This was going to be better than middle school! High school, I reveled. Just imagine the fun it's going to be. I'll actually be able to kiss Edward! I sighed at the thought. Edward looked at me out of the corner of his eye. Rose and Jasper, who were some of my best friends and neighbors, and Emmett(,) were behind us, and Alice skipped along beside me. I imagined what it would feel like to have Edward's soft, beautiful lips on mine, and it caused my face to heat up with a mix of pleasure and embarrassment at the thought. I shivered, and Edward's arm tightened around my waist.

The school was just around the corner, and my heart thumped in my chest in excitement. It would be the time of our lives. I bit my lip, and Alice took my hand, squeezing it gently. "Bella, high school isn't as great as you think it is. I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen. I'm not sure what, I can't see that far, but please, think about what's important to you." Edward. You, Alice. Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, despite it all. Charlie, Renee, Angela. Carlisle and Esme. Raskell, Apple, everything. There are tons of things that are important to me. But the most, even more so than my own soul, is Edward.

I almost heard Edward roll his eyes as he tugged me closer, pushing me in front of him so I was out of Alice's reach. I looked back at her, her face an angry red, ready to spew her feelings toward him, but Jasper's calming, reassuring presence restrained her from doing so in just the action of putting his milky hand on her shoulder. Her face went back to its creamy pallor, and she trained her golden eyes on his, a dreamy expression flashing in them.

Then it was gone, and Alice was skipping ahead to make sure she was the first one there. Jasper laughed, attempting to chase after her, but Rose pushed him aside, giggling as she leaped her way to Alice's side. Each of them was so graceful that my heart thumped with chagrin. Why couldn't I be like that, able to look graceful just by taking a small step. Both Cullen's and both Hale's had a graceful air to them, whilst I was left with the leftover clumsiness that none of them seemed to possess.

"I'll race you," Edward whispered in my ear. He didn't even realize how my heart thumped and I had to urge to push him in the closet, forget about the day, and kiss him senseless. He didn't realize how his every word dripped with seduction. He didn't mean to - he wasn't trying, I knew that. But just his voice was seductive, and had me holding back my suppressed sexual side. I giggled, clapping a hand over my mouth to stop it from getting out of…hand…when Edward ripped it away, his honey eyes sparkling with something I didn't recognize.

"What are you doing?" he said indignantly, with a hint of teasing in it. I licked my dry lips just by looking at his flawless face, and my cheeks burned with the embarrassment of it all. "I want to hear your laugh. Don't suppress it!" Again with the suppression! I grumbled and he laughed as he dragged me along. Emmett's loud, obnoxious laugh followed behind, and soon it was in front of us. Edward may be the quickest runner I had ever known, but trying to get me to run without tripping wasn't enough to save him. Emmett and Jasper quickly overtook him and him and me were the last to see the school grounds.

Edward sighed in defeat as we greeted the grinning faces of our winning friends. The school was big, with students milling around outside. My eyes narrowed reflexively, instinctively at the sight of such a huge place, and I cringed into Edward's side. He laughed again, oh how I loved his laugh, and towed me along to the entrance of Seattle High School.

x// Break x//

One more class to go before this day is over. It was all right, not at all as bad as Alice made it out to be. Rosalie told her so at lunch but all she said was, "We shall see." Who says that? I grumbled, turning to corner to head down the stairs. Little did I know my shoe was untied, and add that to my klutziness, I ended up sprawled at the bottom of the flight of stairs, thanking God I hadn't broken my neck. Unfortunately, a dirty blonde stood above me, smirking down at me. She got on her knees to pick up my things as I tied my shoes to keep myself from the sequel. There was no way I would be able to survive it again with my luck.

I stood, as did she, and she handed me my books. "Thanks," I muttered, shuffling away before I could make an even bigger fool of myself. I could feel the red hot heat in my cheeks, feel it burn it's way through my neck and forehead, making me red as Santa Klaus's suit.

