A/N: I'm quite possibly insane. But I had too much fun with this to want to pass it up. It loosely follows the same plot, and some chapters sounds a like in content if you've ever read the book, albeit with a male character who isn't as much the damsel in distress as Bella. There also apparently others of male!Bella. I guess I'm not very original. But they seem to stay true to the story, whereas I'm here to poke as much fun at it as I can.
Chapter 1 – When it Rains, it Pours
My bored expression wasn't something my mother liked. She would much rather see me bubbling and smiling - or as close to that as I would get - as I usually would be as I soaked in the hot Phoenix sun. How could I when I was on my way to a dreary and constantly humid and rainy state my mother tried so hard to escape after she'd given birth to me?
In lieu of that, I'd made it a point to visit my father every summer since I was eight for at least a week, a month at most. My mother couldn't stand the man, for reasons left unspecified even to this day, when I was more than capable of understanding a divorce, or whatever had transpired between them. Charlie already assumed I knew, and even if he didn't, any prolonged mention of my mother resulted in a cold shoulder. I suppose that's where I get my cold attitude from.
While I would have liked nothing more than for this to be a visit, it was a semi-permanent arrangement. I'd be staying there until I graduated high school. My horror could only be sustained by forced indifference. I can't say I hated Forks, or that I hated my father. In truth, Forks was a pleasant town I often used as an excuse to simmer down from the heat of Phoenix, but being there for longer than a month would drive me crazy. My father, while I had every right, according to my mother, to hate his guts, I couldn't. After all, it was my mother who left him, and I couldn't hold that against him. Aside from that, he had made every effort to be near me. He was sweet and caring under his gruff exterior, and possibly the only person who I came to an understanding with.
I loved my mother, but it had taken her way longer than it should have to realise she had no idea how to raise a child, and even longer to realise she could easily send me off with my father - something I had discovered before the thought could nest itself into her head, and tried not to provoke. Circumstances had provoked it, and now here I was - arriving at the airport, my mother making a show of fawning over me.
"Bleu, honey, you don't have to do this." Clearly a lie.
I wasn't going to respond back with another lie. "Well it's happening. And please, call me Izzy." I hauled my suitcases - really, how did I find a place to fit so much crap? - into the airport.
"Oh, but you're name is Bleu!"
"And my first name is Izzy..." She didn't continue to argue.
After a heartfelt goodbye, mostly from her part, I muttered a mandatory "I love you." I could already feel like today was going to be a long day.
I was right. I was completely right. The ride with my father held a strain that was mostly the result of my snarky commentary. I had never called him "dad" to his face. Nor in mention of him to anyone. It was always "my father" or "Charlie". He was already accustomed to this - I even called my mother by Renée at times, but hardly ever "mom". The mention of my mother also resulted in more of a tight lipped atmosphere. While my mother liked to pretend they were on friendly terms, I knew they were anything but. My reason for being here didn't make him any too happy either.
The bleak grey skies were doing nothing to raise my mood or opinion any. The skies were preparing for a down pour. I couldn't help but think they were mirroring my mood. Or the heavens were deliberately causing it to sour.
I guess it was because he was a police chief that he seemed so disappointed. Discipline was something he knew the in an out of, and clearly he felt I was undisciplined. He knew better than to comment on that, however. I'd find a way to walk to Phoenix if I had to.
"Renée gave me a bit of cash to buy a car, by the way. Something about school being two miles away?" His grip had loosened on the steering wheel, so I knew it was okay to venture into another conversation.
He was pulling into the driveway by the time I had gotten to ask my question, so he concentrated more into parking the car before he answered. "Did she?" was his only response. I frowned as I stepped out into the driveway. I was, the one with the flighty answers, not him.
"I hope you'll like it..." That piqued my interest, and he started raising the garage door. In front of me stood a blazing red Toyota Celica.
"Charlie... this looks like a racing car." My bored expression from before quickly faded to be replaced by a wide grin.
