Chapter 2: Chapter Two: Open Book

The next day was better and worse for us both.

Better because no one was staring quite as much as before. It was easier to expect what was coming next. Mike tried to sit close to us in English while he and Eric had a glaring match, and they both tried to walk us to our next class. Bella and I sat with a big group at lunch that included Mike, Eric, Jessica, and several other people whose names were now becoming familiar. Bella looked better in spirit and I could tell it was because it wasn't raining yet. It was better for me, because Edward Cullen, the boy who I blamed for my humiliation, wasn't in school.

It was worse because Bella still couldn't sleep well with the wind echoing through the house, so she would toss and turn and the noise of her moving kept me awake, as well. It was worse because Mr. Varner called on me in Trig when my hand wasn't raised and I had the wrong answer. It was miserable, because Bella had to play volleyball and hit her teammate in the head with the ball. I was supposed to play too, but ended up crouching beside the bleachers to read and got reprimanded for it. It was worse for Bella because Edward Cullen wasn't in school at all. When she told me that last fact, I looked at her surprised.

"Why would you want him to be in school? I thought you were upset with how he treated you?"

"I am. I want to demand an explanation." That was the only answer I got from her on the matter.

I had dreaded lunch all morning. I didn't want to deal with the stares of anyone who might have learned of my outburst. While I wished to avoid Edward, my sister wished to confront him, to demand to know why he seemed so repulsed by her, by the both of us. Although, she probably wouldn't; she wasn't exactly the brave type. Even if she had mustered the courage, she wouldn't have gotten her chance. As we entered the lunchroom with Jessica, I noticed only 5 of the Cullen/Hale children were present, and Edward was not one of them. Confirming Bella's suspicion that he was absent.

I breathed a sigh of relief as Bella stiffened beside me. Just then, Mike intercepted us and steered us to his table. Jessica, obviously fawning over the average-looking boy, was elated by the attention and her friends quickly joined as well.

As we entered Biology, I started to relax. I hadn't seen Edward at lunch so it was likely he wouldn't be in this class. I could've leapt with joy when I found my assumptions correct, while Bella looked more uneasy as she took her seat, alone. I had already gotten ahead in my studies so after I sat, I pulled out a book I could read instead.

Mike Newton, though, spent the class staring at Bella, I noticed when I turned to check on her, with what looked like less than a thought in his mind focused on his studies. He was so occupied with admiring Bella that he didn't notice how down she seemed, or how she kept staring to her left. He still didn't notice when he made direct eye contact with her. Bella, on the other hand, definitely noticed and looked away almost immediately. It seemed she would soon have to do something about Mike, I could tell she wasn't as interested in him as he was in her. In a town like this, though, it seemed it wouldn't be easy. Everyone lives on top of each other which made diplomacy essential and neither Bella nor I were any good with boys.

As I turned around once more to see how she was doing, she passed me a small note.

I'm happy to be sitting alone, really. I feel more relieved that he isn't here, I guess. But I feel like I'm the reason he isn't here today.

After reading it, I added on my own theory before passing the note back to her.

Maybe it was because I yelled at him?

It was ridiculous and egotistical, but I couldn't stop worrying that one of us was right. If Bella was right, we would have to figure out why he hated her so much right from the start. If I was right, I was worried he might send his family to intimidate me.

When the school day was done, we changed back into our respective clothes after gym and hurried from the girls' locker room, Bella was pleased to find that we had successfully evaded Mike Newton for the moment. We walked swiftly out to the parking lot, now crowded with fleeing students. We got in our truck and breathed in unison, a sigh of relief.

Bella in the driver's seat, she gunned the deafening engine to life. I sank a little lower in the passenger seat as heads turned in our direction. I wasn't ashamed of the truck, I just didn't like people staring. Bella backed carefully into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to exit the parking lot. As we waited, trying to pretend that the earsplitting rumble was coming from someone else's car, I saw the two Cullens and the Hale twins, along with their cousin, getting into their car. It was the shiny new Volvo. Of course, I hadn't noticed their clothes before — I'd been too mesmerized by their faces. I knocked my elbow against my sister's arm, hinting at her to look in the same direction. Looking now, it was obvious that they were all dressed exceptionally well; simply, but in clothes that subtly hinted at designer origins. With remarkable good looks, the style with which they carried themselves, they could have worn dishrags and pulled it off. It seemed excessive for them to have both looks and money. But as far as I could tell, life worked that way most of the time. It didn't look as if it bought them any acceptance here.

