Alice POV
Edward had that look again.
That look that I had seen on his face for almost as long as I had known him. There wasn’t really one word that could describe it; many seemed fitting, though. Bored? Annoyed? …Lonely?
And Jasper was suffering, still. In pain, as usual. The humans’ appetites make them smell strangely better. I knew that it was extremely hard for him to just stay in his chair.
I looked over at him, concerned as he gripped the plastic chair. It cracked as his already pale skin turned whiter at the knuckles. I sighed and desperately turned to Edward.
Edward. He didn’t turn his head, but I knew that he heard me. How is he holding up?
He frowned slightly, which worried me instantly. Is there any danger? I checked the near future, but nothing was going to go wrong. Yet.
He discreetly turned his head to the left, then to the right. Our little secret language for no.
I smiled with relief. Let me know if it gets too bad.
He shifted his eyes up, then down. A nod.
Thanks for doing this.
But he didn’t answer. Not even in our way. I sighed and looked down at my unbitten apple, my unopened soda. I picked up the apple and twirled it around in my hands, wondering if I had ever liked either of these items in my human life. It was a shame not to remember anything.
Just then, a girl with sandy hair walked past our little entourage and flipped her hair, her scent rushing towards us.
Through my peripheral vision, I saw Jasper rise out of his chair a little, the scent pulling him towards the girl. I saw the vision in my head: he would stand up and casually walk up to stand next to the girl, bend down as if to whisper in her ear, and then bite down on her neck, savoring the taste of the rich, warm blood, pulsing steadily through—
Edward kicked Jasper under the table and their eyes met, Edward’s disapproving, Jasper’s startled, yet shameful.
“Sorry.” Jasper lowered his head.
Edward just shrugged and let the look come onto his face again.
“You weren’t going to do anything,” I tried desperately to soothe him, though I knew that I was lying. “I could see that.”
Edward saw past my deception. He met my eyes for a second, but looked away quickly so Jasper wouldn’t notice. Edward would never give me away, I knew that; we both had this bond, us being the “freaks among those who were already freaks,” as he had once quaintly put it.
I tried to make Jasper happier again. “It helps if you think of them as people,” I suggested. “Her name is Whitney. She has a baby sister she adores. Her mother invited Esme to that garden party, do you remember?”
“I know who she is,” Jasper snapped. After that, we said no more on the subject.
I sighed, giving up, and stood with my tray. Walking briskly to the trashcan, I threw away the apple and soda and then walked to the door. On my way out, I passed a girl I didn’t recognize. Must be the new girl, Isabella. The one that everybody had been talking about.
Don’t get your hopes up, I told myself. Don’t get involved with humans. It will never lead to anything.
But I couldn’t help but take a peek, for just one second. Dark brown hair framed a heart-shaped face, and her brown eyes, almost like chocolate, looked uninterested as she pretended to be involved in a conversation with Jessica Stanley. I wondered why she looked so sad, why she was so… so… distant.
But then I stopped myself. Don’t get involved. It won’t lead anywhere. I shook my head, clearing away any thoughts that I could ever be friends with this human girl. Why would I ever think that?
I walked out of the cafeteria swiftly, but not before I heard her speak for the first time:
“Which one is the boy with the reddish-brown hair?”
At the sound of her voice, the familiar twitch in my eye that came before each of my premonitions appeared, and I saw flickers. Images of friendship, love, and trust flashed across my eyes like a movie.
But the most horrifying: her next class.
I sent an urgent mental warning to Edward from across the room. But looking back, I saw that he was too concentrated on this girl himself to notice. I almost turned around and warned him, but as soon as I did, I caught her scent.
Oh, God. Better not chance it.
I turned around quickly and ran out the door. The girl had never even noticed that I had turned around in the first place.
On the bright side of things, Edward’s look was gone, replaced by frustration and intrigue. On the downside, however, he was not going to enjoy his next class very much.
I had seen that.