Harry Potter, Twilight 1. Prologue

-Prologue-

As Fate paced back and forth in front of her many glowing orbs, windows, mirrors and cauldrons watching the lives of many people, watching how the choices of those before them push them almost to a fate worse than death, no pun intended, she wondered if it was all worth it. The lives of so any were going to be ruined. She wished that things could be changed. Then the idea struck her, fate and destiny were in a constant dance. Sometimes fate affecting ones destiny sometimes destiny affect their fate, maybe she could talk to her twin see who has their destiny set in stone, maybe they could change at least some things for the better.

"Destiny! Come Here, I want to talk to you" Fate called to her sister.

"What is it Fate" The woman appeared. She was beautiful with long hair that looked silver in the softly lit chamber. Her storm cloud gray eyes glistening with curiosity at the summons. She and her sister were nearly identical, except their eyes. Fate had the brightest green eyes that could be imagined.

"I was watching different people and I was wondering if their was a way to change their fate." Fate said

"You know we are not supposed to get attached and change things." Destiny scolded her.

"I know but look, we can't leave them as they are." She said pulling her sister to a large basin.

Wars, death, people hating their lot in life, abuse, all things that neither Fate nor Destiny wanted to happen.

"What do you suppose we do sister?" She asked shuddering at the last image of children dying at the hands of other children.

"I say we take two groups that can learn the most from each other and have them read books about how their lives were _supposed_ to be and let them make the choices and changes of what they feel should be changed." Fate said

"That is a very good idea, I say we test it with those that cause and are affected in the lives of Bella Swan and Harry Potter, they seem to have the least that can go wrong if this fails," said Destiny.

"Very well, we shall summon some of the most important people of both groups and go from there."

Not even ten minuets later an empty room that existed outside of time and space was filled with people from various places, times and ages.

"Where are we?" One man asked

"I don't know" a small black hair green eyed boy said.

Before a mass panic could set in the room was bathed in a warm golden glow and a note fluttered down.

_Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls,_

_My sister and I have summoned you here to read a story of some of your lives that would have been had we not interfered. Not all of you will be in the books but you all do play an intrgual part in those books. We want you to read, enjoy, and learn. At the end you will all be faced with choices. Remember there will be good and bad, discuss your options and views with each other. Most of the people in this room just want to do what is best. Remember not everything can or will be able to be changed but we are leaving it up to you to change and reshape your fates, futures and destines. We suggest you go around the room and introduce yourselves, an we realize for some of you it will be strange to be older than those that are considered "ancient" in your times, but you were brought from the times and ages you were for a reason._

_Enjoy your reading,_

_Fate & Destiny_

_PS: There is no need to worry about time as it is frozen where you were and food will be provided by the room._

"Wow, that is...different," a girl with busy brown hair said.

"It certainly is" a small red haired girl agreed.

"I think it sounds fun though" a blond hair blue eyed girl said wistfully.

"Well, I think we need to sit down and do as Fate and Destiny said and go around the room and introduce ourselves," A girl that appeared to be about six years old with auburn hair and blue eyes said.

The strange assortment of occupants mumbled their agreements and did as the young girl said.

There were two large half circle couches that were a scarlet color and a black coffee table in the middle. On the table were two packages wrapped in brown paper. One was significantly larger than the other. This left the room both worried and curious as to who would be in which and dreading being in the longer one.

"I believe I will start," A sharp looking women with Sapphire colored eyes and jet black hair said. When no one protested she continued, " I say we say our name, possibly a nickname, age, or accomplishment and where we are from. I am Rowena Ravenclaw, you can call me Rena, I am from England and just helped found a school called Hogwarts." She said. as gasps rang around the room

"Well I'll go next then" a stout woman with reddish hair and warm inviting brown eyes said, "I am Helga Hufflepuff, I am from England and also helped found Hogwarts."

"Godric Gryffindor at your service, also a Hogwarts founder and from England" said a muscular man with honey colored eyes and blazing red hair.

"Salazar Slytherin, the fourth founder of Hogwarts and I am from England as well, and you can call me Sal if you wish." Said a man with silver eyes and black hair said. Those that knew of him were shocked by his friendly and pleasant demeanour.

