First sight "must be when the main couple of the story meets" Max said shrugging
My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was seventy-five degrees in phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue.
I like her more and more max thought me too! Angel sweetie can you tell me what Jacob thinks of me? Sure angel suddenly closed her eyes in concentration as she sent Jacobs thoughts about Max to Max and Max's thoughts about Jacob to Jacob (in secret). Max suddenly blushed as she glared at Angel "ANGEL!" Angel looked scared and said "sorry Max!" as everyone but the flock looked confused
I was wearing my favorite shirt-sleeveless, white eyelet lace
Nudge and Alice shuddered at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled mischievously.
I was wearing it as a farewell gesture. My carry on item was a parka.
"Uhg" Nudge shuddered "I've seem pretty freaky things but that is just gross" "Yeah" Alice agreed shuddering
In Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington state
"Hey Max weren't we planning on going there before we had to come here? Because I think we were and that would be a weird coincidence." Nudge said "We were going there" Max said thoughtfully I would still have imprinted on Jacob then realizing Angel connected everyone's mind, she looked embarrassed while her flock snickered "Shut up!" she growled at them and they shied away. Max smirked and said "This is why I make sure they fear me. They annoy the crap out of me!" The Cullens and Jacob nodded, still in awe of her thought
A small town named forks exists under the near constant cover of clouds
"I like it already" Max said While her flock looked terrified. You better be she thought to them before showing a flash of silver in her eyes. That Cullens and Jacob looked at her suspiciously before Iggy continued reading.
It rains on this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United Sates.
Suddenly, Max was grapping her head gasping and fell onto Jacob's lap. "Um what's going on?" Jacob asked with obvious concern "She's having a brain attack but don't worry it's not a bad one, I still can pick up a lot of brainwaves from her." Angel said with an eerie calmness "Well we better explain I can read and control minds, breathe underwater because of invisible gills on my throat like Fang and Max I can also communicate with fish and shape-shift into a giant bird like everyone else but really their just eagles with our feather color." Waking up Max said "We'll all explain our own powers. Anyway I can run and fly at light speed and yeah don't play poker with angel. Anyway that pretty much doses it for me." "But Max what about..." But Max clamped a hand over Nudge's mouth before she could say more "Anyway I can attract any metal to me and sense your emotions when I'm touching you" Nudge said prying Max's hand off her mouth. "I can see only if you are on a white background or Nudge is touching me or if Angel is giving me a mental image other than that I can feel color" Iggy explained next "Normal Vampire stuff plus I can turn invisible when I want" Fang said shrugging "I can mimic voices and sounds perfectly and have some..Um…internal problems" Gazzy explained hastily. Iggy continued reading before the Cullens or Jacob asked questions.
It was here in this town and it's gloomy, omnipresent shade was from my mother escaped with me when I was only a few months old.
"Good job, Reneeus" Max whispered to herself but everyone heard her anyway, except Bella. "What do you mean by that?" Edward asked confused. The Flock just shook their heads as Max covered her head with her wings and silently cried "Let's just say it's just one more reason we hate our lives" Gazzy said while Jacob tried to comfort Max.
It was this town that I'd been compelled to spend a month every summer until I was fourteen. That was the year I finally put my foot down; these past three summers, my dad, Charlie
Max sighed loudly and sniffled more and muttered "If she only knew" very low so Bella couldn't hear. Jacob tried to comfort her while the flock sighed at the memories they shared with Max.
(^This is where I ended in the preview so you can skip this if you like^)
Vacationed with me in California for two weeks instead.
It was to Forks that I now exiled myself— an action that I took with great horror. I detested Forks.
"You won't for long" Edward said smiling and Bella blushed
I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat. I loved the vigorous, sprawling city.
"A place the bloodsuckers could never live" Jacob smirked along with Fang and Max
"Bella," my mom said to me — the last of a thousand times — before I got on the plane. "You don't have to do this."
"Lucky!" Gazzy mumbled "Your mom actually wants you" Angel explained and Bella and Esme looked sympathetically at them
My mom looks like me, except with short hair and laugh lines. I felt a spasm of panic as I stared at her wide, childlike eyes. How could I leave my loving, erratic, harebrained mother to fend for herself?
"Are you the Parent or the child?" Fang and Jasper asked at the same time. Nudge was about to say something but Iggy covered her mouth "We don't care that fang said more than three words" he whispered into her ear and let his hand go.
Of course she had Phil now, so the bills would probably get paid, there would be food in the refrigerator, gas in her car, and someone to call when she got lost, but still…
"So selfless" Edward murmured into her ear
"I want to go," I lied. I'd always been a bad liar, but I'd been saying this lie so frequently lately that it sounded almost convincing now.
