I was relieved to find that my first class would be in a room I was in before. The bustle and hub of college students surrounded me as I approached the classroom. A few people waved at me in passing. I knew most of the students here, since they were in my high school. I was never very social in high school. I had a few close friends, and a boyfriend or two that never lasted long, but that was it. Everyone knew me because of Charlie, which made me cringe inside. I didn't like being the center of attention.

The room wasn't very crowded and the professor was nowhere to be found. I glanced at the clock above me. 9:54. Still early! I sighed to myself as I hustled through the rows of desks towards the back of the room. One of my hands ran through my hair while I leaned back into the metal chair. I took out my brand new notebook and lay it on the small desk in front of me. As more students filtered in, I balanced my pen along my fingers in boredom. The first few days of classes were the worst because of all the introductions and overviews. But I looked forward to this humanities class, which shocked my friends. I was always interested in how the ancient world worked. The booklist seemed really interesting, outside of the Bible scripture. I could at least tolerate that.

A strange sensation, like when a thousand eyes are staring at you, came over me, distracting me from my thoughts. I lifted my gaze from my fountain pen to see a pair of golden-ember eyes staring into my brown ones. I felt my lips go dry for an instant as I followed their gaze across the room. They seemed focused on me, almost hungrily. The bell chimed for 10 o'clock and I shook my head in response. The eyes left me and I watched as a strange young man took a seat directly across the room from me, in the same row. He kept his arms on the desk with his fingers entwined with one another. He was paler than I ever thought I could be; it reminded me of porcelain. And he had to be at least six feet tall. He wore a pair of brown slacks and a tight, long-sleeve black shirt that showed how well-built he was. His muscles weren't large, but seemed firm through the fabric. As my eyes followed up his arms, I caught a glimpse of messy strands of bronze-tinted brown hair. It seemed to frame the back of his ears as it fluffily sat on his head. He was facing the front of the room, and I noticed how defined his jaw line was. Heat rose to my cheeks and I quickly turned my head before he could catch me. I never saw him before. Did he just move here?

"Hello, everyone." A deep voice welcomed us as a plump, middle-aged man walked into the room with a bundle of packets. A lull of hellos from the class ensued. I leaned forward in my chair to look more attentive as he began to pass out the course outlines. "Welcome to Humanities. This class will focus on classic literature dating back to the Biblical era, with some time spent on ancient Greece, Rome, and…" I already knew this man would put me to sleep with his monotone speech. My eyes grazed across the paragraphs of information on the packet handed to me, and I shrugged. Three essays, two exams, a final, and a ton of reading. I took mental note of all the dates.

The staring sensation returned. My muscles immediately tensed as I clutched the paper in my fingers, too nervous to move. My eyes slowly rose to my teacher as he strolled across the front of the room, mumbling on about his degree and family. Should I dare to look? Was this stranger glaring at me again? I decided to try and ignore it as best as I could and gulped so loud that it almost hurt my ears. "Now, before we go over the syllabus, I'd like for you all to introduce yourselves. Tell us your name, year, and major. That way we can get a sense of where all of our opinions will come from." I winced. I hated introductions. As soon as anyone new discovered my relation to Charlie, the questions flew.

The opposite end of the room began first, to my relief. Even though the staring feeling still existed, it wasn't as bothersome, so I put down the packet and listened to all the names and information spat out into the room. I took a silent deep breath as the stranger neared his turn. I pretended to stare blankly at my hands on my desk. "And you?" My teacher poked.

"Edward Cullen." His voice was like velvet to my ears. "Junior. My major is in music." I felt my cheeks grow warm from the harmonious tone of his voice. I couldn't help but glance at him briefly, watching as his eyes seemed to furrow a bit towards the professor. The rest of him was still like a statue in his seat.

"You're new to the area, aren't you?" My teacher prodded. My thought was right!

"Yes, my family just moved here from Alaska." A wave of gasps responded, and I felt some relief. This new guy may take off the attention from me and my status. I smiled.

"Wonderful, wonderful. Let's continue…"

It felt like hours had passed before it was my turn to talk. I straightened up in my seat, feeling nervous like earlier. But what bothered me most was not being able to decipher where that came from: the fact that the whole room was looking at me or that he was. I coughed.

"I'm Isabella Swan. I'm a junior, and my major is in Philosophy." My fingers twiddled between themselves in my lap.

"Ah, Chief Swan's daughter, right?" My professor insisted. I bit my lip.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Excellent! Next…"

Phew! For once, a professor didn't barrage me with questions about how my connection to the police could come in handy for class. I sighed as the introductions finished and we went over the course outline. When the period ended, I grabbed my things and hurried to the exit. A few familiar faces saw me down the hallway, and I waved to them as I approached. Two of my closest friends were Jessica Stanley and Mike Newton. They had been dating since high school, but I knew deep down that Mike never got over my rejection beforehand. Jessica was the gossipy-type, but she was a really nice and hard-working girl. I noticed the "I have a story to tell you" look on Jessica's face as I passed a few students. My fingers laced around my messenger bag strap at my shoulder as I mentally prepared for the onslaught of any juicy updates she had…when it happened.

My heart started to pound when my eyes watched as someone bumped into a girl rushing through the crowd near me, spilling a foam cup of coffee all over the tiled floor. Without complete awareness, my feet continued to hustle in that direction. Everything became a blur while my body shifted backwards and I slid across the dark brown liquid below me. I closed my eyes, praying the hard impact of the fall wouldn't hurt too much, when I felt suddenly frozen mid-fall. Two arms had slipped under mine, holding me only inches from the still-warm spill. Goosebumps covered my body everywhere, feeling very cold all of a sudden. Gasps from onlookers made my eyes shoot up and they met smoldering golden eyes. My mind went blank.

The arms holding me pulled my body upright within seconds. I heard a few giggles from around me, which drew my attention to the blood rushing to my face. I turned to see that Edward Cullen had prevented me from falling. His brooding face was glaring at me, almost in disgust. We were close enough that I saw his lips twitch slightly at the side and his eyes shifted from mine, down to my shivering hands. No doubt he saw the goosebumps, which made me even more embarrassed.

"Hey, Bella!" Mike's voice broke whatever contact Edward and I had. The stranger quickly let me go and passed me without saying a word. My two friends joined up with me; Mike's face filled with concern, while Jessica was obviously interested in the new guy.

"Who was that?" She asked innocently. My mind was mush and struggled to formulate words. Mike grabbed my arm and shook me slightly.

"Hey, you alright?" His voice was laced with worry. I nodded my head and ran my hand through my hair, trying to warm it up.

"Oh, yeah…just kinda got caught off guard with that spill there…" I blurted out, not sure if I sounded convincing.

"Was that guy one of the Cullens?" Jessica's hazel eyes widened as I shook out my jacket and started to compose myself.

"There's more of them here?" I asked. Jessica's face brightened right up. Then it hit me. That was what her look was before. She obviously got the scoop on the Cullens.

"Can we discuss this not in the middle of a crowded hallway, please?" Mike whined. Jessica grumbled and tugged at his arm, walking towards the exit of the academic building.

"After grabbing lunch, I'll give you all the juicy details!" Jessica chimed as I trailed behind the couple towards the nearby dining hall.