The silence was prevalent in the truck.

“I would think you like the awkwardness, but if you want to talk, I am down,” Xavier initiated the conversation. “Your face is so red that I worry it’s going to start bleeding.”

“It’s just a bit colder here than in Arizona,” Bella justified.

“And it's cloudy seventy percent of the time,” Xavier added. “Remind me again why you chose to come to this remote corner of the world?”

“Mom got remarried. She deserves happiness,” Bella summarized, concentrating mainly on driving. “And you? You don’t seem like the type to consign himself to this place.”

“Uh… me?” Xavier scratched the back of his head. “Honestly, I am not so sure what reason I have to be here. Then again, that’s life isn’t it?”

“Why are any of us here?” Bella smiled. “That’s very deep.”

“Or very lazy,” Xavier replied. “people often use the difficult questions to deflect from sharing information – kind of like what you’re doing right now.”

“I am an open book,” Bella argued, her hands tightening on the steering wheel. “But you said Charlie talked about me a lot, so you know me… right?”

“I think I know you better than you know yourself,” Xavier nonchalantly replied. “And not because Charlie always talks about you… I just have a gift for knowing people – you were difficult at first, but right now… driving in this silence. I can see you for who you are…”

“And who is that?” Bella questioned more aggressively than her neutral tone could portray. “Tell me something about myself.”

“You hate being understood,” Xavier explained. “You prefer to dress like a tomboy – probably hate makeup. Insecure, kind-hearted to a fault – very mature for your age, though you have no significant skills whatsoever.”

Silence descended.

“Okay, I have to admit, you’re kinda freaking me out right now,” Bella voiced, sinking further into her leather seat. “I feel like you can see through me, but you still seem curious.”

“I just…” Xavier tried to find the words. “I just want to understand someone who understands me… maybe, that can be you. When you truly see me, this can become a real friendship.”

Bella removed her eyes from the road ahead and stared into Xavier’s eyes, noting the golden linings of his pupils. It was brilliantly dazzling – far too much for someone like her to comment on.

“I guess… we have a long way to go.”

Xavier nodded. “Agreed,” He added. “Wish me luck later – I am gonna try the most awesome confession in the history of confessions.”

“I didn’t take you for your heart-on-your-sleeve kind of guy,” She was surprised.

“I usually am not,” Xavier admitted, wincing as he did. “Emotions will be the death of people like me… but, sometimes, very rarely, it’s worth the self-harm to capture someone as amazing as Angela.”

“I hope the lucky girl feels that way too.”

۞۞۞

FORKS HIGHSCHOOL

Bella’s truck scaled the mini-hill that the high school sat upon. Xavier couldn’t help but think that the previous version of Bella’s truck would have definitely not made it up the hill.

‘Good thing Charlie had the foresight to get me and Jacob on it!’

There were at least a dozen cars in the parking lot, but the parking area was large enough to hold a dozen more cars. It was easy for Bella to find a parking space.

Bella pushed open the door and exited her truck, earning grins of ridicule from a couple of the students nearby, but the grins of ridicule ceased when Xavier also exited the truck.

Everyone’s attitude noticeably changed.

Xavier’s presence demanded a form of respect from the most disrespectful students, and that was before considering his reputation at the school.

If six players from the football team couldn’t get the job done in a carefully planned ambush, all the others guys were certain they wouldn’t fare much better if they made an enemy out of Xavier.

Bella and Xavier walked side by side to the stairs that would take them into the first building.

“Knowing you does have its benefits,” Bella admitted.

“You won’t make friends with me around.”

“Who says I want friends?”

“You definitely don’t want the attention that comes with me being your only friend,” Xavier rephrased his earlier statement.

Bella paused and slowly nodded. “I can see how that would be a problem.” She voiced. “So, where do we start this tour?”

“I have been at this school for about two months and I still hardly know where the classes are,” Xavier admitted, retrieving a carefully constructed map from his pockets, and passing it to Bella. “The red places are to be avoided, the green places are safe, and the yellow dots are your classes.”

“You made this for me?” Bella was touched.

