Chapter 1
I clutched at the now grimy piece of paper. I had folded it multiple times, opened it, crumpled it. First period- English, Mr. Mason the piece of abused paper stated in clear, black print. I sucked in a deep breath, reassuring myself again that everything was going to be fine. No, everything was not fine. I had moved, on my own choice, to be relocated here, Forks, Washington from sunny Phoenix, Arizona. My mother had remarried, which led us to be moving constantly. I turned my head to the left, seeing a couple sucking each other's faces off. The girl had silver blond hair while the boy had an odd shade of a mix between copper and red. Bronze, I thought, staring closer at the hair. The bronzed hair boy glanced up from the blond's face and winked at me. He had, from my perspective, a really pale complexion. I felt my face turn hot. I scurried to English, only to be stopped.
"Isabella?" It was a nervous squeak. "Isabella Swan?"
I whirled around in the direction.
"Bella," I corrected. I had a feeling I would be saying that a lot today.
"Chief Swan's daughter, right?" The boy was tall with a poor complexion and hair as black as an oil slick walked in short, timid steps came over. He thrust out his hand in a gesture that meant for me to take and shake it. I shook it awkwardly. "I'm Eric Yorkie."
"Cool."
There was a brief silence.
"So... what's your first class?" I attempted in small talk.
"English. You?" He glanced down at me with a hopeful expression.
"Funny, I have English, too."
"Great! Do you know the way?"
Obviously not... I thought. "No, would you mind showing me?"
"Sure, let's go."
Gratefully, I followed Eric towards the English building. I glanced over my shoulder to glance at the bronzed hair boy. He was hugging silver blond haired girl, whispering something into her ear. Her shoulders lifted up and down, like she was laughing. The bronzed head looked up and flashed me a grin. I stopped breathing, gaping at him. Eric heard the stop of my steps and looked back at me, following my gaze, and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"So, you've already seen man-whore, huh?" Eric muttered sarcastically. I forcefully teared my gaze from the pale boy and looked back at Eric.
"What?" I asked in puzzlement.
"Man-whore."
"Oh. I'll keep that in mind." I glared back at the couple. The boy's grin widened, stretching prettily across his pale face. Eric started again towards the building where our first period class was. It had a number three painted in bold, black paint. Rain drizzled lightly on the floor. I pulled up the hood of my plain black jacket. When we entered, we were basked in warmth and light. Mr. Mason glanced up at us.
"Eric, who is this?" He glanced curiously at me. I was staring at the ground, blushing furiously while the class grew silent and stared.
"Chief Swan's daughter." Eric stated in a loud voice. There was soft murmurs moving through the class now. Eric moved from my side and placed himself in the front row, swiftly taking out his notebook and copying the notes from the board.
"Can... you sign this?" I whispered in a choked sound.
"Swan's kid, eh?" Mr. Mason said, signing his name at the bottom of the slip the Mrs. Cope had given me.
"Y-yeah," I stuttered, more blood rushing to my face as I stumbled my way towards the back.
"Anyway, in Hamlet..." Mr. Mason started. I droned out most of his teaching, doodling on a piece of notebook paper. I suppressed laughter when I saw what was doodled on the paper; a sun and a tree.
"Isabella, can you tell u-" The bell interrupted him in mid sentence and I was thankful for that. I gathered my up my stuff hastily. Eric appeared at my side somehow magically.
"So... what's your next class...?" He asked, trying to sound non-interested.
"Um, Government." I answered.
"Oh. That's on the way to my next class... want me to show you the way there?"
"That'd be helpful, thanks."
We walked in silence. I muttered a thanks when I reached the door and walked inside. The teacher, Mr. Jefferson, signed the slip without a word and sent me to a set in the middle of the class. A few people talked, but I was too shy to hold a conversation, so they gave up. I rushed out of the class when the bell rang, thankful to get out of the stuffy room. My trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, made me introduce myself in front of the class. I hated his class, because of the subject, before I even stepped into the room, but I disliked it even more now since of that little thing. Spanish was next, then thankfully lunch. A girl who was in my Spanish class and Trigonometry class walked beside me, her brown curls bouncy and wild. She was short, but the hair made up for the height difference between us. She did most of the talking, only stopping a few times for me to respond. I'd forgotten her name.
