Disclaimer: Still not mine

Chapter 3

Alice smiled as she saw the old red truck pulling into the carpark and Jasper basked in her happiness even as he looked at the source. The truck parked and a teenaged girl dropped out of it, looking around the parking lot. He could feel her nervousness from across the lot and sent her a burst of calm and courage without even thinking about it.

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Edward stared at the girl that had Alice practically bouncing in anticipation. He didn't see what had his sister so excited, she was pretty he guessed. She could do with better taste in cars. Why was Alice so sure she would be important to them? The only reason he could think of was that she was someone's mate. His? Or someone else's? He knew that despite the marriages that he wasn't the only one in the Family that wasn't mated, not that he ever told the others what he had overheard. Those were thoughts he would keep to himself. Besides, it was possible to be happy with someone other than your mate. He walked towards the school and his siblings followed.

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Finding the school wasn't difficult, though she'd never been there before. The school was, like most other things, just off the highway. It was not obvious that it was a school; only the sign, which declared it to be the Forks High School, made her stop. It looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon-coloured bricks. There were so many trees and shrubs she couldn't see its size at first. Where was the feel of the institution? Where were the chain-link fences, the metal detectors?

She parked in front of the first building, which had a small sign over the door reading front office. No one else was parked there, so Bella was sure it was off limits, but she decided that she would get directions inside instead of circling around in the rain like an idiot. She stepped out of the toasty truck cab and walked down a little stone path lined with dark hedges, glad for the thick black jacket she'd bought over the weekend. She was not looking forward to winter if it was already so cold. Though a white Christmas might be nice for a change.

Bella took a deep breath before opening the door and slipping through it, sighing in relief at the heat. Inside, it was brightly lit, and warmer than she'd hoped. The office was small; a little waiting area with padded folding chairs, orange-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, a big clock ticking loudly. Plants grew everywhere in large plastic pots, as if there wasn't enough greenery outside. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly coloured flyers taped to its front. There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, red-haired woman wearing glasses.

The red-haired woman looked up. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Isabella Swan," she informed her, and saw the immediate awareness light her eyes. She was expected, a topic of gossip no doubt. Daughter of the Chief's flighty ex-wife come home at last.

"Of course," she said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school." She brought several sheets to the counter to show her.

She went through her classes for Bella, highlighting the best route to each on the map, and gave her a slip to have each teacher sign, which Bella was to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled at Bella and hoped, like Charlie, that she would like it in Forks. Bella smiled back as convincingly as she could.

When Bella went back out to her truck, other students were starting to arrive. She drove around the school, following the line of traffic. She was very glad to see that most of the cars were older like hers, nothing flashy. At home she'd lived in one of the few lower-income neighbourhoods that were included in the Paradise Valley District. It was a common thing to see a new Mercedes or Porsche in the student lot. The nicest car here was a shiny Volvo, and it stood out, even with the group of students in front of it. Still, she cut the engine as soon as she was in a spot, so that the thunderous volume wouldn't draw too much attention to her.

She looked at the map in the truck, trying to memorize it now; hopefully she wouldn't have to pull it out of her bag again, how hard could it be to navigate such a small school? Bella stuffed everything in her bag, slung the strap over her shoulder, and sucked in a huge breath. I can do this, she lied to herself feebly. No one was going to bite her, right?

She finally exhaled and stepped out of the truck, glancing around and trying not to drown in her nervousness. And then she blinked, feeling calmer, even a little braver. She glanced around, confused, but then shrugged it off. She forced herself to hold her head up as she walked to the sidewalk, crowded with teenagers. Thankfully her plain black jacket didn't stand out which was a big relief. She stopped as a guy cut across her path, grinning at her.

"You're Isabella Swan, the new girl. Hi, I'm Eric. The eyes and ears of this place. Anything you need. Tour guide, lunch date, shoulder to cry on," he offered as they began walking again.

"I'm kind of the 'suffer in silence' type," Bella finally offered, not sure what to think of him.

"Good headline for your feature," he laughed. "I'm on the paper, and you're news, baby, front page."

