Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thank you for reading and hopefully reviewing! To see my facebook page and tumblr go to my profile! Jasper will be making an appearence in the next chapter!

Scarlett enjoyed her time on the road. Although it did get boring, her legs did cramp, and she had the constant nagging worry that her car wouldn't make it...it wasn't too bad of a trip. The gas was thankfully cheaper going into the midwest than in the tristate and she did save her father money by driving her car to Washington rather than flying and having a company tow it, even with the two hotel rooms she had to rent along the way. Speaking of her father; he finally seemed to calm down after the first day of her driving. She called him before she left the courthouse; Mr. Jenkins confirmed she had all the directions printed out just in case her phone charger broke and had extra cash along with her bank card. They had opened a secret bank account for her the past summer she spent with him. The small amount of funds her father could afford to give her in secret were kept in there just in case of emergencies. Scarlett's only form of cash was the small amount Mr. Jenkins had given her earlier that morning. Her mother had a firm belief that "a single mother needs all the help she could get" including any money that was meant for her daughter.

Either way, Scarlett was perfectly fine driving ...even with her father calling almost every hour to check on her. She arrived safely Thursday night, a little later than she had estimated. With cramped legs and a sore back, she hobbled out of her car and toward the small two bedroom ranch style house. It was smaller than her two floor, four bedroom house in Hoboken that her mother found necessary to host only the two of them but; she'd rather live in a shoe box then live with her.

The light was on when she rang the bell and she could hear the quick pitter-patter of her dog Koko as he approached the door. The sound of Koko's nose sniffing underneath the door crack and the small whine that followed was proof enough that the Rottweiler/Pitbull mix knew who exactly it was that stood outside the house. A few moments passed before she could hear her father's footsteps come up to the door and suddenly it was flung open. Scarlett intended to give her father the biggest hug she could imagine as soon as she saw him but once the door opened, Koko sprinted and jumped into her open arms instead.

A joyful laugh left Scarlett's lips as Koko tried to lick every inch of her face, standing on his hind legs the dog came up to her shoulders, almost reaching her 5'3" frame.

"Koko, down." Her father, who stood in the door frame with an amused smile on his face, tried to order the beast who obviously was not going to listen. Scarlett was laughing for the first time in a month, ever since summer ended and she had to return to her mother.

Her joyous laugh ended when she noticed the dark bags underneath her father's bright blue eyes and the mess of brown thinning hair on his head that was clearly unbrushed. She could also tell he had gained weight recently- probably stress eating. A habit she received from him. Scarlett felt a small amount of guilt knowing that it was due to her that her father looked so ragged; she knew he spent his savings on trying to get custody of her, the overtime at his job he spoke to her about earlier only furthered her guilt, and knowing he was stressed about her traveling also made her smile a little less bright.

"Hey dad." She felt choked up as she finally spoke those words. Koko finally noticed that he wasn't receiving any type of food from the girl and jumped off of her to go search in the house for more, leaving Scarlett open to run directly into her father's arms. His embrace encased her easily, while he only stood at 5'10" he had more muscle mass on him than most men his age, despite the obvious growing belly. His arms easily doubled hers and almost covered her form completely. They both stood hugging each other silently for a moment, both trying to control their emotions as to not show how much this moment was affecting them.

"Come on, it's late. We can unpack your car tomorrow." Jack Quinn finally broke the hug and cleared his throat awkwardly. Scarlett wiped away the small amount of liquid that gathered in her eyes before giving him another smile and heading into the house.

It took all of Friday and Saturday for Scarlett to finish unpacking her things. While she had only a few more items and clothing to add to what she already had at her father's, she procrastinated most of her time organizing with her father and her dog. The realization that she was going to be attending a new school, by herself and as a senior didn't hit her until Sunday night after dinner. She hid her panic well until she retired to her room for the night. Once inside she broke, the familiar tightness in her chest returned and the feeling of suffocation encased her. She was happy Koko decided to sleep in her room that night. The dog knew exactly when she needed comfort and she clung to the him tightly while her thoughts went from sheer panic to self-hatred. A voice sounding eerily similar to her mother whispered sinisterly in her head.

