Starting over at a new school was simultaneously much better and much worse than Bella had expected.
On the positive side, she seemed to have made more friends on her first day than she had in her entire career in Phoenix. Most of their names were a jumble in her head as she was hardly used to interacting with so many new faces. There were even a few of them that she genuinely enjoyed. There was Angela, a tall and unassumingly pretty Asian girl who worked for the paper. She had a wry sense of humor and a seemingly expansive knowledge of British literature. Bella knew soon after they met that they would get along. There was also Jessica, a short and curvy brunette, who while being a little self-absorbed, was also fun, bubbly, and genuinely friendly. Bella had a sneaking feeling that under all of her posturing she was secretly insecure and in need of authentic friendship. She liked her a lot, though she hadn't expected to.
But then there were the boys. Bella had decided that small-town boys were absolutely and inescapably insufferable. She had never felt so deeply exposed as when she walked through the doors of Forks High School. The girls were curious, yes, but the boys watched her like hawks as she traveled through the halls. And what was worse is that after the shock was over they actually started talking to her. The worst offender was Eric Yorkie, who before even introducing himself took a picture of her. It took everything in her to not smack his expensive-looking camera to the ground. Mike Newton was a close runner up in irksomeness. He seemed to have taken it upon himself to follow her around like a puppy dog, wagging his tail like a madman whenever she spoke to him. He reminded her of a golden retriever, his floppy blond hair bouncing around like dog ears as he trailed her around the school.
Irritating boys and overwhelming social scene or not, Bella knew in her heart she had to stay in Forks. As much as the new experiences scared her, she understood it was the best thing for her family. Her mother needed to go on the road with Phil, she could see it in her eyes. She wouldn't have been happy staying home with her. Bella resented this a little bit, but in the end she only wanted what was best for her mom. And Charlie needed her here too. She hadn't realized it until she had arrived, but Charlie simply didn't know how to cook. All he kept in the pantry was cereal and canned tuna, and the fridge was in even sorer shape. So regardless of whether she wanted to turn tail and run home, she was stuck where she was.
To her relief, the first half of her classes went very smoothly. Her English teacher had turned out to be pretty cool, but pre-calculus was exactly as dull as she remembered it being. What was worse was that Forks High seemed to be about two months behind schedule compared to her old school, so she was stuck relearning the same things she had to suffer through in Phoenix. When her fourth period was finally over, she was very ready for lunch.
She sat down at a small circular table with Angela and Jessica, who were growing on her by the minute. They both seemed equally annoyed at the creepiness that the male population in Forks seemed to exude. However, it did seem like Jessica had a bit of a crush on Mike. Bella hoped to convince her out of this, considering his current fixation on her. She felt strangely protective of her and didn't want to see her new friend hurt over someone who clearly didn't appreciate her.
Out of the corner of her eye, Bella noticed the most beautiful group of teenagers she had ever seen walked past the floor to ceiling windows. She turned to look at them and had to hold back a gasp. They were quite literally stunning. They looked more like they belonged inside the pages of Vogue or Vanity Fair than wandering around a middle-of-nowhere logging town.
"Who are they?" Bella asked, her voice nearly a whisper as she looked out the window of the cafeteria at the small group of unreasonably gorgeous teens. One caught her eye in particular, but she shrugged it off, turning her attention back to her friends.
"That's the Cullens," said Angela, with a slightly conspiratory smile, "They're Dr. and Mrs. Cullen's foster kids. They moved down here from Alaska like, a few years ago. They kind of keep to themselves-"
"-Yeah, cause they're all together!" Jessica whispered excitedly.
Bella made a face. "Together? You mean, like, together-together?"
Angela nodded "Yeah, like together-together."
Before Bella had a chance to process that, the statuesque blonde girl walked through the entrance with a confidence unlike Bella had ever seen, her lips drawn up in a self-assured smirk. Slung around her shoulder was the arm of a tall, dark, and muscular boy, who in Bella's opinion looked much older than a highschooler.
