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Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight, I own a slightly overweight Chow Chow puppy. Though most would claim she owns me. :)


A Devil's Plan

Chapter 2

Soda Machines and Shuttlecocks

Edward sat hunched low in his car, watching his brother disappear into the brick building that was Forks High School. Emmett didn't need to tell Edward to wait until he was in the school building before following him inside. Since the 'incident' Edward knew to keep his distance from his brother. He'd chosen this parking spot for both its clear view of the entrance and distance from the door. When school ended, he'd have a clear shot for the exit as well as not having to worry about congregating teens wanting to gossip about whatever social event was planned for the weekend. Edward had no plans to engage in any such talk or to attend any parties. Not that he'd be invited anyway. He'd never been invited by his classmates at his old school either.

Only Tanya had ever taken notice of him.

His eyes began to tear up at the memory of that relationship and what it had meant to him before everything went to hell. Her attentions had made him feel strong; smart-she had noticed him when no one else had. She'd made him feel sexy and desirable when the girls his age hadn't.

Cursing himself for his weakness, Edward hastily wiped away the errant tears with the sleeve of his dark blue Henley. He'd force himself to wait until he could shed them tonight in the comforting darkness of his bedroom.

With Emmett's bright green shirt no longer visible, he knew that it was safe to follow.

Edward had always been in his big brother's shadow. Emmett was always the more outgoing, athletic and charming of the two of them. There was definitely a bit of hero worship on Edward's part and knowing that he may have lost his brother forever, depressed the younger Cullen.

Edward sighed heavily and forced himself to leave the comforting shelter of his beloved Volvo, for the unknown halls of Forks High School.

He passed the other students chatting happily in the hallways, while he searched for the office, where he would pick-up his class schedule and locker number. Not wanting to garner any more attention, he wandered the halls looking for his destination, rather than asking the unfamiliar students for directions.

After what had happened in Seattle, Edward was accustomed to the stares and whispers that followed in his wake. It was a small comfort knowing that in such a small population, his very existence in the tiny town of Forks, would be the cause the talk and not his colossal fuck-up.

Luckily, Forks High wasn't even half as large as his last school. He was able to find the office quickly.

Mentally crossing his fingers in the hopes that Emmett had already made this trip, he opened the door and started his day.

"Good morning. You must be, Edward Cullen." A cheerful voice called out to him from his left.

He nodded and carefully made his way around the two girls standing in front of him to the front desk. They had both turned to look at him the minute his unfamiliar name had been called. He kept his head down, avoiding their curious glances.

"Don't be shy, sweetie. We're all friends here. I'm Mrs. Cope." She held out her hand.

Ever the gentleman, Edward smiled and lightly shook her hand. "I'm Edward."

"Honey, I already knew that. Let me get your schedule." She turned her attention to the computer on the desk. "I apologize for not already having this printed out for you, but your brother just came in and insisted I change your gym and study hall." Edward's shoulders hunched slightly with the knowledge that his brother's hatred for him was already rearing its head at their new school.

"I would've thought that since you didn't have any classes together you'd enjoy each other's company in gym class, but to each his own." She off handedly commented before handing him the aforementioned, amended schedule. Edward thanked her quietly, before turning to leave the office.

He reached the door to leave just as Mrs. Cope's welcoming voice rang out. "Ah, you must be Rosalie and Jasper Hale."

Edward moved to the side to allow the boy and girl enough space to enter the suddenly crowded room. With his head and eyes on the floor, he missed the look of scrutiny the twins fixed upon him.

AP English- Rm 220, AP History-Rm 216, Comparative Religion-Rm 214 , Lunch Rm B2, AP Biology- Rm 157 and -Gym. Edward repeated his schedule out loud as he arranged his notebooks and writing tools in his locker. His eidetic memory would allow him to remember his schedule and room numbers without having to walk around the school carrying the actual piece of paper looking like a newbie. Though he doubted the small student body needed to see him with a white piece of paper to know he was new to the school.

Why schedule all but one of my classes on the second floor yet, put my locker on the first? Edward wandered as he trudged up the stairs carrying enough books for his first two periods.

Edward's trip to the school office had cost him his head start on the morning. Most of the class was already seated, leaving him no choice but to sit in the back of the class. As assumed, all eyes were on him as he walked in.

"Ah, you must be Edward Cullen. I'm Mrs. Woodruff." The fifty-ish woman with glasses and curly brown hair greeted him warmly. Edward nodded in greeting as she handed him his admittance slip.

