The main building at Forks Community College held a few small lecture halls. Bella identified the room number on her schedule and peered inside to see several rows of dingy red-carpeted folding chairs. This would be her Intro to Statistics class. A number of students were already seated, but it was early and there were still plenty of open seats. Bella claimed a seat on the edge of a row, as far away from the other students as possible. Edward sat down next to her. The scent of the other students was strong, so enticing it almost made her nauseous. At least that made the desire a little easier to manage.

Minutes passed and the room slowly began to fill. Many of the students seemed to know each other already; they talked and laughed with a level of familiarity that Bella wished she could have with someone. A professor entered the room and started setting up her lecture presentation.

Tentatively, Bella tried to distract herself by making small talk with Edward.

"So…statistics. Hope you didn't have to drop anything exciting for this..."

He shrugged. "It's not a big deal. Statistics is relaxing anyway. It's one of those things that doesn't change no matter how many times you take the class."

"You've taken it before?" Bella asked.

Edward smiled lightly and leaned back in his seat. "Eight times."

"Eight?"

"I had to take it twice for my medical degree." He said, "The professor was a little crotchety. He failed me the first time." Seeing Bella's shocked face, he continued, "That was in the fifties. In England."

"If you have a medical degree why are you here?" Bella asked.

Edward shrugged again. "I just like it. I guess I'm what they call a career student."

Bella shook her head. "Well I hope you don't mind taking it a ninth time… Dr. Cullen," she said teasingly.

A new voice broke into their conversation. "You new here? Haven't seen you around before."

Bella turned to see a young man setting his backpack down in the seat in front of her. He had playful dark eyes and a handsome face. Long black hair fell over his broad shoulders. His tone was friendly, and he half-smiled at Bella.

"Um, yeah. Just moved here from Phoenix," she replied.

He raised his eyebrows slightly. "Oh yeah? What made you want to move here? To the rainiest part of the country?"

Bella exchanged a glance with Edward and repeated the story they had concocted. "My mom moved in with her boyfriend after I finished high school. I have family up here so I decided to move in with them." She gestured to Edward. "I'm Bella. This is my cousin… Edward." She hoped she didn't sound too awkward. Edward shifted slightly in his seat as though uncomfortable, but nodded to the guy in the way that men do to one another.

The guy gave Edward a cursory glance, nodded back, then returned his attention to Bella.

"Bella from Phoenix, eh?' he said, "I'm Jacob. I'm from LaPush. From the rez."

"Oh, are you Quileute?" Bella asked, remembering what Laurent had told her.

Jacob grinned. "Born and bred," he winked at her. "A lot of girls here are into it."

Bella half-rolled her eyes. She wasn't used to attention from boys, and for once she was glad not to have human blood in her veins – it prevented the heat from rushing to her face.

Jacob turned back in his chair and Bella noticed that his blood scent was not as strong as the others in the room. In fact, he smelled a little odd. There was another scent underneath, something she couldn't place her finger on…. At least it made his human scent easier to ignore.

By this time the professor had finished setting up her power point and called attention to the front of the room. Bella sighed softly and opened her laptop (a MacBook air that Carlisle insisted he had no use for).

After statistics Bella had Psych 101, Contemporary English Literature, then a break for lunch. She sat inside the cafeteria, away from the rain, though it meant she had to be around more humans. A few tables away, a group of girls glanced at her and Edward, then quickly looked away. She made eye contact with a pair of boys nearby as well.

"I feel like everyone's staring at me," she murmured to Edward.

"They are." He said calmly, unbothered. "You'll get used to it. They will too."

"I don't like it." Bella muttered.

Edward looked up from his laptop. "Why shouldn't they stare?" he asked, amused, "We vampires have an aura. People can't help but be attracted to it."

"I don't see why."

"No? You don't think I'm attractive?" Edward asked. He rarely cracked a smile, but now he grinned ear to ear.

Bella huffed. "I didn't say that."

The fact was, she did find Edward attractive. He was incredibly handsome, clean-cut, played the piano, soft-spoken but with a hard edge that was kind of sexy... just the kind of guy she would have loved to introduce to her mother.

"Hi there, Bella. Enjoying your first day?" Alice's chipper voice interrupted Bella's thoughts. She plopped down in a chair at their table.

"Um, yeah." Bella replied, "I think my Psych 101 class will be really cool. You?"

Pulling a tube of lip gloss from her bag, Alice pursed her lips. "Well, it's not quite University of Toronto," she said, "but it'll do."

"Is that the last school you went to?"

Alice nodded, using her phone camera to apply the lip gloss. "Art History. Class of '99. Then I did my masters in paintings on Greek mythology in the Baroque style. Actually, Jasper and I did it together. But I think I'll do comp sci this time. Something fresh."

As Alice continued to chatter, Bella caught sight of Jacob – the guy from statistics – across the cafeteria. He turned as though he sensed her watching him, and waved when he caught her eye. Bella gave him a small wave back but quickly looked away. Jacob sat down with what appeared to be a group of other Quileute students.

"Who's that, Bella?" Alice asked. Her sharp eyes had missed nothing.

"Some guy in our statistics class," Edward cut in before Bella had a chance to reply. "I don't like him."

"Why not?" Bella asked.

Edward thought for a moment, then shrugged. "He just has a weird vibe," he said finally.

"I see what you mean," Alice frowned, "He seems kind of odd even from here."

Bella didn't see anything wrong with Jacob, but she stayed silent.

Outside the rain had stopped and a break in the clouds allowed bright sunlight to break through.

"Guess we'll have to be inside for the rest of the day," Alice sighed.

The bright sun reminded Bella of Phoenix, and she thought of everything that she had been through. She wondered where Laurent was, and reminded herself that she would need to report to him in a few days. And she would need to bring information…

A/N: Short chapter this time. Also want to thank you all who have been leaving nice reviews! I appreciate each one :)