A/N: Thank you for the overwhelming response to my last chapter! It kicked me straight back into gear and I am excited to get writing again, the next chapter has a premise and I've just started writing it, so be excited! :) Enjoy this chapter, its especially long, just for you!

Chapter Four: Different, perfect

When I awoke for school, Jacob was still there. He was lying asleep on the couch with a pillow propped behind his head. The blaring sound of the television didn't seem to bother him but Rosalie was watching him with disgust.

"Filthy Dog stinking up our living room," I heard her mutter.

"Aw can it Rose, Nessie's in the other room," Emmett replied.

"Actually I'm right here. Jacob slept over?" I asked curiously. Jake never slept over, he always left when I went to bed to go back to his pack and make sure all was ok in La Push. I suppose since there were so few vampires left in the Forks, he had more time on his hands. That made me wonder what he'd been up to on the day he hadn't come to see me.

"Yes love, it was too late to go home by the time he was ready to," Dad said coming out of the kitchen holding Mom's hand.

"What were you guys talking about?" I asked eyeing them suspiciously.

"Oh nothing Rennesme, only your school and then other stuff," Mom answered stroking my straightened hair. "Did Alice do this?" she asked.

Ignoring her question, I continued to probe. "What other stuff?" I asked.

"Grown up stuff. Now are you ready to go?" Dad said with finality.

"Have you eaten dear?" Esme said coming out with a plate of eggs. She'd gotten better at cooking now and her eggs were actually better than Dad's.

"Thank you Grandma," I said with a smile taking the plate and sitting down on the arm of the sofa Jacob slept on.

Jasper and Alice came in next, looking awkwardly happy. I wondered why, especially when I saw Dad grin at Jasper and chuckle to himself.

"Nessie, did you wet your hair!?" Alice asked in alarm looking at how it had started to curl at the bottom.

"No Alice, I've just been playing with it," I answered as she fussed over me.

"You have to look wonderful today," she said using her strength to pull the ends of my hair straight.

"Why's that?" Mom asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Someone at school has made a decision involving Nessie," Alice said with a smug decision.

Rolling my eyes, I scoffed on my eggs. "Alice, don't be silly."

She just looked at me knowingly and laughed at Dad as he glared at her.

"Stop lying with your thoughts!!" he growled.

"I'll take Nessie to school today," she said with a grin. My stomach flipped over. I was nervous to hear what she had to say to me.

"Alice!" Mom warned, glaring at my Aunt as Jasper slid near me.

"Easy Ness, you nervous again?" Jasper said with a grin as he touched my shoulder. The nerves immediately went away and I smiled gratefully at him.

"Oh stop Bella, she's a big girl now. Ready to go munchkin?" Alice asked me.

After a quick round of goodbyes to my family, excluding Grandpa Carlisle who was already at the hospital, I stopped my Jake. Ignoring the others, I stroked his soft shaggy black hair and kissed the top of his head before following Alice to the car.

"Be good!" Dad called and something in his tone told me he wasn't speaking just to me.

"So why were you being so secretive with everyone?" I asked as we drove away.

She waited to answer until we were at a save distance.

"Well, there's a boy who you've talked to already from school…."

"Andy?" I blurted out without thinking before I blushed.

She smiled again. "I guess that's the one. The blue eyes and black hair?"

"That's him," I replied grimly.

"Well you seem to have struck quite a chord with him Ness, looks like he wants to hang out with you," Alice explained eagerly.

I smiled, taking this in. "He wants to be my friend?" I asked excitedly. Another friend. This would be good.

"In a way…" she said cryptically as we pulled up in front of the school and I got out to come around to outside her window. "Knock them dead pretty girl!"

"Do you really want me to?" I teased and she laughed musically at me before her eyes darted to someone else.

"Sweet ride," someone said and I whirled around.

It was Andy and he was with his two friends, one of whom had spoken to Alice.

"Thank you," Alice replied with a wide smile. They all looked momentarily shell shocked before one of them, the stocky one with brown hair said something.

"Do you go here too?" he asked, his voice stuttering slightly. I wanted to laugh, they were clearly quite in awe of Alice's beauty. She smiled her loveliest smile and shook her head.

"Oh no, I'm Nessie's big sister, I'm a freshman at Seattle U," Alice said. This was our story. All of us adopted children of Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme, but the others were at college. I'm sure Dad and Mom would've liked to look more like my parents, but that was obviously not going to work.

"Oh…"

"Well Ness, I gotta go get Jasper, have fun with your friends," Alice said winking at me.

"Is Jasper your boyfriend?" the stocky brunette asked.

"One and only," Alice replied sweetly before waggling her fingers at them. "Bye boys!"

"Wow," I heard Andy's friends say as she drove away speedily. I fiddled with the strap on my book bag looking at my feet.

"Glad we caught you Nessie, want us to walk you to class?" Andy said pleasantly. I looked up and smiled happily.

"That would be lovely, thanks," I said smiling at them all again. They seemed to pause once more and didn't move until I hesitantly walked forward.

