Chapter Two – First Day

A place to crash, I got you
No need to ask, I got you
Just get on the phone, I got you
Come and pick you up if I have to

Leona Lewis – I Got You

-0-

I woke up fairly early for the first day of school. Not usually a morning person I decided to take advantage of this sudden burst of energy and quickly scrambled out from beneath the warm covers, grabbed my stuff and headed into the bathroom. Turning on the shower, I jumped in and immediately felt my body wake up completely. Knowing there were two other people in the house though who would need to use this bathroom I knew my time in here was limited so didn't indulge in the shower for too long.

"Morning sunshine." I laughed lightly, as I stepped out the bathroom at the same time Bella came out of her room, looking none too pleased. The only reply I got was a grumble as she moved into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Frowning at the now closed door I debated knocking and making sure she was okay. Her eyes had been red and puffy, indicating she'd spent some time crying last night and now I knew I hadn't imagined hearing something last night.

Deciding to leave her alone and talk to her later, I ran the towel through my hair and walked into my room, eyeing the outfit I'd picked out for today once more before reaching for my hair dryer. I was excited for today, more so than I thought I would be, but I was also incredibly nervous. Bella and I were going to be the centre of attention there was no doubt about that. Not only were we new, we were the Chief's twin daughters, the same two his estranged wife had taken away so many years ago. I was prepared for it all, I just hoped Bella was.

Glancing at my bedside clock I quickly finished off my hair, applied just a little make-up and reached for the clothes I'd picked out for the day. Pulling on a pair of dark skinny jeans, a white Chanel printed t-shirt, and my cream boots. Grabbing a pink cardigan from my drawers, I wrapped my cream scarf around my neck, picked up my bag and finally made my way downstairs.

"Mornin' Dad," I said, walking into the kitchen, seeing my Dad already sat at the table. Dropping my bag beside a chair I leaned down and kissed his cheek before heading to the fridge.

"Mornin' Gracey. Ready for school?" he asked and for a moment I swear I heard a tinge of worry in his tone when he spoke. Shooting a smile over my shoulder I nodded my head, pouring myself a glass of juice.

"I'm ready; don't worry so much old man." I teased, hearing him chuckle as he pushed out from the table, washing out his cup.

"Enough with the old man, peanut." He replied, leaning down to press a kiss to my forehead. "I have to get to the station, good luck for today…" he said, backing up as Bella walked into the kitchen, looking less than happy, "…both of you." He finally added, kissing the top of Bella's head, before the two shared another awkward goodbye and he quickly departed.

Once I heard the front door close I held out a glass of juice to Bella and shot her a reassuring smile. "How you doin'?" I asked her, expecting a grumble in response but to my surprise Bella leaned beside me at the counter and sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'll be alright. Just want to get today over with." She said, downing her drink and discarding the glass in the sink. Eyeing her for a moment, I debated pushing her for more but in the end decided to go along with her and finished my drink. "You ready?" she asked, already shrugging on her coat. Chuckling I nodded my head and grabbed my bag and coat.

"Let's go."

-0-

The truck ran surprisingly well, loud but good. I made a note to thank Jacob and Billy again when they came over at the weekend. The school itself was easy enough to find and I had to admit it was a lot different to what I'd been expecting. It was unique in appearance, looking more like a collection of matching houses, with maroon coloured bricks. It was far different than what I was used to back home and I found I liked that quite a lot. I certainly didn't miss the chain link fences or metal detectors…they'd always been a hassle.

Bella parked the truck in the lot and one glance out the window indicated everyone nearby was now turned in our direction. Glancing at Bella I smiled, nodding my head sensing her unease. She sighed softly before we both grabbed our bags and climbed out the truck. Making my way around to her, I brushed my hair from my face and reached out to Bella, linking my arm through one of hers, giving her a light tug. "Let's go get signed in sis." I said eager to get out of the drizzle.

"So it begins." Bella commented, making me chuckle as we walked. Whilst I was doing my best to ignore the stares, she clearly seemed more focused on them despite her obvious attempts to prove otherwise.

"Just ignore them Bell's."

The office wasn't hard to find and it was quite small. With a little waiting area with padded folding chairs, orange-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls and a big clock was ticking loudly in the background. It was hard not to compare it to Phoenix and point out how different it was. As Bella introduced herself to the woman behind the counter, I did the same. "Grace Swan." Immediately the awareness of who we were lit up her eyes. Like I'd predicted, sadly Bella and I had been the topic of gossip here in town.

