Disclaimer: This is a Vampire Diaries/Twilight crossover. This is a work in progress. I do not claim to own places/characters.

Introduction

Going on a jog through unfamiliar streets is unnerving. I'm used to going on jogs all the time but it's different when you feel like everyone is watching you.

It was my first week in Forks, Washington. To be honest, it's really not the most interesting place to move to. It's too bleak for me, really. I feel like all I've looked at is a gray sky every single morning that refuses to budge. But after living in a rural, bipolar place like Utah, when I got the chance to finally start somewhere new doing what I loved, there was no way I was going to turn down an opportunity like that.

My mother was definitely upset that I was leaving so soon after graduating from my suburban high school. Being a single mom, I knew it was really hard for her to keep an eye on my rebellious fourteen-year-old brother when she was working full-time, especially since he was starting high school soon. I felt really bad for leaving, but after being cooped up for so long in the same place around the same people, I knew that I had to leave for my life to really start.

As I passed many people's heads swerved towards me, curious. I guess that's how it is when you live in a small town. Everyone knows each other so once they see someone different, they're completely foreign, like aliens. At least, I felt as if I were one. Being the new girls had turned out being really interesting for me and my best friend Heather. We just didn't know how much yet.

After straight sprinting for a few blocks I stopped to halt, leaning against a tree beside the pavement. After about a minute after catching my breath and letting my heart rate steadily slow down, I looked up. That's when I saw him.

He was sitting on a bench maybe thirty feet away, solitary. His face was completely expressionless, and was entirely colorless. He looked almost if he were made out of stone. I nearly wondered whether he was even real. But none of these other qualities stunned me as much as his beauty did. Copper colored hair, perfect figure that looked as if it were carved from marble, sculpted lips-he was gorgeous.

"Don't bother."

I jumped, startled, registering that someone was watching me with a yellow lab tied on a leash. She was tall and blonde, very unlike me. She had blue eyes the color of the sea, and her smile was radiant. I'd seen her walking her dog several times before when I had been out to jog. I was pretty sure that she lived i the same apartment complex as I did, and she'd always seemed really friendly in passing.

She smiled. "My name's Caroline," she said, sticking out her hand.

I took it, smiling slightly in return. "Kayla."

"I noticed you were staring at Edward Cullen over there," she said somewhat more quietly, gesturing to the man sitting on the bench. I swear I saw him tilt his ear slightly, as if trying to hear what Caroline was saying. "Don't bother trying to talk to him. He won't say a word to anybody."

"Why not?" I asked curiously, taking in his near perfect features.

"His girlfriend, Bella Swan, died last year. She had a really nasty accident. I guess he really loved her." Her face fell.

"What happened to her?"

"He won't say. Her dad Charlie said it was from head trauma and internal bleeding. Apparently she was on life support for a while, though. I guess Charlie had no choice but to let her go."

"That's sad."

"Like I said. Don't bother."

And as this topic of conversation came to a close, I swear I saw Edward's face twist in anguish.

Caroline Forbes and I became fast friends. I liked her bubbly, outgoing nature even if at times she seemed somewhat condescending, even shallow. Besides all that, Caroline took care in telling me everything she thought I needed to know about everyone she thought I should know more about.

The third day of knowing Caroline, my life changed forever.