There were no killer zombies waiting for me outside. Instead, there was ice-cold rain and a purple Volkswagen Beetle. It wasn't really my type of car, not that I was rich enough to have a type of car. I dashed to the car, chucking my bag in the back and sliding into the driver's seat. I waited a moment – half expecting the car to move by itself. While I was waiting I looked at the outside world. It looked normal as well. It was green and lush with houses nestled in gardens with trees. I'd never been to Forks to be able to compare – but it was like I imagined it to be. I inwardly complimented my subconscious on doing such a good job creating this place.
After a minute or two it was clear I would have to drive the car. I turned the key in the ignition and headed off – with no idea where I was going. I thought the school would be easy enough to find. Didn't the books describe it as "just off the highway"? Sure enough – there was a collection of buildings not two minutes down the highway (if you could call it a highway). I stared at the small collection of buildings nestled amongst large trees with thick trunks and deep green leaves. It was picturesque.
A horn beeped impatiently behind me and I hurried to find a park. I hopped out just as the heard of students began to clear the car park. I guessed that it meant that the bell had already gone. I didn't know where I was meant to be going – but it was my dream and I was going to make the most of it. Where's Edward Cullen? I thought to myself and headed off towards the nearest building.
When I saw a few people who were around my age duck into a classroom on the right I decided to follow them. They didn't look like any major characters, or even supporting characters for that matter, but I didn't want to be wandering around an empty school and I would be if I stayed out any longer. I didn't want to do anything that might tempt this dream into nightmare territory.
As I followed them in the students hung up their coats and apologised for being late to the teacher. As soon as I stepped inside I could tell that my dream had taken a turn for the worst – suddenly every head in the room turned to stare at me. Even the teacher stopped talking mid-sentence to look at me expectantly. I felt myself blush and had to look down to check I still had my clothes on. I did. Luckily it wasn't that nightmare.
"Can I help you?" he asked, looking at me quizzically and I felt my cheeks begin to burn. It was hard to tell if it was from humiliation or all the stares.
"I'm new here," the words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. It seemed to be the right thing to say because the teacher's expression softened.
"Ah," he said. I quickly read the nameplate on the desk. He was Mr Mason. "Do you have a slip?" he asked and a blonde headed girl in the front row chuckled.
"No." I started, feeling unsure of myself. What kind of dream was this where I had to have the right paperwork. "I think I'm a bit lost."
The girl in the front row rolled her eyes as if to say no kidding.
"Well, you need to go to the office first. I can get one of the students to show you –"
"-That's okay." I cut him off. " I saw it on my way in."
I took one brief, last look around the classroom. Every face was on me, either curious or trying to hide some level of amusement. Some not trying to hide it. There was just one girl who was sitting in the back row that had her head down reading a piece of paper. Her long brown hair had fallen over her face, obscuring it from view. I nearly stopped to do a second take. She looked an awful lot like my impression of Bella Swan. Maybe her hair was a slightly different shade of brown but she held herself with the same posture. It mirrored how I felt at that moment too – like we wanted to be as small as possible, preferably invisible. I shook my head. I was half hoping that it would wake me up from this ridiculous dream. It wasn't so appealing now it was clear that I was not going to be Bella Swan.
I made my way towards where I had passed the building with the Office sign out the front. The outside of my parka was getting progressively wetter. The inside of the office was bright and warm. The red-haired lady at the counter looked up at me. Her eyes narrowed behind her glasses.
"It's my first day," I offered, and her face instantly brightened.
"Of course it is! You must be Leighton." She said, digging through a pile of papers beside her. I nodded and reached out for the paperwork she offered me.
"That is your schedule and a map of the school." She seemed to adopt a mono-tone, as if she had practiced this moment several times.
"You're our second new student today. Not every day we get two new students, and in the middle of term as well!" she sounded excited. I didn't feel it.
She quickly highlighted the routes to my classes and we said our goodbyes. On the way back to my first class, which happened to be the one I just left, I tried to change my dream somehow. I attempted to run faster, jump higher, change the colour of the walls or sky. Nothing happened and I was sure I looked like an idiot when I arrived back in front of the class – puffing and sweating slightly.
This time I managed to make eye contact with the girl in the back row, who blushed deeply and looked away. It was definitely Bella Swan.
"Back again?" said Mr Mason and I gave him a weak smile and handed him my slip. He handed me a book list and directed me to an empty desk. I dug a pen from my bag as Mr Mason continued with his lecture, which was apparently on Wuthering Heights. Since I had already finished school, I had already studied the book. But I found myself amazed at how much I much have subconsciously absorbed. I was a solid B student (Okay, B minus) but Mr Mason spoke in so much detail. If this was my dream, then I must have had that information in me somewhere. I also tried to glance around at the students, expecting to see the room populated with people from my real life. I was disappointed to see that these were all new faces – and most of them were catching me staring at them and giving me confused looks.
The bell rang and I hurriedly packed up. The rest of the class seemed to be turned to look at Bella in the back row, and I was pleased to have the attention off me. I began to sneak out but was cornered by the blonde girl who has laughed when I first entered the class.
"So are you Leighton or Isabella?" she smiled, but it didn't come across as friendly. I looked down at myself and then across the room to where Bella sat, looking uncomfortable. Clearly, I was not Bella.
"Leighton." I told her and I felt her glance up and down at my outfit. She seemed to approve of what I was wearing as her face softened slightly.
"I'm Lauren." She smiled at me and I chocked on air. She looked at me curiously as I coughed. "What class do you have next?"
I pilled out my timetable and looked at it, confused.
She sighed and pulled it off me, impatient.
"You have gym." She said. She sounded relieved. "I actually have calculus. So I can't help you out there."
"Ok. Thanks anyway." I said, reaching for my parka.
