Don't own any of the characters, Stephenie Meyer does! Here's chap. 2!

Chap. 2

I woke up to rain. Rain and ugly grey clouds – it was 5:00 in the morning. I felt so tired. I had gotten only a couple hours' sleep since my brain couldn't seem to manage to shut up.

I dragged myself out of bed and went to the bathroom. My hair was a mess. I quickly went back to my room to grab a pair of jeans and a lightweight, comfortable t-shirt, and a towel. I took my shower and I washed my hair, trying to get it to behave. It wouldn't – so I tied it up into a ponytail and left it at that.

Heading downstairs, I passed Emmett's room, which was next to mine, and I could hear the snores through the door. Honestly, it sounded like a bear snoring. I cut off my giggles and headed down to the kitchen to make breakfast. Scrambled eggs, I should think, since there was really nothing else.

While the eggs were cooking, I gulped down a glass of orange juice to help wake me up some more. As I was cooking, Charlie lumbered downstairs.

"Morning, Bells, whatcha cooking?"

"Just scrambled eggs." He nodded and took a seat at the table.

"So," he started, "you excited about your first day of school, Bells?" I felt my stomach clench at the thought of school, but I hid my face so Charlie wouldn't see the fear and apprehension. I lied to him.

"Yes, yes I am…I hope all my classes are good. Maybe I'll even go crazy and make some new friends…" I threw that last bit in for his benefit, so he wouldn't worry about me.

"Well, I'm sure everyone is excited to meet you, Bella. You've been the talk of the town lately." He chuckled. I cringed. One of the many "perks" of a small town – everyone knows everyone and their business. Knowing that everyone was expectantly waiting to meet me was not a confidence booster – it was quite the opposite. I was already nervous, now I was practically shaking with anxiety.

Just then, booming steps were heard upstairs. Emmett must be up…that was good, because I was just finishing off the eggs and piling up the bulk of them on a plate – he would probably need to eat the most of them.

In fact, Emmett would be quite lucky this morning, for I was planning on eating nothing – I just might throw up, even without eating anything.

Just as I was placing Charlie's plate in front of him, Emmett came thundering down the stairs and hurdling into the kitchen.

"Tell me breakfast is ready!" he shouted – then he saw the eggs. "Oooo, eggs! My favorite: scrambled. Thanks a bunch Bella!" and he grabbed the plate I was about to put at his place on the table from my hands then plumping down in his chair. He commenced shoveling the food into his mouth and I got a sense of déjà vu from last night's encounter.

I excused myself quickly and headed back upstairs to grab the books Charlie had gotten for me and shoved them into my backpack. Outside, it was still raining, only now it was a slight drizzle. I watched it rain for a couple of minutes, till I heard Charlie calling me down to leave.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, Emmett was pulling the door open –

"Hey kiddo, you can ride with me! We better get going or we'll be late. I guess I kinda overslept."

"I'm ready," I told him and we both headed out. Emmett's jeep was parked just out in the driveway and it was huge. I hadn't really gotten a good look at it before, but now that I actually had to ride in it, I couldn't stop looking at its size. I wasn't even sure how I would be able to hoist myself up into it.

Thankfully, Emmett anticipated this problem and helped me up into the seat. I quickly buckled myself it as Emmett got into the driver's seat.

"I know it's a big car, but it's my baby," Emmett told me as we began the short drive to Forks High. "Plus, you are kinda on the small side there, Bells," he said, grinning at me. I stuck my tongue out. I knew I was small, but I never enjoyed other people commenting on it.

"Sorry, I just had to say," he chuckled and then we were there. It was such a short drive I had no time to prepare myself. It was like a five minute drive. I sighed.

"Hey, I'll go ahead and take you to the office so you can pick up your schedule," he told me as we got out of the car. I only nodded. I had suddenly lost all ability of speech.

We walked over to a small, square brick building at the edge of the parking lot. Kids were milling about before class and all of them would stop and look at us as we walked past. At first I thought it was because of Emmett – he was clearly the biggest guy there and he was a senior. But no – it was me. They were staring at me. Figures.

I kept my head down, watching my feet as we approached the building. Then we were quickly inside and I could sigh in relief. Emmett gave me a quick hug then headed off to class.

I quietly walked up to the desk where a red-headed woman was shuffling papers.

"Hi, um, I'm Bella Swan, I'm a new student." The woman looked up at me and smiled.

"Of course! Isabella Swan – I've got your schedule right here. Have a wonderful day!" I could tell she was trying to be nice and friendly and warm, welcoming me, but I couldn't feel it. I only felt terror as I quickly glanced over my schedule and learned that my first class was Spanish in building 4.

Without a clue as to where building 4 was, I headed out, looking around and trying to ignore stares as I pretended I knew where I was going.

Thankfully I found the building just as the bell was ringing and I hurried into the room number that matched the one on my schedule.

Most people were beginning to take their seats, so I quickly moved to find an open one and be seated before I could be too clearly noticed. There was one slightly towards the back. I headed for it, my head down, trying not to notice all the open stares of the people around me.

Once seated, class began – the teacher was talking about the assignment that was apparently due from last week that I had missed. I kept my eyes trained on my notebook, but only a few minutes into class, a piece of paper plopped onto my desk.

I didn't get a chance to see who it was from, but I quickly unfolded it and read the contents:

Hey Bella, I'm Alice.

You can share my notes with me,

I'll help you catch up to where we are in class!

