Chapter 2

School

Jeff's alarm began to go off at six, and he sat up on the sofa rubbing his eyes. He grabbed a clean paid purple and black shirt and a pair of pants from his bag, and went to the cramped bathroom and hopped into the shower. When he was done with his morning rituals and entered the kitchen in order to grab a piece of toast, he met up with Jacob.

"Hey, are you ready to learn how to use your motorcycle?"

"Oh, yeah."

Jeff grabbed his backpack as Jacob lead the way outside to the shed, and pulled out a red motorcycle, whose paint was chipping slightly, and had some rust at the various connection points.

"Wow, that looks great," Jeff said trying to hide the sarcasm in his voice.

"Thanks, I did almost all of the work on it. It wouldn't even run before we got it."

"That is cool," Jeff responded approaching the bike.

"Okay, the clutch is down by your left leg, then the brake is on the right handle."

Jeff hopped on it, turned the key, flipped the switch to start the engine that came to a roar, and slammed his left foot down on the clutch.

"Now ease up on the clutch and rev the right handle to accelerate."

Jeff slowly released the clutch, and it began to lurch forward.

"THANK YOU JAKE!" Jeff shouted as he raced down the driveway towards the road.

"NO PROBLEM!"

It took him almost 25 minutes to make it to the school, but he had left early and made it to school with 15 minutes to spare.

Once he finally took his key out of his motorcycle, a girl just pulled in with a old red Chevy pick-up. The girl was very pale in complexion with long, had straight, dark brown hair, a widow's peak, unique chocolate brown eyes and a heart-shaped face with a wide forehead.

She got out of the pick-up and walked over to where Jeff was standing.

"Hi, you must be Jeff," the girl said stretching out a hand.

"Yeah, and you are? Jeff shook the girls hand.

"Bella… Bella Swan, Jake mentioned that you were coming to this school, and I remember how I wish I had some one I knew on my first day."

"Oh, thanks. It is nice meeting you. Jake talked to me about you."

"Really?" she looked surprised and embarrassed.

"Sorry, did I offend you?"

"No, you just caught me off guard."

There was a screech of tires behind them and a door slammed shut. They both turned around and saw a spotless silver Volvo S60 R and the boy who got out of it. He looked like a god with the hard square of his jaw, the softer curve of his full lips- twisted in a smile now, the straight line of his nose, the top of his forehead- partially obscured by the tangle of rain-darkened bronze hair.

"Edward, this is Jeff. He is Jacob's cousin."

"Hello," he grabbed Bella's hand almost defensively.

"Hi," Jeff reached out a hand and Edward shook it hesitantly, "Wow, did you ever think about investing in a pair of gloves? Your hands are freezing."

"Yeah, I forgot mine at home," he quickly rebutted.

"Well, it was nice meeting the both of you. I better go into the principle's office to get my schedule."

"Likewise," Edward stated

As he walked into the school Jeff quickly looked over his shoulder and saw Edward was whispering to Bella. He became so frustrated about what he could have possible been saying about him that he ran into and almost knocked down a girl. She had dark brown hair that fell in waves over her shoulders, amber eyes with black rectangular glasses, sun-kissed skin, and was five seven.

"I am so sorry," Jeff panicked, and crouched down helping her gather her books.

"It is okay," she said convincingly, "Oh, I've never seen you here before. Are you new?"

"Yeah, my name's Jeff. I just moved here from Las Vegas."

"I'm Michelle. Do you need any help?"

"Actually yes, I am looking for the principal's office."

"Here, I will bring you there."

Michelle got up and lead the way down the hall, but two more girls came from around the corner. One was five eight, had long reddish brown that draped past her shoulders, and freckles. The other was five foot seven, had sandy blonde hair that fell past her shoulders.

"Oh, Jeff, this is Madison and Isabella," Michelle stated, gesturing first to the tallest and then the shortest.

"Hi," Jeff said waving to the two girls.

