Time Changes

by twiXlite

Edward is the geek of Forks High. Favourite plaything of the 'populars' especially Bella Swan. When his family moves away and on their return to Forks Edward is not the same geeky boy who left. And the 'populars' have met their match with the new Edward.

2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Again. Don't own squat. :(

Chapter 2 for you. This ones a little - well, a lot longer. I hope you don't mind. It skips forward a bit in time, but it'll all be revisited as I progress.

I hope you like it.

4th September 2009

Edward

I slammed my fist down on the wretched alarm clock that my mom had obviously put in my room after I'd gone to sleep last night. She knew that I needed to wake up and that that monstrosity would do it. I smirked to myself, thinking I heard the cracking of the plastic of the wretched thing that disturbed the peaceful abyss of sleep.

I rolled over, looking out of my window, thankful that it wasn't raining this morning. I clicked the ball of my tongue ring against my teeth loudly, hating the turn of events that had happened over the summer.

Because of my father's work I was back in the place I hated the most.

Yep, fucking Forks, Washington. Rainiest shitheap in the continental US. Fucking great.

I rolled out of bed, placing my bare feet on the thick plush carpet that ran throughout my room. My mom and dad hadn't sold our old house in Forks, just closed it up. Apparently, they had a feeling that they would be moving back here at some point in their lives and they didn't want to risk losing the property. Apparently they had a service that came in and gave it a quick cleaning once a month, making sure that it was still suitable for habitation should they decide to come back.

And come back we fucking did.

They told me that my dad had received a call at the beginning of May, from Forks Hospital, practically begging him to come back and run their new Cardiology ward. He had discussed it with my mom and she had jumped at the idea of moving back to the sleepy little town she loved so dearly.

So here we fucking were.

Back here again.

They didn't even ask me what I thought of the whole thing. They just sprung it on me one day. To say I was pissed was an understatement. I didn't talk to them for the two weeks because I was so pissed. They knew how much I hated this place and how much I loved Chicago. I actually had friends there.

I didn't have any in Forks.

But then again, it wasn't like I was the same person I was when I left. Long gone was geeky Edward Cullen, sporting glasses and a face like a dot-to-dot for little kids. I had grown to about six foot two – or at least I was when my dad had last measured my height – and I had some pretty decent muscles now. I could certainly hold my own in a fight. The martial arts lessons had been useful in helping my coordination and balance as well as increasing my muscle mass and stamina. Of course the free gym for students in the school I had attended didn't hurt either. Now I had to find a new one to go to. Fun times.

If I guessed correctly, the students of Forks High wouldn't recognise me at all.

I stripped off and climbed into the shower, turning the heat up high as I let the water wash over my body, hissing slightly as I felt the burn of the hot water against the raw skin of the new tattoo I'd had finished before leaving Chicago.

Apparently, without the glasses and the spots and whatever, I look older than I actually am, so as soon as I was able, I've been getting inked, enjoying the way it felt having the needle pass over my skin, watching them complete the design I had worked on with them, loving seeing it imprinted forever on my skin, and never once being asked for ID. Not in that two years. I had a sneaking suspicion they knew I was underage, but I guess it was a 'you don't look under eighteen, so we'll let it slide' type of thing. I looked at the new tat on my shoulder, a red phoenix, starting on top of my left shoulder, sliding slightly onto my chest and curving down my arm before the tail ended, twisting around my shoulder. The one on my back had taken almost three months to complete. It was an enormous yin yang symbol, printed in the direct centre of my back with the traditional white tiger and silver dragon surrounding it. That had taken up the majority of my back and the rest was filled in with a background of the night sky, flowing up to my shoulders and down just below the waistband of my pants, ending just below my hips. It had hurt like a mother fucker and cost a fucking bomb, but damn was it worth it. Along with the musical stave that flowed from behind my left ear, around the back of my neck and twisted around the front of my right shoulder and around my arm stopping at my wrist. Teachers at school weren't too happy about that one, but whatever, they couldn't really do a damn thing about it, could they?

My parents weren't too happy that I was inking myself and piercing my flesh the way I was, but I provided the argument 'what would you prefer? That I do this or spend my money on something else, such as crack, coke or heroin?' That shut them up. I knew why they worried like they did, but there was no need.

I climbed out of the shower and towelled myself off, throwing the towel into the laundry hamper as I made my way over to my dresser, grabbing a pair of boxer briefs and sliding them on quickly.

I opened another drawer in my dresser, grabbing a pair of loose faded jeans and a plain black t-shirt. It's what I used to wear in school back in Chicago and if it was good enough for Chicago, it was good enough for Forks. I couldn't really be arsed to get dressy or whatever for the stuck up bitches here in Forks. Not that they had any reason to be other than that they were richer than others by a couple of bucks.

Throwing on a belt, because these jeans always liked to work their way down and show off half my ass, given the chance, pulling on some socks and grabbing my Chucks and leather jacket, I made my way downstairs to meet my mom in the kitchen.

"Good morning, honey." She smiled at me.

"Morning, Mom." I kissed her gently on the top of the head before taking my seat. Hey, you've gotta show your Momma some love in the morning. Hell, she feeds me.

"Are you nervous about going back to school?" She asked, setting a plate down in front of me, which I immediately tucked into.

"Not really." I shook my head, swallowing the mouthful of delicious blueberry pancakes she knew I loved.

"I'm glad to hear that." She ran a hand through my hair as I clicked my tongue against the viperbites on the right side of my bottom lip. "Oh, I do wish you'd stop doing that, Edward." She tapped me on the head gently before walking away. My mom wasn't happy about the viperbites, or the eyebrow and ear piercings I had come home with. She said that I was destroying my face. At least she did until I took one of them out and she saw that she couldn't actually see the hole clearly.

