High school. The official definition for high school was as followed: a school that typically comprises grades nine through twelve, attended after primary school or middle school. To different teenagers, the meaning of high school was very different. Some might think the definition of high school was "personal hell" or "Satan's headquarters" while other teenagers thought it was "the place where you really find yourself." All of these things weren't incorrect. High school might have been great for one person and absolutely awful for the next.
Sloane Saunders defined high school as the perfect play.
Here, at Forks High School, it was her time to shine. The setting, a rainy town in Washington that she'd been living in for the past three months with her aunt Rachel and uncle Brandon. The plot, the first day at a new school with faces she hadn't seen since kindergarten. And the character, the new girl who was determined to not let anyone know about why she ended up living there. Sloane was determined to be happy. She'd been doing alright for the past three months, but being locked up in a house where she could be alone with her thoughts was an extremely different scenario than being thrown into a mix of kids her age, most of whom didn't care about anything substantial. Even though she'd been trying to, for the sake of the aunt and uncle that had taken her in, she didn't have to hide her grieving around them because they knew what was wrong. These new kids, at a new school, didn't know and probably didn't care.
The morning of her first day, Sloane slipped into an outfit consisting of jeans, a plain black V-neck, and one of her grandmother's heavier jackets. She had experienced Forks's colder weather for the past three months (it mattered none that it was the middle of May when she had moved to the wet and rainy town) and knew better than to try and leave the house without it. She had also become accustomed to the fact that wearing makeup was pointless, considering it would rain halfway through the day, so she simply made her way down the hall, where her aunt was flipping a pancake on a skillet.
If there were two people who were affected by Amy and Garrett Saunders's death more than Sloane, it was her aunt Rachel and uncle Brandon. For three months they'd had to put up with Sloane's bouts of sadness as well as become accustomed to taking care of a teenager that didn't belong to them. Sloane was proud to say that they were doing extremely well, save for a few moments in which they'd forgotten that it was a mandatory task was to take Sloane to a counselor to talk about the death of her parents, but the sessions were over now and they no longer had to worry about that. Rachel smiled and looked over at Sloane when she walked into the kitchen, holding up the skillet as a way of greeting.
"Morning, kiddo," Rachel said happily, scooping out the pancake with a spatula and sliding it onto a plate. "We've got jam, jelly, butter, syrup, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, fruit. Anything you want." Sloane made a mental note to thank both her aunt and uncle at the end of the day, since she knew that before she had moved in, they had no reason to buy chocolate syrup, whipped cream, or the strawberries they knew Sloane liked (considering her uncle Brandon was allergic). "And then, we have orange juice and milk, the latter of which you can mix some chocolate syrup into to make chocolate milk. There's water as well, but water's boring."
Sloane took a slab of butter and smothered her pancake with it before spooning some strawberries onto her plate. Rachel sent her a smile as she sat next to her at the bar, her own pancake drenched in chocolate syrup and whipped cream, topped with a cherry that made the breakfast resemble an ice cream sundae more than pancakes. "Thanks, aunt Rachel."
"Of course," Rachel replied, giving Sloane's shoulder a quick squeeze. "I called and talked to Shelly Cope this morning and she's got all your papers set up, along with your schedule. She said you had the option of getting someone to show you around the campus, but I figured you'd be fine. It's a relatively small school, and once you get the building names, the classrooms are easy to find. You get out at two-thirty, so it'll probably be Brandon picking you up." Rachel snapped her fingers excitedly. "That reminds me! I've found an awesome used car that doesn't have a ton of miles on it, and it's all yours if you check it out and decide you like it. Brandon thinks he found a car for you, but I saw one that I liked better. We'll buy it for you and you can pay us back when you've gotten a job or something."
All the information was spinning in Sloane's head. Ms. Cope. School. Car. It was all so much crammed into such a short amount of time. Still, she managed to filter through Rachel's speech and nod. "That sounds awesome, aunt Rachel. Thanks. What time do we need to leave for school?"
Rachel brought her wrist up to her eyes and winced. "Now. You all ready to go?" Sloane nodded and grabbed the old backpack she had used for the previous two years of high school, swinging it over her shoulders. The two girls trekked to Rachel's tiny car and Sloane managed to squeeze herself into the front seat, immediately pressing the button that allowed her to back up from the dashboard. In the past three months, Sloane had gotten used to the winding, green roads that Forks had to offer, but the path to the school was unfamiliar. However, it was a quick ride and Sloane found herself staring at the plain building with disinterest, neither happy nor sad about attending. "You gonna be alright today?" Rachel asked as she too stared at the building. "If it's too much, I can drive you back home. We can try another day."
"It's always going to be looming. Might as well get it over with," Sloane replied, shaking her head. She needed to do this. She needed to get out of the car, and go to school. The sense of normalcy school offered had to be better than sitting alone and wallowing in self-pity. "I'll be fine."
