Authors Notes:

Much love goes to my wonderful story beta, Xrxdanixrx. I seriously couldn't be doing this without you. You are amazing. *Mwah* And to all the girls on Twitter, thanks for your kind words and encouragement.

I do not own Twilight. That honor goes to Stephenie Meyer. I do, however, like to play with her characters. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2 (Introductions)

Things started to change after my encounter with Edward. In Spanish class the next day, Jessica sat down in her usual seat next to mine and asked me the strangest question.

"So, Bella, you didn't tell me that you know Edward Cullen. When did the two of you become friends?"

"What?" I confusedly replied. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, he's in my first period English class and he kept talking about you this morning," she responded.

"He did? What was he saying?" I asked.

God I hope he didn't notice me ogling him. That would be just my luck to have him tell everyone I was some kind of freak.

"No, no! Uh-uh! I'm not dishing on anything until you tell me how you know him," she said with a devious smile on her face.

"I… I don't really. Ya know how I'm an aide for guidance during third? Well, he came in yesterday. He was looking at me, but I didn't make anything of it. We didn't have a conversation or anything," I explained.

"Hmmm… and that's it? You haven't had any other interaction with him?" she asked.

"No, none! Why? Did he say we have?" I asked worriedly. I had no idea what he could have said, but I was starting to panic. It couldn't possibly be good.

"No, but he seems very interested in you!" she exclaimed with a huge grin on her face.

"How so? I mean, what did he say?" I asked, feeling the color rise in my cheeks. What? How is that possible? Interested in me?

"Well, his friend, Royce, is in our class, and he kept talking about you to him."

"Okay, but what was he saying?" I inquired. Damn it, Jessica! Stop beating around the bush about it and just tell me.

"He kept talking about how gorgeous the new girl is and how he wants to get to know you," Jessica stated. That explains it; he's obviously interested in Rosalie.

"Yeah, well how do you know it was me he was talking about? You know I'm not the only new girl in the school. Rosalie is also new, and she is totally beautiful. He was probably talking about her," I retorted.

"Bella, he was definitely talking about you. I know because he was talking about your long brown hair and big doe eyes. Does that sound like Rosalie to you? Because last time I checked, she was a blue-eyed blonde. Besides, he also said your name. He called you Isabella!" she exclaimed.

"Really? That is so weird. I mean, why would he be interested in me? He could have any girl he wants," I countered. Weird is an understatement. I'm utterly plain and insignificant. He must be confused or something.

"Yes, and he's had many of the girls in this school. You're new, though. Maybe he wants first dibs since you haven't dated anyone else here yet. Besides, it's not like you're bad to look at," she remarked.

I didn't know if I should be offended by her possible theory or flattered with her off-handed compliment."Yeah right! I might not be horrible, but I hardly put myself in his league!"

"So, what are you going to do if he asks you out?" she questioned.

Like that's gonna happen. "I don't know. He hasn't even spoken to me," I told her.

"Well, are you interested?" she asked me.

"I honestly don't know. He's obviously beautiful, but I really don't know him… other than what I've heard about him, and that isn't very good," I explained. Don't even think about it, Bella.

"I totally think that you should talk to him, Bella! What harm could it do?"

"We'll see. If he talks to me, I'll be polite and speak back, of course. I'm not just gonna walk up to him, though," I replied.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because I don't have any reason to. Just because he says one thing about me to his friend, and you overhear it, doesn't mean anything. I don't want to look like an idiot!"

"I suppose," she said. "But he didn't just say one thing about you. He talked about you throughout the entire class. I really do think he likes you."

"Whatever! Let's just see what happens," I told her. Don't be ridiculous. Nothing is going to happen.

"Okay, whatever you say! I'll be listening to see if he talks about you again tomorrow," she replied.

"Okay, but don't hold your breath," I uttered.

~xxx~

The following day I started to notice him in the hallway. I didn't know if it was because he started taking different paths to get to his classes or if I was just more aware of him, but he seemed to be in whatever hallway I happened to walk down. He was breathtakingly beautiful, but kept to himself, only talking to his friends. I was starting to think that Jessica was trying to pull some kind of prank on me with her story of his interest. Otherwise, he would have talked to me, right?

About a week passed, and Jessica continued to report to me every day about how he would talk about me in her English class. He would discuss what I was wearing and relay how beautiful he thought I looked to Royce. She said that he wanted to know more about me. He was wondering what I liked to do for fun, what kind of music I listened to, if I had hobbies, what my favorite foods were, etc. He would discuss all these things with Royce, but had yet to talk to me.

Then one day, he discovered that Jessica and I were friends, so he started asking her questions. She complied and answered some of his inquiries, but told him that he should just talk to me. We were both kind of surprised how someone so perfect and desired by the girls in our school could be so seemingly afraid to talk to little old me.

It took another couple of days, but as Rosalie and I were on our way to the cafeteria, Edward and Royce approached us. With a shy look on his face, and hands in his pockets, Edward stood in front of me; head slightly bent downward with his eyes looking up at mine, and he said, "Hi." I almost thought I was going to melt right into the floor until Rosalie elbowed me in the side and brought me back to reality.

"Hi," I said with a jump as he gave me a smile.

"You're Isabella, right?" he asked.

"Uh, yes… I mean, Bella. Everyone calls me Bella."

"Bella," he said with another smile. "I'm Edward Cullen."

"Yes, I know who you are," I replied quickly. Oh, good job Bella. Make yourself look like even more of an ass by being rude.

"Oh, well, okay," he said with a strange look on his face. "This is my friend Royce," he continued while acknowledging the person next to him.

"Hello," he said, smiling down at Rosalie.

Hi," we both replied to him while Rosalie elbowed me again. "Oh, this is my friend, Rosalie Hale."

"It's nice to meet you both. We were wondering what you guys are doing for lunch today?" Royce asked.

Rosalie replied, "We were just going to grab something in the cafeteria."

"Cool, do you mind if we join you?" Edward asked.

"Umm, yeah sure, if you want," I replied, biting on my bottom lip. Jesus Bella. The best looking guy in the school is talking to you and you are standing here like a bumbling, uninterested idiot. No wonder he had that weird look on his face earlier. He's probably wondering why he's even here at this point.

"Shall we?" He motioned down the hall toward the cafeteria, and we began walking.

We made our way to lunch. Rosalie and I each got a salad and some water and Edward and Royce got pizza and Cokes. Normally we would sit at our typical table with the rest of our friends, but today we sat at a table with just Edward and Royce. This caused quite a stir in the cafeteria, because Edward and Royce never ate at school. They didn't normally stay since our lunch period was open. People were staring and talking. It was uncomfortable and exciting all at the same time, but I guess that was to be expected. It was only logical for everyone to wonder what they were doing eating with us. Things were changing, though, and life was going to be very different from that point forward. Edward Cullen, the most popular and beautiful boy in my school, was now a part of my world.

Chapter End Notes:

Okay, so I have 8 chapters of this written. 5 of them are just about ready to post. I would get them all posted right away, but I think you might get upset at the length of time between updates. So, I'm going to try and post these weekly. The first couple of chapters are shorter, but they get MUCH longer as we go along and will eventually earn the mature rating of the story. That being said, I hope you all are patient. I promise you won't regret it.

Oh, and come follow me on Twitter: I'm Dinx219 on there.

Now please go and hit that review button and let me know what you think so far. It gives me great pleasure and Edward appreciates it! :P