"We're very excited to have you. Here are your books." Edward accepted the books noting that he'd already read three out of the five, and silently walked towards an open desk, avoiding eye contact with the rest of the student body.

Edward set his bag on the floor and appeared to give his full attention to his teacher, while promising himself that all he had to do was make it through the day before he could go home and fall apart.

~~TDP~~

"Look, the vending machines are turned on." Alice whispered.

Bella turned in her seat and saw that indeed the bright lights of the automated treat dispensing machines were on.

"Alice, no." It was too late. Her sugar-junkie friend was already out of her seat, and bouncing on the balls of her feet as she stared intently into the brightly lit cavern of sweet delights.

Bella shook her head. Poor Mrs. Cope would once again be fielding calls from Alice's mother demanding the machines be turned off during lunch. Taking a bite of her ham and swiss on rye, she re-focused her attention on the poetry of Sylvia Plath, wanting to get a head start on her English homework.

"And this is my friend Bella." Bella looked up at the sound of her name to see that Alice had returned with a stranger.

A blond, male stranger.

"Greetings, Bella."

Bella swallowed the large bite of sandwich and took the boy's offered hand. "Hi." She muttered lamely, wondering what was going on between Alice and the stranger.

"May I join you ladies?" Bella let go of his hand and nodded as he smiled and took the seat across from her.

"Yes. Please sit down. Do you need anything? I was going to go get a soda. I can get you something if you'd like. Or you could come with me. Look Bella, they had Reese's."

Bella had to laugh at Alice's barely comprehensible speech, as the aforementioned, candy had already begun affecting her usually quiet friend.

"Um, we still have half a day of classes. I think I'll stick with water." Bella motioned to her unopened bottle of Dasani.

Alice frowned at the water. "But Bella, they have Dew-"

"You know, I think I would very much like to purchase a container of water. May I procure one for you as well Alice?" Bella paused chewing her sandwich, her eyebrow quirked at the boy's strange way of speaking.

Alice nodded slowly, her eyes wide. The boy smiled and proceeded to get in the lunch line. Both girls watched him walk away in silence.

"Oh my God! Bella, he's buying me water. A boy is buying me water. A cute boy is…"

"I got it Alice. Who is he?" Bella laughed cutting off her friend's exuberant statement.

"His name is Jasper Hale. He's a transfer." Duh, he's a transfer. Bella thought. Otherwise she'd already know who he was.

"How did you meet him?"

"Huh?" Alice's eyes were still cemented to the back of the new boy.

Bella nudged Alice in her side and repeated the question.

"Oh, um, I was standing over at the vending machine and he just appeared."

"So, he's in our grade?" Alice nodded absently like one of those bobble head things that people put on their dashboards; her gaze was locked onto the blond boy.

Bella was resigned to the fact that any further information she wanted about Jasper was better left for when the boy in question was able to answer himself, as Alice was of no use while she was busy ogling him. With that in mind, Bella resumed eating her lunch and reading the poetry penned by the obviously very depressed, Sylvia Plath.

Jasper returned with two bottles of water, handing one to Alice, who blushed and thanked him several times.

"It's nothing. Please do not give it another thought." He pulled the empty chair out from across Bella and sat down.

"So, where did you come from? Do you have any siblings? I bet you're from somewhere with a beach, you have a beachy look to you. How do you like Forks? What do your parents do? Where do you –"

"Alice, enough. Let the man answer at least one of your questions before you fire off twelve new ones." Bella shook her head as her best friend practically had to sit on her hands in order to calm her excitement.

"My, aren't you a curious little thing." Jasper chuckled, taking a drink of his water. "Let's see here, my sister, Rose and I transferred from another tiny little school in Dillon, Texas, we're here living with our aunt and uncle."

Bella waited expectantly for the rest of his story, one does not just pick up their roots and move to Forks, Washington without a reason. For someone to choose to move here, a person would want or need to disappear from the rest of the world. Unfortunately, Alice skipped right over the why or how he ended up here and went right for the least interesting part of his comment.

"You have a sister? Is she older or younger? Does she look like you?"

"We're twins actually, though she is five and a half minutes older than me, but I like to think I'm the better looking of the two." Alice almost fell off her chair as he winked and flashed a sly smile.

Alice blushed under his gaze. Bella was excited for Alice, as this was the first time a boy had spared more than five minutes talking to her, but couldn't shake the feeling that there was something a little off about him.

