First Day of School - Bella

I can’t believe I’m doing this again. Looking back nearly ten years ago to my first day of high school in Phoenix, it never would have occurred to me that I would willingly repeat even a single day of that torture.

That was then. I’d say I’ve come a long way.

I was waiting in the main office with members of my family while someone organized our schedules and paperwork. A woman named Bev Jeffries was attempting to sort her way through piles of disorganization so that she could direct us to our destinations. Our presence had not helped to expedite her search. She was unbelievably flustered and had been since the moment we breezed through the door. Not that I blamed her.

Edward had walked slowly up to the desk and said, “Excuse me, Miss Jeffries? I believe you spoke to my father, Carlisle Cullen. We’re here to begin classes. Are we in the right place?” She had gawked at him for a solid twenty seconds before responding.

One of the more disconcerting things about my transformation into a vampire almost six years ago has been the staring. Complete strangers would stop in shock to watch me as I pumped gas. As if our pale visages and shocking, amber-colored eyes weren’t enough reason, the transformation made each of us a heightened version of our human selves. The luster of my dark, reddish-brown hair had deepened, and my pale skin had a pearly luminescence. My features had been plain as a human; not unattractive, merely plain. I was now considered quite beautiful by their standards. It was embarrassing and difficult for me to adjust to even the most earnest admiration.

My sister Alice was petite and elfin-looking. Her black hair was artfully arranged in gothic spikes all around her head, and her features were flawless and serene, albeit unsettling for humans to look at – Alice always had an ethereal, distracted look about her that had to do with her ability to see into the future.

My other sister Rosalie was not happy to be here. Rosalie hated starting school again. Edward had assured me that her hatred would be mollified as soon as she could see firsthand the glances of admiration and envy that followed Rosalie the most out of any of us. Rosalie had been gorgeous as a human. As a result, she was breathtakingly beautiful as an immortal. Her long blond hair fell in soft curves down her back, and her features were an artist’s dream of perfection.

Emmett, Rosalie’s significant other, never seemed to mind the lustful glances Rosalie inspired in others. It was probably because he knew that it would never be more than a look . . . Emmett’s brawn quickly quashed any guy’s half-hearted notion that he could successfully compete with Emmett for Rosalie’s affection, not to mention the fact that Rosalie sneered at any unwanted attention with unconcealed disdain. Emmett was heavily muscled, with dark curly hair and an impish grin set off by dimples. He was undoubtedly the brother who gave me the most hell, in a loving way. Emmett constantly tried to find ways to insight my ire. He leaned over towards me as we waited for Ms. Jeffries to find our schedules and whispered, “You planning on killing anyone today little sister?” He had spent the better part of the last week trying to make me even more nervous about going to high school again.

Even though I had unparalleled self-control as a young vampire around humans, I was still nervous about drawing unnecessary attention to myself at school. Of course, grabbing some unsuspecting human and gnawing on their neck would be a sure way to garner negative attention. Heck, I would probably be expelled, I mused to myself with a nervous chuckle.

In a movement so quick that only we could discern it, Edward punched Emmett in the stomach. “There’s more where that came from if you don’t cut it out,” he snarled under his breath. I sighed as Rosalie demanded that both of them behave. I knew that Emmett wanted nothing more than to hit Edward back, but he learned decades ago the futility of that attempt. Edward was another vampire with gifts beyond the norm. He could read the mind of anyone around him, human or vampire – with only one known exception. If Emmett even considered hitting Edward, Edward would know when and where. It drove Emmett crazy, and he constantly called Edward a cheater as a result.

Jasper, the love of Alice’s existence, sensed my consternation, and I immediately felt a wave of calm surround me. Jasper’s ability to manipulate the feelings of those around him definitely had its advantages.

“Thanks Jazz,” I murmured.

“Anytime,” he said as he absentmindedly ran his hand through his wavy blond hair.

At that moment, Bev Jeffries came forward with a small handful of papers and a triumphant smile.

