A/N: Hello! I wanna say thanks to everyone who reviewed and favorited and followed this story. I'm surprised by how many people seem to like it, so I figured I'd give you all an update, yay! I hope you like the chapter. Any questions regarding *why* no one knows/cares that Edward is being hurt will be answered in time. Okay, so onto the story!

Chapter 2: Edward Masen

"I remember meeting him, the boy with no face. He was so broken, so worn down, that even then, even before I knew him, I felt for him. I knew I needed to help him. I tried, and in return I gained his friendship, his trust, and most importantly, his love."

~Bella Swan.

…

I woke up early the next morning with dried tears still on my face. It was my second day here in Forks and already I couldn't get my mind off of a boy. Edward Masen. There was something…wrong with him, and I didn't know what. Last night I had met him at a dinner that a man named Dr. Carlisle Cullen hosted. The boy seemed very nice and polite, shy even, but under that, I sensed that something was…wrong. His long bronze colored hair covered most of his face, but I had seen dark bruises scattered across his skin beneath it. At first I had mistaken them for shadows, but as I looked - and I did a lot of looking - I realized that they certainly were not shadows. His stories of injuries made me uneasy and his silent, easily frightened manor shook me. I knew there was something wrong with him, but I didn't know what. I considered asking my father about it, but I had seen the way he was eyeing Edward the night before and decided against it. In any case, I knew I would see the boy at school today. We were, fortunately, in the same grade and I now knew three people when I had originally thought I would know no one. Alice and Jasper were Edward's two friends. Apparently, the two of them were relatively new like me. I found that relieving to know that I wouldn't stand out like a sore thumb…or at least as much as I would have.

The slow ride to school was nerve racking. My heart was beating erratically, and I couldn't help but fidget. I could tell my dad found it amusing, though he tried not to smile.

"You'll be fine, Bells. Just take a deep breath. I'm sure you're going to make tons of friends," He said, smiling happily.

I sighed, "I didn't have any friends in Phoenix, why would I have friends here?"

"You're a good kid, Bella. And the people here are really nice. Plus, you remember Jacob don't you? Down from the reservation?"

Jacob? Who was Jacob? I nodded my head anyway, pretending to know who he was talking about.

"Well, anyway. After about two years of convincing, Billy finally let Jake go to school in Forks instead of on the rez. Billy's pretty weird about that kind of stuff."

A sudden flash of insight swept through me. Billy Black was my dad's fishing friend that lived down at the Quileute reservation. Images of a tanned boy with silky black hair and bright brown eyes flashed through my mind. I added one more person to the "People I will Know List." That is, if he remembers me.

We pulled into the parking lot of the big, brick building. Children ranging from eleven year olds to fourteen year olds were filtering into the school. My eyes flickered to the right and there leaning against the side of the building was Edward Masen. Jasper and Alice were standing next to him talking with dull expressions. Edward's face was hidden like last night but the way his shoulders were hunched made me think something was upsetting him.

"Did you hear me, Bella?" My eyes snapped back to Charlie. We had already pulled into a parking spot and kids my age were eyeing the cruiser with obvious curiosity. I sunk a little further into my seat.

"Uh…no…sorry." I blushed, looking away.

"I said to stay from the Masen kid. He's trouble, you hear me? He gets himself into a lot of trouble. It's a shame. His father's such good man. Did you know he's a lawyer?"

I shook my head, barely listening. My eyes kept flickering from my father to Edward whose head was now turned in my direction.

"Well, he is. A good one, too. Anyway, run along now. Don't want you to be late on your first day." He smiled happily at me. I smiled back, and gave him a tight one armed hug, to which he grunted with embarrassment. My dad had never been good with expressing emotions.

I hopped out of the car quickly, and watched him as he pulled out of the parking lot. I was getting quite a few stares, but I ignored them; I had something else on my mind.

Walking over to the side of the building, I caught Edward's eyes and smiled shyly. His mouth lifted slightly at the corners. "Hi, Bella. It's nice to see you again." His voice was slightly strained, but it was still as smooth as I remembered it.

I blushed, looking down. "You too." It was awkward for a moment, until Alice jumped in and broke the silence.

"Do you have your schedule yet, Bella?" Her voice was high and bubbly.

I shook my head. "No, I have to go get it at the –" Before I could even finish speaking she was dragging me away and to the school. Edward's veiled eyes followed me as I left.

"So are you nervous for your first day?" Alice asked.

"A little. I don't know really anyone."

