I couldn't believe it when my mother told me who she was marrying. My new stepfather was the last man on earth that I would expect my crazy mother to end up with. Mom had grown up feeling like the odd man out in Forks, Washington. Her zany, outgoing personality wasn't a good fit for the small, traditional town. When her high school sweetheart knocked her up, they got married and had me and she tried to settle into life as a small-town cop's wife. My dad was and always will be very set in his ways and not very communicative. It wasn't very long before she couldn't handle it anymore and she took me and left. She followed her many passions to many different places. We were living in Pheonix when I was fourteen and Mom's current boyfriend started taking us to church with him. My formerly anti-establishment mother got really involved with the Methodist church. Through church connections, she heard of a church in Seattle that needed a new secretary and decided to move us there so I could be closer to my dad.

We moved to Seattle when I was fifteen. This move seemed more permanent than all of the others and I thought my mom might finally be ready to settle in one place. I was able to visit my dad one weekend every month instead of once or twice a year. One weekend while I was staying with my dad, my mom met the "love of her life" at a church convention and now we were moving again, this time to Port Angeles, a town not a whole lot bigger than Forks and only an hour from the place that my mom had run from as if her ass was on fire. Not only that, but my new stepfather was a Methodist preacher. That's right, I was now the proverbial preacher's daughter.

John Stanley had been married twice before he married my mother and both times had been widowed. Not very good odds, if you asked me. Each marriage had produced a daughter, so I also gained two new stepsisters. It remained to be seen whether they were evil or not. Jessica was my age and she seemed bubbly and very nice. Unlike me, she was very involved in her church. She was the leader of the youth group, taught Sunday school, sang in the choir and ran a bible study group that met twice a week. Rosalie was the exact opposite of her sister and intimidated the hell out of me. Where Jessica was girl-next-door pretty, Rosalie was a knock-out, with perfect golden curls, wide blue eyes and a figure models would kill for. She was outgoing and seemed to say everything that was on her mind without censoring herself. Ever. She wasn't very excited about getting a new stepmother and she let my mom know it. As for me, she seemed to be reserving judgment and observing me. She made me incredibly nervous, but I also envied her beauty and confidence.

Mom and John had gotten married in July and we had been living in Port Angeles for two weeks before school started. Moving to a new place and starting a new school didn't really bother me because I had done it so many times before. I had learned not to get too attached to people and places because we had moved around so much. I usually kept to myself and buried my nose in a book. I shared a room with Jessica. Her half of the room was plastered with posters of Christian rock bands and her reaction to my posters of obscure bands wasn't very positive, but she wouldn't say anything rude to anyone. On the first day of school, Rosalie drove all three of us in the red BMW her deceased mother's parents had bought her for her sixteenth birthday. Rosalie's maternal grandparents were quite wealthy, and from what I had observed, they gave their only granddaughter just about anything she wanted. Rosalie was silent the entire ride to school while Jessica chattered on about her favorite teachers and the activities she was involved in. When we arrived in the parking lot, Rosalie jumped out of the car and rolled her eyes as she told us to meet her back here at the end of the day. "Same rules as last year, Jess. You don't know me, I don't know you." With that, she sauntered away. I watched her cross the parking lot and throw her arms around what had to be the biggest man I had ever seen. He was standing next to the biggest Jeep I had ever seen. I turned to Jessica and raised my eyebrows questioningly.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "That's her boyfriend, Emmett Cullen. Dad has told her a million times not to see him but she doesn't listen. She never listens! He grounds her and she sneaks out to meet Emmett and the rest of her friends."

"Why doesn't your dad like Emmett?" I asked.

"He and his brother have the worst reputation, Bella! You need to stay away from the Cullens!" Jessica's eyes were wide and she spat her words like they left a bad taste in her mouth.

"What's wrong with them?"

"They were both adopted by their parents a few years ago. They come from really bad families. They smoke and drink on school property and they've been suspended. I've heard that the police have been called out to some of their parties. And they've both been arrested!" Jessica sounded scandalized."

"What were they arrested for?"

Jessica's eyes got even bigger. "It doesn't matter, Bella. You just need to steer clear of them. Stick with me and I'll make sure you meet the right people."

