Chapter 1
The New Kids
I felt the trees whir past me as I ran. I ran quickly; more quickly than I knew I could. The air was crisp and cold, but somehow it didn't bother me.
Behind me, I heard a twinkling laugh. "Catch me if you can, Bella," a pixie with a sweet bell-like voice called as she passed me, her spiky hair managing to stay in place.
Another, deeper, laugh resounded from my side. A man with copper hair and gold eyes smiled at me and took me in his arms. "Oh, I think we can give her a head start," he chuckled again and placed a swift kiss on my lips.
"Where's the fun in that?" I said escaping from his arms with a playful smirk. I continued my chase after the pixie girl.
But, when I turned around, the forest wasn't there anymore. Suddenly, a bleak darkness surrounded me and I could hear terrified screams in the distance.
"Bella! Bella!" The voice carried from a far. I walked in the direction I thought it came from.
"Bella! Bella, come save me!" Then I realized I recognized the voice. It was Esme's.
"Esme! Esme, where are you!" I called out into the darkness.
"Bella! Bella!" she continued, her voice sounded more and more tired each time, "Bella! Why aren't you here yet? Bella."
And with that I heard a shrill scream and a deep evil laugh.
"Esme! Esme!" I called again, "Esme! Esme!"
"Esme! Esme!" I mumbled through my sleep.
"I'm here, Bella. Wake up. I'm here." I felt someone shaking me and woke up in a cold sweat.
"Bella? Are you alright?" Esme asked me with a soft voice.
"What's going on?" I replied in confusion, "What happened?"
She pursed her lips and bent over me, allowing her caramel colored hair to brush over my face. "You had a nightmare. You were calling for me."
"Oh. I am sorry I woke you."
"Don't worry. I was making breakfast. James will be out of town for a few days and I thought we'd celebrate with pancakes. Go get ready. Then while we're eating, you can tell me about your dream."
She put a finger over my mouth, kissed me on my temple, and walked out swiftly before I could protest.
I took time getting ready, trying to delay the inevitable, but she caught me before I escaped and pried it out of me.
"What do you think it means?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.
I gulped, and then lied, "I don't know." The thought almost brought me to tears. Esme was the fourth 'mother' I'd had since James adopted me, but she was the only one who took any interest in me. I hated lying to her, and it tore me up to keep her fate from her.
"Well," she stopped and sighed again coming over to pet my hair, "try not to dwell on it too much. Call me after your test."
"Ugh! Are you sure you can't get me out of that? I mean, I think I'm coming down with something." I pressed my hand to neck to add to the effect. She didn't buy it.
"Go to school."
"Bye mom." I pressed a kiss to her cheek and headed off.
The first half of my day was dreary. I aced my test easily, as if James would accept any less. At lunch, I sat with my regular group of friends and picked at my lunch. I was about to get up to throw it out when I saw them, the two from my dream. I hadn't done them justice. They were beautiful, hauntingly beautiful.
They weren't alone. There were five altogether. The pixie sat beside a tall boy, though he looked much older than a regular high school student. He had dirty blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. He frowned, almost as if in pain.
Beside him was a larger boy, so big that even across the cafeteria, he scared me. His short dark hair, dimples, and tight t-shirt screamed jock. I groaned internally at the thought of another stupid jock to deal with at this school.
Beside him was the most gorgeous female I had ever laid eyes on; the kind that makes girls like me feel inferior. She was a leggy blonde, with ice blue eyes. She would have been prettier if not for the angry frown that graced her face.
The lanky boy from my dreams was just as beautiful as I imagined, but his eyes were green, and not the gold tint I'd dreamed.
"Those are the Cullens," Jessica spoke up from beside me when she noticed my obvious staring, "they're the new kids the towns been buzzing about." Ah. Yes. Those new kids. Their father was a young prodigy that had graduated from medical school when he was twenty-one. They were wealthy, but had just lost their mother and wife, and wanted to move to a small town for a change from the buzzing big city of Chicago. Carlisle Cullen, I believe, would now be gracing us with his extreme expertise in medicine at Forks Hospital and his five adopted children would join the high school in the middle of the semester.
"The pixie is Alice," Jessica began again, "she's weird. The blonde sitting next to her that looks like he's going through torture is Jasper. He's a senior; she's a junior. The blonde bombshell that's bound take all the male attention away from us poor damsels is Rosalie. Senior. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting her yet, but I heard she's a bitch, and extremely self-centered."
"Jess," I began to cut her off before she could begin to gossip.
"Don't start. 'Gossiping isn't good' Blah. Blah. Blah," she said mocking me, "John caught her staring at herself in a mirror in her locker in between classes so you know that's true."
"Anyway," she flipped her hair over her shoulder and continued, "the hot jock with the dimples is Emmett. Also a senior. I don't actually think he plays any sports but Coach Clapp's been trying to get him to agree to try out for football even though the season's half over.
"But that's not even the best part," she said excitedly, "they're all together!"
"Together? Like dating?" I asked.
"Yup. As if their family isn't weird enough, lets add an incestual twist, right?"
I frowned at her cattiness. "It may be weird, but, aren't they all adopted? Then it's totally ok."
"Yeah, whatever, it's still weird," she continued, "and last but certainly not least, Edward. The lanky one with the reddish hair. He's a junior, totally hot, and totally available. But, don't even try, I call dibbs."
From the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Edward snort. Jessica didn't have to worry. I couldn't let anyone that close into my life.
