A/N: Thanks so much for all the wonderful feedback from the first chapter! On you go.

BPOV

I let out a huff as I climbed into Emmett's jeep. He and Rose were fighting about something, and I so didn't want to hear it. Impatiently, I waited for everyone to get their butts into gear and climb in. We were going to be late, and if there was one thing I hated, it was being late.

We arrived at school with a few minutes to spare, and I dashed to my locker. As I shoved my coat in it and grabbed my books, I heard Jessica Stanley talking about a new kid. Dr. Cullen's son from what I gathered. I didn't have time to dwell on it. I didn't honestly care, although I did feel a pang of pity for the guy. Being new sucked. Two years ago, we'd been the new kids. We'd been living in Alaska until then, when Dad decided he wanted to come back to Forks. He'd grown up here and missed it, so we'd moved. The first few weeks we were here was hell, but now nobody really paid us much attention, and that was the way I liked it.

Classes dragged on and on, and all anyone was talking about was Edward Cullen. By the time lunch arrived, I was sick to death of hearing the kid's name. It was ridiculous how the pathetic idiots at Forks High got so worked up about some newbie. It wasn't like it was Rob Pattinson. Now, that was a man I could get worked up over. Hell, I'd rather get worked over by him.

As soon as I paid for my lunch, I sat down at the table my family and I shared. My parents had adopted my cousins, Alice and Emmett when I was five after their parents had been killed by a drunk driver. Then four years ago, Mom and Dad became the legal guardians of Jasper and Rose Hale. Jasper and Rose's dad, an old friend of my dad's, was in the military and had been sent to Afghanistan, so Mom and Dad had taken them in. Two years ago, their dad had been killed in an explosion. They loved Mom and Dad, but neither of them wanted to be adopted, so my parents respected their wishes.

"New kid is staring at you," Rose said, drawing my attention back to the table.

I turned my head and sure enough, bright green eyes were staring my way. Immediately, a blush took up residence on his cheeks and he turned his gaze away. Cocking my head to the side, I realized he looked a bit like Rob Pattinson. Hmmm.

"Someone's got a crush on you," Emmett said with a grin.

I tossed my apple core at him. "Oh, shut up. He's probably just like the rest of the losers at this school. Take a look at who he's sitting with."

New boy was sitting with some of the not-quite-popular, but not-un-popular crowd. Mike Newton, who acted like he was God's gift to women. He wasn't. He'd tried to get me to go out with him, but I'd shot him down more times than I could remember. Next to him was Tyler Crowley. A guy who had a hard time taking no for an answer. My knee to his balls had convinced him I wasn't interested. Then there was Eric Yorkie. Yorkie was a nice enough guy who just happened to have lousy taste in friends. I bet if you got him away from the assholes, he'd be a pretty decent guy.

As for the girls. Ugh. Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory. Jessica's hair was living in the 80s and for some reason she thought we were the best of friends. I couldn't figure out for the life of me where she got that idea. I could barely stand her. She was a horrible gossip and loved spreading rumors. Lauren Mallory was the school slut; it was a known fact. Just like it was known that she hated my guts. The feeling was mutual.

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch, so after throwing my garbage away, I headed toward my locker and then Biology. Walking in the door, I made my way toward my lab table and almost stopped in my tracks when I realized that Edward Cullen was sitting at my table. He was cute, I'd give him that.

Halfway through class, Mr. Banner told us we'd be working on a lab for the remainder of the period. That meant I'd have to get close to Edward. He smelled like sin and that blush of his was intoxicating. Something about him had my skin tingling and my pulse racing. I didn't like it one bit.

As soon as class was over, I'd booked it out of there. I told myself that I wouldn't feel bad about being a bitch to him, but I totally did. He'd done nothing wrong, and I'd snapped at him and hurt his feelings. He hadn't said anything, but I'd seen it in his eyes.

I was quiet on the ride home and my siblings knew something was wrong, but thankfully none of them pushed me on it.

I had just finished up my homework and was setting the table for dinner when Emmett came home. Looking at the clock on the wall, I noticed that he was home later than usual.