"Wait!" she called, jogging down the stairs with the grace that I didn't possess. Why did everybody have that except me? She easily kept stride with me, slinging her arm over my shoulder as if we were good friends. "Hey, my name's Jenna, Jenna Harlington. What's yours?"

"Bella Swan," I said quietly, keeping my eyes on my feet, hoping that my dark brown hair hid every sliver of my flushed skin. She laughed. She could obviously see it. My sneakers squeaked softly on the shining linoleum as we passed through the crowded halls unnoticed. Or so I thought. Quite a few guys peeked at Jenna out of the corners of their eyes with curiosity. Most likely for me. What was a beautiful girl other than Rosalie, who had aroused boys since age eleven, doing with a plain Jane like me?

"Well, Bella, you're a bit of a klutz. I'd say we have that in common, but that'd be a lie," she said, laughing again. It didn't seem to bother her that people were now definitely staring at the two of us. "So, which middle school are you from?"

"Forks," I replied. The bell rang again, signaling the final bell, and I reached my last class, History. Jenna followed me in, and led me to a desk.

"Cool. I'm a Sophomore from Portland. Nice to meet you, Swan," she said as if we were good friends again. "Here's my number. Give me a call whenever and I'll see you later!" She took out a hot pink business-like card, set it on my desk and pranced away. On it was her cell number, her home phone, and her email address. I stuffed it in my pocket, sure it was a joke, until I heard the whispers.

"Oh my God, did you see that?" someone whispered. "Jenna Harlington gave that girl her number!" A quiet squeal. "Wow, that girl must be special. Jenna never gives out her number unless she likes what she sees. I wonder what that one must have?" I blushed deeply, trying to ignore the whispers about me. A Sophomore? A popular Sophomore? I sunk deeper into my chair.

I couldn't wait to tell Edward!

x// Break x//

I squealed seeing my Adonis waiting for me in front of school. I heard quite a few mumbles of surprise, but all I saw was Edward. Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper were behind him, talking amongst themselves quietly. I jumped into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist as I hugged him. He was still so much larger, and he laughed as he wrapped his arms around my waist, burying his face in my neck.

"Hello there," he whispered in my ear. I sighed in contentment. He set me down gently, looking into my eyes. I stared into his tawny eyes. I smiled wider, tilting my head. He kissed my cheek before I felt a hand on my arm.

"Bella!" It was Jenna. "Who's this?" I swallowed, losing my voice in front of the many people that were now listening. There was something hidden in her voice that I couldn't define. I ignored it. What I couldn't ignore were the stares boring into my face, my back, my everything. Jenna's friends stood behind her, cocking their heads curiously.

"T-this, this is Edward. M-my-m-my b-b-boyfriend," I stuttered. I felt her hand tighten on my arms, her creamy tan skin turning whiter with the strength of her grip. I bit my lip to keep myself from voicing the pain it was causing me. Suddenly, her hand was gone and her arm was around my shoulder again.

"Edward. I'm Jenna. Who're these people?" she greeted, waving her free hand toward Rose, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper, who was watching us with intensity. Rose and Alice got up to stand, Jasper and Emmett, groaning as they were forced up. Alice skipped forward, just like her pixie self. Jenna stuck her chin out, but held out her hand as Alice did the same.

"I'm Alice Cullen. I'm Edward's brother. The big one is Bella's brother, Emmett, and the blonde female beside him is Rosalie Hale. The blonde male is her twin, Jasper. It's nice to meet you, Jenna. I saw you coming." I groaned internally. Alice never should have said that. Jenna's eyes had wandered around my group of friends, her eyes lingering on Rosalie and Emmett. Rose had smiled and Emmett and tightened his arm around her waist. But the moment Alice had said she'd seen Jenna coming, her muddy green eyes had flashed back to the little girl's face, narrowing slightly with suspicion.

"What do you mean you saw her coming?" someone behind her asked. A redhead dashed forward to stand beside Jenna, her waves bouncing as she did so. I looked behind me, realizing that every single one of them was beautiful. I would never fit in, even if Jenna saw something in me.

