1. Introductions

Ring, ring The phone rang shrill down stairs.

Ring, ring I clomped down the stairs as fast as I could, running when I got to the bottom.

"Hello?" I asked, a little breathlessly.

"Tess is that you?" I recognised the voice instantly.

"Mum," I breathed happily.

"How are you coping, living on your own?" she asked. She always was a little too curious for her own good, a bit like me really though I wasn't quite so bad.

"It's actually quite fun, easier than I thought." I answered truthfully. Mum knew I wasn't lying.

"I still can't believe you managed to buy your house straight away, it must have cost a fortune!" she said, curious again I thought.

"I've RENTED it not BOUGHT it!" I told her for the thousandth time. I couldn't believe she still couldn't remember that little fact.

"Sorry to bail on you but I really need to finish cleaning the house." I said solemnly.

"Bye love," she replied unhappily.

"Bye, talk again soon, bye" I hung up before she could say anything else. Mum could talk for hours, and it was sometimes really annoying. Tomorrow was the start of a new year, my first, at high school and I needed to get some rest so I wouldn't be grouchy. I plodded back upstairs and walked slowly into my room. I had moved into the house only a couple of weeks ago and there was still some odd clothes strewn messily around the floor. I picked them up and stuffed them into my drawers. Then I hunted around for a pair of jeans and a t shirt. I hooked the box out from under my bed and picked out one of my jumpers. I pulled out my purple, long sleeved salt rock one. I picked a pair of stripy, neon socks from the top drawer and threw them on the floor in a messy pile. On top of my drawers was a jewellery box and my pink, fingerless gloves that stopped half way up my arm. I threw them on the pile and then went down stairs, hunting about for the school bag I had bought with some spare money. I had also bought a pencil case and a posh 'parker' fountain pen, some cartridges, a pencil and a ruler set thing. I shoved the pencil case into my bag, in a rush now. I put the bag on one of the three chairs around a semi circled table that was pushed up against the wall in the kitchen. I went back upstairs, having finished getting ready for tomorrow and sat in my bed with 'ink heart', one of my favourite books. I read till late into the night, about 1 in fact. I set the alarm and went to sleep.

The alarm didn't wake me up that morning, but instead a loud crash did. I sat bolt upright, scared stiff. Nothing moved down stairs, and when I moved my head I realized the crash had been my fault. I had swept my alarm clock of the table next to my bed in my sleep, but luckily I hadn't broken it. The clock said 6:45, but I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep so I got up and popped my clock back on the table. I didn't need to be in school till 9am, that's when my very first lesson started, but I got dressed anyway. I went over to my pile of clothes and got dressed, rolling up my sleeves but leaving my gloves off. I bounded down the stairs, excited now and put my gloves on top of my bag. I made myself breakfast, cereal, and sat at the table eating it but not really tasting it, I was daydreaming. The next thing I knew the spoon was scraping noisily against the empty bowl and as I put it in my mouth there was nothing on it. I sighed and dragged myself from the table -not quite as happy now- and took my bowl with me. I chucked it, none to gently, into the sink to join the rapidly growing pile of washing up. The only thing I hated about this house, the washing up. I didn't mind the cold and I certainly didn't mind the rain- as I had lived in England before I had moved here- but I had to wash up by hand. It actually wasn't so bad come to think of it; at least it was just me. I looked at the clock, and it said 7:20. I sighed and traipsed up the stairs. I went in to the only bathroom- my room was at the end of the corridor and the bathroom was on the next left from it- and pulled a comb through my short, dark reedy brown hair. My Hair was only just shoulder length at the back and a bit shorter than that at the front. I had a long fringe that fell over one eye and half hid it from view. My hair had a natural wave in it, so it was crazy all the time. I also had light grey eyes and annoyingly long eyelashes that always got stuck in them. I pulled my fringe back with one hand, grabbed a face wipe and cleaned my face slowly, being thorough. I brushed my hair back into place then went back down stairs. The clock practically screamed 7:30 at me; I had another HOUR before I needed to go. I didn't have any makeup on, I didn't have any water proof mascara and I never wore makeup any more anyway, unless I was going somewhere posh. I got so bored sat in the kitchen I got up and washed up last nights and this mornings dishes, leaving them to dry on the draining board. I put my socks on then, my feet were getting cold from the floor and I had half an hour left. I made a drink, but you could buy lunch there so I just stuffed some money into my purse. I hadn't been given any books so my bag was nearly empty, I didn't care. I went upstairs and grabbed my MP3, fully charged the night before, and my coat and ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time. I didn't want to miss the bus on the first day. I put my babycham shoes on, they were grey with flowers on and florescent green laces. Then I put my gloves on, leaving my sleeves rolled up and completely 'forgot' about my coat. (really I just thought I didn't need it, It's my life and I can do what I want.) Anyway I didn't mind the rain, maybe it could tame my hair a bit. I walked down to the end of my drive, one strap of my bag slung over my shoulder. I could see my breath but I was so used to the cold that only my feet resembled popsicles. I heard the clanking of the old yellow bus before I saw it. Someone had repainted it, so it was an even more vibrant colour than before. It was unseasonably cold for September, and I would only need to wait around for the bus until December, as then I would be seventeen and would be able to get a drivers licence. As I got on the bus a torrent of warm air hit me. I said good morning to the bus driver and found an empty seat. The bus was nearly full and every one was talking, trying to get to know the new kids. I had missed a year at the school, oops.