"Nor do you need to. Everyone in this school sucks. Stick with us and we'll get you through." She smiled hugely, flashing her pink and black braces at me.

I couldn't help but smile back. We reached the office in no time and she shoved me through the door with a force that surprised me coming from her tiny form.

"Don't be shy, Bella," her blue eyes glittered as she smiled, "Mrs. Garner is really nice. She's the school's secretary." We walked towards the large desk that took up most of the room while she spoke. When we reached the desk, an old woman with white hair and bright red lipstick looked down at us.

"Well, hello, dear," her voice was old and she spoke slowly. I felt uncomfortable. "You must be Isabella Swan."

I nodded.

"Well, let me see then. Here is your schedule and a map of the school. I'm sure Alice here can explain the rest."

Alice's face lit up and she smiled happily, "Of course, Mrs. Garner!" She grabbed the papers for me and then took my hand before practically skipping out of the office. "Bye!" She sang. I tried to hold in my giggle. "See, isn't she nice!?"

I shrugged, "She's…okay."

Her face fell a little. "Oh…I think she's the sweetest." It fell silent for a minute, "Well, anyway, let's get you to your first class. You have History first with Mr. Clark." She puffed out a breath, before whispering, "Good luck, he's really boring."

Smiling, I muttered, "Thanks."

Her tinkling laugh filled my ears, "Anytime, Bella, you're a sweet girl. You and Edward are perfect together."

Freezing in the middle of the hallway, I nearly choked on my own saliva. "Alice! We just met yesterday! Besides, what makes you think I like him like…that?"

She winked at me, "I know these things, Bella. Besides -"

"Bella!" A deep booming voice interrupted the end of Alice's statement. My eyes automatically flickered to the direction the sound came from and I met a big pair of brown eyes and a wide smile. Jacob Black was walking happily towards me. I felt my own face lift into a happy smile. He'd remembered!

"Ugh!" Alice grunted under her breath and rolled her eyes. "I'll, uh….catch you later, Bella." Her eyes occasionally flickered to Jacob with obvious annoyance. I watched confusedly as she hurried away just as the first warning bell went off, alerting the start of school. My stomach made little flips inside of me and I gulped. Jacob made his way over to me then, his grin seeming even bigger up close.

"Wow, Bella, it's been so long since I've seen you!" He gushed, the husky tone of his voice sounded like it should have belonged to someone much older than him.

"I know! I can't believe you remember me." My own voice expressed my delight at this.

"Of course. I could never forget a face as pretty as yours."

I blushed and it was awkwardly silent for a moment.

He coughed, before continuing, "So, anyway, I heard from the chief that you just moved back here for good, huh?"

"Yep. My mom got remarried and stuff…." I trailed off with a sigh. Phil was such a…bad word. I could feel my face scrunching up into a scowl.

"Oh…not liking the new step-father, I see." Jacob chuckled, "Yeah, Charlie told me about that. Hey, how is that guy, by the way, haven't seen in a few weeks. Usually, he goes fishing with my dad on Sundays."

"He was probably getting my room ready for me or something. He seems like he's been pretty busy. But I've only been here for, like, two days." I said.

"Oh, well…welcome to Forks then. Here let me walk you to your first class. You wouldn't want to be late on your first day."

…

All day I would walk past Edward in the hallway. He would catch my eyes and grimace at me before dropping his head. The mystery about him had burrowed itself into my mind like a contagious infection and it spread until all I could think about was him. Did he hate me now? Did I say something wrong? And, what on earth was wrong with him!? Finally, by lunch I could take no more of these questions floating about my head. I needed answers.

"What's up with your friend?" I demanded, storming over to Jasper Hale, who was sitting alone, no doubt waiting for his friends to join him. I was so worked up over this situation that I didn't care that I was probably being rude.

"Which friend?" He asked, sounding bored as he stared down at the book he was reading.

"Edward."

At this, he shut his book and stared up at me with narrowed eyes. "What about him?"

"What's up with him? Why doesn't he like me?" The glares Edward had given me today had made my stomach twist. I needed to know if I did something.

Jasper rolled his eyes dramatically before responding, "He does like you." I didn't miss his over-exasperated tone.

"Well, what's going on with…his…bruises?" I whispered.

The conversation changed abruptly. Jasper's back straightened and his entire face scrunched up in suspicion. "You really don't need to worry about that, Bella."

"Yes, I do! Why can't you tell me?" I was getting upset now.

"Because it's not my story to tell. It's Edward's."

"Well, Edward can trust me."

