Forever or Never?

I walked into the main office building and shed my bright red rain coat.

"You must be Mateja Luhmann," the lady behind the desk smiled as she saw my eyes wander around the room.

"Yeah. I just transferred here from St. Louis," I lied as I walked over and grabbed the packet of papers she handed me. I read the sheet on top: First Hour: Geometry, Mr. Fuller, Building 7. "Can you point me to Building Seven?" I asked as I put my jacket on.

"Take a left when you leave these doors, then a left when the sidewalk splits. You'll see Building Seven from there," she directed. I grabbed my book bag and followed her directions. I got to the split in the sidewalk and turned left. I stopped and looked for Building Seven. I took a step toward the building and some ran into me from behind. I turned around and saw a tall, pale, muscular man with
clear amber eyes and dark, curly hair.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I'm Emmett," he said as I stared speechless into his amber eyes. I recognized them for what they were, and what they marked him as. "What class do you have first?"

"Geometry, with Fuller, Building Seven. I'm Mateja, but I prefer Mats or Tete," I said as he stepped around me and I
turned around and started walking to Building Seven with him.

"I've never seen you around before? You new here? You must be. I'd remember your face."

"Thanks? I transferred here from St. Louis, Missouri. My dad got transferred to work in Seattle, but he can work at home most of the time and doesn't like the city too much. So we moved to Forks." We walked into the building, hung up our jackets, and walked to the two desks in the back of the room. I sat my bag on the one in the corner and walked to the front of the room. I looked at the page he had his book open to as he got up and gets me a book. Ah, right triangle similarities, easy. He handed me a book and smiled. I went to the back of the room by Emmett and sat down.

"Be glad he didn't crack a joke about you. I've seen him do it before.," Emmett said as we opened our books.

"Time for a nap. I've done this before," I laid my head on my desk and closed my eyes, knowing I wouldn't sleep. That I couldn't.

"Nope. No sleepy for Mateja. I'll tell Fuller and you'll never live it donw. Plus, he's a first hour wake up call if there ever was one. I'd know." I saw him wink as I opened my eyes again.

"Fine. But you're responsible for keeping me awake. Geometry takes no thought, so I sleep. Dreams are better than angles and lines." I opened my new, red notebook and started writing. Not notes for class, obviously, just doodles, hearts to add to my sharade.

"Oh, I'm pretty interesting. Just ask me anything."

"Well, family, I guess. How many?"

"Two brothers, one sister. Edward, the copper-haired one, and Alice, the dark headed pixie are my real siblings. Jasper, the blond boy is my foster brother. His twin, Rosalie, died fairly young. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen, Carlisle and Esme, adopted the five of us. Well, Carlisle adopted me, Edward, and Alice. Jasper and Rosalie's parents died in a car accident and they lived Esme, who is their aunt or something like that."

"Ok, so what about your parents?"

"Abusive. Don't remember them much. I was the one who protected Edward and Alice because I was bigger and stronger. So, what about you? You got family?"

"Just mom and dad and too many cousins to count. MY parents were gonna settle down and have more kids with weird names, but my dad has to move around for his job."

"Wierd names, like what? What's your name?" He shot me a curios glance, and I was reluctant to answer, wishing he hadn't asked.

"Mateja...Keisha..."I said my middle name very softly and slowly. "...Luhmann." I looked at him as he took in my name and mouthed it noiselessly a few times. "But if you tell anyone, I will kill you."

"I'd seriously like to see you try, twig."

"Well, sorry, Mr. Muscles, not all of us are too thick for our own good."

"That doesn't mean we should be toothpick sized. We need some muslce on our bodies after all." He smiled at me, and flexed his bicep. His eyes were laughing, he'd caught that it was all in fun.

"I take offence to that. I was the strongest girl on the hip-hop dance squad I was part of in St. Louis."

"Well, now, hip-hop dance? Couldn't see you as hip-hop. Ballet, maybe, but not hip-hop."

"Use your imagination." He looked deep in thought for a couple seconds, looking me up and down in my seat.

"Nope. Still can't see it. But I dont' have much of an imagination anymore. I lost it when I was little and had to protect Alice long enough for Edward to run. Edward's the fastest, I'm the strongest. Alice is the little sister. We did what we could to protect her no matter what it meant for us."

"Ok. Sorry. I guess I had it easy, just moving from place to place so much. I hated moving, I had to leace my friends, and try to fit in somewhere new every year or two. I never really got close to nayone. I floated from volleyball team and dance squad to the next at
every new school. Cross country just for fun if I couldn't stand being inside that day. Basketball in the winter or with my dad wherever. And soccer in the spring. Summer softball usually got cut short because of moving."

"Brandon and Mateja, would you care to expand your conversation to the rest of the class?" Mr. Fuller asked.

"Sure. I was just telling Brandon all the sports I do. Volleyball, Dance Squad, Cross Country, Basketball, Softball, and Soccer." I smiled at the tall, balding teacher.

"Well, I guess that's okay then. As long as it was sports and not something else." Fuller smiled at us and walked back to the board. Emmett threw a carefully folded piece of paper that landed perfectly on my desk. I opened the piece of paper and read what he had written in perfectly sloppy handwriting.

That's when you do it this way. Yeah. I know about moving. From one house to another, then settling with Carlisle just before he moved here.

Where'd you live before? With Carlisle? I threw the folded paper across the aisle and watched him scrawl something.

Alaska. Carlisle and Esme moved because of family reasons. They like the north and Esme loves small towns, so, naturally, Forks.

