"Who are they?"

For some reason, Niki knew immediately who Bella had to be talking about. Her hushed voice was awed and there was one particular table of very awe-inspiringly good-looking people in their school. Just to make sure, Niki looked up and followed Bella's line of sight.

'The Cullens.'

Oddly, as the thought passed through her head, Edward's head lifted and he glanced at Jessica and then Niki and then finally Bella. Niki averted her eyes when he looked over, embarrassed to be caught staring but she was also confused. Edward's gaze had held no interest. It was like he'd reacted to his name being called. Shaking off the weird thought, Niki peeked over at the Cullens again when she felt it was safe to do so.

The group of six were, as usual, sitting in the far corner of the cafetaria like they were attempting to not draw attention. They were doing a very poor job although Niki supposed that wasn't their fault. It wasn't exactly the Cullens' fault they looked like an extremely good-looking TV series cast while the rest of the room were the extraordinarily plain-looking extras.

"That's the Cullens." Jessica explained in a low voice to Bella while Niki let her eyes wander briefly across the group again for the first time in two years. It was always a bit intimidating and honestly weird to stare at the Cullens but with Bella and Mia, who had turned in her seat curiously to look at who Bella was staring at, around it was like Niki was looking at them with fresh eyes again.

The first thing she noticed, just as she had when she'd first seen them two years ago, was that they were all beautiful - almost disconcertingly so. And they were all different and yet alike. Of the six, only two of the Hales looked related: Jasper and Rosalie. Their honey-blonde waves were the lightest in the group while the last brother in the triplet, Timothy, had more of a medium to dark brown hair. Timothy and Jasper, however, had a similar build tall and muscled like athletes. Their adoptive brother, Edward, was leaner and next on the hair colour scale with his copper locks. Niki knew Edward was tall too, taller than Timothy who was just shy of 6 feet, but he always looked smaller than his brothers because of his build. Particularly when he was next to Emmett like he was now. The darkest-haired of the Cullens, Emmett was huge: tall and heavily muscled like a weight-lifter. But Niki had noticed over the years that, ironically, Emmett with his curly black hair and slight grins looked much more boyish than either of the Hale boys, who often looked a bit mature to be called boys.

Meanwhile, the only two females in the group were polar opposites to one another unlike the boys who seemed to have a scale of looks. Alice was very obviously dainty, a word that one could never use to describe Rosalie Hale. Rosalie was easily the most beautiful girl Niki had ever seen with her long blonde hair and statuesque figure. With a perfect hourglass body and a perfect face to boot, she would make supermodels look pale (pun not intended) in comparison. Yet, Niki had never even felt bad being near Rosalie. There was just no competition to even feel like her self-esteem should take a hit - it was that impossible to beat this girl in beauty. Like trying to be prettier than a painting.

But for all their differences in size and width and hair colours, the Cullens were all eerily similar. They all had the same excessively pale, perfect skin and dark eyes with purplish bruises under their eyes like they hadn't slept in a while.

'I wonder if they're all kept up at night taking turns completing some ridiculous skincare and gym regimen to all have such perfect skin and bodies.' Niki thought absently.

She then started when Edward snorted a laugh. It was creepily coincidental and strange because she was fairly certain she hadn't seen anyone in his group speak; but it was probably just a weirdly odd coincidence. Because there was no way he could have heard her unless he could read minds or something.

Edward laughed aloud suddenly, really laughed, and Niki definitely felt creeped out.

'That's not weird at all.'

She almost jumped when Alice stood up abruptly and - taking her untouched apple and unopened soda - danced her way across the cafeteria. The other girl's movement was no exaggeration on Niki's part - the tiny girl was extraordinarily graceful in every step and movement she made so much so that she would have made a ballerina cry. Like always, Timothy got up behind the tiny girl, taking his own untouched tray with him in a movement almost as graceful as the girl's, and together the couple dumped their trays before exiting the room.

"But who are they?" Bella broke the silence that had fallen as they all watched the mysterious but enchanting group.

Mia had leant in with equal curiosity so Jessica explained for both of them, "That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The ones who just left," she gestured to the doors, "are Alice Cullen and Timothy Hale. They all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife."