"The blonde girl, that's Rosalie, and the big guy, Emmet, they're like a thing. I'm not even sure that's legal!" Jessica said
"Jessica," Angela interjected, "They're not actually related."
Bella nodded slowly, tuning out her new friends a bit as the next Cullen filed in, a tiny black-haired girl with wide dark eyes and a giddy smile. She was absolutely effervescent, exuding almost manic energy. Like all the others, she was stunningly attractive.
"The little one is Alice, she's really weird," Jessica said, "Apparently she's with the Cullen's other son, Jasper, but he's homeschooled for some odd reason".
A strange ping shot through Bella's chest at the name. Jasper. She felt her heart begin to pound and her cheeks flush. Jasper. The simple name suddenly sounded warm and whole to her ears, like honey and leather and whiskey. Why did it seem to have such a mysterious meaning to her? She didn't have time to think on it any further, however, as the final Cullen boy strode into the room.
As soon as he entered, Bella's eyes were drawn to him. He was not necessarily more attractive than his other siblings, but there was a certain magnetism about him that could not be ignored. He was almost as tall as Emmet but much leaner, though still well muscled. His hair was a shocking, otherworldly shade of copper, which contrasted boldly against his icy pale skin. His eyes caught hers, and for a brief moment, she was unable to look away. She somehow managed to tear her gaze from him, and the feeling slowly faded. Even then, she still felt his intense stare following her.
She shuddered and turned back to Angela and Jessica. "Who's he?" she asked, slightly out of breath.
"That's Edward Cullen," Jessica said, sounding sour, "He's totally gorgeous, but nobody here is good enough for him to stay with long, apparently. Like I care, you know?"
Bella caught Angela's eye and gave her a look. Their friend obviously cared a little more than she was letting on. She made a mental note to ask Angela about it later, as they clearly had a history.
The rest of the lunch period was fairly uneventful. Bella listened to the ramblings of her new classmates with only half of her attention. She felt a little guilty, knowing that they could probably tell her heart wasn't in it. But it was the best she could do when she could constantly feel Edward's eyes boring into the back of her skull. It somehow felt like he was trying to reach something inside of her, almost like he was trying to… read her mind?
The lunch bell rang and she was pulled out of her trance. When she turned around to look at her mysterious onlooker, he was gone.
Finally, Bella had reached the last period of her day. Her final class was AP Biology, which she was confident would be a breeze. Aside from English, Biology was her strongest subject, so she was almost looking forward to it. She was a little worried about being late, however. Mike had held her up in the hallway, clearly attempting to ask her to prom. She had pretended not to hear him, but when he quickly became persistent she told him she would be out of town. It wasn't true, of course. She would, in reality, be holed up in her bedroom reading. But she wasn't going to let him think that she would give him anything but a no for an answer.
Her fears turned out to be true, and she cursed under her breath as she heard the bell ring just moments before she walked into the room.
"Ah, Miss Swan, welcome to class."
Bella blushed as everyone in the class turned their heads to look at her. This was exactly what she had been hoping to avoid. She looked around nervously as Mr. Molina started to introduce her. Almost immediately she recognized Edward sitting in the back corner, an endearing smirk on his face.
"Come here"
The words echoed in her brain and she found herself walking towards the back of the classroom, her eyes focused intently on Edward. He really was stunningly handsome, enticing in every way. She could almost swear he was-
"Bella, over here!"
She turned her head, and suddenly the trance was broken. Angela waved to her cheerily, and Bella turned and headed for the other side of the room to take her seat next to her friend. She glanced back over at Edward, but quickly turned away, her heart beating out of her chest. His demeanor had quickly changed. The look on his face was furious. More than, furious really. Just pure, unbridled rage. What had she done to make him look at her like that? And more importantly, how had his voice gotten into her head?
"Jeez, why is Mr. Icicle over there staring at you like that" Angela whispered, looking a combination of amused and concerned.
Bella shuddered. "I have no idea, but it's giving me the creeps" she whispered back.