"Twins! How exciting. I'm an only child. I've always wanted a sibling. But you know what they say, what nature doesn't provide, God will. He brought me Bella. She's my sister from another mother." The girls smiled at each other. They were truly as close as siblings.

"Do you take your faith seriously Bella?" Bell's smile turned instantly to a frown, thinking it odd that Jasper, whom they'd just met, would ask such a question.

When Grandma Swan was alive, Bella was a Sunday school regular at the small Methodist church on Fifth Street, but Charlie wasn't a regular churchgoer, preferring to worship every Sunday at the altars of the Hoh and Sol Duc rivers where the Steelhead trout were abundant. Without an adult forcing her to get up early to attend church, Bella had begun sleeping late on Sundays, though she did insist that Charlie attend the Christmas and Easter services like every good Christian and wore her grandmother's cross around her neck when she felt the need for a little extra faith.

"I guess." She shrugged.

Jasper smiled. "I see." Bella didn't ask what exactly he saw, choosing instead to ignore his strange look and go back to her gloomy reading.

"Where is your sister? She's welcome to sit with us." Alice's head swiveled as she scanned the cafeteria.

Jasper returned his attention to Alice and answered her question. "Thank you for the offer, but it appears that my sister has been equally as fortunate as I." He paused to smile at Alice, causing another blush to bloom on the smitten girl's face. "And has made a few new friends." Both girls looked up and followed his gaze to a table in the back of the cafeteria where a beautiful blond girl was sitting center stage.

Bella recognized most of the Fork's elite gathered around the table, but couldn't place the giant dark haired boy with the deep dimples. He was seated to Rose's right devouring a heaping tray of food.

"She's beautiful." Alice whispered, sagging slightly in her seat.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, fair Alice." Jasper reached across the table and placed his hand gently on top of hers.

Bella felt slightly uncomfortable with the sudden hand holding going on in front of her.

"Who is the guy next to her?" Bella asked.

Not surprisingly, it was Jasper who answered, as Alice was still struck comatose by his touch.

"His name is Emmett Cullen. He and his younger brother, Edward recently moved to Forks from Seattle. Edward is a junior but is taking all advanced classes. Bella, you will probably have him in several of your own classes."

Jasper's creep factor was slowing moving up. "How do you know what classes I'm taking?" She demanded, not liking the feeling that his words had evoked. Bella Swan wasn't a girl that took things too seriously, but there was something about this new kid that rubbed her the wrong way.

Jasper took a quick breath and removed his hand from Alice's tight grasp. Bella could've sworn that she heard Alice whimper at the loss. "Apologies Bella, I saw that you are reading the same book that was assigned to me in my morning AP English and deduced that you are also taking advanced classes."

His answer was smooth like glass. Too smooth. But it did explain how Jasper knew about the Cullen brothers.

"It's okay." Bella replied lamely, fairly embarrassed for being harsh with him. Especially as it was becoming apparent, if Alice had any say in the manner, Jasper would be a daily figure at their lunch table.

Jasper bowed his head slightly in acceptance of her apology.

Before Bella could think any further on Jasper's odd behavior or why Emmett was the only Cullen present in the cafeteria, the bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

Bella grabbed her books and empty lunch bag. "See you in gym?" Alice nodded absently. Bella resisted rolling her eyes at Alice's moonstruck look and got up from the table.

Jasper released Alice's hand and stood up. "It was a pleasure to meet you Bella. I look forward to furthering our relationship."

"Uh, me too." Bella muttered quickly and scurried away from the weird boy.

~~TDP~~

"So Bella, are you still planning to play hard to get again this year or will you finally admit that you want all up on my junk?"

Bella rolled her eyes and pretended to gag as the bland, blond boy attempted to give her what he thought was a seductive wink but really looked like he'd just been poked in both eyes with a sharp stick.

"Mike, are you having a stroke?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Tyler Crowely laughed at her comment, before taking his seat next to Mike.

Mike glared at Tyler, but moved to take his own seat at the table. "Screw you Ty!"

"Really? I thought your tendencies ran more towards the females. But if that's what you're into…I don't judge." Bella took her seat, chuckling as the boys scuffled playfully beside her.

"Excuse me." Bella jolted in surprise at the voice next to her. She always sat alone at her lab table.

"I'm sorry, but your chair is on my bag." The boy pointed to where the leg of her chair was sitting firmly on the corner of his book bag.

Bella quickly got off of her chair; and watched the boy move his bag before turning wordlessly to stare at the front of the room.