Of course, the smallest, rainiest town in the States.

Yeah. But Esme can't stand the sun, she's light sensitive, so rain it is.

Really light sensitive I guess.

Extremely.

Either way, when did you move to Forks?

Beginning of last school year. I read before I watched him stick it underneath his notebook.
"Brandon McMarty, I though you were smart enough to pass notes." Mr. Fuller stalked to Emmett's desk and grabbed the piece of paper on his notebook. "And Mateja, of all people, I know you're new. It's obvious and I thought you wouldn't misbehave your first day here."

"Sorry, Coach. I'll run extra for gym." Emmett mumbled.

"You do anyway, and you're still basically the first person done. I still think you should run Cross Country or long distance Track."

Emmett turned to me as Mr. Fuller walked back to his desk."He's been trying to convince me to do running, but I'm not going to. I run for the fun and freedom of it, not for competition, never have,
never will."

"I know what you're saying. I was always the best runner, but I always got "sick" the days of meets so I couldn't run."

"Nice. What do you have next?" He reached around behind my chair and grabbed my bookbag off the floor. He opened dug through the stuff until he found the packet of papers from the office. He found my schedule and pulled it seperate. "Sweet. We have all day together. Gym is seperate, but we're combined right now for archery. I'll introduce you to Alice and Edward on the way if we run into
them. They both have Music with Moellir in Building 6 first hour. Get your stuff packed. It's almost time for the bell." Right on cue the bell rang.

"Ok, that was wierd." I got my books together and left the room with Emmett.

"I know how fast the clock in there is." He pointed back at the classroom door.

"Ok." We walked to the gym and I left to change.

"Hi, I'm Alice. I saw you with Emmett." A very petite girl with her short black hair raised in careful spikes around her head met me at the door to the locker room. "I'm his little sister."

"You're a foreseer."

"Huh?" She was obviously confused, which wasn't common for her talent, so I spoke too fast and quiet for human ears.

"A foreseer. You see the future. You have visions. Whatever you want to call it."

"And you aren't exctly from St. Louis."

"Exactly."

"How could you tell? No one outside of our family knows but the Volturi."

"I have my ways." I blinked, and felt my blue contacts disintigrate to show my clear amber eyes. "Didnt' see that one coming did you?"

"I had, but I figured it was quite a ways down the road."

"Alright. You're a foreseer and I can tell talents. Extra abilities. Whatever you want to call them. I knew Emmett was like me as soon as I saw his eyes, but I could tell he doesn't have any extra talents."

"Well, this changes things. Edward'll be pissed."

"That's entirely possible." Our conversation was too soft for human ears and too fast even if they picked it up. "Let's go, Alice. Don't want to be late."

"Yeah. Ok." She laughed a bell chime laugh as I popped a new set of contacts into my eyes.

"I just thought of something. Emmett said he's your older brother. How are you in sophomore gym if you're a freshman?"

"Freshmen gym is the same hour as French 2. So they put me with the sophomores. No one ever really thought about that." She said as we walked onto the basketball court. "This way," she called as she jogged off around the court as Emmett appeared from the boys locker room. I caught up with her and the three of us paced ourselves to what would look like a fast run, but was really slow.

"Good to see you again, Mats." Emmett greeted as we rounded the first corner of our fourth lap. I glanced at Alice and we shared a smile.

"Can you not see the contacts?" Alice asked, low and fast as we ran past a group of girls.

"Well, yeah, but a lot of people wear contacts."

"Oh. Here comes Edward. Thought it too loudly. Jazz is the only clueless one now. Well, except Bella. But she's with Ed."

"I'm confused. I'm clueless What are you thinking too loudly, Alice?"

"Em, feel my skin." I held out my arm to him as we stopped by the rest of the group and pretended to pant. Emmett grabbed my forearm and gasped because it was the same as his. Cold, white marble and smooth as the finest silk.

"Ok. That doesn't really make sense. Your eyes."

"Alice, is he always this slow or is it just today?"

"Every once and a while. Edward is bringing Jazz and Bella. Time to escape. Ask to go to the bathroom and if I can go with you so you don't get lost." Alice turned to Emmett as I walked away. "Contacts. Color contacts, idiot."

"May I go to the bathroom?" I asked Ms. Baker. "Oh, and can Alice show me the way so I dont' get lost?"

"Of course," Ms. Baker said before she turnedaround to yell at someone. Alice flitted to my side as we watched Emmett walk into the locker room.

"This way, Mateja," Alice directed, purposefully loud enough for Ms. Baker to hear her. The rest she said quietly, so only we could hear. "Em knows where to go. Come on, we need to change then go to the parking lot." I followed her out of the locker room and into a sprint until we reached a silver Volvo, where there were more vampires waiting. "Edward, calm down. Jazz, help please?"

"You--," I pointed at the copper haired boy, "can read minds. You --," I pointed to the blond boy, "control emotional climates. And you--," I pointed to the only girl in the waiting group "are a shield." I was still in my trance. too many different new talents at one time. I took a minute to regain power over my brain, and snapped out of my trance to focus on a group of slightly confused vampires.

"Alice, how does she know that?" The blond boy asked while he put his arm around Alice's waist. The copper haired boy was fuming. I felt a wave of calm rush over our little group.

"Thank you, Jasper." Oh. Ok. The blond on is Jasper, Jazz. "Edward, it's okay. Really." The copper haired is Edward. And the girl is Bella.

"But you said--," Edward started.

"Can I explain? Please? It's my story." I interrupted.