Author's note:

Still new to writing fan fiction and how the site works. So. How about you do me a favor? Read and review. Leave me a message (my email address is in my profile- I have no idea how to work the Pms). Let me know what you like, what you don't like, if you have any ideas. Anything and everything is appreciated. Thanks!

Disclaimer:

I don't own Twilight. I don't own Mike (thank goodness!). I don't own Bella (although I can relate to her). And I certainly don't own any of the coming characters… Including Edward. Dangit.

Chapter 1- Sacrificial Lamb

I don't recall what made me do this. Why I was willing to sacrifice myself to move to tiny, rainy Forks is beyond me. I know it had something to do with my mom's happiness and her ability to travel with her new husband, Phil. At the time I thought I would appreciate not witnessing her post-coital glow when he was in town, and her moping around when he wasn't. Now that I was here, though, I wasn't so sure. Perhaps I didn't have it as bad as I thought. I mean, Phil isn't that bad. He's kind of nice, actually. And I had a routine there. I already blended in. I knew the system and how to work it. Here in Forks I would be like a shiny new toy for everyone to stare at and gossip about. I wasn't even going to pretend I didn't know that was how it would go. I knew the drill. We had new students pour in quite a bit back home in Arizona. I'm sure I even gossiped about a few of them. I was fairly certain that Forks High rarely had fresh meat so I would amply stick out. Just being on campus, everyone would be aware of my presence. And it didn't help that I was certain Charlie, my dad, had told everyone in this inconsequential little town that I was coming to stay with him. Everyone in all of Forks was sure to be waiting, expecting, looking out for the Swan girl.

So here I was. Living with the father I only saw two weeks a summer, attending a school where I knew no one.

I drove to school early in my beat up Mustang, a gift from my ever guilty father that I appreciated more than life itself, and parked in the first spot I found. I climbed out of the car and looked around at the empty parking lot. I figured I had about fifteen minutes to get my class schedule and get settled in first period before students began piling in. My goal was to be hidden in class before the bulk of my new peers got here. I new I would have to hustle.

"PE? But I already took two years back in Phoenix. That's all they required. Can't I just transfer that and take a different course?" I was certain they would not want me in a gym here. I had been known to send kids to the nurses office with bloody noses back home.

"I'm sorry. Four years is required in Forks. Unless you want to take a sport? If you sign up for cheerleading or ladies' basketball or something that would let you opt out…" I gagged a little at the sheer prospect of cheerleading. No, thank you. I knew the councellor was trying to be helpful, but she just didn't get it. Defeated, I just shook my head.

"No, thanks," I mumbled, a little bitter. I took my schedule and left to hunt down my first hour class. At least in a school this small I wouldn't get lost. Had I moved from Forks to Phoenix I would surely have died from anxiety.

I made it in to my English class without incident- a small miracle for me. I said a quick prayer of thanks that I had made it this far without causing any more awareness of myself. I knew it wouldn't be much longer, though.

I had been seated for a couple minutes before the class started filling up. I had chosen a seat in the back hoping that would grant me a little less attention. It didn't help. A group of three guys were the first to enter the classroom and immediately stopped in there tracks when they saw me. I shrunk down in my seat and let my hair fall in my face to try and hide my embarrassment. I absolutely hated being the center of attention. Until the novelty of my company wore off, I knew I would be nothing but. I hoped I could make it that long without going absolutely crazy.

"Hey. You're Isabella Swan, right?" One of the guys sat in a seat next to me and pulled me out of my reverie.

"um. Yeah. Just Bella."

"Well, hello, Just Bella," he said, and winked. Did he seriously just wink at me? I forced back the urge to roll my eyes and smiled. "I'm Mike. Newton. Your new guide to all things Forks and partner in crime."

Yeah. Whatever. "Hi, Mike," I muttered, turning to look at the clock above the door. When was class going to start, anyways? The kid didn't take a hint and kept droning on about how much I would like Forks. I highly doubted that. I would do my time here and move on to college, preferably somewhere sunny and warm, far away from dreary Forks.

"So where are you from, anyway?"

"Arizona."

"Oh. Wow. I bet you're going through a real shock to the system, then, huh?" I didn't want to explain to him that I had come here before- many times. I didn't feel like telling him that I hated Forks so much that I typically stayed inside when I was forced to visit. I simply nodded my head and let him think whatever he wanted to. He was sure to come up with plenty of his own opinions about me anyways. I absent mindedly looked around the room. My gaze must have paused on the two guys sitting beside Mike, because he quickly looked over his shoulder and introduced them. "Oh. That's Erik Yorkie," he said, gesturing at the guy with dark hair and eyes and a poor complexion. "And that's Tyler Crowley," he said, pointing to the lanky brown headed one. I took a minute to observe Mike, trying to remember faces and names. Mike was about the same height as Tyler- slightly about average, and about the same build as Erik- entirely average. Mike had blonde hair and blue eyes and neither of them were what I would have considered especially attractive. They weren't unattractive, really. Just… average. Or perhaps that was just my distaste for Forks clouding my judgement as it clouded everything else.