WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN

≪•◦ CHAPTER THREE | THAT'S CREEPY ◦•≫

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Colby and Chloe walked out of their art class together, with Colby waving goodbye to Rosalie, who was walking out after them. The pretty blonde smiled slightly before disappearing into the sea of students. The two sisters continued down the halls, trying to find their history classes, which were close enough that they could walk together.

"I can't believe you're doing AP History. That just seems way too hard, in my opinion," Chloe said as she walked beside her sister, who chuckled and shook her head, her loose brown curls falling behind her shoulders.

"And that's why you're not in AP History, Chlo," Colby teased, causing her sister to playfully glare at her.

"Oh haha, very funny," Chloe replied sarcastically.

"It was pretty funny, actually," Colby said, bumping her sister playfully as they reached Colby's history class. "I'll meet you and the others in the cafeteria at lunch. See you later, Chlo." Chloe smiled and waved goodbye to her sister as Colby entered her class.

Colby walked into her history class with her head held high. She was good at history; it was her favorite subject, which always surprised her siblings since they honestly struggled with it. "You must be Colby Salvatore," her teacher, Mr. Simons, said, smiling at her.

"Yeah, that's me," Colby replied, handing him her schedule.

"Hmm, I only have one seat available in the back, between Mr. Hale and Miss Weber. Is that fine with you, Ms. Salvatore?" Mr. Simons asked.

"Yeah, of course," Colby said, nodding as she looked over at the back row, immediately spotting the empty seat beside a blonde boy who seemed uncomfortable in the crowded classroom and a brunette girl who smiled and waved.

"Alright, go ahead and take your seat," Mr. Simons instructed.

Colby walked towards her seat, smiling at those who smiled up at her as she sat down. "Okay, so today we're starting our lesson with the Civil War," Mr. Simons announced, beginning the class. Colby sat up, interested in one of her favorite history topics. The Civil War was her second favorite topic, with the Salem Witch Trials being her first, ironically.

Colby listened attentively and answered almost every question Mr. Simons asked. It seemed to become a competition between herself, Angela, and Jasper Hale, whose name she learned after he surprisingly introduced himself, noticing how lonely Colby seemed as students talked to their friends and Mr. Simons wrote on the board.

The bell rang, and soon Colby was standing up to put her bag on her back when her book of spells, which she was too afraid to leave without, fell out of her bag and landed at Jasper's feet. "That seems like an interesting book. Grimoire?" Jasper said, picking up the book and examining it. A wave of fear and nervousness washed over Colby. 'Please, not another Florida moment,' she thought, trying to mask her fear as she looked back up at Jasper.

"Uh, yeah, it's old. It was my grandmother's favorite book," Colby said with a smile as Jasper nodded and handed her the book. Colby could tell Jasper was suspicious or knew something she didn't, but she couldn't quite figure it out as he walked away.

"Shit, that was scary," Colby muttered to herself as she walked out of her history class and headed to her Calculus class.

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Before Colby knew it, the bell rang to signal lunch. She swung her bag over her shoulder and made her way to the cafeteria, trying to ignore the curious looks from other students. As she entered, she scanned the room, spotting her older sister sitting with a group of senior girls, Chloe with some friends from art and other classes, Jaxson with a bunch of guys who were clearly on the soccer team, and finally Talia with a couple of freshmen.

"Hey Colby! Over here!" Colby's head snapped to the right at the sound of her name. She saw Jessica standing by a table where Bella and a few others were seated. Colby smiled and made her way over, sitting down between Jessica and Bella. A guy with dark hair squeezed into a seat next to Bella.

"Mike, you met my home girl Bella," the guy said, looking at Mike, whom Colby remembered from gym class after the volleyball incident.

"Your home girl?" Mike asked, before Jessica chimed in, "Colby and Bella are my home girls, actually, Eric." Jessica put her arm around Colby's shoulder. Eric's attention shifted to Colby.

"Wow, Colby Salvatore, the rumors are true—you really are hot," Eric said with a wink. Colby's eyes widened in confusion before she looked at Jessica.

"It's first grade all over again, and you two are the shiny new toys," Jessica said, not helping at all. Bella gave an awkward smile, while Colby laughed.

"Lovely, I've always wanted to be looked at like a toy," Colby said sarcastically, rolling her eyes, making Jessica laugh and roll her eyes back. Suddenly, a flash blinded both Colby and Bella. They looked up to see Angela, the photographer, who had just taken their photo.

