Okay, I'm back. It took a little longer than I thought, but it should be better now. I've been incredibly busy finishing up college applications(oh my goodness!). I'm done with those now though, so updates should come sooner. I hope this alright, and I'd love to know what you think of it! Thanks so much for reading!

CHAPTER TWO
Shadows of the Past

"I don't wanna go back," I whimpered, suddenly sounding more naive and child-like. Glancing down, I could see my tiny hands laid in my lap, rumpling the skirt of my polka dot dress. My throat felt tight and my cheeks were wet, signalling I had recently been crying. "I hate school."

"No, Beansprout," a voice spoke. I didn't think I would hear it again. The deep rumble would have given me chills had I been in control of the situation. "You don't hate anything. Hate is reserved for only the worst things. We hate villains, we don't hate school."

"Well I hate school." That determination hadn't faded even now. I could feel my heart beginning to beat faster as the tears reformed and spilled over my cheeks. Back then that was the only coping mechanism I had. It was a perfect way to release all of the pent up emotions I'd been holding back all day. My little hands clenched into fists and I brought them to angrily wipe away the tear tracks on my face. I never wanted to cry in front of Daddy; I was his strong little girl, he always told me. I could cry anytime except around him.

"Why don't you like it?" he probed then, sitting on the ground in front of me. His expression was mixed into one of curiosity and mild worry for me.

"I don't know anyone but Em," I finally spoke up, voice laced with the tears I was trying to hold back. It took longer to get through the sentence as I kept hiccuping between the words, proving how hard I'd been crying. "And I got a question right and everyone made fun of me."

I didn't know why at the time, but Daddy burst into laughter then. It was a full gut-wrenching laugh that led to him wiping away his own tears, but these of amusement. "Valerie Rose Dryden, never for one moment be ashamed of your intelligence. You are the brightest person I know, and never doubt that. They just don't understand yet how important that can be," he told me, taking a sudden serious tone. He took my fists then, flattening them out with his hands to relax me. "And you don't know anyone. Have you tried to talk to someone?"

"No, but they don't like me."

"How do you know that if you've never tried talking to them? Sometimes you have to take that risk, Val, and sometimes that risk just pays off."

The shrill of the alarm jolted me from the dream, bringing me back to reality with a start. There was no other feeling than the racing of a heart and drowsiness that came with waking up early in the morning. I yawned, gave a light stretch, then finally pulled myself from the bed. It took moments to make the bed and pick out my outfit for the day, trying to get back into the routine I'd made for myself in Roseville. The one difference would be my mother wouldn't be around to sing in the kitchen with me while we made our lunches for the day.

It didn't take me too long to get ready for the day, and soon enough I was dancing my way around the kitchen to find breakfast. Soon enough I was sitting on the kitchen counter with a bowl of strawberries and whipped cream balancing in my lap while I nursed a cup of coffee. A laugh interrupted my solitude, causing me to glance up from my breakfast. "You are so like Will," Rebecca was laughing as she poured herself a cup of coffee, "He sits up there every day and every day I tell him to get down."

"Oh, sorry," I corrected easily, slipping down off the counter to instead lean against it.

"No, I don't mind. I didn't mean it that way," she continued, sitting on one of the island stools. "I just didn't know what to expect from a sister who's so many years younger."

The heat on my cheeks eased, signaling the embarrassment had eased. I didn't want to make a poor impression in my first day living there. Truthfully, I shared Rebecca's thoughts. I hardly knew anything about Will beyond what our parents had told me, which wasn't much. In truth, I had started to believe that perhaps he didn't exist at all. That is, before he agreed to take me in after all that happened. I know he was a high school football star and never really focused too hard on his academics. I know that he went to college at a university about an hour and a half away from Roseville, and I know that, for some reason, he'd decided to move to tiny Forks in Washington of all places.

"I should get going," I broke the self-imposed silence, washing out the bowl and mug. Would this get any easier? It was strange having to live with total strangers all of a sudden. The house was usually full of laughter and boisterous conversations, not gentle conversations with an underlying tension laced within each statement.

"Have a good day at school!" Rebecca called to me, "I'll be there, if you need me!" She was so bright and happy in the morning, it was refreshing. It reminded me of Mom.

Forks High School, home of the Spartans. Couldn't they have picked any other mascot? The Spartan was completely overdone, being the mascot of every fictional high school I've seen. It was almost comical that a school of about three hundred and fifty students would have such a 'menacing' mascot. Roseville High was home of the Beavers, completely unintimidating and yet definitely fitting.

The Spartans seemed intimidated by me. As soon as I was stepping out of my car, I was being stared at. It felt as though I was from Mars rather than Alabama. The walk down the hallway made me more conscious of my appearance than ever before. Was my hair twist too much? Did I look okay in my long sleeved white shirt and black skirt? Relief flooded through me when I finally reached my locker; I could focus on anything but the heads turned toward me.

