––––––––––––PART TWO––––––––––––

This was going to be hell. Of that, Isabella Swan was certain. There was very little she found worse than starting at a new school, especially in a small, cold, rainy town that she hadn't visited for nearly four years. Now, she was 17 and dreading her first day as a Junior at Forks High School.

She had arrived yesterday morning into Port Angeles airport to find that her father was nowhere to be seen. He had phoned to apologise profusely that he wouldn't be able to make it to the airport because of an emergency at the hospital in town. Instead, he told Bella to get a cab for which he would leave money out at home.

Bella didn't complain; her father was the Chief of Police in Forks and so there was always the possibility he would get called to work at unexpected times. So Bella had grabbed her bags and dragged them outside to the line of cabs waiting. The cab driver's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when Bella told him where they were going, and sure enough when they made it home she found a healthy sum of money under the door mat.

After settling herself in to her old room, Bella had only seen Charlie for a short while that night when he returned home for a couple of hours sleep. He had been at the hospital for the whole day, leaving Bella to get her things in order at home and freak out about the next day, which would be the start of her time at Forks High.

Now she sat in her driveway in the driver's seat of her pick-up truck, which Charlie's friend Billy from the nearby reservation had given her, dreading what she was about to do. It was still ages before school started, and yet Bella was still trying to work up the nerve to leave. It didn't help that she was starting most of the way through the semester; with any luck she will have already covered most of the curriculum, but it wasn't the studies that were worrying her.

Bella had never been one for meeting new people. While others enjoyed going out until late at questionable parties, Bella preferred to be at home curled up with a book or watching television. In Phoenix where she had been living with her mother, her classmates had learned to accept that, for which Bella was thankful. Now, here in Forks, she would have to instil that notion into a whole new cohort.

Sighing in recognition of the unavoidable, Bella put her truck into gear and reversed out of the driveway. There was a light drizzle, the same drizzle that had been going since she had arrived the previous day. Such was the norm in Forks.

A short while later, she turned into the school parking lot and took a space as far away from the entrance as possible. She turned off the roaring engine and sat back in her seat; there were very few cars in the parking lot since it was still an hour until school started. Bella thought it best to wait until the lot was fuller before she got out; she would be harder to spot in a larger crowd of people.

As she sat there, she spared a worried thought for Charlie; she had heard him come home at three in the morning before leaving again soon after, hardly stopping to sleep. He had only told her briefly about what he was doing; something about a patient going missing from the hospital. Some foreign kid. She lost interest shortly after that.

Before long, the parking lot began to fill and Bella deemed it safe to walk to the main office. Walking quickly and keeping her head down, she managed to make it all the way without speaking to anyone. The inside of the office was plain and unimpressive, as was the woman sitting behind the desk. Mrs Cope, her name plate read.

"Ah, you must be Isabella," the woman said, looking up from her computer. Bella simply smiled in response. "Here is your schedule and a map of the grounds to help you find your way, though I'm sure you'll quickly make some friends who will be only too happy to help." Mrs Cope said this with such certainty and belief that Bella didn't dare disagree out loud. Instead she thanked the woman, took the documents from her and made her way outside to begin the trek to her first class: English.

She decided that the best way to go about things was to look like she knew exactly where she was going, which of course she didn't. She had memorised the way to Building 3 and began to walk along the wet path behind several other students, none of whom were paying her any attention. Good.

Walking up the stairs into the dry of the building, she managed to find the correct room and walked inside. She handed the slip she was to get signed to the teacher, who handed her a book and told her to find a seat. Making her way to the back of the room, Bella found a seat and sat down, doing her best to ignore the stares that people were casting her over their shoulders.

At last the lesson was over and Bella was free to leave for her next class, until one of her classmates decided they had to say hello. How Bella wished they didn't.

"Uh, hi there. You must be Isabella. I'm Eric. Eric Yorkie," the boy seemed harmless enough, yet Bella still felt uncomfortable.

"Um, just Bella," she insisted. That was another thing she would have to get used to correcting again.

"Do you need any help finding your next class?" Eric asked, rather hopefully if Bella guessed right.

"I've got Government with Jefferson," she supplied, hoping that Eric wasn't in that class too.

