A/N: In case there was any confusion last chapter, this is the time when Bella was hanging out with Jacob (he doesn't go to school in Forks, so the teachers wouldn't have known about him). Also, since I had to skip so many months of New Moon, this story will move on to Eclipse soon, so be prepared for that.

Shelly Cope POV

My eyes glazed over as I stared blankly at the screen of my decrepit office computer. This was easily the fifth time today that I had forgotten to focus on my work, and it was becoming a problem. After spending so much time in the teachers' lounge, I couldn't afford to waste any more. But my mind kept wandering away from my work and back towards everything I'd heard in the last few days. . .

First, I thought back to my conversation with Karen a few days ago. She said she'd gotten a very worried call from Chief Swan, and apparently he had hunted down Karen's number to ask her to keep an eye on Bella at school. Karen agreed to watch over Bella for the rest of the year, but Charlie had never told her why he was so nervous about her in the first place. I was surprised to hear that Bella would give any reason for Charlie to be worried, but that was the least of my concerns right now.

Harry Clearwater's death was the second surprise. He'd lived on the reservation, so I didn't know him personally, but I was sad to hear the news. He had had a wife and two children, and he had been rather young when his heart attack killed him. I knew it would take some time for people around town to feel better again after Harry's premature death.

Between my curiosity at Charlie's request and the sorrow from Harry's heart attack, I had a good amount of unfinished work.

The phone on my desk rang. I was relieved at the chance to take a break, although I wasn't sure what to expect. And I would never have thought to hear the lilting voice that sang through my phone. It was Carlisle.

"Excuse me, is this Ms. Cope?"

"H-How may I help you?" I stammered.

"Esme and I have decided to move back to Forks, and--,"

"You're moving back?" I asked, too stunned to be professional. "What about L.A.?"

"My wife feels much more comfortable here, and I think we're all glad to be back. Now, Edward and Alice haven't graduated yet, and I'd like for them to finish the school year here in Forks. I was told to speak with you about that?"

"Ah, of course. Well, we'll need copies of their transcripts—for the records, you know—but I see no reason why they can't graduate this year. They were both ahead on their credits back in September. They can resume their schedules from the beginning of the year, if you'd like."

"That sounds perfect. I've sent their transcripts already, and I believe you'll have them by tomorrow when Edward and Alice arrive. I'm sorry to trouble you with this. Goodbye."

Wait, the Cullens would be back in school tomorrow?

"It's no trouble at all," I lied. I managed to keep myself together just long enough to hang up the phone. But the Cullens were insane! Five minutes ago, I didn't even know that Carlisle was back in Forks, and now he was trying to tell me that his children would be here tomorrow? If it were anyone but the Cullens, I'd have called back to argue, but something told me not to waste my breath. Not that the Cullens were troublesome, but what made them think they could waltz back into Forks as if nothing had happened?

Out of everything that had happened lately, this was the biggest surprise of it all.

My mind was racing as I walked into the teachers' lounge with a sheet of paper. Until this morning, I'd thought that yesterday's call with Carlisle might have just been a dream. But just as Carlisle had promised, Edward and Alice were both in school today. I would definitely want to talk to my colleagues about all of this.

The piece of paper I was carrying was a schedule. All of the teachers had to spend time each month monitoring the hallways, the lunchroom, or the detention hall, and I was in charge of creating that schedule. Walking straight up to the bulletin board, I posted my schedule and turned around. The teachers were never happy to see it, but they all recognized that it was their job to help out around the school.

So when I looked at Mr. Berty, I couldn't believe that he was glaring at me.

"What's your problem? I post these every month, and you really aren't doing much this time…"

"Shelly, why was Edward Cullen sitting in my English class this morning?"

"Oh, that! Well, I meant to send a message about it, but I only found out yesterday myself. I guess I forgot."

"Wait, really? Edward and Alice are back?" interrupted Coach Clapp, who hadn't had either of them in his classes yet.

"Yes, the Cullens just moved back in. Apparently, Esme didn't enjoy herself in L.A. so the Cullens decided to finish up the year here," I informed him. "I gave them the same schedules they had in September, and they'll probably be able to graduate this year."

