Hello there!
A couple of months ago I have started writing this story and I am now ready to post it. Updates shouldn't take too long, because there are just a few parts that aren't written yet.
This here takes place before 'What a fun weekend' and 'One thing leads to another'.
And just so you know: I DO NOT own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. And my name is not Stephenie, so ... *shrug*
Okay, I think everything has been said, so ... enjoy the first chapter!
"First day of school, aren't you excited?" Alice asked, bubbling over with excitement.
She had skipped into the living room to find Maddie sitting on the couch, watching TV.
The last time she had seen her was upstairs in the bathroom, where she had done Maddie's hair. She had only brushed it out and put a hair clip in, because Maddie wasn't too enthusiastic about going to school with a french pleat. Then Alice had wanted to dress Maddie as well, but Rose told her that Maddie should be comfortable and wear whatever she liked for her first day of school. It wouldn't be advisable to make this girl wear something she didn't want - it might end badly.
Especially because Esme had bought a very cute dress for Maddie a couple of days ago. It was pink with tiny flowers all over it and she thought it would be perfect for Maddie's first school day.
But unfortunately, Maddie had gotten the impression that she should wash it while her mother wasn't home, and it ended up being completely discoloured and out of shape.
Who knew how she had managed to do that.
Now Maddie was wearing jeans and a dark T-shirt. Leather bracelets graced her left wrist and she wore her favourite three rings around her fingers.
Maddie laughed out loud and let herself fall over onto her side. Brushing a strand of hair out of her face, she said, "You have done school before, why are you that happy about it?"
Alice looked at her as if she was crazy. "I'm happy for you, silly!"
"Oh." Then Maddie smiled - an honest, sweet smile. "I guess I'm excited. I finally get to see some people, spend time away from home."
"It'll do you good, honey, you'll like it." Esme had approached Maddie from behind and let her hand run through her daughter's dark hair.
"Yeah, probably," Maddie said and beamed at her Mom.
She was confident that she could pull off this school thing. They had been training her for a while now to slower her pace to a human level, to write and talk slowly so she would fit right in.
It had been so confusing at first: Everything she did was normal to her. The way she walked and talked and stuff was normal. But then she had to get used to the human pace again.
Humans were slow, painfully slow.
But oh well, if it would take her moving in slow motion to leave the house once a day, then so be it.
Maddie stretched out on the couch, realising that it was nearly time to leave. These would be the last minutes that she had to stay home, after that: Hellooo outside world!
She had missed it so much. It's been two and a half years since she was changed, and there had not once been a time where she could just walk out the door and come home whenever she wanted to like her siblings.
One could think that she might get used to it or that it wouldn't bother her that much because she was younger than them, but - way off the mark!
The only thing that kept her sane was the change of scenery about six months ago. Forks was a sleepy little town, maybe even comatose, but there were still more shops and people than in The-middle-of-nowhere, Alaska where she had been staying with Tanya and the others. She loved the Denalis to pieces and they had a beautiful house, the scenery had been breath-taking, but still: She had been staying home all the time which got dull. And even though they had tried their best to keep her busy, it didn't work anymore after a while because Maddie wanted to go out.
So, Forks wasn't exactly big, but it had given her the chance of spending time at the park or the book store, seeing people of all ages living their lives. She could spend hours outside, just looking around. Thank God her family was very patient with her and didn't mind taking her out every other day just to go to the same stores, drive down the same streets, see the same people.
She was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts when she heard her Dad's footsteps heading for the kitchen, then him turning around and shaking his watch out of the sleeve of his jacket to check the time.
"Everybody, off to school with you!" Carlisle called and waited for his children to file into the kitchen before they would leave the house.
Maddie jumped off the couch and all but flew to her Dad's side.
Edward, Jasper, Rose and Alice walked in, bags ready. Emmett trudged after them, still busy playing with his Gameboy.
"Emmett, come," Esme said and opened her hand.
He scrunched up his face at having to leave his Gameboy behind, but then clicked a couple of times, shut it off and placed it in his mother's waiting hand.
"Thank you," she said politely and put it on the counter.
"Have fun and behave! Study hard!" Carlisle joked and they all said their goodbyes.
Maddie got patted on the head, got an 'Good luck', 'Have fun' and 'Leave the school standing' and some more Goodbyes, and suddenly her siblings were out of the door.
So now it would be time for her to leave, too.
Carlisle grabbed his black bag from the floor and handed Maddie her backpack which she had put there earlier, then asked, "Ready for school, honey?"
Maddie nodded her head and listened to the sound of two cars driving off.
"Be good, and tell me everything when you come home!" Esme hugged and squeezed her daughter.
"I will," Maddie replied, and impatiently patted her Mom on the back when the hug didn't seem to end.