“Nope… I paid someone to make it for you. A little goodie-two-shoes with nothing to do,” Xavier didn’t even hide the disdain in his voice. “Speaking of which, he is coming now to give you the tour.”

“I thought we’d stick together…” Bella argued, feeling her nervousness return – she was definitely not in the mood to meet anyone new.

“Where I go, you can’t always come – go make friends,” Xavier altered his course to another section of the building. “Oh, and by the way… don’t make anyone put you in the newspaper. It will invite a lot of creepy guys staring into your windows at night… not that I think you can avoid that at this point…”

“Okay… you’ve successfully scared me,” Bella shuddered.

By the time she was about to appeal to Xavier once more, the person in question had disappeared amongst the crowd of chattering teenagers.

“You’re Isabella Swan, the new girl?” A voice interrupted Bella’s panicking mind. “Hi, I am Eric – the eyes and ears of this place. Anything you need, tour guide, lunch date, shoulder to cry on…”

Bella plastered a fake smile onto her face, already withholding the tears that were threatening to build since Eric’s shoulder definitely wasn’t one she’d cry on.

The conversation continued and the more Eric talked, the more Bella became certain that she’d have to stick with Xavier from now on, less other people start to talk to her as well.

------------

As soon as Xavier departed from Bella’s side, he was reintroduced into a high school world that he couldn’t help but appreciate all the more.

The books and movie truly didn’t do Forks high school any justice.

The high school consisted of four buildings scattered on a half-mile radius compound. As Xavier made his way to the furthest building, he saw many things the book failed to mention.

Emanuel – the only Indian kid at Forks High School.

Tyler was one of exactly twenty black students at Forks High School, and he was intensely bullied by the other black students at the school.

The Cullens, during their first year, each had a human they recognized as friends, and barely hung out with them to keep up appearances.

Xavier wasn’t sure what happened, but at least one of those kids went missing, two transferred schools, and one had graduated from the accelerated learning program.

These were things never mentioned in the books.

Xavier contemplated the ups and downs of his life since coming to Forks. It was a pleasant experience overall, but that was only because the hard part had only started today.

“There…” He mumbled.

One building on the compound was empty on most days, and Xavier had taken to calling that building his own. It was only a few weeks ago that he started charging fees for the wild teenagers who needed somewhere to fuck.

Previously, they had been dry humping against walls and in bathroom stalls.  

But with Xavier’s intervention and discreet payments to two teachers who shall not be named, he was able to get a full bedroom into three of the classrooms, and business had been booming ever since.

A couple of corridors and an agonizing stairs ascent later, Xavier found himself in the music room of the abandoned building.

The plan to impress Angela was a song, so he required a guitar.

Thankfully, he already had a song that he had written – or, he would claim as such when really, he was ripping it off from his previous life.

The musical instruments storage room was inaccessible to all but staff and administrators.

“That’s where my training comes in…”

It took Xavier a while to figure out how exactly Ikaris manipulated his Cosmic Energy, but since the abilities of The Eternal were instinctual, he was able to figure out some things rather quickly.

Xavier took a deep breath.

“So, Cosmic Energy can be manipulated into three basic energy forms – I can convert it into force, light, or heat, but never all at the same time…”

Xavier placed a hand on the door’s locking mechanism, closed his eyes, and channeled what little Cosmic Energy he could manipulate into his palm.

To convert to heat, the best method The Eternal could discern thus far was to think steamy thoughts. So, with his palm placed against the lock, Xavier recalled every moment of banging Jessica.

Doggy style…

Sixty-nine…

Slapping her butt cheeks as he pulled on her hair…

It was his first true sexual accomplishment in the Twilight Universe, and needless to say, he recorded every bit of technique used in such an achievement.

SSSSZZZZZZ

By the time the thoughts drifted from Xavier’s mind, his hand had melted the lock on the door. Liquid metal dripped onto his palm, but strangely, he didn’t feel any heat.

Xavier quickly recovered the most expensive guitar from the storage room, disappearing at the end of the corridor before the guard or camera could detect his involvement.

