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Before she knew it, her alarm went off on Monday morning. Bella made her way downstairs to make a bowl of cereal and start some coffee for Charlie. He was never one to get up and go. He liked to wake up slowly, wake up with coffee, and ready himself for the day. They sat in comfortable silence for a while before Charlie put on his gun belt, boots, and headed off to work. Bella headed upstairs to get ready for whatever this new fresh hell was going to be at FHS.
The parking lot was mostly empty when Bella arrived, and she found her assigned parking spot quickly. Charlie had left the sticker for her parking spot in the front seat for her to find with a post-it stuck to the front and a chicken-scratched, "Good luck! Love, Dad". Bella folded the post-it carefully and stuffed it into her wallet for safekeeping. The act had been so simple, yet held so much more love than what Renee ever showed her. She sat in the truck for a good 15 minutes staring at the map of the school she'd been given. While it wasn't a large place, there were multiple annex buildings she would need to learn how to get to quickly without having to carry her entire locker worth of school work around all day long. When she finally looked up, the parking lot was filling in, and kids were already making their way inside. Fighting the urge to drive back to Charlie's, Bella climbed out of the truck.
"Here goes nothing," she said out loud and swung her bag up onto her shoulder. At the school entrance stood the shaggy blonde. He gave Bella a warm smile and held his hand out for her to shake it.
"I'm Mike," he said, "You must be Isabella."
"Ahhh," was her response, and she blushed. "I forgot what this small town was like." He raised an eyebrow in question, making her laugh.
"Everyone probably knows who I am already, huh?"
"Oh, yeah. Yeah." Mike said, chuckling and shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. "Not every day that the Chief's daughter moves to town."
"That sounds like a bad movie line," popped in another voice. Bella turned around to greet the skinny, acne-riddled, dark-haired boy. "Eric," he said, holding his hand out for her to shake.
"Just call me Bella," she said.
"You don't like to be called Isabella?" Mike asked.
"Not if you expect a response," she said, and they all laughed.
"I gotta skate if I want to make it to my locker in time. Nice to meet you, Bella." Eric playfully nudged Mike in the ribs and shot into the school.
Mike stared at Bella and rubbed his side before shaking his head. "Kid's got a sharp elbow," he laughed.
"Thanks for the warning," she said. "I'm kind of the queen of clumsy. I might need all the help I can get. I should probably get going so that I'm not late." Bella turned to reach for the door handle.
"Do you need help finding your way around a bit? I'd be glad to lend a hand," Mike said, rushing over to hold the door for her.
"Do you do that for all the new kids or just the Chief's daughter?" She laughed as he clasped his chest, pretending her words were wounding.
"I'm not the Audiovisual nerd that gives tours if that's what you're asking," he joked. "That's Eric."
She jerked her thumb in the direction the other boy had taken, and Mike nodded, chuckling. He glanced down at the schedule and map in her hand, leading the way. Bella's locker was just down the hall from his. Mike continued to chatter as he showed her the quickest routes from their lockers and led the way to their shared first-hour class.
You all know about the people Bella met, the immediate friends she made, and that dumb bitch Lauren. The story unfolded a little more slowly. The students were louder. Meaner. More presumptuous.
Bella had little experience with close friendships and no dating history whatsoever. She did become rather close to Mike and Angela quickly. Mike hadn't come right out and said it yet, but Bella knew he was crushing on her hard from that first day. He continued escorting her to and from their shared classes regularly, chattering away all the while. She dodged Mike's frequent suggestions about hanging out after school if it would only be the two of them. She didn't want to hurt his feelings unnecessarily. He was protective of her in a way, and she appreciated how he never failed to save her from self-injury in Phys-Ed. Despite some unrequited crushing, Mike ended up being one of the closest friends she had at first.
Jessica's interest in Mike had been abundantly clear from the first time Bella met her. Jess had skulked over to introduce herself during a conversation with Mike on Bella's third day at FHS. His attention towards Bella made her snarky in the beginning, but Jessica did what any other teenage girl would do with a possible rival and attempted to befriend Bella instead. She was no valedictorian and slightly narcissistic, but friendly nonetheless. Despite their differences, the girls managed to get along fairly well once Jessica was certain that Mike's interest in Bella wasn't reciprocated. While Bella did eventually integrate into Mike's circle of friends, she didn't spend much time with them outside of school. There were a few trips down at First Beach to hang out, which ultimately found Mike's circle and some of the Rez kids intermingling from time to time.
Bella had seen the Cullens around the school, most often sitting together at lunch. Emmett now greeted Bella daily with a smile and a nod as she passed by, while the constant blonde on his arm, Rosalie, appeared to ignore Bella's existence entirely. Twice the little pixie called Alice had practically danced through the lunch line in front of Bella. Both times, she paid for what was on Bella's tray. Bella learned it was something that Alice did daily, regardless of who was behind her. Her beautiful blonde boyfriend Jasper would give her a crooked grin, and despite being a bit bow-legged, gracefully kept pace beside her. Bella noticed that Alice was often doing kind little things. Picking up trash, giving people surprise gifts after "overhearing" it was someone's birthday, and generally attempting to spread some cheer wherever she went. Bella found Alice to be endearing while it seemed her generous nature made others uneasy. Lauren's snide comments about the Cullens flaunting their money helped Bella understand that the real issue was; jealousy. So far, Bella had seen nothing about Alice to make her feel the least bit uneasy. She found herself hoping to end up next to Alice in line as an excuse for an introduction. Her voice was like wind chimes and laughter infectious. Sometimes the sound of it would tinkle across the cafeteria at lunch. Yes, Bella was drawn to Alice immediately.
And then, there was Edward.
She had seen him around, of course. He was beautiful to watch. Bella had always had a thing for redheads, something Renee did not understand and even teased her over. His copper hair was in an artful mess about his head, and his dark eyes were almost menacing. While the others would sometimes chatter with other students and participate in all things High School, Edward was the loner. He rarely spoke a word to anyone, it seemed, and he missed a great deal of school. Rumors about the reasons behind his missing presence stemmed everywhere from an odd disease to the assumption that because he was a foster kid, he had authority issues. Whatever the reasoning, most believed that he got away with it because his father was the local surgeon. While he never approached her, Bella often caught him staring in her direction. Sometimes so intensely that she was left wondering if he could read every thought in her head. A few times when their eyes had met, Bella had gotten chills but couldn't seem to look away. Something was haunting about him, though Bella had never heard him say a word.
Jessica and Lauren started cracking jokes about him being Bella's secret boyfriend because they would catch him staring so often. On occasion, his facial expressions were spot on in reaction to conversations at their table, especially if the name Cullen was mentioned. Bella assumed that either Edward had excellent hearing or could read lips, and made it a habit to change the conversation as quickly as possible whenever he was nearby. At home, Bella was thriving in her already comfortable routine with Charlie. Her life was the calmest it had ever been. Despite Charlie's concerns that she was spending too much time alone, Bella was enjoying the solitude. It was something she never had with Renee. Now that she was learning to live with it and enjoy it, she was in no real hurry to give it up.