AN:

Some quick things to know in this story. Edward is a child vampire, and Carlisle didn't turn him. This means no animal diet. Secondly, there will be mature themes in this and later chapters. If you want happy frou frou, I suggest hitting the 'rated K' button. Lastly the main theme of this story is the transition from childhood to adulthood. For most, it's forced upon us. Teaching children to be apathetic to their emotions is completely wrong in my opinion. You should get upset over people starving in Africa. You should be sad when someone is disseminated in you. You should get angry that people kill people with no regards. Yet society gives the lines 'don't worry about it' and tells kids not to cry. It's okay to feel. And Bella deals with that rough transition in this story.

Please review if you think I should continue.

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1.

The leaves were starting to dry up, and the smell of burning leaves filled the air of Forks. The school bus was full of chatter, and laughter of kids, everyone pushing to sit near that back. I , of course, sat in the front alone, awkwardly avoiding the eye contact of other kids. It was my first year of middle school, and I seemed to be the only one who didn't change over the summer. Everyone else had different hair styles, tighter clothes, or cooler personalities. I was the same old Bella, with the same plain wavy hair, and the same plain face. I was in my favorite sweater, an overly large sweater that looked like a lamb. The white material had the texture of their wool, and the hood even had two little ears attached to it. I had the hood pulled over my head, trying to hide my face from the other kids. But it didn't work, and never did.

"Isabellaaa."

I looked up to see Lauren staring at me, a big smile on her face. I frowned. Her clothes were tight, and she looked like a kid who gotten into her mom's makeup.

"You look like an idiot. Why are you wearing baby clothes?" she teased, her hands flicking at my hood. I blushed, and looked down. I hoped she would just go away, and leave me alone. She didn't. She sat next to me, and I looked up at her in surprise.

"Don't you have boobs yet Isabella?" she said, and put her hands on the little boobs she had.
"No one is ever going to like you if you dress like a baby. Don't you want to be sexy?"

I blushed harder, and looked at my lap, trying to hide. Lauren huffed in aggravation, and glared at me.

"Why don't you fucking talk? " she growled, and I flinched.

"I have nothing to say." I whispered out quietly. It was the truth. Words were pointless. It was just a combination of sounds she wouldn't listen to anyway.

"You're a freak." she said, and got up, walking back to the end of the bus. The bus came to a halt, and I got up, dragging my heavy backpack. I could hear them laughing as I exited the bus, and they yelled something indistinguishable as the bus passed. My head hung low. I walked to my mom's house in silence, and found the door unlocked. Walking in slowly, I heard noises from something in the living room. I walked slowly to the edge of the room, and looked in to see my mom and another man.

She was laying with her head thrown back, her legs spread. The man was kissing her neck, one hand holding her head, and another lurking under her skirt. He was on top of her. Her make up was smudged, and neither of them noticed me. She was with another man on the couch where my dad use to sit with us. Where we use to laugh together. When we use to be happy. I wanted them to stop.

I threw my back pack down with a crash, and they both looked up to me in shock.

"Isabella!" my mom yelled in shock, and I ran before she could say anything else. I couldn't tell if I was trying to out run my embarrassment or the shame, but I ran faster than I ever ran in my life. The cold wind whipped my cheeks, and my lungs burned every time I took a breath. I must have ran 10 blocks before I collapsed at a small park I use to play at as a child. I was overwhelmed with emotions, and could feel tears fall down my cheek slowly. I picked up a stick, and walked to the monkey bars. Looking at a thick supporting bar, I swung the stick, and a small piece broke off the end. I swung over and over again, mumbling things under my breath, letting tears roll down my cheeks. I was angry. Angry that everything always went wrong for me. The pieces broke off the stick, slowly making it shorter and shorter. I wondered curiously if this was how my life was, and if soon there will be nothing left.

"What are you doing?" a velvet voice asked, though it wasn't asked mockingly. The voice held only curiosity.

I turned to see a pale, bronze haired boy staring at me. He looked really tired, with dark circles under his eyes. Dressed in only a t shirt and jeans, and looked about my age. But I had never seen this boy before, and he wasn't from the reservation.

