"All too often, schools resemble museums, reflecting the past rather than the present." - Max Tegmark.

000

Angela escorts Bella to the library, their conversation about books they've read and books they want to read. The bell rings just as the library is in view. Angela reiterates, "Remember, anyone asks, just say study hall. I'll see you in math, think you can find it?"

"Oh, yes. Totally." And off she's gone (but not without a skeptical look), leaving Bella to her devices. She walks into the library and is instantly pleased to note rows upon rows of books. The room's got that old timey book smell, the smell of degrading and decaying organic materials. She read something about that somewhere. Perhaps she'll pull up the information on her phone to refresh her memory.

She notes an elderly looking lady and assumes she's the librarian. Not really liking anyone watching her, she moves to a table mostly hidden from the woman's view and sets her backpack down, letting it hit the ground with a swift thud. She debates about whether or not to go hunting for a book. She's got less than an hour and she really likes to take her time when looking. Maybe she should just peruse the aisles and mentally keep track of anything she finds interesting.

Or, or, maybe, she should find a book. She's a bit disappointed that she left Dracula and Frankenstein back home. She knows she probably would have had very little space for them. That didn't stop her from buying a book at the airport though. If she wants horror she knows she has a copy of Lovecraft somewhere in her room. Honestly, she finds Lovecraft's fear of practically everything very humorous. Non-Euclidean geometry haha. Okay, tone down the Youtube videos. Maybe she needs a new bookshelf. She contemplates if there is an Ikea here and if she should check on her phone. The better idea would be to properly organize all of her property, including books.

This weekend seems a good time for it. First week is all about syllabi in her various classes. She suspects they'll get right into it in math, not today but by the end of the week definitely. She's already thinking about what to clean first as she heads over to the fiction section of the books. She knows it's the fiction section because there's a big helpful sign hanging from the ceiling. She ends up looking for Shelley because she knows it's shorter and a much faster pace than Stoker. Plus, she enjoys reading the long, descriptive sentences. She picks up a red paperback copy, the ones from Barnes and Noble.

She saunters up to the checkout desk and hopes the older woman isn't busy. Bella finds it awful having to get someone's attention. She never wants to be intentionally rude, especially to retail workers and whatnot. If she could just go about life without too much human interaction, that would be nice. But that's not how life works and she would very much like to get into her book to avoid thinking about the future.

She presents the book to the lady and pulls out her new ID from her back pocket. She had received it along with her schedule from Ms. Cope. Already, she can detect a small tint of blue from her jeans on the formerly pristine white plastic card. She finds it amusing and purposefully sticks it in her back pocket when the transaction is done.

She walks back to her somewhat hidden seat and starts reading the timeline on Shelley's life before she actually digs into it.

.

.

.

The timeline actually takes Bella longer to read than she had originally imagined. She's not entirely done with it before the school's bell system interrupts her leisurely reading.

"Oh shit."

She takes out her very folded schedule from her other back pocket, only the classes and room numbers showing up. Math. She has math next. She pulls her backpack up from the floor and onto her lap, opening the zippers quickly to sift through the contents inside. She pulls out a crumpled map.

She knows where her classes are from her ingenious idea of highlighting the classrooms during lunch. Bella got around with the help of people she had shared classes with. Only now, she has study hall. She's only seen a few students milling about and neither of them look entirely familiar.

Her pointer finger traces along the paper and she finds the library easily enough. It's got a number on it and there's a key on the left hand side of the map. Oh. Well, that's good; it's nearby.

She takes one last look at the map, intent on memorizing the route to get to her next class, before shoving it back in her backpack along with her new book. She's out the door within a minute or two of the bell ringing. Bella thinks that's how much time has passed, anyways.

Left, straight, right, right.

Left, straight, right, right.

Left, straight, right, right.

She's so intent on chanting this in her head that it doesn't register in her mind when she tunes it out. She gets to the building just fine; the giant number on the side of the edifice looks familiar.

There were more to her directions. She can't remember the directions exactly but she knows there was more. With a slight frown, she reaches out to pull open the door to the hallway and enters inside, leaving it open for the next person behind her. The hallway contains students searching for their classes, walking either in a descending or ascending order along the room numbers.

Reaching into her back pocket with two fingers, Bella once again produces her schedule. Oh. Her classroom should be just down the hallway, if the numbers on the doors are any help. It seems that she did end up taking the right way (duh), she just ended up taking a different way. Oh well, same result.

The warning bell rings, signifying that there's a minute left until classes should start, just as she walks through the threshold of the door along with some other students. Already there's a line forming and Bella can see why. This is going to be one of those classes. The teacher (Mr. Varner?) is handing out white index cards. He's repeating his instructions every time he sees a new wave of students coming through the door.

