Bella watched the boy sitting across from her pluck off each topping off his piece of pizza until there was nothing left but the cheese. Then, she watched him pull that off, too. Satisfied, he picked up the triangle of crust with a bit of sauce smeared on top and took the tiniest nibble from the tip.

Jessica put her arm around Bella's shoulder. "Isn't this cool? The perfect place to celebrate!"

Bella got her cast off earlier that morning and Jessica took it upon herself to arrange a celebration. Jessica gathered their group to an indoor mini golf course that kept overhead lights turned off and painted aisleways and details in glowing, neon paint. It wasn't the safest place for the uncoordinated. With her luck, Bella would break her other arm.

"So perfect!" she agreed, anyway.

Jessica's shiny, white teeth shined purple in the black light. She leaned closer. "And how do you like Eric?"

Eric was the fourth boy Jessica invited to join their group activities. Long hair swept across his forehead, most likely to hide the acne underneath. He wore a windbreaker and his pants were one size too big and one size too short. His jokes were clearly lines he read online and repeated, and he didn't seem to have any worldly experience outside of League of Legends. He was nice enough but couldn't stop looking at Bella's chest when they spoke. And, of course, his eating habits were peculiar.

To think Jessica looked at this boy and considered him a suitable replacement for Edward was laughable. The thought was unfair, because there was no replacing Edward. No one could come close to him.

Or, at least who he pretended to be.

The personality she fell so hard for was all an act. Expecting someone to live up to that Edward was like expecting someone to live up to Mr. Darcy. An unrealistic expectation curated from fantasy.

She peeked back and watched Eric fish through the discarded toppings, add a single green pepper back onto the dough and take a bite. "Um, I don't really know him enough to form an opinion."

Jessica gave Bella one more pat on the arm, "Well, then get to know him!" and turned back to Mike, her golden retriever of a boyfriend.

Bella took a bite of the kale Caesar salad Eric insisted on splitting but never took a helping of, "So, what's your major?"

"Computer sciences with a minor in Interactive Media Design and Art." Essentially, he played video games all day. "What about you?"

"Library sciences."

That surprised him. "Really?"

"What do I look like I should be?"

"I don't know," he said after a moment of consideration. "You have the body of a stand-up comedian. So, maybe drama."

Bella tucked her lips between her teeth, unsure of how to respond to the bizarre statement. Thankfully, she didn't have to. A buzzer went off in Mike's hand. "We're up!" He called. Then, he and Ben hurried to the window at the front to collect their balls and putters.

"Maybe you should go with them?" Bella suggested to Eric.

He nodded and hopped up. Bella released a sharp breath. She helped Jessica and Angela clear off the table. There was no food at the mini golf place, but they did allow outside food. Mike grabbed pizza as they waited the full hour and a half before their "tee " time.

Angela wound her arm through Bella's. "This is going to be so fun for you, isn't it?" she teased.

Bella smiled. Only Angela would remember Bella's two left feet. "You may have to hold onto me all night."

"We'll be a team!" she giggled.

"I hope Ben won't mind."

"He won't. He gets oddly competitive." She pointed to where Ben very seriously practiced his swing with each of the cheap clubs, as if one was going to be better than the rest. It was weirdly endearing. Bella understood what Angela saw in sweet, quiet Ben.

Angela and Bella did play as a team. They took turns holding the other from behind and swinging the club together, like a scene in a bad rom-com. Eric kept his distance, flitting between Mike and Jessica and Lauren and Tyler. Bella was having fun. Until Ben called Angela over to give him a good luck kiss before he took what was supposed to be a hole-in-one. The girls shared a laugh before she went over to humor him.

Bella watched with a hollow chest as Ben and Angela made an adorable couple, when she felt a presence behind her over her shoulder.

"Sorry you got stuck with that all night." It was not the voice she wished to mysteriously appear.

Bella assumed Tyler meant Eric. "It's fine, it's not like I'm spending much time with him at all." He was two holes ahead, laughing too hard at something Mike said.