It took longer than I thought for someone to talk to me. It ended up being a bouncy blond girl who clearly was involved in too many activities at the school. Despite the hour of the morning, she was wide awake and grinning as she hopped over to me. The girl was absolutely beautiful, in the way that it was clear she put a lot of effort into her appearance. "Hi! You must be our new valedictorian," the girl greeted, sticking her hand out for me to shake. "I'm Hannah, senior class president and former valedictorian." Valedictorian until I showed up. My school in Roseville had offered several AP classes that Forks didn't, meaning I had too many credits to be caught up with.

"Oh, sorry about that," I apologized for the drop in rank, figuring this girl had been top of her class for three years. "I'm Valerie."

"It's no worries! Really. Honestly I didn't want to be valedictorian, I didn't want to give the speech," she laughed. I wouldn't point out that the class president would likely have to give a speech too, just not the opening student speech. "It's nice to meet you. Has anyone showed you your classes yet?"

"No. I have my schedule, but I figured I could find them on my o-"

"Nonsense! Looks like we have first period together. Look, Mr. Rosen isn't the best, but he doesn't notice when you talk in class, usually," Hannah began explaining to me as we walked down to the English wing. "So, what did you do in your old school? Any clubs?"

There it was. Honestly, I was involved in too much. There was no way I was going to be joining everything that I was in at Roseville. I didn't even want to make friends here, if only because I was going to leave as soon as possible. After graduating, I would be gone and I wouldn't look back. I'd go back to the east coast where I belonged. "Oh, I played soccer. Student government, mock trial, debate team, quiz bowl. All of that fun stuff," I finally answered.

"Ooh! I don't play sports, but I'm editor of the yearbook so I go to a lot of those matches. I'll be sure to cheer you on!" There wasn't mention of a tryout, meaning their soccer team was probably small and not very good. "I'm president of student government and I'm on the quiz team. You should definitely join, we'd be glad to have you!" Of course. There would be no way out of that one, it seemed. While I didn't exactly want to make a friend, it was impossible to shrug off Hannah. After awhile, I grew used to her. She was certainly an optimistic person and it soon became enjoyable to be in her presence. She was in all of my classes up until fourth bell; chemistry.

I had already taken AP chemistry, but for whatever reason the school had made me retake the class here. I didn't mind; this would be an easier class for me in my challenging schedule. When I'd stepped into the room, the teacher instantly noticed me. "Ah! There's our new student!" he exclaimed, standing from his desk and meeting me halfway in the room. The class was already back in the lab working, laughing and talking excitedly in their groups of four. "Dryden, related to Rebecca the English teacher?" he asked as he checked the name on my sign sheet.

"Yep, she's my sister-in-law. I'm staying with them for my senior year," I explained with a small smile. "Change of pace, you know?" Best to answer the 'why' question before he asked.

"Well, welcome to Forks. We already have lab groups of four set up, but you can join that one group of two in the back there. They shouldn't mind. Here's your textbook, and here's your lab sheets. I'm sure you'll get caught up quickly, I was told you've taken this class before," the teacher, Mr. Smith, explained. I glanced back to where he was pointing and nearly cringed as I saw the group I was to be working with. They were absolutely beautiful, it didn't seem possible. They were two guys, one larger and definitely more built. His dark hair stood in stark contrast to his pale, practically translucent, skin. He was grinning and messing around with the other one; smaller, but definitely strong, too. His hair was more golden and longer, clear curls could be seen from even the front of the room. His skin was just as pale. I realized then my tan skin would stand out too much here, especially in a group with these two.

I'd hardly made it a few steps before the group seemed to notice me. I'd pulled up my hair into a ponytail and put my goggles on when the one with golden hair snapped his head around to look at me. His entire body tensed and he gripped the edge of the lab table as if it was keeping him from falling over. He said something to the larger one, something I couldn't hear nor read from his lips before practically running out of the room. Did I have food on my face?

I wanted to run out of the room, too. This wasn't the reaction I was expecting, and I certainly didn't want to face the other guy when he could run out too. Instead, I took a breath and finished walking to the lab table. "You're our new lab partner?" the dark-haired one asked as though his other partner hadn't just fled the room at the sight of me.

Fury filled me. It made my own muscles tense as I sat my lab sheet down on the table, glancing over the instructions. I gave a simple, short, "Guess so," before continuing on with my reading. He was acting like the other guy hadn't just made such a horrid reaction to my presence.