I looked to one side of me – a blonde girl was filing her nails, deeply absorbed. Okay, not her. I looked to the other side, my right, and say a thin, pale-skinned girl with black spiky hair that seemed to point in every angle smiling at me. Her eyes seemed to dance with excitement. I gave her a return smile – I knew it had to be her note – and I nodded okay.

She motioned to the note for me to write and I picked up my pencil:

Hi Alice –

Thanks for calling me Bella.

Sure, I would love to have your notes!

Thanks for the friendly gesture.

I quickly passed her the note when I was sure the teacher wasn't looking and waited. I saw out of my peripheral Alice writing something, and then the note was back on my desk – it was so quick I didn't even see her do it.

I unfolded it again, carefully so it wouldn't make noise, and read it:

I hope that means we can be friends!

I would love for us to get to know one another

and I know Emmett will be happy,

he's one of my good friends!

I was glad that she knew Emmett – that made me more sure that I could trust her eagerness to be my friend. No one before had shown such a genuine interest. I quickly wrote my agreement that I would gladly be friend and would she like to have lunch together.

Alice was smiling and nodding as the bell rang again, signaling the next period. As I was gathering my things, she bounced up to me.

"Oh, Bella, this is so exciting – having you here is going to be great! I was so surprised when Emmett told us he had a sister, and I am so glad too! You'll fit right in here with our group and we'll all help you to get caught up!"

"Yeah," I replied, "that would be so great. I feel so behind." We were walking out of the classroom now.

"Hey, what class do you have next? Maybe we have another one together!" I checked my schedule.

"I have Lit. next," I said. Alice squealed in delight. Anyone else and I would have been annoyed, but with her it just seemed like that was part of her nature. I didn't mind it.

"I have Lit class next too! Okay come on, it's over here." We exited building 4 and headed over to building 6, Alice talking the whole way, telling me about herself

Apparently she had a twin brother, Edward (not identical), and she had a boyfriend, Jasper, who's sister, Rosalie, was dating my brother. She also confessed to me – and that's just it, she confessed – that she was a huge fan of shopping, borderline obsessed, and she loved helping others with their fashion difficulties. It almost seemed like she was hinting at something as she told me this.

I had a vision that many shopping adventures were on the horizon for me. It seemed like a must when you were friends with Alice.

We were at building 6 before Alice could get in any questions about me, but I could tell that she was dying to know everything. She practically bounced in her seat the entire time that we were in Lit. class. I was beginning to think that being hyper was a given with her, no sugar needed.

Classes passed quickly and before I knew it, it was lunch time. I had had math without Alice, which was difficult. I had been approached by a somewhat overeager boy named Mike, who felt the need to tell me all about how he was so excited about me starting school in Forks and wouldn't stop staring at me all through class. I also had history, but thankfully Alice was in that one, and she saved me from being approached by any other overzealous students.

It seemed that Alice was really the only one who wanted to be my friend – others just seemed to want to know about the "new girl" so they could spread gossip to their friends.

Two girls in particular stood out in this category: Jessica Anderson and Mallory James. Mallory was the blonde I had seen filing her nails in Spanish. Apparently she had been paying attention to me the whole class and had told everyone that I was looking to copy other peoples' notes. I got a dozen other offers – mostly male, which surprised me – to help me get caught up. I turned them all down, except for one, a girl Angela, who seemed shy but sweet and offered to help me with Algebra.

Alice was leading me past the lunch line to a table in the back where I could see Emmett seated next to a thin, tall, blonde who I assumed was Rosalie. As we reached the table, Alice slid in to a seat next to a blonde boy who I guessed must be Jasper. She patted the seat next to her and I sat down.

"Hey, Bells, so how is school so far? I see you've met Alice!" Emmett greeted me.

"Yeah, it's been good," I told him.

"Hey, Bells, this is Rosalie, my girlfriend. Rosalie, this is my awesome little sister, Bella!"

"Hi," I said, lamely, and blushed. Rosalie smiled at me.

"Hello, Bella. I hope Emmett hasn't been too obnoxious to you. He sometimes gets a little over excited. When he heard about having a little sister he practically exploded he was so excited and surprised." Emmett nudged her and she giggled.

"No, he's been great," I told her. "I really am lucky to have such a caring brother." I blushed again, and Emmett grinned broadly.

"Aww, thanks, little sis!" Then he proceeded to gobble down what food was left on his plate.

"And Bella, this is Jasper!" Alice trilled. Jasper nodded at me.

"Hey." His voice was gentle. I smiled and blushed. I wasn't used to all this attention.

"Hi." Again with the 'Hi' – I can be so lame sometimes.

"So," Emmett put in, "where exactly is that loser brother of yours, Alice? Is he still sick?"

"Emmett, Edward is no loser, but yes, he is still sick, though now I think he's just faking it so he can get in one last day off," Alice replied, crunching on a bite of her salad. She turned to me and smiled, swallowing the last of it.

"You know, he'll be here tomorrow. He's excited to meet you too. I think you might have biology with him. I'm sure he'll be glad to help you catch up too." I nodded. I hope he wouldn't think I was some loser. I liked Alice and would be spending lots of time with her. It would suck if her brother ended up disliking me. I was surprised even that Rosalie and Jasper liked me. But, I thought, things were beginning to look up.

Everyone continued eating and giggling and I was just starting to relax into this new group of friends.

So, end of chapter two...comments? reviews?