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Chapter 2 – Everyday Life

"And your homework for tomorrow…"

The yawn that escaped my mouth couldn't be stopped. My eyes wandered around the classroom and the question that popped into my head daily repeated itself once again. Why does school have to be so damn boring? Tanya, the strawberry blonde girl next to me, was sitting in a similar position as me, cheek resting on her palm, but the gum she was chewing completed the image certainly.

Oh, Mr Varner, you're so boring. In your class, I couldn't stop snoring. Just stop with your stupid class, I really don't give an ass, you should just let me pass. You should just get fired soon, cause you're such a babooooooooooon. You make me go all angsty…

Hm, what rhymes with angsty?

The loud, screeching sound of the bell interrupted my daydreaming. Walking out of the class, I smiled in satisfaction when I saw Varner with an annoyed expression on his face. Emmett had 'accidently' bumped into him.

"Hey there, Bella," he greeted, throwing an arm over my shoulders and flashing me a dimpled smile. "Didn't you just love that interesting lesson Trigonometry?"

I chuckled a bit, "Oh, yes, Trig's definitely my favorite subject from now on."

"Well, gotta go to Gym. See you at Lunch, okay?"

Humming an agreement I waved him goodbye. Emmett was Rose's on and off boyfriend. At the moment on, but it wasn't that hard to predict Rose would be in tears two weeks later. Emmett was one of the popular guys in my year. He was also the first one to discover I was the girl hanging out with Aro and his sort-of-criminal group. Imagine how surprised I was, seeing the burly, curly-haired classmate I never really paid attention to, standing there casually talking with Peter. Of course, we all knew each other at Forks High, but with some people you're just closer than the rest.

Emmett had a best friend, Edward Masen – they were also cousins. I sat next to him in Biology and he was a pretty fun guy to hang out with, I guess. He was the boy that just always was there. I'd never had a private conversation with him outside the innocent flirting at school. He didn't really inspire warm, giddy feelings in me, but nobody could deny Edward was a nice sight to see.

Spanish was a blur and the teacher reminded me several times to pay attention. What can I say? I didn't really get sleep the night before, mainly thanks to Felix who'd called the night before, complaining about whatever his problems were. Sometimes he sounded like some preppy, melodramatic sixteen year old girl. I grinned slightly at the thought of big, brawny Felix laying on his bed, gossiping on the phone, swinging his legs to-and-fro and wearing pink pyjamas.

"Bella!"

Rose wrapped her arms around me the moment I entered the not-so-crowded cafeteria. A rare, bright smile was making her face ten times more beautiful than it already was.

"I have news," she informed me on our way to our usual table, the smile never leaving her face. Was it just me or did some students really turn their heads because of that smile? "I told you about my cousin Jasper, right?"

I nodded, remembering her long, extended stories about her cousin Jasper. Rose told me they used to have great bond, more like that of siblings than cousins. He moved to Texas years ago, before I even moved to Forks.

"He's coming to Forks, permanently."

"Wow, Rose, that's great!" I told her genuinely. Anyone who made that smile appear on her face was certainly on my good side. I won't deny it, Rose acted like a frosty bitch most of the time, but once you broke through her walls (very, very, very, thick, massive, solid walls), she was the most loyal girl you would ever know.

Tanya, Edward, Emmett and Kate greeted us not very cheerful as we arrived at our table – I couldn't blame them. The semi-dark clouds that hovered above Forks and the endless rain they were causing was becoming a bit depressing.

"You're all going to Maria's Friday?" Tanya asked, inspecting her nails.

I looked at Rose, who was looking at me – it was easy like that. If she wasn't going I wasn't going either.

"Yeah," I answered for both of us, "Carlisle's probably coming too."

Carlisle had been my very first friend in Forks. He was a bit shy, but once you warmed up on him he was a great guy and I was kind of happy to have a friend like Carlisle among the loud, outgoing friends I mostly hung out with.

