The next day, Bella drove the red truck up to the school, and she pulled into the parking lot. I felt every eye stare at us, especially when we both stepped out of the truck.

"Nice ride," one of the students near us said.

"Thanks," Bella said, but I was trying to enter the school building as fast as possible. I walked down the main hallway, trying not to stare at the people staring at me. However, I saw one girl, average height, olive skin, angular features, and large brown eyes, with a cobalt blue hijab, baggy cobalt blue jeans, and a matching oversized cobalt blue jacket over a loose white t-shirt.

"Hey, what's your name?" The girl asked cheerfully.

"Lizzy Swan," I said, a little confused by her immediate kindness. "What about you?"

"Tala, Tala Mondal," she said. Tala was standing really close to me. "I'm here to save you from the shark tank. Trust me, I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but it's March of senior year and you're the first new girl since me."

"You're new too?" I asked, my eyes lit up, thank goodness there was someone who I could relate to.

"No, my family moved here when I was in third grade." She said plainly with a pleasant expression.

"Oh," I commented, disappointed that I was still the only new girl in nine years. Then the school bell rang.

"It's time for class, but please sit with my friends at lunch." Tala said as she slowly began to walk away from me. I looked at my schedule and I basically had all of my credits out since it was March of senior year. I had History, English, Calculus, Lunch, two free periods, and Dance for an art credit.

Obviously school was boring, I mean History was cool, Ms. Martinez was fun and made her class easy to learn. My English teacher Mr. Erikson was fine I guess, we're reading Hamlet. I noticed Tala was in my class, and her passionately reading aloud for Ophelia was easily the highlight. Calculus was just awful, no further comment.

Then, the lunch bell rang, finally. At first I saw the cafeteria line, which is where I went. Then Bella got in line behind me.

"Having a good day?" I asked, turning around to see her awkwardly holding her lunch tray. The line was slowly moving and we shuffled forward.

"I guess," Bella said with a shrug, she began to stutter. "I-I-I mean I have biology next, and I met some friends. You?"

"Um, a girl named Tala invited me to eat lunch with her and her friends." I said as I took a plate with a hamburger and some salad.

"Great, that's great." Bella said, when we broke away from the lunch line. Bella was walking towards a table with two boys and two girls. Then, I saw Tala, cobalt blue stands out in the sea of muted neutrals. She smiled widely, and vigorously gestured for me to come near the table, then the two other girls at her table looked at me. One of the girls had deep skin, a round face, with long, black, box braids; the other was plus sized, sharp green eyes, with long, straight blond hair.

"I'm auditioning for the musical this year, obviously." Tala said, then she saw me sit down. "Girls, this is Lizzy Swan." Tala said leaning towards me with her wise smile. "This is Maria," she said pointing to the coily haired girl who gave me a nod, "and this is Siobhan." Tala pointed to the blond girl who smiled.

Then I saw a small group of teenagers, about five of them, around our age, walking into the cafeteria. First there was a blond girl with a large, dark haired boy, they were holding hands. After them, another couple, this time a cheerful girl with short, dark hair, and a boy with blond hair who had this nervous, frantic look on his face. They were all oddly pale.

"Oh, those are Dr. and Mrs. Cullen's foster kids. They were homeschooled until a few years ago." Tala said, raising her eyebrows. Maria and Siobhan smirking to each other. "The first two were Rosalie and Emmett, and those are Alice and Jasper."

"They're all like… dating." Siobhan said, with a look on her face mixed with concern and a little weirded out.

"Hmmm." I said, sharing the same feelings as Siobhan. Then, I saw another boy, walking alone, with a smug smile on his face. "Who's that?"

"Edward Cullen," Maria began with a confident smile. "Got to say, if the Cullen's weren't so... secretive… I mean no one goes to their house, they barely talk to anyone, anyway Edward is sort of gorgeous." Siobhan and Tala chuckled with Maria.

"Look at this dude," I thought to myself. "This bland guy thinks he's all that, doesn't he?" Then I swear Edward looked at me for a split second, a look of slight shock and confusion, almost like I hurt his feelings, but it was so quick I thought I was imagining things. I looked across the cafeteria to see Bella at her table, but her eyes were fixated on Edward. Then my gaze shifted back to Edward. If he was slightly confused when he looked at me, he was utterly and completely perplexed when he was staring down Bella.

I shook myself out of my train of thought. Tala was gabbing on about the drama club and the musical, Maria was planning on doing costume design, and Siobhan was talking about spring sports.