"So, Bella, how come you aren't... you know... tan?" She asked suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"What do you mean?" I questioned.
"Well, isn't Phoenix sunny?"
"Yeah?"
"But you're pale."
"My mom's pale, I guess." I glanced self consciously down at my ivory arms.
"Oh. This way. Are you buying lunch?"
"Yah."
"You should have said that before!" She grabbed my arm and started threading through the mass of kids. "Everything that's good is going to be gone already!"
"Oh oops. Sorry." I lifted my gaze from the floor, keeping track of my feet to make sure I didn't trip and fall down, towards the line and felt my heart skip a beat and my face contort in disgust. The boy from earlier was standing in line, chatting with another boy with carefully spiky, gelled blond hair. Jessica, the name suddenly slammed into my head, took in a sharp intake of breath.
"Oh, it's Mike..." She smoothed down her hair. Then blurted out in a low, excited whisper. "Oh my God."
"What?" I asked, staring idly at the food the cafeteria had on display.
"Do you not see who Mike is talking to??"
"Yes, I do."
"That's E-"
"Hi, Jessica!" The one who I was guessing called Mike said. I adverted my gaze from the food and glanced around. Bronze head was walking away with a tray in his hands. I squinted my eyes to see who he was going to sit next to. It was not the same silver haired blond I had seen him kissing this morning, but a red head, tanned girl. The red head got up in an almost clumsy motion to greet the still unnamed boy. She kissed him a little longer than necessary.
"Hi, Mike. How are you?" Jessica smiled, stepping closer.
"Fine and you? Hey, you're Isabella right?" Mike leaned to the side, grinning at me.
"Bella," I corrected again automatically.
"Oh. Bella Swan." The way he pronounced 's' in 'Swan' sounded like he was hissing it.
"I'm Mike Newton." Mike walked around Jessica. "How do you like it here so far?"
"It's suitable."
When we had crossed the lunchroom, Mike had placed himself three seats down from us at the opposite of the table. I sat next to Jessica, since she was the only one I knew.
"Hey, Jessica?" I asked while I fumbled with the bottle cap of my lemonade.
"You can call me Jess, you know."
"Okay, Jess, can you tell me something?"
"Yeah? What is it?" She popped a French fry in her mouth, chewing silently while she waited for my question.
"Who is that?" I nodded my head in the direction where the Bronzed hair boy had been, but he wasn't there anymore. There was the red head and a group of four other people, but their backs were turned and I couldn't see.
"Who's who?"
"The one I was looking at left..."
"Well, those four are Emmett McCarty, Mary Alice Brandon Cullen, Jasper Whitlock Hale, and Rosalie Hale. The red head is Ashley. She's sorta a slut."
I stifled a giggle.
"Well she is!" Jessica laughed. She look absentmindedly at the clock on the wall and gasped. "Oh! It's almost time for class! What's your next period?"
"Uhh... Biology II and P.E."
"Lucky..."
"Why am I lucky? P.E. is not my best subject."
"No, I'm not talking about P.E., I'm talking about Biology. You have it with Mike and Angela, I think."
"Good; so now I wont be lost."
"Ha, yeah." The annoying bell shrilled and chairs scraped against the floor while other people shoved down their food to beat the tardy bell.
"What's your next class?" Mike asked when I caught up with him.
"Biology II." I answered promptly, searching for the girl Angela. My eyes seemed to find her without even trying. She was a tall girl, probably around six feet, with light brown hair that had streaks of honey in them and brown eyes. "That's Angela, right?"
"Yeah. Angela! Come on, we're going to bio!" Mike shouted, waving his hand in rapid motions. Angela smiled faintly and walked over.
"Hello," She said in a quiet voice.
"Hi," I responded, sensing that she was being shy. I walked next to her, being quiet while Mike chattered on and on. The class was full when we walked inside. Mike resentfully left my side and placed himself into his chair. Angela departed with a smile and walked over to her chair. Nervously, I walked into the classroom by the podium where Mr. Banner was straightening papers. He glanced up.
"May I help you?" He asked. I handed him the paper.
"Could you sign this please?" I took one quick look around the room. There was one table alone. That's great I told myself.
"Here. You may sit there," He indicated with the slip to the lone table. Saying thank you, I walked over to the table, choosing the seat that was closest to the aisle. The bell tolled again and walked in bronzie. I glanced quickly down at my notebook.
