BPOV Fourteen years later
"I can't find a damn thing in all of this mess," I grumbled, shifting through the boxes that cluttered up my room.
"Bella, we are going to be late," whined Emmett, leaning against doorframe to my bedroom.
"I'm hurrying," I muttered. "I can't find my notebook."
"You mean this notebook?" he asked. I looked up and saw him pulling my black and red music book out of one of the boxes by the door.
"Yes, thanks you, Em," I sighed, walking over to my brother.
"You're welcome," he smiled. "Now, let's go."
"Fine," I murmured, clutching the notebook to my chest.
I followed him down the stairs of our new house in Forks, Washington. Our other brother, his twin Jasper, was standing by the front door with a scowl on his face and our backpacks at his feet. Our mother, Esme, was in the middle of her own cardboard maze. She looked up at us and smiled. She was a beautiful woman with soft caramel colored hair that was pulled up in a messy ponytail and light brown eyes.
"All ready for your first day?" she asked.
"You bet, Mom," I snorted. "Can't wait to spend our day in the pouring rain."
"Way to have a positive attitude, Bella," laughed our father, Carlisle, as he came down the stairs, adjusting his blue tie. Carlisle was a tall, thin blond man with the brightest pair of blue eyes I had ever seen. "Esme, do you know where I put my red tie. This one is pissing me the fuck off."
"No, I don't, Carlisle, and you do know that your children are in the room, don't you?" asked Esme, laughing. I shared a look with my brothers. Sometimes she still acts like we've never heard a curse word before.
"Esme, I don't know how to break this to you but our little angels over there cuss like sailors when you aren't around," smirked Carlisle. Esme looked over at us with a raised eyebrow.
"Is that true?" she asked.
"No," we all said at once.
"He lies, Mom," I laughed.
"Yeah, he's just trying to get us into trouble so he can save his own as…butt," said Emmett, smiling at her. Esme rolled her eyes at him.
"Whatever," she snorted. "Go to school and be good!"
"We'll try," chuckled Jasper. "But we make no promises."
Jasper tossed me and Emmett our backpacks. We followed him out of the house and out to the brand new red jeep that was sitting in the driveway of our new house. It was one of the main selling points for us when we agreed to move from our home in Los Angeles to Forks. I mean, who in their right mind would move from someplace as warm and sunny as LA was to the coldest, wettest place in country.
Carlisle and Esme sat us down a couple of weeks ago and told us that he had been offered a job at the hospital here in Forks, a good job. He was taking over as chief of staff and it was a big deal for him. He had worked very hard and we all knew he deserved to get it. However, that meant that we had to move away from the only home we had ever known. That was hard.
I was sitting in the backseat of the jeep while Emmett drove and Jasper sat in the passenger seat. My brothers and I were thick as thieves. They were the only people, other than my parents, that I trusted one hundred percent. Sometimes they could be overbearing and pushy as hell when it came to protecting me but they were my big brothers. They informed me that that was their jobs.
At first glance, Emmett seemed quite large and intimidating looking, and he was. Of course, anyone who really knew him, knew that he wasn't mean at all. In fact, he was really just a big teddy bear. He had a head full of curly hair that frustrated him but I loved. Especially when he would let me play with it. Irritated the shit out of him but he still lets me do it. Compared to Emmett, Jasper looked scrawny but he really wasn't. He was a little taller than our brother and less muscled out but he could hold his own in a fight that's for sure, not that he fought at all. He had shaggy blond hair that hung lazily in his eyes.
Although Emmett and Jasper are twins, they look nothing alike. Jasper looks more like Esme. They have the same smile and shaped eyes. Emmett has Carlisle's ears and chin. As for me, I don't know who I look like. I am average height for a woman, I suppose. I am five foot five, with long dark brown hair and big brown eyes. But seeing as I was adopted by Carlisle and Esme, I don't look like either of them.
I don't know if I had my father's smile or his ears and chin. I don't know if I had my mother's eyes or hair color. I don't know if there was a family history of cancer, heart disease, or any other of the hundreds of health issues out there. All I knew was that I was found outside the hospital in LA when I was three. Or at least we think I was three. We don't even know for sure when my birthday was.
I shook my head and looked out the car window. After I was found by one of the nurses who had gone out to smoke a cigarette, I was taken inside the emergency room and put in one of the small rooms. The police came to talk to me but I was terrified. They grilled me on what my name was, where I lived, who my parents were. All I knew was that my name was Isabella, my parents were mommy and daddy, and it was hot where I lived. Not a lot to go on. They ran my prints but nothing came up and I was the little lost girl.
Since they had no clue who my birth parents were or where I was from, I became a ward of the great state of California. My social worker, Tanya Clearwater, arranged for me to go live with Carlisle and Esme Cullen. Esme and Tanya were sisters and Tanya promised me that they would take care of me and they did. They formally adopted me a couple of years after I came to live with them and it was declared that my birthparents had all but abandoned me. I became Isabella Cullen, or Bella as I preferred to be called now. But I still can't help but wonder about who I was before I was found outside that hospital.
