A/N: Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Pssh, I don't own Twilight. Well, I did buy a paperback copy from Barnes & Noble but that's beside the point.
Chapter 1
As I pulled into the parking lot of Forks High School, the little dots that I'd seen from afar began to turn into students. I slowed my beat up pickup truck into a crawl as I searched for an open space in this nearly full parking lot. I eventually settled for a spot relatively far away from the entrance, crammed between a silver Volvo and a large van.
Today was officially my first day at Forks High.
I couldn't say that I was too excited – for if making friends in a warm place like Phoenix was hard, making friends in dark wet Forks would be harder…not to mention that I was going to be the new kid.
I sighed.
I had known that this wasn't going to be easy – nothing ever was for me. There was nothing easy about any of this. Nothing easy about having divorced parents. Nothing easy about my mother, Renée, marrying Phil. Nothing easy about moving here to dank Forks to make her happy. But who am I to complain?
I took a deep breath and pushed open the truck's door. I'd better get this over with, I thought to myself.
I eased myself out of the seat onto the smooth pavement of the parking lot. When I turned around after locking my car door, I was greeted by an eager boy's face. The suddenness almost made me jump. How had he gotten there?
The boy looked to be about my age, with brown hair, brown eyes, and rather long legs. He smiled at me, then quickly turned around and slammed the door of the van shut.
When he faced me again, he held out his hand.
"You're the new girl, right?" He asked, his brown eyes filled with curiosity and another emotion that I couldn't read.
He had asked an innocent question, though it somehow puzzled me. Had the word about my arrival to Forks really gotten around? Had he mistaken me for somebody else? I looked up at him and realized that he was still waiting on my answer.
"Yes, that would be me." I murmured, averting my eyes to the wet ground below us. I didn't particularly want to see his face when he realized that the much awaited new kid was just another plain girl.
Not that I hated how I looked or anything…I was just…well…plain. That would probably be the only word to describe it. I had dark wavy dark brown hair that fell to about shoulder length and chocolate brown eyes. I was a bit on the short side and was pretty slim. Also, I possessed no tan, whatsoever. My skin is more of a sickly pale ivory color. Attractive, right?
When the silence eventually became unbearable, I decided to look back up at the boy that stood in front of me. To my surprise, he had a large smile etched across his face.
He jutted his already extended hand further in my direction.
"My name's Tyler."
I tried my best to smile and shook his hand.
"I'm Bella." I said in the friendliest voice I could manage.
"I know." What? How did he know that? He continued, "The news of your coming to Forks has kind of been traveling around. Everyone has been talking about the great Ms. Isabella Swan." He chuckled and I did too, though I knew it came out sounding forced.
He didn't seem to notice. Instead he grabbed my hand and led me towards another car, a newer mini van, parked only a few spots away from mine. When we finally came to a stop, I was standing in front of four kids looking about my age, sitting on the car's heavily stickered bumper.
A cute blond haired boy, that somehow reminded me of a golden retriever, practically jumped up from his seat when I walked into their sight.
"Hey! You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" He asked, smiling excitedly.
I merely nodded and let out a quiet "Hi," which I'm sure that somebody standing right next to me wouldn't even have heard.
If it were even possible, the spiky haired boy's grin grew even wider. Creepy.
He shook my hand in the same way that Tyler had just minutes before. "I'm Mike. Mike Newton." He turned around and gestured to the girls that sat on the edge of the car behind him. "And these are our friends; Jessica, Lauren, and Angela." The girl who I'm guessing was Lauren sneered at me, Jessica clapped her hands together, and Angela smiled shyly and waved. I already knew that I would like her the most.
I couldn't believe all the attention I was getting. I guess making friends was pretty lucky. And on the first day of school, too!
As I noticed that we were some of the last people still outside, the first bell rang. Before I knew what was happening, I felt two pairs of arms link up with mine. I looked over to see Jessica and Angela ushering me towards the entrance of the building.
As we walked, Jessica began talking between the chomping of her gum. "Isabella, you're absolutely going to love Forks High—,"
"Bella." I corrected.
"What?"
"Bella."
She still looked confused. I sighed.
"It's Bella. Please, call me Bella." I knew that I had probably come off a little rude, but it needed to be said. I couldn't stand it when people called me by my full name.
"Oh, right. Bella. Whatever. Anyway." She continued to talk on, though I hadn't noticed, for walking ahead of us, I spotted what looked to be a beautiful bronze haired angel.
From what I could see, you could very obviously tell that he was too perfect to belong in a damp icky place like Forks. He had a flawless face, almost as if it were carved out of a piece of marble. Even from afar, you could see his prominent cheekbones and the striking curve of his jaw line. He had beautiful tousled bronze hair that seemed to stick out in all of the right places. Just looking at it made me want to run my hands through his long locks. I couldn't seem to take my eyes off him.
I managed to tear my eyes away from his face so I could see the rest of him. My eyes traveled down his perfect body, noticing that even through his jacket, you could see his built form. I could almost imagine what his toned arms would look like if he were wearing a tank top. And, to top it all off, he had strikingly pale skin. It wasn't an ivory pale like mine, though. It looked as if it were porcelain.
My breathing hitched and my heartbeat increased, about a mile a minute. He was about a hundred feet away, talking to some other kids. He stood at a ninety degree angle, only letting me see half of his gorgeous face. Oh, how I longed to see the rest of his face!
Who was this god?
Angela seemed to hear my thoughts – or follow my line of sight – because she answered my question.
"So you've noticed Edward Cullen." She stated matter-of-factly. She smirked and I could feel my cheeks flush into a deep shade of pink.