You think anyone will want to be friends with you?

Introverted, fat, boring nerd like you?

They'll all talk about you behind your back.

You're nothing, no one cares about you.

The last one hit home for her, she never had many friends and although her father obviously loved her, her mother made sure to reiterate to her many times that he was the only one. Eventually, Scarlett managed to calm down enough to crawl into her bed and drift off to sleep.

Waking up the next morning was more difficult than expected. Crying half the night left her tired and cranky and she wasn't fully awake until she managed to arrive at the school; 30 minutes early to get her schedule to her chagrin. She decided to park in the student parking lot and walk her way to the office to avoid having to move her car...and maybe to avoid any of the students that were eventually going to arrive within the next few minutes.

Ten minutes later and she was out of the office with a map and schedule in her hands. It was a relief to find out the library opened fifteen minutes before classes started, for any students that needed to print something out beforehand, and she decided to hang out around the comfort of books and away from any probing stares. She was going to be receiving those enough throughout the day anyways.

The library was thankfully empty and she was able to check out a few classics before the start of class; Pride and Prejudice and Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring were her two choices. She had read both before but considering this library didn't seem as updated as the one back home, she settled for her favourites.

Too soon she found that it was five minutes before classes started. Her first class was Advanced Placement (AP) English Literature and was luckily in the same building as the library, as well as her locker, although she didn't need to visit that yet. Taking a deep breath, she exited the solitude of the library, waving at the surprisingly young and kind librarian in charge on her way out.

The first thing that stood out to her when she walked through the school's hallways was how unpopulated it was. Her school back in New Jersey had more than 300 kids just in her year alone but here, it almost seemed as if it were just 300 in the whole school. What would seem as a relief unnerved Scarlett. More people meant she could be more easily forgotten in the crowd, here everyone's eyes were on her. Everyone was staring, whispering and even a few were pointing. Her heart rate increased and uneasiness settled in her bones. Her throat contristricted and her mother's voice started to whisper what the kids could be saying.

Look how ugly she is.

And fat.

Oh my god she's getting so red, look how embarrassed she is.

She should be, look at her outfit.

The pretend conversation in her head got worse and worse until she felt tears pool into her eyes. Scarlett quickly entered a nearby bathroom and dumped her black shoulder bag onto the floor. Clutching the sides of the sink, she stared at her reflection in the mirror in hopes of calming herself down.

Meanwhile, down the same hallway, Rosalie Hale was cursing at the imbecile who spilt juice on her Louis Vuitton bag. She left Emmett early on to go to her English class and just when she turned around, some insignificant boy spilt his orange juice all over her bag. The glare she had given him probably turned him to stone but the urgency of cleaning it was the only thing that saved him from her wrath. Entering the girls bathroom, she was surprised to encounter someone she didn't know. Her thoughts went quickly from surprise to realization. This was the new girl everyone was talking about, this was Jasper's mate.

Rosalie was surprised to see how attractive she was, not that she was so conceited as to think she was the only one that could be attractive. She just found most human girls to be average. The girl in front of her had pale skin, although not as pale as herself, that contrasted perfectly with the beautiful natural auburn of her hair. She was short, standing a good 6 inches shorter than Rosalie's 5'9" stature...especially since she was wearing her matching Louis Vuitton heeled boots that easily put her at 5'11". She was wearing black skinny jeans that hugged her full hips that was paired with a snug long sleeved burgundy sweater that emphasized her pleasant pear shaped form. Rosalie was also surprised at just how well she dressed herself, most girls here just assumed wearing something skin tight made them fashionable. And although Rosalie could tell nothing was designer made, the fact that she pulled off normal clothing so well impressed her.

She was also surprised at her voluptuous form, Rosalie was also curvy but strayed more towards the skinnier side due to her height. The girl in front of her was shorter and therefore thicker because of it, while her waist and upper body were smaller, her hips and thighs carried most of her weight but was proportionately attractive.

