Author's Note: Good lord in heaven, I hadn't written in a while. I have a great chapter already written, but I'm just typing it up right now. Come on people, it's like no one cares about this story. I need people to review and tell me what they think. Tell me if you love it, tell me if you hate it. As the writer of many flames, I can appreciate them for what they are: free criticism. So review or pm me. I NEED MOTIVATION. Thank you to everyone that has been reviewing thus far. You're "totallyforseriouslyfrickenawesome" in the words of Andrea.

Bella walked into the large room with a smile playing on her lips. As she passed the first rows of chairs, she was intercepted by the two people she least wanted to see. Jake was smiling, beaming in fact, and moving toward her quickly. Mike however, was already at her side with his hand on her arm and his hair as blond and spiked as she remembered.

"New hair mike?" She resigned, smiling genuinely. as he preened, running his fingers through stiff locks. "Hey Bells, how was your summer so far?" he asked. Bella looked at him incredulously, then composed her face into a friendly mask. "Great," she lied, looking down to cover it up. He didn't notice, and chattered excitedly as he led her to an unopened locker. "...and they got you a cello Bells, it's a pretty one and I'm sure you will like it. And you sit next to me because..." Bella tuned him out, nodding periodically as he looked to her for approval. Gulping nervously, she watched as Jacob made his way over to her, his previous smile gone. He was glaring at Mike now and she smiled apologetically at him.

She sighed as she sat down at her seat at the front of the room. She could see Mike finally distracted by a conversation with a familiar curly head of brown hair. Bella smiled and waved at Jessica as she looked her way. Jessica saw the wave, and looked away without responding. Bella sighed again and watched Jake unpack his instrument from the other side of the room.

"Bella?"

She jumped and turned around, and was glad to see the pale face of yet another Cullen. "Emmett," she smiled, patting the seat next to her. He pulled his belongings to the chair and sat down with a huff. "Thank god," she muttered as Mike walked up and, looking dejected, sat down behind her. Emmett boomed laughter, she raised her eyebrows at the sheer volume of it. He grinned toothily at her and swiftly unpacked. Rolling her eyes, she tuned quietly and then sat back with her eyes closed. She chuckled quietly to herself, of course she was only tired after she she had actually slept.

Mike tapped her on the shoulder, and she opened her eyes slowly as she looked back at him. His face was nervous, and she looked at him questioningly. "umm...Bella...Section leader? Are you sure. I mean at home you never a..." She cut him off with a smile. "I'm sure I can handle it, I'll bet Emmett here has been section leader before. He can help me, can't you Em?" she looked over to Emmett with a pleading face. He looked like he was trying to keep from laughing, but then his face turned serious. "Yes Bella, I'll help you. It is such a big responsibility." he couldn't hold in the snort after he said that. She turned around again, facing the teacher that was now standing at the front of the room.

For the first time, Bella cursed the ease with which she played. The freedom gave her the leniency to think freely, and she had plenty to think about. Mostly, her thoughts were enveloped by the curious Edward and his strange family. She sneaked tiny glances at Emmett as he played, and slowly tallied all that she noticed about him, and his whole family. They all had unnaturally pale skin and dark circles under their eyes. This could be explained away if they were related, but they were all adopted. And their eyes too, they were all similar shades of butter yellow, gold really. The girls were all beautiful, striking in their looks and the envy of any girl that saw them. The boys were all glaringly handsome, and attracted many longing glances and lovesick advances. Emmett's elbow brushed hers as he turned the page, and he apologized before continuing to play. They're all cold too, she added and shook her head. I'm delusional, she thought and chuckled quietly at her train of thought. They're just different, not a different species. They're just normal people like me. And I like them, and they like me.

Her train of thought drifted off into a different direction. She did like Edward, and he was the strangest of all of them. She knew that he didn't eat, and that he moved with eerie speed. She had seen these with her own eyes. Even more strange was her unnatural attraction to him. She believed it to be unhealthy, this obsession with him, and only after less than twenty four hours. But she had to admit, she had every reason to be attracted to him. He seemed perfect; beautiful, intelligent and charming. She knew she liked him, she just wondered how much, and for how long would she feel this strangely.

As she walked out of the room, her foot caught on the threshold of the door. Arms grabbed her shoulders and she was righted gently. She smiled up at her savior, "Thank you Jake." she said and his eyes crinkled. He quickly pulled her into a bone crushing hug. She laughed and hugged him back.

"You've been avoiding me lately Bells" he said after letting most of her go, holding onto her arm as he led her down the hallway. She studied his face. His slightly younger, boyish face was happy, not tired as she had become accustomed to before. His dark hair that was perpetually escaping from its loose tail at the back of his neck was hanging in front of his face. He shook it from his eyes with a dog-like gesture, making her giggle slightly. "I haven't seen you since graduation." he said quietly and hugged her again. "are you o...?"she pushed him away lightly and he stopped talking.

