I sighed as I stared out the window of my mothers blue Austin mini, almost the same shade as the cloudless sky of my home in Arizona. My soon-to-be-former home. The cool afternoon breeze rifled through the lace on my favorite top and I shivered in anticipation of the weather that would greet be at my destination.

I was on my way to the airport where I would go to live with my father in Forks, Washington. I was sure it wasn't the rainiest place on earth, but in comparison to the hot, dry climate of phoenix, it might as well have been.

I hadn't seen my father in over a year, and even then, I'd only visited him one month out of twelve. My mother hadn't returned to Forks since she left almost seventeen years ago with me. It wasn't that she disliked my father – he was a very charismatic guy, she married him after all – but she hated the town more than she hated anything else in the world and it triggered her claustrophobia.

I wished she could come with me but she and Phil had to leave for Florida tomorrow and much as she loved me, my mom didn't want to go.

She seemed to catch something of my thoughts in my expression. "Look, honey, you don't have to do this. If you want to stay... we can work something out."

I sighed. It was tempting. But I knew that I couldn't stay without my parents having to make some extreme sacrifices. Things weren't going too well at the school my mother taught at and Phil didn't have a change of getting hired here. If I stayed, they wouldn't be able to go and I didn't want to do that to them. Besides, Charlie deserved some company after living on his own for seventeen years.

"I'm fine, Mom. I'll be okay."

"Ohh... Honey I'm going to miss you so much!"

"I'm going to miss you,too."

"Alright, here's my new phone number in case you have to call – which, you know what, call me as soon as you arrive."

"Yes, Maam. I mean Mom."

She looked at me sternly. She was almost a full fort shorter than I but she spent all day teaching kindergardeners. That was something you can't do without strong authority.

"Email me as often as you can to tell me what's going on, and remember, you can come home whenever you want. Aww, hon," she made a face and pulled me into a warm hug.

"I'll miss you, Mom. But, really, I'll be okay."

"Yeah. Well give Charlie my love and all that jazz."

"Yeah. I've got to go mom. My plane will probably be boarding soon."

"Okay – one more hug."

I smiled and hugged her again.

"Well, tell Charlie I said hi."

I spent most of the plane ride trying in vain to sleep. As we got close to Port Angeles, I looked out the window and tried to pick out my dad's Black and white police cruiser from the parking lot. I couldn't but I figured he'd be there anyway.

As it turned out, I was right. He was waiting for me as I came out into the lobby.

"Hey, Bells. It's good to see you." he said, giving me a quick hug and then picking up my bags.

"Yeah, you too." That was pretty much it for greetings. Unlike my mother, my father and I aren't incredibly talkative.

For the first half of our drive, I jusst stared out the window and admired the thick, green scenery. Eventually Charlie spoke.

"Hey, Bells, do you remember Billy Black? My friend from the Quileute reservation?"

I thought about that for a second. "It's seems to be ringing a bell but I can't say I do."

"Yeah? Well you had said you wanted a car and – cause he's in a wheelchair now – he has an old truck for sale."

"Really? What kind of truck is it?"

"Uh... I can't remember ff the top of my head but he says it's in good shape his son – you must remember Jake, you guys used to play together when you visited – he's something of a mechanic and he's been taking good care of it."

"That's good.... Uh, how much is it?" My family wasn't dirt poor but we weren't exactly the richest family on the block either. I knew times were tough and I refused to take money out of my mom's wallet. However, that meant that my car budget, out of money that I'd been able to save up from my Starbucks job, was not very big.

"I... I actually already bought it for you."

"Oh. Thanks, Dad."

"Your welcome."

After that we were more or less silent for the rest of the trip. My dad is really a nice but huge thanks made him feel more than a little awkward.

Eventually we pulled into the driveway in front of Charlie's homey, white house. It had been a long time since I'd been there but it still held memories. The Rust red truck in front of it was not as familiar.

"Is that it, there? Is that my truck?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks. It's great."

I looked over it quickly as my dad took my bags inside and decided that his assessment had been more or less correct. I couldn't be absolutely sure given that everything I knew about cars could be inscribed on the head of a pin but none of the parts were falling off so I assumed that it would work alright.

My dad was was waiting awkwardly for me when I came into the house. I couldn't see my bags so I assumed that he'd taken them to my room.

"Bells, you want to see your room?"

"Sure."

He took me up the stairs and past the bathroom to the familiar door at the end of the hall. Through it was the room that had been mine whenever I came down for a visit.

