Just the Same

“Get to work.” Mr. Banner, my Biology teacher, said after passing out the partner tests. I was a little intimidated to even bother looking at my ‘partner’. Edward Cullen had the unfortunate luck to be assigned to be my partner. He probably rather work on it alone than with me… Too bad we only had one sheet.

“Did you want to split the questions up?” I turned my eyes to look at the voice’s owner. I was immediately caught up in his piercing eyes. His voice was so musical.

“Um.. Sure that’s fine.” I said nodding, afraid I wouldn’t be able to say anything else coherently. We worked together quickly, I was glad Edward was intelligent, we didn’t have to waste time helping each other figure things out. As we sat and waited for the other partners to finish their work, I felt as if I was being watched. I glanced to my left and saw Edward’s dark eyes stare into mine. My heart beat faster, I swallowed loudly. There was something different, something I’ve noticed before, but it was nothing important.

“Do you mind if I ask you something?” I turned my whole body to face him now, my stomach twisted oddly and I felt my heart pick up it’s pace even more.

“Sure.”

“Where have you been?”

“Um.” His intense stare was a little distracting, I almost forgot his question. “I went to visit my ill Grandmother…” I felt a pull in my chest. I refused to think about this now.

“Is she better now?” I bit my lip, nodding my head.

“I suppose… you could say that. She passed away last week. Onto another adventure I’m sure.” I gave him a soft smile It was easier to deal with if I thought of it this way. Although I wondered how my Mom looked at it. She wasn’t taking it so well, I suppose I wouldn’t be able to either, had it been her…

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Again his dark eyes were so dazzling. That was when I realized what was different, his eyes were darker. I had tried not to look at him too long, it was always distracting. Looking at any of the Cullens was, but Edward especially. They all had the same pale white skin and piercing golden eyes, with the same bruise-like circles under them. Although frequently their eyes grew darker. I supposed it was the lighting, the fluorescents and the natural lights did funny things sometimes.

Odd, they were all adopted…

“It’s alright… but thank you.” I smiled again then turned back to the front of the room. For some reason Biology was my favorite and my least favorite class… and it mostly had to do with Edward Cullen.

I almost hated sitting next to him, it only made me feel more hideous. He was so god-like and beautiful, and I was painfully ordinary. Sometimes I think my presence upsets him, and I could never understand that. I’ve thought of apologizing, but then I wouldn’t know what for exactly.

I knew most girls fantasized about him, thankfully much less than when he first arrived, but still. I saw the appeal he had, no one could deny that he was a beautiful being, but that was all most people saw from him. From my seat here next to him, I saw so much more. He was intelligent, and witty, he was caring and kind, and extremely hypnotizing…

Thank god no one was hearing these thoughts right now, as if Edward Cullen could fancy me…

What…? Was that just… Alright I suppose I’ve been grouped in with the rest of the girls here. For some reason that made me blush. The bell rang and I hurried to gather my books.

“You’re lovely when you blush.” I nearly dropped my textbook onto the ground. My mouth hung open as I watched Edward walk out the classroom. I must be hallucinating now. Oh Allie, you silly girl, you need to see a doctor.

I could still feel his cool breath on my ear though, it sent shivers down my spine. I had never had a hallucination before, but that felt pretty real. I don’t think it was fake… My imagination wasn’t that good…

The rest of the day was a blur to me, thankfully I only had Gym, which wasn’t hard to pretend to be paying attention in. Most kids learned to not bother passing me the ball, I wasn’t very good.

As I made my way to the parking lot I passed the Cullens as they got into their silver Volvo. My heart raced when my eyes locked onto Edward’s.

Allie, get a hold of yourself, don’t be stupid. Edward Cullen is just like anyone else, no need to give yourself a heart attack. And don’t stare at him, its rude! I couldn’t help chiding myself, I needed it to keep me straight.

I got into my own car and headed home. I was a little sad when I found the house empty. I guessed even on her birthday my mom had to work. I decided to make her a cake and her favorite dinner, lasagna. She loved it.

She wouldn’t be home till much later, so I’d have plenty of time.

As I put the last of the frosting on the cake the clock struck five pm… I had finished dinner and the cake in no time, now I wasn’t sure what to do. It was Friday and my homework was done, what was there to do? I could call Angela… although she was probably busy with the twins. They were angels but still a handful. I guess I could go for a walk… It’d be a nice chance to clear my head.