Alice smiled, her white teeth sparkling. "It's really hard to explain. Sometimes I just…guess things. I sense something is going to happen. It's nothing," she said, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly, as if sensing the future was no big deal. "Usually it comes true, but it's very…picky. I can't depend on it. And it changes all the time." I saw Edward smack his hand to his forehead in embarrassment out of the corner of my eye. Jenna's eyebrows raised and she smiled grudgingly.

"That's-that's interesting," she said. "Umm, well Bella, I see you're busy with your friends. I guess I should go. Give me a call later!" She kissed my cheek and I watched the redhead's eyes narrow. She tried to link arms with Jenna, as if she did it all the time, but Jenna shrugged out of her arm as she walked away. I watched as the group left, and I saw the glare that the redhead sent my way.

I held my arms out for Edward, who quickly enveloped me in a hug. "I guess I don't really need to tell you about my day. The only exciting thing that happened as I met Jenna, a popular Sophomore who gave me her home number, her cell number, and her email address." He kissed my forehead, a smile playing on his lips.

"That's OK," he whispered into my forehead, his hot breath blowing across my pale skin, sending a tingling feeling across my face, neck, and shoulders. He laughed, letting me go, but keeping an arm around my shoulder. "You know, I think I'm gonna like high school," he said as a herd of girls passed by giggling. "Lot of cute girls." He looked at me, grinning as my anger flared. "I think I just saw the prettiest one."

I pushed his arm away, stomping off. I heard him, my brother, and Jasper laughing uproariously behind me, but I ignored them, my hands clenched into tight little balls. Suddenly I felt his hand on my arm but I slapped it away. "Oh come on, Bella," he teased. "You have to admit, there are tons of pretty girls traipsing around out here." He gestured to another cluster of girls, who were pointing at Emmett admiringly. "But one stands out." I turned on him glaring.

"You know, you have a girlfriend," I growled, shooting daggers at him. He grinned his perfect crooked smile, and I was stunned for a second. "You should think about what you say." He rolled his eyes, taking my shoulders in his hands.

"Bella, you're the one that stands out," he whispered. "You're the prettiest one of them all." Annoyance kicked in. He could've told me that before I had glared at him. Why did he have to be so cryptic? "I don't know what a pretty girl like you is doing with an ass like me." This time I rolled my eyes.

I looked into his perfect eyes and I said the total truth. "Edward, is it so hard to believe that you are the nicest, sweetest, most caring, beautiful, perfect person on the planet? That without you, I am nothing at all?" He nodded, his eyebrows raised as if he was daring me to challenge him. Well, I did. "If anybody doesn't deserve the other, it's me not deserving you. You are the kindest, most beautiful soul around, so pure, that I don't know if I'll be able to live up to Carlisle and Esme's expectations for you. You deserve much better than a plain Jane-girl nobody like me."

"Now who's being silly?" he grunted, turning away like a child. I sighed in annoyance. If he was going to be like that, whatever. That was his decision. I continued walking away. I had homework, and then I wanted to call Jenna to see if she was actually serious. Alice jogged up beside me, Rosalie trailing behind her. We began walking home, much to Jasper's, Edward's and Emmett's dismay.

Alice linked her arm with mine on my left side, and Rosalie did the same on my other side. "Hey Bella, I'm mad at Jasper for laughing at you, so I want to come to your house. Can I?" Rose asked, smiling brightly. Her blue eyes glimmered in the grayness of Forks, Washington.

"Yeah, me too. Edward's being a jackass. I don't want to hang out with him," she said, grimacing. I nodded, laughing. I was glad I had these two to back me up when Edward, Emmett, and Jasper aggravated me.

"Of course you can! Charlie and Natasha told you you're always welcome!" I laughed. I heard pounding footsteps behind me, and I was about to turn around to tell him to go away but Alice beat me to the punch.

"Jasper, Edward! GO away. We don't want you here. We're mad at you. The next time you want to hang out, maybe you should think about how you're laughs are going to be perceived. So disappear and we'll think about forgiving you while we're at Bella's house. And Emmett, you better stay two yards behind us or I'll kick your butt." I could see my monster brother raising his eyes. "With stilettos on." Jasper - I was almost positive - gulped at that prospect. Alice turned back around and sped up, moving her tiny self faster than both Rose and I could achieve. Alice amazed me in so many ways.

