Hello guys! I really appreciate you guys' reviews and story alerts and all that jazz. I honestly didn't expect very many people to like it much (I have low self esteem) but I am pleasantly surprised. Also, a lot of you have tried guessing what Bella's Secret is. I'm not going to say anything about who is right and wrong, but if even if you do guess it, keep reading because there is still storyline after Edward discovers what it is. The story just won't have much action before then, it will be more fluff and filler stuff.

Disclaimer: I am NOT Stephenie (though my parents almost named me Stephenie), but even if they did my last name would not be Meyer and I would still NOT OWN TWILIGHT!

So without further adieu, Chapter Three!

The next morning, I woke up to the annoying, incessant buzzing of my alarm clock. I reached over and felt around with my hand to turn it off before forcing myself into a sitting position. I let out a yawn and ran my hand over my eyes, removing any traces of sleep, only to fall back on my bed when I remembered today was the first day of school.

I stomped down the stairs, my moodiness caused by the mere fact that it was before 10 A.M amplified by the fact that I had to go to school. After grabbing a spoon and bowl from the cabinet, I made my way over to the pantry to get my favorite cereal – Cinnamon Toast Crunch – and then over to the refrigerator to grab the milk before sitting down on a chair in the dining room.

I ate slowly, not wanting to rush getting to today's activities. After my third bowl (in my defense, the bowls are small), I got up from the table and went over to the sink to rinse my bowl and spoon. As I was putting them in the dishwasher, I noticed a piece of notebook paper folded up lying on the counter by the toaster. I unfolded it to see that it was a note from my mother.

Bella,

I have to work until pretty late tonight. I'm sorry for not being able to help you unpack anything today. If you need anything or can't find something, please give me a call at work. The number is on the refrigerator. I went to the store last night and picked up a pizza for you to eat tonight. It's in the freezer.

Love,

Mom

P.S. - please pick up Chase from daycare after school. Directions are on the back.

Yes, my mother had already found a job after being here for about one full day. She had actually found it a month or so ago and it is what forced us to move here of all places. She got a job as a lawyer at some new firm that just opened in Port Angeles.



I grabbed the letter off the counter to put in my backpack so I could find the daycare center after school and went upstairs to my room to get ready for school. I changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a peach babydoll top with flowers on the pockets and chest area with some black flats. (Outfit on profile) I ran a brush through my hair, decided to leave it straight, and then brushed my teeth before heading outside.

Once I got outside, I was hit with a realization. My mom took the Tahoe to work and that left me without a ride to school. My dad had taken our other car, a Mustang, with him when he left so my mom and I had to share the Tahoe.

I had a general idea of where the school was, so I decided to walk. I figured it would take 15-20 minutes on foot, so my hope of arriving early to school to look around was crushed, considering I would now only make it in time for the first bell.

I had been walking for only two or three minutes when I heard a car approach, only to slow down when it got to me to match my pace. I started walking faster, afraid I was going to be knocked out or tied up and thrown in the back or something. However, when I turned to look, I just saw a silver Volvo with a slightly amused Edward Cullen sitting in the driver's seat.

"Hey, need a ride?"

I nodded and walked around the front of the car and climbed into the passenger's seat.

"So, I'm guessing by the fact that you're walking alongside the highway to school that you don't currently own a car?" He smiled his breathta- er, I mean his normal crooked smile at me.

I nodded again. Wow, he must think I'm so smart with all this intelligent conversation I'm providing him. So I decided to say something, "Yeah, my mom and I share the Tahoe but she took it to work this morning and I guess neither one of us thought about my transportation."

He laughed at the whole situation. "Well, it's a good thing I happened by then. I saved you from a few blisters."

"Oh yes, my savior," I chuckled and he joined me and flashed another smile in my direction. (Wow. Edward smiles a lot)

The rest of the ride was fairly quiet, I was too busy dreading school and Edward was concentrating on his driving.

When we arrived at school, by the time I had gathered my backpack, Edward had already walked around to my side and was opening the door for me. I would be lying if I said I wasn't surprised by the gentlemanly gesture.

"I picked up my schedule at schedule pick-up last week, but I'll go with you to the front office to get yours," he broke the silence.



Normally, I wouldn't want anyone to go through this much trouble for me, but I relented because I had no idea where anything was, and Edward did.

After receiving my schedule, Edward walked me to my first class, which was English, while looking over my schedule and comparing it to his.

"Well, we have lunch and biology together. I'm afraid that's it though." He gave a sad smile.

He handed me back my schedule and I carefully folded it and placed it in my pocket.

"Well, thank you so much for all your help," I told him. And I really did appreciate it. I would be probably be walking around embarrassing myself and looking like a fool if he wasn't here to show me where to go.

