How could I not have noticed how cute he was? His face was gorgeous... and he was wearing a goofy smile with his dazzling teeth. He looked happy to see me.
'Hey I know you!' he said humorously. His voice was just like Bella's. It was velvety, and it sounded like he was singing instead of speaking.
'You do?' Bella asked, sitting down next to the spiky-haired girl. Everybody looked at me curiously. I sat down between Bella and the muscly guy... it was hard to take my eyes off him.
'Yeah, I saw you on the plane from Australia!' I said, still having trouble believing it.
Of all the places in Washington he could have been flying to... it just happened to be where I was going. And he just happened to go to the same school as me, and he happened to be friends with the girl who had talked to me. Coincidence much?
'You're the girl who wouldn't stop talking about fish.' he chuckled.
'Oh yeah, and you're the guy who kept laughing whenever I said anything about fish.' I replied cleverly. He grinned.
Everybody was wearing confused expressions on their perfect, pale faces. Well, everybody except the bronze haired boy, who was playing with a lock of Bella's hair. He seemed unaffected by our unexplained conversation.
'So... anyway. Everybody, this is Skye Hansen.' Bella introduced me. I felt my cheeks redden a little. They were all looking at me still, with curious expressions now. I wasn't really used to being the centre of attention.
'Hi Skye! I'm Alice Cullen.' the spiky-haired girl said. She was smiling at me with her pixie-like face. I couldn't help but smile back.
'This is my boyfriend Jasper Hale.' she gestured towards the blonde boy sitting next to her. He seemed kind of tense... he looked like he was struggling with something. His face was so serious compared to Alice's warm smile. Had I done something?
I swear I just saw the bronze-haired guy shake his head slightly. Weird.
'Oh and don't forget my brother Edward.' Alice added, looking at the bronze-haired boy. He nodded at me and flashed me a crooked smile. God, why did all these people have such perfect teeth? I suddenly felt very conscious about my not-so-perfect set of teeth.
'Nice to meet you, Skye.' he said in a soothing voice.
All these people seemed so perfect... their voices, their posture, their looks, and of course their teeth. You'd think I'd feel kind of isolated, not being as perfect as that. But I wasn't. I felt completely comfortable.
'And I'm Emmett.' the muscly boy said next to me, still smiling. I was waiting to hear what his name was.
Yep, he was definitely an Emmett.
'Howdy, Emmett.' I said goofily.
As I looked around the table, I realized I was the only person who had brought any food. Everybody else was just sitting there, with nothing in front of them.
'Aren't you guy's hungry?' I asked, taking out my lunch.
Alice shook her head, 'Nah, we ate before.' she said.
I shrugged and began to eat. I saw the boy called Jasper wrinkle his nose slightly. Odd.
'So... Australian eh? I love the accent.' Alice said, trying to strike conversation.
'Thanks. I love American accents too... and god is this place weird!' I said with fake exasperation.
'In what way?' Edward asked.
'Well... you drive on the right side of the road for one... which is bizarre. And the driver's seat on American cars is on the opposite side. Man is that confusing.' I laughed at the memory of this morning and how I had accidentally cut myself on the dashboard.
I heard Emmett chuckle at my words. He must be very easily amused. Or maybe he found other people's mistakes amusing, like me.
'It's almost as bizarre as you Australians driving on the left side of the road.' Emmett joked.
'What... so you don't ride kangaroos?' Alice said, trying to make a joke.
'One of Alice's many attempts to make a decent joke...' Edward muttered, smirking. Alice nudged him in the ribs. He didn't even wince.
'No, we don't ride kangaroos. I don't think I've even seen one before... apart from in a zoo or something.' I pondered.
'Boomerangs?' Alice asked.
I laughed, 'Nope.'
'Emus?'
'Nope.'
'... I'm all out of Australian stereotypes.' she laughed.
Ugh... stereotypes, I thought wearily. I forced out a chuckle. Edward looked at me suspiciously.
You know, for some reason, I had a feeling there was something different about these people. I didn't exactly know what yet, but I could tell they weren't really like the others in the school. If they were, more people would probably acknowledge them. I felt like I really belonged, sitting in this group. These people were just like me. Different, in their own way.
When I turned to put my left-over's into my bag, I saw Emmett staring at me. I pretended not to notice as I zipped my bag shut. He was probably looking past me or something. I peeked at him again. Yep, he was definitely looking at me. I suddenly felt kind of... optimistic you might say. A guy was looking at me. The one person all girls in Adelaide hadn't accepted. The one person people would take one look at and think "Oh, she's different. Let's ignore her." I felt a lot of compassion towards these people already, for accepting me. Well, it seemed like they were at least.
The rest of our lunch break passed without a fuss, and soon the bell sounded to signal for class to start again.
'Do any of you know where the Biology lab is?' I asked, looking at my timetable.
'We're in the same building, we'll walk you there.' Bella said, still hand-in-hand with Edward.
'Thanks.' I smiled, as they lead me out the cafeteria.
