Chapter 1: First Day

I tried to walk into Chemistry gracefully, but I tripped anyway. I almost hit the floor when two massive hands caught me. I looked up into my savior's face; it was unknown to me but very beautiful. "Thank you so much!" I said gratefully, not caring that he was a stranger.

"No problem," he said with a slight smile. "I would rather save you from embarrassment than watch you suffer through it."

"Oh, that's okay. I probably fall about three times a day," I laughed. "I'm Grace, by the way, Grace Meyers," I said to introduce myself.

"It's nice to meet you Grace. I'm Emmett Cullen; I'm new," he said.

"Well, it's nice to meet you too," I said to him with a smile. "And I hope you like it here at Forks High."

"Oh, I'm beginning to think I will," he replied with a grin. She's so small and clumsy; those two qualities alone make her the cutest person alive at the moment. Maybe our seats will be next to each other in this class, he added to himself.

I smiled a cute, flirty smile at him before going to my seat in the back of the class. When I sat down, I began to look for the homework assignment from the night before. As I was looking in one of my many folders, I noticed the seat next to me being occupied but didn't look up to continue looking for my homework. When I found the missing assignment, I placed it on the desk for Mr. Jacobs to collect. Then I looked at the beautiful creature, now known to me as Emmett, sitting next to me.

I took the time to evaluate every one of his features, from his appearance to his scent. Emmett was very tall; he probably seemed like a giant compared to me. His skin was exceptionally pale, like the color of marble statues. He had dark curls and a boyish face with a hint of dimples, which emphasized his boyish features. His eyes were a light brown, honey caramel, color. He had dark purple bruise-like circles surrounding his eyes; it looked as if he hadn't slept in weeks. He was also very muscular, especially his arms, and it made him look like a Greek god. Then his scent was intoxicating, but it wasn't one that I desired; it was almost as if he weren't human. He has the strangest colored eyes. I've never seen someone with the same colored eyes as me. And the way he smells is…strange for a human, I began to think. I wonder if I'll have any more classes with him… I let my thoughts trail off.

Mr. Jacobs began calling my name and pulled me away from my own thoughts. "Grace, could you give Mr. Cullen the notes from this unit so he'll be ready for the test next week?" he asked.

"Yes, I can Mr. Jacobs," I replied with a smile. I turned to look at Emmett, "Do you think I could give you the notes at lunch? I left my notebook in my car this morning."

"Yeah, that's fine," he said. At least if we don't have any other classes together I'll still be able to talk to her at lunch. I wonder if I can keep this from Edward… Probably not, so I'm not even going to try, he added in his thoughts.

I wonder who Edward is… I really hope he isn't gay. "Okay, I'll see you at lunch then," I replied with a smile. I really hope I do have more classes with him, and then maybe I'll be able to hang out with him outside of school. I continued to listen to Mr. Jacobs' lecture on mole ratios and how to figure out how many moles are in an atom.

When the bell rang, I quickly gathered my things and went to the door. To my surprise, Emmett Cullen was right on my heels. He turned in the opposite direction of me and I noticed another boy who must've been new. He had bronze hair and the same honey-caramel eyes as Emmett. I wonder if they're related, I thought before he shot a strange glance in my direction and sped off.

I got to English with a significant amount of time before the bell rang and looked around. I first noticed a third boy, who had to be new, sitting across the room next to my empty desk. He was tall and had blonde hair. He, too, had those strange honey-caramel eyes. I looked around again, noticing Emmett sitting next to the door. I wonder if they stuck new kids in all of my classes, I thought to myself as I walked to my seat.

She smells different than everyone else here, someone thought; I assumed it was the new kid. I wonder what she is, she clearly isn't human, but she's not one of us either, he continued.

I stared blankly at him and thought, 'One of us'… What does that mean? And who is 'us'? They're human, they have to be.

Ms. Andrews asked me if I could give Emmett and the tall blonde one, I learned his name was Jasper Hale, the notes.

"Ms. Andrews," I said raising my hand.

