A/N: Hey guys, sorry, a bit of a boring chapter ahead, however, it's all the essential information that you need to know for the rest of the story, so please read it anyway. Eternally grateful to all of you that support/follow this story, Many thanks .

Chapter 1 – A New Start

'Attention. All passengers boarding flight FW4138 are to be seated at Terminal 4 in five minutes. Thank you.' A nasally female voice rang out over the Florida airport, making me cringe. Couldn't they have a more pleasant speaker do the announcements? It could save families thousands from hearing therapy.

The Terminal 4 sign looms overhead, and Renee, Phil, Rose and I veer off into the carpeted lounge and find four seats.

'Hey you two,' Phil says. 'Enjoy yourselves. Have fun in Forks, and don't be too serious. But don't go off the rails. Please. If there's one thing you've learned from me, please let it be that. We don't want any police phone calls while you're away.'

'Yes Phil.' I roll my eyes. Plus have you forgotten? Charlie is a police officer. He should keep us in check.'

'Yes, but still, I don't want any calls from Charlie when you're gone.'

'Okay Phil, will do.' I say and do a small salute. Rose snorts.

'All passengers boarding flight FW4138, boarding gates are now open. Please take your carry-on luggage and our friendly staff will direct you to your seats.'

Renee jumps up and pulls Rose and I into a tight embrace. 'I'll miss you. Don't forget about me.' She says.

'We'll miss you too. And don't be silly. Is there a person in this world that forgets about their own mother?' Rose laughs.

Renee sighs. 'Well, you'd better be off. Call me when you can, and enjoy yourselves. Say hi to Charlie for me, will you?'

She hugs us one more time, and Rose and I head down the jet bridge to the entrance of the plane, finding our seats. The plane is spacious, with lots of leg room. That's a relief. The inside of the plane has a white and gold colour theme going on, and it's quite elegant looking, with a personalised bar behind the gold curtains, and actual shutters over the windows. After a good twenty minutes of the introductory video, and the pilot fiddling with the take-off angle, the plane starts moving. I look out of the window, and say goodbye to part of my childhood, ready to take on my next chapter.

'Bella! Bella, wake up!' This wakes me from my slumber, and I feel Rose prodding my face with her elbow.

'What!' I snap, and my eyes fly open.

'We're landing soon; I thought you might want to be awake for it.' Rose shrugs.

'Well I'm a light sleeper; you needn't bruise my face just to wake me up.' I grumble, rubbing my cheek with the heel of my palm. I glare at her for good measure, and pick up my blanket, which has fallen on the floor. I look out the window, and see that we're below the cloud line, meaning that we're close to Seattle Airport.

Once we landed, we collected our luggage from the conveyor belt and went searching for Charlie, who was supposedly holding up a sign saying 'Isabella and Rosalie Swan'. I look into the crowd and see a sea of plastic signs, with the same default black writing. However, after looking at the crowd for a few seconds, a sign with red writing pops into view and I see the familiar words: 'Isabella and Rosalie Swan.' I sigh and roll my eyes. Trust Charlie to customise our sign to our convenience.

'Hey Rose, he's over there.' I pull Rose in the direction of Charlie and when he sees us; his face breaks out into a huge smile.

When we reach him, he pulls us into a hug and looks at us closely. 'Wow, my two little girls have grown up now. You've both matured so much, and grown a lot by the looks of it.'

'Yeah, we've definitely grown!' Rose scoffs. The last time we saw Charlie, we were 12 and two of the shortest girls in our class. Nevertheless, the growth spurts hit at age 14, and here we both are, standing at above average height. When we first arrived in Florida, Renee was worried that we were going to remain 4'10 for the rest of our lives, so she took us running three times a week, and set a jump rope schedule for us to follow once a week. As you can probably tell now, once Renee has her mind set on something, she goes through all means to get there, including doing research on how to be an unqualified personal trainer. However, although Rose and I hated it then, we're eternally grateful now. I can't imagine being stuck at 4'10 for life. Although it wouldn't be the worst thing, I don't think it'd be particularly nice either.

