Eclipse Page 0,26

his rhythm.

I yanked a blank page out of my notebook and started writing, my handwriting more illegible than normal thanks to my agitation.

What happened? Tell me everything. And screw the protecting me crap, please.

I shoved the note at Edward. He sighed, and then began writing. It took him less time than me, though he wrote an entire paragraph in his own personal calligraphy before he slipped the paper back.

Alice saw that Victoria was coming back. I took you out of town merely as a precaution - there was never a chance that she would have gotten anywhere close to you. Emmett and Jasper very nearly had her, but Victoria seems to have some instinct for evasion. She escaped right down the Quileute boundary line as if she were reading it from a map. It didn't help that Alice's abilities were nullified by the Quileutes' involvement. To be fair, the Quileutes might have had her, too, if we hadn't gotten in the way. The big gray one thought Emmett was over the line, and he got defensive. Of course Rosalie reacted to that, and everyone left the chase to protect their companions. Carlisle and Jasper got things calmed down before it got out of hand. But by then, Victoria had slipped away. That's everything.

I frowned at the letters on the page. All of them had been in on it - Emmett, Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, and Carlisle. Maybe even Esme, though he hadn't mentioned her. And then Paul and the rest of the Quileute pack. It might so easily have turned into a fight, pitting my future family and my old friends against each other. Any one of them could have been hurt. I imagined the wolves would be in the most danger, but picturing tiny Alice next to one of the huge werewolves, fighting . . .

I shuddered.

Carefully, I scrubbed out the entire paragraph with my eraser and then I wrote over the top:

What about Charlie? She could have been after him.

Edward was shaking his head before I finished, obviously going to downplay any danger on Charlie's behalf. He held a hand out, but I ignored that and started again.

You can't know that she wasn't thinking that, because you weren't here. Florida was a bad idea.

He took the paper from underneath my hand.

I wasn't about to send you off alone. With your luck, not even the black box would survive.

That wasn't what I'd meant at all; I hadn't thought of going without him. I'd meant that we should have stayed here together. But I was sidetracked by his response, and a little miffed. Like I couldn't fly cross country without bringing the plane down. Very funny.

So let's say my bad luck did crash the plane. What exactly were you going to do about it? Why is the plane crashing?

He was trying to hide a smile now.

The pilots are passed out drunk.

Easy. I'd fly the plane.

Of course. I pursed my lips and tried again.

Both engines have exploded and we're falling in a death spiral toward the earth.

I'd wait till we were close enough to the ground, get a good grip on you, kick out the wall, and jump. Then I'd run you back to the scene of the accident, and we'd stumble around like the two luckiest survivors in history.

I stared at him wordlessly.

"What?" he whispered.

I shook my head in awe. "Nothing," I mouthed.

I scrubbed out the disconcerting conversation and wrote one more line. You will tell me next time.

I knew there would be a next time. The pattern would continue until someone lost.

Edward stared into my eyes for a long moment. I wondered what my face looked like - it felt cold, so the blood hadn't returned to my cheeks. My eyelashes were still wet.

He sighed and then nodded once.

Thanks.

The paper disappeared from under my hand. I looked up, blinkingin surprise, just as Mr. Berty came down the aisle.

"Is that something you'd like to share there, Mr. Cullen?"

Edward looked up innocently and held out the sheet of paper on top of his folder. "My notes?" he asked, sounding confused.

Mr. Berty scanned the notes - no doubt a perfect transcription of his lecture - and then walked away frowning. It was later, in Calculus - my one class without Edward - that I heard the gossip.

"My money's on the big Indian," someone was saying.

I peeked up to see that Tyler, Mike, Austin, and Ben had their heads bent together, deep in conversation.

"Yeah," Mike whispered. "Did you see the size of that Jacob