"I WANT A FUCKING DIVORCE."

The little brown haired woman finally lost her cool, and jumped up and screamed. "DID YOU HEAR ME?"

Her husband, an amused looking man with reddish brown hair, simply rolled his eyes and smirked. "Bella, you know you'll regret this in the morning."

She banged a fist on the table. "No, I will not. I don't know why the FUCK I married you. You've been the same way since we were teenagers! WIPE THAT FUCKING SMIRK OFF YOUR FACE! You KNOW I hate that, Edward."

He sighed, and continued to look bored. "Seriously. This is such typical Bella behavior. You'll be over this in about ten minutes. You're just being stupid."

A sweet smile spread across her face. "Oh really, Edward? I'm being stupid? At least I wasn't the one who had to retake their SAT's four times."

He finally reacted, standing up so quickly his chair fell to the ground. "JESUS! That was FIVE years ago! Just let it fucking go!"

"Do NOT tell me what to do Edward Cullen."

"Oh, the last name? Well it's your last name too."

"It won't be for long."

"Not if I have anything to do with it."

She threw her water in his face.

Their dumbfounded lawyer took advantage of the silence.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cullen? Can you please sit down?"

*****

The familiar beep of the alarm clock jolted me awake before I knocked it off the bedside table.

Fucking alarm clock.

I hauled myself out of bed and into the shower.

Today was my first day of junior year at good ol' Forks Academy, home of the Spartans, sluts, and stuck-ups.

Someone get me a bucket to contain my joy.

I finished showering and then grabbed a towel and stepped out. Wiping away the steam in the mirror, I did a quick check for any breakouts that could ruin a first day. My usually pale skin was clear. Thank the Lord. I had a lot riding on my appearance this year.

I went back to my room and quickly got dressed in a typical Bella Barbie outfit. A pretty, girly, short sleeve white blouse and a short-ish "a-line" plaid skirt. My best friend, Alice, helped me pick them out and then drilled the right terminology into me.

Alice was creative and slightly fashion obsessed. She was less than five feet tall with a spiky mop of black hair and almost exotic looking features. Her large, slightly slanted amber eyes dominated her delicate elfin face. I was eternally jealous of her waifish figure.

Her passion for clothes had a lot to do with her background. Alice came from a severely dark past that even I, after knowing her for seven years, didn't know all about. What I did know, was that Alice's former parents were hyper-religious and used to psychologically abuse her in some pretty twisted ways. She was in intensive therapy and was just starting to remember and break through some of the more traumatic events. After being adopted by Esme and Carlisle Cullen, her naturally sunny personality started to come out more.

True to Alice's advice and my own insistence on heels, I grabbed a pair of red peep toes with three inch heels.

Every day at school for me was like a new part in a play. Only I was the same person every day. I laughed, flirted, and played the role of the seemingly shallow popular girl because I knew that's how I would get the notice I needed. I needed to be on committees, and run clubs, and be a star, because that's what would get me into a good college and out of Forks. My dad, the Forks chief of police, stressed the importance of a good education. He didn't want me to be stuck here. Forks Academy was just about the best damn school on the Western Coast. It's name was respected all over the world, and ninety five percent of graduates went on to Ivy League or it's international equivalents. We were supposed to be the best and the brightest. It's a shame that most of us- well, them, really -were as shallow as a spilled puddle of their Starbucks coffees.

Nearly everyone here was stupid enough to fall for shiny Bella Barbie. I could manipulate the girls here with a mention of a shopping trip together this weekend or get them to pull the strings I couldn't with a comment about a coveted charity seat. Forks did tons of charity work and had almost a hundred student organizations. I needed to shine in them all to get what I wanted.

I could work their men too. I knew that getting what I wanted would take a bat of the lashes plus a bitten lip like I knew one plus one equals two. An innocent blush sent them into paroxysms of chivalry. They had no idea. To them, I was little pretty Isabella, who didn't know the affect she had on men. Wrong.

If it wasn't for the four people I could call true friends, I'd go insane. Alice, Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie. I trusted them with everything. They knew my true background and I was myself around them. They understood the role that I played, because they were hiding too. Jasper and Rosalie were dealing with a harsh military childhood. Emmett had been raising himself since his mother committed suicide. We were a bunch of lost souls, but at least we had each other.

After swiping on a light layer of foundation, some mascara, and my favorite shimmer chap stick, I navigated carefully down the stairs to the kitchen, where Charlie was making the only thing he could: pancakes.

"Morning, Dad," I said as I slid into a seat at the counter.

He added another pancake to my plate and then set it in front of me. "Sleep well?"

I shrugged. "You know how it is." Insomnia was a constant issue for me.

He shook her head slightly. "Are you sure you don't want to see Dr. Pattinson again, dear?"

"I think I'll be okay."

I glanced at the clock, which said 7:20. Shit. Only a half an hour. I shot up from my seat and grabbed my stuff.

I gave him a quick hug on my sprint out the door, pulling my bag over my shoulder as I went. "Bye Dad!"

*****

Ten minutes later I was at school with twenty minutes to spare, thank God, when my phone started ringing.

I picked up and heard Alice scream, "HURRY UP!" into the phone.

"JESUS, Alice. Do you think you could fucking cool it? I'm tired," I grumbled as I arranged a prop Vogue in front of me to keep people away while I was on the phone.

She smirked and I could hear her honking the horn of her pretty yellow Porsche. "Some old lady wouldn't move. And watch your language. The Forkians won't approve of that one, darlin'."

"Don't remind me."

"You at school yet?"

"Again, don't remind me."

She snorted. "How many broken hearts so far?"

"None. I'm laying low, looking very interested in Vogue. You know how it is."

