I looked down, afraid of the persuasive power of his eyes. I refused to be convinced to fear him, no matter how real the danger might be. It doesn’t matter, I repeated in my head.

Hasn’t anyone ever told you? Life isn’t fair.

You are so pushy!

As always, I was electrically aware of Edward sitting close enough to touch, as distant as if he were merely an invention of my imagination.

My mom always says I was born thirty-five years old and that I get more middle-aged every year.

The shattering beats made it impossible for me to think — which was the whole purpose of the exercise.

There was a thin ribbon of a trail that led through the forest here, or I wouldn’t risk wandering on my own like this. My sense of direction was hopeless; I could get lost in much less helpful surroundings.

He was such a cheater. Now I was even more worried about what I was going to say to Jessica.

What if his family was there? I felt a wave of real terror. Did they know that I knew? Was I supposed to know that they knew that I knew, or not?

Edward seemed to take a deep breath, and then he stepped out into the bright glow of the midday sun.