As always I do not own the Twilight characters...I just borrow them.
Thanks to Poptarrts and T-Nabs for all of your help.

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Chapter Four: Charli

As soon as I was inside the building, my heart jumped into my throat and the first day jitters returned with a vengeance. I glanced down at my schedule and then briefly studied my map of the school. The building itself was fairly small, but several of the classrooms were in detached outbuildings located behind the school, so I could see how it would be easy to get confused. I located my class and forged forward into the crowded hallway.

All around me students were staring in my direction and whispering. It was hard not to feel self-conscious. From behind me I heard someone clear their throat. I turned my head so I could see where the noise had come from and to my complete amazement one of the boys from team steroids was standing directly behind me.

I tensed unsure what he could possibly want with me. I tried to read him but his color was still that steady unchanging purple-blue and his emotions were neutral. Despite his formidable height and size, his youthful eyes were eager and friendly and against my better judgment, I decided to relax.

"Ahem...uh...hey. I'm Seth. You must be the new girl." His voice was deep and smooth and seemed much more mature than a high school student's.

"Is it that obvious?" I grimaced at him. He nodded laughing. "Figures. So much for trying to blend in. I'm Charlotte. Most people call me Charli though." I smiled at him and I hoped I didn't look nervous. He didn't seem to notice.

"Charli it is then. Where are you headed?" He pointed at the schedule crumpled in my hand.

"Oh..um," I stared down at the first line on the schedule, "English with Mr. Larson."

"Hey! Me too! Is it OK if I walk you to class?" He asked politely shoving his hands in his pockets and shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Sure. Maybe if I'm spotted with a regular they won't all think I'm such a freak?" I motioned towards all of the students around us.

"Oh, I doubt it. You still look like a freak to me." he gave me a sideways grin.

"Gee, thanks a lot." I rolled my eyes feigning insult.

"No, seriously. You are the tallest girl I've ever met." Seth stood back as if to make the point that I was so tall I couldn't fit into his line of vision.

At least he's got a sense of humor. I thought gratefully wondering why his tall friend had seemed so pissed off at me while this sweet Seth kid was obviously not upset at all.

"Yeah, I'm taller than my dad. I'm not sure how that happened." I shifted the weight of my book bag onto my other shoulder. "So, did your angry tall friend send you to spy on me?" I watched his reaction from the corner of my eye and my suspicions were confirmed when he faltered slightly.

"Who? Oh, Jake? Naw he's harmless." He paused and then grimaced at me. "That obvious huh?"

"Just a little." I smiled trying to make it clear that I wasn't upset.

"Sorry."

I shrugged. "I'm not worried about it."

"Jake is just weird about new people, he'll get over it." He shrugged simply as if that explained everything. "Here we are!"

Seth quickly steered us into the doorway of a classroom. There were already several students sitting in desks and they all turned and stared at us as we walked in. I was grateful when Seth tapped my arm and pointed to two desks in the rear of the classroom. We made our way towards them and sat down. I noticed a girl sitting in the row next to us was turned and watching us curiously. She reminded me of someone who was trying her hardest to fit in. She was a cute girl, not a supermodel by any means but very sweet. She had her hair cut in a smooth asymmetrical bob that was very popular at the moment. Her make-up was impeccable and she reminded me of the typical "prom queen" type.

"Hi. I'm Hannah." she said finally stretching her hand out towards me in greeting and flashing me a bright smile. I took her hand and shook it politely.

"Hello. I'm -"

"Charlotte right?" she interrupted.

I smiled sheepishly and nodded. "I must have that new kid smell or something."

"Well I don't know what you smell like, but I know everything that goes on around here and you are the number one topic of conversation!" She laughed. "You have to remember we don't get many new people. You are kind of a novelty item. Where did you live before you came here?" she asked giving Seth a what-are-you-doing-here look.

"In northern Illinois. It was a small town called Pontiac about an hour outside of Chicago." I started to think that beginning in a new school might be a really good thing for my social life. No one really knew who I was, and there were no rumors about 'crazy Charli' following me around. I might be able to actually make friends this time around.

"Wow, Chicago! You must really be bummed about having to move to this shit hole."

"It's not that bad. I think it is so beautiful. Illinois is flat, and dry, and boring." At that moment the teacher walked into the classroom. He scanned the room quickly, his eyes resting briefly on me and then finally on Seth.

"Mr. Clearwater," he said, his eyes narrowing at Seth. "This is a senior class, what exactly are you doing here?" The rest of the students all turned to stare and I instinctively slouched down in my chair.

"Oh, uh, sorry Mr. Larson I must have read my schedule wrong." Seth said smiling sheepishly. He stood up quickly and spun around to look at me. "See ya later Charli, it was nice meeting you." he winked at me and darted out the door of the classroom just as the bell was ringing to signal the beginning of class. Mr. Larson shook his head.

"What was that about?" Hannah asked suspiciously.

I shrugged in response, honestly not sure myself why Seth had followed me into the classroom.

"Alright everyone let's get out our books and turn to page 102. We will be reading Shakespeare's sonnets today."