"I got some new covers and stuff – I didn't know what you'd like. You like purple, don't you?"

I smiled. "Purple's great."

"That's... that's great. I'll just leave you to get comfortable then."With that, he left the room.

One of my favorite things about my dad is that he doesn't hover. Mutely, I unpacked my bags and once they were emptied, I tucked them under my newly bedecked bed. I collapsed down on it, and tried to disappear into the cushions. As much as I loved my dad, I missed my mom and my home in Arizona and I need time to come to grips with all that had happened.

For one thing, I would have to grow accustomed to the raindrops on the roof. The drizzle had started about forty minutes into the drive and a quick look at the sky had shown me that there wasn't much chance of it ending any time soon. For another, I'd have to get used to living in a different house with a different set of housemates. I'd have to get used to going to a school with less than half the students that my grade eleven class had had. Forks high school boasted a grand total of three hundred and fifty seven students – three hundred and fifty eight, now I supposed.

All in all, I wasn't the happiest I'd ever been. Hard as I tried, I couldn't stop a few tears from leaking out the corners of my eyes. I knew my mother would know just the right thing to say to make me feel better if the situation had been different but it wasn't and I didn't feel comfortable enough with my father to talk to him about it. Even though this had been my choice, I wish it hadn't been necessary and that I'd been able to stay with my mom.

My mom. I got to my feet and hurried downstairs to the phone. Charlie looked up from the paper as I came into the room and I held up a finger as I dialed my mom's cell, signifying that he should wait. After a number of rings, the phone went to the 'The customer you have dialed is unavailable at the moment. Please try again later' message. She must have lost her phone again or turned it to silent. I dialed up our – her home phone instead. After the second ring, Phil, my step-dad, answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Phil. This is Bella. Is Mom home?"

"Sure. Just a sec'."

I waited patiently while I faintly heard a bellowed 'Renee!' from the other end of the line.

"Honey?"

"Hey, Mom. You said you wanted me to call as soon as I arrived so... Anyway, everything went fine. I'm unpacked and everything."

"That's great. I'm almost done packing myself – Bells, have you seen my cellphone?"

That explained it. "No, mom, I'm afraid I haven't."

"Oh well. Well, remember to call me when ever you want to and... and say hi to Charlie for me."

I leaned back from the phone and called "Dad, Mom, says hi!" Then, to the phone, I said, "Have fun in Florida."

"Oh, honey, we will. You enjoy yourself too, okay."

"Sure, Mom. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Hon."

With a sigh I hung up the phone. She sounded a lot happier than I was. I sounded a lot happier than I was.

"What do you want for dinner?" Charlie asked as I headed back to the stairs.

"I'm fine with anything, really. Whatever's easy for you."

He nodded and went back to his paper.

Back in my room, I decided to clean myself up. I wasn't a huge fan of traveling and the long trip I had just been on made me feel disgusting. I grabbed my bag of toiletries and headed to the bathroom.

After I'd brush my teeth, washed my face and combed out the snarls in my hair, I examined my reflection in the mirror. I had to say, I wasn't exactly a beauty. My skin was milk white, so pale that the blue veins were visible through it. My pale lips were rather uneven – the upper was to large to match the lower. My nose was somewhat too small to match my lips and didn't quite suit my heart-shaped face. My eyes were my one redeeming feature. They were a rich chocolate brown that gave warmth to my otherwise cold face.

I still didn't know how my skin had managed to retain its pallor in the Arizona desert where the sun shone almost every day of the year. It had been a factor that excluded me from certain cliques at my old school but hopefully it wouldn't be as noticeable here where the clouds made people look pale anyway.

Unfortunately, my odd features weren't the only thing that stood between me and finding a comfortable environment of friends. I was not a very open person and I found it very difficult to talk to people. I didn't relate to people very well and I never seemed successful on the rare occasions when I actually put effort into making friends. It was odd how one could feel so alone among so many people. I was sure I would be lonely tomorrow.

Breakfast the next morning was quiet. Charlie had stayed home a lot later than he usually did to make sure I knew where I was supposed to be going and didn't have any problems, which I appreciated. He still had to leave before I did but I felt better as I left the house knowing that he cared enough to be significantly late for work and actually knowing where the school was.

My mood was some what dampened, so to speak, when I stepped out the front door and into a steady drizzle that must have continued from the night before. It wasn't enough to soak me but it did make locking up much more unpleasant than it should have been. It was a relief to step into my warm, dry truck..

