Chapter 2: First Day

I awoke to the sound of rain pounding against the window above my bed, I checked the clock

7:06

I sighed. I didn't need to be up for at least another half an hour. I lay there listening to the rain for a few minutes before realizing that I would sleep no more this morning. I rolled out of bed, turning my alarm off before it went off and headed downstairs. I poured myself a bowl of cereal and sat at the kitchen table to eat. From across the room at the back window I heard Aiden make a sound of displeasure, 'I know Aiden, this weather sucks. At least you can't get wet.' He didn't sound convinced.

After breakfast I did my dishes from the night before as well as my bowl from breakfast and went upstairs to change. I threw on some jeans, a t-shirt and a sweater, brushed my teeth and hair and decided to leave now and give myself lots of time in case the truck didn't work and I had to walk.

The key to the truck had been left on a hook by the front door; I grabbed it on my way out and locked the door to the house behind me. The truck door squealed loudly as I opened it, it sounded like the hinges hadn't move in about ten years. I got in, slammed the door behind me and started the engine- unexpectedly it roared to life under me. I did up my seatbelt and took off down the residential road towards the school, following the navigation app on my phone.

I arrived at the school about ten minutes later, ridiculously early- I was the only car in the parking lot. Luckily I brought a book just in case, I settled in to read and listened to the rain hitting the metal roof of my truck. As I sat there I realized I really did like the truck, it defied expectations, it was definitely a lot more than met the eye. I sat there and read for about twenty minutes before I could sense Aiden growing bored, suddenly the air freshener that was wrapped around the rear view mirror flew forward and started swinging wildly as if hit by an invisible force.

'Cut the shit Aiden, you can't pull this crap in the middle of a school filled with people.'

I could sense him grumbling his dissatisfaction. His outburst had shown me that the parking lot was steadily filling up with students now so I decided it was probably a good time to go check in at the office and get my syllabus. Before I got out of the car though I muttered

'Please Aiden, do this for me, I need to blend in for once in my life.'

I made my way into the small building and walked towards a middle aged red haired lady behind the desk.

'Can I help you?' she asked.

'My name is Isabella Swan,' I said, 'today is my first day.' At this she looked a little harder at me. Of course she would be expecting me, the emancipated teenage girl living alone in a new town. That was the story any way.

'Of course.' She said as she handed me a map of the school and a list of my classes with corresponding locations. She explained how best to get from one class to another and asked if I needed anything else.

'I'm fine, thank you.' I gave her a polite smile and headed out to my first class, English with Mr. Mason.

I walked into the classroom and handed the teacher the slip of paper that I was supposed to get all of the teachers to sign. From there he luckily directed me to the only open seat near the back of the room, I could feel the eyes following me on my way to sit down. The rest of the morning followed mostly the same, a few of my classmates said a few words to me but nothing of consequence.

The girl who sat next to me in a few classes- Jessica- invited me to sit with her and her friends at lunch, having received no similar offers I accepted. I followed her into the cafeteria and we sat at a long table filled with other students.

'Everyone, this is Bella' Jessica introduced, 'Bella this is Angela, Mike, Lauren, Eric and Tyler.' I gave a shy wave and sat down.

'Where are you from Bella?' asked the girl named Angela politely.

'I just moved here from Langley Virginia' I turned to her answering.

'I heard you were emancipated.' An unpleasant nasal voice stated, I looked into the glaring eyes of the girl named Lauren, I curtly nodded at her, ending that conversation. After a brief awkward silence the conversation picked up again, including me every now and then. That was when I noticed a table of five people across the cafeteria from us, five people with trays full of uneaten food, five people all different looking, set so similar. I noticed these five people because of how breathtakingly beautiful all of them were.

I nudged Jessica and asked who they were. 'Those are the Cullens and the Hales she introduced them one by one, ending on the youngest looking male with tousled bronze hair. 'And that's Edward, he's gorgeous of course…' as she continued talking I stopped listening because right as she said his name he glanced up as if someone had called his name. He looked first at my neighbour and then his eyes fell on me, he stared at me almost confused as if he was searching for something that he couldn't see or hear. None of this particularly piqued my interest until he looked at the empty space above my shoulder and suddenly jolted upright, his family turning to look at him, puzzled.

Almost immediately I felt a thrill of something coming from Aiden, fear? Surprise? I quickly looked away from this boy before we could make eye contact again and closed off my vision, opening myself up to look through Aiden's eyes. What I saw was Edward Cullen looking directly into his eyes.