When Ashley woke up the next morning she turned over to look at her alarm clock before remembering she was in a new house, and her alarm clock was probably in a box downstairs. She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, and was thankful her mother had put out all her toiletries the night before. Ashley looked at how pale she was. Usually there was some colour to her skin because she was half Native, half Caucasian, but her skin didn't look tan at all. She ignored it, hoping some colour would come back to her face by the time school started. She quickly brushed her teeth and pulled out her straightener to heat up. By the time her long, dark brown hair was straight, and she applied her makeup, the colour was back in her skin. Her makeup was light, just eye shadow, mascara, and lip gloss.

She went back to her room and rummaged through her suitcase until she found her favourite blue hoodie and jeans. She figured she looked good enough for her first day at her new high school. La Push High. Although she went to a multicultural, public high school at home, her mother wanted her to attend the school on the reservation.

She made her way downstairs and greeted her mother who was in the kitchen.

"Good morning, if you want a ride to school, we have to leave early." Terry said, as she handed her a plate with a toasted bagel on it. Ashley ate it at the island table.

When she finished, Ashley put her plate in the dishwasher and grabbed her backpack from the chair beside her. Ashley and Terry left the house, ready for their first days in a new life.

The drive to La Push High was quiet; the only sound was the low radio. Both Ashley and Terry were lost in their thoughts. When Terry pulled up to the school Ashley was reluctant to get out and face the cold and the slush. She turned to her mother who was searching in her purse for something.

"I almost forgot. It is in here somewhere." Terry mumbled as she rummaged through her bag. "Ah ha, here it is!" she said pulling something out of her bag. "It's kind of a welcoming present, you needed a new one, and since we changed states you needed a new plan. I hope you like it." Terry smiled and handed her a new blackberry. "It has unlimited social networking so you can keep in touch with your friends back home, it also has unlimited text. My number is already in your contacts so text me if you need anything."

Ashley took it and hugged her mother awkwardly because she could only move so far in the small front seat. "Thanks mom, I love it!"

Ashley slipped it into her jeans pocket and collected her things before finally stepping out into the cold. Just as she stepped out a huge gust of cold wind blew her hair all around her. "Well, there goes my hair," she muttered to herself.

She pulled open one of the front doors of the school, and tried to fix her hair now that she was inside. Ashley looked up and froze for a second. Confused, she checked the time on her new phone. It read 8:15 am. School started at 8:45 am, she was only half an hour early yet the hallways were deserted, not even a teacher in sight.

It was unusual to her considering her high school in Sacramento had close to 2,000 students, so there was always someone else in the hallways. She looked around and realized just how small this school was. This high school was about the size of her elementary school. With a school this small, the main office wasn't hard to find.

She was a little worried no one would be at the front office but as she approached the door, she saw an elderly woman through the window. She looked quite unhappy and Ashley was hesitant to go in but she had to get her timetable and sign in. She took a deep breath and put a smile on her face and opened the door.

The secretary didn't even look up as she entered so Ashley just stood awkwardly in front of her desk, not wanting to interrupt her. After what seemed like a long time, the secretary looked up at Ashley through her thick glasses.

"Yes?"

"Hi, I'm Ashley Montgomery. I just transferred here." Ashley said with a smile.

"One moment," replied the woman, getting out of her chair and walking to the back of her office. Ashley could see people starting to fill the halls through the windows and she looked up at the clock. She only had fifteen minutes until school started and she was getting worried that she might be late to her first class. She shifted her books and weight to the other side of her body. The woman returned about five minutes.

"Welcome Ms. Montgomery. Here is your timetable along with a map of the school and your locker number. Get you teachers to sign this sheet as well and return it to the office at the end of the day. Your first class is with Mr. Strouds. It's right around the corner, room 213. You may want to hurry, the bell is going to ring in about three minutes."

Ashley took the papers and smiled at the secretary before rushing out the door. The halls were slightly crowded and it took her a second to figure out which way to go. The office, room 240, was in the middle of the hall and the secretary didn't specify which corner her class is around. She saw the room numbers were decreasing to her right so she went in that direction. She thought about finding her locker, but Ashley knew she didn't have much time before the bell rang so she decided she would look for her locker later.

