Chapter 1: If Looks could Kill

I don't know why I let her convince me to move. Maybe it's because I know how much she wanted to—I've always had a way of knowing what people were thinking; sort of like a sixth sense.

I looked over at my mother, meeting her emerald eyes. She smiled a nervous smile at me, pushing her bronze hair behind her ears.

I looked into the rear-view mirror as I drove us to our new home in Forks, Washington. My own deep green eyes looked back at me, reflecting the concern I thought I was able to hide well. Obviously not.

I parked my new silver Volvo in the driveway of our… home. I quickly got out of the car and walked around to let my mother out.

"Always the gentleman," she said, smiling at me. "I'll unpack for us," She said suddenly, then continued, "you should make it to your new school just in time."

She handed me a map, and set off to work. The moving truck beat us here, so she had plenty of things to do; which left me the Volvo.

I got to school and walked into the office. It was brightly lit inside, and very warm. The office was also small; with a little waiting area made up of folding chairs, commercial carpet, a little clock ticking loudly, and a wall cluttered with papers. There were plants everywhere. Wow, it was really green in this town. One of the three desks behind the counter was manned by a large woman with red hair and glasses. She was wearing a plain purple t-shirt; which made me look down at my torn jeans, silver-patterned white shirt, and black hoodie. I immediately felt overdressed.

The woman spoke without looking up at me. "How can I help you?"

"I'm Edward Masen." I said; which caused her to look at me. Realization then recognition hit her features.

She quickly handed me a map and my schedule, and sent me off to class. My morning classes were Trigonometry, English, Gym, and Government. After lunch I had Biology and Spanish.

My morning was definitely routine; I said hi, sat down, and learned. A few people were brave enough to introduce themselves to me, but mostly they just stared. I stared back and anyone who looked at me for too long. The boys looked away, and the girls blushed. I had no doubts that I wasn't quite what they were used to—those were the thoughts that were barraging me, anyways.

Lunchtime, however, was a whole other story. I walked into the cafeteria with a group of kids—which, thanks to Mike Newton's invite, accepted me. It didn't surprise me much that the room quieted when I entered. I seemed to be on everyone's mind today.

There were four minds, however, that were indifferent to me. They were more edgy than the others—sharper, painful even. I looked up to see the group I was mentally thanking, and was instantly confused. Did I count wrong? There were five people sitting at the table. Why could I only feel four minds?

"Yo, Masen, what are you staring at?" Mike asked. I glared at his blonde spikes for hair, pulling out of my reverie.

"Nothing," I mumbled, almost to myself. Instantly a name came to my mind from Mike's direction: "Bella Cullen."

"What was that?" he asked me, but I didn't answer. She looked up at me, almost as if she could hear me whisper her name. Her pale features stood out against her midnight-black eyes, and her face was framed by equally dark hair. The other four meant nothing to me anymore; they were figments of my imagination. All I knew was Bella Cullen as her eyes bore into mine.

Soon she averted her gaze, a smile seeming to play on her lips. I looked down, making sure not to look up again.

I looked briefly at my map to find the building for biology. I took my time, barely making it to class before the bell. I walked into class, meeting my new teacher. I introduced himself, making a mental note of his name—Mr. Banner—and turned to find a seat. I had been hoping to get a seat at the back, but was instantly disappointed when the only empty seat was in the middle of the class, next to—Oh, My, God. It was Bella.

I sat down and looked at her sheepishly. Her back instantly straightened, and she caught my eyes. It was almost as if she was frozen; her dark eyes bore into mine, and it was almost as if she had stopped breathing.

Thankfully, after several awkward moments, Mr. Banner started the biology lesson. Bella sat as far from me as the table permitted. Even then she leaned away from me. The whole time she sat perfectly still. I couldn't help but feel self-conscience. The feeling was made even worse when she darted from the class so quickly when it was over that I didn't have a chance to talk to her. I sighed and went to my last class.

The rest of my day was monotonous. When I got home my mother had already unpacked almost everything. The boxes containing my possessions were sitting in the middle of my new bedroom, so I spent the afternoon organizing everything.

When I was overly tired of that, I turned on my music and listened to it for the rest of the night as I tried to get the image of Bella's hateful stare of out my mind.

Darkness did not come to me quickly, but when it did, I was more than thankful.


A/N: I'll try my best to stay within the lines when it comes to the story, but obviously that isn't always the easiest to do. For instance, Edward doesn't do ballet... I hope.

Anywho, please bear with me as I try to not butcher the story :)