I reached the school with little difficulty, due to my father's detailed directions and the large sign reading 'Forks High School'. Unfortunately, once I found it, I wasn't sure where to park. I had come early today so that I could check in with the receptionist which meant that there were too few cars in the lot for me to guess. In the end, I simply parked near the glass doors of the office and decided that I could move the truck later if I had to. At least this way the walk through the rain would be short.

Inside the building it was brightly lit and it was warm and dry – though maybe it just seemed that way in contrast to the rain outside. There were chairs along two walls, interspersed with potted plants that seemed to be an effort to bring some of the outside forest into the room. The walls, which were decorated with brightly coloured fliers and announcements, were a pale mocha and the large counter at one end of the room mirrored their tones in it's dark wood.

As I walked up to the desk, the silver haired woman behind it looked up. She peered at me from behind overly decorated glasses and and asked, "Can I help you, dear?"

"Um, yeah. I'm Isabella Swan. I'm a new student here."

She nodded, clearly recognizing my name. "Yes, I recall. Here you are." She placed a number of papers on the counter and went through each of them with me, schedules, maps, and slips of paper for my teachers to sign.

I thanked her politely and asked where I was supposed to park. She smiled and told me and then wished me luck.

I decided that if I wanted to get to class on time and still move my truck into the right spot. I headed back into the rain and by the time I'd gotten my truck started, there was a distinct flow of traffic toward the student parking lot. I followed them and eventually found the spot where I was supposed to be.

Once I had parked, it took more confidence to get out of the car than it had the first time. I hadn't thought I would have problems with moving to the new school but I had a definite knot ion the pit of my stomach that was, if not fear, then at least nervous anticipation. Come on, I told myself as I finally stepped out of my truck, they're just high school students. They don't bite.

My first class was English. I was glad when the teacher accepted my slip quietly and let me simply go to my seat without some big introduction. I didn't like having the spotlight.

As the class began, I went over the outline I had been given and was relieved to find that not only was the curriculum here very similar to the curriculum at my old school, but I'd already read Macbeth, and the rest of the reading list was fairly standard.

When the class ended, a black haired boy approached me.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Bella," I told him.

"Nice," he said, "you don't look familiar. Have we met before?"

"No, I'm new."

"In that case, it's nice to meet you," he said, extending his hand, "I'm Eric. Eric Yorkie."

"It's nice to meet you, too," I replied.

"Hey, do you need help finding your next class? What do you have?"

"Um..." I quickly checked my papers. "Government with Jefferson. Building six."

"I'm headed to building four so I'm going that way anyway."

"Thanks."

We grabbed are jackets and headed into the rain, which had increased.

"So where are you from?" he asked after a bit.

"Here originally but I've lived in Phoenix for the past seventeen years."

"Yeah? So this has got to be kind of different from phoenix, huh?"

"Definitely."

"Do you get much rain there?"

"Three or four times a year."

"Wow. What must that be like?"

I smiled. "Sunny."

"Yeah, I can imagine."

After about two classes, I was able to recognize some of the faces that were repeated and even the names of one or two of them. One of these, Jessica, walked me to the cafeteria at lunch and invited me to sit with her and her friends. She was significantly shorter than my rather average five feet four inches. Her hair was shorter than mine and much straighter, with gold tones that gave her hair the warm, sunkissed look that mine lacked.

The table she led me to was already mostly filled with people whom she introduced me to as we sat down. She proceeded to tell me everything I could ever want to know about the school and it's students. As she did, she pointed out the people around the cafeteria. Eric waved as she pointed to him and there were a number of people whose faces I recognized if not their names.

As my gaze panned around the room, on table caught my eye. The people sitting at that table were oddly intriguing. There were five of them – three boys, two girls. They didn't speak, didn't eat, though they each had a tray of food in front of them. They didn't take an interest in my gaze, even after almost five minutes of watching. In fact, they didn't seem to take an interest in anything, not their food, the buzz of multiple conversations, not the raindrops on the roof, not even each other.

They were nothing alike. Most of them looked rather old to be in high school. Of the two that didn't, one was small, the shape of her face almost elven. Her black hair was was short and stuck out in every direction. The other was a boy, his hair a rich shade of bronze. His jaw was angular yet he didn't seem harsh faced. His fingers were long and slender as they tapped the table in a pattern that I couldn't quite discern. He smiled of a sudden and the small girl across from him smiled in response, as if from some private joke.

