This chapter is a bit longer than the others, so please bear with me. For those of you with the Twilight books at home, you might have noticed that I'm on my third fanfiction chapter when this is only chapter two in the book. So yeah, don't get confused. :)

Remember: I'm putting minor changes to the book itself, so it's fairly similar.


The next couple of days were better…and worse.

The day after Jacob Black and his crew of barbaric friends welcomed me to my new school ever so politely, I came to school feeling worn. I hadn't slept at all during the night, listening to the house settle and considering confronting Jacob or Sam and demanding to know what their problem was. I planned my defense in my head, settling with "You don't even know me" as the ending phrase before I would amble away, leaving them in my dust.

And then another part of me started to argue that the whole gang could easily take me down, a lowly newcomer who was only slowly gaining "friends". A shiver went down my spine as I thought about how big each Quileute was; even Leah outweighed me in muscle by a hefty sum.

But when I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica later that day, I noticed that the only two table patrons were the youngest, Seth, and the constantly bored one, Jared. The rest of the chairs were vacant, and a few daring freshmen girls came up to freely flirt with Seth, who I assumed was a sophomore. Apparently they had more courage to come up and talk with him when his sister, Leah, was not there. Seth chatted shyly with them for a few moments before Jared paused his daily cell phone conversation, shooting them cold glares that got them to leave instantly. Seth never stopped him, just looked down and went back to eating.

I kept careful watch as the lunch period slipped by, waiting for Jacob and the rest of the Quileutes to emerge from the doorway, take their seats at the near empty table, and then proceed to shoot me angry looks out of the corner of their eyes. But they never came. For the whole timeframe, it was only Seth and Jared.

They weren't there in any other of my classes ether. I had the whole Biology table to myself, and with growing confidence, confirmed to myself that the kids I had so feared were absent for today. Mr. Banner raised an eyebrow at all of the absentees, and asked the class if anyone had seen Mr. Black or Miss. Clearwater. One of the students piped up, "Probably some Quileute holiday," and the others snickered. I frowned slightly, wondering why my peers treated these kids like such outcasts.

For the rest of the week, the Quileutes alternated who came to school. Seth always came, sitting in his usual seat at the large table. He sometimes read, sometimes continued his shy flirting with the girls, and sometimes just stared into space. Jared came once or twice, one time texting throughout the whole lunch period to "his girlfriend of God-knows-how-long, Kim", as Jessica put it. "Honestly, the girl goes to another school! He might as well just choose from the ones here!" she had explained, tossing her curls as she spoke.

Quil and Embry also joined the routine, coming in to lunch to flirt shamelessly to the reddening girls. Quil didn't come back to Biology, though. Paul, the easily angered boy, stalked into the cafeteria, ate his food in a rush, and left the room in about fifteen minutes. I always wondered where he retreated to during the remaining thirty-five minutes, but I never asked my gossip source.

The week ended on a good note, with very little homework and plenty of free time on my hands. Charlie announced during dinner on Saturday that we were going over to have dinner with the Cullens soon, and I responded politely. I had not really much interest in the Cullens, for I presumed that they were another middle-class family whom Charlie had come to favor. Charlie suggested that I might like their youngest son, Edward, and I shuddered. Parental matchmaking always went wrong.

When I came to school on Monday, it was snowing. Never had I experienced snow in my entire life, and I wasn't ready for a Forks winter. Snowballs flew threw the air like gifts from heaven, and I ducked numerous times to avoid being hit in the head. Mike Newton, the overly friendly boy of the Welcoming Committee, and Jessica were elected my unannounced bodyguards, which didn't really help me much, for Mike was a constant target and Jessica a relentless attacker.

It was right during the lunch period that ruined my day. My bodyguards had been called away on an epic snow battle against the others on the Welcoming Committee, and I hurried into the cafeteria to escape the never-ending balls of mush. As I opened the door and stepped into the usual rowdiness, I looked innocently at the table in the shadows. My heart began to beat rapidly, and I took a step back, straight into Mike.

"Bella? Are you okay?" Jessica asked, pulling on my sleeve.

I barely nodded, pulling my eyes away from the table. There were eight people sitting around the circular table, chatting, laughing, and altogether having a good time. Even stone-faced Sam and Paul were mildly chuckling as Quil and Embry chased Leah around the table, daring to try to soak her with hidden icicle balls.

"What's up with Bella?" Mike prodded Jessica.

"Nothing," I replied quickly, "I'll…I'm just going to have a soda today." I hurried away towards the vending machines, fumbling in my pockets for a dollar. It took me a moment to realize that I had no money on me; I had left my bag at the table. If I were to walk there, I would have to answer the inquiries of my new clique, and I treaded that. In addition to my woes, Mike was still throwing leftover snow bits at anyone within a radius.I checked my back pockets, and then my jacket pockets once more. Darn, nothing.

A large shadow loomed over the machine, blocking the light I needed for my search. I turned around, ready to apologize and offer whomever it was to go first. As my mouth opened to speak, it almost instantly clamped shut. Jacob Black stood before me, his head cocked to one side. He wore a simple, tight-fitting hoodie that showed off his forearms, and jeans that looked worn to the breaking point.