"Really, it's no problem. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. You can sit with me and my friends at lunch if you'd like. I know being new is especially hard during lunch time, and I wouldn't want you to have to eat in a bathroom stall," he said the last words while scrunching up his face into a disgusted expression.

I laughed at the excuse he gave for inviting me to lunch. "You watch too many movies, but I appreciate your concern nonetheless. I would love to eat lunch with a familiar face, thank you."

He smiled a false cocky smile at me and replied, "I'll meet you outside of the cafeteria before lunch. I better go, or I'll be late." I waved to him and made my way into English class.

Every person in every class I had seemed to make me the center of attention, much to my dislike. I met a few people who weren't too bad, though. There was a boy named Eric who seemed nice enough, and another named Mike who came on a little strong. In Spanish, I met a girl named Jessica who talked to me almost the whole period.

"So, do you want to sit with me at lunch? I know you'll just love all my friends!"

I smiled politely at her, appreciating her kind gesture.

"Thanks, but I'm already sitting with my neighbor. He asked me this morning." This seemed to make her even more interested in me.

"Ohh! Who's your neighbor?" She pulled her chair closer to mine and her eyes got even brighter.

"Edward Cullen," I said simply, not conveying any emotion.

Her jaw dropped and she just stared at me. I couldn't quite make out the emotion in her eyes…was she jealous?

"You live next door to Edward Cullen AND he invited you to eat lunch with him?" Yup. She was definitely jealous. I was suddenly slightly uncomfortable at her scrutinizing expression.



"Well…yeah?" it came out more like a question.

She composed herself before she replied, putting on an uninterested expression and bringing her voice down to an octave that could be heard by humans.

"Oh, well, not be rude, but don't get your hopes up or anything."

I was confused. "What?"

She looked around the room, making sure no one was listening. "Well, it doesn't have anything to do with you personally but he doesn't date. Ever. He just hangs out with his friends."

Oh. She thought I was trying to get him to like me. "Oh! No, no. I don't like him like that. I just met him yesterday; I don't know anything about him. I'm not expecting anything." Ok, so I may have had the beginnings of a crush on Edward, but I didn't know much about him. I wasn't sure if I even should have a crush on Edward, considering everything that had already happened to me.

She looked at me like I had three heads. "What do you mean you don't like him like that? Have you seen him?"

I was baffled, how shallow was this girl? "Well, yeah, he's good looking but I barely know him. I'm just sitting with him at lunch because he asked this morning. He knew I didn't know anybody here and he was just being nice."

She looked shocked. "Oh. Ok." That ended our conversation.

When the bell rang, I headed toward the entrance to the cafeteria with Jessica's words ringing through my head. He didn't date? He was gorgeous. Surely it wasn't because the girls weren't interested.

My thoughts were interrupted when I saw Edward leaning against the wall by the vending machines waiting for me. When he saw me, he smiled and started walking in my direction.

"Hey, you ready to go?"

I nodded. He led me up to the lunch line and we each grabbed some food. After getting drinks, he took me to a table with four other people surrounding it – two boys and two girls. One girl had short, spiky black hair and looked rather short. She was almost bouncing up and down in her seat from excitement when she saw us approaching. Next to her was a really tall guy with blonde hair and blue eyes who seemed rather shy. He simply gave me a small smile. Next to him was a girl who was considerably taller than the other, who had the same blonde hair and blue eyes as the boy sitting next to her. And finally, next to her, was a boy bigger and taller than the rest of them. He looked like a bodybuilder with muscles practically protruding from his shirt. He had brown curly hair and green eyes that matched Edward's.



"Hey everyone, this is Bella. She's new and just so happens to be our neighbor, Em," Edward introduced while nudging the brown haired boy. He then turned back to me.

"Bella, this is Alice, my cousin," he pointed to the black haired pixie, "and this is her boyfriend Jasper," the blonde boy continued to smile at me, "this is Jasper's sister, Rosalie," the blonde beauty grinned at me, "and this is Rosalie's boyfriend, and my brother, Emmett," Edward pointed at the bodybuilder.

Alice jumped up and caught me in a death grip. "Oh, Bella! It's so nice to meet you! We are going to be such good friends, I can tell already!" I chuckled at her enthusiasm and grinned back at her.

"It's nice to meet you too, and I can hardly wait."

The lot of us spent the rest of lunch talking, and the more Edward talked, the more I became attracted to him. He really surprised me. He listened to classical music, played the piano, read all the classics (just like I did), and seemed like a genuine gentleman.

After lunch, Edward and I walked to biology together and I took a seat next to him since it was unoccupied. Luckily, our only assignment for that day was a lab I had already done, so Edward and I finished pretty quickly, before anyone else at least.

Afterward, we spent the rest of the class period talking, getting to know each other better.

"So, I've known you for almost two whole days and I haven't even asked you why your family decided to move to little ole Forks," he chuckled a little at this.

