Chapter 1
My mom drove me to the airport. The weather was perfect here in Phoenix, blistering hot with not a cloud in the sky. It's hard to think that I'm actually leaving this place for a place like Forks. See in Washington State there is a teensy little town called Forks, a place covered in an almost constant shade of grey clouds. Not to mention the rain. I mean it practically rains daily there; in fact it rains there more than it does in the whole United States. I used to go there every summer for a month to visit my dad, Charlie. That torture finally ended when I was ten and now I get a visit from my dad here for two weeks. Why am I doing this you might ask? Great question, I'll get to that later.
"Bella, you really don't have to do this," my mom said.
"Mom, I want to," I lied. Now I'm not exactly a good liar, In fact I'm a not even remotely an OK liar, but my mom believed me and she only believed me because she wanted it to be true. She nodded and hugged me so tight I could barely breathe. "Alright baby, call every chance you get. I love you," she said. "Love you to," I told her and boarded the plane.
It was a long four hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle and then I got another hour from Seattle to Port Angeles. After getting off the plane I spent another ten minutes looking for my dad. He finally caught sight of me and gave me an awkward hug before grabbing my bags and showing me to the car. After a half hour of awkward silence he announced, "So Isabella, I got you registered for high school." I gave him a weak smile. "Thanks, and it's uh Bella now. I go by Bella," I told him and he nodded. "Oh," he answered, "Well I uh got you a nice car," he said. I'm not so sure I like the way he says nice car. "A nice car?" I asked. "It's a Chevy; I got it real cheap off Billy Black. You remember Billy Black don't you?" he asked. A Chevy. Cool, I've always wanted a truck. Well I've always just wanted a car in general so… I turned to him and shook my head. "Not really," I told him. Billy Black. Billy Black. Nope, nothing.
"He lives down at La Push with his son Jacob. You and him used to play together. He's in a wheelchair now," he told me. Billy Black. Jacob Black. Billy Black. You know, now that I think about it I do get the faintest memory of long hair and mud. "What year is it?" I asked. "It's only a few years old really," he said nervously, like he didn't want me to ask anything more on that subject. I'm guessing this means it's old, really old. He probably got it for free to, if Billy Black is in a wheelchair. "It runs great though," he told me. "Okay then. Thanks," I said and pulled a book out from the carryon at me feet. When we finally made it to Charlie's house I had made I through more than half of my book. What can I say, I'm a speed reader.
I got out of the car and looked around. The house was the same house my mom and him lived in when they were still married. Surrounding the house was a nice looking neighborhood and in the backyard (or as much of the backyard as I could see from the sidewalk) was a huge green forest. Forks is gorgeous, it is but that doesn't make me want to live here anymore then I used to. I mean I hate rain. I really, really hate it. I'm not one of those weird girls who love frolicking in the rain. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Anyway, back on topic. In the driveway was an old, faded red truck. It was something my mom would say has character. I might not be a girl who loves frolicking in the rain, but I am a girl who loves things with character and this truck defiantly has. Let's just hope it actually runs. I turned and gave Charlie a hug. "Thanks dad, it's great!" I said with an enormous grin. "You're uh welcome," he said, his cheeks flushing pink. You know, maybe Forks won't be so bad after all. Maybe. Possibly.
I grabbed all of my stuff, it wasn't exactly a lot, and followed Charlie to my room. It was the same room I've always had, the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard. It's changed since I was ten. Gone were the bright pink walls and stuffed animals. It was now a dark blue, my favorite color, with a white queen sized bed and a white desk. There was a large bookcase and an old computer in there to. "I've changed it a bit, but you can decorate it however you like," he told me. "Thanks, dad," I answered. He gave me a nod and left the room. Thank goodness Charlie doesn't hover, one of the many traits that he doesn't share with my mom. I unpacked the little amount of things that I brought, most of which being books and clothes, and settled down on my new bed with Mr. Softy. Ohm Mr. Softy us my old stuffed bear. I know seventeen is a little old for a stuffed bear, but I'm sure lots of seventeen year olds have one. I'm just women enough to admit it.
