*Chapter 1 was just some background. Time has passed since, but we'll revisit Bella's past later.

Chapter 2

I willed myself to go again. I was approaching my fourth year here, longer than I had let myself stay ever before and it was time to go. Forks, WA was my next destination.

I went through the motions for what was close to the 20th time and before I knew it everything was prepared, I would leave tomorrow. I had decided that I would start in high school this time, I could stay longer that way if I pleased. "Never too long" I reminded myself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I made my way to my newly acquired cabin to get settled. "I should hunt now," I thought, "before school tomorrow."

I made my way along the forest, letting my senses take over when I caught the scent. It was very sweet and somehow cold. I had never come across this scent before and something about the smell made me feel as if I was in danger. I stiffened and prepared to protect myself but it was unnecessary, I was the only one here. I ran the other way to quiet my unease and lost the trail. I needed to sleep; I reminded myself that I couldn't go so long without taking care of my needs, it was making me loopy.

7:30 AM and my alarm rang as if I needed it. Sleep came for a few hours a couple times a week and evaded me for the rest. This is what it had been like ever since... I stopped that thought cold. I tried to think of something else and when that failed I settled for getting ready.

Showered and dressed I bolted out the door and reminded myself to move at a human pace. I finally arrived, still earlier than I hoped but that was fine. I could avoid more stares this way, I hoped in vain. I'm sure the school was already filled with the buzz of my arrival anyway. This is what small towns were like.

I walked through the doors and my senses immediately sharpened with the scent. Then I noticed a couple boys looking my way and thought it would be better to wipe the blood thirsty look from my face and greet them.

"Well hello there, lovely morning isn't it?" I tried.

"Yeah...yeah, Just" he hesitated "lovely." He finished with some uncertainty.

I waved at them and kept walking. Maybe it was my outfit? No, I look fine, it must have been my silly greeting. I had to drop the more proper English, it wasn't helping.

My first few classes were easy and not that uncomfortable. The stench of blood hadn't bothered me so much and the staring wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. People seemed interested enough but I sat at the back, attracting little attention because of it. It didn't give people much of an opportunity to look my way.

Next was lunch and I wanted to hide in the restroom. I talked myself into thinking there was no need, I was as plain as they got, I would probably blend in just fine. I was wrong. I entered slowly, unsure of where to sit and whether or not to eat when one of the boys from this morning ambushed me.

"Your Isabella right? I'm Mike Newton, I was in your first hour class, I didn't get a chance to talk to you then."

"Oh yes, I think I spotted you. You can call me Bella by the way. Nice to meet you."

"The feeling is mutual," he smiled "come sit with us?"

"Yeah sure."

Everyone made their brief introductions. I made mental notes of them all. It was then that I noticed them.

The five were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria at an otherwise empty table. They seemed to be silent, their gazes focused on the table past their trays of untouched food.

They were the only people not looking my way so it was safe to stare at them.

I got an odd feeling from looking at them, there was something about them but I couldn't quite place it.

They were all very different but somehow similar. There were three boys, one was very muscular with dark curly hair. The second was tall, leonine, with apparent muscles and honey blond hair. The third seemed smaller and younger than the other two, less bulky with messy bronze colored hair. The two girls were very different from each other too. One was very small, petite in every aspect with a disarray of short black spiky hair framing her face. The second was tall with long golden hair and a figure of a pin up girl.

They all looked similar though, they were very pale with very dark eyes emphasized by the dark shadows under them. It took me a second to take it in but all five of them were breathtakingly beautiful. They looked out of place in this dingy little cafeteria. But why did they look so familiar?

"Who are they?" I asked Jessica.

She looked up to follow my gaze to the five. She looked at the boyish one with the messy hair and he met her eyes for a brief second and then his eyes flickered in my direction and then back to his table, uninterested. Jessica giggled and began to answer my question.

"That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, the small girl that left is Alice Cullen. The two blondes are Rosalie and Jasper Hale, they're twins. They all live with Dr. Cullen and his wife Esme." She said in a hushed but excited tone

"They're..." I stopped at a loss of words.

"Perfect?" Jessica interrupted. "Yeah, they look that way. They're all together you know? Like together. And they live together." She paused, gauging for my reaction. When I gave none, she sighed, a little disappointed and continued. " They aren't actually related except for the twins but they were all adopted by Dr. Cullen."

"Why are they so secluded?" I asked a little too eager.

"They mostly keep to themselves." Angela said.

I looked again to their table and Edward again met my gaze, I quickly dropped my eyes but not before I noticed curiosity in his eyes.

"Edward doesn't date, I wouldn't waste my time. Apparently, none of the girls here are good looking enough for him."

Edward looked away, it seemed like with a smile on his face. I smiled too, poor Jessica, I thought.

The bell rang and I got ready to go.

"I'll see you later, I'm off to Biology. It was wonderful meeting all of you."