"That's our Bells!" Emmet laughed Bella glared at him at the same time as Max, with the same level of pure evil in it. Emmet looked scared but couldn't help notice how much they looked like each other
"Tell Charlie I said hi."
"I will."
"I don't think I ever did" Bella said thoughtful
"I'll see you soon," she insisted. "You can come home whenever you want — I'll come right back as soon as you need me."
But I could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind the promise.
"Selfless" Edward murmured to her and Bella blushed and kissed his cheek
"Don't worry about me," I urged. "It'll be great. I love you, Mom."
She hugged me tightly for a minute, and then I got on the plane, and she was gone.
It's a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane up to Port Angeles, and then an hour drive back down to Forks. Flying doesn't bother me; the hour in the car with Charlie, though, I was a little worried about.
"Must be awkward" Max sighed and Bella nodded
Charlie had really been fairly nice about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely pleased that I was coming to live with him for the first time with any degree of permanence.
"Of course he does, dear, he's your father" Esme smiled but Max just sighed and cuddled up close to Jacob
He'd already gotten me registered for high school and was going to help me get a car.
"Nice" Fang said and the flock nodded, obviously jealous
But it was sure to be awkward with Charlie.
The Cullens nodded
Neither of us was what anyone would call verbose, and I didn't know what there was to say regardless. I knew he was more than a little confused by my decision — like my mother before me, I hadn't made a secret of my distaste for Forks.
When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. I didn't see it as an omen — just unavoidable.
"Smart" The flock said together Bella blushed
I'd already said my goodbyes to the sun.
The Cullen 'kids' just sighed
Charlie was waiting for me with the cruiser.
"Cool!" Gazzy exclaimed
This I was expecting, too. Charlie is Police Chief Swan to the good people of Forks. My primary motivation behind buying a car, despite the scarcity of my funds, was that I refused to be driven around town in a car with red and blue lights on top.
Gazzy pouted while the Cullen 'kids' along with the flock and Jacob laughed at him
Nothing slows down traffic like a cop.
"So true" Edward smirked and Bella fake smacked him laughing
Charlie gave me an awkward, one-armed hug when I stumbled my way off the plane.
"It's good to see you, Bells," he said, smiling as he automatically caught and steadied me.
So many pranks so little time Gazzy and Iggy thought forgetting everyone could hear each other's thoughts. "IGGY GAZZY!" Max yelled at them. The boys gulped as everyone else laughed.
"You haven't changed much. How's Renée?"
"Mom's fine. It's good to see you, too, Dad." I wasn't allowed to call him Charlie to his face.
"He would have allowed it" Max pointed out "I mean you never saw him" Bella shrugged
I had only a few bags.
Alice gasped and Nudge shrugged "I may be a fashionista but I can't take anything with me so I understand" Alice hmphed and mumbled "Shopping trip time"
Most of my Arizona clothes were too permeable for Washington. My mom and I had pooled our resources to supplement my winter wardrobe, but it was still scanty. It all fit easily into the trunk of the cruiser.
Alice's eye narrowed but immanently calmed down thanks to Jasper
"I found a good car for you, really cheap," he announced when we were strapped in.
"What kind of car?" I was suspicious of the way he said "good car for you" as opposed to just "good car."
"It never ceases to amaze me how observant you are" Edward smiled
"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy."
"Where did you find it?"
"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?"
Jacob beamed and Iggy hid something behind his back witch Angel got and gave to Max, who disarmed it "Not again while reading these books you hear?" she asked referring to bomb making. Iggy rolled his sightless eyes while Jacob and the Cullens looked flabbergasted "I can make bombs out of anything" Iggy explained
La Push is the tiny Indian reservation on the coast.
"It's not tiny" Max and Jacob both pouted
"No."
"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Charlie prompted.
That would explain why I didn't remember him. I do a good job of blocking painful, unnecessary things from my memory.
"Lucky!" The flock exclaimed
"He's in a wheelchair now," Charlie continued when I didn't respond, "so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."
Jacob continued to pout
"What year is it?" I could see from his change of expression that this was the question he was hoping I wouldn't ask.
Bella laughed
"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine — it's only a few years old, really."
I hoped he didn't think so little of me as to believe I would give up that easily.
"He can hope!" Emmet laughed
"When did he buy it?"
"He bought it in 1984, I think."
"That's older than me!" Rosalie exclaimed
"Did he buy it new?"
"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties — or late fifties at the earliest," he admitted sheepishly.