As Jessica spoke,Bella peeked back at the table, specifically at Edward. Niki was also watching the Cullens, partially because she'd noticed Edward move his mouth, as though speaking quickly to his family. A few heads tilted to him when he did but it was weird - they had all moved as if told to rather than of their own volition. Edward's lips curved into another smile, and he said something else to his family that had Jasper smile and Emmett chuckle. It struck Niki as a bit odd but she was also distracted by Jasper's smile.

'I wonder what was with his bad mood during Spanish...' She thought as she saw him smiling with his family. 'He looks so normal not but earlier he looked like he was ready to murder someone...'

Niki noticed that Edward's smile suddenly disappeared and a thoughtful - almost rueful - expression appeared on his face.

"They are… very nice-looking."

Both Niki and Mia shot Bella a strange look for her comment. While Niki understood that Bella was trying to sound uninterested or at least not conspicuous, Niki doubted anyone would contest how beautiful the group of teenagers in the corner were.

Jessica of course agreed as she giggled before agreeing with an emphatic, "Yes!"

She paused before adding in a low voice, "They're all together though - Emmett and Rosalie, and Alice and Timothy, I mean. And they live together."

Niki rolled her eyes at Jessica's tone.

"They're not related though." She added quickly, shooting Jessica a stern look. There was no need to make it sound worse considering it didn't exactly sound normal to begin with. But everyone and every family was different.

"Well, yeah, okay, they're not." Jessica sniffed before continuing the gossip. "Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales are the only ones who are related, triplets - the blondes and the brunette who left - and they're foster children."

"They look a little old for foster children." Bella commented skeptically as she shot another look at Jasper and Rosalie, now that Timothy was gone.

"They are now," Jessica agreed. "Jasper, Timothy and Rosalie are all eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."

"Oh - that's nice of her." Mia commented. Niki smiled; she knew she liked Mia for a reason. "To take them in when she was probably really young too."

"I suppose." Jessica agreed reluctantly.

Mia and Bella exchanged looks, and it wasn't hard for Niki to guess what they were thinking of. Jessica wasn't exactly a gracious loser about the fact that Edward had turned her down. Four times. In one year.

"I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though." Jessica added, as though for good measure.

Niki shot Jessica another disapproving look but Bella diffused a potential argument (that was one reason Niki liked Bella too) as she asked, "Have they always lived in Forks?"

"No, apparently they only moved here two years ago from Alaska."

Niki blinked when the entire group suddenly turned to stare at Mia in shock when the girl had spoken.

"What?" Mia asked, clearly freaked out by all the attention.

"How did you know that?" Angela asked, looking surprised.

Mia shrugged, obviously uncomfortable with all the stares. "Edward told me."

"He talked to you?" Lauren repeated, somehow making all four words sound extremely condescending.

Niki frowned at her volleyball teammate. "There's this thing that might be a foreign concept to you, Lauren, called a friendly conversation."

Lauren shot her a dirty look.

"You know as well as I do that the Cullens don't talk to anyone, Niki. Ever." She snapped back.

Niki barely refrained from rolling her eyes. Lauren was another victim of the Cullens: although she had only needed to be rejected by Jasper and then Edward once for her to give up on asking them out. It didn't stop her from being a sore loser, however.

"We were seated together in class." Mia explained stiffly.

Angela piped up to smooth over the awkwardness as well as she suggested, "I think it's nice. They probably felt a little more comfortable knowing you were also new. Maybe they'll feel a little more relaxed around us as well now that they're not the only new ones."

Niki shot Angela a grateful look and Angela smiled back while Jess and Lauren nodded and backed off, although the latter continued to shoot Mia nasty looks.

"So, um," Bella interrupted in a tone that was clearly intended to sound casual. "Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?"

Niki almost laughed. Bella was sometimes so hilariously awkward; not that Niki didn't feel her sometimes, they were all teenage girls after all, but it was like Bella was on an entirely different level.

"That's Edward." Niki answered to save Bella from too much embarrassment and to prevent Lauren from saying anything too spiteful.

"As I'm sure your sister could tell you." Jessica still managed to quip, but it was clear who her resentment was directed at as she added with a bitter look toward Edward, "He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Neither does Jasper."

"Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for them." Lauren added in a waspish voice.

Niki and Angela exchanged looks again, both of resignation. Two years, and neither Jess nor Lauren had let it go. Still, at least there were some things that never changed, Niki supposed. And then she looked up and was confused as she thought she saw Edward and Jasper holding back laughter from where they sat on the other side of the cafeteria. They must have shared a funny anecdote while she wasn't looking, Niki thought as she turned back to the conversation around her.

