My truck hummed softly as I idled in the parking lot, the truck's wipers screeched clumsily across the windscreen. Their efforts were futile, the drizzle was thick like a haze and even as a glimpse of the high school parking lot was made clear, it was replaced by more rain. I turned the key, the wipers coming to an awkward halt, and the truck engine rolling over for its laugh hurrah. Quickly checking my appearance in the rear-view mirror before leaving the car, I awkwardly smiled back at my reflection. Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life, Bella, you're an adult now.
I tiptoed over and around the pools of water that surrounded the truck, my awkward feet still managing to find their way into the puddles covering the concrete as I navigated my way around students moving across the school parking lot.
I wondered how long it would take me to adjust to the weather here. Forks was so cold compared to Arizona. I looked down at the thick North Face down jacket Renée had gifted me as I continued to move through the swarm of students moving through the thick haze of rain. It was ridiculously expensive for her to purchase, very unlike her considering she was moreso a make-it-herself gift giver, but it was so incredibly thoughtful. "I picked purple because I thought it would remind you of home," she'd said as I unwrapped it out of its packaging. Home was purple evening skies and the colors outside my window at twilight. I wondered what twilight looked like in Forks. I couldn't seem to remember it from my time spent here years ago.
Finally making it to the front office without injury, I took a big breath as I opened the door to the administration room.
My feet suddenly seemed to move too quickly, the connection between my mind and my limbs not quite tethered, and I felt my legs slip out from under me and the top part of my body moving in the opposite direction.
"Ugh," I let out an almost groan as I hit the black mat beneath me.
"Non slip huh?... Don't worry, it's happened to the best of us," came a soft voice from above me. The young woman reached her hand out, and I realised in front of me was Angela Webber.
"Angela, wow," I mumbled as she helped me to my feet. "It's been so long, I think the last time I saw you was summer vacation before the start of senior year?"
"It has," she replied with a warm smile. "I must admit Bella, I was pretty surprised to see your name on the new staff list. What brings you back here? You always seemed to heavily dislike your time in Forks!"
Angela was somewhat correct, the teenager in me did dislike vacationing in Forks but spending time with her during those lazy, quiet weeks was somewhat of a highlight.
"I hadn't really spent much time with Charlie whilst at college and when I saw a job come up, I thought why not?" She nodded at my response and moved her hands as if to tell me to keep going. "There wasn't really anything keeping me in Arizona, you know. Mom was off travelling with Phil and I figured maybe it was time for a change of scenery? Plus, paying no rent with Charlie would give me the opportunity to settle, save my money and then eventually find my own place. I guess I just wanted to start somewhere new..." I let out a breath, realizing I'd barely taken one as I'd rattled off to Angela why I was back here.
Things had become challenging in Arizona. Chris and I had not so 'mutually' agreed to go our separate ways after graduation, the friends I had choosing him. Renee struggled to deal with me back in her house full time, and coupled with her frustration that I'd let go of "the best thing that ever happened to you" living with her and Phil was just a bit intense. Add the fact I couldn't find anything but substitute teaching work. I just had to get out of there. Forks was hopefully going to give me the opportunity for a new start.
Angela smiled and fidgeted with her glasses. "Makes total sense, Bella. Sorry, I didn't mean to pry, I was just genuinely curious. But hey, I'm sure Charlie would be glad to have you around, and I'm actually excited to have someone teaching here that's my own age!" She laughed and handed me a bunch of papers. "I'm actually your 'mentor' or 'critical friend' so it's my responsibility to help you get settled today and also be your buddy for what's left of the year. I must admit, you're brave starting mid year! C'mon, I'll show you around and take you to your classroom." She gently led me out of the office, and we walked side by side through the halls. Students waved and smiled at Angela as we passed- some of them even downright beamed at her. We came to an abrupt halt outside of the cafeteria; Angela squinted through the glass window, surveying the students milling around.
"I know you might be nervous having your first class and all, but no one should really give you any trouble here. They are good kids, like genuinely. We are pretty lucky here." Her words were positive as I watched her continue to scan the room.
