A/N: WHOA. That took me an INSANELY long time to update. Sorry sorry sorry! I'll try not to let it go that long again!

I just read the Maximum Ride series. It's really amazing! Read it!

Bella POV

First Day

I nervously glanced in the mirror for the hundredth time that morning. I couldn't say I liked what I saw. I definitely didn't look prepared to receive a great amount of attention. I had tried my hair in a couple different styles the previous night, eventually deciding on leaving it down; there was no point of setting a façade that I spent an unnatural amount of time on my hair every morning. I wore my standard jeans and a T-shirt – at least, would soon become my generic outfit. In Phoenix it was spaghetti straps and shorts. In Phoenix, my pale skin could have a luminescent glow; here I had no color at all. Standing in front of the red towels of the bathroom, I looked like a snowman. I sighed. In Phoenix, everyone would know who I was.

Annabeth stuck her head in the doorway. "You look cute! Are you ready?" I inwardly steeled myself and slowly turned to face her. At least Annabeth was dressed as plainly as I was, even if it wasn't her first day. That made me feel a little better. A very little. Like Batman seeing Superman and thinking, Oh, it's okay, he's wearing underwear over his costume too.

I remembered Alice Cullen, and hoped people at school didn't dress as elaborately as she did.

I followed Annabeth down the stairs, and heaved a sigh as I donned my raincoat. While my cousin assured me I could remove it as soon as I entered the school building, it still seemed to weigh me down heavily.

"Better run for it," Annabeth advised, heaving open the front door. She sprinted out to her car, just a shadowy figure in the pouring rain, and after a moment's hesitation I followed. We drove away silently in Annabeth's beautiful Chevy Corvette(A/N: My favorite car!!). She seemed to respect my need for silence, and it remained that way for the rest of the ride.

When we arrived, I was relieved to find a sea of black raincoats ahead of us; no one would be able to discern a new face in this crowd. But I was dismayed upon my first sight of the school. True, there was no graffiti stamped all over it like Phoenix, but the school there was also three times larger.

Annabeth ushered me toward a building that was decidedly student-free. My cheeks burned as I was physically steered in its direction. I could feel curious stares directed at us, and was again glad for the necessity of raincoats.

The moment we walked in, a red-headed woman with glasses swiveled around to regard us with interest. She looked like she recognized Annabeth. A knowing look entered her eyes, and she said off-handedly, "Can I help you?" I had the feeling she knew exactly what we were there for.

I let Annabeth do the talking. "Yes, this is my cousin, Isabella Swan." The woman's expression didn't change; she knew we were coming. In fact, she didn't even look away as she grabbed a well-thumbed paper from her desk (clean except for the one sheet).

She reached inside a drawer and took out a map of the school. I was surprised that the map wasn't drawn in actual size. It certainly seemed small enough to be able to fit on the map. She uncapped a highlighter and outlined certain classrooms on the map. "Here are your classes," she explained. "And you need each of your teachers to sign this slip and return it to me at the end of the day."

I smiled tentatively. "Thank you very much."

Annabeth led me back out into the rain. It had lessened by now, a slight mist brushing my face. Still, the unnatural cold was alien to my face, and I drew my hood low over my eyes.

Annabeth walked me in the direction of some buildings that were off the main building. I didn't hold out much hope that it would be warmer in those places, and pulled my coat tighter around me.

"Well, here's your class," Annabeth said, looking as though she were trying to suppress a grin. I swear she was enjoying my mounting panic. I would get her later.

"Can't you at least come in with me? I don't know anyone…"

"Well, believe me, not knowing anyone is way better than knowing some of the assholes here. Don't worry, though, they'll make sure they get to know you soon enough."

"Thanks a –"

Just then the bell rang. She gave a start of surprise. "Look, I've got to run. There's your classroom, in that building over there. I'll see you at lunch, alright? Just remember you can always sit with me if you didn't meet anyone by then. Good luck!"

"No, wait—" I watched her dash across the lawn towards the cafeteria, and disappear out of sight around the back. I wished I were allowed to skip a grade and switch to all Annabeth's classes. But that wouldn't be a good idea, I would probably fail out in one semester.

I trudged towards Building Number Three, feeling my heart sink down to pool somewhere around my ankles. The nervous butterflies in my stomach battered around. If I didn't know better I would say they were elephants instead of butterflies.

When I entered the classroom, I kept my head down and slunk across the room in a way that I imagined James Bond would. I didn't think any of the kids had noticed me, as they were all still chattering away. I found the teacher in the back, clicking on something furiously with his computer.

I consulted the schedule again. "Mr. Davies?" I said hesitantly.

He quickly closed out of his Pacman game and turned to me, clearing his throat. "Yes?"

"I'm Isabella Swan. Can you please sign this?"