Bella froze in horror. "I…no, I'm not news…I'm, seriously, not at all…" she stammered, wanting that flash of courage back.

"Whoa, chillax. No feature," he rushed to reassure her, eyes wide at her reaction.

Bella took a deep breath and nodded, "thanks."

She quickly moved away from him, just wanting to get to class. Once she got around the cafeteria, building three was easy to spot. A large black "3" was painted on a white square on the east corner. She felt her breathing gradually creeping toward hyperventilation as she approached the door. She tried holding her breath as she followed two unisex raincoats through the door.

The classroom was small. The people in front of her stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks so she copied them. They were two girls, one a porcelain-coloured blonde, the other also pale, with light brown hair. At least her skin wouldn't be a standout in Forks High.

Bella took the slip up to the teacher, a tall, balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Mason. He gawked at her when he saw her name, not an encouraging response, and of course Bella flushed tomato red. But at least he sent her to an empty desk at the back without introducing her to the class. It was harder for her new classmates to stare at her in the back, but somehow, they managed.

Bella kept her eyes down on the reading list the teacher had given her. It was fairly basic: Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Faulkner. She'd already read everything. That was comforting... and boring. Bella wondered if her Mom would send her folder of old essays, or if she would think that was cheating. She went through different arguments with her in her head while the teacher droned on. If all her classes were like this one then she was going to be very bored. The school offered nowhere near the diversity of subjects her old one had, including lacking some of the more advanced courses she had been taking. She hadn't really thought about that when she'd decided to move. Maybe she could take some classes via correspondence or something? The more advanced classes would look better on College applications, especially when looking for scholarships.

She didn't even realise Eric was in the class until he met her at the door on the way out of class.

"Bella, where's your next class?" he asked.

She had to check in her bag. "Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six." There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes.

"I'm headed toward building four, I could show you the way..." Definitely over-helpful but maybe trying to make up for the mess over the feature?

She smiled tentatively. "Thanks." They got their jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. She could have sworn several people behind them were walking close enough to eavesdrop. Bella hoped she wasn't getting paranoid.

"So, this is a lot different than Phoenix, huh?" he asked.

"Very."

"It doesn't rain much there, does it?" he asked curiously, and she shook her head.

"Three or four times a year."

"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered.

"Sunny," she told him, missing the sun already.

"You don't look very tan," he offered awkwardly, and she shrugged.

"My mother is part albino."

He studied her face apprehensively, and she sighed. It looked like clouds and a sense of humour didn't mix. A few months of this and she'd forget how to use sarcasm. They walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym.

Eric walked her right to the door, though it was clearly marked. "Well, good luck," he said as she touched the handle. "Maybe we'll have some other classes together," he sounded hopeful.

She smiled at him vaguely and went inside. Once her slip was dealt with she once again sat in the back of the room, glancing over what they were studying, at least in this class she hadn't already covered all the work.

The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. Her Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, who she would have hated anyway just because of the subject he taught, was the only one who made her stand in front of the class and introduce herself. She stammered, blushed, and nearly tripped over her boots on the way to her seat.

After two classes, she started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask her questions about how she was liking Forks. Bella did her best to be diplomatic, but mostly she just lied a lot, she had yet to find something she really liked about the town despite her decision to make the best of Forks. At least she never needed the map.

She followed Jessica, who she had Trig and Spanish with, to the Cafeteria and quickly grabbed some food from the line before sitting with her at a table. Jess quickly introduced her to Mike who grinned and stared a little too long.

Eric appeared, and squished into a seat next to Bella. "Mike, you met my home girl Bella."

"Your home girl?"

Jessica smiled tightly at Bella. "It's first grade all over again, and you're the shiny new toy."

Bella smiled awkwardly. Suddenly, a flash blinded Bella. She looked up at the photographer, blinking.

"Sorry, needed a candid for the feature," Angela offered as she sat.

"Feature's dead, Angela. Don't bring it up again," Eric snapped as he stood up. "I got your back, baby," he grinned at Bella before leaving.

"Guess we'll just run another editorial on teen drinking," Angela put the camera away, obviously disappointed.

