4 years earlier.
Gosh I'm nervous. Today was my first day of high school. I was a freshman. I sure hoped things would be better than junior high. Not that I looked any different. A
little chubby, only 4'11" And did I mention I'm a late bloomer? Haven't hit puberty yet. I looked like a little kid. No boobs or hips. The only thing that I was proud of
was my hair. It was really long, past my waist, thick and full. Brown with red highlights. The rest of me was utterly ordinary. Boring brown eyes, and a plain face. I
sure hoped I made some friends this year. I wanted someone who I could confide in and share my secrets and hopes and dreams with. I was sick of being the butt of
everyone's jokes. Bullied and picked on. I just wanted to fit in and be like everyone else.
I went to my home room, and the first person I saw was this beautiful girl with short, black, spiky hair. She looked like a pixie. I was completely intimidated. No way
would she want to be my friend. I sat down as far away from her as possible.
Soon the room was full. attendance taken and lockers assigned. My locker ended up being right next to hers. She was so bubbly.
"Hi! My name is Alice Cullen." She said. Gosh she was sooo nice.
"Uhm...Hi." I smiled shyly. "My name is Isabella Swan, but my friends call me Bella." Huh! Like what friends, I thought to myself.
She started gushing "This is so exciting. And the school is so big. What's your schedule? Let's see if we have any classes together." Why was she being so nice to me?
We compared schedules and found that we had two classes together. English and Choir. We also had lunch together.
We started walking off to our first class together, English. She bubbled on about all the exciting things that would happen now that we were in high school. We sat
down next to each other and she turned to me.
"We are going to be best friends and have so much fun!" Alice stated, with a huge smile on her face.
The teacher walked in and started class, and we had to keep it down, but as class ended Alice hugged me and said she would see me at lunch.
I had a feeling that when I saw her at lunch she would be surrounded by all the new friends she had made and she would have forgotten me. I wasn't going to get my
hopes up!
She was amazing though, so outgoing. I could totally see us being friends.
My morning classes seemed to drag on. I managed to trip over the cracks in the floor, and everyone laughed at me in World History.
In PhysEd, I took someone out on the track as we were running, and she ended up twisting her wrist when she fell. Well, there was one person who would never be
by friend.
Math was one of my worst subjects, and the teacher called on me and I didn't know the answer and got it wrong. More laughter.
Then it was lunch time. I was walking slowly, dragging my feet. I didn't want to be disappointed. I considered just going to the library for lunch. But I had to know.
So I walked to the cafeteria. It was so big. I looked around and thin I saw her. And much to my surprise, she was by herself and searching the large open area. Then
she spotted me and jumped up and started waving her arms above her head.
"Bella! Over here!" She shouted, with a huge grin on her face.
I felt everyone staring at me as I went and sat down with her. I had just an apple and water bottle for lunch. Renée, my mother, didn't keep a lot of food in the
house. Alice had a full tray of cafeteria food.
She smiled and asked how my morning had gone. I blushed and mumbled, "Okay, I guess."
Alice smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Just okay?"
I shrugged. "In case you didn't notice, I'm kind of a klutz. I can trip over a perfectly smooth floor." I blushed and looked down. "I don't have many friends." I finished in a whisper.
"Well. I don't care if you're a klutz! I care about the person that you are. You look like a nice girl, someone who can be a good friend, you have honest eyes.
Expressive eyes. That's the kind of person I want for a friend. Not Ms. popularity, who will just as soon as talk about you, as support you. I want someone who I can
trust." Alice stated seriously. She grabbed my hand and squeezed. Then a huge grin broke across her face. "And I want a friend who is going to be fun to be around. I
can see that you and I will have some fun times together, it will never be boring with you around."
Lunch was over and we walked together to the choir room. The teacher wanted to hear each person sing to know what section to put them in...oh JOY! How
embarrassing. I loved singing, but hated having to stand up in front of other people, to be judged. Alice had a beautiful, pure voice and was put in soprano. I stood up
to sing. It seemed like all conversations stopped as everyone stopped and stared at me. My voice was husky with fear, but I managed to hit all the notes. The teacher
smiled at me and put me in alto.
After everyone had sung, and was placed into sections, the teacher handed out music and we got to work on learning our parts. This was going to be my favorite
class. I loved singing! Class ended too soon, and Alice came back over to me.
"Hey, do you want to come over to my house after school!" She asked.
I frowned and sighed. "I can't today. Renee...uhm, my mother, wants me home right away. Maybe another day."
Alice smiled easily and asked for my phone number.
I blushed and looked down at the ground again. "I don't have my own phone. Renee has a cell, but wont let me use it."
"Oh! Okay." She looked sad. "I guess I will see you later."
Now I felt bad, she looked so disappointed. "I'm really sorry." I sighed.
Alice quickly recovered and gave me a hug. "No problem! Maybe you can come spend the night on Friday?"
That put a huge smile on my face. "I would love that! We'll talk more about it tomorrow."
"Okay! Have a good rest of the day." She waved and we went our separate ways.
Biology was probably the only other class I really enjoyed. I loved the sciences. I even managed to get there with hurting myself or anyone else. It was my last class
of the day too, so I would be finishing each day on a high note.