"Oh, well, I'm heading that way, too. I could show you if you like?" His smile was friendly, but Bella just felt awkward.

"Uh, sure. Thanks," she tried to give a smile of her own, but it came out looking pained.

They began their walk back out into the drizzle in relative silence, for which Bella was thankful; however, of course, things don't normally go Bella's way.

"Hey, your dad is chief of police, right?" Eric asked innocently. Bella merely nodded in response. "Has he told you anything about that kid that went missing from the hospital?" He looked at her eagerly. Bella didn't understand why he cared; kids went missing all the time, why was this one so special?

"Um, no, not really. We don't really talk much about his work." That was true; she and Charlie didn't talk about much at all.

"Oh, alright," Eric said, slightly put out. "You're building's just up there. I'll see you at lunch, yeah?"

"Yeah, sure," Bella nodded, hoping she could sit by herself at lunch. "Thanks for the directions."

The rest of the morning passed by in the same fashion; one of her classmates would ask if she wanted help with finding her next class and while walking they would ask questions about Phoenix, or how she was liking Forks. Eric remained the only one who questioned about her knowledge of the missing boy.

Finally, it was lunch. Happy that the day was almost over, Bella followed the pack of students to the cafeteria, doing her best to keep her head down to avoid making eye contact with anyone who had spoken with her. She managed to do so until she made the mistake of lifting her head to search for an empty table. A girl from her Spanish class – what was her name? Jane? Joanna? – was waving her arm in the air beckoning Bella to join them.

'So much for keeping to myself.'

Grudgingly, Bella began to slowly make her way to the table, where she now noticed a few more of her helpful classmates; Eric was seated beside Joanna, speaking animatedly to the boy beside him. What was his name? Mike, that was it, Mike Newton. On Joanna's other side was a girl Bella had not yet met; she gave Bella a friendly smile from across the room. It was next to this girl that Bella sat down.

"Hi there, I'm Angela," she said with a huge smile that Bella couldn't help but return. "It's so good to finally meet you, Jess was just telling me about you." Ah, Jessica, that was it. Not Joanna.

"Hi, it's good to meet you, too," Bella replied, the first time she had actually meant those words today. Suddenly, Jessica gasped.

"Oh my god, Angela, you'll never guess what Lauren told me today."

Bella zoned out at this point. Hidden between all the "No way"s and "Yes way"s, Bella was sure there was some piece of news, though what it was she couldn't work out. The boys were arguing about some kind of sport, though whether it was baseball or football Bella had no idea. Faced with a possible moment of peace, she busied herself with looking around the cafeteria.

Forks High was a much smaller school than her old one in Phoenix, where she was able to walk around without people feeling the need to say hello. Here in Forks, however, it was small enough that everybody knew each other, even those not in their year. Bella was almost certain that everyone already knew who she was. Just as she was about to return her focus to her bland lunch, Bella's eyes trained on to a group of students entering the cafeteria. Her heart stopped.

These people couldn't be real. There were five of them, all looking like they had just walked off the red carpet. They were breathtaking.

"Angela," Bella croaked. She tried again. "Angela, who are those guys?" She asked, trying her best to sound casual. The look on Angela's face told her that she hadn't been successful.

"They're the Cullens and the Hales," she replied, as though that should answer her question sufficiently.

"They're all foster kids," Jessica piped in. "Adopted by Doctor and Mrs Cullen. They moved here a couple of years ago and live further out of town." Scooting herself closer to the other two girls, Jessica went into more detail. "The big guy – that's Emmett – he and Rosalie – the super pretty blonde chick – are together," she explained, Bella noticing a hint of disgust in Jessica's voice. "Then the tiny girl is Alice. She's with the blond guy, Jasper, the one that looks kind of pained, yeah? Anyway, Jasper and Rosalie are twins, they're the Hales. The others are Cullens," she finished, sounding terribly proud, though of what Bella couldn't work out.

The four of them walked with purpose, not seeming to notice the open stares from their classmates. Bella could only assume they were used to it; she knew what it was like.

"What about him?" Jessica hadn't mentioned the fifth member of the group, who easily looked the youngest.

