(AN: Hello and welcome to my first Twilight fic. This fic follows closely to the book for the first couple chapters, anything that looks familiar to the books of the Twilight series belong to Stephanie Meyer and I don't own Twilight. Please don't be discouraged in reading my story; the similarities in the chapters only last for the 5/6 chapters then everything gets better in chapters7/8. So, without further a do, enjoy!)
CHAPTER ONE
It was there in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with several curious strangers around me, that I first saw them.
They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were four of them, talking and eating plates of food that I didn't think the cafeteria offered. It was harmless to stare at them without the fright of meeting their eyes, because unlike most of the other students, they weren't staring at me. However, it was none of these things that caught and held my attention.
They didn't look anything alike. Of the two boys there, one was big – muscular like a serious weight lifter – with dark curly hair. The other one was taller, leaner but still muscular, with a head of honey blond.
The girls sat contrary to them. One was tall and statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the one you saw on Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue – the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. She had gently wavy golden hair that went to the middle of her back, and when all four of them laughed, she would sometimes flip her golden waves over her shoulder as if to emphasize them. The second girl – short and pixie like – seemed to laugh the hardest. She was thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointed in every direction. But just as notable as their variety of hair tones, each of their eyes were a distinct colour. Even though I was at a distance, I could tell that each pair was unique.
And yet, they were all alike. Each one of them was pale, paler than all of the students living in this sun less town. They were just as pale as me, the albino. In addition, all their features were straight, perfect, and angular.
Someone beside me called my name; tearing me from the four beautiful individuals across the room. But as I turned, the door to the cafeteria opened, catching my attention. In walked a boy who had what looked like a gym bag slung over his shoulder. With his back tuned to me, he made his way over to the corner of the cafeteria towards their table. He took a seat with them and retrieved a bottle of water from his bag, and turned towards the tiny girl in front of him. And just like the four sitting at the table the newcomer was beautiful, and just as pale. He was lankier and less bulky, with untidy, bronze-coloured hair.
I continued to stare because their faces, so different, so similar, were all overwhelmingly, maliciously stunning.
"Who are they?" I asked the girl from my trig, whose name I'd forgotten.
She looked up to see whom I was talking about – although probably already knowing from my tone who I was asking about.
She giggled, "They're the Cullens. That's Edward and Alice Cullen, Emmett McCarty, and the two blonds – who everyone things are twins – are Rosalie Hale and Jasper Whitlock."
"But I thought –."
"They all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife. So everyone calls them the Cullens." Jessica said answering my question before I could even finish it. Looking at the five siblings, I wondered how they were all connected to each other. I voiced my question.
"Oh, they're not. They're all adopted by Dr. Cullen. He's really young, in his twenties or early thirties." Jessica answered.
"Doctor?"
"Yeah, Dr. Cullen, He works down at the hospital."
"Oh. Have they always been with Dr. Cullen?"
"I'm not quite sure, though I do know that Edward's been with Dr. and Mrs. Cullen the longest."
"That's really kind of nice – for them to take care of all of those kids like that, when they're so young and every thing."
"I guess so," Jessica acknowledged halfhearted. I got the feeling that she didn't like the doctor and his wife very much for some reason. I would assume the reasons envy because of the glances she was pitching at their adopted children. "I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though." She added as if that narrowed their kindheartedness. Throughout the whole conversation, my eyes flickered repeatedly to where they sat.
I watched as Edward took a small drink from a water bottle. Strange, unpopular names, I thought watching Edward take a drink from a water bottle. They seemed more of the kind your grandparents would have. I guess that was in the mode here – small town names. I suddenly remembered the girl I was talking to was named Jessica, just like two girls back home in my History class. Jessica was a very common name.
"He probably just finished his run." She whispered secretly.
"His run?" I questioned, just as quietly.
"Yeah, Edward runs for about fifteen to thirty minutes every day before lunch." Jessica said in a matter-of-fact manner, while still looking at Edward Cullen. I turned my head slightly, looking back at him. I saw that he had placed the gym bag beneath his chair along with a pair of running shoes. But he didn't even look remotely tired.
"Well, no not every day, but he does most of the time. I think the only reason why he wouldn't run at lunch is if it's raining really hard outside or something like that," She said as if she was recalling a memory. "Other times though, when he's not running, he's playing in the football field out back with his siblings."