No, I didn't fully believe that. The isolation must be their desire; I couldn't imagine any door that wouldn't be opened by that degree of beauty.

They looked at our noisy truck as we passed them, just like everyone else. I kept my eyes straight forward and was relieved when we finally were free of the school grounds.

Last night, we discovered that Dad couldn't cook much besides fried eggs and bacon. We requested that we be assigned kitchen detail for the duration of our stay: Bella on food, and myself on clean up as I wasn't blessed with cooking skills, either. We had also found out that there was no food in the house, so we had a shopping list and the cash from the jar in the cupboard labeled FOOD MONEY and were on our way to the Thriftway after school.

The Thriftway wasn't far from the school, just a few streets south, off the highway. It was nice to be inside the supermarket; it felt normal. Bella and I did the shopping at home in Phoenix and we fell into the familiar pattern of the task gladly.

"I can't hear the rain outside." Bella told me cheerfully as we gathered the items on our list.

When we got home, I unloaded all the groceries while Bella prepared to cook, stuffing them in wherever I could find open space and hoping Dad wouldn't mind. Bella wrapped potatoes in foil and stuck them in the oven to bake, covered a steak in marinade and balanced it on top of a carton of eggs in the fridge. While she did that, I brought our book bags upstairs and changed into a pair of dry sweats, leaving my damp hair down to air dry and checked my email for the first time since arriving in Forks. I had one email. Bella came up the stairs not long after me and also changed, putting her hair into a ponytail. She had three emails.

Her first and my only email were exactly the same.

"Bella," our mom wrote in hers, as she started mine off with, "Alexandra,"

Write me as soon as you get in. Tell me how your flight was. Is it raining? I miss you already. I'm almost finished packing for Florida, but I can't find my pink blouse. Do you know where I put it? Phil says hi. Mom

I sighed and closed my laptop, scooting over to my sister as she opened her next one. It was sent eight hours after the first.

"Bella," she wrote...

Why haven't you e-mailed me yet? What are you waiting for? Mom.

The last was from this morning.

Isabella,

If I haven't heard from you by 5:30 p.m. today I'm calling Charlie.

I checked the clock.

"You have an hour, still," I told her, "but she might jump the gun."

Bella agreed and began writing back.

Mom,

Calm down. I'm writing right now. Don't do anything rash.

Bella.

She sent that and began writing again.

Mom,

Everything is great. Of course it's raining. I was waiting for something to write about. School isn't bad, just a little repetitive. Alex and I met some nice kids who sit by us at lunch.

Your blouse is at the dry cleaners — you were supposed to pick it up Friday.

Charlie bought us a truck, can you believe it? I love it. It's old, but really sturdy, which is good, you know, for us.

We miss you too. I'll write again soon, but I'm not going to check my e-mail every five minutes.

Relax. Breathe. We love you.

Bella.

Bella decided to read Wuthering Heights — the novel we were currently studying for English — yet again for the fun of it, and I resigned myself to reading The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe, since it was my favorite. That's what we were doing when Dad came home. We'd lost track of time, and Bella hurried downstairs to take the potatoes out of the oven and put the steak in to broil, with me slowly trailing after her.

"Girls?" Dad called out when he heard us on the stairs.

"Who else?" Bella said under her breath as I called over her, hoping our dad wouldn't hear.

"Hey, Dad, welcome home!"

"Thanks." He hung up his gun belt and stepped out of his boots as Bella bustled about the kitchen. As far as I was aware, he'd never shot the gun on the job. But he kept it ready. When we came here as children, he would always remove the bullets as soon as he walked in the door. I guess he considered us old enough now not to shoot ourselves by accident, and Bella not depressed enough to shoot herself on purpose.

