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This was the time of day when I wished I were able to sleep

High school

Or was purgatory the right word? If there was any way to atone for ht to count toward the tally in sorew used to; every day seemed more impossibly monotonous than the last

I suppose this was my form of sleep - if sleep was defined as the inert state between active periods

I stared at the cracks running through the plaster in the far corner of the cafeteria, i patterns into them that were not there It was one way to tune out the voices that babbled like the gush of a river inside my head

Several hundred of these voices I ignored out of boredom

When it came to the human hts were consumed with the trivial drama of a new addition to the small student body here It took so little to work theht after thought froirl The excitement over her arrival was tireso a shiny object at a child Half the sheep-likethe new to look at I tried harder to tune them out

Only four voices did I block out of courtesy rather than distaste: my family, my two brothers and two sisters, ere so used to the lack of privacy in ave them what privacy I could I tried not to listen if I could help it

Try as I , as usual, about herself She'd caught sight of her profile in the reflection off so over her own perfection Rosalie's mind was a shallow pool with few surprises

E ht It would take all his limited patience to make it to the end of the school day to orchestrate a rehts, because he never thought one thing that he would not say aloud or put into action Perhaps I only felt guilty reading the others' s there that they wouldn't want me to know If Rosalie's mind was a shallow pool, then Elass clear

And Jasper wassuffering I suppressed a sigh

Edward Alice called my name in her head, and had my attention at once

It was just the saiven na; anytiht of any Edward, my head would turn automatically

My head didn't turn now Alice and I were good at these private conversations It was rare that anyone caught us I keptup? she asked me

I frowned, just a s that would tip the others off I could easily be frowning out of boredom

Alice's mental tone was alar Jasper in her peripheral vision Is there any danger? She searched ahead, into the ih visions of monotony for the source behind my frown

I turnedat the bricks of the wall, sighed, and then to the right, back to the cracks in the ceiling Only Alice kneas shaking my head

She relaxed Let ets too bad

Iabove, and back down

Thanks for doing this

I was glad I couldn't answer her aloud What would I say? 'My pleasure'? It was hardly that I didn't enjoy listening to Jasper's struggles Was it really necessary to experiment like this? Wouldn't the safer path be to just adht never be able to handle the thirst the way the rest of us could, and not push his limits? Why flirt with disaster?

It had been teeks since our last hunting trip That was not an immensely difficult time span for the rest of us A little uncomfortable occasionally - if a hu way But humans rarely walked too close Their instincts told them what their conscious erous

Jasper was very dangerous right now

At that irl paused at the end of the closest table to ours,stopping to talk to a friend She tossed her short, sandy hair, running her fingers throughit The heaters blew her scent in our direction I was used to the way that scent made mefeel - the dry ache in htening of my muscles, the excess flow of venom in my mouth

This was all quite nornore It was harder just noith thefeelings stronger, doubled, as I monitored Jasper's reaction Twin thirsts, rather than justmine

Jasper was letting his i hi to stand beside the littlegirl Thinking of leaning down and in, as if he were going to whisper in her ear, andletting his lips touch the arch of her throat I how the hot flow of her pulsebeneath the fine skin would feel under his mouth

I kicked his chair

He aze for a minute, and then looked down I could hear shame andrebellion war in his head

"Sorry," Jasper muttered

I shrugged

"You weren't going to do anything," Alice rin "I could see that"

I fought back the griether,Alice and I It wasn't easy, hearing voices or seeing visions of the future Both freaksa those ere already freaks We protected each other's secrets