Red eyes. Red eyes were everywhere. In all honestly, it wasn't exactly as terrifying as it might sound. The irises were the only things that were the color of blood, after all. So, while it certainly was very creepy, it wasn't mind numbingly horrifying. What was so off putting, however, was how they were all peering at her. There was a menacing feel to the air and quiet whispers that she couldn't make out. The tension in the air was so thick it could've been cut with a knife, but the near silence remained, it almost felt like the calm before a storm. But then, a sudden hush and nothing.

Except the sound of a blaring alarm clock.

Caroline peeled her eyes open at the crack of dawn, a low moan escaping her lips, "first day of senior year, Caroline, can't be late…" She huffed to herself as she forced the covers from her body to get ready for the day.

Okay, staying up till midnight the day before your first day of school probably wasn't the best idea, the honey blonde thought begrudgingly as she brushed her teeth. Side effects include feeling dead on your feet and creepy ass dreams.

This made Caroline pause what she was doing for a moment to think. Coming up with nothing, she cursed under her breath. Of course she had already forgotten her dream. For some reason, the color red seemed to stick out in her mind. After a moment, she decided to shrug it off, it wasn't like it was an ultra-important prophetic dream, right?

Tossing back her wavy, shoulder length, blonde hair, Caroline trekked out of her room to her grandmother's kitchen, dressed in a pair of white washed jeans and a gray blouse with a white, knitted cardigan. From the conjoined living room, she could see the elderly woman sitting in her favorite rocking chair watching the news, a pair of knitting needles in her hands.

"Morning, Gram." She said offhandedly, reaching for an apple from the fruit bowl on the kitchen table.

"Good morning, Caroline." She hummed in return, a pleasant smile clear on her face.

"You're in a good mood." The blonde noted before taking a bite out of her apple.

Her grandma threw her head back and laughed at this, gray curls bouncing, "Maybe because I'll finally have the house to myself after three months."

Caroline playfully rolled her eyes at this, "Wow, love you too."

She let out another lighthearted chuckle before returning her attention to her knitting. Caroline moved to the couch beside the rocking chair, eating her apple in silence. This was how things normally went. They were both comfortable in one another's company without having to say a word.

Soon, the blonde was lost in her thoughts as she ate, her hazel eyes out of focus as she tried as hard as she could to remember her dream. She let out a quiet huff of frustration when she came up short once again.

"Caroline, you're going to be late if you sit around any longer." Her grandmother spoke with a concerned expression, nodding to the clock hung up above the television.

With a gasp, she stood from her seat and raced to grab her backpack from her room.

"Thanks Gram, got to go!" She called over her shoulder before pulling on a pair of tan ankle boots. If she left now, she'd make it in time with ten minutes to spare.

"Hang on a second," Caroline stopped in her tracks, "I just want to say something before you go. I hope you know how proud your parents would be if they were still with us," her grandmother frowned, "I promise your mother would be weeping about how you've grown up too fast and your father would be taking too many pictures to count."

Caroline couldn't help but scowl at the mention of her parents. They had been in a terrible wreck that killed her father and left her mother in a wheel chair when she had only been four years old. Not even a year later, her mother was struck with cancer when Caroline was ten and killed her within the following six months. This all had occurred in Florida, but she moved in with her grandmother soon after. It wasn't a subject she was very fond of talking about.

"I know…" She finally murmured, looking awkwardly down at her shoes.

Immediately, she was pulled into a hug, "I'm so sorry to ruin your mood, go have a wonderful first day, alright?"

"I will." Caroline promised, a smile forming on her face. Giving her grandmother one last squeeze, she pulled away and headed out the door.

It was a quiet drive to the high school, the traffic wasn't awful and the temperature was rather nice, for Alaska anyway.

Caroline was quick to rush inside, never particularly fond of the cold, before heading to her new locker to start off the year. When she approached it, the blonde noticed one of her close friends seeming to be waiting for her, looking rather impatient.

"It's about time!" Carly practically screeched. She was a pretty girl, long dark brown hair fell in waves to the small of her back, with sweet, chocolate brown eyes. To say she was exuberant would be an understatement.

"Sorry, lost track of time," Caroline said sheepishly, "what's up?"

"You haven't seen them then?"

