Disclaimer: Still don't own Edward. Or Jasper. Or Carlisle. You get the picture. :(

A special thank you to those who reviewed, especially BooksAreMyLife365 and my friend Arabella Whitlock, you all inspire me to continue! :)

Warning: Like I said last time, this story will mention bullying, so if that's a trigger for you, turn back now!

Without further ado, here is Chapter 2. I hope you enjoy it, and remember: reviews make me update faster. ;)

Ouch, I have lost myself again

Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found

Yeah, I think that I might break

Lost myself again and I feel unsafe

Be my friend, hold me

Wrap me up, unfold me

I am small, and needy

Warm me up and breathe me

Sia, "Breathe Me"

Bella POV

I breathe a sigh of relief as I enter my homeroom class, as not many of the students have arrived yet. After my run-in with Tanya, I just want to sit down and be invisible. On the occasional days that I arrive late because of the bus, I usually enter my first class when everyone has already chosen their seats, and "my" seat has been moved to a back corner.

I don't mind being the loner, I actually prefer it that way, but it's embarrassing when everyone whispers or snickers at me when I make my way to my seat. Thankfully, there are plenty to choose from, so I pick a desk in the back of the room.

I notice a couple new new faces, so I smile at them as I pass by, as I can only imagine how awkward they feel right now. By the way the girls both smile back at me, I assume they haven't heard the vicious gossip about me through the grapevine yet.

One of them, a tall girl with green eyes encased by glasses and long dark hair pulled into a ponytail, gets up and moves to sit beside me. I smile tightly, as I am uncomfortable interacting with people my own age, but I silently tell myself to make an attempt to be polite.

I look up at her as she speaks to me, and I feel myself relax, which confuses me, "Hi, my name is Angela, and I'm new here. I just wanted to say 'hi' before more people come in; I'm not really comfortable around crowds."

My smile changes into a warm one, for now I have something in common with this girl. I wave slightly and reply, "Hi, I'm Bella. Well, Isabella, but my mom calls me Bella. I'm not really into crowds either, so I completely understand how you feel."

My smile starts to fade as I notice others start to come in, and I decide I should fill her in before she becomes ostracized like me. I duck my head down and whisper sadly, "Listen Angela, it was really nice of you to come over, but I should warn you that I'm not part of the popular crowd, so if you want to make friends here, you should sit somewhere else."

I look up to see her expression, and she seems confused, "I don't understand. Why does it matter where I sit? I mean, you seem pretty nice to me." I swallow the lump in my throat and decide I'll have to be blunt with her, "Because I'm the school loner and a nerd - most of the kids here picks on me, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. You seem really sweet, so you should start off on the right foot. Do you get it now?"

I see a few emotions cross her face - anger and sadness, then compassion and determination - before she speaks to me again, "I'm not a shallow person, Bella. I don't care about being part of the "popular" crowd. I've learned from experience that real friends are hard to find, and I think that we could be really good friends."

I open my mouth to protest, tell her she has no idea what she's getting herself into, but the homeroom bell rings, and the teacher comes in. I turn forward in my seat and ignore Angela's attempts to gain my attention. By the time class is over, she'll see what I mean.

I cut off my morose train of thought when I notice that the teacher is one that I have seen in the halls, but have never had a class with. The popular kids call her "Jane the Pain," because she doesn't accept any of their excuses or nonsense. She is one of the few teachers who refuse to bow down to their 'social status' and she treats everyone equally. I love her already.

The teacher, "Hello everyone, I know most of you expect a free pass for this period, but I want to let you know now that I will expect you all to either be reading a book or doing homework. No socializing, reading magazines, playing games, etc."

As the class groans, I hide my smile, as having to read every morning is definitely not a chore for me. The teacher clears her throat, "My name is Mrs. Volterra, and the lucky few who actually obey my rules without complaint will come to know me as Ms. Jane. For the rest of the period, you may do one of the two things I just described. If you have any questions, I'll be at my desk."

As she walks off to her desk, I turn to pull the book I'm currently reading, or re-reading I should say, as I've read it over a thousand times: Persuasion by my favorite author, Jane Austen. As I turn back around, I feel a hand cover mine, and I flinch, but as I look to my right, I see Angela offering me a small smile and she squeezes my hand before getting out a book of her own.