"I..I'm upset." I said slowly, blushing in embarrassing. Great. Another person thought I was a freak. He stepped forward a couple steps, and looked at me deeply. I twitched uncomfortably, and then noticed his eye color. They were red. Blood red.

"Why are you eyes that color?" I breathed. He smiled a sad smile, and looked away.

"I don't want you to be upset." he said quietly, ignoring my question. I felt my brow furrow in confusion, and I looked at my feet. I felt tears start to come up, and I cursed myself for being so weak.

"Why do you care?" I whispered, taking a step back. I heard him move towards me, but before I could look up, I felt two stone arms wrap around me. I stood still as he hugged me into his chest. My heart was fluttering, and I blushed deeply, but not out of embarrassment. My head swam with an unknown euphoria.

"Because I want to be your friend." he whispered, and released me slowly, taking a few steps back.

"My friend? No one wants to be my friend" I replied in disbelief.

"I do. You're not like anyone else. You're interesting." he said, and smiled at me. He extended his hand.
"My name is Edward."

I met his hand and shook it, feeling how icy cold his fingers were. He was probably freezing, as it was the middle of October.

"I'm Bella." our fingers separated, and he stepped back, looking the direction of the park's parking lot. Charlie was exiting his car, while calling my name. She would send him. I looked back to Edward, to ask if he wanted a ride home, to see he was gone. Charlie walked up next to me, and frowned. He looked where I was staring, but dismissed it when he saw nothing.

"Bella, why did you run from your mom? You almost gave her a heart attack." he said sternly, and I looked down at my feet. It was to hard to explain, and the effort wasn't worth it. I stayed silent. We walked back to his cruiser wordlessly, and he turned on the heat full blast when we got in. We started the drive home in silence, but he cleared his throat to speak.

"Bella...You know if you want to move in with me...You always can...I mean...If you wanted to...I'm just..I'm saying I'm here for you." he rumbled out, trying horribly to sound confident. He looked to me, and I nodded. We had a silent understanding. We pulled into the driveway of Renee's house, and I looked over to see Charlie exiting as well. He followed me to the front door, and I knocked, Renee opened the door, no longer in a skirt, and boobie shirt, but in a turtle neck and pants. She looked angrily at Charlie, but ushered both of us in.

I knew what was coming, so I ran up the stairs. I shut my door and looked around the childlishly pink room. They had painted it together when they found out Renee was pregnant with a girl.

Sure enough two minutes later, I heard Renee screeching, and Charlie trying to get her to be quiet. It was how their marriage had always went. Renee would complain scream and yell to get her way, and Charlie would give her whatever she wanted to get her to shut up. I walked to my bed, ignoring my homework, and didn't bother taking off my sweater. I pulled the covers up to my neck, and the hood over my face. I thought of Edward, and imagined how cold he must be, but sleep only found me when I imagined myself in his arms.

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I had slept too long. I felt groggy and gross as I woke up fully dressed. I changed clothes, and grabbed my back pack, seeing as I only had 10 minutes until I needed to be outside. I was out my bedroom door before I remembered Edward. Going through my drawer, I grabbed my lion sweater, and threw it in my backpack.

Renee was awake, and sitting in the kitchen when I came down, and frowned at me.

"You overreacted yesterday Bella. Not only did you hurt Phil's feelings, but you didn't have to get Charlie involved. I don't know what you said to him.." she vented.

"I didn't say anything to him." I said quietly, and she threw her fists on the table.

"Obviously, you did." she yelled, and I shut up quickly. She ran a hand through her hair, and glared at me. She had been drinking last night, her eyes were still glazed.
"You just don't want me to be happy."

I frowned and looked at me feet.
"I'm sorry." I said quietly, and she huffed.

I left without breakfast.

Lauren continued her teasing again, and she was waiting for me when I got on the bus. Mike sat next to her, giggling like an idiot, and every so often, pulling her into a kiss.

"You know, that's really gross when you wear the same sweater everyday. Can you not afford to do laundry?" she yelled, trying to draw attention to herself. Mike laughed. I lowered my head, and fiddled with my hands in my lap.