"What's your name?" asked one girl sat across the isle from me. I didn't answer, just looked down and pretended I hadn't heard her. I always accidentally answered people's questions when they weren't asking me. The girl tapped me on the shoulder and asked again.

"Tess, Tess Shilton." I answered, deciding it was better to talk to her.

"I haven't heard of anyone by the name Shilton, are you new?" she asked. She had quite a shrill voice, high pitched. Mine was a bit lower than most peoples anyway. When me and my brother used to argue his voice would get higher. It used to be quite difficult to tell who was saying what.

"I moved here in summer, from Torbay." I answered truthfully. She stared blankly at me, then I remembered she wouldn't know where Torbay was. "In south west England." her face brightened considerably. She was obviously trying to get gossip about everyone new.

"Why forks?" she asked, curious as my mother I thought, annoyed.

"I wanted to live somewhere warm but I'm not great with the sun, as you can probably tell." I said. I had experience with masking my feelings, so although I was annoyed at this too curious girl she didn't notice. She looked at me properly for what I'm guessing was the first time as she was shocked to see how pale I was. She looked at my 'ginger' hair and pale skin, then her eyes lingered on the skin showing between where my gloves ended and my rolled up sleeves began. There was a slight pinkie red tint to the light brown skin on her hands, obviously she was slightly cold even on the warm bus. MY skin was as white as if I had never once been out in the sun and I didn't look cold at all.

"How can you stand it?" she asked, still looking at my exposed skin. She bobbed her head to where she was looking. I had to guess that she meant the cold.

"It's warmer here than you think a lot warmer than in England." I explained. She looked back to me, obviously satisfied with my answer. Either that or she thought she had found out some deep dark secret about me. I decided to take advantage of this talkative girl, I didn't want to admit it but I would never approach someone and start talking to them if they didn't talk too me first, I was to shy. "What's your name then stranger?" I asked lightly. I knew this was exactly what she had wanted me to ask her.

"Jessica," she said holding out her hand. I shook it enthusiastically, but not too hard or with jolting movements. When my fingers- the only part of my hand exposed- touched her skin I noticed her hand WAS cold, very cold in fact. She obviously noticed my hand was warm to, as she looked slightly shocked, never mind. Just then the bus clattered to a stop. I looked round. We were in the car park, outside the school gates. I wondered slowly through the babbling crowds, people stopping me to say "hi" and "what's your name" as I went. Luckily I was quite good at memorizing people's faces, so I learned about ten or twelve different people's names. First lesson was P.E. and this term we were playing netball. We all got given kit at the start of the lesson and then we sat down and the teacher explained the rules to us. The lesson went surprisingly quickly and soon I was stuffing my new P.E. kit in my bag. Next lesson was English, oh joy. I sat next to Jessica, the overly curious girl who had talked to me on the bus. As I had walked into the room she had waved and smiled at me, then patted the seat next to her. I had walked over to her and smiled back, containing my anxiety well.

"Hi! How was your first lesson?" she had asked before I had even got comfy. I was bracing myself for one hundred questions.

"I had P.E. so I just had to sit there." I said pleasantly, hiding the fact I was grimacing inside.

"Cool! I had calculus, it was soOo boring!" she said. She didn't look bored. I fished my pencil case out of my jumble of clothes, determined not to pull any of the P.E. kit out of my bag. I rummaged around and pulled out my drink. I gulped down about a quarter of the bottle, then shoved it roughly back into my bag. I put my bag under my chair and stretched out my legs under the table, shrinking in my chair slightly. I sighed and looked up at Jessica. She was looking at my gloves again.

"You like my gloves? I got them from England. I've had them years and there really warm." I said, trying to embarrass her by showing I had caught her

"Love them!" she said. She didn't even look down, but she did look confused. "How can you just sit there and relax?" she asked frowning.

"Why can't you?" I asked her. She was sat up straight, her hands folded neatly into her lap.

"We ARE in high school now, we need to study hard." she explained, still frowning.

"I find that I can learn just as much sat like this, comfortably, as I can sat looking like I have a piece of wood shoved up my top." I said back. She DID blush then. Her hands were still in her lap but she slouched slightly, probably realizing that I was right. I hadn't noticed, but everyone else had been talking too. I did, however, when everyone suddenly stopped. My eyes drifted to the front in time to see the teacher walk in. she looked around and smiled to her self, then started talking. I wasn't listening hard, just hard enough that I would be able to recall most of the things she said. Mostly I was daydreaming, though what about I will never know. I was only pulled out of my dream when the bell went. I grabbed my bag and put my pencil case in it. I quickly zipped up my bag and walked out of class next to Jess.

