I walked towards the precipice, while debating what I would do once I got there. Would I dive off into the freezing abyss? Dangle my legs over the side just to get the thrill of it all? Or would I stand three feet from the edge trying to peer over? Gradually I got higher and peered into the darkness. Colors swirled all around me, greens and blues and purples. The wind was now biting at my ankles and I mentally cursed myself for not wearing pants. How much further till the top? Is there a top? Would this time be like last time? What would be waiting for me? I stumbled and slid to the ground, my world felt as if it were in slow motion. I looked behind me to see what I had tripped over. A rock, but it wasn't just a rock, it was…a person. I climbed faster now, taking off on all fours, scrambling to find the top. I was nearly there when someone jumped out at me, they tried to grab for me but I pushed them away. But the force of push carried me backwards, and suddenly I was freefalling down the side of the cliff that I had just climbed. I could see the top, it gleamed. Every time I looked at it, it changed colors. I was still falling. Falling and falling, and screaming and screaming. But I wasn't landing. The cliff wasn't this high, was it? Where was the ground? I glanced behind me but all was black, then everything was black, there was no more color. There was no more sound.

"Bella! Bella wake up! Bella you're gonna be late for school! Will you get the hell out of bed already?"

I was startled awake by the sound of my father's voice calling through the black.

"Isabella Swan, if you do not get your butt out of bed you are grounded young lady!"

The darkness started to clear and I found myself laughing. Charlie could put away criminals, but there was no way he could ground me.

"Isabella, I'm coming in there, you better be decent!"

At this I jumped. Because decent was something that I was not, but awake I was!

"I'm up, I'm up! Jeez Charlie, give me a break!"

"That's dad to you!"

I rolled my eyes, "Alright…dad." I climbed out of bed and made my way to my dresser. There was nothing new or remotely attractive to wear in there, but I still searched in hopes of a miracle. The miracle never came and I was stuck wearing yet another white t-shirt and jeans. I threw on some socks, I think they matched, and a pair of shoes. I assessed myself in the mirror. It wasn't great, but it was still better than running around naked. That would surely get me kicked out of Forks High. However, compared to the way that some girls dressed I might fit right in. I pulled my hair up with elastic, threw on a hoodie and made my way down the stairs.

I had been attending Forks High for a total of two days and had already had five spit balls shot at me, four run-ins with the school principal, been asked on three dates, had two girls threaten my life for hitting on their boyfriends, and made not one friend. The spit balls all came from girls in the back of my classes. Apparently I had the face of someone who appreciated saliva covered paper bombs thrown at the back of my head. The run-ins with the principal hadn't been my fault either. First, this girl tripped me walking down the hall so I turned around and told her to go flog herself. One of the teachers heard and told me to visit the principal. So maybe I was a bit more colorful with my choice of vernacular, but the girl tripped me for no reason. The second time I walked into my class twenty minutes late. The teacher sent me straight to the principal. I tried to explain that I had gotten lost, but he wouldn't hear it. Something about Lauren somebody telling him she saw me behind the dumpsters smoking a cigarette. That's a load of crap, smoking is for fat girls and guys with no girlfriends. The third time, well, I guess I kind of deserved that one. This guy walked up behind me and grabbed my butt. I tried to plead my case, but the principal wouldn't hear it. Apparently punching a guy in the gut for grabbing you inappropriately is not considered "okay". I actually got detention for that one. Some crap about three strikes. Anyway, the last one wasn't exactly my fault, entirely. This girl, I think her name was Jessica or something, told me that this girl Lauren, the cigarette behind the dumpster girl, was talking shit about me. So I cornered her in the bathroom and demanded she shape up or I'll do it for her. She said something nasty. I said something nasty back. She pushed me. I pushed her back. She pushed me again and I grabbed her by her hair and threw her against a wall. So, she kicked me in the stomach and then tried to leave. I grabbed her from behind, swung her around, and proceeded to sock her in that perfect little nose of hers. We both got suspended for that one. It took Charlie 2 hours to talk the principal into not expelling me from school. I think after a few waived traffic tickets the principal agreed, under one condition. I had to talk to the school shrink. Some guy named Carl. Or Lyle, or something weird like that. Sounded like a fat guy to me, but what the heck, if this is the price to pay to graduate on time then I guess I'll take it.

I was half way out the door when Charlie told me not to forget that I had a meeting with The Shrink after school today. Like I could forget, it's all he had talked about last night. Apparently this Shrink guy is incredibly intelligent, incredibly young, and incredibly hot. The last one I had picked up from the school secretary. Why she felt the need to tell me this I had no idea. But if the middle-aged woman thought The Shrink was hot, then who was I to argue? Later I entertained ideas of a fat, balding, old man with crooked teeth and a hairy mole on his left cheek.

The school day went off without a hitch. I decided the best way to get through the day was to ignore everyone else and keep to myself. So I pulled my hood up, turned up my Ipod, and fixed a glare at anyone who crossed my path. Finally the day ended and I reported to the school office for my first meeting with The Shrink.

"You can go in now." The middle-aged secretary told me. Then she gestured to the door to her right. It was closed and looked about as inviting as a jail cell. I rapped on the door with my knuckles and then waited for a response.