At first, I was going to drop the subject, but after a few minutes of silence, I couldn't resist – the Cullens officially caught my attention.
"Why does he run before lunch?" I asked.
"I don't really know," she answered puzzled.
"Do they all run just before lunch?"
"No, only Edward. But they are all very athletic."
"Even the girls?" I could see the golden haired girl more on a Victoria Secret runway ratter than on something like a soccer field. And the tiny girl looked too tiny to play any kind of sport without getting hurt.
"I already told you. They're all very athletic. Both Rosalie and Alice participate in almost all of the female sports and sports team. Emmett is the captain of just about all of our school teams, and if he isn't then one of his brothers are." She said under her breath. Looking back across the room and sized I up, what seemed to be her favorite Cullen. He looked more boyish that the other two boys.
If there was a perfect American family, it would be them. And as if the perfect family image they pulled together wasn't enough, they were all individual beautiful. It was hard to decide who was the most attractive – perhaps Rosalie, the perfect blond girl, or Edward, the bronze-haired boy. I continued to observe the American family. Edward Cullen received a plate full of food, that I was not aware of before, from the pixie like girl. He looked to his sister before he brought a fork of pasta to his mouth. The girl said something, which made Edward's eyes leave his plate and suddenly flicker to mine. He looked away idly raising his eyebrows at his sister, his expression holding no interest, while his eyes held questions. In a flush of embarrassment, I dropped my eyes at once. In that brief glance I could tell that his eyes were not a shade of brown like my own, but a remarkably brilliant colour, just as unique as the four pairs around him. He took a swig of his drink and engaged in conversation with the four other beauties.
"They are all…very nice looking." I struggled with the obvious understatement.
"Yes!" Jessica answered giggling – obviously a common gossiper. "They are all together though – Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they all live together." Her voice held all the shock and criticism of the small town, I thought critically. However, if I was being truthful, I would have to confess that in Phoenix, it would cause even more gossip.
Throughout the whole conversation, my eyes flickered repeatedly to where they sat.
"Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. I would have definitely noticed them on one of my summers here.
"No," Jessica answered. Her voice implied it should be apparent, even to a new arrival like me.
"They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska." Alaska? Well I guess, unlike me – a girl from the valley of the sun – that would be the reason for their pale skin colour. I felt relief to know that I was not the only newcomer here, and by far was not the most interesting by any standard. It was a relief to know I would not be on the receiving end of unwanted attention for long with the Cullens attending this school. And I was thankful for that.
But as I was sneaking another peak, the youngest one, Edward, suddenly looked up and met my gaze again. This time however, I could clearly tell that curiosity was present in his expression. I looked quickly away. His glance seemed curious, though very confused.
"Edward is the one with the reddish brown hair, right?" I asked, faking the questioning in my voice and hiding my curiosity. I peeked at him from the corner of my eyes and saw that he was still staring at me. However, he was not gawking as the other students were doing today – he had a slightly frustrated expression. I looked down again.
"Yea, 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 wonder how and when he turned her down.
I bit my lip in an attempt to hide my smile. I then glanced at him again and saw that his face was turned away. His attention appeared to be on his food, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were smiling too.
Suddenly the tiny girl, whose name I believe was Alice, slung a pretty gym-like bag and tiny pink ballet slippers over her shoulder. I watched as the small girl got up with her empty lunch tray. She walked with a swift, elegant lope that belonged on a runway. The golden haired girl may look fit for the catwalk, but the small girl had the steps to match. I gazed in amazement at her lithe dancer's step, until she glided out the exit, a little faster than I thought possible. My eyes turned back to the others and noticed that they all seemed to have some sort of gym bag or another beside them.
"Ballet?" I asked looking at Jessica questionably. Jessica looked at me.
"Alice is probably off to get ready for dance." Jessica answered with slight bitterness in her voice
"Dance? This school has a dance program?"
"We have a few of extra curricular activities, but not dance. Dancing is what she does sometimes during lunchtime." Jessica said with very little emotion. I guess this little town had a bit more to offer than I thought. Not that it would matter or make any of a difference. My only guess was the Cullens dominated all of them just like sports.
After a few minutes passed, the four of the remaining siblings got up – grabbing their individual gym-like bags – and left the table together. They all seemed to have a certain degree of gracefulness in their walk – even the big, muscular one. It was unsettling to watch them.
One of my new acquaintances – who considerately reminded me that her name was Angela – had Biology II with me the next hour. Together we walked in silence to class. I guess she was shy too; she wasn't big on conversation.
