I wanted to be at home, sleeping in my coffin. School was hell, and that was all it ever was—nothing more. It was as simple as that. The torturous cycle played on repeat in an everlasting loop. It went on…and on…and on…. Was this actually necessary? I could have stayed back in Scotland at Hogwarts. I especially missed my darling Draco. Even though he wouldn't be at school with me, we didn't have to travel halfway across the world to visit each other.

I sat in the dull little cafeteria. I sure missed the extravagant Great Hall. Well, I guess Muggle world was intended to bore a witch after all, even if she was a Muggle-born witch. The noise level today did, however, reach near what Hogwarts reached on average each time we feasted. I was not flattered by what I usually hear, wherever I was. Today was no exception. In fact, I was aggravated at what I heard.

I was to "preps," as I called them, what the KKK was to anyone who wasn't white. Today, just about everyone celebrated the arrival of a new girl. It contrasted my entrance here in last summer, where I was invisible. I was relieved but somewhat annoyed, and not at all because of jealousy. Nobody would have liked me wherever I was.

I spent most of my childhood in Dubai, where my mother worked as a fashion designer. I was one of the minority westerners. My life there was uneventful. When I was eleven I received acceptance letters into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I did not start attending the school until my sixth year, due to fears that the Dark Lord was after me next after he had killed my father. My stay there only lasted one year but I loved it. Fears had arisen again when Death Eaters invaded the school.

It wasn't just me who left. I was deeply concerned that Draco's mansion was headquartering Voldemort's followers. My Malfoy boy now had to follow his every command. Harry Potter, aka the Boy Who Lived, left with his two best friends in search of Voldemort's remaining four horcruxes. They did this to destroy both the horcruxes and the evil Dark Lord. I could only hope they were doing well.

So how did I end up here on the edge of Yankee World? It was decided upon by Amos Diggory, a Minister of Magic. His son Cedric was killed by Wormtail under Voldemort's commands during what should have been my fourth year. The elder Diggory was a close friend of my family. He had a relative who was living an immortal life in America. His name was Edward Cullen, and his adoptive family had something in common with me: we were vampires.

Don't get me wrong. If you think I bear any fondness of him, you've been mistaken. His race of vampires is nothing like mine. This particular species is called meyerpire, named after the Great Creator who made her creations sparkles instead of burn in sunlight, have no fangs, and have topaz eyes from drinking animal blood instead of human blood. The Great Creator obviously knew nothing about us vampires when she wrote her story. You can call her creations sparklypires or fairies, too.

I grew incredibly tired of hearing about this new girl and I haven't even met her yet. I focused my attention on the Cullens and the Hales, who were sitting with me. At least they didn't seem energized in the least. They were doing their own usual business. Edward, in particular, seemed tired of listening to everybody's thoughts. The rest of them did nothing different, just their typical routines.

I would suppose Jasper hated school as much as I did. Last night he announced that he couldn't get used to feeding only on animals. I understood his struggle, as I hate having to abide by that rule. If I had a choice, I would drink from humans too. Our last hunting trip was two weeks ago. Some of the Cullens were dealing with the hunger again already. Unlike them, I don't mind consuming the food humans eat and feel more faint than ravenous when I was in dire need of blood.

Jasper was staring longingly at a short preppy girl, thinking about biting her. Yeah, that was it. The desire was appetite, not anything else. I heard a bang and turned to see that Edward had kicked Jasper's chair. Jasper apologized. Alice comforted him, assuring that nothing bad was going to happen, and went away.

I caught a sight of the new girl Isabella Swan right then. She was pale, so she didn't actually remind me of the preps I hated. Maybe she wasn't as bad as I had imagined. However, that thought had a hole poked through it when I noticed she was sitting and conversing with Jessica Stanley, a gossip and a chatterbox. I hated her and her infatuation, Mike Newton. They are such preps. I guess I hated Bella too now for being a poser.

I was the only Goth at this school. The Cullens may have been vampires, but that does not mean they are Goths too. Besides, they're just sort of vampires. I was a real vampire. I went on a mini-tirade in my mind, ranting about why the Cullens don't deserve to be called vampires.

Minutes later, the bell rang. Many of the students were signalled to arrive at their next classes. I put my book in my bag and walked to Biology. Edward was in this class, enjoying the table he had all to himself. I sat at the table beside his, my partner being somebody who I have only communicated with when it was absolutely necessary.

Bella entered with Angela, who I had some respect for but still kept a distance from. The new girl was to sit down to fill the empty space beside Edward. Well, I guessed he was content that he had some company now. But before she walked to the chair, Edward was staring at her and acting rather strange. I could see that he was gripping the table quite tightly.

It took me a while to figure out that he wanted to drink her blood. I had never ever seen him like this before. I told myself it was nothing new, just Edward not yet used to seeing another soul sitting beside him.

Bella sat down in the chair next to him. That was good; he didn't attack her. If I were him, I would kill her for being yet another nuisance in my life. Of course, I would do that in privacy, not in front of nineteen other people. No, wait, I would kill everybody and consume every bit of them. But, of course, I haven't done that yet. If I didn't have to, I wouldn't do it, despite the overwhelming temptation.

Bella used her hair as a curtain between her and Edward. She seemed shy, like me, so I guess she was lucky not to get bitten. Then the hour passed. Good thing nothing out of the ordinary was done. I'm still wondering why he had picked her to eat out of the other three thousand residents of Forks, Washington.

Finally, the bell rang. Bella jumped and Edward quickly darted from the room. She stayed there for quite a while as she gathered up her things, wearing a confused look on her face. Mike came up to her and offered to walk her to her next class, P.E. I tuned into their conversation as I went to the gym. He seemed interested in her.

Bella looked angry as she entered the gym. Coach Clapp found and brought her a uniform, but upon seeing her irritated face he put the uniform back in its place. I went to the changing room to put on my strip. Upon returning, the class informed that we were playing volleyball today.

As much as I hated sports, I kept on thinking about how pathetic the new girl was. She sat on a bench, nauseated and staring blankly at the nets. Her expression eased when everyone was dismissed for the day.

Bella and I had our first conversation after her first day of attending Forks High School, when she was about to exit the building for the nearly empty student parking lot.

"Hello, Isabella," I initiated in the friendliest tone I could fake.

"It's Bella, in case you haven't been corrected yet." I could see she was also making an effort to be cordial, despite her apparent disinterest.

"I'm Ebony," I introduced myself. "You're pale, like the rest of us," I pointed out.

"Yeah," she sighed. "But I've lived in a desert for most of my life."

"Me too," I revealed. "I lived in the Middle East until I was sixteen. After that, I moved to Scotland for a year, where it's rainy like it is here. I came to America just this past summer."

"I guess we have something in common."

"Do you love the weather? I love taking walks in the rain."

"Absolutely not!" she exclaimed. "It's way too green and wet here."

"I like the wet. It makes the plants healthy."

"But I miss my hometown Phoenix so much," she admitted. "We might look alike, but our opinions are quite different."

"You can say that again."

Bella nodded in agreement as her apathy for the conversation took over. "Well, it's kind of late now. I should be heading home. It was nice meeting you, Ebony. Goodbye."

"See you tomorrow, Bella."

I went out into the rain, unlocked my bike from the rack, mounted it and started pedalling away. Sporting a frown on her face when the raindrops started to tap on her parka, the new girl headed to her lonely red truck, opened the driver's side door and hopped in. By the time I was beginning to cycle away from school grounds, the truck was still sitting there, housing a whiny little girl.