Esme reluctantly loosened the embrace, and took Maddie's hands in hers.
Maddie noticed that her Mom appeared to be a bit nervous all of a sudden.
"If you don't feel well, call me and I will pick you up immediately," Esme said softly.
"I know, Mom," She got fidgety.
Esme hesitated, then gave her daughter a funny look - a look that confused Maddie. "Are you sure you are ready? It'll be several hours, dear."
Maddie started whining. If her parents decided now that she wasn't ready, she would have to spend another couple of months at home. "Mom! We talked about it a million times already! I'll be fine!"
Esme's eyes were glossy and her voice was strained when she spoke again. "You are right, you'll do great. Behave, will you?"
And Maddie nodded her head, before kissing her Mom goodbye and walking into the garage to get into her father's car.
No need to stay any longer, so that Esme would be able to doubt the decision even more.
Buckling up, she then looked up to see that Carlisle was walking to the trunk to put his bag away.
Since it would be Maddie's first day, Carlisle had decided to take her to her new school himself.
If the day went by smoothly, then Rosalie or Edward would give her a ride in the morning, because Forks Junior High was just opposite Forks High. That was very convenient in case something unusual or dangerous would happen - they could be with her in a matter of seconds.
A couple of days ago Esme and Carlisle had taken Maddie to school to get her enrolled and, of course, acquainted with the grounds and buildings, so she would be perfectly prepared and have a - hopefully - stress-free day now.
Carlisle drove out of the garage, let the garage door down by pressing the button and steered the car down the path that would lead them to the street to Forks.
"Did you take your cell phone with you?" he questioned and glanced at his daughter, who was sitting in the passenger's seat next to him.
"It's right here," Maddie answered and held it up for her Dad to see. He had told her how important it was to always have it on her in case she didn't feel well or comfortable due to all the people she would be surrounded by.
But over the last few months they had spent more and more time outside, in the town center, malls and parks. She got used to the smells, loud voices and heartbeats and since Alice didn't see anything bad happen, Maddie finally got enrolled.
She would have preferred high school because she was older than thirteen, but at the same time: That way she wouldn't have her siblings around all the time. She wanted to have some free time away from home, that meant away from her family as well. She loved them all, dearly, but she was craving for her own experiences.
It didn't take long to reach the main building of Maddie's new school.
"Do you want me to accompany you inside, honey?" Carlisle asked and stopped the car, fingers around the keys to kill the engine if his daughter wished so.
"Nope, I can handle it." She smiled over at him.
He felt a little pang of melancholy then. "Are you sure? I've got some time to spare, we could-"
"No Daddy, it's all right. I'm a big girl, I can do it," she said with determination, then she laughed and she seemed so happy.
Her laugh sounded carefree and cheerful and he saw that it was the right time to send her off. She would have flipped if she had to be in the house any longer. Two and a half years she spent under constant surveillance; no wonder she craved going to school, it was her kind of freedom now.
Nevertheless, it was still hard to let her go. She was so young and this was the next step.
But it was necessary.
"Daddy? Hello? You're not even listening to me! I said: I'm going now," she complained, looking at him weirdly.
Carlisle shook his head lightly. "Oh sorry, honey, I was lost in thought. Have a nice day, tell me all about it when I come home from work, will you?"
"Sure. Bye!" She chirped, kissed her father on the cheek and jumped out of the car.
He watched her for a while longer, until she was at the main entrance of the school.
Turning around, she saw that he was still standing there.
She motioned for him to drive off, then smirked, gave him a tiny wave and disappeared in the crowd swarming inside.
Once inside, Maddie knew where to go. The secretary had handed her her schedule, the code to her locker and where it was.
She found it without difficulties, opened it and started to put her stuff inside.
Next to her stood a boy, who greeted her friendly while busying himself with his own locker.
"Hello," he said.
"Hey." Maddie nodded towards him.
"I haven't seen you here before. I'm Tom," the dark-haired boy with bright blue eyes said. He was taller than Maddie, and didn't seem as shy as other thirteen-year-olds, Maddie immediately noticed. Maybe he was older?
"Maddie." She flashed him a bright smile.
"So ... did you just move here?" he asked, and just like that they were having a conversation.
"Yes and No," she replied and laughed when he gave her a confused look.
It felt great talking to someone about something so normal. She was a new student and, of course, would explain to the people she met where she came from and why she had moved here.
It seemed impossible to not laugh or smile every chance she got.
Sure, the burning in her throat had increased the closer they had gotten to school; and now inside, it was even more prominent. But she was actually quite full from the hunt a couple of hours ago and this experience here - having a real talk with a human boy! - overshadowed everything else. So her bloodlust wasn't an issue.
Then she explained further. "My family moved here over a year ago. I have just visited during that time. But now I'll stay for good."
