Again, thanks for the reviews! I really do appreciate them. Well, here's chapter four.


This was not happening. I really did have the worst luck in the world. I had been set on one plan: avoid Charlie to keep him out of danger. And how did it turn out? Not very well. Charlie was still staring at me, waiting for my answer. I couldn't lie to him. He wouldn't believe me because he knew me too well. Renee had made me spend summers with him.

My heart tore open a little more at the thought of Renee. I had thought about her a lot on the plane, and I had told myself that I would avoid thinking about her. It was just too painful. My feelings must have shown on my face because Charlie frowned.

"Bella, is that you?" he asked.

I sighed, knowing I couldn't lie. "Yes, it's me," I admitted.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised. He knew I would never come here through my own free will. It wasn't news to him that I hated Forks.

"It's... complicated...," I managed to say. He would want to know the entire story, of course. How could I tell him? I couldn't even think about it without tearing up.

"Well, you can tell me about it once I get you home," he said firmly. "By the way, you look terrible."

"Thanks, Dad."

"You know what I mean. You look tired," he corrected himself.

We heard someone cough behind us, and we both turned to see Danny, the guy behind the counter who had finally managed to get over the counter. So now he was the guy in front of the counter.

"I'll drop by later to get a new fishing pole, Danny," my dad assured him. Danny nodded.

Charlie helped me get up, and then he awkwardly put his arm around my waist. We walked out together, trying our hardest not to fall. I groaned as I saw his police cruiser. I hated riding in that thing. Everyone always slowed down when they saw a police car. Slow traffic was unavoidable whenever I rode with Charlie.

It was only when I was buckled in that Charlie spoke. "Where's Renee?" he asked. When I didn't reply, he turned to look at me. "Bella? Is something wrong?"

Yes, everything was wrong. My life was ruined. I had lost my mother, my best friend. I had nothing else to live for. That was what I should have told him, but instead I said, "Nothing's wrong, Dad. I wanted to come live with you for a while, and Mom said okay. That's about it." I didn't need to make Charlie miserable too. He would find out sooner or later, when I was gone. Charlie frowned, but didn't pursue the subject. We didn't talk for the rest of the ride home.

***

Forks was definitely my own personal hell on Earth. What were the odds that I would end up sitting next to Edward Cullen, the guy who seemed to hate me for no reason?

Charlie had registered me at Forks High School, and today was my first day. I knew he realized that something was wrong, but he never asked. Charlie liked to give me my space.

And now I was stuck sitting next to Edward in Biology. This was the first time I had seen him close-up, and he was just as gorgeous as the rest of his family. The only difference was the his eyes were coal black. This surprised me very much. His eyes made him seem much more frightening. But there was something scary about all of the Cullens and the Hales.

I had walked in, and he had given me the same murderous stare as last time, only it looked worse because he was so much closer. Now I was sitting next to him, trying to ignore the fact that he was still glaring at me. I tried to listen to what Mr. Banner, the teacher, was saying, but I couldn't concentrate. Not with Mr. I-have-to-stare-at-random-people-for-no-reason sitting next to me. I considered asking him what his problem was, but I didn't have the guts to do it.

Finally, class was over, and Edward Cullen stood up swiftly from his seat and sped out of the room faster than I had seen anyone go. He should join the track team. Or the Olympics.

"Bella!" I heard a familiar voice exclaim. I closed my eyes, praying that it wouldn't be who I thought it was. My prayers were not answered. There was Mike Newton standing in front of me, grinning that idiotic grin of his. I faked a smile, hoping he would just leave me alone. No such luck. "Come on, you can sit with me at lunch."

I grinned, as if all of my dearest hopes and dreams had come true. His grin went even wider, if that was possible.

I sat at lunch with Mike and a few other kids who were nice enough. I really liked this girl named Angela who was the only one who didn't bombard me with questions like the rest.

And all through lunch, Edward Cullen stared at me. I noticed he wasn't glaring anymore, which was a good sign. But he still made me feel uneasy.

"Edward Cullen is staring at you," giggled a girl named Jessica. As if I hadn't noticed that.

"Really?" I asked with heavy sarcasm.

"Yep," she stated simply.

I had finally managed to coax the story of the Cullens and the Hales out of Mike. I had found out that Doctor Carlisle Cullen and his wife, Esme, had adopted them. The Hale twins were foster children.

Suddenly, I heard a commotion at the Cullens' table. As I watched, Edward stood up angrily and stormed out of the room. His siblings just stared after him. I thought Rosalie looked angry too. The others were just indifferent. The whole cafeteria went silent. Then everyone started talking in excited whispers about what had just happened.

"Whoa, what's up with him?" asked Jessica. I had picked up that Jessica liked to gossip.

"I don't know," murmured Angela. She didn't like to talk about other peoples' business.

The intercom in the cafeteria crackled. "Bella Swan, can you come up to the front office for a few minutes please?" Then it went silent.

I stood up, said bye to my peers, and then walked outside. The front office was in a separate building.

To my surprise, Edward was outside, sitting on a bench. He turned as I came closer. I was relieved that he didn't seem to be mad at me anymore.

"Hello," I murmured. I planned to walk straight past him, but he stopped me.

"Wait!" he said. When I stopped, he got up and walked toward me. "I want to apologize for my rude behavior today. I was very mean to you when you didn't deserve it."

"Wow," I said in shock. He was apologizing? Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. He smiled. That one smile made my heart beat crazily. Why was I reacting so much to him? For some reason, he smirked. "What?" I asked.

"It's nothing," he replied. "So, don't you have to go to the front office?" he asked suddenly.

I frowned. "How did you know that? You weren't in the cafeteria. You couldn't have possibly heard the intercom."

He seemed angry again. "Nothing," he said abruptly.

But I wanted to know. "What do you mean, nothing? How did you know?"

"It's nothing, Bella," he said. He didn't raise his voice, but the tone was furious. What had I said that had offended him so much?

"Why won't you tell me?" I asked, getting irritated.

"Just let it go, Bella," he replied.

"Fine," I snapped, walking away from him. I wanted nothing to do with him. He either made me feel angry, confused, afraid, or irritated. I didn't need any of that. I would just ignore him from now on. But then I remembered his smile, and that commitment went down the drain as fast as I had thought of it.


Did you guys like it? Review! Ten reviews before the next update!

Come on, is The Sun and the Moon really that bad? No one wants it! I guess I'll just have to delete it after all... :(

Someone asked why Bella was so casual in spite of her mother's death in the last chapter. I hope I answered your question in this one. If I didn't, let me know and I'll make it more clear.

Love ya guys!