knew he was trying to give me space to settle in. Renee had sent five emails already, asking me to describe my dorm residence to her and demanding to know when she could come visit already. I would have to reply to those, too.

The evening passed without much excitement. I spoke with Charlie and told him about the book club, save for the name. I kept that part to myself, even though I didn't want Danielle to feel silly about the name. It was clever but not something I would have come up with, personally. I finally answered Renee and told her I would have to see how busy my classes were before confirming a visit, though I did want to see her. I hadn't seen her since the early summer when Charlie had made me go for an overnight shopping trip with her in Seattle. Phil had been there for an early season game and so it worked out well. It had been the first time in months that I had actually enjoyed myself, and I had desperately needed new clothes.

Once Angela returned from Ben's, we decided to organize our binders together, and I readied my bag for the day. Tuesday and Thursdays were very easy days for me. My Gothic Literature class was the only one I had on those days. I glanced over my schedule one more time to make sure I knew my first class. A Survey of Gothic Literature – Room 305 on the second floor. Once again, I read the professor's name under the class title on my schedule: E. Masen. I still felt as though I couldn't shake the most peculiar apprehension when I saw that name. I knew I was overthinking it – the chance of it being related in anyway, whatsoever, to what I though it could be was low. I knew this for multiple reasons. One, the Cullen's had moved out of state. Two, He said – promised – that day in the forest would be the last time I'd ever see him. So far, that had been true. He was very good at keeping promises. Of course, my delusional mind had created the fake Edward, one to torment and remind myself of him, but question his realness. And three, I knew that teaching in a college class would be too odd of a choice for him, especially when Olympia College was so close to Forks.

So close to me.

Still, I climbed into bed with that strange feeling, and when I closed my eyes, I saw the printed letters from the schedule behind my eyelids. And for the first time in weeks, sleep evaded me. It's just nerves. It's your first college class, I told myself. Though, something like new places had never bothered me much before. I had never felt the same sort of nerves when I started at Forks High School. Of course, not until I had to sit next to him. I felt a shiver run through my body and pulled my duvet under my chin. I was just working myself up. This was a new change, and the last time I had dealt with change, well, my world had seemingly ended. I told myself this was a good change, and an exciting one. I was finally going to study English like I had always fancied myself doing. Tomorrow would come, it would pass like it always does, and nothing would really change at all.

I woke to the smell of rain drifting in through my open window and I breathed deeply. If I kept my eyes closed, it was like I was back in Forks, snug in my bed, the forest surrounding me outside my room. However, I knew that I was in my college dorm room and when I opened my eyes, I would see the blank walls around me and hear Angela busy in the kitchen as she got ready for her morning. I peeked one of my eyes open and glanced at the digital clock Charlie had given me. 10:08 AM, it read. So, it was later than I thought. But this made sense – I had no early class on Tuesdays and sleep had been elusive until three in the morning. I yawned and stretched my arms, swinging my legs over the side of my bed as I stood up. Downstairs, I heard Angela slam the door shut and I assumed she was on her way to her first class. We had agreed to keep each other informed on our schedules, which were both posted with a magnet on the fridge. I had agreed it would be good to know where we each were. Under her schedule, Angela had scribbled Wednesday and Friday – dinners with Ben. I was glad, and maybe slightly envious, that Angela and Ben were so committed to each other even with busy schedules.

I took my toiletry bag into the bathroom with me and showered, getting ready for the day. Standing in my towel, I used the side of my fist to wipe a circle in the fog that had accumulated on the mirror. My reflection stared back at me, and I grimaced. I looked dead tired. My face looked paler than normal, and under my eyes sat two dark circles.

"Great," I muttered. "Worried about vampires and I look like one." I rolled my eyes at myself and dug around in my bag. My hand found the few items of makeup that I did own and I breathed out. I rarely wore makeup, simply because I didn't like how it felt on my skin after a long day. That, and I was rarely concerned with what others thought. But this was my first day of college. I wanted to look mature – and awake.

