A/N: Okay guys, this is the first chapter to my new story. I hope you guys enjoy it!
Summary: Edward Masen is new at Forks High, and Bella isn't sure what to think of him. Edward feels the same about her, but for other reasons. When Bella and her friends search for a new guitar player for their band, the whole crews lives get turn upside down and sideways.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, the characters, I don't own anything but the words I write! Any songs used are also credited to the artists!
On average, a male will spend 6 months of his life looking in a mirror, while a woman will spend two years of her life staring at her reflection. Guys only speak about 2000 words a day; a chick speaks 7000. Guys don't care if their fat. In fact, fat guys are forty-two percent less likely to commit suicide if they're fat. Guys only need one pair of shoes at time. These are the reasons I always give when people ask me why my two and only best friends are guys.
Emmett is the first friend I ever made besides Lauren, and my friendship with Lauren only last about two weeks. Then she poured ranch dressing in my hair at lunch in the first grade. That's also the same day Emmett became my friend. He had just gotten his lunch of spaghetti and applesauce and he saw me crying with Lauren standing above me laughing. He "accidentally" bumped into Lauren, spilling said spaghetti and applesauce on her. Emmett told me later when we were coloring that he did it purposely. We've been best friends since.
I met my other friend Jasper in sixth grade. Emmett and he had gotten into a verbal argument. Today, not one of the three of us can actually remember what it was about. We only remember that Jasper called him a pudgy, imbecilic simpleton. Emmett got mad because he didn't know the words Jasper used were, and then chased him around the playground. Jasper was too fast for Emmett to catch. Jasper was the first person to ever defeat Emmett in anything that didn't involve intelligence ever, so I decided he'd be our new best friend. Ever since, the three of us have been inseparable.
Today, our crew has changed from the awkward adolescence we were once upon a time. Emmett used to be fat. Fat as in refused to wear anything but sweatpants or basketball shorts and could eat a whole pizza on his own. He's channeled his fatness into muscle, and is now a 6'4", 254 pound football and basketball player. He's still not the brightest crayon in the box, but he's certainly put more effort into his schoolwork. Jazz still maintains his long curly blond hair, but it's kept shorter than it used to be. He's also on Forks High's cross country, track, and basketball team. Jasper grew just one inch shorter than Em, but he's about seventy pounds lighter.
I've changed the least out of all of us. My brown hair is still long and wavy, my favorite pair of shoes is my Chuck Taylors, and I'd still much rather put on a pair of jeans than a dress. Don't get me wrong, I'll dress up every now and then, when I'm actually feeling girly, but jeans and a T-shirt is still my go-to outfit.
I thought about my friends while I was driving to school. I had my iPhone plugged into my stereo, and I grinned when My Humps came on. Emmett, Jasper, and Jake… I frowned when that name popped into my head.
Up until three months ago, Jake had been the fourth member of our little family. We had met Jacob freshman year, he was Emmett's locker neighbor, and those two had hit it off. Jake was a really good guy and very funny too. He was a great addition to our group. However, he'd always been a little secretive with us, and sometimes he'd ignore our calls on a Friday or Saturday night. About five months ago, Jake started acting strange. The four of us had a band together, and we were fairly popular in the small town of Forks, Washington where we lived and the surrounding area. Usually, we had at least one gig every weekend, but Jacob never missed them, even when he'd ignore our phone calls or text messages. One weekend in March, we had about three gigs. Jake didn't show up for any of them, and he missed school Monday. We were all furious until he came to school Tuesday and told us that he'd been throwing up all weekend. We were sympathetic and didn't argue. After that, Jacob started missing the shows we had booked regularly. Emmett, Jazz, and I finally went to his house after he missed one particularly important performance, and thank God we did.
When we showed up, his front door was unlocked and his dad wasn't home. We didn't know that his dad had been in the hospital for a few months before that because he'd been injured in a car crash and that he'd never be able to walk again. We knew his mom had run off when Jake was a child. We searched the house and yelled for Jake over and over again. I went upstairs to look for him, and noticed the only door wide-open was the bathroom. I stepped in and when I did, I screamed. Emmett and Jasper ran upstairs, and both of my strong best friends broke down with me. Jasper called 911, the most sensible one at the time.
I had found Jacob, passed out on the bathroom floor, blood pooled around his head. After he'd been checked into the hospital, we found out that Jake had been regularly abusing prescription medicine. The night we found him, he had overdosed and passed out, his head cracking when it landed on the side of his bathtub. If we hadn't found him, Jake would have died. When he was out of the hospital, we tried our best to be supportive friends, and we decided to hold off on the band until Jake was completely sober. As much as we tried to help him, he just got worse. Soon, the pills turned into cocaine, which we only found out when Emmett went to find him one weekend when we couldn't contact Jacob. We talked to Jake's dad, and we all agreed the best thing for him would to be sent to a rehab center. We haven't been able to speak to Jake for three months. Until he is completely stable, only immediate family can visit or even send him letters. His dad visits him every weekend and gives us updates, though.
