Disclaimer: The whole wonderfully amazing Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer, not me. :(

Really? Only 9 reviews? What happened to everyone from Taking Chances? Alright, I guess we'll have to build up to it. Thanks to those who did review though!! You guys are awesome! And I don't have a set schedule. Usually I post in the least once a week, sometimes twice a week if I have time. I really don't have a ton of time, but that's usually the norm.

Bella POV

The population of Forks High School was tiny. No, really. It was like a crump compared to the cookie of a highschool I came from in Phoenix. My old school consisted of over two thousand people. Forks didn't even compare with it's four hundred and twelve students. I guess it was a nice change. Maybe people here were closer and less cliquey. Not that I was looking to fit in. I just wanted to finish out my high school career and get over it. Even back home I never made it a priority to find a special group. Sure I had friends, but most of the time I was with my mother. I was taking care of her or on a good day just being her friend. I never worried myself with finding a date for Saturday night or someone to have makeovers with.

High school was a jungle. Walking down the halls being squished between bodies that I didn't know made me feel even more small and insecure. It wasn't enough for people to just mind their own business and be the best, but while they were at it they might as well point out your flaws to make themselves seem even better. People at my old school usually just left me alone, but I knew what they thought when I walked down the halls beside all the tan barbies and buff jocks. Oh there's that Bella girl. Her mother has cancer, poor thing. She's so pale. Why doesn't she ever dress up cute? Why doesn't she wear more makeup? Does she even have a boyfriend? She has no friends. Brainiac. We should feel sorry for her, her mother is dying. They didn't have to say it outloud, I could feel it in their eyes.

It's not like I was a total nerd or anything. Just because I took AP's and Honors, didn't mean anything. It's not a huge shocker that maybe I understand stuff like that, it just comes natural to me and easy classes are just plain boring. It's not like I'm ugly. Okay, so I'm not the prettiest girl ever, I'm pale to the point of being transparent. I have average brown hair that I can run my fingers through and it looks fine. My eyes are just a plain, boring brown. I've always been skinny despite my lack of talent for anything physical. That's just how I was, plain. Average. I didn't need to cover my eyes and dark eyeliner or wear the latest fashions, although my mother tried. I was just me. Friends and boyfriends could happen later....when my mom didn't need me.

But Forks was different. I sat in the school parking lot while the rain chased all the students inside and watched. There wasn't a group of plastic girls walking around with attitude or a group of un-naturally buff guys beating up a skinny dork. Everyone fit in with each other. They all dressed the same, mostly jeans and tshirts, some girls had on sweaters or tights with skirts, but they weren't flashy or showy. They all talked and said hi like they were best friends. I watched in amazement as a skinny guy with acne and a trumpet kissed his girlfriend who was tall and curvy and obviously one of the more popular girls here. That would never have happened at my old school. I took a deep breath, deciding today wouldn't be so bad and I made my way inside.

The halls were wide and brightly lit, offering personal space to everyone who walked. I almost smiled as I strolled the halls without being shoved aside. I found my first class quickly, Government, and stepped inside. The teacher smiled welcomingly and told me to sit in a seat in the back. I sat down self-consciously because everyone was staring at me. No doubt they knew who I was. Chief Swan's daughter, her mother just died. Pity her.

But instead, a cute boy with dimples and blond hair leaned across the aisle and smiled warmly at me.

"Hey. I'm Mike. You're Isabella, huh?"

I blushed hard, like I always did when someone said Isabella.

"It's Bella, actually."

He shrugged, un-phased by how rudely I answered him. "Just wanted to be the first to welcome you."

I nodded, touched that he actually meant it.

And that wasn't even the end. Throughout the day dozens of kids greeted me and introduced me. They were all sincere and fascinated by me for some odd reason. Maybe it was some dead parents clause I missed in the fine print. It was when lunch came that I was practically ambushed by a girl who was just barely shorter than me. She was spunky and smiley, letting her loose brown curls bounce around as she walked and was greeted by almost everyone. Guess I knew how Miss Popular was. Her name was Jessica.

"So you're eating lunch with me, right?" she asked randomly in the middle of her conversation about prom.

I shrugged. "Sure, why not." It's not like I had anyone else to eat with. She smiled and started ranting off again. I tuned her out and clutched my books close to my chest. I let my eyes wander until they suddenly stopped and focused on a boy at the end of the hallway. He was tall, maybe a little over six feet. But that wasn't why I stared. He was absolutely the most gorgeous man I'd ever layed eyes on. He was pale, paler than me. But it was like a glowy pale, something that added to his beauty, like marble. And he had brilliant bronze hair that was in a perfect disarray on his head. Even from this distance, I could make out that his eyes were dark, jet black. He stood against the wall by the doors of the cafeteria with his arms folded so I could make out the perfect tone of his biceps and I could see every curve and contour of his chest through his blue shirt.

"Uhm, Bella? What are you staring at? Are you listening to me?"

But I didn't even register that Jessica was speaking to me. I gulped in. He was staring right at me. At first there was a tiny smirk on his face, but as we neared closer it disappeared and his face was filled with concentration, and then anger, and then bewilderment. A tiny, pixie-like girl came up beside him. She was equally beautiful with short, black hair and very fancy clothes, unlike every other girl here. She slapped his arm and he broke out of his gaze. Three more people came up. A tall blonde boy who took up the tiny girl's hand, and then a tall playboy-model like girl came around the corner, holding the hand of a giant, muscley guy who looked like he could break me in half like that. They were all incredibly gorgeous and incredibly pale. The bronze haired boy took one last glance before following the group into the cafeteria.