"Sorry. There's always eating disorders," she offered but they didn't look impressed, "or Speedo padding on the swim team?"

"Wait, that's a good one..." Angela and Jessica giggled as they began discussing the swim team while Bella looked around since she didn't know who they were talking about.

Bella's eye was caught by a group sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where she sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't gawking at her, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of those things that caught, and held, her attention.

They didn't look anything alike. All three boys were tall, but their body builds were very different, so was their hair colour, ranging from dark curls to messy bronze. Two of them looked like they could be in college, or even teachers at the school rather than students. The girls were opposites. One was tall, gorgeous and blond while the other was tiny with short black hair.

And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in the sunless town. Paler than Bella, the albino. They all had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes, purplish, bruise like shadows. As if they were all suffering from a sleepless night, or almost done recovering from a broken nose. There was no way that was the reason, they couldn't all have the same injury and their noses were way too straight as well.

But that wasn't why she couldn't look away. Bella stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful, maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired boy. And… she'd seen features like that before, in the hospital, Dr Cullen. Were these his kids? Surely, he was too young…well they were foster kids, right?

They were all looking away, away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as Bella could tell. As she watched, the small girl rose with her tray, unopened soda, unbitten apple, and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway. Bella watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than she would have thought possible. Just before she was out of sight the girl glanced at Bella, grinned and winked. Bella' eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.

"Who are they?" She asked Jessica quietly, though her gut said they had to be the Cullen's.

As she looked up to see who Bella meant, though already knowing, probably, from her tone, suddenly he looked at her, the boyish one, the youngest, perhaps. He looked at Jessica for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to Bella's. He looked away quickly, more quickly than she could, though in a flush of embarrassment she dropped her eyes at once. In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest, it was as if she had called his name, and he'd looked up in involuntary response, already having decided not to answer.

Jessica giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table. "That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife," she whispered, as if worried they would hear despite the distance between them.

Bella glanced sideways at the younger looking guy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening. The other three still looked away, and yet it felt he was speaking quietly to them. Strange, unpopular names, Bella thought. The kinds of names grandparents had, then again, her own name was fairly old fashioned, that was why she went by Bella. But maybe that was in vogue, small town names? "They are... very nice-looking," Bella struggled with the conspicuous understatement.

"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all together though, Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they live together," her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, Bella thought critically. "I'm not sure it's even legal."

If she was honest, she had to admit that even in Phoenix, it would cause gossip. Though she was pretty sure Jessica was wrong about it being illegal, as long as they didn't share blood there was no reason they couldn't date. "Which ones are the Cullen's?" she asked curiously, unable to pick it. "They don't look related..." they didn't look much like Dr Cullen either.

"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins, the blondes, and they're foster children."

"They look a little old for foster children," Bella whispered, then again, they were at the school so they couldn't be more than eighteen, right?

"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that," Jess shrugged, and Bella got the feeling she didn't approve somehow.

"That's really kind of nice, for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything," she said, defending the doctor who had been so nice when he'd stitched her up.

"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and Bella got the impression that she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some reason. With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children, Bella presumed the reason was jealousy. "I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though," she added, as if that lessened their kindness. Bella was beginning to regret sitting with her.

Throughout all their talking, Bella's eyes flicked again and again to the table where the strange family sat. They continued to look at the walls and not eat. As she examined them, one of the Cullen's looked up and met her gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression. As she looked swiftly away, it seemed to her that his glance held some kind of unmet expectation which was just plain odd, then again, the girl had winked at her, or had she been winking at someone else?

"Which one is the boy with the reddish-brown hair?" She asked, peaking at him from the corner of her eye, and he was still staring, but not gawking like the other students had today, he had a slightly frustrated expression. She looked down again.

"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently, none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes.

Bella bit her lip to hide her smile, she had the feeling Jessica felt slighted, she'd probably been turned down by him at some point. Then she glanced at him again. His face was turned away, but she thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were smiling, too. "I wasn't planning on it."

"I mean, Dr. Cullen's like this foster Dad slash match maker," Jessica grumbled, and Angela giggled.

"Maybe he'll adopt me," she offered quietly, and Bella smiled at her.

