Twilight: A New Story

Chapter 2

A few days later, Edward returned. For the first time in a long while, we ate together at lunch. I could see how on edge Edward was, how inhuman he appeared. He was also confused. Bella's mind seemed to block his ability to read minds and he had no idea what her train of thoughts was towards him.

'Anything new?' Jasper asked.

'Nothing. She...must not have said anything.' Edward said, confused because he had thought he had scared her with the look of hunger in his eyes.

We all raised an eyebrow at this news.

'Maybe you're not as scary as you think you are,' Emmett said, chuckling. 'I bet I could have frightened her better than that.'

'Wonder why...?' I puzzled again over Edward's revelation about the girl's unique silence.

'We've been over that. I don't know.' Edward said.

'She's coming in,'Alice murmured then. I felt Edward go rigid. 'Try to look human.'

'Human, you say?' Emmett asked.

He held up his right fist, twisting his fingers to reveal the snowball he'd saved in his palm. Of course it had not melted there. He'd squeezed it into a lumpy block of ice.

He had his eyes on Jasper, but I saw the direction of his thoughts. So did Alice and Edward, of course. When he abruptly hurled the ice chunk at Alice, she flicked it away with a casual flutter of her fingers. The ice ricocheted across the length of the cafeteria, too fast to be visible to human eyes, and shattered with a sharp crack against the brick wall. The brick cracked, too.

The heads in that corner of the room all turned to stare at the pile of broken ice on the floor, and then swivelled to find the culprit. They didn't look further than a few tables away. No one looked at us.

'Very human, Emmett,' Rosalie said scathingly. 'Why don't you punch through the wall while you're at it?'

'It would look more impressive if you did it, baby.' I laughed along with the others but kept on eye on Edward, who was trying to look like he was interested but I could see that he was focusing on Bella and the silence coming from her.

I could hear Jessica's impatience with the new girl, who seemed to be distracted, too, standing motionless in the moving line. I saw, in Jessica's thoughts, that Bella Swan's cheeks were once more coloured bright pink with blood.

I pulled in short, shallow breaths, ready to reassure Edward if any hint of a scent came near us.

Mike Newton, a boy who was popular in his year, was with the two girls. I heard both his voices, mental and verbal, when he asked Jessica what was wrong with the Swan girl.

'Nothing,' I heard Bella say in a quiet, clear voice.

'I'll just get a soda today,' she continued as she moved to catch up with the line.

Edward couldn't help flickering one glance in her direction. She was staring at the floor, the blood slowly fading from her face, I could see that in his mind. He looked away quickly, to Emmett, who laughed at the now pained-looking smile on his face.

You look sick, bro.

Edward rearranged his features so the expression would seem casual and effortless and to the human eye, it would appear fine.

Jessica was wondering aloud about the girl's lack of appetite. 'Aren't you hungry?'

'Actually, I feel a little sick.' Her voice was lower, but still very clear.