"I'm Emmett Cullen. Sorry about my brother, Jasper, he's not feeling too well today," the boy explained. I supposed it made sense, except they'd been horsing around up until I walked into the room. Now that I was near him, I had a better view to observe. He looked as though I could hit him as hard as possible and he wouldn't feel a thing. He towered over my five nine frame and was probably the most intimidating person I'd ever met appearance-wise. His eyes were golden; he had to be wearing contacts. Despite his intimidating build, I could tell he was practically harmless. His posture showed he was calm, and his goggles were resting on the top of his head rather than over his eyes. The boy, Emmett, had been goofing around with his brother, Jasper, before she'd walked in. Even now a loose smile hung on his lips. "You have a name, too, right?"

I hardly glanced up from my lab sheet, finally finishing the instructions and beginning to work on the lab; the two boys had hardly gotten anything done. "You should put your goggles on. Acetic acid won't blind you, but it'll sting worse'n anything if you get it in your eyes," I responded cooly, not wanting to deal with him. It was obvious I wasn't wanted in this group.

"I will if you tell me your name," he countered. The easy smirk on his face was making me mad.

"Why do you wanna know so bad?" I returned, crossing my arms over my chest and resting my weight on one leg.

"Why don't you want me to know so badly?"

He'd won there. A huff of breath from me signalled my defeat, and soon I was looking at him and saying, "My name's Valerie. Happy?"

"I am. It's nice to meet you." Emmett was looking at me with an amused smirk, as if he knew that he'd won. It was so irritating and yet I couldn't stop a smile from pulling my lips upward. "See? I'm not that bad." The jury wasn't out yet though; if his brother could be so douchey then he could as well. Still, I allowed myself to nod and return to the lab.

It wasn't a difficult one but required some level of concentration. Despite my original thought, Emmett was actually a good lab partner. We worked well together, though we didn't speak much beyond the first conversation. Eventually we finished first out of every group, leaving us to sit at our lab table for the rest of the bell.

"Is your brother coming back?" I found myself asking, glancing to the closed door of the classroom. It was nearing the end of the bell and he still hadn't returned; it wasn't exactly normal, unless he was avoiding the new girl.

"I don't think so. He was coming down with something," Emmett answered quickly, just as the bell sounded to end this class period. He hurried to leave the classroom, leaving me sitting at the table stunned.

"Right," I whispered, gathering my belongings and making my way down to my locker. It didn't make sense why someone could be avoiding me already.

The cafeteria was the bane of my existence. Even in Roseville I was uncomfortable in the dining hall. It was worse now, though, as I stood there with no idea where to sit. My heart rate was already increasing as I tried to find an empty table, but there wasn't one available. Everywhere I looked there was a table nearly full of people, everyone talking and laughing and eating.

"Valerie!" A voice exclaimed happily. When I turned, I could see Hannah bounding over to me from a full table of people. "Come sit with me. My friends are great, I just know you'll love 'em." I followed the blonde over to the table, sitting down in the one empty chair left between Hannah and a girl with dark brown, nearly black, hair pulled into a bun. "Okay, this is Jordan, and Maria, and Sawyer, and Nick, and Damien, and Sierra. Guys, this is Valerie, the new girl." That was a lot of people. There was no way I would remember all of their names, but I would try.

"Where are you from?" the girl to my right asked. I think she was Jordan. "I love your tan!"

"Oh, thanks. From this really tiny town in Alabama."

"Alabama? That's so far away," the girl across from me called out. Her brown hair was up in a ponytail and up until then she'd been talking with the guy who I think was called Damien. "Why the move here?"

There it was. I shrugged, taking a bite of my salad before responding, "Wanted a change of scenery before college, so I moved in with my brother's family. You know the Drydens?"

"Oh like Mrs. Dryden! I love her, she's such a cool teacher," one of the other girls told me with a smile. These girls all seemed nice and welcoming, but it was a lot to take in at once. Besides, I had specifically told myself I wouldn't make friends, and yet I'd already found a group of people to sit with at lunch.

"Ooh, Jordan, Val's trying out for the soccer team," Hannah gushed just as lunch was ending, all of us standing and walking to our classes. Hannah, Jordan, and I all had calculus class next so we ended up walking together.

"Really? That's great. What position do you play?" Jordan asked, shifting her books to her other arm as we walked.

"Goalkeeper. My team went to state competition last year which was really cool." I made first team on state, too, for my goalkeeping work.

"Nice! That's perfect, we don't have anyone who's really good at it. We have someone who fills in, but they prefer playing mid. That's awesome, you'll be on the team for sure. Practice actually starts next week, we don't have enough people for tryouts so you can just show up. You missed conditioning, but I'm sure Coach Johnson wouldn't mind," Jordan explained excitedly, standing taller at the mention of soccer.

I couldn't help but get excited too. A smile formed on my lips at the idea of being on a team again. It was awful to leave the Roseville team as we'd been together for years. Most of us were excited about spending our senior year competing to get to state comps again. "That's great. It'll be good to play again." It sounded like the team wasn't as good as the Roseville team, but it would be a team.