"What about you, Lizzy?" Tala asked, I immediately perked up and I was a little hazy. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, I just got here yesterday, I'm going to figure that out. I like to do a little bit of everything, I never could find just one hobby, I like too many things." I said, with a shrug. "I wanted to do everything my school offered. So I joined the school newspaper and the yearbook. I reported on and got to be a part of every club and team." Then the three girls looked at each other and gasped.

"This is perfect, my sister's best friend is a junior named Angela." Tala looked up and around at the cafeteria. "In fact she's sitting with your sister, anyways, Angie desperately needs a social correspondent for student communications."

"A what?" I asked, reeling from the confusion of the past conversation.

"Basically the student newspaper and the yearbook are both run by the Student Communications Club," Maria began. "And 'social correspondence' is just a fancy word for Student Athletics and Activities. Basically Angela needs someone to report on everything, sports games, school functions, visual and performing arts. Someone who likes 'a little bit of everything' would be perfect. Someone like you."

"And we have so many things coming up, spring sports, the musical, prom. If you have so many interests then you get to enjoy and be a part of everything." Siobhan said.

"I don't know, I would love to, but I really need to get situated and…" I tried to begin saying.

"Say no more, I'll take care of everything." Tala said as she whipped out her phone and began typing. "You'll just get an email and it will explain everything. Trust me, zero stress."

"That's so sweet, thank you, I already got into my college, but I guess this will give me something to do." I said, the three girls chuckled, and the rest of lunch continued on. When the bell rang, the three girls groaned, and then they all looked at me.

"Are you having trouble finding your way around?" Maria asked.

"I have two frees next, but after that I have dance, I should be fine. I have time." I said with a nod. The three girls smiled at me.

"Well lunch is over, Lizzy. I'll get your number from Angie, who is going to get it from your sister." Tala said standing up, Maria and Siobhan were getting up at their own pace. Siobhan and Tala were walking together, they probably had a class together, Maria was trying to gather some papers and was quickly shuffling away from the cafeteria.

The rest of the day went by surprisingly fast, thankfully. When the final bell rang, all the students were rushing towards the main entrance. I passed by Siobhan on my way to the door and she waved at me before rushing out. I saw Bella standing by the red truck, she looked up from her book and waited for me.

"We're going to the diner with Charlie, you can drive." Bella said when I approached her. I smiled at her as I climbed into the driver's seat. Forks is a small town, so we pulled up to the diner after only a few minutes of driving.

When we entered the diner, Charlie waved us over to a corner booth where a woman with large, dark brown, coily hair and medium-dark skin seemed to be talking to Charlie. She turned around to see us and smiled, I sat next to Charlie and Bella sat next to me.

"I ordered you both garden burgers. Is that alright?" Charlie asked as the woman placed three plates on the table.

"Yeah, that's fine." I said with a shrug, Bella was silent.

"I can't believe how grown-up the two of you are. And so gorgeous." The woman said. Then a bald man with brown eyes approached the booth.

"Hey girls, you remember me? I played Santa one year." The man said.

"Yeah, Waylon, they haven't had a Christmas here since '92." Charlie said, a little annoyed by the man.

"I bet I made an impression though, didn't I?" He said.

"You always do." Charlie said, still somewhat annoyed.

"Buttcrack Santa?" Said the woman, like it was an inside joke. Bella and I looked at each other, our eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Hey, kids love those little bottles though." Waylon said, still smiling.

"All right. Let the girls eat their garden burgers, Waylon." The woman said. I tried to tune out the rest of the diner sounds and tried to eat my food. When Bella and I were finished with our early dinner, the waitress, who's name I learned was Cora, gave us each a plate of what I assumed was some sort of berry cobbler.

However, it wasn't too much longer until Bella and I were finished eating all of our food, but Charlie seemed to be reading the newspaper, drinking coffee. He had some papers and pencils strewn over the booth.

"Um, you girls should just head back home, I have some extra work to catch up on. I'll be home in a few hours." Charlie said before he took a sip of coffee.

"Thanks, Charlie." I said as Bella and I stood up and walked towards the diner's exit. I waved goodbye at Cora who was cleaning up another table. She smiled at me and stepped outside of the diner. Bella drove us home, and when we got there we went our separate ways to our rooms where I climbed in my bed and started my homework.

About an hour later I got a text. I opened my phone to see an unknown number. "Hey, Lizzy, this is Angela. Your sister gave me your number, I'll text you when I need a feature for the newspaper or yearbook."

