School didn't change much from Phoenix to here. It still smelled just the same as her old school had. Delicious was one word to call it, though not one she would ever mention to another. Bella pulled up to the school in her truck, killing the engine as soon as she was in a spot to not draw attention. Very few people were there, but the scent hung over the buildings like the thick blanket of fog did. Bella could make out the sounds of beating hearts, wincing at the hunger spike the sound brought and asking Red to tune out the sound. They complied, not wanting to cause her any more discomfort than was necessary. Taking a deep breath, Bella stepped out of the truck, ready to face whatever the day threw at her.

The main office was a stark contrast to the dreary cold of the outside. An older woman sat at the desk, not looking up when Bella arrived.

"Hello?" Bella asked, putting her hands on the desk. The woman sighed and looked up, blinking slowly. Her eyes widened and a mechanical smile slid into place.

"Hello, you must be Isabella Swan, Chief Swan's daughter right?"

"Uh, yes, but please just-"

"Here is your schedule and a map of the school. I'd suggest asking your first teacher if he can assign a guide for the day. Please fill out this slip and return it at the end of the day," the woman placed paper after paper in front of Bella, not pausing for a moment.

"Thank you-ah thanks?" Bella said as she tried to collect all the papers in her arms.

"Also, I hope you know we have a counselor and nurse on staff, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Bella paused at her words, a stark reminder that yes, these people were all well aware of her cover story.

"I'll keep that in mind," No need to say she had issues no counselor could begin to comprehend and a healing ability that made doctors obsolete most of the month. She pulled off her bag and shoved everything but the map and class schedule inside. Hopefully, she'd be able to get along just fine with the map, no need to bother anyone by making them into her tour guide. Besides, the classrooms she needed to go to were circled with recommended paths drawn. It was a good plan.

Or it would have been if it wasn't raining when Bella walked outside. With no umbrella and no way of getting to her first class without the map, Bella had to use it as she walked. Fat raindrops blurred the neat paths and weakened the paper. It was all but useless when she finally stepped into her first class of the day.

English. Bella loved English, books had been what got her through many long days in the hospital and the even longer days afterward. She just hoped her teacher held a similar passion.

There were only two people in the room when Bella entered. A tall, balding man, who she assumed was Mr. Mason, and a small, pixie-like girl with black hair. Both looked up at her arrival.

"Ah, you must be Ms. Swan,"

"Yes, sir,"

"Good, glad to see you made it to class on time, slip?" He held out his hand and Bella pulled off her bag, grabbing the paper and spilling her notebooks on the ground. Bella winced and Red growled as Mr. Mason chuckled. Kneeling, Bella began to grab her stuff only to find half of it already in a neat pile, courtesy of the other person in the room.

"Thanks," Bella said taking the stack as it was handed to her.

"You're welcome, I'm Alice,"

"Bella," she smiled faintly at Alice, hiding a wince as Red forced themself against her consciousness inspecting this new person. Red growled.

Strange smell, threat? Don't know. Careful. Their thoughts made Bella rock back on her heels, unsure of why Red was having such a negative reaction to Alice. But if they didn't like her, then Bella would try to stay away from her.

"Since you two now know each other I hope you won't mind if Alice is your tour guide for the day," Mr. Mason said, eyeing the ruined map falling apart in Bella's hands.

"I'd be glad to help," Alice said smiling brightly at Mr. Mason. "There is an empty seat next to me if you'd like?"

"Sure, thanks," Bella picked up her bag as Alice started up a conversation about the school. Bella sat next to Alice, smiling at the girl and nodding when she had too but not paying full attention to her talk about the teachers. Hunger gnawed at her stomach, the sound of pulsing hearts increasing as more students filed in through the door, Red's curiosity at everything making them forget to lessen their hearing.

General conversation increased in the room even as Alice's voice faded away. Bella looked over at the pixie girl noticing how she seemed to grow colder and more closed off. Guess beauty didn't equate to popularity in this situation. She seemed like a nice girl, someone Bella could befriend at some point, but maybe whatever had made Red hostile toward her kept others away as well. Bella shrugged, the social lives of strangers really wasn't her concern and when the teacher called the class to order Bella allowed the issue to be pushed from her mind entirely.

Class dragged on without incident. Mr. Mason left her alone for the most part, though she caught his pitying glances whenever he turned her way. Bella was happy when the bell rang and she could escape the looks, even knowing it would continue on no matter where she went that day. Alice was next to her, talking about her opinion of the book they were discussing in class and Bella tried to focus on the conversation. She was glad Red was staying quiet about the pixie, talking with Alice helped her stay distracted from the hunger in her stomach and the gossip-hungry stares.

Could eat them, won't stare then. Red rumbled and she could feel their presence trying to comfort her.

