Chapter 1

BPOV

Bella's head was pounding. Even the grey light of a morning in Forks was too much for her sensitive eyes. She flung her arm over her face and tried desperately to will herself to move. The bed of her ancient red truck wasn't usually this comfortable. But then Bella wasn't usually this hung over, well not on a school day anyway.

Suddenly she was aware that everyone in the parking lot had gone suspiciously quiet. She raised her head slowly to the side of the truck to see what all the fuss was about. She watched as a shiny new Volvo pulled into a parking space across from her. Bella wondered who the fuck in this town would own a brand new Volvo, and what kind of teenager would drive one. Resting her head on the edge of the truck, she watched as the door opened and a pair of long legs in scruffy jeans poked out, followed by a lean torso and the messiest hair she'd seen on anyone other than Jasper.

His hair was bronze coloured and seemed to catch the light in a way she'd never seen before, changing hue as the sparse sunlight filtered down through the clouds. It looked soft, and Bella had an urge to run her fingers through it. He stretched, lifting his arms into the air, and she caught a glimpse of the dips in his lower back as his t-shirt rode up. Somewhere, the usual airhead girls were giggling, and it was irritating. Bella lay back down slowly and let her eyes drift shut for the moment.

All too soon, her truck was moving violently up and down, the sounds of shoes landing on metal thundering right next to her head. Without opening her eyes Bella grumbled, "What the fuck Rose? Unless you want me to puke on whatever fancy shoes you have on today, stop doing that!" The thundering and rocking stopped, and Bella cracked one eye to see her friend Rosalie staring down at her, looking perfect as always.

"I'll stop as long as you get up. Apparently I missed the new kids and I need to get a look before class, so we need to go to the Quad."

"Fine, I'm up. Where's Jas?" Bella looked around through slightly blurred eyes and saw only Rosalie and Emmett waiting at the foot of her truck.

"Fuck if I know. I thought he was with you?" Bella just shook her head in response and followed her friends into the school rubbing her hand through her hair absently and grimacing at the knots.

Bella walked across the quad to the far wall and leaned against it to place herself strategically out of sight of the classrooms – she was craving a cigarette, badly. Rosalie continued to chat beside her. Relieved that Emmett was there to listen so she didn't have to, Bella happily tuned out everything and tried to focus on getting rid of her headache. "Nicotine, that's always a good place to start", she thought as her eyes glazed over the scene in front of her.

Bella hadn't always been popular. In fact, she wasn't even sure that she'd call herself popular now, but apparently she was.

She'd never been entirely sure how it had happened. All it took was the right person thinking you were the shit, and everyone else would follow. Or in her case, the right two people – Jasper and Rosalie Hale.

The ground behind the only supermarket in Forks was cold and wet, the dampness soaking through Bella's jeans. Her fingers were numbing quickly in the cool air, and she blew on them hoping to get the dexterity back quickly. She finished rolling and licked the edge of the paper. Surveying her work she smiled wryly and put the joint to her lips while she searched her pockets for her lighter.

Voices began to carry around the corner, and Bella froze hoping that they would pass without noticing her. As usual, her luck was crappy and the voices stopped abruptly. Trying not panic, Bella raised her eyes to see who may have aught her in her not so innocent activity..

The tall blond girl was the most beautiful person Bella had ever seen in real life. Curvaceous and confident, she looked down at Bella with an expression that was part sneer, part question. The boy pulling at her arm dropped his hand slowly. His face broke into a slight but crooked smile, his pale blue eyes lit up in recognition, and he shook his dirty blond curls away from his face.

"Well, what have we here?" The slight drawl coming through his voice was hypnotic to Bella. It was smooth and rough all at the same time, and her eyes widened as he began to approach her.

The girl reached out to pull him back and stepped in front of him demanding, "Who are you?" With the boy's eyes out of view and the girls icy ones penetrating her with their ferocity, Bella dropped her gaze and attempted to respond.

