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Chapter 4—Bella P.o.V.

Much to Bella's delight, the surprisingly friendly Alice Cullen was in all of her morning classes. Since they were not doing much, it being the first day of school and all, they spent most of the morning talking. Or, rather, Alice talked and Bella listened. It did not take long for Bella to learn that Alice was completely obsessed with two things: fashion and parties. Alice was most definitely a party girl and, much to Bella's own amazement, she found herself slightly jealous of Alice's carefree ways. This discovery shocked her.

"Oh, on Saturday, after we go shopping, maybe you can sleep over! That way you can meet my family!"

"Alice," Bella interjected, "we're going shopping in the morning, we'll be done by noon. And, besides, shouldn't you check with your parents before inviting me to your house? They might have plans."

"They won't," answered Alice, her face confident as could be, "trust me. I'm never wrong. Besides," she added in a lighter note, "we will definitely need a place to crash after all that shopping. I don't understand what you mean 'done by noon.' It will take hours to find any good stores around here. From what I've seen, Port Angeles only has one decent dress store! Maybe we should go to Seattle…"

Alice drifted off with her shopping fantasy, leaving Bella to shake her head at her new friend's madness. Trig was almost over, and she started to gather up her things. The next class was art, and Bella was not too sure she wanted to go there; it was an accident waiting to happen. The art class had boxes and boxes full of scissors, knives, cans of paint… No, Bella was most definitely not looking forward to art. Alice, on the other hand…

"My brother is in art with us, you know?" Alice said, back from her little dream world, "You'll like him. He's my twin; his name's Edward. It would be amazing if you two could get along!"

Bella tipped her head to the side, slightly confused by the dreamy tone of Alice's voice. It seemed as if she thought getting along with her brother would be impossible. Given the high opinion she seemed to have of him, Bella did not understand that. She would understand soon, though, it appeared. The bell rang and they stood up to make their way to the classroom.

On the way out, they were stopped by Mike Newton, a boy their age who had once been Bella's friend. They had drifted apart over the years, however, and were now mere acquaintances. It seemed he wanted to change that now, however.

"Hey, Bells. Want to introduce me to your new friend?"

"Ummm, sure," Bella stammered, shocked by Mike's straight forwardness. She turned to Alice, "this is Alice Cullen. Alice, this is Mike Newton. He's a junior as well. His parents own the sporting goods store in town."

"Nice to meet you," said Mike, leaning into her, obviously trying to flirt, "if you ever need a hand, don't be afraid to ask. And if you need anything from the store, my friends get a 5% discount."

"Well, that is very nice. I'll keep that in mind if I ever decide to buy…"she looked Mike up and down, noting his worn hunting attire. Bella wondered whom he was trying to impress; everybody in town knew he could not hold a rifle for his life, "well, if I ever need anything, I'll ask," concluded Alice, obviously not having found anything on his frame worthy of a compliment.

"Oh, hey, look, there's this movie playing in Port Angeles that I've been meaning to watch. Maybe you want to come with me? I don't feel like going alone."

"I have plans," Alice answered, even though he had not even mentioned a date yet.

Mike shrugged and turned to Bella. His eyes drifted down her body appraisingly, and a wide smile filled his face. Bella shuddered instinctively.

"What about you, Bella? How about this Saturday?"

Bella's eyes widened, obviously mortified. She could not believe the audacity of Mike! He had just asked her friend out, right in front of her! What the heck was wrong with him? She did not want to go out with Mike Newton, not now, not ever, and his actions had only just proved how right she was in her decision. Before she had time to answer, however, Alice answered for her.

"Sorry, she has plans with me and my brother. We're actually just about to go see him now…he's such a cutie, isn't he, Bella?"

Bella did not even really process what Alice had just asked, simply agreeing with whatever she had said. Mike frowned and adjusted his grip on his backpack.

"Alright, then. I'll see you around, though. Right?"

"Don't doubt it for a second," answered Alice sarcastically before dragging the still-petrified Bella into the art class. Most of the students were already there, and Alice began to wave frantically at a tall, handsome guy with messy bronze hair. Bella realized this must be Edward. She remembered now that she had agreed with Alice that he was handsome without having ever even met him. She saw now that handsome did not even begin to cover the sight that was Edward Cullen. She could barely put it into coherent thoughts in her head.

They approached Edward, Alice confidently and Bella shyly. Bella tried to avoid Edward's deep green eyes, staring at the floor instead. Her eyes were caught, however, when Alice began to sign to Edward

Edward, this is Bella. She's in all of my classes so far! Isn't that cool? I'm taking her shopping over the weekend. I can already see it, we're going to be best friends!

Bella stared at the two of them in shock. Could it be? Was Edward Deaf? And Alice had not mentioned it at all? Her suspicions were confirmed when Edward, smiling kindly at her, signed back to Alice:

That's great, Al. Tell her I'm glad to meet her.

It took Bella a second to react accordingly, but before Alice had begun to rely the message she was signing back.

That's alright, I can understand you. It's nice to meet you. My name is Bella.

Alice stared at her in surprise for a second before turning to look at her brother. Edward looked just as bewildered, if not more. Bella assumed neither had expected to find somebody who knew ASL in such a small town. She smiled shyly, glad to have learned ASL when she had. Alice pulled herself together quickly, though, faster than Edward, and took control of the situation once again.

Well, that makes things easier, stated Alice lightly, moving the bag and coat on the stool at the head of the table and handing it to Edward. He must have saved her a seat, Bella realized. She began to wonder where she should sit when Alice continued her sentence, her hands once again empty: Bella, sit on my other side, will you? That way we can all sign easily.

