Chapter 2

-Ava-

I stayed home while all my siblings-except Edward-went to school. He had decided to run North to Alaska and spend the week hunting.

When I was feeling better, he'd explained in depth to me why he acted the way he did with Bella. Apparently her blood smelled better than anything he'd ever smelled and it had taken all of his self-control not to drink it all when she sat down next to him in Biology.

Edward had decided that to be around her, he needed to feed as often as possible so as to not lose control whenever he was next to her. The others had attested to how good her blood smelled, so I was slightly more okay with how he had reacted. He couldn't read her mind, though, and that was still a mystery to everyone.

I had been spending the two days off either lying in my bed or sprawled on the couch, mostly under Esme's fussing. She had gone on a cooking frenzy to make me enough food to get my energy levels back up quicker. Currently I was eating a massive caesar salad with grilled steak strips on top. It was fantastic.

Esme was flitting around the house, cleaning the already immaculate spaces, doing laundry for me (the others didn't sweat and only needed to clean their clothes when they got them dirty from hunting or other activities), and redecorating a lot of the rooms.

I had been reading a book, but I had yawned and my hands were shaking slightly, causing Esme to "advise" me to put down the book and eat the ginormous salad she'd made. I'd flipped the TV on and was watching reruns of some show that had come out the previous month.

All of this was to prevent me dropping, which would put many of us out of commission if that happened. Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett, and Esme, at least, would have to stay with me. Carlisle because he vaguely understood what I'd told him about the drop and was studying how to better handle it; Jasper because he could manipulate my emotional state which could aid with recovery; Emmett because, while I might not have all my energy, I was still fae and still strong and would need someone who could combat; and Esme simply because she was Esme. Of course, the last two times it had happened, everyone stayed home.

I set the empty salad bowl on the coffee table and leaned back against the couch's armrest, yawning. I was sleepy again. I wasn't too upset with not going to school, as I didn't understand the need nor the humor that my siblings had when going to school for the gazillionth time. I guess maybe it was just to keep up with the technology that I kept going, and because Esme told me to. Despite not wanting to be at school, I wondered how Bella was doing.

-Bella-

The next day at school was better than the first...but also worse. It was better because it wasn't raining yet, and I knew what to expect throughout the day. Mike seemed to really be putting effort into being my friend and walked me to my second class, Chess Club Eric glaring at him the whole way. People didn't stare as much today, which was nice. I even had people to sit with lunch-a big group including Mike, Eric, Jessica, and others I didn't know. I began to feel like I was treading water, instead of drowning in it.

It was worse because I was tired; I still couldn't sleep with the wind echoing around the house. Mr. Varner called on me in Trig when I didn't know the answer, and I had to play volleyball-the one time I didn't cringe out of the way of the ball, I hit my teammate in the head with it. Mostly, it was worse because Edward and Ava Cullen weren't in school at all.

When I walked into English, Ava wasn't sitting in her seat and staring out the window like the day before. She didn't walk into class late, either, and I realized when the bell rang that she was either skipping or sick. She wasn't in Spanish, either. I was a bit disappointed, hoping to talk to her more today, maybe about being friends and maybe about her adoptive brother's glaring. But by the time lunch came, I realized she wasn't at school.

All morning I was dreading lunch, fearing Edward's glares. Part of me wanted to confront him and demand to know what his problem was. While I was lying sleepless in my bed, I even imagined what I would say. But I knew myself too well to think I would really have the guts to do it. I made the Cowardly Lion look like the terminator. Maybe that's why I was going to try to talk to Ava about him.

But when I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica-trying to keep my eyes from sweeping the place for him, and failing entirely-I saw that his four siblings of sorts were sitting together, and he and Ava were not with them. I frowned slightly, but brushed it off.

Mike intercepted us and steered us to his table. Jessica seemed elated by the attention, and her friends quickly joined us. But as I tried to listen to their easy chetter, I was terribly uncomfortable, waiting nervously for the moment he would arrive. I hoped that he would simply ignore me when he came, and prove my suspicions false.

He didn't come, and as time passed I grew more and more tense.

