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In the quiet murmur of the next morning, Edward sat on his bed tying his shoes. Heavy, grey clouds covered the light blue sky and turned his room a gloomy mauve. Ready for the day, he stood and swung the backpack next to his bed over his shoulders. It was the first day of the new semester, and Edward was looking forward to his seventeenth graduation. No, eighteenth. He'd lost track.

He exited his room and walked down the hall to check on Ruben. His door was closed, and he knocked to see if he was awake.

"What?" came from inside the room.

Edward opened the door a crack to make sure he was ready. Inside, Ruben lay in his silk pajamas in his plush, velvet coffin. It was wide open, and one of his arms was draped over the side onto the same dog he had been with earlier.

"We're leaving in ten minutes," he reminded Ruben.

"I know," said Ruben. "I think I'll stay home. I have a stomachache." He stared at the ceiling, unblinking.

Sighing, Edward entered. "That's because you hadn't eaten fresh food for six months. Your body gets used to all the stale blood." He moved to pull Ruben out of the coffin, but the shepherd growled and refused to let him pass.

"I think I'm dying."

"Ruben, we've been over this. You go for two years, and then you can have two years to yourself. Like always." Edward peered over the boy.

Ruben rolled over onto his stomach.

"I promised Colin you would behave."

"Colin wants to send me to live with those savages," he muttered, resting his chin on his hands.

Groaning, Edward made to grab at Ruben again. The dog growled more, but this time Ruben hushed it and it became complacent. Edward lifted Ruben out of the coffin and set him on his feet. "First off, they aren't savages," he said as he pulled an outfit from the closet and tossed it at the boy. "And second, he does not want to do that. But he does want you to go to school."

Ruben deliberated for a moment. Then, he pushed Edward out of the room and closed the door.

"Five minutes!" Edward said as he turned and walked down the stairs.

On the first floor, Edward swung by the living room to wish Eva a good day. Then, he headed to the garage. His silver volvo awaited him, and he twirled his keychain as he watched the garage door open. When it was up, he slipped into the driver's seat and checked his watch. There was no way they'd be on time today.

Moments later, Ruben emerged. He hopped in the backseat and sat with his head in his hands. More brooding, Edward thought. He was particularly peeved that his sister was nowhere to be seen. Minutes went by without any sign of her, until she finally passed through the garage with her husband.

"I'll pick you up at lunch?" the burly man asked her.

She nodded, "I'll see you then," and kissed him.

Edward honked.

The girl continued the kiss until the honking became unbearable. Then, she waved goodbye and sat herself in the passenger seat. "Rude." She ran her fingers through her auburn bob.

"We're late, Rosalie," Edward said in dismissal, starting up the car. They sped down the long driveway and headed into town.

The siblings pulled into one of the last parking spots at Aberdeen High. They were five minutes late for the final bell, but made no hurry as they collected their things and headed for class. Rosalie started to walk off towards another part of the school, but Edward stopped her, "We have to get Ruben's schedule."

She raised an eyebrow, "Can't you do it yourself?"

Edward shook his head.

"... Well, if it gets me out of class I don't mind." They walked across campus to the administration office and went inside. There, a brunette girl was at one counter filling out forms, and another student walked in late down the hallway. Edward got an administrator's attention at the counter by the brunette.

He pulled out his ID and placed it on the counter. "Good morning Mrs. Harris, my brother needs to be registered for classes this semester. Could you help us?"

A stout, white-haired woman picked up the ID and examined it. She nodded and smiled at the three Cullens, "Another one of the Doctor's sons? Let's see here..." The woman shuffled through a stack of papers while the family watched. She became impatient, but soon found the information she was looking for and placed the schedule on the table.

Edward looked it over for a moment. He frowned as he reviewed the classes Ruben would be taking, "I'm so sorry, but I believe Ruben is meant to be in the advanced courses? It's possible my father didn't get the information through in time. He's very busy."

Mrs. Harris took the paper back from Edward. "Oh dear... I'm sure if he's with your family, he belongs with the honor students. Let me check if your counselor is here, okay? We can get that fixed up." She smiled with fondness in her worn eyes.