Didn't mean she was alright with it, though.

Both of my parents had given me the 'I'm so disappointed in you' treatment after each piercing and tatt. Each to their own I guess. It's me that has to live with them for the rest of my life.

There is one that I wasn't happy about getting, but let's not go into that right now.

I looked at the time as I finished off my breakfast and placed the plate in the dishwasher before heading back up to my room and brushing my teeth, making sure I didn't have any bits of blueberry caught in my teeth or around the balls of my tongue ring. All clear. Good.

I ran back downstairs, grabbing my coat and bag as I walked past, calling goodbye to my mom as I made my way into the garage, turning on the light and grinning when I saw my baby sitting there in front of me.

As it turned out, my dad hadn't shipped my Volvo to Chicago, but had bought a new one over there. So my one was still sat in Forks, being taken out occasionally by the staff that kept the house clean, just making sure that it didn't freeze over or seize up or whatever. Basically to make sure it kept running. But that wasn't the car I headed for. No, no.

I headed for my ultimate baby. My eighteenth birthday gift from my parents.

My brand new silver Audi R8.

I loved this car. It was gorgeous, the interior was incredible and it handled like a dream, seeming to respond to my thoughts rather than my touch. I adored it from the moment I saw it after my dad handed me the keys. I wasn't even bothered that he'd sold the Volvo I'd had in Chicago to pay for it. Well, I don't think that selling the Volvo would have made that much of an impact on the price.

I climbed into the car, flicking the internal remote for the garage that my dad had installed under the dashboard, waiting as it opened painfully slowly. It was the price I paid for leaving it in the garage, I guess, but I wasn't about to leave it outside. Especially what with the Forks weather being what it is.

I switched my iPod, plugging it into the sound system as I made my way down the driveway, remembering exactly how to take each corner as it twisted for what actually was about a mile. Ridiculous length, but whatever. It meant people couldn't find the house, so who was I to complain? I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as 'The Levy' by From First To Last playing through the speakers.

All too soon, I pulled up to the school, scowling up at it through the tinted windows of my car. I hated this place. And it didn't help when I thought about the fact that this was senior year. That should have made me feel a little better, but no, didn't help one bit.

All the people I knew and hated went to school here. All the people that had made my life a living hell were grouped together in this one place five days a week.

I shook my head, trying to clear away those thoughts. I wasn't geeky Edward Cullen anymore. I wasn't the loser that spent more time with books rather than actual people. I wasn't the kid that could solve the most complex mathematical equations that . . . well okay, maybe I could still do that, but hey, could prove useful.

I wasn't the same kid that left here two years ago.

I climbed out of the car, knowing that people were staring at me. The entire parking lot was full of students who had all turned to stare at the new student climbing out of the flashy new car. I turned around, seeing all the faces that I knew but didn't much care for. Hell, I had been the outcast here, only seen as amusement for their games, so I didn't really care what they thought.

Scanning the parking lot quickly, I noticed that the cars were pretty much the same old heaps of junk they had been before I left. The only differences were the one red and one black Toyota Tundra, an enormous white Jeep, a red BMW, a canary yellow Porsche and a black Ducati motorcycle. Those were the flashiest cars in the lot. Well, until mine showed up that is.

In my mind I had no doubt who those cars belonged to and no doubt that I would be meeting up with them at some point over the day. There were a couple of free spaces next to them and I wondered who would be brave enough to park next to their cars.

I made my way into the school, ignoring anyone and everyone. They were all whispering about who the new guy was. You know the regular questions – well, the questions that would be regular if there was a new student in Forks more than once a decade. Technically, I wasn't new. I was just returning to this shithole. I knew I would be up for staring and whispering for the next week, so I didn't really pay attention to it at all.

I watched as Mrs Cope's eyes widened as she took in my appearance. Of course the piercings, tattoo she could see on my neck and leather would give her that reaction, wouldn't it? She probably thought that I was going to corrupt the children of Forks High with whatever gang violence I was into. Which was, I was glad to say – and I think my parents were as well – non-existent.

"Um, excuse me." I waved my hand in front of her face as she continued to stare at me. Now I knew that the thoughts passing through her mind were those that should be broadcast around. She was in her shitting sixties for god's sake. Maybe older. She shouldn't be ogling someone that was young enough to be her fucking grandson.

"Yes, sorry dear." She shook her head, giving me a slightly frazzled smile. Yup, still the dope I remember.

"I need my schedule." I reminded her and she nodded at me, rifling through a stack of papers next to her.

"Let me see here." She mused, pulling a couple of pieces of paper out. "Edward Cullen?" She looked up at me, a pleasant smile on her face. "We used to have a different student by that same name." She smiled at me like an idiot as though it was the best news I could have ever received. And she didn't even fucking recognise me. Not that I would expect her to.

"Ri-ight." I said slowly, taking the papers from her, nodding. "A different student."

"Excuse me?" She blinked a few times, obviously not hearing the tone of my voice.

"Oh, nothing." I smiled at her, waving the papers. "I'll bring these back at the end of the day." I told her walking out of the office. I knew that she was going to tell me to bring it back, so I said it for her. Made things a lot more damned simple and didn't really give her time to question me about my little statement a moment ago.

As I made my way out of the office, the first warning bell rang, telling the school they had five minutes to get to class. Looking down at the schedule I had been given, seeing that I had History first thing. Sighing, hating History as much as I had in Chicago – I know, shocker isn't it? Former geek hates class. Front page news, don't you think? Okay, maybe not.

