Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

Would like to apologise for the state of my story updates. I've just got a new puppy, an energetic flat coated retriever who seems to never sleep. Anyway because of the new arrival there hasn't been much time to write. I'm going to try and keep the updates fairly regular but if they're late then Puppy will be the reason.

Thank you to all of you who messaged, reviewed, and read. I love that you love. :)

Warning: bad language, sexual references, and underage drinking.

Onwards!

When the P.E class finished I found myself with two new acquaintances, Lauren and Jessica. I blamed the vague smile left on my face after my conversation with Mike, it made me seem too approachable. They were the typical girls that I had hung around with back home before it all went tits up – fake but friendly. Maybe they wouldn't aim to destroy me, maybe they'd be OK to let get a little closer. Anything to wipe away the stale gossip that had clearly been doing the rounds even before I got here.

"So where do I have to dump this slip?" I asked to Jess who was looking up to me. Already I was the central part in our threesome – part of me was humoured by that. A new girl comes to school and she's like sugar in an ants' nest, everyone swarming to attach themselves. Shame they didn't know I was sugar coated poison.

"Just drop it at the office," she replied. I looked between the two girls and saw something pass through their eyes.

"So, Ilsa. Is it true? You know about what happened...?" Jess's eyes were positively glittering with the excitement of gaining new gossip.

"What do you mean, Jessica?" My tone got frosty. I could almost guess what would come out her mouth before her and Lauren exchanged another loaded glance.

"Did you really get arrested?" I sighed in relief. This wasn't a dark secret; it was pretty PG13 in relation to my other exploits. Some of which I hoped never to be brought to light otherwise I would have to reconsider my rebellion recovery. Although it did clarify that the people of Forks knew more about me than they should given I wasn't from this world.

"Arrested twice, warned four times, seven prison overnighters. I wouldn't recommend them; the beds are murder to sleep on," I reeled off my mildly colourful delinquent past. It really wasn't that bad. I was good at not getting caught and when I did it was generally due to alcohol slowing me down. I wasn't proud of my past, but I wasn't about to blush about it. It happened, I did it, no reason to try and hide that because it would only bite me in the arse later. I've learnt that the more you openly admit to then the less chance it has of becoming scandalous. Only secrets make good gossip. And God knows I'm keeping some really good ones.

"Well you're certainly going to be more fun than the Chief's daughter." Lauren smirked flipping her silky blonde hair over her shoulder. I bet I was. That Bella girl in the books seemed like a drag; even in her school photos she had that good girl look about her. She'd no doubt be a little shy, awkward, maybe clumsy as well just to make sure everyone knew she was delicate. Someone the boys would want to wrap up in their jackets and hold all the way home. She'd be the kind of girl who always wore a white bra under a white top and only owned sensible cotton panties.

I chastised myself inwardly for my prejudice. I hated it and I hated that I did it to other people. But it's human nature right? You make split second instinctual decisions about people because of the way they look or the body language they give off. Like Edward. Edward gave off the air of seductive danger. To some people that would be scary, but to others... To those people who invited danger willingly into their lives or liked that adrenaline rush more than safety. Well, to those people he was a temptation, a dangerously delicious temptation, a flickering flame in front of an arsonist.

I felt my blood race just at the thought of that temptation, the thrill of winning the right to dally with danger, to test the limits of my mortality. Then I was reminded of the base plotline of the world I was held prisoner in, and I felt my blood halt almost immediately. He fell in love with that meek little girl; he protected her and treated her like a child. Making her decisions for her and wrapping her up in cotton wool because he thought he knew best, or that mortality immediately made you too fragile to stand alone. I might not have read the book, or looked into it all that much, but I knew enough to understand the basis of the story, and I definitely knew what that kind of relationship was like. Mr R and I had been the perfect example of it. A fifteen year old girl and a man twice her age, claiming to know what's best, taking advantage of her willingness, patronising her decisions. I wasn't that girl anymore. I refused to be that girl. Therefore I refused to fall into temptation. Sure Edward made my blood race and my mind wander, but I would not be his Bella. I wouldn't be like her. The very idea of being so sweet and selfless was nauseating.

I gagged lightly as I pushed into the office, imagining having to switch my scraps of lace for sensibly sized undies. Never. I wasn't a virginal girl, and I would never act like one. I was dirty, ruined, a whore, a slut, a disappointment, a disgrace, a smear on clean cloth. I was repugnant. With each word I felt my face slip further and further into the frown I wore so often. When the receptionist finally noticed me I was too far into my own head to play the role of pleasant teenager. Instead I handed over my slip and walked off without a word. Because really who was I to actually try and be something I'm not? After all, you could clean the poison off the surface of the fruit, but it doesn't make a damn difference if the inside is rotten.

I headed out to Mike's car as fast as possible. I just wanted to get away from this place, these people, and be alone in that room I was supposed to call my own. I wouldn't bother with homework. I wouldn't make small talk with Charlie. I would just hide out in my room where I couldn't put my dirty hands on anymore of this spotless world.

Everyone was spilling out of the doors, so I just followed the flow of people and made my way to stand next to Mike's Suburban. He wasn't there yet. He was probably in one of the many pockets of teenagers all talking and gossiping about the day. They were like packs of wolves scavenging over the morsels of fresh news, ripping to shreds every word and action. I would be their perfect prey if they noticed me, but I stayed quiet next to mike's car, my eyes focussed on the gritty tarmac, and my hands shoved deep in my pockets.

