End of Chapter 3

It was all feeling very real now. The disease itself still felt like something impalpable, but now that we had dates and a schedule, I no longer felt like I was waiting. I had something to do. A purpose. I had something real to hang onto, as far as Charlie's illness was concerned. Now I could shift some of my focus towards something else I was dreading...the start of school.

Chapter 4: Candy Everybody Wants (EPOV)

"Alice!" Emmett yelled towards the house as I laid on the horn of my Volvo. "Come on, girl! We are going to be late!"

"I'm coming!" Alice yelled back at us, as she pranced out of the front door and down the steps of the front porch to my awaiting car. She climbed into the back seat. "Let's roll."

"WAIT!" Alice squeaked. I hit the brake and sighed. "What are you guys wearing?" Alice leaned up between our seats and inspected us. "You're fine. Carry on."

"Are you sure, fashion empress?" Emmett asked annoyed. I rolled my eyes, and we were on our way.

"Why are you driving again?" Alice asked as we headed down the road towards town.

"Because I have practice after school, and neither of us are getting in a car with you behind the wheel," Emmett said, as I snorted. Alice smacked us both in the back of the head.

"Hey! I'm driving here!" I yelled.

In no time, we were pulling into the Forks High School lot. We were 15 minutes early, but we had to stop by the main office to pick up our schedules and get oriented or some business. The lot was pretty full for still being so early. I guess people are excited about the first day of school here. God knows, there is nothing else to be excited about in this town. I pulled in to a spot next to an antique of a Chevy truck. The thing looked like it just might crumble to the ground as it sat in the parking lot. As I cut the engine, I noticed that all eyes were on us. The new kids. The novelties.

We got out of the car, and started walking toward the administration building. I could feel all of the eyes on us. I looked around, and saw the girls smiling and giggling looking at Emmett and I. Emmett must have noticed at the same time I did the ravenous stares of the boys toward our sister, because he flanked one side of her as I assumed the other side. She looked at the two of us and rolled her eyes. Emmett was giving nods and acknowledgment to some of the guys who I assumed were also on the football team. As we crossed the grass, a red BMW pulled in next to the spot to our left. I recognized the two blonde heads behind the glass. We stopped, and walked over toward them.

"Good morning, Cullens," Jasper said as he slid out of the car. "Welcome to Forks High."

"We were just headed over to the office to pick-up our schedules," Alice chirped giving Jasper a big smile. He grinned widely back at her.

"Well, we won't keep you, then. We'll see you guys at lunch." Jasper nodded at us, and leaned up against the car to wait for the bell. I could have sworn as we walked away that I heard Rosalie hiss at him about not scratching her baby.

When we got to the door marked "Office", I pulled it open for Alice to walk through. Emmett followed close behind her, and I let the door fall softly closed behind me. There was a girl with long brown hair already standing at the desk, so we stood back and waited. She was talking intently with the secretary about something in her file and keeping it private. The secretary reassured her that she understood, and smiled at her. She looked up then, and smiled at us.

"And here are our other new additions!" she chimed. The girl turned around to look at the three of us. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of Emmett. There was no question why. My brother was the size of a house. I could see out of the corner of my eye Alice was bouncing on her feet and gave the girl a small wave. The girl smiled back at Alice. Then, her eyes met mine. My breath caught, and I could see hers did too. She had deep, chocolate brown eyes, the depths of which I have never seen before. As I came back to my senses, I gave her a wink, and she instantly blushed, and quickly turned back to the secretary.

"Is there anything else, Ms. Cope?" she asked quietly.

"No dear. You have your map and schedule?" Ms. Cope, the secretary, asked.

"Yes. Thank-you. I will let you see to them now." She gathered up her papers from the counter, and walked around us keeping her head down.

"Have a good first day, Bella, dear." Ms. Cope waved, and then turned back to us. "Now for the Cullens."

As Ms. Cope finally got us all situated with our schedules and locker assignments, the first bell of the day rang out. We stepped out of the office, and compared our schedules. I had Spanish with Emmett, and gym with Alice. We said our good-byes, and each went our separate ways toward our first classes with the promise of meeting up at lunch.

As I walked across the quad to my first class, I saw all the looks I was receiving from the lovely ladies of Forks High. Most of them were OK, but I gave my special smirk to a few of the better looking ones. I'll admit I have never had trouble attracting the opposite sex. Despite all my other charms, I am a pretty good looking guy. The problem is that all the pretty faces that turn my way turn ugly the moment they open their mouths. I can not stand the teenage girl's mind. In my experience, they are all the same. Still, some of them might help kill the time.