I walked into the classroom, handing my slip to Mr. Jenson, the teacher, who sat sourly at his desk at the front. He looked at me suspiciously, recognising my name from somewhere. Yeah, dickweed, you remember me. Remember when Jacob Black and Emmett McCarty thought that it would be funny if they switched my History assignment with the contents of some erotica book they'd swiped and typed out from one of their girlfriends? You remember that, don't you? And I bet you sat at home, reading that whole thing getting yourself off at night. Probably still do.

He nodded at me, signing the slip and gesturing to a seat next to the window. Fucking perfect. Best place in any classroom, next to the fucking window. Not that there's much going on out there, but still, beats what's going on in here.

I sat down, waiting for the rest of the class to file in, watching the door and seeing all the faces I still knew. I saw Eric Yorkie, who seemed to have taken over my role as resident geek of Forks High. I wondered if he received the same treatment I did, or if they'd grown up recently. Probably not. I saw Tyler Crowley and Mike Newton, players on the football team, throwing a ball to and fro as they walked into the class. They may have been on the team, but they weren't in the same league as Emmett and Jacob were. They were just the little rookies compare to Emmett and Jacob's professionalism. I saw Lauren Mallory and Jessica Stanley, two of Forks' resident bikes following after their little leader, Tanya Denali. She had been a slut when I'd left, so who knows what she was like now.

The other faces that came into the room were a blur to me, but one thing that they all did as they walked into the room, was stare. And I fucking hated it.

"Hey there." I heard a sweet voice answer and I turned to see Tanya sitting there in the seat next to me, practically eye-fucking me where I sat. "You're new here, right?" I didn't answer her, just flicking my viperbites with my tongue ring, as I always did when I was frustrated or aggravated. She didn't seem to notice that I wasn't really in the mood for talking to anyone, let alone her, but then again, Tanya Denali thinks about two things: Tanya Denali and how many dicks she has left to fuck. I am not being added to the ever increasing total. "Can I just say, I love tattoos." She whispered, running one ridiculously long nail down the stave running down my arm.

I pulled my arm away from her, looking to the front of the classroom, where the teacher was going over the syllabus for the year, what books we'd need and all that shit. It didn't escape my notice that everyone kept staring at me all through the lesson, some of them doing it covertly, glancing every so often, but there were others like Tanya, Lauren and Jessica that didn't make it a secret that they were staring. I didn't pay them any attention, sitting there staring out the window, doodling, trying to come up with a new design, hopefully able to find a new artist that was closer than Seattle. There had to be one in Port Angeles. Anything to escape the tediousness of this lesson.

As soon as the bell rang, I had my things in my bag. Unfortunately, so did Tanya and she stood there, waiting for me to pack up.

"So, um, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe, get together. Maybe . . . get to know each other a little better." She licked her bottom lip in an obvious attempt at flirting.

"Sorry, but I don't like going for a ride on the village bike." I replied, swinging my jacket over my shoulder, not bothering to put it on as I wasn't leaving the building. "Try someone else, Tanya."

I walked away before she could answer me, but a sideways glance as I walked across the front of the room towards the door, told me that she was standing there, probably wondering how the hell I knew her name.

English and French passed in much the same way. I didn't need to pay attention to either lesson because I was fluent in French and had already covered the material we were doing in English in Chicago.

I sighed audibly as the bell went and it was time to head for lunch. I hated lunch. I'd hated it every single goddamn day. Especially on the first day somewhere knew or back somewhere.

My first day in Chicago hadn't been so bad seeing as I had already made a couple of friends in the classes beforehand, so I had somewhere to sit. Fitting in in Chicago just seemed easy for me and even when I told them after a while that I had been the school geek, they didn't believe me. I had done what I had set out to achieve. I had become a different person. I wasn't him anymore. He was still in there somewhere, and he came out on test days or when I was doing a particularly difficult equation, but for the most part, he was gone.

I walked up to my locker, taking out the small scrap of paper that I had gotten from Mrs. Cope this morning with my locker combination printed on it. I glanced at it, quickly folding it away and plugging it into the little dial on the front of my locker. I shoved my bag into my locker, making sure that I had my phone, cigarettes – another thing my father hated but realised he really couldn't stop, especially since I used the 'this or drugs' argument with him again - and my wallet in my pockets before sensing someone behind me and being met with two absolutely enormous barriers.

I had to fight not to roll my eyes because I knew exactly who these two were. They were the last two people to see me in this school.

"Hey, dude." Jacob laughed leaning against the lockers beside mine. I wanted to tell him not to because it looked as though he was going to leave a dent in them, but then again if I told him that, he'd probably leave a dent in me and that was not what I was aiming for my first day back at Forks High. I could probably best him, due to his size, he would be slower than I was, meaning I could dodge his attacks and get in a few of my own, but the fact that he had Emmett with him as well, didn't really bode well in my favour. "Heard about what you said to Tanya in History earlier. You know, you're the first person to turn her down flat like that?"

"Is that so?" I mumbled, double checking my bag and closing my locker.

"Hell, yeah." Emmett scoffed. "I mean, have you seen her?!" He whistled lowly chuckling. "I mean, if I didn't have Rosie . . . well . . ." So he and Rosalie were still together. Hmm. "So what's your name, bro?" He grinned down at me, having absolutely no idea who I was.

"Edward." I smiled back up at him.

"Huh." Jacob shifted slightly and I wondered if he'd figured it out. "We knew an Edward once, didn't we?"

"What that geeky kid, who just disappeared with his parents?" Emmett asked before chuckling. "My God, what a loser. You're lucky he's not here anymore."

"Why's that?" I asked, trying to keep my tone level.