"I never really got why girls like him so much," Angela said, her voice even more hushed, "and not just 'cause I'm gay. I mean, he genuinely seems like a prick. At least the other Cullens are polite."
Bella smiled at the other girl, who looked a bit nervous. Even though Angela had slipped the information in casually, she could tell that her admission was a big one.
"Gosh, I wish I was too sometimes. I mean, I can't even imagine dating one of the guys here. At least in Phoenix, there was more variety."
The two giggled quietly, and Angela looked over at Bella with a smile.
"Thanks for being so cool about it. Jessica wasn't nearly as accepting. I mean, she is now, but in the beginning it really freaked her out a bit, you know? I guess that's just the way it is with small-town girls"
Bella took Angela's hand and squeezed it gently.
"But it shouldn't be."
Angela grinned and squeezed back.
"I'm glad we're friends."
The remainder of the class blew by quickly. Cell division was easy stuff, and she and Angela had fun joking around and laughing their way through it. By the time the bell rang, Bella had all but forgotten about Edward's presence in the back corner. Angela walked her out to the parking lot, and they exchanged numbers before the tall girl bade her goodbye and headed off to her own car.
Smiling slightly, Bella made her way towards the old rusty red truck. Things were panning out better than expected in Forks. If only she could figure out that strange Edward character.
"Hello, Isabella."
Bella let out a small scream and spun around to see him right before her. Edward Cullen. She looked around. He had been nowhere to be seen just a moment ago.
"Where- where did you come from?" she stuttered out, clearly still flustered by his sudden arrival.
"Isabella," he said in a calm, serious voice, "I was right behind you."
Bella shook her head, knowing in her heart that wasn't the truth. She and Angela had been completely alone in the parking lot just minutes before. But what was the alternative? He had teleported to her? He was some sort of hologram? She shook the ridiculous thoughts out of her head. She looked back up at him.
"I ah, just wanted to apologize for my actions before. I was rude to stare at you the way I did. It's just that you, well, remind me of something in my past I'd rather not revisit."
Bella nodded slowly. Where was he going with this?
"I'd like to make it up to you. I'll meet you at eight tomorrow night and we'll have dinner. My treat," he finished with a slanted smile.
It wasn't a question, but rather a command. She wasn't the type to easily be bossed around but yet she found herself saying,
"Alright. What should I wear?"
He grinned widely, "Whatever you'd like. You'd look gorgeous in anything."
Bella's cheeks flushed bright red, and she smiled shyly,
"Th-thank you, Edward. I'll see you then?"
"Of course. Take care of yourself, Isabella Swan."
He turned away and sauntered down the parking lot and into the woods. Where the hell was he going, she wondered, as she watched him disappear between the trees. Weird.
Her drive home turned out to be a sorely needed excuse to sit in silence and just think. Her mind was reeling from all of the information it had processed today. For starters, she now had at least two friends who she genuinely enjoyed. She was normally painfully introverted, but today she was strangely giddy over her new social circle. It was a welcome change. Two, she had received more male attention in one day than she had in all her seventeen years combined. This was throwing her for a loop, considering she was very used to blending into the background. Being "fresh meat" had really given her new insights into the male brain. And three, why in the hell had she said yes to Edward?
She could come up with dozens of reasons off the top of her head why she shouldn't go out with him. His behavior was creepy and chauvinistic, he had a poor history with one of her new friends, and he was clearly a player. He didn't seem interested in what she wanted, or even aware that she had an opinion. He came on to her like he already knew the outcome, like informing her was just a formality. But despite all this, she didn't say no. In fact, at the moment, she had felt completely enchanted by him. She had half a mind to call it off right then, but she didn't have his number and tomorrow was a Saturday. She would have to either go on the date or tell him, in person, that she wasn't interested.
Before she realized it she was back at Charlie's. She sighed, put the car in park, and hopped out into the cold winter air. She would have to figure out the mystery that was Edward Cullen another day. Now, she thought, exhausted, it was time for a nap.