“Okay! So I think I have everything now. Which one of you is Jasper Hale?” she queried with her southern drawl. She began passing out our schedules and maps of the school.

“Well, I’m guessing you must be Edward,” she said as she handed him the last schedule in her hand. She stumbled over his name as she looked at him, and I immediately felt sympathetic. Edward’s tousled, bronze-colored hair framed a face that looked as though it were carved from marble. His jaw appeared chiseled, and the soft curve of his perfect half-smile directed at Bev Jeffries sent her pulse running.

“Thanks. I think we’re missing one though. Do you have a schedule for Isabella Swan?”

After much consideration, I had decided that it made more sense for me to use my maiden name in our new home of Brevard, North Carolina. My family had lived in the area around Appalachia sometime in the 1930s, and this was our first return to it since then. We settled in Brevard because of its seclusion and proximity to the forest – which contained our chosen source of nourishment. The guys had howled with laughter at the fact that Brevard lies in Transylvania County in North Carolina. Even I had a good laugh about it. Since it was weird enough that the six new kids at Brevard High were all perfectly matched with one another AND lived in the same home, I decided that a presumably unmarried couple with the same last name might look a little weird. I didn’t think it was legal for supposed 16-year-olds to be married anyway. Edward had been disappointed, but he made up for it by calling me Mrs. Cullen any chance he had at home.

“Oh dear. I was so sure I had them all. Why don’t the rest of you go ahead to your homerooms, and Isabella can wait here while I try to find her paperwork in this mess,” Ms. Jeffries said to us all.

“Perhaps I can help, Ms. Jeffries,” Edward said smoothly. “Bella is supposed to be in all of the same classes as me, so maybe she could just copy my schedule?”

“Well either way I have to get her a printed schedule to show her teachers. Let me make a copy of yours just in case Edward. The rest of you run along to class,” Ms. Jeffries said as she distractedly grabbed his schedule and turned to the photocopier.

She had totally missed Edward’s blatant manipulation. He triumphantly looked at me and winked. I smiled back at him, remembering how he had deftly tricked poor Mrs. Cope at Forks High into arranging identical schedules for both of us. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“Here’s your schedule Edward. Go ahead. Bella will join you shortly once I’ve sorted through this mess,” Ms. Jeffries said.

Edward gave her another grin that sent her pulse quickening and said, “Thanks so much for all your help. See you soon Bella.” He left with a wink and a smoldering smile.

First Day of School – Edward

“I swear Emmett if you don’t stop making her feel unsure of herself I’ll make you sorry later,” I murmured to my favorite brother as we walked out of the office and towards our respective homerooms.

I’m just playing Edward. It’s not like she’s going to do anything wrong. Bella NEVER does anything wrong. She’s not a hell-raiser like Nessie. It’s just fun to see her get self-conscious. Emmett’s thoughts were amused and completely unafraid of me.

“All the same, you’ve been warned,” I whispered.

Whatever. You overreact all the time man. Just chill and enjoy freaking the masses out today. I smiled in spite of myself. The bell for homeroom rang.

You really wreaked havoc on that poor Jeffries lady Edward. Jasper chuckled to himself as he remembered her pulse quickening. I looked back over my shoulder for Bella and frowned when I didn’t see her.

“Edward she’s going to be fine! You’ll see her soon,” Alice stated aloud. Really she will be fine. She’s just sitting there with an uncomfortable look on her face while Ms. Jeffries puts her schedule into the computer. Trust me. What is she wearing by the way!? God that girl is hopeless. What’s with the flats . . . and that shirt . . .

I began to drown out Alice’s internal discord with Bella’s perceived lack of fashion sense as the thoughts of the students began to crowd my mind. We had walked into the hall where all the lockers were. Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett were moving down toward the senior lockers. I half-listened to their reactions to us.

“Wow.”

“That blonde girl is hot.”

“Where did that dark-haired girl get those shoes?”

“That guy looks big. I wonder if he plays football.”

“Why are they all so pale?”

“Holy crap, that guy is GORGEOUS.”