'Girls, sorry to cut this short, but we'd better get moving. I want to beat the traffic, seeing as we've got quite a drive to Forks.' Charlie cuts in.

'Oh yeah, sure. We can chat in the car.' I agree.

Walking into the airport car park, I see the familiar police cruiser parked right in the centre, and start off towards it. It's the exact same car Charlie had when Rose and I still lived in Forks five years ago. Opening the trunk, the accustomed smell hits my nose, and it smells like home.

Rose and I place our luggage in the trunk, and hop into the backseat, heading back to my first home.

When Charlie stops the car in a quiet suburban street, I look out the window and get a fright.

'That's our house?!' I motion to the massive three storey building in front of us. The walls are immaculately white and you can tell the place had been touched by a really good architect and designer, judging by all the décor and elegant furnishings. When Charlie said new house, I assumed he meant a small house, one, maybe two storeys. A NORMAL house. Not this… mansion.

Charlie chuckles. 'No Bella. That house.' He gestures to the house to the left of it, and I relax. Our house is definitely smaller than the house next door, and very modern. The concrete walls are painted sterling silver, with a black roof and white windows. The front 'garden', I guess you could call it; half of it was paved with spaced concrete tiles, with large white pebbles filling the gaps. The other half held a well-maintained lawn with a low hedge lining the edges. The driveway ran up the right of the pebbled area, to the garage, which was connected to the right side of the house.

I smile. 'I like it.'

'Me too.' Rose nods.

'Well, I'm glad you like your new home. I made a good deal with the real estate agent, and what can I say, it's a pretty house.' Charlie says. 'Anyway, let's go grab your things and you can go get settled in. Your rooms are upstairs, you've got a bedroom each, unlike the last house. You're big girls now, I'm sure you can resolve who gets which room in a civilised manner. Let's not cause World War III. Please.'

'Dad, we're seventeen. I'm sure we can manage.' I laugh.

The three of us work on carrying all our suitcases up the stairs, and when we're done, I flop onto the carpeted floor in the hallway.

'That's my daily workout done.' I groan.

'Come on, weakling.' Rose teases, and hauls me to my feet.

'So, I'm going to prepare lunch, while you choose your rooms and get settled in. Those are the two rooms.' He points to two adjacent rooms to the right of the hallway, then spins on his heel and hurries down the stairs, hoping not to get caught in a sister cat-fight over a room.

'Okay, well, why don't we go into both rooms together, then we'll come out here and decide?' Rose suggests.

'Sure, why not? I can't think of anything better.'

We walk into the room closest to us, and survey it. A double bed sits in the far right corner of the room, with a small white-wood bedside table on either side. Opposite the bed, a black chest of drawers sits against a white wall, with a black coatrack beside it. A black desk sits in another corner, already situated with a white table lamp, and a pale yellow desk chair. On the wall closest to the so called 'mansion' next door, there is a large window stretching all the way across, from the bedhead to the junction of this room to the next. All in all, it's a very nice room.

We walk back out the door, and enter the next room. This room is in the very back corner of the house, so there are long windows on two walls, instead of one. The décor and furnishings of the room are quite similar to the previous one, except that the desk is white, with a black lamp and a bright red desk chair. Both rooms have a soft, fluffy, cream coloured carpet, and a small black rug beside the bed. Although the features are the same, it's the view of the forest behind that makes the room win in my opinion. It's a nice change from the sunny beaches in Florida. Instead, it's the dense forest, with the crisp smell of pinecones, and fresh rain.

Rose and I walk out of the room together and stand there.

'So… how are we going to do this?' Rose asks.

'I want that room.' I immediately say, pointing at the one with the view out to the forest.

'O…kay. Well, that works out, I want the other room.'

'Mph, well, that was easy.' I snort.

'So much for World War III.'

