I heard Charlie's police cruiser drive out of the driveway when I awoke, and I ran to the window to see that he was gone.

Ugh. School. Well, at least now there's actually something to do. I checked my watch. 5:47. I should start sleeping in.

I walked back to my bed and lifted the four thick blankets. Slowly, I crawled in and fell back on my pillow. I closed my eyes and tried to drift back into the blackness that I'd had to work so hard to reach during the rainy nights…

I tossed and turned, and, about two minutes later, I gave up. Groaning, I twisted my body so that my feet touched the floor, and I slipped on a pair of soft, faded blue slippers. They were damp, cold. I shivered.

I slowly trudged to my closet to find something to wear. I grabbed a pair of jeans with some holes that had been made bigger over the years, then decided it was probably too cold for holes. I tossed that to the back of the narrow mini-hallway in my already tiny bedroom.

I looked around, and found some black jeans, no holes, whatsoever. It was a little long on me, but whatever. I reached out and took a black bra, soft green underwear, white ankle socks, and a dark blue long-sleeved shirt.

I took these to the bathroom, and set them on the counter. I looked in the mirror, to find that I was a total mess. I yawned, and wiped my face with the back of my hand. I did the normal routine that I had done for two months.

Grab my yellow toothbrush, squeeze toothpaste on, make mental note to buy more toothpaste, and brush my teeth in a repetitive, yet slightly calming pattern. Up and down, side to side.

After my shower was done and I had my clothes on, I was still really cold, so I went downstairs and pushed my hands into the arm holes of a really heavy dark brown jacket that went down to my knees. It was comfortable but really ugly, I had to admit. Still, I suppose it shouldn't attract too much attention…

The microwave opened with a loud beep that made me shudder. It was so quiet here in Forks. I shoved leftover eggs I'd made too many of from last night on a plate and into the microwave. I closed the tiny transparent door and pressed a button that made a bop noise, as loud as the first.

I walked to the cupboard, which were painted bright yellow. Yikes. Mom had painted that over seventeen years ago, in an unsuccessful attempt as to bring some sunshine into the house. A normal ex-husband would have painted over that, but I could really tell that Charlie had trouble getting over my Renee…

I could feel some moisture filling up my eye sockets because of the reminder of Renée, so I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. I opened the little yellow wooden door and took some strawberry pop tarts, the kind that are toaster-able. I popped those into the ten year old toaster and waited.

Soon my breakfast was ready and I was sitting at the table, alone, drinking orange juice and biting into strawberry goodness, with frosting, and occasionally sticking scrambled eggs into my mouth. I watched the clock, hoping it would speed up. 6:42. 6:43. 6:44. The time moved by slowly, as if the black circle with numbers inside were intentionally trying to make me mad.

Finally, after what seemed like weeks later, the hands ticked to 7:04, and I had the dishes done, dried, and put away. I re-tied the shoelaces on the red sneakers on my feet, and grabbed a mahogany scarf that was on a hook next to the door and wrapped it around my neck.

I braced myself for the cold, icy wind and stepped outside. The truck made a thundering sound, as usual, that I still had to get used to, and I slowly backed up out of the driveway. I turned the steering wheel to the left, and went back around to make the wheels face north. I bounced down the road, on the freeway, and off the first exit.

The words, FORKS HIGH SCHOOL, was hand painted on a huge sheet of wood, in bright yellow paint that was wearing away. There were about four other cars in the parking lot, none of them too much better than my own truck.

I stepped inside the small building that had a sign at the top; OFFICE. It was warmer than I'd hoped, and I loosened the scarf a little. The woman at the desk looked up at the sound of the door closing, and I spoke for the first time in a long while.

"Um, hi." My voice cracked a bit. "My name is Isabella? Isabella Swan?" As soon as I got the words out, the lady was brought to life. "Oh, yes! Isabella, we've been waiting for you!" She scrambled through the papers, and gave me a wrinkled packet of papers, the first one a map of the entire school, which was about the size of one of the school buildings back in Phoenix.