“They look a little weird.”

“I wonder if he’s single” . . .

Nothing original. I looked around for the room numbers until I found the right one.

“Do we have any classes together Alice?” I said to her before I walked in.

“We have English together, third period,” she said as she waited with me by the door of my homeroom for Bella.

“Go ahead to class Alice. You don’t want to be late on the first day.”

Ha! I’ll see you soon. So far Bella’s first day looks really uneventful, so don’t worry too much. I smiled and walked into homeroom.

There were two empty seats available in the room, and I opted for the seat in the back of the class. As I walked down the rows to the desk, I was inundated again by more banalities.

“Wow, that guy has got to be the hottest guy I’ve ever seen.”

“Whoa, check out his jacket!”

“Damn, all the girls are staring at him.”

“I guess Nate’s finally gonna have some competition.”

“Here’s hoping he doesn’t already have a girlfriend!” . . .

“Hmmm. He sure looks full of himself – it should be fun to take him down a bit.”

As I took my seat, I turned to focus in on the last set of rather vitriolic thoughts.

They belonged to a pompous looking boy sitting in the front next to the other empty seat. I frowned as I looked directly at him. His mind was filled with self-congratulatory musings. The boy appeared to shave his head regularly and entirely. He had a short stubble of dark hair all across his scalp and thick dark eyebrows over large, light blue eyes. His face was angular with a hawk-like appearance. His skin was tanned and clear, and he appeared to be around my height and well muscled. He was very aware of the fact that he was handsome and that eyes followed his movements appreciatively.

None of this was overly noteworthy to me, but there was something sinister to him that troubled my instincts, as if I were missing something very integral about him. I focused more on his thoughts as I continued to look at him. Feeling my gaze, he shifted in his chair to focus on me.

Most humans look at us for a brief period of time before their mind attempts to protect itself from dealing with reality by looking away. Denial is always safer for the human mind. This boy stared unabashedly back at me with a nasty smirk.

This guy is interesting. I’ll bet he was something special wherever he came from. It doesn’t matter. He’s on my turf now. Look at him sizing me up! He’s definitely got the chicks looking. It won’t matter though. There’s something weird about him. I’ll go introduce myself later and make sure he understands how this works. I’ll bet Colin gets a good laugh out of this. Dude looks like a freak.

His gaze broke away from mine as the teacher stood in the front of the room to call roll. Again, I could not shake off this strange feeling of menace as I pulled myself out of the boy’s thoughts.

“Edward Cullen,” the bored teacher chimed out.

“Here,” I responded with equal enthusiasm. I began matching names to faces in a pointless attempt to pass the time.

When the teacher called out “Nathan McFadden,” I saw the dark haired boy in the front raise his hand wordlessly.

“Mr. McFadden,” the teacher stated in an unctuous attempt to curry favor with the boy, “I hear that our football team may have its best season ever. What do you think?”

Nathan responded arrogantly by saying, “It depends on how well my arm throws and how well Colin fetches.” There were chuckles around the room and a smattering of girlish giggles.

Damn. I already hated this boy and not even five minutes had passed since I met him.

At that moment, my entire being settled, and I felt as though none of the trivialities of the last few minutes mattered. Standing in the doorway with an adorable look of embarrassment on her face was my Bella. If she could have blushed, she would be beet red right now, I thought to myself as I chuckled under my breath. As it was, she walked silently up to the teacher and handed her schedule to him.

“Isabella Swan? Take the empty seat in the front.”

I smiled at her as she looked back at me mortified. She was dressed in straight-legged jeans, a simple black button-down shirt, and black flats. Alice harassed her weekly about wearing heels, but it was Bella’s quiet rebellion that she continued to collect flats. Her clothes were as expensive and tailored as any of ours, but Bella never looked like she tried as hard as Alice wanted her to. On her ring finger was my mother’s diamond ring.

It had given me unspeakable pleasure that she continued to wear it even though we were technically unmarried “kids” again.