She tried to be as invisible as possible, but she saw people were staring at her. She just kept her head down and stayed out of people's way. As she rounded the corner she almost bumped into someone. She looked up and saw a boy. He was more than half a foot taller than her and it looked like he hadn't grown into his height yet. She looked up into his eyes. They were a rich chocolate brown and something about them made her feel a tickle in the pit of her stomach.

"Sorry," she said quietly. He just smiled, nodded, and raised an arm, signaling her to enter the classroom before him. She walked through the classroom door just as the bell rang and he followed her in. She felt strangely satisfied when she realized this boy was in the same class as her. She went up to the teacher's desk and he looked up at her.

"You must be our new student Miss...,"

"Montgomery," she answered as she handed him the paper.

"I hope you don't make a habit out of being late Miss. Montgomery."

"Sorry."

While the teacher was reading the paper she took the chance to look out over the class. Her eyes immediately found the boy she had run into moments ago. He was sitting next to a differently pretty girl and they, along with the rest of the class, were talking.

Ashley felt oddly jealous seeing the two of them talking and smiling. It was weird to her because she wasn't the jealous type and she didn't know either one of them.

The teacher snapped her out of it when he spoke again.

"Okay, please take the empty seat at the back," she said to her personally before addressing the class. "Quiet down and take out your books."

Ashley walked to her seat which was right behind the smiling girl and diagonally behind the boy. As she approached her seat the boy turned to face the front, his back now to her, but the girl turned around and smiled.

"Hi you're Ashley Montgomery, right?" The girl didn't give her time to respond. "I'm Kimberly Fletcher, but everyone calls me Kim. This may sound weird but how old are you?"

"I'm fifteen, in grade ten. Why? How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen, grade eleven. Since we have such a small population, they generally put multiple grades in the same class based on your academic achievements. If you are advanced in a certain subject you will be put in a class with the grade ahead, if you have trouble in a subject you will be in a class with the grade below. So you could have classes with anyone from grade nine to grade twelve. Speaking of classes, what classes do you have?"

"Uh," Ashley took out her schedule. "I have Math with Mrs. Ramsey, Business with Ms. Ministry, and Science with Mr. Hendell" Ashley responded after checking her timetable. She understood the class system but it was still a little unusual to her. She was also a little intimidated by Kim's enthusiasm, but appreciated it nonetheless.

"I have math next too! I'll walk with you to class." Kim smiled again before turning around to face the front.

Ashley also turned her attentions to Mr. Strouds, but found it hard to concentrate on his explanation of Hamlet. The boy, whose name she still hadn't learned, was in her view of the teacher, and she found herself constantly lost in thought. She really wanted to get to know him. She didn't understand why she felt such a strong… pull to someone whose name she doesn't even know. She always thought her friends were stupid for falling for a boy they didn't know, and now she was doing exactly that. She couldn't say she liked him yet, she just knew she wanted to get to know him.

Ashley jumped slightly when the bell rang and startled her. She was so lost in thought, she didn't even realize class was almost over. She packed up her things and slid out of her seat. Kim was waiting for her. They walked out of the class together and the boy was right behind them. Kim turned Ashley in the opposite direction the boy was going and yelled over her shoulder.

"See you later, Seth," Kim called over her shoulder.

"Who was that?" Ashley asked subtly.

"Who? Oh, you mean Seth? Just a friend."

"A good friend?" Ashley smiled teasingly, but she was honestly interested in her answer.

"Me? And Seth? Clearwater?" Kim laughed. "No, we're just friends, I swear." Kim added when Ashley raised an eyebrow in question. "Besides, I like someone else." Kim sighed as they entered the classroom.

Kim took her seat while Ashley went up to Mrs. Ramsey's desk. The procedure was much the same as in her last class, minus the comments about her punctuality. Mrs. Ramsey also asked her about how far she got in her class back in San Francisco. Ashley told her about being in an AP class and getting fairly far. As it turned out this class was slightly behind, so Ashley had an advantage.

Ashley was allowed to choose her seat in this class and she took the empty desk behind Kim. As she passed Kim to get to her desk, Ashley realized Kim was doodling in the margins of her paper. Ashley only glanced at it, but she did notice a lot of hearts. She also noticed Kim kept looking up at the boy in front of her.

