CHAPTER ONE
My quiet alarm went off at 6:30, and I hit the snooze button before I stretched. Today was the first day of school… yippee…
I sighed and pushed myself up, leaning back on one arm and rubbing my eye. The rain pattered on the window, like it always did, so it wasn't a big surprise when I heard it. I slipped out of bed and walked out of my room, into the hallway. My Mom and I moved here to Forks a few months after I was born, when I could handle a long drive. We had to buy a house that was two stories tall, but with rooms on the first floor. Why, you may ask? Because I can't go up stairs, or else my heart rate will quicken, and I'll pass out. We don't know what I have, but its some diseases that no one knows about. We've been to so many doctors in my seventeen years of life, that it's a surprise none of them knew what I had.
Luckily, we know mostly how to handle my panic attacks, my seizures, hallucinations, nightmares, sensitive bones, constantly several degrees hotter then I should be, and all the things I'm deathly allergic to. Yeah, I know, it sucks to be me. I walked out into the kitchen where Mom was making the perfect breakfast for someone like me. Bacon and eggs with water.
See, along with all those problems, I also can't have any sugar, or else it'll get my blood pulsing too fast and make it too hard for my heart to handle. What happens then? It stops. Simple as that. So yeah, sugar is a no go.
I sat down at the table just as Mom set down my breakfast, smiling at me in greeting. "Morning, sweetie." She said to me.
"Mornin'," I said back as I took a bite out of my bacon. Everyone always thought of me as a weirdo since I never ate any sugar, but they don't understand that I could die from it. And you have no idea how protective Mom is about all of that. She'd go over to their house and talk to their parents, infuriated that they made me cry. Then she'd come back over, tell me everything is alright, and watch a movie with me. In fact, she wouldn't let me eat anything from school. She'd always make me a bag lunch, just in case they had any sugar in their food.
I quickly finished my food, and got ready for school. I put on a black tank top that had a penguin on it in blue, along with some normal dark blue shorts. I grabbed my backpack, my lunch, and walked with Mom over to her Honda. Even though I was seventeen, I wasn't aloud to drive, because Mom didn't want me to have a panic attack while I was driving.
I looked out the window as we drove through the rain, resting my head in my hand. I was really tired of the rain, but we had to move here. We used to live in California, and it did nothing but make me even hotter. I remember that everyday after school I would lay in a bath of ice water. Heck, I still do that…
Mom stopped the car in front of the Forks' high school. Only a few people looked at the car strangely, mainly because I wasn't driving it. Mom gave me a hug good luck before I stepped out of the car, getting my backpack from the trunk of the car. Again, I got strange looks because of my attire, but I paid no attention to it.
The people that I went to school with the last few years kept away from me, and I kept my head down. They all think that my disease is contagious, but I was born with it. Of course, no one listens to me…
Almost everyone was murmuring, some about me and the rumors that spread, others about something else. I paid most attention to those conversations.
"There's a new family here…"
"The dad's a doctor…" Psh, I lost hope in doctors a long time ago…
"They're all so gorgeous…!" Apparently there were two girls and three guys, and were like models. The girls swooned when they even talked about the three boys, and the guys well, talked dirty things about the girls. I was probably the only one in this school that wasn't doing either. It's because I can't get close to anyone. Not that anyone wanted to get close to me though. I didn't want to risk anyone's health, or worse, their life, like mine pretty much is. Everyday I'm surprised that I wake up to see my room, and not puffy clouds…
School passed by like the same last year. I always had the farthest seat from everyone, a precaution that the teachers always took. In Gym, I sat on the bleachers, watching everyone else play volleyball. I wasn't aloud to play, because it would get my heart beating too fast. So I had to watch them play for a whole hour. And I have yet to see the new students everyone's talking about.
I walked to my next class, what class it was I didn't know. I never really paid attention to where I was going; my legs just moved on their own. I stepped into class, and I instantly felt hotter from the heater inside. I held in a groan of irritation as I walked in the back to one of the tables in the corners. I looked around, and saw that each table had two seats, so this must be… Trig…? No, no, Biology! Great… I hate Biology!
I sighed and slumped back in my seat. In Biology, we were assigned partners, but me, I never had a partner. But because of that, Mr. Stuart would go 'easy' on me and make my homework a little easier then the others. That made them all angry at me, because they thought I was slacking off.