"Hello," Madison said, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you," Isabella added, "Everyone calls me Bella though. I am not the crazy one that people talk about though."

"The crazy one?" Jeff asked, "You mean Bella Swan?"

"Wait, are you friends with her?" Bella questioned.

"Not really, but my cousin Jacob is."

"Wait, Jacob Black is your cousin?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah, I live with him."

"Don't they all go to school on the reservation?" Madison continued the conversation.

"Yes, but I wanted to go to regular school with regular kids."

"Oh."

"We better hurry Jeff. You only have five more minutes until first period, and you don't have a schedule," Michelle pointed out, pulling Jeff down the hall and shoving him into an office. It took them ten minutes to finish his registration and gave him a schedule. He walked down the hall and entered a chemistry room giving the teacher his schedule.

"Please take a seat next to Brittney," the teacher instructed, "Brittney, raise your hand."

A girl who was five eight, with brown hair put up into a ponytail, and light brown skin raised her hand quickly and put it down. The teacher gave out syllabi and instructed them to read them.

"Hi, I am Jeff."

"I'm Brittney," she said quickly, turning the page of her syllabus.

"So, have you gone here your whole time in High School?" Jeff tried to start a conversation.

"No."

"You're a freshman?"

"No."

"Are you a senior?"

"Yes."

"Me too."

"That's nice."

Jeff grabs her shoulder and realizes that she is ice cold.

"Are you okay? You are freezing."

"I need to go to the nurse."

"Do you want me to walk you there?"

"No, I can take care of myself."

She got a pass from the teacher and stormed out of the room.

'She was as cold as that Edward guy,' Jeff thought, remembering when he shook his hand.

The bell rang and Jeff walked to his next class, British Literature.

He took a seat next to a rather kind looking girl that was five seven, had long brown hair that lightly covered her left eye and was curly towards he bottom, by her shoulders, and had light brown eyes that were almost a copper color.

"Hi I'm Alyssa," the girl said when Jeff was seated.

"Jeff," he was still thinking about how Brittney acted earlier.

"Are you new?"

"Yeah, I came here from Las Vegas."

"Oooo, Las Vegas was it fun down there?"

"Not really. When you are a local you get tired of the strip, and I am too young to gamble in the casinos."

"I suppose. So, do you like the cold and rain that we have here?"

"I am still adjusting to it. I think I will learn to love it."

"That is cool."

The bell rang and the teacher began class with yet another syllabus, which every teacher was doing. When it was finally over Jeff said goodbye to Alyssa and traded phone numbers. Then he hurried off to Precalculus. He took a seat next to another girl that looked strangely familiar, but he was almost certain they had never met before. She was five eight, had long straight sandy blond hair that fell just past her shoulders, and hazel eyes that resemble the leaves hanging in the trees outside.

"Hello, my name is Jeff," he began, "I'm sorry, but do you have a relative that goes here?"

"You must mean my sister, Alyssa. We don't look that similar, and she skipped a grade, so she is a senior now too.

"Oh, I just met her. She seems really nice."

"Wait till you get to know her."

"Ha, sounds like a typical sibling feud."

"Yeah, but she is only really nice at the beginning. I am BreeAnna by the way."

The bell rang and the teacher did the same thing as the res, and went over the syllabus for the class. The teacher finished up just when the bell rang and Jeff gathered his things.

"Do you have plans for lunch?" he asked BreeAnna curiously.

"Naw, I was going to meet up with Alyssa and try to grab a table."

"Do you mind if I join you?"

"No, we better hurry though, because the tables fill up fast."

They rushed out of the room and entered the cafeteria that was filled with several small round tables. They went through the line and picked up a tray and a plate of what might have been chicken nuggets and tater-tots, then took a seat at an empty table near the windows.

"JEFF!" Michelle shouted rushing over to him with her tray followed by Isabella and Madison, "How is your day going?" she asked, taking the seat next to him.