Stunned, Bella stood beside the desk and stared openly at the pretty, copper haired boy.

"Ms. Swan, take your seat." Mr. Banner ordered as he took his place at the front of the room.

Blushing at being called out in front of the class, Bella shamefully slid into her seat and took out her biology book just as Mr. Banner began his annual soapbox rant about recycling and ground water contamination.

As this was her third year in one of his classes, Bella ignored Mr. Banner and took the opportunity to sneak covert looks at the stranger sharing her space. Through deductive reasoning, she was after all an A average student, she deduced that the beautiful boy sitting next to her was none other than Edward Cullen.

He bore little resemblance to the large boy Jasper had pointed out at lunch. However, Bella was certain that the silent and slightly sad looking boy was indeed the younger Cullen. Not having much, or truthfully any experience talking to cute boys, Bella made the decision to sit silently and watch the one sitting next to her for the entire period. Her actions weren't very conducive to learning nor would it gain her more knowledge of the boy but it seemed to her to be the only thing she could do.

As Mr. Banner droned on about recycling, Edward's stomach growled in protest over his decision to forgo lunch. One quick glare from Emmett at the entrance of the cafeteria at noon, had made Edward decide to hide out in the library until class time.

Edward pinched himself in the side hoping to quiet the gurgling sounds. He chanced a side glance at the girl next to him, hoping she hadn't heard his stomach growl. Her head was bent low over her textbook; her long hair hid her face from his view though it was apparent that she wasn't actually following along with the teacher as she hadn't turned a page in nearly ten minutes.

He wasn't surprised she hadn't noticed him when she came in.

No one ever did.

He'd noticed her right away. Her long, dark hair had caught his attention immediately as it shone in the sunlight like pieces of amber colored glass moving in a breeze.

A wave of unrealistic jealousy had poured over him as he'd witnessed her interaction with the two boys. Her smile was bright and cheerful as she'd bantered with them. Edward had never been able to engage in such easy conversation with a female and was jealous of the boy's ability to do so. His conversations with Tanya had been the most interaction he'd ever managed with a woman other than his mom, but even so their dialogue had always been driven by her. He'd been content to listen to Tanya speak, not caring what she was saying, he just relished in her attention.

The girl… Bella, the boys had called her Bella, emitted a soft sigh beside him. He chanced a look at her and was rewarded with a quick smile before the heavy curtain of her hair fell once again to hide her pretty face from view.

Pretty? Edward surprised himself with that realization, but couldn't deny the truth. The odd girl sitting next to him with her silky hair and soft smile was pretty.

Beautiful in fact.

He thought briefly about speaking to her, introducing himself, but before he could muster the courage the bell rang and Bella was caught up in the crowd of students making their way to the door. It was just as well he decided. No good would come from forming an attachment to anyone in Forks, especially the pretty girl with the shiny hair and sweet smile. No good came from anything he did.

With a deep sigh, Edward collected his books and headed to his next class, Phys. Ed.

~~TDP~~

"Ugh! I hate these stupid things." Bella complained, tugging at the hem of her gym uniform. "Why are these stupid things so short? It's ridiculous that I have to not only worry about gravely injuring myself playing whatever ridiculous game they have set up, but I also have to worry about giving every pervert in the class a glance of my butt cheeks every time I bend over."

Alice nodded her head with understanding as Bella ranted. Alice listened and nodded every year at the same argument. She'd always kept it to herself that unlike Bella, Alice secretly hoped someone wanted to look at her butt, and didn't mind the obscene length of their gym shorts. In fact, Alice had a good feeling that this was the year someone would finally watch the show she strove to put on for every class.

"I bet Mr. Griffith designs these silly things himself." Bella continued to grumble. "He's always looking at us with a weird expression and the boy's shorts aren't nearly as short as ours." She shot an accusing glare at their aged gym instructor, as he set up the basketball hoops.

"Big deal, one more year and then you never have to wear another pair of these things again." Alice promised in a good-humored voice.

Bella turned her glare from the gym teacher to her friend. "Why are you so chipper?"

Alice quickly wiped the smile from her face and turned to look at Bella. It was too late. Bella had figured it out.

"Ah, Jasper." With her secret out, Alice no longer bothered trying to hide her smile as she went back to staring at the blond boy across the floor.

"He's so handsome." She sighed loudly.

Bella rolled her eyes at her friend's mooning. "Geez, Alice. It's not like you've never seen a boy before…" Her words dropped off as the most beautiful boy in the world entered the gym.

