Author's Note: Sorry for such a long gap in writing. I had a hectic few months moving from the east coast to the west, but now I am all settled in and getting back into the swing of things. So, without further adieu, here is chapter two for your reading enjoyment.

Somehow, the weekend passed quicker than I imagined it could. The few days I had to prepare myself for the first day of my classes ended as the annoying beeping of my alarm clock pulled me from my sleep. I silenced the alarm on my nightstand and stared up at the ceiling with a groan of reluctance. Now that the alarm was off, the sound of rain sloshing against my window greeted me instead of the bright rays of the sun, likely a precursor to the sort of day I was about to endure.

Laying under my new, quilted blanket for several moments longer, I finally dragged myself from my safe haven so I could dress for the day. Opening my dresser drawers, I was reminded that I would have to go shopping sometime soon for new clothes as my old ones just wouldn't cut it here in this town of perpetual rain and fog.

I had to dig through my wardrobe to find something suitable for the weather that hopefully wouldn't make me stand out like a sore thumb. Once dressed, I checked my reflection in the mirror, sighing heavily as my fingers attempted to breathe life into my dull, flat hair. Not that it would help, my hair was helplessly straight with not even a hint of a wave or curl to give it some volume.

A few times my mother had curled my hair or attempted to add beachy waves to it in Phoenix, but most of the time her work had been ruined when I carelessly threw my hair up in a ponytail. Maybe I should ask Charlie for a curling iron, just because I wasn't good at it didn't mean I couldn't attempt to do my hair up like my mom used to.

Returning my gaze to my appearance, I began to nitpick. I didn't look like a girl who lived most of her life in Phoenix. My skin was too pale, my hair wasn't the right color, and I didn't have the athletic sort of body that was likely to be expected. Of course, I would be surprised if anyone in Forks had a natural tan, so I could probably get away with being pale. Everything else though…

I brushed those intrusive cobwebs of thought from my mind as I looked my reflection in the eye as if trying to see myself the way my mom had.

"Well, this is as good as I'm going to get," I finally muttered to myself. Before I walked out of my room, I grabbed my worn backpack and slung it over my shoulder. Charlie had offered to buy me a new one, but I couldn't bear the thought of parting with this one yet, even with the frayed straps and scuff marks.

Not when my mother had picked it out for me.

I felt that familiar squeeze of my throat and the bitter ache in my chest as I replayed that moment in my head. I hated the color yellow, but my mom insisted that it was like having a little bit of the sun with you on the days it refused to shine.

Swallowing down my grief, I descended into the house towards the kitchen so I could grab something to eat before school. As I passed the kitchen table, I almost didn't notice that a note had been left for me. Drawing to a stop, I plucked the paper up from the smooth surface so I could read it.

Hey Kiddo,

Left for work already. Was thinking about ordering pizza tonight. Have a good day at school.

Dad

As I placed the paper down I considered for a moment what to write back. Eventually, I settled with a quickly scrawled: Sounds good, and then went into the kitchen to make myself a slice of buttered toast. It would be light on my already queasy stomach and hopefully keep any embarrassing growling at bay until lunch time.

Taking a seat at the table with my toast I couldn't help but glance around the room again. Everywhere I looked I could see the evidence of my mother, and worse yet; I could see the proof that Charlie had never stopped loving her. It was in the wedding photos that still adorned the mantle, in the chipped yellow paint of the kitchen cabinets, and even in the faded and peeling wallpaper that he'd kept up.

It made me linger there a little longer in sullen melancholy before finally making the decision to head to school. I didn't want to be late, and if I stayed here any longer I would likely talk myself out of going to class. Not that I think Charlie would be upset if I didn't go today, I just didn't want to worry him.

Donning my black rain jacket over my backpack, I slipped into my rain boots and stepped outside into the chilling mist of rain. At least it let up a bit. Quickly locking the door, I made a beeline for my Beast and sat in the cab for a moment as I fumbled to get my keys in the ignition.

Then I buckled up and drew in a deep breath before my Beast roared to life. "You can do this, Bella," I whispered encouragingly while my fingers tapped gently against the worn steering wheel.

I had spent what time I had this weekend practicing to drive my truck and quickly learned that it was a stubborn thing. The clutch was a bit touchy and would not engage if my foot was all the way down, instead there was a medium point that I had to get to before it would properly shift gears. Quite a few times I had winced and heard the awful grinding of improper shifting, and I'm not even going to mention the amount of times I stalled out on the smallest of hills.

Charlie assured me that it would get easier with time, but it still made my stomach clench with anxiety. Luckily, Forks was pretty flat, so my trip to school should be fairly easy.

