Chapter Two

So, this might not answer everyone's questions from the First Chapter, but don't worry, all of the empty spaces will be filled in good time! This chapter is about the length I hope the rest will be, so hopefully no more short clips.

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Falling asleep, knowing there are things you need to think through, is always a bad idea. I tossed and turned all night falling in and out of dreams in which I was a large, snake like monster growling and screeching at Edward and he faced me with his sword held high. He would say a few valiant words and I would growl in reply, then he would have at me and just as his sword slid into my skin I would wake up. The last time I awoke, I stared at the clock as it blinked 5:46 a.m. I gave up and just laid awake thinking about what Edward could possibly think of me after I blew up at him like some ferocious beast. In reality, I'm sure I was just over reacting, but I just couldn't give myself that kind of hope when there is a possibility that at school he would totally blow me off and ignore me for the rest of my stay in Forks.

This was going to be a very long day.

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I hopped down the stairs, slipping on the last step, but catching myself before I did any real damage. When I entered the kitchen Charlie was sipping coffee and reading the paper, fully dressed in his uniform.

"Morning, Bells."

"Morning." I answered as I fished through the pantry pulling out a box of Cheerios. "So… are you going to drive me to school?" I found a bowl in a nearby cabinet and pulled the milk out of the fridge, expecting sour milk, but pleasantly surprised to find that it was relatively fresh.

"No, I have to get to the station. Our neighbor, Mike Newton, offered to take you." Not the buttfaced kid who asked me to marry him every time I came to visit? "You remember him, don't you? Blonde hair, blue eyes, small obsession with you when you two were little." There was a knife in my back, twisting and jabbing and I was dying. Charlie didn't even glance away from the comics.

I quickly finished my breakfast and hurried upstairs to kill myself, but instead I brushed my teeth and made my bed. Once I had finished I looked out the window to see him, leaning out of the window of a white sedan waving. I was extremely excited to see that he had outgrown the buttlike face and had matured into a good-looking, jock type, guy. So I grabbed my backpack and hurried out the door to meet is still smiling face.

"Isabella? Hey, it's been a while." He held out his arms and trapped me in an awkward but not totally uncomfortable hug.

"Hey Mike. Yeah I haven't seen you in about four years. And you can call me Bella, I like it better."

"That's right. I forgot. Sorry. Are you excited about your first day?"

"I guess so." I buckled my seatbelt and stared at my lap for a few minutes before returning my eyes to the road as we began our journey to Forks High School.

"Well, the entire student body is excited for you. All they've been talking about for the past two weeks has been you. There are plans for a feature in the school newspaper." Newspaper features, people talking, what am I doing here? Honestly, I'm not the best at making friends, because I really don't like the attention they bring. The only reason me and Jake were best friends was because we had been pushed together by our parents when me and my mom moved to Phoenix when I was four. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some emo freak who sits in the back of the school smoking cigs all day; I have casual friends. I just prefer to be alone; it's kind of what I do best.

"I hope you aren't serious about the paper."

"Well, not entirely. I mean, you can talk Eric out of it I'm sure." He laughed to himself and I assumed it was some sort of inside joke.

"So, is there anything else I should be warned about before we walk in there?" At the sound of we Mike gave a huge, dopey grin. It occurred to me that many of the guys must be excited about the addition to the babe pool and I would be the shiny new water toy they could all gawk at. Yet another reason to run into the woods as soon as the car reached a stop.

"Well, there is a winter formal this weekend, so you should prepare yourself for mass proposals, I'm sure." I let out a large audible sigh. "Aw, come on Bella. We haven't had a new student here in about four or five years. Forks is a pretty dull town, you know. We'll take whatever excitement we can lay our hands on."

The car came to a stop and Mike pulled the keys from the ignition. He glanced my way and gave me a reassuring smile and then slid out of the car. Before I did the same, I looked out the front windshield, meeting the eyes of about 30 to 40 gawking faces (nearly a fourth of the entire student body). With one last deep breath, I opened the car door to meet the frigid wet air that dominates Forks' atmosphere, and took the first steps of my new life.

"Hey Bells! Come meet the gang!" I turned to see Mike waving towards me surrounded by a group of boys and girls who were either perplexed or offended by my intrusion into their safe little bubble of friendship. "This is Eric, Angela, Ben, that's Jessica, there's Tyler…" The list went on but I was too preoccupied to listen; because a silver Volvo had just pulled into the parking lot. After finding a spot, Edward Cullen emerged looking just as spectacular as I remembered, though I must say, from afar he looks a bit lankier than I imagined. Once out in the open, a large muscled boy with dark hair slapped Edward on the back causing him to whence a little until a tall, lean guy with honey colored curls threw an arm around Edward's shoulders and let out a large laugh. I'm not sure what it was about this scene, but I couldn't for the life of me look away, even when I met Edward's eyes. Finally, a voice beside me began talking and I tore my attention away to face a short brunette who I believe was named Jessica.

"That's the Cullens. The big one is Emmett, the gorgeous one is Edward, and the tall one is Jasper. There are two others, Rosalie and Alice, but they are still in Alaska visiting their relatives." From the tone of the small girl's voice I could sense that the Cullen men were some kind of object of lust for the girls of this school and the Cullen girls were merely a large obstacle.