I watched as she slid gracefully into her chair. The curve of her body distracted me for a moment as I ran through inappropriate memories that made me long to be anywhere but in a classroom full of children. I thought for a moment about skipping the next class with Bella.

My mind crashed back down to earth as it processed the thoughts of Nathan McFadden – the boy sitting next to her.

Jackpot. This girl is the finest thing I’ve seen in a while. I think she might even be better looking than Sabrina. I think I’m over my blond phase anyway. Damn she smells good. Today just got a heck of a lot better. I’ll give myself a month. If I don’t score with her in a month, I’ve lost my touch. She can be lucky number 25.

Rage filled my head as his thoughts became more and more obscene, and his entire body language screamed his desire to possess. Of course, Bella was completely oblivious. She was staring down and doodling on a notebook she placed on her desk while the teacher continued to call roll.

“Hi. I’m Nate McFadden. Are you enjoying your first day here?”

It took every ounce of my self-control not to leap out of my seat and slam him into the wall for even talking to her.

“Bella Swan. It’s too early to tell if I’m enjoying my first day,” she said with a polite smile.

She’s a bit of a smartass, but she’s hot so I’ll let it go.

“Where did you move from?”

“Alaska, near Denali.”

Alaska? That’s probably why she’s so pale. “Well, I hope you like the weather here more. Have you been to Asheville yet? There’s a really pretty view at the Grove Park Inn of the mountains. I’ll take you there this weekend.”

He was so cocky, so sure of himself. He didn’t even think he had to ask her. If I hated him before, it paled next to the scenarios running through my head at the moment – all of them ending in his death.

Bella immediately seemed to understand why he had gone out of his way to speak to her. She snapped out of her polite but disinterested demeanor and looked at him straight in the eyes.

“I’ve been there before with my boyfriend.”

Boyfriend? Not a big deal. I might give myself another two weeks to lose the baggage. “But you haven’t been with me. Come on! It’s not like a date or anything. It’s just me showing you the beautiful mountains of North Carolina.” If you want me to show you a hotel room, that’s also possible too.

“No thank you, but it’s kind of you to offer.” Her face and body language indicated that she was completely disinterested, but Nate did not seem to notice or care.

“Some other time then,” he said, quite sure of himself. I wonder if her boyfriend gave her that rock on her left hand. I wonder if it’s one of those stupid promise rings. Man I love a challenge. This day just gets better and better.

At that moment, the bell for first period rang. I leapt out of my seat and had to mentally caution myself to walk up the aisle at a human pace. Bella was waiting with a big smile on her face.

Wonder what the pale freak is doing up here. Probably after the new girl. I guess I’ll have to stake my claim on Bella Swan right now. He reached over to pick up Bella’s books.

As I stopped next to her, I shot Nate a dark look, put my hand out to collect her textbook from him and said, “I’m Edward Cullen, Bella’s boyfriend.”

Hmmm. This just got even more interesting. This guy was annoying before, now he’s got something I want. Again, not a big deal. I still give myself six weeks. “Nate McFadden. Hope you like it here.” Not likely. I’ll make sure you don’t like it here.

The feeling of menace overwhelmed me again. Like he was mentally trying to scare me into letting him have his way. It was very unnerving if ineffectual, and I could not really remember feeling this sensation any time in the past. He handed me her books, turned, and walked out of the room with the smirk of a man who thinks he has a surefire bet.

“Edward? Why do you look so furious? Calm down! He’s just a jerk. I know he asked me out, but it’s not that big a deal! Jeez!” Bella said quietly to me as we began to walk to our next class.

My murderous rage was only beginning to dissipate.

“Bella it’s not just about him asking you out. There’s something off about him that I can’t put my finger on. Plus, he’s a collector. He numbers his conquests, and he’s decided that you’re next.”

“Oh please. It’s just ridiculous to let this affect you so much. Jazz and Em probably have to deal with this because of Rose and Alice all the time. You don’t see them getting all bent out of shape because a guy asked out their girl!”