At one point in the class, the teacher gave the front of the rows paper to pass back, and Kim stared at the guy in front of her a little longer than necessary when he turned around to pass back the papers. Kim seemed to be completely absorbed by him. The boy on the other hand, who looked at least a year older than her, seemed to not even notice Kim. Ashley had to poke Kim in the shoulder with her pencil to snap her out of it long enough to have her pass back the papers.

When the bell rang for lunch, Kim did the same thing Ashley did in their last class. She was so absorbed by the boy, that she was startled by the bell. Ashley stood by Kim's desk, hoping she could eat lunch with her. Once Kim had her stuff pack up, the pair of then walked out of class.

"Do you want to eat lunch with me? You could meet some of my friends." Kim was still a little dazed but her enthusiasm was returning.

Ashley become slightly excited, hoping Seth would be there. "Sure, but can you help me find my locker first?"

The two girls found Ashley's locker, and after she put away all her books they headed downstairs to the cafeteria. On their way there, Ashley decided to ask Kim about the boy in their math class Kim liked.

"So the boy you like, is he the one that sits in front of you in math?"

"Huh? I don't know what you are talking about."

"Oh, come on. I won't tell him. Besides, I saw the way you were looking at him."

Kim sighed. "Yes that's him. His name is Jared, I have had a major crush on him since last year, and he doesn't even know I exist."

"You don't know that. Have you tried talking to him? Or try making friends with his friends. You never know. Maybe one day he will look in your eyes and fall instantly in love."

Kim laughed but didn't look too confident.

The cafeteria was more like a big classroom with tables rather than desks. Kim led her to a table where her friends were sitting. Ashley got butterflies in her stomach when she realized Seth was at that table but he was at the crowded end, deep in conversation with some older boys. Ashley and Kim went over to the empty end of the table.

Kim quickly introduced Ashley and she couldn't help but smile and look down when she noticed Seth looking at her. Ashley tuned out and wasn't really paying attention to the conversation. She kept subtly glancing in Seth's direction. One girl sitting across from Kim, whose name Ashley couldn't remember, seemed to notice Ashley looking at Seth because she looked back and forth between Seth and Ashley before glaring at Ashley. Ashley immediately looked down at the table and didn't look up until lunch was over.

After lunch she had business and science. Seth was in her science class but he sat on the opposite side of the room and after what happened at lunch, Ashley focused on the science lesson. She found it easier to forget Seth was there when he wasn't in her direct sight.

At the end of the day, Ashley returned to the office where she handed in her signed paper and went to her locker. After she collected her things she decided to walk home, her house wasn't that far. It was overcast, but at least it wasn't raining. Ashley knew where to go because once Terry had bought the house, Ashley started Googling the area. Now she knew how to get from her house, to school, to the beach, to the forest, to the nearby town of Forks and back again.

She started walking in the direction of her house. She walked parallel to the forest which she had to admit was beautiful. She was enjoying the view so much, her walk home didn't feel so long. She walked up the driveway to the front door and heard Rosie barking from the other side of the door.

Ashley let herself in and dropped her bag on the chair by the door. She greeted Rosie and walked further into the house. She saw boxes stacked up in the living room labelled "KITCHEN", "ASHLEY'S SUMMER CLOTHES", and "BOOKS". Ashley walked over to the "BOOKS" box and opened it. She took out her favourite book. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

She wasn't exactly sure why she loved the entire series so much. Maybe it was the memories of reading it with her dad, or the subtle love story, or maybe it was simply the entire fantasy world complete with mythical creatures and magic that she loved. Whatever it was, it kept bringing her back because she had read the book at least ten times before.

Ashley walked up the stairs to her room, Rosie following her. She noticed how messy her room was but didn't feel like cleaning, she could do that later. She walked over to her window and sat on the window seat. It was one of her favourite parts of the house. She had always wanted a window seat with pillows where she could curl up with a book and read in the sunlight.

Although sunlight isn't exactly a daily occurrence here in La Push, the idea was still the same and there was enough light coming through the clouds. Ashley pulled her legs up and leaned back against the wall, the window beside her, and opened her book. Rosie jumped up also, and curled up on Ashley's feet, keeping them warm. She wasn't keeping track of time so she was confused when Rosie woke up with a start and began barking until she heard her mom come in and looked at the clock. It read 6:30 pm and she totally forgot about dinner.

