1: We're going to Forks! Wait, what…?

DISCLAIMER: ALL ORIGINAL/CANON CHARACTERS BELONG TO STEPHANIE MEYER

ALL NEW INSERTS BELONG TO ME

"Tulika, wake up!" I felt a hand shaking me and I jerked awake, half dazed and disoriented. Was I late? I couldn't be late, I had an alarm. It didn't go. It has to go; I double check it like the paranoid freak that I am.

I shook my head of all these thoughts then turned over to look at the girl standing beside my bed.

"Who are you?" I asked the girl and she raised an eyebrow, looking confused.

"What do you mean who am I?" she asked.

I examined her. Long brown hair and eyes, pale white skin, slender and average height, nope, I didn't know her from Eve.

"I mean, who are you and what are you doing in my room?" I said again.

Now she frowned.

"It's me, Bella," she said.

I stared at her. For a split second, my eyes darted to the book on my nightstand but it wasn't there. "Bella…Swan…?" I asked.

She nodded. "Renee and Charlie Swan's daughter; Bella," I asked. "Yes, what are you…oh wait, is this one of your dramatic phases?"

What was she talking about?

"Ok…" I slipped off the bed and inched back. This had to be a dream. There was no way Bella Swan was in my bedroom. "Look, Mom and Phil need to drive us to the airport and drive off for Jacksonville, we need to leave tomorrow morning so if you want to -,"

"Why do we need to go to the airport?" I asked as she turned and walked to the door before turning and giving me an incredulous look.

"We're going to Forks." She said and walked out, shutting the door behind her.

I tore through the room like a tornado.

This has to be a dream. There was no hint of a rainy Vadodara outside the window. It was a very sunny…I assumed it was Phoenix, since she mentioned 'going to Forks' not 'in' Forks.

I opened the closet and the drawers; there was nothing of mine in there. How was I supposed to go anywhere if I had no belongings? Most importantly, my copy of Twilight was gone.

"Tulika, honey…?" I looked up to see a woman with short, slightly straggly brown hair enter the room.

"Yeah, yes," I said.

"Bella said you were a little strange this morning; is everything ok? I know you moving here for a week only to be moving again must be hard but we had a word with your mom and…" I cut her off.

"You talked with my mom?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Can I talk to her?" I asked. She looked worried but handed me her phone. I dialed my mother's still familiar number from her recent calls.

Renee, my mother answered.

Thank you, God.

"Mom, what's happening?" I asked, noticing the woman leave the room.

What do you mean, dear? She asked.

"I mean, what I am doing in Phoenix; wait, this is a dream. I'm dreaming," I said.

Tulika, are you ok? Why would you be dreaming? Are you worried about Forks? We told you, you can come back anytime you want. She said.

"Mom, how do you Renee?" I asked.

We're college friends, she said slowly, as if explaining addition to a toddler.

"Mom," I said then stopped. This was a dream. It had to be a long, vivid, very realistic dream; I wasn't unfamiliar to those. "Thanks," I said and hung up without hearing her reply.

Ok, time to think.

If this was a dream; I'd wake up sometime. All I had to do was play along or…dream along so I wouldn't risk a 'rough awakening'. Grabbing the phone, I went downstairs, following the hall to a small kitchen with airy windows. A man was sitting, reading the sports section of the paper at the table and he smiled as he looked up at my entrance. I smiled back.

"Um…" I paused, what was I supposed to call her? Renee or the name of Phil…what was it again? I settled to just say, "Here's your phone, thanks," I said.

"Oh honey, is everything ok? Do you want to go back?" she asked.

"No…" I looked up as Bella climbed down the stairs. "Actually I need to shop," I said.

Bella accompanied me to the store. Since, it was cheap; I grabbed seven tops, five jeans, three socks, two pairs of shoes and a pair or all weather boots and jackets.

Normally, I'd have said that Bella was the kind of girl who was always a little ditsy it the head…well judging from the way Meyer wrote her. It wasn't completely like that.

She was quiet and shy, yes, but also she was well-spoken, unlike the teenagers we'd passed on the roads who actually talked in the 'text language'. I hated those teenagers.

She was also well convinced that we were best friends. A fact that I had to digress to comply with since she was literally the only kid I knew. She talked like she'd known me forever but I was also quick to notice she actually did know some basic generic stuff about me. She'd brought me some clothes into the trial room that my matched my tastes and she'd also held up the Black Hand leather sewn boots that I did end up buying.