Lunch was a fairly normal affair after that. The boys had put an end to their play fighting and of course, Jess and Lauren quickly moved to gain Mike and Tyler's attention. With the four's attention sufficiently distracted and Eric becoming a bit shy without his male friends' support (although they were usually more a hindrance than help), the remaining four girls managed to actually have a proper conversation. Niki caught up with the twins while they got to know Angela better, and it was quickly clear that both Bella and Mia definitely preferred the quiet, tall girl who was Niki's best friend.

"How come you moved to Forks High, Niki?" Bella asked at one point, surprising Niki although she was quick to answer.

"For the volleyball team. The rez high school doesn't have a team and I really wanted to compete at the high school level. Besides, turns out I made the right choice now, right? Who'd have thought we'd have ended up going to high school together?"

Niki grinned and Bella smiled weakly. Mia chimed in, "Do you have practice today?"

"No, why?"

"Dad mentioned he missed you yesterday and that your visit was too short." Mia explained. "If you're not busy, we'd love to have you for dinner. Don't worry, Bella's cooking."

She tacked on the last sentence as a dubious expression crossed Niki's face. Relieved, Niki nodded - ten years had passed but she wasn't sure she'd ever forget the trauma that was the tuna, chocolate, banana and tomato sandwich that was Mia's attempt at making lunch.

"Sure, sure. It'd be nice to see Charlie again properly."

The lunch bell rang not long after that, and it was then that Niki discovered Bella had Biology II with her and Angela. Bella gratefully accepted the offer to walk to class together and together they'd waved goodbye to Mia who was off to art class. With Niki's efforts, the conversation continued between them despite the other two's natural shyness. But when they entered the classroom, Niki had to bid Bella farewell as she and Angela already had seats together.

Again, Niki knew where Bella would end up: there was only one open seat left in the classroom. But Edward had proven he could be quite friendly and perfectly decent so Niki wasn't too worried as she left Bella to get her slip signed by the teacher and then assigned as Edward's desk partner. But Niki had only just settled into her seat beside Angela when a shuffle across the classroom caught her attention. She glanced over to see Bella had tripped on her way to her seat although she had thankfully caught herself on the edge of the nearby table. The girl sitting there was giggling and Niki shot the girl an irate look. It wasn't Bella's fault that she was clumsy.

However, returning her gaze to her friend, Niki noticed as Bella sat gingerly in her seat that it looked like something was off with Bella. She was looking stiff and awkward… almost embarrassed. While that was pretty standard Bella, she was looking unusually so. Niki wondered at the cause until her eyes shifted over to the boy in question and Niki found her brows pulling down in question as she noticed that Edward was also looking extremely stiff as he physically leaned away from Bella as far as he could go.

'What is wrong with them?' Niki wondered as she looked between the two with perplexity.

Throughout class, Niki observed the pair and by the time class was ending, she was more bewildered than ever. Never, in the two years she'd known him, had she ever seen Edward behaving like he had been. His posture screamed hostile and he was clearly making Bella uncomfortable although he made no sound. He hadn't moved a single muscle despite maintaining what couldn't be a comfortable position; in fact, Niki was almost tempted to say he hadn't even breathed for the entire hour he had been so motionless.

But the strangest part came at the end of the lecture: almost as soon as the bell rang (almost making Bella fall out of her chair she was so surprised), Edward had gotten swiftly to his feet and he was out the door before Niki could even blink. It reminded her of Jasper's odd behaviour in Spanish, albeit (dare she say it) even more intense, and Niki wondered in bewilderment if the brothers had something like PMS.

"I wonder what's wrong with Edward?" Angela murmured.

Clearly Niki hadn't been the only one to notice Edward's odd behaviour. Jasper acting oddly was fairly normal by comparison; he and Timothy always looked faintly murderous or, as Jessica said, in pain. But Edward? Niki finally shook her head in response to Angela's question.

"I don't know. I'll check with Bella, we have gym together now anyway." Niki answered. "And I'd better rescue Bella from Mike soon. I'll see you tomorrow, Ange."

"Bye."