"Isabella, Isabella. Why don't you just take off your stupid sweater and grow up."

I closed my eyes, and leaned over myself. I just wanted her to leave me alone. She got up and sat next to me, and I sat up to look at her. She grabbed my back pack, and unzipped the zipper. She then proceeded to dump everything all over the ground. I felt my mouth fly open, and tears come to my eyes. I could hear all my pencils and markers roll all over the bus.

"Oooo. What's THIS!" she said, and grabbed the lion sweater from the ground. She held it up, and the bus erupted with laughter. I turned red, and tried to grab the sweater back, but with no luck.

"Give it back! That's for Edward, not you!" I screamed, but she just threw it to the back of the bus.

"Who's Edward? Your retard friend?" she laughed. I stood up to see people stepping on it, and wiping their feet on it. I cried out, and the bus came to a halt. We weren't at the school yet.

"What the HELL is going on back here." the bus driver bellowed, her large belly jiggling as she stood up. Everyone went quiet, and looked down.

"Isabella's backpack opened, and we were all just trying to help pick up the stuff. She was just yelling for everyone to help." Lauren lied flawlessly, and the bus driver looked to me for confirmation. I just looked away.

"I want everything picked up and returned to her backpack, and if I find one thing on the floor, I will tell the teacher to take away your free period." she bellowed, and returned to her driver's seat.

I picked up my backpack, and kids began to file up with my things in their hands. Most of them didn't look me in the eye, only threw the stuff into my backpack. A few apologized quietly. Lauren just huffed while Mike glared.

We arrived at school and I still didn't have Edward's sweater returned. The kids all left the bus quickly, and I walked to the back of the bus to inspect the damage. The sweater had dirt all over it, making the yellow fabric dirty. The furry part of the mane on the hood was matted, and sticking together. There was a rip on the front as well, and I let out a small sob as I picked it up.

"Honey, I can't help me if you don't tell me what's going on." the bus driver said quietly. I didn't look her in the eyes.
"Is there anything you want to tell me?"

I shook my head no, and she let me off the bus. Unfortunately, there was the principal waiting for me, meaning they already knew about what happened. The principal lead me to the counselors office, where a man with blond hair was waiting to talk to me. I looked at him wearily, and sat down, looking at my feet.

"Hi. Bella. My name is Doctor Cullen." he said, and my head snapped up. His brow furrowed.
"I'm sorry. Do you rather to be called Isabella?" I shook my head.

"No. It's just. Even though I ask, no one calls me Bella."I said quietly. He smiled at me, and leaned back in his chair.

"Do you want to tell me what happened on the bus?" he asked slowly. I looked back down to my feet, and saw him nod his head from the corner of his eye. He understood me.

"Bella, do you have a lot of friends?" he asked, and I shook my head. He looked at the ceiling for a second, and then rephrased his question.
"Do you have any friends?"

I looked up at him, with my head slightly tilted. He looked too young to be volunteering as a school counselor.
"I have one."

"Oh. What's her name?" he asked, smiling.

"His. His name is Edward." I said, looking around at the motivational posters that covered the walls.
"He doesn't go to school here though."

"Does he go on the reservation?" he asked, leaning forward.

"No. I think he just moved here, or doesn't go to school. Maybe homeschool."

Carlisle ran his hand through his slicked back hair, and I frowned. I didn't want to get Edward in trouble, so I decided to take attention off him.

"My stuff didn't fall." I said quickly, and his head snapped out of whatever thoughts he was in.

"What happened then?"

"Lauren." I said softly, and he nodded. I twiddled my thumbs, and Carlisle wrote something down on a piece of paper. I opened my backpack and began to rearrange the items, so they won't so scattered. I quickly took out Edward's sweater and folded in, before stuffing it back in. When I looked up I noticed Carlisle starring at me. I blushed and looked down.

