Chapter 3

Stepping out of her car Bella heard the murmur of voices buzzing around her. She figured people would know she was the "new girl", how could they not in a school this small? She was wondering about how many students there might be in total when she was stopped dead in her tracks by a low ominous whistle nearby. The sound was so foreign to her ears that she almost thought she imagined it.

The whistle was clearly a "hey baby, let me check you out" sort of whistle, not something she had ever encountered before. She swung her head to the right and laid eyes on what could only be described as a giant man.

This was no mere high school student, tall, dark and very, very handsome. He looked American Indian, what with his dark brown, almost black eyes and russet colored skin. Bella wondered if he might be from the La Push Reservation, Charlie had explained all about them on his guided tour of the area.

Thinking she must have misheard, she took a few more steps but the man's eyes followed her with a look she did not know how to describe, but it made the small hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she felt instantly uneasy.

This had to be a teacher, and no way had a teacher just whistled at her. Then she blinked in astonishment when he said to her so low that she strained to hear, "Isabella, in her cherry red car, with her cherry red lips, wonder if the rest is cherry too?" As her mouth fell open she heard him laughing, a rumble deep in his throat, as if they were privy to some intimate secret known only to the two of them.

"Excuse me?" Bella said before she even realized the words were out of her mouth.

"No excuses necessary baby," the man replied looking her up and down in a way that made Bella feel naked and vulnerable. He took the few steps that separated them and smiled down at her.

He must be over 6'5 she thought. "Who are you?" she asked him.

"I am the only person you're going to want to know at this school baby," he remarked casually with all the confidence of someone who thought they were just all that and more.

"Excuse me?" Bella asked again, shaking her head. Not believing this person was being so offensive and she hadn't even made it out of the parking lot yet.

"You heard me baby," he said placing an arm around her shoulders, "I can help you out in any way you need, hell I will even show you around this dump if you want." He grinned down at her and gave her a little wink.

Bella stepped away from the large man, letting his arm fall off her shoulders. "Um, thanks, but I think I can find my way alone," she mumbled. That little fluttering feeling in her stomach was full on now, she wanted to get away from him as fast as possible.

Turning to leave she felt his hand around her wrist as he yank her roughly, she was immediately pulled tightly to his chest. Before he could say another word, she slapped him with her free hand as hard as she could. The sound alone scared her, but the look in his eyes made her want to run. Bella stood her ground and glared right back.

He was outraged, "What the fuck," was all that he could say before she cut him off.

"Don't you ever put your hands on me again or the next time I will not only slap the shit out of you but your nuts are going to be lodged in your throat!" Bella said, pointing her index finger at him and mustering all her courage so her voice would remain steady.

Bella wasn't the daughter of a cop for nothing, she knew she could hold her own, well mostly. This man could overpower her she knew it, but she would go down fighting.

She wrenched away from his hold and marched away with her head held high. She didn't even noticed that everyone was watching her in amazement, no one could believe she just slapped Jacob Black.

Jake had never been slapped by a woman, hell girl, before. He stood there watching her march off and didn't know if he should be annoyed or stunned.

Annoyed that he had played that whole scenario wrong, damn she just looked so innocent he thought. Playing the cocky jock usually had those kind of girls creaming themselves.

Stunned because he never in a million years thought that little girl would be such a tiger. A smirk formed on his perfect lips, this is going to be so much more fun than he thought. That little girl needed to be taught a lesson and who better than him to teach it to her. After he was done with her she would regret ever having the nerve to reject him in the first place. She would be begging him to fuck her and he would, knowing it meant nothing to him, leaving her behind just like all the others.

At least she was as pretty as her name, he walked away thinking, rubbing the check that still stung a bit. He usually preferred blondes with big tits, but this little girl was something else. Big beautiful brown eyes, plump cherry red lips, and a tiny tight little body that she tried to hide under that oversized hooded sweatshirt. He had felt every inch of her when she crashed into his body. He liked the feel of her.