After shedding a few stupid tears (I'm women enough to admit that to) I took a long shower in the one bathroom that I'm now going to have to share with my dad (dang it) and got ready for bed. I called my mom and told her that I got here safe and everything is going just fine before finally going to sleep. My last thought before totally passing out was that I'm going to be the new kid at Forks High. Well this sucks.
Forks High has a grand total of three hundred and fifty-seven (or should I say fifty-eight) students. Back home there were at least seven hundred kids, no one would ever notice a new kid. Of course here everyone knew everyone; their parents had grown up together. Heck, their grandparents had grown up together. I don't know anybody, and no one knows me. I bet they won't like me; they'll probably treat me like an outsider invading their territory. Not to mention the whole antisocial thing I've got going for me. I don't even look like a girl from Arizonian should look like. I'm not a tanned blonde haired blue eyes bimbo. Which is kind of a good thing depending on how you look at it I guess. Anyway instead of being a TBHBEB (a tanned blonde haired blue eyes bimbo) I've got skin as white as snow and hair as black as night. I've got the whole Snow White thing going for me, but that's not going to get me anywhere. I'm also athletically challenged if you know what I mean. Basically I can't even go up a flight of stairs without getting hurt and I defiantly can't catch a ball without having a near death experience. What I'm trying to say is my first day is going to be hell.
After taking a shower (I usually don't take two in an eight hour period, but I had to get all the traveling gunk off me and if I don't take a shower in the morning my hair gets frizzy) I got dressed in the warmest clothes I could find and headed down stairs. When I got there, there was a note tacked to the fridge telling me that he had left for work early and food was in the pantry. Charlie is a policeman. Chief of Police actually. I pulled open the pantry and grabbed a box of cereal, which was the only thing in there other then five cans of soup. This ought to be delicious. After eating I grabbed my sweater and headed outside into the icy cold rain. It was raining pretty hard (no surprise there) so after quickly locking up I raced to the car and started up the engine. It was undeniably the loudest car engine I've ever heard. Well I hope this doesn't call too much attention to me at school. Charlie had shown me the school when he was driving me to his house, and even though I was to absorbed in my book to really pay attention I found it pretty easily.
Forks High is an OK looking school, even though I've never been to a school like this before. It was a bunch of small buildings made up of little red bricks with a bunch of windows everywhere. As I was driving into the parking lot I saw a little sign that said Forks High Home of the Spartans. It was nice. I parked in the half full parking lot and made myself get out of the warm car and into the building that I was most sure was the home of the front office. Okay Bells, breathe. You just have to say I'm Isabella Swan. You can do that. I opened the door and looked around inside. It was nice and had a homey type feel to it. There was a middle aged red haired woman with pointed green glasses sitting behind the counter reading something on the computer in front of her. "Can I help you?" she asked in a high, nasally voice without looking away from the computer. "I'm Isabella Swan," I told her. Yay! Mini high five to me I did it! Alright maybe it's not that big of an accomplishment but whatever. "Oh, of course," she said in a knowing voice like she knew who I was and where I came from. Of course she probably did. She reached into a draw, with her eyes still on the computer, and pulled out a few pieces of paper.
"Here is your schedule and a map of the school. There is a slip in there that you have to have each teacher sign and then bring back to me by the end of the day," she said and handed them to me. "Forks is a lovely place. You have a good day now," she said. I noticed that the whole time she did that she never took her eyes off of the computer. Well that's a handy skill to have. As I left I leaned over to see what she was doing on it. Nosy I know, but I can't help it. I saw that she was chatting with someone the screen name DanyBoy and her own screen name was HottMama. God Bella why did you have to look? I shook my head and headed for my first class.