"Perfect." I texted back.

"Softball season is coming up, and I'm starting an initiative to give girls' sports the same amount of coverage as boys'. Also rehearsals for the musical are coming up and I want the arts to have the same amount of coverage as athletics." She texted back a few seconds later. I added her name into my contacts.

"I love that idea, text me whenever." I texted back. I finished my math and English homework when I got a call from my mom.

"Lizzy!" Mom said with excitement in her voice. "I just got off the phone with your sister. I only have a few more coins left so let's talk."

"Let me guess, your charger 'ran away' again." I stated, and I heard my mom chuckle through the other line.

"You know me Lizzy. So how's Forks, is everyone nice?" She asked. I thought about Tala, Maria, Siobhan, and Angela.

"Yeah, everyone I've met so far has been really welcoming. There's this girl named Tala and she introduced me to her friends." I said, I smiled to myself. "I joined the newspaper and the yearbook club. I'm covering girls' softball and the school musical this year."

"That's my renaissance girl! What about any cute boys?" Mom asked, she was just radiating her excitedness.

"Eh," I uttered, no emotion.

"Oh, well, that's totally fine, no need to rush, just asking. You have to keep me updated, you promise?" Mom asked, I could hear her smile through the phone.

"Yes Mom, I promise."

One week later, Bella and I drove to school. The day went on as normal, Tala sat next to me in English class which was now her habit, I read aloud for Polonius in class, and Tala's rendition of Hamlet was truly nuanced. Lunch came, I sat with Tala, Maria, and Siobhan obviously. I was having trouble jumping into the conversation.

"Oh, Edward is back." Maria said as she looked up from her pasta towards the Cullens' table. I looked over too.

"Did he leave?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's been out of school for like a week." Siobhan said, looking at me. I looked back at the Cullens' table, Edward was looking at my sister.

"I swear that is the third time I've caught you staring at her, it's really weird." I thought to myself as I turned my head back to my table. Nothing interesting happened until I saw Bella at the school parking lot at the end of the day.

"Hey, Bella, does Charlie want to meet us at the diner again, or are we cooking? What are you staring at?" I was trying to talk to Bella, but she was staring off into the distance. Then I followed her gaze, she was staring at Edward.

"Dear lord, not the pasty stalker again." I thought to myself, stepping away from the red truck. Then I heard the deafening roar of a car skidding. I pivoted to see that a student driving a van appeared to be losing control. Everything around me went blank, all I saw was the van about to crash into me, I was frozen.

I felt the van touch me, and it pushed me into the red truck. However, it was not nearly as forceful as I thought it would be. I looked to Bella to see Edward Cullen, his arm was out stretched, and there was a dent in the van where his hand was. All I felt was the impact from the van stopping, not it actually crashing.

I groaned as I stepped away from the red truck. However, Edward had disappeared. All the voices around me swirled in my head, I was in such shock I barely noticed that Bella and I were sitting next to each other in a hospital emergency room. I heard Tyler, the name of the student driving the van, profusely trying to apologize to us, Charlie shut him down every time.

"Charlie, it wasn't his fault." I butted in, but Charlie was very flustered and antsy.

"You both could've been killed, you understand that?" He asked us, this was the first time I've seen him angry or stern.

"Yes, but we weren't, so…" Bella tried to begin to say.

"You can kiss your license goodbye." Charlie said as he turned to Tyler. My focus shifted when a comically pale, but very attractive, man with blond hair, it must be Dr. Cullen. He looked too young to be a doctor and foster dad of teenage children.

"Charlie, Elizabeth, and Isabella…" Dr. Cullen tried to begin to greet us.

"Bella," she corrected.

"Hello, Dr. Cullen." Charlie greeted him with a nod.

"Charlie." Dr. Cullen said politely. Then he turned towards me. "Now, Lizzy, many eyewitnesses reported seeing the van hit you, but you reported no pain in your abdomen or limbs. Your vitals are good, no signs of a concussion, so you're good to go."

"I'm so sorry, Lizzy, I'm really…" Tyler tried to say, but Charlie slid the partition curtain. Charlie began to examine Bella as Charlie turned to me.

"Uh, this Friday the Clearwaters are having a get together to celebrate Harry's recovery, and we're invited. It's going to be fun, there'll be fish fry and Emily Young is going to bake. Unfortunately, Bella can't go, she's going to Port Angeles with some friends. Do you want to go?" He asked me. He scratched the back of his neck and looked at the ceiling.

"Um, sure." I said with a shrug.