But one person did detect his involvement.

“I knew you would come here first,” Jessie's eyes were filled with judgment. “A lesser woman would have sold you out.”

“A lesser woman wouldn’t be brave enough to admit she also liked women,” Xavier shot back, smiling the entire time. “So, you followed me here?”

“I tend to sleep with more girls when I hang with you,” Jessie justified, though she just liked the company that is Xavier.

“You mean women…” Xavier corrected. “Teenage ass is good and all, but it can never replace the seasoned sexual encounter with a married woman.”

“Fine wine…” Jessie sighed with reminisce, thinking about the two times she had accompanied Xavier as a wingman. “Fine wine, indeed.”

The duo departed the building, avoiding cameras as much as they could until they arrived at the main building – just in time to hear the buzzer ringing.

Thankfully, most of their classes were the same.

------------

LITERATURE – MRS. SIMMON’S CLASS

Jessie and Xavier sat at the back of the class, sinking into themselves in the hope that the teacher would barely notice they were there.

The lesson started like any other.

And as the lesson started, Jessie’s mouth started to move in tandem, careful to disguise the sound of her voice behind the noises in the classroom.

She had only been caught talking once and never again.

“We’ll just pay Matt to do the homework again,” Xavier grumbled, finding homework much too tedious for his liking.

“He stopped doing homework a while ago…” Jessie argued.

“He will do it for me,” Xavier replied nonchalantly. “I did help his sister out of a difficult spot, after all.”

“I heard…” Jessie mentioned, then started to fidget in her seat a bit. “So… everyone is asking me when you’ll have another party?”

Xavier rolled his eyes. “I can’t afford another party like the last one, and I refuse to have a party where everyone drinks sparkling water.”

“What if I can provide the funds?”

Xavier raised a brow.

“Just trust me,” Jessie urged. “I need this party to come through – that way me and Stacy can get down. I really like Stacy, you know that. Come on, help me out?”

Xavier sunk into his thoughts for a couple of seconds before deciding. “If you can show me the funds a week ahead of time, then we can have a party.”

“Three weeks?” Jessie secured the schedule in her mind. “Just before Homecoming. Give the kids one final chance to get a date,” She joked.

Xavier nodded. “Bet.”

When classes finished and Mrs. Simmons had concluded her long-winded speech, Xavier and Jessie were the first two to exit the class.

WHOOOOSH

Xavier felt the brush of wind next to his cheek, and instantly realized he was about to bump into someone, but before he could react, the other party reacted first.

Alice spun on her heels with unmatched grace and agility, leaving Xavier to do the bare minimum of pivoting anti-clockwise. To the outside work, it almost seemed as if the duo had performed a dance move in tandem.

But in reality, things were different.

Both Alice and Xavier stared at each other as they recognized balance beyond the limits of ordinary people. When Alice stared at Xavier a bit longer than necessary, he finally understood what was happening.

Visions only came to Alice when a decision was made that would affect the Cullens in some way, and at other times, she could direct her gift to stare at the future possibilities of a specific individual.

Most of the time, Alice turned her gaze to Jasper, ensuring to steer her husband away from any future where he would attack a human and indulge in the delicacy of human blood once more.

But this time, for the first time, Alice looked into Xavier’s possibilities. There was not much she could see – most of it shrouded by intense golden light.

“That’s strange…” She sang.

“What’s strange?” Xavier inquired, his body growing tense.

Alice tilted her head, once again directing her gift at Jasper. “Nothing in particular but…” She hesitated to share.

Xavier had always been a mystery to the Cullens since he arrived – so much so that even Alice had to reign in her playful attitude when near him.

A golden light had blinded Alice to the vision, but she could still tell the time and feel of the vision – it was a sensation of grief at a party, about a week before homecoming.

“You shouldn’t have parties until after homecoming,” Alice hummed as she spun two twirls.

“Why?” Xavier quirked a brow, trying his best to seem oblivious.

“Something tells me,” Alice danced away, her voice lingering in the echo of the hall. “That it won’t end well.”