"Of course, let me get your schedules and maps." She said, already digging through a pile of documents stacked neatly on her desk. Bella and I got several sheets each, with her highlighting our classes and the best routes to each of them. Once we had the slips for the teachers to sign we were thankfully excused. After politely thanking her for the help Bella and I left the office.

"Figures, first day of school and I have Calculus. What about you?" I asked Bella, frowning down at my schedule briefly. Peering over Bella's shoulder I smiled seeing she had English, a subject I knew would ease her into school. Though seeing the frown on her face I tilted my head. "What's up?"

"Gym." Bella said simply, pulling a face and I laughed again.

"Oh cheer up; at least we can suffer through it together." I reminded her, holding our schedules side by side so she could look. "Plus we have Government together, so it's not all bad." Bella opened her mouth to respond, the frown on her face finally disappearing when an Asian boy suddenly appeared in front of us, clearly having no understanding of personal space.

"Bella and Grace Swan am I right?" he asked, though before either of us could formulate a verbal response he was opening his mouth to speak again, "I'm Eric, the eyes and ears of this place. Anything you need, tour guide, lunch date, shoulder to cry on, I'm your guy…"

I bit my tongue so as not to laugh and quickly glanced over at Bella who was looking at this guy Eric like he had two heads. "Thanks but I'm more of a suffer in silence type." She told him, and he nodded looking over at me and I chuckled.

"I'm her handler." I joked, trying not to laugh when Bella glared at me. The boy – Eric, though did and he nodded again, clapping his hands together. He went on to mention about us being in the school newspaper and I let Bella talk him out of that. I didn't much fancy the idea of an article being written about us. Granted I wasn't as introverted as Bella but even I had my limits and being the new girls was hard enough without drawing even more unnecessary attention to ourselves.

Bella left a few minutes later with Eric to their first class, leaving me to figure out the map in my hands. After studying it for a moment I turned on my heel and headed down the hall in the direction of what I hoped was my class. Thankfully I found it just as the bell rang and after taking a shaky, calming breath I followed the rest of the class inside of the small room, ignoring the stares and heading straight to the teacher.

-0-

"Having fun yet?"

"I can hardly contain myself." Bella muttered back and I laughed quietly before refocusing on the tray of food I'd just sat down with. Opening my can of coke I glanced at the others sat at the table and smiled, offering some of them a wave.

"You must be Grace, I'm Angela." I shared a warm smile with the girl called Angela. Bella was sat beside her and before I'd approached they'd been briefly conversing which was something. If Bella was making an effort then she had to be alright. Beside Angela sat Jessica whom I'd met in Biology. She seemed like a nice enough girl, definitely more of a gossip but friendly nevertheless. Then there was Eric and obviously Mike, who had seemingly taken a lot of interest in Bella. Saying that, all of the guys had, my sister of course didn't like the attention she was getting which made it all the more amusing.

"Hey Mike so you're not hassling my home girl are you?" Eric said, leaning over the table as Mike continued to try and engage Bella in conversation. Chuckling I picked up a few fries and pushed them into my mouth, shooting Bella a side long amused glance.

"Oh, your home girl?" Mike asked, raising his eyebrows at Eric.

"Here's my girl." Chimed in a voice from behind me, dropping a kiss onto my cheek before pulling out Mikes chair, causing the other boy to go crashing to the floor, landing hard on his ass. Bella stared at me wide eyed whilst I laughed in slightly shock as Mike scrambled to his feet and chased after Tyler, the same guy I'd met in Spanish. Shaking my head I looked back at the others at the table as Eric also stood with his notepad and walked away.

"Oh my god it's like first grade all over again and you guys are like the shiny new toys." Jessica commented, laughing lightly. I glanced at her sensing more than humour in her tone, it was almost like jealously but I didn't point it out. As a group we lapsed into comfortable conversation with Bella suggesting to Angela she do a feature in the newspaper about speedo padding on the swim team which made me laugh, knowing Bella was remembering the swim team back home.

"Who…who are they?"

It wasn't the question that caught my attention it was the breathy way in which she asked it, almost breathy and in awe. Shooting a curious look I followed her line of sight over to the cafeteria doors and it was immediately obvious who'd caught my twin sister's attention. There were four other students, pale and inhumanly beautiful, almost ethereal stood there. Their hair, their clothes impossibly perfect. Each of them looked as though they belonged on a runway.

"They're Dr and Mrs Cullen's foster kids; there are five of them all together." Angela explained, leaning against the table. "They moved down from Alaska a few years ago…"

"Yeah and they're all together." Jessica chimed in excitedly; Angela rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Like together, together you know?"