"Bella, .um Bella Swan." She gulped and tried to lift her eyes back to the girl.

"Swan? As in Chief Swan?" The boy was now smiling widely as he elbowed the girl. They shared a quick look that seemed to say so much more than it possibly could, and the girl looked back to Bella.

"Isabella Swan right? We heard the chief's daughter was moving to town." She too smiled at Bella, and although Bella could see it wasn't quite real, and her eyes remained flat, she found herself returning it. "Never thought we'd meet you hiding back here sparking up though. I'm Rosalie, Rosalie Hale, and this is my brother Jasper. Pretty cold out here. Wanna hang out with us?"

Bella nodded slowly and got to her feet, as Jasper turned and starting walking in front of the two girls. Bella's eyes were drawn to him even as Rosalie grabbed her arm and threaded her own through it.

"What the fuck are you wearing anyway, Bella? I think we need to go shopping tomorrow. You in?"

That was all it took, one chance encounter, one misguided idea about how to make it through life in Forks a little less aware, and Bella was in. In with Rosalie and her "I don't give a fuck" attitude, and in with Jasper and his effortless cool. She didn't quite understand why or how, but they had seen something in Bella. Something she had to make sure they kept seeing.

The bell rang and Bella's eyes snapped back into focus. It was raining, again. She was drenched, and apparently, the only one still stupid enough to still be standing in the Quad. As she turned to leave, she noticed the boy. Standing just outside the doorway, bronze hair dripping slightly from the rain, he turned his back to her just as she looked at him, and she took the moment to slip away unnoticed.

Making it through today was going to be hard. Her headache had shifted slightly, but she hadn't seen Jasper all day and that just wasn't good enough. As the minutes until lunch crawled by, Bella struggled to remember the events of last night – hanging out at Jasper's, that much was clear. As usual there was drinking and more than a little weed, but that was nothing out of the ordinary, so what was with the colossal headache?

Jas would fill her in, hopefully. Sometimes he liked to leave her in the dark; it was kind of a mindfuck. On those days, she was never sure if she wanted to know or not. If it was bad enough for Jasper to keep quiet, it must be pretty bad. Bella hoped last night wasn't one of those nights as she entered the , just as Rosalie sauntered up behind her.

"Well fuck if the new boy isn't all kinds of tasty – or so I've heard. You seen them yet?" Bella smirked as she thought about the glimpse of skin she'd seen above those scruffy jeans.

"Only from behind."

"Oh Hells Bells, last night's all coming back to you then?" Jasper dropped his arm around her shoulders and looked a little too smug for Bella's liking.

"That better be a joke, Jas," she started before taking a closer look at his face. His blue eyes twinkled and he struggled to keep the smile cocky rather than wide. "You shit! You can't go around implying stuff like that!"

"If you could remember, I wouldn't be able to imply anything, now would I?" He countered, his face breaking into the grin he had been struggling to contain. Bella shrugged as they walked over to one of the corner tables.

"Anyway, it was just a typical night for us, Bells. At some point you thought a bottle of tequila sounded like a good idea. You passed out on my couch and I took you home." Jasper reached out to nudge Bella's chin up with his knuckles. He smiled at her and she shook her head, meeting his eyes for just a second.

Thank fuck for English class. Bella knew she could do anything she wanted in this class. Hell she could fall asleep in Mr. Tate's class and he wouldn't say a word. As long as she continued to ace every test and every paper, why should he care?

Her seat by the window meant she could watch the rain as it fell in rivulets down the glass and lose herself in the patterns. Unfortunately, today all she could seem to think about was the past, and that meant she was thinking too much. As the chair next to her squeaked, Bella stiffened imperceptibly. That seat was always empty. It was another reason that this was her favourite class. One of the new kids must have taken the seat next to her. She wondered momentarily, if it was the boy.