The blonde boys mouth twitched upward in an echo of their smiles and the other boy and girl looked at them quizzically. The first two just shook their heads and the blonde woman shrugged and turned to the large boy beside her, clearly dismissing the others. When she turned to him, the large one's attention seemed completely absorbed.

To tell the truth, I couldn't blame him. The girl beside him was tall, even from her sitting position and her golden hair cascaded in loose waves down her back. Her eyes were large and dark, framed by delicately arched brows and her lips were full and warm. Really, all five of them looked beautiful, for some reason I couldn't quite pinpoint. Even the bear sized boy had a soft, handsome edge to his features. The other boy, the blonde, was truly gorgeous, longer and leaner than either of the other two but his jaw was whiter – whiter than his already pale skin – as though he had been clenching his teeth. Beautiful as he was, there was something about his too straight back, his too still body, his tense posture, his night dark eyes that frightened me and I got the feeling that he was more dangerous than he appeared.

I shuddered and let my gaze drift.

Oddly, my eyes migrated back to the one with the bronze hair, as if of their own accord. He was as handsome as the blonde in his own way. His eyes were just as dark as the other boys, but somehow they seemed softer, warmer. In fact, all of them had dark eyes, just as all of them had cadaverously pale skin and eerily beautiful features. They all continued to watch each other or stare off into space, oblivious of my attention.

Jessica, the brunette who had invited me to sit with her, was not. "Those are the Cullens," she said, something about her tone suggesting that they were more than a group of friends, or even just a family.

"Yeah?" I asked, inviting her to continue.

She shifted in her seat so that she faced me more completely. "They came down from Alaska with Dr. Carlisle and Esme Cullen just under two years ago. They're supposed to be adopted but they're all weirdly close. It's actually kind of creepy.

"They keep to themselves mostly, no one knows why. But listen, I went to go talk to Edward this one time – he's the one playing piano on the table – and... he was nice enough, I mean, distant, but nice... but I got this weird feeling, like he wanted to eat me." She shuddered.

I turned to look back at the group and jumped as I saw that Edward was staring straight at us. Jessica followed my gaze and nodded.

"And there's that too. It's like he has super hearing or something 'cause he can always tell when you're talking about him."

With some difficulty, I tore my gaze away from the boy and looked back and Jessica. "What about the blonde?"

"Which one?"

"The boy. He looks angry or something."

"Oh, him? That's Jasper. He always looks upset about something but I haven't been able to figure out if he's just stressed or if there's something else. It's not exactly as though I can just go up to him and ask him – I mean, he scares me more than Edward, even if he is hot."

"And the rest?"

"Hmm, let me see. Alice is the one with the black hair, Rosalie is the blonde – the other one – and the dark haired boy is Emmett. "

"And what deep, dark secrets do you know about them?"

"Oh come on! It's not like I stalk people just so I can gossip about them!"

"Sorry," I said, hoping I hadn't insulted her.

"It's okay. But now that you mention it, they really are kind of odd. No body ever sees them outside of school – except for the doctor – and even at school, they don't talk to anybody if they can help it. It really is as if they had some evil secret to hide." she shrugged. "I just haven't figured it out yet."

there was an insistent tingling along my spine that I was some how sure was because of the Cullens. Intellectually I knew that it was probably just because of what Jessica had been saying, but I couldn't stop myself from turning anyway.

Edward's eyes bored into mine. His brows were drawn together with concentration, or confusion, I wasn't which, but either way I was unnerved.

Someone tapped my shoulder and I turned to see a thin, brunette, her books clasped tightly under her arm.

"Excuse me," she said, "What's your next class?"

"Um," I bit my lip trying to remember without fishing out my paper. "Biology," I said finally.

"That's nice. I have Biology too. I can show you the way if you like."

Something about the girl's softness made me feel comfortable around her. "Sure."

She smiled. "I'm Angela, by the way."

"Bella."

"Yeah, Eric told me. We should probably be going."

I glanced down at my half finished food and sighed. I would have to eat faster in the future. I picked up my try and dumped it out as I walked toward the exit. The small dark girl was just ahead of me and I noticed that she was disposing of just as much food as I, despite not being distracted through lunch. How odd.

When I reached the biology classroom, I was disappointed to see that Angela already shared a black topped table with someone. I glanced around the room quickly and eventually found a free table. I sat down there and pulled out my map and schedule to study as I waited for the class to start.

