A/N: You guys made me happy. I woke up this morning to check up on my little story and went, "Oh my Carlisle! Me, being easily pleased, got all giddy. More reviews make my fingers type faster. Here's chapter two!

Disclaimer: I am not Stephanie Meyers. I own nothing.

An Ode to Silence

I awoke to the unfamiliar sight of my bedroom in Forks. The scene which had been unpolluted in my memory was filled with the flashing lights belonging to my alarm clock as my bed vibrated beneath me. I'd tried some other interesting tactics to wake me from my slumber but this proved to be the only way that really worked consistently.

Carefully, I slung my legs over the side of my bed and stumbled over to turn off my alarm clock. When my hand came down on the little machine, my room knew peace once more but I blinked a few more times for the sake of my eyes. Welcome to your new life, Bella Swan.

I peeked out the window through the yellow curtains and expected to see the lovely blue sky and sun over the sprawling city of Phoenix, my home but my heart sank as I saw dark clouds and more rain. My optimistic thoughts of the night before were gone and I was still living in my own personal, rainy hell. There was no getting around that and all I could say was, "Well, darn."

Since I had no urge to be late to my first day, I trudged to my closet and picked out an outfit for the day. I honestly wasn't much for shopping or fashion so it was just plain jeans and a blue long sleeve shirt. I tucked my black raincoat under my arm made my way downstairs for a bite to eat.

Unfortunately for me, I am extraordinarily clumsy to the point where it was comical. I tripped halfway and ended up tumbling down the rest, landing with an 'oof'. It was the perfect way to start the day, falling down. Stiffly, I got to my feet and limped to the kitchen.

I rushed through my breakfast of eggs and toast and donned my new raincoat. I figured this coat would end up being my new best friend so I tried not to loathe having to wear it as I swiftly strode to my new truck. I tried my best to ignore the prickling feeling I got when I no longer felt the dry air around my feet, but boots and sloshing wet, not to mention the consistent drizzle on the hood of my raincoat.

Now, I had a new reason to like the old truck. It had a heater and it was dry. It was Charlie had cleaned it up some though it still smelled faintly of tobacco. The thought brought a smile to my face.

I wouldn't be using the radio at all but if anyone ever rode with me somewhere, at least they could use it and turn it to any station they wanted and I wouldn't care. Of course, only Renee, Charlie, or Phil would be able to make use of that since I didn't want to drive with anyone that didn't know I was deaf in the car but it didn't matter to me. I was happy.

As I started it up and drove toward the high school, I was unaware of the loud roaring sounds it was giving off. However, I couldn't help but be hyperaware of the many heads that turned my way as I parked it. The high school was nothing more then a collection of small, maroon colored buildings and I probably would've driven straight past it if it weren't for the 'Forks High' sign though it wasn't hard to spot.

I'll admit that the place put me off balance a little bit. There were no metal detectors at every door, no chain link fence, or anything to remind me that this was in fact, a school. I was glad of the shift though, because some part of me thought it would be weird that I might be accepted in a place that had any similarity to where I'd been before.

When I walked inside the office, the woman at the desk, Ms. Cope according to the sign, greeted me with a friendly smile. "My name is Isabella Swan. I'm new," I said while shifting on my feet. "Oh! We've been expecting you," I grimaced slightly while she continued, "Here is your schedule and a map of the school," she said and handed me a couple pages from somewhere amongst the large piles of paper on her desk.

She must've seen something in my expression because she didn't decide to go over everything with me but she did hand me another item, a yellow slip of paper that I was to have every teacher sign before returning it at the end of the day. At least I could be glad that this woman spoke properly which made it easy for me to understand. Instantly liking her a little more, I thanked her brightly and left.

When I got back outside, I stuffed the papers in my backpack and began my trek across the parking lot to my first class. All the other cars were older which seemed fitting to me in this small town. It's not like I was expecting them to have all the swanky new cars like the big cities.

A glint of silver caught my eye and I took quick note of a silver Volvo, the nicest car in the lot. I might be wary of the owner of that car since from my experience in people watching, (When you can't join them, observe them. Why not?) the people with the nicest cars were typically… on the opposite side of the social spectrum and the least likely to send a nice smile my direction.

As the sidewalk got more crowded, I was forced to hide inside my coat and weave my way through the throng. I hate crowds. Somehow, I've always equated crowds to being lost. I can't see everything as well, I get bumped and jostled every which way, and the audible messages are the most common way to deal with a crowd or find a certain person.

When I approached the door to my first classroom, I paused and swallowed. Could I do this? Would I be able to understand the teacher? What if I made a total fool of myself if he asked me a question?

Breathe, Bella, breathe. I calmed myself slightly and walked inside the small classroom. Just as others before me, I hung up my jacket on the hooks by the door and took the little yellow slip of doom to the teacher, Mr. Mason as the plastic nameplate stated. He signed it without too much trouble and embarrassment for me and I swiftly went to a seat in the back, glad to be out of my classmates' line of sight who had begun gawking at me the moment I took off my coat.

Unfortunately, they still managed to stare at me anyway even while I was behind them all, though I'm not entirely sure how. Now that was talent. Besides the fact that I was now certain beyond a doubt I would be put under the microscope for a while, the class went fairly well. I missed several words here and there because sometimes he'd turn and talk while writing on the board or walk and turn completely sideways but it could've been much worse.

After class however, a boy came up to me introducing himself as Erik. He spoke so fast he made my head spin. I'd seen his type. He was the dreaded overly helpful, chess club type. Amongst the words that flowed without break from his mouth, I was somehow able to catch the barest trace of my name, 'Isabella'. I started with that since I didn't have much clue what else he said.

"Bella," I corrected quickly. Thankfully, he slowed down after that but out of the corner of my eye, I saw several people turn to hear our 'conversation' if that was indeed what it was supposed to be.

"Bella then, what class do you have next?" he questioned eagerly.

"Government, in building six," I replied, not especially wanting to continue this conversation.

"I can walk you there, I'm already heading to building four," he told me eagerly which made him talk a little faster again. Although I was secretly pleased that he didn't have that distinct hesitation people had when talking to me in Phoenix, I needed to nip this in the bud before I found myself doomed between classes.

"Oh, that's okay, Erik. I can get there myself," I attempted to decline politely. He took the hint but his smile faded only slightly, trying to still appear cheerful though he was clearly disappointed.

"Okay, I hope you like Forks," he said before walking away like a sad puppy.

I felt a little bad about it but I left for my next class in a hurry. The rest of the morning was pretty much the same. After each class, one or two people would always come up to me and introduce themselves, ask how I was liking Forks, and the standard pleasantries.

There was one girl with wildly curly hair that sat next to me in two of my classes who walked with me to the cafeteria at lunch. (Mostly because she didn't take the hint like Erik had) She talked like it was an Olympic sport, faster then anyone I had ever seen, including Eric.

She had begun prattling on about teachers and classes I gathered but after watching her talk for a little while and ending up with a colossal headache, I pegged her for the gossip of the school. Anything I told her would more then likely become public knowledge by tomorrow. I didn't even try to keep up.

Since there wasn't much hope of getting away gracefully, I sat with her at a table with six more students that watched me in awe. I sat there, half panicking when I noticed them.

Bloodredeclipse: When Bella and her mother were talking, they were both speaking and using sign language since Bella would want practice for reading lips but on the areas she gets lost, the signing is there. When she was talking to Charlie however, they were just talking. She is very good at reading lips.

Ms. Topaz: Oh dear. I didn't know. Sorry about that. I just was peeking in on one of the mute Bella stories and I wondered if anyone had published a deaf Bella story yet.