Chapter 4 – Even More Secrets (Federica)

Third day at school and Edward Cullen isn't there. I know why instantly. He was afraid of himself last time I'd seen him. Bella sang to him. I personally don't blame him for running. That's what any sane person… or sane vampire would do. It's a shame though. There were sparks between the two of them. Anyone that had seen them two next to each other knew this. It wasn't hard to see.

I walk into Spanish class and Emmett Cullen's eyes instantly fly to me. His first thoughts are of suspicion as he looks at me. So, he can tell that I have powers too. He's around people with powers on a daily basis so he shouldn't be too shocked. Well, they're vampires too, so I guess it would be strange to meet a human with powers.

His second thought it of Edward. So the little shit has run away to Alaska of all places. He ran from Bella and the way her blood sings to him. I suppose that it's only right. Even if there were sparks, I can't expect the lion and the lamb to grow fond of each other.

Instead of taking my normal seat next to Edward, I take Edward's seat next to Emmett who looks surprised and scared. He doesn't move at first. Actually, he's deathly still; too still.

"So, Emmett," I say and watch his face. He doesn't know how to respond. His thoughts are scattered and jumbled. "It would help if you would collect your thoughts," I say and smile deviously at him. His thoughts turn to swears and I laugh.

"What are you?" he asks in a low tone. He isn't sure about me anymore. It is frightening him.

"Me?" I ask with fake innocence. "I'm just your normal high school student." I smile innocently and he swallows. "What?"

"Don't play innocent," he says. "I know that you're not normal. All of us can tell that something is off about you."

"Well, I guess you're not as stupid as everyone else in this school," I reply and smirk at him. This makes him furrow his eyebrows but inside he's really entertained.

"Sit with us at lunch tomorrow and we'll discuss this," Emmett replies to my surprise. He doesn't want to talk about this now.

"Sounds good," I say and turn my attention towards the teacher.

I walk into the lunch room and Bella's eyes instantly fly to me. As I gather my lunch, she prods me with questions that I don't want to answer. She's not used to seeing me during school.

All eyes are on me as I take a seat at the Cullen's table. Emmett smiles; he didn't think that I would actually do it. Alice is confused, but she doesn't let it show. Jasper lets his confusion show clear as day and Rosalie glares at me. She thinks I'm making a move on her precious Emmett.

"Calm down, Princess," I say to her. "Emmett invited me to sit here because I have important matters to discuss with the four of you. I'm not trying to make a move on him," I inform her calmly and take a bite of my food.

Alice tries to restrain a smile. Just with those sentences I've won her over. She thinks that I'm funny. Jasper is still unsure. Rosalie is now embarrassed and mad. Emmett thinks that it was entertaining.

"What did you want to talk about?" Alice asks with her attention fully on me. She's smiling at me and I decide that I like her the best out of all of them.

"Edward," I say and take a bite of my apple. "Can you try and get him to come back?" I ask and everyone at the table instantly goes nuts with thoughts. "I know you've tried, but he has to come back."

"Why are you so concerned with him?" Rosalie asks defensively. "I don't think you need to be poking your head into our business."

"I guess that's true," I admit, "but it's my sister that he's hurting." Alice smirks. She already knows the future that lies ahead.

"How is he hurting your sister?" Rosalie asks in an offended tone. Really, if I weren't trying to do this peacefully, I would have punched her by now, which probably wouldn't be the best course of action (broken fist).

"Edward and Bella danced around each other," I say. "Alice, you know what I'm talking about." Alice smiles like she doesn't know what I'm talking about.

"I don't think you know what you're talking about," Rosalie says and I snap.

"Rosalie, can you not be so stuck up for a while?" I ask and she thinks something nasty about me. "I'm trying to employ your help. Is that so much to ask? I think it will benefit both our parties."

Rosalie looks about ready to cuss me out, but Alice stops her by saying, "Rosalie, Rica is right. We have to do everything in our power to get Edward back here."

"Thank you," I say. "You know your brother is lonely and he was obviously interested in my sister." Rosalie still doesn't ease up her opinion of me. "What I'm saying is that we should get the two of them together."

"I like this idea," Emmett says and Jasper nods in agreement. "Edward has been in need of a distraction."

Alice looks me in the eye and smiles at me. "Rica, feel free to join us at lunch again tomorrow," she says much to my surprise. I didn't think that I would get an offer like that.

"Yes," Jasper says. "You add a new life to our table." He looks at Rosalie and smiles. He's using his powers to calm her down. She's going to be pissed off as soon as she's out of his range and the effect wears off.

"Thank you," I say and smile genuinely at them. It isn't very often that I can actually find people that I would like to talk to or even hang out with. Hopefully it'll be a nice change of pace. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. I'm going to go get ready for class."

I get up and start to walk away. Alice, Jasper, and Emmett actually wanted me to join them tomorrow while Rosalie was still being hostile towards me. I was quite thankful that Jasper had calmed her down. That situation could have ended very badly. The chances that someone would have lost memories are high.

Now, we just had to wait until Edward came back.

It took longer than I would have thought to get Edward back to school. It had taken almost a week of convincing, which he had mainly done himself. At one point, he'd turned off his phone so no one could call him. He figured this was a problem he would have to face himself.

When I walk into Lunch, Edward is sitting in a different seat, which throws me off. I guess Emmett requested a seat change so we could sit next to each other. The past week I'd been taking Edward's seat and Emmett and I had developed a friendship of sorts. Rosalie had calmed down a bit and was being friendly towards me.

