It's time, it's time! Halloween time, of course!

October. Cooling air, colorful leaves blowing across the ground, and the sound of bare branches scratching against windows in the night…

I love this time of year. So here we go, Halloween!

The world of Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I like to play in it.

AMAZING GRACE

Chapter 2 – Reflections on the Awfulness of Life

Was there something out there? Probably just the wind in the trees, but she thought she saw movement in the tree line, a shadow jump from the ground to a branch high up in the tree. An impossible height for a man.

She shook her head. Probably just a trick of the wind and rain.

Finally she gave up staring out the window and went to bed. After tossing and turning most of the night, fell asleep around 4:00 a.m., just in time to get up at 6:00.

The next day, Bella waited for Charlie to leave before walking to school. At least there was a break in the rain long enough to get in the front door of Forks High School. She jammed her stuff into her locker, hearing whispers about the new kids that had been heading for the principal's office. Apparently, she had just missed their walk down the hall. Their arrival had created quite a stir.

When she reached home room, all the talk was about the doctor's family. Bella remembered her first day, almost a year ago. She suspected there had been the same amount of talk about her that first week. Now Eric and Mike were talking about the cars the doctor's kids had parked in the school lot, a shiny silver Volvo and blue mustang, and the girls were talking about how dreamy the guys were. Bella idly wondered If she would have any of them in her classes. The past few weeks, the only topics of conversation had been the football season (the Forks Spartans were not in first place) and the upcoming Halloween parties. The newcomers had pushed both topics of conversation aside.

Lunch was more of the same, except this time, she got to see them. The five siblings had seated themselves at a table a distance away from everyone else. Enthroned themselves would have been a better description. They were good-looking, all of them, and expensively dressed in an understated way. Though very differently complected and built, from dark to blond, petit to huge, they had the same pale skin and shadows under their eyes. Weird. Jessica reported that her mother had heard that they were all adopted, which explained how they didn't look very much alike.

Bella had watched as the siblings had gone through the lunch line together, and though the big guy had turned and smiled at the kid behind him, she noticed that people shrank away from him.

Bella's friends spent part of lunch assigning names to each of the newcomers. Rosalie was the blonde, Alice the petit girl. Emmett was the huge guy who had tried to smile at the guy behind him in line, and Jasper was the blond. Jessica and Tyler weren't quite sure whether the red-head's name was Edward or Arnold. That was discussed for a few minutes until Angela arrived. He had been in one of her classes, and was definitely an Edward.

Bella's eyes felt drawn toward Jasper and at one point he glanced in her direction. His eyes stayed on hers, giving her a disoriented sensation, like the floor had just fallen away and she was falling down into a crevice. Bella felt her heart beating hard, and she stared at her boring lunch, inhaling and exhaling while trying to make sense of her feelings. When the sensation passed and she looked up, Jasper wasn't looking in her direction any longer. He was talking to one of his brothers. The blonde sister was staring straight at Bella though, and the look wasn't friendly.

"Was he looking at you?" Jessica whispered. "Did you meet him?"

"No, I haven't met him." Like anyone who looked like that would have time for her.

When Bella went to Biology lab, she stopped inside the doorway. There was someone at her lab desk. Jasper. An "Excuse me" from an exasperated Lauren, who was standing behind her, brought her back to reality. She moved out of the door and headed her assigned seat, trying to hide her nervousness and excitement with a calm look.

As she crossed the room, she saw Jasper suddenly turn in her direction. The expression on his face was ferocious, his lips twisted into a snarl. For a few seconds, he looked terrifying, but he composed himself before she reached the black-topped lab desk.

She put her books on the edge of the table and sat on her stool, ducking her head while she pretended to be searching for something in her backpack. After a moment she looked back up. He was leaning way from her, looking tense, but managed a, "Hi. My name is Jasper."

She nodded but found herself tongue-tied. He was so good-looking, but what had that fierce look been all about? She thought he was going to tear her apart with his bare hands.

"You're Isabella, the Chief of Police's daughter?" he asked.

"Bella," she said. "How did you know?"

"My father met your father last night in the Emergency Room," he replied. "My father asked for the yearbook so we could get familiar with a few people before our first day. Since my father had met yours, I remembered your photo."

"Oh," she said. Wow. Monosyllables. Way to make an impression. "So, what's on the agenda for today?" she said, though she already could see what was in the kit on the table.

A dead frog. Wonderful.

Today they would be dissecting the amphibian. Bella's hands shook with nervousness. She knew her clumsiness could become an issue when she had a sharp object in her hands. She gamely pulled on one of the pairs of gloves and reached for a scalpel.

"You're nervous?" Jasper asked gently.

"A little," Bella admitted. "Knives and sharp objects… I…well, we don't mix."

Jasper's hand shot over hers, touching the back of her hand as he prevented her from picking up the scalpel. His hand felt cold through her glove.

"You're trembling," he observed. "The procedure upsets you. Do you like animals?"

Sure, that was it. "Yes, and well…"

"Allow me," he said softly.

The kit included a diagram of a frog. As part of the exercise, the students were to label the body parts. She pulled the paper closer to them. "OK. You cut, I'll label," she said.

She looked at the diagram and photographs that had been provided in their kit. She'd dissected a starfish in her biology class in Phoenix. That hadn't been too bad, as it was so alien from a land animal. This frog though. It was a bit disturbing. She heard a squeal from the next table. Mike had popped out an eyeball and was holding it too close to his lab partner, who wasn't having any of it.

Bella felt ready to barf. The formaldehyde smell and the thought of blood pouring from the frog when they cut into it were starting to get to her. How was she supposed to get through this period without making a complete fool out of herself by fainting or throwing up?

Xxxx

Thanks for reading. Hope you're having a wonderful October. Please leave a review. I will send a preview of the next chapter to all reviewers. Next chapter will be up in a few days.

Reviews make my pumpkin smile.

And thanks for all the supporting comments on my job situation. I'm sure things will turn around, but it's hard facing into that void when it's straight ahead of you.