"Hmmm. Smells good in here. What's for dinner?" he asked, popping his head into the kitchen.

"Home-made pizza," Mom said before she shooed him out of the kitchen.

"What's on it?" he asked.

"Stuff," was her reply.

Em looked at me. "What kind of stuff?" he asked in a whisper.

I shrugged. With Mom you never knew. She wasn't known for her culinary skills.

"Hey, guess who I ran into?"

"Who?" I asked as I followed him upstairs.

"Edward Cullen. Dude was walking down the road a few miles away. Apparently, he got lost walking home."

"The Cullen house is a long way from school. What the hell was he doing walking home that far?" I scowled as we walked to Em's room.

Em shrugged. "Don't know. Didn't ask. Anyway, I dropped him off. Seems like a nice guy."

"I guess."

"Who seems like a nice guy?" Alice asked from Jasper's bed.

Jasper and Emmett shared a room as did Alice and Rose. I had a room to myself, mainly because my sleep-talking drove my siblings crazy. Plus, our house wasn't very big and my room had originally been a utility room before Dad had converted it. It was small, but it was all mine.

"Edward Cullen," Em said.

"I haven't talked to him yet, but he's in one of my classes. He seems very shy," Alice said.

"Didn't you have class with him?" Jasper asked me.

"Yeah. He's alright, I guess," I said with a shrug.

Looking up from the nail that I was picking, I found four pairs of eyes staring at me.

"What?"

"Did he upset you? Hit on you?" Rose asked.

"No. Something about him just … I don't know. Forget it," I said as I got up and headed to my room.

I could hear my siblings talking as I left, but I didn't care. I hated that Edward Cullen bothered me so much and it annoyed me even more that I didn't know why he bothered me.

Twenty minutes later, we were all seated around our cramped kitchen table inspecting the pizza that Mom had made. There were some weird, unidentifiable lumps hidden under the cheese and sauce.

"What is this?" Emmett asked horrified as he pulled something green out of the pizza.

"Seaweed," Mom said.

Looks of horror crossed all our faces. Excusing myself to use the bathroom, I quickly sent Dad a text begging him to bring home real food.

Why?

I rolled my eyes. Really? He knew why.

She made seaweed pizza, I texted back.

Ew. Real pizza coming up.

Thnx.

I headed back to the kitchen and informed my siblings in a whisper that Dad was bringing real food. Fifteen minutes later, the door opened and Dad came into the kitchen holding two large pizza boxes.

"Charlie! I told you I was making pizza!" Mom scolded.

"Sorry, honey. I totally forget," he said, giving me a wink when she wasn't looking.

Mom turned back to him, hands on her hips. "I'm not stupid, Charles. I'm fairly certain one of our children had something to do with this."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Nee. But I do know that you look beautiful," he said before planting a kiss on her that left Mom blushing and us making faces.

After eating a real dinner, I escaped to my room to listen to some music and read a book. Later as I fell asleep, my dreams were filled with a green-eyed boy with bronze colored hair.

The next morning, I drove myself to school. Normally, we all went in Emmett's jeep, but I needed some time alone. One of the things I loved about my siblings was that, while nosy and annoying at times, they also understood my need for space.

I pulled my old truck into the first parking spot and climbed out before heading into the school. Not really paying attention, I got to the door at the same time as someone else.

"Oh, sorry," a male voice said.

I looked up and found myself face to face with Edward. Boy, he was pretty. I held back a sigh that longed to escape as I looked at him.

"No worries. You're here early," I said, trying to be polite and make up for being so rude to him yesterday.

"Uh, yeah. Carlisle, my father, had to get to the hospital early."

"Ah. Well, I'll see you in Biology if not before."

"Sure," he mumbled as I walked in the building.

Morning classes passed quickly and before I knew it, it was lunchtime. I was making my way to our table when I saw Edward trip out of the corner of my eye. I winced as he went down with a crash. He tripped over one of the footballer's chairs and the guys on the team were all laughing at him. I hated that shit.

I watched as Edward picked himself up, his face flaming red. He grabbed what was left of his lunch and made his way over to Newton's table where they were all in hysterics over what had happened.

