Story Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
This is only my six fanfic, so I hope you enjoy it. Harsh criticism is wicked awesome.
Author's Chapter Notes:
If you have minute, I'd really appreciate it if you would review. And I know, this first chapter will be slow, but stick with me here. It'll get better. I hope.
I utterly despise Forks, Washington.
Abhor, detest, loathe, execrate. If it somehow pertains or is synonymous with the word hate, I've felt it towards this town. The small mass of about 3,000 people is nestled onto the coast of Washington, and onto the spot that it seems the very heavens pour down every day.
So wouldn't it seem strange that I find myself in that town, sent here by none other than myself?
But my mother's happiness is important to me. Had I stayed comfortable and warm in Phoenix, she would be miserable. Never being able to travel with her husband Phil, she would rarely see him. And who am I to make her suffer like that?
So because of my unwillingness to let my mother feel so lonely and miserable, I'm being dragged along by a girl with an over-eager smile and huge clusters of curls on her head.
". . . You'll just love her, I know you will. She has the cutest shoes, so if guys get to know each other, you can borrow them maybe. Oh, and you should know that . . ." she babbled, carrying on a conversation I had only heard part of. What was this talkative girl's name? Jane, Janice, Jordana . . . It would probably be rude to ask again. I'm not exactly sure of what the etiquette standards are here in Forks.
The line for lunch was quite long. At least it gave me a chance to analyze the new faces around me. When I first arrived here, I was afraid of criticism. For someone who had lived in The Valley of the Sun, I was abnormally pale. My skin was a translucent ivory. Along with the whiteness of my skin, my hair wasn't even a sun-bleached blond, and my looks in general weren't attractive. I was the brown-eyed brown-haired girl that most didn't notice. Luckily, there were many others whose skin was the same shade as mine. But among those who shared the same looks as mine, there were others who were exponentially more beautiful. At a table in the middle of the room was a beautiful blond girl with hair that shone in the fluorescent light like gold.
"That's Lauren," the girl pointed out. Jessica! That was her name!
As I got my bottle of lemonade and an apple, I felt quite happy about remembering Jessica's name and learning someone else's. Jessica led me to a table and stopped to say, "Everyone, this is Bella. Bella, this is Lauren," She pointed to the beautiful blond. "Mike," She gestured to a boy with a childish face and blond hair. "Angela," A girl with brown hair a kind smile. "Tyler," Yet another smiling boy. "And Edward."
I kept my eyes down, barely glancing at the people se had introduced, and murmured, "Hi, everyone." Jessica sat between Lauren and Mike, leaving me a spot at the end of the table.
When I sat down, I heard someone say, "Hi. I'm Tyler."
I stuck out my hand for him to shake. "I'm Bella. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"So where are you from?" he asked.
"Phoenix. How about you?"
He took a large bite of a sandwich, and then answered, "I've been here all of my life. So if you're from Phoenix, this must be quite the change, eh?"
"Yeah," I said. "But it'll be fine. I need to spend some time with Charlie."
"Oh, so you're the police chief's daughter," he mumbled, his brow furrowing worriedly.
My stomach turned uncomfortably. It was on days like this that I couldn't eat at all. If I tested the careful balance of my stomach to much, it would come back to haunt me. I only took a sip of my lemonade, pushing the apple away.
"Hey," the Lauren girl said. "Are you anorexic? 'Cause if you aren't eating, then that means you're anorexic. And you could die." Her scowl made me frown a bit in return. "And I know the principal. You can get help for that."
"You know, Lauren," someone with a silky voice said. By the way he was shoving a Ding-Dong in his face, I was sure it wasn't Tyler. "Just because someone chooses not to eat doesn't necessarily mean that they suffer from anorexia nervosa. It could be that because it happens to be there first day at a new school, their stomach is a bit upset."