He barked out a bitter laugh. "Bella. Have a seat. There is much in this world that you don't understand."

I followed his order before narrowing my eyes at him. "Enlighten me, then."

"Again, Bella, that's not my place. Besides, I don't think you're prepared to hear of the horrors of this world."

"What are you guys talking about?" A quiet, velvety and somewhat suspicious voice broke our intense conversation. Edward and Alice stood by the table, both looking unsure of what to do or say. I looked at Edward intensely, drinking in his skinny, bruised body and wondering once again what was happening to him. His bronze hair hung in front of his face brushing against his nose as he spoke. I became more irritated as I realized I still didn't know what color his eyes were.

Jasper's voice broke me from my thoughts. "Oh, Bella here was just asking about you."

My head whipped in Jasper's direction, looking at him incredulously. Way to throw me under the bus! I could faintly see under the shade of his reddish hair that his eyes narrowed at me. Without another word, he set his plate down on the table next to Jasper before taking a seat. Alice cleared her throat and sat down silently. Edward abruptly looked up at me, his jaw tight as he did so. "What about me, Bella?"

Jasper stared at me as I stuttered to find an answer. When I said nothing, Jasper prompted me. "Well?"

"It…was…nothing. It's not important." My face flamed red with embarrassment. I looked down at the table.

I saw Jasper shaking his head in his peripheral vision. "You can ask me and not him?"

"Ask you what?" Edward demanded, his usually hushed voice rising with anger.

"Bella wants to know what's wrong with you." Jasper said, mockingly.

Edward's shoulders slumped and he turned his head away. "Oh. I figured it was something like that." His voice was laced with bitterness. I watched him rise up with his untouched tray of food and glide over to a nearby trashcan. He returned silent only to retrieve his backpack. Jasper sighed, watching him walk from the cafeteria.

"Are you going to go get him, then? Or should I?" Jasper asked, getting ready to stand up.

"He's mad at me!" I said with wide eyes. Edward's hurt expression had implanted itself into my mind.

"I wouldn't say mad. He's just…" he sighed again, "Just go talk to him."

"What do I say?"

Jasper shrugged, before chuckling, "Listen to your heart."

My shoulders dropped out of exasperation. With a roll of my eyes, I stood and marched from the lunch room. I wandered around the hallway for a few minutes before finally seeing him sitting in front of his locker. He stared straight ahead of himself. I approached him carefully, fearing him lashing out at me. Before I could say anything, he spoke.

"What do you want, Bella? Do you still want to know what's wrong with me?" he muttered.

For the second time that day, I had no idea of how to respond.

He shook his head. "Please go away."

I started to back up, before I closed my eyes, stopping mid-step. I needed to get to the bottom of what was going on with him. I walked over to him and sat down next to him. His body went rigid and he slid slightly away from me, putting a few inches of space between us, before shuddering.

I was mildly offended, but I ignored it, figuring it was more important to solve this mystery.

"Edward." I started, my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. I tried to collect my thoughts before I explained myself. "Look, what I said about there something being wrong with you. That's not what I meant. I mean…" I sighed, the words not coming out right. "I can see the bruises; I know someone is hurting you. Please tell me what's happening. You can trust me."

Suddenly, he turned to me with a fierce glare. "You want to know so you can what? Satisfy your curiosity? You know what? Fuck you!" He stood up and stalked off. Through hurt eyes, I noticed that he walked with a limp.

The bell rang, interrupting my wounded silence and I got to my feet slowly.

"How did it go?"

I jumped and yelped a little, turning to look over my shoulder. Jasper was staring at me angrily and Alice was standing behind him. Her eyes were flickering back and forth between the two of us.

"Not well," I muttered.

"Let it be a sign to you that you should mind your own goddamn business." His voice was the closest I ever heard to a growl and like his best friend, he stormed down the hallway to find his next class.

Alice stayed tersely by my side. She looked at me with pity.

"Well, there goes a good first day, I guess," I sighed.

She chuckled a little and grabbed my arm, "Come on, I'll walk you to your next class."

"Kay…Do you know what's wrong?"

"If you know what's good for you, Bella. You'll stop asking." Her eyes were sharp.

My lips tightened, but I didn't say anything. I just wanted to help….

…

The rest of the day was agonizingly slow. At least Alice was in my gym class and art class. Normally, I would have been happy to have two easy electives at the end of the day. But, today was an exception. It was my first day of school and I had already made two enemies and only one friend. I thought of Jacob, and wondered to myself idly if I considered him a friend yet. For some reason, being friends with Alice was so natural, I almost felt like I knew her for years.