It pissed me off that his so-called friends were laughing at his pain and humiliation. That shit didn't fly with me. Making my way over to their table, I stopped next to Edward.

"Hey, Edward. Want to join us for lunch?"

"Yeah," was his reply.

It was amusing to see the stunned look on his friends faces as Edward followed me.

"Guys, this is Edward. Edward this is my family. My brother, Emmett, who you already know. My other brother, Jasper, and my sisters, Alice and Rose."

Edward gave a half-wave as he sat down with his tray. He had a bit of ketchup on his shirt, and I noticed that his hands trembled as he wiped it off.

"You okay?" Jasper asked, seeing the same thing I did.

Edward sighed. "Not really. I hate making a fool out of myself. At least back in Phoenix the school was so big, no one really ever noticed. I prefer it that way."

Alice gave him a sympathetic smile. "It's never easy being the new kid."

Edward let out a snort. "No kidding."

"Forget about them," Rose said. "They're all pathetic losers, any way. Assholish, childish jerks who get their kicks picking on others."

"Unfortunately, that's easier said than done."

Rose flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "Not really. Just remember that you're better than they are."

As lunch ended, I walked with Edward to class. I felt bad about yesterday so I apologized to him.

"I thought I'd done something to make you angry," he said quietly.

I shook my head. "No, I was just in a bitchy mood and took it out on you. You didn't need that your first day of school."

"Apology accepted," he said, giving me a shy smile.

"Need a ride home, Ed?" Emmett asked Edward as we all walked out of school together at the end of the day.

Edward shook his head. "Carlisle said he'd pick me up. Hopefully, he doesn't forget again."

"Wait," I said, putting a hand on his arm. "You're telling me that the reason you were walking home yesterday was because your dad forgot about you?"

His face became flushed, and he refused to look me in the eye as he mumbled out a yes. I was furious. What kind of parent forgot their own child?

"He's not used to having me around and got busy at the hospital," he explained.

I let out a hmph, but let it go because I could see it was making him uncomfortable. I'd always thought Dr. Cullen was an okay guy, but now I was re-evaluating my feelings. Not more than a few minutes later a Mercedes rolled up. Edward waved goodbye to us and climbed in.

Telling my siblings I'd see them at home, I climbed into my truck and headed toward the diner. I'd seen that they were hiring, and I needed a job. Not that I wanted one, but it wasn't fair to have to ask Mom and Dad for gas money when they already did so much for us. They weren't exactly rolling in the dough. I mean, we got by and all, but there were seven of us. Besides, Alice and Jasper both had jobs. Emmett played baseball and hockey and Rose played soccer so neither of them really had time for one.

I pulled up in front of the diner and made my way inside.

"Bella, dear. How are you?" Mrs. Stanley, Jessica's mother, asked as I walked in.

"I'm okay. I was wondering if I could fill out an application for the waitressing position?"

"Have you ever waitressed before?" she asked me.

I shook my head. "But, I'm more than willing to learn."

Mrs. Stanley nodded, then leaned a hip against the counter. "Why don't we do a trial run this afternoon for a bit? If you do a good job, the job's yours."

"Seriously?" I asked.

She nodded. "I've had that sign up for weeks and no one's worked out yet. I know that you're a smart and reliable girl, and I need someone who's reliable."

Pulling out my phone, I called home and let Mom know that I'd be home later than planned.

"Everything okay, sweetie?" she asked me.

"Yep. I'll be home around six," I told her.

A few minutes later, I was holding a notepad and a pen, and taking my first order.

"Welcome to Forks Diner. I'm Bella, and I'll be your server. Can I get you something to drink?" I asked the two elderly gentlemen as I handed them their menus. Not that they needed them. Mr. Riley and Mr. Woods had been ordering the same thing since dinosaurs roamed the earth.

"Why little Bella Swan, is that you? What in the world are you doing working? A young girl like yourself shouldn't have to work," Mr. Riley commented.

"I need a job," I told him. "I shouldn't have to rely on my parents for money."

"Responsible. That's a good trait," Mr. Woods said to Mr. Riley.