Sloane had her hand wrapped around the door handle, prepared to open up the passenger side of Rachel's car when her aunt's hand suddenly wrapped around her arm, ceasing Sloane's movements. "Hey, kid?" Rachel asked, and Sloane gave her a questioning look. "I...I'm really proud of you. For doing this. For being so awesome about this whole thing. You're... well, let's just say you're one of a kind, Sloane."
Rachel looked like she was trying not to cry, and once again, Sloane was reminded that this girl had lost her older sister. Sloane gave her a soft smile and nodded. "Thanks, aunt Rachel. And you know," Sloane gently reminded, giving her aunt a nudge to make sure Rachel was listening, "you're doing really great with me. Under the circumstances," Sloane joked, and the sound of Sloane's laugh made Rachel smile. "I appreciate that. You taking me in."
"I love you, kid." Sloane accepted the hug that Rachel offered, and when she closed her eyes, the embrace felt almost as comforting as one of her mother's. "Now get in there and show them what Sloane Saunders has to offer."
"Will do. I'll see you later today." Rachel nodded at Sloane's statement and the blonde finally pushed open the door to the car, grabbing her backpack and swinging it over her shoulder once more. With a final wave, Sloane shut the door to Rachel's car and made her way to the building labeled as the office, trying to ignore the looks she got on her way. Ignore them, she reminded herself. Ignore them and smile.
And smile she did. When she walked into the office, Shelly Cope seemed to be waiting for her. Sloane recognized the look of pity in the redheaded woman's eyes immediately and braced herself for the mandatory condolences that people seemed to feel the need to give. Thankfully, it never came. "You must be Sloane Saunders? I spoke briefly to your aunt — Rachel Fischer?" At Sloane's nod, the secretary grabbed a handful of papers, neatly delivered in a stack. "We have your class schedule, a map of the campus, and a sheet that needs to be signed by all your teachers today, just stating you were given the proper materials for the course and such. Oh — and you'll need to go to the library later today and grab your books. I'm sure one of our students would be happy to assist you." Sloane saw the look of pity again. "I hope you have a wonderful first day, Ms. Saunders."
Sloane felt the bright smile she'd been rehearsing for forever slip onto her face. The sight of it seemed to draw a blank for Ms. Cope, who stared at Sloane like she'd grown two heads. "Thank you so much. Have a nice day," Sloane said, giving Ms. Cope a nod before she turned and headed out the door. The smile remained in tact as she walked, her footsteps echoing on the concrete floor. Briefly glancing down at her map, she saw that her first class was Biology, and the classroom wasn't too far from where she stood. Map in hand, she was prepared to start her journey when she looked up and saw a boy that looked as if he were a junior alongside her, smiling almost as brightly as she was. However, one look at this boy and she could tell it wasn't fake. Just very enthusiastic.
"I'm Eric Yorkie," he said, the smile only widening when Sloane gave him a smile in response. "You're Sloane Saunders, right? My dad works with Brandon," he added before Sloane could ask how he knew her name. "What building are you headed to? I could help you find it?"
"Thanks," Sloane replied, unable to answer any of his previous questions. He seemed like the type to never let anyone else get a word in. "Building one, Mr. Molina?" Sloane noticed his face deflate in just the slightest sadness before he perked up once more.
"I'm in Building two. I'll walk with you," he offered, and before Sloane could say anything else, started off in the direction of the building. "You've got Molina, huh? I've got Banner later on in the day. I've heard good things about both, though. My senior friends told me to sit closer to the back in Molina's class, because he speaks really loudly and you might get a headache."
Sloane doubted the volume of a teacher's voice could give her a headache, but she sent Eric a warm smile when he looked over at her to gauge her reaction. "Right. Great tip. Thanks."
"No problem. So, where are you from? Brandon didn't specify." Sloane wasn't sure if he liked the way he said her uncle's name, so colloquially. It made it sound like he personally knew him, which Sloane was fairly certain he didn't. "Someplace with a 'T,' right?"
She nodded. "Texas. I was born in Arkansas, but I moved to Texas when I was four. Are you..." she wondered how long that walk to Building One was "...are you from here?" She didn't doubt if he was born and raised in Forks. It seemed like a town small enough to drag you into its depths and never release you.
"Yep," Eric replied happily, nodding his head and seemingly pleased that she was asking. "Born and raised. Must have been fun living in Texas. Have you ever been to a rodeo?"
Thankfully, Sloane was saved from answering the question when the building marked with a large1 painted in black came into view. Sloane debated on whether or not sighing in relief was polite. She decided against it. "Right, well, here we are. It was awesome meeting you, Eric. Maybe we'll have some classes together later on in the day?"