"Sorry, Mr. Banner, just got caught up in time." A silky voice rang out. I shut my eyes closed, forcing myself to remember he was a man-whore.
"Right, Edward. Would that explain the lipstick over your mouth and your clothing disarranged along with your already disheveled enough hair?" Mr. Banner answered sourly. "Take your usual seat."
Please don't be here, please don't be here I chanted over and over again. The seat next to me scraped out and in.
"Hello there," The same musical voice rang out. I forced my eyes opened to look at him. I glared at him, but felt it slowly slipping. I looked closer at his complexion; smooth, pallid skin. Golden honey eyes that seemed to be burning with warmth and pure curiosity. Full lips, messy bronze hair. Over all, he was beautifully gorgeous. I sighed out loud. His lips upturned into an smile. "Bella, right?"
"Be- Wait, yeah." I had grown accustomed to correct people that I was caught of guard. I stared at him suspiciously. "How do you know?"
"You look like a Bella." He raised a pale, long fingered hand to push back stray pieces of my hair. He slid his hand slowly down my arm and rested it on my knee. He peered at me slowly from his eyes. My vision got foggy for a moment, but then it came back. I slapped his hand off, throwing him a pissed look and turning forward.
"So you're gonna be like that hm? Fine with me. By the way, I'm Edward." Edward chuckled, turning forward as well.
"We're watching a movie." Mr. Banner announced as he pulled in a television and VHS player. The lights dimmed down, eventually turning off all the way. About four minutes in, I realized I had already seen this video back in Arizona. I didn't bother watching after. A couple minutes later, I felt a hand rest against my thigh. I stiffened, looking first down at my thigh, then slowly turning my head towards Edward. His head was turned forward, the perfect face expressionless. He ran his hand down my thigh then up again, the touches light as feathers. I squeaked out loud, clamping my hand against my mouth. Mike turned in my direction, gave me a curious look, then turned back around.
"Stop," I hissed.
"Why? You're enjoying it." He whispered clearly. His lips didn't seem to be moving. I curled my hand around his, pausing for a brief second, then shoving it away. I rearranged myself so I wasn't so close, scooting the chair as far away as possible. There was the same feathery motions on my back moments later. I turned towards him again, digging my nails into his arm.
"That doesn't hurt since you don't have any nails." He laughed lowly, obviously enjoying this.
"I'll slap you." I threatened.
"With your noodle arms? Don't think so."
"Touch me again and I will."
"Then do it now, babe."
"What. Did. You. Just. Say. To. Me?"
"Then-do-it-now, baa-be."
I pulled back my hand and slapped Edward across his face, instantly regretting it when Mr. Banner's voice rang out.
"Miss Swan! Go to the principal's office right now!" He nearly shouted in a sharp, clear voice. I started to shove things into my bag when I heard the musical voice.
"Do you think I should show her where the office is?" Edward ask.
"I can do it," Mike volunteered.
"Edward, you can go. Newton, you're nearly failing, you stay."
"You don't have to announce it..." I heard Mike grumble. I nearly ran out of the room, stopping in the hallway, trying to remember how to get to the office.
"Noodle arms, this way." Edward commanded.
"Shut the hell up, stupid." I snapped, going the way he pointed. Edward laughed charmingly.
"What's with the name calling?"
"You started it."
"It's a fact. Look at your arms."
"I'd say look at your brain, but you don't have a brain so."
"Hey," He turned to look at me with serious eyes.
"What?"
He looked once at me then shook his head. "It's that way. You don't need my help." He turned and started to saunter back towards the classroom but stopped. He walked back over briskly, gripped one of my arms in a strong hold, then leaned down and brushed his lips across my cheek then stopped at the corner of my lips.
"I'll be looking forward getting to know you, Bella." He kissed my lips lightly, dangling his lips on mine then lifted his face up. "Have fun explaining how you slapped me." He walked in long, even strides back toward Biology. My head felt cloudy and light. I stood, teetering back and forth until Edward was out of sight. At the end of the hallway, the red head, Ashley, stood, staring at me with her mouth in a perfect 'O' shape. I turned and rushed down the hallway. Once at the office, I walked past Mrs. Cope's surprised face, into the narrow hallway that had to lead into the principal's office, and braced myself for some intense chastisement.
