"Do you know the Cullen family?" I asked hesitantly.

　　"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man."

　　"They… the kids… are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school."

　　Charlie surprised me by looking angry.

　　"People in this town," he muttered. "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world,make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued, getting louder. "We're lucky to have him — lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature — I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should — camping trips every other weekend… Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk."

　　It was the longest speech I'd ever heard Charlie make. He must feel strongly about whatever people were saying.

　　I backpedaled. "They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. They're all very attractive," I added,trying to be more complimentary.

　　"You should see the doctor," Charlie said, laughing. "It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around."

　　We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I started on the dishes. He went back to the TV, and after I finished washing the dishes by hand — no dishwasher — I went upstairs unwillingly to work on my math homework.I could feel a tradition in the making.

　　That night it was finally quiet. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted.

　　The rest of the week was uneventful. I got used to the routine of my classes. By Friday I was able to recognize, if not name,almost all the students at school. In Gym, the kids on my team learned not to pass me the ball and to step quickly in front of me if the other team tried to take advantage of my weakness. I happily stayed out of their way.

　　Edward Cullen didn't come back to school.

　　Every day, I watched anxiously until the rest of the Cullens entered the cafeteria without him. Then I could relax and join in the lunchtime conversation. Mostly it centered around a trip to the La Push Ocean Park in two weeks that Mike was putting together. I was invited, and I had agreed to go, more out of politeness than desire. Beaches should be hot and dry.

　　By Friday I was perfectly comfortable entering my Biology class, no longer worried that Edward would be there. For all I knew, he had dropped out of school. I tried not to think about him, but I couldn't totally suppress the worry that I was responsible for his continued absence, ridiculous as it seemed.