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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------When the bell rang, Nate stood up from his seat without looking at anyone in particular. He still felt a slight tension in his muscles, as if his body hadn't fully relaxed since that brief but intense interaction with the big-eyed girl.
Alice Cullen.
He'd been so close to her. More than enough to analyze almost anyone. But no. Nothing. His mind, normally as precise as a scalpel, had been unable to focus. As if his brain, so trained to observe, decode, and dissect behavioral patterns, had run into an invisible wall. One built not of escape or mystery... but of pure distraction.
"It's almost biological," he thought, as he left the classroom and walked down the hallway lit by the gray light of the overcast sky. "When I saw her from afar in the cafeteria, her and the one I now know to be called Rosalie, their beauty was undeniable, yes... but manageable. Beautiful, yes, but not unique. Not enough to alter my mental processes."
Back then, they were just harmoniously proportioned faces, walking as if in slow motion. Striking, yes. Unusual, too. But they hadn't triggered any red flags in his mind.
The problem started when Alice was less than a meter away.
There, his body began to betray him. His heart rate altered for no rational reason, his breathing quickened barely perceptibly, and most humiliating of all: his mind shut down. He couldn't even hold her gaze for more than two seconds without an electric tingle jolting him from his neck to his lower back.
It was… unacceptable. And fascinating.
"This isn't normal. I have to be prepared before I approach again."
That was his first conclusion. The second came immediately after, with the same clarity with which he usually solved any other problem: compare. He had to observe the other members of his family and assess whether the reaction was repeated. He had to eliminate variables and trace a pattern. And the ideal candidate for this was Rosalie.
He'd already had contact with Edward Cullen in a previous class. They'd exchanged a few trivial words, and although he'd felt a certain discomfort in his presence—as if Edward were holding something back behind his amber eyes—there was no physiological disturbance. There was no loss of focus. He'd analyzed him like any other subject.
"Rosalie Hale will be my next point of study."
With that goal in mind, Nate left the science building and headed to the gym, his last class of the day.
The familiarity of the physical environment brought him a different kind of tranquility. The echo of sneakers on the waxed floorboards, the smell of polished wood and sweat, and the geometric lines etched into the ground… Everything was in order, physics, calculation. Here, there were no variables like strange sensations or inexplicable attractions. Only the body.
The execution. The strategy.
There were already a few students grouped, chatting or stretching while they waited for the teacher. He recognized Bella Swan, Mike Newton, and Jessica Stanley among them. Seeing them, Nate walked straight up to Bella and gave her a polite smile.
"Hello," he said simply.
Bella looked at him with slight surprise but smiled back naturally. There was no tension in her body, just genuine curiosity. Maybe it was the fact that Nate didn't seem to be "drooling" over her, as Mike and Erik had been since they met her.
Nate was attractive, yes. But he didn't try to show it. He didn't get too close. He didn't make unnecessary comments. And that, for Bella, was a relief.
"Hi," he replied warmly. "Did you have this class too?"
"Yeah, it looks like it. Last one of the day," he added, looking around with some relief. "Finally."
There was a brief, comfortable silence. As if neither of them felt the need to fill it with nonsense. But before Jessica could interrupt them, Nate waved goodbye with a gentle gesture and headed toward the area where the men were gathered.
Mike, who had been watching the entire brief exchange from a distance, was already there. His posture had a stiffness that wasn't entirely natural as if he were trying to appear more imposing than he was. When Nate approached, Mike fell in beside him, tilting his head with a smile that was meant to be friendly, but which showed an awkward effort.
"What do you say, Winter? A friendly competition?" he said, tapping the basketball with a forced cadence.
Nate raised an eyebrow slightly. Social intimidation? This kid looks like a dog marking his territory. "Sure," he replied neutrally. "It's always good to warm up with some cardio."
They divided into teams and the game began.
What happened next was almost inevitable.
Nate, although he hadn't trained formally for weeks since moving to a different city, remained in excellent physical condition. His body was efficient, trained since childhood with discipline. But what truly set him apart was his mind: every pass, every rotation, every rebound was anticipated, and read like a set of dynamic equations that he solved in real-time. He moved with ease, passed with surgical precision, and scored without apparent effort.
His game was clean, and effective, without the need to show off.
On the other side, Mike was visibly trying harder. Frustrated. Every play that revealed his physical or tactical inferiority irritated him more. And although he tried to hide it with strained laughter or exaggerated gestures, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that Nate was overshadowing him.
On the opposite side of the court, Bella and Jessica sat watching.
"Wow," Jessica murmured with a hint of surprise. "Nate isn't just gorgeous, he's also great at sports."
"Yes," Bella said, almost without thinking.
Jessica tilted her head slightly with a smile that tried to look casual.
-Do you like it?
Bella blinked, turning to face her.
-That?
"Nothing, just... well, you said 'yes' pretty quickly," Jessica said, almost jokingly, but with that inquisitive streak lurking beneath her. "Though you were asking about Edward at the cafeteria, weren't you? I thought that was the one you were interested in."
Bella pursed her lips, uncomfortable.
"It wasn't like that. He just... caught my attention," she said, trying to hide her interest. "I don't know, he seemed... different. We shared a class today, and it was weird. He's kind of mysterious. I thought about talking to him a little, but he seemed uncomfortable being around me. Like I bothered him."
Jessica laughed briefly.
—Oh, Bella. The Cullens think they're superior. You know, they never talk to anyone outside their family. Too bad… Edward is so handsome that sometimes when I get close to him, I feel like my brain is melting.
Bella smiled but didn't respond. She looked back at the court, where Nate had just sank another shot without difficulty. His expression was serene. Focused. And yet, there was an intensity in his movements that was impossible to ignore.
When the game was over, Mike took off his shirt with an irritated gesture, pretending he didn't care.
Nate, still refreshed, walked over to Bella, picking up her jacket from the floor in the process.
"Looks like we survived the first day," he said with a smile.
"Barely," Bella replied with a slight smile.
—Have you already submitted your schedule to management?
-Not yet.
—Then we'll go together. Better get this over with before we forget.
Bella nodded. Pleasant. Natural. No pressure. And together they walked out of the gym as the Forks sky began to darken with the promise of a soft rain. Behind them, the gym lights flickered briefly, as if they were about to go out along with the rest of the afternoon.