I set my jaw and frowned at her. Her eyes pleaded with me to calm down, and she reached up and put her hand on my face. Her touch was like a soothing balm to my burning nerves. I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath.

“I’m screwing this up for you. I’ll calm down. I know it’s not a big deal. I just hate having to listen to his thoughts when his thoughts are so offensive to me. At least with Jacob, he worshipped the ground you walked on. This guy only cares about himself. I’m sure he’s devastated quite a few of the girls at this school.”

“I’m going to throw you into anger management if you don’t smile this second and promise to stop looking at everyone like you’re about to pitch them into a fire,” she teased me as she took my hand. I smiled a crooked smile, but my anger wasn’t totally gone.

“Do you ever get used to the staring?” she asked quietly.

“It gets better once they realize that there is no drama or anything remotely interesting about us beyond our odd appearance. It just takes time.”

“Well hopefully it doesn’t take long. You know how much I love it when people look at me. Anyway I already feel like I can’t wait for the day to end. I miss Nessie. Do you think her first day is going well? I hope she likes school, even though I’m sure she’ll get bored with it soon.”

I laughed under my breath at the thought of our headstrong daughter and her short attention span.

Renesmee, or Nessie, as we liked to call her, was starting as a junior at an all-girls private school near Asheville, the neighboring city. Nessie was a voracious learner, but her highly developed ability to process information meant that it took her a fraction of the time to learn something that it took normal humans. As a child, she insisted on being read classic literature and poetry, and she disdained the colorful children’s books with big pictures splashed across the pages as insulting and beneath her. I was disgustingly proud of her, even though she gave me weekly aneurysms.

Nessie was fearless and opinionated. She loved to drive fast and had a great passion for music (which I loved) and obsessions with Harley Davidson motorcycles and extreme sports – two hobbies cultivated greatly by Jacob Black.

Jacob . . . I gritted my teeth as I thought about him. It was impossible not to love him like a brother, but our relationship was about to get even more complicated with the coming weeks and Nessie’s impending birthday. His paranoid attempts to cloak his thoughts from me were becoming more and more pronounced each time I was around him. I groaned inwardly at the thought of the conversation we would have to have in only a few short days.

Bella sometimes could not believe that Renesmee was her daughter. Every instance where Bella shied away from attention and was quietly at peace in her home surrounded by her family was juxtaposed alongside Nessie’s gregarious personality and her quest for the next adrenaline rush.

Nessie’s recent obsession was tae kwon do – Korean martial arts. She had spent the better part of the last month watching online tutorials and practicing in the back yard. Bella had demanded that she keep the thunderous cracks of wood and stone to a minimum before someone sent a sheriff to our home to make sure we weren’t operating heavy machinery in our backyard.

I chuckled to myself again as I considered our beautiful troublemaker and sighed with the knowledge that I would have to wait until the end of the day to make sure that Nessie was still allowed to come back to school tomorrow. Alice could not see Nessie’s future because Nessie was a hybrid – half human and half vampire.

As we walked into third period English, I immediately saw the look of irritation on Alice’s face. She had saved us two seats in the back of the classroom.

So I met a friend of yours last period. What a tool. He and his cousin Colin spent most of the class dishing about Bella in a completely crude way. Nathan thinks he can take you, no question. Ha. I’d like to see him try . . . There’s something off about him Edward. It’s not something I can quite place. It’s weird . . . almost like smelling something bad, but in your mind, not physically. I hate to tell you this, since you always take everything so lightly when it comes to Bella, but he’s going to cause problems at lunch.

“Hey babe!” Alice said to Bella as we took our seats. “How’s the day so far? You haven’t encountered your cantante yet right?” she teased.

“Ugh. Thanks Alice. Honestly, I think Edward’s temper might be an issue long before I do anything wrong. You should have seen him nearly bite this guy’s head off in homeroom,” Bella rolled her eyes at Alice to accentuate my overreaction.

McFadden? I nodded imperceptibly.

