"That's really kind of nice — for them to take care of all those kids
like that, when they're so young and everything."
"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I got the impression that
she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some reason. With the glances
she was throwing at their adopted children, I would presume the reason
was jealousy. "I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though," she
added, as if that lessened their kindness.
Throughout all this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to
the table where the strange family sat. They continued to look at the
walls and not eat.
"Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. Surely I would have noticed
them on one of my summers here.
"No," she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a
new arrival like me. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere
in Alaska."
I felt a surge of pity, and relief. Pity because, as beautiful as they
were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. Relief that I wasn't the
only newcomer here, and certainly not the most interesting by any
standard.
As I examined them, the youngest, one of the Cullens, looked up and met
my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression. As I looked
swiftly away, it seemed to me that his glance held some kind of unmet
expectation.
"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" I asked. I peeked at
him from the corner of my eye, and he was still staring at me, but not
gawking like the other students had today — he had a slightly frustrated
expression. I looked down again.
"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He
doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough
for him." She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd
turned her down.
I bit my lip to hide my smile. Then I glanced at him again. His face was
turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were
smiling, too.
After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They
all were noticeably graceful — even the big, brawny one. It was
unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't look at me again.
I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than I would have
if I'd been sitting alone. I was anxious not to be late for class on my
first day. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me
that her name was Angela, had Biology II with me the next hour. We walked
to class together in silence. She was shy, too.
初见（12）
"他们真是心地善良的好人，这么年轻，就照看这么多的孩子。"
"我想也是，"杰西卡的回答有些勉强，而且我得出了这么个印象，觉得她出于某种原因，不太喜欢那个大夫和他妻子。从她看他们收养的那些孩子的眼神中，我推测这个原因就是嫉妒。"不过，我认为卡伦太太生不了孩子。"她补了一句，仿佛这样可以让他们的善良打点儿折扣似的。
整个交谈过程中，我不止一次地把目光移向那素昧平生的一家人坐的那张桌子。他们依然望着四壁，没有吃东西。
"他们一直住在福克斯吗？"我问。无疑当我在这里度过某个夏天的时候，我就应该注意到他们了。
"不，"她说，听她的语气，好像含有一种即使对我这样初来乍到的人来说，答案也是明摆着的意思，"他们是两年前才从阿拉斯加的某个地方搬来的。"
我顿时涌起了一阵同情，也感到了一丝慰藉。同情，是因为尽管他们貌若天仙，却是外地来的，显然没有为当地人接纳。慰藉，是因为我不是这儿惟一新来的，而且无论按什么标准，我无疑也不是最令人关注的对象。
我打量他们的时候，最小的那个，卡伦兄妹中的一个，抬头和我的目光不期而遇，这一次，他的表情里充满了明显的好奇。我赶紧把目光移开了，在我看来，他的眼神里似乎有着某种未能得到满足的期待。
"红褐色头发的那个男孩子是谁？"我问。我拿眼角的余光瞟了他一眼，他还在盯着我看，但不是像今天其余的同学那样呆呆地看——他带着一丝灰心的表情。我再次低下了头。
"他是爱德华。当然啦他绝对英俊潇洒，不过你可别浪费自己的时间。他不会跟人约会的。显然，这里的女孩子没有一个漂亮得能配得上他的。"她轻蔑地说道，明摆着是吃不到葡萄说葡萄酸。我想知道他是什么时候拒绝了她的。
我咬住嘴唇，藏起了微笑。然后，我又瞥了他一眼。他已经转过了脸，不过我觉得他的面颊好像上扬了一些，好象他也在微笑。
又过了几分钟，他们四个一起离开了桌子。他们个个都是那样风度翩翩，引人瞩目——就连那个块头很大、肌肉发达的也不例外。看一看就令人心神不宁。那个叫爱德华的再也没有看我一眼。
我跟杰西卡和她的那些朋友在饭桌上坐了很久，我一个人是坐不了这么久的。我开始担心别在我来学校的第一天就上课迟到。一个我新认识的同学，这个同学很体贴周到，怕我没记住，又告诉了我一遍她叫安吉拉，接下来的一节生物学（2）跟我同班。我们一起走着去上课，路上没有说话。她也很腼腆。
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