"Goodbye boys!" Rose called behind her, holding in her laughter. I practically choked myself, holding it in, and Alice was no better. There were no footsteps behind us. They were shocked and silent and immobile. We turned a corner and burst out laughing.

"I never thought I'd see the day that Bella Swan rejected Edward Cullen," Rosalie chuckled. I hit her arm playfully, since we had dropped our linked arms in out fit of laughter. "I never thought I'd see the day that I, Rosalie Hale, turned down Emmett Swan, either." That sent her into another spasm of giggles, which sent Alice and I tumbling down beside her.

"We have to get home. Natasha and Charlie are probably wondering where Emmett and me are," I said, placing a hand over my mouth.

Natasha was my father, Charlie's, new wife. My mother lived down the street from us, with her fiancé, Phil, but Charlie had begged my mother to let him keep me, so I visited my mother when I couldn't stand to be around my new, blonde, step-mom and her blonde brat-of-a-child daughter, Ryan. Ryan was a Sophomore, and, like Cinderella, hated my guts with a passion. She absolutely loved Emmett, probably because Jasper and Edward were the "hottest guys known to man". She was constantly trying to steal Edward and Jasper away from Alice and I.

She was beautiful, Ryan was. She had wavy blonde hair that reached slightly past her shoulders and bounced when she jumped or ran. Her eyes were stunning blue, much to my dismay. It was obvious why she thought Edward deserved better than me. She was beautiful while I was not. I had boring brown hair and boring brown eyes that sometimes looked like a sick green in the sunlight. She was the definition of beautiful, blonde, cheerleader, Barbie, beach doll. I was the epitome of boring and plain. It was a wonder why Edward had been with me for two years.

Natasha, my evil step mom, was honey blonde and drop dead gorgeous as well. It was a wonder my father had landed such a beautiful women as her. Scratch that. Forget I said anything. Charlie was great. I loved my dad.

Natasha had come into mine and Emmett's life a year ago, when I was in eighth grade. Charlie hadn't told us about her and Ryan until the wedding was due in a month. We had been furious. How could he keep something like that from us? He explained that he hadn't wanted to upset us, didn't want to drag us into his personal life. Thought it might have made us unhappy. We had forgiven him, though we were still grudging that he'd kept it from us. So, my swimsuit model "mom" had moved in with her evil daughter and it was supposed to end in a "happily ever after", like all fairytales do.

WRONG.

Emmett and I had thought Natasha was great when we met her. Nice, funny, loving. The perfect person for my nice, funny, loving dad. But then she moved in, with Ryan, and my dad was blown away by her wonderful cleaning and cooking skills. He didn't need me anymore. And then he was swept off to work from morning 'til night, and Natasha showed her true colors. He wouldn't be there in the morning, when I woke up, so I was left to the wrath of Medusa herself, and he wasn't there when I went to bed, once again, (I was) forced to deal with her again. I used to go to school crying because of the way she treated us. Emmett was too manly to mind, or so I thought. Until I caught him throwing things around in his room, crying himself. That was the day we had finally realized something.

We were alone.

I heard a car turn around the corner, and all three of us turned to see who it was, though I had a pretty good clue. And I was correct.

Ryan came around the corner in white BMW; in the passenger seat, her Senior fellow cheerleader driving. Just perfect. Though Ryan and her friends didn't hold a candle to Rose or Alice, I didn't hold a candle to them, and just being around them made me feel worthless, which was their goal. Ryan laughed, throwing a wadded up piece of paper at me. Rose caught it with her French manicured hand, glaring daggers at my bitch step-sister and Anna Sutherland, head cheerleader of Forks, Seattle, Port Angeles - and any other surrounding city/town in the area - high school.

