BPOV
When I got home, I headed to my room and, pressing 1 on my phone to speed dial Volterra. A few moments later Aro answered and I launched into a description of my first day. "Aro, you'll never believe my luck. It seems that I attract vampires wherever I go!" I said. "Forks High school has five vegetarian vampires attending it." I explained.
"The Cullens?" he asked.
"Yep, and apparently their father, Dr Cullen works at the hospital. Ring any bells?" I asked. Not waiting for his reply I continued, "Oh, and they must have a few gifts amongst them. I swear I heard two of them have a one-sided conversation."
He chuckled, "You're right," he confirmed, "Eleazer mentioned a while back that Edward Cullen is a mind reader, Alice Cullen can see the future, based on people's decisions, and Jasper is an empath."
I was surprised, "A very talented family," I murmured, "I'll bet that's why Edward looked frustrated with me, he can't read my mind," I snickered.
Aro laughed with me, "It's probably the first time he's ever encountered someone whose mind he couldn't read." He mused.
"Yeah," I agreed. Then a thought occurred to me. "That's why you suggested that we'd be a good match isn't it!" I accused. "You knew I would be immune to his mind reading!" I was annoyed. Aro stayed silent as a quietly fumed, cursing Aro and his matchmaking. "Don't get any ideas." I warned him.
Then I suddenly realised that I had gone off track, and forgotten about my Biology lesson. "Aro, something happened today with Edward." I paused, unsure of how to describe it. "Edward seemed perfectly fine with all the other students, he didn't look thirsty at all, but the minute he smelt my scent he tensed up, his eyes turned black, and he looked like he was trying to stop himself from killing me." I said describing the strange experience.
Aro immediately sounded concerned, and I could hear my two worried guards in the background mumbling about plans to kill Edward if he even thought about hurting me. "Bella, you are going to have to be very careful around him," Aro warned, "I have a feeling that you are his La Tua Cantante, or his singer. Your blood calls to him. I'm actually surprised that he managed to resist. The memories I have seen from other vampires who have met their singers all showed an irresistible urge to drink their singer's blood. In fact, I've never met a vampire that managed to resist their singer." His explanation made me worried and I felt sorry for Edward.
"Perhaps we should send your guard to Forks to keep you safe." Aro suggested. In the background I could hear Caius and Marcus agreeing.
I saw red. "Absolutely not!" I yelled. "I do not need to be babysat anymore Uncle Aro, and I forbid them to come. I am perfectly able to take care of myself, and in case you've forgotten, I do have a shield." I ranted, furious that he thought I couldn't protect myself.
"I can't believe you would even suggest it, or that Uncle Marcus and Caius would agree. How would we explain why there are suddenly two new vampires in Forks who seem to be mysteriously shadowing me? The Cullens would be sure to notice, in fact Carlisle would recognise them, and wonder what the Volturi wanted with me. That wouldn't be suspicious at all." I finished sarcastically. "Besides, I'm not going to allow Felix an Demetri to hunt anywhere near Forks, so they can't come." I added as an afterthought.
"I'm more worried about what will happen if Edward loses control and tries to attack me in public." I explained. "We would have a hard time explaining why he pounced on me, and an even harder time trying to come up with a good reason as to why I wasn't hurt." I stated.
Aro didn't seem as worried. "I highly doubt he'll hurt you now Bella, now that he's resisted you once, it will probably become easier for him over time, and he should become somewhat desensitised after a while, although I suspect he'll probably try to avoid you as much as possible." He paused for a moment. "Just be careful Bella, we don't want you getting hurt."
I sighed. "I know Uncle Aro, I'll be fine." I assured him.
The next morning I kept a furtive lookout for Edward, but I never saw him. I did see the rest of the Cullens giving me curious glances though. By the time lunch got around I realised that Edward wasn't at school today, and I felt guilty, knowing I was probably the reason for it. As I stood in line, getting my food, I was getting frustrated with Jess, who hadn't stopped talking all day. I realised that there was no way I would manage to make it through lunch if I had to sit next to her and keep listening to her drabble.
I ran through my options, quickly realising that the best way to avoid her would be to sit with the only people in the room that she wouldn't dare approach. I paid for my food and turned away from Jess. As I passed everyone and continued towards the vampires the cafeteria went quiet. I saw Alice's eyes glaze over for a second before she turned to smile confusedly at me.
I could feel the eyes of everyone staring holes in my back as I came to a stop in front of the table. I smiled shyly at them. "Hi, I'm Bella, and I was wondering whether I could sit with you?" I asked. I lowered my voice to a whisper that was barely audible. "Just between us, I couldn't stand listening to more of Jessica's gossip, and I know she isn't brave enough to come over here." I explained winking. They stared back at me confused for a few seconds before Alice smiled and said, "Sure." The others looked at her like she was crazy, and Rosalie turned to glare menacingly at me, probably hoping that that would stop me.