"Good."

Alyssa came and sat down next to BreeAnna and Isabella and Madison took the other two seats.

"Oh, hi Jeff. You know BreeAnna?"

"Yeah," BreeAnna answered, "we have Precalculus together."

Suddenly Jeff felt a chill down his spine and he turned to notice Edward and Bella had entered the room and went to a table that was only two away from where Jeff was.

"I have a question," Jeff whispered to Michelle.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Can you tell me more about that Edward guy?"

"Oh him," she looked shocked and uncomfortable with the question, "he lives with Carlisle, a doctor in town, and several other siblings that were adopted."

Just as she finished her statement four other students entered the cafeteria and they were almost as pale as Edward.

"The tallest boy," she continued, quickly pointing towards the one that was six foot five and had dark curly hair, "his name is Emmett, and I wouldn't bother him. Then there is his girlfriend," she pointed to the one that was five nine, with golden hair, that was gently waving to the middle of her back, "Her name is Rosalie." "Then there is Alice," she gestured to the shortest one, at four ten, that was pixie-like, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction. "She is probably the strangest of all of them. She starts conversations and then stops suddenly staring off into space. They say she get's migraines, but I don't believe it. Finally is her boyfriend, Jasper," she glanced at the boy that was six three and had golden honey blond hair, "he is just as scary as Emmett, but some say that he is scarier, because of all the scars."

"Wow, they are all living together?"

"Yep."

"Now what about Bella?"

"I will take care of this one," Isabella cut Michelle off, "she used to be normal just like us, but then she started to ask questions about the Cullens, and now she never leaves Edward's side."

Jeff turned to glance at them quickly, but they were all staring at their table.

"Great, I think they heard you guys," BreeAnna moaned, poking the chicken nugget with the spork.

Bella had left the table where Edward was and was walking towards them.

"Hi Jeff," she began.

"Oh, hi Bella, I didn't see you there," he lied; obviously she knew that he saw her.

"Edward wanted me to find out if you would like to join us?" she stated with an inviting smile.

'She is planning something. I can tell,' Jeff thought, 'Yet, I feel a strange desire to go with her. Maybe for only a minute.'

"Sure," Jeff grabbed his plate and backpack and followed Bella to the table.

"Hi," Alice began, stretching out a hand towards Jeff, "my name is Alice. Bella was just talking to us about you."

'She was talking about me? Was I really interesting enough to bring up to other people?' Jeff thought, shaking he girl's hand which was cold like Edward's. "It is nice to meet you."

"I'm Emmett," the boy interjected, grabbing Jeff's hand and squeezing it so hard that it felt like he trying to break his fingers.

"I'm Jasper," Jasper mumbled quietly next to Alice.

"Rosalie," the final girl stated quickly.

"Do you like it here in Forks?" Alice asked, trying to keep the conversation from going silent.

"Yeah, it is nice here, but you don't really see the sun very often."

They all glared at Jeff like he had just found out their darkest secret.

"Yeah, Carlisle takes all of us out for some hiking on sunny days, because he believes that it is a good experience for us to grow as a family," Alice convinced.

"You miss school to go camping?"

"Yes, he is a very strong believer in the outdoors," Emmett interrupted, causing Jeff to stop questioning.

"Bella mentioned that you are a relative of Jacob," Alice continued.

"Yeah, we are cousins."

"Did you move here so that you could visit him more?"

"I guess you could say that," Jeff replied, 'Now that I think about it, dad never did tell me why I had to come here.'

"That is good, because family is important."

Jeff was beginning to understand why everyone thought Alice was weird, but there was something about her that kept him from trying to make an excuse to leave.

Alice continued to ask him questions about his family and how they moved a lot.

"You don't have to stay here," Edward interrupted, startling Jeff, because he hadn't spoke since he got there, "You can go back to your other friends."

Alice gave Edward a look of disgust.

"I really should go back over there. I leant BreeAnna my nicest pencil and I should get it back."