"They pretty much keep to themselves" Angela added as an afterthought, nodding in Jessica's direction, making me chuckle. Bella however continued to stare at the four newcomers, seemingly captivated with them and one couldn't really blame her.

"Do they have names?" I asked, picking up a fry and casting a look up at Jessica and Angela and the group of four began to move towards a table. Even the way they moved seemed inhuman, almost too graceful, even the guys.

"Okay so the blonde girl, that's Rosalie and the guy she's latched onto is Emmett," Jessica explained and I raised my eyebrows. So they were together, and they all lived together. It was scandalous for sure, especially in a small town. "Then there's Alice, she's the little dark haired girl dancing around Jasper, the guy who looks in pain. I swear Dr Cullen's like a foster Dad slash matchmaker,"

"Maybe he'll adopt me." Angela said jokingly and I laughed, nodding my head agreeing with her.

"Who's he?" Bella asked again, this time sounding breathless. I again shot my sister a look, surprised by her reaction and somewhat curious to see who'd caused it. Glancing past her again I watched as another boy stepped into the canteen, no doubt part of the little group, he was incredibly beautiful. Everything from his hair, to his nose, lips, all of it was perfectly sculptured as if on marble.

"That's Edward Cullen, gorgeous of course but too good for anyone here, so I wouldn't waste your time." Jessica said, speaking more so to Bella than me. Bella blushed, having to force herself to look away from the boy and shook her head, looking down at her plate.

"I wasn't planning on it." She said softly, and out the corner of my eyes I watched as she slowly glanced back over her shoulder, her eyes locking onto Edward again. Watching her for a moment, I sighed deciding not to interrupt her before turning back to my dinner and the girls, amused at the sudden fascination Bella had in the Cullens.

-0-

"First day over with, wasn't too bad was it?" I asked Bella after we left the gym, slipping away as soon as the bell rang. Bella shot me another look and I chuckled, linking my arm through hers, "Oh cheer up, it could have been worse…Mike could've walked us to the office." I teased, watching the small smile play on her lips as she rolled her eyes.

"What joy that would have been." She jokingly replied back, making me laugh. There was the Bella I knew and loved. Something had been bothering her all through gym and I had a nasty feeling it had something to do with Edward Cullen, only because Mike had mentioned Bella sitting beside him in Biology. When I'd mentioned it to her she'd frowned and avoided saying anything, but whatever had happened was clearly bothering her, I knew that much.

We weaved our way through the now busy corridor, with me pulling the door to the office open for Bella once we got there. She stepped past me and it was only when I went to follow her that I realised she'd stopped in the doorway. "Bella what the hell…" I muttered, standing just behind her, catching sight of what it was she was staring at.

"There must be something open sixth period. Physics, bio-chem…anything." Edward Cullen implored the frustration clear in his voice. His hands gripping the counter tightly, his entire body tensed. I frowned as I stared at Edward's back, my gaze drifting between him and my sister.

"Like I've explained dear everything is full, you'll have to stay in biology." The red-haired receptionist explained to him, making my frown deepen. He had biology with Bella, they'd sat together, it made me wonder what in the world had happened between them.

"Bella…?" I said her name quietly, but almost instantly his back stiffened and his hands dropped away from the counter, as he finally turned towards us.

"I'll just be a minute dears. Mr Cullen?" The receptionist said, and I shot her a small smile, she was looking rather frazzled and looking like she'd rather be anywhere else.

"Forget it. I'll just have to endure it." Edward growled back at her, a dark glare on his face as he focused on Bella, immediately making me shift closer to her. His eyes shot to me before quickly walking past both Bella and I, roughly pushing the door open.

For a long moment, things were deathly silent in the office. I looked away from the door, to the receptionist, watching her shuffle her papers before I walked around Bella and fixed her with a pointed look. "Okay, what the hell happened between you two in biology?" I asked her firmly. Bella looked down at her feet for a moment before shaking her head.

"Drop it Grace." She said softly, touching my arm before walking around me and to the counter to give in her slip. Shaking my head, I followed, handing in the slip I'd had signed by all my teachers, not pushing Bella for any more information, but vowing to keep an eye on her and Cullen.

-0-

"Jacob called."

Looking up from my homework I focused on my Dad now stood in my doorway. Shooting him a smile I put down my pen. "Calling to check in on his truck?" I asked, holding up my hands, "I didn't get behind the wheel I swear, so it's still running." I joked, watching my Dad roll his eyes and chuckle. "What did he want?" I asked, closing over my books and standing from my bed to pack them away.

"He asked after you." Dad said, and it wasn't hard to miss the hint of something in Dad's voice. Narrowing my eyes I turned to him, crossing my arms over my chest, Dad doing the same. "He seemed pretty eager to talk to you."

