AN: Sorry for the massive delay, I got overwhelmed with school, work and crafting deadlines. :) I'm going to try to get another chapter done today, though that will depend entirely on my level of inspiration. Hopefully y'all will like this one. If you've got a preference for the subject matter/POV for the next chapter, please let me know. Also, let me know if you've got any opinions about this or the whole story. I do try to take them into account as I write.

Oh, and these toys totally aren't mine, but their owner is kind enough to let us play with them from time to time. :D

**HM**

Bella

Bella rolled over and looked at her alarm clock. The evil red display read 5:45, only thirty minutes since she'd last checked it. She sighed deeply and shifted angrily, trying to find a comfortable position so she could get a bit more sleep before the horrible buzzing started that signaled the start of another day. It was not to be, however. No matter how she moved, she just could not get comfortable; one minute she was freezing cold and had to bundle up in her covers, the next she was burning up, irritatedly kicking the same covers off the foot of her bed. She flopped on to her other side and stared out the window.

'Why today?' she asked herself as she took her frustration out on hr pillow. Of all the days to have a bout of insomnia, why did her brain have to pick today, the day of a massive Chem test and her first free afternoon to spend with Jake?

A slight lightening of the sky signaled that her self-induced torture was coming to an end. She sighed again, this time with relief. At least her torture was coming to an end. With a little effort, she sat up and looked out at the gathering light that was both welcome and hated. Since it was her habit to sleep with her window slightly cracked, despite having not done so in Phoenix, she could hear the sound of the ever-present rain filtering through the leaves. For the millionth time in the last year, she cursed Charlie for living here. Why wasn't he like normal people who craved the sun? She had heard that Jamaica was nice; warm and sunny, just like she liked. Even though it was a different palette of green, the photos she'd seen showed that it too was quite green. While she rummaged for something to wear, she entertained herself with thoughts of white sand beaches, crystal blue water, the sun and how to convince Charlie to move.

She'd found a pair of jeans, a long sleeved shirt, a tee to wear over it and was digging in the recesses of the closet for her Chucks when a knock at her bedroom door startled her. With a muffled curse, she popped up, slamming her head into the doorknob, which started a fresh stream of muffled curses. Holding her hand to her now aching head, she tried to reach her bedroom door. Unfortunately, she'd not yet picked up her covers or turned on her overhead light, and the darkness is a clumsy person's worst enemy besides themselves. Her foot got caught and she fell down in a graceless pile. 'Sweet baby Buddha' she thought, lying on the floor for a moment, 'Is it really going to be one of those days?'

Her door opened and she looked up at Charlie's concerned face. For a moment, he just looked at her, obviously trying to figure out how she got there. His face split into a grin, "Those Swan genes rearing their ugly head's again, eh Bells?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, Dad. There are days when I wonder why I even bother."

He chuckled and stepped into her room, reaching down to lift her up and set her on her feet. Once he was sure she was firmly on her feet, he stepped away, still grinning.

"I just came in to be sure you were up. Today's your Chemistry test, right?"

She sighed and nodded, not even bothering to ask how he knew that, since she knew damn good and well she'd not told him. Another of the thousand hazards of small town life; everyone knew everything about everyone.

He smiled at her again, "I'm sure you'll do great, Bells. We'll go out tomorrow night to the diner to celebrate."

Again she chose not to say anything, deciding to take the offer for what it was; a display of pride and love. They ate at the diner at least once a week, so she was pretty sure that it didn't actually qualify as a special occasion, but whatever made Charlie feel like he was being supportive.

As usual, he took her silence as consent and shrugged, "Alright, I'm out of here, bad guys to stop and all."

She chuckled despite herself and said, "That's right, Dad, go stop the evil jay walkers of Forks."

He looked confused for a moment and then laughed himself. "You know it, baby. Keeping the streets safe from little old ladies is what I do best."

They were both laughing when he headed down the hall to leave and she went back to her closet to search out the elusive Chuck Taylors. They were here somewhere, she just knew it.

*****

An hour later, she'd managed to find her shoes (under her bed, though she didn't remember having worn them, let alone kicked them under her bed), eaten breakfast (cereal, yay, as usual) and gathered up all of her Chemistry notes. They were scattered all over the house, so she gave it serious thought that her notes might have given away her test. She was such a spaz sometimes.