No. Bella firmly replied, but not pushing away the comfort. Red grumbled but dropped the suggestion.

Alice and Bella rounded a corner and Bella saw Alice light up. She skipped to the side of a tall, lanky, blond guy who swooped down to kiss her cheek as soon as she came to a stop.

Danger. Red barked hackles rising as Bella approached the pair. Bella sighed.

Can you not think the only people being nice to me are dangerous?

But they are. Don't like. Smell wrong, smell bad. Red insisted and Bella ignored them smiling instead as Alice introduced the man as Jasper, her boyfriend. They would be taking Government together and surprise, surprise the only seats available were the ones near Jasper.

"We're learnin 'bout the Judicial Branch right now," Jasper said, Alice already leaving them to walk into class.

"Cool," Bella replied, not sure how to respond. The poor boy seemed stressed, maybe he wasn't good at Government? Bella could relate to stressed more than Alice's bubbliness. Granted her stress was from trying to control her ravenous hunger for human flesh and his was probably about school, but stress is stress.

Jasper sat next to the window in the back row. Seeing the benefits of sitting further back, Bella sat in the seat next to him. Now the nosey students would have to turn all the way around to see her. Bella sunk into her chair, reigning in some of her emotions before they worked up Red. It was easier than she expected, calming her ever-present nerves. Even Red chilled out enough to not bother her as she waited for class to start. The two of them were some of the first people in the room and as they sat there in silence Bella noticed Jasper seemed to relax. He bit his lip and tilted his head, turning to her and opening his mouth.

"We have a partnered project bein assigned today. I know Alice is showin you 'round the school so uh if you want I can work with you on this. If you want?" He ran his hand through his hair and his lips pulled up in what seemed like a grin, but the whole thing was too awkward for Bella to be sure. Like with Alice, beauty did not seem to give him any sort of head start in conversation skills and from the desks, it didn't help in the social sphere either. Bella agreed, glad she wouldn't have to be randomly assigned someone who would probably ask questions she didn't want to answer for the sake of gossip. Red might not like Alice and Jasper, but Bella was relieved they didn't seem to care or know, about the rumors no doubt surrounding her. For her, it was enough to override the previous decision to try and stay away from them. The huff of defeat was all Red gave her in response.

I'll keep our social lives free of danger, you can take care of physical danger when it legit presents itself. Bella added in the last part when Red flashed an image of them baring their teeth at Alice and Jasper, both looking far more threatening than they did in real life. Sometimes having an overdramatic dog in your head wasn't fun. Shivering at the sight Bella pushed the images away once again and felt calm wash over her, letting her ignore Red's frustration. They didn't talk much during class. Jasper took care of making them partners, raising his hand when the teacher asked for pairings. From the whispered reaction of the rest of the class, Bella got a distinct impression that Jasper did not usually request partners. Who knew, maybe Alice had suggested it.

The bell rang once again and Bella walked out of the room with Jasper tailing a step behind her, the last two people to exit. Alice was there, waiting outside the class beaming at them. She kissed Jasper on the cheek and whispered something in his ear that Bella couldn't hear.

"See ya later darling, Bella," Jasper said smiling for real as he nodded to them both, his southern accent becoming more pronounced now that he didn't seem anxious. He left, heading in the opposite direction Alice was leading Bella. She asked the usual questions, like if Bella had enjoyed the class and if Jasper had been nice, both of which Bella answered positively too. Alice clapped when Bella said the two of them were paired for the project. Continuing to talk as they made their way toward Trig, Bella fell silent. The hunger she always felt was back with a vengeance, but she couldn't figure out why it hadn't been bothering her during Government. Red whined at the feeling, not having realized the lack of it either. Unfortunately, they didn't have long to dwell on the issue as Alice had stopped in front of another door.

"I don't know anyone in this class, but I'll be waiting when you get out," she rubbed the back of her neck but Bella just shrugged it off.

"You can't know everyone right?"

"Right," Alice laughed, waving and skipping away. Bella entered the room, mood souring almost instantly. The only seats available were the one's front and center. People whispered as she walked in and sat at the empty desk closest to the door. Look at her. Look at the Police Chief's daughter. Look at the girl who had almost died in an animal attack. Bella wished she could push out the voices of her classmates, she thanked Red when her hearing faded and blocked out some of the noise but the eyes were still there. She just wanted to get this class over with.

"Hey, you're Isabella, right? Isabella Swan?" The guy sitting next to her asked. He had spiky blond hair and a big smile.

"Bella, and you are...?"

"I'm Mike, Mike Newton," he said like that should mean anything to her. Bella nodded not sure what else to say. Luckily, Red was behaving. So not everyone in the town of Forks, Washington was a threat. It did make her wonder what was up with Alice and Jasper.