She had a smile on her face that look ed sincere so he smiled back. "I'm fine Jake." she chirped and shrugged his hand from her shoulder.

"Where are you staying for the rest of the summer, and after?" he wondered and looked around like the answer would suddenly appear. Her happy facade wavered for a second, but he didn't notice.

"With my mom and Phil." she explained and looked away, hoping he wouldn't see through her lie. He didn't. After asking her a little more about her summer without him, they came to her next classroom. Bella wondered for a second how Jacob had known, but decided that maybe it was a lucky guess. "We're going to be late." she muttered and looked into the room. She spotted Edward and Alice and smiled at them reassuringly before turning back to Jake. He pulled her quickly into another hug and then let her go quickly. "I've missed you these past few weeks" he whispered into her ear and turned away. Grinning over his shoulder, he continued on his way to his own class. He hummed tunelessly as he walked.

Bella turned back to Edward and Alice and walked to the room. Alice was smiling tightly, and Edward's face was unusually cold. Inside he was fuming, Bella could tell this much. He was angry, confused about the relationship between Bella and this boy. This Jacob's thoughts were less than pure, but he showed a sincere worry for her. The thoughts had been cryptic however, as to the reason he was worried.

As Bella sat down, she started to smile widely. Edward's unneeded breath caught in his throat. Bella was beautiful, more beautiful than any vampire he had ever seen. He considered the anger he had just felt and searched for a name for it. Jealousy, he decided and shook his head. He hadn't thought it was so strong when he had read about it. But he had no right being jealous of someone who obviously meant a lot to her. Hell, he barely even knew her himself.

"What class is this?" Bella asked after a minute, drawing a laugh out of both Alice and Edward. "Silly Bella" Alice giggled. "didn't you look at your schedule" Bella blushed and her eyes flicked over at Edward. He winked back her and she looked down at the table, trancing the patterns in the wood. "I didn't notice the name." she admitted. "It's art." Edward said, pointing to the cart that the teacher was now pulling to the front of the room. What he didn't say though, was that Bella had signed up for Acting instead, and he had switched her schedule to match his own early that morning.

Edward saw the beginnings of a vision of Bella in Alice's mind. She immediately blocked him off by listing off sequences of numbers. Edward growled quietly, jealous that Alice could use her power on Bella when he couldn't.

Brown eyes flew to his darkened topaz ones. "Did you just growl?" Bella asked suddenly, and his stomach dropped. As his face twisted into a mask of confusion, he questioned her sanity. "What?" he asked and she shook her head. "I must have imagined it," She sighed and looked back at the table. He was relived that she hadn't really heard him, or she wouldn't have been able to pass it off as imagination. She knew however, that he was covering up the fact that he had growled. She shrugged and added it to the list of things that were strange about him. She looked up to watch the teacher move a cart with a television on it to the front of the room. Edward watched it warily, and glared over at his sister's devious smile. Scooting closer to Bella, he ignored his sister in favor of the quiet humming.

As the light turned off, Bella became hyper aware of the fact that Edward sat next to her. As she clenched her fists under her arms, chanting to herself silently. I've just met him, I've just met him. She couldn't understand the nearly irresistible urge to touch his perfect face, or at least move closer to him. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him in a pose similar to hers. He grinned sheepishly at her as he saw her glance his way.

Edward had been sure her blood could never be more tempting than it already had been. If he had bet on that, he surely would have lost at that moment. Right then, sitting that close to her in the back of the classroom in the dark, he was struggling like a newborn vampire. He looked over to her to determine if she had noticed his stiff posture. Instead of the horror he had expected, she was in a position similar to his own, clearly fighting some internal struggle. Then, as he met her eyes, his blood lust was eclipsed by a new feeling: one that was completely unfamiliar to him. He wanted to close the distance between them. When he watched her shift uncomfortably in her seat and made up his mind. The Hell with it he thought, and pulled his chair closer to her. He wrapped his arm around her tiny waist and pulled her to his side gently. She blushed at him, but he could feel her body relax and lean against his. The feel of her warmth , so close to him was amazing. He sighed, content, as she looked up at him with questioning eyes.

Could he read her mind? She wondered as she looked up into his serene face. She shivered slightly and he instantly looked guilty. Moving to untangle himself from her, she shook her head and pulled his arm back. Edward could practically feel the smugness radiating off his sister. How's the blood lust? She asked him and he shrugged almost imperceptibly.

Truthfully, she was still tempting, painfully so. But right now he was so happy to be sitting here, so close to someone, that he wouldn't give that up for her blood. He couldn't take her life now if he tried, of that he was sure. He wouldn't let himself take her life.