I looked at the map and tried to follow it as well as I could. Luckily this school is small so it's not really that hard to find one class room. The classroom was half full of people all talking and laughing and sitting on their desks. It was quiet for a split second when I walked in before the conversation started up again. I heard the word New Girl and Isabella and Chief Swan's Kid a few times as I handed the slip to the old, balding teacher that sat at his desk grading papers. He signed it quickly and handed me a piece of paper. "I'm Mr. Mason. I'm sure you'll like it here at Forks High, Isabella," he told me. I nodded without correcting him on my name and sat in the farthest seat in the back. I looked over the reading list and gave a sigh of relief; I've read all of these books at least a dozen times. For fun. Well I aren't I just the nerd. I made up a play by play in my head of what I thought was going to happen today as the teacher talked about one of the books on the reading list. Finally the stupid bell rang.
As I walking down to my next class I began to hear a group of people talking behind me. "Eric, go talk to her," I heard a girl say and the next thing I know there was a tall, gangly boy with an acne problem standing next to me. "Hi, I'm Eric. You're the new girl right?" he asked and I nodded. "Bella Swan," I said. "Beautiful Swan. Nice," he said, "What's your next class?" he asked. I guess he's kind of sweet. "Government," I told him. "Awesome, I've got the same Biology which is right next to it, want me to show you the way?" he asked. "Sure," I said. As we walked we talked. Okay, I really didn't mean for that to rhyme. "So where did you live before this?" he asked. "Phoenix, Arizona," I answered. "Arizona? Shouldn't you be tan then?' he asked. "I can't tan. I've tried, but I just can't," I answered. "Then you'll fit right in. Everyone is pale as a ghost here. Not that your pale as a ghost," he said and I gave him a smile. "It's fine Eric," I told him and we made it to the classroom. "Have a good time. Or at least as good a time you can have at school," he said and I laughed.
The rest of the day passed quickly. I made it through all the classes only having to introduce myself once. I met a few kids who would walk me to my classes and ask me how life here was going. I met this one girl named Zoey who had wild hair like fire and bright blue eyes like lightning. She had almost every class with me. She's probably one of the very few people I've met all day with a real spark to her. She's funny and witty and smart and not like any of the other Forks kids here.
Finally lunch rolled by and Zoey started looking around for a good place to sit. Finally she announced, "Let's sit with the popular crowd. Normally they would kick me out of their table, but I'm armed with the talk of the school so let's see what happens. And it will also give you a good rep," she said and when we were a few feet from the table she whispered to me, "Ok so see the one with the platinum blonde hair?" she asked and I nodded. "That's Jessica. She's head everything," she said. "Sitting to her right is Mike. She totally likes him, but he can't be more oblivious," she told me. "Sitting next to him is Eric, he's kind of a bit of a nerd, but Mike and him have been really good friends since elementary so he sits with them," she said. "Then next to Eric is Angela. She's a total genius and she is super nice," Zoey said. "Uh huh and how do you know this?" I asked. "Hun, I know everything," Zoey said and pulled me over to their table. She sat down in one of the empty seats and pulled me down into the one next to her like she does this every day. Jessica stopped mid laugh and turned to give Zoey a disgusted look, "Zoey," she said. "Jessica," Zoey answered and took a bite out of her apple. Jessica's eyes flickered to me and her whole face changed.
"OMG, you're the new girl aren't you. Isabella Swan right?" she said with a happy expression on her face. "Told ya," Zoey whispered in my ear and I smiled. "It's actually Bella," I told her. "Hey Eric," I said and he gave me a wobbly grin. "Oh, OK then. Well, how do you like Forks High? It's totally awesome right?" she said and began blabbering on and on about that without letting me even answer a question. And looked over at Zoey who gave me a little laugh. Well she isn't going to be any help. I let my eyes wander around the cafeteria and that's when I caught sight of them. I'm not really one to stare, but if you saw them you would stare to. I mean these people were gorgeous. There were three boys and two girls.
