AN: Annnd the story starts! There will be romance later on. Average teenager stuff, LGBTQ+ themes, all that jazz. Whatever pairings happen are definitely going to be fleshed out, and no relationship is set in stone- because they're teenagers. Also, changing TONS. I don't know if I can stress this enough. It'll still have a lot of the same elements of Twilight- it's a canon AU-, but things are changing. Thanks!

1.

Sara started taking college courses at 13 with her mom's permission. If there was a way she could avoid spending so many years in school, she would take it. She wanted to graduate and take advantage of her youth while she had it, before age and responsibilities caught up with her again.

Being in Forks forced her to pause those plans. It took a lot away from her, actually, but she was hoping that what she gained would match.

This was her home now. It was different, but she could learn how to adapt. She just wished that her mom let her move up more grades when she was younger. Maybe then she wouldn't have to deal with the hormonal festival that all high schools seemed to be.

Sara sank further in the seat as Charlie's cruiser pulled up to Forks High School. Bella was sitting in the front and fiddling with loose strings on her backpack. Neither of them were comfortable with schools; Sara because she could never scrape by without getting into trouble and Bella because of her social skills.

"You okay, kids?" Charlie asked, turning his head to look at both girls. "If you don't want to go today, you can always start tomorrow."

"No, it's fine," Bella said. "We can go." She was always the more reasonable one. Sara looked up to her for that, and also because she was a ton better at making hard decisions. Like going to school, or waking up on time, or making sure everyone ate dinner.

Sara's therapist told her it would get easier to control everything when she was older, but she doubted it. Her emotions were free and wild and untamable, just like the curls bouncing around her head.

The sisters exited the car at the same time. Bella slid her backpack on her shoulders and Sara let her bag hang in her hands. She only bought a notebook and a couple of pencils so she could draw and distract herself for the days it took her to graduate. She knew all of this, bored as she was in middle school she had to study something while teachers droned.

Her mom called her gifted. Bella called her lazy. Sara's big sister knew her better than anyone else in the world. She was totally right.

Charlie drove off with a wave. Sara was left almost alone with the rather small school emitting horrible vibes of doom and despair. Maybe she could fake being sick for the week, mentally and emotionally prepare herself for whatever horrors teenagers could inflict on-

Bella grabbed her hand and shook Sara from her thoughts. "Ready?"

"No," The girl whined, trying to tug her hand away. "Can we play hookie again?"

Bella blushed and turned away. She was determinedly walking towards the main office with careful steps to avoid falling in the snow. "I thought we promised to never talk about that."

"No one can hear us, dude. You broke a rule once and got away with it. Aren't you proud?"

"No," Bella replied. Her cheeks were still dark. "As far as I'm concerned, it never happened."

They made it to the office before Sara could say anything back, and she did keep her promise to never mention it to anyone else. It was fun to tease Bella with something minor like that anyway. All they did was stay home and watch movies together in 5th grade. Sara needed a mental health day and Bella seemed like she could use the time away from kids she could never connect with.

Sara looked around while Bella gave the woman behind the desk their names. There were a few odd paintings on the walls and pictures of previous graduates. The classes were so small compared to what she was used to. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she could just slip under the radar. Bella would probably like that too. Being new and all they were sure to get some attention, but Sara kind of liked the idea of everything not being so noisy.

"Thank you," Bella said, drawing Sara's attention. Her sister handed her a schedule and something for her teachers to sign. First period trigonometry, second Spanish. She had PE during lunch and history right after, biology after that. The day would end with Language Arts, thankfully. Sara always zoned out the most during her last class.

"What class do you have first?" Sara asked, standing on her toes to peer at Bella's schedule. "Mine's trig."

"Algebra," Bella said. She hadn't bothered trying to test out of any math classes during high school, and Sara couldn't blame her. English was Bella's best subject and Sara's was math. Between the two of them they would never need a tutor. "Do we have any classes together?"

"English, I think," Sara answered and checked their schedules again. "Cool. I can totally cheat off of you."

Bella easily swatted her away and wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Definitely not."

"Aren't you supposed to take care of me? I'm incapable, absolutely, of passing this class. Don't you want to see your baby sister succeed?" Sara asked, walking beside her sister who was resolutely ignoring her. "What if I break both of my hands and can't write anymore?"

"I guess you'll have to learn how to write with your teeth," Bella said and quickly changed the subject before Sara could come up with anything else. "Are we going to the same building at least?"

"Two? Yeah."

Bella held up her map and began walking in the right direction. Sara was infinitely impressed with her big sister and the teenager's many skills. Especially the ones Sara relied on.

They eventually broke apart at their separate classrooms. Bella's was first and Sara's was towards the end of the hallway.

When Sara entered the classroom it was immediately apparent to the other early risers that she was younger than them by a couple of years. The teenager was still growing, barely had a chest to speak of, and baby fat was still clinging to her cheeks. The others were juniors at least, most of them around 16.

The teacher, Mrs. Harris, kindly introduced herself as she signed the slip office lady had given Sara. "Because it is mid-semester, are you going to be okay with keeping up in this class?"

"Yes," Sara said, then smiled. "Where should I sit?" Mrs. Harris helpfully pointed her to a desk in the back middle.

While the teen settled she finally allowed herself to think. This was not how things were supposed to go. As far as Sara was aware, her dad was not nearly as active before in Bella's or her mom's lives. Not that he had much of a choice in the matter. Her mom was supposed to meet some dude that liked to travel or something.

After only seeing the movie a couple of times with friends, and almost 15 years passing since, Sara wasn't so sure anymore of the details. She knew, though, that certain things happened. Bella would fall in love with some vampire dude- Robert?- after moving to Forks.

Seeing how Bella was only 15, Sara thought that was super weird. The girl was a bit of an old soul, but not actually old. Sara would have to keep an eye out on this vampire dude just in case. She didn't know if she would be able to do anything against him, but… Bella's her sister.

Then there was some drama? And goofy Jake with a crush. Goofy Jake would probably turn into a really huge wolf, too… if Sara could even rely on anything in the movies.

"Hey," A tall girl next to Sara whispered, drawing her out of her thoughts. "Swan, right?"

"Yeah. Sara." Her social skills with anyone but her sister left much to be desired.

"I'm Haley." The girl smiled and Sara couldn't help but think about how nice it was. Haley was a little older with honey blonde hair and brown eyes. She was wearing some grunge looking band t-shirt and a man's jacket. There was a permanent smile in her eyes. "What brings you to Forks, Sara Swan?"

"My parents, I guess," Sara said. "You?"

"Same," Haley replied. "Used to live in Seattle until my folks decided they wanted to live 'as the monks do' in peaceful isolation. That was in 94 or 95, I think? Cobain's death kinda hit them hard."

"My mom spent a week straight crying after that," Sara snorted. "She wasn't even that big of a fan."

Haley laughed under her breath.

"Ms. Hendrix, as interesting as Ms. Swan is, I'm sure, could you please wait until after class? This is going to be on your next test," Mrs. Harris interrupted.

The older girl sent a quicksilver smile Sara's way and saluted their teacher. "Yes, ma'am!"

If Sara was honest with herself, and she usually always was, she felt a little bit starstruck.

Maybe being in high school wouldn't be so bad this go around. Maybe.