He brushed a few strands of stray hair away from his face, and then reached into his pocket. I breathed in, waiting to see what he would present me with. He shot me a curious expression, and then extended his hand towards me. A crisp dollar bill stuck out between his pointer and his thumb, and he motioned wordlessly for me to take it.

"What? Oh no…I couldn't…"

"It's obvious that you don't have a dollar on you," he said in his pleasant speak. "I have a habit of helping out those in need." A teasing tone edged his voice, and he held the dollar out at me again.

The entire Welcoming Committee was watching me from the table behind Jacob, eyes wide. I bit my lip, considering my options, and then carefully took the bill from his hands. "Thank you," I mumbled sheepishly, sticking it into the machine.

"Don't mention it," he replied, equally abashed as he walked back towards his friends, who also watched with awestruck expressions at the exchange.

For the rest of the lunch hour, I struggled to remain silent under Jessica's questions and intruding. Mike thankfully got the rest of the table pumped about a civil war against another group of students, and they immediately forgot the incident. But Jessica continued to bug me, wanting to know what Jacob had given me. Every time I insisted it was only a dollar, she had snorted, "You sure his phone number wasn't on it too?"

Biology was up next, and I sighed with relief as I saw the once more empty seats that usually belonged to the perfect Quileute children. Everyone was still chatting about the snow and battle strategies for wars to come, so I sat doodling, trying to avoid speaking to anyone.

Final bell silenced the class, and Mr. Banner opened his mouth to begin his latest speech. Suddenly, the door slammed open and Leah, Quil, and Jacob entered, covered with snow and laughing. Mr. Banner shot them looks, and the three hurried into their seats. Jacob's chair moved out with a loud scratch, and he sat fluidly down next to me.

I forced my eyes ahead, unwilling to say anything to him throughout the beginning of the lecture. After a few moments of instructions, Mr. Banner motioned towards the microscopes and slides placed before us. "Get started," he commanded as he began to strut purposefully around the room.

"Hello again…Bella," Jacob said softly, his voice gentle. I looked up at his large stature and saw that he was in fact smiling warmly at me. Snow was melting in his dark hair, and he absentmindedly pushed it out of his eyes again. His eyes were masked, however, and I could see the slight worry hidden beneath it.

"Hello…Jacob," I replied, just as careful as he. He was so perfectly polite now that something clicked in my brain, trying to push the memory of his slight coldness out. Had I imagined his facial expression, his actions towards whatever I did?

"Do you want to start?" he asked, his tone friendly, referring to the experiment.

"Um, sure." I replied idiotically.

I studied the slide, and then filled in the answer on the worksheet that Mr. Banner had set before us. He glanced at my answer, and then raised one of his heavy-set brows. "Do you mind if I look?" he asked, reaching over to take the microscope at the exact same time as I began to remove the slide.

His hand had been up to try to stop me from my task, and his hands held mine unintentionally. His fingers were blazing, hot as if he had been holding them close to a large fire before class. But that wasn't why I pulled my hand back so quickly. When his hand touched mine, the blood rushed through me and it felt as if I was being cut from the inside. The burn hurt and I jumped as well as clutched my hand.

"I'm…I'm so sorry," he muttered expeditiously, pulling his hand away but still taking the microscope from me. I watched him with eyes full of warning.

"Are you okay? You're…you're really rather warm for the average…"

His eyes didn't even look up as he interrupted, eyes focusing on the slide. "No, I'm fine. I'm always like this…" Jacob looked at the worksheet, and then back at the slide. "I honestly can't tell the difference between this and Interphase, so I'll trust you on this one," he added with forced cheerfulness, struggling to break the tense atmosphere.

I nodded, switching the slides. He took his turn first this time, and pondered quietly for a moment. "Anaphase," he finally said.

"Can I…?" I held my hand out, and he pushed it to me with another smile playing on the corners of his lips.

I looked, and confirmed his answer, writing it down on the worksheet. He didn't offer to write, just watched curiously as I also filled in the explanation part of the worksheet. It was good that he let me work, as opposed to taking turns writing. Besides, the faint scrawl on his own binder looked like the type that would have Mr. Banner screaming, "No, no, do it over now!"

Although he assured me that he wasn't that good with Biology, he answered most of the questions on the sheet. I took up the job as scribe, adding my own personal opinions here and there to answers. We finished the work before most of the other groups, and Jacob turned away to look aimlessly out the window again, his mind somewhere else. I turned my position slightly to stare at him. He shifted as well, and I noticed a small difference to his face. His hair was perhaps five inches longer than when I had last seen him, and no human hair that I knew of grew five inches longer in a little less than a week. Was it possible for guys to get extensions?

He cracked his neck suddenly, and twisted his head ever so slightly, catching me rudely looking at him. I turned away, face flushing bright pink. He seemed to know what I had been gaping at, and he shrugged modestly. "Yeah, I know it's kinda long for a guy. Can't help it though; it's in the genetics. Most Quileutes have long hair."

