Bella's Point of View

My entire body was frozen, as hard as I tried, I couldn't force myself to move from this spot.

Say something, do something. He is waiting for some kind of response.

"I'm Bella." I spoke, feeling my voice tremble just slightly, but enough to be noticeable.

He didn't show any signs of noticing to my relief. "Ethan, nice to meet you." He held his hand out, a somber look on his face.

Nervously I shook his hand, surprised by how the sparks danced between our contact. I quickly pulled my hand away, watching his expression.

Did he notice that?

An amused glint came to his eyes, but to my disappointed he gave me a final nod before turning and leaving the room. "I'll see you around, Bella." He threw behind his shoulder, before pushing his way through the doors to the office.

As soon as he was no longer in sight I let out a huge gasp of breath that I hadn't known that I had been holding until now. My body unfroze and I was able to move to the desk to get my schedule for classes.

What just happened?

Who was Ethan? How could a man be so undeniably handsome?

"Hello, can I help you?" The woman at the desk spoke, her face held no emotion and for a moment I swore I had seen her eyes roll at the sight of me.

"I'm Bella Swan, I'm suppose to get my class schedule."

At the mention of my name her eyes widened and a big smile came to her face. It was almost like with the flip of a switch her mood towards me changed. "Oh you're father is the chief of police, Charlie's oldest."

Now it was my turn to use caution. "Yeah, you know my dad?" I was used to people treating me differently because of my father's positon on the police force. As annoying as it was at times, it did bring a fair amount of advantages.

"Oh yes, Charlie and I had gone to school together, when I heard he was finally moving out of Forks, I was hoping that I could get the chance to meet you and catch up with him." She smiled, walking over to the huge copier that was behind us. She already had all my things in order and when she handed it to me, I felt her kindness was genuine.

"I'll be sure to let him know." I returned the smile.

"Thanks Bella, you have a good first day and if you need anything at all please stop in and I'll take care of it, okay?" She gave me a serious look.

I nodded, taking note of her name tag. "Thank you, Mrs. Clearwater."

She chuckled, shaking her head. "Please, call me Sue."

"Thanks Sue," I would have to remember that name.

As I left the office I couldn't help but wonder if there had been a past between the two of them… and if so why didn't it work out? She seemed nice… but so did Rene. Honest Rene seemed more than nice, she was perfect for my father. She was always there for me when I needed her… and now everything is ruined.

I was overcome with emotion and made my way into the bathroom to get a hold on myself. I moved to the mirror and began wiping the tears that kept falling down my cheeks.

Stop crying. Stop caring. You need to move on from this and be strong for Cindy and our father.

A voice from behind me made me jump. "Are you alright?"

I turned, giving my face another wipe. "Yeah I'm fine, just lost my contact." I lied smoothly.

The girl that stood in front of me was pretty, looking a lot like the rest of the locals here… but there was something different about her… something not completely normal.

She shook her head, walking to the sink to start applying her makeup. "That's a lie."

I frowned, taken by surprise by her blunt comment. "What makes you say that?"

"Let's call it a gut feeling." She shrugged her shoulders, not taking her eyes away from the mirror as she spoke. "I've never seen you around here before."

"This is my first day."

"Is that why you are crying, do you not want to be here or something?" Her bright blue eyes were startling; they held a fierceness that had a knot clenching in my stomach.

I frowned, forcing myself not to roll my eyes. "No, it's complicated."

"So you admit you were crying."

She was good.

"No, I mean that isn't anyone's business anyway."

She glanced at me, putting a final coat of dusty pink lipstick across her flawless lips. "Well pale girl, your going to fit in well here." She gave me a sour look. "This place is full of liars and attention seekers." With that comment she spun around and walked gracefully out of the bathroom.

Her words cut like a knife, but instead of feeling upset all I could think of was how much that girl angered me. How dare she walk around acting like she knew me, or knew my situation. As far as first days go, this one was turning out bad.

After a while I made my way out of the bathroom and made my way to my first class.

Hopefully the rest of this day doesn't get much worse.

But of course, I was wrong.

As I entered the room I felt my face erupt in warmth as everyone's eyes moved to me. Every single one of them seemed to be staring at me, even as I approached the teacher's desk. Out of the corner of my I saw the rude girl I ran into in the bathroom. She didn't seem to care, she kept a bored look on her face as she quietly texted under the desk.

The teacher gave me an extraordinary smile and handed me the Advanced Physics book. "Welcome Miss Swan, go ahead and take a seat anywhere." His warm tone was a little uncomfortable, but I gave him the benefit of doubt.

"Thank you," I nodded and scanned the room for any empty seat.

That's when I saw a familiar face.

Ethan.

My heart fluttered in my chest at the sight of him. It seemed like it was to good to be true, the spot right next to him was the only open seat. I hide my eagerness as I made my way over to him, taking a seat.

He was so close I could smell his sweet earthy scent falling off him. It was a difficult smell to explain, but if I had to put it into words it was almost like walking through a rainforest. It was exotic and thrilling, but held a hint of wildness.

