AN: I own nothing- just borrowing from Ms. Meyers. Also, I have no beta so all mistakes are my own.

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Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Bella POV

The shrill sounds of the alarm wake me from my blissful dream of the hot Arizona sun beating down on my face and I am pulled back into the reality of this new phase of my life. A life with my father—Charlie.

Dad was a quiet and reserved man, but I knew how much my moving here meant to him. He would never admit it, but the years since my mom, Renee, and I left have been lonely for him. Sure he has his friends in the area but coming home to this empty house each night has, no doubt, been difficult.

I could hear the smile in his voice when I made the phone call asking if I could move in. I explained to him that "Mom wants to be able to travel with Phil and I could stay here by myself, but I would really appreciate it if I could come stay with you and finish high school in Forks."

"Yeah, Bells, I think we could make that work. When do you want to come?"

Aside from the logistics of flight plans, that was the end of the conversation. But, I knew he was over the moon with my desire to spend time with him rather than stay home, alone. He was quick to offer to make all the necessary arrangements with the school so I wouldn't miss any time.

To say I was dreading starting a new school was the understatement of the year. I had enough trouble making friends in Phoenix were I had spent the majority of my childhood. Save for a few acquaintances who said they wanted to keep in touch, no one there will miss me.

I had been in the AP track at my last high school and Dad assured me that I would be in the top track at Forks High. I grabbed the schedule he gave me last night and reviewed my courses. Not too bad. I could do without the gym class, but the rest seemed completely doable. English first followed by math, history, study hall, spanish, lunch, bio, and finally gym. I guess the one good thing was that I could head home right after gym.

I finished getting dressed, grabbed a quick breakfast and jumped into my "new" truck. I'll have to remember to make Dad a nice dinner tonight to say thanks for the truck. So much better than going to school in a patrol car!

The day began as harmlessly as possible—meaning I didn't fall on my face and I didn't cause anyone else to fall. In my mind that was an A+ day. Lunch was at least entertaining. Angela was great! I could see her and I becoming great friends. Jessica and Lauren left a lot to be desired. The guys, Mike, Eric, Tyler, and Ben were nice enough. But then, in walked that family.

I can honestly say I have never seen a more beautiful group of people. How are they all sitting in a high school cafeteria and not on some runway in Milan showing off the latest fashion is beyond me. Over the buzzing of my thoughts, I can hear Jessica explaining who they were and what the relationships between them were. I think I heard her call them the Cullens.

Walking to my next class, I couldn't get the beauty I had just seen out of my mind. All of them were tremendous, but the boy—the one with the bronze hair, Edward—well beauty just didn't do him justice. I knew I had no chance to make an impression on him, but I knew, he would take up permanent residence in my dreams.

Walking into bio I introduced myself to Mr. Banner. As he checked out me schedule and forms, I looked toward the seat he indicated would be mine and my heart caught in my throat. That bronze head raised and looked in my direction and the blackest eyes I have ever seen pierced through my skin. A shutter moved up my spine as the fan blew behind me. Was that from the air or the look of complete disgust coming from my new seatmate? UGH! Sometimes, I do hate my life.

Class went on around me as all my thoughts were directed to the boy—no, not boy—man—sitting next to me. I swear if looks could kill, I would be six feet under by now. How could someone hate me that much when they have never met me? I have never felt so uncomfortable in my life. And for someone with my klutzy track record, that 's saying a lot.

My mind was racing with thoughts of what I could have done, or what I would need to do to make it better, when the bell rang. Before I could even move to pack up my bag, Edward was gone.

The rest of the day moved along at a snail's pace. Finishing with gym class was awful. I managed to prove my clumsy nature by nailing Jessica with a volleyball. Come to think of it, I guess that was far from the worst thing that could happen.

I jumped back in my truck and headed to the grocery store to pick up some staples and ingredients to fix dinner tonight. The whole time there, and on my way home, and cooking, and through dinner with Dad, and well into the night, I kept thinking about the Edward's reaction to me in biology class. That just can't be normal. I was going to get to the bottom of this.

Alice POV

She's here. The one that changes everything is here. The minute we walked into the cafeteria, I knew that Edward's mate had finally arrived. I had to keep my thoughts away from him. I kept repeating poetry on a loop and getting confused, and frankly, disgruntled looks from my brother. At the moment it was the Slow and Reluctant Was the Long Descent:

Slow and reluctant was the long descent,
With many farewell pious looks behind,
And dumb misgivings where the path might wind,
And questionings of nature, as I went.
The greener branches that above me bent,
The broadening valleys, quieted by mind,
To the fair reasons of the Spring inclined
And to the Summer's tender argument.
But sometimes, as revolving night descended,
And in my childish heart the new song ended,
I lay down, full of longing, on the steep;
And, haunting still the lonely way I wended,
Into my dreams the ancient sorrow blended,
And with these holy echoes charmed my sleep.

~George Santayana

"Really, Alice, can't you think of something other than poetry? I mean, thank you for moving on from Dickinson, but the last hour of Santayana is beginning to grate on my last nerve" Edward muttered. "If you're trying to keep something from me, could you at least stick with prose more to my liking. I wouldn't complain if you wanted to start with the Divine Comedy or perhaps the Iliad. "

Emmett laughed mutely, knowing this was a useless argument. Rose just sat looking around the room, and Jasper was doing everything in his power to stay in control. Teenage hormones did a number on him. Great for our sex life, but not so much for sitting through seven hours of high school on an almost daily basis.

Edward continued to glare at me through the lunch period as I moved on to contemporary poets. As I finished reciting work by Mary Oliver and moved onto Michael Burch, the bell rang. Edward walked at a human pace toward his biology class. Jasper guided me toward the parking lot. We were skipping the last two periods of the day. I knew what was coming and wanted to be sure that we were prepared to deal with the storm that was about to be unleashed.

Edward POV

That smell. I have never had blood call to me as much as hers had to me. It took all my strength to resist.

Leaving the torture that was my biology class, I ran through all the different options. Well first things first. There was no way I could sit through another class with her there. Yet, despite my best efforts, Mrs. Cope could do me no favors today. With nothing else open to move into. I was stuck.

If ever there was a reason to get moving with the reversal process, it was this. If we could return our bodies to their human state, it was in this. To never have to wonder whether I would make it through the 42-minute class period without killing every student in the room. To never be concerned with being discovered as different than my "peers." To never have to look at the most beautiful creature in existence and want to kill her and claim her as my own equally.

I ran through the front door at home and was faced with the whole family staring and thinking rapidly about all they knew. Carlisle, ever the voice of reason and calm among us voiced my salvation from the thoughts crowding my head. "It's time to check the test. Edward? Care to join me?"

Into the garage we went. Carlisle's thoughts centered on the results he hoped to find inside while mine swam with what the results could potentially mean.

"Edward, look!"

I glanced at the vile on the table and immediately saw what Carlisle was pointing out. Where we had left a glass vile full of crystallized human blood, now stood a vile with more blood than crystal.