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TAS – Chapter 5: First Impressions Last (part 2)

I reemerged from the office building and returned to my truck. I was certainly feeling much better about today now. The woman inside had been more than helpful and if everything went accordingly like in the book, I was going to have the easiest first day of school anyone has ever had. Despite my guilt over my selfishness, I couldn't help but look forward to having people helping me out finding my classes and it was somewhat amusing that a whole school body should be interested in a new kid so much. It was over my head how the real Bella could whine about genuinely nice people trying to help you out. Even if you didn't like the person in general, at least be actually grateful for the help! I shook my head in disbelief and smiled at my good fortune.

I parked as soon as I found a vacant spot and hopped out of the truck. With my backpack slung over my right shoulder, I ran as fast as I could and let myself be swept away by the crowd of students.

The first class was for English. I was slightly delighted by this. English was obviously my favorite subject after volleyball practice–that is, if volleyball practice were a subject in school. We were suppose to read up on the classics and they had already started with Charlotte Brontë's Wuthering Heights. The teacher, a mild mannered sort of man, was already beginning to discuss it at the head of the classroom.

'I'll have to take these books out from the school's library since Bella "forgot" to bring any of her copies and I doubted Charlie has a spare out home...' I thought half-jokingly but paused. The word "home" struck me and I let out a small sigh. It was the inevitable. I was stuck here. My former "plans" seemed stupid and useless now. Maybe I should have stayed in Phoenix and then gone along with Reneé and her husband to Florida. At least I would be closer to home—my real home. I'd be on the same side of the country for one thing.

The only thing that made me decide otherwise was fear. The fear that even if I managed to get back to Virginia, back to my little town, to my neighborhood, heck, maybe they even have my house in this alternate reality, it wasn't going to be the same. I was afraid of knowing what I was going to be faced with there. Here, I had the upper hand. I knew what to expect and maybe if I got to the end of this story, granted that I was still alive by then, of course, I'd be able to go home. That's all I could really hope and pray for at the moment. I made the right decision...I have got to.

I was still pretty much caught up in my thoughts, only half listening to what the teacher was saying. At the end of the class we were told to read up on the first five chapters on the book because he was going to discuss those the next morning. The bell promptly rang after he said this and I started gathering my things. I was just about ready to get up when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked up and for the first time noticed the boy sitting across the aisle. He was smiling at me and I smiled shyly back. 'So, this is Eric.'

"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?"

'No,' I thought sadly but I answered with a nod instead. "Bella's fine,"I added.

"And your next class?"

"Government, I think."

"I'm heading for building four. I could show you the way if you want. I'm Eric, by the way."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," I told him sincerely.

We headed out and I was the first one to strike up a conversation. "Are you guys always like this to new students or am I somehow special?" I asked with a teasing grin.

"Nah, we're just vying for friendliest campus this year," Eric laughed in return.

I rolled my eyes at him in amusement. Bella totally got this guy wrong. The guy was just being nice which was rather sweet of him. He reminded me of a classmate back at my school, Denny, and we got along fantastically. From the way things are going, Eric and I were going to too.

We came up to a large building that could only be the gym from the sound of squeaking rubber shoes echoing from within. I looked at it longingly for a moment but just as we past it, I turned back my attention to my guide.

I looked at him somewhat embarrassed and whispered, not wanting anyone else to overhear, "Do you guys have a volleyball team? I was hoping to join...that is if I can still sign up..."

Erik stopped walking and looked at me with a bemused expression before saying, "Haha, very funny, Bella."

I blinked. "I'm being totally serious," I said, frowning slightly.

"You are?" He looked at me up and down. "You don't seem the volleyball type but then again what do I know?" he commented with a shrug before continuing on to walk past building four and five and on to building six.

I hid a snort but didn't reply. I decided I was better off showing these people what I could do unless I want them to continue to assume that I wasn't capable of doing anything. Hopefully, I wasn't as ill coordinated in this body as I feared and in due time, I was going to whip this body into good shape for the volleyball team.

When we both reached my classroom which he insisted he take me to, I thanked him again for the help.

He smiled and said, "Good luck and maybe we'll have some other classes together."

I laughed. "Yeah, that would be great." I turned to the door and was about to open it but turned to look at him again. "Hey, I know this sounds weird of me to say but, I like your name. Big Phantom of the Opera fan," I admitted with a big goofy grin on my face. He did look like what I thought a teenage Phantom would look like with his jet black hair slicked back. Eric stared at me as if he was still registering what I had just said but I didn't give him time to reply and entered my next class.


I got through my two other classes before lunch period without much trouble. The only "trouble" was the homework which I didn't feel like doing because I felt it wasn't really my homework to begin with. I wasn't really Bella Swan. But nobody else knew that.

I sighed. I was trying hard not to think about it but my mind kept slipping towards my problems. 'I'm gonna get used to this,' I said to myself firmly and returned my attention to the girl I had made friends with and who was now showing me the way to the cafeteria. I could have told her that I knew where the cafeteria was and could get there on my own, but I didn't feel up to sitting alone on my first day.