All in all, she wasn't all that bad.

Although, I'd have to wait to mentally give the 'best friend' card.

The day went my getting to know the Phil family as I mentally called it.

He talked to me about baseball and I understood some points. I helped Renee not set the kitchen alight as she tried to make an extravagant going away meal. I actually browsed with Bella through her stuff as we'd be 'sharing everything' as Bella put it.

By the end of the extravagant meal, we had to order pizza to avoid oil consumption and food poisoning.

The next morning, I woke up early and went to Bella's bedroom and flopped down on the bed as she finished her packing.

"I thought you hated Forks," I said.

She sighed, "We've already had this conversation," she mumbled. I popped my lips. If I really was here for a week, and knowing me I probably would've asked why exactly she had gone to Forks. The reasons in the book were the definition of vague.

"Yeah well," I prodded and she shrugged picking up her bags and jerking her head towards the door.

Phil and Renee drove us to the airport and we said our goodbyes.

"I feel so much more comfortable sending her with you." Renee said as she hugged Bella. "Sure Mom," Bella said, shooting me a grin as she hugged Phil next.

"You call me when you get there and don't worry Tulika; you can come back to us anytime you want. Bella and you look after yourself, ok?" she said, wrapping me in a tight embrace.

"Thanks Renee," I said. Phil wrapped one arm around me as he ruffled my hair with the other. "Keep an eye on this one here; she attracts the flies," he told Bella as Renee swatted his arms. "Ok, be safe and be good, take care of each other and remember we love you two," she said.

"Ok,"

"Bye Renee, Phil," I said.

"Say hi to Charlie for me. Don't give him too much grief," she said as we boarded the flight.

So far so good; late at night I had realized with a horror that I was not dreaming. I'd tried pinching myself, looked for clocks and actually found nine in the entire house. I'd even counted my toes and fingers and actually tried smothering before coming to the drastic conclusion that I was in Twilight.

That wasn't as scary. It would've been scary if I was in some place with proper vampires and not glittering fairies. The scary part was that I had no idea how I got there or how I was supposed to go back.

Around 4, after I'd fought off a near massive panic attack by trying to breathe under water, I'd told myself to wait and watch.

If I came here by doing nothing maybe I could also leave by doing nothing and just going with the flow.

Bella fell asleep on the flight to Seattle and breathed gently against my shoulder that she'd decided to use as a pillow. I chose to stare out the small circular window as the clear starry sky gently began to get cloudier and cloudier.

I woke her up when we arrived and took the plane to Port Angeles.

"You're silent," she said suddenly, making me turn my head to her. "You're never so quiet," she said.

"I'm fine, I'm just saying bye to the sun," I said wryly. She smiled but then looked away.

At Port Angeles, Bella moved towards a man standing in front of a police cruiser. Oh right, Charlie was the Chief. He wrapped an awkward arm around Bella and an even more awkward and stiff one around me and I hugged back. I liked Charlie; he always seemed like the cool nerdy dad.

"You haven't changed; how's Renee?" he asked.

"Moms' fine; she says hi," Bella said. "So, Tulika, how'd you like Phoenix?" he asked. "It was sunny, I guess it was ok," I said smiling as he put our bags into the boot. I slipped in the back as Bella took the passenger seat and we started a quiet drive to Forks.

Bella and he chatted about Bella's infamous truck as I sent a text to Phil and Renee that we'd landed and we were with Charlie.

"Oh Bella, I'm sure it's really great. Charlie's got a great eye for running trucks, right?" I asked, grinning. Bella gave a low snort and Charlie chuckled softly.

"Thanks Tulika, I appreciate it." He said.

"And we appreciate you," I said. It was true; Charlie didn't nearly get as much credit as he deserved.

I sat back and looked out the window as the sprawling green woods and the City of Oz like surroundings. Only difference was, I didn't need green glasses to see it. It was already too green.

At Charlie's house, Bella got her old room while I was given the guest room that had its own bathroom. Wow, this was not mentioned in the books.

The room faced east, the back yard and over the fence the edge of the woods.

I dumped my stuff in a corner and walked to Bella's room. She whipped a tear when I entered and I pretended not to notice.

"So, first day of school tomorrow, you excited?" I asked.

"Take a guess," she said.

"I'm guessing, you're so over enthused you're having trouble expressing it so you're turning into Wednesday Addams." I said.

