Hey there, friends! Wow. That first chapter got a lot of attention. Thank y'all so much. Your follows and favs and reviews make me beyond happy. I hope you enjoy the second chapter!

Chapter Two

Anna

The next day was still full of trying to get organized, but we carved out a little time in the morning to go to the high school and get registered. It was an odd time in the school year to transfer—April began in barely a week—but since we'd moved out of state, it wasn't like we could continue going to our old school and simply commute. If not for Grandpa needing us closer so badly, we would have waited till the summer to move.

Mom explained that to the office lady, Ms. Cope, who'd began the conversation looking judgmental but was now appearing sympathetic. Alex fidgeted in his seat next to me, not because he was nervous but because he sucked at sitting still. I, on the other hand, could imitate a statue.

"Thank you so much!" Mom said, walking over to my brother and me with two clipboards in her hands. She handed one to each of us. "Fill out your preferences here, guys. No promises you'll get exactly what you want, but it can't hurt to be thorough, yeah? Be sure to include alternatives." Then she went back up to the desk to chat with Ms. Cope as she filled out whatever forms she needed to.

Alex nudged me with his elbow. "Hey, Annie, look. We get to do gym all four years here."

"What?" I said, reading through the required classes more thoroughly. He was right. "Great."

"About makes up for most likely losing that cool history class I was taking!" he said happily. Only Alex would sound happy about extra PE classes.

I scoffed. "I hate gym."

He snickered. "You hate most things."

I had to smile at that, just a little. "Shut up."

We both kept to ourselves as we filled out the rest of our forms after that, Alex kindly bringing them over to Mom and Ms. Cope…after I elbowed him in the ribs. Twice. He was better for the task anyway; talking to strangers was his forte—his personality was practically made for it.

"Come over here, Anna," Mom called a minute later, waving me over with a smile. At least she didn't hold my aversion to social interaction against me. "Ms. Cope's printing out your class list now. You can look over it real quick to make sure it looks alright."

Biting my lip, I walked over and took the piece of paper the lady held out to me once it finished printing. I gave it a glance. All the basic stuff was there: math (calculus), science (physics), English, and social studies (government). I was mildly surprised they even offered a calculus course here, so I took a moment to be glad for that. But then I checked out my electives, which were mostly okay—PE, Spanish, psychology—until I got to the last one: art.

And I'd thought getting stuck in more PE was a bummer. I was terrible at art.

But it wasn't like I had much choice. We were dropping into this school less than three months before the school year ended; all the other classes were likely full. I needed to be grateful I landed in psychology. Psychology was cool. And however many weeks of art class wouldn't kill me. It'd suck, but that was life.

Repressing a sigh, I handed the paper back. "Looks good to me." Alex did the same.

Ms. Cope smiled. "Perfect! We'll get this all in the system, and then when you two come in tomorrow just be sure to stop by here to pick up your schedules."

I nearly gaped. We were starting school tomorrow? How had I missed that?

Luckily Mom was used to me remaining silent in situations such as these—where people would normally have to, you know, talk—so she returned Ms. Cope's smile and thanked her. Alex chimed in with the same, promising we'd see her bright and early the next morning.

And then we were outside, back in the brisk spring air. I pulled in a deep breath as we walked to the car, relishing the light breeze. I'd felt uncomfortable in the office, but just how tense my body had gotten wasn't clear until now, once we were outside and I could fully breathe again. Alex noticed the long breaths I was taking and asked, "You okay, Annie?"

Releasing my current breath, I nodded. "Yeah. The fresh air is nice."

He didn't look like he entirely believed me. Even though he was the little brother and I was supposed to look after him, he tended to keep an eye out for me. I knew he worried. About what, exactly, I wasn't quite sure. But sometimes he looked at me oddly and I got a hunch that he was keeping an extra close watch on me for…something. Like now. It was like he suspected I'd been coming out of my skin in that room.

"That's all?" His gaze dared me to lie.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Al, that is all. Chill out, yeah?"

His eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth, but before he could voice his retort Mom said, "Okay, you two, let's get going. We'll grab some lunch on the way home. We need to kick it into gear today to get as much set up as possible with you guys starting school and your father starting work tomorrow."