"I am Albus-" a auburn haired blue eyed boy said.

"Don't you dare say all of your middle names." Growled a younger version of the first boy

"I am Albus Dumbledore, I just turned 10,you can call me Al, and will hopefully be going to Hogwarts next year, I am also from England." said the first boy glaring at his apparent brother over the small girl who spoke earlier.

"My name is Ariana Dumbledore, I am 6 and a half years old and I am from England. I hope to go to Hogwarts someday." The young girl with auburn hair and blue eyes said.

"I'm Aberforth Dumbledore, I guess you can call me Abe but I don't care. I am a month and a half from being nine, form England and can't wait to go to Hogwarts." the second boy said nonchalantly.

"I'm Harry Potter, I am about to turn 8. I live in England." A small boy with taped glasses, black hair, and a strange scar said just above a whisper.

"I am James Potter, just turned eleven and got my Hogwarts letter." A black hair boy with hazel eyes said excitedly.

"I am Lily Evans, also just turned 11 and got my Hogwarts letter." A girl with red hair and green eyes said, she sounded both happy and sad at the same time.

"Sirius Black, I do NOT agree with my family, I am going to Hogwarts for the first time in a couple months because I am eleven and I can't wait, even though it is school and I'm from England" said a boy with gray eyes, with a little disgust at the word "school."

"I'm Reagulus Black, I also do not agree with my family but I am not as outspoken as my brother. I am 10 and will be going to Hogwarts next year" said another black haired gray eyed boy.

"I'm Narcissa Black, like my cousins I do not personally agree with my family, but there is not much I can do. I am going to be nine in three days" Said a blond haired gray eyed girl.

"I'm Bellatrix Black" a small pudgy black haired boy shuddered "I hate my family but must do what my parents and aunt say. I am 11 and will be going to Hogwarts in September." The girl with wild black hair and gray eyes dead panned. The small boy who shuddered was now staring open mouthed.

"I am Tom Riddle, a six year old orphan I live in London England." A small pale black haired boy with dark brown eyes said.

"I'm Hermione Granger. I'm eight years old and from England." said the bushy haired girl.

"I'm Ginny Weasley, I'm six years old and live in England. I'm also the first girl in my family in like 5 generations." Said the smallest red haired girl.

"I'm Ron Weasley, I'm eight years old, live in England and I am the youngest of six boys." said a red haired boy.

"I'm Fred-" said a red haired boy

"And I'm George Weasley" said another red haired boy

"We are Identical twins." the first boy, Fred, said

"We just turned 11 and we can go to Hogwarts next year" They said together

"I'm Percy Weasley, 13 years old, I go to Hogwarts and couldn't be happier." Said still another red hair boy.

"I'm Charles , or Charlie, Weasley, I'm 15, also go to Hogwarts and have fun as well." Another boy with red hair said.

"I'm William, but please call me Bill, Weasley, I just turned 17 and am almost done with Hogwarts, a few more months and I want to work as a curse breaker for Gringotts." The oldest red haired boy said.

"Arthur Weasley, from England father to this brood." Said a balding red haired man.

"Molly Weasley, mother to this group." Said a red haired woman.

"Neville Longbottom from England, I'm about to turn eight, and I really want to go to Hogwarts." Said the pudgy boy with black hair.

"Luna Lovegood, six years old, neighbor to the Weasleys, and this room is surprisingly void of Nargels." Said a girl with blond hair and blue eyes in a very matter of fact way..

"Draco Malfoy, about to turn eight, I am already learning things about my family and no longer know what to believe." Said a platinum haired gray eyed boy.

"Remus Lupin, eleven years old and absolutly estactic to go to Hogwarts." said an average sized boy with light brown hair and brown eyes.

"Severus Snape, I live near Lily, I'm eleven and going to Hogwarts soon." said a small boy with greasy looking hair and a hooked nose.

"Peter Pettigrew from England, eleven years old and worried about going to Hogwarts." said a small squat boy with dirty blond hair and blue eyes.