"God, look how small the school is," mumbled Emmett, parking the jeep in the parking lot. The red brick building was about a quarter of the size of our high school in LA. He looked back at me. "This is going to be hell."
"No shit," I snorted, shaking my head. "Well, we might as well get this shit done with, though. We owe it to mom and dad to at least try to make this work."
"Fucking great," muttered Jasper, opening his door.
Emmett and I followed his lead and climbed out of the car. The three of us headed through the misty rain and into the school. Of course since we were new, everyone had to stop and stare at us. Just how we wanted to start a new school. I clutched my music book to my chest and followed my brothers down the hall to the office. My music book was my life source, my security blanket if you will. I relied on it way too much. Jasper pulled the door to the office open. I followed him and Emmett in and let the door shut behind me. The woman behind the orange counter, looked up at us and smiled. She had red hair that clearly was not her normal hair coloring and brown eyes.
"Can I help you?" she asked, looking around at all of us.
"We're the Cullens," said Emmett, clearing his throat.
"Of course, I've been expecting you," said the woman, smiling. "I'm Mrs. Cope. I have your schedules right here. Let's see first I have, Emmett."
"That's me," muttered my brother, taking the piece of paper from him.
"Next is Isabella," said Mrs. Cope, looking at me.
"It's Bella," I said, taking my schedule from her.
"Ok, then I have Jasper," she said, handing Jasper his paper. "Now, I need to have these slips signed by all of your teachers and brought back to the office after school."
"Yes, ma'am," we murmured.
We headed back into the hallway and compared our schedules. I had English first period with Emmett then History fourth period with Jasper but other than that, I was all alone. I sighed as I looked up at my brothers. They didn't look any happier about it than I did but what could we do. This was just how it worked out for us, I guess.
"I guess we'll see you later, Jas," I said, sadly.
"Yep, this is so much fucking fun," he muttered, walking down the hall toward his classroom.
I shared a look with Emmett as we turned and headed in the opposite direction. We headed into our classroom and over to our teacher. He was standing behind his desk talking to a short pixie like girl with long black hair and popping black eyes. The two of them looked up at us and I swear, she started squealing. I was immediately afraid.
"Oh my god, you must be the new kids," she squeaked. Emmett looked down at me with a look that clearly said 'what the hell have we gotten ourselves into' before he looked over the pixie.
"Um, yeah," he said, dumbly.
"I'm Mary Alice Brandon but you can call me Alice. I have a feeling that we are going to be like best friends. I can't wait to get to know you better. We can have sleepovers, get our nails done. Oh, we can go shopping!" she squealed, all while jumping up and down. I just stood there with my mouth hanging wide open. She said all of that in one breath. She stopped bouncing and looked at me. "What?"
"Nothing," I muttered, closing my mouth. I looked up at the teacher, who was laughing to himself. "You are supposed to sign these, right?"
"Yes," he chuckled, taking mine and Emmett's slips. "I'm Mr. Owens. Welcome to Forks and to my classroom. You can take the two empty seats next to Alice."
"Yay," squealed Alice, bouncing over to a seat in the back.
"Um, thanks?" asked Emmett, taking his slip from Mr. Owens.
I followed Emmett over to the two desks next to Alice. She pushed him in the seat behind her while pushing me into the one in front of her. For someone so little, she was incredibly strong. I looked past her and back to Emmett, who looked just as surprised as I did. Before I could say anything, Alice started questioning me.
"What's your name? Where are you from? What do you like to do? Is that your real hair color?" she asked.
"Um," I said, taking a deep breath. I had never met someone as perky as she was. "My name is Bella. That's Emmett. We are from LA. I write music and play the guitar. Yes, this is my natural hair color."
"Wow, it's so pretty," she sighed, dreamily while running her fingers through my hair. She smiled and turned to Emmett. "So what do you do?"
"Oh, I, um, like cars," said Emmett. Alice just stared at him like she was waiting for more information. "I like video games, too."
"That's cool," she said, smiling.
Emmett almost looked relieved she turned and looked back at me. Before Alice could say anything else, Mr. Owens started his class. Of course because it wasn't hard enough being the new kids, he made me and Emmett stand up and introduce ourselves. Back in LA, we never had to do shit like this. Me being the red faced person that I was typically was, blushed the entire time.
Once the bell rang, Emmett headed off to his next class while Alice dragged me down to our next class. Apparently we had Calculus together. I followed Alice through the throng of kids who littered the hallway and down to our next classroom. She was chirping away in my ear about everything from the much needed shopping trip I apparently needed to the football game that was at the end of the week.
"Mr. Varner, this is Bella Cullen," squealed Alice, pushing me toward our teacher.
