All recognizable characters belong to Stephenie Meyers.

Chapter 10

Like every morning Bella got on the bus to go to school. She was staring out the window when she heard a voice whine her name.

"Bella." Eric plopped down in the seat next to her. "What is this I hear about you and the group going out on Saturday without me?"

"Hey, they left me behind too." A voice behind her said.

She peeked over the seat to see Ben and Austin.

"I didn't get invited either." Austin complained.

"Sorry." She said to all three boys.

Turning back around in her seat Eric continued. "Sorry ain't gonna cut it Swan. Why weren't we invited?"

"You sit at a different lunch table." She said meekly "Besides there wasn't enough room in the van to fit everyone."

"Okay, we understand but I'm not going to lie. You broke our hearts." Eric pushed his bottom lip out and put his hands over his heart.

Bella suppressed a laugh but couldn't fight her smile. It was obvious there were no real hurt feelings and the boys were just messing with her.

The bus stopped and let the last passengers on before they got to the school. Among the group was Lauren.

As she passed them Eric said, "Hay, Lauren. I hope we can hangout again real soon."

She looked at him blandly then looked at Bella sitting next to him and rolled her eyes.

After everyone was sitting and the bus started to move Ben and Austin peered over the seat at Eric.

"What now?" Austin asked in surprise.

Eric looked up at them and smiled. "Yep, she showed up at my place and said if I snuck her in and let her stay the night she would let me kiss her."

"No way." The boys laughed and carried on.

Bella frowned, She had that feeling in her stomach like something was wrong, maybe it was just a coincidence that feeling showed up at the same time as Eric's admission about Lauren. The girl hadn't shown any interest in Eric before but Bella didn't think he was lying. Then she thought maybe Lauren was acting out because she was mad at Tyler, or was it Mike? Bella didn't know and she figured it was none of her business.

Jessica and Angela were waiting in front of the school When they got there.

"Oh my gosh, they're here, they're here." Jessica was practically bouncing.

As they passed the principal's office they could see the five new students. All looked completely different from each other. Two had black hair, two had blonde, and one had copper colored hair. There were two girls and three boys.

The two with black hair were on opposite sides of the height spectrum. The tallest probably towered over everyone in the school, and the shortest was even shorter than Jessica.

"I'm not the shortest person in the school anymore." Jessica said in aww.

"Is that a good thing?" Bella asked.

"Yes, I hate being short." she complained.

"You could have some of my height." Angela mumbled.

The principle came out and shooed all the curious students away from the door.

It wasn't until her third period class that Bella had the opportunity to see one of the new students up close.

Bella never did find the enthusiasm the other students did about the newcomers. At the diner she was more excited about joining the conversation then she was about the topic.

When the other students started there animated whispering she looked up to find the tiniest of the new arrivals.

The girl bounced across the room and sat in the chair next to her. She had black hair that was spiked up in all directions. Bella imagined if it hung down it would come down to her chin or just frame her face. Her dark-brown eyes shone as she looked in Bellas direction.

"Hi," the new girl said happily. "I'm Alice."

"Hi, I'm Bella." She replied.

She remembered how she felt when Angela introduced herself, The comfort she found in her new friend's presence. That was the first time Bella can ever recall feeling at ease around other people.

She knew it wasn't the same. This girl was definitely not an introvert, but still it was daunting starting a new school after the year already began. Bella knew this from experience. It would have been nice to have someone that made that transition a happy experience. Before this move she never had that. Mike tried but it was Angela who had been that person for her. She could do that too. She could be that person for someone. Bella decided right then and there that she was going to make Alice feel welcome.

She watched the girl out of the corner of her eye. She had to admit Alice was beautiful. Her porcelain skin had no blemishes and her lips it was hard to tell if she was wearing lipgloss or if her lips were naturally that red.

Wait a minute. No way! Blessed with flawless beauty, lips as red as a rose, hair black as ebony, and skin as white as snow. The girl was a living, breathing, Snow White.

A giggle burst from Bella's lips. The girl turned and looked at her. No, everyone was looking at her. Bella froze.

"Sorry," Alice's tinkling voice rang out. "I said something funny."

"Well class has started." The teacher announced. "No more talking."

"Okay, Sorry." She said again.

And just like that all eyes were off Bella and back on Alice.

After Class Bella was too embarrassed to follow through with her decision to make Alice feel welcome. Alice however had no qualms.

"So, what was so funny?" The small girl asked.

"Oh, Umm." Bella blushed. "My mind has a tendency to wander."

"And where did it wander too."

Wow, this girl was really calling her out. She took a deep breath and hoped she didn't offend Alice. "Did anyone ever tell you you look like a fairy princess?"

"I've been called a lot of things. A fairy princess is one of the good ones."

"I wanted to make you feel welcome and I keep screwing up."

"You have made me feel welcome. You said hello to me and did not whisper behind my back."

"No, I just laughed in your face."

Alice looked at her for a moment. "Well then, you can make it up to me by inviting me to sit at your lunch table." she smiled.

"Yeah, of course, definitely." Bella babbled.

Alice's smile got bigger. "See you at lunch then."

Thank you for reading.