BPOV

It was going to be a bad day.

Going to a new school your Senior year in mid-semester was, quite simply, painful. Going to a new school in a small town where everyone knew everyone and had since they were two was even worse. As I eased my beat-up red truck into the parking lot, I could feel their predatory stares. I double-clutched, as Jacob had taught me, and put my truck in park. The engine sputtered as I turned the key in the ignition. I palmed it and briefly rested my head on the wheel. I tried to take a deep steadying breath, but it sounded more like a hiccup.

I had to put my shoulder into the door to open it, and I heard a chuckle from behind me for my efforts. Splendid.

I made my way up to the Front Office, which was in a small building to the right, exactly where Charlie had said it would be. The lady sitting at the desk started when I opened the door, the bell ringing loudly in the small room.

She jumped up excitedly, grabbed my hand and pumped it with vigor, "Oh! You must be Miss Isabella Swann. It's so good to meet you. I have your schedule just here and I printed out a map for you with the quickest route to all your classes. Although, I'm sure if you get lost you can find your way back here or ask someone to help you because I'm sure they'd all be willing to help. It's just so good to have you here."

I stood there, stunned, reduced to nodding every few seconds in what I thought was an appropriate response to this verbal onslaught. Was a new student really such cause for excitement? Was she even breathing? No. She was still talking. "Now, you'll need to get each teacher to sign this paper and if you'd just be a dear and bring it back at the end of the day, that'd be absolutely amazing. Thank you so much."

Still no breath, I thought as she pumped my hand again and hustled me out of the building, pointing vaguely at another building somewhat to the left.

I pulled my jacket close as I stepped back into the rain.

I'd gone no more than five steps when I heard my name being called.

"Isabella! Hey, so nice to meet you. My name's Eric."

How did everyone know me?

"Just Bella," I smiled in his direction by way of reply.

"What class do you have first?" – he tore the schedule from my hand and glanced over it – "oh hey, you have English first bell with me and History right before lunch. Awesome!"

"That's great." His enthusiasm was bizarre.

We stepped into the class (Eric gestured grandly for me to proceed him) and I did a bit of a double-take. I gave the teacher, Mr. McCain, my paper and dumbly received back the syllabus as I counted the chairs. Yep, my first guess was right. Twelve seats, twelve students. Crap, but that was small.

Eric motioned waved me over and I followed his summons. He ran through the introductions and I tried to keep up. Angela was the brunette with glasses. Jessica had blonde hair and a low-cut blouse. Mike was tanner than them all, still pale, and wearing a big coat. Got it.

"Sorry we don't have any seats so you can sit with us," Jessica simpered at me.

"That's really fine though." I smiled back at her

There were two empty seats in the second row. I took the one closest to the door and stared at my syllabus, noticing absently that I'd read all but two of the books listed. Looking at the dates, I realized we were covering Romeo & Juliet.

The bell rang and I focused on the teacher, pacing the front of the room. His eyes scanned the room, taking attendance probably, I thought.

"Sorry I'm late," a bored voice said from the hall-way.

He sidled in, glanced at me woefully, and took the seat next to mine. I followed his eyes as he nodded good-bye to a pixie-looking girl cheerfully examining me as she walked backwards to her class.

The rest of the class flew by in a blur of doodles and a half-listened-to lecture. The bell rang, and before I knew it, I was staring into the happy eyes of Eric as he rambled on about something, I'm not quite sure what.

I got up, ready to leave, when suddenly I felt a tug on my ankle and I watched in resignation as the floor rushed up to meet me. Suddenly, a hand darted out and pushed me up. I traced the hand back to its source and saw the boy that had been late watching me with a slight smirk on his face.

God, he was gorgeous. His pale hair was styled a little longer than I was used to, his bangs sweeping back to reveal his startlingly blue eyes.

"Umm.. hi. Sorry." I was terrible at talking, I realized belatedly.

"It's fine. Isabella, right?"

I nodded, finally finding my tongue, "Just Bella, actually." I shook my head ruefully, "It seems like everyone already knows who I am."

"It's not so bad." His voice was like velvet. "My name's Jasper."

I shook his hand. As I went to withdraw my hand from his grasp, it was immediately replaced by another, smaller hand. It was the pixie- girl I had seen this morning.

"Hi, Bella! I'm Alice! We're used to moving around a lot too." Everything about her was excited. She smiled at me expectantly and I tried to smile back. There was no way I could match her wattage though it didn't seem to perturb her. "We'll have a class together."

Jasper grinned suddenly, and put his arm around Alice. It took me a second to comprehend that he was smiling at her antics. "Sure," I said, not quite certain what was expected of me.

Eric grabbed my arm and steered me out of the class.

"That was weird," he said as we passed through the hall.

"Yeah, definitely weird," Jessica agreed.

Just what was weird, I never did quite figure out. The bell rang, shattering my thoughts, just as Eric pushed me towards what I assumed was my next class. As I handed my schedule to the teacher, I glanced towards the other students and was slightly surprised to see Alice, quivering in her seat as she motioned me towards the empty desk beside her. I nodded slightly, in attempt to get her to stop wiggling. Although why she was trying so valiantly to get my attention, I didn't know, especially since the empty seat beside her was the only vacant seat in the room.

After receiving a textbook, I slid in beside her (she beamed) and focused on the lecture. Forty-five mind-boggling minutes later, the bell rang again. I shook my head, to clear it and began gathering my things. I wasn't exactly behind in this class. In fact, I'd already covered the current material in Pheonix, but math simply was not my forte.

Alice giggled at me and her cheer was infectious. I crossed my eyes and wiggled my head back and forth, causing her to laugh. I smiled hesitantly at her. Jasper's arm wove around her. I hadn't even seen him until he was there. He whispered something in her ear and her lips curved again.

"You'll have lunch with us tomorrow," she promised me.

The next period I had Eric and Mike with me. Each perched on either side of my desk and traded insults. It was a bit like watching a tennis match I thought doggedly as my head turned from one to the other.

I was relieved when the bell rang and class began but even more so when it rang again, signaling lunch. Eric and Mike flanked me as we walked to the lunch room, effectively steering me into an empty seat. I watched them warily as they wrestled over who would have the "pleasure" of pulling out my chair. I rolled my eyes, sat next to Jessica, and tried to evince interest in her and Angela chat about the swim team. A gust of cold air hit me from behind, swirling my brunette hair. I turned and watched the parade.

"Who are they?" I asked.

"They're the Cullens. They just moved here from, like, Alaska or something a few years ago. They mostly stick to themselves cause they're, like, with each other," she saturated the word with meaning as she lifted her over-tweased eyebrows. "The blonde one is Rosalie. And that big burly one behind her is Emmett. They have the whole love-hate thing going for them. And that one," she motioned towards the door, where a Greek God held the door open for a couple I identified as Alice and Jasper, "is Edward. He's not currently attached. Apparently no one here holds any interest for him" – she snorted and I thought I saw him press his lips together to suppress his smile – "like, I care, right? And you know Jasper and Alice."

I took in the scene as Angela and Jessica discussed the oddity that was Alice and Jasper. From what I gleaned it was "like, so odd" that they had talked to me.

Hmm, interesting. I twisted in my seat, and watched them as they sat down, forgoing the lunch line. Alice was leaning over Jasper's lap to poke Edward good-naturedly in the ribs. Lord, he's good-looking. Like Michelangelo's David meets Abercrombie. Alice was pointing at me excitedly, I realized belatedly. I smiled hesitantly and she grinned back. Edward just stared.

A/N: Please review. I want to know if I'm on the right track.