"Yes, Grace, how can I help you?" she asked.

"I was just curious as to what notes I should start Emmett and Jasper with," I told her.

"Give them the notes that start the section on homographs. I think that would be best since we're working on types of writing and structure."

"Okay," I said to her before turning to Jasper and handing him my notebook turned to the correct page. "You could just give them to Emmett when you're done."

After a couple of minutes I glanced over my shoulder to make sure he understood my notes. He was reading the homograph that I wrote for a class project. Hmmm, this is really good; I wonder what it's about, Jasper thought while he read it over multiple times.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. "I was just wondering what made you choose hack as your word."

"Well, I'm not really one for creativity when it comes to simple poems, or even sometimes stories, and I wanted to make it interesting," I told him.

"Well, it's definitely interesting and very creative if I say so myself. Is this part here, You could hack at my heart, but it would be an even more distasteful and unpleasant task for you,talking to or about anyone specific?"

I wonder why he's asking so many questions. I guess it wouldn't be too bad to give him the partial truth. I hesitated before answering, "Thanks for thinking it's creative. I still have to find a creative way to display it. And it is about someone; a guy that I had a relationship with. Things just didn't work out… for either of us," I explained.

"So you're an emotional writer?" he asked curiously. She can't stay calm all the time, he thought.

How does he know I'm calm? I wondered to myself. "Yeah, I guess. Since I don't really like writing poetry I use things that are good or sometimes tragic to inspire my writing. A lot of the times it's something tragic like when I died," I said.

"Uhm, you…died?" he asked awkwardly. Oh now she becomes nervous? he added to himself.

Uh-oh… I think I let too much out this time. "Did I say 'I died'? I actually meant to say my sister. I use her death as inspiration sometimes. I know the stuff comes out kind of sad, but I think the sad poems are sometimes the best ones out there," I lied. I had died, mostly.

"Oh, okay…" he said. At that moment the bell rang and Jasper and Emmett were out the door before it finished ringing.

As I walked to the locker room for gym I tried to sort things out. Emmett doesn't smell like the rest of the humans here…neither does Jasper for that matter. And how would Jasper know how I'm feeling? Unless…that's not possible; they wouldn't be able to be in a school of humans. I stopped to look around for more new students. I just wish I could shake hands with one of them or have one of them think of what they are. This is going to be a very long day, I thought walking into the locker room.

In the locker room, everyone was thinking about another new student; a girl. Apparently she was in the same gym period as us. I walked out into the open gym and spotted the girl they were all thinking about, she was walking towards me. She was about my height, probably no more than five feet. Her eyes were also the same strange honey caramel color as Emmett. She had brown hair that spiked out to the sides, in a pixie-like manner. She was trying to figure out how she would introduce herself.

She decided on the more traditional, "Hi, I'm Alice," she said.

I just looked at her, confused. Why is she introducing herself to me? "Hi, I'm Grace; it's nice to meet you"

Wow, Emmett didn't give her enough credit. She's beautiful. And the only person who isn't in awe of my appearance, she thought cheerily.

He talks about me? Wait, she knows Emmett? I guess that explains the similar eyes… I let my thoughts trail off to listen.

"Today we're going to be playing some baseball outside. I want you all to organize into two equal teams," Couch Clapp explained. He really liked playing baseball; we played whenever it wasn't raining hard.

I chose the team with Alice on it; I wanted to find out more about her family and Emmett. As we lined up to bat I asked her, "Is today your first day, too?"

She looked at me like I already knew the answer, but she answered anyway. "Yes, my brothers and sister just moved here three days ago."

"Does that mean you're Emmett's sister?" I asked already knowing the answer to that too.

She smiled at me like I had missed something, "Yes, but we're not really related; we were all adopted by Carlisle. I have two other brothers, Jasper and Edward, and my sister Rosalie. Rosalie and Jasper are twins; they're Esme's sister's children. Edward, Emmett, and I were found at various orphanages," she explained.

