Chapter 2 – Not In Kansas Anymore
Kayce woke up the next morning bleary-eyed and wishing she was staying home. At least she had clean laundry. Today was the first day arriving at a new school and that was very stressful for a 16-year-old girl. Kayce really didn't care if everyone liked her or not, but she wanted to at least make one friend. She got up and stretched her stiff muscles out, resembling a cat.
Kayce made her way in the shower letting her bathroom get all humid and steamy. She stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel, wiping the mirror with her hand so she could see her reflection staring back at her. Once her hair had been blow dried and her teeth were gleaming, she dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue silk blouse with cap sleeves. She stepped into a pair of eight-hole Doc Marten boots and then tied them. Kayce pulled on a black floor length down coat and grabbed her book bag. She headed downstairs and her mother started speaking to her, "Honey, I can drop you off at school this morning. I don't want you to walk in this downpour." Kayce smiled at her mother. "Okay, that sounds good."
They both pulled their hoods over their heads to keep their hair dry and rushed for their H3 SUV. Kayce had pulled the door open and used the running board to hoist herself up inside the car. She put the key in the ignition, turning it, and the car's engine turned over and roared to life. After warming up the engine, they backed out of their driveway and drove through town toward the local high school.
Once they pulled into the lot, Kayce and her mom both exited the H3 and hurriedly walked into the school's office. "Hi, I am Mrs. Evans; I called you last week and made arrangements for my daughter, Kayce, to attend here." Kayce sat in a chair and waited while her mother and the secretary had finished their business. She looked out of the window, right behind the secretary, and saw a parade of cars arriving for the school day. She also noticed that some of the cars, which were old clunkers, had slowed down enough to check out the H3 sitting in front of the school office.
The secretary had given her a schedule and then shook hands with Kayce's mother. They both left the warmth of the office and headed back toward the car, ducking from the rain. Her mother's cell phone rang out loudly. Her mom pulled her cell to her ear, "Hi honey, how are you? Oh...you are?" Kayce's mom turned her body around and saw her husband pulling in the lot toward them driving a new Mustang. Kayce's mouth dropped open and she was so excited. "Dad, when did you get this?"
"Just a few minutes ago." He smiled at his daughter and wife. Kayce's mom handed over the keys to the H3 and said. "Dive carefully."
Kayce was blown away. "Mom, you knew about this?" Her mother nodded her head and then hugged Kayce tightly. The bell rang out, warning that class would be starting soon. After bidding her parents an enthusiastic goodbye, Kayce got into the H3 and backed out of the staff lot and pulled around to the student lot. She then got out and hit the locks. She had no time to admire her new (new to her) vehicle. Kayce ran to quickly get out of the storm.
She was, of course, the center of attention as she walked inside. She met every eye with a kind smile. Kayce had looked at her schedule and saw that her first class of the day was US history. She walked to the building that housed her classroom, but instead of finding one hallway it forked off in two separate directions. She had taken the left fork, found her classroom and opened the door after taking a deep cleansing breath.
All heads turned in her direction and eyes were boring into her like laser beams. She walked up the center of the room, in between the desks, and headed toward the male teacher. He was wearing faded blue jeans, cowboy boots and a polo shirt. His prematurely graying hair was cropped short and he had a neatly trimmed beard and mustache. He took her schedule and read her name, and then signed the form. "Hello Khaki. It is nice to have you in my class."
"Oh crap; I can see where this is going", Kayce thought. Since she was in kindergarten, every teacher had mispronounced her name. "Everyone calls me that." She was internally berating her mother and father for spelling her name like that. She was not looking forward to having this happen in every class. "My name is Kay-cee, not khaki."
"My mistake...Kayce. I apologize. Please take the empty seat near the back of the room. I will make sure you get your book before class is over." He gestured toward the empty desk for her to occupy.
Kayce walked over to the empty desk, meeting every person's gaze. She wasn't the type to want to melt into the background. She was confident in who she is. Some smiled at her and others just stared, either open-mouthed or with a full on glare. Kayce made sure to smile back at every person.
Her teacher had started a lecture on the early settlers, and how difficult the journey to America had been and the struggles they went through to create a life in a foreign land. The lecture was quite interesting, despite being a high school history class.
Kayce was getting extremely warm and she peeled off her down coat. That single movement caught the attention of just about the whole class. She had pulled out her notebook and a pen and started doodling. She had been drawing pairs of eyes all over the paper. The fictitious Edward Cullen had been on her mind. Soon, she started to really notice people's eyes, gazing deeply, analyzing them. There were browns, grays, greens, and baby blues, but none had the liquid topaz eyes that her "fictitious boyfriend" had possessed.