The morning went by in a blur of disappointment. I wasn't expecting Rhodes Scholars from the faculty at Forks High, but I was hoping for someone who might try to challenge me. Maybe there was still time to pick-up something at Peninsula College in Port Angeles. Dad had grabbed some literature from there one day on his way home from the clinic. I really needed to thank him for trying to make this move bearable. He and mother had already talked to Mrs. Hale about the Youth Orchestra in Seattle. After my first morning in class, I could see that my goal of valedictorian would be achieved with little effort. I might survive Forks after all.

I was thankful when lunch rolled around. I hadn't seen Alice since gym this morning, and Emmett and I's MY Spanish class was the last class of the day. I was anxious to have a moment to be myself. When I got to the cafeteria, Alice and Emmett were already seated in a table off to the side with the Hales. I stepped into line to grab my food, and suddenly felt a small hand on my arm. I turned around to see who it was. I found a small brunette standing behind me smiling widely at me.

"You must be Edward Cullen," she said.

"How do you know I am not Emmett?" I retorted giving a sly smile.

"You just don't look like the football type?" she said raking over my body with her eyes.

"What type do I look like, then?" I asked, grabbing a sandwich and leaning up against the counter while crossing my ankles and arms.

"Baseball, from what I hear, and..." she reached out pulling out one of my arms, and smoothing out my hand stroking the length of my fingers. "Musician."

"Dorothy, I am not in Chicago anymore," I laughed to myself.

"It's Jessica, and no you are not." She winked and called over her shoulder. "Welcome to Forks!"

I grabbed some chips and a drink to go with my sandwich and joined my siblings.

"It looks like you made a friend," Emmett said punching me in the arm.

"The female population has been most welcoming so far." I grinned back at him. "But the lack of privacy is startling."

"There are no secrets in a small town." Jasper smiled.

"The only things people don't talk about are the sick or the dead," Rosalie said.

"So how are your classes going?" I asked Alice.

"Fine," she said with a bored tone.

"Tell me about it," I said.

"I do have English with our other newbie," she said nodding over to another table where Bella sat with another tall, skinny brunette wearing glasses and a shorter boy. "I think she is as bored as we are. She just moved here from Phoenix. Her dad is the police chief here, but no one is sure why she's moved back here. Apparently, she has always lived with her mom, and always just visited Forks in the past. People think she is a bit stuck up, because she doesn't talk much to others, but I think she is just shy."

"Most likely, if she has befriended Angela Weber," Rosalie chimed in. "Angela is a sweetie, but is shy too. That is her boyfriend Ben with her. But her return is hardly news compared to the Cullens." She smirked.

"Can you blame them?" Emmett said now, winking at Rosalie, and flexing his chest.

"You are a Neanderthal, Emmett!" Alice smacked him, and he laughed.

The rest of lunch was spent talking about the people of Forks, and our classes so far. I couldn't help but notice that Rosalie and Emmett seemed to drift into their own conversation often. I also caught Alice and Jasper just staring at each other from across the table on numerous occasions. I'd have to watch that one. He seemed like a stand-up guy, but this was my sister. The bell rang, and we all said our good-byes. I told Emmett I would see him in an hour in Spanish, and told Alice to meet us at the car after school.

My next class was biology. I walked over to Building 3, and quickly found the classroom. As I walked in, I found most of the people already paired up at the lab tables. Not surprising. Most of these people have probably sat and worked with the same people since first grade.

"Ah, Mr. Cullen. Ms. Swan," the teacher said. I turned around quickly to find Bella standing behind me. She turned her gaze from the teacher up to me, and smiled and blushed, quickly lowering her eyes. "It looks like you two get to be lab partners. You can take the table in the back. You'll find my syllabus on the table."

I motioned for Bella to walk first. My mother did teach me manners. She rolled her eyes a bit, and started down the walkway between the tables. Her toe caught on someone's bag that was sticking out, and I instinctively grabbed her before she could fall forward.

"Thanks" she mumbled, and blushed again. "Graceful, I am not."

"No problem," I said with a laugh to my voice. She took the far seat, and I sat down grabbing the syllabus. Great. Another class of nothing new. I heard a sigh next to me. Bella was looking at the syllabus too, and she once again rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry," I said thinking she was concerned about the course work.

"Oh, I'm not," she said with a hint of sarcasm to her voice. "Just another disappointment."

"How so?" I asked.

"I was hoping for a challenge this year," she said. "Looks like Forks High will not be assisting me in that. It's probably for the best."

"Why is that?" I said quickly. "Don't you like the challenge?"

"I do...it's just...nevermind," she said, and a hint of sadness fell over her face.

"I am having the same problem today," trying to bring her out of her reverie.

"Forks High not living up to your standards either?" She grinned.

"I was in a pretty prestigious school back in Chicago. They don't even offer AP classes here." I shook my head.

"Well, at least I don't have an idiot for a lab partner...I hope." She smirked.

"Time will tell." I gave a crooked smile back to her.