"Well, it was a racing car. Some of the parts have been replaced. It's a bit beat up, too, but I'm sure it's nothing you won't be able to patch up." He didn't seem to know I knew nearly nothing about the interior of cars, though I could name the model and year, albeit not often.
I was peering at the interior design through the windows. The seats were black leather and seemed to be sporting small wholes, tearing, and stains. Then I noticed a down point. "I also don't know how to drive a stick very well." "You'll learn." That settles it, his tone told me. This was going to be mine.
"Renée also only gave me four thousand dollars..." I said meekly.
"Stop finding flaws! It's already paid for." My grin went ear to ear.
I surprised myself when I grabbed him by the neck and pulled him into a tight hug. "Thank you so much..." He was just as shocked as me, hesitantly patting my back. We weren't what could be called very affectionate people, but at the moment I didn't care. He'd just bought me a fucking car.
Just then, as if to ruin my moment, it started to rain. Hard. I hurriedly went for my suitcases and Charlie tried to open the door as fast as possible. Three suitcases already in, as that was all I had brought, and I was set to start arranging my room. He left me to do that task without hovering over my shoulder. Despite my happiness over receiving a car, he knew that the dread of having to live in Forks was more over powering. Even coming back to my old room wasn't a big comfort. It just showed how different my Phoenix life and my life in Forks would now be.
I didn't even feel like putting away my clothes, instead setting my laptop up and trying to figure out how to connect it to the internet. I shoved some jeans and a few shirts from the top into a drawer so I wouldn't have to fuss too much when I started school the next day. I insisted I arrive on a Sunday to have as minimal a chance of boredom as I could, meaning I started school as soon as possible as well. Despite what my mother would have thought about the incident, I still would have been peeved if I had to miss too much of school.
Not that the prospect of starting school was very appealing. It barely had three hundred students, most of which have lived here all there lives. I'd be the token new kid. I was reminded of an old cartoon I would watch; Recess, where the new military brat was called "new kid" for a fair amount of time, and never by his actual name. Since it was high school and not middle school, it probably wouldn't be as drastic, but I couldn't help but let my imagination run wild anyway.
Said imagination led me to start mourning how I would seize to look like myself the longer I stayed. My skin is a nicely tanned colour I'd gained after an obsessive year of playing tennis, which I soon gave up to only play friendly games on occasion. Add to that slight built from years of passively playing soccer. Now that I was in a town where the sun barely showed, I'd lose all that, and that wasn't something I was looking forward to. The only thing that wouldn't change was my hair colour, a reddish brown courtesy of hair dye and girls who thought it'd be cute. Before I left, they even thought it couldn't do any more damage and just dye the tips a white blond. It wasn't my style, but it pissed off Renee and Phil, so until I bought some hair dye, there it would stay.
"How much did the celica cost, anyway?" I asked my dad through dinner. I'd had to take over after he almost burned simple macaroni and cheese. From then on I knew I had to be the one cooking, or I'd die of starvation before boredom.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because I want to at least give you some of what you spent on it." I wasn't going to give up all the money my mother gave me, but that didn't mean I didn't feel strange about having Charlie bought me something I could clearly pay for myself.
"Quiet. I won't accept it. Save the money for renovating it at least." And as a second thought, "and some winter clothes. Renée had said you were reluctant to part with your many shorts."
"I want you to be happy here..." He continued. "As happy as you can be."
I smiled, maybe a bit small, but I hoped he noticed the sentiment anyway. I could see he wanted to say "even though Renée already sealed your doom", something we could both agree on. But I couldn't waste my energy on being mad. That's what awaited me at school tomorrow.
Mad was an understatement. First, I'd been subject to waking up early along with Charlie's routine, though he constantly apologised for having woken me. And burned bacon. Awesome. I'd also had to wear a sweater and a jacket to bear the cold winds and rain that were making the day uglier by the second. Even then, I was still shivering, and my damn car didn't have heat. The leather seats were uncomfortably cool against my jeans, and I didn't have any gloves either so now the steering wheel was my nemesis.
I'm pretty sure I was only exaggerating, as Charlie had seemed impartial to the cold, as were most people I drove by while on my way to school. Thankfully, my cell phone had GPS or I'd be on my way to the middle of nowhere by now. Except, I was already there, so probably somewhere.