The calculus room was boring. There was nothing decorating the tan walls and the tables were arranged so there were two people at each table. Hannah and Jordan moved to sit near the front of the room, beside each other. The teacher didn't seem to notice me standing at his desk for awhile, too busy looking over what looked like tests. "Oh, you must be the new student," he finally noticed, lifting his head from the grading to look at me. "I'm Mr. Gleeson. Here's your textbook, and you can take the seat all the way in the back. Welcome to Forks High."

"Thanks," I returned before making my way back to the seat. I had hardly gotten myself settled when someone slammed their books onto the table beside mine and sat down. It was that guy from chemistry; I think Emmett said his name was Jasper. He was sitting with his forearms on the table and looked as tensed as possible. Closer up it was easier to tell that Jasper was definitely wellbuilt and strong; he'd looked smaller compared to Emmett but could definitely beat me up if he so chose. The difference between Emmett and his brother was that Emmett clearly was a kind-hearted spirit, while the look on Jasper's face made it look like he definitely wanted to beat me up.

It was like that through the entire class. Soon enough I couldn't focus on taking notes on derivatives, only on the frustration bubbling up in me. Finally a dropped my pencil on my notebook and turned to face him. "What's your problem?" I snapped in a whisper. Luckily we were in the back of the room so Mr. Gleeson couldn't notice easily.

"I don't know what you mean," he returned in a quiet and strained voice. He didn't even look at me.

"Oh cut the shit," I continued, his response only making me angrier. "Clearly I did something to piss you off and I don't know what."

"You didn't do anything," he answered in the same tone of voice, "I'm not angry with you."

"Well it sure as hell doesn't se-"

"Miss Dryden, is there something wrong?" an annoyed voice sounded from the front of the room. I looked up to see Mr. Gleeson and the rest of the class staring at Jasper and I.

"No, I'm just super passionate about derivatives," I responded, hardly noticing when the class rippled with laughter. The teacher was about to yell when the bell rang. I was too annoyed to be nervous about the repercussions for my mouth. Instead, I grabbed my books and bolted out of the room before I continued yelling at Jasper. I was one of the first ones out of the school. I pulled out of the parking lot hurriedly, wiping the angry tears from my face. It was so aggravating that I cry when I'm angry, but there wasn't anything to do about it. It didn't make sense; Jasper tried to avoid me and acted furious around me and yet tried to tell me it wasn't about me. It sure as hell seemed like it was about me.

I was just thankful to get home. By the time I'd finished my homework for the day, Will was home and Rebecca had made dinner. Soon enough all four of us were sitting at the dinner table. It was really four bar stools pulled up to the large island in the middle of their kitchen.

"How was your first day of school here?" Will asked me, hardly glancing up from his pasta. He was still wearing his burgundy scrubs from work, having gotten home just a few minutes before.

"It was fine," I answered. "Joined the soccer team." The answer was short and silence followed. Rebecca was giving me a look that I couldn't quite comprehend. What was she thinking about me?

"Did you meet anyone?" That was Will again.

"Yeah, a few girls. Actually, do you know the Cullens?" I finally asked, finishing up the food on my plate.

"I work with Dr. Cullen in the ER. They're good people. Him and his wife adopted several kids awhile ago. Why, did you meet one of his daughters?" Will asked. It was clear that he was hoping the answer would be a 'yes'. How could my brother have such a good opinion of them when one of them was so awful?

"Oh, no. Emmett and Jasper are my new lab partners. Emmett's pretty nice," I returned, collecting my plate and placing it in the dishwasher. "I think I'm gonna head to bed. Thanks for dinner, Rebecca, it was really great."

"Goodnight, Aunt Val!" Laurie exclaimed, waving to me from where she was still finishing up her dinner.

"Goodnight, Laurie," I returned before heading up the stairs quickly. I was hardly in my room before my phone began ringing. It wasn't a number I recognized. Who could possibly be calling me? "Hello?" I called into the phone.

"This is an incoming call from Alabama State Penitentiary. Do you accept the charges for the call? Press one for 'yes' or two for 'no'," the automated voice explained. State penitentiary? Almost instantly my heart began racing and my palms grew clammy. Could he really be calling me? By the time I noticed I'd been standing there, the automated voice was repeating itself once more. I hurriedly pressed 'one' and waited for the familiar voice to talk to me for the first time in weeks.

"Valerie?" the gruff voice called out. He sounded awful; more tired and worn down than I'd ever heard before, but still him. "I'm so glad you accepted the call." I couldn't bring myself to speak. A knot was formed in my throat and it was suddenly hard to catch my breath. Why did I think this would be a good idea? "Beansprout, you there?"

"Why are you calling me, Dad?"