"I'm Bella, by the way," she said holding out her hand.

"Edward Cullen." I took her hand and we shook it for a moment when the bell rand signaling the start of class. Mr. Banner handed out text books, and went over the syllabus, before letting us spend the rest of the class in quiet conversation.

"So, what brought you to Forks?" I turned to ask Bella.

"I, um, just thought it was time to spend some time with Charlie," she said not looking at me.

"Who's Charlie?" I asked.

"My dad," she said, and there was that sadness again.

"Did you not want to come? I know it wasn't my choice to move here," I said, a bit of my resentment sneaking into my voice.

"No, it's not that. Well, who would CHOOSE Forks. I was needed, so I came," she said. Before I could get to my next question to try to figure out her cryptic answers, she turned the question back on me. "What brought you here, since we know it was not of your own volition?"

"My father moved here to help progress the new cancer center in Port Angeles." Her eyes widened for a moment, and then she looked away. I stared for a moment, but then decided to just continue. "My mother is an architect, and found a great piece of land outside of Forks that she fell in love with for our house. So, here we are, and here I am."

"At least you have some friendly faces with you here," she said. I looked at her questioningly. "Your siblings."

"Well, you don't know my siblings," I laughed. "You might retract that last statement if you did."

"Your sister is very...energetic." She smiled.

"I've been trying to get my dad to slip her some Ritalin for years." I sighed. Bella laughed.

"Still, I wish I had a sibling or friend going into today. I am so awkward around new people," she said hanging her head down.

"All evidence to the contrary," I said tilting my head down trying to get her to look at me.

"You are very easy to talk to, and are a surprise to me. Not what I expected. Apparently, you are not just a pretty face." She giggled to herself.

"I am pleased to discover the same is true for you," I said quietly. She blushed again.

Just then the bell rang and made us both jump. We gathered up our things, and started walking out.

"I'll see you later, Bella," I said.

"See-ya," she answered.

I walked into Spanish class to see Emmett sitting in the middle of the room like he owned the place. I had to laugh, because I don't know how he fit into these little desks, or how they didn't crumble beneath his massive form. He saw me, and smacked his hand on the chair to his right.

"Saved you a seat, bro!" Emmett said with a smile.

"Thanks, man, " I said sliding into my seat.

"So, how was...biology?" He asked.

"It was biology, and it was good," I smiled remembering my conversation with Bella. "We didn't do anything but go over the syllabus, but the other new kid, Bella, is my lab partner."

"Bellaaaa, " he said drawing out the 'a'. "She's kinda hot, man."

"She's wicked smart too, from what I can tell, " I added. Emmett let out a low whistle.

"This could be interesting," he said wagging his eyebrows at me.

"You're such a douche, man," I shook my head as the teacher called our attention with the ring of the bell.

Due to our extensive traveling with our parents, they required us to each become fluent in two languages other than our own. They had added the latter stipulation, when Emmett made the argument that he was already fluent in English. Emmett and I both learned Spanish, so this class was going to be a breeze. Mrs. Goff was impressed with our answers to her questions about Chicago, in fluent Spanish, until one question lead to an argument, still in Spanish, between Emmett and I on who had the best pizza in Chicago. She had no more questions after that. And so our first day at Forks High came to a close. Emmett walked out of Spanish with me, continuing our earlier argument about the pizza. Once outside, he waved to Alice, who was leaning against my car, and walked towards the locker rooms for football practice. I started walking towards my car, hitting the lock to open it for Alice.

"Watch the door, Alice," I called. "I don't want whatever disease that beast is dying from to infect my car."

"My truck is not dying," a familiar voice said behind me. Shit. I turned and looked down into Bella's eyes now deep brown with indignation.

"It is a bit of an antique," I back tracked.

"At least I don't have to drive my mom's car," she smirked nodding towards my Volvo.

"THAT," I said with an edge to my voice now, "is my baby."

She snorted. She fucking snorted.

"That makes it so much worse," she laughed now. "I wouldn't advertise that."

"Some of us are concerned for the environment," I retorted. "Unlike others, who's behemoth was a gift to Eisenhower when he took office. Do modern octanes even work on that thing?"

Her eyes narrowed. Ut oh. She pushed past me, and got into her truck slamming the door.

"Might want to watch that," I called across the top of my car to her. "It could fall off."

The monster roared to life, and she turned to look at me before pulling out, giving me a very un-ladylike gesture. I laughed, and got into my car.

"I see you made a friend today," Alice muttered looking from Bella's retreating truck and me.

"Maybe not," I said as my baby purred to life, and we headed for home.

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A/N: Once again, I must give big thanks to RosieWilde for being my sounding board, and grammar goddess divine for this chapter.

The next chapter, we are back to BPOV, and Charlie has started chemo, so prepared for lots of drama.