Imperceptible [Edward Cullen] •book 1

Chapter 6

"See how she leans her cheek upon her hand.

O, that I were a glove upon that hand

That I might touch that cheek!"

― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Edward

The day had started normally for Edward. Well, as normal as a telepathic vampire's life could get.

He'd been absent from school on Monday and Tuesday. His weekend visit to the Denali coven being extended due to Tanya's request for him to stay longer. And although Tanya's pursuits could get slightly exasperating, being with his 'cousins' was a welcome distraction from the monotony of his daily life.

Unfortunately, when he'd gotten to school that Wednesday he was once again plagued with the irksome thoughts of the Forks High students, most of which were buzzing with excitement over the new girl.

Chief Swan's daughter, Isabella, was causing quite the stir in the simple minds of the teenagers. Even now as he sat in History, Mike Newton was thinking of how to ask Bella to go on a date with him despite it only being her second day.

He'd seen her countless times in the minds of the teenagers. An ordinary girl yet all the males were already picturing themselves in love with her.

He shook his head at the absurdity of humans. Was this his punishment? Eternity surrounded by hormonal teenagers with the attention spans of goldfish?

Next to him sat an unfamiliar girl with cocoa skin and dark hair. This was the first time Edward had seen this girl in his three years of attending this school and this very class.

She was very beautiful, a subtle beauty, but beautiful nonetheless. Her black hair was pulled up into a messy bun, strands of her hair brushing against her face.

Her thoughts were mainly made up of songs. Almost as if... she was purposely trying to block them from him.

What was she hiding?

Although mysterious, Edward felt a magnetic pull drawing him towards her; trying to find out where it was stemming from was wrecking havoc on his mind.

Maybe it was her eyes, the deep brown he had briefly gotten a glimpse of before she turned her head down. Or her rich brown skin with cool, jewel undertones that seemed to be glowing in the badly lit room. Or maybe it was her lips. God, her lips.

Plum and sensuous with a small beauty spot on the left side of her mouth. He felt himself momentarily fall deeper into the spell she was unknowingly was casting on him.

She was wearing a bulky shirt that hid her frame well yet hung loosely on her shoulders and exposed her collar bone, keeping his gaze solely transfixed on the small expanse of smooth skin which was causing him to swallow down the venom collecting in his mouth.

Then it came. The seamless opening to hear her voice. Mrs Rodriguez had been thinking of grouping the class together personally for a while but quickly changed her mind when she glanced at Mike Newton and memories assaulted her of Mike Newton pestering her to choose his own partner.

He could say this was the first time he felt any type of gratefulness towards the grating boy.

He patiently waited for the students to group together before he could speak up.

"We have to partner up. Mrs Rodriguez has assigned the class a project worth 75% of our grade."

She looked up, startled to see that he was talking to her.