When the bell rang she stood and donned her jacket again. Her teacher had approached her and handed Kayce her history book. "Thank you," Kayce said.
He smiled at her. "You are very welcome" and he walked back up to the front of room and started writing on the blackboard. Kayce quickly made her exit, wanting to avoid that screeching "nails-to-chalkboard" sound that chalk sometimes gets on a blackboard.
Kayce was headed to her next class receiving more stares from her classmates. In the next few classes she recognized faces, but none more than one face. This girl's name, she found out, was April. She was just about perfect in every way physically. She had long flowing corn silk hair, gorgeous long slender legs, golden skin, and ice blue eyes. She was the type of girl who you would see on the cover of a magazine or displayed on a billboard. Her friends were girls that looked eerily similar, but they never could quite attain her status of beauty. They were all waspish and glared in Kayce's direction. She smiled at them as if they never glared at all.
Kayce was the new girl, someone traipsing on their territory. She didn't know a single soul in this new school, yet...here they were, reacting to her, as if she were going to steal the quarterback of the football team away from April. April was used to being the center of attention here and Kayce's arrival had thrown a major wrench into the social order.
In the middle of class, April, who was sitting next to Kayce, started speaking. "If I were you, I would pay attention to who runs this school." Kayce didn't like threats, especially from social climbing, insecure, bitchy, cheerleader-types. She didn't think she warranted a warning, she didn't even show an interest in any of the male population...yet.
Before she could come up with a cool come back, she started to feel dizzy and disoriented. Kayce was getting a headrush, the kind you get when you stand up too quickly, but she hadn't moved. April started speaking again and it was coming out in a mishmash of sounds. Soon, all the voices in the classroom were cacophonous to Kayce. She heard her name being called out, it was grating and the dizziness was getting exponentially greater. She closed her eyes to keep the room from spinning, gripping on to her desk. She felt like she may blackout. All Kayce could think of doing was to scream out at the irksome voice, whom she thought to be April, "Shut up bitch."
All sound stopped from there. You could hear a pin drop. Sharp intake of breath was heard throughout the class from awe stricken students. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was her teacher who had spoken to her. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me," Kayce spluttered out.
Mrs. Smith, her teacher, said, "Kayce, you look a little green, are you feeling well? Please, step outside for some fresh air and don't come back until your temper is in check." Her teacher looked annoyed...and very rightly so. Kayce's cheeks flushed a raspberry color.
Embarrassed and still lightheaded, Kayce grabbed her coat and put it on. She grabbed her book bag that was already filled and stepped outside into the downpour. She tilted her head up toward the melancholy sky. The cool drops of rain felt good as it pelted her face. The air smelled of fresh rainfall and pine, it was helping clear the fog that had entered her brain. That strange feeling she had in the class had mostly gone away. The dizziness was still there, but not quite as debilitating as before. She took a couple more deep cleansing breaths and stepped to the door of her classroom.
Her hand gripped the doorknob of the slate blue door and she turned it, pulling the door open. As Kayce stepped back in the room, everything went black. Her head throbbed and her pulse quickened. She felt her body lurch sideways a little. When her vision cleared, she was stooped over in the doorway of a classroom, but it wasn't her classroom. Everyone inside looked different, the teacher was different too; this one had short curly blond hair that was graying, where as her other teacher, Mrs. Smith, had medium length brown hair. Kayce looked at the door and it was painted red. Physically, she felt fine, but she had no idea where she was.
Kayce felt two warm hands grip her shoulders. "Hey, are you alright?" Kayce most certainly did not feel alright. She had no idea where the hell she was. "I'm okay. Thank you," was all she could think of saying.
"Let me help you to the nurse." The girl started walking Kayce toward the building in the back of the school. "My name is Angela, Angela Webber. You must be new here." Kayce had heard that name before, but couldn't remember where she heard it.
"Yes, I am new here." What else was she going to say, I almost blacked out and now I am somewhere entirely different than where I was before! She was trying to keep in control. "My name is Kayce Evans" she said breathlessly. They walked in a comfortable silence the rest of the way to the nurse's office. Angela was gripping Kayce's arm to help keep her upright.
Kayce kept looking around and nothing looked at all similar to where she had been before she had almost blacked out. When they reached the office, Angela opened the door and started speaking to the secretary behind the desk. That definitely was not the same woman she had met earlier in the day. What is going on here?
"Mrs. Cope?" Angela turned to Kayce and said, "Kayce right?" Kayce nodded her head and Angela continued. "I found Kayce in the hallway outside on my way to class and she looked sick or something." Where had Kayce heard the name Mrs. Cope before? Her heart was racing and she was getting freaked out.