"Seen who?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"The new kids that just moved here. They're gorgeous, Caroline!" The brunette clutched her friend's cardigan with a look of anguish.

"Really?"

Carly gave her a spastic nod, "They just moved here sometime in July, they're in our grade."

"They? How many are there?"

"Six, all our age. I heard they were all adopted by a doctor and his wife."

"Wow… I wish I saw them," Caroline stated.

"You would have if you'd gotten here sooner!" Carly replied with a toying glare.

Caroline was about to ask more questions but was cut off by the bell, "What do you have first period, again?" She asked.

"Biology. Kill me. You?"

"Math." She put a finger gun to her head, pretending to pull the trigger.

Carly visibly cringed, "Oh, yikes. This should be a fun year."

"Yup. See you later." The blonde shut her locker before heading in the opposite direction of her friend.

Math was horribly boring, Caroline wasn't sure why she thought it would be anything but. She found herself wanting to doze off quite a few times before the bell rang to signal the start of the next class. English was practically the same result, but was something she much rather preferred subject before. Her next few classes all felt the same, the only thing changing were the teachers and subjects. Even lunch was rather dull, though Carly was there to crack a few jokes. Finally, her favorite subject approached. History.

She walked down the hallway, hitching her shoulder bag further up her arm with Carly to her left, chattering nonstop about this new family, who were apparently called 'The Cullens'.

Caroline suddenly let out a snort, "The Cullens'? Sounds like a soap opera."

"Oh, shut up, I can't believe you haven't seen them yet, I have two in my English class and one in science who is to die for, I think I've fallen for her already."

The blonde let out a snort and shook her head, Carly was always falling head over heels for one girl or another.

"Right… Too bad they're all apparently dating," Her nose scrunched up.

"C'mon it's not weird! They're all adopted, no one's related by blood… Except the blonde twins," Carly trailed off, "but they aren't dating!" She quickly added when she saw the expression on her friend's face.

They turned into the classroom together, only about ten other students were seated. Then, to her horror, she zeroed in on the clearly defined name tags strewn across each desk. They had to sit in assigned seats.

"Oh no…" Caroline heard Carly say weakly just behind her.

"Good afternoon, ladies," A female's voice called out in front of them, "If you could please take your seats?" It was sickly sweet, it sounded as if it didn't want to be here at all.

Caroline turned her head in that direction, eyes landing on a middle aged woman with wiry brown hair and a mousy face. She gave an expressionless nod before finding her name in the middle of the room. All of the desks were pushed into twos, about four sets per row.

She fell into her seat with a quiet huff, Carly ended up in the back corner next to a kid who looked ready to fall asleep on command. She glanced at him before mouthing to Caroline Stoner. In return, she smirked at her friend before facing the front.

She glanced at the name tag displayed on the desk paired with hers. Jasper Hale. Well, the name wasn't familiar. Honestly, all the blonde hoped for was this Jasper to be someone she could get along with. Being miserable in her favorite subject in her final year sounded awful. But knowing fate seemed to always have it out for her, she could expect it to happen.

Eventually, the five minutes of passing between classes was up, all that was left to ring was a final bell to signal the start of class. There was still no sign of Jasper, which slightly disappointed Caroline, but she focused on the positives instead. No one to share space with? She would take it.

But then it was like magic. At the same moment the bell rang, a figure walked through the door. Just behind her, Caroline heard two girls take a sharp intake of breath before whispering excitedly to one another. When she saw who came through the door, she understood why.

He was absolutely gorgeous. Wavy hair the color of golden corn, eyes that seemed to glow a deeper gold than his hair. He was pretty tall as well, looking to be at least six feet. He was extremely pale, she couldn't help but notice, but all it did was make the rest of his features stand out.

With widened eyes, she turned her head to Carly of whom had an almost identical look on her face. Within the next second, she had gained her composure, however, and began to frantically mouth something to her. Caroline frowned when she couldn't understand what the brunette was saying, it looked like it could possibly start with a C? Maybe a K?

It was then that the view of her friend was blocked, Caroline gave an annoyed look when this happened but then she saw why. The boy that had just walked in was sitting down. Next to her. This was Jasper Hale.

"Pardon me." He murmured apologetically. It looked like he caught her annoyed glare, which caused Caroline to give a sheepish look in return.

"You're good." She stuttered out, quickly facing forward.