"You deserve better than that."

Tyler often played this game with Bella. He would slip into her solitude, whisper a few kind words. Apparently, no other boy was good enough for Bella, yet Jessica claimed he had a hand in picking out Bella's prospective suitors from their dorm. She could practically feel his gaze linger on her body. He twisted a loose lock of her hair. His fingers grazed the back of her neck before he tucked it back into place.

Seconds later, he was gone, and the fingers that danced across Bella's neck were laced through Lauren's.

Bella scowled. Were these truly the only choices she had in romance? A bad blind date, a hidden tryst, or a joke?

Memories of Edward flitted across her mind, unbidden. All the times he made her feel special; all the gestures that made her feel cherished. Worst of all, his confession of love. A last-ditch effort to keep his ruse going, so the final act of his performance could go on.

Bella choked, unable to properly fill her lungs with air. There were too many people, crammed in this warehouse, using up all the air with their joy and happiness.

She needed to escape.

Figuring the happy couples wouldn't notice her absence, Bella slipped out through a back door into an alley. The door shut heavily behind her as she slumped against the cold metal. The only source of light came from a dangling sconce. Bella took an exaggerated inhalation, appreciating the taste of the crisp night. Then, longed for the cool, crisp taste of Edward's kiss.

Bella missed Edward. In the past six weeks, she expected her feelings for him to diminish, but they only grew stronger. Bella wanted his opinion on every circumstance, and his advice in every situation. She wanted to hear his laugh, to see his eyes alight with pleasure when he made her laugh. She wanted to feel his hand around hers, to feel his strong, solid arm around her shoulder while he angled her closer.

A few stray tears slipped. Why did he have to be such a talented actor?

There were no stars above, only low, gray clouds. There was nothing to dazzle Bella anymore.

She let a few more tears escape and scrubbed her face dry. Her friends would notice if she were gone for too long. Jessica would pester Bella for details she did not wish to give. When Bella reached for the handle, there was none. only an empty doorplate with a deadbolt. Bella cursed under her breath. She would have to walk around the entire warehouse back to the front entrance. In the biting, November chill. She took a step, but something tugged her back, causing her to slip and stumble into the wall. The bottom of her long, suede jacket was stuck in the door.

"Oh my god!" she whined. Charlie just found this jacket! Good, vintage coats were hard to come by. Especially in her size. She gave the coat a gentle tug, too scared to pull too hard and damage it. It didn't budge, wedged in tightly.

Bella was stuck.

"Why does this always happen to me?" she laminated to no one.

"You alright?" A voice came from the darkness.

"I'm fine, just stuck," she said, then snapped her lips shut. She probably shouldn't tell a strange man in a back alley she had no way to escape. Especially one with such a large, bulky frame.

But when he stepped into the light, Bella could not feel afraid. He wore one of the kindest, gentlest expressions she had seen in a long time. Wide mouth, spread into a smile so charismatic, it encouraged Bella to smile back.

The dimples on his cheek and thick dark, curly hair made him exceedingly handsome. And the eyes. Deep and golden and sparkling.

He was beautiful. A true gentle giant straight out of a storybook.

"Here, let me help you out."

He reached down. Bella waved her hands to stop him, "Please don't, it's vintage…"

But he didn't reach for her coat. He wrapped his large hand around the deadbolt. His fingers dug into the metal frame of the door, as easily as if it were made of putty. He pulled—with a grating squeak—and the entire deadbolt came out of the door, lock and all.

The door creaked open.

"H-h-how…" she started to sputter, when he exclaimed, "Woah, what's that?"

Without thinking, Bella whirled the direction he pointed in and saw nothing. When she looked back, he was gone. The deadbolt was duct taped to the door with a crisp hundred-dollar bill.

"What on earth…"

Bella stumbled through the door, blinking hard against the harsh, bright colors. A couple brushed past her, throwing back an odd look.

"Bella! What are you doing?" Jessica called, ushering her back into the real world.