"Because I'd hate to share my name with a loser like him." Jacob laughed, leaning back on the lockers completely. "I mean, talk about Head of the Geek Patrol."

"He was fun to piss off, though." Emmett grinned and Jacob nodded. "Mr. Perfect GPA and perfect tardy record. It was like the guy had never heard of contacts before, or spot cream. It was like the teacher's thought the sun shone out of his ass."

"Definitely." Jacob nodded, having sobered up a little. "Hey, we're heading to lunch. Come sit with us."

"Yeah." Emmett flung his arm around my shoulder, feeling as though it weighed a hundred pounds on its own and I hissed slightly. He looked down at me, seeming confused. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded, rubbing my shoulder gently, trying to ease the burning his sudden move against my skin had caused. "New ink, is all."

"Cool." He grinned, throwing his arm around my shoulder, and pulling me along with him. I wondered if he was really as ignorant to who I was or if he was just acting that he didn't have a clue. He pulled me through the cafeteria doors, Jacob following with a huge grin on his face. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch Emmett as he dragged me along towards where the food was. "Now, you've got to be careful about what you eat here. Never go for the stuff made in the cafeteria. The pizza's okay-ish but still, it's best to steer clear. Always go for the packaged stuff, like the sandwiches and shit like that, okay?" It amused me that he was schooling me on what to and what not to eat, even though I knew exactly what was safe and what would have you off for three days with food poisoning.

He grabbed two trays, thrusting one at me and I had a hard time containing the laughter that was threatening to burst free as the three of us collected and paid for our food. I wonder what they'd say and do if they knew that I was that same geek they had been bad-mouthing not five minutes ago. But then again, I didn't really resemble a geek, did I?

"And this is our table." Of course I knew that already. But I didn't let on about that. It would be even more amusing when they eventually found out who I was. "Ed, this is Rose, Jazz, Alice, Mike, Ty, Lauren, Jess, you've met Tanya," she gave me a worrying smirk. Note to self: find male chastity belt on eBay. "And this is Bella. Everyone, this Ed. He's the new kid."

"Yeah." Jacob sighed, sitting down next to Bella, draping an arm over the back of her chair. "We figured we'd hijack him before any of the losers could get their hands on him."

"Good call." Alice grinned at Jacob before turning back to look at me. "Is Ed short for Edward?" She asked and I wondered what she knew. We'd been back in town for two days, my father hadn't been back to the hospital yet, so other than the staff there, no one would know he was back – he had requested it not be made public knowledge as we just want to settle back into life here in Forks. Or at least that was the story he told them – my mother hadn't left the house, constantly complaining about the placement of this and that, not wanting to leave until it was perfect and this was my first day back at school. We had made sure that none of the movers trucks had gone through the town, taking the roundabout way to the house, so unless people were staking out the old Cullen residence, then there was no way for people to know we were back. Not announcing that we were coming back and doing it as quietly as possible was the one agreement I'd wanted from my parents for not kicking up a fuss and they'd quickly agreed, knowing that I could raise hell when I wanted to. Being an only child gave me that precise skill.

"Um, yeah." I nodded, not wanting to elaborate.

"Do you guys remember that geeky kid called Edward?" Jacob laughed as though it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. Did we really have to go back to how much of a loser I'd been back then? It's time for the present people!

"Oh my God, yes!" Alice laughed along with him. "You know, if he'd traded his glasses for some contacts and gotten that acne cleared up, he could have been quite cute."

"Are you kidding, Alice?" Tanya scoffed, throwing her hair over her shoulder and leaning over, giving me a full view that I didn't want. I didn't even look at her, but focused on the hyperactive pixie. "I mean, he was a complete loser. He made Einstein look cool." I raised my eyebrows at her minutely, thinking that it was amazing that she even knew who Einstein was. I guess everyone else must have been looking at her the same way because she looked around and huffed defensively. "What? I know some stuff."

"I was sad when he left." A low, sultry voice from my right said softly.

"You were?" Jacob asked incredulously and I turned to see that it was Bella who had spoken. She had been sad when I left? What warped world was I living in? "Really?"

"Mmhmmm." She nodded, playing with her food. "After he left, I had no one to play with anymore." Of course. She had no one to fucking terrorise after I left.

In that moment, I decided to say 'fuck it' and addressed Bella directly. Something that I'd never done before. "What do you mean 'play with'?" I asked, wondering whether I wanted to know the answer to that question.

"He was always so much fun to mess with." She smirked. "You know? He was that one kid that you couldn't help do it to. You know what I mean."

"Not sure I do." I replied honestly, taking a bite of the questionable pizza I'd bought, hoping that it wouldn't make me gravely ill. I wasn't holding up much hope that I would be okay after ingesting it.

"Come on, Ed." Emmett whacked me on the arm, making me jump. "You can't say that you've never seen some kid and thought 'I just gotta do it. I can't not.' I mean you've got to."

"Can't say that I have." I replied coolly.

"Seriously?" Mike gaped at me and I replied with a 'fuck you 'tard' look, which he looked slightly confused at. "Do you guys remember when we glued all the pages of that music paper together?" The table erupted in laughter at the memory. I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down.

I remembered that fucking day. It was a week before we moved away, and I had brought the brand new monogrammed manuscript paper that my parents had bought me as a partial birthday present, so I could work on my composition at school. When it got to lunch, I noticed that the paper wasn't in my bag, so I went to my locker to fetch it so I could continue to work on it. After putting in the code to my locker, I saw that the book was in fact in there, but it's angle indicated that it had been slid through the vent at the top of my locker. I picked it up and was extremely pissed to find that they'd glued every single one of the fucking pages together.

