Disclaimer: I don't own the original Twilight characters, or any anime/manga that is mentioned from here on in.
"I'm totally going to miss you guys," I said, wrapping my arms around my two best friends, Amie Lopez and Morgan Hart, one last group hug.
"But you'll e-mail us, right?" Morgan demanded.
"And tell me all about the cute guys you meet?" Amie added hopefully.
"Of course I'll e-mail. And I'll try to call as often as I can, too, okay?"
"Alright. Have fun." Amie hugged me again.
"Have fun," Morgan echoed, handing me a new sketchpad, my going-away present.
I climbed into my aunt and uncle's car, waving to my friends as they disappeared from view. My aunt and uncle were driving us to the airport, since our cars had already been sent ahead to Seattle. I stared out the window absentmindedly, thinking back on my two friends before burying my nose in the latest volume of Ouran High School Host Club.
We took care of our luggage upon arrival before heading towards the security line, where we said the last of our goodbyes. After a short trip across the complex of the Denver International Airport in the underground shuttle, we arrived at our gate and after an additional hour of waiting, my parents and I boarded the plane. I settled into my seat, vaguely going over the events that had led to our moving to Forks, Washington. We really should have been moving to live on the military base, but Dad had requested if we could live in the nearby small town. He thought it'd be a fun experience, and I thought it'd be cool to have a change of scenery. And moving wasn't exactly a new concept for me, either.
"How do you feel?" Mom asked me.
"Excited," I replied, grinning. I then stuck my nose in my manga again.
The flight was long and, for the most part, silent. When we reached Seattle, we donned our raincoats before going outside. We picked up our luggage and our three cats before we went out to the parking lot. By sheer luck, our cars were right next to each other. We got the luggage into Dad's Jeep Liberty, and he started off. Mom and I put the cats in the back seat of her Mercury Sable before getting in and following.
When the city limits were far behind us, the two-lane road we were on opened up to a small highway. I looked out both windows, and noticed there were buildings on either side of us. I guessed this was Forks. Dad turned off the highway and onto another side road. The trees were thick, and it appeared that there weren't any other houses in close proximity. By the looks of it, we were going to be a bit isolated.
Dad came to a stop in front of a two-story brick house. Mom killed the ignition and we stepped out into the rain. Dad handed me the key while he helped Mom unload. I went to the front door, hopping up onto the porch instead of taking the time to walk up the three small stairs, and unlocked it. I was greeted by pitch darkness.
I reached out for the wall, and groped along for a light switch. I continued, completely clueless as to where I was going. In the darkness, I tripped over a box and hit my head on the wall.
"Ow!" I exclaimed, sitting up and rubbing the spot I had hit. I looked up and could just barely make out a light switch. "Oh, sure, there it is," I muttered, getting to my feet and turning on the light.
The living room was filled with what looked like a majority of our boxes. Unpacking was definitely going to take some time, but the move was totally worth it…I continued to look around the house, finding that the kitchen was adjacent to a large open space that I assumed we would end up using as a dining area. Beside it were five stairs leading down to an area where the computer desk was already set up, near a door leading out the garage. Upstairs, there was the master bedroom, two bedrooms, a bathroom I would get to myself, an area where we would undoubtedly use for the washer and dryer, and a linen closet.
I grinned a little bit and headed back downstairs to find that my parents had finished unloading what we had had in the cars.
"Well, what do you think?" Dad asked after he released the cats, who all streaked off to investigate their new territory.
I nodded enthusiastically. "This is going to be fun."
We finally finished unpacking Saturday night, and went to Port Angeles on Sunday in order to find me a car; Mom and Dad had both decided to wait until after the move to get me mine. We managed to find a nice silver-colored Taurus SHO, which made me pretty excited.
And then, Monday was finally my first day of school. I woke up in order to take a shower, after which I pulled on my favorite jeans, a black turtleneck sweater, and a pair of some of my ankle boots. I braided my hair, applied a small amount of eye shadow and eyeliner, and finally spritzed myself with my favorite perfume—a fusion of peach, white jasmine, and cherry blossoms.
"Good morning!" I exclaimed cheerfully when I went down to breakfast.
"Morning, Tiana," Dad replied from where he sat on the couch, watching the news.
"Aren't you already supposed to be on base?"
"I'm not starting until next week."
"Tiana, breakfast is ready!" Mom said, momentarily poking her head out of the kitchen.
I sat down, lightly exclaiming, "Yay!" when she set down a plate of French toast and a cup of milk before me. I ate, maybe a little too quickly, before I brushed my teeth and headed out the door.
"Have fun!" my parents chorused after me.
I slowly approached my car, savoring the moisture against my skin. I got in and put my book bag in the passenger seat before starting the car, a blast of warm air hitting my face. When I got to campus, I found a parking spot in the practically empty parking lot and headed over to the main office, entering and approaching the red-haired secretary.