"Well, a few touch ups can't hurt," I said and using a makeup wedge, began making some improvements that felt necessary this day. When my work was finished, I looked back and nodded. My skin looked more even and less dull than before. I added some mascara and smirked at myself. For once, I appreciated the way it darkened my lashes and brought out my eyes. Perhaps this was fitting for a Gothic Literature class.

Once I had brushed my tangled hair and changed into a simple black sweater with black jeans, I fixed myself some breakfast. Logging onto my laptop, I saw I had an email. From E. Masen themselves. My fingers flew to the email and clicked it. My eyes flew over the words, my heart pounding, but the email gave little away as to who exactly the new professor was.

Good day,

In anticipation of our first class this evening, I felt it may be worthwhile to send out the syllabus in advance. I do not expect anything to be read before our class, but please make yourselves familiar with the course content. As our classes together are long, I plan on getting on with the material in our first lecture. Please bring along with you your copy of 'The Stories and Poems of Poe: A Sample". I expect you have already acquired your materials, and if not, a stop at the bookstore may serve you well.

Please find the course syllabus attached to this email for your convenience.

See you all this evening,

Professor E. Masen

I clicked on the attachment and read through the course outline briefly, seeing that E. Masen had decided to stick to somewhat darker themes for the course, and that Frankenstein and Dracula were scheduled together around October. I frowned. How did this professor expect us to study two books at once? It seemed from their email, that they expected to waste no time. I felt glad I had already bought all my course materials for this semester, and grabbed the book of Poe the email mentioned. Along with a notebook and my pencil case, I stashed what I needed into my bag. I glanced at the clock and saw it was just only noon. I groaned as I felt nervous anticipation take up space in my throat. I had seven and a half hours to go until I could prove to myself that my worries were for nothing, and then this uncomfortable feeling would leave.

I busied myself that afternoon by finishing unpacking the rest of my clothes and folding them into the drawers in my room. I found it difficult to keep my thoughts away from the strange feeling I had in my chest and so I even attempted to read some of the book that I would be using in tonight's class. But even this I found difficult to concentrate on.

"Damnit," I sighed as I finally closed the book, noting that it was now getting dangerously close to the hour that I waited impatiently for. I decided perhaps some dinner would help, and once I prepared some soup and a grilled cheese sandwich, I found that my stomach was not a fan of my idea of supper. I forced half the sandwich down anyway, and cleaned my dishes.

7:10 PM. The digital green numbers stared back at me like a beacon on a cliff, if the cliff was my stomach about to flip off into the anxious depths below.

"Alright," I said, taking a deep breath. "Time to go to class. With, probably, a totally normal professor." I nodded at this, trying desperately to convince myself of this. But my heart pounded loudly in my ears, and my stomach seeped into my legs as I left for my first college class.

I pulled at my shoulder bag self-consciously as I found myself at the beginning of the hallway in the main campus building that would take me to the stairs leading to the second floor. I gripped the shoulder strap, tugging at it, trying to ground myself. I glanced at the campus map attached to the wall opposite me. Without my permission, my legs walked me over to it.

"Just to be sure," I muttered to myself, glancing at the map and the "YOU ARE HERE" spot. I was in the right place, going in the right direction. There was no need to procrastinate. Especially as it was now 7:21 PM.

"Bella!" I whirled at the sound of my name, and I felt a rush of air leave my lungs. I saw Danielle and Nick coming towards me, huge grins on their faces.

"Yo!" Nick greeted me with a high five, which I returned weakly, and forced a smile back at them.

"Hey," I said.

"Oh my god! So excited to run into you." The words fell excitedly from her mouth. "I checked out this lecture room earlier today – 3 to a table! Perfect for us, the founding members of Fiction Addiction!" She squealed in delight and clapped her hands together.

"Yeah, you know, she's just a little excited for this class," Nick laughed. I found myself grinning in spite of my growing anxiety. In fact, now that Nick and Danielle were here, I felt some of these nerves settle into the background.

"Listen you, I've been waiting all. Day." Danielle playfully punched Nick's arm and smirked at me.

"Well, let's go then, or we will be late," Nick said. Danielle gasped in excitement and linked her arm in mine. She began an exaggerated march down the hall, but calmed down once she heard some other students.