Eric's eyes widened in happiness and he nodded so vigorously that Sloane worried his neck would detach from his head. Though Biology wasn't her strongest subject, she knew this mysterious Mr. Molina would agree with her when she took note that it probably wasn't the best for his neck muscles. "Yeah, yeah, absolutely. See you around, Sloane."
Walking into the new classroom was disorienting. The classrooms at her old school were set up mostly the same, so when a student went from class to class, the layout didn't vary much. She had expected it, but the Forks classrooms were set up extremely differently, and she almost stopped herself the second she was through the door. She noticed several students glance her way and stare as she made her way to Mr. Molina's desk, which was in the front of the classroom rather than in the back, where Sloane had expected it would be. "Morning," she said cheerily to grab the teacher's attention. He turned to look at her in surprise and she immediately offered the slip he was supposed to sign. "I'm Sloane Saunders, the new student."
"Rachel and Brandon's niece, right?" he asked, but didn't look up long to see her nod her head. He bent down and scribbled his signature across the sheet of paper, his pen making small scratching noises as his hand moved. Sloane absentmindedly noticed he was left-handed, and there was a small smudge on the paper from his hand dragging. "Well, welcome to Forks. Would you like to go get your book now, or wait until after school? The other kids had the option of coming yesterday and picking them up, so it's really up to you."
"I'll wait until after school, if that's alright," Sloane replied. "I'd rather get them all at once."
"Completely understandable. Take a seat anywhere you'd like, Ms. Saunders. We'll start class in a few moments." Sloane nodded and made her way to the first open seat she found at the front of the classroom. Rachel had ingrained her brain with studies showing that the students who sat in the back of classrooms were less likely to pay attention and also came across as disinterested, and Sloane needed to play the part of the happy high school student who had no cares in the world. She folded her hands over themselves after unloading her pencils and paper from her backpack. Her teacher gave her an odd look, like he wasn't used to a student being prepared, but shrugged.
Biology was everything she'd expected it to be. A shy girl by the name of Angela slid into the seat next to her when the bell rang, and Sloane was immediately grateful for the kindness Angela offered. Unlike Eric, Angela was genuinely curious instead of being borderline creepy, so Sloane found she didn't have to try very hard to maintain the smile on her face. After Biology was English Composition in Building Six, and Angela offered to walk with her since her classroom was right next door. English was something Sloane had expected as well, scanning over the syllabus of the books they would read in the semester. Sloane wasn't the biggest reader, but maybe being in Forks would change that. She was, after all, a new and improved version of Sloane.
After English was Trigonometry and French, who were taught by teachers on the opposite side of the spectrum. While Sloane could already tell Mr. Varner was going to be a teacher she didn't particularly care for, Madame Durand was sweet in disposition and was very friendly to chat with about when Sloane would need her books by. There was the added bonus that Angela had also forgone taking Spanish as the mandatory second language and waved to Sloane the second the blonde had walked into the French classroom. This meant that Sloane gratefully accepted the invitation to walk to the cafeteria with her for lunch.
"Classes are finally over," a dark-skinned man at the end of the table Angela had led Sloane to, said with a grin, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms at the back of his head. His eyes were closed serenely.
"We've still got two more periods," a tiny girl with wildly curly hair stated, and Sloane jumped when she slammed her tray down on the top of the table, the sound vibrating Sloane's fingers.
"I'm ditching," the man responded, and Sloane could just picture him rolling his eyes behind the closed lids. "I've decided school isn't for me. Maybe I'll run off and join the circus." Sloane watched curiously as he opened his eyes and did a comedic double take, his stare meeting the seemingly new blonde at the table. "Or maybe I'll meet a nice girl and marry young. I'm Tyler," he said, reaching out his hand to shake. Sloane gave him an awkward coughing noise as she accepted his hand, pulling away before he could do something that made her even more uncomfortable, like kiss it.
"I'm Sloane," she replied, smiling politely. "Nice to meet you."
"Sloane Fischer, right?" the dark-haired girl next to her asked, ripping open the top to her applesauce. "Rachel and Brandon's daughter?"
Sloane tried to ignore the glare Eric sent the girl for bringing up what might be considered a taboo topic. However, Sloane was determined to not let it affect her. She shook her head politely. "Sloane Saunders, actually. Rachel and Brandon are my aunt and uncle."
The girl nodded in disinterest as she dipped a spoon into her applesauce. "Oh, right. I forgot. I'm Jessica, by the way. You've met Angela, Tyler, and Eric. The blonde in the lunch line right now —" Jessica pointed a finger to a tiny blonde standing in line, tapping her foot impatiently "— that's Lauren. The guy next to her is Mike, and behind him is Ben. I think as far as introductions go, that's pretty much it."