"Alice, what have we discussed about manhandling people?" asked Mr. Varner, cocking his eyebrow at her.
"Not to," mumbled Alice, letting go of my arm. She looked up at me, sadly. "Sorry, I get a little excited sometimes."
"It's fine," I said, smiling at her. "I don't get excited nearly enough."
Alice smiled and went to take her seat. I handed Mr. Varner my slip. He smiled and told me I could take the seat next to Alice, if I wanted. Even though Alice was way perkier than I was used to, I went over and sat down next to her. She seemed excited that I willing sat next to her but she seemed like a nice girl and I wasn't going to complain.
Calculus went by much quicker than I had been expecting. I hated math, even if I was good at it. It was full of right and wrong answers where I enjoyed classes where the answers could be right or wrong, like English. It was all about how you interpreted the material. The bell rang and I followed Alice out into the hallway.
"What class do you have now?" she asked, looking up at me.
"I have Spanish," I sighed. "What about you?"
"History," she said, sadly. "Will you sit with me at lunch?"
"Can my brothers sit with us?" I asked. "I couldn't leave them out."
"Of course they can," smiled Alice. "I can't wait to meet your other brother. I'm an only child so I can't imagine what it must have been like to grow up with two brothers. I mean, it wasn't all bad but I was lonely a lot. Maybe-"
"Alice," I said, interrupting her.
"What?" she asked.
"We're going to be late for class," I laughed.
"Ok, I'll see you later, Bella," she sang, rushing off to her next class. She certainly was a spirited little pixie that's for sure.
I headed down to my next class. Mrs. Goff signed my slip and told me to sit next to a girl named Kate Denali. She waved as I looked around, trying to figure out who she was talking about. I worried my bottom lip as I went back and took the seat next to her. She was a beautiful girl with long blond hair and greenish/blue eyes.
"Hi, I'm Kate," she said, smiling at me.
"Bella," I said, softly.
"You're from California, right?" asked Kate.
"Um, yeah," I said, quietly. "Does it really rain all the time here?"
"Pretty much," snorted Kate. "You get used to it."
"I don't think I will," I grumbled.
Kate laughed as Mrs. Goff stood up and started her class. I looked out the window and noticed that the mist from the morning had turned into a heavy rain. I missed the sun. Once the bell rang ending class, I grabbed my bag and followed Kate out of the classroom. She had biology so she headed down the hall toward her class while I headed in the opposite direction to my history class. Jasper was already sitting in one of the desks in the back. I quickly had our teacher, Mr. Davis, sign my slip and headed back to the desk next to my brother. He looked over at me and smiled.
"How's it going so far?" he asked.
"Fine, I guess," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Have you talked to Em?"
"Nope." Jasper turned and looked at me. "I did meet Alice, though."
"Oh, yes, Alice," I smiled. "She is quite the ball of energy, isn't she?"
"Yes, I was a little scared of her," laughed Jasper, shaking his head.
"Me too," I snorted.
Mr. Taylor decided that was a good time to start his class. Luckily, he didn't make me and Jasper introduce ourselves to everyone. He started lecturing us over the importance of the American Revolution. Jasper was completely enthralled in the lesson, which wasn't surprising to me seeing as he is a huge history buff. However, I was bored. I spent the hour working on a song that I had been playing through my head over the last couple weeks.
Finally, the bell rang. Jasper and I grabbed our stuff and headed out to our lockers. Emmett was leaning against the wall, arms folded over his massive chest. He was blatantly ignoring the blond girl who was standing across the hall from him and trying her hardest to flirt with him as she flicked her hair over her shoulder and giggled. Emmett didn't fall for crap like that. He liked girls who spoke their minds.
"Hey, Em," I said, opening my locker. "Alice asked if we would sit with her at lunch. Is that ok?"
"Sure," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Jasper, Emmett, and I headed down to the cafeteria. When we walked in, I saw Alice sitting at a table in the back with Kate Denali and four other people. Emmett, Jasper and I grabbed a tray of what was supposed to be pizza but didn't really look like it, and headed back to join them. Alice was bouncing up and down in her seat, nearly squealing.
The other people with her were laughing and shaking their heads. Sitting to her left was a tall, curvy blond girl with long silky hair and seductive blue eyes. She had a huge smile on her face and I followed it to see that she was smiling at Emmett, who looked dumbstruck. Kate was sitting next to her. On the other side of Kate was a tall boy with sandy hair and dark brown eyes. He had his arm around Kate's shoulder. Next to him was a shorter boy with dark black hair and eyes. He had thick black framed glasses covering his eyes. He was sitting next to a thin girl with long dark brown hair and bright blue eyes.
"Everyone this is Emmett, Jasper, and Bella Cullen," squealed Alice, looping her arm in with mine. "Emmett, Jasper, and Bella, this is Rosalie Hale, Kate Denali, Garrett Swan, Ben Cheney, and Garrett's sister, Angela."