“That kid could use some humility. I had my last class with him, and there was this cute blonde girl who looked as though she were about to cry as she listened to him plot how he was going to steal you away from Edward,” Alice said through her teeth.

“Ha! He’s in for a rude awakening,” Bella said as she inclined her head towards me with a smile.

“In more ways than one,” I agreed in a voice so low only we could hear.

After Alice’s warning, my attention was directed towards lunch and whatever scene Nathan decided to make in our presence. I had heard in the minds of other male students in the junior class that Nate McFadden had already called dibs on the new girl, Isabella Swan. A few of the other boys had been disappointed, but they understood the way the system worked. I gritted my teeth even more at the notion that this one human boy could manipulate those around him so deftly as to render their individual desires moot in light of his.

I knew that I was quickly becoming too concerned with this silly boy’s ego, but I could not shake the maleficent sense of foreboding from my mind.

I began to collect more information from the minds of other students in class regarding Nate. Most of them had gone to school together since they were children.

Nate was a gifted athlete and near the top of the class. He had run through every attractive girl at the high school and there were many boys who were bitter at the way he conquered and disposed of women. He especially liked the challenge of a girl with a prior attachment to another boy. None of those eventual castaways had the nerve to take out their grievances on Nate. He was popular, powerful, and rich . . . as I learned from the mind of another boy who was mentally envying Nate’s black Corvette.

His best friend was his cousin, Colin McFadden – an enabling lackey of the worst sort.

As we walked outside of our third period English class, I noticed in my peripheral vision that Nate was looking at us from down the hall surrounded by a bunch of athletic looking boys and several young girls with pointedly adoring gazes.

I was looking at him with extreme displeasure when I heard Bella laugh quietly and put her arms around my neck.

She stood on her tiptoes and whispered in my ear, “Edward Cullen. It’s not cute if your jealousy makes you notice him more than you notice me. Who cares? It’s not possible for a bird to fly with only one wing. We’re inseparable . . . no silly boy will change that or even slightly impact it. STOP IT. You’re feeding his obsession.”

She kissed my neck lightly and then positioned her face upwards for a kiss. I smiled a little at Nate’s sudden irritation, and then leaned down to kiss my wife. Damn. Too bad we were still surrounded by children.

“What’s going down at lunch Alice?” I said as we waited outside the cafeteria for Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett after fourth period.

“I’m not sure. He’s looking for a window of opportunity. He mostly wants to show Bella how much better her situation would be if she were with him. He wants her to know he’s a catch, and that he’s desirable. It’s honestly insulting how he truly thinks that secure, happy women will be fooled by him into thinking they will be better off as another notch on his belt. I’m more amazed by the fact that it has worked for him before.”

“This is really ridiculous. Have you not had to deal with this sort of stuff before?” asked Bella.

“Honestly Bells, no. Lots of guys are interested in Rose at first, but she’s so mean to them and Emmett is just plain scary, so it’s never more than a fleeting hope. No guy like Nate has ever decided that they were going to create a sport of going after either Rose or myself. I’m too weird and Rose is too cold. Unfortunately, you give off that perfect mix of vulnerable and unaware. No offense. Boys like Nate like girls who don’t put up a fight,” Alice said, and then she laughed to herself. “The funny thing is, you definitely epitomize the phrase “looks can be deceiving.”

“It doesn’t matter. He’ll give up his game soon. If he wants to keep strutting around school with that swagger, he’ll give up TODAY. I have no problem putting him in his place,” I said quietly.

I had established control over myself in the period before lunch. Bella was right. This was merely an insulting nuisance. I needed to deal with it quickly before my obsessive personality made it worse than the small annoyance it currently was.

Jasper walked right up to Alice and grinned with that visible sense of peace that pervaded him in her presence. Emmett and Rosalie walked up hand in hand.

“You made it to lunch Bella! Have you been holding your breath all day in fear? I hear that you’ve caught the eye of some stupid boy in the junior class. Is he still alive or did Edward step out back for a few moments?” Emmett laughed as Rosalie frowned. Rose still did not like it when attention was diverted away from her, even if it was unwanted attention.