"That's older than Edward!" Alice exclaimed horrified "Hey don't hate on the truck!" Bella exclaimed
"Ch — Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic…"
"And that's why we have Jake!" Bella laughed "I knew there was a secret reason for keeping me around!" he fake pouted making the flock laugh
"Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."
The thing, I thought to myself… it had possibilities — as a nickname, at the very least.
"How cheap is cheap?" After all, that was the part I couldn't compromise on.
"Well, honey, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift." Charlie peeked sideways at me with a hopeful expression.
"That's nice of him" Esme smiled
Wow. Free.
"You didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car."
"I don't mind. I want you to be happy here." He was looking ahead at the road when he said this. Charlie wasn't comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud. I inherited that from him. So I was looking straight ahead as I responded.
Bella groaned
"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." No need to add that my being happy in Forks is an impossibility. He didn't need to suffer along with me.
Max smiled weakly
And I never looked a free truck in the mouth — or engine.
"Well, now, you're welcome," he mumbled, embarrassed by my thanks.
We exchanged a few more comments on the weather, which was wet, and that was pretty much it for Conversation. We stared out the windows in silence.
It was beautiful, of course; I couldn't deny that. Everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves.
It was too green — an alien planet.
Max was going to say something but decided against it as Emmet said "but green is the most common color on the planet" "I know but I was used to dessert" Bella huffed
Eventually we made it to Charlie's. He still lived in the small, two-bedroom house that he'd bought with my mother in the early days of their marriage. Those were the only kind of days their marriage had — the early ones. There, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was my new — well, new to me — truck. It was a faded red color, with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. "Erg," Rosalie shuttered.
To my intense surprise, I loved it.
Rosalie groaned
I didn't know if it would run, but I could see myself in it. Plus, it was one of those solid iron affairs that never gets damaged — the kind you see at the scene of an accident, paint unscratched, surrounded by the pieces of the foreign car it had destroyed.
"Wow, Dad, I love it! Thanks!" Now my horrific day tomorrow would be just that much less dreadful. I wouldn't be faced with the choice of either walking two miles in the rain to school or accepting a ride in the Chief's cruiser.
"True" Rosalie shrugged
"I'm glad you like it," Charlie said gruffly, embarrassed again.
It took only one trip to get all my stuff upstairs.
Alice huffed
I got the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard. The room was familiar; it had been belonged to me since I was born.
Max sighed
The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellowed lace curtains around the window — these were all a part of my childhood. The only changes Charlie had ever made were switching the crib for a bed and adding a desk as I grew. The desk now held a secondhand computer, with the phone line for the modem stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack. This was a stipulation from my mother, so that we could stay in touch easily. The rocking chair from my baby days was still in the corner.
Edward and Bella smiled "I love that chair" The said in unison "For what reason" Emmet said wiggling his eyebrow suggestively "EMMET!" Esme scolded "There is a seven year old here!" "Sorry ma" he murmured while Angel huffed "Trust me I'm used to it because of our blind pyro" she said
There was only one small bathroom at the top of the stairs, which I would have to share with Charlie. I was trying not to dwell too much on that fact.
One of the best things about Charlie is he doesn't hover.
Bella nodded, agreeing with herself
He left me alone to unpack and get settled, a feat that would have been altogether impossible for my mother. It was nice to be alone, not to have to smile and look pleased; a relief to stare dejectedly out the window at the sheeting rain and let just a few tears escape.
Max, who had calmed down a little, sighed at the thought of Bella being sad, then smiled at Esme as she seemed genially worried and concerned for Bella.
I wasn't in the mood to go on a real crying jag. I would save that for bedtime, when I would have to think about the coming morning.
Max sighed while Esme and Edward both hugged Bella
Forks High School had a frightening total of only three hundred and fifty-seven — now fifty-eight — students;
"Very precise" Fang murmured, thinking of Max. Why do they seem so alike? Jacob and the Cullens thought, although Bella was thinking Why my thoughts? Why! And why am I so much like Max? Everyone, of course heard these thoughts but the flock shrugged it off and Max buried her head into Jacobs shoulder
There were more than seven hundred people in my junior class alone back home. All of the kids here had grown up together — their grandparents had been toddlers together.
"It can be awkward" Carlisle said and the flock nodded
I would be the new girl from the big city, a curiosity, a freak.
"Maybe not the last one" Alice smiled
Maybe, if I looked like a girl from Phoenix should, I could work this to my advantage.
But physically, I'd never fit in anywhere. I should be tan, sporty, blond — a volleyball player, or a cheerleader, perhaps — all the things that go with living in the valley of the sun.