The door opened and an angel stood before me. His hair was the color of fresh hay. His eyes nearly matching his hair color. His lips were pink, like he had been playing a brass instrument or something. Every feature on his face looked perfect; my face looked like a potter had thrown random pieces of clay at it. He stood there just staring at me for a moment. I'm sure he was trying to size me up, so then I turned on my poker face and pushed past him into the room. I took a seat at large, overstuffed, brown leather armchair. The Shrink took the seat next to mine and turned towards me ever so slightly.

I sat there trying to ignore the fact that he was just sitting there staring at me. We sat there like that for fifteen minutes before I said, and maybe a little too loudly, "What?" I heard The Shrink chuckle softly and then turn more towards me in his chair.

"Isabella,"

"Bella."

"Isabella,"

"It's Bella, just Bella."

"Isabella,"

"Seriously, no one has called me Bella since the 6th grade! I go by Bella, I'm sure you can handle that Dr…"

"Cullen."

"Alright, Dr. Cullen. Call me Bella. Not Isabella, or even Miss Swan. Bella."

"Isabella," I huffed a sigh of frustration. Was this guy dense? "Isabella, I prefer to call people by the name that was given to them by their parents. I also prefer for people to address me the same way, so you may call me Carlisle."

"I prefer Dr. Cullen." I had to fight back the smile that was threatening to pull the corners of my mouth up. If this guy was going to play dumb, then so was I.

"Yes, but you are the student, and I am the teacher, and you will address me the way I wish to be addressed."

"Well, technically, you're not a teacher. You're a shrink. Therefore, I don't have to do anything you say." I could see him now fighting not to smile and it pissed me off. I was winning this argument, not him, so why was he looking so smug?

"Fine, I will call you…Bella, and you will call me Carlisle."

"Fine."

"Good. Now, tell me Bella, why are you here?"

"You know why I'm here!" This guy was a real piece of work!

"Yes, but I want to know why you think you're here."

"Because I got into some scrapes with some stupid people and in order to stay in school I have to come and talk to you. However, I think it's completely ridiculous! I don't need a shrink. I need to be someplace where the sun actually exists!"

Again, the idiot laughed at me.

"Do I amuse you Dr. Cullen?" He just stared at me blankly, "Sorry, Carlisle?"

"Well, actually Miss Sw—I mean Bella, you do. How do you know that the sun doesn't exist?"

"Have you seen it recently?"

"Well yes actually. I believe it was Sunday. It came out at 2:45 and went away at 2:49."

"Exactly! It doesn't exist!"

"But Bella, I just said…"

"You said, 'It came out at 2:45 and went away at 2:49.' It's gone, it's never coming back! I can't be here!"

"Why don't you tell me about the fight with the Lauren girl?"

"Alright, the bitch—"

"Please Bella, no profanity."

"Alright, the female mother of a litter of dogs told my teacher I was smoking behind the dumpsters."

"Were you smoking behind the dumpsters?"

"Hell no! Sorry, I mean no. Smoking is for fat girls and guys who can't get laid." Again, the smug jerk laughed at me. "Will you stop laughing at me? You're really starting to piss me off!"

"Alright, sorry. So she told the teacher you were smoking behind the dumpsters. So you then proceeded to punch her in the face?" This guy was making me sound more and more ridiculous by the minute!

"No! After I went and saw the principal I found the…well, her in the bathroom and told her that if she didn't shape up I was going to do it for her. Then we shared some pleasantries and a cupcake and I punched her in the nose!"

"Bella…"

"I told her to shape up or I'd do it for her. She pushed me, I pushed her back. She pushed me into a wall, I pushed her again. She grabbed me by my hair and threw me against a wall so I grabbed her by the shoulder, spun her around and gave her a good sock in the face. The chick had it coming, I mean, she doesn't even know me!"

"So because she was talking crap you punched her."

"Didn't you hear me? I told you she pushed me first! You're a shrink, so aren't you supposed to be good at listening?"

Right then there was a knock on the door and a bronze head emerged from the crack between the door and the frame. He looked in at the two of us sitting in chairs. By now my hair had started to come loose of the ponytail and my face was flushed a horrible red.

"Sorry."

"No, Edward, it's alright, what can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering if I should wait for you or if you brought your car today."

"Go ahead without me; I think I'll be a while longer."

The bronze head disappeared through the crack and was gone. The Shrink looked at me funny I realized I could remember how to breathe again.

"So, Bella, what hap—"

"Who was that?"

"That is my son Edward. Anyways, where were we…."

"How old is he?"

"About your age. Now Bella, let's please continue."

"How come I've never seen him before?"

"Because he's in all upper level classes."

"Oh." Curses! Of course the hottest guy in school would be the son of The Shrink. "You're not allowed to share what I say to you, to others are you?"

"Only if I feel that you are on the path to self-destruction."

"Meaning only if I sound like I'm gonna kill myself, right?"

"Yes." He looked pained at my flippant talk of suicide.

"Sweet! Okay, so what else do you wanna know, Doc?"

"Well, tell me about your life before you came to Forks."