"This is Rob and Max," he said pointing at the boys. The stocky one was Max and had a friendly, happy face while Rob was taller and lankier than the others. They were all fairly good looking, as humans went and I supposed they must've been quite popular. I was starting to understand the dynamics of High School a little better and was glad they'd decided to talk to me. Maybe everyone wouldn't think I was a freak now.

"So Nessie, where are you and your sister from?" Max asked, his mind still on Alice.

"We came from the Forks," I supplied.

"She doesn't look like your sister," Rob put in.

"Well its complicated. My Dad and Mom adopted us all at different times."

"All?" Andy asked.

"Well there's a lot of us," I carried on thinking this was getting much harder to explain. I pulled out a photo of us all that Jacob had took a year ago. It was alright to show them, I still looked the same. I heard the boys let out a low whistle as we sat down on one of the benches on the lawn waiting for the bell.

"Here's my adoptive parents," I said, carefully pointing at Carlisle and Esme. "And here are Rosalie and Jasper – they're twins. And then here's Emmett, Alice and Bella – they're all related. And here's my brother Edward." It felt very strange to spit out this lie so smoothly, but I'd practiced it.

"Wow…" Rob said.

"Wow is right, any of your sisters single?" Max said staring at the picture.

I laughed. "Actually, it's a little strange but, we all came to our parents in stages. Emmett, Alice and Bella were first and then Rosalie came and she and Emmett started dating and Jasper and Alice got together. Then when my brother and I came, Bella and he fell in love."

"Woah…" Max said out loud and by the looks on the others' faces, they seemed to agree whole-heartedly.

The bell rang breaking me from my discomfort and the others from their trance.

"We've got Bio, see you later Andy, Nessie," Rob said hurrying away with Max following behind.

"What do you have first?" Andy asked me as I silently put my family photo away. I consulted my schedule.

"History with Miss Woodbridge," I said and he nodded with a half smile.

"That's cool, so do I." He got up and swung his back pack onto his shoulders. "Let's go."

We walked quietly to the building and there seemed to be some strange sort of tension I didn't understand. I was concentrating more on ignoring the deliciousness of his scent.

"You're a really interesting girl Nessie," Andy said as we climbed the steps.

I was surprised. "Really? How so?"

He laughed. "Well isn't it obvious? Some beautiful mysterious stranger interrupts our quiet life here and the whole school goes insane of course."

"Yeah it happens when the freak show comes to town," I whispered and he laughed again, this time harder.

"The strangest part is you've got this ridiculously, interesting life, you seem fun to talk to and that makes it all so easy. Even when you're this intimidating."

My mouth opened in surprise. "I'm intimidating?"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that before?" he asked in equal confusion.

"No one has really told me much of anything. I was home schooled until now."

He gave a small gasp of acknowledgment. "Ah…maybe that explains it."

"Explains what?" I asked as he stopped in front of our classroom.

He grinned with impossible attractiveness. "How you don't have any clue how perfect you are…"

That one made me blush and I said nothing as he smirked and walked inside the room. The final bell went and I entered in somewhat of a daze. I mechanically went through the usual introduction part of the new class and then sat in the empty seat next to Andy. If I wasn't mistaken, this meant he must like me somehow and with some of the jealous glares I was being thrown, I realized that this was probably the best moment of my life.

We didn't have the next class together, although he walked me to it. Chemistry. I found an open seat near Karen who for some reason never caught my eye although I tried throughout class. I was sitting next to a skinny guy wearing tight jeans and a flannel shirt. His hair was drooped over on of his eyes and he had an expression of haughtiness. Jerry, he said his name was when we started class. He was friendly but very opinionated. He seemed to like me, so I happily talked to him, exchanging opinions over the entire period as we measured and poured and observed. Unknowingly, I'd made another friend.

"So, I noticed Andy Shields was walking you around school this morning," he said as we packed our stuff away preparing for lunch.

"Oh is that his last name?" I asked pretending not to care.

"Yes…he's the striker for the school's soccer team," Jerry explained.

"Oh that's cool. I like sports," I said with a smile.

Jerry rolled his eyes. "Honestly Nessie? Here I was thinking you were cool," he teased.

"What's wrong with sports!?"

"Nothing, if you're, you know a jock….but I thought you seemed like someone who was more interested in music or art," Jerry said pointedly, clearly meaning he thought I was more like him.

"Well can't I be interested in both?" I asked, biting my lip.

He laughed a little coldly. "Not at this school. Pick a clique, stick to it."

"That's boring!" I argued making him grin.

"You're something else," he said, catching hold of a few strands of my hair. This made me feel a little awkward. Jerry was nice, but I wasn't attracted to him the way I was to certain other boys. I smiled and shook my hair making him laugh again.

"Alright well if you decide to pick a clique, I hope you pick mine. Come eat lunch with us if you want ok?" he said before stalking out of the room in a sort of depressed, stylish way.

Cliques. They seemed really silly to me. I didn't want to limit myself at all. Seeing I was one of the few people left in the room, I walked over to Karen who was still writing in her notebook.

"Karen?" I asked tentatively.

She turned with sad eyes. "What?"