"I have Biology too, lets walk together." Angela said happily.

We walked together in silence, and reached the door of the classroom just as the bell rang. I glanced around the room and found that the only open seat was next to Edward Cullen. I focused on the carpet as I went to sit next to him, a little stunned by his beauty. As I sat a few things happened simultaneously; He stiffened, moved away from me with an angry and hostile expression, and the scent I had come across in the woods hit me.

I tensed. I looked into his eyes again and they were pitch black and furious.

I felt confused. I wished to be here more fiercely than anything but my self preservation had room in my head as well. The scent inspired such fear in me but this archangel couldn't be bad right?

The bell rang and I exhaled only to realize I had stopped breathing. I felt Edward bolt out the door before I had looked up. Something is wrong here, but what could it be?

I left the class very confused and decided to leave for the rest of the day. I couldn't focus my thoughts on anything but the Cullens and I had to clear my head.

"Hey Bella!" Called Mike behind me.

"Oh hello... Mike is it?" I asked even tough I was certain.

"Great! You remembered." He said, genuinely pleased.

"Yes." I was paying little attention at this point.

"So what did you do to Cullen? He looked... Upset about something" He added nonchalantly.

"Oh was that the boy I was sitting next to? I'm not sure, he didn't speak to me at all."

This seemed to please Mike.

"So where are you headed?"

"Home" I said flatly.

"Ditching already?" He asked concerned.

"No, no I'm going to go buy a car, my... Parents... I have to go pick it up right now." As I said it, it sounded like a good idea.

"Listen, I've got to go, thanks Mike. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, sure" he said smiling.

I walked away, wondering what my car would be like. I was a little low on cash so it would have to be something inexpensive. Could I learn to drive so quickly?

My earlier worries seemed to vanish as my thoughts wandered down a more happy venue. But that was short lived. I walked in to the office to let them know I would be leaving for the rest of the day when I noticed Edward standing at the receptionists ear. He didn't look my way and as I stood there I caught the gist of their conversation, he wanted to change his biology class to another period. He tried to persuade her with no success. I couldn't believe that this was about me. It simply couldn't be, how could he take such an intense dislike to me so soon?

Suddenly the door opened as another student stepped in and out of the office, the chilly air swirled my hair around my face and Edward's back stiffened. He turned to look at me with the same hatred as before and I froze. I felt terrified. He moved quickly and gracefully out the door before I had a chance to say anything. What had just happened?

I walked out of the office without a word as well and stepped into the open. I took a deep breath to steady myself and grabbed a newspaper. Car hunting seemed to have lost its appeal, but it was necessary. It would be too difficult to blend in otherwise.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I found a few cars worth taking a look at but only a couple were within a reasonable distance. I didn't want to go running too far. Deviating from the streets might prove to be dangerous and moving at a human pace for more than a few miles would be very irritating. La Push is where I would go first. There was a sturdy looking red truck I wanted to take a look at.

I loved it the second I saw it, it was old, sturdy and clean. It just seemed so strong and solid and something about it seemed so comforting to me. I was about to walk up the driveway when I heard someone open the front door.

"Hey there!" yelled out a young man from the steps. He was about 15 I thought and was dark with a with a very warm and inviting smile. He had long black hair tied back with a rubber band that swept from side to side as he moved.

"Oh hi, you startled me there." I said surprised.

"Im sneaky that way. So what brings you to the reservation, or more importantly, my driveway?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Oh, right. My name is Bella, I wanted to take a look at your truck." I said as I pointed to the news paper.

"Hi, I'm Jacob. That's great, let me get the keys, hold on a sec.

Ok, ready for the test drive? My dad isn't home right now but we can take it out for a spin."

"Actually I want to go ahead and buy it. No need for the test drive."

"Oh, ok" disappointment coloring his tone.

"Well I don't know how to drive, but if you promise you wont make fun of me I'll buy your truck and pay you for a few lessons."

He let out a loud booming laugh before he answered.

"Sorry, I wasn't supposed to laugh was I?" He grinned away

"I'll teach you for free, how about that?"

"Jacob, that's so nice but I think I would rather pay you for the lessons."

"No way, your doing me a favor by getting rid of this thing for me. My dad doesn't drive but he wont let me get a new car when we have a good one sitting right here." He gestured to the truck.

We went on talking this way for a while and it felt great. I felt like I could really be myself around Jacob. He was so warm and his smile seemed to brighten my day significantly. I felt at home here with him. After a long talk we agreed that he would give me a couple lessons before letting me drive it off on my own. Only one was necessary though, I caught on quickly.

It was getting dark so I told him I would visit again soon and took off. All in all, it felt like a good day. I wondered what tomorrow would bring.

* Ok so I know that was a lot of fluff but I promise I'll get to the good stuff soon. Tell me what you think though, I feel like this chapter wasnt as good as the first and I would appreciate some tips to help me improve.