I glanced over at the soft, quiet boy. His lips were in a tight smile, as though he wanted to outburst something to the world, as though he had a secret. I inclined my head to them. "I'm Eden," I whispered, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot.

"Gorgeous name, Eden," Emmett's grin spread across his face. "Perfect for you, I think so!" Did he just hint that I was gorgeous? No. I must have misheard him.

A squeaky, unsure voice escaped from my lips. "What?"

Maybe I shouldn't have said anything, but I always said something when I was nervous. I heard the pretty one, Jasper manage to escape a small laugh. That surprised me, because either he was laughing at me, or he was laughing at my shock. It figured it was the first reason.

I heard a distant bell ring from inside the school. I hadn't even noticed that almost everyone in the parking lot was gone. The last few people murmured curses and swiftly rushed away. I frantically looked towards the calm beauties. "Oh god! I feel so bad, I just made you late, please, I don't mind saying it's my fault-"

"We're seniors," Rosalie rolled her eyes. "We don't even have first period, so calm down." Emmett frowned at her, stroking her hair. "You on the other hand, should probably get to the main office and get your new schedule."

I held up a stained, wrinkled piece of paper in my open hand. "Already got it." She slumped down and looked away from me, tugging at Emmett's arm. I didn't know what I was doing wrong, but I could tell I was annoying her.

"Uh, Jasper?" Emmett said to the boy, as Rosalie began to drag him off. "Would you like to show Miss Eden where her classes are?" Great, I was left alone then and there, with the most perfect boy I had ever seen in my life, looking like a complete fool. Nervously, I met his gaze. He was giving a little smile, awkward, but at least it was something.

A silence rang between us. He knew I was staring at him, and so did I. "It's alright," he said, his honey scented breath brushing against my pale face in the winter cold. It's alright? What's alright? The fact that I was staring at him? The fact that I almost ran into his car? "I've been to new schools too," Oh thank god. "I've been through a lot of them, actually."

"Yeah, so have I," my feet suddenly began to take me past him in a flurry, and steer my body towards the door. Like a flash, he was walking right next to me again. "Which is why I can probably make it around here on my own-"

He cut me off my stepping in front of my path, several feet away from me. Aggravated as I was, I couldn't help but find this charming. He pulled open the silver, steel handle of the school's entrance door. "Allow me." I didn't want to cheer him on, so once more I whisked past him without a word. "Forks High School is a pretty big place." His hushed tone rang out in my ears. Somehow it made my cheeks burn and I begged my body to stop its expanding emotions. "I really don't mind showing you around."

"Alright, that's fine," I sighed. "Just don't make an effort to get to know me. I'm not the kind of person that is extremely social." My voice grew softer with every word. I hoped it didn't come out as rude. That was not my intention. I just wanted him to know that I could never be friends with a popular person. Or an angel. Whatever he was.

I mean, he had to be popular. Just looking at him made me feel like a useless puddle of worthlessness.

His symmetrical lips suddenly drooped into a frown. "I'm not asking you to be social, Eden." I watched him carefully as his eyes began to turn lighter and lighter. It was almost like magic, but when I blinked his face was as stoic as it had been before. "However, I do think I should show you around. In a place like this, I don't think you would want to be wandering off by yourself."

He was probably right. Even if the school was small, knowing me I would get lost the second Jasper left my side. "I guess you have a point." I said, sheepishly giving into his words. "If you could just show me where everything is…" Outstretching my thin hand, I held out my schedule for him.

He snatched it away from me and glazed his eyes over the paper. "You seem to have science with my brother, Edward. He wasn't there this morning when you ran into us. You'll probably know who he is... he's paler than everyone else…" His voice was monotonous as his words became perfectly accentuated. Something about him seemed almost foreign. An "old soul" people would call it. Someone who seemed far too wise for their years. Or maybe he was just very good at English. "Oh, you have lunch with all of us too." He glanced up with a friendlier face than before.

I wasn't going to sit with them, if that's what he thought. Rosalie would probably tell Emmett to squash me into a pulp after school, though I still couldn't figure out her resentment. He seemed like a pretty nice guy, but what did I know? He could be that kind of guy who does whatever a girl asks of him.

"You ready?" Jasper's voice interrupted my thoughts. I shrugged and began to drag my feet down the hallway, sleep deprived. What had happened this morning? I had just gotten to school, and already it seemed I had gotten the attention of three of the most beautiful people I have ever seen in my life. "I can see you don't get much sun," he began to speak to me as we trudged down the hallways. I felt stares coming from open classrooms, focusing on me and him.

"Yeah, I don't really go out much." I confessed. Why couldn't I give him short, one word answers like I gave to everyone else?

He sighed as we sharply turned a corner. "I'm not extremely social either. I just get through the days here. I feel more comfortable in my own home with my family." I glanced around at the light blue lockers and the bare walls. A typical high school like the others I had been to. It was the people that were clearly different. "Family is important, as they say."

We stopped in front of a classroom. I peeked my head in the door, and watched as a graying old woman smacked the blackboard with a yard stick. I jumped back, stunned. "This is your first period. Miss Sitter. Spanish," he wore a smirk as he spoke. "Ouch. Good look with her. I hear she hands out quizzes like a mad woman."

Groaning, we continued to walk on. "You said Edward was your brother? Is he the only one?" It was a bad habit of mine, knowing people before I actually should have. Yet my soul was sensitive, and I felt like I needed to understand who these strange people were.

"We're all foster children, actually." His eyes became interested suddenly in the hem lines of his jeans. I expected him to say more about his family, maybe about Rosalie and Emmett's relationship, but he instantly stopped talking. I decided it would be best to stop opening my mouth in front of him for a while.

He halted in front of another classroom, one that was a little smaller with a tall, gaunt male teacher speaking into a book with a monotone. "That's your American History teacher. Mr. Trigs. He's not bad if you haven't got a mouth on you." I watched his Topaz eyes, which were now a bit darker than before, scan my paper again. "Oh right, I know where the next room is." His finger motioned towards a stair case down the hall, his face lost of all previous confusion. "You walk right up those stairs and it's on your first left. The next four periods are actually all in that hallway too, which shouldn't be hard to find."

I felt really dumb. He probably didn't want to show me the classrooms because I asked him about his personal life. I didn't think it would be a problem. Maybe he was abused by his previous parents, or had a secret about his new ones. All I knew was that I wasn't going to bother Jasper, or any of the Cullens for that matter, again. I would get through school normally, quietly, and invisible until we had to move again.

"Thank you." My voice had a grave tint of regret, but Jasper hadn't seemed to notice.

He gave an encouraging smile. He must have known that I felt stupid. That... or it looked like I was going to be sick. "I understand what it's like to start in a new school. If you need any help around here, don't hesitate to ask. Everyone's decently nice around here."

With that note, Jasper walked me back to my first period, and I settled down inside the room as he walked out of sight. I looked around at the eagerly busy classmates, which was when my brain realized that I would be staying here in Forks probably longer than I expected. And at the same time something deep inside me- almost like a whisper- informed me... 'This is going to be your year, Eden.'

And for some reason, it sounded a lot like Jasper.