"Take a card and find the matching number on the desks."

The cards are fanned out in his hand and some students are actually taking the time to carefully consider a card. Bella's pretty sure this teacher wouldn't notice if someone was late, given the line still forming at the door. She lines up with everyone else and when it's finally time for her to choose a card, she does indeed a second or two to decide between cards.

Bella slowly makes her way through the aisles, approaching what she thinks is a seat with the number 26. She spots Angela and makes her way towards her if only to see what number she got.

"Hey-o."

"Hey, what number did you get?"

"26."

"Nice! That means you sit right here. Must be lucky, huh?"

She voices her agreement and sets her backpack down next to the foot of the table. It's in better access anyways.

"Psst," Angela stabs her in the side with a finger.

"Ow. What?"

"Guess who else is in this class?"

"I dunno, who? It's not like I know the names and backstories of all these people," Bella hisses back sarcastically, quieting down at the end of her sentence when she sees that the teacher has handed out all the cards and is coming back into the classroom.

Mr. Varner sends back piles of papers to be handed out amongst the aisles. Angela holds up a finger to Bella, as though to say, one moment. The papers finally reach them in the back row and the brown-haired girl who turns around to pass them over looks vaguely familiar to Bella. She can't quite place her however.

The teacher begins talking and Bella loses her moment to ask Angela who she is. In fact, his monologue doesn't seem to end. He's actually reading through the syllabus and emphasizing certain points. She's sure that by this point Angela most likely forgot what she was going to tease her about. Oh yes, tease her. At this point in their friendship, Bella has practically developed a sixth sense for things like this.

000

Directly after US History, one Alice Cullen has Chemistry as her next class. History class is usually more bearable with Jasper, who often whispers funny or sarcastic comments about whatever topic the teacher might lecture about for the day. Too bad they don't share that class this time. As it is, she's currently waiting on them to round the corner.

A few more seconds and she'll be able to hear them. Slowly but surely, she can hear their voices increase in volume as they discuss their shared gym class.

"Okay, but what if some guy throws a ball too hard?"

"Then you pretend it hurts."

It's phrased as a question more than a statement. Jasper feels Emmett's concern at somehow having their cover blown. However, he himself is in deep thought about how much humans will let things slip past them. He casts a glance at his brother and finds his own thoughtful face being reflected back at him. He thinks about this. He decides not to think about it any further. It can wait till they get home, when he can retreat to his room and not affect them all so much.

Instead he musters up a small smile and tries to send reassuring waves. "We'll be fine Emmett. Most likely, things will get passed off as random occurrences. The adrenaline, stuff like that."

Ah, Jasper. Always the thoughtful one. "You're right. So, which units do you think will be first? Volleyball, kickball, basketball?"

They turn around the corner before Jasper can answer.

"Volleyball!" Alice proclaims as she spots her brother and her mate. She waltzes over to Jasper's side and continues walking with them down the hall.

"I don't even have to guess! What will I do with my brain?" Emmett cries dramatically at a smug Alice. Jasper snickers at his theatrics. They all walk into the chemistry class as a unit and take their seats at a table close to a corner. Away enough from the other students so they don't happen to overhear what they shouldn't know about.

"So Emmett…" The way Alice phrases that particular sentence is almost conspiratorial, and Emmett is only slightly unsure of what to make of it exactly. It has to be gossip. "English class."

Instantly a smile lights up his face and he starts guffawing, head dropping to the table and one hand pounding lightly at said table. "Oh my god."

"What is it, what happened?" Jasper wasn't there but he can feel the utter joy and humor radiating off of them. He's also detecting a sliver of mischievousness. He looks at them eagerly, their mood rubbing off on him. This has to be good.

"Rosalie raced me for a seat next to Bella. Raced me! Can you believe that?"

"Bella? Family-meeting-Bella?" Jasper lowers his voice as he asks this of them. He's the only one who hasn't properly met Bella yet.

He was initially wary when he got Alice's phone call in Brazil. Family meetings are important. And he didn't like the fact that this Bella was, essentially, a blind spot. But he agrees with Carlisle. Better to wait it out, see what comes up. Alice would never lead them astray. He has total faith in his family and that, while it would've been scary just a mere decade or two ago, is enough to lighten his mood to something happier.

"Well, who else would it be? Everyone annoys Rosalie, that's how it's been for the past decades," Emmett reaffirms Jasper's tentative answer.

"More like centuries, but-" Alice jested, referring to Rose's personality.

