Bella did not welcome the sound of her alarm the next morning. The rain had kept her tossing and turning all morning. The endless drone gave her no moment of peace. She half considered not even getting out of bed, however she knew the longer she put it off the harder it would be to convince herself to go to school. Bella groaned as she dragged herself out of bed and spent the morning telling herself all the reasons why she should go to school. The list was very short.

It was easy to find the high school. Bella followed the parade of cars filled with teenagers and found herself standing in front of a brick building. She keep her head down as she followed the signs towards the front office. She tried to ignore the whispers and stares that followed her. Bella sighed in relief at the rush of warm that enveloped her once she stepped inside the office. Her lips twitch at the various potted plants that decorated the small room. It seemed no one in Forks ever got tired of the vegetation there.

An older woman with greying hair glanced up from her world as Bella entered. She stood and smiled widely as Bella stepped further inside. The woman stuck her hand out eagerly as she said,

"You must be Isabella Swan! We're all very excited to have you back dear."

Bella quickly shook the woman's hand before running her fingers nervously through her hair.

"Um, it's Bella actually and I just needed to grab my schedule."

Bella only half listened to the woman as she explained to her she would have to get a signature from all of her teachers and turn it in once the school day was over. Bella already felt overwhelmed as she was being handed her class schedule and a map of the school. It seemed there was no turning back now. According to her schedule her first class was in building three. If she as in better spirits, Bella would have found it amusing that a high school with only three hundred students needed multiple buildings to hold its students.

Bella jumped when a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She glanced to her right to see an oily faced teen who seemed to have no concept of personal space.

"Hey, you must be Isabella! I'm Eric," he said, squeezing his hand around her shoulder.

Bella shrugged his hand off and laughed uncomfortably. Her teeth ground together to she kept herself from going off on the guy.

"It's Bella actually."

She had the funny feeling she would be repeating that phrase all day long.

"Where's your first class? Maybe I can help you find it."

Bella shot him a tight smile. "No, I should be fine."

Bella silently prayed that he would go away. Eric had other plans.

"Really it's no problem."

Bella sighed as she handed over her schedule. Eric read over it and lamented on the fact that they only had one class together. Bella didn't feel the same. She guessed it was nice of him to show her the way, but he stood too close for comfort. It didn't help that every corner she turned down, a million of eyes were glued to her. She was at her wits end and she hadn't even started the first class. After Eric, not many people went out of their way to introduce themselves. It wasn't until her fourth class of the day that another person spoke to her.

"Hi! I'm Jessica! Where are you sitting at lunch?"

Bella stared dumbly at her. "Um, well...I don't know." She didn't know exactly what answer the girl was looking for.

Jessica smiled, her whole face lighting up. "You can sit with me and my friends! Eric told me how he met you this morning. You guys have AP government together."

Bella lips turned down into a frown. She wasn't sure how she felt about Eric after his stunt this morning, and wasn't sure how to feel about Jessica now. It was nice of her to invite Bella to sit with her at lunch. To be honest, Bella had planned on hanging out in the bathroom until it was over because she was too wound up to eat anything. But then again, Eric had been more than helpful this morning. She couldn't help but feel they wanted to been seen with her more than get to know her.

Jessica shot one question after another at Bella. She asked her all about the heat, if she had a pool to tan out by, or if there were any boys she had been interested in. Bella answered her questions to the best of her ability but didn't feel any sort of camaraderie brewing between the two of them yet. She never really gotten along with Jessica's type of person simply because it was harder for her to feel comfortable around such a chatty individual. Jessica was not deterred by Bella's lackluster responses. She happily talked for the both of them as they walked towards the cafeteria. Jessica waved towards a small group of teenagers. Bella tried not to roll her eyes when she saw how Eric suddenly sit up straighter once he saw her walking towards him.

"This is Bella! Move over Angela, make some room," Jessica said and waved her hands at a girl with dark hair who wore glasses.

Bella blushed and tried to apologize, but Angela only smiled and shook her head. She stared to nervously pick at her hands, but Jessica talked to another girl at the table. Bella couldn't remember her name, but she thought it might be Lauren. Luckily for her, Angela didn't feel the need to fill the silence. She seemed to enjoy it just as much as Bella did. She only asked if Bella had any hobbies. They quickly boned over books. For the first time since she stepped foot on campus, Bella felt a real smile spread across her face. It was nice talking to someone who was passionate about the same things as her. She liked this Angela Weber very much. However, her joyous mood was soon ruined by a blonde guy who reminded her more of a puppy and a dark skinned boy. They were walking towards their lunch table and the moment they saw Bella they bolted for the open seat in front of her. The blonde won as he wrestled his way into the seat and flashed a mocking, victory smile at the other boy. Both Eric and Jessica laughed, although Bella could tell she sounded more annoyed that anything else. Bella rolled her eyes and tried to ignore them. They were acting like children fighting over a shiny, new toy.

The blonde gave Bella a wide grin as he said,

"I'm Mike Newton. It's nice to meet you Isabella."

Bella quickly shook his hand before letting it fall into her lap. She opened her mouth to correct him, but Jessica beat her to it.

"She likes Bella actually."

Jessica smiled shyly when Mike turned his attention on her and tucked her hair behind her ears. Bella felt a pang of sorrow for the girl as Mike turned his head towards her once more. Jessica's face crumpled like paper. Bella frowned as Mike ignored Jessica for her.