Alice looked at Jeff like he was crazy, but he finally pulled himself away and returned to his old table with five minutes left of lunch.

"I can't believe you went over there," Madison complained.

"Sorry, it is complicated."

"They are not good company to keep," Alyssa added.

"Alice seems nice."

"What?" Michelle asked in disbelief.

"If you take the time to talk to her, you realize that she is really nice."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, but you were right about Emmett, he is scary, and I think he tried to break my hand."

The bell rang drawing lunch to a close, but Jeff only had three classes on his schedule, because he wanted some open periods and went to the parking lot and got on his motorcycle. On his way home, he had a strange feeling like he was being watched, but there wasn't another car in sight. He pulled into the driveway and parked his bike by the shed and went to the house, knocking before going inside.

"Hey, how was your first day?" Billy asked rolling into the hallway.

"Good, I made some friends, but I met some rather strange people too."

"Strange? How?"

"Well, I met Bella, that Jake brought up to me, but then I met her boyfriend, Edward. He was unusually cold and rather quiet."

"Yeah," Billy answered quickly seeming rather uninterested.

"Then I met some nice regular people too. Michelle, Isabella, BreeAnna, and Alyssa."

"Yeah, they are nice kids, but don't get too friendly with the Cullens."

"You aren't the first person to tell me that. What is wrong with them? Alice seems nice, but the rest do come off as rude sometimes."

"They just don't have a good reputation."

"Reputation? What did they do?"

"It is a story from a long time ago."

"So, I have to exclude a group of people, because of a story about them? Isn't that a little racist?"

"You'll understand someday."

"Whatever, I think that they are okay, and I am not going to ignore them, because of what other people think about them."

A few weeks went by that were rather uneventful, but the Cullens weren't lying; every sunny day they weren't at school and Bella looked lonely sitting by herself at the table. However, not only were the Cullens absent on the sunny days, but Brittney wasn't in class either. Finally things began to change on September 13th.

"Hey Jeff, do you want a ride to school?" Jake asked while Jeff was eating a bowl of cereal.

"You're coming to my school today?" Jeff asked shocked.

"I have something important to do."

"Sure, but we have to bring my bike, because I don't want to worry you with having to pick me up."

"Fine."

They went outside and Jacob loaded the motorcycle into the bed of the truck with ease.

"Woah!" Jeff was in shock.

"What?"

"That thing is heavy, and you just picked it right up."

"Yeah, I have been working out."

"Where? You never invited me."

"Yeah, it is complicated."

"Okay," Jeff hopped into the passenger seat.

Once they got to the school Jeff got out and saw Bella and Edward walking towards the school. Once Jacob got out of the truck they stopped walking and Bella turned around to look out Jake.

"Jacob?" she asked, surprisingly.

"Yeah."

"You…you're buff," she began, "You know anabolic steroids are bad for you."

"Happy birthday," he handed her a dream catcher that had three small feathers hanging from the bottom.

"Oh, thanks."

"I saw it and I thought of you."

"Its perfect."

Jeff barged into the conversation, "I didn't know it was your birthday Bella."

"Yeah, I don't like presents."

"Who doesn't like presents? They are free and whatever you want."

"I mostly don't like having a party."

"Dang it. I would have thrown one for you. I throw good parties."

"It is okay, I have to work today."

"WORK! On your birthday? What is wrong with you?" Jeff began to raise his voice and Edward turned around.

"Jeff, leave her alone," Jacob tried to calm him down.

"I just can't believe that anyone would not want their birthday to be special," Jeff stormed into the school and ended up bumping into Brittney.

"Oh, I am sorry," he began, but then he noticed who it was, "IT IS YOU!" he yelled, "Where have you been? You have missed the past three days of school, and every sunny day this year."

The girl was in shock at the enraged boy.

"I'm sorry," she stuttered oddly.

"I think that there is something wrong with you. Are you albino? Do you break out in hives in the sunlight?"