"You seem a little mad at me," I said, feeling worried.

"No, I just thought I'd cut myself loose before you did," she said quietly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused again.

"Andy Shields? Jerry Connor? Why would you hang out with me over them?"

I furrowed my brow, feeling hurt. "Because I like you? You're the only one who talked to me yesterday."

"But they're so much cooler than me," she whispered.

"Says who?" I asked indignantly.

"Everyone…" she muttered.

"Well then everyone's crazy. Let's get lunch," I said pulling her arm playfully. She smiled widely, showing her braces, but her pretty blue eyes glowed behind her spectacles.

"You're awesome Nessie," she said hugging her books to her chest and walking quickly behind me.

"Oh, I know it's a gift," I joked, thinking about lunch. I hoped it would be some good meat. I was starting to get used to human food, but I wanted to go hunting with my parents next time. I was still part vampire after all.

Not really looking where I was going, I bumped into someone's broad chest.

"Oh," I said, looking up seeing Andy grinning down at me.

"Hey Nessie, eat lunch with me?" he said charmingly.

I froze looking into his calming sea-blue eyes before I smiled. "Well I'm eating with Karen, want to join us?"

He looked over at Karen who was looking at the floor. He seemed hesitant. "Oh, well I thought you'd want to eat at my table…"

"Oh are we assigned places?" I asked in surprise.

He looked at me awkwardly and then back at Karen. "Well no, but we have a good spot."

"Oh ok, Karen do you want to?" I asked turning to her.

Her eyes looked wide and worried as she looked past me to Andy. I glanced back at him and saw he looked just as awkward.

"Uh…don't you know each other?" I asked.

"Well…yeah we've been in school together since Third grade," Andy answered.

"Wouldn't have thought you noticed," Karen added under her breath.

Andy looked uncomfortable again. "We live next door to each other Johnson…"

She nodded and went back to studying her feet.

"Maybe we could sit with Jerry Connor instead…" I suggested to them both. Karen's eyes looked even more scared while Andy laughed loudly.

"Jerry Connor? Yeah right," he said scornfully. That one set me off - I didn't get why this was difficult! It was just lunch.

"I don't understand these stupid cliques!" I said in frustration before storming away. Not wanting to go to the cafeteria, I went through the main doors and sat down on one of the benches on the lawn. I put my head in my hands feeling entirely frustrated. I fiddled with my bracelet. It would be so much easier if Jake went to school with me. We could laugh at the cliques together and never need anyone but each other. It irritated me thoroughly that everyone I liked didn't seem to get along at all. For what reason though? They looked different? Well I looked different from everyone in this school. Did that mean I was in a clique of my own?

"Nessie," a deep, calm voice said from beside me. Apparently Andy had slipped through the cracks of even my super human hearing and was now sitting quietly beside me.

"What?" I asked, not able to stay polite.

"I'm sorry. It's just Karen and I don't really hang out and neither of us hang out with Jerry. It's just the way things are you know?" He had an expression of apologetic worry on his handsome face.

"Things are stupid," I mumbled.

"You're probably right, but it's the only thing we know."

"I'm not sure I can be a part of that Andy," I said looking into his pretty eyes.

He paused, just staring back until finally he said something. "Well you don't need to be. Just be friends with us all and to hell with our preconceptions."

"Do you really think that's possible?" I asked playing with my hair.

"For me? Probably not. But you? I'm pretty sure you can do anything," he said earnestly.

I laughed. "You have a skewed reality of what I really am," I said sadly.

He laughed too. "Or maybe you do. Nessie Cullen, I'm telling you, you're perfect."

"Stop saying that, it's not true," I said laughing and playfully shoving his shoulder. He was surprised by my strength and teetered a little bit where he sat. He didn't make a comment though, he just smiled at me with his infallible grin.

"If you say so," he said tucking my hair behind my ear. This felt much more natural than when Jerry had done it. It was almost like Jacob was pushing my hair off my face except Andy wasn't Jacob. He hadn't seen me grow up. He was new and wonderful and perfect…for me.

"So, even though you'll be hanging out with Karen and maybe even Jerry and not to mention all the friends you'll make by the end of the week…would it be silly of me to ask you this?" he asked his voice wavering slightly.

"Well that all depends on what you're going to ask me," I said smiling reassuringly. I would probably do anything for this guy right now.

"Can I ask you to go to the movies with me on Friday?" he asked, his blue eyes hopeful and unbearably adorable.

"Yes, you can ask me that," I said with a giggle, playing along.

He grinned and nodded. "Alright Ness, movie Friday night?" he said with a smirk.

I liked the way he shortened my name to Ness. Jacob was really the only one to do that. He'd of course come up with Nessie in the first place, but he wanted the nickname to be special, just for him. But I felt like Jake could share this one with Andy. He was worthy of it.

"Sure," I agreed, smiling at his mock relief and eyeing the ham sandwich he'd brought me. Not my favorite, but it would do.

Unlike yesterday, I was absolutely thrilled to tell everyone about my day when I got home that night.

A/N: How will Jake react to this?