"You know, you're really clumsy, Bella." Alice was doodling on a large piece of scrap paper as she talked. We were practicing contouring our hands. I looked down at mine and grimaced. It was terrible. It looked like five grapes all connected to a larger grape.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." I sighed. Gym had been a disaster. Not that I was surprised, it was just frustrating that I couldn't do anything athletic without harming someone or something. I snuck a glance at her drawing. It was amazing. "Wow. You're really good at this, huh?"

"Hm?" She looked down at her paper. "Oh, I dunno. Not really." Her face turned a little red at my praise.

I laughed. "Don't be modest."

She shrugged, "I've always loved to draw and make things. I make a lot of outfits and stuff."

"Cool! Could I see sometime?" I was genuinely interested. People who were good at art always baffled me.

"Really?" Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Sure, you can come over after school sometime."

I smiled, excited. "Sounds great."

The bell rang and the teacher told us to put our drawings on her desk so she could grade them and write down constructive criticism. I grimaced, already knowing mine was going to be covered in red marks.

Alice and I walked to our lockers together talking about various interests and found that we had a lot in common.

"So, if you don't like sports or art, what do you do with your time?" Alice asked.

"Well, I like to write and I'm okay at cooking," I admitted.

"What sort of things do you like to write?"

"Poems mostly. I write stories sometimes."

"I'd love to read some sometime if you don't mind. Like, if they're not too personal," she said, quickly.

"Sure. I mean, I'm not very good, but you can definitely read some."

"Hey, Bella!" Someone called as we reached our lockers. I glanced up to see Jacob waving at me. I smiled and waved back.

Alice sighed, "Figures."

"Why don't you like Jacob?" I was genuinely confused.

Her responding smile was filled with a sort of disgusted anger. I could tell her anger wasn't directed at me though. "It's a story for another time. I'll see you around, okay? Here, take my number and call me later if you want. Maybe we can set up a date." She quickly scrawled her phone number on a piece of paper.

"Alright, bye, I guess." I muttered, stuffing the little rip of paper in my pocket. Jacob had already made his way over to us before Alice could back away.

"Hey, Brandon." His smiled was lewd.

Her eyes narrowed and she just nodded at him before walking away with a slight stomp in her step. I saw Edward standing with Jasper off in the distance. His face was turned in my direction, but I had a feeling he wasn't looking at me. Alice grabbed Jasper's hand and patted Edward's arm gently. He flinched a little under her touch. They all took one last glance at me and then walked around the corner and out of sight.

My confusion was interrupted when Jacob leaned against the locker directly in front of my line of sight.

"How was your first day?"

"It was okay…a little scary, but good."

"That's great, Bells," he beamed and I smiled at his nickname. "Hey, you should come down to the rez with me sometime! The beach is really nice there."

"Okay. Maybe, when our dad's hang out, I can go down and see you."

"Cool. Your dad has my house number if you ever want to give me a call."

"Alright, yeah. I'll do that sometime. Well, I gotta get home. I'll see you around, Jake."

His smile turned blinding and he said a quick goodbye. I had to rush to catch my bus because of my conversation with Jacob. There were only a few seats empty and I grabbed one near the back, placing my back pack next to me. While I waited for the bus to get going, I plugged my headphones into my ears and looked out the window. I got lost in the music when I felt something touch my arm. Glancing to my right, I saw a boy with blonde hair standing in the aisle looking at me. I pulled one of the ear buds out with a little pop.

"Hi. Do you mind if I sit? All the other seats are full."

"Oh, sure." I grabbed my backpack and scooted closer to the window, placing my bag on my lap.

He took a seat next to me and did the same with his backpack. "I'm Mike Newton, by the way."

"Bella Swan."

"Yeah, I know; the chief's daughter."

"That's me," I grimaced, a little embarrassed.

"So, how do you like Forks?"

"It's okay. I haven't seen much of it yet."

He laughed, "There isn't much to see."

"I like it better than Phoenix so far. It's too hot there."

"I know what you mean. I'm originally from California." He smiled.

"Huh. I've never been. How it is there?" I had always wanted to go to California.

He jumped into a detailed description about San Francisco and what it looked like. I was interested and little jealous. It sounded amazing. While he was talking, I saw a boy with reddish hair walking down the sidewalk alone. The dim sunlight glinted off of his lip ring. Edward. My eyes narrowed as I watched him, no longer listening to Mike. His hair covered his face as usual before the wind blew it around and I saw with horror that his face was covered in dark purple bruises. A dark cut sat red and scabbed on his forehead and I felt my stomach drop, the mystery of this strange boy stirring around in my head once again.