“Don’t worry Rosalie,” I said smoothly, “Most of the boys in this school would give their right arm to take Emmett’s place. They’re just too scared of him. Plus, you’re not very nice to them either.”

“Well Bella,” Rosalie mused as we began to walk towards the lunch line, “Maybe you should stop being nice and start making them realize that they will never be worthy. It works for me.” Laughter rang through my family as we took our place in line.

I put my hand on the back of Bella’s neck to massage away the tension I sensed in her. She put her arm around my waist and squeezed to let me know that she appreciated it.

As we all loaded up trays of food we had no intention of eating, a boy in line in front of us turned around to look at me sadly.

Well. I feel bad for Edward Cullen. He looks really happy right now. It’s too bad Nate’s about to ruin it. I probably looked like that last year with Brina. I wish I could tell him not to give up. I guess I could be okay with it if I thought Brina were happy – she’s not happy anymore. I hate Nate McFadden. He’s such a cabron. That Bella girl is really pretty. She kind of looks like a model. No wonder Nate’s after her. It’s really too bad.

I felt the anger rise up in me again at the heartache in this poor boy for a girl he clearly cared deeply for. A girl that Nate had discarded like yesterday’s trash. I kept the fury at bay by looking at Bella. I knew that there was no way I would lose Bella like this boy had lost Brina, but it didn’t change the fact that boys like Nate should not be allowed to go through life with this sense of self-entitlement.

We walked towards an empty table in the back of the cafeteria. Jasper turned his chair around to lean over the back absentmindedly. Alice leaned her head on his shoulder and toyed nonchalantly with an apple. Em and Rose sat down next to each other, and I pulled Bella into my lap and placed my hands on her waist. She leaned into me and opened up her book.

She had started Husseini’s The Kite Runner last night with Nessie, and I had walked in on both of them curled up in a ball on our bed. I had burst into laughter at the sight because Nessie was crying profusely and Bella claimed that the book nearly drove her to the physiologically impossible feat of tears. Nessie had refused to read anymore for a few days, but Bella the obsessive bookworm could not put it down.

Distracted by my memories, I did not hear Alice warn me with her mind nor notice that the sad boy with the kind thoughts had approached our table.

“Hi,” he said bravely, “I’m really sorry to bother you. My name is Alex Morales. I was wondering if I could talk to Edward for a moment.”

“Sure Alex,” I lifted Bella off of my lap and looked at the surprised faces of my family before following Alex to a corner of the lunchroom.

Man I hope he doesn’t think I’m a freak for coming up to him, but he looks like a confident guy. Maybe he can put the cabron in his proper place. “I know that this is totally random, but I wanted to warn you that Nate McFadden wants Bella. Not as a girlfriend, but as a bragging right,” he grimaced as he said the words.

I heard all of the painful things in his mind that he had heard about his Brina through the conduit of Nate’s unabashed braggadocio.

“Thanks so much Alex for coming and telling me. I figured out as much pretty quickly, but I’m not too worried. Bella and I have been together for a while. He’s not her type at all.”

“Yeah. That’s exactly what I thought. But . . . Man he’s gonna think I’m a freak for saying this . . . there’s something about Nate. Sabrina and I had dated for almost a year, and I knew that she and I really had something. Towards the end of last year, she got contacts and started looking more attractive to a guy like Nate.”

I saw in his mind the painful heartache of watching his wallflower girlfriend blossom into a bombshell.

“I never thought she would go for a guy like Nate. She had always hated him before. It was weird though, one day she was totally disgusted by him, and then the next day she was following him around with puppy dog eyes. Almost like he put a spell on her or something. She dropped me like a bad habit after that. It was tough for me for a while. I’m pretty sure Nate’s done with Brina though,” he said wryly. “Look, you seem like a really nice guy, and Bella looks like she’s really into you. I just wanted to let you know not to underestimate Nate.”