"Subtle Dad." I commented, smiling as I set my school bag down on my desk chair ready to pick up for tomorrow. I smiled at the idea of Jacob calling, asking after me. The few hours we'd spent with the parental units and Bella yesterday had been good, it'd been impossible to not smile with Jacob around. He'd quickly become someone I considered a friend, "Him and his Dad still coming over at the weekend?" I asked Dad, finally turned to look at him again.

"Yep. Billy's bringin' Harry's fish fry."

"Sounds good." I said, putting my hands on my hips and smiling, "So if you've finished acting like an old woman I need to get ready for bed." I teased, making Charlie chuckle as he held up his hands.

"I can take a hint. See you tomorrow kiddo." He said, dropping a kiss on my forehead as he left the room and headed to Bella's. Smiling as he left, I closed the door behind him and went to fish my mobile out of my bag, immediately opening a new message, scrolling down to Jacob's name.

'Sorry I missed your call, everything okay? Trucks still alive! G x'

Laying my phone back down on the bed after sending the message I began to change into my pyjamas, leaving my room only briefly to go see Bella. Knocking on her door I peeked in, "Hey duck how you feelin'?"I asked, making my way over to her bed. Bella lay down her copy of Wuthering Heights and nodded an amused smile on her face.

"Lost her phone charger again." She said fondly and I laughed lightly, suddenly really missing my hair brained Mother. "She said Phil's training's going well too." She went on to add and I nodded.

"That's great." I said honestly. I was extremely happy for Phil and really hoped everything worked out for him with this baseball thing. Both he and Mom deserved to have this dream come true. "So what about you, you okay?" I asked, bumping her with my shoulder. Bella sighed and I knew she was considering brushing me off again but she knew I wasn't going to keep letting this go. Edward had upset her and I wanted to know what had happened. "Do I need to kick some butts the school? You know I will, just say the word…"

"You'll kick his butt?" Bella asked, looking at me pointedly to which I narrowed my eyes playfully, before shrugging and smiling.

"Okay, Dad will kick his butt." I said, happy she seemed to find that funny. Taking her hand I squeezed it lightly, "In all seriousness though, you going to be alright tomorrow?" I asked and for a moment she didn't answer. I watched her face carefully as she seemingly frowned, deep in thought before a familiar look of determination crossed her features and she nodded.

"I'm going to confront him and find out what his problem is." She said and I quickly felt impressed. The idea of her confronting the jerk who was unnecessarily horrible to her made me proud. Bella wasn't one for confrontation but something seemed different here and I was glad to see this side of her come out to play. It rarely did and I was happy to see her take charge attitude.

"That's my girl." I said, making her smile before she laid her head on my shoulder. With my head on hers we sat there for a moment, both preparing for our second night here in Forks. Squeezing her hand again, I sat up and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Night duck." I said, standing from the bed.

"Night sis." She said softly, burrowing down into her sheets. Smiling again I turned the light off and closed the door over, leaving the room and heading back into my own. Switching off the lights I blindly made my way to my bed and pulled back the covers, climbing underneath and taking a few moments to revel in the comfort of the warm duvet. Back home in Phoenix, I'd only ever managed to have a sheet over me, here due to the cold the covers were much thicker and I loved it.

Reaching for my phone I felt my face once again pull into another smile, something I'd been doing a lot of lately.

'Funny but glad to hear it! Call you tomorrow! We should hang out! Night x J x'

Smiling at the text I laid the phone down on the bedside cabinet and burrowed down into my covers closing my eyes. I really liked the idea of hanging out with Jacob some more, I was even debating making some arrangements to hang out with Jessica and Angela. Despite the issue with Edward and his attitude towards Bella, everything was turning out great. I had a really good feeling about Forks.

Little did I know then, that already things were heading down a path that was set to irrevocably change Bella's life and in turn mine, forever.

-0-

So here is chapter two. Sorry for the long wait but it's here, working on editing the next chapter now which is set to be much longer so I hope you guys are enjoying it so far. Do you guys like what you've seen of Grace so far? The story isn't going to focus heavily on Bella's story but Grace's and how Bella's decisions affect her and her family, with a few more creative changes to what you guys know.

Let me know what you think. Reviews are like love and I want this story to get to get as much as it can, plus it always helps to know what you guys think.

Captain-Spangled – It is up! Late reply but still it's here and thanks for a great review hun. They are partners in crime already, I'm really excited about their growing friendship because that's an important basis for them later. Not much of Jacob in this chapter but still hope you enjoyed it.