"Twenty bucks on Newton puppy dogging you again this year."

"Fifty on you and Jazz declaring true love after three hours. Really, now, why won't you just tell him?"

Alice was pretty much in love with our friend Jasper, and I was about ninety percent sure that he felt the same way. They would honestly make the cutest couple. She was tiny, dark haired, and outgoing, and he was tall, blonde, and kept kind of to himself.

She scoffed. "Shut up. Maybe if you would stop playing these boys like chopsticks on a piano then maybe you could actually find someone, Bells. Think about it."

For some reason, those simple words triggered a deep panic inside of me, and I suddenly felt uneasy. "Too heavy for before school. Now step on it, 'Lis, I know you wanna."

She laughed wickedly and I could hear the engine rev.

"I told you about Edward, right?"

The name sounded familiar. "Yeah, I think."

"He flew in last night. My cousin, remember?"

It clicked. "Oh yeah! I talked to Mr. Banner and he said I could be his guide."

Mr. Banner was the teacher adviser to student council, one of the many clubs and such I headed. At Alice's request, I set it up so I would be Edward's "official guide" and help him "adjust" to Forks life.

"Good. Alright Bells I'll be there in like ten seconds."

"Kay. I saved ya a spot."

She hung up and I shoved the magazine back into my glove compartment and grabbed my bag. I made it out of the car as Alice pulled screeching into her spot.

"Hey girl." Alice bounced over and I gave her a tight hug. I looked over her outfit appreciatively. "Someone looks adorable."

"Ya think?" She adjusted her long white cardigan, which she layered over a grey vest, white top, and grey skinny jeans.

I raised my eyebrows and flicked my eyes down to her stomach. Discreetly, we performed our morning routine. Alice sighed and quickly lifted up her shirt while I scanned her hipbones for new scars. I noticed a fairly new one.

"'Lis, what's going on?" I asked, concerned. Alice's therapy brought up new memories almost every session, and they were extremely difficult for her to deal with. She has to let someone check her every morning for new scars. To save her from possible awkwardness with the Cullen's, I volunteered.

"The usual," she said quietly. "And all the stress, you know how it gets. It's from like three days ago, and I already talked to Dr. Pattinson about it."

I slid my arm through hers and hip checked her gently. "Just remember you can talk to me. Now lets go."

We lifted our chins and started what we called "The Strut" towards the doors, until someone cleared their throat loudly behind us.

I swiveled and caught the stunning green eyes of someone I didn't recognize. His narrowed eyes were almost covered by messy bronze hair, and they coolly and clearly assessed me.

Goddamn, he was hot.

I felt a hot blush start to rise in my face, and I'm sure that this beautiful stranger noticed, because his lips twisted into a smirk.

"Oh my God! Sorry Edward, I completely forgot!" Alice fluttered. "Um, this is Bella. Bella, my cousin Edward."

Edward nodded. "Where do I go to check in?" His voice sounded like chocolate and velvet and sleeping all day. It made my toes curl.

Some squeaky words I didn't catch came out of Alice's mouth and then Edward was walking away into a sea of over-groomed humanity.

"Bella. Stop staring, it's creepy."

I blinked. "Alice, why didn't you tell me he was so... fuck."

She giggled and we resumed walking towards the school.

"Again, creepy. He's my cousin."

A few people called out greetings and we smiled and waved cheerfully.

"Um, if he was my cousin, I'd definitely pull a Karen from Mean Girls."

"Jesus, what are you, twelve?" Alice teased. "Now shut the hell up, go to class, and flirt with the old money fools."

I saluted. "Kay. See you at lunch?"

"Yeah, everyone's gonna be there."

"Good."

We separated and I started down the path to the science building.

"Isabella! Wait up!"

Newton. I groaned internally.

There was nothing wrong with Mike Newton, per say. Tall, with meager attempts at muscles, baby blue eyes, and "effortless" gel filled hair, most girls at FA would drop their panties in a second for him. He was annoying, and crass, and he followed me like a puppy dog. If he had been anyone else, I would had told them to fuck off and moved on. But Mike was probably the most popular kid in this place, and I needed the popularity. So a little flirting here and there kept him wrapped around my finger.

I spread a fake smile across my face and turned around. "Hey Mike," I cooed.

He swaggered up to me and grinned. "How was your summer, girl?"

"It was alright. How was yours? You look like you've been working out." I said "shyly," with a little flutter of the eyelashes.

As he puffed up with pride, his entourage, Tyler Crowley and Eric Yorkie came barreling down the pack yelling hello's. Tyler and Eric were cute in that prep school, my-mom's-personal-shopper-bought-me-this-button-down way. Nothing special, but they weren't huge tools.

"Hey, Isabella," Eric leered. "You just get prettier every year, darlin'."

Gross. Scrotumscrotumscrotumscrotum Aha! Blush.

I may have somewhat of a pottymouth, but for cueing a blush, the "s" word usually got the job done.

"Oh, Eric," I giggled. "Who has Banner first hour?"

Tyler raised a hand casually. "You're in luck, babe. We all do."

I grinned like this was the best news all day. "Walk me to class?" I asked as I tucked my hand into his elbow. Rosalie taught me that one, her and Jasper grew up in the South.

"Of course," Mike said, coming up behind me and taking my bag.

"You guys are just so sweet," I gushed as we walked the remaining steps to the building. I groaned internally again.

Same shit, different year.

Okay, so this is really different than Love Story. I promise I'll finish that within a week, I'm just writer's blocking! This chapter beat its way out of me.

Anyway, tell me your thoughts. Should I continue this?

Thanks for reading! Love Story will be updated soon and so will this, pending your feedback.