Max snorted and Edward just shook his head
Instead, I was ivory-skinned, without even the excuse of blue eyes or red hair, despite the constant sunshine. I had always been slender, but soft somehow, obviously not an athlete; I didn't have the necessary hand-eye coordination to play sports without humiliating myself — and harming both myself and anyone else who stood too close
Gazzy and Iggy snickered and Emmet laughed
When I finished putting my clothes in the old pine dresser, I took my bag of bathroom necessities and went to the communal bathroom to clean myself up after the day of travel.
Max glared at nudge before she could say anything
I looked at my face in the mirror as I brushed through my tangled, damp hair. Maybe it was the light, but already I looked sallower, unhealthy. My skin could be pretty — it was very clear, almost translucent-looking —but it all depended on color. I had no color here.
Edward shook his head while Rosalie huffed
Facing my pallid reflection in the mirror, I was forced to admit that I was lying to myself. It wasn't just physically that I'd never fit in. And if I couldn't find a niche in a school with three thousand people, what were my chances here?
"Very good" Edward and Alice smiled
I didn't relate well to people my age. Maybe the truth was that I didn't relate well to people, period.
"You can always hang with us!" Iggy, Emmet, and Gazzy said at the same time then laughed and high fived
Even my mother, who I was closer to than anyone else on the planet, was never in harmony with me, never on the exact same page.
Max, again, sighed
Sometimes I wondered if I was seeing the same things through my eyes that the rest of the world was seeing through theirs. Maybe there was a glitch in my brain. But the cause didn't matter. All that mattered was the effect. And tomorrow would be just the beginning.
I didn't sleep well that night,
Max and Esme looked worried
Even after I was done crying. The constant whooshing of the rain and wind across the roof wouldn't fade into the background. I pulled the faded old quilt over my head, and later added the pillow, too. But I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight, when the rain finally settled into a quieter drizzle.
Max smiled sympathetically
Thick fog was all I could see out my window in the morning, and I could feel the claustrophobia creeping up on me. You could never see the sky here; it was like a cage.
The flock smiled sympathetically
Breakfast with Charlie was a quiet event. He wished me good luck at school. I thanked him, knowing his hope was wasted. Good luck tended to avoid me. Charlie left first, off to the police station that was his wife and family. After he left, I sat at the old square oak table in one of the three unmatching chairs and examined his small kitchen, with its dark paneled walls, bright yellow cabinets, and white linoleum floor. Nothing was changed.
Bella smiled
My mother had painted the cabinets eighteen years ago in an attempt to bring some sunshine into the house. Over the small fireplace in the adjoining handkerchief-sized family room was a row of pictures. First a wedding picture of Charlie and my mom in Las Vegas, then one of the three of us in the hospital after I was born, taken by a helpful nurse, followed by the procession of my school pictures up to last year's. Those were embarrassing to look at — I would have to see what I could do to get Charlie to put them somewhere else, at least while I was living here.
It was impossible, being in this house, not to realize that Charlie had never gotten over my mom. It made me uncomfortable.
The Cullens nodded and Jacob smiled
I didn't want to be too early to school, but I couldn't stay in the house anymore. I donned my jacket — which had the feel of a biohazard suit
"Ick!" Nudge and Alice said at the same time
— and headed out into the rain.
It was just drizzling still, not enough to soak me through immediately as I reached for the house key that was always hidden under the eave by the door, and locked up. The sloshing of my new waterproof boots was unnerving. I missed the normal crunch of gravel as I walked. I couldn't pause and admire my truck again as I wanted;
Rosalie looked sick while the Flock smiled at the mental picture of the truck and Bella sighed longingly
I was in a hurry to get out of the misty wet that swirled around my head and clung to my hair under my hood.
Inside the truck, it was nice and dry. Either Billy or Charlie had obviously cleaned it up, but the tan upholstered seats still smelled faintly of tobacco, gasoline, and peppermint.
The engine started quickly, to my relief, but loudly, roaring to life and then idling at top volume. Well, a truck this old was bound to have a flaw. The antique radio worked, a plus that I hadn't expected.
Jacob smiled "Your welcome" he laughed while the Cullens rolled their eyes and Max laughed
Finding the school wasn't difficult, though I'd never been there before. The school was, like most other things, just off the highway. It was not obvious that it was a school; only the sign, which declared it to be the Forks High School, made me stop. It looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon-colored bricks. There were so many trees and shrubs I couldn't see its size at first. Where was the feel of the institution? I wondered nostalgically. Where were the chain-link fences, the metal detectors?