"Tulika," she rolled her eyes and I grinned. "Hey, it'll be fine, you're going to have me there and you know how kick ass I can get." I said.

"That is exactly what I'm worried about," she teased.

"Rude," I stuck out my tongue at her and went back to my room. This version of Bella was quite growing on me.

The next day was a little tense. I was suddenly losing the confident edge I had about myself and the quiet breakfast with Bella and Charlie did nothing to improve it.

Soon it was time for school and Charlie bid us good luck and went to work.

Bella and I swung our jackets on and sloshed our way to the truck and quickly entered it. It was as warm and toasty as I expected. Bella revved the engine and drove us to school.

"Does it feel like an institution?" she asked.

"I wouldn't know, I can barely see it," I said trying to squint at the maroon buildings through the haze of green trees and shrubbery.

Bella stopped the truck in front of the front office and I sighed. Well, time to pose as the piper.

Most of the talk was done by Bella, sometimes interjected by the Office Clerk as she handed us both timetables which were similar with only a couple different classes.

She handed us slips to get signed by the teacher and two maps of the school before bidding us good luck for the day.

Bella and I entered the parking lot and I shrieked, "Not there!" as she began pulling into the first empty space. "What is it?" she shrieked back.

I observed the lot and pointed to a spot open by two cars, one silver and another deep gun metal blue. "There,"

"What was wrong with that place?" she grumbled as she obeyed.

"Well, it's close to both the front gates and the exit, right smack in the middle so we'll be able to see everybody." I reasoned.

"Yeah, you're the only one who gets that," she said.

"No one likes a killjoy Bells," I said and got out of the cab, her following.

We had English first, with Mr. Mason in building 3. He gawked at us then pointed to an empty seat in the back. Thank gods for that; at least Bella and I were together.

The reading list was basic…too basic. Shakespeare, Bronte, Chaucer, Faulkner…

After the class, a slick haired kid leaned forward looking at us. "You're Isabelle and Tulika, right?" he asked.

"Bella," she corrected.

"I'm Eric," he said and I smiled at him. "What's your next class?" "Trig and I really don't like it so I better find it quick," I gathered my stuff and left to find the 7 classroom.

The teacher, Mr. Varner actually made me stand in front of the class and introduce myself. Who even does that anymore?

"Well, I'm Tulika Mukherjee; I'm new here, obviously. I'm not all that bright at Trig so if you could excuse me sir, and not hate me…" I gave him my best disarming smile and he rolled his eyes, his lips twitching as he directed me to sit beside a girl with curly brown hair.

"Hi, I'm Jessica," she said.

I turned to her. "Hi, nice to meet you," I said.

So this was Jessica Stanley; long way from Anna Kendrick. She was tiny, even shorter than me but her wildly curly hair made her seem tall.

"You live with the Swans don't you?" she asked.

"Yes, we're family friends," I told her, before we had to turn to the teacher.

After three more classes, I walked towards the lunchroom and saw Bella being led by Jessica. "Hey," I said, walking to her and linking arms.

"Hi," she said. "Hey, Tulika, come sit here!" she sidled sideways away from Bella. I slipped between them and stopped, remembering something.

This was the first day at Forks. This was also where the Cullens live. What if…?

I turn slightly and look around the room.

There they were…I think. After all, no one else in that room was as quiet as them…or as beautiful.

Now, I had nothing against the actors who had played the characters in the movies, I'm sure they were very nice people and all but hands down, they had nothing on these people. I wondered who thought it was fine to allow these beautiful people to be born then continue to roam the earth eternally as sparklers.

The biggest one had to be Emmett; his hair was curly and big toned muscles wrapped around his body, corded tight. Beside him, was the most beautiful blonde girl I'd ever see; she had pale blond almost white hair curling down to her mid back as she looked over her reflection in a spoon – wow, someone was sure conceited. Two down were another couple, another blond guy and a girl with dark shiny short hair. Wasn't Alice supposed to have spiky pixie hair? I shrugged it off then looked at the last boy, trying (and slightly failing) to look unconcerned.

The boy was structured and defined to a tee. Bella had compared him to Adonis and I had to admit, she wasn't that far off. I studied him with a critical eye. I liked Robert but I had to say, this guy would make him weep. Golden brown hair spiked up high to the side on his head, leaving a clear forehead with perfect eyebrows and a razor blade nose. His mouth was plump as he murmured something to the others, not one giving any indication of having heard him.

