Disclaimer: Don't own Twilight
Revision, executed :D
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Aubrey looked around her neighborhood in Little Rock. Her friendly neighbors were all walking about, getting their mail, visiting each other, waving to passerbys. She took a deep breath, smiling. Home.
She opened her eyes, but couldn't see. The many pines of Forks were blocking her view. She couldn't see the hills or the radio towers. The distant Pinnacle Mountain was out of sight. Trees were everywhere. She couldn't move, for stems, bushes, and trunks closed her in. She couldn't move. It began to rain. Lightning struck the top of a tree...
"IT'S BEEN ONE WEEK SINCE YOU LOOKED AT ME
COCKED YOUR HEAD TO THE SIDE AND SAID 'I'M ANGRY'
FIVE DAYS SINCE YOU LAUGHED AT ME SAYING
'GET THAT TOGETHER COME BACK AND SEE ME'!"
Aubrey shot up and her hand flew out instinctively at the sudden noise. It knocked her lamp off of the nightstand as she slammed the 'snooze' button on her alarm. Her breath whooshed out of her as she waited for her heart rate to return to normal. Six thirty am. Time to get up. If she wanted enough time for breakfast before walking to school, that is. School. The word made her shudder.
The seventeen-year-old stretched and stood up, and then she walked down the hall to the bathroom to take care of the necessities. Upon returning to her room, she pulled on a long-sleeve shirt and a pair of dark jeans. Her tennis shoes were still wet from the day before, but wearing wet sneakers in wet weather was better than wearing flip-flops in Washington winter.
Aubrey shuffled into the kitchen, glancing at the microwave clock. 7:25. The walk, short as it was, would take at least 15 minutes, and Aubrey needed time to find where her classes were. And what her classes were for that matter. To save time, Aubrey quickly grabbed a small travel-size box of Frosted Flakes and started for the door. She glanced back once at the marker board she and Jack had bought for his belated morning announcements. His untidy scrawl wished her a good first day. Doubtful.
Sighing, Aubrey picked up a waterproof jacket that was slung over the arm of the couch, pulled it on, and walked out into the rain. She zipped up the front of her jacket after locking up and started down towards the asphalt road.
The puddles from the day before had all doubled in number and size overnight and took up most of the road. Luckily, it didn't look to Aubrey as if many cars came to school from the direction she had come from, so she had a chance of making it to the high school without being drenched by a giddy hydroplaner.
Aubrey stopped, looking down. A 2-inch puddle covered the entire roadway. She calculated the distance across. If she had a running start she could just make the jump. Aubrey focused her vision on the opposite side of the puddle and braced herself on her back foot. One...two...three. She launched herself over the puddle. The loose laces of a sneaker snagged under the rubber sole of the other and Aubrey came crashing back down to earth in the middle of the water.
"Shit!" she hissed as she stood up. One leg of her jeans was completely soaked from the knee down and her socks, already wet from the sneakers, were now sopping. Aubrey sloshed across the rest of the puddle and bent down to tie the offending laces. The combination of the rain and the cold of winter made her fingers feel icy so near the ground, but she worked quickly, ignoring the spreading numbness.
The yellow-striped street shimmered slightly, catching Aubrey's eye. Her hands abandoned the shoelaces and she looked back over her shoulder apprehensively. A very large, old red truck had just rounded the corner and was headed right towards her at impressive speed. Aubrey froze for half a second, then she vaulted herself to the side of the road just in time and rolled into the ditch. Instantly, wet grass enveloped her already hypothermic ankles, making her curse. Aubrey slowly began the climb back up the small slope to the road. When she reached the top, she found that the red truck had stopped and a girl was stepping out of it.
"Are you okay?" she was asking in genuine concern as she ran towards Aubrey.
"Fine, I'm fine," mumbled Aubrey. She bent down and finished tying her other shoe before anything else could happen. Two boots presented themselves in her line of sight and she straightened, her eyes fixed on the boots somewhat enviously.
"You're sure you're not hurt?" asked the girl, drawing Aubrey's attention.
"I'm fine," assured Aubrey, smiling nervously, like Jack did so often in awkward situations.
"Where are you going?" asked the girl. Aubrey judged her to be around the same age that she was.
"Uh...the high school," Aubrey replied, brushing her now-soaking hair out of her face.
"I'll drive you the rest of the way there," the red truck girl offered decisively.