One of the boys was absolutely ripped. I mean covered in muscle with shaggy black, curly hair. The other was tall with blonde hair. The last was lanky with a mess of bronze hair. And don't get me started on the girls. They would make Victoria Secret models feel like old hairy men. One was short with spikey black hair and a pixie like body. She was absolutely covered in smiles and was holding the guy with the blonde hair's hand. The other was tall with a waterfall of blonde hair and a perfect to die for body. She was clinging to the black haired boy's side. I can't really describe them, but they were absolutely beautiful. I's stare at them all day if it wasn't really rude and weird. I found myself saying before I could stop myself, "Who are they?" Jessica seemed a little pissed for a second that I had interrupted her until she saw who was talking about.
She gave me a grin, "Those are the Cullens," she said. Cullens, eh? They don't really look much alike. At all. Except for the eyes and the snow white skin. "So the really tall one, that's Rosalie. The one next to her is Emmett. Then there is Jasper, Alice, and Edward. They are all adopted and they live with Dr. Cullen and his wife. But get this, they are all like together. Like dating each other even though they all live together. Except for Edward," she told me. Hmm, well that explains the whole not look alike thing. But they still have those eyes, which is a little odd that they all have the exact same dark color. "They moved here from Alaska two years ago," she said.
I turned my head away from them and focused on my eating my food. The bell rang and I threw away my tray and followed Zoey to my next class Biology. Before we got into the class room Zoey stopped me and said, "Fair warning Edward Cullen has this class. He's also the only one without a partner. And remember, he is sort of a little weird," she said and then let me go in. The teacher, Mr. Banner, handed signed my slip back to me and sat me next to Edward Cullen just like Zoey predicted. As soon as I sat down he took a deep breath and sort of scrunched up his nose, like he just smelt something bad. Now I know it can't be me, remember I took 2 showers so I smell like a daisy. And the way he is making it so obvious is just plain rude. I don't think I like him very much, despite his insane hotness. He even started to lean away from me which made me want to hit him in his stupid head. I started to listen to Mr. Banner who had started talking about something I had already learned so I decided to take a nap, if he caught me then… oh well. I woke up just before the bell rang. Maybe it was just my sleepy brain misinterpreting things but I swear Edweird Cullen was up and out of the door in a second flat.
"C'mon Sleepy Head," Zoey said, "You missed the announcement. It started snowing hard and they want to get us out before were stuck here. Meaning SCHOOL IS OUT EARLY!" she yelled and Mr. Banner shushed her. "Sorry Mr. B," she said and rolled her eyes. "Get your stuff and hit the road!" she said the pulled out a sharpie, "Oh and before I forget," she wrote a number across my arm, "that's my cell, call me whenever," she said and started to walk me to the front office. "Anyway, what you do to Cullen? Never seen him act so freakish," she said. "Nothing. He's never acted like this? I just assumed he was an ass," I said and she shrugged. "I mean he usually acts weird but today he acted weirder than usual. And a little bit rude," she said. "A little? Please, he avoided me like the plague. It was a little insulting," I told her. "Your fine. He's just weird," she said and we walked into the front office. The red haired lady was sitting quietly, glaring at the door across from her desk. Her computer was off. Ha-ha, someone's been caught. I handed her my slip and Zoey walked me to my truck. "See ya tomorrow," she said and waved goodbye.
I drove over to Charlie's house. You know, maybe Forks won't be so bad. I mean, I can handle one person not liking me.
Heyyyyyyy! So what do you think? I know I made it a lot like the first chapter, but I wanted to make the first chapter like the one in the book, but not completely. All rights go to stephenie Meyer! I own nothing except for Zoey. Zoey is a totally new character to the book and I promise she won't utterly change the plot, I just thought Bella should really have a best friend that is always there for her. I love the Twilight books, I do, but I really just wanted to make my own version of it, so here it is. I'm making Bella a lot less melodramatic just to let you know. I hope you like it and if you don't then go away. Comment, follow, favorite, PM me.
-Sophie