"You okay, Ed?" Emmett asked, looking concerned at me.

"Yeah." I nodded, slowly, feeling my anger levels depleting slowly with every passing moment. "I was just thinking about he must have felt when you did that."

"What do you mean?" Rosalie asked, daintily pushing her salad around the tiny box it was in with her fork. Still not eating properly, huh, Rose? I wonder if Daddy knows about that.

"What I mean is, did any of you actually stop to think how all of the things you did to him, because I'm guessing it was more than just that once, right?" They nodded, smirking. "Did you actually stop to think how it made him feel?"

"Yeah." Bella nodded, twisting her hair around her finger. "Once. But then I came back to the real world."

And cue laughter.

"Hey." Jacob nodded out into the car park after all the laughter had died down. I picked up the second slice of pizza that I'd bought, taking a bite as he stared in awe at something out the window. Probably some chick with big tits and a huge ass. "Have you guys seen that Audi out there?" Maybe not.

"What?" The guys and surprisingly, Rosalie, all turned to look out of the window, breaths of awe leaving them at the same time.

"Brand new Audi R8." Emmett breathed as Jacob stared at it. Now, if you can tell me which one's Dumb and which one's Dumber, I'll give you a prize. "Someone had a good summer. I wonder whose it is."

I raised a finger, swallowing, thankfully able to hide the smug smile on my face. "It's mine."

"Are you kidding me?" Rosalie asked, her voice completely disbelieving and I shook my head.

"Nope." I took a gulp of my water, setting it back down on the table in front of me. "She's mine. Got her for my eighteenth birthday."

"Whoa." Jacob breathed, still staring out the window at my gorgeous machine. "When's your birthday?"

"June." I admitted, not being specific, not wanting them to add anything up. Thankfully, at that moment, the warning bell rang and everyone started packing up. I quickly made my way away from the table, tossing my trash in the can and making my way towards my locker. I hadn't even been able to go out for a fucking cigarette like James and I normally would at lunch. Two years of doing it and we never got caught. How's that for sly?

I grabbed my bag out of my locker and quickly checked my schedule. Biology. Great. I'd already taken AP Biology last year so I really shouldn't be in this class. I really should be in a different class, but whatever. There wasn't much chance that they would change it for me.

I walked into the classroom and handed my slip to Mr. Banner who quickly signed it and handed it back to me before gesturing to the last empty seat. I turned to walk towards it, fighting a smirk when I noticed that the last seat, was in fact, next to the one and only Isabella Swan.

She looked up at smiled at me. Not a wicked smirk that she used to give me before I left, but an actual genuine smile. Didn't think that the Bitch Queen was capable of those.

I sat down next to her, dropping my bag on the floor.

"Hmm. . ." She smiled at me. "My lucky day."

"What?" I quirked an eyebrow at her, wondering what she meant by that. She had used to say that to me before I left, which made me nervous that she had figured out who I was exactly.

"Well, not everyone gets the new kid as their biology partner, do they?" She smirked at me and I shrugged in response.

"Also the new kid has already done AP Biology at his old school." I told her and her eyes flashed with something.

"Where did you live before you moved here?" She asked, ignoring Mr. Banner, who had started the lesson.

"Chicago." I replied, glancing to the front, making sure that he wasn't really paying attention to us.

"You miss it there." It wasn't a question, but a statement she knew to be true.

"Yeah." I nodded once in response, again, not elaborating on the subject.

She didn't continue the conversation after that, as Mr. Banner went through the meanings behind several stages of cell mutation. Whoo! Great fun.

"What do you miss most about Chicago?" She asked, quietly, making me jump slightly at how close she was.

"My friends." I replied, feeling strange at using that word in Forks without the words 'I don't have any' in front of it. Because in Chicago, I had had friends. I wasn't the most popular guy in the school, but I didn't care. A few close friends was all I had wanted in life – at that point in time – and a few close friends is what I got. James Hill, Jane and Alec Volturi – twins – Victoria Messenger, Demetri McCallagh, Gianna Davis and Kate Bowe. I had friends outside of that group, but they were my close friends. They were the only ones that knew of my previous geek status, although they didn't believe it – well, until they saw that I was in Calculus in junior year and getting higher grades than the seniors in the class. My IQ was stupidly high. Can you blame me for that?

I missed them more than I thought I would. The fact that they were all there, together. I don't know. It made me felt alone and empty. They were the only ones aside from my parents who knew me at all. Others used to see the glasses, the pocket protector and the acne and steer clear because I was a geek, but now people see the ink and the steel, although most of it is hidden underneath my clothes, and they steer clear because they think that I could be dangerous. Not even stopping to get to know me.

I'd met James in Chicago my first day in AP Chemistry. He was a sophomore taking this class as well and I didn't feel quite alone. I was kind of at the in between stage when I started school in Chicago. I had been using contacts for the previous three days and was getting the hang of them, and because of that wash my mom had bought for me, my spots had all but disappeared. He didn't seem put off because I was the new kid, and apparently that had been him last year, so he knew how I felt. He'd started half way through his freshman year, middle of the semester, so in actual fact I had it easy because it was so close to the beginning of the year.

We got chatting immediately and by the end of the class, I had made my first friend, pretty much . . . ever. In the classes leading up to lunch I met Kate and Alec, not realising that they all happened to hang around with the same group. They accepted me pretty quickly and we'd all been firm friends since.

It was them that convinced me to get the back tattoo, basically telling me that I only had the chance to be young and stupid once. Each of them had a tattoo, and I know what you're thinking. I did it to fit in, but that wasn't true. I had been thinking about getting a tattoo for a while, drawing out the design I wanted. I reasoned that I had been acting like a grown up for most of my life and putting other people first. So maybe, just this once, I should think of myself.