I shook my sad thoughts off as I pulled into the school's parking lot, preparing to face another day in hell. I didn't mind my classes, I loved our school's library, and I even the teachers were decent. What I hated at my high school were the girls. They were all self-absorbed and only concerned about the next dance or the next sale at Macy's. None of them knew what they wanted to do in life, all they knew was that there was a party this weekend, and they were going to get drunk and have a "good time." There's only one girl that I even remotely like, her name is Angela. We grew up together, but I've only heard a few words come out of her mouth, which is probably why I can tolerate her. Literally every other girl at Forks High School is competing with their sworn enemy in looking better or having a cuter boyfriend.
Another reason I got along with Jazz and Em is that we both didn't know exactly what we wanted in life, but we knew we wanted to get out of Forks. There was nothing here for us.
I hopped out of my rusty red pick-up truck and headed into the school, and put a pair of headphones in, listening to the song that was on as I walked.
When you tell me I'm a wreck,
You say that I'm a mess.
How could you expect anything less?
Jasper and Emmett caught up to me somewhere along the way, but didn't speak to me because they could tell by my headphones I was already having an off day. It was the first day back to school after summer vacation and the start of our junior year. I rolled my eyes at the girls in miniskirts and skimpy tank tops. I had the decency to dress nice for the first day of school, but I wasn't dressed like I was going to a club like the rest of the girls. I had on a dress that had a pink shirt, and the top was black and white striped. I even switch my Converse for a pair of black sandals. Jasper and Emmett even dressed a little nicer than usual, both of them in khakis and a collared shirt.
We chatted on the way into the school, but separated when our individual lockers came into view. I went to mine and turned the dial, then started placing my supplies in it. I noticed the person on my left side got into their locker, but didn't pay any more attention than that. I bent to put my other stuff inside my locker, but was hit in the forehead by my neighbor's locker.
"Christ!" I yelped as I landed on my butt, rubbing my forehead.
"Shit," the cause of my pain said, "I'm so sorry. My locker was jammed, and it just flew open when I pulled really hard. Are you okay?" I could tell by the voice that it was a guy, and I nodded. He held out a hand to help me up, which I gladly accepted. Once I was on my feet, I took a step back to look at the person who would be my locker neighbor for the rest of high school.
He didn't belong in this town. He belonged in New York or Los Angeles, maybe even Chicago, but not in Forks, Washington. His complexion was flawless, no acne marks anywhere, and he knew how to dress. He had on a pair of khakis, a plaid button up shirt from Hollister, and to my enjoyment, a pair of Vans. His hair was a light shade of brown, with a tint to his hair that made it look reddish, almost like the color of a penny, and it was the right mixed of sex hair and an attempt to control it. My favorite part about him, though, was his eyes. They were a beautiful shade of green, a really rare deep green. Once where they were filled with concern, they now twinkled with mischief, and I knew I'd be in for a long year.
The boy smirked. I take back what I said about his eyes being my favorite part of him. His smirk was the most adorable thing ever. It made my heart skip a beat.
"Are you going to introduce yourself to the new kid?" he asked me, a hint of arrogance in his voice.
"I'm Bella," I said flatly. I didn't know what his if he was just curious to who I was, or if he wanted to get to know me better, in a way I was not comfortable with.
He nodded, a smile still on his features, "Bella. That's a beautiful name. I'm Edward Masen. My family moved here this summer."
I nodded, "Do you need help finding your first class?" I asked out of politeness. Okay, fine. Maybe I liked his voice a little too.
"How about we just compare schedules?" he offered. I nodded and handed him mine. I peered over his arm to look also. We had our first two classes, fifth period, and our last period classes together.
"Let's head to class, my Bella," Edward said, throwing an arm around my shoulder. I was going to put an end to his arrogance before it got out of hand.
I shrugged off his arm, no matter how much I liked the warmth of it on me, and stopped him, "Edward, I'm not your Bella. I'm just Bella." I started walking again in the direction of first period, which was English.
He shrugged, "Whatever you say, babe."
I sighed, turning to look at him. "Edward, let's get this straight. I'm not yours. That means no pet names, and no marking your territory either." I threw in the last sentence after his second attempt at slinging an arm over my shoulder.
By the time I was done with my rant, we were almost to the classroom.
Edward stopped right in front of me and turned around. He looked at me very seriously, which kind of scared me. I held my breath for two reasons. One, I physically couldn't breathe, since his eyes had me dazzled to the point of no clear brain function. Second, he was so close to me, I was afraid if I blew out a breath and it stunk (although I brush my teeth three times a day), he wouldn't ever get this close to me again. I mean, I didn't want him too, but still.
When that smirk from a few minutes ago reappeared on his face, my heart started beating again, although sporadically. "You'll change your mind," he said, then walked into the classroom just as the minute bell was ringing, leaving me in the middle of the hallway wonder who Edward Masen was and what mental disease he had.
A/N: Hey guys! I hope this was a decent first chapter! Let me know what you think please!
The song I used what Tell Me I'm a Wreck by Every Avenue.