DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters or ideas from the books Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer.

I slouched in the back of the car, pouting. My music, turned on high to block out Jessica's incessant chatter from the driver's seat, eased away the melancholy of another unavoidable rainy day. My sister, annoyed that I wasn't contributing to the rather one-sided conversation, threw me a few exasperated looks from the passenger seat. I pretended to look out the window as we sped along the short stretch of highway to our high school.

I hated the drives to school with Jessica and Angela. I avoided it whenever possible and left early, walking the mile or so to school. However, I'd had a late start today and didn't have the time to trudge all the way to school in five minutes in the deluge - not that it wasn't always raining in Forks anyway.

"Lizzie!" Angela touched my shoulder. I jerked, startled out of my reverie.

"You looked like you were sleeping," she said, speaking, as always, as if she were talking to herself rather than another person.

"No, I'm awake," I answered. "Just thinking about how lucky I am that I have Jessica around to drive me on days like this."

The two of them couldn't mistake the edge in my voice. Angela's normal, easy smile was a thin line of disapproval, while Jessica just looked put out. She didn't understand why I disliked her. Of course, I'm sure she didn't notice her own tendency to dominate a conversation, either.

Just a few moments later, we pulled into the student parking lot of Forks High School. I slid my music player into my school bag regretfully, wishing I could lose myself in the thrashing of instruments for just a few moments longer.

I got out of the car without another word, nearly hitting Jessica with the door. I left her chatting animatedly at my sister, who cast a look over her shoulder at me as I walked away. I knew Angela worried about me, and the thought awakened a twinge of guilt. I banished it fiercely. Angela had perfect grades, and popular friends. She just didn't understand what it was like not to have that.

Milling through my bitter thoughts, I hardly noticed the torrential rain soaking me and everyone else in the student lot. I did notice, however, when something bright flashed just a few feet ahead. Looking up, I saw only a few people in black rain jackets hurrying towards the side entrance of the main building. When they turned into the doorway, though, I knew the cause of the bright light. It was their skin.

It was the Cullens.

I watched them slip gracefully inside, even the bulkiest of the three boys looking as if he were an exceptionally talented dancer. I quickened my step so as to reach the door as the last of them, the smaller of the two girls, passed through. The five of them never so much as glanced at me, but I couldn't help but stare just like everyone else always did.

They were painfully, chalkily pale – paler even than the lifelong residents of Forks, who hardly ever saw the sun. They could almost be albino, were it not for the lack of translucency in their skin; it was more like marble than paper. Flawless. Colorless. Their eyes were nearly black, but there was a slight ocher sheen that gave them a certain depth and warmth that you wouldn't associate with their cold demeanor.

At that moment, the slightest and fairest-haired of the boys, Jasper, turned fluidly - majestically - to look at me. I felt my face grow hot. I'd always felt a certain attraction to Jasper, though he was the quietest and most mysterious of the family, excluding perhaps his foster brother, Edward. Edward looked vaguely amused as he watched Jasper turn back around. He winked at Alice, the smaller girl, who frowned.

My mood crashed back down immediately. Jasper and Alice were inseparable – they'd been together since the family moved here two years ago. It wasn't incest or anything – Jasper and his twin sister, Rosalie, were the foster children of Dr. Cullen and his wife.

I watched sullenly as Jasper walked beside Alice. They weren't touching, but I could feel the emotion between them as if it were tangible. I knew I would never have had a chance with him anyway – after all, I'm a sophomore, he's a senior…I'm nothing special to look at, he's a young Adonis.

I nearly missed the turnoff into my homeroom as I glowered at the five perfect backs ahead of me. I slumped in my seat, wishing I could disappear forever and never have to come back to this dark, wet, cold town.

The morning passed swiftly, despite my mood. Suddenly, it was time for lunch. I was in the same shift as Angela, Jessica, and their friends, but luckily I had friends in the cafeteria as well. I was spared the embarrassment of sitting with my sister.

As I got my tray of food, I passed Angela's table and saw her talking to an unfamiliar girl. She had to be new, I realized – there were too few students in this school for there to be someone I was unfamiliar with. She was passably pretty, with long brown hair and clear skin. I walked more slowly, watching. I nearly laughed out loud at Eric and Mike, two boys who were friends of Angela's – they kept switching between glaring at each other and staring with obvious rapture at the new girl.

There was a clatter right behind me. I turned to see Alice Cullen returning her tray a foot or so away. Catching my eye, she smiled angelically for a brief second before walking towards the doors leading out of the cafeteria.

Dazed, I started to head back to my table, but stopped when I noticed Jessica's eyes on me. The new girl was staring in my direction as well, but I knew immediately that it was not me who held their attention – they soon turned back to gaze back towards the Cullens, who were sitting alone at a table across the cafeteria.

Much to Angela's surprise, I caught up to her in the hall after school.

"Are you getting a ride home with Jessica today?" I asked.

Angela looked around, and then shrugged. "I guess not. I don't know where she went. She was kind of distracted today, because of the new girl."

I secretly rejoiced that Angela had brought it up, so I didn't have to. "New girl?"

"Yeah - Her name's Bella. She's from Phoenix."

I whistled. "She's a long way from home." Angela knew I meant more than distance.

"Uh huh," she agreed as she opened the door to head into the wet, cold afternoon, but I could tell her thoughts were elsewhere. I clutched my school bag to my chest, protecting it from the heavy drops of rain falling from the sky. Looking across the parking lot, I saw the source of Angela's distraction. Leaning by his car a few yards away was Eric and his friend Ben Cheney. I had guessed for some time now that Angela had had a crush on Eric, but I'd never mentioned it to her. Eric had an easy familiarity, but always seemed a little tense. His personality made me a bit uneasy. Angela, however, seemed totally enraptured. It reminded me of how Eric and Mike had stared at Bella during lunch. The thought sobered me. Eric would probably be totally distracted by her – She was like a child's new toy. I scowled.

"Hi, Angela!" Ben called enthusiastically. She waved to him and Eric, who waved to her when Ben called her name. Not stopping to talk, the two of us left school grounds and headed down the road in silence, Angela wrapped in her thoughts and me in mine.