Chapter 2

I sat in my science class, ignoring the teacher, and letting my mind twist around with the questions that the new kids presented.

Who were they? How were they all so…? I swooned at the memory of them walking through the doors. How could such perfect people be? Here? At Wasilla High? It must be a dream.

"Jean. Jean! Jeanette Marshall!"

My head snapped up at my never used horribly old fashioned name.

"Miss Marshall, please pay attention." I rolled my eyes, and pointed them blankly in the direction of my teacher. He continued. "As I was saying, this year we have just had eight new students enroll in our school." I sat up so quickly that I heard my spine pop. "The Cullen family is made of many foster children, who are taken care of by the talented Dr. Cullen and his lovely wife. I'm sure you will all welcome them accordingly. I'm glad to introduce to this class…" he glanced down at a paper on his desk. "Isabella and Alice Cullen."

The brunette with the wind chime laugh and the short black haired girl entered the room.

"Why don't you tell the class about yourselves?"

The brunette smiled.

"I'm Bella, and this is my sister Alice. We're both sophomores, as are our brothers Edward and Jacob. We just moved from Phoenix." At the last part, Bella's mouth twisted, as if she had some emotion in her that she wanted to hide. Alice smiled widely, looking around at everyone. When her eyes met mine, however, her smile faltered for a moment, and her forehead creased. But the smile was back so quickly that I could almost believe that I'd imagined it.

The teacher glanced at the class, trying to figure out where to place the new girls. The only two available seats was the one directly in front of me, and the one directly to the left. Bella sat down fluidly in front of me, while Alice skipped lightly to my side and slid into her seat. She smiled at me, but I could see some deep emotion in her eyes.

"Hi," she said suddenly, surprising me. "I'm Alice. I saw you earlier- you were in the hall when we came in."

I stared at her, dumbstruck by her voice. It was so beautiful and fluid, like she was singing rather that talking. She stared back at me, and I realized she was waiting for me to reply.

"Oh," I stammered, flushing red. "Hi. My name's Jean. Well, it's really Jeanette, but who wants to be called that? I'm a sophomore too. So, who else is in your family? You, Bella…" I trailed off, realizing too late I was babbling like a fool.

Alice laughed, a waterfall tumbling down a hill.

"Well, Bella's together with Edward, he's the one with the bronze hair. Jacob is the dark skinned one, and he's dating Nessie, the one with bronze ringlets. She and Edward are actually uncle and niece- he has a much older brother who died, and Carlisle and Esme, our adopted parents, took her in. Jasper and Rose-Rosalie-are twins- Jasper's my love. There's Emmett. He's the…big one, with Rose." Alice smiled, flashing her teeth at me. I was listening attentively, hoping to learn more about them, but then the teacher called the class to order, and I lost my opportunity.

At lunch that day, all Hilary could talk about was Jasper, and her plots to get Alice out of the way. Laura was ignoring her, trying to get Charlie out of his bad mood. You could tell where it was coming from. All through lunch he glowered at the Cullen's table.

As for me, well I thought about them. Their mysterious beauty, the gorgeous voices. I watched them as they ate their food. While Jacob scarfed it down, the others seemed disgusted by it, although the bronze ringleted one (Nessie? Was that her name?) seemed less repulsed than the others. They ate sparingly, with queasy expressions on their perfect faces.

Near the end of lunch, as I stared at them, Nessie looked up and caught my eye. She smiled and waved at me, as I wondered why.

As the bell rang, and Hilary and Laura left for their afternoon classes (with Charlie shadowing Laura's every move), Nessie walked towards me. I stopped, pretending to tie my shoe while my friends walked ahead. When I straightened up, Nessie was right in front of me.

"Hey," she said with a smile. "You're Jean, right?"

I nodded. Why was she talking to me?

"I'm Renesmee, but nobody but Mom-Bella calls me that," Nessie dimpled. "Everybody calls me Nessie. What class do you have next?"

I compared schedules with her, and found we had out next class-Gym- together.

We walked there side by side, with people's faces turning to stare at her as we passed. When we got to the locker rooms, we found three of the other Cullen's waiting, Bella, Jacob, and Edward. I saw him, and my knees went weak. Even if he and Bella were making out against the wall. He was just so unbelievably gorgeous! So were Bella, and Alice, and all of them really, but Edward was by far the best.

Jacob came and gave Nessie a quick kiss. He noticed me, and studied me apprehensively. Finally he spoke, in a voice that surprised me, for it was not the velvet of the other Cullen's. His voice was rough and deep.

"Hey. So you're Jean, huh?"

How do they all know my name?!

My thoughts must have been very obvious, because Edward answered with a chuckle.

"Alice told us about you," he said laughing, making my knees buckle again. Ha and Jacob walked to the guys locker room, while Nessie had to practically drag me into the girl's locker room. Bella ignored me, and stalked off to talk to Coach Lois.

It took me longer to change than normal, due to my jelly filled limbs. By the time I got into the gym, everyone else was there. Bella and Edward were tossing a baseball across the gym with ease. Jacob had a Frisbee, and when Nessie and I entered, he tossed it to her, and she caught it easily. I slunk to my normal spot on the wall. I hate P.E.

Just then, a loud shriek echoed around the room