Chapter One:

Arrival

Forks was a new town for me. I'd lived in Seattle all my life and only ever heard of Forks. I knew this much: rain, rain and more rain. With a possible chance of snow. Anyway, I was moving to Forks because my aunt and uncle live there, and they were, just recently, my only living relatives. Just two weeks ago, my parents died in a tremendous car accident because of a drunk driver. You're probably thinking, 'oh, she's taking it so well'. Well, no, I'm not. I just refuse to cry, because I know someday I'll see them again. It was their time to leave, and we must all cope with what life brings us. Ok, so maybe it sounds like I am taking it a little easy, but I wasn't finished. When I said I refused to cry, I meant that I refused to cry in front of people. I was never the sort of cry in front of anyone. If I wanted a good cry, I would go to my room or any other secluded area and let my tears have their way with me then.

I didn't know what to think of Forks. It was in northwest Washington State, on the Olympic Peninsula. I'd heard it rained most there than anywhere else in the United States of America. I didn't doubt it from what I'd been told. Everytime I would call Anna and Lawrence, my aunt and uncle, they would ask me how things were. I'd say fine, secretly hinting things were horrible. I'd ask the same. They'd reply 'rainy'. During winter, I would sometimes get 'snowy' or 'slushy'. Well, Forks was beginning to seem quite unpredictable in weather to me now. Please, note the sarcasm.

Now, quite honestly, I didn't mind the gloomy weather, but I do like my sun, so on the days I would appreciate warmth, if it were raining or snowing, I suppose I would have to deal with a fireplace. And maybe a really bright lamp.

I looked around the airport after a few minutes of thinking and stood on my very tip-toes to try to catch a glimpse of Anna and Lawrence. They were such tall people, I highly doubted I would miss them if they were looking for me. But, of course, when there are tall people in front of you, and you're a short build of 5'2'', it makes things a little difficult.

I had landed in the airport, after a very short flight, at around noon. The airport at Forks was sort of small, but it worked and made things much easier to deal with when you're searching for someone. Aside from the tall people issue.

I slipped passed a few people in front of me and began to wonder if everyone in Forks was tall. If that were the case, I would feel very, very intimidated at school. I hoped, as a senior, that I would be taller than the freshmen and sophomores. I doubted this as I looked around at the giants. Then my eyes caught a glimpse of something I didn't expect. I stopped butting through people and did a double-take at this beautiful being. A boy, tall and thin compared to the bigger-built boy beside him, was propped up against a wall with his hands in his pockets. His hair was an interesting dark auburn colour, or maybe bronze. I wasn't quite sure yet. The one beside him, the very well-muscled boy, had dark brown, curly hair. They were so unimaginably beautiful. The smaller boy much more amazing than his friend. The bronze-haired boy had perfectly etched features, sharp, but soft, still. I couldn't see well enough to tell the colour of his eyes, but they sparkled so happily.

I knew I was gawking a bit, but I couldn't help it. They were breath-taking.

And I think I meant breath-taking literally when I suddenly exhaled and took a sharp intake of breath, as if I'd forgotten to breathe.

"Selena!" My name was shouted. Before I turned, I saw the bronze-haired boy turn his head to look at me. We made eye contact for not even half a second and I wish I could have seen his expression, but my instincts forced me to answer to my name like a little puppy. I saw a tall, thin, striking woman jogging towards me. My eyes widened as Anna threw her arms around me in a tight hug. She squeezed twice as hard before releasing me to hold me away at arms length and examine me with a smile on her face. "You've grown so beautifully."

"Thanks," I blushed, embarrassed that the strange boy behind me had to see our reuniting. And as if reading my mind, Anna glanced up behind me and smiled.

"The Cullen boys over there are staring at you, Selena." She said, raising her eyebrows in interest.

"Who?" I asked and she spun me around lightly to face the two boys I had been gawking at. Sure enough, they were gazing at me, unblinkingly. The blush that was on my cheeks still from Anna's overreaction to seeing me deepened to where I could feel the slight burn of embarrassment. In fact, I was sure the 'Cullen boys'—as she had addressed them—could see it too. I quickly ducked for cover by spinning around quickly to face Anna again.

"Come on Selena—" She began, smiling still.

"You can call me Lena, you know." I interrupted quietly, trying not to sound rude. Though, I bet that's why she wasn't calling me Lena. My parents had called me that and I suppose she just didn't want to upset me, or sound rude my immediately addressing me with the nickname used by my mom and dad.

"Oh." She was quieter now. I could tell she was pleased by my inclination to her, but didn't want to be that noticeable. "Well," Anna continued, "come on, then. Lawrence is out in the car."