"Wow," I said, "I didn't know there would so many new students are Forks High today."

She laughed. "Emmett said you were funny. I think we're going to be pretty good friends," she said smiling at me.

The gym period felt like it went on for hours. Alice and I both scored two home runs and won the game for our team. After class she invited me to sit with her and her family at lunch.

"Sorry," I said, "I have to get Emmett the notes from Chemistry and then I'm going to eat with a few other friends. How about we rain check for tomorrow?"

"Okay, that sounds good," she said smiling.

I changed quickly so I could go to my car before lunch. I walked into the cafeteria and spotted my table where Marissa was sitting waiting for Kevin and Dennis. Did Alice say that Emmett said I was funny? So that must mean that he talks about me, right? I wonder what that means, I thought to myself as I walked to set my stuff on the table. "Hey Maris, what's up?" I asked taking out my Chemistry binder.

"Hey, nothing just reading Jane Eyre for English," she replied putting her book down. "What about you?"

"Same here, I guess. I have to go over to the table with the new students and give Emmett my Chemistry stuff," I explained.

She looked at me with worried eyes, "Okay. Grace?" she asked.

"Yeah, Marissa?" I replied, confused.

She hesitated before asking, "Is there anything wrong?"

"No," I said surprised. "Why would there be?"

Relief took over her features. "Oh, I don't know. You just always seem worried or paranoid or something… Sorry," she said before looking back at her book.

"It's okay… I understand you're just concerned. I'll be right back," I said to her turning the other direction. I began walking over to the Cullen table when I heard the rest of my table join Marissa. I heard Dennis ask where I was going and Marissa said she didn't know.

What?! Marissa has to know where Grace is going, she was just here talking to her… Grace would have told her, thought Kevin.

I wonder why they care where she's going. Obviously she'll be back in a few minutes and they can just ask her themselves, thought Marissa.

I just rolled my eyes at what Marissa was thinking. Since when did she start ignoring Dennis and Kevin? As I walked I heard Emmett talking about me to two other new students. "...next to me in my first period Chemistry class, she's really nice. And what I got from Jasper, she's pretty smart too. She can pull 'homograph poems' together in no time. But she told Jazz that she had died and tried to justify it with a pretty lame excuse."

"Well, she doesn't suspect anything about you does she?" asked the boy from the hallway.

"No, I don't--" I interrupted as I reached the table where Emmett and Alice sat with the Jasper and the rest of their family. I recognized one of them as the boy I saw in the hallway.

"Hey, Emmett, here are the notes from Chemistry. They're kind of messy, but they go from most recent back. It was just easier when I do my notebook for his class," I said nervously.

What does she have to be nervous about? She's already met over half of us, thought the one from the hall.

What do I have to be nervous about? I guess he's right; I really don't have anything to be nervous of. I'm just meeting a bunch of new students on they're first day. They should be more nervous than I am, I thought in response knowing that no one could hear me.

We change schools a lot, so we don't really get all that nervous anymore, he replied.

You heard that? I asked. But I wasn't… I didn't… I tried not to say too much.

There was a hesitation in his thought, Yeah, I did. And you heard me… Oh, you should probably pay attention to Emmett… I think he's going to introduce you to Rosalie and myself.

"Thanks for your notes, Grace; I really appreciate it. Do you mind if I keep them until after school?" Emmett asked.

"Sure, it's no problem. I don't need them 'til tomorrow and this way I can help with any questions you have," I responded with a smile.

When he smiled back I took it as a sign that I could leave, but as I turned he grabbed my hand, which was slightly colder than my own, to stop me. "Wait," he began, "I want to introduce you to my younger brother and my sister." He waited for me to look him in the eyes. "This is my sister Rosalie," he said pointing to his left, "and this is my little brother Edward," he said pointing to the boy I saw in the hall.

"Hi, it's really nice to meet the two of you," I said smiling at them. They all have the same honey-caramel colored eyes. I know that's common among families, but they're all adopted, I thought. I saw Edward smile at something, but I didn't hear anyone say anything funny. "Well, I'm going to go… I'll probably see one of you in a class later, if not I'll see you after school," I said before I turned and walked away.