I'd have asked Charlie for a ride, but he had left while I was in the shower. And even if he hadn't, I wouldn't have felt all too comfortable riding in a police car.
I didn't know where to park, so I left the thing across the street. I was now freezing my ass off, as I made my way to the schools entrance, and into the office. Inside, it was brightly lit, and warm enough for me to stop shivering, to my relief. The office was smaller, much smaller than the main office at my last school; the waiting area even had metal chairs instead of slightly comfortable padded ones.
After I assured the secretary my name was in fact Izzy Bleu Swan, and not Izequiel Bleu Swan, she still looked at me sceptically while she handed me my school schedule. Perhaps more incredulously. Who the hell named their child Izzy Bleu? It was now my turn to stare at her sceptically. She was actually helping me. Since when does a school secretary actually have the decency to help a student? Did I fall into some parallel universe?
She'd given me a map and highlighted the easiest route to each class. By then school still hadn't started and I didn't know hat to do, so I just decided to take my car inside the parking lot.
I quickly regretted my decision when everyone stared as I passed by. The others seemed to be a lot shabbier than mine, the only one standing out a shiny silver Volvo. The one with the nearest available open parking as well.
I kept my hands shoved into my pockets, arms closely clung to my sides in a feeble attempt to keep warm from the rain. Maybe I should've bought a heavier jacket. This one was made of leather and clung to the my skin. Not ideal for rainy weather, but it was fashionable, so I sucked it up.
My classes went on uneventful. My math teacher was still reviewing material from the year before, and though I was indifferent to the subject, I soon hated who taught it. He'd forced me to introduce myself in front of the class, who all gawked like I were some type of alien species. I didn't plan on having to go through it, so I'd stammered out "I'm Izzy Swan", and the staring just got creepier at that point, and I nearly tripped over my sneakers to make it to my seat.
There was even a girl who was either brave enough, or stupid enough to talk to me.
"You're Izzy Swan, right?" As if you don't already know, I thought. She looked like the overly helpful type.
"Yep." I wanted to keep my answers short and to the point.
"Where's your next class?" She didn't seem able to take a hint.
I had tried to memorise my schedule, but only knew my next class. "Government, with Jefferson."
"I'm heading toward the gym, I could show you the way..." Definitely over-helpful. "I'm Erica," she added.
I smiled tentatively. "Thanks."
I huddled more into my jacket and followed her down the hall.
Throughout the day, in class and in-between classes, I'd been approached with idle conversation from brave souls who didn't seem to take a hint that I was uninterested in the world around me. A girl who I apparently had Trig and Spanish with was extra insistent and dragged me to her lunch table. She was a mousy girl, with curly hair, but I couldn't for the life of me remember her name, so I tried to be as amiable as possible.
She'd introduced me to the small group of girls, all smiling up at me with glazed eyes. That's when I realised the reason why the girls were flocking to me today. I was a new catch. In Phoenix, I had average looks. But here, in a town where you see the same people everyday, I looked like an anomaly. I probably wore too many bracelets, my hair was definitely not a natural shade and I didn't see any other boy with multi-coloured hair. Maybe keeping it when I got here had been a bad idea after all. One girl was even staring at my eyebrow piercing that I unintentionally uncovered when I'd moved my hair out of my eyes. Her face held a mixture of disgust and intrigue.
It was all making me very uncomfortable. Back home, I wasn't a popular sight. I was an expendable player on the soccer team, and the best male player on the girls tennis team – girl team only because no boys had ever joined. Though the tennis team was always somewhat close friends to me, and some girls liked dying my hair weird colours. I'd naively let them, thinking it'd get me to score with one of them (I was wrong and right in that respective). I was always friend zoned, anyway, and seen more of as a good guy friend with helpful advice. All this sudden attention on me was making me want to run and hide. I didn't do very well with prying eyes.
