Aiyana (Twilight)

↩ F O U R ↪

My eyes seemed to be glued to the group who walked into the cafeteria from the outside door. I had never seen anything, or anyone, like them before. There were five of them all together, and they had to have been related, but they seemed to be so close in age. Only, their youth seemed to hide a timeless aura around them.

"The Cullens," Lauren spoke up from across the table.

I watched as one of the boys eyes shot over to our table. I looked down quickly. It was as if he was staring right through me.

"The Cullens?" I asked, my throat suddenly dry.

"Weird family," Bella muttered next to me.

"They're all....together," Lauren continued.

"Isn't that ince-"

"They were all adopted, though. So, technically they're not doing anything wrong." Angela interrupted quickly.

"Still related. Still weird," Lauren rolled her eyes.

"Look. Big one there? That's Emmett. He's with the blonde girl - Rosalie Hale." Jess pointed them out individually, "She and Jasper are twins. Jasper is with Alice," her finger trailed lazily to the petite girl next to him. Her eyes snapped to our table for half a second. It was as if she heard her name. Maybe Jess was loud.

"And last but not least, Edward Cullen."

My eyes focused on the last of the Cullens. He was slimmer than the other boys but it was hard to ignore the muscle under his sweater. His hair was an auburn color and his eyes were sunken and black. Pitch black.

"And he doesn't have a favorite sister?" I mused, earning a few snickers from the table.

"He doesn't think he's good enough for anyone here," Jess pouted.

I swore I saw the faintest hint of a smirk pull up the corner of his mouth.  I wanted to see it again, but the bell interrupted my thoughts. One of the boys, Mike, had pestered me about my schedule until he figured out we had next hour biology together. I couldn't help but smile as he offered to walk me to class.

He chatted the whole way there, and I simply nodded my head as I listened. For once that day, I made it on time to class. I hung my jacket on the coat rack by the door as I turned to face the teacher. He was turned around busying himself with some papers. Thats when my eyes caught him.

Edward Cullen. He was seated at the second lab table from the front, right next to the only empty seat in the classroom. Looks like I found my lab partner. One issue though, he was glaring at me as if I had two heads and killed his mother.

"Ms. Clearwater," the teacher greeted me as he signed off on my sheet. "Aiyana, is that right?"

I shook my head yes. He waved a hand across the classroom.

"Please, take whichever seat you'd like," he chuckled at his own joke.

"Good one," I shot him a thumbs up as I slid into the chair next to Cullen.

The microscopes were set up today so I figured I had wandered into the middle of a lab. I groaned as I realized it was over mitosis.

"Excuse me?"

A musical voice surprised me. His voice was like velvet. Soft and fluid.

"Ah, my bad," I apologized as I realized my bag was crowding his space.

That was it. That's where the conversation stopped. He never said another word to me during class, even during the lab. He filled the paper out without so much as asking me if I wanted to look through the scope. When he finished, though, he scrawled my name next to his.

Aiya Clearwater.

"Hey, cool, everyone's called me Aiyana since I got here," I tried to start the conversation back up.

I thought I saw that lovely smirk float across his face again, but it was gone the next second. My papers floated off my desk as the teacher flipped the fan on. A fan? In this weather? I hurried to grab my papers but they were already tucked away neatly under my folder. I turned to thank Edward but the bell rang and in the next second he was up and out the door.

"Nice to meet you, too," I rolled my eyes as I made my way to my last class period.

I tried to brush off the weird mixed signals I got from the Cullen family as I walked back into the receptionists office with Jess. I had to admit to her that I had gotten lost again and she offered to walk me on the way to her car.

"How was your first day?"

"Pretty alright. You guys have been wonderful. Thanks again for showing me around today, Jess," I smiled.

"Not just today, silly." She swat my arm. "You're with us now, got it?"

I was surprised by her declaration of our friendship, but thankful. I didn't know what I would do alone for the next two years. I didn't know how to respond so I just smiled.

"God, bio was weird," I admitted as I saw the Cullen sisters getting into a sporty red car.

"Do tell! With Mike, right?"

She was practically pulling my arm off in excitement. I didn't know if it was because she was a gossip or just looking for something to spice up the normal little Forks high school.

"And that Edward kid," I rolled my eyes, "My new lab partner. He blew me off every time I tried to talk to him. He smiled maybe once but even that I'm not sure of."

"I wouldn't take it personal," she said, although I could see the pleased glint in her eyes. "He doesn't think anyone is good enough for him."

As we walked into the receptionists office my eyes laid on an all too familiar face.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," I muttered.

I caught the end of the heated conversation with the kind lady behind the counter and I didn't like what I was hearing. Not only was he trying to switch out if biology, which I could only assumed was because of me, but his tone was far too angry for me to listen to.

"Hey, why don't you lay off? She already said it's too late in the semester," I stepped between him and the desk, hoping to get some distance between the two.

His eyes were impossibly dark now. I could see dark, purple shadows under them, which made it all that worse. He was glaring at me with the type of stare I saw in wild dogs before they attacked the neighborhood cat.

"Uh, Aiyana, let's..." Jess grabbed my arm tentatively after she saw the tension between Edward and I.

"Don't worry. I'll be going," the velvet voice spoke softly, harsh. He turned to thr receptionist, "My apologies."

I was left in a daze as he stormed out of the cramped office. I could faintly hear Jess asking Mrs. Cope if she was alright, but everything seemed muffled compared to his voice. I longed to hear it again.
And again.
And again.
I blinked in surprise as Jess reached in my bag to hand my slip to Mrs. Cope.

"Aiyana? She asked how your first day was," Jess nudged me.

"It was lovely. Thank you."