While I was eager to start help with the renovations of our house, the next morning I enrolled into Forks High School as a sophomore and left the work to Jack and Rachel. I wasn't particularly looking forward to school because this would be starting my seventy-eighth time through high school. I already knew all the curriculum by heart and I probably could do a better job teaching it. I felt a lurch in my stomach as I pulled into the school parking lot. While I knew it implausible that the Cullens would be here, I still felt the butterflies of nervousness flitting around in my stomach. They had impacted my life in such a profound way that coming back to the beginning of where I met them was a little terrifying.
The school itself was different. They have since built a proper school building to replace the trailers. That helped, making it not feel so familiar. I was able to still keep the painful memories at bay of Edward and how he turned my life on its head. The halls were filled with teenagers that I have never before seen or met. Anyone I knew as a human have long since passed away. Whispers followed me everywhere as I made my way to the front office. Unlike my first day here as a human, no one dared approach me. I was so intimidatingly beautiful and I was okay with that. I found human teenagers to be juvenile and annoying more often than not. I smiled to myself at the joke only I was in. I am lethal and they are unknowingly drawn towards me unaware of how much danger their lives could be in. Having my thirst under control I was in no risk of harming any of them, but if I had the desire they would not stand a chance against me. That's right, stay away, I warned them with my mind. Safer for you and I.
"Oh," the plump front office lady gasped as she saw me walk up. "My, aren't you the bell of the ball?" she exclaimed. I smiled in response, dazzling her more.
"Hello, my name is Isa Crawford. This is my first day here and I was told to come to this office," I said faking uncertainty. I adopted the name of Crawford, Jack's last name. I no longer go by the name of Bella. She died the night Victoria changed me. I now use the name Isa. Isa Crawford.
She blinked and it took her a moment to find herself out of the daze I put her in. "Uh, yes….Miss Crawford. Welcome to Forks…..if you just give me a moment. Flustered she started to go through her files. "Aha! Here we are," she grabbed a manila folder from a pile and opened it on her desk in front of me. "Beautiful and smart," she said as she noted that I was an honors student. "Here is your class schedule and here is a map of the school. We are right here," she said circling a room on the map and it looks like your first class is with Mr Wallish right up here. Another room was circled on the top right of the map. "Our school is small so you shouldn't have much trouble finding your way, but if you ever get lost don't hesitate to ask someone. We pride ourselves on our friendliness here. You won't find a nicer place!"
I thanked her and headed back out into the hall. It had emptied out significantly as kids made their way to their classes. From those students that still remained I all I got were doe-eyed looks from the guys and jealous looks from more than half of the girls. Those boys with girlfriends found themselves at the receiving end of an angry hiss and glare from said girls.
Being the center of attention has been one thing that I have never been able to get used to. I still hated it. If I could just melt into the background I would jump at the opportunity. Who am I? Did I have a boyfriend? Whispered questions of whether I was going to be nice or not, whether I would be a good friend or not follows me to each new high school. Eventually it will die down and people will start to leave me alone having all agreed that I was a pretentious snob who thinks of myself above everyone else. I look forward to that time because that means that I have become just a background variable to everyone else. I will still be the center of gossip, but I won't be getting the same gawking stares. I yearn for that time, but for now I just need to buck up and endure the attention.
I walked into Mr Wallish's class late and all eyes turned to me. I hated being late to a class. Whispers broke out like wild fire as Mr Wallish introduced himself. "Isabella Crawford, right?"
"I prefer Isa," I say mumbling it to make it seem like I was shy. I smile nervously at my classmates. I have found during all the times that I have been at high school that people prefer it when I seem more vulnerable and that if I seem to lack confidence then it is more forgivable to be so other worldly.
"Nice to meet you Isa, and welcome to Forks. You can take a seat next to Carter. Carter will you please raise your hand?" Following where the teacher was looking I saw an average looking boy with blond hair raise his hand. His face started to turn red as some in class ooooo'd suggestively. I ducked my head in faux embarrassment and made my way to the empty seat. I smile nervously at Carter and then directed my attention back to the front of the class. Mercifully Carter was much too nervous to attempt any small talk. The class passed uneventfully as did the rest of the day.
The days melted into weeks that eventually became months. We came to Forks not only to help me but also to keep a low profile. Jack has never been afraid of having a more public life. He is an entertainer and story teller at heart and has lived his centuries of lives as one. In the early twentieth century he was one of the pioneers of film and acted in several for about 15 years. When it became more apparent that he seemed to have been blessed with finding the fountain of youth, he faked his death and he laid low for a few decades. He would than resurface and profess to be his own son and continue acting or directing. With the advent of the internet it became more difficult to do this because some people started to get suspicious with how much each generation looked so much like the previous. Conspiracy theorists have already claimed that Jack was somehow immortal and came to the conclusion he had to be a coffin sleeping, bat turning vampire. Little did they know how close they are to the truth. We decided that Jack needed to take a break from the public eye for more than a few decades, so he created a few pen names and he has been writing under them for the past sixty to seventy years. When one name has been used for fifteen to twenty years he would retire the name and create a new one. He refuses all public appearances and there are no photos of being associated to the particular names. By doing this, we have been able to move from place to place without Jack having to be recognized as a bestselling author and Jack is able to keep entertaining and telling stories in some form.
If the townspeople knew that one of their residents was actually the famed author D. G. Walker, they would proudly profess to the world their claim to fame and the happy solitude that we have found here would vanish. We have been accepted as part of the town. Everyone agrees that Rachel is the nicest neighbor you could ask for and if you talk with Jack you will have the best conversation of your life. For the most part, the non-jaded adults are able to look past our beauty and treat us like they would anyone else.
Renovations on the house were now almost complete. We kept the integrity of the structure while outfitting it with modern comforts. I kept my old room and lined the walls with shelves filled with my favorite books, films and music. It almost felt like a mini library there were so many shelves. Rachel and Jack took the master room. We kept up appearances of being humans by having our kitchen filled with top of the line appliances. Our cupboards were filled with dishes and we filled our fridge and pantry with food just in case one of our neighbors dropped in unexpectedly.
Things have been going so well and enough time has passed since arriving, the thought of the Cullens moving back to Forks was the furthest thing from my mind.