Note to the readers: This chapter is in two parts because one day is apparently too long for one chapter. So you guys get two chapters tonight. :D
The last month of summer flew by. Charlie and Billy had their fishing competitions while Jake and I stayed at Billy's and just…talked. I had never been able to talk to someone so easily, and I had never been so content. I loved my mom, but back in Phoenix, I had never had a friend that was like Jake. It was like we could talk about anything with an ease and familiarity that I had never had with anyone else. However, as the summer came to an end, the approaching school year seemed larger and scarier than normal. Jake wouldn't be going to my school, so I would be starting by myself on September 3rd.
However, whenever I talked to Jake about it, the only thing he would say was,
"If anyone bothers you, let me know. I'll take care of it." He seemed positive that nothing bad would happen, but he was almost…protective about me in the way he said that he would take care of it. Everyday that we spent talking about whatever crossed our mind became shorter and shorter until Charlie and Billy returned and had me and Jake prepare dinner while they watched whatever was on the TV. Jake was always trying to get me to mess up or lose focus while I cooked. He'd juggle plates, pick me up, or even nudge me out of the way and cooked by himself. He never failed to make me smile, and always seemed to know exactly how I was feeling.
On the night before school started, we sat together at the table, and that night as Charlie and I got ready to depart, Jake gave me a hug, like he did every night. He usually gave me brief hugs that lifted me off my feet quickly, and then messed up my hair before I went out to the truck. That night, he didn't pick me up, but rather bent down, and gave me a deep hug that lasted a bit longer than a 'friendly' hug. It was more…tender. I returned the hug, and on a whim, stretched on my tiptoes and kissed him quickly on his forehead. He looked surprised, and blushed deeply. Then, Charlie decided to walk out to his cruiser, and Jake and I sprung apart. Then we both were blushing and gave a quick wave to one another and I rushed to my truck and strapped myself in, thinking about what had happened the entire way home.
Was I confused? Definitely. Was I upset? Not at all. When I arrived home, I told Charlie that I was going to bed, so I wouldn't be tired for the next day, and he nodded and wished me good night. As I flew up the stairs, I quickly showered to calm down, and when I finally got into the room, I shut the door quietly. I got to my desk, and pulled out a black pen and a notepad. I found myself just randomly doodling and writing words while I thought about Jake and me. When my eyelids began to slightly droop, I sighed and looked at the notepad. I had unthinkingly written Jake and I's names, and a few hearts around them. I scrambled to crumple the paper and threw it in the trash. Then, I hesitated, and slowly, took it back out and smoothed it out. I put it under my bed, so Charlie wouldn't find it if he by some chance, came into my room. Then, I flopped on my bed and prepared myself for the coming day.
The school was smaller than I had imagined. A total of 347 students were in it, including the newest addition of myself. And as I arrived in the parking lot, I sighed, grabbed my book bag from the back of the truck and made my way to the entrance. I asked an Asian boy with long dark hair where the office was. He introduced himself quickly.
"Hey! You must be the new student, Isabella Swan right?" I was a bit taken aback, I knew that this was a small town, but I had only been in Forks for a month. I nodded before he continued. "Great! We've been waiting for you; not in a creepy way though. It's just because your dad's the Chief of Police. Oh, by the way, I'm Eric Yorkie. I'm a member of the school paper, so I'm the eyes and ears of the place here. You need anything, you just ask me, and I'll make sure you get it." He seemed to be babbling quite profusely, so I decided to ask where the office was yet again, since he had appeared to not have heard me the first time.
"Um…well can you help me find the office? I need to get my schedule." His face lit up in a gigantic smile.