I walked to Biology with more confidence when, by the end of lunch, he still hadn't showed. Mike, who was taking on the qualities of a golden retriever, walked faithfully by my side to class. I held my breath at the door, but Edward Cullen wasn't there, either. I exhaled and went to my seat. Mike followed, talking about an upcoming trip to the beach. He lingered by my desk till the bell rang. Then he smiled at me wistfully and went to sit by a girl with braces and a bad perm. It looked like I was going to have to do something about Mike, and it wouldn't be easy. In a town like this, where everyone lived on top of everyone else, diplomacy was essential. I had never been enormously tactful; I had no practice dealing with overly friendly boys.

I was relieved that I had the desk to myself, that Edward was absent. I told myself that repeatedly. But I couldn't get rid of the nagging suspicion that I was the reason he wasn't there. It was ridiculous, and egotistical, to think that I could affect anyone that strongly. It was impossible. And yet I couldn't stop worrying that it was true.

When the school day was finally done, and the blush was fading out of my cheeks from the volleyball incident, I changed quickly back into my jeans and navy blue sweater. I hurried from the girls' locker room, pleased to find that I had successfully evaded my retriever friend for the moment. I walked swiftly out to the parking lot; it was now crowded with fleeing students. I got in my truck and dug through my back to make sure I had what I needed: A shopping list and grocery money, as Charlie couldn't cook to save his life.

I gunned my deafening engine to life, ignoring the heads that turned in my direction, and backed carefully into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to exit the parking lot. As I waited, trying to pretend that the earsplitting rumble was coming from someone else's car, I saw the two Cullens and the Hale twins getting into their car. It was the shiny new Volvo. Of course. I hadn't noticed their clothes before-I'd been too mesmerized by their faces. Now that I looked, it was obvious that they were all dressed exceptionally well; simply, but in clothes that subtly hinted at designer origins. With their remarkable good looks, the style with which they carried themselves, they could have worn dishrags and pulled it off. It seemed excessive for them to have both good looks and money. But as far as I could tell, life worked that way most of the time. It didn't look as if it bought them any acceptance here.

No, I didn't fully believe that. The isolation must be their desire; I couldn't imagine any door that wouldn't be opened by that degree of beauty.

They looked at my noisy truck as I passed them, just like everyone else. I kept my eyes straight forward and was relieved when I finally was free of the school grounds. The Cullens were a strange bunch.

-Ava-

I woke up on the couch in the same position I'd been in, except it was darkening outside and there was the sound of voices coming from the kitchen and main living room; I'd been watching TV in one of the rooms with less windows so as to reduce glare.

I stood and stretched, reveling in my back cracking and loosening up my muscles. I had no doubt that my family knew I was awake, and as I walked towards the kitchen I could smell amazing food. As the only person in the house who ate, all the food was tailored to my liking. No brussel sprouts or pineapple pizza.

I passed through the main living room on my way to the kitchen and waved to some of my siblings. Emmett and Rosalie were curled up on the couch. Rosalie was watching Emmett and Jasper play a video game-something they'd discovered twenty years prior and been obsessed with. It was hard to even see their fingers as they blurred over the controls.

Carlisle was sitting at the kitchen bartop, reading through a patient file, while Esme and Alice were flitting around the kitchen, throwing various spices and ingredients into different pots.

"Edward still gone?" I asked, sliding onto a barstool and picking up a piece of bread from the cutting board. Esme nodded and drizzled olive oil on to the rest of the bread. I bit the inside of my cheek. I hated when my siblings weren't home. It always felt like there was a hole.

"He'll be back this weekend, he said," Carlisle told me. I nodded and stuffed another piece of bread into my mouth. I could eat like nobody's business.

"You might want to slow down between bites," Alice chuckled.

"Nah, you'll warn me if I'm about to choke," I answered, reaching for another piece of bread, only to have the cutting board pulled away from underneath my fingertips.

"If you eat it all now, you won't get to try what I have planned," Esme warned, placing the cutting board on the other counter. I shrugged, whatever Esme made was always amazing. I probably did need to wait, anyway. Usually some of us would watch a movie while I ate, mostly to make me feel less weird about being the only one eating.

