Bella Swan's eyes continued to question, and an unobstructed view of the stars continued to elude me.
With a heavy sigh, I gave up, and got to my feet. If I ran, I would be back to Carlisle's car in less than an
hour...
In a hurry to see my family-and wanting very much to be the Edward that faced things head on-I raced
across the starlit snowfield, leaving no footprints.
"It's going to be okay," Alice breathed. Her eyes were unfocused, and Jasper had one hand lightly under
her elbow, guiding her forward as we walked into the rundown cafeteria in a close group. Rosalie and
Emmett led the way, Emmett looking ridiculously like a bodyguard in the middle of hostile territory.
Rose looked wary, too, but much more irritated than protective.
"Of course it is," I grumbled. Their behavior was ludicrous. If I wasn't positive that I could handle this
moment, I would have stayed home.
The sudden shift from our normal, even playful morning-it had snowed in the night, and Emmett and
Jasper were not above taking advantage of my distraction to bombard me with slush balls; when they
got bored with my lack of response, they'd turned on each other-to this overdone vigilance would have#p#分页标题#e#
been comical if it weren't so irritating.
"She's not here yet, but the way she's going to come in...she won't be downwind if we sit in our regular
spot."
"Of course we'll sit in our regular spot. Stop it, Alice. You're getting on my nerves. I'll be absolutely fine."
She blinked once as Jasper helped her into her seat, and her eyes finally focused on my face.
"Hmm," she said, sounding surprised. "I think you're right."
"Of course I am," I muttered.
I hated being the focus of their concern. I felt a sudden sympathy for Jasper, remembering all the times
we'd hovered protectively over him. He met my glance briefly, and grinned.
Annoying, isn't it?
I grimaced at him.
Was it just last week that this long, drab room had seemed so killingly dull to me?
That it had seemed almost like sleep, like a coma, to be here?
Today my nerves were stretched tight-piano wires, tensed to sing at the lightest pressure. My senses
were hyper-alert; I scanned every sound, every sight, every movement of the air that touched my skin,
every thought. Especially the thoughts. There was only one sense that I kept locked down, refused to
use. Smell, of course. I didn't breathe.
I was expecting to hear more about the Cullens in the thoughts that I sifted through. All day I'd been
waiting, searching for whichever new acquaintance Bella Swan might have confided in, trying to see the
direction the new gossip would take. But there was nothing. No one noticed the five vampires in the
cafeteria, just the same as before the new girl had come. Several of the humans here were still thinking
of that girl, still thinking the same thoughts from last week. Instead of finding this unutterably boring, I
was now fascinated.
Had she said nothing to anyone about me?
There was no way that she had not noticed my black, murderous glare. I had seen her react to it. Surely,
I'd scared her silly. I had been convinced that she would have mentioned it to someone, maybe even
exaggerated the story a bit to make it better. Given me a few menacing lines.
And then, she'd also heard me trying to get out of our shared biology class. She must have wondered,
after seeing my expression, whether she were the cause. A normal girl would have asked around,
compared her experience to others, looked for common ground that would explain my behavior so she
didn't feel singled out. Humans were constantly desperate to feel normal, to fit in. To blend in with
everyone else around them, like a featureless flock of sheep. The need was particularly strong during the
insecure adolescent years. This girl would be no exception to that rule.
But no one at all took any notice of us sitting here, at our normal table. Bella must be exceptionally shy,
if she'd confided in no one. Perhaps she had spoken to her father, maybe that was the strongest
relationship...though that seemed unlikely, given the fact that she had spent so little time with him
throughout her life. She would be closer to her mother. Still, I would have to pass by Chief Swan
sometime soon and listen to what he was thinking.
"Anything new?" Jasper asked.
"Nothing. She...must not have said anything."
All of them 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."
I rolled my eyes at him.
"Wonder why...?" He puzzled again over my revelation about the girl's unique silence.
"We've been over that. I don't know."
"She's coming in," Alice murmured then. I felt my body 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