Amara's day at school had been… peaceful.
Shockingly peaceful.
No chaos.
No honking.
No brooding immortals appearing dramatically in hallways.
In fact, she had almost completely forgotten about the morning incident.
Almost.
The memory had briefly tried to appear during math class, but Amara had simply pushed it aside.
She refused to waste perfectly good brain space thinking about Edward and his stupid face.
Right now, far more important things were happening.
Like lunch.
Amara sat comfortably at the cafeteria table with Jessica, Angela, Eric, and Mike. The table was full of half-open lunch trays, soda cans, and the loud overlapping voices of teenagers who had discovered new gossip.
Bella was nowhere to be seen.
Which was suspicious.
Very suspicious.
Maybe she was with Edward.
Maybe she had started absorbing Edward's dramatic personality.
Maybe prolonged exposure to him caused brain cells to slowly evaporate.
Who knows.
Amara wasn't going to investigate.
Jessica was currently waving her hands dramatically while explaining something important.
"So this new store opened downtown—like, right next to the bookstore," she said excitedly.
Angela nodded eagerly. "It's supposed to have vintage clothes and jewelry and stuff."
Mike leaned forward immediately.
"Vintage like old-old or vintage like expensive-old?"
Jessica ignored him.
"We all need to go this weekend," she continued.
Angela looked at Amara. "You should come with us."
"Yes!" Jessica agreed instantly. "It'll be fun."
Eric chimed in, "Road trip. Well… Forks version of a road trip."
Mike nodded seriously. "Which is like… ten minutes."
They all laughed.
Amara smiled, leaning back slightly in her chair while listening to them argue about where they should go first and whether the store would actually be good or just overpriced scarves pretending to be fashion.
The table was loud.
Relaxed.
Comfortable.
And Amara felt her mood getting even better.
Then—
The cafeteria doors opened.
And the Cullen family entered.
Like they always did.
Graceful.
Elegant.
Suspiciously perfect.
Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice walked in together.
Immediately half the cafeteria subtly stared.
It happened every day.
But today?
Today something interesting happened.
Edward was not with them.
And bella is of course nowhere in sight.
Amara raised one eyebrow slightly.
Hmm.
Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper walked toward their usual table.
But Alice—
Alice spotted Amara.
And her entire face lit up like someone had just handed her a present.
The tiny pixie-like vampire practically bounced across the cafeteria.
Amara saw it coming.
Jessica saw it coming.
Angela saw it coming.
Mike and Eric looked confused.
Alice stopped beside their table with sparkling excitement.
"Amara!" she said brightly. "You should come sit with us!"
Jessica looked at Angela.
Angela looked at Amara.
Amara slowly turned her head.
First toward Alice.
Then toward the Cullen table.
Her gaze landed on Jasper.
Jasper was watching the situation unfold.
He already looked concerned.
Then Amara looked back at Alice.
A small sly smile appeared.
"Maybe," she said sweetly, "you should join our table."
Jessica immediately supported the idea.
"Yes! Join us!"
Angela nodded enthusiastically.
"That would be fun."
Mike and Eric also joined in instantly because chaos sounded entertaining.
"Yeah, sit here!"
Alice blinked.
Once.
Then she grinned.
And sat down.
Across the cafeteria—
Jasper looked like someone had just taken away his favorite blanket.
The expression was subtle.
Very subtle.
But unmistakable.
He looked like a puppy whose owner had walked away.
Amara saw it.
Jessica saw it.
Angela saw it.
They all tried to stay quiet.
Eric did not.
Eric burst out laughing.
Mike followed immediately.
Angela tried to suppress her laughter but her shoulders were shaking.
Jessica pressed her lips together, clearly struggling.
Amara?
Amara simply leaned back and gave Jasper a smug little smile across the room.
The smile clearly said:
Look. Alice is mine now.
Jasper stared back.
Slowly shook his head.
At the Cullen table—
Emmett noticed.
And immediately started laughing loudly.
"Oh man," he said, slapping the table. "He got stolen!"
Rosalie glanced toward the other table.
Then toward Jasper.
And she smiled.
Actually smiled.
Just a little.
Alice looked between them all and laughed softly.
She then turned toward Jasper and gave him a reassuring smile from across the cafeteria.
Jasper sighed dramatically.
But now he was smiling too.
Back at Amara's table—
The girls were already talking about everything.
Shopping.
School drama.
Weekend plans.
Completely ignoring the boys.
Rosalie suddenly stood up from the Cullen table.
Amara noticed.
And immediately called out across the cafeteria.
"Rosalie!"
Rosalie paused and looked over.
Amara leaned back casually in her chair.
"Join us. This is the cool table."
Jessica nearly choked trying not to laugh.
Rosalie smiled slowly.
Shook her head once.
But then—
She walked over.
And sat down beside Amara.
Across the cafeteria—
Emmett stared at the empty seat beside him.
Then at Rosalie.
Then back at the empty seat.
His expression slowly shifted into the exact same lost puppy look Jasper had earlier.
Amara saw it.
And gave him the exact same smug smile.
Yes.
I stole your person too.
Now the table was full of girls.
Amara.
Rosalie.
Alice.
Jessica.
Angela.
The conversation instantly doubled in speed and volume.
Topics changed every ten seconds.
Fashion.
Classes.
Random gossip.
Weekend plans.
Everything.
Mike and Eric tried to join the conversation.
They really tried.
Eric opened his mouth three times before being talked over.
Mike attempted to add a comment about the new store.
No one heard him.
Within five minutes they had completely lost control of the conversation.
Now—
Across the cafeteria—
Four boys sat at quietly.
Mike.
Eric.
Emmett.
Jasper.
They slowly looked at each other.
Two different tables. Two different species.
Four identical expressions.
Shared understanding.
Shared suffering.
Lost puppy solidarity.
Mike sighed.
Eric nodded slowly.
Emmett leaned back in his chair dramatically.
Jasper just shook his head.
Across the room—
The girls were laughing loudly.
Not noticing the emotional devastation they had left behind.
Amara leaned back slightly in her chair, perfectly satisfied.
Lunch had become significantly more entertaining.
And somewhere in the distance—
Edward Cullen was still blissfully unaware that Amara had just stolen half his family during lunch.
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