bri-marie 1. Have you ever been to an American high school cafeteria? The Cullens blend in perfectly fine. 2. Not high schools as small as Forks. It's perfectly reasonable that, in a high school that only has a little over three hundred students spread out over four grades in a fairly decent sized building, you don't bump into people. 3. Explained in the books. 4. Except the point wasn't to merge with their peers. Their the children of a successful doctor. It'd be odd if they [i]didn't[/i] have an expensive car. 5.People probably did see it. I'm not entirely sure what your point is. Are you wondering why random people didn't walk up to a random house they found? 6. Elizabeth Taylor became famous because she was a good actress. She [i]happened[/i] to be someone who had violet eyes. People [i]did[/i] approach the Cullens (see: Jessica). But there's only so many times you can approach someone and be snubbed and [i]still[/i] approach them. And there's only so many stories you can hear about others being snubbed before you decide it's not worth your time. Also: it's not easy to spot yellow eyes. My aunt had yellow eyes (she was jaundiced) and it wasn't until someone commented on it that I even noticed. They just look like a different shade of brown. So,again, it makes sense that not many people (or none at all) would come up to them and ask them about it.

DivyaHarry 1. So are you saying that by not eating they blend in fine? Kids in American high school cafeterias don't eat their lunches is it? 2. Weird. It may be a big school. What about the class? When you scurry out of class you are bound to bump into a couple of people at the least. 3. Maybe it's me. How is it explained? I didn't find it. You could help me out on this one. 4. The point here is not to merge with anyone. The point here is they are trying to be normal teenagers who don't want to draw attention to themselves. If that was the case why make a splash by cruising in Volvos? Why not just walk to school? 5. The point is: why is there such an expensive house in the middle of the forest? It's not about walking up to the house or knocking on their expensive door. It's the very fact that the house was built there should be a question. Who builds houses in the woods? 6. When someone has jaundice the white of the eye becomes yellow not the iris. Let's say Jessica is the typical bimbo who gets snubbed and moves on with her Edwardian fantasy. Why didn't someone else, who wasn't insulted by the Cullens perfection, do a "Bella Swan" and find out about it?

cassie-1-2-3 1. How do you know they were allowed to sit somewhere else during lunch? A whole lot of people at my school skipped lunch all the time. It's not a suspicious act. 2. Also, at my school, I bumped into cold and hard people all the time. I don't know if any of them were Mary Sues, I didn't ask. Unless you're actually paying very close attention to every single person you pass, how would you even know who you're bumping into? Also, take into consideration that I went to a school with about 4,000 students and it wasn't the largest school in the world. !'ve seen larger schools in small towns, and there's always a way to avoid crowds. Waiting a few minutes and not running out the door as soon as the bell rings is a good start. Taking longer routs, hiding away in the bathroom. There are many ways. 3. I don't quite remember how it was explained in the book, but doctors are always cold... They work in cold buildings. It's also not unusual for him to be wearing gloves. 4. Why do they need to hide their wealth? There are wealthy humans on this planet, it's not very suspicious ether. 5. Who cares if somebody sees their house? It's just a house. Humans have houses. Some people want secluded houses. They do exist in the real world. There's a mansion around where I live hidden behind a bunch of random trees. (we don't have forests around here) A private detective lives in it. I'm pretty sure nobody things he's a vampire because of the location of his house. 6. I also know people with violet eyes. None of them are famous. It's just an eye color. there are also people with very light broen eyes that can appear golden. I say the only suspicious thing about their eyes is that they all have the same eye color when they're all supposed to be adopted.

DivyaHarry 1. The question is [b]why don't they sit elsewhere[/b]. I am not implying that they are sitting somewhere else during lunch. 2. Are you saying that teenagers are so careful (except for miss Mary-Sue, of course) that no one ever comes near or even slightly touches the other person? 3. Which doctor checks a patient's pulse by wearing gloves? So there is no way a doctor wears gloves [i]all the time[/i]as you've mentioned. And hospitals are not so cold that a person begins to freeze or becomes ice cold. It's not as though Carlisle was working there 24/7 to even remotely support your theory of [i]doctors always being cold[/i]. 4. So they flaunt their wealth by parading it in front of impressionable teenagers and hope that no one sees them or keeps an eye on them? 5. Any house that is as magnificent as the Cullens' house is bound to become a hot spot. No one is implying that just because a house is secluded a vampire has to be living there. Please read the question properly. There is no mention of any vampire there. When someone as mysterious as the Cullens live in a place like that people are bound to be curious and would try to interfere. Why didn't they just build the house in town? 6. So why isn't anyone suspicious or even curious that a doctor and his wife, who have yellow eyes, adopt 5 kids with the same yellow colour eyes? Yellow is a rare eye colour. But finding 7 people with these features at the same place is a surprise.