When we entered the classroom and Angela went to sit down, she already had a neighbor. In fact, it looked like all of the blacktopped lab tables – the same ones that I was use to using – were filled but one next to the centre aisle. I recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual hair colour, sitting beside that single open seat.
I watched him clandestinely as I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed. As I went past him, he looked up at me as if he was about to speak. But instead he sat frozen in his seat staring up at me with the strangest expression on his face. He looked irritated, as if he lost a bet. I quickly looked away shocked, going all red. I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table – causing the girls sitting there to giggle.
Thankfully, I made it to the teacher's desk without further difficulty.
I could tell that Mr. Banner, the Biology teacher, and I were going to get along great. He signed my slip – he didn't do any trivial nonsense of introductions – and handed me a book. Unfortunately, he had to send me to the only empty seat in the middle of the room. I kept my eyes to the ground as I went to go and sit beside him: still confused at he look he'd given me. Without looking up, I set my books down on the desktop. I noticed from the moment that I sat down his posture changed. When I first walked in to the class, he seemed more relaxed and welcoming, almost bored. But now his posture appeared unreceptive, as if he didn't want me beside him. He was leaning away from me, almost sitting on the farthest edge of his chair. His face was averted as well – as if he smelled something bad. Discreetly, I sniffed my hair. Its scent seem innocence enough. It smelled like strawberries, the fragrance of my favorite shampoo. I allowed my hair to drop over my right shoulder, creating a dark curtain between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher. Disappointingly, the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something that I had already studied. Nevertheless, I took notes carefully, always looking down.
However, I couldn't stop myself from peeking sporadically through the screen of my hair. In addition, I noticed that he never acknowledged me once or looked my way. He talked to a few people sitting around him and/or a few seats away. That is everyone but the one person that sat beside him, me. The people he socialized with seemed only too eager to talk with him and answer his questions so they could continue in conversation with him. Though he would reply when appropriate he seemed distracted. I also observed that everyone in the class seemed be taking notes but him, making me wonder why he chose not to.
"… acting as a control centre." Everyone in the class began snicker at what Mr. Banner just said. I looked around the class in confusion; I couldn't understand what was so funny.
I turned to Edward shyly, who was also laughing – though it didn't seem natural, "What is every one laughing about?" I asked timidly, afraid of his reaction. Before the words even left my mouth, he suddenly stopped laughing. As he turned his head a fraction towards me not looking at the girl or me – his face seeming more averted than when he first looked at me when I walked in.
"It's a joke from last year." He answered sharp and abruptly. All of this took only three seconds. He didn't even spare me a side glance. After that, I didn't ask him anything else, hoping to make the seating arrangement more tolerable for him. I could see that he had his hands and whole body was somewhat relaxed when he was talking to someone around him, but when I asked him a simple innocent question he went completely cold. When he was talking to someone, I noticed he would pause for a moment when I shifted in my seat as if he was irritated. And so I tried not to move more than necessary. During the whole class, he never stopped drumming his fingers on his left leg – like there was somewhere else, he need/wanted to be.
He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbow, and I saw how surprisingly muscular his forearm was beneath his fair skin. He wasn't nearly as slender as he'd appeared next to his burly brother.
Biology class seemed to drag on longer than the other classes. Was it because the day was finally ending, or was it because I was waiting for him acknowledge me? I question my judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she was not as harsh as I thought. Could this really be Edward's normal behavior?
It couldn't have anything to do with me. He didn't know me from Eve. I peeked up at him one more time, and met his eyes. He was glaring back down at me for a second time, his green eyes full of loathing. The phrase if looks could kill suddenly ran through my mind. I flinched away from him, shrinking against my seat.
Suddenly the bell rang and at that moment, two things happened. One: I jumped and two: Edward Cullen was out of his seat. In a classy manner, he rose (he was much taller than I thought) with his back to me, and he was out the door when only three people had made it out of their seat.
I stared blankly after him in my chair, frozen. Not only did he answered my one question in a very snappy behavior and was out the door before anyone else was – as if he wanted to get away from me. I gathered my things slowly; trying to block the anger that filled me, fearing my eyes would tear up. For some reason, my temper was wired to my tear ducts. I habitually cried when I was angry, an embarrassing tendency.
"Aren't you Isabella Swan?" a male voiced asked.