"That's Edward Masen. Did you see his bruises?" Mike asked me, apparently noticing where my eyes were.

I nodded, hoping that maybe he knew some piece of information that could help me solve Edward's case.

"There are a bunch of rumors about him. Some people say he's in a gang."

"Are there gangs in Forks?" I gasped.

He laughed again, "No. Most of those rumors are just a bunch of hooey. Everyone says he gets into a lot of fights, but I've never seen him fight anyone…well, except maybe Jacob."

"Jacob Black? What happened?" I couldn't contain the curiosity in my voice.

Mike shrugged. "Dunno, really. All I know is that Jacob said something that really pissed him off and then he beat the shit out of him. I mean, Black's a really big guy, but Edward's really tall, so… I just never really thought he had it in him. It was an awesome fight, though. You should have seen it. It was just a normal lunch and then all of a sudden I heard this huge crash and Edward was on top of Jacob pounding his face in. It was nuts."

I was disgusted by the admiration in his voice, but I wanted him to keep talking to I contained it. "Then what happened?"

"Then the principal suspended both of them for a week. I don't really know Edward. He keeps to himself, but I was rooting for him."

"Do you not like Jacob?" I couldn't understand why people seemed to be against him. Jacob seemed like such a nice person.

"No, that's not it. It's just…well, Jacob doesn't think before he talks. He deserved a good kick in the face, if you ask me."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say. It didn't seem likely that Edward was fighting. He didn't even seem to like it when people touched him. I had a bad feeling that it was something at home. I didn't want to say anything to Mike about this. People seemed to think highly of Edward's father…a little too highly.

Mike got off the bus first and then I got off a couple stops later. I was happy to be home as I slid the key into the lock. Today had been exhausting. I headed upstairs to start my homework, wanting to get it out of the way.

My father came home a few hours later and I wanted to talk to him about Edward. I was hoping that maybe he could give me some insight into the situation. I wandered downstairs, trying to act casual as I leaned against the counter. I watched him hang up his gun and jacket and, when he turned to enter the kitchen, he seemed a little startled to see me there.

"Oh, hey, Bella. I didn't hear you come down. How was school?"

"It was good. I made friends with Alice Brandon and Jacob."

He beamed at me. "That's great, sweetheart! I'm happy you and Jacob are getting along."

"Yeah." Our conversation hit a lull, neither of us were big enthusiasts of talking and I decided that I had waited long enough to ask. "Dad?"

Charlie turned back to look at me from the refrigerator. "Hmm?"

"You know what you said in the car? About Edward Masen?"

He stiffened. "Yes, what about him?"

I tried to seem innocent with my wording. "Well, I was wondering what was so bad about him?"

My father became instantly flustered. His face darkened in color and his eyebrows drew down towards his eyes. "He's a bad kid, Bella. He gets into fights and I've caught him several times putting graffiti on school property."

"Well, Mike Newton said he's never seen him get into a fight with anyone. And he has bruises all over his face…you don't think his dad –"

Charlie was furious, "Now you listen to me! Edward Masen is a great man!" I was confused at first, thinking he was still talking about the Edward I knew. "He's a very well known lawyer that's gotten a whole bunch of people in this town out of undeserved trouble. I don't want you to ever say anything bad about him again! I mean it, Bella, or you're grounded."

I was taken aback at his hostility. "Sorry. You don't have to get so defensive. I was just asking. I'm worried about the poor kid. Did you ever think that maybe he gets into trouble for a reason?"

"Oh, he gets in trouble for a reason, alright. The boy wants attention. Didn't you see his lip ring? And his hair! That boy is a punk and I want you away from him. I mean it!"

I was done with this conversation. Pushing myself hard off of the counter I stormed up into my room and slammed the door. My father was clearly being unreasonable about this for some unfathomable reason. Why didn't he see that Edward was clearly in some sort of trouble? He seemed convinced that Edward's father was not the one giving him those injuries, but I wasn't so sure. The only thing I couldn't understand was why didn't anyone else realize what was happening? I made up my mind to talk to him tomorrow at school. I didn't care if he didn't want to talk to me; I was getting to the bottom of this, dammit! I was going to help him whether he wanted me to or not.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Love to hear from you so go ahead and click the little box below if you want. :)