It didn't take long for me to find Forks High as it was right off the highway. In fact, I would have missed it entirely if it hadn't been for the sign declaring it as the high school - though it didn't look like any high school I was used to. Instead of one giant building with a chain link fence like I had expected, this was several small clusters of buildings connected by sidewalks and adorned with lush green grass.

Slowly, I drove around the parking lot until I found the building labeled MAIN OFFICE in big white letters. Building up my courage, I cut the engine and braved the cold spray of water. How did anything thrive with this much rain?

Sloshing through the puddles on the sidewalk towards the office door, I found myself grateful for Charlie's insistence on buying me rain boots. At least I wouldn't have to deal with wet feet all day, which decidedly would've made my day a hundred times worse. Pushing on the door, I stepped inside and was instantly bombarded by the color yellow and the pleasant warmth from the outside chill. It seems my mother wasn't the only one who attempted to paint a little sunshine into Forks.

Awkwardly, I pulled the hood of my jacket down and took a quick look around the room. It felt so different from the office of my old school. This one felt as if it were trying to invite students in while my other school had that cold, institutionalized office look to it.

"Can I help you?" someone asked from behind the counter.

Dumbly, I turned my gaze away from the colorful posters on the wall to the red haired lady who had spoken. "Oh, I'm Isabella Swan," I replied hoping that meant something to the lady whose name plate read: SHELLY COPE. The woman's eyes lit up with recognition, followed by a look Bella was all too familiar with; pity.

"Your dad phoned in last week to let us know you'd be joining us here." Shuffling through a few papers on her desk, Ms Cope fished out a few papers before standing up to stand near the counter. "I have your schedule right here," she briefly went over the courses I'd be taking - all standard classes as I wasn't smart enough to be in accelerated classes - then showed me where they were on a map and the best routes to take to get to them.

"Of course, you can keep the map, I know it can be confusing navigating a new place." She smiled at me, and I attempted one back. Just as I was preparing to turn and leave, Ms Cope chirped out, "Oh! I almost forgot, just have your teachers sign this sheet and bring it back to me at the end of the day, okay?" She then handed me one last piece of paper that had spots for each of my teachers to sign.

"Okay." I folded the papers in half then tucked them into my jacket's inner pocket to keep them safe from the endless rain. I gave her a small wave of my fingers and then left the office to head back to my truck. It seemed that students were starting to trickle in, and much to my relief they were driving older cars like mine. At least I wouldn't stand out here.

If anything, the shiny Volvo I saw as I followed the line of traffic to the student parking lot stuck out worse than my Beast. Letting my truck idle for a bit so I could bask in the warm air as I studied the map I had been given to try and memorized where I would be heading. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to walk with my nose in the map as it would be a clear indicator that I did not belong here and would likely end with me tripping over my feet or running into someone.

Cutting the engine once more, I stepped outside and followed a group of teenagers on the sidewalk who were heading in the direction I was positive I needed to go. Sure enough, they led me towards the cafeteria, and from there I was easily able to locate building 3 - not that they knew they were guiding me in the first place.

Making my way into the marked building, I shied off my jacket and hung it on the rack by the door for coats that I saw a couple of girls in front of me use. As they took their seats, I made my way up to the teacher's desk with the slip Ms Cope had asked me to get signed.

He didn't gawk at me like I was some sort of freak as I imagined people would do here. It was likely just my nerves that made me think they would know something was off about me, but it was nice to know for certain.

"This is our reading list for this semester," he handed me back my signature slip along with the assigned reading list, then allowed me to slip into the seat at the back of the class with no formal introduction. Scanning the list, I was relieved to find that it was fairly similar to the one I'd been given at my old school. Bronte, Shakespeare, Orwell, Jane Austin and a few others.

I even owned a few of these at home, like Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice that I had already started to annotate in. At least I wouldn't be far behind the others. As Mr Mason droned on, I doodled almost absently on the reading list I'd been given. What I was giving shape to was uncertain, at least until I was startled by the nasal ring of the bell.

I started at my handiwork for a moment. I was no artist, but I was proud to say even I could tell what it was. An attempted rose dripping with what looked like water.

"That's cool," a guy in front of me said as he pointed to my picture.

"Thanks," I said as I tucked my papers into my backpack. A slight flush had crept into my cheeks - not because the guy was cute, but because someone saw my doodle. I studied him for a moment. He had oily black hair, pimples that trailed along his jaw, and an inviting smile on his face.

"My name is Eric, and you're Isabella Swan, right?" I was sure he knew the answer to that already, this was a small town and the talk of me coming to live with Charlie was likely the biggest gossip it's had in a while.

"Just Bella," I corrected as I shouldered my backpack once more.

"What's your next class?" he asked as we stood up to head towards the coat rack.

"Uhm, Government with Jefferson."

"Oh, that's on the way to my next class, I can show you if you like?" I gave him an awkward smile, relieved I wouldn't have to dig my map out once again.