'Well, I'm going to go unpack now; I guess I'll see you for lunch.'

'Kay kay.'

I drag my luggage into my room and dump it in the centre of the carpet. Where to start? Thankfully I had ditched my summer wear at home, and only brought a few pairs of shorts, because with my summer collection, I'm sure it wouldn't have fit in the closet.

I bring my laptop out from its protective box and plug it into the charger, to let it charge while I unpack the rest of my belongings. I place all of my books on the window ledge, and put the small clay sculpture Rose made for me when I was little beside it. I stood up and looked around the room. My upright piano was being shipped over in a couple of days' time, and I needed space for it. Rolling up my sleeves, I pushed the chest of drawers more towards the left, so I would have space for my piano in the corner next to the windows.

Stepping back, I surveyed my room, and was happy with it, so I exited the room and knocked on Rose's door.

'Hey Rose, you done yet?'

'Yeah, just adding the final touches.' Came the muffled reply.

'Can I come in? I ask.

'Sure.'

I walk in and laugh at what Rose had done with the room. She's rearranged everything, so that the closet sits beside the bed, and has all her beauty products sitting on top. The desk is at the other end of the room, completely untouched. Trust.

'Okay, I'm ready. Let's go down for lunch.' Rose says.

We walk down the hallway, still taking in the unfamiliar surroundings of the house. As we hit the staircase, a delicious scent hits my nose, making me inhale deeply. I see out of the corner of my eye that Rose is doing the same thing.

'Wow, either this is a frozen meal, or Charlie can really cook.' I finally say.

'Well, let's go find out.'

We head down the stairs, and see multiple pots on the stove, sweet aroma wafting out of the pots.

'Hey Dad! What is it that smells so good?' Rose asks curiously.

'Oh! You're done. It's spaghetti and meatballs, by the way.'

I feel the saliva gathering in my mouth. 'I think I could devour the whole pot.'

Charlie laughs. 'Come on, sit down. It's almost done. Give me a minute or two.'

Rose and I sit down at the breakfast bar, and keep our gazes fixed on the pot of food. Charlie turns around and laughs at our expressions.

'From the looks on your faces, you'd think Renee was starving you.' He laughs as he passes two heaped plates of spaghetti.

Rose and I don't even hesitate for a moment before we grab a fork and start shovelling the food into our mouths. Let's get this straight. This is possibly the BEST thing I've tasted. Ever. I look over and see Charlie's amused expression. 'I would reprimand you for forgetting your table manners, but since this is indirectly complimenting me, I'll let it go this time.'

Rose laughs mid-mouthful and small bits of spaghetti spray over the counter.

'Okay Rose, that, I'm not going to let go. Clean that up.' Charlie says, a smile tugging on his lips.

'I will.' Rose replies.

Charlie looks at her expectantly.

'When I'm done.' She smiles impishly.

Charlie sighs, but turns back to the kitchen sink, not bothering to argue.

When Rose and I are done with our second helpings, we stand up from the kitchen counter, groaning from how full we are. We take our plates and wash them in the sink, before telling Charlie that we were going for a walk around the neighbourhood.

'Go ahead, just don't get back too late.' He calls from his study.

'Aren't you going to tell us not to talk to strangers?' I tease, reminding of what he said every time we left the house when we were younger.

'Well, now you're both seventeen, and plus, this town is so small, that there aren't any strangers. Everyone practically knows each other.'

'Haha, true.' I laugh.

Rose and I walk out the door and appreciate the rare sunshine that appears in Forks. Granted, it's summer, but summer in Forks is practically winter in Florida, which is equivalent to overcast and humid days. Sigh. Walking down the street, the sunshine shines through the trees and creates dappled patterns on the footpath, coating the leaves in a muted light. All of the houses are quite similar, the same modern look being a constant theme throughout the street. However, the part that really catches my attention is the small park at the end of the road. It's really small, barely twenty metres wide, but it seems like such a calm place to relax and sit down with a book.