"Minerva McGonagall, 14 years old in Hogwarts, I hope to be a prefect next year." Said a girl with black hair sharp features and hazel eyes. "Oh and I'm from Scotland."

"Carlisle Cullen, I'm 23, I am a minister in training, I am from England in the 1600's." Said a man with blue eyes and light brown nearly blond hair.

"My name is Esme DiZono, I am from New York in the United States in the 1920's." Said a kind looking woman with brown hair and brown eyes.

"Edward Masen. 17, I want to be in the United States Army and fight in the Great War and I live in Chicago Illinois." Said a bronze hair green eyed boy proudly.

"Rosalie Hale, I am 18, also from New York, two weeks from marrying Royce King, the most influential and eligible men in Rochester." Said a blond haired violet eyed girl.

"Hey, I'm Emmet Corsta, I'm 18 from Oregon, I like hunting Grizzly bears." Said a boy with dark curly hair and blue eyes.

"Jasper Whitlock, Major in the Confederate States Army, from Texas, I'm really 16, nearly 17, but I told the army I'm 20." said a blond hair hazel eyed boy who blushed.

"I'm Mary Brandon but prefer my middle name Alice, its the 1920s in Alabama where I am from and I can see the future." Said a small girl with black hair excitedly.

"Isabella, but I INSIST you call me Bella, Swan I live in Phoenix Arizona, I am 14, about to be 15 and I am a high school freshman." Said a girl with brown hair and chocolate brown eyes.

"I am Renée Swan, I am Bella's mom so I too live in Arizona and I teach grade school." Said a woman with dirty blond hair and brown eyes.

"I'm Charlie Swan, you can call me chief Swan as I am the chief of police of Forks Washington, Bella is my daughter." said a man with graying hair and brown eyes.

"I' Billy Black Chief Swan's friend and Quiliet Elder." Said an older Native American man.

"I'm Jacob Black and Billy's son I'm about to be 13 in the spring." Said a younger russet skinned boy.

"Well that leaves me, I'm Tonks, not even going to tell you my first name because it is of no consequence and you use it I will make you pay...eventually, I can change my appearance at will and I'm eight years old from England." A girl with blue eyes and pink hair said.

"Well now that we know each other how about we start to read?" Rowena said

"Fine but I say we choose before we open so that in case more people are here for one set than the other a vote can still be fair." Hermione reasoned.

"Very well thought out Miss. Granger. All in favor of the shorter book?" Salazar said.

Over half the room raised their hand.

"Well that settles it then." He said leaning forward and grabbing the smaller package. He unwrapped it and saw a note.

_"Read in the order they are stacked in. It should be as follows:_

_Twilight_

_New Moon_

_Eclipse_

_Breaking Dawn_

_Enjoy,_

_F&D" _He read aloud. "So who wants to go first?" He asked

"I will, that is if no one minds."Lily volunteered. No one volunteered so Salazar passed the book to the young girl.

_**-AN-**_

_**So let me know what you think my other stories will be continued and eventually finished as well A Parallel Disaster will begin when the Choices series is complete, one other fandom has been added and it is Lord Of the Rings. Also interact...Vote, Comment, fan, message me...do something to let me know you like it. Please! I am begging you! That is all. Enjoy. RJE.**_


	2. Chapter 1- Preface and the First Sight

"Do you want me to read the back and or the Preface?" Lily asked.

"The Preface yes, but I do not see the point in reading the back." Rowena said.

Lily nodded and began.

**Preface **

**I'd never given much thought to how I would die — though I'd had reason enough in the last few months — but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.**

"Not many people are able to imagine their own deaths," Aberforth said wisely

**I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back at me.**

"Well there is a sickening thought" Tom said. Those that were living in the time of Voldemort's reign of terror found this to be an ironic statement to come from the young boy.

**Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.**

"Always" James, Lily, Serverus, Sirius, Remus, Minerva and Albus said as one.

**I knew that if I'd never gone to Forks, I wouldn't be facing death now. But, terrified as I was, I couldn't bring myself to regret the decision.**

"You should always strive not to regret any of your decisions, after all we all make mistakes but we need to in order to learn." Hermione said. The other room members looked at her in amazement.