"What's for dinner?" he asked warily. Our mother was an imaginative cook, and her experiments weren't always edible. I was surprised and sad that he seemed to remember that far back.

"Steak and potatoes," Bella answered, and he looked relieved.

He seemed to feel awkward standing in the kitchen doing nothing; he lumbered into the living room to watch TV while we worked. Bella made salad while the steak cooked and I set the table.

I called him in when dinner was ready, and he sniffed appreciatively as he walked into the room.

"Smells good, Bells."

"Thanks."

We ate in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't uncomfortable. None of us were bothered by the quiet.

"So, second day... how do you like school? Have you made any friends?" he asked as he was taking seconds.

"Well, we have a few classes with a girl named Jessica. We sit with her at lunch. And there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly with Bella."

"Everyone seems pretty nice." Bella chimed in. She left out one outstanding exception.

"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid — nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here."

"Do you know the Cullen family?" Bella asked. There's that outstanding exception. I could hear the hesitation in her voice, but I don't think Dad noticed.

"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man."

"They... the kids... are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school." I added.

Dad surprised us both by looking rather angry.

"People in this town." he muttered, "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued, getting louder. "We're lucky to have him — lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature — I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should — camping trips every other weekend... Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk."

It was the longest speech I'd ever heard Dad make. He must feel strongly about whatever people are saying.

Bella backpedaled. "They seem nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. They're all very attractive," she added, trying to be more complimentary. Though I knew how she really felt. She was seething still over Edward Cullen.

"You should see the doctor," Dad said, laughing. "It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around."

We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I started on the dishes. He went back to the TV, and after I finished washing up, I went upstairs unwillingly to start the math homework my sister had probably already started on. I could feel a tradition in the making.

That night it was finally quiet. I fell asleep quickly after assuring that Bella was peacefully unconscious, exhausted.

The rest of the week was uneventful. We got used to the routine of our classes. By Friday I was able to recognize, if not by name, almost all the students at school. In Gym, the kids who were placed on teams with Bella and I learned not to pass us the ball and to step quickly in front of us if the other teams tried to take advantage of our weaknesses. I happily stayed out of their way, always looking for an opportunity to sneak off and read. Bella tried to stay out of the way, too, but her luck seemed to be worse than mine.

Edward Cullen didn't come back to school.

Every day, I watched my older sister anxiously stare towards the back of the cafeteria until the rest of the Cullens entered without him. Then I could relax and listen in on the lunchtime conversation. Most of our friends knew by now that Bella would speak for me and they never pushed as to why. The discussion mostly centered around a trip to the La Push Ocean Park in two weeks that Mike was putting together. We were invited and had agreed to go, more out of politeness than desire. Bella had said to me after the initial invite that beaches should be hot and dry. What I didn't say was although I wish we weren't going with a group of people, I was very excited to see La Push.

By Friday, I was perfectly comfortable entering our Biology class, and Bella seemed to relax, too, no longer worried that Edward would be there. For all I knew, he had dropped out of school. My outburst rarely crossed my mind now, but I could tell my twin had a harder time trying not to think about him and why exactly he wasn't there.

Our first weekend in Forks passed without much incident. Dad, unused to spending time in the usually empty house, worked for most of it. Bella cleaned the house and got ahead on homework and wrote Mom more bogusly cheerful emails. I drove to the library Saturday, but it was so poorly stocked that I didn't bother to get a card; I would have to make a date to visit Olympia or Seattle soon and find a good bookstore.

Since I wanted to get some reading in, after I got home from the almost empty bookstore, I grabbed something large from our collection of books — I can't remember which one because I hadn't gotten to open it — and went for a stroll in the woods behind our house to find a good reading area.

It was cloudier than forecasted when I walked out of the house, but I didn't mind. It was my favorite kind of weather. Knowing Bella wouldn't have wanted to join, I didn't invite her, but that was okay, too, because I knew we both needed a little alone time.