Sloane nodded, trying to determine what about each student she could identify in order to remember everyone's names. Jessica's hair was easy enough. She had a feeling she wouldn't be forgetting Tyler or Eric anytime soon, given by the way Tyler grinned at her and Eric looked like he wanted to murder the darker-skinned boy. Lauren had a stylish haircut, which was less than Sloane could say about her own growing bangs, and Mike had a baby face that reminded Sloane of a toddler. Since that only left Ben, she could remember his name fine.
"I don't know what the hell is on my plate, but apparently the school district is trying to pass it off as food," Lauren muttered in an annoyed voice when she sat down on Tyler's right side, slamming her tray down almost as harshly as Jessica had. "Seriously, what is this?" She poked it with her fork before she noticed there was someone new sitting at the table. "Oh. Right. We've got a new student. Sloane Fischer, right?"
Sloane found herself dozing off as Tyler, Eric, and Jessica corrected Lauren. Her eyes glazed over the familiar faces in the cafeteria, only familiar now because the school contained a small population. There was the girl from both her English Composition and Trigonometry class who was sitting a couple of tables down, her face mimicking Lauren's disgusted countenance as she stared down at her lunch tray. There was the boy who had sat directly behind she and Angela in Biology, who was chatting with the redhead girl next to him, pressing a kiss to her cheek when he pulled her into a hug. When Sloane's eyes made their way to the opposite corner of the cafeteria, she spotted the table filled with what she would later discover was the Cullen children.
Sloane could see five of them from where she was sitting. There was a burly man — for calling him a boy seemed inappropriate — who looked like he lifted weights for a living. Even without him standing, Sloane immediately knew that he would tower over her barely five-foot-two body. Next to him was a modelesque blonde who was wearing an outfit that looked more expensive than Rachel's car, a disinterested look on her face like the students here couldn't have been more boring. Across the table from the pair was another girl, a complete opposite of the blonde across from her. This girl looked like she might be around Sloane's height and had spiky hair the color of ink. On her right side was a copper-haired boy, who looked much more like a teenager than the other two men at the table. Next to him was a man with honey blonde hair, glaring at his food. It wasn't the same kind of glare Lauren had given her own tray, but more like he was upset about something out of his control rather than the food at the school.
Sloane felt her heart go out to him. Ever since the death of her parents, she had started noticing pain more in others. It was like a bond of empathy. She hoped whatever was making him upset would resolve itself soon.
"So I see you've noticed the Cullens," Jessica said loudly, drawing Sloane back into the conversation. Looking over at Jessica, Sloane raised a brow. "The five kids sitting in the corner over there."
"Right," Sloane said absentmindedly, not really paying attention. Then, her attention caught on the plural Jessica had added to the end of the surname. "Cullens? They're related?" They didn't look anything alike to her. There were some similarities, like the pale skin and the deep purple shading cast underneath their eyes, but Sloane couldn't recognize any other similarities. She was too far away to see their eye color to see if they shared that. The only other thing the five had in common was their striking features, all angular. Sloane could see how they would draw attention in a room.
Jessica nodded and leaned forward in happiness, seemingly eager to tell this particular story. "The elusive Cullens. Not all of them are related, though. Only the two blondes. The rest of them are adopted by Doctor Cullen, the main doctor over at Forks Community Hospital. The bigger one is Emmett Cullen, and the girl next to him is Rosalie Hale. Across from him, with the brown hair is Edward Cullen, and next to him is Alice. Then the last one is Jasper Hale."
As she had done with the rest of her Forks companions, Sloane found things about them to try and remember their names, which wasn't hard since they all had their distinctive faces and features. While she looked at them, she noticed the one Jessica had called Edward looked up at her, as if she had called his name. She sent him a small smile, the one you give a stranger passing by on the street, before she turned her attention back to Jessica.
"I'm surprised you aren't gawking," Jessica said, her voice lower now that she didn't want the attention on her. "The Cullens are weirdly beautiful. Freakishly, actually."
"Where I come from, I was taught that staring is rude," Sloane replied, her tone depicting sugary sweetness but her mind saying that this was a common courtesy Jessica obviously hadn't learned quite yet.
"She comes from Texas," Eric chimed in, happy to be able to provide some information about the new student. Sloane gave him an uncomfortable smile. "You never told me if you'd been to a rodeo."
"Ignore him, I usually do," Jessica whispered again, bringing Sloane's attention back over to her. "Anyway, Emmett and Rosalie are dating, which is seriously weird considering they live together." Sloane shrugged her shoulders, not really interested in their personal lives. If she were being honest, she wasn't interested in them as a whole. She figured she'd have heard about them soon enough since Forks High was so small, and talking about them in hushed whispers felt a lot like gossip, which was something Sloane preferred to avoid.
"But they aren't actually related?" Sloane replied, her voice mimicking the inflection that one used when asking a question.
Jessica's nose crinkled. "Well, no, but they still live together."