"None of them look alike." I observed as I looked closer into each boys features. Jasper had icy blue eyes, Emmett's were a deep powerful brown, and Edward's were that penetrating green; and each had a different build.

"Oh, they are all adopted. Dr. Cullen sure knows how to pick them. Each kid is perfect, it's really kind of ridiculous." From the bitter tone in her voice, I sensed a bit of jealousy; which is really an unattractive characteristic. Suddenly her stance changed and she became some kind of perky monster, waving and smiling, bearing all of her little teeth. "Hey, Edward!" Edward looked her way and gave a slight crooked smile that sent her weak in the knees as she leaned into me. I quickly backed away and glanced up to see all three Cullen's eyes on me. I could feel warm blush taking over my cheeks and I quickly pushed back my hair and turned my attention to Mike who was arguing with Eric about the "Isabella Swan Story."

"Eric, the feature is dead. She said she didn't like the idea and that it's crap."

"Whatever Mike. Why don't I just ask her myself. Hey Bella, you want to do the feature, right?"

"No, dickwad, she doesn't. Isn't that right Bella?"

"Save it, Mike!"

The bell rang and the two boys pushed and shoved their way into the doors as I quietly avoided all attention and slid into the front office where I found a homely stout woman smiling brightly.

"Isabella Swan, I presume." She held out a slip of paper and I took it and glanced at the words. My schedule. "And here is a map. I highlighted the route to each classroom." She then handed me a slip with each period written and large blanks to the side. "Get each of your teachers to sign by the period number and bring it back to me at the end of school today. If you have any questions feel free to ask any of your classmates or teachers, they are all here to help."

"Thank you." I gave a quick smile and then headed out to my first class.

English: Mason

Government: Jefferson

Trigonometry: Varner

Spanish: Wint

Lunch

Biology II: Banner

Gym: Clapp

The day was boring for the most part. Eric was in my English class, Jessica was in my Trig and Spanish Class, I sat with Mike's group at lunch, and everything seemed to go according to plan until I got to Biology. I walked in and noticed that Mike was there and so was Angela, one of Jessica's friends, but they were already sitting with lab partners. The only open seat was at a table with Edward Cullen. So I silently handed my slip to the teacher and he signed it and sent me to sit next to Edward who had yet to notice I was here. I gently sat on the stool next to him and pulled my binder out of my backpack. He sat staring out at the rain with his head rested on a hand propped up on the table. It wasn't until the teacher began loudly addressing the lesson today that he looked away and noticed that I was sitting next to him.

"Hey Bella." He gave me that same crooked smile he had shown Jessica. "How's your first day?"

"It's fine." His eyes delved deeper, curiously looking into my mind and trying to figure me out.

"Just fine? Don't you like Forks?"

"I don't really know yet. The people are great, but it's cold and wet."

"Well, forecast says sun tomorrow. Maybe you'll change your mind."

"Maybe." We both began listening to Mr. Banner who was ranting about our lab today on animal cells. Once his lecture concluded I focused my eye towards the lens of the microscope and slid the first slide into the tray. "Mitochondria."

"Hmm. Well, let's see." He grabbed the microscope and dipped one emerald eye down to touch the lens and almost immediately raised his head and looked into my eyes smiling. "Looks like we have ourselves a little bookworm."

"I'm not a bookworm." I must say that the name-calling slightly annoyed me. "I've already taken Biology."

"Then why not take something else." His eyes weren't soft and green, they were rock hard and almost black and I began to think that maybe all of my assumptions were correct. He was planning on ignoring me after my little slip up in his car. Well, it's about time he found out that he can't judge a person based on their reaction to a high-speed, near-death experience.

"You don't like me." It was just as much a question as it was an answer.

"Now, who told you that." He smirked that same twisted grin and I knew I had my answer.

"You did." We sat staring at each other having some sort of unspoken war, and finally the bell rang and he swiftly exited the room. I felt a firm grasp on my shoulder and turned to see Emmett smiling brightly at me.

"Isabella Swan."

"It's Bella." I gave him a quick smile and began to gather my books.

"Ciao! I'm Emmett Cullen, but you can call me Sexy Beast if you want to." He was a rather enthusiastic fellow. We would never get along. He grabbed my schedule and laughed. "So I see you have Gym next. That just won't do."

"What do you mean?" He grabbed my arm once I had my things in order and led me in the opposite direction of the gym, throwing his arm over my shoulder as we exited the school. "Where are we going. I can't skip on the first day of school."

"Relax. I've got this." We walked into what I guessed was the health room, considering it had a red cross painted on the door. "Mrs. Westlake?"

"Oh, what is it now Emmett." A voice emerged from behind the desk and finally a thin, middle-aged woman stood up and set a stack of files on her desk. She looked very tired and annoyed until she noticed me, then she pulled herself together and walked towards me, taking my hand and shaking it. "You must be Isabella Swan."

"It's Bella." I whispered politely, feeling a faint blush paint my cheeks.