"I'm sure you had all sorts when you were doing substitute teaching, right?" Angela asked as she typed something into her phone, still keeping a close eye on the cafeteria.
I laughed. "You could call them all sorts, but I feel like substitute teaching was a good baptism of fire you know?"
We were silent for a moment as we both observed the happenings of the cafeteria.
"Who are they?" I asked. My eyes locked on a group of five students all sitting around a table. They looked different. There was no other way to describe it. Not the type of students to be attending a quiet high school in Forks, Washington. I was embarrassed at the fact I couldn't look away. The female students could only be described as ethereal looking. The one I presumed to be the eldest had long blonde hair that cascaded around her shoulders almost unnaturally. Her makeup almost too perfect, too... She smirked at the boy sitting next to her, her hand curving around his wrist in an attempt to focus his attention on her. His eyes snapped up at her and his head swiftly found its way into the side of her neck, planting a kiss. I looked away, mortified at my staring, I felt a red blush crawl up my torso and into the lower half of my face, rising up to my cheeks. I looked back again, this time finding myself staring at the boy and girl in the middle of the table. The girl locked eyes with me and smiled, I watched as her hand squeezed the boy next to hers whose head was down cast looking a mixture of bored and pained. There was only one left, on the edge of the table sat a boy. The first thing I noticed was his hair, it had almost an unnatural movement through it, it was tousled? The thumb of his left hand pressed into the top of the plastic table, making circular patterns as he mumbled under his breath to the others.
"Bella, you're staring!" said Angela with a nudge. "Don't worry, we've all done it. They are hard not to look at. They are the Cullens. Moved here from Alaska last year. The blonde girl and the dark haired boy are a couple, Rosalie and Emmett; the pixie cut and the blondish boy, also a couple, Alice and Jasper; and then there's Edward." The 5-minute warning bell rang through the room and I almost jumped, feeling a slight spring in my step. "It's a complicated dynamic. I'll tell you another time, but don't worry, they won't give you any trouble. Perfect grades, perfect attendance, perfect faces..." she trailed off.
Angela walked me to my classroom. "You'll be here for the day. I'm just down the hall if you need me, but I'll see you at lunch. Your first day will be over before you know it."
Time moved quickly. My classes for the most part were okay... I felt clunky and awkward in communications class, but seemed to find my feet as the day progressed. Teaching always felt like a performance, and I was, for the most part, one to shy away from any stage. But there was something about the classroom that I enjoyed. I wasn't 'Boring Bella' here, a nickname penned by my male classmates in high school that still lingered in my headspace all these years later. I could be interesting, argumentative, sometimes even funny, and my students ate it up. I wasn't 'Boring Bella' anymore.
Lunch was quiet. I sat at a table with Angela in the staffroom and mostly kept to myself. It reminded me of student teaching - that awkward feeling of belonging there but not quite fitting in. I felt lucky to at least have a friend in Angela. As I picked at my sandwich and half-listened to the conversation around the table, I recalled my last holiday in Forks. Angela and I had gone to a bonfire down at La Push. We were so thrilled at not only being invited but at the fact our parents said we could go, on the condition the other parent had said it was okay. I smiled, remembering Jacob Black and his friends from the reservation telling spooky stories around the camp as Angela and I took pretend swigs from the flask that was passed around. We were too scared to actually drink.
Angela was right, the day sped past me and before I could even finish my lunch, my feet were walking me back to my classroom. I looked over my lesson plan quickly. I wondered if my students could tell that I had tragically practiced delivering this lesson to my empty room the night before.
Mike Newton, who had been in my 3rd period communication skills class, sauntered in once again. "Ms. Swan, why, it is my utmost pleasure to cast my eyes upon you again," he almost sang at me, his hands unfolding before him as he spoke.
"Yes, Mike, I see you are already embodying the spirit of British Literature. It is good to see you too," I replied with a smirk.
"Seriously though, I can deal with the fact that you didn't have the heater on in third because maybe you didn't know where it is, but it's sixth period now, and this room is an ice box! Can you hit the heater please? The remote's behind you." He gestured wildly at the remote control attached to the back wall.
