A/N: To preface this a little: the Cullen's found Bella as a child, abandoned, and took her in when they noticed she was different, not entirely human. The story will be told from switching perspective, to get a full sense of the story, a sort of cut and mix of all the canon. That being said, enjoy!
There's twenty minutes left until I have to be at school, and I still haven't picked out my outfit. I sigh, still in my pj's, parsing through my closet. There'll be a new boy in school today, the first new addition since my family. I can feel my power grow, a side effect of my anxiety, curling deep in my gut. I so didn't need to be shattering any lightbulbs, so I shove the thoughts away.
"Alice," I say, waiting for her to arrive. Seconds later, she stands at my door, a frown on her rosebud mouth.
"Why don't you borrow something from me?" she asks, waving a dismissive hand at my closet.
"Because you're teeny-tiny," I tease, coming to stand beside her. I wrap an arm around her, grinning. Only this year have I surpassed Alice in height, which honestly says more about my growth than anything else. My adoptive sister is waifish, thin and small, like a pixie.
"Let me pick something out then," she decides, blurring over to my closet. Seconds later, she pulls out a pair of cute jeans and a sweater, holding them out to me triumphantly.
"Bells!" Emmett's, one of my adoptive brothers, voice booms across the whole house. Alice smirks at me, flitting away. "Let's go!"
I look at my clock and mutter a soft curse, only to be reprimanded for my language. It doesn't matter how quietly you say something in a house full of vampires, they'll hear you. Once I'm dressed, I rush downstairs, backpack in hand. All my siblings are waiting for me in the living room, smirking at my lateness.
"Eat in the car," my other sister, Rosalie, says, handing me a stack of toaster waffles wrapped in a paper towel. I grinned at her thankfully.
"Who's driving?" I ask, allowing them to shepherd me to the garage. Edward and Jasper, the last two that made up my strange collection of siblings, raise their hands, showing me the car keys. "I'm going with Jasper!"
Edward smirks at me, knowing full well I detest the way he drives. At least Jasper drives like a person. Out of all my siblings, Edwards the only one who doesn't act like a spare parent. He can just as big of an asshole to me as any of the rest of us. He really only respects our parents.
My mother flits over just as we're getting in the car, pressing a quick kiss to me cheek. Her hands and lips are cold, but I don't mind. Years being raised by vampires will desensitize you to anything.
"We might actually be late," Jasper says in his lilting southern drawl.
"Yeehaw," I say, gesturing at the steering wheel. "Take it away."
Edward and Jasper pull their cars out at the same time, but Edward's faster, whipping around the bend and out onto the drive. I stare at the dash: only five minutes to make a twenty-minute drive. My brothers whip through the path and onto the highway, blasting until they reach the school. Of course, we get there with a minute to spare.
My first class of the day is French with Mr. Wong, who immediately launches in an all-French discussion of his winter break. I have a few friends in this class, thankfully, Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory, so we whisper to each other about our breaks, in English.
"Eric met that new boy already," Jessica says, giggling. "I wonder if he has a girlfriend from Arizona or something."
"What did Eric say?" Lauren asks, flipping her hair.
"Just that he was quiet, but sort of funny," Jess explains. "I hope he's cute."
Word that Chief Swan's son was coming back to forks hit in November, and every girl in our grade has been gearing up, desperately hoping he'll be boyfriend material. The dating pool in Forks is pretty abysmal.
I don't actually see the new boy until my third period history class. He hovers awkwardly at the front of the classroom, waiting for Mrs. Brown to sign his paper. She directs him to the seat behind me. He is cute, tall with fluffy brown hair and pale skin. His eyes are warm, deep brown.
He ambles over, head down. I smile at him as kindly as I can; I know what being a new student in a small town is like.
"Hi! I'm Bella Cullen," I say, turning in my seat. There's a minute left before class starts, but Mrs. Brown's still working on her laptop, trying to connect to the smartboard.
"Beau," he says, sticking out his hand. "Hi."
I beam as shake his hand. Okay, definitely cute. He turns to his backpack, rummaging and pulling out a notebook and pen. That's when I notice the pride flag pin on his backpack. Oh well, so much for the dating pool. Still, he seems nice enough.
"Alright guys! We're going to be splitting up and talking about the reading assignment from break. Beauregard, you can work with Isabella here, she can help you catch up," Mrs. Brown says. I roll my eyes at her inability to remember what we like to be called and turn to Beau.
"I didn't know there was a reading assignment," he says sheepishly. Mrs. Brown passes out work sheets, one to each pair.
"Don't worry. It's just about the outbreak of world war 1, pretty simple stuff, ottoman empire and all that," I explain. "So, how's the first day going?"
"It's alright," he says, shrugging. The downward tilt of his mouth convinces me otherwise.
"Hey, listen, you should sit with me and my friends at lunch," I say. He smiles gratefully at me.
"Thanks," he says, voice much warmer.