I walked back to my table slower than I would have on a regular day. Today was not a regular day; I just met a whole new family whose youngest child can read minds.

I sat down and began thinking about what I was going to do after school. Maybe I can go to La Push and talk to Billy; he might know something. I heard someone calling my name and stopped thinking about later.

"Grace," Kevin called. After I didn't respond he tried again, "Grace!"

"What?" I asked clearly upset that he had interrupted my thought process.

"Sorry," he spat back at me. "I just wanted to see how you were today. There's no need to be so cranky."

"Ugh, I'm so sorry Kev. I didn't mean to be so snappy, I was just trying to sort some things out," I said apologetically. "Maybe I should just go outside. I'll see you in class," I said as I got up to go outside.

I walked out to the parking lot and got in my car. After starting the engine I just sat there thinking about what I was going to do. If I stay here I'll most likely end up fighting with Marissa or Kevin. If I leave, though, I'll have to face Billy, I considered my options. Both are very bad ideas that will end with anger. So I'll stay and then go to La Push, that way I'll be angry no matter what. Plus if I leave now it'll seem as if I'm trying to avoid the Cullens.

Ugh, the bell…I guess I have to get to Geometry, I thought getting out of the car.

As I walked to the math building from the parking lot it started raining and I hadn't brought my rain coat. In order to get to class somewhat dry I had to half sprint, but little did I know there was a massive body in front of me. "Ugh, what is going on? I am so going to be late to class now," I said angrily trying to see around my newly found obstacle.

I heard someone laugh and then say, "Well, I could definitely get used to watching you fall." I looked up and saw Emmett laughing at me, "Or I could at least get used to helping you stay on your feet. Why are you in such a hurry anyway? You were walking so fast, practically running, like you were being chased by someone who wanted to kill you," he stated slightly concerned.

"Well, falling is something I'm used to already. Running into things, or people, is not," I said trying to keep my balance. "Besides, I left my jacket in my car and I wanted to get to class somewhat dry. And why is your skin so cold? It's not that cold outside," I asked realizing his hands were keeping me steady.

He looked at me while he thought, She noticed that? She's not that much warmer so it shouldn't have been noticeable. "I'm not, you're just warm because you were running with some serious speed," he replied. "Some might say it was inhuman, unless of course you're little legs are just that fast," he laughed before asking, "What class are you headed to anyway?"

"I have Geometry with Mr. Cooper. How about you, what do you have now?" I asked, curious if he would be in all my classes.

Emmett just smiled and started walking in the same direction I was headed. It was a few moments before he spoke. "You know what's weird? That we have almost every class together so far," he said answering his own question.

"Yeah, that is weird," I said walking into the classroom before the bell rang. I watched Emmett hand his slip to Mr. Cooper while I sat and thought about the last few minutes. Ha! Inhuman speed, if he only knew. And what was that about my skin not being much warmer than his? I know my temperature is lower than everyone else's, but why would his be lower? I was contemplating different scenarios and kept coming up blank.

Emmett was sitting in the row next to me, two seats up. Rosalie had walked in with Kevin right after us, and she was sitting in the seat behind me.

"Yes?" I replied to Mr. Cooper calling my name.

"Could you give Miss Hale and Mr. Cullen your notes? I know there's a lot so they only have to copy the past two weeks, that way they can be prepared for the test next week," he said before addressing the whole class. "Now since we have two new students, we're just going to do make up work. You can bring up your grades people. Get to work!"

I pulled the notes that Mr. Cooper had indicated out of my binder. When I turned to give Rosalie the papers Emmett had already moved his seat back to us.

Upon seeing my questioning face he said, "That way we can get your notes back faster."

"Oh, well here you go. It shouldn't take long, there's not that much and you don't have to copy all the examples," I said looking at both of them. "And by the way, did you get the notes from Jasper? I mean to ask you during lunch, but I kind of forgot," I added quickly.