So I did.

And three months later, in the middle of March, I had my full back completed. My parents were pissed when I came home with the outline done, but there wasn't much they could do about it. And when it was finished, I even got them to admit that it was an incredible piece of artwork. I believe my mom even gasped at it. Maybe that was because it was so big though, I don't know. I'm taking it as she liked it. So there.

"I guess that's what I'd miss if I had to move away." She nodded seeming thoughtful. Now here's something I never thought would happen. Me, Edward Cullen former King of the Geeks, was sitting here, having an actual conversation with Queen Bee Isabella Swan.

She didn't say anything for the remainder of the lesson, something for which I was grateful. I didn't know if I could listen to her for much longer, especially because I knew how vicious she could actually be. I had a scar above my left eyebrow to prove it.

The last class of my day was gym. We were playing basketball. It seemed that each year they started off with basketball, no matter what year you were in at the school. Maybe it was because the teachers couldn't handle teaching more than one sport a semester, so they had everyone do the same thing at the same time.

"You're really good, man." Jasper wiped his brow off as they made their way back into the locker rooms. "You should try out for the team."

"I don't know." I shook my head as I opened my locker to get changed, deciding I would shower at home. I never liked showering at school. The only time I would was if I had an early morning gym lesson, and even then, it was quick.

I pulled off my gym shirt, stuffing it back into my gym bag and grabbing the t-shirt I'd been wearing throughout the day.

"Wow." I heard someone behind me breathe quietly.

"What?" I turned around and saw that Jasper was standing there gawping at my back. "Oh, the tatt."

"It's huge." He replied as I threw on my t-shirt. "You not gonna shower?"

"I'm going to wait till I get home." I explained and he looked at me strangely as I changed into my jeans. "I just don't using public showers."

"Fair enough." He shrugged, making his way through to the shower. "See you tomorrow."

"Later." I called over my shoulder, throwing on my jacket and heading out towards my car to find Tanya standing there leaning on it. I froze, seeing her there, on the hood. Nobody sits on my car. Ever. Call me obsessive. Call me possessive. Call me anal. What the fuck ever. I hated anyone leaning, sitting or doing whatever on my car.

"Hi, Edward." She smiled at me, wiggling her fingers. "How was your first day?"

"Fine." I replied shortly, unlocking the car and opening the door.

"I was wondering if you'd rethought going out at all." She twirled a lock of hair around her finger and bit on her lip, but all I could really focus on was the fact that she was still on my fucking car!

"No, Tanya, I haven't. I meant what I said earlier and I'm still not interested." I put one foot inside the car, making it clear that I was about to leave. "Now, I have to get home now, so . . ." I motioned for her to move and she seemed to get the message and reluctantly stood up. "Oh and Tanya." Her smile brightened as she looked at me again. "Don't sit on my car."

I know it was harsh of me, but hey, I was getting her back for everything she'd done to me before I'd left. It didn't really matter that she didn't know it was me, but whatever.

The drive home was short and uneventful, but then again, everything about this town is. Expecting anything to happen in this town is like expecting Hell to freeze over and Charlie Swan to dress in drag and do the hula. Not going to happen.

I pulled up into the driveway, opening the garage door as I did so, parking next to my mom's midnight blue Mercedes C-Class Estate. My dad's car was still not in the garage so, I surmised that he was still at work.

"Hey, honey." My mom called as I walked through the garage door. "How was your first day? Did you meet up with your old friends?"

I rolled my eyes as I walked past her, dumping my bag and coat on the hooks with my name above them. Personalised nameplates in a family of three. That's my mother for you.

"Mom, for it to be possible for me to meet up with my 'old friends', I would have required friends here in the first place." I explained, walking back into the kitchen, placing a kiss on her cheek as I did so.

"Oh, sweetheart, of course you had friends here." She sat down next to where I had perched myself on one of the bar stools at the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Really?" I scoffed. "Then how come I didn't know any of them. Face it, Mom." I stopped her because I didn't want her to carry on about how I must have had friends when I was here, because I had had friends in Chicago. My mom was popular in high school. Go figure. "I was a loser when I was here. All I was to people was the local geek to take the piss out of. Sorry!" I winced as one of her small hands met the back of my head. "Make fun of." I appeased and she nodded. "I changed when I got to Chicago."

"I know." She whispered, running her fingers through my hair gently. "And I'm glad you did." I looked at her stunned for a moment and opened my mouth to say something but she beat me. "Because you seem so much happier with who you are now. That's why your father and I never made a huge fuss about the piercings and the tattoos – though in my mind you could have done without them. Don't look at me like that, young man." She pointed a finger at my expression which I was guessing had taken on a 'not this again' look. I shrugged and shook my head at her. "But you seemed more at home, happier with who you were and in school. And we thought that as you were keeping your grades up and we didn't have any phone calls or letters about skipping classes-"

"I may have skipped one or two." I admitted quietly and she straightened up. "But they were always for good reasons." I countered and I could tell that she didn't believe me.

"Well . . ." She sighed through pursed lips and I could tell that was a tiny tidbit I should have kept to myself. "Nothing we can do about it now, is there?" I shook my head hoping that she would just let it go. "Now, do you have homework?" I nodded, scowling and she smiled, ruffling my already insane hair. "Go do it then." I chuckled as she pushed me off of the stool with the hand that was still in my hair. She called my name as I grabbed my bag and started up the stairs. "We're having the Swans round for dinner tonight."

"What?!" I'm pretty sure that I resembled a shocked cartoon character as my mom walked over to me chuckling at my expense.

