Chapter 1: Starts

"Bella…" Alice started, too loud for my liking.

"Not here, Alice," I responded, a hushed whisper in my voice that I alone knew she could hear. I instantly tried to extricate myself from her grasp.

"I don't understand. You're the same, but…" she responded, tightening her grip on me to prevent me from escaping, I assumed.

"Alice, I can explain everything. But, please," I pleaded with her, "not here. Let's go somewhere more private," I urged her so silently that no one else would be able to hear. Or so I thought.

He was there then, standing no more than five feet from me. He was here, right in front of me. I could smell him, could feel his beautiful eyes boring into me. So many memories, so many feelings long thought gone came flooding back to me, making me almost swoon from the overwhelming barrage of emotions that were starting to take hold. How could a simple day, like any other day, suddenly go so wrong? I was afraid to look up from Alice to meet his gaze before Alice spoke again.

"Bella," she started.

"NOT here," I whispered back. "Please, I'm begging you." I would explain everything; I just needed her to stop talking before someone overheard us and I would need to do major damage control or risk having to start all over again.

"Fine, but when can we talk? Things aren't making any sense right now, and I'm not letting you go without talking about it, not after all this time," she started to explain.

Just then, another familiar face came from behind Alice. Jasper. I managed a small, but polite smile in his direction. He looked pained to see me, but offered his hand as a greeting. I took it and shook it gently, before addressing him.

"Jasper." I started, "Well, this is certainly starting to become a reunion of sorts."

"Bel-" he started.

I cut him off.

"Look, I have an hour before my class. I can't possibly explain or answer all of your questions in that time, but I can at least start. Will that suffice for now? I can't possibly stress to you both how difficult this will make things for me if I start this conversation in the middle of a crowded reception area. Will you please follow me? I promise you'll get all the information that you need." I thought. Just then I thought, but do they even want it or even care?

"Hello." His velvet voice carried over to me, snapping me out of the haze that had begun to take hold of my brain, allowing the panic to begin to set in. Without thinking, I looked up at him. The emotions coming at me were overwhelming, like I had just been hit by a semi. He looked exactly the same, so beautiful. He held paperwork in his hands, his long pale fingers fidgeting with each piece absent mindedly. His focus never left my eyes for a second. I had no idea how long we stood there, looking at each other. I knew that he would look exactly the same - the tall, lean figure, the messy, bronze colored hair and his piercing topaz eyes. The look in his eyes was impossible to decipher, but otherwise, he hadn't changed a bit. Hadn't aged - not that he would have, considering what he was. He looked exactly the same as that day when he left me in the forest, when my real life ended forever.

"Hello, Edward." I responded. "You, of course, are also welcome to join us. We had better get moving, before Alice starts jumping out of her skin. My office is in the next door building. Please follow me." I tried to sound professional, as I was acutely aware that several students and staff began staring at the three beautiful beings standing with me, as if I knew them. I wanted to avoid any type of introduction. What could I say?

Hello. This is Edward and Alice Cullen and Jasper Hale. I've known them since high school, where I fell in love with Edward, whose entire family is a coven of vampires. He left me after his brother tried to kill me the night of my eighteenth birthday…

STOP IT! I was screaming at myself internally before I finally got a grip on myself. If the situation arose, I would simply introduce them as high school acquaintances. Nothing more, nothing less. That is what I was to them. More pressing at the moment was the onslaught of questions that I knew would be coming from Alice.

We walked quickly through the building, me pausing just a moment to look outside. When I realized that the rain had started again, I quickly produced an umbrella for Alice and myself and stepped out into the fresh air. My senses started to clear and I headed off toward the building that housed my office. All four of us walked together in silence.

We entered the building, and I paused only for a moment to greet the front desk reception staff. Both the student employee and full-time staff member looked up at me and then noticed my companions. It was easy to see the admiration in their eyes as they took in their beautiful faces. I stifled a giggle before I spoke.

"Hello Kimberly. Hello Janice. Welcome back!" I started, trying to look and sound as unstressed as possible. "I need to not be disturbed for just a few minutes before class. Please don't allow anyone back just now. I would really appreciate it."

"Of course, Elizabeth. We were getting ready to close up shop for the night anyway. Do you need us to stick around?" Janice answered, looking at me expectantly.

It was always an unspoken rule to not be left alone with students, simply for safety's sake. I stifled another laugh before responding, "I'll be fine. Have a nice evening and I'll see you at the meeting tomorrow."

That seemed to satiate her. She still looked a bit dazed by Jasper and Alice. And Edward. How was I ever going to get through this?

I then started forward to my office, the other three following in complete silence. I fished my keys from my purse to open my rarely used office, when suddenly I realized they had dropped from my hand. In a flash, HIS hand caught them and handed them back to me. His skin touched mine for a brief second, a shock flying through my system, causing me to involuntarily take in a sharp breath. It brought back so many memories from high school… that day in the high school parking lot; the first time he touched me in biology, though it was completely unintentional. I fought to push those memories from my mind. I tried, in vain, not to wince as I took the keys back and started unlocking the door and switching on the light.

"Thank you," I uttered without looking up at him, but I could sense how close he was to me. I turned the key in the lock and opened the door, flipping on the overhead light. I motioned to the chairs sitting in front of my desk as well as the loveseat that sat against the wall, motioning for them to sit down. I removed my coat and set my belonging on the floor, next to my desk, before taking my own seat.

Jasper and Alice sat in two cushioned seats, facing opposite of me. Edward took a seat on the loveseat, leaning back, all the while staring intently at me. He sat as far away from me as possible - that figures. I can do this, I thought to myself. I quickly looked away and focused my full attention on Alice, who was barely containing herself while sitting forward in her chair, looking like she was about to pounce from her chair and pin me to the wall in her quest for information. Jasper gently put his hand on hers, and immediately, a sense of calm swept the room.

I hadn't felt that forced feeling in years and it caught me by surprise, before it began to seep into every cell of my body. "Thank you, Jasper. I think we all needed that," I said. I opened one of my desk drawers and pulled out a small remote, before turning on the small stereo in my office, turning the volume to something that would be appropriate, but keep prying ears from trying to listen in our conversation through the flimsy door. The strains of Chopin filled the office. I could delay this no longer.

I turned to Alice before I spoke. "I have an hour before my first class. I'm sure that you have many questions, but keep in mind that I most likely won't be able to answer them in the time I have. Alice, go ahead and start, before your head explodes."

Alice rose from her chair, her hands placed squarely on her hips and asked, "Bella, what happened to you?"