He stared at me a moment too long (I blushed, of course) and signed the paper carefully, as though he were trying to do a good job. He then handed me a packet I assumed was the syllabus and sent me to a desk in the back. Kids were beginning to notice me by then. Kill me now.

"Are you Isabella Swan?" the guy next to me asked. At his words, all the kids in front of me turned to stare. I sighed inwardly, and directed my answer at the one who had asked, pointedly ignoring all the looks. I wasn't going to talk to anyone who didn't have the guts to speak to me.

"Actually, I prefer Bella."

He smiled. "I'm Eric."

I gave him a smile, probably equivalent to the ones that appeared on Englishmen's faces when they were put on the rack. But it was the best I could do under the circumstances. To my great relief, the teacher began lecturing then and I was able to drift in and out of concentration.

I think I was almost asleep when the bell rang to start break. I gathered my things slowly, only to realize that Eric was waiting by the door. He beamed. "What class do you have next?"

I consulted my list of classes, which suddenly appeared so boring that I would have to scrape a cheese grater against my forehead every day to incite any excitement. "Um, Home Ec," I replied. Oh, that brings back fond memories, smells of burned aprons and singed hair…

He looked disappointed. "Let me see your schedule."

"BELLA!" I heard a screech from afar. I looked up to find a Tasmanian devil whirling in my direction. Before I could back away, Alice was dragging me away from Eric, talking nonstop of course.

"Ohmigod, Bella, I have been looking all over for you! How come I didn't see you this morning? Ohhh, it's been ages since we've seen each other! How was your first class? What was it? Whoa, you got your schedule! Let me see it, c'mon, we need at least some classes together…" And then she was actually silent for a few milliseconds as she inspected the sheet of paper.

She squealed suddenly, shoving my schedule back at me. "We have two classes together! Yay! But not right now, so I'll just show you to your room now and then run off to mine! How was your first class?"

"I didn't really meet anyone. Except for a boy named Eric who seemed pretty nice. And the teacher was really weird, too."

"If you think that teacher was weird, just wait until your fifth period," she assured me. "You have Biology with both Edward and the gayest teacher in the school. They totally deserve each other. Anyway, here we are! I'll see you next class, we have it together!"

And she zoomed off. Then zoomed back. "Waait, I forgot to tell you! My parents just dropped the most exciting news ever! They're going out of town for two weeks! You just have to come over and hang out like, every day! Okay? Bye!" Gone again, leaving me. Was I not to know anyone in this class, either? I wouldn't even have the over-friendly Eric. Times were dark indeed if I was wishing for him.

My mood was quickly lifted as I heard my name yelled again when I entered the room. Emmett and Jasper were sitting at a table for six, waving eagerly. I quickly joined them. "Wow, you guys do Home Ec?" I said skeptically. It was pretty hilarious to imagine Emmett, the ultimate jock, whose anatomy resembled a bear more closely than a man, cooking in an apron.

"You bet!" Emmett said proudly. "Jasper told me it was the manliest class to take. I've got such a good brother. I signed up for the weights class, but then Jasper told me how the teacher throws bologna at you while you pump iron." He then got distracted by his reflection in the cooker stove next to our table and began smoothing back his hair.

"How in heck did you pull that off?" I hissed to Jasper, referring to Emmett's sad disillusionment. I almost felt bad for him; it seemed as though his siblings were always conspiring against him. But still, if he was happy then technically there was nothing wrong with the pranks.

"It was a bet. From Edward. I had no idea that he would fall for it, but he trusts all of us absolutely. Unfortunately I was pulled into the class with him. Esme made me. Like I said, she worries about the child of the family."

I rolled my eyes. Whatever. Personally, I thought that Emmett was just an example of what happens when you live with Alice for years. She kind of rubs off on you.

I caught my name in the sermon Mrs. Lybeck was preaching to us. She croaked it out, then paused a moment, apparently to attempt to catch her breath. Then she continued.

"Yes… Miss… Isabella Swan… is joining us this second semester… I hope… you'll join me in… welcoming her." She panted heavily. "Please… split into… groups of six… and use… this class period… to begin acquainting… yourselves with each other." Appearing exhausted, she disappeared in a back room.

Groups of six. Hmmm. That was problematic. I had noticed our table avoided by other classmates. Was that because of me or did the Cullens have B.O.?

But fortunately for us, a few brave souls headed over to save me from spending day after day alone with these two clowns. I recognized two of them from my first period class, and a third maybe.

"Hi, I'm Jessica," said the shortest one. "And this is Lauren, and Angela. I'm just sooo excited to meet you. I mean, Arizona. With guys. Geez, what was it like?" She was obviously the talker of the group.

I smiled, which probably came out more like a grimace, and resigned myself to interacting with a bunch of people I didn't know.