"What movie will we be watching tonight?" Esme asked me. I looked over at Alice, who's eyes were slightly unfocused.

"Well, you and Emmett will argue over two actions movies, but in the end we'll end up watching an old romance flick that Rosalie chooses," the psychic said.

I grimaced. Romance movies were unrealistic, at least for me. Rosalie and Emmett, while both having been put through severe trauma before finding each other, had still found their soulmate. Alice and Jasper found each other, too, and their love grows stronger every day. Carlisle and Esme had that love that made human teenagers want to barf when they saw their parents acting that way, but I thought it was sweet that my surrogate parents were so in love.

But I'd never been in love, not in a romantic sense. I loved my family, both my original and my new, more than anything else in the world. When it came down to it, I would sacrifice myself if it meant they would be alive and safe. If there was ever a threat against the Cullens, there was no doubt in my mind that I would let my energy consume me to destroy that threat, and me in the process.

I just hadn't met someone who I grew to love more as a family member. Maybe when I first joined the Cullens, they thought maybe Edward and I would develop something, but he'd taken on the brooding, protective older sibling role quickly, and I preferred to annoy him. Still, I hoped that one day I would meet someone. But being alive for 500 years and not having found anyone brought a new meaning to forever alone.

"Gross, maybe I'll just eat in here tonight," I mused. It wasn't true, though. Rosalie would guilt me into watching, or force me. Which is exactly what happened. I ended up sandwiched on the couch between Rosalie and Alice, watching an old black and white film that had a lot of swooning women.

I yawned when it was over, standing up and turning to my siblings. "I'm off to bed." There were murmured goodnight's, and I smiled as I climbed the stairs to the second floor. The door to Carlisle's study was cracked and I hesitated outside, trying to decide whether or not to discuss with him something that had been nagging at me the last few days.

"You can come in, Ava," Carlisle's voice rang out, laced with a chuckle. I pushed the door open and walked over to the chairs in front of his desk, sinking into one and pulling one of my knees up to rest my chin on. "What is it?"

"I think I'm going to go through my final changing soon," I told him, gnawing at my cheek. Carlisle set aside the paper he was looking at and focused on me, face staying calm and not betraying a hint of whether or not he was worried like I was.

"Why do you think that?" he inquired, setting his hands on his desk.

"My energy is getting harder to control," I started, thinking back on everything that had been happening in the past couple of months. "I've been having more and more energy releases in the past few months, at least once every 3 weeks. I used to only get them maybe once a decade. I'm more jittery and I feel like I'm getting stronger."

"I've noticed that, too, but I wasn't sure what all of this meant," Carlisle admitted, standing up to grab a thick folder from a side table-my folder.

"I remember my mom talking about it...the final changing...and I saw one once. A boy, when I was maybe 5. I can't really remember much, just watching him drop like a rock and then hearing screaming and sobbing every few hours from his hut," I said, looking down at the floor briefly. "My mom didn't really explain much, just that it's the final stage before reaching full Fae maturity. And it's painful..more painful than the premier changing."

Carlisle nodded, but I could see he looked a little worried and confused. "I'll try to find some stuff out tonight, maybe even reach out to some friends of mine. Are you sure none of your family survived?"

I hesitated. I hadn't seen them after I'd woken up alone in the forest...buried half a foot of ashes and leaves. It was possible they escaped, but they were most likely taken by hunters and 'interrogated' before being killed. My stomach rolled as I thought back on it.

"They would have found me, or I would have found them, by now," I whispered. Despite the fact that I knew they were most likely dead, there was still that tiny spark of hope that burned in my chest, causing me to spend spare time looking for any trace of my family.

"Why don't you get some sleep? You need it if you're going to recover faster," Carlisle told me, giving me a wane smile. I nodded and stood, hesitating before I walked over and gave him a hug. Touch was a wonderful healing tool and I felt my worries start to fade away.

Yet, as I walked to my room, I could only think about my family and if they were still alive...possibly unknowing that there could be others still alive.