"Really, it's fine, the school is right up there," said Aubrey, indicating the next curve in the road. The girl shook her head, sending her long, brown locks swaying.
"No, I nearly ran you over, just let me drive you there," she said.
"Fine, okay," said Aubrey. She wasn't totally committed to pushing her argument in this weather. She accompanied the girl back to her truck, climbing into the warm cab on the passenger side and sighing in happiness. The girl started the engine with a loud roar and began to drive. Aubrey looked at her.
"I'm Aubrey, by the way," she said. "I uh...just moved here." That struck the girl's interest.
"Oh, where did you move from?" she asked.
"Little Rock, Arkansas."
"I just got here two days ago from Phoenix. My dad's the police chief."
"Wow...so you get to ride in that car with the lights?" asked Aubrey in awe. The girl laughed.
"Not if I can help it," she said.
"Sorry, I didn't catch your name," said Aubrey.
"Oh, Bella Swan," said the girl with a smile. "Sorry, everyone knows me here because of my dad. I forget to introduce myself."
"Understandable," said Aubrey.
In what seemed like no time, the large red truck pulled into the student parking lot, slowing to a stop. Aubrey grasped the latch and opened the door, looking back at Bella.
"Well...thanks for the ride," she said, reluctantly getting out of the warm cab.
"I couldn't let you keep walking after almost running you over," said Bella with a friendly smile. She lifted a hand and pointed across the lawn at one of the brick buildings. "The administration office is over there by the way."
"Thanks," said Aubrey. She waved a goodbye to Bella and headed in the direction of the building. The green door easily swung open and a wave of warmth washed over Aubrey. The inner office wasn't much to look at. Bland rug, bland walls, bland desk. The only interesting feature was the plethora of plants that littered the room. Behind the desk, a large woman in a green t-shirt peered through her spectacles curiously.
"Can I help you?" she asked. Her voice seemed to grate on Aubrey's ears.
"Umm...I need my schedule. I might not have one though. We got here yesterday..." mumbled Aubrey. The woman shuffled though a large, yet straight pile of papers. She tugged out several sheets and stapled them together.
"There you are, Miss Neils. There's a map of the school and your schedule," she said as she handed the packet to Aubrey. "Your first class is Trigonometry over in building 3. I hope you enjoy it here in Forks." The sentence was punctuated with a smile reminiscent of an airplane stewardess's. Aubrey merely turned away and walked out of the door into the downpour once more.
The Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, sent Aubrey to a seat in the back next to a brown-haired, quiet girl, without making a big presentation of her new-studentness. The girl turned and smiled as Aubrey sat down.
"Hello. I'm Angela Weber. Are you new here?" she asked kindly. Aubrey nodded, smiling back.
"Yeah, I'm Aubrey Neils," she said. They didn't get anymore opportunity for talking, however, because it was a that time that Mr. Varner decided to begin teaching a complicated formula. Aubrey let her eyes drift around the classroom. They paused on every guy they perused over and took in their features. Some might call it prejudicing, but Aubrey called it guyspotting.
The class did nothing for her. She had learned most of the formulas the previous year with a particularly evil teacher who had seemed to think that the class could learn the next semester's lessons in addition to the first's. Well, now she knew there were benefits to rapidfire lessons.
After the math hour had passed, Aubrey headed off across the wet grounds to her other classes as the schedule ordered them: Biology, Government, and English. All were pretty uneventful, as far as classes go, though in Government a round-faced blonde boy did introduce himself nicely to be Mike Newton.
When the clock struck noon, the students of Forks High migrated as one to the cafeteria building. The large, dry interior comforted Aubrey as soon as she entered. Whatever mild fears she'd had about finding a sitting space were immediately lost as she picked up her tray of food from the front and walked to an empty table, taking a seat. She cheerfully bit into an apple, chewing away at it, when someone cleared their throat on the other side of the table. Aubrey looked up, shocked to see four people standing there. Not just normal people either. Beautiful people.
There was a sandy-haired, tall boy, probably older than Aubrey, standing between a pixilike girl with untidy, short, dark hair and a curly-haired, unbelievably muscular senior. Next to the possible steroid pusher stood a heavenly blonde, too beautiful to be real. It was she who had cleared her throat. Indeed each of them were too beautiful to be real. They looked more like brilliant carved marble statues inset with topaz gems in place of eyes. Their skin shone pale pearly white and their hair seemed to be the finest silk. And they were all staring at Aubrey coldly as she chewed her apple.
