Feed the Devil and It Shall Follow

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Chapter 1 – It's called curiosity.

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This is going to be good for you… You are going to make a lot of friends, Bella… Stop worrying; it will be a great benefit for you… You'll have a great time! Everyone is nice here!

Now… as she stares at the people around her in the cafeteria, Bella believes that all those words of encouragement that her father had said to her when they arrived to the small town of Forks, Washington, would never come true.

Her eyes darted around the unfamiliar cafeteria, inspecting the foreign faces and curious, unwelcoming eyes that were intently looking at her, the new acquisition of Forks, High School. Her fingers twisted with force on her tray of food. She nervously bit the edge of her lip and kept searching for a place to sit.

This was a whole new thing to her. She didn't know how to adapt to the radical change she had made for herself. Nostalgia hits her hard, creeping into her skin as she remembers her warm, sunny Arizona. A week ago, she thought this was no big deal, she could endure it, she could endure the life she was about to have, and she was going to prove her father that she could.

Where could she sit? Every single table was full with no more than three or four people. Every face of every table looked at her with unapproved acceptance, their gazes peeling through her skin.

…And of course, there had to be the groups. In every high school, it was obvious that there had to be the groups. She felt that she couldn't fit in any. She sensed their gazes still concentrating on her, disapproval.

Weird.

Exactly. For them she was just the new girl, the new, shy, weird girl.

She scooted her eyes once again through the cafeteria, hoping she could find an empty table. There has to be someone, she thought.

People kept laughing and stopped paying attention to her, they kept enjoying the free time and food, until the corner of her eye caught something.

True, there were no tables available, but there was one table that rapidly held her interest. On the far corner of the cafeteria, there was one table that had one person only. Bella felt a tingling sensation conquering her empty stomach.

Her eyebrows pushed together slightly in confusion as she examined the person more clearly. The lonely boy was bent. She couldn't see his face. His long, pale arms folded against the table, his fingers playing absently with one another. His gaze looking directly at the table, lost.

Bella's curiosity not only rose because of why was he alone, instead of having a good time like everyone else… No, now she unconsciously wondered with a strange despair what was he thinking. He seemed so lost in his own silenced thoughts.

His aloofness made Bella feel like something close, familiar. She felt that way too. The tingling expectation came across her stomach more abruptly as she discovered his indifference. Yes, indifferent was the perfect word to describe the strange boy.

Why is he alone? She found herself thinking with concern.

Bella suddenly wanted to know the secrets he could only hear in his own head. Maybe he was a newcomer like her. Maybe he could understand her. That made the curve of her lip twist into a timid, happy smile. She wanted to go to sit with him. She could go. It was better and more appealing than eat in the bathroom anyway.

She hesitantly began to walk toward the direction where his table was. He hadn't moved, had no food in front of him, and didn't lift his head… still as distant and indifferent.

As she approached closer, she could see his features a little clearer, the ones that didn't had to do with his face that is. No, she wasn't able to look at his hidden face yet, she could only see the top his hair. His hair was really messy and long, but not long enough to cover his eyes. Bella noticed it was glowing in a beautiful color because of the yellowish-orange light of the sun being reflected from the large window at his side, hitting his golden-brown hair. She knitted her eyebrows, Forks was supposed to be always rainy…

Her small smile widen as she felt more confident of talking to the lonely boy. She saw him so alone, the weird sensation she suddenly felt was guiding her to go to him, comfort him, because she was feeling the same way as he did—or she thought he felt that way. Could she be all wrong about him?

"Hey!"

Bella stopped abruptly, blinking several times as the voice slipped her away from her drowning thoughts of the immobile boy, and turned her head quickly toward the sound. She searched through the tables, moving her eyes rapidly to find the owner of the voice.

She finally stopped searching as she spotted a blond baby-faced boy looking straight at her, with a big wide smile spread on his face, waving her and beckoning her to join his table.

Once more, she returned her eyes to the stranger on the far corner of the cafeteria, the aloof boy who she had been about to accompany. He hadn't moved.

Disappointment crossed her body. She blinked and looked down as she stumbled through the cafeteria to the table with the blond boy, the opposite direction of the distant boy's table—the mysterious boy that caught so much her attention.

There were five people on the table, counting the blue-eyed, blond, cheerful boy.

"You must be Isabella Swan, the new girl?" he asked, standing up from the table to encourage her to sit on a chair besides him.

"Umm, yeah," she cleared her throat, "I am." She sat uncomfortably on the chair that was highly offered by the blond boy, and placed her tray of food on the table in front of her.

All the eyes from the people on the table stared at her as if they were on a new exhibition of 'Weird and Strange'. Her cheeks flushed and she looked down, shyly.

Yes, it would have been more comfortable in the bathroom… or with the boy…

With the sudden reminder of him, Bella turned her head and peeked above her shoulder, searching for the table on the far corner. He still hadn't moved a muscle. Perhaps he was waiting for someone? Maybe Bella was all wrong about him.

"—do you come from?" a girl with high-pitching nasal voice asked her in fake interest.

Bella tore her eyes away from the motionless boy and focused again on the five people on the table that were looking at her with an edge of unlikeness.

"Pardon me?" Bella answered quietly.

The girl with blond her that asked her sighed in frustration and repeated once again, "I said, where do you come from?"

"Oh! I – uh, come from Phoenix, Arizona."

Bella hadn't looked at the girl, and yet, she could notice that the girl simply didn't care at all.

"My name is Mike, by the way." The blond boy introduced himself.

Bella gave him a simple nod and a little, shy smile.

He frowned slightly, hurt from the lack of attention he was feeling. He wasn't used to that, he expected a babbling about silly things of how she came here, or how she felt being new to this school, anything. He awkwardly waved his hand to introduce the remaining people on the table.