Flames burned high in the sky as I sprinted through the forest, my hand grasped tightly in my younger brother's as I pulled him along. My twin ran next to me, carrying my youngest sibling. I had no idea where my parents were-we'd gotten separated when the hunters had shown up.

I stumbled and my twin was at my side in less than a half-second, hauling me back up and steading me while forcing us to keep moving. My mind was scrambled, filled with questions of how they had been able to find us so quickly. Our clan had been so careful this time...so cautious. There was no way they had found us this quick without help from the inside.

Kyla, my younger sibling, cried as Nik kept her pressed tight to his chest, pressing her face into his neck so that she wouldn't be as affected by the flames. Eli, my younger brother, was squeezing my hand tightly as he ran, silent tears tracking down his face through the soot and ashes of the fires.

We just had to get away and find someplace to hide, someplace where Nik and I could figure out how to mask our trail and keep us hidden from whatever methods the hunters had used to find us. We'd just barely started training with our abilities so that we'd be ready for our 13th birthdays.

I screamed as a broadsword swung at our faces, pulling my siblings back and to the ground. There was a deep, scratchy chuckle and three hooded hunters stepped out of the shadows of the trees. My heart was threatening to beat out of my chest and the one closest to us raised his sword and-

I bolted upright, letting out a scream, and ended up on the other side of my bedroom in half a heartbeat, pressed against the wall. My face was wet, my chest was heaving, and my heart rate was beating faster than it should beat as a fae.

Nightmare. It was all a nightmare.

My bedroom door opened and cool arms wrapped around me, supporting me right as exhaustion hit me again. I pressed my face into dress-shirt clad shoulder of whoever was keeping me upright, squeezing my eyes shut to stop the tears as I drew in long, shuddering breaths to get my breathing and heart rate under control.

Calming emotions breezed through me, allowing the exhaustion to hit me even harder. Somehow I ended up in my bed, clutching Jasper as if he could take all the pain while Alice ran her fingers through my hair. And he did...he made it go away, replacing it with feelings of calm and joy.

"I miss them," I mumbled as I was halfway back asleep. I didn't hear a response before I was back asleep, this time without the nightmares.

I'd missed almost the entire week of school, but Alice and Rosalie had collected everything for me, and I'd finished everything by noon on Sunday and spent the rest of the day alone in the house while my family went out hunting for the weekend.

Edward came back late on Saturday night, eyes no longer pitch dark with thirst. I'd gotten to talk to him for maybe an hour before I couldn't stay away any longer and went off to bed. It was just us two and he'd helped me make steak and potatoes...one of the only meals I loved cooking on my own.

By Sunday afternoon, I was back to normal, no longer getting exhausted when I was awake for too long. Edward and I chilled the whole day until everyone returned. I listened to him play piano and then he watched as I let fire dance across my fingertips. By the time everyone returned, I was sprawled on the couch reading as Edward brooded in his room about confronting Bella the next day.

Soon enough Monday came around and we were all packed into cars and on the way to school. I was sprawled in the backseat of Emmett's jeep, choosing to ride separate from Edward so there was less of a chance of him being able to listen to my thoughts, which were drifting towards Bella. I wondered how she was doing with making friends. She probably had loads by now, and I was going to be mad if my energy surge and Edward's attitude ruined the chance of a friendship with someone who didn't judge me for being a Cullen.

It was slightly chilly as I stepped out of the jeep, causing me to zip my jacket up. Unlike my siblings, I felt the cold and heat; it just didn't affect me as much as it would a human. I swung my backpack over my shoulder, laden with snacks and books for fun rather than schoolwork, and headed to English. I was the first to arrive, as usual, and spent a moment turning in all my missing assignments from the week prior.

I fiddled with my notebook and when Bella came in and sat down, I turned to talk to her.

"Hey," I greeted. Bella looked surprised to see me. "How was your first week in Forks?" I really really wanted a friend outside of the coven.

The brunette smiled and moved in her seat to face me. "It was ok, but I don't really like the weather. Are you feeling better? I thought you were sick, but nobody else knew."