"Sorry, needed a candid for the feature," Angela said shyly as she sat down in front of Bella.

"Feature's dead, Angela. Don't bring it up again," Eric said. Colby shot him a look of disgust for his rudeness towards Angela, whom she found to be a sweet and down-to-earth person from their shared history and art classes.

"I got your back, baby," Eric said to Bella. Colby rolled her eyes, already tired of Eric.

"Guess we'll just run another editorial on teen drinking," Angela said, disappointed. Colby felt bad for her.

"Sorry. There's always eating disorders or Speedo padding on the swim team," Bella suggested.

"Or dropout rates," Colby added with a shrug.

"Wait, those are good ones... thanks, guys," Angela said. Colby smiled until her attention was drawn to the double doors of the cafeteria as they swung open. Four of the most astounding people Colby had ever seen entered. She recognized three of them but finally took in their beauty without feeling embarrassed to look at them.

Colby observed the two guys and two girls. They were all chalky pale with purplish shadows under their eyes and devastatingly beautiful. Colby felt a little insecure just looking at them. They moved through the room with effortless grace, heading towards a table furthest from Colby's. She saw Bella lean over to Jessica and Angela.

"Who are they?" Bella asked, and Colby listened in, sharing Bella's curiosity.

"The Cullens," Angela answered with a smile. Jessica leaned in too, and Colby could see the switch as Jessica swung into gossip mode.

"Doctor and Mrs. Cullen's foster kids. They all moved down here from Alaska two years ago," Jessica said. Colby nodded along with Bella as they continued listening.

"They kinda keep to themselves," Angela added. Colby nodded. "I don't blame them, with all the attention they get just by entering a room." Angela nodded in agreement.

"Because they're all together. Like, together together. The blonde girl, Rosalie, and the big dark-haired guy, Emmett—they're actually not a thing, just best friends, I did think they were a think though. To be honest, Colby, you two would look really good together. I saw you two talking when you rammed into him after gym," Jessica teased. Colby's cheeks flushed.

"For the record, I bumped into him, not rammed, I'm not a bull." Colby corrected with an awkward laugh, glancing towards the table where Emmett and Rosalie sat. She met Emmett's golden eyes and was momentarily lost in them until Angela's voice snapped her out of her trance.

"Jess, they're not actually related," Angela said, referring to the family relationships Jessica had mentioned. "But they live together. And the little dark-haired girl, Alice, she's really weird... she's with Jasper, the blonde who looks like he's in pain. I mean, Dr. Cullen's like this foster dad slash matchmaker. They're the only ones that are together, but still," Jessica explained, looking at the three brunettes by her.

"Maybe he'll adopt me," Angela joked. Colby and Bella chuckled along with Angela and Jessica as the last Cullen sibling walked in. Colby noticed he was a bit lanky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair. He seemed inwardly turned, mysterious, and more boyish than the others. Colby looked at Bella and noticed she couldn't take her eyes off him, causing her to smile a little.

"Who's he?" Bella asked, watching the boy walk towards the table with the rest of his siblings.

"That's Edward Cullen," Jessica answered. Colby noticed Edward look over, as if he had heard Jessica from across the room. His eyes met Bella's, but he seemed... confused. Bella quickly looked away, and Colby found it a bit weird and unusual, as if he was trying to figure Bella out but just couldn't.

"He's totally gorgeous, obviously. But apparently, no one here is good enough for him. Like I care. Anyway, don't waste your time," Jessica said, smiling at Bella.

"Not gonna lie, Jessica, that's creepy how you know all that. Gives a stalker vibe," Colby said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. Jessica scoffed, pushing Colby's hand off her shoulder playfully before laughing.

"But really, don't waste your time," Jessica reiterated, looking back at Bella.

"I wasn't planning on it," Bella answered. Colby knew this wouldn't be the last time the Cullens would be brought up, and she didn't really mind. Something about Emmett pulled her to him like a magnet, and she didn't know what it was or whether she liked it. Both Bella and Colby couldn't help but peek at two specific Cullen boys again. Colby caught Emmett staring at her outright now, with a slightly fascinated expression that made Colby blush, something she had only done with him and their small interaction after gym.

Colby was determined to figure out that Cullen boy, even if it killed her.