She looked up and smiled in a friendly manner. "Hello. My name is Ms. Cope. How can I help you?"
"I'm a new student. Christiana McKay."
"Right. I have your paperwork right here," Ms. Cope said, handing me a manila envelope she had pulled out of a filing cabinet. "That has your schedule, a map, and papers that you need to give to each of your teachers and return at the end of the day," she explained, smiling at me again. "I hope you enjoy your time here."
"Thank you," I told her pleasantly, heading out of the warm building and into the damp, chilly March air. I briefly glanced over toward the parking lot, noticing a shiny, silver S60R Volvo in the space next to my car. I admired it for an instant before heading to first period, English. I entered the building and approached the teacher, Mr. Mason.
I introduced myself as I handed him the slip of paper. He nodded, signed the slip, and handed it back to me along with a reading list, writing sprawled across the page to indicate the ones that had already been read the previous semester. When I slipped into my seat, I glanced over the list, and found that a majority of them were classics—just my type of reading.
When class ended, I gathered up my papers and put them in my bag. I stood up and bumped into a boy with freckles and bracken-colored hair. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm such a klutz…" I apologized.
He smiled. "It's okay. Hey, you're Christiana McKay, right? The new girl?"
"That's me…And you can call me 'Tiana'."
He held out his hand. "Anyway, I'm Nick. Nick Kluth."
"Hi," I said, taking his hand and shaking it.
"So, what's your next class?"
"Uh…" I glanced at my schedule. "Pre-Calculus."
"Cool. Me, too. You can follow me."
"Thanks," I replied with a smile and followed him.
The day pretty much continued in that fashion, more or less like a cliché school-based manga, until it was time for lunch. I walked with Nick, who made sure to keep up a friendly conversation with me. When we had gotten our food, he asked if I wanted to sit at his table; I hesitantly agreed, since it'd be nice to get to know some more people but I was definitely aware of how shy and socially awkward I was. He introduced me to the others once we reached the table: Cameron Cason, a brunet with a wide smile and a smattering of stubble across his face and Amber Wilson, who had dirty blonde hair and freckles, and seemed to be very shy. I breathed a silent sigh of relief when I realized just how small the group was.
I sat by Amber, listening and occasionally joining in to the playful and friendly chatter around me. It was surprisingly easy, and I was feeling pretty elated.
"Don't look now, but I think Edward's looking at you…" Amber murmured to me once there had been a lull in the conversation.
Pathetically enough, my first thought was, Edward Elric!? Where!? But when I looked around, I saw that the 'Edward' Amber was referring to was an actual person, copper-haired rather than blond, that looked away once he saw me looking at him. He was sitting with four others, and I couldn't help but notice that they all looked similar, as if they had all just stepped off the pages of Vogue.
They were sitting alone, because everyone else seemed to unconsciously stay a minimum of three yards away from them; this momentarily reminded me of The Scarlet Letter.
There were three boys, two in addition to Edward, and two girls. One of the boys reminded me of Dad—tall, muscular, and dark-haired, although his hair was evidently curlier than my dad's. Another boy was tall with honey-blond hair. Edward still had a hint of boyish roundness in his face, framed by that copper-colored hair. One of the girls seriously reminded me of a European runway model—tall, slim, blonde, and gorgeous. The other girl was short and pixie-like, with short and spiked jet-black hair, slightly darker than mine.
All of them were extremely pale, more so than anyone else in the cafeteria, and they had bruise-like shadows under their eyes as if they suffered from lack of sleep, like I did because of excess homework and late-night reading. They should have been in the pages of a fashion magazine, angels in my stories, but definitely not sitting here in a small town high school.
"So…who are they?" I finally asked Amber, still a little awed by my discovery.
"That's Rosalie and Jasper Hale, and Alice, Emmett, and Edward Cullen. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen moved here a couple of years ago, and their kinds enrolled here."
Nice names…It's a little unusual that they're so old-fashioned, though…I thought. "They don't look related…" I pointed out.
"Oh, they're not. The Cullens are adopted, and the Hales—the blonds—are foster children, relatives of Mrs. Cullen."
"Oh…" I murmured.
Amber nodded a bit. "I'm surprised Edward was actually looking interested in you. He seems kind of like a lone wolf, and he doesn't seem to really be interested in dating or anything."
I nodded in understanding, and glanced over at them again…only to find that Edward Cullen was staring at me once again. I blushed and looked down at my food. He's pretty cute…I thought, my mind already racing with new character ideas based off of Edward's appearance. I chanced a glance at him again, but found myself blushing and looking away when I found he was still looking my way, this time with an amused smile on his face.
Thankfully, Amber had asked me a question, and I returned to the conversation at hand, but my mind still lingered on Edward Cullen.