Chapter 1 - Forks and Ladders

Charlotte's P.O.V.

When Mary first suggested that we go to live with Joe and Lizzy for the rest of the year starting in April (so, the whole year, more or less), I didn't have much of an opinion. Sure, the three of them were like peas in a pod and that kind of left me out, but since I was comfortable with being alone and definitely wasn't up to speed with their outdoorsy high-energy ways, it wasn't the end of the world for me to give up a few months of staying indoors in Colorado so I could stay indoors in Washington State. Besides which, they hadn't seen Mary since high school graduation and a lot of things had changed since then.

For one thing, Mary had gotten married and was expecting her first child. With her husband, Ken, deployed oversees and our parents in the middle of their second honeymoon—a year-long affair that they'd saved up for over twenty years and that also necessitated them naming Mary my temporary guardian—it lumped us sisters together like a package deal wherever we went. At first, I thought Mary's pregnancy would limit her to indoor routines and thus slow her down to my speed, but on the contrary, her body was taking her in the opposite direction and making her more geared than ever to go rock climbing and trail hiking in the mountains.

Out of concern for her unborn child, it was I who insisted that we move in April instead of waiting for summer vacation. Mary warned me that it would cut through the middle of my semester and make it hard for me to catch up on work, but I soothed over her troubles—as always—by pretending that moving to Forks was something that I wanted instead of her.

And so, two weeks later and here we are, in a place that at least looks and feels like someplace damp, dark, and cold. I can only remember being in Forks once before as a child, back before Aunt Libba and Uncle Peter had moved to Florida, and I certainly don't remember it being so much like...a crypt.

It rains here a lot and it's on the windward side of the Rockies, I think. What did you expect?

Well, at least it gives me an excuse to stay indoors without being hounded by Mary to get some more vitamin D into my skin; and it also gives me an excuse to keep away from just...anyone.

And I don't have anything against people, really I don't. It's just that...they're so quick to judge once they see me and see that I can't see, and it's a short step from that to "Oh, the poor thing!" and "Do you need help, dear?" expressions that I've heard more times in my life than I can count. I may be blind, but I'm not lame, or deaf, or a freak experiment at a sideshow; but most people don't stop to think those things before instantly making the connection.

Anyway, because Mary, Joe, and Lizzy are all pretty used to me by now, I can count on them leaving me alone and living life normally; at Forks High School is the only place where I'll have to go through the motions of explaining to everyone that "I'm fine" and hope that they'll leave me alone after that.

Day One starts off with me wearing a rain slicker and Wellington boots as Mary drops me off in front of the school office. Joe and Lizzy described the layout in detail and phoned ahead for the office to know to expect me. I didn't want Mary to have to walk me around from door to door—the high school has several buildings, apparently, not like your typical high school—and so I got my schedule ahead of time and just need to sign in and get my registration papers sorted. This, I assured my family, was something I could do on my own.

"Hello, my name is Charlotte Blyth, I'm here to register," I say once I step through the door. Unlike most blind people apparently do (I wouldn't know), I don't ever wear shades. Not that I'd need them in cloudy Forks anyway, but since I was born blind and it isn't the result of an accident or anything, my eyes aren't "hypersensitive to light" or anything like that. I won't stare up into where I feel the sun is like an idiot or anything, but there's nothing that I feel I need to hide with glasses. Sometimes though, when I can practically feel the stares of others burning into my skin, I wish that I did have something to hide behind.

"Ah, Miss Blyth, welcome!" a too-cheery voice greets me. "My name is Mrs. Parkins and here I have with me Janice Ridgewood. Janice is our Student Council president and we've been able to arrange your classes to match hers, based on your electives. She's offered to be your escort to all your classes."

"Hey," a singsong voice says. "I'm Janice. For the whole schedule thing, I had to switch out of chemistry into bio, but that's fine since I wasn't getting my covalent bands right anyway."

Covalent bonds, I think, stepping forward and holding out my hand. "I'm not a fan of chemistry either. It's nice to meet you."

A firm hand shake by soft hands with manicured nails. She smells like some subtle perfume that's probably against school guidelines about keeping the place "scent-free".

"Now, your paperwork here is all set up, we just need signatures from all of your teachers by the end of the day."

"Oh, I can take care of that," Janice says, even as I reach out to take the papers. I guess that's that, then.