"I'm just excited, sorry!" She whispered, still holding my arm but walking at a regular pace as we approached the stair well.

Though these two other students were strangers to me, I couldn't help but feel comforted by Danielle's arm in mine. It was real. It was tangible. And it was attached to someone who was obviously very excited for this class – something that I should be as well. As we ascended the stairs, I found myself counting them, breathing in on odd numbers, and out on even ones. There was no need to be nervous, save for being in a new environment, and I had to remind myself that the name was nothing but a coincidence.

Nothing to worry about, Bells, I told myself. I was thankful when I felt Daniella give my arm an excited squeeze for her, and a grounding one for me.

"Here we are!"

Lecture Room 207A read the plaque over the dark, wooden door. There was a window in the wall that showed the inside of the room, and a group of students milling about, already inside.

My heart suddenly sped up and I was sure it was about to take off and leave the rest of me behind. I saw, almost in slow motion, as Nick opened the door and held it open for Daniella and I.

"Ladies first," he said dramatically, taking a deep bow.

"There's no tables with three empty seats," I heard Danielle whisper disappointedly. I craned my neck around the other students, when I spotted the football player who had run into the me the previous day move out the way to take his seat at a table. He gave way to a view of a completely empty table.

"There's one at the back," I said, tapping Danielle's arm.

"Let's go!" She giggled and beelined it to the very back table, Nick and I following behind. I was grateful for the table to be in the back. We found our seats, Danielle insisting I sit in the middle so both she and Nick could talk with me if needed. I noticed that there were two entrances to this lecture room, as some students were entering through a door directly across from our table. The came in with the same disappointed looks on their faces that they would have to find seats away from each other.

"Did you bring your book?" Danielle asked Nick in a hushed voice, narrowing her eyes at him.

"No," he said, rolling his eyes but pulling it out of his bag anyway. "Why would I bring a book to a Gothic Literature class?"

"Shut up," Daniella whispered, smirking at him as she brought out her own book. I reached into my bag and grabbed my own copy, my notebook, and a purple pen from the pack of coloured gel pens Renee had insisted I buy, suggesting colour-coding my notes would help me remember everything. As I set my pen on my notebook, I heard the click of the lecture room door opening and the hushed whispers around the classroom slowly fell silent.

For the second time that night, the air in my lungs escaped in a rush.

A tall, greying man with wild, curly hair entered the room. He wore a tawny suit with a dark brown tie to complete his ensemble. On his face sat horn-rimmed glasses which gave way to bright, crinkly eyes. His warm, welcoming smile beamed at the class.

The relief I felt was instantaneous. This was the E. Masen I had been worried about for the past two days. Just a regular, but very cliché looking college professor who seemed delighted by a full class.

"Hello everyone," he started, his voice warm and inviting. I relaxed in my seat and felt my heart slowly to a regular beat in my chest. The ice that had been running through my veins for the past twenty minutes thawed and I felt the feeling return to my fingers.

"He looks like a professor from a movie," Daniella whispered very quietly to me. I smiled back at her, a true smile that for the first time that evening, reached my eyes.

Look how ridiculous you are, I chastised myself. All that worry for nothing – just a regular instructor. I leaned back in my seat and let my eyes focus on the man in the front who looked like he could be anyone's grandfather.

"I trust you are all doing well this evening," he continued on in his gentle voice. He cleared his throat expectantly when no one answered and got a resounding, "Yes" from the class.

"Wonderful, wonderful!" He straightened his tie and walked over to the desk at the front of the room which sat in front of the chalkboard. "Well, I am delighted to see that this is a full house tonight."

The class waited, an air of anticipation, as the professor removed his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. He used his tie momentarily to rub at the lenses and then replaces them.

"Well, don't mind me," he chuckled. "I suppose I am just stalling." A few students ahead of our table looked at each other in slight confusion.

"Stalling for what?" Nick mouthed to me and Daniella. We both shrugged.

"I suppose I should introduce myself," the professor carried on and our attention was moved back to the man at the front. He rested against the thick wooden desk, clasping his hands in front of him.