"Well aren't you gorgeous." She touched my cheek awkwardly and returned her attention to Emmett. "So what can I do for you two?"

"You see, Mrs. Westlake, Bella has gym class next and she is having," He nudged my arm and then whispered something in Mrs. Westlake's ear. Her face looked horrified and she slapped Emmett across the shoulder.

"Why on Earth would you know about that."

"She could barely get up from her desk after Biology, and when I asked what was wrong she refused to tell me, and that cute little blush just covered her face. Now I live with three women. I know when there is a bad case of lady troubles. So I was wondering if you could give her some Advil and tell Coach Clapp that she would be in the library studying with me until she feels better."

"Oh, you poor thing." She stroked my arm and Emmett covered the smirk he had plastered across his face.

"She was planning on going to gym too."

"Well good Lord. Here." She scampered off to a cabinet and returned with two Advil and a cup. She slid the cup under a water dispenser and handed it to me. I quickly knocked back the medicine and drank the rest of the water. "Okay, I'll call your teacher. Emmett please look after her." She led us out the door. "If you start feeling worse please come back and see me."

"Piece of cake." Emmett laughed and we walked into the library and sat down at a table.

"Why did you do that?" I leaned towards him to gain his full attention.

"Because gym sucks and it's your first day. Geez, a simple thank you would suffice." He pouted like a little puppy and I slapped his shoulder just as the nurse had minutes ago. "Oooh, she's got an arm on her. Edward didn't mention that after he drove you home yesterday. He also didn't mention how stunning you are." He reached out and touched my face. Heat filled my cheeks and Emmett let out a loud guffaw only to be shushed harshly by the librarian. "You blush more than any girl I have ever met in my entire life."

"Is that a large number?" I was curious to see what kind of social life these Cullens lead.

"Why not? I'm a handsome guy, don't you think?" I accidentally let a small giggle loose and Emmett playfully slapped me in the shoulder in retaliation. "Harsh, little Bella." He cupped my chin and stared deeply into my eyes for a few moments until something behind me caught his attention. "Yo, Eddy! Over here." This would only happen to me. I get caught flirting with the enemies kin. Then something struck me. Winning the favor of a most beloved brother would mean that by default I would win the favor of a certain Edward. But why did I want to win his favor, didn't he agree that he disliked me. This obsession had to end. I needed to find something to entertain me enough to where I wouldn't obsess over this goddamn Edward Cullen anymore. I felt his presence at the table and lifted me head to study his expression. He had that same stupid smile plastered across his face, but his eyes held some kind of anger, or was it jealousy? Was he jealous that I was making time with his brother instead of him? That would mean that he actually had feelings for me. Dare to dream, Bella.

"What are you guys doing." His voice was hard and cut the air as it escaped from his lips. Emmett seemed to sense the harshness of his tone and slapped him playfully on the back.

"Nothing at all. Hey, did I tell you Bella is going with me to the winter formal." What the fuck?

"What?" Both Edward and I said the same thing at the same time but with separate expressions. His held a tone of anger, mine a tone of offense.

"Yeah, Bella. I was just about to ask you anyways." He ran his tongue across his upper lip waiting for a confirmation. What a douche bag. So, what if he was sexy, and ripped, and… sexy.

"Okay, but I would have said no. I don't dance."

"Don't or won't?" Edward questioned.

"Both. I'm extremely clumsy."

"Oh, come on Bella! We're going together. I can help you dance. In case you haven't noticed, I am well endowed and I'm pretty much positive I can catch you if you stumble." Emmett pointed to his exposed bicep and all I could do was laugh at the idiocy of that statement.

"Thanks Emmett, but I'm going to Seattle anyways. I have some things I need to get." Emmett nodded in defeat and I could have sworn I heard Edward let out a sigh of relief, but I didn't get my hopes up. So for the rest of the period I studied for a Spanish quiz while Edward and Emmett discussed various subjects that were of no interest to me.

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"Bella, wait up." Edward jogged towards me as I headed over to Mike's car where he and his friends waited for me to join them.

"What is it." I asked as he caught up to me.

"Do you need a ride to Seattle Saturday?"

"Why are you offering." He looked a bit confused, but answered my question anyways with a nod. "Tempting as that sounds, I'm pretty sure I've had my fill of you driving habits."

"I swear I'll drive slower. Come on."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going up there too, and carpooling is eco-friendly." I laughed a little and his face lightened. Something about the way light hit his face dazzled me. Sounds stupid, I know, but it was like tiny little diamonds glistened from his pale skin catching my eye, and I dare not look away for fear that if I chanced even one blink the magic would be gone forever. Obviously he had noticed the daze he had put me in and quickly snapped in front of my eyes, chuckling as he did so. "Bella, I'll pick you up at ten."

"Okay." I stood for a moment watching him leave, wondering how someone could make me feel this way. Jake had never made me feel even close to the way I felt at that moment, and I hadn't even touched the guy yet. Forks, Washington had surprised me. It's like my life had started all over again; new house, new school, and new friends, but this life was more… something. I wasn't sure what that something was, but I wasn't going to wait around to find out.

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Please Review!!!! The next chapter should be done before the week is out.