Crap. I didn't have a story worked out for this. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone the real reason we moved and I didn't even discuss with my mom what I should do in a situation like this. So I had to wing it.

"Uh, Well. You see, my dad left us and my mom got a job here. I guess it's a good thing too because our house here is less expensive and a lot easier to manage with just one income," I answered him awkwardly, not meeting his eyes.

He reached out and touched my arm sympathetically. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I didn't mean to bring it up," his eyes conveyed genuine concern as he said this.

I waved my hand as if to say 'no big deal'. "Don't worry about it. You didn't know. It doesn't really bother me anymore; I was never really close to him."

Okay, so I didn't tell him a total lie. My dad did leave (along with our best car) and my mom did force us to move to this exact place because of her job (though we would have moved somewhere else even if we didn't move to Forks).



He picked a slightly easier question to answer. "So how are you liking it so far?"

"I like it so far, but you might want to ask me again when I've been here longer than just two days," he laughed. Man, this boy was making it extremely hard for me to refrain from liking him. I didn't need that right now.

"So, what is Forks High like compared with your other schools?" he seemed genuinely curious.

"Well I was homeschooled in Portland, but I definitely like schooling in Forks better than schooling in Phoenix." His eyes widened.

"You can tell after just one day here?"

I nodded. "Oh yeah. The people here are really different. They're actually a lot friendlier." I lowered my voice so he wouldn't be able to hear and added "Especially the guys," thinking back to my encounters with Mike and Eric.

He laughed. Oh crap, did he hear me? "Yeah, I've noticed the guys are quite…friendly to you."

I blushed and shuddered slightly. Awkwardly, I added, "Uh…yeah." I quickly recovered myself. "I could say the same for you. Except, girls in your case." I was hoping he would shed some light on his dateless status Jessica had informed me of earlier. A friend could be curious about this kind of thing, right?

He sighed and swept his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, I know. It drives me crazy. They just can't take a hint or understand that I'm not interested in any of them."

I gave him a skeptical look. "You're not interested in any of them?"

He shook his head. "Not-a-one"

I thought for a second. "Not even Lauren Mallory?" I asked thinking of the blonde haired girl who seemed to 'rule the school', for lack of a better term.

He made a face. "Especially not Lauren Mallory. She's so shallow. She only cares about looks and popularity. I would like a girl to care about more than that," he replied, giving me a lingering glance.

"Well good luck. I haven't seen anyone like that today," I said after letting out a snort.

"That's because there aren't any for you to see." I laughed and he continued, "that's the whole reason I've never had a girlfriend before." When he said this, he averted his eyes and a slight blush overcame his cheeks.

I looked up shocked, "you've never had a girlfriend before?"



He shook his head. "I've never found anyone who I liked enough to ask out. I've never even been out on a date."

I couldn't believe it. This gorgeous, stunning, amazing boy in front of me had never ever had a girlfriend or even been out with a girl. Jessica sure wasn't lying when she told me he never showed interest in anyone.

"Well, what about you? Have you ever had a boyfriend?" I shifted uncomfortably. This was a sore subject for me. He noticed. "I'm sorry. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. I didn't mean to offend." He looked at me apologetically.

"No, it's fine. You don't have to worry, I'm not offended. It's just…well…I had one back in Phoenix but it didn't end very well."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He seemed to still be sorry for bringing up the subject.

"It's no big deal." I wasn't sure if that was true or not. "I didn't really like him that much. Enough to date him for five months but not enough to be heartbroken when it ended." Why was I telling him so much about this?

Edward thankfully changed the subject. "So, do you need a ride home from school? Since you are currently carless and all…"

I snorted. "Yeah. My mom and I should have thought that through better. But you don't have to take me home. I'm supposed to pick up Chase from daycare after school and I don't want to put you through the trouble."

He waved his hand. "Nonsense. It's no problem at all. I don't want you to have to walk all the way there only to have to walk all the way back while lugging Chase behind you." I hadn't even thought about that.

I thought about the situation carefully. I wanted to spend more time with Edward, which was dangerous, and danger is bad, but I really needed a ride. I could have a crush on Edward as long as I didn't allow myself to let anything happen.

"Okay," I relented, "a ride would be nice"

He smiled and said, "Cool. Okay, meet me by my car after next period."

I agreed right when the bell sounded. I made my way to my next period: gym. Thankfully, nobody had to do anything since it was the first day. The class went by surprisingly fast and soon I was heading outside to Edward's Volvo.

Okay, that was quite a bit longer than the other chapters. I have it up a little later than I was planning because I went to the movies today to see Narnia and then went to eat at 

Saltgrass Steakhouse. Not that you care. Okay, so the reviews are lacking, but I am thankful to those of you who have reviewed. Now more of you guys need to! Don't know when next chapter will be up, in a few days I suppose. It will be what Edward and Bella do AFTER school.

REVIEW!