To distract herself from both the past and looking over at her new companion, Bella pulled out her book and slipped in her earbud. The disjointed ramblings of Burroughs and the quick beats of The Filthy Dukes successfully made her memories disappear, but they couldn't help with the itch to turn her head and look at the person sitting next to her. There was some delicious smell circulating, like the ocean and fresh mint, and she felt like she was being watched, but that couldn't be right. In the end she managed to read only a few pages, but nothing seemed to sink in.

As Bella dragged herself out of her seat, she turned to put her book away, and caught a glimpse of bronze hair – it must be the boy. Fleeting visions of what she'd seen of him throughout the day passed through her mind, but she didn't raise her eyes to get a closer look.

Suddenly a soft and smooth voice spoke to her, but all she could think was, "Why is he talking to me? Oh, just an asinine question about English class". Then her eyes lifted to look at his face for the first time.

Green - his eyes were so green, it was all she could see. She nearly gasped out loud, but Bella was used to concealing what she thought and felt, and it was just a second before she had it locked down. For a moment he looked worried, like he'd said something wrong rather than something merely inconsequential.

Bella made some flip remark about Steinbeck hoping to get a chuckle at least. He just looked more confused. "Uh oh, this one's not too bright – shame," Bella sighed internally and walked past him without bothering to answer just as he asked her about Rosalie

"I'm Edward, by the way. I'm new here. You're Rosalie, right?"

She glared back at him, but then it clicked. He didn't ask her about Rosalie, he called her Rosalie. "What the fuck?" She laughed out loud at the hilarity of it, as if anyone could mistake her for Rosalie. She realised it had been a long time since she'd genuinely laughed – her throat felt hoarse, but it also felt good. She felt lighter. As she passed Jas in the hallway, he quirked his eyebrow at her. She just shook her head and laughed harder.

EPOV

Edward pushed the button on the keys his father had just handed him and grimaced as the bright shiny Volvo in front of him beeped ostentatiously. As if moving to a new school in a small town in the middle of the semester wasn't bad enough, Edward and his sister had to turn up in what appeared to be the newest car in Forks – aside from his father's Mercedes.

Trying to paste what he hoped looked like a sincere smile onto his face, Edward turned to his father Carlisle. "Dad, thanks so much. You really shouldn't have. I mean the other car still runs just fine and it's not like the schools even that far away. "

Edward's objections to the extravagant gift his parents had just given him were cut short as his younger sister Alice came running out of the house squealing with excitement, "Oh my God, Edward. Isn't it pretty? You're so lucky, you have to drive me everywhere!" She wrenched the passenger door open and leapt inside, inhaling deeply. "I love the smell of new cars. It's so much better than the lingering smell of junk food and boy in your old car!"

"Not to mention how much safer it is, Alice. After all, that is the point of the new car for both of you," Carlisle gently chided his daughter, but like everyone else, he couldn't maintain any semblance of authority when dealing with Alice. For as long as anyone could remember, her boundless enthusiasm and pixie - like features enabled her to wrap everyone she met around her little finger.

"I know that Dad, but it doesn't mean I can't appreciate all the little things as well," Alice trailed off as she continued to look over every detail of the car, until her eyes alighted on the iPod dock. "Such as no more local radio!" she exclaimed as she pulled her iPod out of her bag and plugged it in. "Come on Edward, let's go!"

Edward took one final glance back at his rusting old car thinking of summer road trips with his old friends, the windows down and the music blaring. Glancing up at the gloomy sky above him, Edward thanked his father once again and prepared for his first day at Forks High.

Pulling into the parking lot was even worse than he expected. It felt like every single person had turned to stare at the new car and, more importantly, the new students inside. Alice thrummed with excitement; she loved being the centre of attention and made friends easily everywhere she went. She couldn't wait to start the day. Trying to work out how many days until graduation and then college, Edward sighed and turned off the ignition looking out the windshield at the squat grey institution.

"Come on Edward. It won't be that bad. Stop counting down the minutes until you can make your escape and just try to enjoy it here." Edward glanced at his sister out of the corner of his eye raising an eyebrow in a silent question. How was it that she always seemed to know exactly what he was thinking? "You never know, there might even be some cool people here - maybe even a girl?" Edward's only response this time was to roll his eyes as he opened the car door.