The next few classes were satisfyingly uneventful. I was especially thankful that I had three more classes with Hannah. She was easy to be around, and she made the first day of school much easier than it could have been. She filled me in on the latest gossip, even though I had no idea who she was talking about, and she did almost all of the talking allowing me to sit back and observe instead of having to come up with mindless and uncomfortable chit chat. When the bell rang for lunch she took my arm without hesitation and led me to a table full of curious faces and invited me to sit down.

"Hey everyone, this is Charli. Charli, this is everyone!" she cheerfully went around the table and introduced me to her friends. Everyone was very friendly, and thankfully no one drilled me about my old life back in Illinois. They asked me the typical questions; "do you like the reservation?" "What was your old school like?" but they soon became bored with me and normal everyday chatter kept them all occupied.

Grateful to be out of the spotlight, I took a moment to take in the hustle and bustle of the cafeteria. A movement at a table in the far corner caught my eye. It was Seth Clearwater waving at me, an enormous grin on his face. I returned the smile and gave him a quick wave as I surveyed the other people at his table. I wasn't surprised to recognize all of the boys I had seen this morning. They were all watching me, their strange purple-blue aura's glowing brightly. I tried to mind my own business but my curiosity got the best of me.

"Hey Hannah?" I nudged Hannah with my elbow gently.

"What's up?" she asked putting down her soda can and turning towards me.

"That boy Seth over there, the one who was in our English class by mistake, what is with him and his friends? Why are they all so -"

"Tall, dark, and mysterious?" she interrupted with a smile.

"Actually I was going to say super sized and scary looking." I said sarcastically. Hannah just laughed like she thought I was joking.

"We all like to call them the La Push gang, but they call themselves the Quileute protectors. The really hot one, with the shoulder length sexy hair, that is Jacob Black. I guess you can call him the leader. The big one next to him is Quil, then Embry, and then you already know Seth."

"A gang? Really? What kind of gang?" I asked suspiciously. Just from my one meeting with Seth, I was pretty sure he didn't fit the normal profile of a delinquent. He seemed like a sweet kid.

"Not a bad gang. Not that I know of anyway. They like to think of themselves as the tribe body guards. The elders just love them, they treat them like local heroes or some shit. The rest of us just think they are a little bit weird. I was actually really surprised to see Seth warming up to you this morning. They normally don't talk to anyone but each other."

I let my eyes wander over to Seth's table again. They were all laughing and heatedly arguing about something. Each of them had two full lunch trays in front of them and they were stuffing their faces enthusiastically and washing it all down with two liter bottles of soda. While this alone was an out of what I would consider an ordinary scene, I was still a little taken aback by their matching auras. I had never seen anything like it before. I was so lost in thought I didn't realize I had drifted off until Hannah nudged me.

"Girl, I think if looks could kill right now you would be dead as a doornail."

"What are you talking about?" I asked confused as to what Hannah was referring to.

"Jacob Black." She sighed. "Isn't he amazing? Even when he's mad he's gorgeous."

My eyes darted quickly to the tall muscular Jacob. Sure enough his dark eyes were narrowed and staring directly at me; an intensely unhappy scowl plastered on his face. When my eyes met his I felt a strange surge of energy flow from my fingertips to my toes. I gasped and quickly looked down at the table and I fought the urge to look up at him as I bit down on my bottom lip nervously.

"I wonder what his problem is." Hannah broke into my thoughts. She was picking at her food and watching me closely waiting for me to fill her in on why this Jacob kid would be so pissed at me when I had only been at the school for less than four hours.

"I have no idea. I've never even talked to the guy."

She gave me a questioning look and raised one eyebrow unconvinced.

"What? I'm serious I've never seen him before today. Maybe he just doesn't like new people." I shrugged.

"Maybe you have been a bad, bad girl and Jacob wants to punish you." She teased grinning devilishly and giving my shoulder a teasing shove.

"I highly doubt that. He looks like he wants to kill me." I tried to control my frantic breaths. "I wish he would stop, it is kind of embarrassing."

"No one else has noticed." She said scanning the cafeteria.

"Hey new girl, why does Jacob Black look like he wants to eat you for lunch?" one of the boys at our table asked jokingly and in the process attracting the attention of everyone else.

I lowered my head blushing fiercely.

"Why don't you go ask him Ian." Hannah shot back. I snapped my head up.

"No!" I blurted.

This made everyone stare at me suspiciously and I wished I would have just kept my mouth shut.

"Good lord he his gorgeous when he is pissed off." One of the girls sighed.

I turned to see who was speaking and found myself staring into the smiling face of a tiny spunky looking girl with cropped black hair that was combed into a super short mohawk her lips painted with bright red lipstick. She turned her face to me her eyes sparkling. "He can be angry at me any time."

"Dream on Zoey, you know Black doesn't date rez girls." The boy named Ian said to her.

"Shut your hole Ian! Don't crush my fantasy. You know there is always a first time for everything." Zoey answered tossing a grape at Ian and hitting him square in the forehead. This made everyone start laughing hysterically and to my relief turned their attentions off of me and the fact that Jacob Black was still shooting daggers at me with his incredibly deep, velvety brown eyes. I sat silently trying not to look at him and fuming as each minute slowly ticked by.