"Sure thing! We'll get you all situated. In fact, I'll bring you there myself so you won't get lost." I wondered briefly how you could get lost in such a small school, but I accepted his offer, and walked down the hall with him as he continued to chatter while I threw in head nods. I wasn't really listening to him, but I was thinking about how much I missed Jake, and how I wished he could be here. Suddenly, Eric grabbed my arm, and brought me forward into an office and quickly introduced me to a red haired woman behind a desk. "Mrs. Cope, this is the new student, Isabella Swan!" She gave me a warm smile and said,
"Eric, thank you for bringing her, but you should get going to class; you know that none of the teachers like the upperclassmen to be late to classes first day." He nodded and said,
"See ya later Isabella!" and left. I sighed, thankful that he was gone. He seemed like a nice kid, but he was a bit…intense. Mrs. Cope smiled knowingly at me.
"Oh dear, it seems he's got a bit of a crush…no matter, you'll probably get a lot of that here. Just persevere!" She handed me a schedule, and a map to get around the school. "If you have any trouble, feel free to ask any students or teachers. Have a good first day!" Her optimism reminded me a bit of my mother, so I took the papers with a stiff smile and looked down at my schedule and room number. Homeroom was first.
As I walked into homeroom, I was observed by many kids at their desks. As I walked by to find an empty seat, my cheeks flushed red. Unfortunately, the teacher who chaperoned homeroom made me introduce myself to the class, and after a large amount of stuttering and almost falling, I made it back to my seat with the entire class knowing who I was. My next few classes were a bit better. I met two girls named Jessica Stanley and Angela Weber, who to my relief, were easy going and filled my awkward silences with light chatter. Jess seemed a bit pushy for gossip, but Angela gracefully changed the subject whenever she saw I was getting a bit uncomfortable. When we arrived to lunch, we got in line and bought our lunches, and then went to a table. Soon, other friends of theirs joined us.
Jess introduced me to everyone, which consisted of Lauren, a girl with an unpleasant smirk, and light almost white blond hair; Tyler, a guy who was seriously into his music and barely managed a head nod at me while he was listening to it, and Mike, a guy with wheat blond hair in spikes. Mike was almost as eager as Eric to talk to me.
"So Isabella, what's it like in Phoenix? You actually see the sun up there in Arizona?"
"It's just Bella, but yeah, we didn't have nearly as much rain there as there is here. Forks is Phoenix's polar opposite." I looked down at my small lunch of milk, an apple and a turkey grinder, and took a bite out of the apple.
"Cool, cool," he said. "So what do you have for the rest of the day? You're not in any of my classes so far," he said, "so you must have some with me for the rest of the day." I pulled my schedule out of my bag and scrolled through it. Mike grabbed it before I had a chance to respond. He looked at something at the top of the page really quickly, where my locker number and combination were, and muttered something under his breath, almost like he was memorizing it. I narrowed my eyes slightly. Great, now someone could get into my locker. It's not that I didn't trust Mike; I just…didn't exactly want him in my stuff. He also scanned the rest of my schedule. I folded my arms. Hopefully he didn't find out that… "Your birthday's the thirteenth?? Awesome! We'll hafta do something!" Jessica chirped in excitedly,
"Bella, why didn't you tell us?! You're only giving us a little over a week to plan!" I rolled my eyes
"I kind of just met you guys…" I muttered under my breath which both of them disregarded.
"We'll figure it ALL out, Bella, don't worry about a thing!" Jess said excitedly.
"Awesome." I tried to smile, but failed. I had just met these kids, and already there was a spotlight on me. Not how I wanted my first day to go. Mike finally looked at my schedule for the rest of the day.
"You've got Spanish 6th, Biology 7th, and Gym 8th? That's great! So do I! I'll walk you to class." He said with enthusiasm. I actually managed a smile this time. Even though I didn't like the attention, he reminded me of a puppy. A hyper, ecstatic, silly little puppy. I lightly chuckled to myself. Lunch ended and I went to Spanish with Mike, as he chattered through the entire class, earning several glares from the teacher. As he walked with me to Biology, he put his arm around my shoulders, to which I tried to shrug off by pretending to tie my shoe, but when I finished, he put his arm on my shoulder again. I sighed. Hopefully he wouldn't be my lab partner in Biology.