After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They all were noticeably graceful, even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't look at her again.

Bella sat at the table with Jessica and Angela longer than she would have if she'd been sitting alone. She was anxious not to be late for class on her first day. Angela had Biology II with her the next hour, so they walked to class together in silence. She was shy, too, which made things easier with her.

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"Edward?" Jasper asked, seeing his brother continually glancing at one of the tables, feeling his frustration.

"The new girl, I can't hear her thoughts," he admitted.

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"What was Alice thinking?" Rose demanded, having seen the smile and wink. She didn't care what she thought she saw, there was no way that they would be close to a human girl.

They listened as Jessica pointed out who was who and Edward turned away when he heard Jessica grumbling over his not giving any of the girls his attention, smiling slightly at whatever he heard in her thoughts. Their talk moved on as they knew it would and they got up and left, throwing away the untouched food.

Rose hated high school but being the centre of attention was always nice. She didn't understand the fascination with the new girl, she was nothing special.

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When they entered the classroom, Angela went to sit at a black-topped lab table exactly like the ones Bella was used to. She already had a neighbour, in fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the centre aisle, she recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual hair, sitting next to that single open seat.

As Bella walked down the aisle to introduce herself to the teacher and get her slip signed, she was watching him surreptitiously. Just as she passed the fan at the front of the room, he suddenly went stiffened in his seat. He stared at her again, meeting her eyes with the strangest expression on his face; it was hostile, furious. Bella looked away quickly, shocked, going red again. She almost stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch herself on the edge of a table. The girl sitting there giggled. Bella had noticed that his eyes were black, coal black, a colour she'd never seen before on someone so pale.

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Jasper stiffened in alarm, feeling Edward's thirst, panic, and pain. "Hold your breath," he ordered, too quietly for a human to hear but he knew Edward would hear him.

"Need us?" Emmett asked from another classroom.

"No…Alice?" Edward pleaded for her vision.

"You can make it through class, I don't see any bloodbaths," she promised. "You can do it."

"Don't you dare make a scene, I am not moving," Rosalie spoke up firmly.

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Mr. Banner signed Bella's slip and handed her a book with no nonsense about introductions. She could tell we were going to get along. Of course, he had no choice but to send her to the one open seat in the middle of the room. She kept her eyes down as she went to sit by Edward, bewildered by the antagonistic stare he'd given her.

Bella didn't look up as she set her book on the table and took her seat, but she saw his posture change from the corner of her eye. He was leaning away from her, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad. Inconspicuously, she tugged her braid around and sniffed her hair. It smelled like strawberries, the scent of her favourite shampoo, it seemed an innocent enough odour. She let her braid drop back, almost wishing she'd left her hair down to use as a curtain between them, and tried to pay attention to the teacher.

Unfortunately, the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something she'd already studied. Bella still took notes carefully anyway, always looking down, he might say something new and she didn't want to miss that.

Bella couldn't stop herself from peeking occasionally at the strange boy next to her. During the whole class, he never relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far from her as possible. She could see his hand on his left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under his pale skin. This, too, he never relaxed. He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his light skin. He wasn't nearly as slight as he'd looked next to his burly brother. Did they all have gym memberships or something?

The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the day was finally close to ending, or because she was waiting for his tight fist to loosen? Then again it could be the fear of her upcoming gym class. His fist never did loosen; he continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn't breathing which just wasn't possible. What was wrong with him? Was this his normal behaviour? She questioned her judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch, maybe she wasn't as resentful as she'd thought. It couldn't have anything to do with her, he didn't know her. Bella took a deep breath and refocused on the class, determined to ignore him. Whatever was bugging him wasn't her problem.

Finally, the bell rang loudly, almost making her jump, and Edward Cullen was out of his seat. Fluidly he rose, he was much taller than she'd thought, and he was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat.

Bella sat frozen in her seat, staring blankly after him. She took a breath and shook it off, beginning to gather up her things slowly, trying to block the anger that filled her, for fear her eyes would tear up. For some reason, her temper was hardwired to her tear ducts. Bella usually cried when she was angry, a humiliating tendency. No matter how bad his day was being, he hadn't needed to be so rude.