How would I possibly pay attention to this class seated right next to this perfect man? Was it a mistake taking this seat… although there were no other options.

"Nice seeing you again Bella." He leaned back in his seat, his dark eyes searching mine for a moment, amusement was clear on his face. "Hope you're ready for Mr. Blystone's long winded lectures."

Just like earlier I felt my entire body go still, all my thoughts left my mind at that moment and again I was left speechless. Every cell of my body was screaming at me to say something, to do something to break the silence between us, but I could think of nothing.

Thankfully my mouth decided to respond with something close to chuckle. "Yeah, I guess."

What was that? Yeah I guess? That was lame. He is surely going to think I'm some kind of freak.

But to my surprise he responded with humor. "I knew Forks was a really gloomy rainy place, but I didn't know the people there were just as gloomy and withdrawn."

Heat entered my cheeks as a frown came to my face. "I'm not gloomy, I'm just… not so good with talking with people I only just met."

He smirked slightly and shrugged his shoulders. "So you do talk, I was beginning to have my doubts."

I sighed, glancing back up towards Mr. Blystone, attempting to ignore him.

"Come on, I'm just having a little fun." Ethan mused. "Don't they have that in Forks either?"

I huffed, turning my eyes back on him.

As soon as our eyes met I felt my heart begin to race. A charming smile came to his face as he rose a single brow.
Why did he have to be so perfect?

"You aren't funny." I turned away from his intense gaze, forcing myself to take deep breaths.

It wasn't often someone could make me breathless from just a smile.

"You aren't like the other girls are you?"

"The pale skin didn't give it away?"

He snorted. "Now you're making jokes, we are making progress."

I forced back a smile as I cautiously turned back to him. "Are you this charming with all girls you first meet?"

"Only the interesting ones." He concluded, his eyes scanned over me one more time before he turned his attention to the front of the class.

What was that suppose to mean? I was interesting…

The class seemed to drag on for what felt like forever, but just as I feared I didn't catch a single word of the lecture. Ethan and I continued in short conversations; which just turned into more teasing each other and more jokes. After a while I was beginning to get comfortable speaking to him, but his beauty still intimidated me.

"Miss Rawthorn, please get off your phone and pay attention." Mr. Blystone paused, his eyes directed on the rude girl from the bathroom.

She barely looked up at him, her bright blue eyes shining with lack of emotion. "And why would I do that."

As she spoke the entire class seemed to shift their attention to her.

"You know the rules, no phones during class." Mr. Blystone spoke, but now sounding a little unsure of himself. His eyes seemed to go hazy and his body appeared to be going stiff.

What was going on with him?

"I know history isn't your strong point, but you are aware that the United States is a democracy, correct?" She kept her tone even.

Mr. Blystone gave her a strange look. "What's that have to do with anything."

"Well in a democracy, the people have the right to take a vote for the way they wish to be lead, someone can't just enter the room and make all the rules and enforce them, that is known as dictatorship."

Mr. Blystone was now frowning deeply towards her. "Are you trying to tell me you want the entire class to vote on the rules of the classroom?"

Beside me Ethan snickered, he shook his head. "You can always count on Angel to make class interesting."

So that was her name.

I had to admit, the way he talked about her… it brought an edge of annoyance to me. I thought that I had been the interesting girl…

I didn't know how I felt about this girl. Angel Rawthorn wasn't exactly my favorite person and now with the only nice person I met today seemed to be so keen for her I couldn't help but feel alone once again.

For the rest of the class I kept my mouth shut and forced myself to completely ignore Ethan's existence. It was one of the most challenging things I had ever done, but thankfully class ended and the shrill ringing of the bell had me up and out of my seat.

"Hey," Ethan spoke up, a light touch on my shoulder sent my heart racing once again. "If Alisha gives you any more problems, let me know."

I froze at his words , confusion blasted through me. "How did you know about that?"

Ethan paused, a strange look coming to his face. "Gossip spreads fast through these halls." He now seemed to pull a mask of indifference to his face. "If you're smart you will take this advice seriously… stay away from Alisha."

Curiosity itched at me, I couldn't help but push for answers. "Why, is she some kind of bully or something?"

"That isn't what I would call it." He turned his gaze from us to where Alisha was standing, her eyes still glued to her phone. "I've seen a lot of women tormented by her, keep your distance." He warned, before walking past me and straight over to her.

I almost felt my jaw drop when I realized what he was doing.

As soon as he made it to her, she leaned up and pecked him on the cheek before turning and walking out of the room, not looking up from her phone once. Ethan followed behind her, keeping close to her side.

Annoyance bubbled inside me.

I didn't see that coming. I guess that was just my luck.

With a heavy sigh I walked out of the room, stomping my way to my next class.

Things never seemed to go right for me. Met a wonderful guy, hit it off with him and now I find out he has a girlfriend. A girlfriend that completely hates my guts. This was started to turn into a cheesy romance novel.

I wouldn't get myself involved, not with Angel, not even with Ethan.

Please review and give me your thoughts here.

AC