Angela continued. "He's always been sort of a loner. Doesn't talk to anyone except for his siblings. I never really understood why. He most definitely could get any girl in the school he wanted." At this Jessica sighed loudly.
"Basically, she's saying that he doesn't date." Jessica sneered.
Jessica and Angela began talking once more but I couldn't exactly hear what they were saying.
Because Edward Cullen was looking at me.
He wasn't gawking, or even staring at me with a look of curiosity like the other students had when I first arrived. He looked almost…frustrated. The beautiful Edward Cullen was frustrated with me? When I haven't even gotten the change to be able to talk to him?
I looked back at Edward and tried to meet his eyes, but the intensity of his stare made it almost impossible. I was also too aware of the red tint creeping up my cheeks. Jessica must have been aware of it too.
"Edward Cullen is staring at you." She whispered.
I glanced at her. Before I could ask what that meant, the second bell rang, declaring us late for class. Jessica and Angela tore their arms away from mine, mumbled their goodbyes, and then hurried on to get to their classes.
I looked back over to where Edward had been, but he'd disappeared.
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The rest of the day went by pretty quickly after that. I eventually found all of my classes and sat with Mike and Jessica's group at lunch. Mike has been his loyal golden retriever self all day, walking me to all my classes and waiting for me at my locker. So I'd say it's been an okay day.
Except for the fact that I hadn't seen Edward at all since this morning.
I now found myself walking towards my truck, backpack in tow. I was trying to keep my head occupied by mentally listing all of the possible recipe choices for Charlie's dinner tonight. Anything to keep my mind from wandering onto different subjects…
When my truck came into view, I scurried over to the door, thankful to have an excuse to take my mind off the boy I had seen earlier. Then, knowing me, I stumbled over the wet pavement and dropped my keys into a puddle of murky black water.
I cursed silently and bent down to retrieve them. But right as I was about to stick my hand into the grayish liquid, I suddenly saw a long pale arm flash before my eyes, reaching into the puddle. Seconds later, a beautifully sculpted white hand held the keys out to me.
"I believe you dropped these," A musical voice said.
There was only one person I could think of that could create such a sound.
I looked at the hand, and then looked up to the person whom it belonged to. As I had feared, it was indeed Edward Cullen.
If I thought he was gorgeous from far away, seeing him up close was almost magical. Just the thought of his presence made my heart thump ten times faster that it did already. Oh, how I hoped he couldn't hear it.
I figured that he was waiting on an answer. I racked my mind for something to say to him. Anything to say to him. But when I looked into his eyes, his beautiful eyes, I was at a loss for words. And topaz became my favorite color.
My palm must have subconsciously opened, because I felt the keys being dropped into my hand.
"Thank…thank you." I stuttered. I knew that my have was slowly reddening.
He smiled a crooked smile that could make a whole country's heart stop.
"Anytime."
He was looking at me with the same frustrated expression as before. Again, I had to lower my eyes at because of the intensity of his stare.
The silence became unbearable. Finally, I spoke.
"I'm Bella." I murmured.
He chuckled. His laugh instantly became one of my favorite sounds in the world.
"I know." Was all he said.
At that, he turned around and climbed into the silver Volvo, which was now filled with people who I'm guessing, were his siblings. He looked at me once more and chuckled again – I loved that – and then the Volvo roared to life and they sped out of the parking lot.
I must have looked pretty stupid, standing out there in the cold, keys still in hand. And god knows how red my cheeks were. After Edward's car was out of sight, I curled my fingers around the jagged metal pieces and got into my truck.
I drove home in kind of a daze, mesmerized by the angel that I'd just encountered. And the way he said "I know," when I told him my name.
How had he known? Did he recognize me from earlier? Why was he so frustrated when he looked at me? All those questions swam in my mind, circling around like a massive whirlpool. I tried to ignore them while I made dinner that night.
I was just setting the table when Charlie, my father, stumbled in through the front door after work. Instead of sitting down at the table as usual, he headed straight for the TV in the living room, not even bothering to remove his belt. That didn't seem like a thing he'd do. At first, I thought he just wanted to watch a game. But then, when he switched to the news channel, I really began to get worried.
I shuffled into the living room and sat down nest to him. The screen showed a Seattle news reporter, looking about in her late twenties, going on about and gesturing towards the action behind her. When they zoomed in, I noticed there were cop cars crowded around a building. It was the scene of a bank robbery.
"Charlie, what's going on?" I asked, my voice coming out shakier than I had hoped.
He didn't respond.
"Charlie," I asked again, my voice coming out a little more stable. "What's happening?"
Silence.
If he wasn't going to tell me, maybe the reporter, whom I later found out was named Gloria Anderson, could. I listened in.
"…Seattle police reports say that they have announced that they are, indeed, holding hostages. The police have surrounded the area, and are currently waiting for the men inside the bank to release a statement…"
Gloria's monotone voice was cut off by Charlie's.
"It's been going on all afternoon." He said, his eyes never leaving the screen. "The county's saying that my men and I are going to have to back off. To let the Seattle police figure it out."
"Well, I'm sure that they know what they're doing. I'm sure that it'll all be over by tomorrow and those criminals will be rotting away in some cell in Seattle." I said in a voice with I'd hoped was reassuring. I really had no idea if it would turn out all right. I just didn't like to see Charlie blaming himself about this.
Since Charlie wouldn't let his eyes leave the screen, I eventually brought our meal into the living room and we ate in silence, watching Gloria Anderson's serious face on the television.
It was then when the camera zoomed in on the bank that we first saw a man wearing tights and a blue cape jump down from the sky.
A/N: Lol so there you have it. Whaddya think? Review, please!