"Bella it is then. How do you like Forks so far?"

Bella reclunately answered his questions, but tried to turn the conversation over to Jessica as much as she could. It wasn't her fault that Mike was useless at reading signals. Then for a rare moment, the table was silent. The atmosphere seem to shift, and everyone turned their heads slightly or glanced out of their corner of their eye to watch something. For the first time that day, Bella was not the center of attention. She looked over to see what could have caught their eye. She saw a small group of five teenagers walked in. Although, the word teenager didn't fit their description. Striking seemed more fitting.

They were the oddest group of people she had ever seen. None of them fit together. The biggest male with hulking muscles was wrapped loving in the arms of a blonde woman who reminded Bella more of a supermodel. Beside them was a small pixie like girl that bounced alongside a guy with honey blonde curls who wore a grimace. Bella thought he looked just as happy as she was to be there. The one who stood out the most to her was alone, auburn haired boy that followed behind them. His shoulders were hunched forward slightly as he stared at the floor in front of him. She could tell he was apart of their group, but he was somehow separated from them at the same time. Whether it was by his own volition, she couldn't tell. The prominent dark circles underneath all of their eyes reminded Bella of the nice woman she met in the store last night.

"Who are they?" She asked, curiosity leaking into her voice.

Jessica giggled. "Those are the Cullens."

Bella raised an eyebrow in surprise. It seemed that they were the woman's children. Although Bella thought she had seemed too young to have so many children that close in age.

"They're related?"

They certainly didn't look like it.

"No," Angela said, causing Bella to face her. "Dr. Cullen and his wife Esme adopted them. Although, she is Jasper and Rosalie's aunt. They're the Hales."

Bella's brow furrowed in confusion as she glanced back at the group in question. "Who is who?"

Jessica took over the reigns once more. "Rosalie and Jasper Hale are the blonde ones. The really big guy who looks like he's on steroids is Emmett Cullen. Alice Cullen is the really weird, small girl. I sometimes see her skipping through the hallway. They're all together, you know? Like together, together. Alice is with Jasper and Rosalie with Emmett."

That shocked Bella. She could honestly say she has never seen anything like that like before. Angela started to laugh at Jessica's scandalized tone.

"It's not like they're really related. Besides, I don't think they all grew up together either."

Bella wasn't sure that made it any less startling. "What about the other one? With the one with reddish-brown hair?"

Bella glanced at him as she said this. His eyes snapped to hers, almost as if he had heard her talking about him. She blushed, embarrassed at being caught staring and turned back towards Jessica.

Jessica giggled and tucked her hair behind her ears again. "That's Edward Cullen. He's the most gorgeous one out of all of them in my opinion. But he doesn't really seem that interested in anyone."

Jessica shared a sad, knowing look with Lauren. Bella hid a smile behind her hand as she watched them. It seemed they had both tried and failed in getting a date out of him. Bella glanced once more at the Cullen and Hale family. They seemed uninterested in the world around them. She noticed how no one seemed to sit close by them. Everyone steered clear of the group as if there was an invisible barrier that separated them from the rest of us. She didn't have time to dwell on the matter as the bell rang signaling it was time for the next class. Mike was ecstatic over the fact that he and Bella had biology together next. Bella nodded along along with everything he said, but tried not to appear too friendly. She didn't want to give him the wrong idea.

Mr. Banner signed Bella's slip without a word and did not make her stand in front of the class and introduce herself. He also didn't ask any questions about her day so far or how she was enjoying Forks. He was quickly becoming her favorite teacher here.

"We sit in pairs for this class since we do so much hands-on work. You'll have to be paired with Mr. Cullen."

Bella glanced over her shoulder when Mr. Banner gestured towards the open seat next to Edward Cullen. Edward's muscles tensed as she walked closer. He placed his hand over his mouth and nose as she sat down next to him. Bella frowned as she watched him slide his chair as far away from her as he could, angling his body away from her. His eyes were as dark as Esme's had been, however unlike her his held such an animosity towards Bella it made her shrink away from him. At first, she had assumed he was sick and trying to decide if he could make it to the bathroom in time, but the amount of hate in his eyes as he watched Bella made her think twice.

Bella tried to ignore him throughout the class. This proved extremely difficult as his gaze never left her. Bella tried to tell herself that he was imply sick and in a bad mood.

'Everyone has those moments,' she thought. 'He's just sick.'

But he wasn't sick. He was angry. At what, Bella could only imagine. She was mostly confused about what it was about her that could have brought out such a hostile attitude from him. Even Mr. Banner shot him a concerned glance every few minutes. Just as Bella started to gather the courage to question him, the bell rang and he was the first one out of the room.

Bella felt her eyes watering as she gathered her things. The other kids in class glanced back at her as they left the classroom. She could practically hear them whispering about her. She kept repeating to herself that he was simply sick, when Mike came up behind her and said,

"What did you do to Cullen?"

Bella clenched her hands together. "Beats me."

She couldn't get the look he had in eyes out of her head. Bella was half convinced he wanted to strangle her. He looked at her like she was the reason for all his suffering in life. Bella scowled deeply. Fuck him. She didn't do anything to warrant such a reaction.

"It's not my fault," she repeated to herself as she got into her car.

She fought tears the whole way home. The words had lost their meaning every time she repeated them.