Fuck I was late for class. Mr Banner was nice enough, but he had weird rules about partners. You picked your own every few weeks, but it was first come first served. If you were late, you got whatever partner was left.

I had been talking with Amelia out in the Jeep when the bell rang. I was a few minutes late to science class, but fuck.

Today we picked partners for our next section.

I had hoped to get Mike, since he seemed decently scientific.

But I knew he would likely try to partner with Angela, the smartest person in the class.

I couldn't guilt him into being my partner if I was not there. I had even planned out my speech.

"But Mike, I'm new. I don't have any real friends beside you."

Fuck.

I dragged myself to the back of the classroom, to the last open spot. Great. I had Edward Cullen.

The few times I had been able to talk to him, he always looked like he wanted to fight someone.

I took my seat and tried to keep my face relaxed.

There were two worksheets on the table and a packet explaining about the assignment we were going to do.

I waited for Mr Banner to start class.

I focused on the weird, old taxidermies on the shelf behind me.

There was an owl with an expression like it just shit itself.

One of the small rodents was being eaten by a plastic snake.

It was odd.

But Forks was not big enough to warrant true taxidermy art.

I wondered if the teacher had done the taxidermy himself.

"Do you have to collaborate with me?" Edward asked. Suddenly. "I would prefer to work alone, thank you."

He was tense, fists clenched.

"If the teacher will let me work with someone else, gladly," I said.

Edward moved his chair away from me. "Well go ask him."

"No. You ask him."

Edward sucked in air dramatically through his nose… It took one moment for him to look like he was going to vomit. He slammed his hand over his mouth and nose and booked it out of the room. I watched him rush towards the bathrooms at a decent pace.

I looked across the aisle at the two girls beside me. "Um, my partner… is sick?"

Jade smiled widely. "You want to work with us?"

Melody waved. "Sure."

While Melody and Jade were nice enough to work with me, I could tell we would make absolutely terrible partners. Melody did nothing, absolutely nothing. Jade carried the whole assignment, despite me trying to help. She ended up taking over and just giving us the answers.

I told Jade I appreciated the help, as science was one of my worst subjects. Jade smiled, obviously used to this dynamic. "Hopefully you get a better partner next time. Edward is…"

Melody snorted. "He is a weirdo. Cute, but weird."

"Don't tell me you want to date—You have horrible taste in men." Jade jumped into a lecture on Melody's last boyfriend.

I gave a little wave and found Mike waiting beside the door for me. I had gym with Mike.

He asked what happened with Edward.

I told him I had no idea. He was weirdly hostile and wanted me to work with someone else. Then he ran out of the room like he was gonna puke.

Mike shrugged. "No one really questions what the Cullens do."

I agreed this was a great idea. "I don't want to work with him again. He seems like a jackass."

"He's the nice one," Mike said. "Rosalie, the blonde, is downright mean."

I had not spoken to Rosalie, mostly from being warned away from her from several people. The girls seemed eager to get out of her way when she came into a room. Luckily, Rosalie was a senior and didn't take P.E.

That meant I didn't have to take combination classes with her. Something about Rosalie made me want to hide in a corner when I saw her. She had mean eyes.

The great thing about Forks was they didn't care for uniforms. We were allowed to wear whatever we wanted, if it covered us fully. The only real concern for Coach Clapp was proper P.E. shoes. I put on some leggings and an oversized T-shirt. Everyone looked like they crawled out of bed in the morning, some people even walking around in pyjama pants and a hoodie.

We had the option of volleyball or basketball. I chose volleyball and ended up doing decent. I followed Mike to his team and didn't realize how seriously they took the sport. Mike did tell me beach volleyball by the lakes were HUGE, but this was life or death on the court. It was like watching an episode of a sports anime, with people aiming for each other's heads.

I was too short to get the ball, though I did manage a pretty good set up and save. Mike was a different person on the court, whispering insults when he was near the net. It was wholesome, violent fun, mostly trying not to get caught by The Clapp.

When class ended, Mike asked if I would take him to work again. I said Dad probably wouldn't care, as long as they kept giving him cheap worms. But I did need to see if the office had my hat.

The rain picked up again.

I had left it on the table at lunch.

He followed me into the office and sat down in a chair.

I went to speak to Miss Carla, but she was already busy talking to Edward Cullen.

Miss Jane, the vice principal, came over to talk with me instead.

I described my hat and she spent five minutes looking around for it. She did find it, and I was relieved no one decided to keep it.

Though, with a school with small, someone was bound to notice you had their stuff and cause issues.

I had seen a few guys get into arguments out in the parking lot, though no one threw any punches.

When I finally turned around to talk to Mike, I found him standing beside Miss Carla and Edward.

He seemed really upset by something and was speaking in hurried, low tones. They didn't seem to notice me until I was standing right beside them.

"—No right to be an asshole about her."

Edward told Mike to mind his own business.

When he finally noticed me, he looked even angrier.

"Is this about me?" I asked.

"Yes," Mike said.

"Forget I said anything, Miss." Edward looked at me with the same tight expression and stormed out.

"What was his issue?" I asked.

"He was up here—" Mike started.

"Maybe you guys should talk about this outside," Miss Carla said. "I need to make some phone calls."

Mike and I quickly moved towards my Dad's car, which was circling the parking lot. Mike went off on a tangent about how Edward Cullen was the biggest asshole he had ever met in his fucking life.

Apparently while I was talking to Miss Jane, Edward was telling Miss Carla to switch him to any other class. Away from me.

Miss Carla had asked him what the issue was and the asshole said I smelled bad.

I started laughing. "Wait, he really said that?"

"Yes. Fucking pissed me off. Rosalie does shit like that all the time, says someone smells and then mocks them. It's like a weird family game," Mike said. "I wouldn't have the guts to take on Rosalie, but Edward is… Don't talk about my friends like that."

"His loss," I said. "I am fucking adorable."

"And so modest," Mike said.

By the time we dropped Mike off at work, I was annoyed by what Edward Cullen said in the office. I almost called Amelia, but Dad was asking about my day. I didn't mention Edward fucking Cullen.

I could not officially tell Dad that the Cullens weren't simply weird, they were assholes. Looks like I did have a fairly good judge of character after all.