The time came to leave for school and she couldn't shake the restless feeling that had kept her up all night. As she drove, she tried to figure out what the feeling was and what was causing it. It felt, she decided, like a weight in the middle of her chest that made it hard to breathe and made her jumpy at the same time. When she pulled into her traditional parking spot, she still hadn't managed to figure out what was causing it, only that it seemed vaguely familiar. She decided to let it go for now and try to figure it out after she'd made it through her school day.

Her Chem test was just before lunch, something that had long frustrated her. She was the kind of person that needed a full stomach before she could brave difficult subjects like Chemistry. She sighed as she went into class and took her seat next to Angela. Her friend leaned over and whispered, "Have you figured out what to do about your 'problem'?"

She sighed and made a face. Angela was speaking, of course, of her problem deciding if she was going to sleep with Jake. Shaking her head, she started getting out her things, "No, Ang, not yet. It's hard to decide when you go a week without seeing the person, you know?"

Angela nodded and toyed with a pencil for a moment before she went on. "I don't know too much about this subject, Bella. I wish I did so I could help you out."

Jessica, who sat in front of them turned around, "I know what my advice is. He's hot as hell, go for it."

Bella rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "Really? Is that the only thing I need to think about? Gee, thanks, Jess, I can rest assured that I make a good choice now."

Jessica shot her a look that should've dropped her where she sat. "Damn it, Bella, don't be such a bitch. I'm just saying that you'll regret it later if you don't. You could end up having to loose your virginity to one of these stellar specimens."

She gestured around the room, and only if you knew her did you notice that she didn't include her lab partner, Mike, in that motion. Bella just shook her head and didn't comment. Sometimes Jessica acted like there was nothing beyond high school, nothing beyond Forks, nothing to life but her tiny concerns. It was annoying, but you learned to live with it, particularly in a town so small that you had to be careful not to loose all your friends at one fell swoop.

Lauren, another girl in their class, leaned across the aisle and whispered something to Jessica, then leaned back, still finding time to shoot Bella an evil look. Bella was used to it now; Lauren hated her for reasons beyond Bella's comprehension. Jessica turned back around so fast that she almost fell off her stool.

"Oh my God!" she said, struggling to keep her voice down to a whisper. "The Cullens are back!"

Angela's face lit up and she asked, "Really?"

Bella wrinkled her forehead. "The Cullens? Who are they? Local rock stars or something?"

Angela laughed, "They might as well be. I always forget that you don't know them. They left town unexpectedly just before you got here."

Jessica slapped her hand on the table, "They are only the most gorgeous people in town. It's really not fair; they make the rest of look like swap trolls."

Angela laughed, "They are really a gorgeous family. There's Doctor Cullen, he works at the hospital, and his wife, Esme. Evidently, they can't have children of their own, they've got five adopted children, three boys and two girls. The kids are dating, only one of their sons is single."

Jessica snorted and waved her hand, "I think it's just a little on the nasty inbred side personally."

Bella tipped her head sideways, "Why Jess? It's not like their actually related, right? Wouldn't that make it like an odd match-making service?"

Jessica snorted, "Two of the boys are related, Emmett and Edward. Jasper and Rosalie are brother and sister also. The last one is Alice, and she's so odd, I'm not surprised she ended up needing to be adopted."

Angela leaned over and smacked Jessica in the arm, hard. "Jessica, that's a terrible thing to say. If anyone in this conversation's a bitch, it's you. Just because they don't socialize with you and Edward turned you down for the Sadie Hawkins doesn't give you the right to be evil."

Jessica blushed and opened her mouth to reply, but the teacher called the class to order before she could speak. Bella waited for her copy of the test and thought idly about this news. It seemed to be a huge deal, not that she was sure why. Her chest had tightened up again, but there was no way it was related to this odd news, it had to be the stack of paper that represented their test making its way to her.

Right?

*****

Bella was drenched with sweat and feeling decidedly wrung out an hour and a half later when the bell rang to send them to lunch. As she gathered her things up, she wished futilely that she could get through life without Chemistry. Angela tucked her arm into Bella's as they made their way from the lab to the cafeteria.

