A/N: I´m overwhelmed by all the positive feedback I received from this little story. Thank you so much! I literally giggled all day.

And to answer your question: I plan to update 3/4 times a week. I´ve written a 100k story in 2 months, so no worries: I´m a consistent fanfic writer :)

Again, thank you so much!

Chapter 2: A Boring School Day

The bell rang, and I made sure to quickly flee the classroom before the boy next to me dared to speak to me again. As I had no idea which classroom I had to be in next, I rushed to the nearest toilets to calm down.

I didn't want to admit it, even to myself, but his piercing gaze had made me nervous. But I knew I had to ignore it, as I couldn't afford any distractions. I soon would leave Forks, so I couldn't allow myself to get attached to someone.

I sat down, and with trembling hands took my schedule from my pocket and memorised my next few lessons. Spanish. Maths. Biology.

Just as I was about to leave, I heard the door open and three unfamiliar, female voices entered.

¨Did you see Edward Cullen talk to that new girl?¨ A nasal and irritating voice asked.

Ah crap, people already started to notice me. I rolled my eyes. This is why I hated small towns with a passion.

¨Yeah, what´s up with that?¨ A high pitched voice responded.

¨Girl, I know right? He never talks to anyone.¨ The nasal one said surprised.

¨Whatever. He's such a creep anyway.¨

¨He's hot, though.¨

I got a feeling the nasal one was boy crazy and the high pitched one was just plain rude and mean. In other words, they were people to stay away from, just as I intended to do.

¨She ran away, do you think he upset her?¨ I heard a third voice ask timidly. She sounded very sweet.

I raised my brows. Wait, someone cared? That was actually new.

¨Oh crap, you´re right. What a weirdo. She should be glad someone started talking to her, wearing that butt-ugly hoodie and such.¨ The high pitched one said as she started giggling with the nasal one.

¨That's not a nice thing to say.¨ The sweet voice responded.

¨Whatever.¨

I gritted my teeth. I always knew people thought I was weird and I gave them every reason to believe that. I mean, I ignored everyone, I only wore dark clothes and after a few months, I mysteriously left. I knew I seemed weird to others.

But I never directly heard people talk shit about me.

And I didn't like it. At all.

I heard the door open and I heard the voices leave. Good. I've already had enough of being the new girl in town. And Forks absolutely sucked. I took a deep breath to compose myself, before I opened the door to leave as well.

Damn it.

The girl with the sweet voice was still here. Exactly what I needed.

Not!

I stood still and she smiled at me. I didn't want that. I walked past her to leave as well. I didn't want people to talk about me but I certainly didn't want people to pity me. I could deal with bullies, I would simply ignore them. But I couldn't deal with pettiness. And it seemed as if this girl pitied me.

¨Just ignore them.¨

I stopped and slowly turned around. Did I hear that correctly? She didn't apologize on behalf of her friends. She didn't even introduce herself. She basically told me what I already knew.

I surprised myself as I smiled at her. I couldn't help it, but I felt as if she could be an ally in this shithole of a High School. ¨I'm planning to.¨

Realisation hit me that this was the second time today that I let my guard down. I couldn´t let that happen again. I just couldn't. Leaving would be way harder if I did.

So I left the restroom and went to my second period, which was Spanish.

This time, I was allowed to sit where I wanted to. Good. No more distractions. At least not for today. So I sat down at an empty table and put my backpack on the empty seat next to me, the universal sign of ´fuck off, I don´t want anyone to sit next to me.´

But before I could even unpack my books, the sweet girl from the toilets entered. And I just knew she would ask to sit next to me, she seemed like that type of girl.

And I also knew I wouldn't say no to her if she asked, and that knowledge alarmed me.

However, she didn´t. She sat in front of me and I realised I was disappointed about that. I didn't know what Forks High School did to me, but I wasn't even here for a whole day and I already acted differently compared to all other schools I had been in.

Weird.

After the lesson ended, the sweet-voiced girl turned around and smiled at me again. I found myself smiling back at her.

¨Thank you, you know.¨ I said to her.

¨Not a problem at all. They can be bitches but their heart´s in the right place. I´m Angela, by the way.¨ The sweet-voiced girl said and she chuckled. I couldn't help but laugh with her, as if we shared a private joke or something.

Laughing on my first day with a peer. There goes my ice-cold, stone-hard persona that I so desperately tried to maintain.

¨I´m Bella.¨

¨Everyone knows who you are. The school´s small, if you hadn't noticed.¨

I rolled my eyes. ¨Yeah, I´m afraid I have.¨

¨Listen, I won't impose myself on you any further. But, if you ever need someone to sit next to or spend lunch with, you know where to find me.¨ Angela winked at me before she got up and left.

I was stunned. Not only did she offer her company in a rather amazing way, but I also wanted to sit next to her and I wanted to spend more time with her. That's absurd.

And it would hurt. A lot.

But, was it really such sorrow to make a friend? Only one. Someone to spend these few months with. Would that really be so bad?

No, I would leave just as I always did. And I would leave Angela behind and never see her again. I needed to maintain my distance. It would really be for the best.

So, I made sure to spend my lunch break alone. It would only be weird if I made it weird. I found an empty table to sit at, took my sandwiches and started eating. I took my phone and opened an e-book.

People would remember a loner girl with a book in the cafeteria. However, people wouldn't remember a loner girl with a phone.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the same boy from my English class enter the cafeteria. I now knew his name was Edward. Not that I cared, of course.