**When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it's not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end.**

**The hunter smiled in a friendly way as he sauntered forward to kill me.**

"Well that was an interesting preface" Lily said turning to the next page.

**The First Sight**, she began to read again.

**My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was wearing my favorite shirt — sleeveless, white eyelet lace; I was wearing it as a farewell gesture. My carry-on item was a parka.**

"What, you live in a bird?" Salazar and Godric asked, Carlisle also wondering about this _Phoenix_ was.

"No, Phoenix is a city in Arizona, the capital of the great state of Arizona as a matter of fact." Hermione explained

The others that didn't know what it was nodded to show that they no somewhat understood, they were still confused as to what the United States were but they could ask at the first break. Lily took these nods as her cue in order to continue.

**In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains on this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United States of America. It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent shade that my mother escaped with me when I was only a few months old. It was in this town that I'd been compelled to spend a month every summer until I was fourteen. That was the year I finally put my foot down; these past three summers, my dad, Charlie, vacationed with me in California for two weeks instead.**

"I aways looked forward to those weeks" Chief Swan said.

Bella and Renée looked at him oddly, thinking that he would be happy never to leave Forks.

"i love Forks, but it is always pleasant to get away and see something different as well as see the sun at times as well" He explained guessing what the two girls were thinking.

The Mother and Daughter pair looked at him but didn't say anything so Lily continued to read.

**It was to Forks that I now exiled myself— an action that I took with great horror. I detested Forks.**

**I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat. I loved the vigorous, sprawling city.**

"Then why would you leave?" Rosalie asked

Bella just shrugged before allowing Lily to continue.

**"Bella," my mom said to me — the last of a thousand times — before I got on the plane. "You don't have to do this."**

**My mom looks like me, except with short hair and laugh lines. I felt a spasm of panic as I stared at her wide, childlike eyes. How could I leave my loving, erratic, harebrained mother to fend for herself ? Of course she had Phil now, so the bills would probably get paid, there would be food in the refrigerator, gas in her car, and someone to call when she got lost, but still…**

**"I ****_want _****to go," I lied. I'd always been a bad liar, but I'd been saying this lie so frequently lately that it sounded almost convincing now. **

Several people sighed but didn't interrupt to actually say anything.

**"Tell Charlie I said hi."**

**"I will."**

**"I'll see you soon," she insisted. "You can come home whenever you want — I'll come right back as soon as you need me."**

**But I could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind the promise.**

**"Don't worry about me," I urged. "It'll be great. I love you, Mom."**

**She hugged me tightly for a minute, and then I got on the plane, and she was gone.**

**It's a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane up to Port Angeles, and then an hour drive back down to Forks. Flying doesn't bother me; the hour in the car with Charlie, though, I was a little worried about.**

"If I may be so bold as to ask why you would be worried about spending time with your father, especially when you do seem to have some sort of relationship with him." Carlisle asked

"Well neither of us are what you would call talkative, by any stretch of the imagination, so I was worried about there being an awkward silence in all likelihood, as this hasn't happened yet." Bella explained.

"But surely if you are used to silence between you then it wouldn't be awkward." The ever inquisitive Rowena Ravenclaw stated while at the same time asking the young girl.

"Sometimes there are lots of things that I want to say but I am not sure as to how to approach them." Bella said just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"You know you can come to me with anything Bells," Chief Swan said.

"I know, but I have always been the kind of person to do things on my own and if I am suffering I try not to bring others into it as well." Bella said, her cheeks starting to glow.

Edward smiled at her, he liked this girl, a lot...

No one said anything else so Lily continued to read.

**Charlie had really been fairly nice about the whole thing.**

"Of course I would be! You are my daughter! I would love for you to come and live with me." Charlie exclaimed pulling his daughter into an awkward hug due to the seating arrangements. She mumbled something into his arms but he must have heard because he let her go smiling slightly with a slight blush. He the gestured to Lily to continue.