As I strolled farther into the woods, marking the paths I took so I wouldn't get lost, I stumbled upon a U-shaped clearing with some fallen trees throughout the space. Judging by the state of the trees, the breakage seemed to be recent. I chose the least damp one and sat down, ready to read whatever I'd grabbed, when I heard rustling around the clearing. Setting the book at my side, I looked around without standing up to see if I could see what animal might be nearby without scaring it off. After a few moments of hard squinting, I could've sworn I'd seen ... something human-ish off to my left, opposite the way I came in, but it was gone almost an instant later. Feeling a strange sense of foreboding creeping up on me, I got up from the fallen tree and ran. Unfortunately leaving my book behind.

The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet, so Bella was able to sleep well, which meant I was able to sleep well, too.

People greeted us in the parking lot Monday morning. We didn't know all their names, but I waved back and Bella smiled at everyone. It was colder this morning, but not raining. In English, Mike took his accustomed seat at Bella's side. We had a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights. It was straightforward, very easy.

All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable around these new people than I thought I would feel at this point. I could tell Bella felt more comfortable than she ever expected to feel at all.

When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white. I could hear people shouting excitedly at each other, and had to bite back a squeal. Snow!

"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing."

"Ew," Bella added. I knew this was coming.

He looked surprised. "Don't you like snow?"

"No. That means it's too cold for rain. Besides, I thought it was supposed to come down in flakes — you know, each one unique and all that. These just look like the ends of Q-tips."

"Haven't you ever seen snow fall before?" he asked incredulously.

"Sure we have," I said, "On TV."

Mike laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. We all turned to see where it came from. I had my suspicions about Eric, who was walking away, his back toward us — in the wrong direction for his next class. Mike apparently had the same notion. He bent over and began scraping together a pile of the white mush.

As Bella was watching the interaction, I bent down and started tracing small lines in the snow, enjoying what I could before we had to hurry to class.

"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" I heard Bella call to Mike. Once people start throwing wet stuff, she goes inside.

As I scrambled up from my snow drawings, I felt the same unusual sensation from a week ago. Someone trying to pull away my hair, scalp, skull. I looked up and met eyes first with, if I remember correctly, Christian Hale, and then with Edward. He looked confused, but furious, again. As I looked away and straightened myself--my stomach dropping to my knees--I didn't tell my sister that her time to confront the strange boy is upon us.

Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the new year. I kept my mouth shut, as normal. Bella's unenthusiastic deposition was coming off her in waves.

We walked alertly to the cafeteria with Jessica after Spanish. Mush balls were flying everywhere. Bella kept a binder in her hands, ready to use it as a shield if necessary. I stayed half-crouched, ready to gather snow myself to hurl back at someone. Jessica thought it was hilarious, but something in Bella's expression kept her from lobbing a snowball at my sister herself.

Mike caught up to us as we walked in the doors, laughing, with ice melting the spikes in his hair. He and Jessica were talking animatedly about the snow fight as we got in line to buy food. I watched Bella glance at the table in the back corner out of habit and freeze where she stood. There were six people at the table. I pulled on her arm.

"Hello? Bella? What do you want?" Jessica chimed in as she noticed.

Bella looked down and I saw her ears turn red. She had no reason to feel self-conscious, I wanted to tell her. She hadn't done anything wrong. If anything, I should be the one embarrassed. Will Edward try to confront me about what happened last week?

"What's with Bella?" Mike asked Jessica.

"Nothing," I answered for her.

"I'll just get a soda today," Bella said.

"Aren't you hungry?" Jessica.

"Actually I feel a little sick," Bella said, her eyes still on the floor.

I waited for everyone to get their food and followed them to a table, my hand still on my twin's elbow.

She sipped her soda slowly. Twice Mike asked, with unnecessary concern, how she was feeling.

I thought it was ridiculous. She had no reason to feel this way. I decided to turn around and give my best glare to the boy causing these feelings in her. I was by no means very brave, but I couldn't just do nothing. None of them were looking this way.

They were laughing. Three of the four boys all had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Weirdly enough, the cousin — Christian Hale, who had come in with them, had no snow on him at all.

Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair toward them. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else — only they looked more like a scene from a movie than the rest of us. It was hard to remember that I'm supposed to be glaring, not gawking.

"Alex... what are you doing?" I heard Bella hiss beside me, trying to whisper so no one else heard her.

At that precise moment, his eyes flashed over to mine.

I dropped my head. I was sure, though, in the instant our eyes met, that he didn't look harsh or unfriendly as he had the last time I'd seen him. He looked merely curious, unsatisfied in some way.

"I didn't want you to feel...out of place, because of him." I whispered back to my older sister.

"Edward Cullen is staring at you!" Jessica giggled to Bella just as I'd finished my sentence.

"He doesn't look angry, does he?" I could hear the accusation in her voice, she wasn't happy that I'd been glaring.

"No," she replied, sounding confused. "Should he be?"

"I don't think he likes me," Bella confided to her.

"The Cullens don't like anybody... well, they don't notice anybody enough to like them. But he's still staring at you."

"Stop looking at him," she hissed, again. At least this time it wasn't toward me.

She snickered but looked away. I raised my head enough to make sure that she had.

Mike interrupted us then — he was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and wanted us to join. Jessica agreed enthusiastically. The way she looked at Mike left little doubt that she would be up for anything he suggested. Bella kept silent, but I agreed, as well. Mike seemed surprised to hear me speak on my own, but Eric gave me an encouraging smile.

For the rest of the lunch hour, I very carefully kept my eyes at my own table. Although as the hour closed in on us, I could swear Bella was turning green.

It was obvious that Bella didn't want to walk to class with Mike, as he seemed to be a popular target for the snowball snipers — but when we went to the door, everyone, including myself, excluding Bella, groaned in unison. It was raining, washing all traces of the snow away in clear, icy ribbons down the side of the walkway. Looks like no snowball fight after Gym.

Mike kept up a string of complaints on the way to building four.

Once inside the classroom, I saw with relief that Bella's table was still empty. Mr. Banner was walking around the room, distributing one microscope and box of slides to each table. Class didn't start for a few minutes, and the room buzzed with conversation. I kept my eyes away from the door. Checking on Bella, she was doing the same, doodling in her notebook.

I heard very clearly when the chair behind me moved, but I stayed extremely still.

"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice.

I almost turned a full 180°, but held myself in place. He was talking to Bella?

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan, and your sister is Alexandra, yes?"

My head was spinning, and I can't imagine Bella was doing any better. I turned around to face them, waiting for my sister to respond.

"How do you know my name?" I caught that she almost stuttered and inwardly I wanted to laugh.

"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you two to arrive." He looked pointedly at me and I shrunk a little into my seat.

"No," she persisted. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"

He seemed confused. "Do you prefer Isabella?"

"No, I like Bella," she said. "But I think Charlie — I mean my dad — must call me Isabella behind my back — that's what everyone here seems to know me as," she tried to explain.

"Oh," he paused. "And do you prefer Alexandra or Alex?" he said, looking towards me.

"Alexandra." I uttered, slightly in shock that it was my turn to participate in the conversation. I turned back around to escape the situation, but not before flicking my eyebrows at Bella.

Thankfully, Mr. Banner started class at that moment. I focused on him as he explained the lab we would be doing today. The slides in the box were out of order. Working as lab partners, we had to separate the slides of onion root tip cells into the phases of mitosis they represented and label them accordingly. We weren't supposed to use our books. In twenty minutes, he would be coming around to see who had it right. It seemed I would be working alone, which I was more comfortable with, as I had no lab partner.

As he finished explaining, there was a knock at the door. We all turned to look as it opened and revealed a tall boy with sandy blond hair quietly walking in, a faint smile on his face.

"Ah! What do we have here?" Mr. Banner said, cheerfully.

"Hello, Mr. Banner. I've just had a change of schedule and will be in this class now." The boy said. His voice sounded like a melody I'd never heard before. I felt my head spinning again.