There were woods and forests all over this town, open your front door and there was a trail leading somewhere. I decided to head north down the path that the side walk ran into.

I loved walking in the forest, I felt free and lively. There was so much life here, so many little things no one saw. I loved the way it looked, so green and earthy, the smell of wood was amazing too. I took a deep breath after a few miles, I was in the heart of the forest, and held it in. It was so invigorating. I let my breath out in a huff, something was off. I listened closely, there was no sound. There were no birds chirping, no rustling leaves, nothing, except my now ragged breathing.

Allie, you’re in the middle of the woods, there’s so many animals out here, why no sounds… Maybe I wasn’t as far in as I thought. I spun around, the woods always looked the same, or always completely different.

I continued heading north, I wasn’t ready to head home yet. Maybe after another mile… A few yards up the path though, I thought I saw something dart off from it.

I stopped dead in my tracks. That was no animal…. I slowly started retreating, without turning around. It seemed as I moved backward something moved forwards, only quicker than I was able to.

My eyes widened as a figure stepped out of the shadow. Their menacing eyes stared at me as if they were going to eat me. I quickened my backwards pace, but the figured moved quicker still.

“Why don’t you stay awhile.” My eye focused on the red eyes, they were terrifying. I took another step back but fell quickly as my foot caught onto a tree root. I scraped my hands trying to catch myself.

“Yum.” The tall figure said before crouching down. The events that followed, happened so fast I wasn’t sure what to make of them. I wasn’t sure they were real. The figure was only a few inches from me, the red eyes so close, before it could reach me though, it seemed as if it was ripped back from me.

There was another figure now, fighting the first. For some reason it seemed familiar, not recognizable, but familiar. There were loud screams and metallic screeching noises. Pieces of what looked to be metal flew around the forest. Time ceased to exist. It could have been hours, or merely seconds, minutes even. I couldn’t tell.

It seemed the first figure was loosing, badly. There was a louder tearing noise before the noise stopped altogether. The second figure gathered the pieces and piled them together, then pulled something from his pocket, matches, and lit the pile on fire. There was a thick purplish smoke that rose from the pile, I wasn’t close enough to inhale it though, and I was thankful.

I gulped loudly, I don’t know why but I did, and in that second the figure seemed to remember that I was here. My heart started pounding loudly as he advanced towards me. My eyes were wide, but not with fear. I was oddly calm. As he got closer I realized who it was.

“Edward?” I felt a sudden urge to run to him and embrace him, I yearned for it. Thankfully my sense kicked in and realized that I could not do that, no matter how much I wanted. “Are you alright?” I was worried now, had he gotten hurt at all? He laughed once without humor.

My mind wasn’t even terrified from what I had just witnessed. I knew it wasn’t something normal, but I did not care.

“Me? You’re worried if I’m alright? The question should be are you, alright?” He gazed intensely at me again, for a second I forgot to breath. I nodded my head, afraid I wouldn’t be able to talk. Not from fear, but shear admiration. I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts, grow up Allie.

“I’m fine.” I said once I was able to control my voice. Oddly enough that was completely true. Although, I didn’t fully understand what I had just seen. “What… was that?” He seemed to be debating with himself internally. I wanted so badly to embrace him again, to smooth his features with my hand. I snapped myself back to reality, as if he’d even want that from someone like me…. I supposed I could settle for the truth…

“It was a vampire.” Vampire? But those… aren’t real…

“But you… killed it?”

“Yes.” It seemed as if he wanted to say more, but thought better of it.

“But… how?” He starred into my eyes for a moment… Suddenly there were small bits of information that I had collected over the years that clicked together. Edward was very pale, much more pale than anyone else. They had always been absent on sunny days, and had an ice cold touch -once I bumped into Edward’s sister Alice, she picked up my books for me. “You’re a vampire?” The words did not register completely at first.

“Yes, I am.” I cocked my head to the side, deep in thought.

“Okay…” I debated whether or not I should just walk away. Obviously I was hallucinating again. I never realized how creative my mind was. “I think I’m going to go home. I’ll just see you on Monday.”

Allie, you are crazy…. So should I sit and wait to wake up, or risk walking home. If I was hallucinating wasn’t it dangerous to wander? Although, maybe I wasn’t really walking…

I started walking home anyway. I never thought about that before, I never really considered being crazy. Maybe I should check myself into an institution. Or maybe I was dreaming! That’s it, I must have fallen asleep doing homework. Did I really finish dinner then? I hoped so, I wouldn’t have time to now.