It didn't. I sat down and proceeded to start eating my lunch. As I leaned down and got a magazine from my bag to read, I heard Jasper whisper to the others, "She's not afraid of us at all, in fact she's more comfortable sitting with us then she was yesterday sitting with Jess. What a strange human?" He muttered. I inwardly laughed, if only he knew just how strange, I thought. I heard Rosalie snort softly, "Who wouldn't want to get away from Jess," she said scathingly.
Acting as if I was a normal human who couldn't hear them, I pulled out my Car and Driver magazine, opening it and drooling over the new Chevrolet Camaro that was coming out, absently wondering whether I should buy one, then realising that I would have no where to put it here in Forks. I sighed and flipped the page.
Rosalie broke the silence then, "Is that this month's issue?" she asked. I was surprised, because, from the glare she had given me, I figured that she probably saw me as a threat to her family. But apparently the ice-queen-slash-supermodel was a sucker for fast cars.
I nodded, "Yeah, I was just looking at the new Camaro, It looks like it would be really fun to drive." I explained, sighing again.
"Yeah," Rosalie agreed, "Although I have to admit that I would prefer a European supercar to a muscle car."
I chuckled, "I know what you mean, I would rather have my Audi R8 than a Camaro." I winced slightly as I realised that I had just given away the fact that I had a very expensive car. Sure enough, they looked mildly surprised. "You have an Audi R8?" Rosalie asked.
I shrugged, "It's in Europe with my extended family," I explained, "It was a birthday present from them, and boy is it fun to drive." I exclaimed, my eyes lighting up as I thought about my car.
"I'll bet it is." Rosalie commented. "I have a BMW M3 convertible," she told me proudly.
"Nice. It suits you." I commented. "Did you install one of those performance packages for them that came out last year?" I asked. She looked shocked that I knew that much about cars, but Santiago had taught me well.
"Yes, and I tuned the engine for racing." She informed me. "It now has a top speed of 250mph."
I whistled in appreciation. "My Audi's the same. I have to admit, it's quite a shock and Bullshit to get here and find that my dad has bought me an old truck that doesn't go over 60mph but as the saying goes it's the thought that counts." I said, slightly dejected by the thought of having to drive so slowly. Rose looked sympathetic. "I think I may have to park it under a big tree and hope the wind blows the tree onto my truck and destroys it though." I said seriously. The whole table erupted in laughter.
"I'd be happy to help you with that," Emmett offered, his eyes glinting mischievously.
I smiled at him. "I just might take you up on that."
Alice butted in next. "That's a gorgeous bracelet," she commented, looking at my cuff. "Six carats of top grade diamonds set in 24ct white gold." She murmured, observing it closely.
I inwardly cringed. "Yes, not many people can get all that from just looking at it." I complimented her. "A lot of people seem to think its silver with cubic zirconium." I informed her.
She snorted, and her eyes moved from my cuff to take in the rest of my attire. "You have great taste in clothes," she informed me. "I love your shirt, the designer is one of my favourites." I smiled at her obvious approval of my outfit. Heidi would be happy.
I continued talking with her and Rosalie about fashion until the bell rang. I put my magazine back in my bag and reluctantly left them. As I got a few steps away Alice called, "Have fun in Biology." I frowned suspiciously at her, and my suspicions were confirmed when I heard her whisper to the others, "Mike's going to interrogate her about her sitting with us." I left the cafeteria and groaned, trudging unwillingly in the direction of the classroom.
As I was sitting down at alone at my lab table I saw Mike enter the class and head for me. I grimaced, I knew what was coming. "Hey, why did you sit with the Cullens today?" he asked.
"Because I felt like it," I answered, "Am I not allowed to sit with them or something?" I asked.
"No, it's just that they don't really talk to anyone other than their family, and they're a bit weird." He explained. "You should sit with us tomorrow." He concluded, smiling at me.
I could feel my anger rising. "I can sit wherever I want Mike." disgust leaking in my voice "AND I would appreciate it if you didn't make nasty comments about them when I'm around." I snarled, my eyes flashing with fury. "There is nothing wrong with them, so take your opinions elsewhere or to someone that cares." I finished, before turning in my seat to face the board, studiously ignoring him until he left and went to his desk.
I fielded more questions during gym, especially from Jess, who was desperate for gossip. My answers were always the same. I sat with the Cullens because I wanted to, and I found them quite normal. I just didn't mention that my idea of normal was very different to that of most humans.