1

EPOV

"Edward, get up!" yelled my sister, Esme Masen. I groaned and pulled my pillow over my head. I heard my door get thrown open just before my pillow got pulled off my head. "Come on. We are going to be so late."

"Gee, wouldn't that be such a tragedy," I grumbled as I rolled over onto my back.

"Look, I know this isn't the ideal situation, Edward," said Esme, sitting on the side of my bed. "But this is the best I can do for now."

"I know," I whispered. "It's fine, Esme. I'll be ready in a few minutes."

"Ok," she whispered.

Esme stood up and walked out of my room. I sighed as rolled off my bed and made my way into the bathroom. I started the shower and stripped off my pajamas. I stepped under the hot water, letting it wash over my head and shoulders.

Esme and I just moved to the cold, wet, dreary, boring town of Forks, Washington. To say that I was unhappy with our move would be an understatement but I didn't really have a choice. My parents, Edward Sr. and Elizabeth Masen, moved to Italy two months ago. My father has been in the army for the last thirty years. He's mostly been stationed stateside but two months ago he got stationed in Italy. Nice, huh? So I had a choice to make: either move with them to a foreign country where I don't know anyone or even how to speak their native language or move in with my older sister, Esme. Some choice, right?

So I made the choice to move in with my sister. Of course, I thought I would be still living in DC but last month she broke the news that we were moving to Forks. She had gotten offered the job as principal at the local high school. It was an opportunity that she just couldn't turn down so I sucked it up and agreed to the move. That was a week ago and we just moved into our new apartment. School started today and I wasn't exactly excited but I would do what I could to make Esme happy. Right now, she was all I had.

I sighed as I climbed out of the shower and dried off. I went back into my room and quickly got dressed in a pair of jeans and my favorite Led Zeppelin t-shirt. At least I would be somewhat comfortable. I ran my fingers through my hair and grabbed my backpack. I made my way out to the kitchen to where Esme was sitting at the table sipping on a cup of coffee.

"You about ready?" I asked.

"You need to eat some breakfast," said Esme.

"I'm not really hungry," I muttered. "Lets just get going."

"Ok," sighed Esme.

Esme put her coffee cup in the sink. I followed her outside to her car. My car couldn't get here quick enough. It was embarrassing riding to school with your sister, no matter how cool she is. We climbed in and headed toward the school. I could tell Esme was excited about school starting. She had spent the last week up at the school getting to know her teachers, staff, and trying to get everything in order.

Esme was ten years older than me. I suppose you could say I was a little surprise for my parents. They were told after Esme was born that my mother would never be able to have any other children. Needless to say nine and a half years later, they were shocked when they found out that they were expecting me. Shocked but thrilled.

Esme and I have always been close. She never cared that I was so much younger than she was. She treated me like I was her best friend and not her bratty little brother. So when it came time to make the decision whether or not I should move in with her or go with my parents, I knew that at least if I stayed with her that I would have someone to talk to.

I knew it wouldn't take too long for people to realize that Esme was my sister. We looked a lot alike. We both had the same bronzed hair, only mine is unruly and hers is beautiful. We also have the same emerald green eyes and pale skin. We got our hair color and green eyes from our mother. Our father was a dark haired man with brown eyes.

"Do you want to come wait in my office until the warning bell rings?" asked Esme.

"Um, no," I chuckled. "No offense, Esme, but hanging out in the principal's office is not the best way to start off at a new school."

"Point taken," she laughed. "You know where I am if you need me, Ok?"

"Ok, Es," I said as I opened the car door. "I hope you have a good day."

"You too," smiled Esme.

I climbed out of the car and shut the door behind me. I pulled my back pack up on my shoulder and headed inside. There weren't too many kids here yet but there were enough that they stopped and stared. Welcome to the first day of my senior year, I thought to myself.

I made my way down to my first period class, ignoring the stares and whispers. It wasn't anything I wasn't used to. This would be the sixth school I've been to since I started kindergarten. Just one more of the curses of being an army brat. You get used to it after awhile, I guess. After a while they will get tired of me and I will be able to just blend in with everyone else.

I made my way into the back of the classroom and took a seat in the corner. Maybe I could hide back here. As the rest of the kids trickled into the classroom, they would look over at me. I rolled my eyes and looked out the window. So fucking typical. Let's gawk at the new kid.