"Yeah, he gave them to me as we walked to the next period," he replied before he went straight to copying. Rosalie simply smiled and said "Thank you." I watched for a few minutes as they flawlessly copied my notes. I turned to see Kevin sitting at the desk in front of me, staring intently at my eyes.

"Did your eyes change colors?" he asked angrily.

"No, eyes don't change color. You know that, Kevin, or at least you did when you passed Biology I," I spat back at him.

"Of course I did," he replied, acid dripping from every word. "But your eyes were lighter this morning, before you left to 'think' in your car."

I had to think carefully before I answered him. "The cafeteria has different lighting than this room," I said calmly.

"Whatever," he said letting his features smooth. "What was wrong with you at lunch today anyway? Dennis was crushed that you didn't even acknowledge us," he said more concerned than angry.

I heard Rosalie mutter something to Emmett, but I thought they were just talking about the notes. "I was sorting through the day and trying to figure out if I should go to La Push to see Billy and Jacob," I said.

Kevin knew all to well my relationship with Billy Black and his son Jacob. "Oh, but don't you go there every Wednesday anyway?" he asked.

"Today's Wednesday?" I said trying to figure out the date.

"Yeah, it's October 21. Isn't it Paul's birthday or something?" he answered.

I couldn't believe I forgot the day of the week. Today is just messing with my head. Nothing is going normal, I thought. "Yeah, I do go every Wednesday…I guess I have to go anyway," I said more to myself than Kevin. I looked up and said, "And no, today is not Paul's birthday."

Kevin began packing his stuff up to go to his next class. "Okay. It's just you've been talking about he kid's birthday as if you would die if you missed it; I couldn't remember when you said it was." The bell rang before he said, "Well, I'll see you in Spanish, Grace."

I got my notes back from Emmett and Rosalie before I left the room. In the hall I heard someone's confused, almost angry, thoughts. Why is she going to La Push? She actually has permission to be over there? I turned to see Rosalie to my right holding hands with Emmett. When they reached the Spanish room, he let go of her hand and said goodbye as she walked in.

He must have history with me too, I thought to myself. As I got to Ms. Carter's World History class I listened for Emmett's following footsteps. As I walked to my usually seat in the back, Dennis handed me a note. When I was seated with my notebook out, I unfolded Dennis' note and read the contents:

Grace,

What was up with you at lunch today? You never just leave without talking to us for at least five minutes.

Dennis.

I wrote back, Nothing is wrong. Sorry about the strange behavior. I was just thinking about my visit to La Push today, and gave it to Dennis, who sat in front of me. Ms. Carter shot me a dark look, but didn't say anything because Dennis and I were star students in her class. She also assigned Dennis to give Emmett the notes after class; she thought he needed all night to copy them. We took notes the entire period and I was grateful that my mind couldn't wander off. I almost jumped when the bell rang and listened to Dennis give his notes to Emmett.

"Here you go," he said holding his notes in front of him. "You can just give them back to me in class tomorrow."

Emmett took the notebook out of his hands. "Thank you, I'll be sure not to let my pet bear get to them," he joked in response to Dennis' face. He walked out ahead of Dennis and me.

"Why didn't she have you give him the notes?" he asked as he walked me to Spanish.

I laughed, "Maybe because she knows you write down more than what's put up on the overhead. He'll get more information that way."

Dennis just frowned at my laughter. "Yeah, whatever," was all he said as I walked into my Spanish class.

My breath caught in my throat when I spotted Edward talking to Senorita Prince. I have classes with all five of them. This really is the craziest day ever, I thought as I sat down.

I thought you would be glad that it's someone other than Emmett, Edward thought in my direction.

Yeah, I guess that's good, I responded.

"You can get the notes from Jessica Stanley over there. Normally I would have you get them from Miss Meyers," Senorita Prince said, "but she missed last Friday and we took important notes that you'll need for the midterm."