"I didn't expect you to be here so early," she looked at the clock to emphasize her point, then added, pointing to the paper, "Your homeroom is in this building here, and your first period class is in the same building." She handed me a small, pink paper and said, "Please have this paper signed by each of your teachers, then bring it back to me at the end of the day. If you lose it, just come by anytime and I will give you a new one."

She looked at me, doubtful. "Try not to lose it, darling, please?" Oh god. The maternal instincts that pretty much all female administrators in every school in the world had was so… ugh. Darling, I mean what the hell? I forced a smile at her while I was thinking these things.

I walked to my truck, trying to memorize the map, so that I wouldn't catch attention with my nose in a white paper with poorly drawn lines and arrows. She'd highlighted my route, writing a note, too. 'I've highlighted the ways you can get to your classes, sweetie.' Duh.

I guess I shouldn't be so rude. I just missed Phoenix, that's all. But I also didn't like all this attention. I sat in the truck, resisting the urge to start the engine and turn on the heater. But I knew that the truck would make a lot of noise, and noise meant the turning of heads to the new kid, the one with the loud as hell truck.

Suddenly a bell rang. It wasn't very loud, well not compared to the ones in Phoenix, but it startled me anyways. I slowly opened the door, and grabbed my bag and the packet of papers.

No matter how hard I tried to ignore the wide eyes that were boring into my back, I still felt self-conscious. Do they think I'm weird? Do they know who I am? Questions poured into my head, like water that broke a dam.

I walked into my first class with my head lower than usual. Homeroom went by slowly, those seventeen minutes were filled with whispers about me.

First period went by the same way. I gave my teacher the pink slip, walked quickly as possible (without tripping, at least), and sat at my seat, trying to pay attention to whatever the teacher was talking about, though that was really difficult considering I'd already learned about everything that was on the board.

I tried to walk to second period without catching attention, but it seemed one of the questions that I'd wondered were answered. "That's Isabella Swan, the police chief's daughter!!" Exclamations like that swirled around me, and the conversations seemed to get louder and louder each minute.

The day went by, the students kept talking about me. A few of the braver ones actually stood up to me and talked to me. I tried to remember the names, but I only remembered two or three.

Okay, I guess I have a better memory than I thought. Eric, Mike, and Tyler seemed slightly interested, something I wasn't really used to. The boys back at Phoenix were oblivious to the fact that I even existed, and I was cool with that since none of them in particular really appealed to me.

Jessica, Angela, and Lauren were nice, and I even learned that they were in most of my classes. Jessica even invited me to sit with them at lunch and nutrition. I used the twenty minutes of brunch to study the other pupil's faces. I actually gathered some courage to look at some people straight in the eye.

Even though it was so cloudy and there was barely any sun here, many of the students were tan and pretty and good looking. The rest weren't as pale as me, the part-Albino, but had light skin and some even had light brown freckles. I tried to look like I was paying attention to the kids who talked to me, but I guess either they were really into making conversation or they just didn't notice my 'lalaland look', because they kept chattering on and on.

Many kids came up to me after the few started, so I answered a lot of questions that first day. The second day wasn't any better, although the conversations were a little quieter. Nobody really caught my eye, except for the few that talked to me continuously and included me in their various activities during lunch and nutrition and in classes.

P.E. seemed to get worse and worse each day. I was constantly getting hurt and hurting anyone within a three feet radius around me. Mike was usually in that area, during P.E. at least, and Eric and Tyler were in that area between classes. Mike and Eric seemed to be competing each other for me, but I kept trying to give them signs that I wasn't interested.

I noticed that Jessica seemed to like-like Mike, and I kept trying to bring them together.

A few months into the repetitive routines of school, I was walking to my truck after school. The roads were icy, much to my dislike, and I'd been trying as hard as I could not to slip on them, because even with my new slip resistant boots that I'd gotten at Mike Newton's parents' store, I still somehow fell on my face a lot.

I put my bag on the back of the truck, and looked around to see if anyone was watching or listening for the loud roar of the elderly machine that brought it to life. Suddenly it hurtled toward me. Tyler, in his own car, sliding down the parking lot, but not skidding to a stop like I'd seen in the movies.

It happened very fast then. The wheels turned over and over, my face full of horror…