"That's fine! As fate would have it, our very own Alexandra Swan was about to do this project by herself. You can take a seat right next to her," he gestured to my half empty table. "Go sit and begin."

Without another word, the boy sauntered over to me. When he sat, he turned to face Edward and my sister behind him and chuckled a bit to himself. When he turned back, I had already put my attention on the task at hand and began to sort the slides. He seemed to be patiently waiting for his turn to pitch in, but I wasn't planning on giving him one.

I heard a soft cough. "Hi," said the boy next to me. "Alexandra, right? Can I call you Alex?"

"No." I said curtly.

"Oh, sorry. Mind if I help on our lab?" He put emphasis on the word "our" as if I'd forgotten it was a group project.

I had just finished sorting so I passed him the results and the microscope. "You can check it."

As he started to check my answers, I tried to listen in on Bella and Edward's conversation behind me, but it was just as bad as the one I'm having, only they seemed to be enjoying the awkwardness.

Mr. Banner came to our table after we had finished and then wordlessly checked Edward's and Bella's. "Have all four of you done this lab before?"

I turned to face him and saw Bella smile lightly. "Not with onion root, but yes."

He seemed to contemplate that for a moment and then walked away to monitor the other students. I turned back to my shared table and tried to shrink into nothing.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Christian Hale." The boy next to me said. Of course, I already knew his name, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

Against my better judgment, I met his eyes. He had a smirk on his face and exuded confidence. He looked extremely cocky. His eyes were almost gold, it seemed. I shook my head inwardly. Just an odd brown in the light, no one's eyes could be gold.

"Hi." I said.

"You don't seem to like me very much." Like I said, cocky.

"I'm just not good at socializing."

"That's okay! I am." As these words left his lips, I heard a thwack sound and looked over in time to see a pale hand retreating behind me. Christian's head was slightly leaning forward. Edward must've hit him.

Christian gave a look, but didn't turn around. Maybe he was used to this treatment from his adopted cousin.

Mr. Banner called the class to order then, and I turned with relief to listen. I tried to appear attentive as Mr. Banner illustrated, with transparencies on the overhead projector, what I had seen without difficulty through the microscope. But my thoughts were unmanageable.

When the bell finally rang, Edward rushed as swiftly and gracefully from the room as he had last Monday. As Bella and I stared after him, Christian caught my eye with a quick tip of his head.

"Nice meeting you, Alexandra." He lingered on my name a little longer than I'd have liked, then he, too, swiftly left.

I turned in disbelief to my sister, and before I could say a word, Mike Newton skipped quickly to her side and picked up her books for her. I imagined him with a wagging tail.

"That was awful," he groaned. "They all looked exactly the same. You're lucky you had Cullen for a partner."

"We didn't have any trouble with it," she said, motioning in my direction, obviously stung by his assumption. "We've done the lab before, though," she added, probably trying to soften the blow.

"Cullen seemed friendly enough today," he commented as we shrugged into our raincoats. He didn't seem pleased about it, and he also didn't seem to realize that the Hale cousin had joined our class. I chalked it up to his obsession with my sister.

"I wonder what was with him last Monday," Bella said, indifferently.

I couldn't concentrate on whatever Mike was spewing at Bella on the way to Gym. He was on her team today. I noticed he covered his and her position, more than likely for the benefit of everyone in the gym rather than just kindness for her.

The rain was just a mist as we walked to the parking lot, but the cab of our truck was dry. Bella turned on the heater and for once I didn't care about the roar of the engine. I unzipped my jacket and fluffed my hair out. I'd let it get wet on the walk to the truck.

Bella and I checked our sides as she was getting ready to back out of the lot. I saw Edward and his 'siblings' as I was checking and was sure that she did, too. She immediately flipped around and threw the truck into reverse, almost hitting a rusty Toyota Corolla in haste. Luckily for the Toyota, she hit the brake just in time. Unluckily for me, I didn't have my seatbelt on and flew forward, almost hitting my forehead on the dashboard. After righting myself, I stared straight ahead as we passed by the Cullen kids. I could swear, though, that I saw Christian Hale laughing from my peripheral.