They let me go back to class during lunch, and the rest of the day went by with everyone ignoring me. I preferred that way to the latter, so I day dreamed, and let myself lose sense of time. When the final bell rang, I felt my heart flutter. I wanted to see Edward. I walked out the doors, but didn't go on the bus. The wrath of Lauren wasn't worth it, and the park was closer to the school than my house. I walked slowly, shivering as the wind picked up and blew around leaves. I arrived at the park to find it empty. My heart fell. I frowned at my own stupidity, for assuming he would be here. I ran my hands through my hair, and sat on the ground, pulling my knees to my chest. Lauren and Mike would get me tomorrow, and I wasn't looking forward to it.

The wind blew my hood down, and while pulling it up, I saw Edward watching me, from a distance. He was in the same clothes as yesterday, and his dark circles under his eyes looked even darker. I waved him over and he slowly walked to me, cocking his head to the side in curiosity.

"I brought you a gift." I said, and frowned remembering how dirty and damaged it was now. I pulled the tattered sweater from my bag, and he smiled, stepping closer to me.
"It wasn't dirty before... but.. they took it from me and messed it up." I tried to explain. I felt like I had failed him.

He took the sweater from my arms, and pulled it on. It was big on him, just like mine, but he looked warmer in it. He smiled as he felt the material, but frowned at my statement,.

"Who took it from you?" he asked, and sat next to me. His leg was against mine...and he was really cold.

"This girl named Lauren, and boy named Mike.." I said, and bowed my head.
"They always pick on me.. They dumped my back pack, and took it. Then everyone stepped on it." I felt some tears run down my cheeks, and I cursed myself for being weak. Two cold hands took a gentle hold on my face, and turned me to Edward. His red eyes, while still intimidating were full of pain.

"Bella. I won't let them do that to you anymore." he said, and he sounded so certain, I wanted to believe him. But he couldn't change them.

"How can you help? You don't go to my school." I said, and he lowered his hands from my face. One of his hands found mine, and squeezed it.

"If you ever need me, just yell my name. I'll come. No matter what." he said darkly, and I looked down at our cupped hands. Electricity flowed through the touch, and I wondered it this was how Lauren felt when she and Mike kissed.

"Edward, how old are you?" I asked softly. He tensed for a moment, and then looked away from me.

"Eleven."

I smiled. If he had went to school, we would be in the same grade.

"Where do you live?" I asked, realizing I knew nothing about him. He pointed simply to the woods, but wouldn't meet my eye.

"What's your favorite animal?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood. He looked at me, and chuckled slightly. I immediately blushed, realizing how childish my question was and looked down. I was a loser.

"Bella, no." he said lightly, and I looked back at him. He was smiling an infectious smile.
"I didn't have one before.. but I think now it's a lion."

We held hands, stared at the sky for another hour, barley saying anything before I decided to go home. He told me to be safe, and I told him to wear his sweater. I left the playground and made my way home, walking the ten blocks in a happy mood. I had a friend, a real friend. I didn't think anything could break my mood. I was wrong

"Hey retard." a voice screamed. I looked up to see Mike running to me. I froze, and he came right up to me and pushed me on the ground. I fell awkwardly and landed on my wrist, squeaking in pain. Mike didn't care. He looked mad. Really mad.

"You got Lauren suspended you stupid bitch." he yelled, and kicked my leg hard enough to bruise. I covered my face with my hands, expecting more blows, only to receive none. I looked up to see Mike frozen, his eyes big with fear. Then I heard what he was afraid of. There was a deep growling coming from the woods that bordered the sidewalk. Mike gave me one last glare before running off. The growling stopped, but whatever it was was coming towards me. I got up and ran home, my wrist throbbing in pain. Renee was cooking dinner when I came in, but when she saw my wrist she turned everything off and brought me to the emergency room. There was no dinner that night.

They told my mom it was severely sprained, and that a soft cast was necessary at all times but a shower. If it got any worse, they would have to get me a hard cast. I told her I had fell off he monkey bars. She believed me.

The painkillers the doctor gave me put me in a daze, and I finished my homework and went to bed with an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

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I woke up the next day to Renee stroking my hair softly..What?

"Mom..What-"

"You're lucky to be alive Isabella....They found the Newton boy, Mike? Yeah. Mike killed. Someone killed him, right on the way you walk home." she choked, obviously holding back tears.

I felt my stomach drop, and slammed my eyes closed.