I couldn't see his eyes from that far away but I knew that they had to be coal black. I looked at Bella when I heard her say "Who're they?" clearly having caught the angelic people later than me.

Even as Jessica looked around; the guy who had to be Edward glanced our way, his eyes flickering over Jessica then to me and Bella.

I dropped my gaze to the ground immediately a horrified thought crossing my mind. He could hear my thoughts right? I mean, I was no Bella, I actually had a mind to hear but still if he could hear me or even not hear me, depending, I was in no circumstance to let him know I knew about them. The results would be disastrous.

I didn't look up again as I listened to Jessica explain the 'Cullens' to Bella, instead choosing to pick at my tomato salad bored. "What do you think, Tulika?" Jessica said in a tone implying my opinion meant the world to her.

"Oh," I glanced once at the Cullens reluctantly and shrugged. "I'm not sure, if I am the best to judge. Bella, I think I'll head to Biology, give me your stuff so I can get it signed." I said, rising from the seat.

She looked surprised. "Oh, um…" I waited patiently as she dug through her bag and handed me the slip and I marched out, throwing one last look behind me to see Edward looking over at me.

This was bad.

I nearly fled towards the biology class and took a seat at the very back, so I could be far from prying eyes and prying vampire powers.

It was then I came up with a plan. Edward could only listen in a certain range of distance. I had to make sure to actually think out of that range. When the teacher arrived, I quickly had my and Bella's slips signed and sat back down when the door opened the Edward Cullen walked in.

There went my thinking time…I began mindlessly chanting the first thing that sprung at me.

Twinkle – twinkle little star…how I wonder what you are…

I caught him look at me with a stupefied expression and very nearly smirked. He probably thought I was completely off my rocker.

He took the seat right in front of me and I cringed back, my mental volume increasing to block him out.

"Miss Mukherjee, if you could take the seat beside Mr. Cullen," Mr. Banner said.

Twinkle – twinkle little – son of a…

Edward completely turned around to look at me when he heard the incomplete expletive and I ignored him. He stared as I picked up my stuff and dumped them beside his on the table, slumping down on the seat.

I could feel his gaze on my face.

"Hello," he said in a calm tone which clearly hid an underlying strip of bemusement.

I turned to look at him. "Hey," I said for the sake of politeness. Well, he either thought I was crazy insane or crazy rude…guess which one I preferred?

"Are you ok? You seem a little…upset," he said quietly, still trying to hide his amusement.

Nah, just the fact that you're a vampire, who wants to eat my only friend and now I'm the one sitting next to your Royal Stalker Highness…what could possibly be wrong?

"I guess it's just newbie nerves," I said blandly.

Without meaning to I looked into his eyes and was surprised to see just how dark they were. "You have really black eyes," I blurted out.

He arched an eyebrow, "Is that a compliment?" he asked. "Maybe, it's just I've never see eyes that black," I said.

Tulika, shut up, I told myself furiously.

He considered my answer then smiled, showing a blinding set of pearly whites.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he said. I nodded then extended a hand. "Tulika Mukherjee," I said. He glanced at the hand, probably surprised that I was giving off an indication of physical contact. I waited a few seconds until I began dropping the hand. His hand shot out and encased mine in an ice cold hand shake but I made a point of not noticing.

The bell – a nasal sound – went and I waited for Bella, waited for Edward to stiffen up like a ripe banana.

People began filing in and I looked up just as Bella walked in, stumbling slightly. Oh Bella, I mentally sighed and as expected she was sent to sit diagonally opposite to me. As she drew closer, she smiled and I returned it just as Edward began to play '…and Statue!' with himself.

I turned to look at him and almost recoiled at the look on his face myself.

His face was twisted, nostrils flared as he glared at poor Bella in utter rage.

To her credit, she barely looked at him, just sitting forward and pulling out her stuff without a care that her best friend was sitting next to a ravenous vampire. Because, no matter how sarcastic I got, it didn't change the fact that they were blood drinking monsters.

His fingers were digging into the black countertop and one more ounce of pressure would cave the whole thing in. I had to distract him somehow.

I rummaged in my bag and pulled out a bottle of acetone that I kept for stains. "Edward," I hissed and he glanced at me, the full force of his glare turned towards me.