Anna and Ryan flipped us off, still laughing, and were gone around the other corner. Toward home. I groaned, knowing I had to deal with them once I walked in the door. "Are you sure you don't want to bail out, you guys?" I said, praying that they would come, even if it was just to back me up.

"Positive. Here's your letter," Rose said, handing me the ball of lined paper. From my diary. I growled, gritting my teeth, digging my nails into my palms. I snatched the offensive piece of paper out of her hand, and smoothed it out.

[SARAH] BELLA; PLAIN AND [TALL] SMALL

Sarah and tall were crossed out purposefully and written in bolder letter, with Bella and small. I heard Alice snap her teeth together at the word 'small.' It was the worst insult imaginable to her, being the itsy bitsy girl she was.

By this time, we had reached the door to my house. I gulped, kind of wishing that Emmett was here to help me out. Sure, I had Rose and Alice, the best girls for the job, but Emmett scared both girls out of their minds. He was always the best for the job, no matter what.

"Hello!" I called, kicking my shoes off and motioning for Alice and Rose to do the same. I heard high heals clicking on the hard wood floor. Then Natasha was around the corner glaring me down, until she realized that people were with me.

"Alice, Rosalie! What a surprise!" she greeted brightly. Her high-pitched voice squeaked out through the hallway as she rushed forward to give them a hug. I waited impatiently for Natasha to go away. All I really wanted to do was go upstairs and take out my guitar and work on my music. But before I could do that, I had to finish my homework, and before I could do that, I had to be "dismissed" by Natasha.

"How are you girls?" she asked. I groaned internally. She was doing this on purpose, I was sure.

"We're fine, Ms. Donald," Alice said politely, tucking her hands into her Marc Jacobs coat pockets. Rosalie smiled and nodded, and I would bet all the money in my college account that she wanted to shove Natasha and make a run for it.

Natasha's perfect teeth flashed as she smiled. I felt my stomach churn in disgust. "That's wonderful, dear. I'll send some cookies up, OK?" Rose and Alice nodded eagerly. If Natasha was good for anything, it was baking cookies. Even I could admit that; (,) not that I got many of them. But she adored Rose and Alice - they were the daughters she wished she'd acquired.

I bounded up the stairs, my two friends close behind. No sooner had we entered through my bedroom door that Anna and Ryan burst through. I groaned loudly now, and I could feel the heat radiating out of Alice's body in anger.

"Hey, chickitas," Anna said, flopping down on my bed, smiling tauntingly. I growled, my eyes narrowing. This was so unfair! Ryan perched at the end of it, right beside Anna's head. "Where're your 'boyfriends'?" Rose rolled her eyes.

Rose smirked, answering, "Not here, thankfully. What do you want?" She had no problem being rude - she could. She had the looks for it. I'm sure Alice could pull it off too. But not me. Definitely not me. I wasn't pretty enough and I knew it. I would be a social outcast if I was ever rude and bitchy to Anna Sutherland, head of the cheerleading squad.

Ryan placed a hand over her heart. "I'm shocked, Rosalie. All I wanted was to know how your guys' first day went at the high school. Is that so wrong of me?" she said, feigning innocence. I rolled my eyes. Something was up - I knew it.

Alice grinned, nudging my back, motioning for me to speak. I wracked my brain for an inkling of what could possibly be good to tell Ryan. My mind came up blank. She sighed in impatience, eying my pocket meaningfully. I checked the pocket; my hand ran over a stiff piece of paper. Jenna's phone card.

Intuition washed over me like rain, and I grinned back. "Nothing really," I said nonchalantly, though I was laughing on the inside. "I was walking to History, my last class, when Jenna Harlington struck up a conversation with me. Do you know who that is?" Ryan's eyes had bugged out at the mention of Jenna. She was obviously quite a Sophomore.

"Jenna? Jenna Harlington? And you?" she choked out, shocked. Anna narrowed her eyes in suspicion. I nodded.

"Yeah, that's the one. She gave me her number and everything. I made quite the impression, I'd say," I said, digging the hot pink card out of my pocket, handing it off to my evil step-sister. "She told me to call her. What's so special about Jenna?" I cocked my head innocently, feigning ignorance. I knew exactly what was so special about Jenna.