"Close your mouth." She chuckled gently. "You look like Bugs Bunny."

I closed my mouth and eyes, shaking my head slightly. "Did you say we're having the Swans round for dinner?"

"I did." She nodded once, seeming to enjoy my confusion.

"All of them?"

"Well, we can't leave one of them at home, can we?" She replied, her smile crinkling the outsides of her eyes and her eyes alight with amusement.

"Since when?" I asked her wondering how long she'd had this planned. If she'd had it planned before today, then Bella would know that it was me she was talking to. She may have been head cheerleader, but she had a brain as well. She wasn't completely stupid like her boyfriend.

"Since I ran into Renee in the grocery store today, while you were at school." She replied crossing her arms over her chest, looking somewhat defiant. "Now, your father gets home at six, they'll be here at seven. Go and do your homework and then get changed. This is a smart-casual affair, not an 'I've just rolled out of bed' thing."

I rolled my eyes at her analogy of my wardrobe. I guessed I could wear one of the button downs she was constantly buying for me that I never wore. Maybe she was thinking that if she bought enough of them, I'd suddenly have some sort of mind flip and start wearing them. I've always hated them, so that was not going to happen.

After finishing my French, I heard the garage door opening. I looked out of my window and saw that my father was easing his way in next to my Audi. I looked at the clock and saw that it was six thirty. Uh-oh. Mom's gonna fli-ip.

I didn't want to know what my mom would do to my dad, so I grabbed a towel out of my own personal linen closet and made my way into my en suite, jumping in the shower. I had meant to do that straight after I'd gotten home from school, but hey, finding out that the girl who made your school-life a living hell for five years will get you a bit sidetracked.

Climbing out of the shower, I tied the towel loosely around my waist and walked out of the bathroom. I grabbed a fresh pair of underwear, sliding them on underneath the towel before I grabbed a pair of jeans so dark, you couldn't actually tell they were jeans unless you got up really close.

There was a knock at the door as I was sliding on my jeans and I waited till I had the top button done up and had walked back into my bathroom before calling out that they could come in.

I slid on the black wife-beater that I had grabbed on the way through to the bathroom as I heard my father calling out to me from my main room. "In here, Dad." I called and he walked through, leaning against the doorframe.

"You were late home." I smirked at him and he smiled at me sheepishly. "Was mom mad?"

"A little." He chuckled, not seeming too bothered about that fact.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for the impending arrival of our guests?" I mocked him and he laughed, throwing something at me, hitting me in the arm. "Mature."

"I know." He called over his shoulder before leaving the room. "Oh, Edward."

"Yeah."

"Your mother says to wear the green shirt." I walked out into the room to see him sticking his head around the door. "In her words, it'll bring out your eyes."

"Shut up." I waved him off and he laughed. "Go get dressed, old man."

"Who're you calling old man?" He stood up tall, smirking at me. In actual fact, I could really call him 'old man' because he certainly didn't look like one. He looked in his late twenties, early thirties at the oldest. Certainly not old enough to have an eighteen year old son.

"You." I laughed, grabbing the shirt that my mom wanted me to wear. It saves an argument, okay? Normally, I'd brush it off and wear what I wanted, but my mom hadn't seen Renee or Charlie since we moved away and I knew that she missed them. This meant a lot to my mom, so I was going to behave. For the most part, anyway. I couldn't say what would happen when Bella walked through the door. "If I were you I'd get moving because you have five minutes to change and be downstairs before they arrive."

"Shit." I laughed at the curse coming out of Carlisle's mouth. It was odd to hear either of them swear, but when they did, it was fucking funny. They just looked and sounded wrong doing it.

I slid on the shirt and did it up almost all the way. I looked in the mirror and looked exactly how I used to. Like I retard. I swear, this place does things to me. I undid the buttons on the cuffs and rolled up my sleeves so they were just above my elbows. Much better.

I threw on my Chucks – which I knew my mom wouldn't be too happy about, but meh, it's not like we were going to a fancy restaurant or like it was a holiday or anything, so she could deal – and made my way downstairs as the door opened. I groaned quietly as I heard Renee and my mom squeal, probably hugging each other while Charlie and my dad exchanged pleasantries and handshakes.

"So, where's Edward?" I heard the third voice, the voice of Bella ask.

"He should be down in a minute." My mom answered her and I heard Renee respond slightly surprised. "I'll go and get him."

"Bella, how come you didn't mention him before?" She asked in a suggestive tone and I knew that I should probably make an appearance soon, so I started walking down the stairs. "When is he back at school?"

"He started back today." My mom's voice was closer as I walked down the stairs, still out of sight of the main entryway where everyone was still talking. "Edward." She sighed, looking at me. "Where have you been? Our guests are here."

"I hear that." I replied as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I thought I said smart-casual." She put her hands on her hips, shaking her head at me.

"Right." I nodded, indicating my clothes. "The shirt makes it smart and the rolled up sleeves is casual. Embodies what you wanted, doesn't it?" I smirked at her, knowing that she couldn't argue with me.

"Smartass." She shook her head, chuckling.

"I know." I smiled widely at her, following her into the foyer which lead through into the kitchen and dining room.

I leaned against the wall, waiting for Bella to turn around and notice that I was standing there.

"Bella." Renee nudged her lightly, nodding towards me. "Say hello to Edward."

She turned to look at me and I saw the brief glint in her eye that I knew so well. I had seen that glint many many times before, before I had left. I had become quite accustomed to it. But it was quickly replaced by disbelief when she saw me standing there in the doorway.

"Hello, Isabella." I acknowledged her, letting her know exactly who I was by using her full name, especially since the Edward she met at school today, only knew her as Bella.