"Yeah, that would be nice," I nodded as I pulled on my black rain jacket. He seemed nice enough.

"So, I bet this is a lot different than Phoenix?" he probed gently as we stepped outside into what was now a steady drizzle. "What's it like there?"

"Hot and sunny, I miss it." I replied as the hollow feeling of homesickness washed over me.I likely wouldn't see Phoenix again until I graduated high school, if I could even escape Forks. It hadn't been easy for my mom when she left, and I was sure it wouldn't be easy for me either. That was the catch to small towns. They looked picturesque and quaint, but most of the time you couldn't get away without some sort of help.

He was quiet for a moment as if trying to decide what to say next. I got the distinct feeling that he was probably a bit of an outcast here or at least a bit awkward like me. It seemed, though, that Eric couldn't think of something else to ask on the spot - or he didn't want to seem nosy - so we spent the next couple of minutes quiet.

"Well, this is you," he pointed to a building with a giant six on the side after. "Good luck on your first day." Then, with another friendly smile, Eric was off to his class before I could even utter a goodbye.

The rest of my classes passed much the same way. With me going up to the teacher to get my slip signed before finding the seat furthest in the back. The only hiccup in my day was when I got to Trigonometry.

I should've known that I wouldn't make it through the day without having to give some sort of introduction in front of everyone, and it just happened to be in this class. I wasn't even sure what to say about myself, I didn't think there was anything interesting enough to tell them. In the end, I settled with the lamest thing I could've said; that I like to read.

A few people snickered under their breath, or at least I think they did, which made me blush before I hurried to my seat.

Other than that, the day was relatively normal so far. In each of my classes there was at least one person brave enough to come talk to me for a few minutes as they showed me to my next class. This meant that I never had to look at the map Ms Cope gave me to get to where I needed to go. It also meant that I had the start of a few budding friendships.

One of those potential friends was a girl named Jessica who invited me to sit with her at lunch, which I readily accepted. At least I wouldn't have to walk the cafeteria looking for a place to stay only to end up sitting awkwardly at the end of some random group's table.

As I took my seat, I saw Eric wave at me from a few tables over. Offering him a small smile, I waved back and then looked towards the group before me. I knew Jessica as she had been chatting with me all the way here, but the other names were eluding me. "Everyone, this is Bella," Jessica waved her hand in my direction as she sat down.

Then, one by one Jessica pointed to them and provided me with names that I tried to commit to memory. It was quite obvious in that moment to see that Jessica was the 'ringleader' of this group, which was fine by me, even if it gave me distinct Regina George vibes. Hopefully she was nicer than the movie counterpart.

"It's nice to meet you," the one named Angela said with a smile. I recognized her face from one of my earlier classes. English I think.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you too." Of course, her name had already slipped from my mind in the surge of information Jessica had given me moments before. In fact, I didn't remember most of their names despite my attempt to memorize them. Faces I could remember, names though? Names just weren't my strong suit.

"If you need help catching up in English, I could meet you in the library to discuss things with you." The dark haired girl gave another shy smile in my direction and it was at that precise moment that I decided I liked her best among the current group I was sitting with. She just seemed like the sort of person I would click with.

For a while, I sat there trying to converse with everyone as best I could. It was hard to keep up with conversation when it kept shifting and moving every few seconds. Some asked about if I liked it here in Forks, only to jump into the next question of whether or not I missed Phoenix. It was dizzying to say the least. And repetitive as I had already danced around this conversation several times already.

I was just getting ready to make a polite excuse so I could leave when a noticeable change happened. It started with a few people starting to speak in hushed, excited tones. A few people glanced towards the cafeteria entrance, including Jessica and the blonde girl at the table who instantly started to preen and adjust their hair.

Unable to help myself, I turned my gaze to the doors and felt my jaw hit the ground. They were breathtakingly beautiful, almost as if someone had ripped them straight out of Vogue magazine and dropped them here in quaint little Forks. "Who are they?" Bella asked.

"Those are the Cullens," Jessica answered matter-of-factly. I studied each one of them from where I sat, unable to look away as they waltzed into this room like they owned it. One of them looked in my direction and flashed me a knowing smile, as if we shared a secret.

But surely that wasn't directed at me, was it? I had never seen her before this moment. Maybe it was for someone else, or perhaps it was because she knew what was about to happen even before I did. "All four of them are siblings?" I asked, noting their closeness.

"Five, and sort of. They are all adopted."

"Five?"

I didn't hear what was said next as the doors opened once more. My eyes were drawn to it inexplicably, like a moth to a flame, unable to look away or unwilling to.

And then, he walked in.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading the chapter, if you enjoyed it feel free to drop a comment below, I love hearing from you guys!