When she went behind another door to sort the issue, Edward rolled his eyes at his siblings. Ruben locked eyes with him and said telepathically, "This is some sort of academia hell. As if vampirism wasn't enough." Edward snickered at the remark.

A tap on his shoulder brought Edward back to his senses. He turned to see the other administrator on duty trying to speak with him.

"Edward, what classes are you taking?" asked the tall blonde.

He rested his arms on the counter, "I've got biology, fourth year Spanish, physics two, twentieth century history, musical theory, and English. All advanced."

"Oh wonderful," she gestured to the girl she had been working with. "Could you take Miss Swan to biology with you? She's new this semester."

"Well..." Edward turned to Rosalie. He motioned toward Ruben, "Could you watch him?"

Rosalie regarded her brother with displeasure. "Yes. But I'm leaving at lunch."

"I know, I'll be there at lunch. Thanks." He patted Ruben's shoulder, "I'll see you in a few hours. Stay out of trouble. Please."

The boy nodded.

Edward then replied to the administrator, "Looks like that'll be fine." The new student took up her schedule and stepped away from the counter to follow Edward, who had instructed her to do so. He held the door for her and they walked into the hallway, which was empty because of their lack of punctuality.

Before they went to find the classroom, Edward held out his hand. She accepted the handshake and he introduced himself, “I’m Edward, good to meet you.”

“I’m Bella,” she gave him a warm smile, cheeks rosy from the winter weather. They began their walk through the school and she held her schedule close to her, gazing at her new surroundings in awe.

“You’re new, then?” asked Edward.

“Yeah, I just got into town last week. It’s pretty cold here!” She shivered in her layered outfit.

“Oh,” Edward chuckled, “it is winter. You do look prepared for it, though. We shouldn't be having much more snow than this, and otherwise it’s just a lot of rain.” He stuck his hands in the pockets of his coat, “Where are you from? Somewhere warm?”

Bella nodded, “Arizona. I can honestly say that I had never even experienced snow before I got here… My dad had me buy a whole new wardrobe when I arrived because he didn’t want me freezing to death. You aren’t cold?”

“Can’t say that I am,” Edward shrugged. “But you’ll get used to it. January is the coldest, so it will only get better from here.” They walked in silence for a minute, then he tried to continue the conversation, “Your father lives here?”

Bella nodded, “My parents are divorced, and my father lives here. My mom just got remarried, so I thought I’d come out here and live with him for a while so they could have a break.” She crossed her arms, “Even if the weather sucks.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. So many divorces nowadays…” Edward trailed off. He wasn’t sure how much he could say about himself - this was always the tricky part about meeting new people. Should he tell this person, whom he may never see again outside of his biology class, about his siblings and his father’s generous ‘adoption’ habits? His deceased parents? Their nomadic lifestyle? Or wait for her to ask? He settled on the latter, and started on a different topic as they walked up the stairs. “Do you enjoy biology”?

“It’s interesting,” she said, “and I’m good at it. But I like English more. My friend Douglas, back in Arizona, he wrote a lot of poetry and he liked to read me all sorts of stuff because he was so into literature.” Bella looked at her feet, shying away from her host.

“Ah. So far the English course has been fairly standard, we just started Hamlet,” Edward noticed that they were in the correct hall and began looking out for their classroom.

“Hamlet? We finished that right before break started. Too bad I’ll have to learn about it again, but at least I liked it.”

“Without a doubt we’ll be reenacting it; you should find that entertaining in the least.” He stopped in front of one of the doors and put his hand on the knob. “Well I hope you like lectures too, because I’m sure that’s all we’ll be doing in this class,” Edward turned it and entered the classroom.

Inside, the room was decorated with all posters and articles relating to the biological sciences. The lab-style desks each housed a potted plant, and many others sat on the sills of several great windows. A man a few inches shorter than Edward stood at the front of the classroom, glasses on crooked and patchy beard looking more scraggly than usual. He crossed his arms as his student entered, and started:

“Late, Edward?”

When Bella entered the room behind him, the teacher re-evaluated the situation. Edward spoke up, “I was just showing this new student to her class, I hope you forgive my tardiness Mr. Reed.” Then, with a bitter smile, he sat down in the front row at the only empty lab desk.

