Disclaimer: I do not own twilight or any of its characters… sadly 

Chapter One: First Day

(Amber's POV)

"Amber Marie Howard! Wake up!" My roommate Sandra yelled, opening my door. I turned over in my bed, rolling my eyes. I moaned, pulling the covers over my head.

"I don't want to be late… AGAIN!" She seethed. I pulled the covers down, looking at her. I stifled a laugh looking at her murderous face. Her brown eyes… o wait, today they were a light grey… they burned with annoyance and anger. Her tanned skin was flushed on her face and she crossed her arms over her petite torso.

"I'm going…" I mumbled, crawling out of the warm bed. I walked past her into the bathroom and shut the door. I turned to the mirror and cringed. My long honey brown hair was in knots, my pale skin was oily looking, and my blue-grey eyes looked hazed from just waking up. I yawned loudly and took a shower.

The hot water felt good against my cold skin. I heard Sandra pounding on the door. "Amber! Hurry! We only have 15 minutes to get to class." I rolled my eyes again and stepped out.

We pulled up into Joliet Junior College's parking lot. Sandra was out of car before I even put it in park.

"I'll see you in math class!" She called over her shoulder. I smiled at her as she walked through the doors.

Sighing, I picked up my purple bag and trudged through the snow to the door. I hated the snow, I really did. Why I still lived in Illinois I will never know. It wasn't as bothersome anymore though, and hey… I guess I just love Joliet.

I walked through the doors of the building and the bell rang for classes to begin. Oh crap!

I bolted up the stairs, a set of footsteps joining behind me. Preoccupied with this person, I didn't pay attention as much as I should have to the stairs in front of me. I felt my foot slide on the top stair and I went tumbling backward, bringing the stranger with me. We tumbled back down to the landing. I closed my eyes tightly, ignoring the throbbing pain that started in my head and leg.

Opening my eyes, I looked over at the stranger. Her long, dark brown hair was fanned out behind her, her pale face looked pained as her breath came out in gasps. I pulled myself up and crawled over to her.

"Are you ok?" I whispered, checking her with my eyes. No blood. That was good.

"I'm… fine." She whispered back, pulling herself up. I stood up and helped her.

"I'm SO sorry! I should have been paying attention." I apologized, breathing heavy.

"It's alright. No harm…" She was cut off by a man standing in the hallway, walking towards us.

"If you are not here for class or for a meeting, then I must ask you to leave." His voice was stern and gruff, he looked a little angry. We both quickly, and carefully, went back up the stairs. We ran down the hallway and turned a corner. I broke out laughing and the girl beside me looked amazed then started to as well. I guess it was contagious.

"I'm Amber." I stuck out my hand and she eyed it before taking it.

"Bella. Please to meet you. Though not in the best of circumstances." She finally stopped laughing and I took a deep breath.

"Yah. Sorry. Where are you going? You look new. Actually everyone looks new. Classes only started about three weeks ago." I started walking again, she walked beside me. She pulled out a sheet of paper and looked at it.

"Um… English 101 with Mrs. Plakerson." She stated, looking around. Her dark brown eyes were so… readable. Like if you looked at them, there were words written in them. I stifled a laugh. Not possible… but still.

"That's where I'm heading. Come on." She allowed me to lead her to the classroom. We opened the door slowly, hoping not to be noticed.

No luck.

"Ahem. Nice of you to join us Ms. Howard. And who might you be?" She looked at Bella curiously then it seemed like something dawned on her. "Ah, you must be Isabella Swan." She turned to her desk and took out a sheet of paper, reading it through her round glasses. They reminded me of Harry Potter's and I tried to stifle another laugh, coughing instead.

She turned back to us and smiled. "Take a seat any where you would like." She went up to the whiteboard as I walked towards my seat, ushering Bella to follow. She did and sat down beside me. She looked red, like she was blushing, but her hair was around her face, making it hard to tell.

Mrs. Plakerson continued on with her lecture about how to write an essay, I paid no attention. I leaned over to Bella.

"So where did you come from?" I whispered, keeping my eyes on Mrs. Plakerson. She didn't really seem interested in what was going on either and looked relieved to find a reason not to pay attention.

"Washington. My family and I moved about a half hour from here." She whispered back, taking out a notebook and pen. I was awed.

"Why so far?" I asked. She froze then relaxed.

"Carlisle got transferred to Rush hospital in Chicago." She said feebly. I couldn't place it, but it seemed like she was lying. I let it roll though and smiled.

"I like that hospital; the people there are really nice." I stated, leaning back in my seat. Bella nodded and began jotting down a couple of notes. I just folded my arms and tuned back into the lecture.

I hadn't realized it but my leg was hurting and felt wet. I brushed it off earlier as just being the melted snow on the stairs. I looked down as my eyes grew wide. The whole knee of my pants was stained red with blood. There was a tear, and I lifted the front of it, seeing a big cut along the bottom of my knee. I flinched as I touched it lightly, pain shooting up my leg.

Bella glanced over and her eyes went wide. "I thought I smelled something rusty." She mumbled, her face going even paler than before. I quickly jumped from my seat. Mrs. Plakerson glared over at me and I gestured towards my knee. She nodded and I grabbed Bella, bringing her with me. The teacher was about to protest but then saw Bella's face and allowed her to come.

Once out of the classroom, I let a sob escape my lips. This was one thing I hated about myself. If there was pain I would cry, even if it was minor. Pain was just somehow always wired to my tears. So annoying and embarrassing.

Bella looked horrible, but seemed determine to help me to the office. Her eyes were between being worried and repulsed at the same time and I half smiled at that.