cassie-1-2-3 !. Maybe they can't? Maybe hiding from the cafeteria would be weird? 2. I didn't say that at all. 3. DOCTORS are always cold. All doctors, not just Carlisle. Hospitals and doctors offices are always cold to slow down the spreading of germs and bacteria. Carlisle doesn't have to be at a hospital 24/7 in order for a hospital to be cold... I don't get what you're trying to say there. Also, doctors use a stethoscope, not their hands. 4. No... They just have cars. They're not trying to influence people. Are you suggesting that all teenagers are suspicious of people with nice cars? 5. Large houses aren't tourist attractions. It's really nothing special to gawk at and trespass around. If they had their house in the middle of town, people would notice them leaving and arriving at all hours, they'd notice their lights on all night, they can't leave their home when there's sunlight. 6. That's kind of what I said. I'm not challenging that. It is weird that they all have the same color eyes.

bri-marie 1. [i]Kids in American high school cafeterias don't eat their lunches is it? The question is why don't they sit elsewhere.[/i] Lots of people don't eat lunch during lunch time. Some kids do homework. Some kids goof around. Some kids just sit and talk. Not eating really isn't that shocking. I'm assuming that their high school is like majority of other high-schools, where you're not allowed to wander the hall-ways during lunch. Unless you have a special pass, you're in the cafeteria. 2. [i]Are you saying that teenagers are so careful (except for miss Mary-Sue, of course) that no one ever comes near or even slightly touches the other person?[/i] I'm saying that don't fall all over each other. The slight brush someone would have given them in the hallway wouldn't be [i]nearly[/i] enough contact for anyone to realize their skin was cooler than it should have been. 3. [i]Which doctor checks a patient's pulse by wearing gloves? So there is no way a doctor wears gloves all the timeas you've mentioned. And hospitals are not so cold that a person begins to freeze or becomes ice cold.[/i] Cassie already covered this, but I'd like to point out that doctor's [i]are[/i] supposed to wear gloves when they are going to touch a patient. (Especially in hospitals.) It helps stop the spread of the diseases that they come in contact with the entire time they are working. 4. [i]Why not just walk to school?So they flaunt their wealth by parading it in front of impressionable teenagers and hope that no one sees them or keeps an eye on them?[/i] Their school is off the high-way. A group of teenagers walking down the high way is going to attract more attention than the children of a rich doctor driving a nice car. Especially since no one would look twice at a rich kid driving a nice car. And people [i]were[/i] wary of the Cullens because they were rich. (And adopted.) Charlie has a huge conversation about the way people treat the Cullens in the very first book. 5. [i]Who builds houses in the woods? When someone as mysterious as the Cullens live in a place like that people are bound to be curious and would try to interfere. Why didn't they just build the house in town?[/i] Lots of people have houses in the woods. Houses in the woods are actually fairly popular since they're away from the busy-ness of the city/town and roads. Why would anyone interfere? Do you have urges to interfere in the lives of people who have nice houses? That doesn't even make sense. 6. [i]When someone has jaundice the white of the eye becomes yellow not the iris. Exactly. Iris' are [i]smaller[/i] (significantly so) than the whites of the eye. And it's hard to tell that the whites of the eyes are off. It's near impossible to (unless you are looking directly at them) to tell that the iris' are [i]yellow[/i], and not a shade of brown.

Helena-B-Carter You know, I agree that Meyer has tried to make Bella seem very, very smart... but using what methods? Making everyone else seem dumb of course!