I stare down at my hand like I've never seen it before. I can still feel the warmth and kindness I experienced from her touch, and I cradle my hand in my lap as I try to come to terms with this act of kindness, something I have rarely experienced from anyone besides my mother.

I shake my head slightly and go to pick up my book and open it, removing the bookmark from its place. As I delve into the complicated relationship of Anne Elliot and her captain, I feel something hit me in the forehead.

I jump in my seat, causing the legs of my chair to scratch against the linoleum floor sharply. Everyone turns to look at me, and I flush with embarrassment. I look down to my desk to see a wad of paper there. When will I learn to never let my guard down in this place?!

I know I shouldn't, that it will only cause me pain, but I open the paper to read what it says. Nerdella: an ugly fat nobody, a thing that only exists to entertain us, like a dog. I feel a ripping in my chest and tears sting my eyes, but I bite my tongue to keep them from falling.

I ball the paper up and put it in my backpack. I hear a slapping sound, and look up to see two guys giving each other a high-five before they look back and me, smirking maliciously. I stare at them blankly, and their smirks fade as they fail to get a rise out of me. I learned in elementary school that when you crumple in front of them, they get more enjoyment out of it.

I refuse to let the likes of Tyler Crowley and Mike Newton get the best of me. Then the bell rings, signaling that the period is over. I look at my schedule to see where my next class is; I don't need another hallway confrontation with Tanya.

As I stand and put Persuasion into my backpack, Angela puts her hand on my arm, "Are you okay?" I nod stiffly, "Yeah, it's nothing I'm not used to. Now you know why you should stay away from me."

Putting my backpack over my shoulder, I quickly walk out of the room and towards my next class. I walk out of the building and across the courtyard to the Science building, where my AP Biology class is located.

When I walk into the room, the familiar sight of double-seated tables and microscopes makes me smile. Besides English, Biology is one of my favorite classes. I'm one of the few that excel in both writing and science classes, though math is still my version of kryptonite.

I see my suit-wearing teacher from last year writing on the board at the front of the class, and I groan internally. The universe really, really hates me! Mr. Banner is one of those teachers that loves to feel superior to his students, so needless to say he doesn't like me because I excelled in his class last year. He was the only teacher to give me a B, which ruined my straight-A average.

I sit down at an empty table in the middle of the classroom, and get out my notebook and pencil. I stiffen when I feel someone sit beside me, and when I glance to my side I see another new face. He meets my glance and smiles slightly before getting his own materials ready for the class.

I take the opportunity to observe him: he is taller than me, even sitting down, and he has chin-length wavy blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He starts fidgeting all of a sudden, and I blush and turn towards the front of the class when I realize that he caught me looking at him.

Nice job, Bella! Make him think you're a bigger freak than you already are! The bell rings again, signifying the beginning of class, and then Mr. Banner comes to stand in front of his desk and observes the class, his dark, almost black, eyes narrowing when he sees me. Oh hell.

He slicks his black hair back and says, "Hello class, my name is Mr. Banner, and you will address me as Mr. Banner. Not Mr. B or Ban-Man, Mr. Banner. This is AP Biology, so I will expect you to do AP-level work. I don't tolerate slacking in my class, and I'm not afraid to fail you if you do not give me your best."

After his speech, he passes out our textbooks to us, and my table partner smiles slightly at me as he passes me my book. Mr. Banner goes over the schedule for the year, as well as his "high" expectations of us where our work is concerned. He looks up at the clock, and says, "You have 5 minutes left of class, so you can socialize or start working on tonight's homework. Your choice."

I just sit there staring at my textbook awkwardly, not sure what to do, when I hear a quiet, deep voice address me, "Um, hi. I'm Jasper, and I just wanted to say 'hi' since we're going to be lab partners. So….'hi.'" He laughs nervously, and I smile and reply, "Hi Jasper. My name is Bella. Are you new here?"

He smiles back, seemingly relieved that I said something back to him. But that can't be it, right? I mean, a guy like him can't possibly be anxious because of me. "Yeah, I am. My family recently moved here because of my dad's health. My cousin is starting here today too."

Angela's face flashes in my mind, and though they look nothing alike, I can see a similarity in their personalities, so I ask, "Is her name Angela? There were a couple new girls in my homeroom class today, and I met one of them."