Angela waved while Niki walked over to where Mike was chatting with Bella. It soon became clear to Niki that Bella was awkwardly trying to decide whether to accept Mike's help to get to the gym or risk ditching him and Niki couldn't keep the amusement from her tone as she spoke up.

"Hi Mike."

"Hey, Niki." Mike grinned at her. "Want to head to gym together? Bella's got it next too."

"Yeah, I know." Niki answered slowly, glancing at Bella questioningly. Bella just shrugged so Niki agreed on her behalf. "Let's go."

It was evident as they walked to gym that Mike was eager to impress Bella. Niki had heard the same speech when she had first come to Forks High, Mike talking about how he'd lived in California in his childhood (and so he sympathized with Bella mourning the lack of sun in Forks) and how he'd moved to Forks and what his favourite activities were to do. But it didn't bother Niki too much because Mike was a genuinely good guy; if Jessica didn't get completely territorial around him, he wouldn't even be a bad date.

'Well, guess it's a good thing for Jess that Bella's obviously not interested.' Niki thought wryly as she listened to Bella give the most uninterested answers she could without being obvious.

But as they reached the gym doors, Mike suddenly asked Bella curiously, "So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."

Niki glanced over at Bella to see her look briefly taken aback before she apparently chose to play dumb as she asked in a (poor) innocent voice, "Was that the boy I sat next to in Biology?"

Niki shook her head to herself. Bella definitely hadn't changed since they were children. The elder Swan twin had many skills and talents, but grace and lying were not one of them. She had always been a terrible liar, so much so that Mia and Niki had long given up playing any type of deception game with her. Mafia, Cheat, Sneaks and Snitches - every game had ended dismally disappointingly thanks to Bella's complete inability to lie.

Mike however didn't seem to notice as he nodded cluelessly. "Yes. He looked like he was in pain or something."

"I don't know." Bella admitted, glancing at Niki for help although Niki had no idea what for - it wasn't like she could read Edward's mind. "I never spoke to him."

"He's a weird guy." Mike pitched in eagerly. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you."

Niki almost gagged at Mike's overenthusiasm; clearly he had learnt nothing from when he'd tried to hit on her two years prior. But Bella was kinder as she just smiled back at Mike before pulling Niki with her into the girl's locker room.

Noticing Bella's visibly dimmed mood, Niki said encouragingly, "Hey, don't worry too much about it, Bella. I'm sure Edward was just in a bad mood or something."

She didn't sound too convincing, particularly as Edward had looked completely fine during lunch, but Bella just nodded along and smiled weakly.

"Thanks." Bella bit her lip nervously. "Does he get into bad moods often?"

Niki shrugged as she got changed while Bella perched on the side given she had no gym clothes.

"Well, like the others were saying, the Cullens don't really interact with the rest of the school. I don't think I've ever seen any of them willingly talk to someone outside their family." Except when Edward had talked with Mia, but Niki decided it was probably best not to mention that.

"Who doesn't talk to anyone?" Mia asked as she joined them in the locker room.

Bella quickly filled her twin in on the details and Mia frowned.

"It sounds like he was just being rude." Mia glanced at Niki, who shrugged her shoulders again.

"Hey, I can't help you - I have no idea why Edward was acting so weirdly."

Niki suddenly paused as she recalled Jasper's behaviour in Spanish. Perhaps the family had gotten bad news sometime earlier that morning? But she dismissed the thought - Jasper was known for having odd mood swings (noticeable even if he never seemed to speak to anyone besides Timothy and Alice) and Edward had looked perfectly normal in Calculus and English. Whatever had possessed the two brothers during the day, it could just be teenage angst. She was sure Edward would get over it; Jasper, she wasn't as sure about but she would wait and see how the week went.

Gym passed quickly. Niki joined her usual teammates for the class while Coach Clapp allowed Bella and Mia to sit out the class for the first day after handing them new uniforms. Once class ended, Bella tugged Niki and Mia with her out of the gym, unwilling to have to walk with Mike again. Clearly, the older Swan was depleted of energy for social interactions for the day and Niki didn't blame her. It was never easy being the new kid but Forks High took the attention to a whole new level.

As the thought crossed her mind, Niki spotted Alice Cullen. The tiny brunette was just exiting one of the buildings, accompanied by Timothy Hale. It was always a bit weird seeing any of the Cullen 'couples', considering they were all technically siblings after all. But at the same time, there was just something so… fitting about the picture of them together. It was almost like watching an elderly couple. They weren't overly affectionate in any way but their movements were synchronized as they only could be after years together as Timothy led Alice and she swung his arm slightly with their entwined hands as she danced her way across the pavement beside him.

