Hide & Seek

I straightened my back, trying to look confident. I don't think it was working that well. These people hated me. I could tell by the unsure look on Bella's face as she walked over, but Edward's was the complete opposite. It was like her understood everything. I saw Bella whisper to him before walking away to talk with Mr. Reid.

She showed him a dazzling smile, asked him to go to either the nurse or the office (I wasn't sure which). When she exited through the door, she sent me a look with her smoldering, black eyes, and strutted off with the door closing behind her.

My jaw almost drop. Did she hate me that much? I hadn't even spoken a word to her, and she hated me! That's just wrong. Did she not like me talking to Nessie? How could someone as sweet and sensitive as Nessie be like that?

"Hello. Copper, is it?" Edward's voice was smooth, enchanting even. It made me jump slightly because i was so caught up in my thoughts. "Oh, I'm sorry to startle you. I'm Edward." He smirked slightly, almost as if there was an inside joke to all of this.

"Nice to meet you. You're Nessie's brother, right?" I kept having to pull away from my thoughts of how beautiful he was. I kept getting dazzled...

"Yes, that's right." He gave me a crooked smile. I didn't say anything after that.

After a moment of silence, the absence of Bella gave me an excuse to break the ice. "Where did Bella go? Is she alright?"

A look of anger flashed in his amber eyes. I instantly regretted asking that. I didn't want anymore hate sent me way today. I got enough of it at lunch.

"Don't worry about her. She's just a bit under the weather. The rain is taking a toll on her." I could barely sense the lie that was etched in his words, but I went along with his excuse anyways.

"Well tell her to get better soon. Tea with honey and soup help." I tried to play along, being as dumb as I could.

"Yes, something like that will bring her back up to good health." I could sense the sarcasm in his words easily, this time.

It was giving even farther evidence to Arty's theory (or truth) to them not being human. Not to mention the unusual gold irises.

He must have noticed the look on my face for he quickly changed the subject. "We should probably get started on the project. It seems pretty complex."

Complex for a sixth grader, sure, but not for him. He seemed incredibly smart by the way he talked...

"Of course, I'll take it home and start on it if you like. My brother would most likely like to put his two cents in."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'll take it home until Bella gets better. I have nothing more exciting to do." The bell rang right then, surprising me about how fast class flew by.

"No, don't worry about it Arizona. I'll bring it back tomorrow. Don't worry about it." This time, it was he who disappeared in the blink of an eye.

My jaw really did drop this time. No one called me that. Only my dad. And it was only because I was born in Tucson, Arizona - Arizona was known as "The Copper State" back then and that's how I got my nickname. No one called me that. So... how did he know it?

Had he possibly figured out where my name came from? No, he couldn't be that smart...

I had known Edward for merely forty-five minutes and he knew my nickname for dad. It was like he knew my past...

Paranoia was starting to take over my senses.

I realized that Arty and Tate were waiting for me. Arty reached down and closed my laptop still on my desk. "Need some help?"

"Yeah," I mumbled, my mind becoming foggy.

As Arty and Tate walked me out to the parking lot, I tuned out of their conversation about the project and grabbed the bottle of Relief from my bag and popped two out. I swallowed them dry since I didn't have anything to drink, and I really wanted my head to become clear again. I glanced over at my car, stumbling slightly when I noticed two figures standing beside my car. When I blinked, they disappeared.

I rubbed at my temples, cursing my mind for playing tricks on me. When I took off in my old car, unanswered questions filled my head. The Swan-Mason-Dwyers and the picture in the little girl's room. Edward, somehow, knowing my long lost nickname. Why the family hated me so much. And why, at that very moment, it felt like my very own thoughts were being read.

I pushed the haunting thoughts away and rubbed at my temples, again, with one hand.

"Calm down, Copper. There has to be an explanation to all of this... one that will totally blow your mind, but there is an explanation nonetheless." Mom always said paranoia went away if you talked to yourself. I was beginning to think otherwise.

I looked up and noticed I was heading in the wrong direction. "Damnit," I cursed and did a quick U-turn before speeding down the road and to the turnoff for my house. I sped down the winding path to the house. I parked in the garage and practically flew to my room. I didn't even answer mom's question of "How was school?"

I dropped on my bed, book bag still clutched in my hand. My eyes were facing the closed closet door. Ever sense I had told mom about it and put my things up, it wouldn't open up again. I was baffled by this, completely baffled. I couldn't check the loose floorboard now. I groaned and looked away from the door.

My thoughts were turning back to the family of a hundred and plus year old teens that were now my classmates.

I almost got up to take a shower since I felt sticky from all the humidity in the air from today. I'd just take one after dinner... For right now, I had some exploring to do.