It was a grey and gloomy morning when I got up for my first day at Forks High. I got into the shower and was toweling off when I heard Alice yelling at me through the bathroom door. "Edward, hurry up, we can't be late our first day!" Alice was flitting around the house nervously, picking out outfits for me and Emmett and organizing all our school supplies. I prayed she would make some friends this time so that she could focus all her attention on them instead of us.

Forks High School didn't look much different than the other schools we had been to – its remarkable how one hallway full of lockers looked the same whether you were in Alaska, Vermont, Montana or Washington. As the realization struck that we were in for the same monotony as always, my spirits fell. Why was I expecting something more this time? I put on the veneer of disinterest as soon as we pulled into the lot – I could almost predict how the day would go.

Sure enough, as soon as I'd pulled into the parking lot I saw many heads turn in our direction. Obviously in such a small town, our arrival was news. Alice and Emmett eagerly got out of the car at once. But I hesitated - sitting in the driver's seat steeling myself for the inevitable disappointment of another mediocre school. When I finally closed the door behind me, I saw someone approach from the side.

I turned to see a rather ordinary looking girl walking up to me with what she probably thought was a seductive walk but in actuality was a pantomime of what a sexier girl would have done. I didn't want to judge her before she spoke but I knew what she wanted by the way she looked at me – I'd seen the look on other girls' faces many times before – and I wasn't interested. But this was a small town and anyway, I didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"Hey, you're new here, right? One of the Cullens? I'm Jessica Stanley. Wow, it's so nice to meet you. We hardly ever get new students here. I think they are going to do a front page article on you and your brother and sister for the school newspaper, isn't that cool?" She finally stopped her babbling and took a breath and I realized she was waiting for me to reply.

"Yeah, I'm Edward Cullen, it's nice to meet you," I said as nicely as I could muster. "But, really, I don't want any article in the paper about us – there's nothing to write about." "Oh, well…um…okay," she responded, flustered and blushing. I smiled at her before turning away but as she followed at my heels, I quickly realized my mistake in trying to be nice to this girl. I'd found that sometimes without even trying that some girls – well most girls, were drawn to me. I really wasn't sure why this happened but it was terribly annoying when it did. I hated to be unkind or cold but sometimes it was necessary just to be left alone.

I didn't have any illusions about my appearance. I knew that I wasn't bad looking but I really didn't think I was anything special. I was tall and had some muscles but I definitely wasn't as brawny as Emmett. And no matter how hard I tried to keep my hair in check, it was always messed up. After living in a cold climate for so long my skin retained a fairly pale pallor. Esme always told me that my pale skin was the reason why people are always taken aback by my sharp green eyes – they were disconcerting – they belonged to someone with a brighter complexion, someone blonder.

I proceeded to walk toward the entrance to school. Jessica had claimed her spot by my side and seemed like she wasn't budging. She kept an incessant chatter going that I mostly drowned out, too anxious to find out more about Forks High and what life held for me here. Jessica directed me to the front office and peeled away mentioning other girls' names that she claimed, "I just had to meet."

I nodded at her and gave her a thin smile as I pushed open the door to the office. The secretary had been waiting for me – Alice and Emmett had already collected their schedules and mine was sitting on the counter in front of her. She was very welcoming and said something complimentary about my father and how much the town was grateful to have him before handing me my schedule, a map of the school, and a brief run-down of the school rules.

The hall was eerily silent. Most of the students were already in their classes, the first bell having gone off several minutes earlier. A few stragglers scurried down the slick tiled floor, their footfalls echoing off the metal lockers. I ignored them and followed the map easily. My first class, Biology, was just around the corner from the office.

I noticed the number on the door of the room and took a deep breath, squaring myself to walk confidently into a classroom full of curious faces. But then I heard someone speak – a soft, melodious female voice that came in waves, both distinct and then indistinct. I couldn't tell where the voice was coming from or to whom the enchanting words and phrases were directed. Just as I was trying to make out the individual words, she began to hum a beautiful song and I recognized it as Pachelbel Canon.

I was more than intrigued by her sweet, lovely voice. I looked over my shoulder and walked back around the corner from where I had come but whereas the halls were quiet before, they were now completely empty. But still, the voice was there – it was otherworldly and I was struck with the frightening notion that only I could hear this voice - that it was actually in my head as though I was hearing someone else's thoughts.

The more I pondered this, the more my mind stretched to understand what was happening. The ideas that popped into my head most definitely were not coming from my muddled brain. And then I was not just hearing words and sounds and singing but I saw images in my head that had no meaning for me – a deer running in the woods, a meadow filled with flowers, the pulsing vein in someone's neck.

I stood with my feet rooted to the spot, completely shocked at the realization that I was hearing and seeing a person's thoughts – and they were fast, intense, and complex. I couldn't keep up with how quickly they changed. I kept twisting from side to side, my eyes searching in vain to find the person who was speaking in my mind, and humming so hauntingly, and now thinking of the rhythm of the heartbeat of someone who was sitting nearby. I was utterly entranced and didn't know what to do. I was thinking of running far away until I couldn't hear the voice anymore. But the sensation was too enticing and I didn't want the beautiful words to stop.

And then I saw a vision that made my heart skip a beat – a classroom, a man's back, an angular hand writing on a whiteboard with blue pen, a microscope sitting on a desk and then streams of words as if recited from a textbook – Biology. And then all of a sudden, I knew where the voice was coming from and I took a step forward, reached out and opened the door to my Biology class.