"When are we going to drop in to see Gramps?" Alex asked, sliding into the backseat of the car.

Mom started the car. "I'll go see him tomorrow. After that, we'll figure it out to fit in with school and work so he doesn't have to be alone so much." Grandpa lived in the tiny retirement village in Forks. Well, it was called a "village" but really it was a small apartment complex with extra amenities. He'd been lonely since Grandma died, and his own health wasn't too great. While he didn't need much help around, since he had people in the village for that, we wanted to give him more companionship.

And there was the fact that Mom and Dad worried he was going to follow my grandmother's lead in the near future and wanted to make the best of the time we had left. Not that they'd said that to Alex and me, but we weren't stupid. We also weren't arguing.

"Maybe we can go visit him after school too?" I suggested.

Mom smiled gently. "No, sweetie. After school you need to get home and help us finish getting sorted. I know I'm being hard about this, but the sooner we get settled, the sooner we can relax and feel at home. Especially if I find a job anytime soon—it'd be better to already have everything done so we wouldn't have another thing to worry about, don't you think?" That was Mom, ever the go-getter.

"Okay," I agreed. "But tell him hi for me."

"Of course," she promised. "I'll give him a big hug and everything."

I nodded, peering out the window. Unsurprisingly, it had started raining. I liked it. Rain was my second favorite weather next to snow. Watching the drops glide down the glass, I tried to focus on anything but the fact that in twenty-four hours I was going to be in a school full of people I'd never met. A school full of people who were likely going to stare at me. And try to talk to me. And think I was weird when I didn't fall into conversation easily.

A grim smile tilted my lips up the barest bit. I wondered how long it'd take someone to call me a bitch.

Paul

Walking into Sam and Emily's house after my patrol shift, I smelled what could only be lasagna. Hopefully she made enough because there was no way I could leave before I devoured some. I headed straight for the kitchen, ignoring Embry and Quil in the living room.

"…if I made it weird or what," Felicity was saying as I entered the room.

I slid into the chair next to her, Jacob of course on her other side. He shook his head. "Maybe she's really bad with new people."

"Hold up," I said, lifting my hands in a stop motion. "First of all, Emily."

She turned to look at me from where she was stirring something on the stove. "Yes, Paul?"

"You look lovely today. Has anyone told you? Just absolutely beautiful."

Emily laughed. "Wow, Paul, what a kind thing to say to someone who refuses to give you any of the lasagna currently in the oven."

I gasped, pressing my fist to my chest. "Why would you be so hurtful?"

She pointed to the microwave. "You can have some that's staying warm in there, though. Just wait until the rest is done so everyone can eat together."

A grin overtook my face. "You're the nicest person in the whole entire world."

"You're ridiculous."

"Thank you. Now," I looked at Felicity, "what are you talking about, doll? What weird thing happened? Do I need to beat someone's ass? Because I'll do it, no questions asked. Just say the word."

She snorted. "No. Not that serious."

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure." She sighed. "I saw the girl who moved in the other day. Her and her brother and mom, actually."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I leaned back in my chair. "And it was weird? Bummer. Maybe it's a sign that I'm the best of best friends and you shouldn't try to replace me."

Felicity rolled her eyes up to the ceiling, as if giving herself a moment to control her irritation before continuing. It was cute. She looked back at me, shaking her head. "They were super nice. We even have a standing invitation to dinner once they get settled in."

Smirking, I arched my brows. "They invited me to dinner?"

"Me and you and Jacob. And you two are going to have polite portions, not everything they lay out on the table." She said "you two," but her eyes were narrowed on me.

"I'm always polite," I said as innocently as possible—which wasn't very innocent at all since I couldn't keep from snickering.

Felicity called me out. "You're a liar."

Sam walked into the room, pausing to eye Felicity, Jacob, and me at the table before shaking his head and making his way over to Emily, kissing both of her cheeks before her lips. Same greeting every time. It was sickening how sweet those two were. "We heard from Charlie Swan today," he announced.