These girls conversations also held nothing of interest, making me miss my old school all the more. At least my Phoenix friends knew I wasn't interested in hearing pointless dribble. If I made it by tomorrow, I was going to make sure I sat with a group of boys. While I didn't act very sociable, I had a feeling that nameless girl would insist I sit with them again.
"Now it seems that the girls have taken an interest in the new kid, and away from the Cullens." I looked up from my meal then. A tall girl with long black hair was staring at me as she made a space between two girls that sat across from me.
"Excuse me?"
She gave a girly giggle. "My name is Jessica, by the way. And, as you'll learn, most - if not every - girl in school would fawn over the Cullen's. And the boys as well, but for the girls."
At my still confused look, she pointed over her shoulder. That could mean any table, but when I looked, I instantly new it was the one in the corner, only three tables away from ours.
Despite apparently baring the same last name, the five sibling didn't look related, except for maybe a boy and girl. The girl had blonde hair, gently waving to the middle of her back. She looked tall and had a beautiful figure. The type of girl that made others take a hit to their self-esteem. She held a condescending sneer, and I dubbed her the Alpha Bitch. The boy was sitting next to his sister, and looked to be the same height, with the same blond hair, but a muscular built and oh my god, his eyes. He looked like a drug addict.
The two other boys looked even stranger, one muscled like a weight lifter, with dark, curly hair, who I was starting to think might be on steroids. The other had un-tidy copper coloured hair and a lanky, less bulky build. Arguably the most normal. The last was a girl who slightly reminded me of a pixie. She was short and very thin, but still very beautiful, her hair a deep black, cropped short and in layers. Definitely the cutest. The only resemblance in any of them was chalk-like white skin. That wasn't a reassuring thought. Would I end up looking that pale? I shook that thought from my head. No one else looked that unhealthy.
As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray, food intact, and walked away in quick, graceful strides that didn't look like they belonged to a teenager girl. She left through the back door, and before I could look away, the one with the un-tidy hair glared at me.
Scratch that. He's the whack job. He looked as though he knew we were talking about him.
"That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale." She turned back to me - I didn't noticed she had turned to look at them - and started talking in a near whisper. "The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife."
I didn't dare glance back up at them again. "They're very... Um... Attractive." I didn't want to say they looked completely psychotic as well.
"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "I think they're all together, like together together. Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean." Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town. I had to admit, it was also still pretty weird.
"Which ones are the Cullens?" I found myself asking. I didn't particularly care, but... "They don't look related..."
"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales are brothers and sister, twins - the blondes - and their foster children. They've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's they're aunt or something."
"That's really nice, for them to take care of all those kids like that." I found myself smiling, despite feeling uneasy.
"Yeah, it really is." She smiled back up at me, and then continued to spew gossip about other kids around the school. And I was just beginning to like her...
I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends until I hurriedly excused myself as the bell rang. A girl, who I think was either Angela or Annie told me we had the next class together, and we walked in silence until we reached the Chemistry classroom. She was apparently shy and easily flustered.
I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher. The seats were slowly filling up and I sat at an empty table, hoping no one would want to sit next to me. As luck would have it, the Cullen who glared at me at lunch decided it'd be a swell idea to take the seat. Angela gave me a worried look.
Cullen wasn't very subtle. He'd spent the class staring at me with mixed expressions of anger and curiosity. He was trying to be friendly as he passed me his notes (without prompting), but his rigid posture showed he wasn't entirely comfortable. What a nut job. He looked as much a druggie as his brother, incredibly dark bags under his eyes, and hands too twitchy to be normal.
All I'd missed was a review on the phases of matter. Oh, joy. I quickly jotted down half of what he'd written. His handwriting was small, neat, and girlish, making me almost giggle.
I passed him back his notes, and out of the corner of my eye watched him make some weird blobby doodles. I nearly jumped when he'd gotten out of his seat, only for the bell to ring a second later. I stared blankly after him.
Definitely a nut job.
"You're Izzy Bleu, right?" a male voice asked. I looked up to see baby-faced boy with pale blond hair gelled into messy spikes.