Bella rejoined Angela. She had to carry the team, for Bella's mind flicked in and out like the strobe lights overhead. Replaying the bizarre interaction again and again. Dissecting the uncanny feeling of déjà vu that twisted in her gut.

The inhuman strength.

The super speed, undetectable by sound and sight.

And most importantly, the golden eyes set in a perfect porcelain face.

It wasn't until the drive home when Bella realized the interaction wasn't dissimilar to her horrendous date with Edward. Edward didn't exhibit super strength, but she did witness the speed. From her embrace, out into the rain, and back into the venue all within a few seconds. Perhaps the stranger was like Edward. A super enhanced being. Where Edward could read minds, that man had super strength.

Bella's heart beat so rapidly, she felt it in her throat. She pulled over to the side of the neighborhood road and rested her head on the steering wheel.

If that were the case, it would mean Edward had been telling the truth all along.

Bella wanted to believe him. More than anything in her life, Bella wanted a reason to believe Edward. She got one. Gifted by a stranger with dark curls and a wide grin.

She remembered the doctor, who had also reminded her of Edward. Perhaps he had a healing ability. That morning, the doctor who removed her cast praised the skill and precision, and he was unsurprised that Dr. Cullen had been the one to set it.

Gold eyes, cold, pale skin, perfect features. Those must be the markings of whatever super-enhanced creatures they were.

If Edward told the truth about his mind reading, that meant the rest of their relationship had been real. His comfort. His promises. Even his confession of love, spoken as a desperate plea. Bella's heart tightened at the memory.

Edward loved her.

The elation over the discovery was short-lived as she recalled the circumstance in which Edward's speed was revealed. Out of revulsion when his hands first touched her body. Bella slumped back into her seat and restarted the engine.

At the end of the day, it didn't matter that Edward told the truth. No superpower would force him to run away in the middle of a kiss and break Bella's heart.

The next morning, Bella awoke to the sound of Christmas carols. It struck her as odd, because Charlie had a strict No Christmas Before Thanksgiving rule. Rubbing her eyes, she ventured down the stairs to see what his problem was. All the Christmas decorations had been brought up from the basement, yet they remained in their boxes.

Without warning, a spool of craft paper was shoved into her hands and a Santa hat was placed on her head.

"Charlie…"

"In the truck," he commanded, "We have a very important task today and there is no time to explain."

"No!" Bella planned a double date with a new cookie recipe and a Bonte novel.

"We'll stop and get those breakfast sandwiches you like on the way," Charlie promised, raising his pitch as he sweetened the deal, "The ones with the hashbrowns on them."

"Alight. But let me change first. And get a coffee ready for me."

"We'll get one on the way."

Bella narrowed her eyes. "I have a suspicion it's going to be a two-cup kind of day."

On the drive over to the school, Charlie explained the classroom decorating contest at the school. Apparently, the contest had started with just doors like had always been in the past, but one of the second-grade teachers extended the decorations to inside the classroom. "She's trying to be an influencer or something," Charlie tacked on with a flippant wave of his hand. The kindergarten teachers decided they would surprise the girl by doing the same.

Word had gotten around. When they arrived at the school, all the teachers were in. White sheets hung over their doors to hide their decorating progress. Bella nearly voiced how ridiculous she found the concept when Charlie stuffed a sheet in her hand and gave her the first task.

As she hung up the sheet for Charlie, her eyes drifted over to the classroom across the hall. Like the others, its lights were on.

Mrs. Cullen was in. The doctor's wife.

Bella bit her lip. If there were another like Edward, Dr. Cullen, and the curly-haired boy, it would be her. She could check. Swing in, say hello, and check her eye color.

Not that it matters, Bella reminded herself. It did not matter what color her eyes wore. Proof of Edward's telepathy did not justify his actions.

Though, it would be nice to know if she was right.

Curiosity got the better of her. Once Charlie was safely behind his sheet and preoccupied with tinsel and fairy lights, Bella tiptoed across the hall.