He sat down at a table with his friends, I suppose. I didn't know if there´s a social media platform where you could only befriend models, but if that existed, Edward and his friends were all part of it.

Oh, my God.

His group consisted of five people, including Edward. There was one very muscular guy with his hot, blond, curvaceous girlfriend. A stereotypical American high school blond cheerleader with her ´captain of the football team´ boyfriend. If Forks even offered a football team. You never knew for sure with these teeny, tiny towns.

The second couple consisted of two more artistic people. The petit, dark-haired girl seemed very into fashion, guessing from her more atypical clothing choices compared to the rest of the group. The guy was rather boring, I suppose.

But, he wore cowboy boots to school, so that must have been a real scandal in this particular high school. Trying to stand out in a small town, I could never.

Just then, Edward looked up and noticed me staring at him.

Shit, abort mission.

I looked down and kept my eyes on my food only. I had already slipped up way too many times today and I wouldn´t allow myself to fall for these tricks ever again.

What would he think of me? First, I ignored him like crazy and now, I was eying him out? That's even weirder. And that's coming from me. But, I didn't care what he thought of me.

¨Hey girl.¨ I recognised the nasal voice and I looked up. I suppose she wasn´t the meanest of the two, since that was the high pitched one. Still, I just stared at her as I had no idea what she wanted from me.

Certainly, she would notice rather sooner than later that she got nothing out of me. I wasn't really the gossiping type.

¨I´m Jessica. So, how´s your first day?¨ She tried again. I had to give it to her, she was rather persistent. Most would just give up but she kept going.

¨Fine,¨ I answered her, already done with the conversation.

¨Good. If you need anything, you can let me know.¨ Jessica said as she quickly left my table. As if I ever let her know. Bitch, please.

But, seeing her runoff was strangely amusing to me, I can't lie.

After lunch break was over, I headed over to maths. I noticed that Edward constantly kept his eyes on me. Maybe the girls were right and he really was a creep.

Oh no wait, they thought I was one.

Same thing.

I sat down in Maths and made sure no one could sit next to me again. I noticed I shared this class with the artistic couple Edward was friends with.

The petite girl said something to her boyfriend and she almost jumped up and down in her enthusiasm. They laughed together and I couldn't help but almost feel jealous at their obvious affection. They whispered and I noticed I tried to listen in. That wasn't like me, at all.

The girl then looked up and saw me staring at them.

I bit my lip. Seriously? What was wrong with me today? I wasn´t just weird, I was also creepy since I couldn't stop staring at random, hot people.

But what was even weirder, was that I genuinely cared if they thought I was weird or not. I didn't want that.

For the next hour, I shut everyone out and concentrated very hard on the subject. I figured I needed a long bath with a thick, new novel and a long night of good sleep and I would be back to my normal self. Maybe I even needed to get my period.

Oh, that had to be it! Hormones. That had to be the reason for my weird behaviour. It would certainly explain everything.

The lesson ended and I happily entered my Biology classroom. I gave my ´first-day´ paper to the teacher and I took a quick look at the rest of the students here.

I immediately stood still and my eyes widened.

No!

Yes!

Edward!

I didn't know how or why, but I needed to sit next to Edward again. For the love of God and all that's good and holy, why?

I figured he also had to be a loner, otherwise girls would want to sit next to him all the time. I mean, they were already talking about him in the restrooms, so he had to be quite popular.

Then why were there so many empty seats next to him? He had to be a loner, there was no other explanation for it.

I sat down and he made a noise to grab my attention.

¨I'm sorry if I bothered you before. My name is Edward Cullen.¨ I heard him speak next to me. But I wouldn't look at him or speak with him. I wouldn't give in. I wouldn´t.

¨It´s alright,¨ I said, avoiding his eyes.

Damn it. It's always the hot ones. Always the hot ones who made you break the only promise you made with yourself.

¨And you´re Bella, right?¨ He didn't stop talking. And I didn't want him to stop either.

¨Hmm,¨ I sighed lamely.

He grinned. ¨It´s a coincidence we have to sit next to each other.¨

I tried to bite my lip but I was already too late to stop it, so I grinned at him. ¨I mean, the school´s really small.¨

His grin became crooked and I swear, I forgot how to breathe for a second. Only because he smiled at me, that was truly pathetic.

¨Knew I would get you to talk.¨

¨I much rather you didn´t,¨ I answered truthfully. I didn't know why, but his piercing gaze made me buckle under pressure. And if I didn´t compose myself, I was sure I would tell him all about my life and the reason why I didn't let people come close to me.

Edward raised his eyebrows. ¨Why? People seem to love talking, especially about themselves.¨

¨Well, I don´t.¨ I answered harshly. I might´ve come off way angrier than I actually was and I hoped I hadn´t offended him completely.

I mean, if I actually cared, of course.

I turned away from him again. I felt as if he could read me way too easily and I didn't want that to happen.

I noticed Edward kept looking at me, almost as if he were disappointed with my answers. Or, dare I hope, disappointed with himself since our conversation seemed to be over. Or was that just my wishful thinking?

Part of me wanted to turn around and talk some more with him. I didn't know why, but he drew me in like a moth to a flame. He was intriguing and I wanted to know more about him.

Part of me wanted the day to be over so I could go home.

I knew which part was more dominant than the other, so as soon as the bell rang, I jumped up, ran out of the school, hopped in my car and quickly drove away.

If I hadn't left so quickly, I would´ve continued talking to Edward.