AN: I was hoping to get this up before I left for DC, but, sadly, I didn't. Sorry about that. Thanks for the reviews! It doesn't seem like many, but it's great to see at least this many people reading my work! It's an awesome feeling! So, here's the rest of Chapter Nine, aka Chapter 10! Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Familiar Face

"I said: 'Let go.'" the boy growled again.

Megan still hadn't let go of my arm, though her grip had loosened significantly, but I honestly hadn't felt anything since I'd looked up and saw him. Megan released my arm immediately.

"Sorry, Nikolas. I didn't know she was anything to you." she said lamely.

"She's not, but that doesn't give you the right to treat her like that." he said, clearly still angry. His voice was perfect- there was no other way to describe it. It was almost musical, yet no; almost raspy, but not. It was the perfect combination of both.

"I understand. Sorry, Nikolas." Megan apologized again.

"Don't do it again." he hissed.

Nikolas grabbed my arm and practically dragged me away. Once we were away from them, I jerked my arm back. "Jeez! What is with you people and grabbing arms?" I muttered, rubbing my forearm.

He ignored me. "Who are you?"

I glared at him. "What's it to you?"

He smirked. "I just saved you from the 'head bitch,' as they call her,-" he paused and rolled his eyes, "-we both know that's not true- and you're not even going to give me the pleasure of knowing your name? I'm hurt." He placed a hand over his heart.

I rolled my eyes, turning to fix my gaze on the rest of the parking lot.

"But, seriously. What's your name?" he asked.

I sighed. "Renesmee. But you can call me Ren."

"Renesmee? That's a weird name. What were your parents thinking?" he asked jokingly.

"Don't know. Don't have any parents." I replied, still not looking at him.

"Wow. I'm sorry."

"They're not dead- I don't think, at least… I'm a foster child."

"Oh… What happened to your parents then?"

"Don't know. The police couldn't find them when they found me."

"Oh." It was quiet for a few minutes. "Oh, wait! What class do you have first?"

I looked down at the schedule I still held in my hand. "Ummm… Building 2, room 204- English with Mr. Huffman." I turned around, looking at the building numbers.

"Okay, awesome. That's what I have, too. We're headed there now." Nikolas said.

"So… What's your story?"

"What do you mean, 'my story'?"

"Doesn't everybody have a 'life story'?" I asked. "I told you mine, I expect you to do the same."

"Right… Well… No parents, like you. Uhh… I got emancipated when I was sixteen. Parents were drunks, so I eventually took it to the court. They got arrested, I moved to San Francisco, Portland, Seattle… Then here. Oh, and of course, my name is Nikolas, but you can call be Nik."

"Why did you move here- of all places?" I asked incredulously, still stuck on the places he'd been. "I mean, if I could decide where to go, I definitely wouldn't come here." I elaborated.

He chuckled. "Uhh… I don't know. I'd heard about it and decided to give small-town-living a shot."

"Yeah? And how you liking it?" I asked sarcastically.

He laughed again. "'S not that bad. But I guess the next time I'll go to a bigger city."

"I've lived everywhere… Los Angeles would definitely fit you best."

He nodded, smirking. "I'll take that into consideration."

When we made it to Building 2, it had just started to drizzle. When we got into the building, we continued to lead the way. The room was just a ways into the building, so it didn't take too long to reach our destination.

There were lab-like tables instead of desks, like I was used to seeing in classrooms. There weren't many students in here, maybe like ten, I didn't feel like counting. Nikolas settled into a desk close to the back that wasn't occupied, and I followed his suit.

"Where did you move from?" he asked.

"Spokane. It's not very far from here. Couple hours."

"Who are you living with now?"

"The Cullens… Dr. and Mrs. Cullen." I clarified, not knowing if there were anymore 'Cullens' in this town. I highly doubted it, but, you know what they say: 'Better safe than sorry.'

"Ah."

Mr. Huffman started taking roll then. As I'd mentioned to the Cullens before, I was good with names, and once I heard a name, I could match them to a face without knowing what they really looked like, then never again have to ask them for their names. I was hearing names like Michael Bowling, Macey Carter, Brianna Conley, and without even looking up, I had a picture of them in my mind. And 9 out of 10, would look exactly how I pictured.

"Ren..es..mee… Cullen?" he called out in a questioning tone.

I slowly raised my hand to about my head, wishing that I hadn't as everyone in the classroom turned to look-no, more like stare- at me.

