A/N: Yeah, it's been a long time since I last updated. Life sucks sometimes, but you have to put on your big girl panties and deal with it. Might have taken me a while to get out of my PJs though. The story has moved forward in time, Bella is now 17. I know, I know, it's quite abrupt. Sorry. Also, the Cullens have arrived in Forks now, instead of when Edward was "16". To clarify, it is not a Bella/Edward story. Happy reading.

Forks was a small town. Usually everyone knew about new students weeks before they arrived. Not that they had lots of new students. 5 years ago, the Yorkies had moved in from Alaska and just last year, the Webers had moved in. But this year, they had five new students. Five! And no one seemed to know anything about them. They had showed up to school this morning, in a Volvo, from what Mike had told Bella on the way to lunch. What sane parent gives a 17 year old a Volvo? Bella herself drove Rach and Becca's old Chevy StepSide C-10 pickup. So the parents were rich enough to not care if their teens wrecked an expensive car. Mike groaned when Bella said this out loud. "Re-elaaax Bells. It's a Volvo, not a Rolls-Royce."

"Any car should be treated well, regardless of how expensive or cheap it is."

"So you're saying you don't spend your weekends in your garage, disassembling and reassembling various cars?" He put on a ridiculous squeaky voice. "Don't touch my insides, Miss Bella."

Bella squawked indignantly. "That's so gross, Mike."

"All part of the Newton service." He grimaced. "I don't want to be a part of Newton service though. I don't want to spend my life stocking shelves and trying to convince tourists that the expensive fishing rods will catch more fish than the cheaper ones."

Bella clucked sympathetically. She couldn't imagine Charlie trying to force her into a family business. Although the only "family business" the Swans had was over stuffing their freezer with fish. Bella was convinced the reason their ancient refrigerator collapsed so often was not due to its age, but because of the absurd amount of fish Charlie caught every alternate weekend.

"Don't you have a younger sister though? Maybe she'll be interested in running the store."

"Don't be sexist, Bella. She has already decided to be a vet. I'm the one who can't decide on a career, so I have to spend my weekends cooped up with my parents, learning everything necessary to keep the store running and in profit." He plopped down heavily on a chair.

"About time you two got here." Erik said. "It's supposed to be sunny on Saturday, and Angela has never been to La Push so we could all head out there." Gestured to himself and continued in a false majestic voice. "Get this lean, mean love making machine all tanned up."

Angela and Bella giggled while Mike rolled his eyes.

"And pray tell us, Yorkie, how many dates has this lean machine been on?"

"Shut up, Newton."

"Ooh, the best comeback in the world."

Erik punched his arm lightly. "Focus on La Push, idiot. We can invite Ben and Lauren and-" his eyes twinkled merrily "- Jessica."

Mike blushed. "Ye- yes that sounds wontastic – I mean fantastic." He groaned and put his head in his hands as the rest of the gang laughed.

Mike and Bella dragged their feet to Biology. It was their last class of the day and neither was in the mood for learning. It had started snowing outside and Bella was itching to get back home, order takeout and huddle in her blankets on the old sofa. She did not feel like hunching over her desk and taking notes. But that was exactly what Mr. Banner had in mind. He came in with a big chart and hung it over the blackboard. "This is in continuation with what I taught yesterday. There will be a test on this on Tuesday."

Mike and Bella grimaced at each other.

"Miss. Swan." said Mr. Banner, startling Bella. "Please let the new students have a look at your notes from yesterday after class." He nodded to her right, where a bronze haired boy and a spiky haired girl sat. Bella waved at them. The girl waved back, with a bright smile. The boy looked like he was holding his breath, and merely looked at her expressionlessly.

He's rude, thought Bella as she turned back to her notes.

By the time class ended, it had stopped snowing outside. Mike was convinced that his ribs were bruised from all the times Bella had elbowed him to make him stop doodling and actually take notes. "If you have fractured one of them, I swear I will … I will.." he fumbled, trying to think of something good enough.

"Cat got your tongue, Mikey?" Bella teased.

A soft voice interrupted them. "Hi, I'm Alice."

"Oh, hi, I'm Bella and this is Mike."

The girl, who was really short, flashed a grin at Mike.

Bella flipped a few pages back in her notebook and handed it to Alice, who quickly fished out her phone and took pictures of the notes.

"It must suck, having a test almost immediately after switching schools." Mike said.

"Yeah." Alice shrugged her shoulders. Then, she smiled at Bella. "This is the first time I have seen someone take notes with purple glitter pen."

"Yeah." Bella smiled.

"The Chief spends half his salary on her nasty glitter pens." joked Mike.

"The Chief?"

"My Dad. He's the Chief of Police." Bella explained.

"Oh. Ed, isn't that-" She turned around, to find thin air instead of her brother. "Damn, where did he go?" She hurried out of the class without bothering to say bye.

Mike and Bella shrugged at each other.

What do you think? Hate it? Love it? Let me know.