#scientistward

"Hey, Bella," I said, trying to appear the picture of calm I most definitely was not. My heart was pounding in my chest as I took in the woman before me. She looked the same – long, brown hair; soft, brown eyes; and the beginnings of what I hoped was a warm smile – but different, too. She was thinner than I remembered and was wearing a pair of dark-framed, rectangle glasses that made my mind race with all sorts of wildly inappropriate thoughts. She also looked older, more mature, in a way that most definitely suited her. In short, she looked professional and definitely not like any professor I had ever had.

"I tried to get out of it, but Aro insisted. 'It's all part of the training.'" I make my best impression of Aro's voice and Emmett snorts. "It's probably some fucking pre-med wanting to get some research on her CV. She said our research was fascinating." I laugh at the word. She probably has no idea what it is we do. She probably sent a hundred emails with the exact same words.