CHAPTER ONE: FORKS, JET SKIS, AND TOO MANY SIMILES

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Forks sucked.

Really sucked.

Like set the vacuum on high, turn the dial to that picture of the really long carpet sucked.

All it did was rain rain rain every day. In fact it was so flooded that my pop Charlie spent his weekends fishing over the lost city of La Push. Legend says that the ground below the water used to be controlled by werewolves. Now it was just littered with houseboats and fisherman in tiny lifeboats.

On really bad days, the water level would rise all the way to the bottom of the school. Forks High sat on top of an overly green hill on the edge of town. Charlie's houseboat on the other hand was constantly afloat, like most of the town.

As a result everyone in Forks loved to swim.

I wasn't very fashionable, but I'd be damned before I'd be caught wearing a wet suit to school. Those things were too hard to get on, and a low maintenance girl like myself couldn't possibly find time in the morning to wiggle into some rubber.

I'd been hiding inside with Felicia, my guinea pig, for a few days now. His little squeaks told me that he hated it here too. But now it was Monday and it was September, and I had to go to school.

I put Felicia in his cage with a kiss to his whiskers and yanked a raincoat over my head.

Hopping on the old red jet ski that Charlie bought for me, I started the engine and almost immediately fell off into the shallow water. Damn clumsiness. A doctor in Phoenix had diagnosed me with something called "not being able to walk in a straight line", but I don't think he knew what he was talking about.

I managed to pull up to a small tree and lassoed my jet ski in place before trodding through the shallow water up to the school.

At least until I pull into what used to be a pothole. Then I just doggy paddled to the bottom of the hill.

I twisted my hair into a messy bun, shaking off like a dog, and started to look around for someone friendly. The zoo of people were all different, but seemed to blend together into one amorphous blob of boring. One blonde boy hopped in eager circles around my feet like a chihuahua. A short, black haired boy had blemishes on his face like a toad. Two girls screamed gossip at each other like angry parrots.

But there was one that stood out more than the others. He was more beautiful than a Phoenix sunset, the hair atop his head as wild as lion and his frowning lips pursed like an awkwardly attractive fish. My head was starting to hurt from all these animal similes. I needed to watch less Discovery Channel.

His black t-shirt clung tightly to his muscles, as if it had been spackled on with a paintbrush. He wore expensive jeans and a pair of green chucks. He was absolutely gorgeous, perfect in every way.

Except he had what looked like a fish tail sticking out the bottom of one of his pant legs. The other flopped empty and limp at his side.

Whatever, it didn't matter.

Before I could get a closer look, he had rounded the corner and moved out of my sight. I stared at where he'd been for a while until someone bit my ankle, making me jump and subsequently faceplant in the middle of the hallway.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry!" the chihuahua cried with a deep frown. "I didn't see you there?"

"Did you bite my leg?"

"No, I just bumped into you. Anyway, I'm Mike Newton, captain of the swim team! Welcome to Forks High School!"

"Um, thanks?" I asked, rubbing my leg where I could have sworn I'd been bit. If I looked hard enough, I could even imagine what looked like red teeth marks.

Mike continued to ramble for a little bit, but I couldn't stop staring at where Lionhead had been standing. You know what someone is drunk at a party and making a total jerk of themselves but you can't look away? It was like that. But good instead of funny.

"Uh Bella?"

"What?" I asked. "Wait, how do you know my name?"

"Everybody knows your name. Didn't you see the flyers?" He pointed to the wall and there were, in fact, several multicolored flyers with my name and picture on it. God, Forks was weird.

"Those are… wow."

"Yeah. What were you staring at?"

This was my chance. Mikehuahua could tell me where I could find Lionhead, and then I could figure out why I was so interested in him. Who am I kidding? That boy was one hunky piece of Adonis. I wonder if he'd purr if I pet his hair…

"BELLA!"

"Oh! Sorry Mike. I was just wondering if you could tell me who the boy in the black shirt was? The one with the crazy red hair and the weird leg?"

In a second, Mike went from chihuahua to aging bassett hound. His energy disappeared and his face got stern and kind of droopy.

"Oh, that's Edward Cullen. He's a freak."

"Why?"

"His whole family is weird. You know how we all like to swim?" Well, duh. "Well they really like to swim. But they won't ever swim around us. I hear that they don't even wear bathing suits. They go swimming over La Push in onesie pajamas."

"What?"

"Yeah. I told you. Weird. Can I show you to your first class?" Oh lovely. The chihuahua was back.

Mikehuahua talked the entire way to English with the screaming parrots right behind us. And all I could think about was whether or not Lionhead's onesie had a buttflap.

Forks sucked.

TO BE CONTINUED….