Aubrey froze in mid-chew. The topaz stares of the four statues were intensely intimidating. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she forced herself to speak. "Um...hello?" The foursome didn't speak. Their stares didn't lessen. "I'm...doing something wrong, aren't I?" asked Aubrey, her ears turning red under the pressure like her father's had done. The blonde inclined her head slightly in the affirmative. "I'm...sitting at your table aren't I?" A further inclination of the head.
Aubrey quickly put on her most apologetic smile as she grabbed her food and stood. The angelic beings quickly took their seats, still staring coldly. Aubrey turned and walked away on leaden legs, feeling as though holes were boring into her back from the intensity of the stares. The stiffness in her spine subsided once she reached a safe distance and she glanced back over her shoulder, relieved to find the statuesque figures talking amongst themselves, no longer watching her.
Aubrey looked around at the other crowded tables glumly, her small bout of comfort gone. She felt a tap on her shoulder and whirled around to face the Weber girl from her Trigonometry class. She was smiling at her.
"Need a seat?" she asked cheerily. Aubrey nodded, relieved.
"Uh...yeah.." she answered awkwardly.
"You can sit with us," she said. Aubrey felt a pang of guilt that she couldn't remember the girl's first name.
"Thanks," Aubrey replied. "I'm sorry, what's your name again?"
"Angela Weber," said the girl. Aubrey repeated the name to herself a few times as she followed Angela to a table. A few other students were seated there already, including Aubrey's previous acquaintances, Bella Swan and Mike Newton. A brunette girl who struck Aubrey as the gossip type, a blonde girl with a pushed-up nose, and an acne-ridden, raven-haired boy had joined them. Via Angela's introductions, Aubrey found the others' names to be Jessica Stanley, Lauren Mallory, and Eric Yorkie. She introduced herself, and silently pushed her first impressions of them aside. It was better to discover them over time rather than in the first five minutes of awkward introductions.
"Why were you sitting at the Cullens' table?" Jessica asked curiously, her eyes narrowed as if sizing Aubrey up on who she was and who she thought she was.
"Er...I didn't know it was their table," admitted Aubrey. "It was empty when I got there."
"So you don't know them?" continued Jessica, the interest in her voice ebbing.
"No, I don't know anyone here yet except you all," Aubrey clarified. Jessica sat back and let out a quiet "Oh" doused in disappointment, biting a forkful of macaroni broodingly. Aubrey glanced back over her shoulder at the strange students.
"Erm...who are they, anyway?" she asked. Jessica's face lit up once more. It seemed the only exciting thing second to receiving gossip was the delight of spreading it..
"Oh, that's Alice and Emmett Cullen, and Jasper and Rosalie Hale. The blondes are the Hales. Jasper is with Alice and Emmett is with Rosalie."
"I don't see the resemblance between Alice and Emmett at all..." mused Aubrey, her eyes studying Emmett's ridiculously muscled arms in comparison to the twiglike limbs of the tiny Alice. Jessica laughed.
"That's because they're adopted," she said. "They all live together in the same house. But only four of them came today. Edward and Marek didn't show up. Oh, that's another thing. Marek isn't adopted. Apparently he's a friend of their family's and he is staying with them here for a year or two."
"And Edward?" Aubrey noticed Bella stiffen slightly, but she overlooked it, focusing instead on Jessica.
"He's a Cullen," said the gossip, twirling a brunette curl around her finger casually.
"What grade are they all in?" asked Aubrey.
"Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper are seniors, and Edward, Alice, and Marek are juniors," said Jessica. Aubrey hesitated before moving on to her next question.
"Are Edward and Marek...like the others?" she asked disjointedly. Jessica got the meaning though, along with the other people at the table.
"Unbelievably gorgeous, you mean? Yes! But they're not available if that's what you're thinking."
"I wasn't, and why not?" inquired Aubrey. Jessica's expression turned to a slight pout.
"They don't think anyone here is good enough for them," she scoffed. Aubrey glanced back at the other table. She could believe that.
She watched the strange beings mutter amongst themselves. Alice seemed to smile the most out of all of them, though the Schwartzenegger of Forks High seemed good-natured as well. The one called Jasper seemed a little preoccupied, staring at the table rather than at his siblings. And Rosalie, enviable Rosalie, was talking about something unsatisfactory judging by the way the corners of her perfect mouth moved down in a frown. And suddenly her golden eyes flicked up to meet Aubrey's. She turned around quickly and shoved the apple into her mouth once more, chewing wildly to cover up her staring. When she next chanced a glance back at the table, the foursome had gone.
