Soarele de la miezul noptii Midnight Sun

Capitolul 1 - Prima vedere First sight

Acesta era momentul din zi in care imi This was the time of day when I wished I
doream sa pot sa dorm. were able to sleep.
Liceul. Sau cuvantul potrivit este mai High school. Or was purgatory the right
degraba « purgatoriu » ? Daca exista o cale de word? If there was any way to atone for my
a-mi ispasi pacatele, asta ar trebui sa atane sins, this ought to count toward the tally in
greu in balanta. Nu ma pot obisnui cu some measure. The tedium was not something
plictiseala, fiecare noua zi pare mai I grew used to; every day seemed more
monstruoasa decat cea care tocmai a trecut. impossibly monotonous than the last.
Presupun ca asta chiar este o forma de I suppose this was my form of sleep—if
somn, daca somnul poate fi definit ca starea sleep was defined as the inert state between
inerta intre perioadele active. active periods.
M-am uitat la crapaturile care se I stared at the cracks running through the
intindeau de-a lungul tencuielii pana in coltul plaster in the far corner of the cafeteria,
peretelui cantinei, imaginandu-mi modele in imagining patterns into them that were not
ele. Era o modalitate de a ignora vocile care there. It was one way to tune out the voices
imi sunau in cap ca revarsarea unui rau. that babbled like the gush of a river inside my
Ignoram cateva sute de voci din head.
plictiseala. Cand vine vorba de mintea umana, Several hundred of these voices I ignored out
am auzit tot ce se putea auzi si inca mai mult of boredom. When it came to the human mind,
decat atat. I’d heard it all before and then some.
Astazi, toate gandurile se invarteau in Today, all thoughts were consumed with the
jurul exageratului eveniment mult asteptat : trivial drama of a new addition to the small
noua achizitie din colectivul de elevi. Le-a student body here. It took so little to work
trebuit atat de putin ca sa se entuziasmeze. them all up. I’d seen the new face repeated in
Am vazut noul chip repetat in ganduri din thought after thought from every angle. Just
fiecare unghi. Doar o fata umana obisnuita. an ordinary human girl. The excitement over
Entuziasmul trezit de venirea ei era obositor her arrival was tiresomely predictable—like
de previzibil – ca si cum i-ai arata unui copil flashing a shiny object at a child. Half the
un obiect sclipitor. Jumatate din populatia sheep-like males were already imagining
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masculina, cu instictul lor de turma, se themselves in love with her, just because she
imaginau deja indragostiti de ea, doar pentru was something new to look at. I tried harder to
ca era noua. Am incercat din rasputeri sa-i tune them out.
ignor. Only four voices did I block out of courtesy
Doar pe patru dintre voci le blocam rather than distaste: my family, my two
din politete si nu din sila : familia mea, cei doi brothers and two sisters, who were so used to
frati si doua surori, care erau atat de obisnuiti the lack of privacy in my presence that they
cu lipsa intimitatii in prezenta mea, incat rarely gave it a thought. I gave them what
rareori se gandeau la asta. Le dadeam cata privacy I could. I tried not to listen if I could
intimitate puteam. Daca reuseam, incercam sa help it.
nu ascult. Try as I may, still…I knew.
Dar chiar daca incercam, totusi...stiam. Rosalie was thinking, as usual, about
Ca de obicei, Rosalie se gandea la ea herself. She’d caught sight of her profile in
insasi. Isi zarise profilul in reflexia ochelarilor the reflection off someone’s glasses, and she
cuiva, si isi contempla propria perfectiune. was mulling over her own perfection.
Mintea lui Rosalie era o balta de Rosalie’s mind was a shallow pool with few
superficialitate, cu foarte putine surprize. surprises.
Emmett era infuriat din cauza meciului Emmett was fuming over a wrestling match
de wrestling cu Jasper, pe care il pierduse he’d lost to Jasper during the night. It would
noaptea trecuta. Era nevoie de intreaga lui take all his limited patience to make it to the
rabdare ca sa reziste pana la sfarsitul orelor, end of the school day to orchestrate a rematch.
cand o sa orchestreze o revansa. I never really felt intrusive hearing Emmett’s
Niciodata nu ma simteam ca un intrus thoughts, because he never thought one thing
in mintea lui Emmet, pentru ca el niciodata nu that he would not say aloud or put into action.
gandea ceva ce n-ar fi putut spune si cu voce Perhaps I only felt guilty reading the others’
tare, sau pe care nu l-ar fi putut face. Poate ca minds because I knew there were things there
ma simteam vinovat citind mintile altora that they wouldn’t want me to know. If
pentru ca stiam ca sunt lucruri pe care ei n-ar Rosalie’s mind was a shallow pool, then
fi vrut ca eu sa le stiu. Daca mintea lui Rosalie Emmett’s was a lake with no shadows, glass
era o balta superficiala, atunci a lui Emmet era clear.