"You can sit with me and my friends at lunch though."
Her expression told me she did not really want this. Conveniently, I also did not want this.
"Thanks," I said anyway, as I headed out the door alone. I could see Bella walking ahead of me with who I assumed was Eric. When I reached the gym though they continued on and I was forced to enter on my own. I wondered if I would get in trouble for ditching in my own dream.
Instead, I handed my slip to Coach Clapp and played some volleyball. I was an average volleyball player in real life and apparently my new athletic body was still an average volleyball player. I wasn't sure who was more disappointed – me or Coach Clapp. At the end of the game a girl with wildly curly dark hair came up and introduced herself as Jessica.
"So where are you from?" She asked me curiously.
"Texas," I answered automatically, then I realised that might not technically be true.
"You don't look like you're from Texas," she said without a beat. For some reason she looked at my feet. Like she expected cowboy boots or something.
"I hadn't been there long." I told her. "Before Texas was California?" I realised it sounded like a question. I wasn't sure if it lined up to where she thought I looked like I was from. Then I felt stupid for even worrying about it. This is your dream. I had to keep reminding myself, everything was so realistic.
"What class do you have next?" she asked me enthusiastically.
"Calculus?" I looked at my schedule.
She looked at it too. "Yep. We're in the same class. Let's walk together."
On the way to class she told me about how exciting it was to get two new students on the one day.
"Who's the other new student?" I asked curiously.
"Isabella Swan."
I didn't think she noticed my slight hesitation. It was Bella's first day as well. I found myself feeling more confused. It was if I had just opened up the first page of the Twilight book and jumped right in. I thought I would be dreaming that I was an existing character – but I was a new character. Outside the door of the Calculus room we ran into Eric chatting again to a blushing Bella Swan. Jessica smiled excitedly and walked towards them.
"Hi Eric!" she said. Eric shot her a questioning look that clearly showed she'd never greeted him with such enthusiasm before today.
"Hello Jessica," he said suspiciously.
"I'm Jessica," she said, turning instantly to Bella. "You must be Isabella."
"Bella," she corrected instantly, before looking at her feet again.
Jessica turned toward me, "This is Leighton. It's her first day as well."
Bella looked up. She was different to what I imagined her to be. It wasn't so much that I couldn't instantly recognise who she was, but it was like in my imagination she was hazy, but now details I couldn't see were clear. Her hair was the same as I imagined, and her walk was the same (awkward, since she looked at her feet) but there were things about her that were different. Her nose, for instance, was so perfect and rounded that it made me awkwardly aware of my sharp nose. Her skin was pale and flawless. Her cheeks were freshly flushed and she looked positively doll like.
"Hi," I greeted her.
"Hi," she smiled back.
"Well you can both sit next to me," Jessica chimed as she entered the class and hung up her jacket. Bella and I followed.
"So do you like it here?" I asked Bella quietly while Jessica walked to her seat. Jessica whispered furiously to a girl with braces who looked unhappy but then vacated her seat.
"Um," Bella paused for a moment and looked at the ground. It was if she wasn't totally sure about what she was doing here.
"Same for me," I whispered at her and she gave me a small smile. The teacher looked at us expectantly. He was not surprised to find two new students. Bella and I handed him our slips.
"Would you both like to introduce yourselves to the class?" he asked and Bella and I both stopped. Bella's mouth fell open and she instantly turned red. I stopped because I wasn't quite sure what to tell the class.
Hi, I'm Leighton. You are actually all part of a really elaborate dream I'm having.
"I really wouldn't want to take out valuable learning time," I told him seriously and he looked from me to Bella, who was looking at the floor. "I mean there are two of us."
He stopped at my last remark and looked again from me to Bella, as if confirming that there were in fact two of us. "Ok. Go find a seat."
I heard Bella exhale audibly in relief. "Is public speaking not your forte?" I asked her as she cringed.
"No. Thank you." She whispered and took the seat that Jessica had cleared on her right. I sat down on her left and didn't even bother to pull out my books. Calculus was never a favourite subject for me – I wasn't going to be studying it in my dreams. Bella raised an eyebrow at my empty desk. I shrugged.
When the bell rang it turned out that Jessica, Bella and I had Spanish together. We walked as Jessica chatted animatedly about teachers and people again. She didn't ask us any questions and I was grateful. Bella looked like she was somewhere else entirely.
After Spanish it was lunch. Bella and I followed Jessica dutifully to the cafeteria where we sat at a table with eight or so other people. They all introduced themselves and I recognised some of their faces from previous classes.
Angela smiled at Bella and me warmly as she was introduced. I couldn't quite believe I was still in this same dream. It seemed to be getting more complicated and extravagant by the second.
I watched as Bella paused in mid expression and her eyes widened slightly. I turned to look where she was staring and I felt my eyes widen as well. Everything I was thinking fell out of my mind as I took in the Cullens.
They were beautiful, more devastatingly beautiful then I had ever imagined. While I was reading the books I imagined them as good-looking people but that was nothing to how they appeared in this dream. As if even my wildest imagination couldn't fathom how attractive they were. They were otherworldly. Pale and perfect. No flaws to be seen. They seemed to float towards their table.
"Who are they?" Bella asked, not looking away from their table even as Alice got up and left. I looked down at the table, not wanting to look at either Bella or the Cullens. I felt almost as if I was intruding on a personal moment. It was, after all, her first glance at her soul mate. I was the moment that ultimately starts a chain of events that turns her life away from any path it was taking.
I looked at Bella and tried to imagine her with that same skin – the same dark eyes but for some reason the image was fuzzy in my mind. Bella suddenly flushed a dark red and dropped her gaze to the table. I turned slightly to peek back at the Cullens.
Edward was still looking over towards our table but instead of looking at Bella his eyes were burning into me.