"So you've said," Sloane replied, but sent Jessica a smile to keep things friendly between the two of them. Even if she didn't agree much with what Jessica was saying, she had made a promise to herself that she wouldn't cause any drama that would reflect badly on Rachel and Brandon.
"It was really nice of Doctor Cullen and his wife to take them all in," Angela added, sensing Sloane's uncomfortable posture when Jessica started her usual rant on the five students. "Rosalie and Jasper were foster kids, so Mrs. Cullen took them in when they were really young. I think I heard that Mrs. Cullen was their biological aunt or something."
"That was nice of them. It must have been nice being with their aunt as well," Sloane replied, nodding her head as she took a bite of the sandwich she had packed for herself that morning. "Something familiar."
"I don't think she can have kids, so it worked out well for her," Jessica replied. Sloane tried to maintain the smile on her face, but she really couldn't see the problem with the five kids that Jessica was so obviously trying to point out. It seemed like a normal situation. Adoption was normal, especially if the patriarch of the family was a doctor and had the money to do so. And the foster children story seemed normal enough. All in all, Sloane couldn't see the reason Jessica wanted to gossip.
"Can we stop talking about the Cullens?" Tyler asked after Jessica's statement, earning an eye-roll from the brunette. "I'd rather talk about something much more interesting, like our new student." He sent a grin towards Sloane. "Consider me the welcoming committee."
Sloane coughed to disguise her laugh. Tyler was a welcoming committee she neither wanted nor needed.
"What do you want to know? Afraid there's nothing interesting hidden," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "And you already know I'm from Texas."
"Eric says you weren't originally. You were born in Arkansas? Where?" Mike asked from the other end of the table. Sloane blinked at the unexpected question. Information sure spread fast around Forks High.
"I was born in El Dorado in Arkansas and moved to Midland, Texas, when I was four." She saw Eric open his mouth to speak and she shook her head. "No, Eric, I never went to rodeos. Not my scene." Sloane didn't personally see what was so interesting about her life story, but she supposed it was a small town thing. She was something new in the town of Forks. "I went to the Midland County Fair every year, and that was about it."
"Any boyfriends back home?" Mike asked, ignoring the jab to his stomach that Eric offered. Ben, the only seemingly sensible boy at the table, rolled his eyes. Sloane's eyes widened and this time she really did cough, as she had taken a drink of water before Mike had asked his question.
"You're really diving in with those personal questions, aren't you?" Sloane said with a nervous laugh.
"Don't mind Mike," Angela said before Sloane had to face the embarrassment of answering his question. "How is Forks treating you so far? You've been here since the middle of May, right?"
"Forks is nice," Sloane answered, thankful for Angela's distraction. "I've had some time to get used to the weather. Constant rain is a big change, especially coming from somewhere that has an average of only sixteen inches a year." Angela gave her an encouraging smile. "And I suppose winter will be a lot different. I don't have a lot of experience with snow."
Sloane should have expected it sooner. She knew most of her teachers had known about her parents, thanks to Rachel and Brandon for spreading it around that they were taking in their niece, but she had felt lucky that none of the students had decided to bring it up. Still, when Lauren, with a mild air of disinterest, asked what had brought her to Forks to live with her aunt and uncle, Sloane felt her smile drop just slightly before she quickly righted it.
"Just a change of scenery," Sloane replied before taking another bite of her sandwich, making sure to chew for a while so she wouldn't have to answer any follow-up questions. Her food was turning to gross mush inside her mouth, but anything was better than answering more questions.
"Well, you wanted a change of scenery and you got one," Angela joked, a few people at the table joining her in laughter. Sloane tried to laugh with them, but there was something off about the sound of it.
However, Lauren seemed to have the right sources, for she fixed Sloane with a look covered in kindness that somehow seemed fake. "Really? I heard it was because your parents died, but I could totally be wrong."
Things at the table got silent after that. Sloane's smile was stretching so wide that it hurt her cheeks. Lauren went back to picking at the disgusting school food and Angela leaned over and hissed at Lauren that it was impolite to say something like that. "No, it's fine," Sloane said, smile still in tact. "She's not wrong. However, I've been extremely lucky to be with Rachel and Brandon, so I'm making good what I can from a bad situation." Sloane desperately wanted something to distract herself with, so she pointed to the substance Lauren was poking with the plastic sporks schools so often offered. "I don't think dissecting your pudding is going to make it any more edible."
A few scattered, awkward laughs. Sloane wanted to hit her head on the table. This is exactly why she didn't want people to know. She had dealt with enough of the pity stares in Midland, especially at the funeral, and Forks was supposed to be someplace she could go to get away from that. Desperately searching for an anchor to keep her afloat, her eyes moved around the cafeteria once more until they landed on none other than Edward Cullen, who was staring straight at her as if she were a book he was trying to read. Sloane quickly averted her eyes to someone else at the table, and found the honey blonde — Jasper — who seemed to be the only Cullen that wasn't looking her way.
