BPOV

After Charlie left, I was in dire need of a few moments alone. Unfortunately though, every student and teacher in this postage stamp sized school wanted to make me feel welcomed; I hadn't had a second to myself since I walked out of the administration office.

I saw an opening after English. Everyone was headed towards lunch, and I had been walking with Mike and Eric, the two seemingly fighting for the title of my new boyfriend, when I spotted the ladies room. Ah sweet freedom.

"Sorry boys, need a second to freshen up. I'll catch up, no need to wait!" I rushed into the gratefully empty bathroom, but closed myself into a stall, lest someone come in looking for me.

The day had been fine; we were four classes in and I only had to introduce myself in two of them, and one was Homeroom where everyone was expected to make introductions, so I felt a bit less awkward there. I was mostly just taken back by how overly friendly everyone was. Most of the students seemed aware of who I was - well, sort of. Everyone was calling me Isabella, thanks to Charlie I'm assuming.

I didn't want to stay in the bathroom too long and miss a few moments to sit and relax, but I was really enjoying the peace. My decision was made though, when I heard footsteps, and then voices, confirming I was no longer alone.

"I don't know why she even bothered coming here. If she's just going to ignore everyone and refuse to even try to be friends, what's the point?"

I didn't wait for a response - I opened the door as quietly as I could and snuck out, hoping they were too self-absorbed to notice me.

I had barely made it through the door to the cafeteria and had located an empty table when a melodic voice rang out, quiet, but clear, next to my ear. "Hello, I'm Alice. You must be Bella Swan. It's so good to meet you."

I startled, dropping my backpack. Before I could grab it though, a pale hand had reached out and picked it up, holding it out to me. "Apologies. Alice has that effect on people. I'm Edward, the little witch's brother."

I stared at the bronze-haired Adonis who had my bag perched on his index finger like it was feather light. "Um, hello," I stammered. I didn't know which one of the two was more beautiful. The girl that had spoken was tiny, only coming up to my shoulder, and looked like a strong gust of wind would knock her over. Her black hair, extreme makeup, and killer fashion sense had me feeling like I had gotten dressed in a dumpster this morning. Her brother, while not nearly as outfitted, was just as stunning. His mesmerizing hair looked like it was windblown, but was such that I knew it had been styled that way. He was a little taller than me, and clearly took care of himself - he had muscles in just the right places, but they, like the rest of him, were understated and looked effortless. They both had the most amazing eyes, like a piece of topaz had been perfectly cut; I'd never seen eyes that color before.

I realized I had been staring when Alice's question startled me, "Why don't you come sit with us?" she asked. Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed my hand and led me to a table near the one I had been headed to. I cringed as I saw there were others at the table already. I had been looking forward to my silence, but now had to make nice with three of the most intimidating looking people I had seen so far today.

EPOV

Trust Alice to scare the poor girl. It had only been a fraction of a second, but I saw in Alice's head that as soon as she spoke, Bella would become flustered and drop her bag. That was my cue to come in and save her from the manic pixie. I was holding her bag out to her, and tried to have a soothing demeanor, rather than the openly hostile appearance I usually had. The compulsory need to help her, stop her from being embarrassed, overtook any other need. As I approached her I could smell her, the sweetest, most potent scent I had ever come in contact with. I knew from Alice's visions last week that Bella's blood would sing to me, but I had already decided that I wouldn't let myself become so overcome with need that her darkest visions happened. I've been suppressing the monster for decades now, I knew I was strong enough for this.

While considering this, Bella had rushed out a brief greeting. I quickly realized that even after hearing her speak, being right next to her, I still could not hear her inner voice. Well this is new I thought to myself as we took our seats. I knew I was staring at her, but couldn't drag my eyes away. She was intriguing, and I just had to know all I could about the silent beauty at my side.

I did my best to drown out the other voices and focused on Alice, but she was back to thinking of everything except our futures. I heard her translating 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea into Spanish; she really didn't want me making a specific future happen.

