Alice POV.
Alice Cullen had been bouncing, figuratively, of course since she stepped foot on campus that morning. Not in her usual, chipper way either. This was different. Deeper. More visceral. Like something fundamental had shifted beneath her skin.
The bond she'd felt from the forest had never quite faded. Instead, it simmered inside her, a worm coil of possibility, anticipation, and the stubborn ache of absence. Whoever he was, her mate had successfully vanished after that brief, tantalizing flicker at the tree line.
Which was rude.
But also kinda hot.
Alice sat at her desk in her third period, leg bouncing under the table. Her pencil twirled between her fingers like a rotor blade on overdrive. She wasn't normally this fidgety, but today wasn't normal. Her powers were jittering like a bad radio signal, giving her glimpses of a hoodie, a smirk, and a mental monologue that sounded like…
That voice…
It lingered in the corners of her head.
A ping vibrated from her phone in her purse.
Curious, she slipped it out and checked the screen. A massage from Emmett.
Emmett: Yo Alice. Might have met your mate. Big hoodie. Bog sarcasm. Big brain. Big… personality.
Emmett: Should I invite him to lunch with us or nah?
Alice grinned, her teeth flashing. Of course Emmett would be the one to stumble upon him. Her big goofball of a brother has a way of magnetizing chaotic energy like moths to a bug snapper.
She typed a quick response.
Alice: Yes. YES. Don't scare him off. Or I'll murder you in your sleep. With glitter.
Emmett: That sounds like a bedazzled threat. I'm intrigued.
She slipped her phone away and folded her arms, feeling the anticipation build. So he was here. Today.
She leaned her head back, eyes closing for a second as a new vision tried to filter through. At first, it came in flashes:
Sebastian laughing as something exploded in chemistry class.
Sebastian sitting next to Emmett, casually pointing at a blackboard equation like it personally offended him.
Sebastian pulling a face as he chewed on a school cafeteria burrito and muttering something about culinary war crimes.
Then the bond flared again. Not visually, but emotionally, Her mate was excited. Curious. Content.
And that made her chest tighten with warmth.
Alice was already forming mental outfits to wear when they finally spoke. Something charming but quirky. Mysterious but fun.
She could picture it now: she'd casually appear beside him, comment on his hoodie being statistically the most enigmatic fashion choice, and he'd respond something like,
"Well, I figured if I was going to disorient glitter vampires and hormonal high schoolers, I might as well be comfortable."
Yes. That sounded like him.
She caught herself smiling. Not the polite kind she often offered strangers or teachers, but the kind that tugged at her lips like sunshine on a cloud-covered day-
It felt good to smile like that again.
Across the room, a few students exchanged confused glances.
Let them wonder, Alice thought.
She was in love with a boy she hadn't met, who threw vampires into trees for fun, and made gravity his plaything. Was it dramatic? Yes. But also perfectly on-brand for her.
…
By lunchtime, Alice's fingers hovered over her phone like a composer prepping crescendo. She was seconds from demanding a full Sebastian debrief from Emmett when another message pinged.
Emmett: Kid's legit. Sharp. Like PhD-sharp. And weird. But funny weird. Smart-weird. You'd love him. He made a joke about Newton crying in a corner.
Alice: Oh I already love him. Is he sitting with us?
Emmett: Working on it. Think he's playing hard to get. Ot just hungry.
Shu huffed softly and rolled her eyes, equal parts frustrated and charmed. Of course Sebastian would play it cool. Why wouldn't her mate be the kind of guy who broke into school systems just to prank chemistry experiments and then refused to follow social convention?
She leaned her head into her palm, daydreaming in high-definition.
Maybe he'd saunter with that rogue energy, offer some cryptic one-liner like:
"You know, I once debated a Sartre with a sea lion. You learn quickly not to take life too seriously."
She chuckled to herself. No doubt he'd already turned some poor teacher's expectation into philosophical origami.
The bell rang.
Time to move again.
Every step down the hall felt electric now. Any corner turned could be the one. The moment their eyes met. The moment everything snapped together like the last puzzle piece.
And if not today? Then tomorrow. Or the day efter.
She could wait.
After all, she'd waited a century.
But now?
Now, she had a name. A hint of a face. A mental scrapbook growing page by page. And a ridiculous hoodie wearing a future full of laughter, chaos, and possibly glittery vengeance.
Sebastian had arrived.
And the world would never be the same.
END OF CHAPTER 11