"I don't wanna talk about that." I fixed The Shrink with a cold stare and then got up and walked over to his bookshelf.

"Why not?" The guy just could not take a hint could he? If I had wanted to talk about my past, I would have told him, not said 'I don't wanna talk about that' and then walked away.

"Because," I miss my mother, and I miss our life. I miss our old house, and my hamster. Because some asshole decided to come along and take my mother from me. I didn't blame my mother for wanting to be with him, but I do blame her for not listening to me when I told her he was bad for her. I do blame her for not listening when I told her that he creeped me out. I do blame her for agreeing to get in the car with him when he was so drunk that the road swam in front of his vision. I do blame her for dying pinned between the car and the tree. I blame her for leaving me with Charlie, the ignorant man who is trying to play father. Not all men are made to be fathers, Charlie should have chosen not to reproduce.

"Because I don't want to, and it doesn't matter anyways!" I almost screamed at the man. I couldn't read the book titles because my eyes were clouded over with the tears I was trying not to shed. The next thing I knew The Shrink was by my side offering me a box of Kleenex. I ignored him and wiped my eyes with my sleeve. I left the bookcase and walked over to his window. Through the thick cover of clouds the sun was slowly making its way out. I laughed softly at the irony of it all.

"It's never as bad as it seems." The Shrink said from across the room.

"Like hell…"

"Bella, we're done for today. You may leave if you would like."

I couldn't get out of there fast enough, I ran to the chair that I had occupied just minutes ago and grabbed my backpack. I pulled the door open and slammed into a massive chest. Before I knew what was happening I was going down, my own force now turned against me and propelling me towards the floor. A hand reached out and grabbed my elbow and steadied me. I looked up into the face of the bronze head that I had seen just minutes before. Now that I could see more of him I realized he was about six feet tall and had the build of a Greek god. He looked down with green eyes full of concern.

"I'm sorry; I didn't see you there. Are you alright? I didn't hurt you did I?"

All at the same time I smiled, blushed, gasped, and giggled. "No, I'm fine."

He let go of my elbow then. "I'm Edward."

"Bella."

"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you Bella."

He smiled at me and again I forgot how to breathe. I just smiled up at him dumbly. I'm sure he probably thought I was the biggest idiot he'd ever met. But for those few seconds that I stood basking in Edward's shadow I felt happy. Then I remembered who his father was and took off at a near run. I slammed through door after door, past person after person. Students who had just gotten out of after school activities. Teachers who had finally finished grading papers. Janitors who were pissed because they would now have to re-mop the floors. I slammed through the last set of doors and found myself in the parking lot. I made my way through the empty stalls where students' cars usually sat parked, waiting for their owners. I was ten feet from my car when I noticed the problem. My two front tires were flat, and upon further inspection I found that it was not of their own doing either. Someone had taken a sharp object to both front tires and now they were completely flat. Which was just so fortunate considering I had only one spare tire. I debated about whether or not I should call Charlie when a shadow passed over the front of my truck.

"Car trouble?" It was Edward. He looked as if he were trying to hide a smirk by looking gravely serious.

"What made you think that? I usually just love driving my car with flat tires." I ignored him and started walking out of the parking lot.

"How are you going to get home?" He called off after me.

"Walk."

I took off out of the parking lot fuming because some idiot, probably that Lauren chick, had immaturely slashed my tires. But at the same time I was daydreaming about Edward. Wondering what he would look like shirtless, and if his bronze hair was natural, when a horn scared me half to death.

"Get in." This kid can just not take a hint, can he? Like father like son I guess.

"No."

"Bella, get in the car. It's going to start raining and you don't want to get sick do you?"

"Yes." I said, I was not accepting a ride from him. He was probably just like his father, smug and dense.

"Bella, please. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you."

Because the murder rate in forks is so high. "No."

Before I knew what was happening his car jumped up onto the sidewalk and stopped; blocking my path.

"Bella, get in the car…please?"

"Well, now that you asked so nicely…no."

"Fine!" He popped the car in reverse, maneuvered his way off the curb, and drove off.

I smiled to myself feeling victorious as the first rain drop landed on my nose all fat and heavy. I was screwed. But this is the way I chose it. However, my thoughts were again interrupted by another horn. I turned around about ready to give Edward the finger when I realized that it was a cop car.

Charlie pulled up and rolled down the window. "I got a call about a crazy girl walking the streets. Where's your car."

"Flat tire."

"You have a spare"

"But I don't have two."

"Get in."

The ride back to the house was silent and I could feel the frustration rolling off of Charlie. The second we pulled into the driveway I was bolting for the house. I got in, ran upstairs and jumped in the shower. I was frozen from my short walk in the rain. I stood there and let the steamy water run down my body. The hot water mixed with the smell of my shampoo made for a purely intoxicating experience, and I found myself relaxed by the time I stepped out. I went to my room, changed in my sweats and laid down in my bed. My mind wandered through the events of the day, meeting Edward, running into Edward, being offered a ride by Edward, nearly being run over by Edward, meeting The Shrink, talking to the Shrink, almost talking about…mom…

I continued to think about mom and slowly cried myself to sleep.