"You know my middle name, how?" I looked up at him sceptically. "Just call me Izzy," I said, not caring how he'd found the answer. Half the girls had already looked at my schedule, one of them were the answer.
"Well, I'm Angela's friend. My name is Mike. She said we had gym together next and told me to show you the way." I'm assuming he meant the girl who walked me to class, but said mousy girl was nowhere in sight.
"That's great.
"Do you play any sports?" We had been walking down he hall, in comfortable silence, how I'd prefer it. He didn't seem to think the same.
"Tennis and soccer."
"What a coincidence! Me too!" I raised an eyebrow at him. He didn't look the type. "Well, soccer, not tennis. You should try out for the team."
"Of course." I hadn't planned on it, but maybe that'd make my next two years here more bearable.
He continued on to say how he understood how I was probably feeling. He'd grown up in California, and said he'd made the same mistake as me - underestimating the cold and not bearing to part with his attire. Unlike him, I'd rather freeze my ass of than wear a parka.
"Surprised Edward Cullen talked to you." Now I was more than barely paying attention. "He doesn't talk to anyone."
I cringed. That didn't feel like a good sign. "He just handed me his notes, though I didn't ask. Just being friendly, right?"
"Believe it or not, that's weird. He's a smart guy, so I remember asking to borrow his notes one day. He gave me a look like 'don't talk to me again'. Hell, Angela tried once. He's just not sociable."
"What a nut job." Maybe the girls fawned over him, but I didn't have any qualms about saying how I felt. Mike merely laughed.
"You got that right. But I wouldn't say that very loud since he's in this class, too." He laughed at the look on my face.
He headed toward the boys lockers room, while I went to go introduce myself to the coach. Coach Clapp handed me a uniform I'd have to eventually pay for, but didn't make me dress for today's class. I was a bit thankful. I didn't exactly feel comfortable changing in front of a bunch of teenagers.
The coach was making everyone play volleyball as well, and I didn't have to much skill in that department. I'd had to participate at some point though, and I wasn't looking forward to that.
"Watch out!"
Just my luck, a stray volleyball was headed my way. I quickly got up from the bleachers and went to bump the ball, only for me to miss and it to hit me in the head. "Ow..." Rubbing my head, I went to retrieve the ball and hit it. My aim was poor and it nearly hit someone else now.
Edward fucking Cullen!
"Sorry about that!" I yelled, as one of the players went to go retrieve the ball.
Good thing this was my last class, and I didn't have to suffer any more trouble for the day.
I made my way to the office when the bell rang, the coach had told me the secretary called for me to go receive some paper work or something. Before I could walk in the door, I saw the last person I wanted to see pleading with the secretary to change some of his classes.
Peeking into the office, as I had no other choice, I mutter, "excuse me". Edward looked a bit startled, and the secretary was trying her best to not look irritated.
"I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything," she said.
"Thank you. That's all I ask." With that he left.
I didn't want to stay in school any longer and hurriedly picked up the papers she'd given me, barely paying attention to what they were for. I needed a psychical, or something to participate in sports, and emergency contact information, blah, blah, blah.
With the key in the ignition, my car engined roared to life. The parking lot was fairly empty, only a few stragglers, and that shiny silver Volvo. I should've known it belonged to the Cullens. Edward stared at me while I was getting into my car, and I saw the blond girl push him to get inside.
I couldn't wait to finally go home.
A/N: In the actual Twilight book, chapter 1 is nearly 27 pages of weak character development or something. I hardly remember. The whole damn book is 498 pages, and I'm not trying to copy all the scenes from the book, just key parts. This also isn't an ordeal I want to drag on longer than necessary, so I'll try to shorten it to at least half of that, more if this becomes more popular than I initially thought. Some noticeable things have and will change. In chapter one, a more realistic reason of why the male!Bella has to move to Forks is hinted at, and will be elaborated on in chapter to come. As well as the car Izzy has, there's a reason I changed it from an ugly truck to that sexy celica.
Also, does anyone else have a problem with FFNet? Every time I try to upload a document, the format is thrown down the drains, and all my spaces between paragraphs are erased.