"-Anyways," Emmett cut off her sister's soon to be rambling, "-she literally glided through the desks to get to her. I swear it was like watching her get her first deer after a long break from feeding." He shudders when he remembered what took place in front of him that day.

"Emmett!" Jasper hisses. "We're at school!" Sometimes it feels like he's the only one who worries about exposing themselves. The humans are oblivious and he can sense no increased interest in the students around them. It's fine, it's fine. They're fine.

"Do you really think she was going to go in for the kill?" Alice asks, paying no mind to her mate's outburst. She simply pats his hand and lets it rest over his larger one.

"Alice, I really think so. She growled at lunch. They clicked at the library. C'mon!"

"She literally called Rosalie Venus and stuttered her way into that conversation." Alice deadpanned. She had no doubt that they did click at the library. Thank god Alice gave her that car book.

"Did she now?" Jasper pipes in excitedly. What a brave human this Bella must be! He snickers at the thought of Rosalie staring down an oblivious and fearless human. He can perfectly imagine a confused version of his twin. Anyone one of them would be, really. But alas, he is ignored as Emmett and Alice continue their little sibling repartee.

"So?"

"So this is coming from the guy whose mate is the epitome of a broody awkward mess."

"Hey, he's my broody awkward mess." He defends proudly.

"Oh my god. We get it. You're gay and in love. Get a room." Alice interjects. She doesn't mind the fact Emmett and Edward were so cute together. But what she does mind is all the times she's walked in on them trying to reach each other's tonsils. Usually she would've been able to foresee these events but unfortunately, hormones and spontaneity were forever her enemies.

Emmett opens his mouth to retaliate but before that happens, the annoying sound of the bell effectively kills all conversation - as well as the mood. It is further trampled down and has no chance of continuing when the teacher steps in. Like the students, there is no sign of life in the tired eyes of the grown up. To be fair, it was the first day of school. The first Tuesday of the school year so it's not like anyone is particularly pleased to be here.

"Remind me why we're still going to school." Emmett mutters from his spot.

"Because we're eternally teenagers?" Jasper mutters back and gives him a shrug.

...

The calm atmosphere outside of the high school was something else entirely to Bella. Back in Phoenix, everybody would be in a hurry to leave the parking lot, resulting in traffic that would take some time to sort out. Here, students milled about slowly. They formed groups around their friends' cars. They decompressed. At least, it all seemed like this to Bella, who had already arrived at her truck by the time classes ended.

Gym class, and its resulting building, were one of the few buildings that were significantly closer to the parking lot. And seeing as how Gym was her last class, the coach let them out early.

Because of this, Bella is actually unsure if the parking lot is normally this peaceful. Probably not. Good thing she's here early and ready to go. The honk of a car horn nearby catches her attention. It should as it's Angela, who drives past slowly and gives a wave. Bella waves back enthusiastically. Once the white car drives away, Bella's left looking in the direction of the school. She spots the Cullen group and gives a wave, hoping, but not really expecting that they'll see it. They are a closer to the school than she is.

They do wave back, even Rosalie and Edward, who happened to be walking towards the rest of their siblings.

Well. That makes her happy actually. She's got friends now. Thankfully no else parked this far away from the school, meaning that Jessica wasn't able to hound her questions. Perhaps Bella will experiment with parking spots and see which ones are best. There are several factors she has to take into consideration.

While thinking this, she unlocks her truck and unceremoniously throws it into the direction of the passenger's seat. It teeters and totters a little on the edge but manages to stay put on the seat. Eh. It'll fall anyways when she starts up the engine. Any other time she would be more careful but it's been a long day and there's nothing in there anyways. Just syllabi and pencils.

She backs out from her parking spot and makes her way home. Summer is over but all she really wants to do is curl up on her bed with Spoons in her lap and play some video games or watch some tv. She yells at the other players online if she's got a good gaming day going. They can't hear her but Spoons has picked up on this and meows loudly when she jolts around too much or yells too frequently.

She's just gotten home when her stomach growls. For now video games and tv can wait. Now, she's on a hunt for a snack.

000

So MR happens to be on spring break right now and she's a terrible influence. That being said, i've reached my studying quota for the day anyways. Brain is gone. Anyways she helped out with this chapter so see if you can spot the writing differences. I'm on break soonish so I'm hoping to get some writing done, just not sure when the next chapter's gonna be out. Pretty sure I haven't said this yet but super huge thanks to everyone who's followed and favorited and pretty much just read any of this. When I first started I said I was gonna be happy if I even got a handful of followers so seeing the numbers now just blows my mind. Thanks to Orchidluv for catching those mistakes in the last chapter, stay amazing y'all!