Instantly, we all became alert. Quil and Embry stood in the doorway. I sat up straight in my chair. Jacob's hand slipped over Felicity's on the table. Emily stopped her stirring. We watched Sam, waiting for more information.

"I guess Isabella has been keeping in contact with him, making some excuse of needing time away because she really hates Forks. But Charlie is worried since her leaving was so abrupt and he knows the Cullens are gone too. Called Billy wanting to know if he'd seen her or had any idea of where she was. Obviously, the answer was no. But Billy told Charlie to let him know if he catches wind of anything."

"If we find out where they are…" Jacob began, a growl rumbling in his chest.

Sam nodded. "They broke the Treaty."

Felicity frowned. "Wait, what?"

Jacob's growl cut off and he rubbed her hand soothingly. "Remember how we told you about the truce we had with them since they don't drink from humans? They keep to their land, don't bite any humans, and don't harm our tribe."

"Right…" Felicity said, but she clearly was still not getting it.

"You're part of the tribe now, doll," I said, leaning back in my seat again. I wasn't as relaxed as before, not after this topic had come up, but I could pretend. "Honorarily, thanks to the imprint thing."

She blinked. "Oh. Wow."

Jacob smiled. "Is that a good wow or a bad wow."

She gave a weak smile back, obviously flustered. "Good. Definitely good. That's so cool."

"I don't know how you can be surprised," Sam said, his tone kind a laced with humor. "Have we not made it obvious enough that we'll protect you as if you're one of the pack?"

Felicity looked like a deer in the headlights. "No! I mean, yes! You guys have been—"

"He's kidding," Jacob said, trying not to laugh and completely failing.

"So what back to what I wanted to know before Sam so rudely entered his own home and interrupted, what weird happened earlier? Not the invitation to dinner, I hope. That would be such a let down of a story."

She put her elbow on the table, resting her chin in her hand. "No, it wasn't the dinner thing. Like I said, they were really nice. The mom's name is Colleen. And there's a teenage boy named Alex. Both of them were pretty chatty, but not in an overbearing way. It was just…nice."

"Okay…" I urged her to get to the good part.

"But then they went into the apartment and I was left in the hallway with the girl, Anna. Turns out they start at the high school tomorrow, so I was trying to talk about that. Compare classes and whatnot, you know?"

I nodded. "Right."

Felicity pursed her lips, appearing reluctant to continue. "And I guess she's at least in my art class. I tried to talk about how we're working with watercolor right now and how the teacher is fun, but at the first opening she ducked out of the conversation."

I squinted, tipping my head to the side. "What?"

"Like, the first chance she got, she said she had to go and then went inside, leaving me in the hallway by myself." She paused, scratching the back of her neck before resting her chin on her hand again. "She wasn't super rude or anything, like she said excuse me and goodbye and she hoped I had a good day, but it was so sudden. And, well, weird."

Jacob shook his head. "I think she's just shy or something. It can't be anything you did."

She turned to peer over at him. "You don't think I seemed stalkerish?"

He snorted. "No. It was natural conversation. It wasn't like you tracked her down or hired a private investigator or whatever. You bumped into them in the hallway and made conversation. That's normal."

"I hate to say it," I chimed in, "but lover boy over there is right, doll. Nothing weird coming from your end."

"So what do you think the issue was, Paulie?" Felicity asked, her eyes wide and serious. Damn, she really wanted to hit it off with this girl. I didn't quite understand her need for another friend—like, I didn't get it at all—but it sucked that she wanted it so badly and the chick was so unreceptive. How could anyone not like Felicity? The girl fucking oozed friendliness.

Sitting up so I could imitate how she sat against the table, my chin resting in my hand, I smiled. "You know what I think?"

A ghost of a smile crossed her face. "What?"

"Weeeeellllll," I said, drawing it out. "Sounds to me like she's a bitch."

What do you think, lovely people? I'd love if you left a review letting me know!

Also, small life update: finals are just about to start for me. So I'm in study mode now until mid next week. After that, I should have more time to write and be able to settle into an actual regular update schedule for this story! Thanks for bearing with me in the meantime, friends. :)