The teacher held out his hand and introduced himself, “Right of course, I’m Mr. Reed and welcome to biology, Miss…”

“Swan. Bella Swan,” she gave his hand one good shake, then turned a bit to survey the class. A whisper ran through the students.

“You can have a seat next to Edward, then. We just had a seat change and those two seem to be the only ones left, since you weren’t here when class started.” He ushered Bella to her chair and she wasted no time in sitting down and pulling out a notebook. The teacher moved to his spot back at the whiteboard, picking up his marker to resume his speech on cellular respiration.

Edward retrieved his notebook from his backpack and set it on the table. He flipped through it, careful of the ripping pages and bent metal spiral, until he found the section they were working on today. An eternity of schooling left him taking the same notes every time they moved to a new school, so he started saving his notes to keep his mind from going numb. Instead of copying the diagram on the board, he slipped another, smaller journal from his backpack and opened to a blank page.

He attempted to write an entry, noting the date and time on the top line, and commenced scribbling down his thoughts. He described Ruben’s unwillingness to leave, and how the administrators gave him an incorrect schedule. Then, Edward found himself describing the girl he’d met, Bella Swan. She was intelligent, he noted, and held herself with poise and grace, although she didn't sound too happy to be here. He, for one, was enjoying the climate and surrounding areas. The game was not as fierce as it was in Alaska, but the cover of the forests and clouds was always appreciated by his family. It was much more comfortable than Texas or Nevada. They visited their homes in the warmer states for a few years at a time in case of emergency or possible discovery. Colin was immaculate in his record, however, and the coven had not had one slip up since Rosalie's husband Francis first joined them in 1935. That was behind them now, and further protocols were in order that kept new members from ruining their reputation.

This was the reason for keeping Ruben out of school, Edward wrote. He refused to hunt animals, after centuries of complying with the rules, and became quite savage in his insistence on drinking human blood. For months, the coven force-fed him animal blood that they collected so Ruben would not be a hazard to the community with his thirst. They were lucky the boy returned to his old habits, or Colin would have had to take more extreme measures to eep his family safe from detection.

Finishing his sentence, Edward put down his pen. He stretched his fingers and turned to shuffle through his backpack. His hand grazed a small metal canister, and he sighed with relief. He'd brought a snack today and was constantly paranoid that somehow he would lose it.

He sat up stright and when he made to pick his pen back up, Edward instead grabbed a folded square of paper. He peeked at Bella, who was taking notes in a rainbow of colours, and opened it:

Where is D13? I have government next!!

Edward sketched out a map of the building to point her in the right direction. Although he had been to countless schools in his life, his sense of direction had never failed him. He wrote ‘I hope this helps’, and slid the paper to his neighbour when the teacher had his back turned. Bella pushed her wavy brown hair behind her ear and dropped the note into her lap to read it. A moment later, Edward felt a tap on his foot and looked over to find her showing him her notes. She had written 'Thanks!' in a multitude of colours, and he gave her a curt nod and smile in reply.

The dull class came to an end and Edward picked up his backpack to head to his next class. "It was nice to meet you," he said as he pushed passed Bella, who was speaking with the teacher. She waved to him without looking up, and he pushed her out of his mind to make room for Ruben's thoughts. He tried to find the boy through the bustling crowd of people, but settled on the idea that he must be too far away from him to create a stable telepathic link. When he gave up trying to communicate, he made his way into the adjacent building. Edward's next class, Spanish, was a breeze. He had grown up speaking Spanish to his parents, and nothing could be easier for him.

When lunch rolled around, Edward was able to locate Ruben through telepathy and met him inside the cafeteria at a small, secluded table. The boy looked worn out as he took a seat opposite his adoptive brother, plopping his backpack on the table. Edward did the same and said:

"How is everything going?"

Ruben sighed. "I should have drank more." He slumped onto the table.

"I knew it was too soon," Edward grumbled. "But we can't risk being away any longer. You know, child services. It's hard enough with Lucia." He searched through his jacket pockets, "I have something to tide you over, though." Edward scooted his chair over so he was right next to Ruben, and handed him the metal flask.

The boy flipped it open and gave it a sniff. "Animal, yeah?" Ruben tried to be discrete as he took a sip. And another. And another.

