Biology was only interesting the first six times around. I wasn’t sure if I could endure another year of it, another year of stifling high school.

There wasn’t much change this year from last, except for the new arrival of course. Police chief Swan’s daughter had moved to Forks. Bella, not Isabella (as she had already corrected everyone that introduced themselves) Swan was the newest distraction.

My first sight of her in person was at lunch, although by that point I had already endured the extreme displeasure of seeing and hearing about her in the minds of every male in the student population. Human boys were so predictable, so crude in their fantasies.

I had glanced over to her from across the lunchroom. I’d caught her looking at me. At first, I assumed she was attracted to the “single Cullen.” It wasn’t that I was full of myself, it was just that my features, my look…it enticed humans. Most of the females at the school, students and staff, had made their attraction vividly clear…by both thoughts and words.

At first I assumed she was sure to be just like the rest of them, but quickly realized there was one big difference.

I couldn’t hear her thoughts.

At all.

It was unnerving and wildly frustrating. I was so used to having that advantage. I wanted to know why, but probably would never get the chance…

My thoughts were cut short as the bell rang.

Sighing softly, I came back to the present moment. Mr. Banner was walking in, behind him was Bella Swan. Ah, maybe I would get the chance to get in her head at some point this year, even if I had to stoop to verbal communication. Just the thought made me feel so...regular.

She turned and handed him her papers and as she did so, her body shifted and moved under the vent in the ceiling. The warm air rushed over her form and right into me. I inhaled sharply as her scent engulfed me.

I felt as though I’d slammed back into my chair by a force so solid, so devastating, I would’ve fallen if I’d been standing. The sensation that overwhelmed me took me completely off guard.

In that second, my carefully formed façade broke away from me. My entire being, my thoughts and mindset, shifted from feeling so "regular" to unrecognizable.

I was a predator.

My eyes dilated, becoming orbs of hard black slate. They were transfixed on her and only her as they bored into the exposed thin flesh of her neck.

The smell of her pierced my throat with thirst, more intense then I’d ever felt.  Swallowing barbed-wire would have been more comfortable than what I was experiencing now.

She moved toward the only empty seat, next to me. Bella raised her eyes to me for but a moment and caught my unearthly, demonic glare. She quickly lowered her eyes and stumbled to the chair.

I sensed her fear, then embarrassment. I was so vividly aware of her.

I heard her pulse quicken, the blood pounding in her veins.

I heard her breath cut short.

I saw the pale skin of her cheeks turn deep and warm as her hot blood pooled beneath them.

It was too much, I couldn’t resist her.

Inside me, the monster’s instincts were screaming to be let loose, to accomplish its only want, its only need: drink her sweet blood.

I grabbed the edge of the table with my hands, my tendons straining under my white skin. She sat next to me, letting her hair fall between us.

Again her scent hit me, I stifled a groan. My entire being was filled with her. My throat, my body ached with want. This thirst was going to betray me and my family.

I didn’t even care.

I closed my eyes and saw it all. I would have her, but I would wait. This gift was too precious, too rare, I would not rush this. I wanted to take my time with her. I could envision her body, warm and soft as I held her tightly to mine. I would brush her hair to the side, exposing her neck. My hand would cover her pink luscious lips as she let out a muffled cry as I bit into her tender skin. I would let her sweet, intoxicating pulse fill my mouth and run down my throat, extinguishing the fire that burned there.

What I wouldn’t give to have it last forever.

As I sat, fantasizing about what she tasted like, a tiny flicker of guilt lit inside me.

Angrily, I blew it out, instead focusing on her and her mouthwatering scent, while Mr. Banner droned on…