Jessica Stanley almost fainted when she heard she would be giving Edward the notes. Oh my God… I can't believe I'll be giving him the notes. Maybe I should spray them with my perfume, she thought anxiously.

I looked at Edward and smiled sympathetically at him. I mouthed 'sorry' to him as he walked to his seat next to Jessica. She tried to say something intelligible about her notes, but it came out in a slur of words and Edward simply thanked her for the notes. Senorita Prince gave us free time since we were ahead of all the other classes, so Edward sat with me while he copied Jessica's notes. "Why are you, a sophomore, in a Spanish I class?" he asked me while he continued copying notes.

"Well, I didn't want to take a foreign language last year. But I wanted to get more credits, so I decided it was time to learn another language," I replied with a laugh. "So how's your first day been so far?"

He made a slight face, "It's been okay. All the girls have been talking about how 'beautiful' my family is. After a while it just gets annoying, but I guess you get used to it and learn to ignore it." He looked at my face trying to read my reaction. "How did you get used to what people say about you?" he asked.

I was shocked that he asked; I didn't know that people still said things about me. "Well, I've been here for a few years. No one really says anything to me anymore, or at least I never notice it," I said truthfully.

"The people around here talk about you like you're a new toy," he said surprised. "How old here you when you moved here?"

So many questions...why is he so interested? "I moved here when I was 13. I've been here almost three years now," I explained. "I have family that lives on the reservation in La Push. I had moved here from New York. Where are you guys from?"

He took a minute to answer. She has family in La Push? That means she's a Quileute… I have to talk to Emmett and Carlisle, he thought urgently. "Oh, we moved here from Denali, Alaska. Carlisle, our dad, was transferred to the hospital here," he explained. It sounded as if it was hard for him to speak to me now.

"You must not like the sun much," I said nonchalantly.

He looked surprised, "You know the average weather for Denali?"

"Yeah…I was there for a few weeks once on vacation. It really wasn't my kind of town."

"But you live in Forks, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula, 'The Rainiest Place in the Continental US,'" he said bewildered.

"And there's still sunshine here sometimes," I said seriously. "There's like two days of sun in Denali a year. I need at least once every two months," I added smiling.

He just laughed in response and the bell rang. Edward was at the door in a blink of an eye. I was gathering my things when Jessica Stanley walked up to me. "Oh my God! You were just taking to Edward the whole period. What did you guys talk about? Did he ask about my notes?" she sounded like a five year old asking about Christmas presents.

"No, Jessica, He did not ask about the notes. And we just talked about how everyone is talking about his family," I told her to make her go away. "He also asked what it was like when I moved here," I added before stepping out into the parking lot. Ugh, freshmen can be so annoying… So he's new, who cares? Everyone in this town acts as if someone new is the second coming. I'm glad they have something else to distract them, I thought as I walked to my car.

When I opened the door I heard someone calling my name, "Grace! Grace!" It was a newly familiar voice, one I shouldn't have memorized yet, it was Emmett.

"Oh, hey Emmett," I said putting my bag in the backseat.

"I just wanted to give back your Chemistry notes," he said cheerily.

I took them out of his hand and smiled. "Did you have any problems with any of it?" I asked.

Emmett just looked at me while he thought about lying to me, If I tell her I didn't understand it then I'll be able to see her more. However she might figure that out. I guess I won't. "Nope, no problems," he said almost frowning.

I laughed and said, "Alright, well I hope you had a good first day. I'll see you tomorrow."

Oh, I did, he thought. "Okay, see you tomorrow."

I drove off to La Push and immediately began thinking about what Edward had thought. 'She's a Quileute,' he had thought, I thought to myself. What does that have to do with anything? And why does he care? I turned on my car stereo and turned up the volume when "First Date" by Blink 182 came on. I reached the little bookstore that Old Quil worked at, and hoped I wouldn't have to go to Billy's house. It's time to get some answers.

I know it's kind of long. Sorry about that. I always get carried way. Most of my chapters will probably be long. Review, I need tons of criticism