"Alright class, before we start, I'll be taking attendance." Immediately, the teacher began down her list, Caroline carefully paying attention to the teacher so she could be ready to respond to her name, even if it was on the bottom of the list.

Once she got to the H's, Caroline heard her partner calmly say, "Here."

"Are you by chance related to Rosalie?" There was a hopefully entranced on the teacher's face now.

He gave a dazzling smile, "Yes, she's my twin."

"Well, she was delight in my earlier class, I hope I can say the same about you!" She giggled, almost seeming to be taken aback by the smile. After taking a moment to pause, she returned to the list of names.

"Michael Monroe?"

"Here."

"Daisy Ross?"

"Here."

"Jessica Walter?"

"Here."

"Caroline Whitlock?"

Upon hearing her name, Caroline saw Jasper go rigid from the corner of her eye. She was rendered speechless from this before quickly recovering, "Here…" She fumbled out, raising her hand slightly.

The teacher turned to this, before checking off something on the piece of paper she held. "You'll have to speak up next time, dear. These aren't what they used to be." She gave off the same sickly sweet smile and tone as before, tapping her ears.

Caroline gave a nod in apology before glancing at Jasper. He had a deep scowl on his face, eyes plastered to the name tag on her desk. Great, only spoken a total of four words between the two of them and he hated her. What was so bad about her name? It wasn't anything awful, or at least she liked to think.

Soon, the teacher was finished with attendance, setting aside the list of names before passing out a piece of paper to everyone.

"Alright everyone, I'm Mrs. Gallagher. Welcome to American History. I know a few of you aren't very happy with the assigned seats, but I know you'll thank me in the long run. It's always nice to make new friends and I'm sure you'll be at least well acquainted with your partners by the end of the year. Now, to help with introductions I've given you all interview sheets to ask your partners. Today will just be a get know each other day, so have at it!"

Caroline looked down at her paper reluctantly, not particularly fond of being forced to socialize with someone who apparently judges people by their name.

Jasper cleared his throat, causing her to glance in his direction before returning her gaze to the piece of paper laying on her desk.

"Would you like me to start?" He asked.

All she could bring herself to do was shrug, "sure."

"Alright. Family?"

"Just my grandma and I."

"Any pets?"

"No."

"Favorite color?"

"Blue."

"Favorite movie?"

"Interview with a Vampire."

Jasper's writing faltered for the slightest moment before grinning and continuing to put down the information.

"Favorite food?"

"Um… Mac and Cheese."

"Well, that was fast," He offered a friendly smile, Caroline gave a weak one in return before nodding, "Now it's your turn to ask me."

He leaned back in his seat, turning to the blonde in anticipation.

"Family?"

"Well, I have my adopted parents, along with five other 'siblings', if you count my girlfriend." He chuckled, "But that's a little weird, ain't it?" Caroline suddenly noticed the underlying southern twang in his voice. This guy was unreal.

Suddenly, everything seemed to set in place. She knew what Carly was had mouthed to her. "Cullens."

"Are you alright?" He asked curiously, brows furrowed.

"Fine," she replied instantly, "are you a so-called Cullen?"

He let out a laugh, "That's my family, yes."

Caroline suddenly felt embarrassed, "Oh, cool. It's just that it seems the school won't stop talking about the lot of you…" She trailed off, having the need to explain herself.

"Yes, I've heard." He let out another chuckle, "are you gonna finish interviewing me?"

The blonde felt her face grow hot, "Oh, right. Sorry."

So, they continued the interview. It was a short process, and they were done in a matter of thirty minutes, which left another thirty to free time. There wasn't any homework yet, so Caroline didn't have anything to keep herself busy. Jasper would ask her a few questions, keeping up small talk. She, on the other hand, could only bring herself to nod her head yes or no, she felt like she shouldn't be talking to him in the first place. He was absolutely gorgeous after all, and she was, well, just a nobody.

Finally, the bell rang. The day was over and Caroline could not have been more thankful. She stood from her chair to leave, anxious to gush to Carly about spending an hour with an almighty Cullen.

Just as she pushed in her chair, Caroline heard Jasper's voice from behind, "It was a pleasure to meet you Caroline." He spoke with a nod.

"Oh, you too, Jasper." She replied, quickly walking out of the classroom. Her head was positively spinning.