Author's Note: This is book number two of three. It's told from the perspective of an original character I created back in the first story. Also, it's set eleven years after the first one. If you haven't read the first tale, you could probably figure most things out, but I encourage you to please read the first. Okay, that being said, lets get to the story already!
Disclaimer: (Oh how I hate these!) Only Arielle, Paige and the infamous Preston are mine. Everything else is property of the great Stephenie Meyer.
My closet was huge. Like, pretentiously huge. What normal closet had space for a full length window? Rain splattered against the panes, I counted the droplets, letting the familiar sound of it relax me. With an intake of breath, I looked around, for it was a disaster. My jeans lay in a dirty heap in the rear corner, a pile of sweaters were on the floor by my feet. I'd sworn to myself that one of these days, I'd get around to cleaning it up. I live in, what I like to consider, organized chaos. A sharp contrast to the perfect cleanliness the rest of my family lived in. Unconsciously, I sighed. Regular people didn't have closets that spanned the width of an average sitting room. Regular people didn't have so many outfits they could go a month without doing laundry. Regular sixteen year old girls didn't drive 1957 Jaguar Roadsters, and regular sixteen year old girls got to attend school with other normal humans. I sighed again.
"Pull it together, Paige. No one here knows you. They don't know that you've never been to a real school. So act like you have. What's the big deal?" I muttered the words, desperately trying to convince myself that my life wasn't crazy, that I could be a semi normal person; despite the fact that my parents were insanely, inhumanely beautiful. That everyone in my family, except me, was insanely inhumanely beautiful. I lifted a pair of jeans off the floor, holding them to my face, debating their weariblity.
"Whatever" I muttered. Sliding them over my hips, I turned to the full length mirror on the opposite wall. In a tangled fiery mess, my red hair stuck out at all angles. I dragged a soft wire brush through it, in a desperate, useless, attempt to tame the beast. I'd never considered myself to be pretty. I supposed I was thin, with olive toned skin, piercing green eyes, and an array of freckles dotting my nose, that I hated. My C cup boobs were too big for my body; I was short, only five foot three. The only thing I'd inherited from my mother was my unruly curly red hair; the only part of my appearance that, when it was behaving, I was rather fond of. Finally I'd managed to weave my hair into a long plait, letting it fall down my back. The knock on my door was soft, I barely heard it. But my family had a strange knack for being subtle and sneaking up on me. I barely even jumped this time.
"Sorry." My mom apologized "I didn't mean to frighten you."
"No, you never do." I said on a sigh. "I'm trying to decide what to wear…I can't believe I really get to go to school."
"You went to school when you were little…"
"I don't remember it." I stated adamantly "Besides, this is high school. This is different."
"Paige, this isn't a movie. People don't work the way you think they do. The cheerleaders won't pick on you, and the nerds don't have sinus problems."
"Says the thirty-five year old with a twenty one year old body."
My mother smiled softy. I loved her smile. She had perfect teeth, perfect lips. Perfect, everything. She pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Be yourself, everyone will love you."
I forced a laugh "If you say so."
She kissed me again, her lips were cold. She was always so cold, and gently squeezed my shoulder. "Hey, be careful today, alright?"
I nodded, pulling a tee-shirt off its hanger. Let the nightmare begin.
I longed to drive with the top down, to feel a cool breeze against my face, to calm my nerves. It was raining, so that wasn't happening. I drove steadily, avoiding puddles. Finding the school itself was easy; there was a big sign marking it just off the highway. The high school was a compilation of sporadically placed buildings. Bella, who swore to me she'd attended Forks High – though I couldn't see how, she didn't look a day over eighteen – had described in vivid detail exactly where I was supposed to go. I'd arrived ridiculously early on purpose, and the lot was completely deserted. I downshifted to first gear, and promptly stalled the car.