Scarlett looked up quickly when she heard the bathroom door open and was embarrassed to find such an attractive girl standing before her. Blonde hair, amber eyes, tall and curvy made Scarlett even more self conscious. Trust that one of the most attractive women she had ever met found her having an anxiety attack. Rosalie marveled at her auburn eyes that matched her hair almost perfectly, only her vampire eyes could distinguish the slight lighter tone they carried. Scarlett quickly looked away, a blush forming on her face. But as soon as she looked away the thoughts came back. Rosalie quickly grabbed a few paper towels, wetted them, and started dabbing her bag. Her attention was brought back to the girl a couple of sinks down when she heard small whispers. If she were human she would not have heard the small girl talking to herself but as it were, she heard everything.

"You're fine, you are fine. She's not here anymore. It's better now." Were the first hints to Rosalie that, in fact, she was not fine. With a glance over, she quickly noticed how the girl's hands were shaking, her heart beat was too fast, and she could see the small tears appearing in her charcoal outlined eyes. Anxiety and panic. It was easily written in the poor girl's face. Rosalie had experience with this, being gang raped and left for dead left some marks on her mind after all. Vengeance was nice but no one could prepare her for the anxiety that followed. Panic attacks in well crowded placed, self-hatred, and loneliness were just a few she could remember in her beginning years. Emmett helped with all of that eventually but in the beginning it was just her. She didn't know what happened to this girl, or who caused it but she felt for her all the same, she remember when she was talking to herself in the mirror as well.

"Hey." Rosalie spoke before realizing it and the girl quickly snapped her head over to her. Again, Rosalie moved before she could think and grabbed the young girls shoulders to have her undivided attention.

"They don't matter out there. No one is asking you to be strong or outgoing or to be anyone else. You don't have to. No one matters except you. Fuck them and keep walking." Scarlett stared up at the girl, taking a moment to understand that she was giving her advice. She went to deny her anxiety but stopped, the girl already seemed to know anyways. She, instead, quickly nodded and took a shaking breath.

"They don't matter." She sounded stronger than she thought and hoped that the confidence she felt would stay past the next few minutes. Rosalie smiled softly at the girl before her face hardened yet again and she went back to her bag.

"Nice bag. I always wanted a Louis Vuitton but I like the bookbags more than the purses." Scarlett found herself uncharacteristically talking to this stranger. Maybe it was because she spoke to her first, or maybe it was the small confidence she gained, but she was hoping maybe this woman would like to be friends.

Rosalie's lips twitched into a smile and she slung her now cleaned bag over her shoulder.

"I'm Rosalie Hale." The blonde introduced herself to the redhead and slowly started leading them towards the hallway. The redhead quickly slung her backpack over her shoulder and followed the blonde into the hallway. It was quiet now, the late bell ringing a few minutes ago.

"Scarlett Quinn." Scarlett answered back. Rosalie gave her a sideways glance before reaching for the crumbled up schedule in her hand.

"What class do you have?" Rosalie knew the answer before she asked, her eyes reading the paper quickly.

"AP Lit." Scarlett paraphrased and plucked the paper out of her hands with pursed lips. She didn't like when people grabbed her things. Rosalie found the small girl amusing, her short answers and slight temper entertaining.

"So do I. Come on." Rosalie lead them to a classroom not too far away. With confidence Scarlett envied, Rosalie entered the classroom and interrupted the teacher mid-lesson.

"Sorry we're late Mr. Welsh, this is the new girl Scarlett Quinn- she needed help finding the classroom." The excuse was given innocently enough and the teacher seemed to accept their tardiness.

"Well, come on in. Scarlett, you may sit next to Rosalie, she doesn't have a partner yet." Scarlett accepted the seat, 2 rows from the back and near the window. Rosalie gave a small smile and took out her books. Scarlett felt a small wave of relief, sitting next to Rosalie wasn't too bad.