Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, however much I'd like to own Edward…mm mmm. Unfortunately all these characters belong to Stephanie Meyer not me.
Genre: Angst/Romance. I'll try and tone down the angst but we'll see how it pans out...
Rating: M for reasons that the later chapters will unfold.
Reviews mean more chapters of course. You will have to hound me for more as I'm pretty bad with updating (sorry!)
A new town, a new school, a new home; it's just the perfect way to start all over. You can be whoever you want to be when you move. You can reinvent yourself, change your style. No one would know the difference. They didn't know who you were before.
But you know what? I just can't be bothered to change. The whole charade of having to make the best first impression, be who these new people wanted you to be, it was all just so tiring. I'd done it before and I'd failed. People eventually saw through me and I knew I couldn't be anything different than who I was. So this new town, this new school, my new home...they wouldn't be treated any differently.
My name is Bella. I'm a senior in high school and I get the pleasure of starting at Forks High today. Oh and I have a lovely case of Complete Loner Disorder, a great form of entertainment for all the kids at school. Luckily, having only just moved from Phoenix a couple of days ago, I have yet to meet anyone. So far I know Charlie, my dad, and even that's stretching it. I spent time with him as a kid but I was 17 now and I didn't know him and he definitely didn't know me. He seemed kind enough to me so far, attentive when necessary, distant when essential. I figured we'd get along fine. Renée, my mother whom I had left to give her a chance to start over with her new husband, had informed him of my need for private time and he seemed alright with that so far.
Being a loner wasn't started by choice. I had had friends when I was younger, in fact I liked it. I guess it just didn't like me. Somehow my friend number started to diminish and eventually I got used to being alone. I could trust myself so it all worked out fine really. Except for the fact that the kids at school don't seem to like it when you don't have any friends, yet they don't want to be your friend either. Double-edged sword. I'd love it if for once people could just accept the fact that I didn't need anyone else, I was completely reliant on myself and I was content in how I chose to run my life. And so what if I had a thing about touching...it goes along with the loner thing. If I don't want anyone to talk to me, of course I don't want anyone to touch me. People just react badly to weirdos.
I'm not at all interested to see what these new kids will think of me. I know for a fact what will happen. People will try to make contact with me and will eventually give up, thus I will become a recluse for the reminder of the year. That's what happened at the majority of the other schools I'd been to; occasionally it gets pretty bad but sometimes it works...
So yay for me! I get to try out another school. I get to be the new girl and freak all over again. New town, new school, new home...fantastic.
So there I was pulling into school in my so obviously cheap but sturdy truck, anticipating an awful day ahead of me. I took a deep breath, grabbed my bag and left the safety of my truck. I looked around the car park, taking in the people as they passed. They seemed pretty ordinary, not too preppy looking or outrageously dressed. Although I could tell there were some very wealthy parents as I observed a rather shiny silver Volvo sitting next to a glammed up red Porsche. I would probably want to stay away from those guys the most...rich kids rub me up the wrong way.
I sighed and started to walk to the entrance. I headed straight for the main office so I could begin the standard back to school procedure: get timetable, go to class and be talked about for the remainder of the day. And that is exactly what happened as I started my day.
Luckily with my head down, no one was quick to recognise me as the new girl. It wasn't until I was registering with the warm-looking receptionist when someone clocked onto me.
"Oh my god, hi!" I turned my head to the side and saw a bouncy blond girl trying to engage me in a conversation. "You're the new girl right? Just moved here from Pheonix yeah? That's a long way to come. You know you're awfully pale for someone who comes from such a hot place..."
She looked at me for some sort of a reaction but all I really wanted to do was run back to the safety of my truck. I merely smiled at her as she looked me up and down.
"Oh I'm sorry, my name is Jessica. What's yours?" She asked, holding out her hand. I looked at it, eyed it and dismissed it. I simply replied with a measly "Bella."