"Yea, I'm back to normal," I said. Of course nobody else would know, I thought bitterly. They don't care to even get to know me. "Edward and I both came down with something and I was laid up for a few days." Edward owed me a nice dinner for making Bella think he wasn't avoiding her.

"Oh," Bella seemed surprised, and I knew she thought Edward was just avoiding her. "I'm glad you're both feeling better."

Before either of us could say anything, Mr. Mason called all of our attention up to the board and announced a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights. Most of the class groaned, but I'd read that book so many times since it was released that I knew it like the back of my hand. Bella didn't look too nervous about it, either.

-Bella-

Monday morning came, bringing another week of school with it. People greeted me in the parking lot, and I didn't know their names, but I waved back and smiled at everyone. It was colder this morning, but happily not raining. Mike and I got to English, and he took his accustomed seat by my side, but I was more focused on the Cullen sitting next to me.

Ava was back in her seat.

"Hey," she greeted, angling herself to face me. "How was your first week in Forks?" I thought back. There were no incidents over the weekend, and I spent most of the time relaxing and doing chores. I was planning a trip to Seattle or Olympia to try and find a good bookstore.

I talked to Ava for a little while, feeling Mike's eyes on the side of my face, and asked how she was doing after being sick all last week.

"Yea, I'm back to normal," she answered. "Edward and I both came down with something and I was laid up for a few days."

Ava probably didn't notice, but almost all of the tension left me with those words. When he hadn't shown up to school, I tried not to think about him, but I couldn't totally suppress the worry that I was responsible for his continued absence, ridiculous as it seemed. Hearing that he was just sick made the weight lift off my shoulders.

We only got to talk a few more moments before a pop quiz was called on Wuthering Heights, my favorite book. Mike seemed to be struggling, but I thought it was straightforward, very easy.

All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable than I had thought I would feel by this point. More comfortable than I had ever expected to feel here.

When we walked out of class-Ava had disappeared before I could even ask if she wanted to walk with us-the air was full of swirling bits of white. I could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks, my nose,

"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing."

I looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratically past my face.

"Ew." Snow. There went my good day.

He looked surprised. "Don't you like snow?"

"No. That means it's too cold for rain." Obviously. "Besides, I thought it was supposed to come down in flakes-you know, each one unique and all that. These just look like the ends of Q-tips."

"Haven't you ever seen snow fall before?" he asked incredulously.

"Sure I have." I paused. "On TV."

Mike laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. That led to a snowball fight between Mike and Eric, and I quickly escaped so as to not become collateral damage.

Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the year. I kept my mouth shut. Sure, it was drier than rain-until it melted in your socks.

I walked alertly to the cafeteria with Jessica after Spanish, Ava had skipped class somehow. I knew that if I had skipped class, I would have gotten in trouble. Mush balls were flying everywhere and I kept a binder in my hands to use as a shield if necessary. Jessica thought it was hilarious, but something in my expression kept her from lobbing a snowball at me herself.

Mike caught up to us, laughing, with ice melting the spikes in his hair. He and Jessica were talking animatedly about the snow fight as we got in line to buy food. I glanced toward the table in the corner out of habit. And then I froze where I stood. There were six people at the table.

Jessica pulled on my arm.

"Hello? Bella? What do you want?"

I looked down; my ears were hot. I had no reason to feel self-conscious, I reminded myself. I hadn't done anything wrong, and Ava had assured me that Edward was sick and not avoiding me.

"What's wrong with Bella?" Mike asked Jessica.

"Nothing," I answered. "I'll just get a soda today." I caught up to the end of the line."

I got my soda and followed them, feeling uneasy as I sat down at the table. I kept my head down and glanced up under my lashes. None of them were looking this way. I lifted my head a little.

They were laughing. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett all had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair at them. Ava was also covered in melting snow, her jacket hanging off the back of her chair covered in wet spots while her hair was wetted down in some placed. They were enjoying the snow day, just like everyone else-only they looked more like a scene from a movie than the rest of us.

But aside from the laughter and playfulness, there was something different, and I couldn't quite pinpoint what that difference was. I examined Edward the most carefully. His skin was less pale, I decided-flushed from the snow fight maybe-the circles under his eyes much less noticeable. Maybe he looked worse last week when he was sick. But there I was something more. I pondered, staring, trying to isolate the change.