The flock laughed "You actually have that in Arizona?" They asked along with the Cullens "Yep" she smiled and laughed along with the Flock
I parked in front of the first building, which had a small sign over the door reading front office. No one else was parked there, so I was sure it was off limits, but I decided I would get directions inside instead of circling around in the rain like an idiot. I stepped unwillingly out of the toasty truck cab and walked down a little stone path lined with dark hedges. I took a deep breath before opening the door.
Max snickered "Breathing is important" she reminded her
Inside, it was brightly lit, and warmer than I'd hoped. The office was small; a little waiting area with padded folding chairs, orange-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, a big clock ticking loudly. Plants grew everywhere in large plastic pots, as if there wasn't enough greenery outside. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly colored flyers taped to its front. There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, red-haired woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a purple t-shirt, which immediately made me feel overdressed.
The red-haired woman looked up. "Can I help you?"
"I'm Isabella Swan," I informed her, and saw the immediate awareness light her eyes. I was expected, a topic of gossip no doubt.
"Right again Bellies" Emmet said but everyone ignored him
Daughter of the Chief's flighty ex-wife, come home at last.
"Pretty accurate" Edward shrugged
"Of course," she said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school." She brought several sheets to the counter to show roe.
She went through my classes for me, highlighting the best route to each on the map, and gave me a slip to have each teacher sign, which I was to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled at me and hoped, like Charlie, that I would like it here in Forks. I smiled back as convincingly as I could.
Alice just shook her head "You're a terrible liar" she said
When I went back out to my truck, other students were starting to arrive. I drove around the school, following the line of traffic. I was glad to see that most of the cars were older like mine, nothing flashy. At home I'd lived in one of the few lower-income neighborhoods that were included in the Paradise Valley District. It was a common thing to see a new Mercedes or Porsche in the student lot.
"Ah Porsche….." Alice said dreamily
The nicest car here was a shiny Volvo, and it stood out.
"Edward's ex wife!" Emmet exclaimed The Cullens laughed at Edward's pout
Still, I cut the engine as soon as I was in a spot, so that the thunderous volume wouldn't draw attention to me.
I looked at the map in the truck, trying to memorize it now; hopefully I wouldn't have to walk around with it stuck in front of my nose all day. I stuffed everything in my bag, slung the strap over my shoulder, and sucked in a huge breath. I can do this, I lied to myself feebly.
"Lying is bad for the soul" Emmet said serious
No one was going to bite me.
"We'll try" Emmet chuckled as the Cullens laughed
I finally exhaled and stepped out of the truck.
I kept my face pulled back into my hood as I walked to the sidewalk, crowded with teenagers. My plain black jacket didn't stand out, I noticed with relief.
Once I got around the cafeteria, building three was easy to spot. A large black "3" was painted on a white square on the east corner.
"So easy" Fang huffed
I felt my breathing gradually creeping toward hyperventilation as I approached the door. I tried holding my breath as I followed two unisex raincoats through the door.
The classroom was small. The people in front of me stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. I copied them. They were two girls, one a porcelain-colored blonde, the other also pale, with light brown hair. At least my skin wouldn't be a standout here.
"Nope it still stood out" Iggy laughed
I took the slip up to the teacher, a tall, balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Mason. He gawked at me when he saw my name — not an encouraging response — and of course I flushed tomato red. But at least he sent me to an empty desk at the back without introducing me to the class. It was harder for my new classmates to stare at me in the back, but somehow, they managed.
"Bet you loved that!" Alice snickered while Bella death glared her. She shut up right away
I kept my eyes down on the reading list the teacher had given me. It was fairly basic: Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Faulkner. I'd already read everything. That was comforting… and boring.
Emmet just shook his head while Carlisle smiled
I wondered if my mom would send me my folder of old essays, or if she would think that was cheating.
"Can I do that now?" Bella asked innocently. Esme nodded
I went through different arguments with her in my head while the teacher droned on.
When the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, a gangly boy with skin problems and hair black as an oil slick leaned across the aisle to talk to me.
"Eric!" All the Cullen kids said
"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" He looked like the overly helpful, chess club type.
"The Cullen kids leaned in
"Bella," I corrected. Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at me.
"Where's your next class?" he asked.
I had to check in my bag. "Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six."
There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes.
"I'm headed toward building four, I could show you the way…" Definitely over-helpful.
The Cullen kids snorted
"I'm Eric," he added.
"Yes!" They all shouted and everybody laughed
I smiled tentatively. "Thanks."
We got our jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. I could have sworn several people behind us were walking close enough to eavesdrop. I hoped I wasn't getting paranoid.
"You weren't" Alice said smiling "Thanks" Bella grumbled
"So, this is a lot different than Phoenix, huh?" he asked.
"Very."
"It doesn't rain much there, does it?"
"Three or four times a year."