I took their order and brought them their coffee a few moments later. The next two hours flew by, and I felt that I was getting the hang of things. A little after five, Mrs. Stanley called me over.

"You did good, honey. The position is yours if you want it. The hours would be from six to nine, Monday through Thursday. I know it's only twelve hours a week, but those are some of our busiest hours."

"I'll take it," I told her with a smile.

"Excellent. Come in Monday and we'll get you all set. Sound good?"

I nodded and thanked her again, especially when she let me take home the tips that I'd gotten during my trial run. I hadn't made a lot, but it was more than I'd had before. Climbing into my truck, I wondered why she hadn't hired Jessica to work. After all, Jessica was her daughter. Then again, maybe that was why.

"Hey kiddo," Dad said as I walked in.

"Hey, Dad. How was your day?" I asked as I planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Not too bad. Wrote a speeding ticket today," he said with a grin.

I let out a snort. Dad was the chief of police, but in a town as small as ours, there wasn't much crime, so anytime he caught someone breaking the law he got excited.

"Where you've been?" he asked me as we headed into the kitchen.

"Oh, I got a job."

"Bella!" Mom exclaimed. "You didn't need to get a job."

"Yes, I did. I can't have you guys paying for my car, insurance, gas, and spending money. It's not fair to you guys. Besides, Alice and Jasper work, so why can't I?"

"Fair enough," Dad said. "Where will you be working?"

"The Forks Diner as a waitress. I'll only be working twelve hours a week, so it won't really interfere with school or homework."

I saw Mom and Dad relax a bit. They had stressed the importance of education upon all of us. Both my parents were the first ones in their families to go to college, and they wanted to see us further our education.

"When do you start?" Mom asked as she pulled a casserole out of the oven.

"Monday. I'll be working six to nine, Monday through Thursday."

"That's not too bad. You'll still have the weekends to relax," she said before calling everyone in for dinner.

I watched in horror as Mom gave me a huge helping of the mystery casserole. Cautiously, I poked a fork into it and saw my siblings doing the same. Slowly, I brought my fork to my mouth and took a bite. It was strangely good.

"What is this, Nee?" Dad asked as he took another bite.

"Pineapple and chicken casserole," she said with a smile. "I found the recipe online the other day."

I often thought that Dad should ban Mom from looking up recipes on the Internet. We'd been tortured with some horrible recipes over the years and the Internet was to blame for it.

"Jasper, you're on dish duty tonight," Mom informed him.

He let out a groan but knew better than to argue.

"I need to go grade some papers."

I raised an eyebrow. "You've got your kindergartners doing papers?"

"It's not like I made them write essays," she defended. "It's just a few lines to help them practice their penmanship and show their knowledge of the alphabet."

Mom was the perfect kindergartner teacher. She was overly enthusiastic and loved being creative. It went hand and hand with working with five and six year olds.

After handing Jasper my plate, I headed down the hall to my room to do some homework but was assaulted by Alice and Rose.

"Where were you this afternoon?" Alice demanded to know. "Were you off having a torrid affair in secret?"

I looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "No more soap operas for you. Sadly, I wasn't out having a torrid affair. I got a job as a waitress at the diner."

"You do realize that you'll have to put up with Newton and Stanley, right?" Rose asked.

"What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes at me. "Hello? Jessica's mom owns the diner, so more often than not Jessica is over there with Newton in tow."

I scowled at that news. That thought hadn't even crossed my mind. "Oh, well. I'll deal."

Later that night as I tried to fall asleep, my thoughts drifted off toward a certain bronze-haired boy. I found myself surprised that I wanted to know what had put that sad look in his eyes. I wanted to know everything about him and that scared me. I wasn't one to worry over boys. I had no desire to date the losers at school and had done my best to avoid them. All it took was one look at Edward Cullen, and I found myself almost pining over him.

Disgusted with myself, I turned over and finally fell asleep.

a/n: Let me know what you thought. I'm interested to see how you like this Charlie and Renee. I also have a new twitter acct...come follow me (Tardis19Fanfic). I'm on there occasionally.