"Bella!"

I snapped out of it to see Jessica's worried stare.

"S-sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "Those were the Cullen's. They don't talk to anyone, too good for us apparently, and they're all super attractive, I know." She said the last part with resentment. I wonder which boy she liked. "But don't waste your time. Just ignore them like everyone else does."

Ignore them? As if that were possible. But it made me wonder. How might that feel, to be ignored? Maybe they wanted it that way. But who wanted to sit their life ignored?

"Are they related?" I asked her as we got in line. Jessica sighed, like she was sick of the story. "Sort of. They live together, with the doctor and his wife. They're like, multimillionaires or something. So they're all adopted, but like, they're all together. It's like some creepy cult. Except Edward Cullen, the hottest one. He's single and denied every girl here, so don't even think about it."

She said it as if I had no chance. I knew that, but still. Maybe she was more like the blond barbies I knew after all.

When we got our food and sat down, I recognized a lot of people I'd met today. There was Mike, some nerdy kid named Eric, Tyler, Lauren, and a nice girl Angela I met in English. She wasn't like the others, she was considerate and sweet and didn't mind silence like me. I liked her the best. Right as the conversation started, I noticed right away Jessica had a crush on Mike. She kept batting her eyes and fawning on him and touching him. And he seemed to actually enjoy himself...? That is until he saw me and started talking. Jessica rolled her eyes in annoyance and turned to gossip with Lauren, a snooty girl who kept giving me the stink eye.

"So Bella, what do you have seventh?" Angela asked inbetween bites of her celery sticks. I pulled out my schedule and scanned it. I refused to look until the next class so I wouldn't have to spend all period waiting for the horrors.

"Uhm I have...ballroom?"

I checked once, twice, thrice. No. I didn't sign up for ballroom! I could barely walked two feet without tripping.

"Oh good! Me too!"

I shook my head. "No, I didn't sign up for ballroom. This is wrong!" I sighed and got up. "I'm going to the office to change it."

I was in such a hurry heading out that I wasn't even watching where I was going. It wasn't until I ran right into someone, spilling everything from my hands on the ground, that I stopped to look up.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

I stopped short. I was looking right into the eyes of the bronze haired boy, Edward. I noticed that his pale hands were suddenly scrunched into fists and his nose wrinkled in disgust. I backed up a step, terribly frightened.

"I-I-I-" I kept studdering, unable to speak. He looked so angry. It could see how it took all his strentgh to bend down and pick up my books. God I was such a spaz. I couldn't even move to help him. Then he placed them in my arms and practically ran out the door without so much as one word. I stood there shaking for awhile until I could see he was out of eyesight. I regained my composure and hurried back outside and towards the office.

~.~

"I'm sorry Miss Swan. There is nothing else open."

"Well, then transfer me into another core class. I'll take two maths if I have to."

The office attendent raised her eyebrow at me. "You need a gym credit and ballroom is the only thing with room. I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do."

I had the sudden urge to slap her, but quickly scolded myself. I wasn't usually a violent person, but with everything I've been through I was finding myself more impatient and testy everyday. It kind of scared me. So I picked up my schedule and gave her a sarcastic smile and muttered a thanks anyway. The bella rang and I went on to my own personal hell.

When I walked inside the small dance room, I noticed everywall was covered in mirrors and small table was in the corner with a huge stereo on it. I searched around until I saw Angela. She waved me over with a smile and I went to her. She was talking with Jessica and Mike. Oh great.

"So you couldn't get out?" she asked. I shook my head. "Nope. I honestly can't dance at all. I can barely walk. This is going to be humiliating."

Mike suddenly grabbed my waist and spun me around. "Not with me as a partner!"

My foot caught on my pants and my knee buckled, sending me flying ten feet before I stumbled to a hault.

"Oh God! I'm so sorry," he said, dragging me back to the group. Jessica punched his arm. "I thought we were partners."

He sighed, totally forgetting her. "Yeah Jess, but it's her first day. You can dance with Jeremy."

He pointed to a kid sitting in the corner picking his nose on the sly. She winced. "Ew! As if!"

Mike rolled his eyes at her and then grimaced as the door opened again.

My heart stopped. Edward Cullen and his tiny sister strolled in. She wore a friendly smile, though she didn't say anything to anyone. But he was tense, his eyes hard and still dark. The moment he saw me his nose wrinkled again like I smelled. He led his sister to the other side of the room, but not before she snuck a quick peek at me as if he had told her something, thought his lips weren't moving. But her eyes weren't dark. They were concentrated and sparkly.

"Why is he looking at you that way?" Jessica whispered to me. I shook my head. "I don't know. It's like he wants to kill me, and I didn't even do anything."

Mike chuckled. "Probably pissed him off when you ran into him at lunch." Then he suddenly wore a bad British accent. "Oh how dare you run into me you unworthy pest! I am too good for you and for everyone at this school. Now watch my stuck up family and I spit at you."

Jessica and Angela cracked up along with him, but I didn't. Something about the way he stared at me was really scary....but I liked it. It was strangly inviting.


Ooo....Edward's back! So..what do you guys think? Leave some love please!