Disclaimer: Not mine at all.


Sigh, another rainy day in Coten, Oregon.

This was starting to be unbearable . . . though, I suppose it has always been unbearable, especially after seventeen years of it.

I pulled my car into my usual parking space, killing the ignition. I was early. I could spare a couple of minutes sleep. . . . Who said you had to be early on the first day of school?

"Ahh!" I yelled as something slammed into my window. Trying to calm down, I glared at Taylor, who was grinning at me, his face and wide blue eyes pressed up against the glass.

"Dude!" he said, his voice muffled. "What are you doing in your car sleep?"

Rolling my eyes, I answered, "Sleeping."

Sometimes (a lot of times) I wondered why I was even friends with this guy. He was crude almost always, slow on the uptake ninety-seven percent of the time, and just plain unbearable the other three percent.. . . . But I had known him since preschool. . . . What could you do?

"Well wake up!" Taylor yelled, jerking at the door handle. "You've got to come see this! It's amazing!"

Groaning, I unlocked the door, grabbing my backpack. Knowing Taylor, it was probably a dead rat or something.

My friend grabbed me by the wrist, pulling me from my car and barely giving me time to lock it. The rain pounded down against my face and I hoisted my backpack up onto my shoulder, pulling my hood over my black hair. Unlike Taylor, I actually cared about what I looked like for the rest of the day and right now, he looked like a drowned rat with all that brown hair.

"I'm telling you, Dan," he was saying as we finally got inside the school. "It's really got to be the best thing ever."

"What is it that it's so great?" I asked, moving to my locker and pulling it open.

"Well, you know the Cullens, right?"

I nodded, resisting the urge to roll my eyes again. Who didn't know the Cullens? I mean, even though they stayed completely secluded from the rest of the school and stayed that for the past two years they had been here, seemed to be dating each other (which I guess is okay, considering they're adoptive brothers and sisters but still), and had to be the weirdest people this town has ever seen, everyone still adored them and worshipped their footsteps.

What was up with that?

"Yeah, so for the past, what, two years of high school you know how they've always been paired up, taking away, Rosalie, Alice, and Bella from us well deserving guys? Well, looks like they've brought a spare this year!"

"What are you talking about?" I said shoving my backpack into my locker and pulling out my books.

Taylor groaned, grabbing me by the back of my head and turning it. "Hey --!"

Whoa.

Down the hallway, was a girl. She was absolutely stunning, gorgeous. Her hair, cut short to her chin was brown, streaked with gold and bounced every time she turned her head. She had this round face, and these fully lips and she . . . she could have been an actress, a model even. . . . She was tall, shorter than me, I could see, but she had long legs beneath a thigh-length skirt and the sort of grace and poise most tall girls could only wish for.

"Who is she?" I said, still stunned. I missed my locker like five times trying to close it.

"Haven't you been listening?" Taylor said, stepping in front of me. He was blocking my view and I thought that was very annoying. "She's a Cullen. . . . Rumor is she just moved in with them, over the summer but she's been keeping to herself. I bet if she gave me a chance she'd –"

"Name, Taylor," I interrupted, annoyed with what I knew was going to be a crude remark.

"Uh, I didn't get a chance to ask her," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "I went up to talk to her and then I remembered I had that essay to write."

"Essay?" I asked. We had all the same classes. "We didn't have an essay."

"You sure? Hmm . . . must have just been nerves. Okay, give me a second, I'm going to find out her name."

He disappeared and I tore my eyes away from the new girl. It must suck to be new and having people stare at you probably didn't make you feel any better. People ran behind me, blowing papers out of open lockers.

I couldn't help it.

I looked up again.

And she was staring back.

Her eyes were gold.

She seemed to be just as surprised at the sight of me as I was of her. And for a moment, it was like everything in the hallway was still.

"Got it," Taylor said, grabbing my arm and swinging around in front of me again. "It's Amelia."

Amelia.

It just seemed to fit.

I looked up once more. I wondered if she were that type of girl. . . . You know . . . the one who instantly became popular as soon as she stepped through the door. The one who all the boys liked but only a couple of them were actually allowed to speak with her. . . .

Perfect example.

Todd Jones.

He was your typical popular jock. Track star, good looking, the works. He was the kind of guy everyone expected to become famous just because he had the looks for it.

And he had the looks that a girl like Amelia, if she were that type of girl, would fall for.

Todd walked up the hallway and over to Amelia, leaning against the locker next to hers, smiling that annoying smirk of his. He said something. I thought I saw Amelia's eyes flicker to me again but I was probably just imagining things. But I watched anyway, saw the quick and brief movement of her lips. Todd's face went slack for a moment and then he just looked confused. He scratched the back of his head and then walked off.

Huh.

So, maybe she wasn't that type of girl.

"Never thought I'd see the day when a girl turned down Todd Jones," Taylor said, grinning.

"Tell me about it," I mumbled.

When I looked at her again, she was talking with Edward, who had appeared out of nowhere, like he always seemed to be doing. They were deep in conversation. Finished, I guess, Edward gave her an awkward pat on the head before walking away. She must have been one of their new adoptive siblings. I heard the Cullens did that a lot . . . adopt, I mean. It was almost like it was some kind of hobby.

I heard someone chuckle and I glanced to see Edward, walking behind me. No one was with him so I wondered what he was laughing about. He glanced at me but didn't say anything.

Weird family, if you ask me.

Looking towards Amelia again, I saw her staring once more.

But this time, she smiled.

It was hardly anything. Not much more than a brief lift of the corners of her mouth.

But it was a smile.

I smiled back, lifting my hand in a wave.

I couldn't explain why she was even deciding to acknowledge me. I wasn't a nerd but I wasn't popular. I was pretty plain (well, at least I think so), and I refused to join any sports (though the coach was sort of pressuring me to be on the Track team). I didn't fit in with the jocks or the geeks so I was kind of stuck in the middle. . . .

With Taylor as my only company.

But, maybe. . . .

I took a step towards Amelia's locker but she stiffened, turning in the opposite direction and walking off.

Shaking my head, I tucked my books under one arm.

Should have known it was too good to be true.

Oh well.

Easy come, easy go.

Whistling to myself, I walked off to class.


A/N: So just a reminder, this is like twenty-seven years after the events of Breaking Dawn. And yes i made up the town. I needed a small place that i could do whatever with. Thanks. I hope you liked it. Stay tuned for the next chapter.