"You going my way, 'Toots?" I opened my eyes halfway through the breath I was taking, trying to see if that statement was directed at me. It was.

A huge bear of a man stood at my side, facing me, his head tilted to the door I was supposed to walk through, and a Cheshire cat grin stretching from ear to ear. He might have been huge and intimidating, but he looked so warm and inviting with those dimples I couldn't help but offer a shy smile in return, along with an answer.

"I guess I am. This is the theatre room, right?"

"Sure is! I'm Emmett—you must be Isabella, the new girl, right?" I winced at the sudden association. It might have been true, but that's all I had been called all day, and I was downright sick of it.

"It's Bella," I corrected for the thousandth time, as he opened the door and indicated that I should walk in first.

"Sorry—Bella. How's the first day been?" I followed him to a cluster of seats. Though the classroom was built like every other room here, there seemed to be chaos rather than order. Desks I had seen in perfect four-by-five rows throughout the day were scattered around the room, a large teacher's desk against the far wall in the corner. It was different, but I found I kind of liked it—it reminded me of my scatterbrained mother. It would probably end up being the death of me sooner or later, of course; I was a bit of a klutz, and a disorderly room would only serve to prove that time and again. I had enough trouble maneuvering through organized rooms as it was.

"Um…interesting?" was the only answer I offered, and he laughed a deep laugh that I couldn't help but join in with a giggle.

"Interesting how?"

"Well, for starters, I'm not even supposed to be in this class. I signed up for an extra English class, but the office said they wouldn't be able to fit me into two and they put me here instead. I'm too shy for this stuff," I blurted out before I could realize it. What the hell was I doing? I really was shy, yet here I had just spilled my guts to a virtual stranger, who once again was laughing.

"You won't regret it—Forks may suck, but we've got an excellent theatre program, and these kids are some of the coolest people you'll meet here. Take me for example," he smiled, stretching and then pointing to himself.

"And me! Hi, I'm Alice! I'm so glad you're in this class! We're going to be such good friends!"

"Geez, pixie, slow down a little, Bella just got here—lay off the energy, will ya?" Emmett's booming laughter filled the room once again, and I wasn't sure if he was laughing at Alice's exuberance or the shy blush that spread across my cheeks at the sudden attention.

"Hi, Alice," I replied, tucking my long brown hair behind my ear. She smiled at me then, as big as Emmett had, and I smiled back, still embarrassed but relieved to have found people who didn't gawk at me like I was some new exhibit at the zoo. I told Alice and Emmett as much, and was rewarded with his booming laughter and her light tinkling, feeling relaxed for the first time that day.

"Don't worry if you don't really know much about theatre—we'll all help you! Here, let me introduce you to the whole class!" I tried to stop her, but she had already pulled me to my feet—an amazing accomplishment considering she was a good half foot shorter than me. I looked to Emmett for help, but he just laughed again, making me roll my eyes and realize this was the most social I had ever been in my life. "Good! Everyone who's going to be here today is already here! Except Mrs. Wigg, but she's always late!"

Looking around, I realized this was a really small class—only about ten of us total—and I could see why I was easily placed here before my first choice English lit. class. Alice wasted no time with the introductions.

"Well, you've already met my big brother bear, Emmett! There's Rosalie, his girlfriend," she waved to a statuesque blond making her way towards Emmett and I immediately felt like the ugliest girl ever to walk the planet. Rosalie was beautiful—tall, with long blonde hair, killer blue eyes, and a figure I could only wish for in my dreams. She had the ice-queen demeanor to go with her model-beauty, though, as she simply nodded and tried to hide her sneer. Alice continued.

"Over there is Angela, and sitting next to her is Ben and Eric! That's Kate, and Garrett, and walking in right now is Mrs. Wigg! Hi, Mrs. Wigg! I was just introducing everyone to Bella! Everyone, this is Bella, she just moved here from Phoenix, and this is her first day at Forks High!"

"We know, Alice," everyone chorused, and I couldn't help but laugh along with them. This group of people was totally different from the people I had to deal with all day. I felt included here, despite Rosalie, and I was actually not dreading the usual public speaking often associated with the theatre. I didn't even blush too much when the classroom was filled with "hello, Bella"s and "hi, there new girl"s or anything!

We sat down as Mrs. Wigg looked around. I realized she was taking attendance mentally when she looked at Alice and asked where Edward was. Alice rolled her eyes, shrugging. Mrs. Wigg rolled her eyes in response, and the issue was put to table as she rubbed her hands together. Her quick dismissal told me that this Edward character was often absent, and I wondered why someone would willingly not come to this class if it was as good as Emmett and Alice said it was.

"Alright, everyone—let's show Bella how we theatre folk do it in Forks, shall we?"