"What have you got next?" I asked her interested. She was still upset about the last thing I had said to her, she probably didn't want to admit I was right. She looked at me and smiled, forgiven already, I thought smugly.

"Science, what have you got?"

"Um…" it took me a moment to think. "Calculus," once I realized my face fell. "Ugh, never mind it has to be done." I said, more comforting myself than her.

"Good luck!" she said turning away. When I got to class some people had already got there. I took one of the empty tables on the back row and hoped no-one would have to sit next to me. But by the time the teacher walked in I was sat next to a girl. The way she held her self, bowing her head and back slightly, told me she was just as shy as I was. She had quite long, brown hair. Her fringe was slanted over one eye and was quite long to. We all got given books that we wrote our names on. Her name was Cassie. At the end of class, as I stuffed my book and pencil case in my bag she stood up. She was just a bit taller than me

"I'm Cassie!" she beamed at me, straightening up.

"Hi, im Tess," I said back. I was wrong, she looked so energetic she was actually bobbing up and down. She was hovering at the edge of the table, though I didn't know why. People were beginning to leave but, obviously she didn't care. She smiled at me. As I walked to the cafeteria, she followed. I didn't need to look back to know whether she was following or not, her foot steeps were quite loud, especially compared to mine. I bought some pizza and got some salad, paying for it with the money I had shoved in my bag this morning. I grabbed my drink from my bag and went and sat at a table. Cassie got some salad and a coke then-to my surprise- came and sat with me.

"Do you like cats?" she asked after settling in her seat.

"Yeah?" I answered, frowning. She was asking random questions

"I love them, but im allergic, can't get cat hair in my face else it goes all puffy." I laughed at the way she described it, imagining her head swelling like a balloon. My face looked really funny when I laughed properly, so I wasn't surprised when she burst out laughing too, pointing at me. We laughed for just over five minutes solid, when ever I had almost calmed down I would look at her face and just start again. She kept doing exactly the same thing. At one point I realized if I didn't look at her I wouldn't laugh. That was how I calmed down. When I looked up a couple of people were staring at us. They looked away the moment I caught there eye. Just under a third of the tables were empty, a few had been since I came in, one of the classes must have been held up. I ate my pizza hungrily, glugging down a mouthful of drink after to wash it down. Then I slowly ate my big bowl of salad. We talked right through lunch, about pets, what England was like, hobbies. We were in our own little bubble. So I was confused when the bell went, a little disorientated even.

"What have you got next?" she asked,

"Science," I answered

"I've got science to! You wanna sit next to me?" she looked so hopeful that I couldn't help it. I tried not to smile, but I could tell the corners of my lips were pulling up.

"Go on then." I said and smiled to her. I walked with her to science, she bounded happily along, so it was hard to keep up with her. I didn't know what to say, so I just walked quietly. When we were almost there she suddenly started humming.

"This is going to be fun," she whispered in my ear as we walked into class. There was still an empty table left on the back row, so we sat there. She hummed even after the teacher had come in. I didn't say anything, though I did raise my eyebrows. It was a lecture, so I slouched in my seat and started day dreaming again. What seemed like just a minute later the bell rang.

"So, have you lived here all your life?" I asked Cassie, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah! I love it here!"

"It is warm" I agreed. She was just as hyper now as she had been at lunch. We got up quickly, my last lesson was Spanish. We were both in the same class so I managed to sit with her.

"Do you want some cake?" she whispered to me half way through the lesson.

"Um… ok?" I answered, also whispering. She took a little cake out of her bag, un wrapped it carefully and broke it into little pieces. She gave me a piece under the table. When the teacher turned around to write something on the board we popped pieces of cake in our mouth. It was Coffee cake, my favourite. For the whole lesson we sat there, sneakily eating cake when the teachers back was turned, it was fun. We ate the cake slowly, and finished it just before the lesson finished. We walked together to the car park. Her parents picked her up from school every day, so I said bye and waved to her as the bus left. Jess was sat behind me again

"See you've made a few other friends, then." She said disgustedly as she watched me wave to Cassie. I ground my teeth together, Jessica could be so bitter. She seemed to hear my teeth grind together, and took it as the warning it should have been. She leaned back in her chair and I knew that she wouldn't be talking to me again in a hurry. I put my headphones in and listened to the script. I found it always calmed me down, no matter how bad a mood I was in. I was sat by the window, so I looked out of it, staring at the utter greenness of the surrounding forest. My stop was third, so I was soon strolling happily down my drive. I would only have to survive another month-exactly a month I realised happily as my birthday was on the 3rd and it was the 3rd of September today- of snide comments, until I could learn to drive then I would be free. I unlocked the door and walked in, taking my shoes of straight away so I wouldn't get the floor mucky. I got changed into some clothes I could relax in and put some background music on while I read. I was asleep by 10:30- I had learned that going to bed at 11 wasn't a good idea- and was not woken up by something crashing to the floor.