"Oh. And where have you been before?" he questioned, closed his locker and leaned against it.
Now was the time for the story they had come up with to explain why she hadn't moved to Forks together with her family.
Maddie made a face. "Boarding school."
He laughed. "Didn't like it much, huh?"
"Nah, it wasn't that bad. But being in school all day isn't exactly a dream come true, you know?"
"Then why were you sent there?" he looked curious and even bent towards her a little. "Did you cause trouble?"
"No, haha, I didn't! I had a scholarship and then my parents wanted me to try it out and that's why I went."
"And you came back because ...?" Tom motioned with his hand for her to go on.
"Missed my family," she shrugged and smiled.
That was a good explanation, wasn't it? A thirteen-year-old girl missing her family?
It was a good explanation, because he nodded his head in understanding. "Hey, what's your first class, Maddie?"
"Uhm ...," she grabbed her schedule and looked at it, "English, Ms. Turner."
"Me, too!" Tom said and looked over her shoulder at her schedule. "Huh? You don't have gym class?"
"Nope, I don't. Couch potato." Maddie grinned and pointed at herself.
"Why don't you have gym? Is something wrong with your ... body?" he asked, then timidly looked her up and down.
"Do I look like something is wrong with my ... body?" Maddie tilted her head to the side and cracked up when he blushed.
Poor guy.
Thirteen was a very hormonal age, wasn't it? And she wasn't even wearing anything revealing.
"No, I'm sorry, I -"
"Chill. I had surgery on my hip a couple of weeks ago. I shouldn't do anything that's too trying in order for it to heal completely."
That had been Carlisle's idea. They needed a good enough excuse to free her from gym class.
Why?
Because her family thought that running around might trigger her hunting instincts and then she might end up feeding on one of her classmates. Or all of them. Maddie thought that that was ridiculous, but it wasn't too bad to miss out on gym class anyways.
Again, humans were slow. So she didn't really mind that much.
"Oh," he said nodding.
"Yup." She nodded her head, too.
His eyes never left hers. "How did it happen?"
She smirked. "Nosy much? Let's say ... me and skateboards? Didn't work out."
He made a face and groaned. "Too bad. There is a really cool skate park down Harper Street, we hang out there a lot."
Dammit.
She had just spoiled her first chance of bonding with guys through a nice hobby. Why had Carlisle decided it had been a skateboard accident? Why not ... horseback riding? Or windsurfing?
But she had to stick to it now, so the stories wouldn't get mixed up.
Don't draw attention, first rule.
"Well, watching won't break my bones," she slowly remarked and her eyes gleamed.
He smiled. "Cool. Uhm ... shall we go to our first class?"
"Sure." She grabbed her bag, closed her locker and went with Tom to their first period.
She met more people once in class.
Forks was a tiny town, so she was noticed by many people. All of them had known each other since kindergarten; she was the attraction of the day.
But she didn't talk to many girls for the simple reason that they probably wouldn't get along. All this girlie talk and constant giggling was something she couldn't quite identify with.
Boys on the other hand, hell yeah.
Almost all of them were easy-going, funny and they shared the same interests.
Well, at this school were also some boys who were intimidated by the new girl, in other words: Maddie.
She was new, and she looked stunning. Well, that comes with being a vampire, but they didn't know that, of course.
So there were two major reasons why she was attracting attention. But not in a bad way, just the being-the-new-one kind of attention.
She could hear other people talking about her when she passed them in the hallways or sat in the same classroom as them, but she didn't really care. It wasn't anything too bad, just 'Who is she?', 'Isn't her father that doctor?', 'Why didn't she come here sooner?', 'She's pretty.', 'My brother said her siblings are weird.', blah blah blah.
She heard some rumors about her family, too, but that was inevitable obviously. They had arrived over a year ago! That gave people enough time to make up stupid stuff about them.
People noticed that something was different about her as well.
Some girls unconsciously took a step backwards while eyeing her suspiciously. But the boys tended to take a step towards her, as if she lured them to her.
Must be a vampire thing again.
Her siblings told her it might be this way, but she couldn't picture it really. Now she saw what they had meant.
Some humans were sensitive when it came to vampires. They didn't know that vampires existed, but they felt that something was off about certain 'people'. But they were also attracted to the physics, smell and charm a vampire brought. That's why the boys were attracted, but some of the girl's wary ... or envious.
All in all, the day went by pretty quickly, and Maddie had really enjoyed herself.
She talked to many people and could remember all their names.
Vampire memory was awesome.
The bell rang, indicating that last period was over.
Maddie left the classroom, waved her goodbye to several fellow students and walked to her locker to retrieve some books.
Tom was casually leaning against his own locker when Maddie closed hers.
It was funny how humans thought they were really inconspicuous and could actually surprise someone, but she didn't let him know that she had noticed him approaching a moment ago.