Mrs. Cullen did not put a sheet over her door. Bella understood why immediately. No teacher would live up to this perfection, so she had nothing to hide. The shabby, school classroom had been transformed into a winter wonderland. Evergreen garland was stapled around the whiteboard and bulletin boards on either side. One side of the room had been covered in cardboard pine trees. Stuffed polar bears dominated one corner of a room, a few large enough that a child could sit in its lap.

"Hello." Bella knocked lightly on the frame of the door.

Esme Cullen stood on her desk, hanging paper snowflakes from the ceiling tiles. Even in jeans and a loose, flowy top, she looked elegant and put together. Her long, caramel hair was tied back in a ponytail. She looked back towards the knock with a demure gasp of surprise. Just as Bella suspected, she had the same golden eyes and perfect, porcelain face.

"Oh, my goodness! You must be Bella! I have heard so much about you." She finished with her knot and leaped off the desk with enough grace that would shame a ballerina.

"Me too! I was in the neighborhood and thought I would say hi."

"Well, I appreciate you stopping by. It's nice to have a face to the name. And such a lovely face, too. Charlie always jokes that he had to change your name from Astuta to Bella as you grew up, and now I see why."

Bella hid her grimace. The joke that Charlie changed her name from smart to pretty always embarrassed her.

The ladies shared another smile. Esme wiped her hands, adjusted her stack of snowflakes and boldly stated, "You've come to ask after Edward."

Bella's mouth fell open.

She picked up another snowflake from a pile on a desk and began trying another string to it. "Don't be modest. Once you figured out the truth about Edward, you correctly assumed the same about my husband, then myself. And you decided out of all of us, the kindergarten teacher would be the safest to approach."

A small voice in the back of her head—either common sense or survival instinct—told Bella to play along. "Yes."

Her smile widened. "Clever. It's no wonder he adores you as he does."

"So, it's true?"

"Yes, it's true. And you are in no danger from him, or from any of us."

Danger?

Bella mulled over the word with confusion. Never would she associate Edward with danger. She felt completely safe in his presence. More than safe.

Esme continued to tie little pieces of string onto each snowflake as she spoke. "We feed exclusively from animals. The last mouthful of human blood was taken forty years ago, to turn Emmett."

Goosebumps rose on her arms, making her skin itch.

"And though he would never say it, Edward has remarkable control. His only kills were deliberate and almost a hundred years ago. But that's his story to tell," she met Bella's widened gaze with her golden eyes, "Vampire or not, he's the dashing hero of the tale, but of course, he'd never say that either."

Bella's knees quaked, her breath rushed in and out in rapid succession.

Esme finally noticed her reaction. "Oh, dear," she muttered and hurried to Bella's side. Bella yelped a bit at her touch. The cool skin marked her as dead. Unalive. A dead alive vampire. "Come on. Come into the calm down corner."

Numb, Bella allowed a literal monster to guide her into the corner with the mountain of stuffed polar bears, where she settled in the middle. Surrounded by soft, white fur, Bella felt a bit calmer.

"It's one thing to suspect something," Esme empathized, handing Bella a smaller polar bear. She hugged it to her chest. "It's another matter to hear it confirmed out loud."

Esme pulled over a small, plastic chair the size for a child and perched on the edge, gracefully. She looked so beautiful. They were all beautiful. A beauty meant to trap and ensnare unsuspecting victims.

"Maybe it will help if you say it out loud. Acceptance is one of the stages of grief. Let's give it a try. Edward…" Esme held out her hands and gave a wide-eyed nod, coaxing Bella to finish the statement.

"…can read everyone's mind, but my own."

"Yes, my darling, and what else?"

He never ate human food. His skin was pale and cool to the touch. He moved at an enhanced speed, undetectable by the human eye. He had a vast knowledge and flawless skill of almost everything.

He was beautiful. He was graceful. He was the love of Bella's life.

"Edward is a vampire."