Edward took the flask back before he drained it all, drinking some himself. "Yes, animal. I don't know about you, but I would never cross Colin to get at his stash." He put it back in his jacket.

"I know, it's for emergencies," Ruben reclined in his seat. "But I have to wonder - does it really taste any different?"

"No," Edward lied. He knew that if he told the boy it was the same as animal blood, he might stop trying to get his hands on a human. He only hoped Ruben didn't ask some of the newer members of their coven - many of them subsisted on humans for a period of time before they met Colin.

"Oh," said Ruben. He pulled a bottle from his backpack drank some water. Then, he bared his teeth at Edward, "All clean?"

Edward nodded and slipped on his backpack. The two of them stood up as the bell rang and they headed out of the cafeteria. In the doorway, Edward spotted the girl he had shown around earlier. Bella? He waved and she smiled, but a couple of other girls ushered her away through the crowd.

His next classes were one long blur. During these blocks of boredom, Edward entertained himself by writing music. He'd taken music theory classes nearly every time he was forced into secondary schooling, and he took piano lessons as a child when his parents had extra money. So he composed but never published, for fear of becoming known to the general population and being eradicated by the Volturi. He never even participated in the school orchestra - one hundred years of practice would put him much too far ahead of the other students. Although he would love to perform, he refrained.

The day ended with English, and Edward sat in his seat five minutes before class started. He leafed through his battered copy of Hamlet - broken spine, littered with annotations - and waited for the rest of the students to show. Someone sat in the seat beside him and he paid no attention to them, assuming it was his acquaintance Josh. He wrote a few words at the top of a page, but was interrupted when the person next to him slid their copy of Hamlet onto his desk. Upon looking up, Edward saw that it was Bella who had taken Josh's seat.

"You like Hamlet, I guess?" she asked him, putting her book back on her desk.

"Uh, yes, I do," said Edward, closing his book. He sat up straight in his seat, glancing at her own literature, "You do too?"

"Yeah, it was good. I think I told you this earlier, but we had already finished Hamlet at my other school," Bella shrugged.

"I'd say it's one of Shakespeare's finer works," Edward said. "Have you seen it live?"

She looked at him, astonished, "You mean, in a theatre? I wish."

"It's certainly worth it. Everything is better on stage."

"Are you in drama?" Bella asked, tilting her head.

"Oh, no no," Edward shook his head. "I prefer not to perform."

"Maybe you should try it sometime. I do ballet, maybe you could-" Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out, "Sorry, my friends back home are freaking out because they want to know everything." She laughed, "Okay, mostly my mom..."

The final bell rang and Bella stowed her phone. She was introduced to the class by their teacher, but the rest of the day otherwise proceeded as planned with an introductory lecture to Hamlet and the history of Denmark. Because Bella had made it clear that she was well-versed on Hamlet, she was called on often and Edward could sit back and relax. In most classes, his teachers looked to him to answer the mundane questions that he'd heard too many times before, but today he immersed himself in his composition without distraction.

Class ended quicker than he realized, and he hurried to clean up his scrawlings. As he shoved everything in his backpack, he heard Bella say:

"Are you late for something?"

He nodded. Ruben wasn't fit to be around humans - he needed to get the boy out to take him hunting again before he hurt someone.

"Oh okay. I'll see you around, then," she said, strolling out of the classroom. As soon as Edward was ready to go, he sprinted out and down the hall to the parking lot. The temptation to flit down in a split second was great - but years of practice kept him at a human pace.

He met Ruben at his volvo in the parking lot. The boy covered his mouth and looked like he was in agony. Edward unlocked the car and they both hopped in, and as he hit the gas they screeched out of the lot and down the road.

"Are you hurt?" he asked the boy, eyebrow raised.

Ruben sat in the passenger's seat, hunched over himself. He released his breath and coughed, then muttered, "I could have killed all of them."

He looked over his shoulder at Edward. Black bags lay under his dull grey eyes and his razor sharp fangs could be seen over his bottom lip. His nostrils flared with every labored breath as he scented for the very life-giving substance that flowed through his brother's veins.

"My god..." whispered Edward.

They drove on in silence.