I pinched my arm lightly… Huh, I felt that. Weren’t you not supposed to feel anything while sleeping?

“Allie.” I heard as I made my way home. Well, at least my hallucination can sound like the real thing.

“Allie. Stop.” Whoa, I’d never heard Edward sound so fierce… I kept my pace though.

“Allie!” This time he was right in front of me, blocking my way.

“Oh!” I said startled.

“You are not crazy…. This is real.” It was a little distracting looking into his eyes… as always.

“Okay.” And I believed him…

“It doesn’t bother you?”

“What doesn’t?”

“That I’m not human?” His voice was hard.

“Not really… it does clear a few things up though.” There were a lot of questions answered in my head. But it only made things more complicated. It wasn’t enough that I already believed Edward was out of my league, but now it was proven even more impossible.

Ha! Something so beautiful could not love something like me… Human or not. I grimaced.

“You shouldn’t do that.” His voice was softer again, and he moved closer. I felt his cool breath on my face. His scent was intoxicating. I couldn’t even remember what I did to make him say this.

“You shouldn’t frown… or think you’re not good enough. It’s a lie.” Had I not been hypnotized by him, I think I would have been worried about what he said. “You should be worried.”

Now I really should worry, it sounded like he was talking to my mental voice. I couldn’t grasp that fact though.

“Allie, you shouldn’t be here.” He moved closer still. I stood my ground, his face was only inches from mine now. “You shouldn’t be alone out here.”

“I’m not.” I saw his eyes crinkle and his cheeks lift, I think he was smirking. It was hard to tell though, his lips here almost touching mine. Everything was so divine in that moment, so surreal. It all felt amazing. “You’re here.”

In one second we were two people, standing in front of each other, the next we were intertwined. His lips met mine and sent chills down my spine, but not from the cold. It was sheer electricity between us. I couldn’t help but run my hands up his arms, locking around his neck.

“Enough.” again it was so fast I didn’t know what happened. Edward was about ten feet away from me now. “Allie, I’m sorry… but we can’t… I can’t… I’m not…. Good for you.” He said incoherently. I was just as dazed as him.

“It’s… fine.” I lied. I was thankful my voice hadn’t broke. I knew that nothing could ever come of this, there was no hope in wishing.

“You don’t understand… This is the hardest thing I ever had to do… I… love you Allie. You don’t even know how much, but you’re a human, I can never be enough for you.”

“Never be enough, you’re perfect just the way you are… Don’t you see what a beautiful person you are?” He laughed once, it was hard and serious.

“That’s only to attract our prey… nothing more.” I scoffed.

“I didn’t mean it that way… Besides you’re obviously gorgeous looks, I meant you had a beautiful mind.” He smiled at this.

“How can something be so wonderful, but be so wrong?” He asked as he moved closer, now only two feet away instead of ten.

“This is wrong?” My tone must have alarmed him, he was by my side in an instant. It was his turn to scoff.

“I didn’t mean it that way…” He mocked me. I couldn’t help a smile from spreading on my face. “Are you not afraid of me then?” I smiled as he took a hold of my hand. I liked the feeling of his cool skin against mine.

“Why would I be?” The question was so perplexed, he was no monster… He laughed at that.

“But I am a monster…” I narrowed my eyes.

“Can you…” I trailed off. hear my thoughts? He nodded his head… For some reason I blushed… all those times I’ve been thankful no one could hear me… all those times I’ve thought about… I gasped. He knew! How… embarrassing…

“Don’t be embarrassed… I’m flattered… besides, I feel the same for you.” He leaned down ever so slowly and gently placed a kiss on my lips. In that moment things were more right than I ever could have imagined. Things made more sense, there was just Edward and me, no one else, no where specific, just the two of us.

“I’ve been waiting so long for this…” He murmured as we laid together on my couch later that night. My mom had called, said she’d be later than normal, so Edward decided to stay with me.

“To lay on my couch?” I asked confused. He chuckled softly.

“No… To be with you.” I smiled, my heart just about melted.

“Well now you have me… forever.” I leaned my head up and touched his lips softly. This was the most amazing feeling I had ever had. I felt as if I had been a dull blob roaming through live and suddenly I was fully awake and coherent. This felt almost perfect, things were naturally aligned, like this was where I was meant to be, in Edward’s arms…