"Yep" Max said proudly
"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered.
"Sunny," I told him.
"Idiot" Edward mumbled "I agree! I mean we have no education and we're smarter than him!" Nudge exclaimed upon hearing Edward
"You don't look very tan."
"My mother is part albino."
He studied my face apprehensively, and I sighed. It looked like clouds and a sense of humor didn't mix.
"Wasn't funny Bells" Jasper smiled
A few months of this and I'd forget how to use sarcasm.
We walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym. Eric walked me right to the door, though it was clearly marked.
Edward pouted and Bella kissed his cheek
"Well, good luck," he said as I touched the handle. "Maybe we'll have some other classes together." He sounded hopeful.
I smiled at him vaguely and went inside.
The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. My Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, who I would have hated anyway just because of the subject he taught, was the only one who made me stand in front of the class and introduce myself.
Edward nodded
I stammered, blushed, and tripped over my own boots on the way to my seat.
After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask me questions about how I was liking Forks. I tried to be diplomatic, but mostly I just lied a lot.
Emmet made a fake tisk sound "What did I say about lying? It's bad for the soul" Bella rolled her eyes
At least I never needed the map.
One girl sat next to me in both Trig and Spanish, and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. She was tiny, several inches shorter than my five feet four inches,
"Jessica" The Cullen kids smirked
But her wildly curly dark hair made up a lot of the difference between our heights.
"Defiantly" They added
I couldn't remember her name, so I smiled and nodded as she prattled about teachers and classes. I didn't try to keep up.
We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. The boy from English, Eric, waved at me from across the room.
It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them.
"Now we make our entrance" Emmet snickered
They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't gawking at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught, and held, my attention.
"We purdy people" Emmet laughed
They didn't look anything alike. Of the three boys, one was big — muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair.
"Me!" Emmet exclaimed
Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond.
"My Jazzy!" Alice exclaimed "I don't know could be Iggy" Gazzy shrugged and everyone laughed
The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair.
"Eddy!" Emmet exclaimed "Stop calling me that!" Edward said annoyed
He was more boyish than the others, who looked like they could be in college, or even teachers here rather than students.
Edward pouted
The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back.
Rosalie smiled
The short girl was pixie like, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.
"ME!" Alice exclaimed
And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in this sunless town. Paler than me, the albino.
"Observant" Bella shrugged
They all had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones.
"Did not end well" Emmet smiled
They also had dark shadows under those eyes — purplish, bruise like shadows. As if they were all suffering from a sleepless night,
The Cullens shrugged
Or almost done recovering from a broken nose. Though their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, and angular.
But all this is not why I couldn't look away.
"Really?" Edward asked
I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful — maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze haired boy.
Emmet wiggled his eyebrows
They were all looking away — away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as I could tell. As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray — unopened soda, unbitten apple —
"You're noticing too much" Jasper said
And walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway. I watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible.
Alice winced
My eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.
"Who are they?" I asked the girl from my Spanish class, whose name I'd forgotten.
Bella shrugged
As she looked up to see who I meant — though already knowing, probably, from my tone — suddenly he looked at her, the thinner one, the boyish one, the youngest, perhaps.
Bella blushed at her thoughts
He looked at my neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to mine.
"Awww!" Nudge and Alice squealed
He looked away quickly, more quickly than I could, though in a flush of embarrassment I dropped my eyes at once. In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest — it was as if she had called his name, and he'd looked up in involuntary response, already having decided not to answer.
"You really are observant" Carlisle said shocked while Bella blushed
My neighbor giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table like I did.
"That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife." She said this under her breath.
"Let's see what she said" Emmet joked knowing his family all heard her anyway "Yes let's" Esme smirked
I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening. The other three still looked away, and yet I felt he was speaking quietly to them.
"Observant" Max said under her breath "Is an understatement" Emmet, of course, laughed the loudest out of everyone and Bella huffed
Strange, unpopular names, I thought. The kinds of names grandparents had.
"Are you sure you didn't know back then?" Angel asked picking up on Emmet's thoughts and Bella looked shocked and nodded
But maybe that was in vogue here — small town names? I finally remembered that my neighbor was called Jessica, a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jessica in my History class back home.
"They are… very nice-looking." I struggled with the conspicuous understatement.
Emmet, again, smirked with Iggy and Gazzy. "Hand it over" Max held out her hand and Iggy pouted and handed over the bomb "Thanks Ange" he muttered and max dissembled it and gave back everybody's stuff (except for Gazzy and Iggy's)
"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all together though — Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they live together." Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, I thought critically.
