Hey everyone, i just want to say thankyou so much for the hits and reviews!! i am loving writing this story. i've been trying to showcase perth bands, so if anyone wants me to write in perth or other aussie bands, let me know! (panics and eskimo joe!!)

this chapter will hopefully give you a good laugh!

till next time, mercbella, peace. (weetbix is a australian breakfast cereal, also known as the breakfast of champions! how many do you do?!)

Thankfully I woke up on time the next day and wandered downstairs for breakfast. Charlie was just heading out the door; he told me to have a good day and after we had exchanged goodbyes, I ate a bowl of cornflakes (no weetbix unfortunately was to be found on Thriftway's shelves) and headed upstairs to find something to wear. I had discovered that people here in Forks didn't dress up that much, though Jessica and her friends did seem to make an effort. In an effort to spruce myself up I chose a black miniskirt, stockings, boots, and a green jacket and ran a brush through my hair a couple of times. Checking my clock, I had heaps of time to get to school but left anyway, eager to be in the comfort of my truck. I had to admit, the truck was growing on me. Back home, I could never afford my own car, so I had to borrow Renee's old Holden if I wanted to go anywhere. It felt good to be independent and as I drove down the highway at a snail's pace (I was still a bit edgy about what had happened yesterday with my near death experience), a silver Volvo flashed by and overtook me, going at a suspiciously fast pace. I wondered what their hurry was but soon forgot about it as I turned on my ipod and chose a song. I turned into the school's parking lot while singing The Panic's, "Don't Fight It," and reached for the door handle only to find that the door was again jammed. I gave it a hard shove to no avail. Damn door! I was already reconsidering my love for the truck. The door wouldn't budge. Okay, try the other door. I clambered over the truck's console and tried to open that door. Luck was against me it seemed. I sat in the passenger's seat fuming. What was I supposed to do now? I considered climbing out the window, and was just open to roll it down, when I saw a flash of black outside and the door sprung open. I cheered in delight, and looked over to see the pixie like girl from yesterday standing there, smiling at me.

"Hi, I'm Alice Cullen. Seemed like you were having car troubles." She giggled.

I joined in. "Yeah, I know. Thanks heaps though. This truck seems had it but it's the only way to get to school and it's actually growing to grow on me. I'm Bella Swan, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Bella," Alice said, holding out her hand. I grabbed my bag and jumped down from the truck to shake it.

"You too, Alice. And thanks again." I was very grateful. If she hadn't have been passing by I would have had to climb out the window and most likely have landed on my butt in a puddle.

"So you're new here then? I haven't seen you around," Alice asked with interest.

"Yeah, I'm a junior."

"Me too! You're from Australia right? I can tell. You accent is right out of Crocodile Dundee!"

"Is not!" I exclaimed. Did I sound like a bushman?

"Bella, I'm joking! So how do you like Forks?"

"Forks is…well, certainly interesting," I admitted. "I miss home quite a bit and the people are very…friendly is one word to describe it."

She laughed. "Yes, I'd imagine so. Let me guess. Jessica Stanley's got her claws into you and Mike Newton won't leave you alone?"

I gasped with surprise. "That's exactly right! He's already tried to feel me up once."

Alice giggled. "Poor Bella. Anyway I'd better get to class. See you around."

I smiled. "Yeah seeya, Alice. Nice meeting you."

I waved and headed towards English. Alice Cullen seemed very nice and actually genuine. Maybe I would be able to find some real friends here in Forks. I looked up to see Mike heading towards me and groaned. On second thought, maybe I should move back to Australia so I can get as far away from Mike Newton as possible.

The morning passed very slowly but I was annoyed to see that my novelty had not worn off. People were still staring at me openly which led to an almost permanent blush being worn on my face.

"Why is everyone still staring at me?" I whispered to Angela as we walked to lunch. "So what? I'm new and I'm from another country? What's the big deal?"

She smiled. "Bella they're staring at you because you're beautiful. Every boy here wants to ask you out on a date. That's why."

I gulped. Oh man. I cannot deal with this many people looking at me for much longer. In my opinion, my beauty was a curse, not a blessing.

"Oh damnit. It's bad enough having Mike follow me round like a bloody puppy. I'm already sick of it."

We arrived at our table with our lunch. I had a sandwich and a bottle of water and sat down. I purposely ignored Mike's gesture and sat between Jess and Angela. I was beginning to remember some of their names: Lauren, Tyler, Eric, Bianca. Some of them asked me questions; I answered them without much enthusiasm. While the mindless chatter continued, I looked around the cafeteria and spotted Alice and her friends. As like yesterday, they sat not eating, talking amongst themselves. I caught Alice's eye and waved, and as I did, the person next her glanced at me. It was the beautiful bronze haired boy from biology. I immediately looked away and down to my food. Suddenly I wasn't that hungry.

"Edward Cullen is looking at you Bella. Do you know him?" Jessica asked, jolting me out of my reverie.

Edward Cullen. So that's his name.

"No I don't. And stop looking at him."

I suddenly realised something.