"Do you need any help finding your next class?" Mike asked, and she was relieved to hear a familiar voice, even if she'd only met him very briefly at lunch.

"I'm headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it," she admitted, dread pooling in her stomach.

"That's my next class, too." He seemed thrilled, though it wasn't that big of a coincidence in a school so small.

They walked to class together; he was a chatterer and he supplied most of the conversation, which made it easy for Bella. He'd lived in California till he was ten, so he knew how she felt about the sun. It turned out he was in her English class as well. He was one of the nicest people she'd met but Angela still held first place. Edward Cullen definitely came last.

As they were entering the gym, he asked, "So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."

Bella cringed. So, she wasn't the only one who had noticed. And, apparently, that wasn't Edward Cullen's usual behaviour. "We didn't even speak," she admitted.

"He looked like he was in pain or something."

"I don't know," she responded.

"He's a weird guy." Mike lingered by her instead of heading to the dressing room. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you."

Bella smiled at him before walking through the girls' locker room door. He was friendly and clearly admiring, but it wasn't enough to ease her irritation. The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found her a uniform but didn't make her dress down for the class. At home, only two years of P.E. were required. Here, P.E. was mandatory all four years. Forks was literally her personal hell on Earth. She watched four volleyball games running simultaneously. Remembering how many injuries she had sustained, and inflicted, playing volleyball, she felt faintly nauseated. Hopefully they would move on to something else tomorrow, though knowing her luck it would be even worse than volleyball.

The final bell rang at last. Bella walked slowly to the office to return her paperwork. The rain had stopped for now, but the wind was strong, and colder, she wrapped her arms around herself, missing the heat, and thankful for her warm jacket and boots. When she walked into the warm office, she almost turned around and walked back out.

Edward Cullen stood at the desk in front of her. He didn't appear to notice the sound of her entrance, thankfully. He stood pressed against the back wall, arguing with the receptionist in a low voice. She quickly picked up the gist of the argument, he was trying to trade from fifth-hour Biology to another time, any other time.

She just couldn't believe that it was about her, it had to be something else, something that happened before she entered the Biology room. The look on his face must have been about another aggravation entirely. It was impossible that a stranger could take such a sudden, intense dislike to her.

The door opened again, and the cold wind suddenly gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, tugging at her braid. The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked out again. But Edward Cullen's back stiffened, and he turned slowly to glare at Bella with piercing, hate-filled eyes. For an instant, she felt a thrill of genuine fear, raising the hair on her arms. The look only lasted a second, but it chilled her more than the freezing wind, however, she forced herself to keep her head up and not cower. He turned back to the receptionist.

"Never mind, then," he said hastily in a voice like velvet. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." He turned on his heel without another look at Bella and disappeared out the door.

She walked to the desk, still confused and getting a bit angry, to the desk, and handed over the signed slip.

"How did your first day go, dear?" the receptionist asked maternally.

"Fine," Bella lied, voice weak. She didn't look convinced.

When she got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. It seemed like a haven, already the closest thing to home she had in this damp green hole. Bella sat inside for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly, but soon she was cold enough to need the heater, so she turned the key and the engine roared to life. She headed back to Charlie's house, not sure what to think of her first day. She'd maybe made some friends? And apparently an enemy.

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Alice sighed as she saw Edward's decision to head to their cousins in Denali. For once he wasn't listening to her when she told him he wouldn't kill Bella. But she couldn't let him see her visions, not when so much was undecided. It was confusing enough for her to see what she did, she didn't want to get his hopes up when it wasn't definite. Bella could be his Mate…or she could be someone else in the Family's… she'd always thought you had one mate and that was it but obviously something that could happen would affect that potential bond and shift it from being matched to one to another. She would prefer if Bella and Edward were mates, because he deserved to finally have someone, but if she pushed too much she could push them too far apart.

Edward would be gone for some time but that didn't mean she couldn't approach Bella and try to be friends. Help integrate her into the family and get her used to them before he could complicate things with his draw to her blood.

TBC….

Yes, there's bits from the movie and the book for her first day.