Next a pair of shoes appeared in my eye line, fresh, clean black Nikes with the laces artfully bowed. I glanced up, following the route of black jeans on lean legs, grey sweater clinging to a toned torso, and voila an Edward standing glaring at me.

"What do you want?" Maybe he's here to stare some more, or maybe he's here to—to quote Dracula—suck my blooood!

His mouth twitched as I continued to lean against the cold metal of the car.

"May I talk to you for a moment?" he said with a persuasive tone.

"Of course, Edward, we can talk." As long as 'talking' does not include biting, sucking, or any other form of bodily harm, I thought sardonically as I watched Edward glance around the parking lot.

"I wanted to apologise for my behaviour in Biology," he said with a small amount of earnest coating his words. Only a small amount and even that sounded false. Why was the real reason he was talking to me?

My mouth twitched, I seemed to have really gotten under his skin. That was the only explanation for this conversation. Something I did or said must have alerted him to the fact that I was one to watch. That had to be kind of flattering surely. "Apology accepted. Was that all?" It was surreal because although he was clearly angry under the surface, and therefore dangerous, I couldn't find it in me to be scared. Obviously my lack of self worth had led to an invincibility complex.

He gave me a wary look as his jaw unclenched and re-clenched. It was like watching some kind of jaw porn really. I might not want to like the guy/vampire/fanged fairy but he was a looker. I could admit that much.

"Who are you?"

"Ilsa Crowe, sweetie. A seventeen-year-old girl. Really, Edward, could these questions be any more basic?" Perhaps all vampires are a little mentally incomplete...

"I don't know why you're here, but please go home." He seemed almost pleading, but why on earth would he be like that? Why could he possibly be scared of me? I'm just human, just a girl. What could I possible do to him? I was hardly going to go shouting about vampires running around Forks.

"This is my home now. I live with Charlie until..."

"Until what?" he asked earnestly.

"Until whatever. Until I'm allowed to go home, until I'm a good little girl. I don't know I haven't read the rule book on my little situation." I felt more confusion than I wanted to let on to him. The truth was I wasn't entirely sure what 'until' meant. Where would I go except for always back to Charlie?

"What situation?" he whispered lowly, his body leaning into mine persuasively as his eyes bore down into mine.

I swallowed against the truth. I wasn't going to tell him about how I had woken up in a strange bed, that I wasn't meant to be here. But then again that here seemed the only feasible place for me to actually be, because any other place would be silly...right? Was there another place? Oh God my head.

He'd call me crazy...which I probably was, but it's different admitting it to yourself instead of having someone else telling you.

"I was sent here, OK. It's not like I had a choice. Some teenage reform thing. So step off pretty boy, wouldn't want you to get all dirty. Would we?" I purred as I glared at him, watching his thumb and forefinger come up to pinch the bridge of his nose before he spun and returned to his car.

Hate to see him leave, but love to watch him go. I thought with a smirk before looking to see Mike coming over, car keys in hand. I nodded and waited for him to zap the alarm and let me in.

"Lauren and Jess seem to like you," He mentioned as he started the engine.

"Good to know I'm not a total outcast."

"You know, people are just curious, you might actually find some friends here if you weren't so...

"So..." I raised an eyebrow at him as I glanced from the window.

"Scary."

That was it I couldn't stop myself from laughing and I noticed Mike's eyes twinkle as he switched between watching me and the road.

"They have a right to be scared," I murmured once the laughter died down and he pulled in, opening the door in a hurry. "And you should be too. You shouldn't try and get too close, Mike. I'm not a good person to call your friend," I said seriously before shutting the door and walked swiftly up the little path to the front door.

As I fished around in my pocket for the house key Charlie had left me I heard Mike's car driving away and I wondered if he'd actually be back tomorrow, or it he'd take my advice and rethink his offer to help out.

It was a masochistic move, blocking Mike that way, but there was a strong part of me that knew I wasn't the kind of friend anyone in this place needed. When I was younger then I would have fit right in, little miss popular, but now it was a different ball game all together.

That night I milled around the house until Charlie came home. I went through my room and found that my whole life had been seamlessly transferred here, every item of clothing, my music collection, little thing that I used back in my apartment. It was bizarre but nice to have some things that I recognised.

When Charlie finally returned I reluctantly went down to greet him, make him a drink, answer the questions about my day. He was just checking up on me, I was sure of it, but I answered the questions with a polite tone and even offered to make us some pasta concoction. If I was going to be staying here, for however long, then I needed it to be made easy not struggling against the fact I had to live with someone such as Charlie. He was a nice guy, a decent guy. He didn't talk much and I liked that. But, and it was a big but, he was supposed to try and change me and I didn't like that idea very much. I was comfortable this way and it would take a lot to take me out of my comfort zone, my safe place.

So some of you read the EPOV piece, others didn't, either way I'd love to hear what you think of this update and Edward's behaviour. Do you think Ilsa and Edward will ever get on? And what about Ilsa, does she have a justified reason for cutting herself off or is she maybe judging the population of Forks High a bit too harshly? Do you think anything will happen between her and Mike? And the big question, how do you think she got to Forks? Insanity or a trip across parallel universes?

Let me know what you think :P

Hope you continue to read because I'll be continuing to write :)