We arrived in Building C about three minutes later, and they pointed out the lab I was in. I said goodbye and we went our separate ways. I entered the large lab and took a seat at the back of the classroom, with only a few students in there so far. Of course, they all turned to look at "the new girl". I just smiled at them cheerfully.
Suddenly, I heard somebody's voice. I knew it didn't come from this classroom... it sounded like the classroom above us.
'Bella, I've got a funny feeling about this Skye girl.'
It was Edward Cullen's voice. I felt a little apprehensive. This Skye girl?
'What dyou mean? She's great.' I heard Bella reply, confused.
'Yes I didn't mean it like that. She seems like a very unique character,' he said, 'but I mean... she doesn't seem human.'
Doesn't seem human? Who did this guy think I was? And there I was thinking they'd accepted me. I should have known.
'Doesn't seem human? What on earth are you on about?' Bella asked a little exasperated. Well, at least she was on my side. I think.
'Hello? Did you see how she looked... no human is that beautiful without medical help. And the purple rings under her eyes...'
Wait... rewind for one second...
Did he just say I was beautiful? One of the most gorgeous guys I've ever laid eyes on just said I was beautiful? God, I'm getting kind of freaked out.
'Oh please, Edward. She was probably just tired, most people don't get any sleep before their first day at a new school. Humans get dark bags under their eyes when they don't sleep.'
They were talking about humans as if they weren't humans. Shouldn't she have said 'We get dark bags under our eyes when we don't sleep'?
'I know, love. But did you smell her?' Edward replied, putting emphasis on the word "smell".
Smell me? Right...
'No.' Bella replied, unaffected by his obviously odd question.
'Exactly.'
Before I could hear any more, I realized somebody was trying to talk to me.
'Hiya, Skye Hansen right?'
A blonde-haired girl had sat next to me. Her hair sat on her shoulders, and she had a few freckles on her nose.
'Yah, Skye.' I replied, snapping out of my trance. Maybe I imagined that conversation... maybe it never happened...
'I'm Michelle Hathaway. Are you Australian?' she asked, smiling.
'You bet.' I said, trying to keep my voice bouncy.
'I love Australia! I went there for a holiday a few years back... it's beautiful.' she said happily. Maybe if I talk to her I'll forget about the conversation I just heard in the classroom above us.
'Yes, I love Australia. I'm really missing it, but I love it here too. Everybody's so nice.' I replied.
At that point the teacher came in, and we ceased the talking. Unfortunately, Mr. Jones talked for the whole period, so I couldn't talk to Michelle. And I was hoping that I'd be able to forget the conversation, but I could still hear them bickering. It was very hard to block it out.
'Edward, you're being a little ridiculous. She's tanned, she ate food and her heart was beating comfortably.' I heard Bella whisper.
What the hell were they talking about? Of course my heart was beating.
'Yes it was beating... but it was going unusually fast. Twice as fast as the usual human heartbeat, to be precise.' Edward argued.
I gave up on trying to understand what they were talking about.
'Can you just drop it? Yes, she is a little different but who are we to judge that?'
Thank you Bella.
I finally managed to push their conversation to the back of my head. I shouldn't be listening anyway, even if I did know what they were talking about. How should they know how fast my heart was beating? Maybe they had as good a hearing as me.
Okay... there's another similarity between them and me. This is becoming very peculiar.
The rest of the period went by slowly, as I attempted to listen to Mr. Jones' rambling about the reproductive system. A few immature girls at the back were giggling every time he said 'womb'. Which was quite a lot, to be honest with you.
After Biology, my timetable indicated that I had Gym. Finally, I've been waiting for this lesson all day. Gym was the only thing I got A's in.
Michelle walked me to the gym helpfully, talking the whole way, then said goodbye and went to her next class. I waited outside the gym for the teacher, with a few other students leaning on the wall. I didn't know any of their names... so I stayed silent.
I wasn't silent for very long though, because I felt somebody tap me on the shoulder.
'Fish girl!'
It was Emmett. Act natural, Skye.
'Muscly guy!'
Okay... that wasn't very natural.
'You chose Gym? But you're puny.' he said, looking down on me. I only came up to his chest.
'Oh, thanks.' I said sarcastically, 'you'd be very surprised.'
'I doubt it. I doubt you could run faster than me. And I certainly doubt you could beat me at an arm wrestle.' he said, eyeing my slim arms. They may look feeble, but I was stronger than I looked. I cocked an eyebrow.
'Dyou want a bet on that?' I replied.
'You sure? You don't mind losing an arm?' he joked.
'Not as much as you'll mind losing your arm.' I joked back.
Oh god... am I flirting with him? Geeze this feels weird.
'Alright then.' he folded his arms with fake toughness, 'after school. Student car park. You and me. No cheating.' he demanded.
The teacher arrived and let us in, I lead the way as Emmett walked behind me.
'Have an ambulance ready.' I smirked over my shoulder.
What dyou think?