"Hi," squealed a high pitched nasally voice. I looked over and saw a girl with curly, brown hair and a creepy smile on her face. "I'm Jessica."

"Edward," I relied.

"So your like new, right?" she asked.

"Yep," I said, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. It's pretty obvious I'm new.

"Oh, I thought so," she giggled. Or at least I thought it was supposed to be a giggle. It sounded more like she was choking. "So where did you move from?"

"DC," I muttered as the teacher came in.

"Welcome back, kids," she said, looking around the classroom. Her eyes fell on me and she smiled. "You must be Edward Masen."

"Yes, ma'am," I said.

"Well, welcome to Forks," she said with a smile. "I'm Mrs. Owens."

"Thanks," I mumbled.

Mrs. Owens passed out our syllabus and started going over the class rules. Same old shit I've heard at every single school I've ever been to. No talking unless talked to first. Raise your hand. Respect each other. Blah, blah, blah. Yada, yada, yada. You would think they would come up with something new like don't get caught sleeping through my lesson or I will flog you within an inch of your life. Or maybe not. That might be a tad bit extreme but if by the time you get to high school you don't know to raise your hand, respect each other, and every other lame ass rule that nobody was going to follow anyway, then you don't deserve to be in high school.

It felt like it took an eternity for the bell to ring but finally it did. I gathered my stuff and headed down to the my next class. Jessica babbled the entire time she walked down the hallway with me. Honestly, I didn't pay attention to one thing she said. I walked into my classroom thankful that she wasn't in my class.

I took my seat in the back and closed my eyes. It had already been a long ass day and it didn't seem to be ending anytime soon. That's pretty much how the rest of the morning went. Each class was just as boring as the first. Jessica seemed to find me in the hallway after each class. I was a little frightened, honestly.

By the time I made it to the cafeteria for lunch, I had a big ass headache and was ready to book the first flight to Italy. Jessica dragged me over to a table where an over eager looking blond girl, a geeky black haired Asian boy, a tall dark haired boy, and a spiky haired blond boy. The three boys all glared at me while the blond girl gave me a flirty smile that honestly freaked me out.

"Everyone, this is Edward Masen," squealed Jessica, pulling me into the seat next to hers. "Edward, this is Lauren Mallory, Eric Yorke, Tyler Crowley, and Mike Newton."

"Oh, it's so nice to meet you, Edward," gushed Lauren, grabbing onto my arm.

"Yeah, you too," I muttered, pulling my arm out of her hand. What's with all the touching?

"So is Ms. Masen is like your mom or something?" asked Tyler.

"Sister," I said.

"Where are your parents?" asked Lauren.

"Italy," I said as the cafeteria doors got thrown open.

I turned and looked over. A girl with long dark brown hair with purple streaks came in. She had a black beanie on over her head. I couldn't really see her eyes but I could tell they were dark. She was wearing a pair of jeans with rips in the knees, a long sleeve black t-shirt with a short sleeve red shirt over it with a black skull. She had thick soled black boots on and black fingerless gloves on her hands. She walked straight through the cafeteria and outside. I turned back to the others sitting at the table.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Bella Cullen," said Jessica, rolling her eyes. "Don't mess with her. She's crazy."

"Yeah, she used to live in Phoenix until about a year ago. I heard she went totally nuts and killed her parents," explained Lauren.

"That's such bullshit," scoffed Mike. "If she killed her parents, she would be in jail."

"I heard her brothers paid the cops off to get her off." Jessica looked so excited about gossiping about this girl. It made me sick. "We all know that they have money."

"That doesn't mean anything," scoffed Eric. "You can't just buy your way out of jail if you kill someone. Besides, I heard she's pushing drugs."

I tuned them out as they kept talking about Bella. Honestly, I thought it was funny that they would believe any of the shit they were saying. I looked back at Bella. She was sitting on a half wall with her iPod on and her nose stuck in a book. She looked over at me and I quickly turned away. What was it about this girl that pulled me in?

The bell rang and I grabbed my uneaten lunch and tossed it before I followed the others out of the cafeteria. I looked back and saw Bella just sitting there watching me. Or at least I thought she was watching me. I made my way down to my locker and stuck my morning books inside. I rolled my eyes as I followed Jessica down to my fifth period biology class. By the time I got away from her there was only one seat left. The seat next to Bella Cullen.