Max and the flock smiled knowing that's what they would have to do if they went to school
But, if I was being honest, I had to admit that even in Phoenix, it would cause gossip.
"Which ones are the Cullens?" I asked. "They don't look related…"
"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins — the blondes — and they're foster children."
"They look a little old for foster children."
"Maybe a little" Emmet and Iggy smirked
"They are now; Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen,
The Cullens rolled their eyes
But they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."
"Yeah something like that" said Cullens chuckled
"That's really kind of nice — for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything."
"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I got the impression that she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some reason. With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children, I would presume the reason was jealousy.
"Yep!" The Cullen kids exclaimed and the flock laughed
"I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though," she added,
Esme saddened at this and Angel went over and sat on her lap and smiled "Don't worry I can pretend to be your little girl while reading the books" Esme smiled at her and said "I would like that very much" and hugged Angel
As if that lessened their kindness.
"Thank you dear" Esme smiled at Bella" Bella smiled back sheepishly and blushed
Throughout all this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to the table where the strange family sat. They continued to look at the walls and not eat.
"Too observant" Jacob muttered
"Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. Surely I would have noticed them on one of my summers here.
"I have no doubt you would have" Carlisle smiled at Bella
"No," she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a new arrival like me. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."
"Ah Alaska" Nudge murmured "The farthest state from the school" she added dreamily
I felt a surge of pity, and relief. Pity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. Relief that I wasn't the only newcomer here and certainly not the most interesting by any standard.
"Oh Bella" the Cullen kids shook their heads "So selfless" Max murmured
As I examined them, the youngest, one of the Cullens, looked up and met my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression.
"Someone's got it bad" Rosalie joked along with Gazzy in Emmet's voice
As I looked swiftly away, it seemed to me that his glance held some kind of unmet expectation.
Edward shook his head
"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" I asked. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, and he was still staring at me, but not gawking like the other students had today — he had a slightly frustrated expression. I looked down again.
Edwards smiled knowing she was only asking about him. Bella shook her head
"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd turned her down.
"Depends on when you're asking" Edward chuckled and Iggy smirked
I bit my lip to hide my smile. Then I glanced at him again. His face was turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were smiling, too.
"I was" said Cullen smirked. Jacob rolled his eyes
After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They all were noticeably graceful — even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't look at me again.
"Aw Bellies sad" 'Emmet' faked pouted "Gazzy!" Max yelled "Hey it was funny" He huffed
I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than I would have if I'd been sitting alone. I was anxious not to be late for class on my first day. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me that her name was Angela,
"I like Angela" Edward smiled "She has a very considerate mind" Angel nodded
Had Biology II with me the next hour.
Edward winced
We walked to class together in silence. She was shy, too.
The flock smiled at this
When we entered the classroom, Angela went to sit at a black-topped lab table exactly like the ones I was used to. She already had a neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, I recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual hair, sitting next to that single open seat.
As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face — it was hostile, furious.
"Sorry Bells" Edward said under Max's death glare
I looked away quickly, shocked, going red again. I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table. The girl sitting there giggled.
I'd noticed that his eyes were black — coal black.
Edward groaned at the memory, the flock and Jacob shuddered as the memory appeared in their minds as well
Mr. Banner signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about introductions. I could tell we were going to get along. Of course, he had no choice but to send me to the one open seat in the middle of the room. I kept my eyes down as I went to sit by him, bewildered by the antagonistic stare he'd given me.
"Sorry" Edward mumbled "It's ok" Bella smiled
I didn't look up as I set my book on the table and took my seat, but I saw his posture change from the corner of my eye. He was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad.
"More like something insanely good" He said
Inconspicuously, I sniffed my hair. It smelled like strawberries, the scent of my favorite shampoo. It seemed an innocent enough odor. I let my hair fall over my right shoulder, making a dark curtain between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher.
"Not gonna happen" Gazzy said
Unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something I'd already studied. I took notes carefully anyway, always looking down.
Edward winced
I couldn't stop myself from peeking occasionally through the screen of my hair at the strange boy next to me. During the whole class, he never relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far from me as possible. I could see his hand on his left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under his pale skin. This, too, he never relaxed.
Edward and Bella sighed
He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his light skin. He wasn't nearly as slight as he'd looked next to his burly brother.
"That's because me strong!" Emmet exclaimed
The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the day was finally coming to a close, or because I was waiting for his tight fist to loosen? It never did; he continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn't breathing.
Max smiled "Good" she said
What was wrong with him?
Was this his normal behavior? I questioned my judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she was not as resentful as I'd thought.
It couldn't have anything to do with me. He didn't know me from Eve.