"Edward," I say as I sit down. "It's nice to have you back in school."

"Don't poke the bear," Emmett warns me with a grin. "He's still fretting over what he's going to do about Bella."

"Interesting," I say and turn to him. His face is hard and he's trying his best not to look at me. He's uncomfortable around people that can see his thoughts. "Oh, don't worry, if you don't want me reading your thoughts, all you have to do is ask."

"Wait, so I can ask you not to read my thoughts?" Emmett asks.

"No, I was only extending the offer to Edward," I reply and smile at him. Alice giggles and pretends to eat her food. "So, how is Mr. Cullen?"

Edward smiles like he's amused. "You know, the past few classes that I've had with you, I couldn't read your mind. I wonder why that is."

"It's probably because I was linking my mind with Bella's," I explain. "I know about her abilities. When I link my mind to her, it also protects my mind in the same way it does hers. That's why you can read my mind now, but now earlier when I was talking to her in first period." Edward's smile doesn't change. He's still amused. "That's just my theory though."

"Theory," he says and laughs. "Sounds more like you've thought about it a lot."

"Since we got back and I discovered your little secret, I've constantly been thinking of it," I reply. "I've constantly been thinking about it since fourteen."

"How long have you known about us?" Jasper asks and I grimace.

"Longer than I should have," I reply.

"How did you find out about us?" Rosalie asks and I refrain from answering. I clear my mind so Edward can't read it. It's something I've been practicing how to do for a long time.

"You don't even need Bella's help to shield your mind from me. You've had a lot of practice preparing against us," Edward says with hardened eyes.

"I wouldn't say it was to prepare against you," I say. "It was more like incase I met you."

"I don't understand," Edward asks in a confused tone. "How could you have known about us and our powers?"

"You won't know until you figure out what my own powers are," I reply slyly. "Anyways, I think a subject change is in order." I slip my mind into Bella's so that Edward can't listen in anymore and I'm free to think.

A subject change would be a welcome. I don't want to continue this conversation. I haven't talked to anyone about what happened with the Blacks when I was fourteen; not even my sister. Well, there is one exception to that. The only person that knows what happened with the Blacks is the same person that taught me to control the gift I was given.

"I think it's supposed to snow tomorrow," Emmett says in a hopeful tone. "You guys up for a snowball fight after school tomorrow?" Everyone nods and Emmett looks to me. "I don't think you can come," he says.

"Why, don't think I can hold my own?" I ask in an offended tone. Honestly, he underestimates me. With my powers, I could seriously mess with their heads. Plus, it would be a nice exercise to see exactly how well I could use my powers.

"No," Edward replies.

"Geez, no faith in me," I say with feigned hurt. "Can I just come and watch then? It'll be more interesting that way." I smile evilly. They have no idea what I'm going to do to them.

"That smile scares me," Rosalie admits, "but I want to see what you can do. As long as you stay out of our way, you can come."

"Oh wow, an invitation from the Princess. This really is an occasion," I say and Rosalie growls at me. "Okay, I won't call you Princess anymore. I'll think of something way worse." I smile innocently and Alice giggles.

"I'll have to come up with one just as bad for you," Rosalie replies.

Edward glances up at the clock. "Come on guys, it's almost time for class. We better get going."

We all nod and rise from the table. From across the room, I can see Bella staring at me with a confused look in her eyes. I should explain what's going on, but I don't think I could right now.

When I walk into Spanish, Edward is sitting in my seat. I guess I'm sitting between them… again.

"Hello," I say as I sit down. "I don't think I've seen you two around school before." Emmett and Edward smile at me as I sit. "What's on the agenda for Spanish today?" I ask as I take out my notebook.

"Probably nothing," Edward replies. "It's not like we need to pay attention."

"I almost feel like skipping this class," I say with a yawn. "I think I'm going to start on our end of the year essay." It would be good to get a head start on it.

"What are you going to write about?" Emmett asks as he peers at my notebook, which is blank.

"Vampires," I reply and smirk at him. Edward frowns and I giggle. "Or, I could write it on werewolves and shape shifters."

"I was excited when I heard that we were doing an open essay for the last assignment," Edward says, "but now I'm scared."

"I was just kidding," I admit. "I just wanted to see if you two would freak out." I smile. "So, how did Biology go?"

"Better than I thought it would," Edward confesses. "You came up in our conversation, but I figure that you already know that."

"Yes," I mumble and try not to think about what Bella told him about Renata. They don't need to know about my affiliations with her.

"So, you have friends with changing eye colors," Edward comments.

"Yes, they go by the Cullens and the Hales," I reply casually.

"Oh, but one of them isn't part of our family. One of them is named Renata," Edward pushes.

"Wait, she knows Renata?" Emmett asks and I frown.

"Yes," I reply. "She's more or less my best friend." It's actually the truth. Renata was my best friend.

"How did you meet her?" Edward asks and I bite my tongue. I shouldn't have fed them information. Now they'll want more.

"Coincidence," I reply. "She's just someone I happened to meet. Just like how I happened to meet you guys."

Edward smiles but doesn't push the subject. He's gotten enough information out of me today to be satisfied for a while. Mrs. Goff starts the class and I turn my attention to her.

With the rising tensions, I'll have to keep my secrets safe guarded. There are only three people in this world I can trust. That would be Bella, Dr. Cullen, and him.

A/N: So Federica has secrets having to do with the Volturi. Hmm...