Bella was suddenly overcome with dry mouth as she watched Edward Cullen walk across the floor. Her interaction with him in biology class had been embarrassing. Embarrassment was something that Bella understood, something she'd experienced many times in her childhood. But her reaction to seeing him in the tight white tee-shirt and green shorts that composed the Forks High gym uniform was confusing and totally foreign.

My God! She thought when a sliver of belly skin was exposed as he raised his arms to take practice shots by himself at the far end of floor. Unconsciously, her tongue peeked out of her mouth, wetting her lips while thoughts of allowing said tongue and lips having free reign over his tight, smooth skin pushed all other thoughts from her brain.

"See something you like?" Alice inquired with an amused smirk on her lips.

"What? No! I was just…" Bella stammered as she attempted to hide her reaction to the auburn haired boy.

"You were what, maybe thinking of how best to perform a lay-up or execute a pick and roll?"

Bella glared menacingly at her friend. Undeterred, Alice continued her teasing.

"Because from the look on your face it sure looked as if you were thinking that you wanted to put your mouth all over that new boy."

Bella blushed as Alice pointed a hot pink fingernail in Edward's direction.

"Shut up." Bella ordered before grabbing an orange ball from the cart and walking over to the closest basketball hoop.

Alice skipped cheerfully alongside her best friend. "He's cute. Not as cute as Jasper of course, but I can see the attraction."

Ignoring her best friend of nearly twelve years, Bella began tossing the ball up towards the hoop. As long as she made an attempt in class, Mr. Griffith would stay off her back.

As expected the ball bounced off the back board hitting Mike in the arm and then rolling across the gym floor.

"Sorry Mike," Bella yelled over her shoulder as she chased the rolling ball across the glossy floor.

"Umph." Bella didn't have time to react when she hit what felt like a brick wall. All she could do was fall to the polished floor.

"I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Dazed from the hit, Bella blinked up at the shadow that hovered over her.

The harshness from the gym lighting illuminated his copper tresses, shining like a halo around his head.

"Face of an angel." Bella muttered softly as she stared at the boy above her.

"What?"

"You look like an angel." She muttered again before the realization of what she said hit her almost as hard as her ball had hit Mike. Mortified at what she'd just let slip out, she clapped a hand across her mouth.

"I assure you I'm the farthest thing there is from being an angel." Edward uttered quietly, leaning down to help her up.

Their hands met and Bella felt a tingle of electricity run up the arm that Edward had touched. The feeling was very similar to the one she'd had when she was four and had used a fork to dig out her burnt toast from the toaster. Her actions had necessitated a stern lecture from her father and an emergency trip to the hairdresser. Once the burnt ends had been cut from her hair, Charlie had lectured little Bella on messing with things that could hurt her.

Surely, that lecture didn't apply to the gorgeous boy helping her up from the floor?

"Thank you." She muttered, reluctantly letting go of his hand.

"Sure." He answered off handedly, while picking up her ball and handing it to her. "Here's your ball."

"Thanks again. I'm terrible at handling balls. Now, shuttlecocks, those I can handle just fine." She boasted, as badminton was one sport she was halfway capable of participating in with a modicum of skill.

Edward's eyebrow raised at her remark. "Um, okay."

Bella's face turned bright red as the full force of what she'd said registered.

Cocks! I just told him I handle cocks!

Red-faced with extreme embarrassment, she turned away from him and walked as fast as she could back across the floor. Leaving a bewildered but smiling Edward behind her.

For the rest of the gym period, Bella stuck to her side of the gym avoiding eye contact with the good-looking boy and nodding every once in awhile at whatever comment Alice was making at the time.

Mercifully, the bell rang, announcing the end of class as well as the school day. Bella grabbed Alice's hand and hurried to the locker room to change. She was finished with this stupid class, and eager to get home where she could think about the day. More importantly, she needed to analyze her reactions to Edward Cullen and what they meant.

Across the gym in the boy's locker room, Edward was as equally finished with the day as Bella and was also trying to put his thoughts about the brown haired girl with the pretty eyes and horrible aim into perspective.

What eluded both of them was that their reactions to each other were also being observed. By whom and why would remain a mystery for now, however soon their lives would become completely intertwined and both would be nearly powerless against the forces gathering in their small town.


A/N Raise your hand if you had to wear a ridiculous get up for physical education. Seriously, why? WHY?!

Until next time, stay safe and have fun!