Anna cleared her throat, trying to redirect the attention back to her. "Jenna's captain of the Junior Varsity soccer team. Nothing important; she's popular, I guess," she said, shrugging as if it meant nothing. But something was burning behind her eyes. Anger? Jealousy, maybe? Maybe Jenna had rejected Anna's offer into her "in crowd".

Rose butted her thumb toward the door. "Out, we don't want you here," she said bluntly, going over to Ryan and pushing her towards the hallway. "We're busy. We don't need fleas in our hair too." Once Anna and Ryan were out in the hall, indignant, Rosalie flopped onto the bed with her backpack.

"I can't believe they gave us homework on the first day of school!" Alice complained, while my beautiful blonde friend silently took her homework out and began working on it. "Ugh," she groaned, taking her homework out as well. I dumped my stuff on the floor and took out my algebra homework. I began working on the stupid equations, grumbling lowly. Stupid review, stupid math, stupid everything.

After an hour, I was finally finished with the horrible equations and other various homework assignments. Math was the worst. But soon enough, all homework was done, and Alice and Rosalie were on my bed throwing popcorn at each other while I was carefully taking my guitar out of it's case. I sat in my computer chair at my desk, strumming thoughtfully at the strings.

Inspiration hit me like a wrecking ball. I began playing a tune, and was just about to start singing…

"Bella, someone's here to see you!" Natasha yelled through the door. I groaned. The inspiration would be gone when I got back. I got up, gently placing my black guitar on my seat and walking out the door. I leaped down the stairs, and there in the hallway was Edward. I knew I was supposed to be mad at him for one, interrupting me, and two, for what happened at school, but I giggled and ran straight into his arms.

Edward put me down after a couple seconds, laughing. "I thought I would get the cold shoulder!" he said. He trapped my face with his hands, his scorching dark gold eyes staring into mine. This was it. Our first kiss! It had to be, because he was leaning down, his eyes closing. I closed my eyes as well, waiting for his soft lips to press into mine. I could feel his breath, so intoxicating. I was ready for this.

"Edward! Nice to see you again!" Ryan said. I looked up, aggravated. Of course Ryan would ruin my perfect moment. She was at the bottom of the stairs, smiling at us. Something was burning under that smile. I hated that evil, beautiful smile. She began walking toward us, a graceful swing of her hips. Edward let go of me in embarrassment, his cheeks a sexy pink.

"Ryan, I didn't realize you were here," he mumbled, looking at his toes. I ground my teeth together, biting my tongue from lashing out at me step-sister. Everybody else had nice sisters. Edward, Jasper, Angela. Why was I stuck with the generic, Cinderella step-sister? Things like that weren't supposed to happen! That stuff was supposed to be made up for fairytales. That wasn't the way of the world.

But no. Ryan was really there, and she was really my evil step-sister, and behind her stood Anna, and they were both talking to Edward, my boyfriend. So I stood there, feeling incredibly stupid and out of place, as my beautiful step-sister and her beautiful senior best friend and my amazingly gorgeous boyfriend chatted and laughed.

I sighed. "Uh, Edward? I'll catch you later. Alice and Rose are upstairs," I said glumly. I made my way up the stairs, my feet dragging. I wasn't expecting the hand on my shoulder. I was spun around, face to face with Edward Cullen.

"I want to finish what we started," he whispered. And then his lips were pressed to mine in an amazing way. I always knew our first kiss would be together. And here it was, the best moment of my life, his hand on my waist and the other on my neck, holding my head to his. He broke away, dropping the hand on my neck, his eyes sparkled excitedly, but he didn't remove his other hand. He stared into my eyes with an intensity I hadn't thought him capable of.

And then he was gone, and I was standing alone in the hallway. I heard him say goodbye to Ryan and Anna, the door close, and his footsteps as he walked out and down the street. I was frozen. My left hand flew up to my lips. Had that really happened? I felt like melting.

My first kiss. With Edward. I sighed wistfully, and made my way back to my room.