Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. I do not own any songs in this story.

Chapter 2

The beginning half of my school day passed in a blur. I could not get Edward Cullen out of my head; ever since our collision this morning, he was all I could think about. He was a mystery that I couldn't help but want to solve. Why was there a spark when we touched hands? Why did his face and attitude conform into hatred when we touched? How were his thin lips so blue? Why did it seem like Eric Yorkie was afraid of him? Curiously, I wondered why he looked to be in literal physical pain from our touch.

Suddenly, the bell rang for the end of class. I began to pack up my materials, and dreaded what came next. Lunch – the center of teenage drama at its finest – and where you sat determined whether you had friends or not. I exited the classroom, and slowly strode to the cafeteria. As I entered the cafeteria, my eyes glanced across the nearly empty room. There were two rows of benches and tables; each with six. I grabbed a tray and proceeded to grab my lunch. I thanked luck under my breath as I sat at an empty table in the back of the cafeteria. I was lucky to be able to grab an empty seat; this way, I didn't have to deal with asking anyone to sit with them.

I convinced myself that I could eat my lunch in peace. Apparently, the popular teens had a different idea. They eyed me as soon as they entered the room, and I gulped my sandwich down quite loudly as I noticed their look. I groaned internally as Eric Yorkie proceeded to point at me, and his group walked over to my table. While I didn't hate Eric Yorkie or any of his friends, I would much rather eat lunch by myself. I hated the attention that they seemed to give new classmates. Then again, this could be my chance to ask about Edward Cullen…if they would even have the answers.

"Bella, why are you eating all by yourself? We'll join you," Eric proceeded to say while he waved his hand around and introduced his group, "These are my friends – Mike Newton; Jessica Stanley; Angela Weber, and Lauren Mallory."

I smiled slightly at Eric's friends as they sat down at the table. They all muttered a hello, and continued to talk among themselves while they ate. Mike Newton – the boyish teen with baby blue eyes and light brown hair – was the first to turn his attention to me. He smiled at me while he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. A small blush rose on my face as I knew he was about to start asking me questions that I didn't want to answer.

Mike stared into my eyes for a minute before glancing down at his food nervously. His eyes shifted back and forth, as if he was grade school boy with a crush he wasn't willing to admit. I noticed that as he spoke, Jessica – the round-faced brunette with a straight nose and perfect teeth – listened to us very intently, but pretended as if she was in a full-fledged conversation with Eric, Angela, and Lauren.

"So, Bella…how are you liking Forks so far? I know you're from Phoenix, so the weather has to be a big change for you…how do you like school so far?" Mike continued his questioning, "I hope you haven't gotten any unwanted attention?" He laughed nervously as he probably realized he was the one providing unwanted attention right now. Though, he did give me the perfect opportunity to ask about Edward Cullen.

I looked at Mike as I responded to him. I wringed my hands together as I replied softly, clearing my throat first, "The weather is fine. It is a big different than Phoenix, but it's not completely bad, I guess. So far, school is…well, school. It doesn't change much where you go…but I did run into someone earlier, with Eric…he was, um…" I trailed off as I noticed a group had entered the doorway from behind him. My eyes focused behind Mike's head as the group made their way to their lunch table.

Edward Cullen was a part of this group, and, just as I thought about him, he looked in my direction. His glistening, emerald eyes glared at me from behind Mike's head. In his group, an extremely short girl with jet black pixie-cut hair noticed his focus was elsewhere, and turned her head around to peer in my direction. She smiled at me and waved her petite and pale hand. I quickly averted my gaze and scooted over slightly so that Mike blocked her view of me. My blush was full-blown now, and Mike noticed this as he turned around to see what I had been staring at for so long.

Mike chuckled bitterly as he turned back around to me, "So, it'd seem that you could the most mysterious man in the school, Edward Cullen. The girl is his sister, Alice Cullen. Her boyfriend is the blonde one that dresses kind-of like a cowboy, Jasper Whitlock. The striking long-haired blonde woman is Rosalie Hale. Next to her is Emmett Whitlock, Jasper's twin brother and Rosalie's boyfriend."

I ducked my head a little to the side of Mike and gazed once again at the group. None of them looked in this direction as I gazed at them from afar. They were all tremendously good-looking – almost too good-looking and reminded me of models. I noticed that neither Edward and Alice looked anything like, nor did Jasper and Emmett. While Edward had copper-colored hair, Alice had jet black hair; while Jasper had almost platinum blonde hair, Emmett had dark chocolate hair. They were all talking, except for Edward Cullen.

My eyes always centered back to Edward Cullen, as if that was where they were meant to be. I took my bottom lip in between my lip. My skin flushed as Edward's eyes shot up from his food. His powerful eyes found mine from across the cafeteria, and we stared at each other for at least a minute before Jessica's loud coughing caught my attention.

I turned my eyes to Jessica, who obviously wanted my attention at the moment. I raised my eyebrows in a question at her. She smiled at me innocently as she expressed her opinion on that group, "Bella, I wouldn't stare at Edward Cullen too long. He has never been interested in anyone…we don't think he ever has been or ever will be interested. He's been asked out by almost every girl in the school, and always rejects them. It's like he thinks he's too good for anyone, or too good for our little school at all – he is always missing classes! Last year, I heard a rumor that he only went to school for half of the year, and still got bumped to a senior."

By the time that Jessica finished her speech, the others turned their attention toward our conversation. Although I didn't know Edward personally – my only experience was his rudeness earlier – I felt that Jessica acknowledging this rumor was not right.

"Jessica, you said it was a rumor. Let's just leave it as that – a rumor. It's probably not true anyway…and I was not staring at him," I shot back at her, rolling my eyes as she huffed at me and pouted toward Mike's direction. She had an noticeable crush on him, but it seemed that he was entirely ignorant. And I was obviously lying about staring at Edward and his group, but no one called me out on it. If anything, our group seemed to appreciate my telling-off of irritating Jessica Stanley.

We went about the rest of our lunch in peace after our confrontation. I merely ate the rest of my food and feigned interest in Mike's conversation. Occasionally, I glanced around him to look at Edward Cullen; only to find him looking down at his plate each time. Disappointment coursed through me each time he didn't look at me, and I wasn't entirely sure why. By the end of lunch, it was safe to say that I was thoroughly confused about my…fascination...with Edward Cullen.

Mike asked to walk me to my next class, Biology, to which I agreed stupidly. I didn't pay any attention to him as I was too focused on my thoughts about Edward and his friends. When Mike tried to lean in for a hug in the Biology doorway, I cringed away from his arms that attempted to wrap around me. I offered him a shy grin and scurried through the doorway, ignoring the dejected look on his face. My face was a bright red as I stopped by the teacher's desk for my assigned seat number. Each seat had a number and name attached to it. I scanned the room before I finally realized that my seat was on the front right side.

I froze in my place and raised my eyes to meet those distinct, emerald green ones. His unkempt, copper hair; his soft pale skin; the light blue hue in his lips; the evident muscles up and down his arms, broad shoulders, hard chest and torso…and those clear, crisp forest eyes again. I gulped down the evident nervousness. His eyes were perfection, and I never wanted to look away from them. And maybe…I wouldn't have to, because Edward Cullen was my lab partner.

I know the school day is being drawn out into multiple chapters, but it's an important development into the story and characters. Please review and let me know your thoughts and opinions! The more reviews I get, the quicker chapters will be updated, FYI.