It was refreshing, not being stared at like she was a lab experiment. She didn't claim to know Jasper Hale at all, but suddenly he was the only one in the entire population of Forks that she wanted to talk to, simply because he wasn't gawking. Staring at him, she took a deep breath before plastering the smile back on her face, somewhat serene this time as she went back to interacting with the people at her table, asking Angela about the French homework Madame Durand had assigned.
Sloane's next class was Gym, which passed by uneventfully. The teacher only mildly embarrassed her by making her introduce herself to the class, but it was nothing worse than Varner had done earlier in the day, and Sloane was determined to keep her sunny disposition. Sloane was slightly happy that they hadn't had to change out into uniforms, since it was the first day of school. Once that was done, she prided herself on the fact that she had made it through the entire day and only had one more class until she could return to her own little world in Rachel and Brandon's house. History wasn't a subject Sloane particularly enjoyed, but it was one she happened to be good at. Remembering things like dates and eras seemed to come easily to her, so she walked into Mrs. Lovejoy's class with a sense of calmness. Due to her passing the advanced placement exam in her sophomore year European History course, she was able to skip the usual junior year American History and went straight to the Government course, which was mostly filled with seniors.
It was in this classroom that she realized she had finally had class with two of the Cullen brothers. Well, one Cullen. Emmett, the burly one. The other was Jasper Hale, the boy that Sloane couldn't help but notice at lunch.
Emmett was sitting next to his brother, and Sloane could see his lips moving as if he was talking to him, but Sloane couldn't hear any semblance of a voice filtering through. Jasper seemed to be receiving his brother's words, but wasn't speaking back to him. Before Sloane could think too much on the pair of brothers, Mrs. Lovejoy cleared her throat and gave Sloane a smile.
"Sloane Saunders, right?" Sloane nodded her head and Mrs. Lovejoy accepted the paper Sloane offered. With a quick flourish, she signed her name across the slip of paper. "Feel free to sit wherever you'd like Sloane." The statement didn't mean much, considering one of the only open seats was in front of the two brothers. Sloane made her way over to the seat and carefully set her backpack on the ground before pulling out her notebook and pencils.
The two brothers behind her were quiet now, no trace of their earlier conversation left in the room. She leaned backwards just slightly to see if they were whispering too low for her to hear, but then quickly berated herself for being nosy. Returning to her normal posture, she set her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands. To Sloane's pleasure, Ben made his way into the classroom shortly after she had situated herself in her seat, and he waved to her with a smile before walking over to the seat next to her, pulling out the chair to the desk and sliding into his seat easily.
"Last class of the day. How was your first day in Forks?" Ben asked politely. She was immediately filled with relief. At lunch he hadn't seemed borderline insane, like her other three male companions had, and she was glad to see that her earlier assumptions of him were correct. "I heard a little bit of what you were saying at lunch. Must be different to be living here from Texas. I bet you had to shop for about a thousand jackets."
"A thousand and one, actually," Sloane replied with a laugh. "No, the climate change was the easiest part of the move. It'll be nice when I can actually experience some snow."
Ben nodded, but before he could reply, Mrs. Lovejoy announced their first assignment, which was easy enough and expected for the first day of classes. Break into groups of four and discuss the syllabus. Sloane smiled again when Ben gave her a pleased look and turned around to see who was behind them. Unlike Jessica, Ben didn't seem fazed with talking to the Cullens, for he gave Emmett and Jasper a kind smile. "Sorry guys, you're stuck with us."
Emmett let out a good-natured chuckle. "No problem. I can finally see what all the fuss is about. You must be the new girl. Sloane Saunders?" he asked, directing his attention to the blonde. She nodded. "Well, I hope you're enjoying Forks. Jasper isn't feeling too well, so you'll have to forgive him if he doesn't discuss the syllabus with us."
When Sloane looked at the topic of Emmett's statement, she could see that he had his head down, staring at the tabletop. She couldn't see his hands, but his arms were flexed like he was gripping something tightly in his hands. He did look like he had a headache, and Sloane immediately felt sorry for him once more. "Of course, it's no problem. I hope you feel better. We'll try not to disturb you." Ben nodded his agreement.
Jasper looked up at her for a fraction of a second, and Sloane saw the beautiful and unique golden color of his eyes. "I appreciate that," he said, but his voice came out strained, as if he was trying hard not to breathe. Sloane detected a bit of a Southern accent in the small sentence he let out, but didn't pester him about it; instead, she hid her slight shock with another smile before she grabbed the syllabus Mrs. Lovejoy was going around and offering. Deciding to be polite, she grabbed one for Jasper and set it in front of him.