"This is Jessica," He pointed the blond, high-pitched-voiced girl. "Lauren," he pointed a girl that positively held a vain look on her face while she stared at Bella. "Eric and Tyler," he finally said, pointing at the two boys that were engrossed by some conversation about the upcoming autumn dance.

Bella wordlessly nodded again.

Mike sighed in discomfort and stood up.

"We should better go," he announced to her. She heard the light harshness on his voice.

What was wrong with the nod Bella just did?

Everyone in the table stood up swiftly, but Bella took her time and was in no hurry. For the third time that day she searched for the table on the corner.

He had already stood up, but he had his back to her—his face still an unknown mask to her eyes. The only thing that Bella noted was that he was pretty tall, and peculiarly lean.

She tilted her head to one side, with the same concern she felt before, trying to figure out the boy as she saw the way he walked. No, he wasn't walking, he was almost pacing— very swiftly he dodged people, and people instinctively jerked away from his way too.

Until the boy disappeared from Bella's gaze, she stood.

She laughed softly when she discovered no one at her side. She knew that tomorrow she wouldn't—couldn't—sit with them anymore. It was pretty obvious their dislike towards her. They didn't like her. They didn't like that she was quiet and the opposite of outgoing, but of course.

She slowly went to her next class, with the boy's back and tousled bronze hair haunting her mind.

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Biology.

Her next class was biology. That surely meant a partner. She grimaced as she walked through the large hallway, thinking of something that she could come up with to explain his or her partner that she was just… a little bit different from the rest.

Silence made most of the people uncomfortable. She knew that pretty well. She didn't want to make him or her uncomfortable in her presence.

Chatting and laughing didn't penetrate her hearing. She walked slowly, her gaze to the floor, dodging people that were rough and excited for their next class. She simply wrapped her arms around her torso protectively and guided herself to the classroom.

She awkwardly passed few people that obstructed the door. As she passed between the strangers, a quiet, almost hearable murmur shyly escaped her mouth, "Excuse me,"

That's when they began to stare. She did her best to ignore them.

The room seemed familiar to her. They had the same rows of large desks as they had on her old school. People quickly entered as the bell sounded, and swiftly took their seats. Bella noticed that there was only one desk that was alone. She supposed that was hers and her partner's, for all the seats were taken by others.

She made her way to the large, gray desk and took her seat. She nervously waited for her partner to come.

The teacher closed the door and began his usual roll call. Bella sighed in comfort. Well, at least I have one more day to be alone in this seat.

Mr. Banner, her new biology teacher, made a quick announcement before starting class, one that made Bella blush.

"We have a new student this year, classmates. Her name is Isabella Marie Swan," Mr. Banner waved at her as he introduced her to class, smiling widely.

She quickly corrected him like she always did when someone spoke her complete, formal name. "Just Bella," she said, the tone of her voice quiet as usual.

"Yes, pardon me, Bella. I'll be glad if all of you welcomed her."

As she had expected, every single head on the room turned to see her.

Mr. Banner swiftly changed the topic as he remembered something, "Oh, and Bella, I'm so sorry, but your lab partner isn't here, as you can see," he slightly chuckled.

Bella heard odd whispers from behind. And she was sure they weren't about her.

"I'm afraid you'll have to work on your own this time. But I'm pretty sure your partner will come tomorrow. I'm going to give you less work though, don't worry. You may work with him later on."

Bella nodded once and Mr. Banner began his talking about the subject they were about to discuss for the next few weeks.

She recognized the topic he was explaining to class pretty fast. She wasted no time and began to do her work, hoping that if she finished the assignment early she might be dismissed from class. As she worked, she couldn't help herself but to think of the mysterious boy from the cafeteria… again.

She wanted to shake herself. She knew she was just getting obsessed with the idea that he might be the one who could understand her, or even just talk to her. She knew she just wanted to believe she could link with a person about her situation, anyways. From her past experiences, she had tried to not get her hopes high with people she didn't know, because at the end, they could just simply disappoint her.

Right now, she didn't want to think of anything like that. So, she continued her work. Failing sometimes and thinking in mere glimpses about him.

Mr. Banner, thankfully for Bella, dismissed her after she had finished the assignment.

She was eager to come back home, eager to throw herself into her bed, eager to sleep and dream, to forget about this town and where she was now.

She hurried down the hallways, holding her books to her chest tightly like if they were something vital to her. She began to wander and sometimes she would raise her gaze and hope she could see the boy, to finally see his foreign face.

But as she reached to the parking lot, there was no boy at all.

She drove calmly down the road, the heaters of her car making her warm around her sweater.

"Bella!" Charlie yelled cheerfully at her as she stormed to the house. "How was your first day?"

Bella quickly peeked at him from the wall of the stairs and said a fast "Fine, Dad!" after she climbed the stairs, almost running.

Charlie shook his head in concern, but put it aside and let her daughter be. He knew how teenagers were when they changed their surroundings; he knew Bella would take time to adapt.

At least, now on her bed, with the covers wrapped around herself tightly, she found one little thing to rely on. Silent tears streamed down her cheeks and soaked the pillow, but she didn't care. Her chest heaved and she balled her fists together, holding onto the soft sheets. Because, however, she was deeply scared that it was the wrong thing to rely on.

And… unluckily, he was.

Note of the Authors: So… we join brains for this story ! You might probably know us, but there's a super huber higher possibility that you don't… :D

This is a new thing to us. So... two minds are better than one… heard of that one before?

Thanks for reading ! And please leave us a nice review to let us know how this is ! :3 We suck at updating, but reviews help us type faster. No kid. It works! But yeah, from our previous independent stories we literally suck with updates… u.u

Review please! Let us know if 'two minds are better than one' is true! Thanks so much for reading!

MelomaniacTwins.