"Bella, what are you staring at?" Jessica intruded, her eyes following my stare.

At that precise moment, his eyes flashed over to meet mine.

I dropped my head, letting my hair fall to conceal my face. I was sure, though, in the instant our eyes met, that he didn't look harsh or unfriendly as he had the last time I'd seen him. He looked merely curious again, unsatisfied in some way. Ava looked over at him and followed his gaze, grinning at me when she saw I was what he was looking at.

"Edward Cullen is staring at you," Jessica giggled in my ear.

"He doesn't look angry, does he?" I couldn't help asking. I was at war within myself. Edward was sick-Ava had told me so-but he had also been glaring at me last week.

"No," she said, sounding confused by my question. "Should he be?"

"I don't think he likes me," I confided. I still felt queasy and I put my head down on my arm.

"The Cullens don't like anybody...well, they don't notice anybody enough to like them. But he's still staring at you."

"Stop looking at him," I hissed.

She snickered, but she looked away. I raised my head enough to make sure that she did, contemplating violence if she resisted.

I didn't think it was quite fair to assume that the Cullens didn't like anybody. Ava seemed friendly enough and I thought that maybe her and I could become friends. Maybe they were just misunderstood...Jessica had told me that they'd been the new kids two years ago.

Mike interrupted then-he was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and I knew where I was going to avoid at the end of the day.

-Ava-

I loved snow. It was always so refreshing and beautiful when it snowed in the Olympic Peninsula. I rushed to find my siblings after first period and lobbed a snowball at Emmett's head to announce my arrival. Edward started laughing and Emmett turned to face me, an evil grin on his face and a gleam in his eye. I laughed and ran to hide behind Rosalie; the traitor let Emmett get me. He swung me over his shoulder, and I shrieked as he laughed, spinning us in a circle over and over until I was dizzy. Alice and Rosalie shook their heads at our public antics, but both of them were fighting smiles. Jasper and Edward were outright laughing at our actions.

Emmett set me down just in time for another snowball to hit him in the back. Edward was the culprit and my biggest brother bent down to scoop up a snowball and lob it back at him.

Emmett, Edward, and I skipped the rest of our morning classes to have a snowball fight and run around in the snow-covered forest behind the school-mostly at my urging. Who could sit in class on a day like this? By the time my would-be Spanish class was over, we were waiting outside of Jasper and Alice's class, all three of us ambushing him with snowballs when he walked out.

He retaliated and soon it was just the four of us lobbing snowballs at each other until Alice and Rosalie made us go inside for lunch. I really was hungry, especially after running around, and my stomach was growling. As I pulled out the lunch Esme had packed, Emmett started shaking his wet hair at Rosalie and Alice, who leaned away but laughed. This was fun, I concluded. I was excited to get home and just be able to run around in the forest like a small child.

We settled down some, but our moods were still jovial. As I started tucking into the food laid in front of me, I noticed Edward looking at something over my shoulder. I turned and followed his gaze, grinning at Bella when I saw that's who Edward was looking at. She dropped her gaze and went back to her soda.

Only a soda? How can she eat so little? I'm starving, I thought.

"You're always starving," Edward answered my thoughts.

I opened my mouth to reply but shrugged. "I can't argue with that point."

Edward didn't rush off after lunch like he usually did, instead walking with me, Emmett, and Jasper to our next class, which was on the way to his. I had a feeling he was just trying to prolong until he had to sit next to Bella for a whole class period.

Jasper and Emmett sat down while I turned to face Edward.

"She's not a bad person," I told him quietly. "She won't be mad at you."

"I know," Edward answered simply before walking away. I plopped ungracefully into my seat between my two brothers and slouched down. US Government was boring, especially when I'd been alive when it was created.

-Bella-

When I got to class, I kept my eye away from the door, doodling idly on the cover of my notebook. I heard very clearly when the chair next to me moved, but my eyes stayed carefully focused on the pattern I was drawing.

"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice.