A familiar blue truck was in my parking spot in the driveway when I got home, next to Charlie's police cruiser. I frowned, this time not at the reminder that my father was Chief of Police in this small town, but that he hadn't told me we would be having company—especially company in the form of my ex-boyfriend and his father.

It wasn't that I didn't want to see them. I loved Billy and Jacob, despite our month-long foray into the world of being significant others, was still a best friend to me. Not to mention it was the two of them that convinced Charlie to buy me my old rusty red truck I had yet to name. I had just been hoping for a nice quiet night after such an eventful first day, and that time for relaxation was now out the window.

I walked up the steps to the porch, yelling as I went. "Ch—er—Dad! I'm home!"

"We're in here, Bella!"

"Where's here?!"

"Bella!" Instead of an answer, I was swept off my feet by Jacob, who met me in the hallway leading to the living room. "How was your first day of school?"

"Hi Jake," I answered, hugging him back and forgetting I was upset that he was here. Jacob was very much like my sunshine, before, during and after our relationship, though, I'll admit that it took a while for us to get back to that easy friendship. "It wasn't as bad as I expected—I made new friends and everything."

"Oooh, look at Bella, all sociable! Come on—let's go out back. Our dad's are watching the game, and I'd rather hear about your day than watch another boring inning of baseball."

"Hey! I heard that, young man!" Billy's voice echoed from the nearby living room, and we all laughed. "We're heating up Sue's fish fry! Be back in 15, alright kids?" We agreed and headed out back to the patio furniture Charlie had set up a few years back during one of my summer visits. Since my parents' divorce nearly 15 years ago, I had come to visit Charlie every summer while I lived with my mother, Renee, in Phoenix during the year. Her remarriage to a minor league baseball player had thrown our usual easy way of life off track, however, and I elected to live with Charlie rather than to travel around with the two of them.

Jacob had been a constant fixture in my life since I could remember. My earliest memories involved making mud pies in this very backyard, and sand castles on the La Push beach in the nearby Reservation where Jacob lived. It was those memories I liked to dwell on; the memories of our relationship and the year following were ones I wanted and tried hard to forget. Jacob was my sunshine, and I wanted to keep him that way.

"So, tell me everything," he demanded, settling down in the swinging hammock and wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. I rolled my eyes and settled in next to him before I told him all about Forks High, and the friends I made that day. I didn't realize how long I had been talking until Charlie and Billy called us in from the kitchen to tell us dinner was ready.

"Those theatre kids sound like a riot," Jake continued our conversation as we walked into the house.

"Yeah, they're pretty cool. At least, they didn't gawk at me, or make me feel like an outsider while I was there. You'd actually probably get along really well with Rosalie—she's incredibly hot, and she apparently likes working on cars. She'd be really nice if it wasn't for the ice queen act she put on while I was there."

"Maybe it was just an act—you were in a theatre class, after all." I rolled my eyes at the lame attempt to joke around and sat down across from him at the table.

"She's so hot, though, I can see why she'd think she's too good for everyone."

"Well, you'll have to give me her number—"

"Jacob! Leah!" I reminded him, acting scandalized that he'd forget his girlfriend of two years so easily.

"—So we can talk cars! Come on Bells, I'm not that much of a pig!"

"Could have fooled me," Billy whispered loud enough for us all to hear, and we laughed when Jacob tried to defend himself.

Dinner was an easy affair, filled mostly with laughter at the banter between my father and Billy, and I felt a little sad when Billy and Jacob were saying their goodbyes.

"We'll get together this weekend, and head to the beach, yeah? Everyone's excited to see you again," Jacob smiled, and I nodded my head, remembering all my friends from the Rez.

"Sure! It'll be nice to see everyone again," I agreed, and we made plans to call one another during the week to finalize our weekend. I made sure Charlie was fine for the night before I headed to bed myself, tripping on a step when I realized I was actually looking forward to school the next day. Well, maybe not my first five periods, since I knew everyone in school was just waiting to gawk at the new girl once again. However, that last period of the day—theatre—was worth waiting for, and I had a feeling tomorrow would be just as laughter-inducing as my first day had been.

…..

A/N:

Hi everyone! This is my first story ever, and I have to say, I'm really excited about it! Just to give you an idea of what to expect update/chapter-wise, I wanted to let you know that I've got about 4 chapters written so far, and I want to try to maintain that distance between writing and posting. In case I get stuck, I'll also have something to post, which should help out immensely during crunch times. The chapters, I expect to stay about this length, with some variations, of course. I'd also like to mention that I currently am editing these myself which means the only editing that really goes on happens while I'm typing. I can usually catch my mistakes, but I'm not promising perfection! Please, bear with me!

I'd also like to say right now that reviews will definitely help this little story along! I have a good idea of where this is going, so any constructive criticism, words of encouragement, and even suggestions to help me along the way are welcome! Please don't hesitate to review!

Thanks for reading!