Mrs. Cope had come around the desk and helped Angela escort her into the nurse's office. She was wracking her brain trying to figure out why she is having sudden recall of memory from complete strangers in a completely foreign place. As the nurse was checking her over, she kept thinking and it finally dawned on her where she heard that name before. "Jeez, this woman fits the description of the secretary in the Twilight book and she has the same name. That is so weird."
Angela had been excused to go back to class and so Kayce sat alone for a little while. When the nurse came back she started speaking to Kayce. "Honey, if you feel like you are going to blackout again, just come back and see me, okay?" Kayce smiled at the nurse, nodded and walked back into the main office. Mrs. Cope was waiting for her.
"Kayce, I don't seem to have you in our database." Kayce thought that was strange, but what wasn't strange at the moment? She had absolutely no idea where she was or how she got here, but she thought quickly on her feet. "Are you sure? I just transferred here. My parents called you on the telephone and made the arrangements for me to attend here." Mrs. Cope looked again, this time with worry etched upon her face. Kayce could tell that she was praying that she didn't forget to finish this specific task. "Well, Kayce dear, I just don't see you here. Just wait here a moment while I print you a schedule." Mrs. Cope seemed upset that she may have forgotten to do the paperwork necessary for Kayce to attend high school.
After a good ten minutes, she came back. "Here you go. I just need your transcripts from your previous school and for your parents to phone me to work this out." Kayce nodded her head in agreement and checked her schedule as she was leaving the office.
Her schedule appeared to be junior classes. She was only a sophomore, but who was she to complain? Her grades were decent, so she could officially be a junior, she supposed. Kayce was on her way to Spanish class. She was never very good at Spanish, but would try to make the best of it. Hopefully, she wouldn't be there long enough for it to matter. When she opened the door, every head turned to face her. She smiled and walked to the front of the class and spoke to the teacher.
"Please, Khaki; take a seat in the back of the room." She smiled warmly at Kayce, so she wasn't trying to humiliate her. She was just ignorant. "My name is Kay-cee." She tried to enunciate the name to make it easier for her. "Please take your seat...Kayce. Welcome to Forks High School."
Kayce walked her way to the end of the row of desks nearest her and took a seat. Did she just say Forks High School? Kayce started rubbing her forehead; she felt a different kind of headache coming on from sensory overload. Class was uneventful, although there was an extremely talkative girl sitting near her. She seemed nice though. "Hi, my name is Jessica Stanley and this is Isabella." The other girl looked extremely annoyed and like she wanted to hide. "I'm Bella, Bella Swan."
Kayce felt like she had been kicked in the gut. What was going on here? She felt like she had entered the Twilight Zone, and more to the point, she felt like she had stepped into the book series she just read. She pinched herself trying to see if she was asleep. Ow, that definitely hurt. Kayce decided to observe the students in her classroom. She was trying to connect faces and names to the books. She was also feeling like she was going crazy. She needed to figure out where she was, how to leave and get back home.
When the bell rang for lunch, Jessica started talking. "I want you guys to come and eat lunch with me." Bella agreed, looking as if she would rather go with anyone then eat by herself. I, on the other hand, wanted to go to my car. "I need to go to my car and get my lunch money. I will meet you there?" Jessica pointed her toward the parking lot and when Kayce got there, her car was gone and so was the car she had parked next to, in fact all of the cars that were parked in the lot when she arrived, just weren't there. All she saw were older cars and one shiny Volvo. She was flabbergasted.
Kayce turned around again and headed back into the cafeteria. She spotted Jessica and went to sit down. "Hi, my name is Mike Newton. It is a pleasure to meet you." He was being overly attentive and she had other people introducing themselves to her. "Hi, I'm Tyler, Tyler Crowley." Kayce smiled and said hello. "I'm Kayce Evans." There were more people, guys and girls alike, who were trying to garner her attention.
She sat next to Jessica, on her right side and was thinking deeply about what was going on with her, as the others at her table were having conversations. She had different scenarios going through her mind. She could be hallucinating, dead or just crazy. She really didn't know.
She heard Bella ask about the family in the corner of the cafeteria. Kayce's head snapped up and she then was peering at Edward Cullen and his family. The book did them a disservice. They all were absolutely beautiful. She couldn't find a word strong enough to describe them in person. Edward's uninterested eyes met hers and she held them. Kayce smiled until she realized what she was doing, her smile fading to a frown. He is supposed to fall for Bella. She then turned her head away quickly.
Kayce heard Jessica Stanley say to Bella in a viperous tone, "They're all together though-Emmett and Rosalie and Jasper and Alice, I mean they live together." Bella looked amused, but also had proper shock written on her face.