"It's wonderful to meet you all," he started. "My name is Albert Smith. I teach most of the Social Sciences courses here."

"What did he say?" I found myself whispered to Daniel. "Albert Smith?"

"I think so," she whispered back. "Are – are we in the wrong room?" She glanced at Nick who shook his hand, and pointed to the room number on his class schedule. Danielle looked back at me and shrugged and I felt cold, prickly feeling return slowly to my fingertips.

"I just wanted to stop in and let you know your professor is running behind." He laughed a booming laugh and then added, "It's his first class, you know. I hope you will all be kind." A few quiet laughs flowed over the class and I suddenly felt irritated. How did anyone find this funny? How was no one else panicking as I was?

Because they don't go trusting vampires, an irritated voice snapped in my head. It was right. No one in the room currently had the same fear as me. In fact, aside from first-class jitters, no one in this room was feeling anything close to the anxiety I was. I crossed my legs in agitation, my foot impatiently tapping the air. I reminded myself over and over that I was still being ridiculous. This was a college, in a state that was far away from Him. I had no need to be this nervous. I closed my eyes and breathed through my nose. In and out. In and out.

"Are you okay, Bella?" Nick whispered and I nodded curtly once, and hoped he wouldn't question me again. Thankfully, I felt him shift his attention back to the front of the room again thought I sensed he wasn't convinced.

"In fact," carried on Albert Smith, "I recognize a few of you from this morning's Sociology class. I hope you all have started read-" He was cut off by the second click of the classroom door and I heard it click once more as it shut behind him. The class grew suddenly still and silent. My eyebrows threaded together as I heard the new person walk towards Professor Smith.

"Ah, here he is! Well, no need for me anymore! I'll be on my way out. Have a wonderful class!"

I squeezed my eyes shut as I prepared to open them, but my other senses stopped me before I could move at all.

"Hello," came a soft voice from the front. I felt my entire body turn rigid at the melodic sound that carried over the class and lulled it into silence. "I apologize for my tardiness. I had a pressing matter to attend to."

I felt as though the chair had suddenly given way to the ground below into frigid, icy depths.

"Holy hell," I heard Danielle breathe beside me. "Look at him," she whispered.

But I didn't need to. I had heard enough in the one sentence he spoke to know exactly who had walked in through that door. I heard him turn to the chalkboard at the front and the soft scrape of chalk as he wrote his name on the board. I sucked in possibly the largest breath of air I ever had – so large that it hurt my lungs to expand enough to hold it. My eyes flew open and all at once, my body reacted.

I was met with the back of him. His messy, auburn hair ruffled on his head, and his marble skin peeking out of the collar of a black dress shirt. I watched, fixated in utter horror, as more of his marble skin extended from his rolled-up sleeves at his elbow, long slender fingers guiding the chalk as it wrote out his name in what looked like calligraphy. I drew in a shaky breath as I felt my arms push my seat out from the table. At the same time, I saw him freeze, a perfect statue on the N on his "last name".

Prof. Edward Masen

My body moved faster than I could understand what it was doing. My legs pushed me from my seat to a standing position, my head feeling dizzy and the mutters of the students around me sounding far away.

"Bella?" Daniella beside me tugged on my arm. For a moment, her voice brought me back to the classroom. I pinched my eyes shut. It wasn't really Edward – it couldn't be. No, this was just the figment I had seen of him in my mind for the past year. Of course, it always appeared when I felt adrenaline or nerves, so it made sense that I would replace the older professor who had been there before with a perfect version of Edward, voice and all. I nodded to myself as I convinced myself of this. I would open my eyes in a second and it would be Albert Smith who beamed at the class, his name written in a haphazard, imperfect scrawl on the chalkboard behind him.

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I forced my eyes to open, ready to be met with the scene I had prepared for in my mind.

But I didn't see this. Albert Smith was gone, replaced by a perfect statue of Adonis, a perfect, chiseled marble statue who now faced me with hard, amber eyes.

Before I could process what was really unfolding before my eyes, my legs tore me from the spot and I fled from the room through the door across from our table.

A/N: Please let me know what you think!