A smile lights up his face that makes my breath catch in my throat, "Yes it is! I'm glad she's getting along well so far. She's a bit shy, like me." A blush colors his cheeks and he looks away. I have a hard time believing such a handsome boy like him could ever be shy.

The bell rings, and I sigh, knowing my next class is Calculus. I hate math! Everyone puts their books and things in their backpacks and begins to leave the class. I should have seen it coming, but I was paying so much attention to Jasper that I missed all the signs.

I stood up and walked towards the door when one of the people still sitting down stuck out their leg and tripped me. I put out my hands to catch myself, but my right hand twisted at an odd angle, and I heard a snap as I fell to the floor. Black spots clouded my vision and through the laughing I heard a panicked voice say, "Bella!"

I felt warm arms lift me off the ground and help me stand. I open my eyes to see Mr. Banner roll his eyes and in an annoyed voice say, "Ms. Swan, watch where you're going." I bite back the retort I so very much wanted to make and said, "Yes, Mr. Banner. Thank you."

I felt Jasper's arms wrap around my waist as I laid my head against his shoulder as he led me out of class. "Jasper, I'm okay. You should get to your next class, I'll be fine." He was already shaking his head, "Absolutely not! I'm taking you to the nurse - your hand doesn't look good."

I looked down and grimaced, my wrist was swollen and turning purple. "No, I think it's broken. can you help me to the office? I can take it from there." Mrs. Cope would help me, of that I had no doubt.

We slowly made our way to the office, and Mrs. Cope was on the telephone. Her eyes widened when she saw my condition and quickly hung up the phone. "Bella! Oh my Lord, sweetheart, what happened?!" I looked at the ground and said in a small voice, "I fell on my way out of class. Can I borrow your car to go to the hospital?"

As I looked up at her I could see her scowling darkly. "Young lady, you know better than to lie to me. And I'm so sorry dear, my car is actually being fixed right now. Let me see if I can find a ride for you!" She was about to hurry to the back offices, when Jasper said, "I have a car, Mrs. Cope, and I can take her."

Mrs. Cope turns around with a relieved look on her face, "Oh bless you, young man! What is your name, and I'll make sure your teachers know what has happened." He blushed under her praise, and said, "My name is Jasper Masen, ma'am."

I turned to face him in protest, "Jasper, I can't let you do that! It's your first day of class here!" Jasper got a determined look on his face and replied, "You need to get to the hospital, and I have a way to help you do that - please don't argue. You're badly hurt! And besides, Angela is in some of my classes, so she cal fill me in later."

I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to win this argument, especially since the pain I was in was starting to make me nauseous and dizzy. "Okay, fine. But I am going to repay you somehow." Jasper smiled, "Agreed. Now let's go, I can see you're about to pass out if you keep standing."

I turned back to Mrs. Cope, "Thank you Mrs. Cope, you're the best - I don't know what I'd do without you. Please don't call my mom at work - there's nothing that she can do anyway, and I'll tell her tonight.

She frowns, "I don't know, dear. I'm sure she'd want to be there with you so you're not alone." I opened my mouth to protest, but Jasper beat me to it, "I'll stay with her; she won't be alone." I opened my mouth to protest again, but the look on his face made me give up.

"Well, alright dear. But if your mother is upset with me, I am placing the blame at your feet!" Mrs .Cope says while pointing a finger at me. How I manage to giggle in my condition, I will never know. "Come on, Bella, we need to get you to the hospital," Jasper said as he ushered me outside.

He leads me to a faded red Jeep and helps me into it. As he starts the car, and pulls out of the parking lot, I look at him in wonder, in awe of his kindness and gentlemanly behavior towards me. He glances at me out of the side of his eyes, and asks, "Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong? I just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

I could see that he was getting anxious again, so I set his mind at ease, "No, you didn't do anything wrong. In fact, you did everything right. I'm just questioning whether you're real, whether or not I actually passed out when I fell and this is just a dream."

He crinkles his eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean by that? I'm just doing the right thing." I smile sadly and from the way his expression changes to shock, I can tell my reply surprises him, "Because this is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me."

This chapter ended up being a bit longer than I planned, but I hope you still enjoyed it! Please review and let me know what you think! See y'all next time! ;)