"That's Edward Cullen," Jessica explained, voice slightly strained. "Unattached and yet seems to think himself above any of the girls here." There was definitely some past tension there. Bella almost cared enough to ask what had happened.

She couldn't help but watch them as they moved to a table in the far corner of the room and sat down, not talking, not eating. Just sitting there. Once or twice she could have sworn she saw the one named Edward glance her way looking wary, though why he would be concerned with her Bella couldn't begin to understand.

"Bella," the loud voice of Jessica pulled her out of her thoughts. "Have you heard about the kid that's missing from the hospital?" Even the boys turned to listen.

"Jess, her dad's the Police Chief," Eric reminded her. "Of course, she knows about it."

Bella saw movement out of the corner of her eye and flicked her gaze back to the Cullens. Edward was openly staring at her now, and he wasn't the only one. The little one, Alice, was also wide eyed and shifting her eyes between Bella and her family. The other three appeared to be in a hushed argument.

"Yeah, Dad's working flat out at the moment," she said for what felt like the hundredth time. "I haven't been told anything," she added with a tone of finality, bringing the discussion to a close. Glancing sideways, she noticed Edward was now the only one paying her any attention. However, this time, even though Bella was looking right at him, he didn't look away.

Soon enough the bell signalling the end of lunch sounded. Bella took her tray to the trash and disposed of the food she had barely eaten. Looking up, she jumped in surprise at seeing Angela standing in front of her.

"You're in my Biology II class now with Mr Banner," she said happily. "Let's go."

Together they walked to class, Angela providing small bits of conversation. When they entered the classroom, Angela gave Bella a small smile before making her way to her lab table at the back of the room to sit with her partner. In fact, all but two tables were full. At one spare table, sat Mike Newton, smiling and beckoning her over to the empty seat beside him. The other table with a single occupant was the table directly behind Mike, and Bella's heart sputtered at seeing who it was.

Edward Cullen.

Turning away from the tables, Bella went to speak to Mr Banner, who signed her slip and handed her a textbook.

"Here you are, Bella," he said, guiding her to the desks, "you can sit here with Mr Cullen." Bella almost said no, that she would rather sit with Mike, but the teacher had already turned his back on her and walked away. Having no other option but to take a seat, Bella sat down and looked firmly ahead. Mike turned around to give her a disappointed smile, but didn't say anything. Perhaps he, too, found Edward intimidating.

At that point, much to Bella's relief, Mr Banner began the class. Trust her luck to be seated next to the person she'd been staring at all lunch period.

'Though to be fair he was staring at me just as much.' Somehow that thought didn't make her feel any better.

Bella managed to get through almost the entire hour without looking at Edward. She couldn't tell if he was still watching her. Risking a peek, Bella glanced sideways only to find Edward's pitch black eyes staring right back at her. Inhaling sharply, she returned her gaze to the front of the room and tried to focus on the remainder of the lesson.

"You're the Chief of Police's daughter." Bella let out a soft gasp at the quiet, soothing voice that came from beside her. It hadn't been a question. He knew who she was. Everyone did. She didn't trust her voice, nor did she turn to look at him, so she simply nodded.

"Perhaps he should stop searching." Bella whirled her head around, but before she could open her mouth, the bell rang and Edward was gone from the room.

"Hey," called a voice beside her. Bella jumped and turned to see Mike standing next to the seat Edward had just vacated. "We've got Gym, come on."

Bella followed him out of the classroom, so deep in thought she barely paid any attention to what Mike was saying.

"– ended up next to Cullen, hey? Shame you couldn't sit next to me, my partner dropped out of the subject just last week." Bella only murmured in agreement.

For the rest of the day, Bella couldn't help dwelling on what had happened in Biology. Why did Edward look at her like she shouldn't be trusted? And what the hell did he mean by what he had said? All the students were fascinated by the missing kid, but something was off about Edward's statement. He was acting as though he knew something.

Only vaguely aware of her body getting into her truck after school, Bella stared out the windshield at the red sports car containing all of the Cullens but Edward. As they drove away, Bella's mind was reeling. Something was up with the Cullens, particularly Edward, and Bella was going to figure out what.