"So uh, how are you liking Forks?" Mike asked.

"It's wet and cold and I don't really like either."

"Oh, well-" Luckily he was cut off by the teacher calling the class to order. Unluckily, the teacher called Bella up to the front of the classroom to introduce herself. As if the subject wasn't bad enough the teacher also sucked. Class could not end soon enough.

If Bella had disliked trig at the beginning of class, she hated it now. All the kids stared at her and there was no one who even tried to be subtle about it. The teacher kept calling on people he thought would get the wrong answer, including Bella. Red was on edge which fed Bella's anxiety which only further fed Red's and it was just an awful vicious cycle. One of the first people out of her seat when the bell rang, Bella rushed out into the hallway, ignoring Mike who was trying to catch up with her. Alice wasn't there yet and Bella figured she should wait but really how hard could it be to find a class by herself? She had the room number. And even getting lost seemed like a better alternative than waiting around for people to descend on her.

Or at least that was what she had thought. Really it was the fault of the architect who built this high school because nothing should be this hard to navigate. And getting lost really was pretty awful. Showing up late to class the first day set a bad precedent, yet asking for directions put her at the mercy of someone's questions. Why hadn't she just waited for Alice? The halls were clearing out and class was about to start soon and Bella felt her stress levels racquet up. She took a deep breath, preparing herself to ask one of the few remaining people for directions when Red's hackles went up again.

"You're Bella right?" A loud voice asked. Bella turned around to see an absolute bear of a man standing there arms crossed and big ol' grin on his face.

"Uh yeah," Red was making the same comments he had made for both Jasper and Alice, though for this guy Bella could see the reason behind some of their rantings. The guy looked like he could break a person in two without even trying.

"I'm Emmett. My sister, Alice, didn't know where you were so she sent me. Cause, you know, I can see over people's heads." Emmett chuckled at his own joke that Bella didn't really understand she was just happy someone could help her get to class now.

"That's really nice of her, and you. I'm, well lost, but-" Bella trailed off realizing she was rambling and Emmett didn't seem at all fazed by what she was saying.

"Figured, I mean you're on the wrong side of campus for Spanish class, but have no fear for I can show you the way." He placed his hands on his hips and looked off dramatically. Bella could just imagine him in a Superman costume, laughing at the image.

"But won't you be late to class?"

"Nah, I'm in your Spanish class. That's actually the reason Alice sent me, don't tell her I called her short." Bella couldn't help chuckling at his antics which seemed to be the point as his smile only widened while the started down the hall. Emmett was funny, and really nice despite Red not liking him. They walked outside into the cool mist, chatting about their days so far and how she liked living in Forks. Bella was honest, though she downplayed how awful her trig class had been and how much she disliked the town. Emmett, for his part, was really easy going, keeping the conversation up even when Bella wasn't entirely sure what to say.

"If you don't like Forks, then why'd you even move here?" Emmett said, frowning and looking at her. Bella wanted to freeze but kept walking, ice moving through her veins.

"Hey, if you don't want to talk about it, I'm sorry for askin," Emmet said holding his hands up in a surrendering motion, worry etched on his pale face.

"No, its just that- eek!" Bella yelped as she tripped, her mind too preoccupied to watch where she was going. The ground came up far to fast. She threw out her hand and felt the hot sting as it connected and slid on the pavement. Damn. Red was pacing and whining, apologizing for not steadying them. Emmett was standing a few feet back, also apologizing and asking if she was alright.

"I'm fine, just a little scrape," Bella said sitting up and looking at her left palm, now covered in cuts oozing blood. At one point in her life seeing blood, even her own, would have made her woozy. Now though she had seen far too much for it to bother her at all. She was just disappointed it had happened. The shadow Emmett cast shrank as he kneeled down closer than before, his brows scrunched up as he looked at her palm. Bella couldn't even begin to imagine what interested him, too focused on calming Red who had started growling again.

"You should go to the nurse,"

"Really, I'm fine,"

"Sure, but you don't want that to get infected. Carlisle'd get mad at me if I didn't take you to the nurse," Emmett said reaching out a hand to help her up. Bella took the offered, freezing cold hand, barely suppressing a shiver. As soon as she was up Emmett had his hand out of hers, shoving them into his pockets and looking around warily.

"Come on this way," Emmett started walking off again, quieter this time. Bella had to nearly run to catch up with him, and she would have had to continue running to keep up with his pace if Red didn't offer her some help in the speed department. The quiet was strange now, knowing how talkative Emmett could be just from their short time together. Maybe he just felt bad about her tripping and his question. Well, he had carried the conversation up to that point, it couldn't be that hard for her to repay the favor, and really he didn't seem like the type to gossip.