"Doesn't seem like anything too unusual on the syllabus," Ben said after a moment of reading it. "After three lates, you get a detention. No cell phones. Test scores count for forty percent. Sounds about right to me." Sloane made a noise of agreement. "Nothing particularly weird to discuss."
Emmett seemed to agree. "You're definitely right about that. Seems easy enough to understand."
Ben and Sloane turned back around in their seats when Mrs. Lovejoy told them to. She explained they would start the actual material tomorrow and that they could leave a bit early, which Sloane appreciated since she still had to go and get all her books. Bidding Ben a goodbye and a promise of seeing him tomorrow, she made her way to the library.
"You must be the new student I've been hearing all about," the librarian mentioned when she brought her books to his desk. "Rachel and Brandon's niece. Great people, they are."
"I certainly think so," she replied kindly, and she smiled when she noticed the librarian had offered her a grin. "Thanks for helping me check these out. I'll definitely be back in sometime. We're studying Shakespeare this year, which means I'll need to check out all the dictionaries that I can."
"Shakespeare isn't difficult once you get the hang of it," the librarian replied with a chuckle. "Do you need help carrying those back to your car?"
Sloane didn't think she did. She was able to fit three in her backpack and the other three in her arms. "I think I'm good. Thanks for the offer, though. It was nice meeting you!"
On the way out of the library and along the trek to Brandon's car in the main parking lot, she noticed the Cullen kids once more. Jasper seemed to be looking a bit better out in the open air, as he was standing next to a shiny silver Volvo and chatting with his other brother, Edward. Again, Edward's eyes shot over to her, as if she had called out to him, along with Alice, who looked more than pleased when she met Sloane's eyes. Sloane managed an awkward wave from underneath the weight of her books before there were suddenly hands underneath hers, offering to grab them.
"Jesus, these are heavy. Don't tell me they actually expect you to learn," Brandon said with a smirk, taking the books from her hands.
"The horror," she replied, rolling her eyes. "They're making me educate myself at an institution of education. It's absolutely asinine." Brandon gave her a playful glare as they made their way over to his car, where he dropped her books into the backseat, with seemingly no regards for the welfare of the texts. "You know if those are damaged, you're going to have to pay for it, right?"
"Someone's in a sarcastic mood today," he replied, but he sent her a smile to let her know there was no sting behind the insult. "Now, get in the car. We're going car hunting. Did Rachel tell you about the used car we found? I bet her five dollars you'd like it better than the one that she wants you to get, so you'd better like it, kid."
Sloane laughed as she slid into the passenger seat of Brandon's car. It was a lot more spacious than Rachel's had been, so she didn't have to move the seat back to make room for her legs. "Hey Brandon? Can I ask you about something?"
"Sure thing." The car roared to life, its engine humming softly when he turned the key in the ignition.
Once again, Sloane sent a quick look over to the Cullen kids, who were piling into the Volvo and a Jeep that was parked right next to it. "What do you know about the Cullen kids?" At Brandon's questioning look, Sloane shrugged. "I met some of them today. People don't really..."
"Talk to them?" Brandon offered and Sloane nodded. "It's because people here are weirded out by them. I don't know why, considering Doctor Cullen is a great man and I've met his wife once or twice; she's the kindest woman to ever walk the Earth. They moved down here around two years ago from somewhere up north. People are just rude, kiddo. Especially in a small town."
"I guess. I just felt bad for them, I suppose. Here I am, the new kid, and everyone's talking to me, but not them." Sloane tried to wrap her head around it. Why did people treat the Cullen kids differently than they treated her?
"Doesn't make sense to me, either." Brandon sent a quick look behind him as he reversed out of the parking space, then drove out of the parking lot and to the main stretch of road. "But, everyone talked to you today? That's good, right? Make some new friends?"
"Yeah, there are some really nice people," Sloane agreed. "One kid, Eric Yorkie, said his dad works with you."
"Randall," Brandon said, nodding. "Good friend."
Brandon quickly pulled up to an unfamiliar house that had an older looking Toyota parked in the front with a For Sale sign on the back. "A 1987 Camry," Brandon said with a grin. "And best part is, it's only got like sixteen hundred miles on it. The kid who bought it was a spoiled brat who wanted a newer version." Brandon winked. "I only say this because I personally know the spoiled brat. But anyway, Rachel wanted you to get a 1980 Camaro, which just didn't say Sloane at all. Plus, the Camaro had almost a hundred and twenty thousand miles on it." He turned to her. "Please say that Rachel owes me five dollars."
Sloane was speechless. She knew that Rachel had mentioned getting her a car, but she hadn't thought that she was being serious, and Sloane had been so ready for school that she hadn't really processed the words. "This car is perfect," she said, her eyes getting a little watery. Knowing that Brandon had an aversion to affection and emotion, she quickly wiped them away before he could see. "I really appreciate this, uncle Brandon."