He also realized she was strong, he felt that when she managed to pull her wrist out of his grasp. He knew she didn't let his size intimidate her, that had him thinking she must have taken self defense classes. Well considering her Father was the Chief of Police that made sense. He wondered if she would be the type to try and overpower him in bed, he would like to see her try. Just the thought of her wiggling beneath him made his cock start to twitch. He smiled and began to hatch a new plan on how to get Isabella Swan in the sack.

He now knew this girl was going to be a challenge and there was nothing more Jacob enjoyed than a good challenge. It wouldn't be fun if they just put out on the first date now would it, he laughed to himself. Oh yeah, Isabella Swan was going to be the best score yet.

As Bella stomped away she could feel the anger still boiling in her, how dare he, whoever he was. What a great way to start her new school. Well, at the very least, people will know I am not someone that they can push around, she thought. I wonder how fast it will spread that the "new girl" had smacked that ass in the parking lot?

As she approached the main office she took a moment to take a deep breath, relax and plaster a smile on her face, no way was she telling anyone in charge what had happened. It would only get back to Charlie she thought, and she didn't need him worrying about her any more than he already did.

Soon she was on her way with her class schedule and a school map in hand. Looking down at the map and trying to figure out which way to go she let out a big "ouch" as she collided with something hard.

"What the hell," came from a tall, muscular, well built boy, that quickly turned to an "Oh, I'm sorry," when he had a chance to look at who had bumped into him.

"Oh my god, I didn't see you, sorry." Bella replied. She looked up into the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen and felt a blush rush to her cheeks.

"Oh, not a problem," the green-eyed boy replied. "I don't think I have ever seen you before," he stated, holding out his hand to her, "Edward Cullen".

"Bella Swan," she replied, letting him take her hand in his and smiling as he did not move to shake it,

only to hold it gently and look into her eyes with a dazzling smile.

"Are you Chief Swan's daughter by chance?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, and today is my first day, that's why I was looking at this map and not where I was going, I really am sorry, I sure hope I didn't hurt you." her words tumbled out so fast she wondered if he even understood what she was saying.

Edward, still holding her hand, let out a little laugh and replied, "Nope, little one, not a scratch on me."

Bella let out a sigh of relief and pretended to wipe sweat from her brow. "Good thing, I would hate to get the rep of being a real klutz on my first day, give me at least a week for that." she responded in jest.

Edward was astonished, he could not believe this was Isabella Swan, beautiful, sense of humor, not what he had envisioned at all. He could feel the attraction instantly, between both of them, and wondered if that might be a problem. He pushed those thoughts aside for now and concentrated his full attention on what she was saying.

"So, do you think you might be able to point me in the direction of room 212, I have history first period." she asked.

"How about I just walk you there, we can't have you knocking down all the students can we?" he answered back with a twinkle in his eye.

Bella, still aware that Edward had yet to release her hand, smiled back and said, "That would be nice, thanks."

Edward reluctantly let go of her hand and Bella turned to walk beside him. "You a junior?" he asked.

"Yes, what about you?" she replied.

"Yeah, me too." Edward said back. "Show me your schedule?"

"Sure," she said as she handed him her schedule. Secretly hoping they had at least one class together.

"Damn," he said, as if reading her mind. "We don't have even one class together."

Bella shrugged her shoulders and smiled anyway, taking the schedule back from him. It might be too difficult to concentrate if he really did have a class with her. She was able to assess him now that they were walking side by side. Tall, at least 6'2, definitely an athlete of some sort. He was large but somehow graceful. Maybe a track and field runner she thought? His hair was tousled, a unique color mixture of brown with bronze highlights. His face was strong, with a chiseled chin and high cheekbones. He was just gorgeous.

"Here we are Bella," Edward announced as he stopped next to the door marked 212. "Would you like me to take you to your next class after?" he offered.

"Um, sure, if that would not be too much trouble." she gushed out. Why was he making her so nervous she wondered. He's probably just being nice to me because I seem so lost she contemplated.

"OK, wait here for me after class," he stated and started to walk away then stopped and said, "maybe we can have lunch together too?" he looked at her expectantly.

"Sure, sounds good." Bella said back not bothering to stop the huge smile that now covered her face.

