First Contact with Edythe

 Art class moved along at its normal pace and Alice was in a very good mood, When I asked her about it, she just said "My family is whole again." I didn't know what to make of that but was just happy that she was happy, I guess. 

 Jasper didn't make it today to walk Alice to class, so I walked her alone. We just talked about art and some of the ideas we had. I dropped her off at her math class and proceeded to Government, not really paying attention. 

 When Government class was over, I opened the door to see it snowing again and laughed at Bella's look of distaste. Snowballs flew around occasionally but no one tossed one my way. I was happy for that, of course, the thought of the size of snowball my hands could make along with some idea of the force behind me throwing something, could have been the reason no one tossed one my way. 

 Regardless I was happily dry when I made it to Biology. Mr. Banner was placing microscopes on everyone's table along with a box of slides. As I sat down, Mr. Banner came to my desk "Don't worry if you can't answer all the slides Thomas, I will take into consideration you are working solo on this lab." 

 I just thanked him and looked it over; it seemed like we were identifying the phases of an onion root. Sorry to disappoint Mr. Banner but I had done this lab before and with the much more difficult Whitefish blastula. It took me all of 10 minutes to get them all done. When Mr. Banner saw me just sitting there, he came to me, and I explained how I had finished so quickly. He looked at me suspiciously and just walked back to his desk shaking his head. 

 My next class was still my favorite, I just loved working with numbers. They were a constant that never changed. Luckily my distaste for the teacher Mr. Varner didn't mean anything to my test scores. I sat in my seat and waited for class to begin, but just before the bell rang the door opened one last time. In walked the pail beauty of Edythe Cullen. I was again struck by her appearance, standing at 5ft 11in I guessed again, with her long bronze hair pulled back into a careless ponytail. 

 She had the fit girl look and moved with a grace and power that was easy to see if you knew what to look for. She handed a piece of paper to Mr. Varner and said, "I wasn't finding trigonometry very challenging, so I requested a change to this class." Her voice was matter of fact, and not at all asking for his approval. Hardly waiting for his response, she turned and headed for the only empty seat in the room, right next to mine. The funny thing is that I didn't notice the seat there last week, empty or otherwise. 

 I will say with confidence that I did not drool as this very attractive girl approached me, but that's about all I can say. My eyes took in her shapely arms and legs but still voluptuous body and there was a new file opened in my brain specifically for her. She wore a pair of low-waist blue jeans that were split up the bottom seam a few inches to flair over her shoes. A cream top that worked well with her bronze hair started at her neck and had long sleeves, but the lower half of the shirt was short enough to show off her toned abs and belly button. It was slightly scandalous for this small town, but I had seen much more skin displayed by the schoolgirls in Phoenix. 

 "Seen enough?" A velvet-smooth voice asked from beside me. 

 "Nope, I'll want to look again as soon as I get the chance," I replied instantly. Then, I blushed at my own response. "Sorry, that came out as rude." 

 She stared at me for a moment and then I saw a flash of pain come over her face for a brief second. 

 "Are you ok? You looked like you were in pain for a moment." Thomas whispered so as to not draw the attention of the teacher. 

 "I am ok, I pulled a muscle the other day. It hurts if I move wrong." She said, looking down. 

 Thomas looked at her pale face that was so like yet unalike Alice's. He barely noticed the feature any longer. "Even as young as we are, if we are doing something strenuous, stretching is always worth it." I offered her my wisdom. 

 She smirked at me, "I will try and keep that in mind. I am Edythe by the way, though I am sure you heard that from your lunch squad." 

 Thomas smiled, "My name is Thomas Raizel, it is good to meet you, Edythe. I haven't seen you since my first day, Alice said you had a family emergency. I hope it all worked out ok." 

 "Oh? Been here only a week and you already noticed my absence after the first day. Should I be charmed you think so highly of me already?" Her voice had a challenging tone to it that I didn't really like. 

 "Why would my opinion of you matter? Your absence made my friend sad, watching her draw pictures like that made me feel bad for her. You would be surprised how the emotions of an artist affect their work." The anger inside me was stoked a bit by this girl, and her stuck-up attitude. 

 She looked startled at my response and turned her head to indicate the discussion was over. I didn't mind the silence, I just started working on some math problems in the book to help me calm down. 

 The rest of the class passed by with me concentrating on how different theorems affected different problems. Not that many would work on the same problem, but it was fun to work the processes out. I remembered the movie Hidden Figures with a genius mathematician using old math proofs from hundreds of years ago to solve modern issues, well modern for the timeframe of the movie that is. Taraji Henson was terrific in the role, and it was an exceptional story. 

(A.N. Yes, I know the movie didn't come out until 2017 but I liked it enough to mention it. Besides it's an AU story.)

 My random thoughts were interrupted by the bell that signaled the end of class and the beginning of lunch. As I stood up, I looked over at Edythe, "I am glad that you came back quickly, and I hope everything works out with the issues you and your brother had to leave for. See you tomorrow." Not giving her a chance to reply I made my way to the door and walked towards my locker. 

 As I put my books away and closed my locker. I was startled by Edythe who was standing next to me, but I hadn't seen her until I closed the door. I just looked at her waiting for her to say something, but she just stared at me, lost in thought. 

 "Can I help you? Do you want the assignments or notes from the last week of class?" 

 Edythe's eyes sharpened as if she had made a decision and she moved closer to me. She looked into my eyes with her light honey-gold eyes, and I felt lost in them for a brief moment. The shape of her eyes mixed with the unusual color made them all the more impactful up close. I was at a loss of what to do, so I just relaxed and resisted the urge to step back because of the overwhelming sweet scent coming from her breath. 

 "You need to convince your sister to stay away from my brother Edward for her own good, and forget I told you this." As soon as she broke eye contact with me, she stepped around me to walk away. 

 I was stunned for a fraction of a second. Then her words played in my head once again, and I was LIVID! I turned to look at her retreating figure "Just who the FUCK, do you think you are?" 

 At my words, I saw Edythe stop and turn to face me. She then looked around as if to see who I was talking to. She appeared to be shocked when she saw my eyes locked on her own. Surprisingly the hallway was empty at the moment except for the two of us. 

 "First of all, Miss. Cullen. I don't know what my sister thinks of your brother, so far as I know they have only had one class together before your emergency took you both from town. Second, if your brother is so weak that he needs his sister to help undercut Bella, then she will no doubt see that about him and step over the shallow puddle he is without a backward glance. Finally, if it is as you suspect, and my sister feels something for your brother and he returns that feeling, then good luck. She is one of the most stubborn people I have ever met."