Edward rolled his eyes
I peeked up at him one more time, and regretted it. He was glaring down at me again, his black eyes full of revulsion. As I flinched away from him, shrinking against my chair, the phrase if looks could kill suddenly ran through my mind.
"Wow how sweet" Iggy rolled his eyes
At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making me jump, and Edward Cullen was out of his seat. Fluidly he rose — he was much taller than I'd thought — his back to me, and he was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat.
"Going to fats" Rosalie said Edward just rolled his eyes
I sat frozen in my seat, staring blankly after him. He was so mean. It wasn't fair. I began gathering up my things slowly, trying to block the anger that filled me, for fear my eyes would tear up. For some reason, my temper was hardwired to my tear ducts. I usually cried when I was angry, a humiliating tendency.
"Aren't you Isabella Swan?" a male voice asked.
I looked up to see a cute, baby-faced boy; his pale blond hair carefully gelled into orderly spikes, smiling at me in a friendly way. He obviously didn't think I smelled bad.
"Bella," I corrected him, with a smile.
"I'm Mike."
"Hi, Mike."
"Do you need any help finding your next class?"
"I'm headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it."
"REJECTED!" Gazzy, Iggy, Blazeshadow (who, like his sisters, had been totally quiet the whole time) and Emmet all exclaimed and everybody else laughed
"That's my next class, too." He seemed thrilled, though it wasn't that big of a coincidence in a school this small.
We walked to class together; he was a chatterer — he supplied most of the conversation, which made it easy for me. He'd lived in California till he was ten, so he knew how I felt about the sun. It turned out he was in my English class also. He was the nicest person I'd met today.
"You sure?" Shadowslayer and Shadeslayer both joked "because Edward was pretty nice not to drink you dry"
But as we were entering the gym, he asked, "So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."
"Maybe" Bella joked
Icringed. So I wasn't the only one who had noticed. And, apparently, that wasn't Edward Cullen's usual behavior. I decided to play dumb.
"Was that the boy I sat next to in Biology?" I asked artlessly.
"Yes," he said. "He looked like he was in pain or something."
"I don't know," I responded. "I never spoke to him."
"He's a weird guy."
"Got that right!" Emmet exclaimed
Mike lingered by me instead of heading to the dressing room. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you."
Shadeslayer rolled her eyes
I smiled at him before walking through the girls' locker room door. He was friendly and clearly admiring. But it wasn't enough to ease my irritation.
The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform but didn't make me dress down for today's class. At home, only two years of RE. Were required. Here, P.E. was mandatory all four years. Forks was literally my personal hell on Earth.
Emmet snickered
I watched four volleyball games running simultaneously. Remembering how many injuries I had sustained — and inflicted — playing volleyball, I felt faintly nauseated.
The final bell rang at last. I walked slowly to the office to return my paperwork. The rain had drifted away, but the wind was strong, and colder. I wrapped my arms around myself.
When I walked into the warm office, I almost turned around and walked back out.
Edward Cullen stood at the desk in front of me.
Edward winced
I recognized again that tousled bronze hair. He didn't appear to notice the sound of my entrance. I stood pressed against the back wall, waiting for the receptionist to be free.
He was arguing with her in a low, attractive voice. I quickly picked up the gist of the argument. He was trying to trade from sixth-hour Biology to another time — any other time.
His wince deepened sense Blazeshadow, Shadeslayer, Shadowslayer, and Max all started glaring at him
I just couldn't believe that this was about me. It had to be something else, something that happened before I entered the Biology room. The look on his face must have been about another aggravation entirely. It was impossible that this stranger could take such a sudden, intense dislike to me.
The door opened again, and the cold wind suddenly gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling my hair around my face.
Bella sighed
The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked out again. But Edward Cullen's back stiffened, and he turned slowly to glare at me — his face was absurdly handsome — with piercing, hate-filled eyes. For an instant, I felt a thrill of genuine fear, raising the hair on my arms. The look only lasted a second, but it chilled me more than the freezing wind.
Max and the Flock winced
He turned back to the receptionist.
"Never mind, then," he said hastily in a voice like velvet. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." And he turned on his heel without another look at me, and disappeared out the door.
I went meekly to the desk, my face white for once instead of red, and handed her the signed slip.
"How did your first day go, dear?" the receptionist asked maternally.
"Fine," I lied, my voice weak. She didn't look convinced.
When I got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. It seemed like a haven, already the closest thing to home I had in this damp green hole. I sat inside for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly. But soon I was cold enough to need the heater, so I turned the key and the engine roared to life. I headed back to Charlie's house, fighting tears the whole way there.
Max sighed "I'll read" she said and took the book