Her jaw clenched as I smirked at her, waiting for her response. "Hello, Edward." She practically sneered my name and I couldn't help but chuckle. The parents had made their way into the kitchen, Renee helping my mom prepare everything to take through, even though my mom told her to leave it to her and my dad.

I made my way over to Bella, gently brushing past her as I walked, leaning down. "You really should find out more about people before inviting them to join your group." I whispered, feeling her stiffen at the close proximity.

I smirked to myself knowing that I had the upper hand here. She hadn't been expecting to see me. She had been expecting to see an eighteen year old version of the clumsy geek that she had last seen two years ago. Not a pierced and tattooed version.

She followed after me, following closely behind me as I made my way through into the kitchen stepping up behind my mom. "Anything you need me to do?" I asked her, making her jump slightly.

"How many times have I told you not to do that?" She growled at me, hitting me with a towel before looking around. "No, I don't. It looks like we're all done here. Why don't you go on through to the dining room, with Bella." The way she said Bella's name made me think that she wanted something to happen between us. I rolled my eyes in a way that told her that nothing was going to, or would ever happen between me and Bella Swan. I might have changed, but we were still too different. "Bella, why don't you follow Edward through to the dining room?" She glanced between the two of us, smiling to herself.

I shook my head and walked through to the dining room, where the rest of the parents were starting to dish out dinner. Well, Charlie and Renee tried to help, but my dad kept shooting them down. It was amusing to see.

I sighed when I saw the placement of the settings. I knew that Charlie and my dad would be sitting at the ends of the table, and it looked as though Renee and my mom would be sitting next to each other as well. Which left me sitting next to Bella. Great.

I sat down next to my father and shot him a dark look. He knew all about my past with Bella, as did my mom. He shot me an apologetic look, glancing into the kitchen as my mom walked through with the vegetable lasagne she had made, since none of us in the house ate meat. Apparently my dad had been turned off eating meat during his residency – go figure, huh? – and my mom had been vegetarian since she was twelve. So me being born into a house where no one ate meat it was clearly a given that I wouldn't either.

My mom and dad dished everything out and we all started to eat, the parents starting up conversations about what had been going on over the last two years.

"So, Edward." Bella turned to face me and I hummed in response, not looking at her. "How come you didn't tell us who you were at lunch, today?" I could hear the smirk in her voice as she asked me that and I turned to look at her knowing that she would be on the phone immediately after this was over, telling Alice and Rosalie and everyone in that little shit heap of a group that I was back in town.

"You never asked." I replied, smirking at her, as her eyes narrowed at me.

"Don't you think that's kind of rude?" She asked, innocently as she pushed her food around her plate, focusing on me. "I mean, we all thought that you were new. And you didn't have the decency to tell us that you weren't. Only that you were a returning student. We wouldn't have brought you up at lunch if we'd known."

"No." I chuckled, darkly, placing my fork onto my plate. "I could only imagine the welcome I'd have gotten if you'd known I was coming back. Not something I'm interested in. Excuse me."

I pushed my chair out and walked out onto the porch, hearing my mom apologising for me behaviour and really fucking glad that I'd put my cigarettes in my pocket. I shook one out of the packet and took my lighter out of my pocket.

"So, you think that just because you've got some tattoos, piercings and smoke, you're not the same little geek you were when you left?" I heard Bella laugh behind me as she stood in the open doorway.

"Shut the fucking door." I mumbled, taking a drag of the cigarette. "It was shut for a reason."

"Right." I could practically hear the eye roll coming through in her tone as she slid the door shut, probably glad that I'd told her to, because that way the parents couldn't hear what was going on out here. Just the way she wanted it. "Don't want Mommy and Daddy to hear?"

"No." I scoffed. "With the door open the smoke goes into the fucking house. Or was that too obvious for you to realise?" She didn't reply and I knew that she wasn't expecting me to be so challenging with her. "What?" I turned to face her, leaning on the railing, taking another drag of my cigarette. "Not expecting me to talk back? Expecting the same little geek that left two years ago? Newsflash Bella: He's gone. You were right. That Edward was a pathetic loser but then again, it's good to know that he's not here anymore, isn't it?"

"Right." She snorted, a dainty sound that didn't quite fit her. "No one ever really changes, Eddie." I managed not to cringe as she said that nickname I absolutely loathed. James and the others had only ever used it to get my attention if I was spaced out about something, but never in excess, probably because they always had something thrown at them if they did. "You're still that same geek. You always will be. No matter how much you don't want to be, you'll always be a geek."

"Whatever you say, Bella." I pushed myself off of the railing, taking one last drag of my cigarette and throwing it out into the darkness behind me. "But you know what that means, don't you?" I said walking towards her, blowing out smoke with every word. She took a step back with my proximity but found herself directly flattened against the wall. I smirked, placing a hand either side of her head, leaning in to whisper in her ear. "That means you'll always be a two-faced bitch, with no real friends. Have fun with that." I pulled back to see anger in her eyes as she tried to think of something to say. "The Edward you used to know, might have rolled over and taken everything you and your little horde threw at him, but me? No no no." I shook my head, mocking her. "I am nothing like the Edward you used to know. I fight back. And believe me, it doesn't matter that you're a girl. Fuck with me and I will give as good as I get. So here's a little tip: Do. Not. Fuck. With. Me. Little girl."

I pushed away from the wall and smirked at her as I walked back into the house. She most definitely had not been expecting that from me.

I know that she would be straight on the phone to Alice as I walked into the house and back up to my room, but honestly, I really couldn't care less. Because what I had said was true.

If she wanted to play, I would bring it.

Likey?

I have more.

Don't worry there's more if you want it.