I set my backpack down on the seat beside me, seeing as all it would do here is collect dust, and sighed. I stared at the faces the showed up each time someone walked through the door, hoping to see one I didn't recognize.
John…
Nicky…
Alexandria…
Mary…
Aidan…
Susanna…
And that's when I saw them. Two of them. The boy had honey like hair, and towered over the girl next to him. She had spiky black hair, and yet she looked mature, though she was so small. Both of them had shadows under their eyes, like they never slept. They were breathtakingly beautiful.
Unfortunately for me… that saying was literal…
I heard it before I felt it. That one mistaken breath sent my heart in a frenzy, pulsing blood quickly through my veins. I could feel my heart beat, so hard it felt like it would burst out of my chest. I started breathing quickly, in sync with how fast my heart was going. Hastily, I pulled my backpack into my lap and ripped it open. I grabbed the paper bag that held my lunch, and dumped it all on the desk. Once it was empty, I put it around my mouth so I breathed into it. Eventually, my breathing slowed along with my heart beat, and I felt as if I had run a marathon. Though I couldn't, of course.
I coughed, feeling my chest burn more then the rest of my body was already, and felt the sweat fall down my face. Only three people were looking at me. Mr. Banner, and the two gorgeous people that entered the room. I didn't glance at their faces, in fear of having another episode. I laid my head on the cold table, and sighed as it cooled my forehead down, if only slightly.
"Ms. Swan, do you need to go to the nurse?" Mr. Stuart said, his voice closer then before.
"No, no…" I said and coughed again, rubbing my sore throat. "I-I'll be alright… It was nothing…" He stared at me for a moment before walking back to his desk and starting class. He had the two new students introduce themselves, to which I only listened to, not watch. Apparently the boy was Jasper Hale, and the girl was Alice Cullen. They took the seats on the other side of the room, at the empty table.
I slowly put my lunch back into my bag, not looking over at their table throughout the whole class. I didn't want to look at them, I didn't want to have another episode in here. Throughout the whole class, they kept giving me strange looks and murmuring to each other, making me feel self conscious. Great…I thought with a sigh. Guess the other students told them how much of a freak I am…
Right when the bell rang, I stood up as quickly as I could without making my heart go crazy again, and walked out of the door into the moist air. I sighed in relief, feeling the cold air hit my sweaty and hot face. I leaned against the structure of the building, feeling the cold touch of the wall touch my skin. It felt so good…
Someone accidentally bumped into me, and I ended up falling down onto the ground. He pretty much flipped out, jumping back and wiping at his shoulder. "AH! I touched her! I touched her!!" He screamed, a look of disgust on his face as he looked at me. "Don't touch me! I don't want to get your sick disease!" He yelled at me before he ran off. He didn't even acknowledge that I was the victim here. I'm the one who has to deal with everyone thinking they'll get my disease, when it isn't contagious. I didn't realize it until I felt my arms were wet that I was sobbing, and I wiped at my eyes, controlling my breathing so my heart wouldn't accelerate. I got on my hand and knees and started to pick up my things that fell from my backpack, still sobbing. No one bothered to help, afraid that they would get my sick disease. I wish it was contagious! They deserve to have this curse like I did! I wiped my eyes again and stood up from the ground, feeling my knees burn. I ignored it as I walked to lunch, limping as I walked there. I went to my personally assigned table in the back, sitting down and starting to cry again silently.
"Their just jerks!" I muttered as I took out my lunch. A salad with tomatoes. "They don't get that this isn't a contagious d-disease!" I gasped, and quickly took control of my breathing again. "I-I hope they all b-burn! T-they deserve to h-have this disease! They're all i-idiots!" I didn't notice that I was squeezing the table until I felt my skin threatening to cut open. I pulled away and stabbed my salad, gritting my teeth. No one understands, no one understands the pain I feel everyday, all day.
When school ended, I sat on the curb, waiting for Mom to pick me up. I leaned forward, my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. I stared at my scraped up knees absent mindedly, thinking about what that guy had said.
Maybe I should be home schooled for now on? Or just drop out of school and live in the forest next to Forks? I shook my head when I saw Mom's car come into view, standing up.
Don't deal with this right now… I thought in my head as I got into the car. Now is not the time to think these thoughts… it'll break Mom's heart… But, she didn't know how much this was breaking my heart, to be shunned like I had leprosy. It was tearing my sanity apart. Is there anyone out there that can help me with this? To take the pain away…?