Never having been much of a morning person, Edward stretched his arms languidly above his head to try to wake himself up before heading into the school. He couldn't help but notice the group of giggling girls behind him, or the way everyone seemed to momentarily stop what they were doing to watch him. He didn't think he'd ever get used to that reaction.

Edward wasn't completely unaware of the many people that seemed to find him attractive. He came from a good looking family. All of his life, people made comments, and girls stared, but Edward just got on with things. When he looked in the mirror, all he saw was too pale skin, bright green eyes, and an unruly mop of bronze hair that he could never control. He just didn't see what the big deal was. He tried to stay in shape, and the growth spurt before his sophomore year, taking him up to six foot two, probably explained some of it. But Edward was never completely comfortable with the attention.

Luckily, being Alice's brother, he usually didn't have to put up with it for long. Alice was noticeable no matter what, with her diminutive stature and huge personality. The fact that she was also beautiful didn't hurt either. Edward knew how people viewed his sister, with the same pale colouring, hazel green eyes, and her dark hair always stylishly cut. Alice was often the envy of other girls she met, and Edward always felt protective of her, whether she needed it or not.

As she jumped out of the car, the eyes watching him, whipped to her; and although she appeared to be oblivious to the crowd of people standing around the parking lot, the slight raise of her eyebrows told Edward otherwise. He scowled as she made a show of skipping around the car to stand in front of him smiling brightly.

"Ready, brother dearest?" she asked innocently, but Edward recognised the glint in her eyes. He shrugged his shoulders and pushed his hands deeper into his pockets. It wasn't going to get any better than this, so he might as well get it over with. Alice linked her arm through his and practically dragged him toward the office, and smiled at everyone they passed.

Armed with new class schedules, locker combinations and a completely useless map of the ridiculously small school, Edward and Alice followed a quiet guy named Ben into the quad.

"So, this is where most people hang out on their free periods or at lunch as long as it isn't raining!" Laughing sheepishly, Ben raised his eyes as the first drops began to fall. "Which isn't very often, you might have noticed." Edward looked around as the people gathered started to head inside. As the rain got slightly heavier, his eyes drifted around the now practically empty space, stopping on a lone figure leaning against a wall out of sight of the classrooms.

She didn't seem bothered by the rain. Dressed in dark skinny jeans, high tops, and an almost transparent white wifebeater under her hoody, she didn't actually seem bothered by anything. Her long dark hair was tousled and knotty, as if she couldn't be bothered to brush it. Her large chocolate coloured eyes were covered in dark smoky eye makeup, and she was chewing on her full red lips as she raised her cigarette up for a slow drag.

Edward knew he was staring, but he couldn't seem to pull his eyes away from her. He was almost certain she didn't realise anyone was still standing in the rain with her. Gazing unseeingly into the space before her, she looked lost – but like she wanted to be.

"Edward!" Alice's voice jolted him back to the here and now, and he turned to look at his sister when he realised that a bell was sounding,. "We have to get to class. What are you doing?" He looked back to the figure, but she was gone.

"Nothing, just day dreaming. What class do we have again?"

The morning passed, not slowly and torturously, but not quickly either. It just passed. Edward went to his classes, made the notes that were required, answered the questions directed at him and tried to be polite to a seemingly endless amount of girls; but for some reason he couldn't focus.

He didn't want to think that it could be because of the dark haired girl. He wasn't the sort of guy to get so easily distracted, especially by someone he had never even spoken to, but every time his mind slipped away it was to images of beautiful dark eyes and riotous hair.

Edward didn't actually see her again until lunchtime. Meeting up with Alice to walk to the lunchroom, they casually discussed their day and the people they met. Of course Alice had been invited to sit with a group of people. They may have been the "popular" crowd, but in a school this small it was hard to tell if there even was a "popular" crowd. Edward tagged along either way.

