The rest of the morning passed in a blur. Jeffrey guided her to her next class, and when he had to leave to go to a separate class, an interested girl came up and offered to guide her. Sarah noticed immediately that she talked a lot, but even then, Sarah couldn't seem to remember her name. The girl took her straight to English, and sat down beside another girl, but continued to talk to Sarah by craning her head back around the seat. Finally, the teacher entered and the class begun.

Just like every class that morning, nothing happened. I'd been in Advanced English back in California, and we were not studying a grammar rule that I'd already gone over many times back at home. I glanced up at the window, watching the light glitter against the rain that pelted down onto the window. I was vaguely listening to what the teacher was telling us, and so I was lucky that I heard the question when she called upon me.

"What about you, Ms. Fox?" she asked, calling my eyes back to the front of the class. She was glaring at me, obviously unhappy that she was being ignored. Unlike the other teachers, she hadn't taken pity on the new student, instead choosing to make Sarah's life as unpleasant as possible. Unfortunately for her, her efforts would go un-rewarded. Sarah Fox was craftier than most students when it came to avoiding punishment, and even though she was clearly bored and unfocused, it was not enough to stop her from getting the right question right.

"The answer is B," Sarah said immediately, smiling innocently at her teacher. The same trick had been used on her before, and that was why she continued to listen. After all, detention was boring and it only got her in trouble with her father. This way, she could easily avoid such hardships. Keeping one ear open to the class was easy, even if it was more boring than daydreaming. But daydreaming would probably lead her back to Chris, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

"That is correct," the teacher—Sarah couldn't even remember her name—replied icily. But she seemed to be convinced that Sarah was paying attention, and so she diverted her attention to another student, one who had been paying less attention than Sarah. The rest of the class passed slowly, the lesson never growing any more interesting. Finally, the bell rang. Lunchtime!

The talkative girl Sarah sat with led me to the cafeteria, still leaving Sarah without her name. She didn't need much prompting to keep the conversation going, allowing Sarah to concentrate on remembering her way around the school. They made their way to the cafeteria quickly, and, after getting their food, went over to sit at an empty table. The cafeteria was near full, and the table was probably one of the only tables that wasn't full of people.

"Hey, Sarah, Jenny! Come sit here!" Jeffrey called. He was sitting at a busier table, with four other people. The girl beside Sarah—Jenny was her name, as she had been reminded—stood up immediately, rushing Sarah over to the table. She seemed pleased that they were getting called over to another table, or perhaps it was just the fact that she was getting called… Suspicious, but Sarah didn't mind it, at least not yet. For now, she could deal with annoying girls, as long as it meant getting a friend.

Jeffrey quickly introduced Sarah to everyone sitting at the table. There was a girl named Ashley Matthews, the only one that Sarah would remember later on. Ashley seemed like the only person who wasn't totally focused on Sarah. Instead of throwing millions of questions at her, as the others had, Ashley smiled shyly at her and then returned to the textbook that she brought with her to lunch. There was something strange about the girl, something… different.

The rest of the day passed equally slowly, nothing of importance happening. Two more classes remained in the day, and neither of them held any interest for Sarah. The first was Biology, taught by a man named Mr. Banner. Biology passed slowly, and then there was Gym, which could have been worse. The coach gave Sarah an extra uniform and allowed me to join in a game of basketball. Her team lost the game, of course, but it was at least enjoyable.

But when Sarah left the gym, with her hood pulled tightly over her face, something caught her attention. Idling in the parking lot was a little motorcycle, nothing too fancy. The fact that there was a motorcycle in the student parking lot was odd, since there was no doubt a rule against it. But the motorcycle wasn't quite as interesting to Sarah as the boy riding it. Because she instantly recognized his body, his face, the look in his eyes…

The same boy who had passed Sarah on the street before was now sitting in the parking lot of her school. The same expression was on his face, but somehow intensified. His eyes were fixed on something far away, something only he could see. As before, he didn't seem to see Sarah at all, nor anyone else in the school. His sad eyes were nowhere near anyone, but instead on a closed door. Perhaps he was waiting for someone…

Sarah couldn't help but stare at the boy as she walked towards the street, where her father's car would no doubt be waiting. Before she made it all the way, Jenny caught up with her, chattering away again. Seizing the opportunity, Sarah decided to try to find out who the strange boy on the motorcycle was. It seemed like Jenny would be caught up on all the gossip, and there would certainly be some about a boy who rode to school on a motorcycle.

"Hey, Jenny," Sarah asked, cutting her off. Jenny looked hurt, but Sarah continued nonetheless. "Do you know who that boy is, the one on the motorcycle? Does he go to school here?"

Jenny looked up, and grinned menacingly. "Yes, that's Jacob Black. He lives in La Push, a Quileute reservation. His older sister used to be my brother's girlfriend. Why, you like him?" Her smile was bright, almost vicious. Sarah had obviously been correct about the gossip. She wanted to know why Sarah needed to know about Jacob Black. After all, it was suspicious enough.

Sarah blushed at the very thought, her thoughts returning to Chris once again. "No, no. I just saw him walking near my house, and he looked really… Well, really sad. Do you know what's wrong with him?" And why is he here? Sarah asked silently. He should be at school. Sarah knew that La Push had a school of its own, but Jacob wasn't there…

Jenny grinned again, obviously pleased that Sarah had asked the question. This must be a good story. "He fell in love with someone who used to go to this school, Isabella Swan. But at the time, she was dating someone else, Edward Cullen. I hear they got into lots of fights over her. But last year Edward and Isabella graduated, and apparently got married during the summer. No one's seen them since. The Cullens moved away, and Isabella went with them. Even her father, Chief Swan, hasn't heard from her since."

"Wow, poor guy," Sarah said, understanding better why Jacob Black looked so miserable. At the same time, something about him seemed… off. It looked like he had really lost someone, not that they had just chosen another guy over him. If Sarah had had to guess before hearing the story, she would have assumed that someone had died, not left. Then again, she could understand the feeling… "How old is he, anyway? If this Isabella was a senior last year…"

"Oh, he's sixteen," Jenny said, and Sarah's eyes widened. "Oh, he and all those boys from La Push look older than they really are. I even hear that there's a gang of them that Jacob belonged to. I've heard he's nice, but you should see some of the other boys. They're even bigger than him!"

"Wow," Sarah murmured again, but by this point, she had arrived at the edge of the road. "I've got to go. See you tomorrow?"

"Of course," Jenny said, smiling. "See you!"

Unbeknownst to Sarah, Jacob turned around just as she was leaving. The motorcycle roared back at life, and he was about to leave when he suddenly saw the girl. No, not just a girl. Because in the instant that Jacob spotted Sarah, he knew how he felt about her. He wanted nothing more than to just to be with her, to protect her, to make sure that no harm ever came to her. The urge to run over to her and hug her, to kiss her, was unbearable.

Jacob knew the feeling well. He had felt it through Sam when he looked at Emily. Of course, others in the pack had imprinted. But Sam's situation made the most sense. Because only a moment ago, Jacob had felt like he would always love Bella Swan with all of his life, just like Sam had always thought that he would love Leah Clearwater. But each had had an unexpected visit from fait. Because now Bella Swan seemed like the distant past. Now, it felt as if it was this girl was the only thing keeping him alive. And he didn't even know her name.