Her name was Emma Brandon. She was rather short—about my size if I were in my real body—with really frizzy hair which was only slightly darker than Bella's. She didn't give me room to ask any questions for miraculously she mentioned everything I wanted to know. I found out that gym class was the second class after lunch and that I could ask Coach Clapp, the gym instructor, if I wanted to join the volleyball team. Emma had given me the same look of disbelief Eric had but I only smiled and shrugged it off. By the time we exhausted all types of light conversation we could think of, we had reached the cafeteria, grabbed our food and squeezed into a table amongst her friends.

"So, you guys, this is Bella Swan," Emma said. She looked both excited and sheepish at the same time, her eyes shining but her voice so soft you could barely hear her when she introduced me. "Hi's" and "Hello's" were murmured all around. Emma then began to point out who was who and while I knew some of them already—Angela, Lauren, and Jessica—with the rest, I had trouble remembering their names. I always had a problem with that. I was sure to remember their faces but I doubted I was going to get their names right if I saw them again any time soon.

Conversation went about as usual as if I hadn't really been there to begin with. I really didn't mind not talking and was contented with just answering questions thrown my way once in awhile. That was a handful in itself, trying to recollect things I've read about in the book about Bella. Thankfully, nobody asked what school I went to previously. That was one question I would fail to answer and there were many more things besides that but fortunately I was able to keep up the very vague answers without them trying to pry for more information.

I surveyed the room which was somewhat of a habit of mine back at home. Beth and I liked to watch people and talk about them. I really didn't see it as gossiping and Beth had a very good conscience on her that she felt guilty to do anything remotely bad. So we only talked about the things people did or said at the moment we saw them. We would laugh if we caught someone picking there nose but trying to look inconspicuous or comment on the new perm a student had and wonder if it looked good on her or not. It was never dull. People did crazy things all the time.

I felt sad that Beth wasn't here with me as Eric Yorkie caught my eye from across the room. He waved to me and I smiled back. If Beth had been here, I would have told her what I had told Eric earlier before Trigonometry. I imagined Beth giggling and then sighing, wondering when she'll be able to watch The Phantom of the Opera musical in London.

My eyes went across one side of the large room to the other but stopped when they reached them. The fork with the piece of carrot skewered between the prongs, hung limp in my hand.

I thought that at first seeing them, I would just hate them and that would the end of it but that was not the case at all here. Oh, I detested them all, alright. However, I also instinctively had the urge to question them—even actually know them if I was being honest with myself. What for, I wasn't entirely sure of but I was maddeningly curious for some reason and I just couldn't explain it. Curiosity killed the cat, they say and it was a fine warning now.

But why wasn't I listening? I wanted to ask them so many things. One being why they were here. Did they find it amusing to be around their so called "food"? Was it an exercise of self control? If only I were able to ask them all the questions my heart desired! If I could only get close to them. For that reason alone would I even care to be around them. Their presence—the supernatural—intrigued me.

I didn't have a purpose for being here yet. I didn't know what that hag wanted from me when I finally got here. I could only assume that I was meant to finish it till the end but until she either appears again to tell me or some other way, I was going to do anything I very well pleased.

I could easily make out who was who among the five of them, remembering pretty well the author's initial description of her characters. Bella was right. Hedid look very handsome. Breathtakingly so even, but so were all of the Cullens. It was hard not to look at them. There was something that, upon seeing them, made me utterly curious. I could tell there was something not wholly right with them. I felt on edge when they were around. It wouldn't be surprised if a collected sigh of relief passed through the whole cafeteria once the Cullens vacated the area.

They were being very silly though. Again I began to think again, 'Why stay?'

Why put up a front when obviously everyone knew that they were "different" to say the least? Which led me to wonder on further. Why did they do any of this at all? Why all the need to be normal? It boggled my mind.

"Bella, you should stop staring at them. Edward's already noticed," Jessica warned with an amused look on her face. I looked back at her and then back at the Cullens and to my utmost horror, Edward was indeed looking at me. I shivered in disgust. Everyone around the table was looking at me with the same amused expression Jessica had and I internally groaned.

"What?" I asked them.

"Nothing," replied Emma, smiling broadly.

"I just spaced out," I tried to explain.

"Oh, sure and I can see why," Jessica giggled. I suppressed the urge to be mean and stood up. I was so not in the mood for this.

"Where are you going?" Emma asked surprised.

"Library. Need a book for English," I answered vaguely as I walked away, tray in hand. "See you guys later."

As I discarded my tray, I glanced back and Edward was still staring at me. He had a vaguely amused yet sadistic sort of expression on his face and my blood ran cold. 'Why hadn't I realized it earlier?' I berated myself as I made my way out of the cafeteria as quickly as I could without looking like an idiot running away from something invisible. 'The guy can read minds, damn it! Can he read mine too?' If he did then he knew and if he knows then he'll tell his family and then they'll hunt me down and kill me.

I wanted to run as fast and as far away as possible but I felt numb as well. I wanted to curl up into a little, tight ball and just wish all of this away. Somehow, as I debated with what I should do, I ended up at the library. I went inside and to my relief not a lot of people were around. Mindlessly, I went to the very back and stayed there until second period started.


MY NOTES

Well, this is it for now. I don't know when then next update will be. I still have three more hellish weeks before the semester's over and maybe then I can post something new. Keep your fingers crossed that I get out in one piece! Lol.

Until then,

TFT