Embarrassed, I quickly turned around and pressed a bunch of buttons on the remote. Was it really that cold in here? Had my students been uncomfortable throughout the day? Oh god, they probably think I'm an idiot. I looked down at the heavy down I was wearing. Of course I hadn't noticed.
A lurching sound came from the split system above the white board. It groaned and gargled and I turned to the amused faces of my students, a hum of giggles and murmurs spreading across the room. All but two students made a sound: the Cullen girl with the pixie cut, who seemed to be staring off into space and the tousled-haired boy who stared at her. The system let out one final gurgle before a gush of hot air shot out of the vent; it was almost violent, the air pushing strands of my own hair into my face.
My students laughed. Well, almost all of them did. All but the two Cullens. The girl looked pained; she was scared, her eyes wide, she was almost frozen. The boy looked worse. His right hand was fisted at his mouth, and his left gripped at the edge of his table. I immediately averted my eyes from him, my stomach sunk taking in their expressions. What on earth could be wrong?
The hum of the room settled and I began my lesson. Weaving in and out of their desks, I moved around the room as I explained the quarter theme of 'good vs evil'. My movement meant the students had to be involved, they had to follow along, and if they weren't it was obvious. I stopped at Mike Newton's desk and picked up his very small, over-sharpened pencil waving it around to make my point about the perfect villain. The class laughed, and when Alice Cullen even snorted, I knew that I had their interest. All of them except for Edward Cullen, who with the hand that was not covering his face ripped up a sheet of loose-leaf paper and crushed it. He looked at me like he found me repulsive. I stood frozen in front of him for a moment and then casually sniffed. What was it? Did I smell?
I pushed Edwards odd demeanor out of mind and spent the next 40 minutes performing for the class. The three p.m. bell rang through the room just as I finished detailing the homework due next week. Groans radiated the room, soon replaced by chatter as the chairs scraped and feet tapped against the floor. I looked up to see Edward Cullen move unnaturally fast past me and out the door, his hand still balled into a fist in front of his face. Alice trailed behind him. "Toothache!" she chimed as she followed him out the room.
As the last student left my classroom, I slowly began packing my belongings into my bag. The events of the day hit me like a bag of bricks, and I felt a headache seeping through my forehead. Packed and ready to head home, I gave a wave to Angela, who was still sitting in her classroom.
"Marking already?" as the words tumbled out of my mouth, a feeling of unease washed over me. "I wasn't supposed to take up work to mark already was I? Crap!"
Angela's head tilted back and she let out a soft laugh. "Relax Bella, just some holiday homework I had set for a few students. You're all good." She shuffled through the papers on her desk. "How did it go today, though? Everything okay?" She squinted at me like she could see the tension spreading across my face.
"It was good. I just ended 6th on a bit of a sour note.I had a strange interaction with one of the Cullens…" I trailed off. She looked at me and tilted her head as if to ask me to keep going. "I didn't exactly interact with him, so that's wrong. But he basically spent the entire period looking like he was in pain. Like my lesson was causing him pain. It was so bizarre…" I felt like an absolute idiot the moment the words left my mouth.
"The Cullens are a bit strange, Bella. I wouldn't worry about it. Edward hasn't cracked a smile in a single class he's been in with me," she shrugged as she twirled her pen between her fingers. "I wouldn't worry too much. I'm sure your lesson was great." She smiled back at me and I felt a little less stupid.
"Thanks, Angela. I best be off." I gave her a small wave goodbye and made my way to my truck. The parking lot was almost empty as I backed out and into the Main Street. The ride home felt shorter than the ride there, which was a relief. Charlie had promised to cook dinner as he had an early shift at the station. Dinner could be interesting…
It was an almost uneventful ride home if not for the silver Volvo that sped past me so fast that the cab of my truck shook. My whole body shook with it. I peered over my shoulder and watched the silver car like a bullet disappear into the distance.
Who on earth needs to go that fast? And where the hell were they going?