"Don't like blood?" I questioned, already knowing the answer. She only shook her head, looking around for the health room. After walking down the hallway for a little, we finally saw the red cross with the white background posted above one of the doors.

We walked into the office together and the nurse was surprised of our entrance.

"Can I help you?" She asked, not seeing my knee from behind her desk,

"My knee…" I whispered, closing my eyes and biting my lip, determined to stop the tears.

The nurse, called Ms. Summers from the nameplate on her desk, leaned forward and gasped. She quickly came around the desk, leading me to a cot. I sat down on the uncomfortable mattress with the white tissue paper laying over it. The nurse crouched in front of me, checking over the wound.

"You will need to go to the hospital. This needs stitches." As soon as the words left her mouth I know I paled. There was a knot in my throat as my eyes widened in horror. If there was one thing I hated, it was the hospital. Needles, funny smells, unknown substances being injected into the bloodstream. I tried not to hyperventilate, but it was getting the best of me. I bit my lip. Then I heard a thud on the floor beside me and saw Bella lying there unconscious.

"Bella!" I yelled, my voice cracking from the knot. The nurse ran over to the phone and dialed 9-1-1.

I tuned out her immediate talking and leaned over Bella.

"Bella… Bella… answer me…." I whispered frantically, my voice coarse from my tight throat. Tears welled up in my eyes once more. She can't be dead!

I barely noticed the door open and someone was at Bella's side, shaking her lightly.

"Bella, love." His voice was like velvet, full of worry and fear. He turned and looked at me and my breath caught in my throat.

"What happened?" He asked with that velvet voice. His eyes, the color of caramel, stared intently at my own grey-blue ones. I could only stare and try to move my mouth, but no words came out. She fainted. I could hear myself say it in my head, but why couldn't I get the words to come out?

"Why has she fainted?" He asked once more, pulling his eyes away from me and back to Bella. He pulled her into his arms, cradling her with one and stroking her pale skin with the other.

I could speak now that I didn't have those piercing eyes on my face. The thought that he had read my mind just vanished.

"I tripped down the stairs earlier and she was behind me. I cut my knee and she took me here. I guess the blood got to her, or she hit… her…" I gulped. Maybe she did get injured when we fell.

He rose to his feet, now cradling her to his body. He was tall I noticed, with a lean body. I could see how toned he was through his black dress pants, and buttoned tan dress shirt. I looked up at his face. It was near perfection and very pale, like he never went out in the sun. I couldn't take my eyes off of his perfectly angled face. His hair was an auburn color, or maybe copper. I reminded myself to breath and he smirked, and quickly looked down at Bella.

My head began to swim and I held onto the edge of the cot, gripping it hard. I knew I wasn't breathing cause of him, but because I was loosing so much blood. My bottom jean was now soaked in the blood, drying and caking onto my pants and leg. I took a deep breath and tried to regain my composure. I looked up and the stranger was looking down at me curiously.

"I'm Amber. Sorry about this." I gestured towards Bella, not looking up at his eyes.

"I'm Edward." He replied friendly then sighed. "Don't worry, she probably would have fallen on her own."

I tried not to laugh, and it ended up coming out as a cough. I heard the bell ring for class to be over and I sighed. More notes. I felt a cold sensation on my cheek and quickly flinched away. I looked up and saw Edward standing beside me, holding Bella with only one arm. I looked down at his hand and saw that he had water on one of his finger. I wiped my face and saw that I was crying. I quickly wipe all of my tears away and crossed my arms over my chest angrily.

He chuckled, bringing his hand back down.

The door to the little office opened and Sandra rans in. She looked around frantically and spots me. A look of relief washed over her as she saw me sitting on the cot. She walked over, placing her bag on the chair then stopped, spotting Edward and Bella.

"Hello." She said, looking between the three of us with confusion. "Amber, everyone is talking about how the ambulance is here for a girl that cut her leg off! I didn't see you in algebra…." She trailed off frantically. She ran over and observed my leg, sighing in relief to see it still attached to my body. "What happened?" She gently began probing my leg. 'You're going to need stitches."

I shrugged. "I fell down the stairs. This is Edward and Bella. She was brought down with me." I smiled impishly and Sandra rolled her eyes. "Stop pretending to be the nurse your not!" I grinned.

"I'm working on it." She smirked. "Sorry, um… Edwin was it?" Sandra looked over at Edward.

"Edward." He corrected, with a crooked smile.

"Sorry. Edward. She is a little clumsy." She looked over at me knowingly.

I stuck my tongue out at her and pouted. "Am not."

Edward chuckled. "It's quite alright. She would have fallen anyway. She is as much of a klutz as Amber is. Most likely." He smiled over at me apologetically and I stuck my tongue out at him playfully.

"I feel ganged up upon." I stated, rising to my feet. Bad idea.

I immediately lost my balance, falling to the cold floor. I closed my eyes, bracing myself, but the floor never came. Slowly I opened my eyes to see the floor a couple inches from my face. I blinked repeatedly and turned my head, looking up. Edward was there, his arm around my waist. He still managed to prop Bella up and catch me. I furrowed my brow as he effortlessly lifted my back up onto the cot.

"How…" I began but was cut off by the door opening and EMT's walking in. Edward seemed to relax as he looked at me. I eyed him once more before being distracted by the EMT's. They pulled me off the cot and onto a stretcher as Edward laid Bella down on the other one. We were both wheeled out of the door.

I bit down on my lip as I noticed the hallways were still packed with students. I felt my face flush and knew I was bright red. I would definitely be hearing about this when I returned.

Sandra was beside me. "This is all your fault Amber." But she had amusement in her tone.

I glared at her.