"So, our first class is geography, but if you want, we can skip that while I show you around," Janice says.

I doubt there's much to see—haha, pun intended—but Janice sounds like she really wants to have an excuse to skip class, and I'm not sure if I want to get off on the wrong foot by taking that away from her. So, I agree and let her take me on a tour of the high school, which, considering that it's divided into several buildings, is actually pretty small. I guess that in a town of less than 3000 people, I really shouldn't expect anything more. At the very least though, it'll be easy to get around once I memorize things like how many steps I need to take from point A to point B—while I don't wear glasses, I do carry around a stick so I don't trip or anything, so one week in and I should be walking around by myself no problem. On the one hand, I really do appreciate Janice's offer to help and all; but on the other hand, it's still embarrassing for a sixteen-year-old not to walk around on her own two feet when she can. So...thanks but no thanks.

"Uh-oh, act cool!"

I have no idea what she's on about, but suddenly Janice's drawl has changed from cheery and loud to hushed and nervous.

"What happened?" I can't help that my first reaction is panic, but when you're limited in your senses it's natural for primal instinct to take over and mine often does. Since we're in a fairly wilderness-surrounded area—the smell of pine is seriously everywhere and hard to ignore—I'm thinking that it could be anything from a skunk to a grizzly bear.

I'm definitely making a face that lets Janice know how I feel, because all of a sudden she's relaxing her grip on my arm. "Oh, sorry, sorry! I just meant that they...I mean...Char—can I call you Char?—it's just there's these...these gorgeous siblings that attend our school and I just saw them pull up in the parking lot. They're usually not late, but sometimes they go out camping when it's sunny weather and I guess they got back late last night."

I'm so relieved that it's not a wild animal that I almost don't question what kind of parents would let their kids skip school for camping—this is Thursday, for crying out loud! I've skipped school tons of times personally, but I haven't heard of anyone else except delinquents or other special-ed students doing that at times.

"Okay, and...this was a reason to 'act cool'?" I ask.

"Well..okay, Char, I know you can't actually see them, but trust me, if you could, you'd understand."

Ah, the second most common phrase after "I'm so sorry!".

"Gee, thanks."

"Let me put it this way," Janice continues, before I get a chance to tell her that I really don't care. "All of high school is like a social hierarchy and the Cullens—that's their family name, by the way, even though they're not really related, only adopted, if that makes sense—are at the top. They're super good-looking and smart and just...perfect! They moved down from Alaska just last year and though they don't really mix much with the rest of us, everyone wants to be them or at least be close to them or something."

I still don't get why any of this is important or relevant—and I'm wondering what time it is so we can hurry up and go to second period already—but I nod and pretend like I do.

"There's seven of them overall-there's Emmett and Rosalie, who are both seniors and kind of like...a thing. Again, they're not related, so it's cool. Then there's Alice and Jasper who give definition to 'opposites attract'. Alice is the only one I've talked to when she wanted to give me tips on my decorating for the Christmas pageant, whatever that was about, and Jasper just looks like he hates life or something, y'know? Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and all that."

De. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde weren't a couple, not even close, and I'm just about to point this out, but Janice is continuing with barely a breath between words.

"And then there's Edward and Bella who are like...a power couple or something. Like...they're both juniors and you can just tell that they're completely obsessed with each other; it's almost uncomfortable. Then lastly there's Adrian, who's the only single one and...oh god, I think he's in our bio class next period. I wonder if he has a partner?!"

And since at this point I've officially lost interest beyond losing interest, I zone out and let her lead me around wherever as the second bell rings. I'm starting to get a bit of a headache from all Janice's chattering, but on the bright side, if this Adrian Cullen or really anyone else besides me can be we lab partner, then I might get an hour's peace and quiet to help calm down.

I realize that I'm starting to miss home already, but if I don't give this place—and all its quirks— a chance, then I'm only making life miserable for myself. Optimism. Helen Keller lived by it and so will I.

A/N: So there it is, folks, a re-written beginning to my Twilight fanfic. I've changed the title from "See the Truth" to "Truth Seer" for reasons that'll make sense later on in the story. So yeah, a slow start with just basic introductions, but I wanted to get back into the feel of Forks and re-establish certain things. More of an introduction on the Cullens and Adrian in the next chapter, but so far I hope you folks like what you've read.

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