Bella did as she was ordered, having realized fast during her four-hour friendship with Alice that it was best to do as she asked. She was still being shy, but she made sure to keep looking at Alice and Edward now, trying to be polite. Whereas a hearing person could get your attention easily when you were not looking at them, it was harder for a Deaf person, and so it was very rude to look away from them during a conversation. Before they could begin a conversation, however, Ms. Sanchez began to speak, and Bella had to turn around to watch her as she spoke; the seat Alice had told her to take faced away from the Ms. Sanchez's desk and the board.

"Hello, students," Ms. Sanchez said, her voice heavily accented, "I can already see that this shall be an interesting class this year. To start out the year, I want you all to make a blueprint of what you will be working on this year. This shall be a map for your journey through your art." She paused for the dramatic effect, looking around at the students with a large, pearly white smile, "The assignment is very easy, there is no art required. Just pick up a pen and write in your journals. I want you to write about yourselves, your family, your friends, your likes, and your dislikes. Just write about anything that is important to you. Anything that shapes you and helps make you, you. Alright? Get to it, then!"

Bella gnawed at her lower lip, already thinking of what she was going to write. She was vaguely aware of Alice's transferring the message on to Edward, who looked dubious. Alice did not seem too happy with the assignment either.

Isn't that just a tad cliché? Journey through our art? asked Alice once she had finished signing, and, besides, don't we all kind of already know things about us and our family? Why should we write it down?

Well, answered Bella, always one to defend anything related to writing, that kept her from showing her horrible, horrible, drawing skills, maybe this is for you to be able to develop your ideas. Once you start writing, the thoughts will just flow. You might discover a thought somewhere in there that you had never considered before.

She liked the sound of that, she realized. It sounded much more mature and smart than it had in her head. She put her head down, letting her long hair hide her face before letting a small smile take over her face. She enjoyed those small accomplishments, when she surprised even herself with a new insight.

With that in mind, she turned to her journal. She opened it to the first page and smiled at the sight of the entirely blank page. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and set her pen to the paper. Soon, her pen was soaring across the page, leaving its inky black signature behind. If there was one think Bella loved to do, it was to write. She could get lost in the writing, particularly when, like now, she was writing the truth, her feelings, and her reality.

"To say what shapes me, it is imperative to talk about Mom, and her decision to leave Dad. When I was three, my mom decided she did not love my father any more. She packed her bags, picked me up from my daycare, and got in her car, ready to leave my father. When my father realized, he started to drive after us, trying to stop us…Mom freaked and ended up crashing into a tree. She died instantly, but nothing happened to me. My dad has felt guilty ever since…"

She let the whole story flow out. She had never actually written it, and she found that doing so helped her. It felt like an emotional cleansing. She wrote and wrote and wrote until Ms. Sanchez's voice cut through her concentration. She wrapped it up quickly, and snapped her journal shut. Ms. Sanchez's next words, however, made her blood freeze.

"OK, now that you're all done…give your journal to a friend or classmate. They will read it and draw, write, make a collage, or something like that based on what they've read. You will be able to work on it in class tomorrow, and it will be due at the end of class then."

Bella gripped her journal tightly to her chest. She could not let anybody read it! Only Jasper and the Hales knew the whole story, she could not let anybody else find out. She just couldn't. She looked over at his table desperately. However, she caught Alice's turning to her out of the corner of her eye and turned to face her, dreading what was coming.

Will you exchange with me?

Bella tightened her hold on her journal, shaking her head mutely. The mere thought of letting Alice read her journal, to shed such darkness in Alice's happy world of shopping and parties, to earn her pity instead of her friendship…no, she could not do that.

I'm sorry, it's just…I wrote some really personal stuff in here. I didn't know we were going to share. It's a big load to lie on a new friend's shoulders, Bella signed. She did not like disappointing people, and Alice looked like she had been very hurt and offended, but she could not let herself share that part of her life with anybody. At least, she thought, not yet. I will take yours, though, she added, Ms. Sanchez did not say that we could only take the journal of the person we gave ours to. I'm sure Jasper won't mind giving you his, though, so we can do a triangle. Or a square, she added, looking at Edward, not wanting to make him feel left out, if you want.

She knew she was making excuses, but she could not bring herself to anything else. When Edward and Alice agreed, she looked over at Jasper and motioned for him to come over. He started to make his way across the classroom, a crease between his eyebrows as he frowned in concern at her.

Thanks to Wolfy Pup, iWant2BaMonsterToo, bluebaby3296, Viper003, BroadwayBound96, UltravioletSpark , and maegirl for their encouragement.

Special thanks to:

BroadwayBound96—I think you're stuck in here for good, you know? Thanks for the compliment on the sign name!

GrlWithoutAName—thanks so much for pointing that out! I fixed it now. Thanks!!!

HONVampyreChick—thanks so much for taking the time to notice the small things, and pointing out the good parts! I really appreciate it.

Questions:

Alyria Phoenix—I'm glad you liked my clarification. If you find anything that you think is offensive, just tell me, I don't mind! To answer to your question, I actually know very little ASL. I've wanted to learn since I was very young, but, amusingly enough, I did not start studying it until three days ago, when I finally decided to write this story. It is being very fun so far! I am learning via YouTube, and if you keep practising you will remember the signs… when I have free time I just sign either the alphabet or the few phrases I have learned, and I can do them more and more fluidly now. It's very fun!

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO READ!