I sighed and turned my attention back to Bella. She was sitting stick straight, hands in her lap, staring at the table in front of her; it was clear she was uncomfortable. I pointedly looked at Rose and Jasper, urging them to play nice, and immediately felt waves of calm rush over us. I nodded just enough for him to see that I appreciated the emotional manipulation before speaking to Bella.

"Thank you for joining us." I started, falling back into the formal stiffness that occurs when I'm nervous. Emmett picked up on it and started teasing me, She's really under your skin. Talk to her like a teenager, not like you're her grandpa. He had a point. "These are my other siblings, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper. We're adopted." I knew five adopted teenagers of roughly the same age was a stretch, but we really had no other options when starting out as high schoolers. It was easier when we were in college and could be partnered off, friends renting a house together, or better yet, being in such a large school that no one bothered to ask.

I gave a small smile and shrugged, as if to say "it is what it is". Bella was still staring at the spot in front of her; I wondered if she was hungry, so grabbed an apple off my untouched tray and slid it over. "Apple?" I asked, watching her out of the side of my eye to see if she looked up.

"Um, no thanks" she responded quietly. Ungrateful brat, Rosalie thought, cold eyes staring straight at Bella, not even trying to hide her disgust for the human at our table. Even without mind-reading Emmett could tell it was time for them to leave. "Bella, it was nice to meet you. We'll have to chat more another day though, need to spend some quality time with my Rosie". He waggled his brows, and to my surprise Bella laughed, a high sweet sound, eyes flashing briefly with joy. For a moment I felt angry, why could she look at Emmett like that, and not me?

"Yes, you and Rosie better run along," I mumbled, ready for them to be gone. Lighten up, bro. With one last backwards glance Emmett strolled out of the cafeteria, dragging Rosalie behind him.

"She's a little intense, huh?" Bella asked once they were out of sight. At least it seems like her silence was because of Rosalie and not me. I could work with this.

"Rosalie can be, yes. She means well though. You get used to her." I shrugged. I didn't want to talk about Rosalie when I had Bella at my side. I wanted to learn all I could about this strange girl who evaded my mind.

I didn't want to bore her with questions about how she was liking school, or Forks, or the blasted weather; I had heard in the minds of the other students that those topics had been asked repeatedly. No one had bothered to ask her why she was here though. I figured I'd start there, see if we could make any headway in getting to know each other.

"So, what brings you to Forks?" I asked. Subtlety was not my strong suit.

Bella looked up at me, shock written on her face.

"I decided to come live with Charlie. My mom got remarried." I thought there was something in her tone that indicated there was more; I wish she was more verbose, but if she wasn't going to offer, I'd just have to keep playing twenty questions until I knew she wasn't holding back anymore. "And you don't like the guy?"

She immediately shook her head. "No, Phil's great. He's a professional baseball player, travels a lot. I wanted my mom to be able to go with him."

I stared at her. While I didn't know all the details, I could tell from this one statement that she was the most unselfish person I'd ever come in contact with, maybe only second to my mother. "What about your wants, Bella?"

She blushed a little. I wish I knew what she was thinking; instead I got one quiet sentence, "I got what I wanted, I'm here, right?"

Did she mean here, as in Forks? With her dad? Or at this table with me? "Here" was so vague… "And you want to be," I paused, emphasizing the next word, "here?"

There it was again, a faint blush creeping up, her face transitioning from a pale pink to a deeper red stain upon her cheeks. "Yes. I'm happy here. I wasn't sure I would be, but things are definitely looking up." Then, if I had needed my breath I would have surely died on the spot as she stole it from me. She looked me directly in the eyes. I could see she was unsure, but put herself out there anyway, "Being here is right where I need to be."

I was probably reading too much into it, hearing what I wanted to, but I'd be lying to myself if I wasn't wishing her to be talking about me, rather than this insipid lunch room. I didn't trust myself to speak though, so I just smiled at her, hoping my features were composed and not that of a menacing vampire. I'm not sure she'd agree with her statement if she knew the truth.