Jessica, Lauren, Tyler, Mike, Eric, Angela – were those the right names? Hopefully. Alice seemed happy enough, and that was the main thing.

As much as he hated to admit it, it was good to be around a group of people again; although he loved his sister, a whole summer of no company but her was starting to drive him crazy. Chatting with these guys was easy enough, full of the usual frivolous high school conversation, everyone feeling each other out. The blonde, Lauren, seemed particularly vapid and she kept touching him, but other than that, it was comfortable enough.

Without realising he was doing it, Edward caught himself scanning the room for the dark haired girl. He was just about to give up, when she walked through the doorway. She looked just as lost as before until a small group of people walked up behind her - her face breaking into a smirk as she turned to the girl beside her.

The blond girl was stunning, there was no doubt about it, and to most people she would be the most beautiful girl in the room, but her blue eyes seemed calculating as they searched the room before finally settling on Edward. She smiled, but it was without warmth, and it didn't seem like it was for him.

Edward moved his gaze to the two guys behind them. One was huge with short dark hair, grinning as his hand reached out to the blonde girl. The other, tall and lean with dirty blond hair, placed his arm casually on the dark haired girl's shoulder and smiled cockily. As he watched them walk toward one of the corner tables, Edward's eyes narrowed.

Turning back to the table, he noticed Tyler smiling knowingly across at him. Realising he had been caught, Edward decided to be upfront.

"Who's that?" he asked quirking his head in the direction of the small group. Everyone turned to look, the girls exchanging quick glances and the guys smirking.

"Ah, so you noticed her right away then - what a surprise. That is Rosalie Hale." Tyler replied. Rosalie; it was a beautiful name, but it didn't feel quite right. She didn't look like a Rosalie. Edward just nodded his head and went back to his lunch, trying not to stare at the girl anymore.

English had always been a favourite class of Edwards, and walking into his new English class, he knew that this wasn't likely to change. She was sitting in the row of desks by the window, with an open seat next to her. Edward made his way across the room, hoping that she would look up giving him the chance to get another look at those huge chocolate coloured eyes. She didn't.

He watched as she pulled a battered copy of Naked Lunch out of her bag and proceeded to ignore everything going on around her. As the class discussed Modern American Literature – Steinbeck, Faulkner, Hemingway - she remained absorbed in her book and slipped an ear bud into her ear. Edward could hear the tinny echoes of her music and could see her lips mouthing along with the unknown lyrics. When the bell rang, she stood up slowly. Putting her book away, she turned just as he stood from his seat.

"How are you enjoying the book?" Edward blurted, realising too late how obvious it would make it that he had been watching her.

Her eyes met his and widened for only a fraction of a second before she controlled her expression.

"What's not to like about Of Mice & Men?" she asked dryly before starting to move past him.

"Right." Edward drew the word out as he processed her reply. She hadn't realised he meant her book, rather than the assigned reading.

Well that went well.

Edward felt like an ass. He couldn't figure out what was so funny about asking her name. For a second he'd thought she was angry, and maybe that would have been better. Not that he was egotistical about, well, anything, but girls didn't normally laugh when he talked to them – giggling was the normal response, followed by flirting. He wasn't particularly fond of either one, but that's just the way it was.

As English had been his last class of the day, Edward went to meet Alice at the car. Shaking his head as he strolled into the hallway, Edward walked straight into the blonde guy from the lunchroom. From his stereotypical rebel without a cause appearance, Edward was expecting some kind of attitude.

Instead all he received was an unbelievably laid back, "Sorry man, you alright there?" The remnants of a Southern accent caught Edward off guard.

"Sorry, yeah. Completely my fault. I was in another world for a minute there."

"Not a problem. My best friend's exactly the same - always walking into something. I'm Jasper. Good to meet you." Jasper held out his hand and Edward took it firmly in his own.

"Edward Cullen – same here." They nodded amicably toward each other and went their separate ways.