I looked up and saw a cute, baby-faced boy smiling at in a friendly way. He had his pale blond hair that I randomly noticed, carefully gelled into orderly spikes. Well at least he didn't think I smelled bad.
"Bella." I corrected him, with a smile.
"I'm Mike."
"Hi Mike."
"Do you need any help finding you next class?"
"I'm headed to gym; actually, I think I can find it."
"That's my next call, too." He seemed delighted, though it wasn't that big of a chance in a school this small.
We strolled to class together; he was a talker – he supplied the majority of the conversation, making it very easy for me. Mike lived in California until he was ten, so he knew how I felt about the sun. He was the nicest person I'd met today, and was really friendly.
But as we entered the gym he asked. "So did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? He seemed kinda weird. In class today, he seemed talkative and he's not much of a talker. And he doesn't usually laughs at Mr. Banner's random jokes. Now that was really weird" Mike paused as if to recall a memory before continuing. "I've never seen him act like that. Adding to the fact that he doesn't really talk to anyone he really seemed distracted. He wasn't his usual contented self." The side of Mike's mouth twitched upward for a brief second, almost as if he was going to smile. "I guess he wasn't himself today." He said quietly more to himself – with a look of amusement in his eyes – in what sounded like a sarcastic tone.
I recoiled. So I guessed I wasn't the only one who noticed. And from what from what he told me, apparently, that wasn't Edward Cullen's usually behavior. I decided to play dumb.
"Edward Cullen," I said in phony confusion, "Was that the boy that I sat beside in biology class?" I asked simply; bringing him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah," he answered, "He looked kinda uncomfortable. I couldn't really put my finger on it."
"I wouldn't know," I replied, "I never talked to him." Well, I didn't really. I asked him a question and he answered back in a rude manner. I wouldn't count that as talking to him.
"He's an okay guy. He's no special than the next." Mike lingered by me instead of heading to the change room. "If I were luck enough to sit beside you, I would've talked to you." he said joyfully to me.
I smiled at him before walking through the girls' locker room door. He was friendly and clearly favorable. Nevertheless, it was not adequate to relieve my frustration.
Coach Clapp, the gym teacher, didn't make me dress down for class, even though he found me a uniform. Here, P.E. was compulsory all four years, while back home just two years were needed. Forks was plainly my own personal hell on Earth. One there was no sun here; two: my most accident-prone subject, gym, was a requirement for all four years; three: I was a curiosity, a girl from a big city, and four, it was too green! It was beautiful, of course; I couldn't deny that. But everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves. This town was an alien planet.
When the final bell rang, I walked to the office to return my paperwork. I wrapped my arm around myself to shield my body from the now strong and colder wind. Well at least it wasn't raining.
I gratefully walked into the warm office. When I saw who was standing at the desk in front of me I almost turned around to head back out into the cold.
I recognized yet again that windswept bronze hair. He seemed to be in some sort of important conversation with receptionist about his schedule, but he seemed to stress sixth-hour Biology. Due to the strong wind, the door took a bit longer than usual to close. However, as soon as the door shut Edward Cullen paused in mid-sentence flashed his head around to see who had entered. I was sure Edward saw me but he just ran his ran through his hair and turned back to the receptionist before his eyes could meet my own.
He continued in quiet conversation for a little while longer and then sighed. "Never mind, then," he said hastily finishing in a kind voice. "I understand. Thank you so much for your help." He said politely and then turned around – without a glance at me – and slipped through the door, which a girl was just coming through. He smiled at the girl – leaving her dazzled – and thanked her for holding the door for him, but politely made her go through first. His actions and manners towards the girl seemed so perfected but yet natural; almost second nature. Soon as the girl stepped in, he leisurely walked out the door. The girl placed a few papers in a wire basket and walked out of the office, still in a daze. I wonder if I really did do something to him that I may not have noticed biology class. The way that he acted towards the girl seemed more of the "normal" Edward Cullen from what Mike told me. I've only attended the school for a day and already I had some who didn't like me.
I modestly went to the desk, my face white for once ratter than its usual red, and handed the receptionist the signed slip.
"How did your first day go, dear?" she inquired tenderly.
"Fine," I lied, my voice frail. She didn't look convinced.
AN. Feel free to ask questions and make comments on things you did or didn't like. Suggestions would also be great. But most importantly PLEASE REVIEW!!
The more reviews the faster the I'll update.