"Is he related to Alice Cullen, by any chance?"

Mike snorted. "Yeah, that group over there are all related one way or another. It's disgusting. Incest. Jasper, the blonde is going out with Alice, the dark haired chick. And Emmett that big one is with the hot blonde one, Rosalie. None of them are actually blood related. But they were all adopted by Carlisle and Esme Cullen. It's weird if you ask me." He turned his attention back to his food and scoffed down the rest of his cheeseburger. I stared at him gobsmacked; I'd never seen anyone eat so fast. Well, with the exception of Mrs. Johnson's Pomeranian, Matton sox.

"They're all snobs if you ask me. Especially Edward."

Jessica joined in. "He may be a snob, but he's a cute snob. He's so totally hot. But he acts like he's way too good for anyone here," she said pouting.

I stifled a laugh and looked back at him. He had turned his attention back to his siblings, but he looked as though he was concentrating extremely hard on something. I pushed him out of my mind and tried to join in the conversation that had arisen. The topic was the school dance coming up, a few weeks away. I actually liked dances but I wasn't going to admit that to Mike for obvious reasons. This line of reasoning was cut short as Mike turned to me.

"Hey Bella. You want to go to the dance with me?"

Crap. Think fast, Bella.

Everyone was staring at me, waiting for me to reply. I decided to let him down gently.

"Sorry Mike. But I'm not sure if I'm actually going to go to the dance or not." I was a bit annoyed that I would have to miss out, but if missing out on dancing was the only way to avoid Mike, I would do it. I congratulated myself on a job well done and took a huge bite of my sandwich, before Mike shrugged and said easily,

"That's alright, Bells. We'll go to prom together."

This reaction surprised me and I almost choked on my food, which led to Mike leaning over and thumping me hard on the back. I grimaced and let out a yell.

"Stop, Mike. I'm fine, okay?"

The bell rang; I grabbed my stuff before Mike could even finish his fries, and ran out of the cafeteria, almost slipping on the wet tiles. Once outside in the cool air, I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. Mike had really gotten under my skin and now I was determined to make him see that I would never, ever go out with him. Sure I was used to lots of attention back home from boys, but there was something about Mike that really fired me up and annoyed me to no end.

I arrived at biology and slid inside, walking to my empty desk and sitting down. Thanks to my speedy departure from the lunchroom, I was the first one in class, so I took out my ipod and set it to my favourite song, "Black fingernails, red wine," by Eskimo Joe. I watched as people steadily trickled in from lunch (I shot a glare at Mike when he walked in; he pretended not to notice) and sat down. Mr. Banner arrived and just as I was wondering if I was set to have no bio partner for the rest of the year, Edward Cullen walked in and sat down next to me. Immediately I was very aware of the close proximity we shared, but to my dismay he had subtly angled his chair away from me, as if he was trying to be as far away from me as possible. I swallowed and tried not to be offended by his behaviour, but failed. Why was he acting like this? What this normal behaviour for him or had I offended him in some way? I stared at my workbook, thoughts flitting through my mind, all too aware of the beautiful boy sitting beside me.

"Hello," a quiet, velvety voice spoke.

My head shot up and my eyes turned to his. He was actually speaking to me?

"I'm Edward Cullen. It's nice to meet you."

A buildup of saliva was sitting in my throat and I swallowed. I was glad he had finally acknowledged my presence, so I managed to respond appropriately with,

"I'm Isabella Swan. I prefer Bella though. It's nice to meet you too."

He smiled at me, though it didn't quite meet his eyes and that's when I noticed that his eyes were a golden butterscotch hue again. I was confused but decided not to bring it up. I sighed, he looked at me confused and then Mr. Banner launched into the lecture. Apparently, we were to dissect a sheep's eye with our partners. I had already done this lab back home and had thrown up all over the desk, but I was determined to show this Edward that I could do it.

"I'll get the materials," he said. I noticed he jumped up fast; I hoped it wasn't to get away from me, but who knew? He seemed like a very mysterious person and I was already intrigued with him.

Bella, what are you thinking? You just met the boy and you're already partially obsessed with him.

As always, I tended to analyse things too much. Get a grip on yourself.

He came back with everything we needed ( I tried not to look at the eye) and we proceeded to set up our workstation. He spread out the newspaper, careful not to touch my hands, I noticed.

"Would you like to make the first incision, Bella?" he asked.

I paused, mentally calculating my chances of being sick. I could already smell the eye and it looked absolutely disgusting, but I nodded stupidly anyway and put on the gloves, before grabbing the scalpel.

Okay, Bella, you can do this. Just pretend your cutting an egg. A nice big, bloody egg. No, stop that! You can do it.

I paused, the scalpel hovering over the eye. Edward was watching me intently; I could feel his gaze on my face. I took a deep breath and carefully bought the scalpel down, where the instructions told me to. Some black jelly oozed out and I got a big whiff of the stench emanating from the eye. That's what set me off. Edward obviously noticed something was wrong, but before he could say anything, the nausea overcame me and everything went black.