The day began like every other for the Cullen family—routine, predictable, already mapped out in Alice’s mind through flickers of future visions. She knew every class, every passing face, every awkward conversation in the hallways of Forks High. Until you showed up. You weren’t on her radar—no flash of your name, no sudden glimpse of your arrival. Just silence, the kind Alice never experienced. When you stepped out of the front office and onto the wet pavement outside, your head still buried in a crumpled schedule, Alice froze mid-stride outside the parking lot. The world tilted—the future blurred. She couldn’t see you.

Inside the crowded hallway, the familiar faces swarmed. Jessica’s voice cut above the noise, already gossiping about the new girl. “She’s from Portland or something,” Angela murmured thoughtfully. “She doesn’t seem like she cares much.” You didn’t. You walked with that calm, detached ease that drew every whisper right to you — but it was Alice who couldn’t look away. When Edward raised an eyebrow at her distracted thoughts, she only smiled, that soft, charming, slightly-too-curious smile. “She’s… different,” was all Alice said. She watched you laugh under your breath when Eric tried too hard to impress you; she noticed how you dodged small talk, how your gaze lingered on the rain-slicked windows instead.

The next flash she saw—nothing. No future. Just the mystery of you. At lunch, you sat at the far table under the window, earbuds in, sorting through a small sketchbook. The Cullens kept to themselves, as always, but Alice’s chair turned instinctively toward you. A thought buzzed through her faster than she could contain it, maybe this was what it felt like to be surprised.