Lunch ended and Aubrey tossed away her lunch tray on her way out of the doors, waving a quick goodbye to her new lunch group. Then it was out through the falling rain to French class. Upon arriving, she found that this class she had with Angela as well. The lesson was pretty basic, as far as French lessons go, and Aubrey found she already knew the material on the next test.
Her last class was Gym, which, she found, she had with Mike, Bella, and, once again, Angela. The teacher, Coach Clapp, handed her a uniform at the start of class, but she did not have to play since it was her first day. Many a jealous look glanced her way as she watched the rest of the class stumble, or in Bella's case collide, through a game of volleyball. The class was larger than the average gym class because, as Aubrey later found, the course of physical education was required for all four years of high school. She didn't mind as much as the other students obviously did.
When the bell rang, Aubrey was the first out of the doors. As she passed the student parking lot, her eyes followed a shiny red convertible as it sped out of the parking lot with reckless speed. As it turned onto the street, she saw a whip of blonde hair in the driver's seat before the car vanished into the trees. Of course the Cullens would have money and looks. She sighed and dodged a puddle on the asphalt.
The walk home passed without major incident, and Aubrey soon found herself blissfully cuddled up inside the dry, warm interior of the house. They still had not gone food shopping, so Aubrey dialed 411 and found the number of a pizza place they had passed on the drive around the town. She reasoned that it was better to order pizza than to walk to Thriftway and back in this weather.
Hanging up the phone, Aubrey turned and walked down the back hallway to Jack's room. A Mac laptop sat on the floor in a corner with its tangled, white wires plugged into an extension cord that sat by the wall. There had been a school desk in their possession that they had used to set the laptop on, but it had been lost in the move, much to Jack's frustration. Aubrey walked to the head of the unmade bed and rummaged under the covers for a pillow. She dragged it to the floor in front of the computer and sat on it, turning the screen on.
Aubrey clicked on her name on the user list and watched as her desktop faded into view. The icon toolbar popped up at the bottom and she flicked the mouse down to the postage stamp, clicking it and watching it bounce as she accessed her email. Nothing new to report unless you counted a funny Corazon liquor video Jack had sent her from his work. Aubrey logged off and walked back into the kitchen. She unzipped her backpack and pulled out several books, resigning herself to her homework.
A few hours later there was the familiar sound of crunching gravel and a shaft of light projected shadow stripes onto the carpet of the den as Jack's car pulled into the driveway. Aubrey looked up as the light shaft turned off. She stood and looked through the blinds, watching her father run through the rain towards the front door. He opened it and stepped inside, hanging up his jacket as he shook his wet dark hair out like a wet dog.
"Hey dad," Aubrey greeted, walking back to the couch where her books sat open. "How was work?"
"Great...great..." muttered Jack, walking over to the open pizza box at the kitchen counter and grabbing a piece. He chewed it thoughtfully for a moment before swallowing and asking, "Do you know anyone at your school with the last name Cullen?" Aubrey looked up.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" she asked.
"Their father...well, adopted father, Carlisle Cullen is a surgeon at the hospital," said Jack. "Nice guy. Dunno why he's a doctor though..."
"Why?"
"Well he looks like he could be an Abercrombie model, that's why," said Jack, laughing. "But he's happily married way up here in Forks rather than living it up in LA."
"His kids are like that too," said Aubrey. "But they're not related..."
"Ironic..." mumbled Jack through a mouthful of pizza. "So, how was your first day of school?"
"Nothing special. I met a few people," said Aubrey. Jack didn't need to hear about the near-death experience from that morning. "My sneakers are soaked through."
"Guess you'll have to wear sandals tomorrow then..." said Jack. Aubrey sighed.
"Can you get off early tomorrow?" she asked. "We need to get food and I need dry shoes or boots of some kind." Jack scratched the back of his neck.
"I'll try," he said finally. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Aubrey returned to her books and scribbled a few words down on her homework sheet. Then she slammed her book shut.
"Well, I'm done. G'night." Jack raised his eyebrows.
"That's it? All of your homework is done?"
"Yup. I'm going to bed," said Aubrey. Jack snorted and shook his head as his daughter walked into the back hallway.
"Night, Aubrey," he called after her.
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