I looked up, stunned that he was speaking to me. He was sitting as far away from me as the desk allowed, but his chair was angled toward me. His hair was dripping wet, disheveled-even so, he looked like he'd just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel. His dazzling face was friendly, open, a slight smile on his flawless lips. But his eyes were careful.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."

My mind was spinning with confusion. Had I made up the whole thing? He was perfectly polite now. Maybe his attitude really was because he was sick...still, I doubted. I had to speak; he was waiting. But I couldn't think of anything conventional to say.

"H-how do you know my name?" I stammered.

He laughed a soft, enchanting laugh.

"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive," he paused.

I grimaced. I knew it was something like that.

"No," I persisted stupidly. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"

He seemed confused. "Do you prefer Isabella?"

"No, I like Bella," I said. "But I think Charlie-I mean my dad-must call me Isabella behind my back-that's what everyone here seems to know me as," I tried to explain, feeling like an utter moron.

"Oh, my sister called you Bella, so I assumed," he answered.

"Ava?"

"Yes," Edward nodded. "She really likes you."

"She's pretty cool," I agreed, fidgeting my feet under the desk. "I don't understand why nobody understands that."

He looked slightly pained. "My sister was unfortunate enough to be stereotyped like the rest of us when we moved. We're not very...social and nobody noticed that she was different. That she was social and wanted to make friends. Everyone assumed she was stuck-up and unwanting of friends."

"That's terrible," I murmured. "She's really nice." He nodded in agreement.

"She wants to be your friend," Edward told me.

I looked at him, surprised. "Really? I thought she was just being nice to the new kid…"

He shook his head. "She is nice, but she hasn't had a friend outside of our family in many years." I sympathized with her. Just because she was new, people automatically tried to fit her into a box on first glance.

Thankfully, Mr. Banner started class at that moment. I tried to concentrate as he explained the lab that we would be doing today. The slides in the box were out of order and we would have to separate and label them accordingly. In twenty minutes, he would be coming around to see who had it right.

We had it finished before anyone else was close, even with checking each other's observations. I could see Mike and his partner comparing two slides again and again, and another group had their book open under the table.

Which left me with nothing to do but try to not look at him...unsuccessfully. I glanced up and he was staring at me, that same inexplicable look of frustration in his eyes. Suddenly, I identified that subtle difference in his face.

"Did you get contacts?" I blurted out unthinkingly.

He seemed puzzled by my unexpected question. "No."

"Oh," I mumbled. "I thought there was something different about your eyes."

He shrugged and looked away. When I looked down, his hands were clenched into hard fists again.

Mr. Banner came over and asked some questions, which got our awkward silence back to normal. We ended up talking about the snow and weather before moving on to how I liked Forks and why I moved in the first place.

When the bell rang, Edward rushed as swiftly and gracefully from the room as he had last Monday. And, like last Monday, I stared after him in amazement.

-Ava-

Bella and Mike walked into PE together and ended up on the same team, Mike always covering her position as well as his. We went up against them once and I exchanged smiles with Bella every so often. I ended up doing the same as Mike with my team. I was with three girls and one was a freshman who flinched whenever the ball came at her.

I was slightly disappointed that it was no longer snowing when I walked out of gym. The snow already on the ground was melting and becoming glorified slush. Alice threw her arm around me when I reached our cars and whispered some gossip in my ear. Edward was standing against his Volvo watching Bella get in her truck.

The other girl looked away from him and threw her truck in reverse, almost hitting a Toyota Corolla that had seen better days in her haste. She stomped on the brake just in time and then cautiously pulled out again. Edward started laughing and, as she rolled past us, I shoved him in the arm. He was still laughing as he swung his arm around my neck and ruffled my hair.

I mumbled as he released me, trying to smooth down my hair as I got into Emmett's jeep. I couldn't be mad-though. Edward seemed to be in a better mood than last week, and I hoped he was going back to normal.

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Thanks for reading! I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter...I'm excited for the next one. We're going to see Ava and Bella's friendship really start to develop (I'm playing with some interesting ideas right now). If you liked this chapter, don't forget to favorite, follow, and REVIEW!

xoxo

Lauren