un lac limpede ca sticla, fara nici o umbra. And Jasper was…suffering. I suppressed a
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 IarJasper …suferea. Mi-am stapanit un sigh.
oftat. Edward. Alice called my name in her head,
Edward. Alice mi-a spus numele in and had my attention at once.
mintea ei, si mi-a captat atentia imediat. It was just the same as having my name
Era ca si cum m-ar fi strigat pe nume called aloud. I was glad my given name had
cu voce tare. Eram bucuros ca numele meu nu fallen out of style lately—it had been
mai era la moda in ultimul timp, pentru ca annoying; anytime anyone thought of any
fusese enervant.De fiecare dara cand cineva se Edward, my head would turn automatically…
gandea la un Edward, capul mi se intorcea din My head didn’t turn now. Alice and I were
reflex... good at these private conversations. It was
Capul nu mi s-a intors. Alice si cu rare that anyone caught us. I kept my eyes on
mine eram buni la conversatiile private.Foarte the lines in the plaster.
rar ne prindea cineva. Mi-am pastrat privirea How is he holding up? she asked me.
pe tencuiala peretelui. I frowned, just a small change in the set of
Cum se descurca? m-a intrebat ea. my mouth. Nothing that would tip the others
M-am incruntat, doar cu o mica off. I could easily be frowning out of
schimbare a pozitiei gurii mele. Nimic ce i-ar boredom.
putea face pe ceilalti sa banuiasca ceva. Alice’s mental tone was alarmed now, and
Puteam foarte bine sa ma incrunt de I saw in her mind that she was watching
plictiseala. Jasper in her peripheral vision. Is there any
Tonul mental al lui Alice era alarmat danger? She searched ahead, into the
acum, si am vazut in mintea ei ca il urmarea immediate future, skimming through visions
pe Jasper cu coada ochiului. Este vreun of monotony for the source behind my frown.
pericol? A inceput sa caute in viitorului I turned my head slowly to the left, as if
apropiat, tracand prin viziuni monotone ca sa looking at the bricks of the wall, sighed, and
descopere sursa incruntarii mele. then to the right, back to the cracks in the
Mi-am intors capul incet spre stanga, ceiling. Only Alice knew I was shaking my
ca si cum ma uitam la scandurile peretelui, am head.
oftat, si apoi mam uitat spre dreapta, inapoi la
crapaturile tencuielii.Doar Alice stia ca clatin
din cap in semn de raspuns. She relaxed. Let me know if it gets too bad.
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 Ea s-a relaxat. Anunta-ma daca situatia I moved only my eyes, up to the ceiling
se inrautateste. above, and back down.
Mi-am miscat doar ochii, sus spre Thanks for doing this.
tavanul de deasupra si apoi inapoi in jos. I was glad I couldn’t answer her aloud.
Multumesc ca faci asta. What would I say? ‘My pleasure’? It was
M-am bucurat ca nu puteam sa-i hardly that. I didn’t enjoy listening to Jasper’s
raspund cu voce tare.Ce as fi putut sa-ispun? struggles. Was it really necessary to
“Cu placere”? Cu greu s-ar putea spune asa experiment like this? Wouldn’t the safer path
ceva. Nu-mi placea sa ascult chinurile lui be to just admit that he might never be able
Jasper. Chiar trebuia sa experimenteze asa? to handle the thirst the way the rest of us
N-ar fi fost o cale mai sigura daca ar fi could, and not push his limits? Why flirt with
recunoascut ca n-o sa fie niciodata capabil sa- disaster?
si stapaneasca setea asa cum puteam noi, si sa It had been two weeks since our last hunting
nu mai incerce sa-si depaseasca limitele ? De trip. That was not an immensely difficult time
ce sa riste un dezastru ? span for the rest of us. A little uncomfortable
Trecusera doua saptamani de la ultima occasionally—if a human walked too close, if
noastra vanatoare. Nu era insuportabil de the wind blew the wrong way. But humans
dificil pentru noi ceilalti. Doar un pic rarely walked too close. Their instincts told
incomfortabil uneori, daca oamenii veneau them what their conscious minds would never
prea aproape, daca vantul sufla din directia understand: we were dangerous.
gresita. Dar rareori se intampla ca oamenii sa
vina aproape de noi. Instinctele le spuneau
ceea ce mintile lor nu puteau intelege : noi
suntem periculosi.