"And are you down town friends coming too?" Kate asked interested.

That was a stupid question.

"Eh, I don't think so."

My 'down town friends' had much better things to do than hanging out at a place like Maria's.

"Hello, people!" a chirpy voice saluted us.

Of course, the only person who could be happy on a mopish day like this was a small, black-haired little girl by the name of Alice Brandon. People believed Alice was one of those people that seemed to make the world a much happier place. Loving the fact that she's alive, breathing and well and enjoying every minute of it.

Me, sharing quite a close bond with her, knew Alice a lot better than that. Mom always told me that behind a person like Alice there was a real person, shivering in the cold and yearning for some warmth. I wished I could give her that warmth, but I wasn't really sitting among the happy group of people gathered around the warm fire either.

"Talking about the party? Everyone's talking about it," she sighed dramatically as she occupied the no-longer-empty chair next to me. "Let's be original and talk about something else!"

Nobody really took the effort anymore to raise an eyebrow or give a strange look at Alice's oddness.

"My cousin's coming back to Forks," Rosalie offered, giving everybody new gossip to talk about.

"Ooooooh!" Tanya piped up, finally looking up from her manicured nails, "You mean, Jasper's coming back?"

Rose gave her a raised eyebrow, as if to say, no, my other cousin who used to live here, but we locked him up in the cellar so nobody could ever communicate with him. Now, shut the fuck up and act like you actually do have some brains in that hollow thing you dare to call a head. That was enough to silence Tanya. I couldn't really blame her – Rose's trademark glare looked like it was able to kill.

Edward and Emmett, who both had been talking about… manly stuff, finally decided the conversation had turned tasty enough for them to join.

"I remember Jasper. He's a cool guy," Edward said thoughtfully.

"You haven't seen him in ten years and you still know he's a cool guy?" I asked him, slight disbelief coloring my tone.

He scowled, but that transformed in a small grin once he saw the look on my face.

"He moved to Texas back then, right?" Kate said mischievously, biting her lip, "Hm, I don't mind riding –"

"That's my cousin you're talking about," Rose cut her off abruptly.

Kate didn't come up with a good comeback.

"So, Bella, don't you have better things to do than going to a party like Maria's?" Edward asked me, sliding an arm over the back my chair.

I smiled playfully, "Of course I have. A friend of Aro's throwing a big party somewhere in Seattle Friday. But everyone needs a change once in a while, right? Don't you actually have something better to do Friday?"

"I do, but I have to keep the people around here happy," he answered, flashing me a crooked smile.

I raised an eyebrow, "And you think you're keeping everybody happy with your presence only?"

His growing smirk told me enough.

"Aren't you a little bit cocky?"

"Little bit?" Emmett snorted, "If his head gets any bigger he won't be able to walk anymore."

"Let's go to Biology already," Edward said, playfully scowling at Emmett, grabbing my hand and helping me stand up, "It's pretty obvious we aren't wanted here."

"You aren't wanted, Edward. I am," I teased with a grin, but rising up from my chair nevertheless. I was kind of happy to go, really. Edward was plenty of fun to sit next to in class, when my real friends weren't available. He was good-looking and always cracked hilarious jokes at the expense of half the class. "Maybe if you tried to be more likable, you'd be wanted."

"I'm likable and wanted enough already, Isabella," he replied mock gravely.

I glared at him. Don't. Call. Me. Isabella.

"Ouch, I never knew your glare could be so cold, Bella."

"I never had to use it against you, Edward. Too bad, you were the only person who'd never met The Glare of Doom before, besides Alice of course. Now you're just like everyone else."

"I'll never be like everyone else," Edward said complacently.

"Hm, I guess that's true," I agreed, making it sound like it was a bad thing.

"You always want to have the last word, don't you?"

"Of course."

AN: Yeah, Bella and Edward are kind of very OCC, aren't they? But I like them like this.

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