"Ok, see you in a bit." Edward smiled back and walked off just as the first bell rang out.

This day just went from really bad to really good Bella thought. She still had the huge smile on her face as she walked into history class only to be confronted with intense dark brown eyes. Oh no, not him again she thought.

Standing directly in her line of sight was the creep from the parking lot. He gave her a little smile, more of a smirk really. He is trying to mock me she thought, but why? He doesn't even know me. But then she remembered he had called her Isabella, maybe he did know who she was?

She walked past him, straight to the teacher seated behind a large desk and introduced herself. The teacher directed her to a seat and Bella was happy to see that it was far away from angry man. She could not believe he was a student. Maybe he had been held back several times was all she could come up with. Not once did she look over to where he sat, but she could feel his eyes on her the whole hour.

When the bell rang Bella was grateful, she needed to get away from angry man as quickly as possible, besides Edward would be walking her to her next class, that thought made her smile. Before she could gather her backpack she realized that angry man was standing in front of her, oh no, what now she thought.

"Hey, I, uh, I want to apologize for this morning, I was an ass." Angry man sounded almost sincere.

Bella stared at him wondering if this was some kind of joke. Before she could even reply he started to speak again.

"Being the captain of the football team I usually get away with that shit, most girls like me to be all tough and stuff, but I really am sorry and I do hope you will accept my apology, I, uh." he said slowly running out of words to say, looking at Bella expectantly.

"I, uh, geez, why would any girl want someone she doesn't even know to talk to her like that?" was Bella's reply. She wondered what his deal was, why he even bothered, she had made it clear that she would kick him in the balls if he tried anything again.

"Jacob, Jake Black," he looked at her sheepishly. "And your Isabella Swan, right?" he asked.

"Bella," she said back. She tilted her head, looking at him curiously. This was not the same angry man from the parking lot she decided. He really was younger than she first imagined and he did seem remorseful, almost bashful now. That little fluttering feeling in her stomach was no where to be found.

"Ok," Bella said, extending her hand. "I guess I can accept, but just know that kind of crudeness is really unacceptable." She hoped that statement showed him that she would not accept any more talk like that from him.

Jake's face broke out into the biggest smile, revealing gleaming white teeth, and reached out to shake her hand. Her hand looked so small in his, not to mention the difference in color. His a russet brown and hers the palest of white. Different but complimentary, he thought. Her hand felt good in his.

Bella noticed the difference too, she was surprised how warm his hand felt. She was amazed that his large hand could feel so gentle. Suddenly glad that they had called a truce she looked up into his deep dark brown eyes and smiled.

"Bella," she heard her name being called, but couldn't pull her eyes away from Jake's. She was still looking deeply into his eyes when she thought she saw something there, something she couldn't place, something…

"BELLA," a voice shouted at her this time.

As Bella was jerked out of her daze, she looked over and saw Edward standing just inside the classroom door, looking at her and Jake, her hand still clasp tightly in his.

"Edward," Bella managed to whisper.

"I thought you wanted me to take you to your next class Bella?" Edward asked.

Bella looked back from Edward to Jake and then back again to Edward. "Um, right, next class, thank you." she stammered.

"I would be happy to take you if you want Bella," Jake said in almost a whisper.

"I, um, that's really nice Jake, but Edward came back to get me and I think I should go with him, since he is going out of his way and all." Bella answered back.

"How about you let me buy you lunch then Bella?" Jake asked and it astounded her how much she liked how he said her name in that low whisper of his.

"I promised Edward I would go to lunch with him today," Bella managed to say feeling overwhelmed that she was having some weird reaction to him when he spoke to her in that low whisper.

She pulled her hand away slowly and turned to retrieve her backpack from the floor. In that instant Jake turned and glared at Edward. Edward, in return looked at Jake with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Jake started to walk out of the classroom and just as Bella turned around she saw Jake bump Edwards shoulder and Edward sneer at Jake. It was over so fast that Bella wasn't even sure what to make of it.

That little fluttering feeling in her stomach came back with a vengeance though, and a feeling of something she really couldn't pinpoint, dread maybe, came over her.

What is going on here was her only thought…