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CHAPTER FIFTEEN ᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴛs
From the moment I'd asked her about her evening in Port Angeles that morning, a blush had never left Bella's face. She talked about it all through English, carefully dodging Jessica's gaze each time she darted our way, eager to join the conversation. And even after that, it seemed that I wasn't the only one with a Cullen stuck in their thoughts.
I tried not to think of her. Alice herself had said to be wary of my thoughts, though for what reason I didn't know, and couldn't possibly begin to guess. But either way, I knew better than to ignore the warning. And as hard as I tried, she wouldn't leave my head.
The Cullens were aware of my knowledge to the fact that they were vampires. How that was possible, I wasn't entirely sure, but the idea of them realising my own identity would soon become more real that a mere bad dream.
Be careful of your thoughts. They're more revealing than you think.
Perhaps I was being paranoid in coming up with meanings behind her ominous warning. Or perhaps I was entirely sane. They were vampires, what was stopping them from having gifts far more obscure than mine? What was stopping them from being able to read my thoughts?
The single idea of it- of the intrusiveness -made me feel as if I'd suddenly been bound with rope, a string tugging at my mind each time I even thought about something revealing. But each time I looked their way, to the table by the window, the untouched food on the bench, Alice's gentle voice that drifted my way, or toward the table in the corner where Edward sat with Bella, it was all I could picture. If it was true, if one of the Cullens could read my mind... then there was no possibility of my truth being exactly what I thought it was- a secret.
But that lead to the question of Alice's confrontation from the evening before. She'd asked what I was. And if they could read my thoughts, then surely they would already know. They would have acted by now. Or perhaps she was testing me, probing me with a stick to see if I'd spill the truth. I knew I had to tell them sometime, but how and when, I wasn't brave enough to think of the answers.
The thoughts streamed through my mind as I walked away from the cafeteria, leaving Jess and Mike mid conversation. It was biology next, the dreaded lesson. I stepped outside, taking an early shortcut, but as I left the door, something blurred my way, pale skin clear in my eyesight.
I spun out of the way quick enough for Edward's hand to skim past me. I landed neatly against the wall, staring back at him as he stood still, eyes staring questioningly. While there was no malice in his gaze, no reveal of hidden intent, there was a doubtfulness, a sense unease as he stared me down.
"What are you doing?" I asked, clenching my fists against the wall.
"You're one of us," he said, teeth clenched. "You hid it. And I know why."