"Some bad stuff happened to me in Phoenix, so I needed to get away from those memories," Bella said not looking up at him. Emmett stayed silent, to the point where Bella almost regretted saying anything at all.

"Some rough stuff happen to me too," Emmett said and he seemed sad. Wow, way to go, not only had she dampened the mood with her own sob backstory but she unlocked part of Emmett's as well.

"But, that's also why I'm with Carlisle now and I miss my old life, but I have now is all I coulda hoped for. Maybe that'll happen for you here in Forks," Emmett smiled down at her and this time it wasn't a goofy one, but more sincere. She could see it in his eyes. Who expected such a bonding moment to happen on her first day. No matter what Red said, Bella liked Emmett, and Alice and Jasper and to be fair she'd probably like all the others people of their little family too.

Before she knew it, they were walking back into a building that smelled distinctly of antiseptic.

"Shouldn't you two be in class?" An old lady was looking at them over her glasses.

"I tripped on my way to class, Emmett showed me how to get here," Bella showed the lady her still scratched up hand, happy that Red hadn't already healed the wound. She looked back at Emmett to see him standing awkwardly by the door, looking toward the beds. Following his gaze, Bella saw a boy laying down, a thick bandage on his leg. She could smell the blood seeping into the gauze, his heartbeat still erratic from his wound. Her stomach growled.

"You can go to class now," the nurse told Emmett as she bustled around the room. He looked relieved, sending Bella a quick smile before ducking out of the room. The boy seemed just as anxious as Jasper and Alice had around people. If this trend kept up then the whole family would just be socially awkward, academically stressed teens. What a friend group.

Don't want them as friends.

Who'd you rather have, them? Or people that'll make us cry?

No cry.

Then you're dealing with the Cullen's. Red grumbled at that but said nothing else as the nurse cleaned the cuts and wrapped her palm in some gauze.

"You're good to go," she said, mumbling about students not going to class as she went to check on the other kid. Bella was more than happy to skedaddle before his blood was really exposed. Walking out of the office, Bella looked around, not sure if Emmett had left or where she was.

"Bella!" A voice called. She whipped around to see Alice skipping toward her and felt relief at not having to find her own way.

"Hey, Alice,"

"Heard you didn't make it to Spanish class, hand alright?" She asked already leading Bella somewhere else. Lunch? Yeah, she was pretty sure lunch was next.

"Just a scrape, where's Emmett?"

"Oh he and Rose always meet up before lunch, he texted me where you were."

Whole family paired off?

Guess so, Carlisle must be some sorta matchmaker. That's nice, I think?

Alice seemed to frown but Bella didn't pry as she thought through whatever it was she was thinking about.

"Only introducing you to my family may not have been the best idea, we don't have any more room at our table," Alice looked sheepishly up at Bella. Well, that was unfortunate. Now she was going to have to sit with the annoying people. Fantastic.

"That's fine, I can sit somewhere else. Don't worry about it," Bella assured her. They were somehow already near the cafeteria and Bella started looking around for anywhere she could possibly sit. It wasn't even like she really needed to eat here, or that she could if she wanted too. With the full moon only a few days away, Red rarely let her eat human food, no matter how hungry she was.

They hoped into line, neither really talking. Bella noticed Alice freeze, not paying attention to the world around them at all, even though the lie was moving. Knowing how it was to become truly lost in your thoughts, Bella grabbed Alice's jacket sleeve and gently pulled her forward. Alice definitely didn't have a wolf in her head to distract her but that didn't mean she didn't have pressing issues. Mental health could take many forms and cause many different symptoms and Bella certainly wasn't going to be the one to judge her on that. If the weird stares Alice was getting were any indication, the rest of the student body judged her and her family enough already.

Alice shook herself out of her stupor before they got to the counter, which was good because Bella really didn't know what she liked to eat, nor was she coordinated enough to balance two trays and drag her along. She didn't mention the situation, just shooting her weird looks that Bella really didn't know how to interpret. Honestly, Bella wasn't paying as much attention to her and her newfound weirdness. No, most of her attention was on the food line and how utterly sick looking at all of it made her. The lady scooped a corn dog and some corn onto her tray, passing it back just as quickly as she had taken it. Bella paid the cashier as her stomach did flips and the nervous butterflies on where she was supposed to sit only added to the nausea. This really wasn't worth the effort she would have to put into finding other people.

"Hey, are you alright?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, I'm just not feeling very good, tell Emmett thanks for walking me to the nurse," Bella said beelining toward the trash can and then immediately out the door, ignoring all the stares, including those of the Cullen's. She didn't stop until she reached her beat up old truck, jumping in and locking the doors. The wheel was cool against her forehead and the air was crisp, the scent of humans lessened which helped soothe some of her hunger pains.

Food.

"Yeah," Bella breathed, starting up the truck.