"So, Bella," Angela asked, "Was it as bad for you as it was for me?"

Bella wound through the people in the hall and said exasperatedly, "Absolutely."

Angela laughed, tossing her head back. "Well at least it's over until the end of next semester, right?"

Bella snorted in response, pushing the door open into the cafeteria. Something was off about the energy, like the entire place was balanced on a knife's edge, waiting for something. She made a face, but headed to their normal table without really stopping to think about it. As soon as they had tossed their bags into the pile, she and Angela made their way to the line to get food.

The fare was normal, cheese 'burgers' and fries, and luckily for Bella, it required little to no thought. She filled her tray as she did every day and tried to fight down the intense feeling of nervousness that had suddenly swept over her. They sat back down with their friends, and she picked at her fries, suddenly too overcome with nerves to eat. Mike was regaling the group with another story about giant wolves and she rolled her eyes. He really needed to get some new material, this was getting ridiculous. No amount of him insisting that the hikers that had told him about them were not on some sort of illegal substance would make her believe the wild stories. Angela evidently felt the same way, rolling her eyes in Mike's direction and turning her body so that she was facing Bella.

"So," she asked, dipping a fry in ketchup before shoving it into her mouth, "You said you'd not decided whether or not you were going to sleep with Jake."

Bella nodded, the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach intensifying. "It's just such a big decision, you know? It isn't like I could do it and then get a do-over, you know? Once it's done, it's done."

Angela nodded, "I understand that. It's a big deal, at least to girls it is."

Bella smiled, she was glad that Angela understood. "Yeah, it is. I don't know how Jessica can be in such a hurry, it's a big deal."

She sighed and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and started tearing her bun into tiny pieces. "I guess I'd be a bit less worried about it if I wasn't so clumsy, you know? I feel like I'd be in danger of getting pregnant the first time, no matter what I did. I mean, hell," she looked up and caught Angela's eye, a nervous grin on her face. "I can't even walk across an even floor without falling down in a spectacular fashion; I'd be stupid to not be worried about it."

Angela nodded and went to answer, but instead stopped with her mouth open, staring over Bella's shoulder at the door that led to outside. She leaned over and lightly smacked Bella's leg, "Oh my god, they are back. Look, Alice and Jasper.."

Luckily, Angela was too well-bred to point, unlike Jessica, who blatantly pointed behind Bella at the door. Bella rolled her eyes, a blush flooding her cheeks for the strangers that were at the receiving end of that attention. She turned her head slightly to look and felt her jaw start to drop. Luckily, one thing that Renee had drilled home was how to behave in public, how to empathize with the object of your attention, to moderate your reactions in order to take that into account. Bella hated being stared at, so that was easy for her.

Still looking as surreptitiously as possible, she let her mind be amazed. They were gorgeous, no doubt. Alice was tiny, smaller than Bella herself, which was a feat in and of it's self. Her face was decidedly elfin and her hair was very close cropped, like a pixie cut, and stood out artfully in many directions. Her clothes were obviously designer, only expensive jeans fit like that. And the boy… Bella felt her face getting a little hot, staring at what she knew to be someone else's man. But this boy, he was like a work of art. Beautiful face, blonde hair, broad shoulders, and a muscular frame dressed in a beautiful sweater and equally well-fitting jeans. She let her eyes travel back to his face. Something in her twisted a little; he looked like he was miserable. It made him seem more human and less like a fallen angel or walking sculpture. And she felt sorry for him; she knew pain when she saw it. She was about to say something to Angela when the girl looked over at her, her topaz colored eyes falling on Bella's face. Even though she wasn't looking right at them, she saw the girl's eyes widen, and watched, horrified, as something about her own face caused the beautiful girl to crumple to the floor.

Sweet Jesus, it was one of those days, wasn't it?

She wasn't aware that she had moved until she had crossed the distance to where the couple were, the boy holding the girls mostly limp form. There was a hushed silence in the cafeteria, and Bella felt almost like she had crossed into a leper camp by going to help. Some part of her wondered what was wrong with her classmates, they needed help, that much was obvious.

