Shadows and Solace

Part 1

****I do not own Twilight, not everything is the same as in the stories/movies, I will go back and make edits to make it as accurate as possible. Enjoy****

Solace stood in front of the school building, feeling the weight of the morning press on her. Time felt distorted again, just as it always did. The rhythmic ticking of her phone, the only indicator of the passing moments, was like a lifeline in a sea of ambiguity. She had never quite gotten the hang of the school routine, and now that summer was over, the sudden shift back into this world was jarring.

As Solace entered the school's front doors, the echoes of students chatting in the hallway felt like an impenetrable wall. She moved quickly, her eyes scanning the floor as if the chaos surrounding her would vanish if she didn't look at it. The murmurs of others—their whispers of confusion, pity, and disdain—had become so predictable. She could navigate them without thinking, just as she could navigate any complicated equation, or even a thousand-page textbook, with the same ease.

But then, as she passed by the lockers, something caught her attention. A voice. Cool, clear, and soft, yet somehow full of power. It was a voice that felt different from the others, like an ice floe drifting silently through a crowded sea.

"You're in my way."

Solace didn't look up immediately, her mind still focused on the book in her hand, but the words pierced through her like a sudden gust of wind. She glanced up, locking eyes with the speaker. It was Rosalie Hale, the "Ice Queen" of their school. She was everything Solace wasn't—graceful, distant, beautiful in a way that felt otherworldly, and, above all, untouchable.

Rosalie stood with her back straight, arms folded, eyes sharp and unreadable. Despite her calm demeanor, there was something about her that radiated power, an aura of control that made even the most confident students falter.

And yet, she wasn't looking at Solace with the usual disdain the others had. She wasn't mocking, sneering, or even ignoring her. There was something... different. Something that Solace couldn't place.

"I didn't mean to," Solace replied mechanically, her words flat, as they always were. She wasn't sure how to interpret Rosalie's presence or tone, but she wasn't the type to back down either. Her mind worked in fast, disjointed patterns, trying to calculate the proper response, but emotions didn't come naturally to her. The deeper feelings that others relied on to navigate these social interactions were lost on her, like forgotten equations in the margins of her mind.

Rosalie tilted her head slightly, observing Solace with an unreadable expression. "It's fine. Just... try not to block the hallway next time." Her voice was cool, but there was an edge to it that made Solace pause.

For some reason, Solace couldn't shake the feeling that Rosalie was studying her in the same way Solace studied her books—meticulous, with a sharp, calculating gaze. There was something in those eyes that intrigued Solace, even if it didn't quite make sense. She wasn't used to being noticed, especially not by someone like Rosalie Hale.

The encounter didn't last long. Rosalie gave her a flick of her long blonde hair and walked past, her presence leaving a chill that seemed to linger in the air. Solace stood there, uncertain of how to feel. Did it matter? Probably not. People came and went in her life. She couldn't form attachments, after all. Relationships were too complicated—too full of things she couldn't grasp.

But something about that brief exchange felt different. Something clicked in her mind, and for once, she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe... maybe she wanted to understand it. Understand her.

The days that followed were filled with the usual monotony. Solace threw herself back into her studies, but her mind kept drifting back to that moment. Rosalie was everywhere: in the halls, at lunch, passing through classrooms with an elegance that seemed to exist in direct contrast to Solace's own methodical existence.

And then, one day after school, Rosalie did something unexpected. She found Solace in the library, hunched over a physics textbook, as usual, deeply immersed in yet another subject that no one seemed to care about except her.

"You live here, don't you?" Rosalie's voice interrupted Solace's thoughts, and Solace blinked, slowly looking up to find her standing there, arms crossed over her chest.

"Yes," Solace replied, the words coming out more naturally than she expected. "The library is a place where time doesn't matter." She wasn't sure why she said it, but it felt like the truth. It was the only place where she didn't feel out of sync with the world.

Rosalie's lips twitched, the slightest hint of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "I thought you might be one of those people who *never* left."

"I don't," Solace said matter-of-factly. "Not really. Time doesn't exist here." Rosalie raised an eyebrow. "That's a little... strange."

"Strange is normal for me," Solace replied, feeling an odd sense of honesty in the words. "I have... Temporal Dysplasia. It's why I don't quite get how time works for other people. Or how emotions work." Rosalie studied her for a long moment, her eyes narrowing, though there was no judgment in them. "And yet, you're here, in the world. With all of us."

"I don't have a choice," Solace answered before she could stop herself. She was used to not making connections with people, but there was something about Rosalie that made the words tumble out of her mouth. "If I don't engage with the world, it will keep moving without me, and I'll always be stuck in an infinite loop of misunderstanding."Rosalie seemed to consider this for a moment, her expression unreadable. "Sounds like a curse," she said quietly.

"I guess it is," Solace agreed, her tone flat. But, for some reason, she felt like it wasn't just the condition that made her feel out of place—it was the world itself.

Rosalie's eyes softened for a brief moment, before she tilted her head slightly and asked, "Do you think... maybe you could teach me about time?"

Solace blinked, caught off guard. "You want me to teach you? About time?"

"Why not?" Rosalie's voice was light, casual. "I've got time." For a moment, Solace simply stared at her. Then, finally, she closed her book and stood up."Alright," Solace said, voice suddenly unsure but filled with a flicker of something she couldn't quite name. "Let's see if you can keep up."

Rosalie smirked. "Oh, I'm sure I can. I'm good at learning new things."And in that moment, Solace realized something she hadn't before. Maybe, just maybe, she could learn something too. Not from books. Not from equations or theories. But from *her*.