When I turned to see who had so kindly defended me, I came dangerously close to fainting. The divine creature beside me could only be described as God-like. His eyes were a breath-taking green and lined with dark lashes. The structure of his face was perfectly sculpted, each feature looking like it had been carved out of stone by a master. The mess of hair atop his head was in a perfect bronze disarray. His arms were clothed in a long-sleeved green shirt, but the muscles were still evident.
Lauren stuttered, looking for a response to that. "Well, she . . . uh . . . whatever. I just know that something's wrong with her."
The God-like creature (I'm assuming he's Edward) turned to me and whispered, "Don't mind Lauren. She thinks that anyone who doesn't act perfectly is a failure at life." His voice was velvety smooth, but with a rougher, more driving edge.
"That's reassuring," I muttered.
He laughed. "You'll learn to ignore her. She can even be moderately decent on some rare days."
I giggled and put out my hand for him to shake. "I'm Bella Swan."
"I'm Edward Masen. It's lovely meeting you, Bella," he said as I blushed. The warmth of his large hand that engulfed mine was an amazing feeling. I felt so small and protected when he touched me. "So what brings you up from Phoenix?"
I grimaced. This wasn't the subject I wanted to discuss with my new, beautiful acquaintance. He noticed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up."
"It's okay. It's just hard to be away from home," I murmured, avoiding his gaze.
"You don't consider Forks home yet?" he asked, a sad look clouding his beautiful features.
"Well, it's not that I . . . uh . . . no," I sputtered.
He got up, picking up my unbitten apple. "We'll just have to change that then, now won't we," he said, taking a bite of the fruit and walking off.
--
I walked into what seemed a cheerless classroom. The walls were stark white with scattered posters that said something cheesy like, "We've got spirit!" or "Our School Has Character!"
Right.
There were two columns of desks, each with a shiny, black top. There were multiple beakers situated in the corners, each looking especially breakable, which could be dangerous with my severe klutziness.
Speak of the curse and the curse shall appear. Er, something along those lines.
After the teacher signed the slip I had carried to every class, he announced, "Class, this is Isabella Marie Swan, our new student."
I grimaced yet again. I hated when people used my full first name and middle name. "Just call me Bella," I grumbled.
There seemed to be only one open seat in the room: the one beside Edward. As I made my way towards, his desk, my thoughts swirled around his beautiful face, instead of concentrating on not falling. The tile on the floor whooshed closer as I tripped, almost breaking my nose. Before the floor could make friends with my face, a pair of arms scooped around my waist. They brought me back up to a standing position, my back hitting their chest, which felt quite muscled.
When I looked back, Edward was unhooking his arms from around my waist. His cheeks flush a light pink, obviously embarrassed by the contact.
"Thank you," I murmured.
"No problem," he laughed. "So does that happen often?"
It was my turn to blush. "Possibly . . ." He chuckled again, shaking his head. My head shot up as I snapped, "You laugh, but you aren't the one who's fallen so hard that she fractured her tail bone."
It was a good thing class hadn't started because I had apparently said that very loudly. Everyone in the class (including Edward) doubled over laughing. Even Mike had his over his mouth in an attempt at not embarrassing me.
Lovely. I could tell that this would be a swell 45 minutes.
xx
Contrary to what I had thought, it was quiet enjoyable. But that was probably because I had Edward by my side, and we were passing notes.
Hey, he wrote. Enjoying class?
As mush as biology can be enjoyed, I replied, slipping the note under his elbow.
Ha. Very true, my friend, he said in the next note.
Wait - my friend? Not that I minded the term at all, but I didn't even know that we were would be considered friends yet.
Are you enjoying this? I asked.
Not that much . . . But I need the information, he wrote.
Doctor? I scribbled quickly.
Yup.
Before I could reply, he had shoved another note over to me. Meet me after school behind building five? it asked.
Sure, I wrote. What for? Why did he want me behind building five? Was there some prank he and his friends would play to freak out the new kid?
Not telling, he replied.
Oh, dear.
I was going to be alone behind a building with Edward Masen. Holy crap.