Kneeling carefully next to the couple, she tucked her hair behind her ear and looked up into the eyes of the boy that she knew to be Jasper, and asked, "What can I do to help?"

His eyes locked with hers, and his look of pain intensified. Time seemed to slow as she watched his eyes take on a tortured look, watched his throat move as he swallowed heavily, watched his fingers tighten slightly on Alice's dark blue cashmere sweater, and watched something being weighed behind his golden eyes. Some deep seeded part of Bella realized that she should be terrified, but she wasn't, not a bit. Instead, she held his gaze for a moment and then asked, "Its Jasper, right? What can I do to help Alice?"

The use of their names seemed to shake him a little, he tipped his head sideways and regarded again, whatever was on his mind settled. He smiled and said quietly, "Nothing, she'll come out of it when she's ready."

He had a Southern accent, though she thought that it probably wouldn't be considered heavy anywhere but Forks. She looked down at Alice and then back up at him. "We should move her though, that floor isn't comfortable, trust me."

Jasper looked at her again, intensely this time before he shrugged almost imperceptibly. "That's a good point," he said, reaching under Alice's prone form to pull her easily into his arms. Once he was standing, he looked for an empty table and found one near the window. Something about it made him smile again and he headed towards it without a word to Bella.

She stood for a moment and watched him walk away. How dare he? She was the only one in this room to bother to check on them and this is how he pays her back, by walking off like she didn't exist? Hell no. She hurried after him, careful not to trip, since that would be beyond mortifying. The cafeteria had returned to its normal buzz of conversation, so at least no one was staring any more.

Reaching out, she grabbed his arm, tugging slightly to get his attention. She thought she heard a snarl just before he turned around, though that was illogical and crazy. His eyes were a little crazy and for a moment she thought that they were darker than they had been a moment before. But that was also crazy so she dismissed it as a trick of the light. The almost predatory look was back in his eyes and a lesser person would've backed off. Not Bella. She squared her shoulders and said, "I'm worried about her, are you sure she doesn't need to go to the nurse?"

Jasper's nostrils flared slightly and his mouth opened, but before whatever he was going to say could come out, a pale little hand reached out and touched his arm.

"Jasper, it's ok, she's just worried. I think it's sweet."

Alice was awake.

She popped up easily, wrapping an arm around Jasper and pulling him over to her, effectively placing herself between them. Her tiny face split into a grin as she tugged Jasper towards her. He leaned over and she whispered something into his ear. Bella felt her anger flare until she saw Jasper's eyes light up, a grin splitting his face too. He turned to Bella and held out his hand. "I'm sorry that I behaved like that, please allow me to apologize."

Now she was confused, but she held out her hand. "Sure, sure, Jasper. I know how it was when I first got here."

He took her hand and lifted it to kiss the back of it in a very old-fashioned gesture. Another blush flooded her face, causing Alice to laugh. It was a musical sound, like tinkling bells, and Bella felt herself start to laugh as well. Jasper dropped her hand, a huge grin that made her think of a little boy with his hand in the cookie jar on his face. Alice reached out and touched Bella's arm lightly, and even through her long-sleeved shirt she could feel that the other girl's fingers were like ice. "I'm afraid we don't know your name, you must have moved here after we left."

Bella nodded, feeling as much at ease with Alice as she did with Angela, which was more than she felt with Jessica. "Yeah, I did. My name's Isabella Swan, but everyone calls me Bella."

Alice shot a look at Jasper before she went on. "It is nice to meet you, Bella. You must be the Chief's daughter. I think I remember hearing that you were moving here."

Bella nodded, opening her mouth to answer when the bell rang that ended lunch. She looked at Alice and Jasper with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, my next class is on the far side of the building, I've got to run"

Alice nodded with a big smile and hopped up, folding Bella in a tight hug. "It is alright, Bella. I'll be seeing you again soon. And we'll be great friends, I just know it."

Bella blushed, but instinctively hugged Alice back. "I hope so," she heard herself say, "A girl can never have too many friends."

When Alice released her, she hurried over to get her bag, embarrassed. What had caused her to say that, let alone act that way? As she left the cafeteria, she heard Alice's tinkling laugh again. She was halfway to class before she realized that the tightness in her chest had disappeared.