**He seemed genuinely pleased that I was coming to live with him for the first time with any degree of permanence. He'd already gotten me registered for high school and was going to help me get a car.**

**But it was sure to be awkward with Charlie. Neither of us was what anyone would call verbose, and I didn't know what there was to say regardless. I knew he was more than a little confused by my decision — like my mother before me, I hadn't made a secret of my distaste for Forks.**

**When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. I didn't see it as an omen — just unavoidable. I'd already said my goodbyes to the sun.**

**Charlie was waiting for me with the cruiser. This I was expecting, too. Charlie is Police Chief Swan to the good people of Forks. My primary motivation behind buying a car, despite the scarcity of my funds, was that I refused to be driven around town in a car with red and blue lights on top. Nothing slows down traffic like a cop.**

Those that knew what a cop was giggled, those that didn't just looked at the ones that were laughing like they had three heads.

Seeing this Lily said that it is not really that important and then continued to read.

**Charlie gave me an awkward, one-armed hug when I stumbled my way off the plane.**

**"It's good to see you, Bells," he said, smiling as he automatically caught and steadied me.**

**"You haven't changed much. How's Renée?"**

**"Mom's fine. It's good to see you, too, Dad." I wasn't allowed to call him Charlie to his face.**

**I had only a few bags. Most of my Arizona clothes were too permeable for Washington. My mom and I had pooled our resources to supplement my winter wardrobe, but it was still scanty. It all fit easily into the trunk of the cruiser.**

**"I found a good car for you, really cheap," he announced when we were strapped in.**

**"What kind of car?" I was suspicious of the way he said "good car ****_for you" _****as opposed to just "good car."**

**"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy."**

**"Where did you find it?"**

**"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?" La Push is the tiny Indian reservation on the coast.**

**"No."**

**"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Charlie prompted.**

**That would explain why I didn't remember him. I do a good job of blocking painful, unnecessary things from my memory.**

**"He's in a wheelchair now," Charlie continued when I didn't respond, "so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."**

**"What year is it?" I could see from his change of expression that this was the question he was hoping I wouldn't ask.**

**"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine — it's only a few years old, really."**

"And that likely means Jacob, because if I remember correctly Billy was confused by the VCR, not that I was much better." Renée said.

"True and Jacob has had a thing about tinkering with engines, well next time around I will be sure to correct that" Charlie said seriously, but laughter present in his eyes.

Lily decided now would be a great time to continue.

**I hoped he didn't think so little of me as to believe I would give up that easily. "When did he buy it?"**

**"He bought it in 1984, I think."**

**"Did he buy it new?"**

**"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties — or late fifties at the earliest," he admitted sheepishly.**

"So it's a giant hunk of metal," Bella said. "Perfect for me"

Emmet grinned and rubbed his hands together thinking that the entertainment value of a klutz was well worth being stuck in a weird room with a bunch of weird people.

Lily shook her head seeing Emmet's reaction and continued to read.

**"Ch — Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic…"**

**"Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."**

**_The thing_****, I thought to myself… it had possibilities — as a nickname, at the very least.**

**"How cheap is cheap?" After all, that was the part I couldn't compromise on.**

**"Well, honey, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift." Charlie peeked sideways at me with a hopeful expression.**

**Wow. Free.**

**"You didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car."**

**"I don't mind. I want you to be happy here." He was looking ahead at the road when he said this. Charlie wasn't comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud. I inherited that from him. So I was looking straight ahead as I responded.**

**"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really **appreciate it." No need to add that my being happy in Forks is an impossibility.

'I think you will end up happy there." Helga Hufflepuff said, always the optimist.

"Who knows,but I guess I could give it a fairer shot than I seem to in the books."

**He didn't need to suffer along with me. And I never looked a free truck in the mouth — or engine.**

Everyone giggled at that, even the ones that didn't exactly know what an engine was.

**"Well, now, you're welcome," he mumbled, embarrassed by my thanks.**

**We exchanged a few more comments on the weather, which was wet, and that was pretty much it for Conversation. We stared out the windows in silence.**

**It was beautiful, of course; I couldn't deny that. Everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves.**

**It was too green — an alien planet.**

"Any green is too much green" Sirius said

"Why do you say that?" Lily asked turning her emerald eyes to the boy.