"Fuck" I swore loudly, thankful I was long out of my parents' earshot, for they surely would have berated me severely for use of the word. I started the car, more smoothly this time, and slid into a parking space outside the brick building labeled "Administration"
I darted through the rain, my hair didn't need anymore excuses to frizz, and took shelter under the concrete awning. Reaching into my purse, I was pleased, but surprised, to find my recently purchased cigarettes still there. I wondered how they had survived Edward's latest purge. He had an uncanny ability to know when I'd purchased some, to know when I was planning something devious.
I had no real friends outside my family, it became seriously impossible to make any when I couldn't leave my house without everyone knowing. Sneaking out was damn near impossible. Pondering this, I struck the disposable lighter with my thumb, inhaling the first breath, a combination of tobacco and nicotine. And I blew it out, the grayish smoke curled in the air delicately, mixing with the foggy rain, disappeared. I drew the lapels of my jacket closer together, fighting the chill that had suddenly encompassed my body. I flicked the cigarette to the ground, a shower of sparks resulted, and I stamped it out with my foot, turning to go inside.
Behind the towering wooden counter, my eyes met those of a kind-faced heavyset woman. She introduced herself, but in my self centered daze, I wasn't really listening. The fluorescent lights were bright. They marred my skin tone; I didn't like feeling like I looked pale.
"Your name dear?" the woman repeated herself, her eyes still soft.
"Oh erm – Paige. Paige Cullen."
"Cullen? Are you by any chance related to Isabella Cullen?"
"She's my aunt." I said a little too quickly, my thoughts distracted. Bella really had gone here. How strange.
"That's nice" she said wistfully "Bella was quite the popularity queen around here. I'm sure you'll fit right in."
"Um, yeah sure." I responded
The woman, whose name I still didn't know handed me a copy of my schedule, and a map of the grounds. "Have all your teachers sign that paper, and bring it back to me at the end of the day."
I nodded flipping through each one, wondering how I was possibly supposed to make it from building three over to building six in less than three minutes. Absentmindedly I wandered from the building, back to my car. Other students were arriving now, in twos and threes, a steady stream of vehicles heading towards the back of the school. I jumped in my own and joined the procession, realizing that I wasn't supposed to park where I was. I blushed with embarrassment as kids around me pointed at my car, oohing and ahhing ensued, left and right. I rolled my eyes, turning my gaze to the floor.
And I stalled again.
Wordlessly, I started the car again, and joined to procession of cars, parking finally in what I assumed was the student lot. My car was by leaps and bounds, the nicest one there. To my left was a rusted Civic, to my right, a rather sorry looking F150. Stepping hard on the brake, I yanked up the emergency brake to insure my car wouldn't mysteriously roll away during the day.
"Nice car." A deep voice called out from behind me
I turned slowly. The kid was handsome in his own way, his hair a dirty blonde color, his eyes a pretty blue, even if he did have a bit of a chubby face. "Thanks," I finally stuttered and with my thumb, electronically locked it. "It was a present."
"We don't see many cars like that around here."
"Yeah, well, I'm new to this area. I just moved here."
"Oh" he said, as if my answer explained everything "Well, I bet its not too good in the rain."
I glanced around as the rain continued to pound on my head. "It's not that bad."
The boy scowled, but held out his hand. "I'm Dave, by the way. Dave Newton."
"Paige Cullen." I said simply, taking his hand.
"So, what's your first class?" he asked me quietly, leaning over to peer at the stack of papers I had clutched to my chest.
"Pre-Calc" I answered surprised I had remembered.
"Oh. He said simply. You're in honors classes or something?"
I looked at the sodden mass of papers in my hands. "Yeah, I guess."
He looked slightly crestfallen. "Were you always?"
"Always what?" I asked him, becoming rapidly confused.
"In honors classes"
"Well, I never went to real school before. I was home-schooled."
His smile returned. "I could show you around then, if you wanted."