Leah's face popped into my mind, and I peeked at her. She was working with her obedient servant of a partner, twisting a short lock of hair as she tried to ignore the boy's flirty remarks. Jacob caught the gist of my actions and he responded accordingly.

"Leah likes to keep her hair short; she claims it gets long to fast and gets in her eyes."

"Oh." We lapsed into silence again.

Mr. Banner came to our table to find out why we weren't working. He picked up our lab, eyebrows raised, and dropped the paper in front of me. "Bella, did you give Mr. Black a chance to look?" Jacob wrinkled his nose slightly at the Mr. Black remark, perhaps peeved as his title as troublemaker.

"Actually," I replied, "Jacob identified three out of the five slides, and he also answered most of the short response answers." I smiled as angelically as I could, willing him to leave.

It worked; Mr. Banner smiled back and moved on to Mike's table. Jacob smiled a handsome half-smile, his brown eyes twinkling. "Thanks."

"You paid for my soda, and I saved your butt from the teacher," I joked lightly, going back to my doodle. The pattern was actually turning out pretty good, and I wondered if Charlie would let me paint that on the walls.

"I guess so, but a soda is a small thing and the teacher is another. I think," Jacob said, scratching his chin like an old man, "that I still owe you something in order to be equal with the loans." He considered what he could possibly do, and then finally came across an idea. "I could protect you during the snow war later. We Quileutes are decent fighters, and no one really tries to attack us. In fact, I'd say we're stealthy as ninjas."

I smiled, the image of me hiding behind the tall pillars of Jacob and Sam as we ran to the parking lot popping into my mind. I'd still probably be hit, and it worried me. "Thanks," I started, "But I'm not really going to join the…war."

"Why?" A look of realization came across his russet face. "You don't like the cold?"

"Not really. I don't really like the wet ether," I admitted, shading in another part of the pattern with the edge of my pencil.

"Forks must be a hard place for you to live in," he mused, twirling his own pencil with his fingers.

"You have no idea," I mumbled blackly, erasing a stray line that was out of place on the picture.

Jacob tossed his hair again, shooting me a skeptical look. "Why did you move here then?" he asked, his voice not prying like Jessica's, but genuinely curious.

"It's…" I searched for the right word, finding none. "It's complicated."

"I'm sure I can keep up," he replied effortlessly.

I placed my pencil down, biting my lip. I looked up, and accidentally met his gaze. The dark brown irises of his eyes were kind, and open. It reminded me of a slab of dark chocolate, slowly melting in the Phoenix heat. I swallowed and then blurted out without thinking. "My mother got remarried."

"And you don't like the guy she married?"

"No, Phil's fine. A bit young, yes, but a good choice for my mom."

"Then why didn't you stay with them instead of coming here, to the rainiest place on Earth?"

"Phil's a baseball player. Strictly minor league and all, so he travels a lot with his team."

"And your mother sent you here so she could travel with him?" he guessed.

"No," I replied, my chin jutting out stubbornly, "I sent myself. She tried to stay with me at first, but then she got unhappy and started to miss him…so I decided to spend some time with Charlie."

"But, aren't you unhappy?" he asked.

"So?" I challenged, my tone sharper than I intended.

"That doesn't seem entirely fair." He shrugged innocently, pointing out the obvious.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair." I replied, letting out a rather pessimistic chuckle for good measure.

Jacob was finally silent. He sat, studying me with his intense eyes. "Bella, I think you're suffering more than you let or want anyone else to see." He paused dramatically. "Am I right?"

I scowled at him. "Why does it matter to you?" I demanded.

"I didn't mean to offend you…I'm just saying…" he replied apologetically.

Sighing, I turned my attention to the blackboard. I waited for him to finally look away before I relaxed. What a strange boy. I looked through the corner of my eyes at him again, and noticed that he was glaring at Quil. Although they didn't even open their mouths, they stared with such intensity at one another that I had this feeling that they were communicating. Quil caught me staring, for possibly the millionth time, and he raised one of his dark brows. Jacob turned to me and I hastily looked down.

Luckily, the bell rang at that moment and I dropped my books into my bag. Jacob was already out of his chair, and he tossed his own pack onto his shoulder before swiftly leaving with his friends.

Mike appeared at my side. "That was so hard," he complained, "The slides all looked the same. Did Black give you any trouble?"

"No, not really," I replied, hiding my smile at his jealousy. "He was actually pretty nice today." I looked out the window and saw Jacob flinging a fistful of snow towards Leah, who shrieked in response and tackled him to the ground. The entire Quileute group was throwing snowballs at each other, oblivious to the staring teens that went around them.

"I wonder what was with him last Monday," Mike said, his voice spike with envy.

"Guess he was just having a bad day."


For those of you who are familiar to the chapters of Twilight, you know what's coming up next.
Let me give you a hint:

Music. Cars. SCREECH! Hospital.

Stay tuned...Please review on what you think I can throw in for the next chapter!