I shrugged. It didn't really matter to me whether I fit in here or not. Mom had assured me that this would be our last and final move but I didn't put a whole lot of faith in that. Even if we did stay here, I was a junior and would be off to college soon. I preferred to blend in and draw as little attention to myself as possible. As Jessica and I made our way into the building, I heard the rumble of a motorcycle in the parking lot. I tried to get a look at its owner, but Jessica was dragging me and freaking out about being late to class.

Jessica was a sophomore so we didn't have any classes together. All morning, I kept my head down and tried to blend in. Luckily, Port Angeles High was just big enough that I didn't stand out that much. A couple of my teachers called my name and introduced me as a new student. When they did this, I gave a small wave of acknowledgment, then tried to sink down in my seat so they didn't call me up to the front of the room or try to get me to answer any questions.

The morning flew by and none of my classes seemed hard. A few of them covered material that I had already learned in Pheonix and Seattle. Port Angeles was a little behind the times. I followed the crowd into the lunchroom and grabbed some juice and an apple. I was hoping to find a quiet corner to sit and read, but Jessica was waving and yelling at me from across the cafeteria. I ducked my head as I made my way over to her table. I saw Rosalie sitting next to her bohemoth boyfriend giving Jessica a disgusted look. Our eyes met briefly then she turned back to the people at her table, all of whom were incredibly good-looking and well-dressed. Of course perfect Rosalie would have perfect friends.

Jessica introduced me to the people at her table, all of whom were members of her youth group. Mike and Tyler were athletes and kept trying to one-up each other. Lauren seemed a little bitchy, barely even glancing at me. Of all the people, I thought maybe Angela and I could be real friends. Her father was the youth minister at Jessica's church and she was involved, but she didn't go on and on about it. In fact, she didn't say much at all, but when she did speak, it was always intelligent. I was excited when she told me she had been in my Calculus class earlier that day. At least there would be one familiar face the next day.

As I was throwing my trash away, I couldn't help looking at Rosalie's table again. One boy in particular caught my eye because of his unusual hair. It was an interesting mix of red and brown, almost the color of a penny and it stood on end as if he'd been involved in some sort of vigorous activity. Due to my staring, I missed the fact that the person I was walking behind was no longer walking, bumping into her and sending her tray flying with a huge crash. Not the first accident I've caused and definitely won't be the last. I apologized profusely to the girl and helped her collect the scattered items, then I booked it out of the cafeteria before I could draw any more attention to myself.

I was early to Biology, so I chose a seat in the back of the room and pulled out my book, ignoring everyone as the rest of the room filled up. Finally the bell rang and the teacher passed out the syllabus, droning on about things I had already learned freshman year in Pheonix. I was wondering if I could get away with hiding my book under the table when the door to the classroom flew open and someone sauntered in.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Cullen." Mr. Banner said dryly. I looked up to see if this was Rosalie's boyfriend. It wasn't. It was the guy with the wild hair I had been studying at lunch. "I see we're already establishing a bad pattern. Let's not be late again," the teacher sounded like this wasn't the first time he'd had this conversation with this particular person.

"It takes me a while to get used to being back in school, Mr. Banner. I forgot where everything is." His voice was smooth and velvety.

Mr. Banner rolled his eyes. "Just find a seat, Edward."

Glancing around the room, I realized every seat was taken but the one next to me. As Edward drew closer to me I could see more clearly just how good-looking he was. He was dressed like he had just stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine, maybe the biker edition, given the leather jacket, scuffed boots and holes in his jeans. I spent the entire class period hiding behind the curtain of my hair and glancing at him occasionally. It really didn't matter because he didn't look at me even once. When class was over he bolted out of his seat and practically ran out of the room without a backward glance. I walked much more slowly, trying to analyze the fluttering feeling he had caused in my stomach. I had never gotten that way around a boy before and I didn't think I liked it.

I was dreading my next class, Gym. Klutzy people should be excluded from all physical activity for the general health and safety of everyone around them. The locker room was, as always, almost as bad as Gym itself. I kept my eyes glued to the floor and changed as quickly as possible. For the first day, Coach Clapp went over the syllabus and organized a casual game of wiffle ball. My team was batting first and I stood at the end of the line. I tried to ease my way backward as people rejoined the line, but eventually I was forced to bat. As I swung, the bat flew out of my hands and whacked the person behind me in line. I tried to apologize to the petite, spiky-haired girl, but she raised a hand in front of my face. "Hold on for a second." She turned to face the teacher. "Coach, I'm feeling dizzy and my head hurts! I need an ice pack but I don't think I can make it to the nurse by myself. Can she take me?" She pointed at me.