"Whatever," said Mr. Berty. "It's not like Edward is hard to teach. I'll just give him another A+ and send him out the door. But you could have warned me first. Now let me see that schedule you made--aw man, I have to do three detentions this month? I hate watching the detention kids. And they think they're bored…"

"It's only fair. Last month you didn't have to do a single detention, and the other teachers are getting tired of it."

"Yeah, yeah." He turned back towards the Poker game he was playing with Coach Clapp, and I sat down to watch the game. The only real reason I had for coming here was to post the teachers' work schedule, but I decided it wouldn't be too bad to stay for just a few minutes. After working so hard yesterday, I needed a good break, and I did want to talk a little about the Cullens.

As I looked on, Mr. Berty won the round and pulled another pile of sugar packets into the large one in front of him. He was better at this game than any of us had expected.

Something seemed to occur to Mr. Berty as he shuffled the cards, and he said, "Hey, Coach--how about we make things more interesting. If I win this next round, you have to sub in for one of my after school detentions. If you win, I'll take one of yours."

"You're on," said Coach Clapp, who never turned down a good challenge. "Shelly, go get a pen and that schedule of yours. I'm about to win myself a free afternoon."

Five minutes later, Mr. Berty and Coach Clapp looked on as I changed the schedule. I crossed out Mr. Berty's name on one of the slots and changed it to read "Coach Clapp" while Coach whined and Mr. Berty bragged.

"I want a rematch. This one's for lunch duty," Coach Clapp growled.

"Look," I began, "I put a perfectly good schedule up on that wall. If you two want to go on messing it up, then go ahead. But I want no part of this, and Coach, don't complain to me when you end up with twice as many detentions to watch over. Just remember, it's your own fault."

With that, I stood up and left the room. Both men looked shocked at my outburst, but what was with the obsession over that stupid card game? I knew that I would probably like playing Poker a lot more if I were actually good at it, but I missed having people care about what I had to say.

Frustrated, I dialed Karen's cell. Fortunately, she picked up her phone quickly.

"Hi, Karen. Do you have time to talk right now?"

"I have maybe five minutes, and then I need to get back to work. Is something wrong, Shelly?"

"I don't know. I'm feeling a little unappreciated right now."

"Uh-oh. What happened?"

"I went into the lounge to post a copy of that work schedule I sent out, and I thought I'd stay and chat a few minutes. I mean, this last week has been a little crazy, you know? But instead of actually talking to me, Mr. Berty and Coach Clapp decided to just pass all that time playing Poker. And they've started making the loser take over a detention or lunch duty or something, so who knows what my schedule looks like now? I'll bet Mr. Berty won't proctor another detention as long as he lives, if he keeps this up."

"Hmm," Karen said after I had finished complaining. "You know, that sounds like something I might want to try. I do a lot of hall duty."

"Karen!"

"Sorry. So, did you want to talk about what's been going on lately? You seem kind of worked up."

"Well, I still can't believe that the Cullens are back in Forks. Do you think this means Edward and Bella are back together?"

"Ooh, I hope so. They were cute together, and what a great story those two are! Of course, I never understood why they split up in the first place. Long-distance relationships aren't that bad."

"I never really got the details on that one. But if they can come back from this, they can come back from anything. Oh, I wonder if they'll get married! There's a chance, right?"

"Slow down, Shelly. We're not even sure that they're back together yet; you're just assuming they are. By the way, how are preparations for prom coming? Don't you have to start getting ready for that, like, now? And graduation?"

"Yeah, but I've got some plans made, and I can start putting up flyers in a month or two. We still have plenty of time. Now stop making me think about graduation; I hate watching these kids leave me."

"Okay, so is there anything else you're willing to talk about?"

"Um, not really. I was just upset that nobody was listening to me. Thanks for letting me vent a little."

"That's just part of the job. See you 'round, Shelly."

We hung up, and I was feeling better already. Now that I'd had a chance to talk to Karen, my annoyance at Mr. Berty and Coach Clapp was mostly gone. Instead, I was thinking about Edward and Bella and wondering what would happen next. I had a feeling that I'd been right about them from the start and that they could still be the happy couple I expected of them. On top of that, for possibly the first time in months, my workload was completely manageable.

Things were looking up.

A/N: Hope you liked! Now, I'll be out of the house for a few days this week, so don't panic if I you don't hear from me or it takes me a few weeks to update. Just have patience, and I will be back.

Anyway, go review for this chapter! Please?