She dog-eared her page and left it on the window seat as she ran to the top of the stairs, her socks sliding a little on the hardwood floor.

"Hi Mom," she yelled down from the top of the stairs, leaning over the railing.

"Hi Ash. How was your day? Come downstairs and tell me all about it. I have food."

Ashley walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. She saw Terry removing take-out boxes from a plastic bag.

"I got you chicken alfredo from this little Italian place in Port Angel." Terry handed her a steaming take out box before grabbing her own. "So tell me about your day. Did you make any friends?"

"I met one girl, Kim Fletcher. She was really nice and I have two classes with her. I ate lunch with her and her friends too," Ashley said as she went over to the drawer, grabbed two forks and gave one to her mom before sitting at the island table. Terry sat across from her. "I think we are going to be good friends."

"What classes do you have with her?"

"My first two: English and Math." Ashley tried to answer her mom's questions in between bites of pasta.

"What other classes do you have?" Her mom was so busy asking Ashley question, she had hardly touched her food. Ashley sighed, she should have expected this from her mom.

"I have Business and Science after lunch. Enough about my day, how was yours?"

"It was amazing!" Terry squealed. Ashley knew her mom was just dying to give Ashley a play-by-play of her day. Sometimes it seemed to Ashley as though she was the parent and Terry was the teenage girl. Her mom loved gossip and acted very immature sometime, but she could also snap into mom-mode if the situation deemed it necessary. Ashley got up to throw out her empty food container and drop the fork in the sink.

"…and I made a friend too! Sue Clearwater. She has a son about your age, Seth. At least, I think that was his name."

Ashley snapped back into attention when she heard Seth's name.

"Huh?"

"My new friend, Sue. I met her when she came into the store today. We started talking and she told me about her kids. She has a daughter, Leah, who is a year younger than Daphne, and a son, Seth, who your age. Did you meet him today?"

"Um, no I didn't meet him today. Well not exactly. I think he is in one or two of my classes but I didn't talk to him at all."

"Oh, well maybe you two will get to know each other better." Terry smiled. "At least you know the in-laws will get along."

"Mom, it's only the first day and you are already playing match-maker for me. Can't you at least wait until next week?" Ashley joked, glad she had her back to her mom because she was blushing deeply.

"Fine," Terry teased. "Do you have any homework?" She took a shot at mom-mode.

"No, but I am reading Harry Potter again so you probably won't see me for the rest of the night."

"Again? Okay, enjoy. I will unpack some more boxes. Oh, and feed Rosie."

When Ashley went to bed that night, all she could think of was Seth. She was getting angry with herself for getting so hung up on a boy she had hardly said two words to. As hard as she tried, she couldn't get him out of her head. She tried distracting herself my texting Elliot.

Do you miss me yet?

Who is this?

Ashley was confused for a minute before remembering she had a new number.

Ashley idiot, who else would you miss?

Prove it is you Ash.

Why do you need me to prove it? We have been friend since kindergarten.

If you prove its you I will tell you why. Tell me something only we know

Fine, when we were in grade one we both used to dress up in my mom's clothes, high heels, matching purses and all, and have tea parties in my room. You would always have to be the stylist.

I remember those :) you had terrible fashion sense then. Come to think of it it hasn't improved much :P 3 sorry I made you prove it. I have gotten one too many hate texts.

El I'm so sorry. You don't deserve that

Its ok I have learned to ignore them but I didnt want to start divulging all my secrets to someone I wasnt sure was you

Well its me and I really miss you. How have you been? How's Spencer?

I miss you too. Im fine so is spencer, it has only been two days ash. How are you though? Meet any cute boys yet?

It is only the first day… but there is this one boy

Tell me all about him!

His name is Seth, his mom is friends with my mom, I have two classes with him but I didn't really talk to him much

Get on that girl. Get your flirt on ;)

Ashley rolled her eyes.

I will let you know how that works out ok?

You better.

Its late and I have school in the morning, I will text you tomorrow. Good night 3

Night 3