'You're thinking about reading a book here aren't you?' Rose smirks.

'May…be' I grin sheepishly.

'Knew it.' Rose snorts.

We walk into the park and lie down in the soft grass, looking up at the bright blue sky. This will most probably be the place I'll come to if I either need space, or just a nice place to think. I'm glad we found it.

Rose and I stay in the park for an hour or two just talking about what we were nervous and excited about for the first day of school, and meeting all our old friends again.

'Well, I'm excited to go back to a free-dress school again. Our school in Florida was so strict about uniforms!' Rose exclaims. 'Those blouses were so scratchy.'

'Yeah, that'll be nice. We won't have to worry about wearing our uniform perfectly so we don't get detention.' I roll my eyes. 'The teachers at our old school gave me a detention because the back of my shirt became untucked. Glad we're leaving those grouchy teachers behind.'

'I couldn't agree more.' Rose laughs.

'When we go to school, do you think we'll be the "outcasts"?' I ask. 'You know, since we've kinda been gone for five years?'

'Hopefully not, but I doubt we will, since there will be quite a few new students this year, and plus, we know quite a lot of our year already, just their twelve year old selves.'

'That's true.' I murmur. 'Anyway, we'd better get going. Charlie doesn't want us back too late remember?'

'Oh yeah.' Rose yawns, sitting up. 'Let's go.'

The walk back to the house is peaceful, although when we pass the house next to ours, we hear screaming and the thumping of something falling to the ground. I look at Rose with a horrified expression and hurry into our house.

Charlie is sitting on the couch in the living room watching the Mariner's game on the television. When he hears the door close, he turns around and looks at us brightly.

'Hey girls, how was your walk?' He asks.

'Yeah, it was really nice. We found this quiet park down the end of the road, and we spent most of the time there.' I answer.

'Oh, that park. It's nice isn't it?'

'Hey Charlie, I wanted to ask you something…' I start.

'Yeah Bells?'

'Uh… The house next door. The one that looks like a mansion. Who lives there?'

'Oh the Cullens live there. They moved in a year or two ago. Why?'

'Well, their parents… they don't happen to be… abusive, do they?'

'What? No! What makes you think that?' Charlie sits up, horrified.

'Well, when we were turning into our driveway, we heard screaming and some really loud thumps…' I say cautiously.

'Oh! Don't worry about that. The Cullen siblings often get into fights over the tiniest of things, and they always knock over a table or two. Believe it or not, I've been called to investigate the causes of those fights from other concerned people down the street that hear their arguments.'

I sigh in relief. 'Thank god.'

'Yeah, there are three Cullen siblings. Two are loud, and one's quiet. It's always the two loud ones involved in the arguments.'

'Well, sorry for jumping to the wrong conclusion…' I say guiltily.

'Don't worry, you're not the first.' Charlie laughs. 'Anyway, I've prepared dinner already; it's in the Tupperware on the chopping board.'

'Oh thanks Charlie, you really didn't have to. I'll cook dinner tomorrow.' I offer.

'No Bells, you settle in first. Then we'll see.' He chuckles.

After dinner, Rose and I wash up the Tupperware and retreat upstairs for the night.

'Goodnight Dad!' Rose and I call from the top of the stairs before we head into our respective rooms.

'Night girls!' He calls back.

I head into the bathroom and brush my teeth and hair, before changing into my pyjamas and hopping into bed. Fifteen minutes later, I realise I won't be sleeping for a while, so I sit up and open my window to let some cool air in. I don't know what's keeping me from sleep, but I figure it's just nerves about school tomorrow. I sit there for a few minutes, thinking about all the possible scenarios that involve me embarrassing myself, or angering others, but then realise that it's most likely that that's not going to happen. With that in mind, I flop back onto my bed and fall into a dreamless sleep.

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you for bearing with it till the end. I know it probably just dragged on for you, but it's all necessary information, I promise!

Thanks for all your support and kind words!

Xxtwig_kitteh