"Yeah."

"No! That sounds like a I didn't even know what albino meant until now yeah," Jeff continued to scold her.

"Hi, Jeff," Alice's voice rang as she skipped gracefully down the hall towards them, "What is wrong?"

"Nothing, I was just telling Brittney about how it isn't a good idea to miss as much school as she does."

"Brittney?" Alice looked confused, "I didn't know there was a Brittney at this school."

"Do you know everyone in the school?" Brittney asked coldly.

"I thought I did. I am Alice," she reached her hand out and Brittney grabbed it. Their eyes stayed locked on one another for at least a minute, "It is nice meeting you."

Brittney didn't respond; instead she rushed down the hallway.

"See how weird she is," Jeff commented, but Alice was just staring straight ahead like a zombie, "Umm, are you… okay?" Jeff waved his hand in front of her face and she sprung back to life.

"Oh sorry, I have to go. I am sorry," she rushed out the front doors and began to talk with Edward.

"I think this whole town is nuts," Jeff began, "I mean, hasn't anyone ever taught them manners?"

"I don't think so," a girl interrupted behind him, she was five six with long black hair and golden brown eyes, "Hi, my name is Naomi."

"Hi, Jeff," he was shocked when he found out that her hand was actually warm.

"Well, Jeff, it is nice meeting you. You see, I noticed that you came here with Jacob Black."

"Yeah, he is my cousin."

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, sorry I didn't mean to offend you. I just didn't know the Black family extended outside of La Push."

"So, do you know the Black family pretty well?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," she smiled slightly.

"Are you a friend of Jake's?"

"Sorry, but no. You see I study Native American tribes and I was particularly fascinated with theirs."

"Oh, did you want to come over, after school, or something?"

"You would ask me after only just meeting. You are very kind and that would be great."

"Cool, I will meet you in the parking lot after school."

"Great, thank you so much. This will really help with my research."

"No problem," Jeff said and they parted ways.

When lunch came around Jeff noticed that all of the Cullens were gone and Bella was sitting with another group of kids. So he took a seat with Isabella, Michelle, Madison, Alyssa, and BreeAnna.

"Hey you guys, so I met someone new today."

"Really, who?" Michelle asked.

"Her name is Naomi. Do you guys know her?"

"Oh, the really pretty girl?" Isabella asked, "She is a new transfer student."

"Hmm, that is odd because she sounded like she had been living here for a while."

"What makes you think that?" BreeAnna questioned.

"Well, she knew a lot about the Black family and she said she was working on a report on Native Americans. I just thought it must have been a school project."

"Nope, I think she started today," Alyssa reinforced.

"I will have to ask her more about it after school. Do you guys know where the Cullens went?"

"They all left just before classes started," Madison replied.

"I wonder if it has anything to do with Brittney?"

"Oh, that girl who doesn't talk to anyone?" Michelle asked.

"She talks to me," Jeff chimed in.

"Yeah, no's and yes's," Alyssa reminded him.

"Well, at least I got that from her."

"Why do all the weirdos talk to you?" BreeAnna asked.

"Well, they aren't that weird if you get to know them better."

"Sure they aren't, but maybe you are just weird too," Michelle joked.

"Well, is being weird really that bad?"

The bell rang and they all parted ways and went to class. Finally when school was over Jeff met Naomi in the parking lot like they agreed.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Jeff asked.

"What is it?"

"Did you lie to me? About the report?"

"No, what made you think that?"

"Well, my friends said you just started today so it can't be a school project."

"Oh no, it is completely recreational. I find Native American culture fascinating."

"Okay, well let me pull up my motorcycle and we will go."

Jeff hopped on his motorcycle and revved the engine a few times before pulling up in front of Naomi.

"Okay, hop on and hold on tight."

"You should know, I have a boy friend."

"Oh, sorry that isn't what this is about. I just don't have an extra helmet."

"Okay."