DivyaHarry @bri-marie: 1. The point is why sit in the cafeteria at all? Why not sit somewhere else? They are surrounded by people there so they must be tempted all the time (like Jasper). 2. Isn't that what Bella did? She just touched him slightly and started getting all technical on him. And finally went all gaga over his cold vampireness. 3. @cassie-1-2-3: I have not seen any doctor using a Sthethoscope while checking pulse. I don't think doctors wear gloves all the time. Even if Carlisle did, it would hardly mask his colness. And last time I checked medical gloves were not made of wool. 4. It is not about suspicions, it's about impression. When people are trying to keep a low profile, they don't go flaunting around in Volvos. 5. Again it's about thought. If the Cullens do not want people to suspect them they should try living on the outskirts of town. Weird (but beautiful, of course) people living isolated from the town and its people will raise suspicions. 6. Again back to my question. Why isn't anyone suspicious or even curious that a doctor and his wife, who have yellow eyes, adopt 5 kids with the same yellow colour eyes? Yellow is a rare eye colour. But finding 7 people with these features at the same place is a surprise.

cassie-1-2-3 When a person in the the condition where they cannot have a stethoscope used on them and can only have their pulse taken, I doubt their in the condition to where they'll notice how cold his hands are. It's a really trivial thing to think about while in a hospital. I've never ever had my pulse taken at the hospital or doctor's office. I've always had my heart listened to (It's measuring the exact same thing, you know, and a stethoscope measures even more). And doctors CAN, and many do wear gloves while checking vital signs. http://allnurses.com/emergency-nursing/wearing-gloves-when-413351.html

cunha27 1) They may attend high school again and again, but they move around and enrol in different high schools, so I don't know what your point was with that. I also don't see that there's anything wrong or suspicious with the Cullens all meeting at a table during lunch to chat and catch up with each other. My friends and I used to have a regular table we'd sit at during lunch and no one ever found that to be strange. They're not seen eating during lunch - again, nothing strange about that either. Children and teenagers regularly skip meals or forget to eat if they're doing something fun like playing or talking with friends. 2) High school might be a crowded place but there are some people everyone seems to be always aware of and just don't bump into. They're usually the popular kids, the really good looking kids or the bullies. The Cullens come across as the kids a crowd will part a path for. It would be rare for others to bump into them. And even if they did, they lived in Forks, Washington, a wet and cold place it wouldn't be unusual for someone to feel very cold in such a place. 3) My doctor doesn't touch me with her hands very often and when she does she's usually wearing gloves, the same goes for the nurses. But when she's touched me without gloves, she's always rubbed her hands together to warm them so that her hands won't feel cold. I have been treated by doctors however who don't warm their hands first and yes they always feel "like a frozen turkey" - who knows, maybe they were all vampires... 4) Disagree. A successful doctor's child driving a cheap car? Nope, that would be out of character. Plus the expensive car and the flaunting of their wealth helps with making them look unapproachable and out of their classmates' league so they're more likely to be left alone. 5) There's nothing suspicious about having a large house on the outskirts of town and surrounded by nature. In fact it's a very desirable address. It's the kind of house wealthy, successful people usually own. It provides privacy and quiet yet it's still an easy convenient drive to town. Most people view it as a lifestyle choice not suspicious behaviour. 6) How does being very good looking show them as being weird in common sense? A person's physical features has nothing to do with their common sense. I don't see where the author made everyone else dumb. As to all the clues about the Cullens, both Bella and the readers were privy to more information than the rest of the Forks residents. Edward's strong reaction and attraction to Bella was what gave her the extra information to start her off on her fact finding mission. Before Bella, none of the Cullens had showed their super speed or strength, been alone in a warm car with another person and been touched. None of the Cullens had actively sought out someone to talk to and stood so close that changes in their eye colour were noticed. And on top of that, Bella was also friends with Jacob whose tribe knew exactly what the Cullens were and so was able to give Bella a few more clues. It's silly to accuse the town folk of being dumb and not being able to figure something out when they had less information than the readers. Up until Bella, the Cullens were very successful in keeping their anonymity. It stands to reason however that once Edward showed interest in Bella and tried to become closer to her, their secret was going to be discovered. That was the reason why Rosalie actively discouraged the relationship between Edward and Bella.

bri-marie 1.I explained this. In majority of high schools [i]you are not allowed to sit anywhere else at lunch[/i]. 2. No, that was the movie. 3. Latex gloves aren't exactly light, either. They would easily mask the unnatural coolness of his skin. His hands wouldn't seem colder than they should. 4. They're trying to stop people from looking into their family. Rich kids sporting rich cars isn't suspicious at all. 5.They are on the edge of town? Forks is bordered by woods. They live on the edge of town...in the woods. 6. Again. Most people probably haven't realized their eyes aren't yellow.