I slid the bottle across the marble and it bumped against his clenched fists. He looked down at me then back up and the glare melted slightly into confusion. "It'll help with the smell," I whispered and turned around to face the teacher.

Out of the corner I saw him unscrew the bottle and take a deep breath before stopping his breath completely.

The rest of the class went by intense silence. I'd shrunk away from him for my own safety and when the bell rang, I was packed up and out of my seat racing towards the door. I heard Bella call after me and turned to see Edward zoom out, his eyes on me for a minute then away as he charged away.

"Hey, why'd you run away?" Bella asked as I stopped to wait for her.

"I just -," I broke off when a blond boy made his way towards us. This one had to be Mike.

"You're Isabella and Tulika, right?"

"Bella," we both corrected then smiled at each other.

"I'm Mike, you girls got gym right?" he asked. I nodded and began walking with him as he chatted.

"So, what was the deal with Cullen today?" he asked.

I looked at Bella to see her throw him a questioning look. What, had she seriously not even noticed? "I kind of sort of stabbed him with my pencil," I said dryly and Mike laughed.

"The dude is kind of weird; I'd have talked to you if I sat next to you," he said.

"Thanks Mike," I said and followed Bella into the girl's locker room.

Gym was easy. We had a lecture on volleyball after which were let go when I remembered something from the book. "Bell, here I'll submit these things why don't you take the truck out?" I asked.

"Um, I'm fine," she said.

I paused and gave her an irritated look. Why did she always have to be so stubborn and difficult?

"Bella, you are going to walk out to the parking lot – alone – without me and you are going to talk to whoever comes in your way. Be a man…or rather don't, be a girl – Girl Power!" I said sternly, trying to infuse my desperation at keeping her away from a particularly hungry vampire into trying to shove her towards socialism instead of Mope Land.

I mean, was it so wrong at trying to give the girl some distance from life devoid of anything but danger? Plus, she only ever was a pushover.

You mean you want to fight a fated love between a vampire and a human girl? Right, because that is so very easy. My brain told me snidely.

Snide Brain, shut up, I snapped back as I physically pushed Bella towards the truck. "Ok, ok, going, my god, are you pushy," she huffed and walked away, trying to spin gracefully but failing when the edge of her bag caught one of the potted plants. I giggled behind my hand.

Taking a deep breath, I wiped my mind free of all thought and began humming mentally as I entered the office.

Edward Cullen stood at the desk with his back to me. I let a draft flood in the room so it would wash off any smell of Bella lingering around me.

I stood by the door and waited, listening into what he was saying.

"There has to something open – biochemistry, technical, anything." He murmured. "I'm sorry, Edward, but there's nothing I can do. If it's Mr. Banner, I can -,"

His head suddenly jerked sideways as if he was going to look around but stopped himself. "It's fine. I can see it's impossible. Thank you," he said and began walking towards me. No, walking towards the door, of course, why would he be coming towards me? I waited for him to leave until his posture stiffened and he glared at the door. I turned my head to see Bella holding the door open, gaping at Edward Cullen with an astounded face.

Damn it, Bella.

I slowly looked at Edward as his pale face went even whiter if it was possible. Alarm bells went off in my head as he stalked one step towards my friend and immediately my protective instincts kicked in.

I always saw my friends as mine, only mine to hurt or comfort. It was probably very selfish and maybe even very silly of me but I had a set of rules regarding people I liked. Bella did happen to be my best friend here and no one hurt my best friend. It didn't matter if it was an exceptionally powerful vampire who could hear my thought.

I was wired in a weird way.

I stepped forward and grabbed Bella's wrist, pulling her slightly towards me and she jumped, looking at me with wide eyes. I was staring at Edward, waiting if he would pull a move. His eyes didn't flicker at me as he just glared hatefully at Bella then walked out without a word.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Why did you come back?" I hissed.

"To give you this slip I forgot, what was wrong with him?" she asked. "Nothing, you heard Mike, he's weird," I dismissed and pulled her with me towards the desk to finish the school day.

Bella muttered the whole way back home and I stared out the window.

It wasn't that I didn't like the characters as proper people.

In real life I probably would be friends with all these characters but in this context it seemed more unnatural. Bella might think she was meant to be a vampire but she really wasn't. She wasn't cunning enough to survive without the Cullens and the werewolves fawning over her and that bothered me.

What would've happened if she'd run into vampires without their protection? She'd be easy meat.