As Niki watched, Alice Cullen looked over in their direction. As soon as their eyes met, the pixie-like girl beamed and waved; bemused, Niki looked behind her, wondering if one of the Cullens was behind her. But there was no one there so Niki waved back hesitantly, skeptical it was really her that Alice was waving at. But this oddly seemed to make Alice's day and she smiled wider and waved much more cheerfully.

"She's one of Edward Cullen's sisters, right? Do you know her?" Mia asked, looking surprised at their interaction.

Niki shook her head. "Yeah, that's Alice, but we've almost never spoken before and definitely not since freshman year…"

Niki trailed off as she noticed Alice seeming to freeze in her steps, an oddly blank look appearing on her face. But before Niki could get a better look, Timothy was tugging Alice gently away. It was odd though. Alice trotted fairly easily after Timothy but her movements were no longer quite as smooth and it was like Timothy had to direct her silently; almost like he was leading a blind person.

"That was… weird." Mia commented after a moment.

Niki shrugged yet again. It was the only response she could give, really, where the Cullens were involved. She just didn't know them enough to really say anything. Mia and Bella were polite enough not to ask anything else and Mia and Niki ended up just chatting about the best hiking trails as they all trooped to the main office for the Swan twins to hand in their signed slips.

But almost as soon as they entered, Niki could tell Bella wanted to turn and walk back out. After Biology, Niki didn't blame her; because there was Edward Cullen standing in front of the receptionist desk. He hadn't noticed their entrance yet, too busy engaged in a heated conversation with the receptionist. It was obvious he was arguing with her about something - and it only took a second of eavesdropping before Niki figured out what it was about. He was trying to trade from sixth-hour Biology to another time. Any other time.

'Why that pompous, arrogant-!' Niki thought viciously when suddenly Edward stopped talking and his entire body seemed to stiffen.

Slowly the boy turned to face them, and Niki was shocked at what she saw. Nowhere was the aloof but polite boy she had come to know since freshman year. In his place was a cold and angry teen with black, hate-filled eyes as he stared at Bella like… like she was the single most evil being in the world. Like he was ready to kill her. As the thought flitted through her head, Edward's eyes snapped to Niki.

Almost immediately, his expression changed - chagrin, despair, a strange hunger, yet still that underlying anger and hatred; all of it flitted across his face with such a speed that had Niki blinked she would have missed them. And then they were all gone and his face was cold and stiff once again as he turned back to the receptionist.

"Never mind." He spoke quickly and oddly like he was short of breath. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help."

With that, he spun and made to leave.

"Hey!" Mia stopped him angrily as she stepped in his way. "What is your problem?"

Edward avoided looking at Mia but that didn't stop her. If anything it fueled her anger.

"I heard you were giving Bella problems in Biology too, now you're trying to get out of it? She said she didn't even talk to you at all! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Mia, it's fine." Bella said awkwardly, tugging on her sister's arm and trying to pull her away. "Just leave it."

Mia looked like she was going to say something but after a glance at Bella, she seemed to sense something in her sister and she went quiet, opting to glower at Edward instead. Niki had stayed out of it, feeling that it wasn't really her place, but she did frown even deeper when Edward just left without another word or another look their way. Indeed, it looked like he was trying to escape from them.

'Jerk.' Niki thought sourly as she noted the way Bella deflated. First days at school were hard enough without making an enemy for no apparent reason. She watched Bella approach the receptionist, having to pull Mia along as the blue-eyed girl continued to stare daggers after Edward.

Mia only turned back to the front to hand over her signed slip along with Bella, and the receptionist took them kindly.

"How did your first day go, dears?"

"Fine." Bella replied with a weak lie.

She didn't fool the receptionist. But there was nothing Niki could really say except for maybe forget Edward, which was impossible if they kept having to sit next to each other in Biology. Just like it would be impossible for Niki in Spanish beside Jasper, and if Edward were any example then Niki was already dreading the next time she'd be stuck alone with Jasper. With those thoughts filling her head and who knew what thoughts in Bella and Mia's, the three left the office in silence.

'What a day.'