I followed her out of the crowded area to a more less-populated one. She led me to a black car that was sparkling slightly in the dim light of the… sun? I looked up at the sky and, though the clouds threatened to burst at any moment, a small sliver of sunlight shone through. She leaned down to my ear and whispered, "it's a Spyder Eclipse. Isn't it great?"

I giggled a bit and nodded, "yeah, it's pretty nice." Nice? Who am I kidding? It was incredible!

"Well," she was still whispering, "Lawrence told me not to tell you this, but we have a little surprise for you at home."

I was going to smile, but her words sort of struck. Home. Home was a place where you had a mom and dad. Home wasn't where you lived with your aunt and uncle. Atleast, not to me it wasn't. I suddenly missed my parents. How I could come home everyday after school and hug them and tell them how everything went. And they would listen. I didn't think for one second that Anna or Lawrence wouldn't listen to me, but it wouldn't be the same. I felt the prick of tears behind my eyes, but I bit them back. I would not cry. Not here, anyway.

I finally smiled at her and she walked around on the other side and got into the passenger's seat. I climbed into the back seat after putting my luggages into the trunk and smiled at Lawrence through the rearview mirror. He smiled back and as soon as the car's engine started, so did the rain. The clouds had busted, just as I had forcasted, and the rain was coming down quick and hard, pounding on the windshield of the car. The windshield wipers were going at top speed. I suddenly wondered why the wipers hadn't broken by now, because it rained constantly. I bet there rarely came a day when they didn't have to use their windshield wipers, not even once.

The ride to their house was silent, except for the light hum of music on the radio. When we pulled in at their surprisingly large house, Lawrence grabbed an umbrella from the dashboard, opened his door, extended the umbrella, and slid out to open my door. I stayed in close to him, so we could both share the cover against the rain. I thought he was going to open Anna's door for her, but when I looked over, she was already out with a hot pink umbrella over her head. I would have cringed at this ugly colour, but it somehow looked nice with her blonde hair and pale skin. Lawrence's umbrella was an appreciative black.

We hurried to get under the poarch's roof until Lawrence could unlock the door so we could find the comfort of not only reliable cover, but warmth as well. When the door was unlocked, Anna and I bombed through after Lawrence, laughing about our almost-collision once inside. Lawrence smiled and shook his head as he walked down the spacious hall to the kitchen—which appeared to be a mini-restaurant. The kitchen was styled in a very Olive Garden-y fashion, with decorative grapes and vines. Vines were even wrapped up the two circular columns in the room. The columns were the usual white marble and didn't seem tall until you stood next to them and looked up at the ceiling.

The cooking area was practically spotless with the spices and herbs and oils that seemed decent for the guests to view neatly organized. There was a bowl of fake fruit, the main attraction being the grape. I nodded in approval and looked to Anna, "nicely done."

She laughed a sweet tone, but loud. "I didn't design this, Lena. Lawrence did."

I looked at Lawrence, surprised. He had his head down shyly, not wanting to seem big-headed about his well-thought out plan for the decoration. He was smiling though, a red tint to his cheeks. In his hand he held a key that didn't belong to the Spyder Eclipse. Then he looked up, "can we give her her surprise now, Anna?"

She nodded warmly and Lawrence walked to my side, amiably placing an arm across my shoulders and leading me out a door that was to the left of us, beside the kitchen bar-counter. When we walked out, there was a row of three cars. One, a red BMW Convertible[clearly Anna's, another a black H3, and the last was a glittery black Mini-Cooper with a white hood. My mouth fell at all the cars. Each one of them were extraordinary; I couldn't believe how they could afford four cars, all of them being expensive. Back at home, we only had two, which were a Lexus and my mom's van that she refused to give up even when I had grown up and didn't need a van to ride in anymore.

"And," Lawrence said proudly, breaking my reverie. I looked up at him and he was dangling the keys between his index finger and thumb, just in arms reach of me. "The Mini-Cooper, Lena, is yours. I take it you have you driver's license, yes?"

I squeaked an overly thrilled 'yes' and abruptly held my hand out for the keys. They fell, as if in slow motion, into my palm and I wrapped my hands around them. I squealed now and jumped to throw my arms around Lawrence, and then Anna. They laughed, taken by surprise at my sudden outburst of socialness. "Wanna take 'er for a spin?" Anna challenged playfully.

Was she crazy? It was still pouring out! I didn't notice that I looked out of the garage windows, but she followed my gaze and then added, "well, maybe tomorrow."

"Yeah." I said. "Definitely tomorrow. After all, it is my first day at Forks High."