I stared dejectedly out the window of my mother's minivan. I was sitting in the backseat, which didn't help my mood any, even
though it couldn't be helped seeing as my dad was sitting in the passenger seat. I knew it was stupid to get angry about having
to sit in the back, but really I'm seventeen; I'm allowed to be a drama queen sometimes if I want to. Considering the situation I
was now being forced into, I had a feeling I would be using that excuse a lot lately. My whole life I had lived in a small state on the
East Coast called Delaware. No, it is not a part of Pennsylvania as many geographically challenged people seem to think. And all
my life I had begged my parents to move us somewhere warm. I loved the summer heat and humidity and savored the months of
warmth that we got in DE. Of course, along with our warm months, we got months of freezing air and inches of snow. I always
wanted to be one of those kids on the TV who lived in California and had no idea what snow even looked like. But of course our
whole family was in Delaware and let's face it, I could deal with some cold. What I didn't count on was us moving. And what I
really didn't think my parents would do to me is to move across the country to an even colder state. That's right, my dad got
transferred. To a tiny town called Forks, Washington. Which was one of the coldest and rainiest places in the country. Go dad.
Altogether, I was not a happy camper as we pulled up to our new house. It was a two story white house with black shutters and
a red door. Under other circumstances I would love it, but somehow I wasn't too excited at the moment. After we had carried in all
our bags, I quickly got out my phone and texted my best friend Cecilia. "I miss you already : (", I typed. The phone dinged and the
message read, "I know girl! Call me tomorrow as soon as you're done school and we'll gossip ; )" I decided not to remind her of
the time difference. "Lol k. Gotta go unpack. Ttyl. Lylas." Cissy and I had been best friends since eighth grade and were
inseparable. It killed us both when my parents said we were moving across the country. Luckily Cissy had her boyfriend Greg who
was a great guy, to keep her company after I left. I was on my own; both of my siblings were still in elementary school. I wasn't
very good at making friends due to my moodiness. It wasn't until someone got to know me that they realized I was just very
stubborn, but had good intentions. I was worried about school the next day and didn't get much sleep.
When I woke up, I spent at least 20 minutes doing my hair and picking out a pair of blue jeans and a black sweater to wear for my
first day of school. Still moping, I said a quick goodbye to my mom and dad before climbing in my Chevy Thunderbird and driving to
Forks High School. When I pulled up, I noticed that this school was not much bigger than my old school in Delaware. Only one
year, I chanted over and over in my head as I entered the office.
"Hi. Juliet Becker. I'm new here." I told the blond secretary. I winced slightly as she typed with extra long pink nails. Artificial nails
always freaked me out, no clue why.
"Ah yes, Ms. Becker," she said while chewing her gum obnoxiously, "Here's your new schedule and a map of the school. If you
need any help, you can ask a teacher."
"Okay, thanks."
"Have a good day, hun."
"Umm. You too…" And nicknames. I was liking this administration less and less.
I made it to my first class early, which happened to be algebra, my favorite subject. For some reason, I liked the ordered and laid
out rules that made math easy to follow. Call me obsessive but I liked to be able to have some kind of control and steadiness in
learning. I looked up when I heard someone else enter the room, laughing uncontrollably. A girl with shoulder length brown hair
and blue glasses walked in with a guy who had light brown hair and dark blue eyes.
"Oh. Sorry to be so loud," the girl said, trying to calm her giggling, "I didn't know anyone else was in here. Come to think of it, I
don't recognize you. Are you new here?"
"Yeah. Me and my family just moved here yesterday."
"Oh wow and you came to the first day of school instead of skipping to unpack? Good for you." She smiled jokingly and I found
that I wasn't offended and actually could see myself being friends with this girl. The guy still hadn't said anything.
"Yeah, I honestly don't know why I'm here," I smiled back and held out my hand, "My name's Juliet by the way."
"Oh that is so pretty!" she exclaimed, grasping my hand, "I'm Liza and this is my twin brother Michael."
I nodded and said, "Nice to meet you."
"You too." He said shyly.
"How do you get your hair to stay like this?" Liza asked while fingering one of the ringlets of black hair that hung down my back, "I
can't get mine to even look like I brushed it."
"I don't know really. It just naturally does that. I just put some products in to make it stay." I shrugged. I was actually very proud
of my hair. It was naturally dark brown, but I had dyed it black because it looked better against my pale skin.
"Well, it looks nice." She smiled, "Come sit with us at our table! Class will be starting in a minute or so."
"Okay thanks."
"No problem Juliet."
Liza and I chatted about where I was from until everyone else started to enter the classroom. There was still one open chair at
our table, so when everyone else had chosen a seat, the teacher, Mr. Mercer made one of the boys, who had tried to squeeze a
fifth chair in at his friends' table, sit next to me. He was huge. He stood at least a head higher than me and I was average height.
He wasn't fat though, just muscular. I turned to introduce myself but he was busy trying to talk to his friends without yelling
across the room. Liza ignored him completely and spoke to Michael who kept glancing awkwardly at me, as though looking at me
would make me involved in the conversation. I waited for my neighbor to stop so I could at least tell him my name, but he
continued to wave his arms around until I finally got sick of being ignored. Annoyed, I grab onto his flailing arm in an attempt to
make him stop. Unfortunately my strength barely compared to his and he jerked his arm back, making me lose my balance and fall
on the floor. He looked at me with a pissed off expression until our eyes met. His face changed to a look of complete shock and
vulnerability. The sudden change freaked me out so I hurriedly stood up and crossed my arms in anger.
"You jerk, I was just trying to be polite!" I ignored his open staring and glared straight back with vehemence.
Obviously this wasn't what he was expecting, "S-sorry." He stuttered.
Liza sat with her mouth hanging unabashedly open and Michael simply looked afraid that we were going to start a fight right in
front of him. Mr. Mercer looked over at us with an angry expression and stated, "Ms. Becker and Mr. Burke. Detention Friday."
"Good going, moron." I muttered just loud enough for him to hear. I think what pissed me off the most is that his facial expression
never changed.