"We survived the first day," he said jokingly when she looked at him - completely surprised, ha ha.
"We did," Maddie replied, nodding. "Now let's get out of here."
They walked down the hallway and out of the main building, all the while talking.
"Tiny!" Maddie suddenly heard being shouted over the noise of all the students.
Over there, leaning against the banister of the stairs was her eldest brother; Rose standing right next to him.
Maddie's eyes lit up and she said, "I've gotta go, Tom. See you tomorrow!"
"Yeah, see ya, Maddie!" he replied and walked to the right, while Maddie had to descend the stairs on the left to meet up with her siblings.
Emmett quickly embraced his little sister in a big bear hug, nearly crushing her while spinning her around.
"Em, put me down!" she laughed. He stopped and set her down on her feet again.
"Who was that boy? Why was he talking to you? Want me to take care of him?" he then asked in a no-nonsense tone of voice and crossed his arms, glaring over Maddie's head at someone far away.
Maddie gave him a puzzled look and Rose smacked his arm.
Now it was her turn. She hugged Maddie for a moment, then asked, completely curious, "How was your first day?"
"Pretty good, actually. Just got some funny looks from some girls." Maddie made a face.
"Get used to it, they can't help it," she replied and tucked a strand of hair behind Maddie's ear.
"I don't really care, it is just something I've noticed."
Maddie was suddenly hugged from behind, surprised by the sudden impact. "Uff!"
"I knew you'd have fun!" Alice squealed and jumped up and down.
Woah, she was excited enough for all of them, apparently.
Jasper walked up behind Maddie, ruffled her hair and remarked, "You are relaxed."
"I am." She grinned.
"Edward is waiting in his car, we should get going. Come on," he said to her and put a hand on her shoulder to guide her over to the parking lot across the street.
Emmett hesitated. "You're driving with us, right, Tiny?"
"Sure," Maddie replied and went ahead.
Edward was still fumbling with his stereo when his siblings approached.
"Somebody is happy." He flashed Maddie one of his crooked smiles.
"What about you?" She asked in return and nodded her head towards him.
"I've been to this school for a whole year already, nothing has changed," he explained and sighed.
"Come on, we don't want to strike roots here. Esme's waiting," Rose pressed impatiently. She knew their mother must be bursting with curiosity by now.
So they all hopped into the cars.
Maddie rode in the back seat of Rose's car while Emmett sat in the front with his wife.
Jasper and Alice drove with Edward and complained a little about the music he had just chosen.
And after a short drive, they met again at home.
Esme waited in the garage for her children to get out of the cars; she was too eager to wait in the kitchen.
The moment Rosalie parked the car and the doors opened, everybody greeted their mother and vise versa.
"Maddie, angel, did you enjoy your first day at school?" Esme asked, genuinely curious.
Her eyes were bright and her voice full of love.
Maddie skipped over to her Mom and hugged her around the waist, saying, "Yup, it was good."
"No trouble?" Esme asked and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
No, she did not indicate that her daughter had caused trouble; she wanted to know if she was struggling with thirst or if she was overwhelmed by all the people surrounding her.
"I felt good. My throat burned more at school than it does when I am outside, and even more than here at home, but I can handle it, I think."
"That is very good, love, very good! Tell me all about your day," she said and led her daughter into the house.
"Hey Mom! Good to see you, too," Emmett called jokingly and waved after them since he wasn't greeted as exuberantly as his little sister was.
Maddie was playing video games with Emmett when Carlisle came home later that day. He greeted his wife, then walked into the living room.
"Daddy!" Maddie jumped up from the couch and bounced over to where her father was standing, hugging him and earning herself a kiss on the head.
"How was your first day, princess?" He asked with a smile and smoothed her hair out of her face.
"Great!" She exclaimed, but couldn't explain anything because Emmett yelled, "I won, I won!"
Maddie turned around and immediately complained, "Hey! That's not fair!"
"You should have pressed pause, Tiny." He grinned.
"Did you make friends today?" Carlisle asked and Maddie turned her head back around to answer him.
"She made friends all right. I saw her talking to a boy." Emmett ground out before Maddie could reply. He said the word 'boy' as if it was something very obscene.
She rolled her eyes at that. "So?"
"You - him, not going to happen."
"Uhm, hello? I'm not interested in anyone, just wanted some sane people to talk to," Maddie told him and crossed her arms.
"Sane." Emmett snorted.
"Yeah, sane. The opposite of what you are," she said, then laughed when Emmett jumped off the couch and started chasing her around the living room.
Esme's voice rang out immediately. "No running in the house, children!"
What do you think of the first chapter?
Please let me know if you'd like to read more or if you don't like the story!
I won't update if you are not interested. Clear? ;-)
All right, then be so kind and REVIEW!