He muttered something.

"What was that?" Salazar Slytherin asked

"My family is a huge Dark Arts fan type family and for the past 200 years they have all been in Slytherin house which has become known as the Dark Arts house and those few that get sorted elsewhere, particularly Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, get blasted off the family tree, but I do not agree and I would rather be sorted into another house." He explained wearily, knowing the stories about the founder of the Slytherin House that his family told.

"I am sorry to hear that about the House that bears my name, I will have to see if I can do something about that, because while I think you should know the Dark Arts that is strictly to know how best to defend yourself." Said the founder

"What about muggle-borns and half-bloods" James couldn't help but ask

"I do not trust them because so many have parents that end up betraying us to the Church causing us to be burned, but I also think they need the most protection from themselves, I also hope in the future things change and they can be trusted just as much as any pure blood. My father happens to be a half-blood and my mother a Muggleborn. If you want a real group of muggle-born haters look at the Gaunt family, they are deplorable and I do not want them within the great walls of Hogwarts, they give witches and wizards a bad name." He finished*

Those that grew up hearing about Slytherin, James, Draco, and Sirius mostly looked at him in confusion. He was not what they thought he would be in any sense. Lily not understanding what just happened, but wanting to know where she fit into all of this continued to read.

**Eventually we made it to Charlie's. He still lived in the small, two-bedroom house that he'd bought with my mother in the early days of their marriage. Those were the only kind of days their marriage had — the early ones.**

Helga sighed at this, her father left to go fight in the crusades and then when her mother realized she was a witch she kicked her out of the house, that's how she met Rowena, Salazar, and Godric, but she didn't want any child to not have two parents that were together all of the time.

**There, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was my new — well, new to me — truck. It was a faded red color, with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. To my intense surprise, I loved it. I didn't know if it would run, but I could see myself in it. Plus, it was one of those solid iron affairs that never gets damaged — the kind you see at the scene of an accident, paint unscratched, surrounded by the pieces of the foreign car it had destroyed.**

"Sounds perfect for me" Bella said happily, already attached to the car that she hadn't seen yet.

Billy and Charlie smiled, already agreeing, though the other didn't know it, that this truck would be Bella's if she did move to Forks in the future.

**"Wow, Dad, I love it! Thanks!" Now my horrific day tomorrow would be just that much less dreadful. I wouldn't be faced with the choice of either walking two miles in the rain to school or accepting a ride in the Chief's cruiser.**

**"I'm glad you like it," Charlie said gruffly, embarrassed again.**

**It took only one trip to get all my stuff upstairs.**

"Say it isn't so!" Alice and Rosalie said together.

Emmet and Jasper looked at the girls with a soft smile while the others laughed at their actions.

**I got the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard. The room was familiar; it had been belonged to me since I was born. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellowed lace curtains around the window — these were all a part of my childhood. The only changes Charlie had ever made were switching the crib for a bed and adding a desk as I grew. The desk now held a secondhand computer, with the phone line for the modem stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack. This was a stipulation from my mother, so that we could stay in touch easily. The rocking chair from my baby days was still in the corner.**

**There was only one small bathroom at the top of the stairs, which I would have to share with Charlie. I was trying not to dwell too much on that fact.**

"Where I come from two bathrooms are a norm" Bella said.

Everyone that knew what a bathroom was but were used to only one looked amazed while those that had never heard of a bathroom before looked confused. Again Lily said it wasn't that important and so she continued to read.

**One of the best things about Charlie is he doesn't hover. He left me alone to unpack and get settled, a feat that would have been altogether impossible for my** **mother.** (Renée smiled guiltily)** It was nice to be alone, not to have to smile and look pleased; a relief to stare dejectedly out the window at the sheeting rain and let just a few tears escape. I wasn't in the mood to go on a real crying jag. I would save that for bedtime, when I would have to think about the coming morning.**

**Forks High School had a frightening total of only three hundred and fifty-seven — now fifty-eight — students; there were more than seven hundred people in my junior class alone back home.**

"I'd be more worried about having more people." Edward said, others nodding along in agreementand Lily continued.

