WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN

≪•◦ CHAPTER EIGHT | MAGIC SCHOOL BUS ◦•≫

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Colby stared off into the distance as her older sister carried on about how the Cullens were definitely vampires—a topic that never seemed to leave Grace's mind. "I mean, they're so pale!" Grace exclaimed.

"The sun barely shines in Forks," Colby reminded her, never taking her eyes off the trees on the other side of the buses that were getting ready to load up the biology students. This group included Jasper, Alice, Edward, and Bella, much to Colby's dismay, especially since she and Jasper were partners for a project in History class on the Civil War.

"So? They have absolutely perfect and attractive features," Grace added with a huff. Colby was getting irritated with her sister constantly bashing the Cullens. She finally tore her eyes away from the trees and stared directly into her older sister's eyes.

"So what if they're vampires, Grace? We're not human either; we're witches. And being so stereotypical towards them makes you a hypocrite. If you look at any of us, we're not your stereotypical witches either. We don't wear those stupid pointy hats, we don't have green faces or long, weird noses. And if you actually took the time to look or even talk to that family, vampires like Dracula or the ones in Italy are the last thing that would come to mind. So please, Grace, that's enough! You're being ridiculous!" Colby said, storming off as her sister stared at her. She walked towards the biology students, more specifically Bella, who was exiting her truck.

She passed the Cullens on her way to Bella. Alice smiled brightly and waved at the Salvatore girl. Colby let out a laugh, waved back, and continued her journey to Bella but was then stopped by none other than Tyler Crowley with a huge smile.

"Hey Colby, why are you in such a rush?" Tyler asked, beaming at the only slightly shorter brunette in front of him who was still fuming.

"Well, for starters, I was heading to meet Bella before she hopped on the magic school bus to the greenhouse, but now I'm talking to you," Colby said irritably, locking eyes with Bella for a brief moment.

"Cool, cool. So, I know I asked already, but I wanted to again," Tyler said, grabbing hold of Colby's hand, trying to be romantic. "The dance is coming up, and I was wondering—" Colby quickly interrupted Tyler with wide eyes. "I'm already going with someone... yeah... sorry!" she said, running off to Bella, who was laughing quietly.

"Shut up, Swan," Colby said, laughing a bit. "Besides, I think it's your turn," she added once she saw Mike approach the two, not taking his eyes off Bella..

"Hey, look at you! You're alive!" Mike chimed, staring at Bella with a wide smile that, in Colby's opinion, was a bit creepy. Bella shifted uncomfortably under Mike's gaze before answering, "Yeah, false alarm, I guess." Bella wasn't looking at Mike anymore; Colby followed her gaze and spotted Edward a few feet away from the trio.

"So, Bella, I know prom is like a month away, but..." Mike started. Colby rolled her eyes, thinking, "Here we go," as she saw Edward's eyes shift to hers with a small chuckle, as if he heard her thoughts. "If you want, I mean, you don't have to, but would you want to go with me?" Mike asked, earning no response from Bella, causing Colby to look over and see her friend wasn't paying any attention.

Colby cleared her throat and nudged the distracted girl beside her. "What?" Bella asked, mentally returning to the conversation.

"Uh, prom. Would you want to go with me?" Mike asked awkwardly. Colby looked between the two.

"I'm going to Jacksonville that Saturday. I can't," Bella said, giving the boy a small smile. "But, uh, you should ask Jessica. I know she'd love to go with you," Colby said, helping Bella out. Mike just nodded and walked away.

"That was painfully awkward and hard to watch, but it beats listening to my sister... complain," Colby said, trailing off.

"What's she complaining about?" Bella asked. Colby's eyes went wide, forgetting that Bella had no idea about the supernatural world.

Colby caught the gaze of the Cullens, who had slightly wide eyes. Her eyes stayed on Emmett. "Who knows, and I don't want to find out. I'd have better luck being a stowaway on your field trip, but I'll sadly have to pass on being around Tyler and Mike," Colby said as the biology teacher called for his students. "Good luck," Colby said, hugging Bella and instantly walking up to Emmett and Rosalie, considering Edward, Jasper, and Alice were going on the field trip as well.

"Hey," Colby said, smiling at both Rosalie and Emmett. To Colby's surprise, Rosalie smiled back as Emmett replied with a smirk and a "Hey" in return.

"Let's go somewhere with less... people," Rosalie said, looking around at the students staring at the trio as they either got on the buses or went inside.

"Sounds difficult, considering we seem to magnetically attract attention," Colby said as she followed Rosalie, Emmett close by her side as he laughed.

"That's true, which is why when Rose said 'with less people,' she means none at all," Emmett said as they got to Rosalie's car.

"Don't worry, Carlisle will cover up you ditching with us with a doctor's note or something," Rosalie said as Emmett opened Colby's door for her to get into the car.

"Guess I'm lucky my siblings already went inside. Sweet Grace-lynn would have a fit," Colby said, smiling at Emmett as she got into the passenger seat and he got into the back seat behind her. Rosalie started her car and sped out of the parking lot.

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Soon enough, the three arrived at the Cullen household. Colby wasted no time getting to the point once they entered the living room. "You guys knew what my family and I were when we moved here, didn't you?" she asked.

"Alice recognized the last name, Salvatore. You come from a very powerful witch bloodline. And on top of that, we saw your grimoire," Emmett explained.

"Plus, Chloe and Talia aren't the best whisperers," Rosalie added with a small laugh.

"Trust me, I know. The twins and Talia are loud; whispering for them is like an inside voice to everyone else," Colby laughed along with Emmett and Rosalie. A huge part of her wanted to ask them about the vampire theory Grace had, but she wanted them to tell her in their own time, not by her outright asking them. At least not yet, even though she already knew they were vampires.

"And by the way, thank you," Rosalie added. Colby looked at her, confused.

"For what?" she blurted out as the two laughed.

"For sticking up for us against your sister. Probably wasn't an easy thing to do," Rosalie said with a sweet smile.

"It's never easy arguing with her, but she didn't have a right to say the things she did about you all being evil, murderous vampires," Colby said, trailing off towards the end. Emmett and Rosalie shared a look before looking back at Colby.

"What?" Colby asked, noticing the looks.

"It is true. Our whole family are vampires, but not murderous. That's a bit of a stretch," Emmett explained. When Colby didn't reply, the two vampires got worried.

"We're not evil bloodsuckers that feed off humans," Rosalie blurted out. Colby laughed, earning weird looks from the two.

"Trust me, I know. You're vegetarian vampires; you feed off animals. At least that's what I got from your eye color. They're not red like the vampires Grace and I met in Italy. They're gold like the family Jason and I met in Alaska about four years ago." Colby saw the two visibly relax, knowing she didn't freak out or anything. Emmett was worried she'd hex them, of all things.

As a few moments of silence passed, Colby changed the subject back to witches.

"How, other than the spell book, did you guys know we were witches? It couldn't be just because of the last name," Colby asked curiously.

The two shared a look, clearly trying to form the right explanation. "The day Edward saved Bella, your eyes glowed an emerald green. We know your eyes aren't that color naturally, and the way they changed was not normal. Carlisle also knew someone who did that—Diane Roux, and he told us how the Casanova coven and Roux coven united Diana and Carson wed. But also the Salvatore coven is one of the original covens along side the Casanova's and the Roux's," Rosalie explained in more of a question to see if those facts were correct.

Colby nodded before answering. "Diane Roux was my great-great-grandmother."