The last time I heard a guy warn me not to underestimate someone had been the night of the unforgettable baseball game in the field in Forks. The night that Laurent had told me James was lethal and that I should not underestimate either him or Victoria.

“Seriously Alex. I really appreciate you coming up to me and telling me this. I’m really sorry about Sabrina,” I said earnestly.

“Me too man. Me too,” Alex said sadly. “Hey, Nate’s walking over to your table. You’d better get back.”

“Thanks again Alex,” I said as I turned to walk back to our table.

Sure enough, Nate was walking pointedly towards the table my family sat at. Emmett shot him his best “go to hell” look, and Jasper stared menacingly at Nate’s smug face. Nate didn’t even bother to look in my direction as he pulled a chair up to sit right by Bella. Bella didn’t put her book down, and her silent dismissal of Nate’s presence humored me and irritated him.

“Hey beautiful,” he said undeterred, “I was wondering if I could persuade you to watch a movie with a couple of friends and I at my house later on tonight. Don’t bring Cullen though. He won’t have fun.”

“I think I would have a great time Nate,” I said quietly as I moved towards Bella. “What movie did you want to watch?”

Bella stood up silently to let me sit, and then settled herself back onto my lap without taking her eyes away from the page. I began twisting a lock of Bella’s hair around my finger.

“Honestly Cullen, you’re not invited,” Nate said as he narrowed his eyes a bit at Bella. Just look at me baby, just look.

I began to notice a strained look of consternation around Bella’s eyes, as though something were causing her pain. The feeling of inexplicable danger that I had sensed earlier in Nate’s presence became more pronounced, and I saw each of my family members shift uneasily.

“Gorgeous, are you not even going to look at me?” he purred to Bella as if none of us were there. Something’s wrong here. Something I don’t understand.

Anger invaded me again in spite of my careful attempt to control it. The menace grew more palpable as Bella’s pained look became more pronounced, but she still refused to acknowledge him.

“I think you should leave McFadden. I think you should leave now,” I spat out. At my words, both Jasper and Emmett quietly stood up in their seats.

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to make friends some other time,” Nate said through the first noticeable signs of anger and frustration I had seen on his face.

“Try never,” Rosalie said nastily.

“It’s always the ones who know how hot they are that have the worst attitudes. Good luck breaking her,” Nate said to Emmett. Emmett just snarled quietly under his breath. “Some other time beautiful . . . there will definitely be some other time,” he said softly to Bella. There is something seriously screwed up with these people. I don’t know what it is, but I’m going to find out.

The rage was so intense that it was nearly causing me to shake. I stared after him and held tight to Bella so that I wouldn’t stalk off and smash his skull between my bare hands. Then I saw Bella slump over onto the table. She had her forehead in her hands, and she moaned softly. “Bella! Honey, what’s wrong!” I exclaimed, distracted from my anger by Bella’s pain.

“Something really weird just happened to me Edward. It’s almost like I have a headache or something. I could feel that he wanted me to look at him, and my shield was blocking something coming from him, something I’ve never seen before. It just got more and more intense, and now I feel like I did when I ate too much chocolate as a human. My head hurts a lot.”

“Dude seriously, there is something wrong with that guy. Even I could feel it,” Emmett said quietly.

Jasper looked the other way and stated, “I tried to control the malice I felt coming out of him, but it took a lot of effort to get him to calm down and back away. Much more effort than I have ever had to exert with a human before. There is something weird about the way he smells too . . .”

“Good lord Bella. Figures a first day of school with you involved would be a hundred times more interesting than any in our past!” Alice said with a lighthearted laugh. I looked directly at her. Her eyes were tight. Edward, he knows something is wrong with us doesn’t he? Well, something is wrong with him . . . we need to find out what it is before he figures out what we are. I inclined my head towards her in agreement.

“Do you want to go home Bella?” I said to her as I pulled her back into my arms.

She leaned towards my chest and said, “It’s getting better and better. It should be okay in a few minutes. Don’t worry.”

Yeah right.