"Me too," he said happily, "because now your aunt has to give me five bucks. Let me go knock on the door and talk to Johnny. I'll bet we can take that car home tomorrow if I get some money out of the bank and offer cash." Brandon quickly put his own car in park before he got out and rushed to the front door. Sloane saw it open and saw Brandon hug the man that exited, but she was too focused on the car in the driveway, her eyes still watering.
Back home, her car had been crappy and could barely run. But she had bought it herself with all the money she had saved up over the course of her sixteen birthdays and Christmases. It had fallen apart and broken down more times than she could count, but her mother had been a genius when it came to fixing cars, and they always fixed it right up.
Amy wouldn't need to fix this car up. The Toyota looked like it had a long life ahead of it, like it would need no repairs in the future. The thought, while making Sloane incredibly grateful for her new guardians, also made her heart constrict in her chest. There would be no more days of sitting out in the hot Texas sun, listening to her mother's old boombox play a scratched up George Strait album ("the only country singer that mattered besides Johnny Cash," her mother would say) while she handed her mom several tools when asked. After about an hour or two, her father would grab the keys to his own car and offer to grab them lunch and fresh lemonades from the store just down the road. Those days were just memories now, memories she'd have to store in her brain to look back on later when she was driving to school in the pristine Toyota.
Sloane turned up the volume on the radio in Brandon's car to try and drown out the sad feeling that washed over her with music, but heard the beginning of the song she'd been trying to avoid for the past four months and quickly turned the station, instead choosing some Top 40's hit that had no resemblance to Elvis Presley.
When Brandon slid back into the car, he was grinning. "Today just keeps getting better and better. Johnny said we could come back tomorrow and pick it up for you. Things are falling into place, kid, just you see."
If she had been at school in front of peers who didn't know how hard pretending to be happy was, she might have agreed. In the car with Brandon, who had lost two people he had loved as well, she knew she didn't have to. The drive home was mostly filled with Brandon explaining more about the car, and when they walked into the living room after arriving back, Rachel was standing in the small foyer, hands on her hips. "Well?" Rachel asked.
"We're getting the Camry. Pay up, woman," Brandon cheered happily, pressing a kiss to Rachel's cheek before throwing his fist in the air victoriously, like someone who had just won the Olympics. Rachel swore underneath her breath, but rolled her eyes and took Sloane under her arm, wrapping it around the teenager's shoulders. "I say we have celebratory pie tonight. Or in your case, babe, loser pie."
"You can take your ass to the store and get the pie yourself."
"Aw, don't be a sore loser."
"How was your first day, sweetie?" Rachel asked, ignoring her husband. "Did you make any friends? Find all the buildings okay?"
"School was great," Sloane replied, nodding her head. "Met some really nice people and the buildings were super easy to find. I really liked it there." Sloane could detect the lie in her voice, but Rachel didn't, and her smile widened in happiness that Sloane seemed to be adjusting well. The lie had been worth it, especially when Rachel put her hand over her chest in relief.
"I was so hoping that would be the case. Celebratory pie is most definitely needed, then. I'll send Brandon later. What's your favorite? Cherry? Apple? They might be selling pumpkin already if Brandon really searches. Oh, we could get a Mud pie! That's the one that has all the chocolate in it."
Rachel trailed off into the kitchen and Sloane felt herself chuckle. "I'm going to head up to my room, okay? I want to change into some comfier clothes." She barely heard the sound of Rachel replying as she walked down the hallway and to the last door on the right, which had been her room ever since the move. Kicking the door gently to open it, Sloane plopped her backpack down and sat in the little nook next to her window, taking a few moments before she changed to stare at the clouds covering the sky in a shadow.
Her phone pinged, the reminder that she had a phone with texting now. Flipping it open, she saw her grandmother's contact name. Hope your first day was wonderful. I know your mom and dad were with you. Love you.
Sloane quickly typed a reply. School was great, I'm really liking it here. I know they were too. Love you more.
As she had for the past three months, Sloane absentmindedly ran her fingers over the cool metal hanging at her neck, sighing in comfort as she felt it. A small, simple diamond ring who hadn't had a proper home in nearly a hundred days.
I'm so glad you guys seem to be liking Sloane so well! On the topic of Sloane, this story is definitely going to be about her development as a character rather than her just being a love interest to Jasper. I really want to make sure I hit all the facets of her as a person, so if there isn't a lot of Jasper in the first few chapters, that's why. I want to make sure Sloane Saunders is established before I introduce the idea of Sloane and Jasper. With that being said, Joane will definitely be a slowburn, so if you don't like reading those, this story probably isn't for you (which is completely fine considering I have a friend who can't stand slowburns, trust me, I understand).
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or anything in the Twilight universe!