Fortunately the receptionist came back with my timetable so I could walk out and find my first class. Unfortunately I heard the clip clop of heels on my tail as I paced it to my assigned locker. Jessica appeared at my side as I fumbled to unlock my locker. God she was persistent, were my hints not clear?
"So what's your first class? I have double Chemistry, what a total bore. As if I'm going to become a chemist or anything anyway. I mean have you seen these hands? They were not meant to handle those horrible smelling liquids. So what do you have?" She sighed as she let in the much needed breath she forgot to take.
Once again I stuck with the one word answer, "Maths".
"Oh god, that's worse than Chem! Well I know that Angela has Maths this morning too, so I'll walk you to class and introduce you." She attempted to link arms with me but I tactfully dodged her and just turned to face her instead.
"I'm fine. You go to Chemistry, you'll be late otherwise." And with that I walked off, not before hearing a "You're right! Not again!" behind me.
I paced it to Maths and gingerly opened the door. Just my luck, the class had already begun. The minute the door clicked shut, all eyes were on me. The usual red blush that often creeped up my neck arrived on my cheeks as I faked a smile to the teacher.
"Oh you must be the new student. Isabella Swan, correct?" I nodded and he pointed me to an empty seat next to a brunette with glasses as he continued with the class. I could feel everyone's eyes burning into me, openly judging my every movement. Man I hated the first day. It got worse when the girl I was sat next to turned to whisper to me.
"Isabella, I just got a text from Jess saying how you've already become friends. I'm Angela by the way." I outwardly sighed. I guess this loner thing would be more difficult here. But I was taken aback when I looked to her as her face shined with warmth and friendliness. Not to be overwhelmed with this unfamiliar look, I turned my face down to my hands and simply nodded my head with a small "hi". She got the idea and didn't say much more to me the rest of the lesson.
The rest of the morning seemed to go like this. I managed to avoid conversation where possible, simple nods and one worded answers did the trick. It wasn't until lunch when I realised I wouldn't have the protection of the classroom and would definitely be expected to socialise. Standing in the doorway to the cafeteria, I decided to avoid it all together and just skip lunch, I had to find out where the library was anyway. I was on my way out when Jessica's head popped into my view once more.
"Bella! So glad I caught you, you definitely have to come and sit with us. I'll introduce you to everyone." Once again she tried to link arms with me and once again I successfully dodged her actions. However in my effort to dodge, I managed to knock myself into a passerby who was holding a tray laden with food. The next bit was a blur as food went flying into the air as the passerby and I ended up sprawled on the floor.
I raised my head to see the numerous pairs of eyes locked on our scene. My blush returned as I stuttered an apology and scrambled to get up. Jessica's hand suddenly came into view but I refused to take it of course. But when I was halfway to an upright state, I felt her grab my arm to hoist me up. It was stupid of her but she didn't know I didn't like to be touched; she and the rest of the school were about to find out.
I snatched my arm away aggressively as my face paled. I stood up and growled lowly, "Don't touch me." I had spoken barely above whisper level so no one heard, not even Jessica.
She looked at me oddly before asking politely, "Sorry, what did you say? Don't worry about that little spill; it happens to the best of us! I'm sure no one saw. Let's just sit with everyone else, yeah?" But with another attempt to grab my arm I moved away from her holding my arm protectively to my chest.
"I said, don't touch me!" I virtually screamed. My face then, with my usual surprise of my own words, turned beetroot. And as I turned to leave I registered the shock on Jessica's face as well as hearing a mix of loud murmurs, laughing and a few mutterings of "new girl is a freak".
And after that I knew I wouldn't have to worry about being bothered again. And somehow that made me happy...
Welcome back to insanity Bella, I thought bitterly to myself. It's been at least a couple of weeks, glad to have you back with us.
A/N: Hey guys, brand new story time. First time writing a Twilight fic so be nice. Helpful reviews with advice and ideas would be great. Hope you like the rest of the story!
Oh and don't worry...Edward will be appearing soon (of course).