I don't know what made me look up when I did but glanced at the door of the class room just as another boy stepped through it. Edward. I surveyed the room quickly but found that there was only one empty seat and that was the one on my left. He realized that we would be sitting next to each other at the same time I did and after a fraction of a second, he smiled gently. Somehow, though, it didn't seem genuine and the overall effect was unnerving.

"It is a pleasure to meat you, I'm Edward Cullen." his had moved toward me as though he meant to shake my hand but he stopped in mid motion and his hand clenched into a fist. His entire body stiffened, his jaw tightened, and his warm eyes became instantly cold and distant. His eyes didn't leave my face and I wondered what he had seen that had made him so upset.

"And you. I'm Bella," I replied, a little uneasily. He nodded jerkily and sat down without another word.

Unnerved, I put away my papers and clasped my hands in front of me as I waited for the teacher to speak. He finally did but I couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. My whole side tingled with awareness, every nerve and muscle tensed, ready to move. My gaze kept flicking over to Edward through out the class. He was silent, his gaze directly ahead and he seemed to have forgotten me completely. I would have felt much better for this if it hadn't been for the fact that his jaw didn't relax and his fists stayed tightly clenched.

The class seemed to drag on forever and when it ended I glanced at the seat beside me to find it already empty. As everyone gathered their things, I looked around but I couldn't see Edward anywhere. A grabbed my bag and decided I would just forget about him. I could get over the insult and the odd way he filled me with fear whenever he came near me.

I brooded on my way to my final class, gym, and was glad that no one had accompanied me. I felt like I needed to be alone right now and in the mood I was in, I was sure that I would have snapped.

We played volleyball in gym and hard as I tried, I wasn't able to avoid the ball completely. The one time I actually managed to hit it, I slammed it into one of my team mates' heads .

I rushed forward. "I am so sorry! My hands just don't do what I tell them to!"

"It's okay," he said, rubbing the back of his blonde head. "I've been told I have a pretty thick skull."

I smiled weakly. "I'm glad to see we won't have drag you over to the hospital."

He smiled a little too warmly. "I've seen Dr. Cullen plenty of times already, I don't want to add anymore hospital visits to my list." He frowned. "On that subject, what did you do to Cullen? Like did you stab him with a pencil or what?"

"I didn't do anything. Maybe he just doesn't like newcomers."

"That doesn't seem fair given he's hardly been here his entire life."

"Whatever," I said shrugging it off. "We should get back to the game."

"Sure," he said, a smile returning to his face. As he walked away, he looked back at me and called, "I'm Mike, by the way."

Oddly, though he had been nothing but pleasant, I was left immensely irritated by the discussion with Mike. I felt like I had been manipulated and the discussion had reminded me of Edward whom I had been trying to forget for the last hour.

I ducked as the ball wizzed past my head and sighed. I hoped this period would be done soon.

I headed back to the receptionist's building through the rain with something still nagging at my mind. Tucked inside my coat were the signed slips of paper that need to be returned to the nice secretary whom I had spoken to that morning.

I was relieved when a rush of warm air washed over me as I stepped through the glass doors. The relief stopped in mid-wave as I saw the person standing in front of the desk. I stiffened uncomfortably and sidled over to one of the chairs. Edward didn't appear to have noticed or taken any interest in my arrival.

I sat and listened unobtrusively to what seemed like the end of a long discussion.

"I'm sorry, Edward, but there aren't any other classes available." It sounded like she had said this a number of times before.

"Nothing at all?"

"No! Just was has Thom done to make you so unsatisfied with his class?"

"It's not him, it just..." he trailed off.

Just then I realized that I was sitting on the edge of my seat listening to the exchange. I made to pull back and in doing so I dropped the papers I'd been holding. Edward turned his head sharply and glared back at me as I gathered them up. I almost dropped them again as I saw the ferocity in his eyes.

Without another word, he strode out the door and into the cold rain. Somewhat nervously I stepped up to the desk.

"I think he's in a bad way. But don't worry, dear, I'm sure it's nothing important."

"Yeah," I said weakly, glancing back over my shoulder at the misty afternoon. I handed my papers to the woman.

As she took them she asked, "Did you enjoy your day?"

"I suppose." I didn't feel satisfied with my day, really.

"I think you'll do just fine here," the secretary assured me

There really didn't seem to be anything I could say to that so I shrugged and walked back out to my truck. When I got into my truck in the otherwise empty parking lot, I realized that it was the first time I had really been alone, without having to worry about someone else stumbling in on me As I pulled out of the parking lot I turned the heater as high as it would go and tried to burn away the tears.