Kayce heard more chatter coming from both Jessica and Bella, but she was too busy watching the Cullens. In person they fascinated her, each one different; yet they all were the same. At that moment she was thinking about how docile they seem. They really didn't look like killing machines to her. She was looking at them as vampires and not the good looking humans everyone takes them for.
Bella asked, "Which ones are the Cullens? They don't look related..."
Kayce couldn't stand listening to this. Her mood had spiraled down as she felt like death warmed over. She kept looking at the gorgeous family across the way as she was trying to figure out how she got there. She noticed that Edward was looking over at her again.
"Oh they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins-the blondes-and they're foster children."
Bella responded, "They look a little old for foster children," as she was looking over at them.
"Oh jeez Bella and Jessica were driving her crazy. Bella is a gossip, too." Kayce was starting to tune them out. All she really wanted to do was run out of the building. She had some serious shit going on and she was sitting with the most trivial people on the planet. Kayce really wanted to like Bella, but she was making it difficult. Kayce looked up at Edward again and this time she caught him looking at her, and he didn't look away. He looked as if he were trying to figure her out.
Kayce was brought out of her reverie when she heard Jessica say, "That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good looking enough for him."
Kayce finally had enough. This Jessica girl was getting on her nerves. She is exactly how she was described in the book, but Bella didn't call her for what she was, a back-stabbing gossip. The fact that Bella could still sit with her, said a lot about her character.
"You know what...?" Kayce slammed her hands down on the table and the entire school looked at her, including the Cullens. "Maybe the Cullens and Hales are very nice people...and has it ever occurred to you that maybe the Cullens sit off to themselves because it is gossip like yours that turns them off? Maybe all they want is to go to school and learn something, instead of forwarding their social status."
"Okay, now I stepped in it, but couldn't and wouldn't take it back. Note to self, don't ever go into an emotional tirade when you feel this crappy." Kayce walked away fuming and rushed past the Cullens and sat down with her back turned to everyone at the only other empty table. The cafeteria grew very quiet and she knew that she was being watched and whispered about, but she didn't care. Kayce lay her head down on her arms trying not to vomit on the table. She never even noticed that the Cullens were all looking at her in utter disbelief because she stood up for them.
Kayce was at war with herself. She was in love with Edward, a fictitious character, but here he was in the flesh. She wanted him for herself, but that is not how the book went. Kayce also realized that she had changed things drastically by just being here. She also was trying to figure out how she ended up in a place that was the book or just mirroring the book. Kayce was raised to be open-minded when it comes to anything out of the ordinary and was of the belief that everything happens for a reason, but she had no idea what that reason was.
Before the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, Kayce got up and rushed out of the room. She was one of the first students in her biology II class. Mr. Banner had signed her slip and gave her a bio book, looking extremely bored all the while. He offered Kayce a seat next to Edward Cullen. There wasn't anyone else in class yet, so Kayce walked toward him quickly. She smiled at him and he went rigid in his seat, his fingers on one hand curling around the bottom of his chair. The other hand balled up in a fist clenching and unclenching. "Oh crap, what is going on here? I knew I needed to get out of that classroom."
She sat down and immediately scooted her chair as far away from Edward as she possibly could. Kayce turned her head and looked at him. Edward's black eyes were boring into her brown ones. She felt an involuntary cold shiver snake down her spine and her body shook with it. Kayce sat as still as possible hoping that would help him somehow. How could she think they were docile?
She saw Bella enter the room. Mr. Banner had her sit at the table in front of them after he took roll call, since someone was absent from class. Bella shook out her mahogany hair and turned around to look at Edward with flirtatious eyes. He closed his eyes and covered his mouth.
Kayce thought that Edward was going to lose control. It seemed that both she and Bella were affecting Edward. She had to do something. "Mr. Banner, I think my lab partner needs to go to the nurse, he looks awfully sick. He looks as if he has a fever or the stomach flu." Kayce scooted her chair even further over into the isle away from Edward, trying to keep him from losing control. He looked at her with hate-filled then questioning eyes. When he saw what she was doing his eyes softened ever so slightly. He had no idea why she was covering for him, but Kayce could tell he was grateful. "Okay, Mr. Cullen, here is a pass," Mr. Banner said in a bored sort of voice.
Edward stood up and ran for the door a little too quickly. As he stepped up to the door's threshold, he turned back, looked right at Kayce and nodded his head to her in thanks. He was so beautiful; she needed to get another look at him just in case she never saw him again. Kayce's lips turned up in a half-smile and then she saw Edward leave bio class behind.