Coach Clapp grunted and waved us on our way. The girl put her arm around my waist and seemed to wobble on her feet as we made our way to the door. I put my own arm around her in an awkward attempt to steady her. The second the door closed behind us, she dropped her arm and stood up straight, walking perfectly normally. She grinned at me. "Thanks for that!"

I frowned. "Are you actually thanking me for hitting you?"

"Of course. It's the perfect excuse to get out of class. I used the period excuse one too many times last year and Coach was starting to get suspicious. Maybe you can help me out with a few more injuries this year."

Still a little stunned, I replied, "If you're anywhere near me during Gym, it's almost guaranteed that you'll get hurt whether I mean to or not."

She bounced on her toes. "Awesome! You're my new Gym buddy. I'm Alice." She stuck out her hand.

"Bella." I shook her hand. She had a ridiculously strong grip for someone so tiny.

"Come on, let's sneak in the back door of the locker room, get changed, and hide in the library until next period." She grinned evilly. Alice did the majority of the talking for the rest of the period. She was a little more perky than I was used to, but I really liked her. Luckily for me, we had last-period English together. This was the one class I was excited about after the reading list was handed out and I gushed about the books I wanted to read to Alice on our way out of the building after school.

Alice didn't share my enthusiasm for the class material, but she listened patiently. I was a little surprised that someone who seemed to enjoy talking so much was such a good listener.

"Rosalie's car is this way." Alice put her hand on my arm to guide me.

I looked at her in surprise. "You know Rosalie?"

She laughed. "Our boyfriends are friends, so we spend a lot of time together." Now that she said it, I realized that Alice had been one of the people at Rosalie's lunch table. This didn't surprise me, as Alice was one of the best-dressed people I had ever seen. Luckily I had met her in gym clothes, or I might have been intimidated by her before I got to know her. She dropped me off at Rosalie's car, where Jessica was already waiting.

I asked Jessica where Rosalie was and Alice laughed. "She's with Emmett. They might be awhile. You can ride with my boyfriend and I if you want, Bella."

"Bella is fine waiting here with me," Jessica snapped.

"Whatever. Bye, Bella. I'll see you tomorrow. Jessica," Alice gave her a little wave, but Jessica completely ignored her.

I turned to my stepsister, wondering how she could be so rude to someone as nice as Alice. "What was that all about?"

"Tell me you're not hanging out with her, Bella!"

"She's in a couple of my classes. She's really nice, Jess." I felt the need to defend myself and Alice.

"You should stay away from her, Bella. She's bad news."

I rolled my eyes. "I thought the Cullens were bad news."

"Alice hangs out with the Cullens. I heard her boyfriend is a drug dealer."

"Whatever." I got into the car, pulled out my book and read until Rosalie turned up. She gave me a speculative look, but didn't say anything, then we were on our way home. Since it was the first day, I didn't have any homework. I plugged myself into my I-Pod and read until Jessica shook me and told me it was time for dinner. Family dinner time was new and unfamiliar to me and my mom. Rosalie seemed like she wanted to be anywhere else. John asked all of us about our day and Jessica took over the conversation for nearly twenty minutes while the rest of us cleared our plates.

"Did you make any new friends, Bella?" my mother asked, causing me to jump.

Jessica jumped in before I could answer. "She met Alice Brandon, but don't worry, Daddy, I warned her about the Cullens." She smiled sweetly at her father. Rosalie glared at her sister.

"That girl runs with a bad crowd, Bella. You'd be better off if you make some different friends," John informed me, eying his older daughter as he spoke. Rosalie's expression grew even angrier. "Jessica can introduce you to some lovely young people who do wonderful things for our church." He smiled indulgently at Jessica and she simpered back.

"Yeah, right," I mumbled, trying to be as vague as possible. I turned to my mother. "Can I be excused?"

"Listen to those manners!" John exclaimed, shooting another look at Rosalie. Without a word, she jumped up from the table, stomping into the kitchen with her plate. I quickly followed after her, wanting to avoid the awkward scene. We put our dishes into the dishwasher in silence. I was avoiding her eyes, feeling bad for how her father treated her.

I returned to my room and went back to my book. The next two years were going to be very long.