"No biggie," I say, pulling out my phone. "Here, put your number in. I'll text you my notes." Beau smiles again, putting his number in.
I talk him through the finer points of the reading assignment, and Beau's pretty smart enough to pick it up fast. Together, we get the worksheet done quickly.
"You know, I was new too," I say. "We moved here my freshman year."
"Really?" Beau asks, a little surprised. "How'd you adjust?"
"It was kind of hard at first, but people are generally nice," I explain. What I don't mention is my family, and their ridiculous tendency to stay aloof. We've moved twice before, only staying in each place about five years. They play high school seniors usually, so they can go straight to college, but this time, Mom wanted them to be in school with me.
"I noticed," Beau says awkwardly.
"Oh boy, who have you met?" I ask with a smirk. Beau shakes his head, dropping his eyes. His smile is strained.
"It's nothing," he says. I know better than to push it.
"So, what's it like living with a cop?" I ask. Beau smiles wanly, shrugging.
"Charlie's easy to live with," he says simply.
"Throw-a-party easy to live with?" I ask, smirking. Beau laughs, shaking his head.
"Not exactly," he says. Mrs. Brown calls the class to attention and we go over the worksheet. I give Beau a high-five when we get all the answers right. He has Spanish next and I have Calculus, so I tell him where to go, promising to see him at lunch.
In calc, I sit next to Rosalie and Jasper. Neither take notes, Jasper staring straight ahead and Rosalie watching him. Every part of him is tense. He doesn't bother breathing, but I wish he would. He looks terribly conspicuous like this. Rosalie smiles at me when I look over, but I can tell she's worried. They're supposed to go hunting on Wednesday, but I don't know if Jas is going to make that long.
I walk with them to lunch, sticking close by so my scent masks everyone else's. Jasper always says I smell like a lightning strike, a live-wire, definitely not like a normal human. He sucks in a quick breath, flashing me a grateful smile.
I don't sit with my siblings, instead sitting with my human friends. Besides, if I did sit with them, that'd only call attention to the fact that they don't eat. I see Beau when I sit down, so I flag him over.
"Hey!" I say brightly, patting the seat next to me. Jessica and Angela look at him curiously, but Lauren smiles like a pit viper.
"Hi," he says, reintroducing himself. He stares around the cafeteria, and I watch the moment his eyes land on my family.
It's not that I don't like my family, or even that I'm embarrassed by them, but I can't shake the memory of my first week here, when people would come up and ask about my brothers and sisters, if they were single or not.
I brace myself for the questions, but Beau doesn't turn to me.
"Who is that?" he murmurs to Jess, jerking his chin in the direction of their table. Jess giggles and looks at me.
"The Cullen's," she explains. "They're Bella's siblings—"
"Foster siblings," Lauren cuts in. "Because Mrs. Cullen can't have children, can she?"
I seethe at her, and I can feel my power curling in gut. After taking several deep breaths, I feel it subside a little. I slap on a fake smile and face Lauren head on.
"My parents can't have kids, that's right," I explain. "They adopted me when I was a baby and took everyone else in because they have the same skin condition that my parents have. My dad's studying it."
"They're test subjects—"
"Beautiful test subjects," Jess sighs, interrupting Lauren.
"I think it's great that your parents took them in," Angela decides. She's the nicest one in our group, though she doesn't speak up very often. Beau nods, finally looking away from them.
"I think so too," he says, smiling kindly at me. Jess nods frantically, eyes wide.
"Anyways, the little one's Alice," Jess says, pointing as my sister glides over to empty out her untouched tray in the trash. I roll my eyes; they're too dramatic to be inconspicuous. "The blonde girl is Rosalie and the bigger boy on her right is Emmett, and on her left is Jasper. The one across from them is Edward."
I roll my eyes at the way Jess's voice catches on Edward's name. He's the only single one, so everyone's got a little crush on him. If only they knew how much of a dork he was. Beau sneaks another peak at my brother, dropping his eyes when Edward looks back. I scowl at him, hoping he gets the message.
"I'm going to go," I mutter. "I need to ask Mrs. Knowlton a question." Jess doesn't even wait until I'm out of ear shot before dishing on the dating prospects of my siblings. I can't blame her, though, Beau's arrival really stirred up the gossip of our school. It's not weird to me that my siblings are paired off, considering, but I guess it must strike everyone else as odd.
Outside the cafeteria, Alice waits, expression smooth. I know she's looking after Jasper, searching his future to see if he'll make it. She can't do it sitting next to him after all.
"Everything okay?" I ask cautiously. I liked life in Forks, my friends, and even the new boy, who I hoped would be a friend. I didn't want to have to leave.
"Yes," Alice says with a sigh. "Yes, it's going to be okay."
I smile, assured at the thought. Hopefully now, things would go back to normal.
A/N: Alrighty, tune in next week for the infamous biology scene! Let me know what you thought!