twi saga | Page 8

I felt he was speaking quietly to them.
Strange, unpopular names, I thought. The kinds of n ames grandparents
had. But maybe that was in vogue here — small town n ames? I finally
remembered that my neighbor was called Jessica, a p erfectly common
name. There were two girls named Jessica in my Hist ory class back
home.
"They are… very nice-looking." I struggled with the conspicuous
understatement.
"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all together though
— Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they live
together." Her voice held all the shock and condemn ation of the small
town, I thought critically. But, if I was being hon est, I had to admit that
even in Phoenix, it would cause gossip.
"Which ones are the Cullens?" I asked. "They don't look related…"
"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in hi s twenties or early
thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins —
the blondes — and they're foster children."
"They look a little old for foster children."
"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen , but they've been
with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something
like that."
"That's really kind of nice — for them to take care of all those kids like
that, when they're so young and everything."

"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I got the impression that
she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some re ason. With the glances
she was throwing at their adopted children, I would presume the reason
was jealousy. "I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though," she
added, as if that lessened their kindness.
Throughout all this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to
the table where the strange family sat. They contin ued to look at the
walls and not eat.
"Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. Surely I would have noticed
them on one of my summers here.
"No," she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a
new arrival like me. "They just moved down two year s ago from
somewhere in Alaska."
I felt a surge of pity, and relief. Pity because, a s beautiful as they were,
they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. Relief t hat I wasn't the only
newcomer here, and certainly not the most interesti ng by any standard.
As I examined them, the youngest, one of the Cullen s, looked up and
met my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in hi s expression. As I
looked swiftly away, it seemed to me that his glanc e held some kind of
unmet expectation.
"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" I asked. I peeked at
him from the corner of my eye, and he was still sta ring at me, but not
gawking like the other students had today — he had a slightly frustrated
expression. I looked down again.
"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He
doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough
for him." She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd
turned her down.
I bit my lip to hide my smile. Then I glanced at hi m again. His face was
turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifte d, as if he were
smiling, too.
After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They
all were noticeably graceful — even the big, brawny one. It was
unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't lo ok at me again.
I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends lon ger than I would have if
I'd been sitting alone. I was anxious not to be lat e for class on my first
day. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me
that her name was Angela, had Biology II with me th e next hour. We
walked to class together in silence. She was shy, t oo.
When we entered the classroom, Angela went to sit a t a black-topped
lab table exactly like the ones I was used to. She already had a
neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but o ne. Next to the center
aisle, I recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual ha ir, sitting next to that
single open seat.

As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get
my slip signed, I was watching him