I shrugged. "Sure, I guess." He seemed harmless enough. As I followed Dave to building five, we lapsed into an awkward silence. Eventually, he pointed out a classroom at the opposite end of the corridor.
"It's down there."
"Thanks" I mumbled, anxious to get away from him. I jogged down the hallway, dodging the gazes of my fellow students. Well, this certainly felt like a movie to me. New girl comes to town, and everyone wants a piece of her. I'd be damned if they'd get it.
The day passed in a daze. I had quite a few classes with Dave, who kept smiling, waving, and winking at me across the room. As I walked into my ninth period class, chemistry, I slid into a seat in the rear of the room, trying, somewhat unsuccessfully, to avoid the gazes of other students. A familiar voice filled my ears, relief flooded my system.
"Why'd you leave so early this morning?"
I turned and faced my cousin, who was much more like a sister to me. "I was nervous. I wanted to get out of there."
"Yeah, because you didn't want my dad to find the cigs in your purse…"
"How did you know about those?"
"He knows about them. So, naturally, we all know. Actually, he was fuming this morning. On a bit of a tirade about how Carlisle lets you get away with murder."
"I haven't killed anyone." I joked
"Yet. You keep smoking those damn things, you'll kill yourself."
I rolled my eyes "Save the lecture Nessie, I've heard it before."
She snarled, but cracked open her textbook. "So, how was your first day of high school?"
"Long," I admitted on a sigh.
"Yes, for me as well."
"Ness, I keep getting the feeling we don't belong in a place like this…I just feel like I don't relate well to people."
"You don't understand how they work." She said slowly, finishing my thought as she often did. "I feel the same way. It probably comes from being so isolated for so long, and surrounded by no one but extremely pretty people." She added as an afterthought
"Easy for you to say, you're one of the pretty ones." I mumbled
"Gia," she whispered under her breath, using her nickname for me. "If I've said this once, I've said it a hundred times. You are pretty." She hooked a finger through a curl that had come loose from my braid.
"In your opinion."
"I think, in that kid Dave's too. He's eyeing you across the room like you're a piece of meat."
Instinctively, I giggled. "He's strange."
"He is," she agreed, and opened her mouth to say more, but was silenced when the teacher shot her a dark look.
"I think we should pay attention." I whispered, still laughing.
I rapidly learned that I hated chemistry. Midway through the lesson, I'd managed to add too much Hydrochloric acid to our solution, causing it to bubble over, and only thanks to Renessme's superior reflexes, was she spared from a painful burn. "Sorry." I mouthed to her as we were both ushered to the nurse's office to get checked out. She glared at me, but couldn't maintain the gaze too long, and broke into a smile.
"When my dad finds out about this, he's going to be pissed."
I laughed despite myself. "Stuff like this is the reason I've never been allowed to go to real school."
"No, it's because our parents are way too overprotective. Stuff like this never happens to you."
I laughed again. "Yeah, you're right." And we flopped down on the lumpy leather couch, ready to await whatever punishment the nurse would bestow upon us.
The rain had begun to taper off as I pulled my car into the driveway. Without stopping to talk to anyone – they'd know I was here anyway- I ran to my room, taking the stairs two at a time. I slept in what had once been the attic, and I loved the rustic-ness of my room. The rafters were high, and I'd draped them in various colored scarves. My bed was pushed against the solitary window, through which a few feeble rays of sunlight were sneaking through. I flopped onto the bed, exhaling loudly. Well, it was over. From the corner of my eye I caught sight of my backpack on the floor where I'd tossed it. Books spilled forth, I had literally a ton of homework. I didn't want to do any of it. Pushing it off, I wandered into my gigantic closet. Again, I caught sight of my reflection in the full length mirror. It was nearly impossible not to. I hated what I saw, more than I hated it earlier that morning. My nose was off center. My ass was too big. I'd never measure up to everyone else. Despite what Renessme had said, I just wasn't pretty enough. But I'd be damned if I wasn't going to try.