"You're a new student, correct?" Mr. Huffman asked, looking at me.

I nodded, not offering a more elaborate answer.

"Well, I hope you like it here." was all he said before he started roll again.

"Nikolas De Luca?"

Nik raised his hand slightly.

"De Luca?" I asked. "What kinda name is that?" I took his line to me from earlier.

He just chuckled. "The one I have." he remarked.

I scowled at him. "Don't be a smart-ass. Seriously, though, what is that? Italian?"

He nodded. "Yep. My dad's family was Italian… So was my mother's, but not as much as him." he explained.

"Ah…"

Huffman started the lecture on Romeo and Juliet. I raised my eyebrows at the topic. I thought you learned about that as freshmen. When I voiced that to Nik, he just shook his head.

"Nope. I learned it then, too, but learning it again this year meant that I didn't have to pay attention to the lecture to know I would pass." he whispered.

I raised my eyebrows at him again. "Then why are you in summer school?" I whispered back.

He grinned a heart-stopping grin. "Because I didn't pay attention in any of the other classes."

I chuckled and shook my head, going back to somewhat paying attention to Mr. Huffman.

As it turned out, Nik and I had the first four classes out of six together. We sat with each other through English, Math, History- my favorite-, and teamed up in PE. At the end of fourth period we went to the cafeteria for lunch. Nik dragged me into the line, even though I kept telling him I wasn't hungry. While he loaded up a tray full of food, I just got a lemonade and an apple, which I probably wouldn't eat much of.

After I had paid with the money Carlisle and Esme had graciously given me the night before, I followed Nik to a table in the far corner, near the windows. There wasn't much students in the cafeteria, so we were all spread out across the room- a few here, a few there. I guess it wasn't normal for people to fail here.

"So?" Nik asked me, looking at me expectantly, as I took a drink from my lemonade.

I slowly sat the bottle down and twisted the lid back on, and give him a confused look. "'So'…?"

"How has your first day at the glamorous Forks High School been?" he clarified.

Oh. That. "Umm… It's been… interesting."

He waited a little while for me to continue. When I didn't, he asked: "That's it? That's all you got? Interesting?"

I raised my hands in surrender. "What else do you want me to say?"

"How about 'great'?"

I shook my head. "Umm… no."

"Why not?" he exclaimed.

"Because it's not great!" I snapped back.

"Why not?"

"Because it's Forks!" I stated the obvious.

He just stared at me.

"What?" I snapped.

Nik shook his head. "Nothing. I just really hoped that you'd like it here, I guess."

"Why?" I asked, nicer this time.

He just shrugged. "Don't know. It just seems like you belong here. You're very… Dark… Like, you don't really know where you fit in, who you really are… It's a lot like Forks. Forks doesn't fit in anywhere. It just seems like you have some stuff in common with this place."

I mulled his explanation over.

"I know that probably didn't make any sense, but-"

I cut him off. "It does… To an extent, I guess… But it does make sense." I said slowly.

The bell rang, dismissing us from lunch, and signaling that it was time to go to fifth period.

"What do you have next?" he asked me.

"Umm…" I pulled out my schedule and looked for the fifth period line. "Study Hall. You?"

"Biology." He grimaced, looking at his own schedule.

I laughed. "Ha!"

"Shut up… When do you have it?"

I looked back down at the paper. "Sixth. But it's at the end of the day, so there's no promise I'll pay attention."

He laughed, and I felt the phone in my jacket pocket vibrate. I pulled it out, and read the text from Bella.

Bella: How's it going? I'm not interrupting a class, am I?

Me: No, you're not interrupting… And it's… going, I guess.

Bella: What do you mean? Are people being… people?

Me: No… People are actually being nice.

Bella: Good. Well, I'll let you get to class. Edward and I will pick you up at 2:30!

Me: Got it. See ya then.

"Who are you talking to?" Nik interrupted my thoughts. We were out in the rain again, walking slowly towards our next classes.

"Bella… She's my foster brother's wife."

I looked over at him after a moment that he hadn't talked. He was looking at me, shock written across his face. "What?"

He composed his expression. "Nothing. I just… know that name. Well, here ya go. Just keep walking straight, and the library is the last door on the left."

"'Kay. Thanks,"

Nik just nodded, and walked away.

AN: Hope you liked it! Again, sorry for the late update! It's just been really hectic! I promise to try to figure out a schedule!

Please review! I love those:)

~Em