**All of the kids here had grown up together — their grandparents had been toddlers together. I would be the new girl from the big city, a curiosity, a freak.**

"You're not a freak," Harry said, scaring everyone in the room, having forgotten he was in the room.

Bella smiled at him kindly and Edward felt a bit of an unexplained roar of jealousy at the young boy. He shrugged it off as Lily continued.

**Maybe, if I looked like a girl from Phoenix should, I could work this to my advantage. But physically, I'd never fit in anywhere. I ****_should _****be tan, sporty, blond — a volleyball player, or a cheerleader, perhaps — all the things that go with living in the valley of the sun.**

"Stupid clichés" Luna grumbled, and again everyone jumped forgetting about the young girl in their midst. Lily, though curious, continued to read.

**Instead, I was ivory-skinned, without even the excuse of blue eyes or red hair, despite the constant sunshine. I had always been slender, but soft somehow, obviously not an athlete; I didn't have the necessary hand-eye coordination to play sports without humiliating myself — and harming both myself and anyone else who stood too close.**

Several people giggled at that.

**When I finished putting my clothes in the old pine dresser, I took my bag of bathroom necessities and went to the communal bathroom to clean myself up after the day of travel. I looked at my face in the mirror as I brushed through my tangled, damp hair. Maybe it was the light, but already I looked sallower, unhealthy. My skin could be pretty — it was very clear, almost translucent-looking — but it all depended on color. I had no color here.**

"Sure you have color, you just need to adjust to the colors that you have available." Alice said very matter of factley.

Bella smiled at the small girl as Lily continued to read. She felt that she could be good friends with the girl if they were living in the same time.

**Facing my pallid reflection in the mirror, I was forced to admit that I was lying to myself. It wasn't just physically that I'd never fit in. And if I couldn't find a niche in aschool with three thousand people, what were my chances here?**

"I'm guessing better" Luna said.

"Why? More people means more groups, the probability goes up," Hermione said, ever the skeptic.

Rowena shook her head at the girl, she would be a great addition to her house in the future if she was a witch if only she was a little more open minded.

"But that also increases the possibility of becoming invisible, and if you are invisible, and look different then you will not find a spot, but when there are less people that will look similar to you then you will be more likely to be able to stand out. It is easier to be different and accepted if there are 358 people than to stand out in a crowd of thousands." Luna said

Hermione just crossed her arms still not understanding how that made sense because more choices meant more places to fit, Bella however could see where the young blond girl was coming from.

Rowena smiled at Luna, hoping this girl would be in her house, but still saddened at the other young girl's potential that was being closed to her by being so closed minded.

** I didn't relate well to people my age. Maybe the truth was that I didn't relate well to people, period. Even my mother, who I was closer to than anyone else on the planet, was never in harmony with me, never on exactly the same page. Sometimes I wondered if I was seeing the same things through my eyes that the rest of the world was seeing through theirs. Maybe there was a glitch in my brain.**

"I wouldn't go that far, you just shield yourself from others, you wear your emotions usually, not your thoughts." Renée said to her daughter.

After the bonding moment Lily continued to read.

**But the cause didn't matter. All that mattered was the effect. And tomorrow would be just the beginning.**

**I didn't sleep well that night, even after I was done crying. The constant ****_whooshing _****of the rain and wind across the roof wouldn't fade into the background. I pulled the faded old quilt over my head, and later added the pillow, too. But I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight, when the rain finally settled into a quieter drizzle.**

"You will get used to it" Charlie said

"I thought sounds of nature were supposed to be relaxers that put you to sleep" Jacob said at the same time.

"Yes and no, not if it is pounding like it does in Forks, plus I am used to crickets, bugs and nocturnal birds" Bella said before motioning for Lily to continue, effectively ending the conversation.

**Thick fog was all I could see out my window in the morning, and I could feel the claustrophobia creeping up on me. You could never see the sky here; it was like a cage. Breakfast with Charlie was a quiet event. He wished me good luck at school. I thanked him, knowing his hope was wasted. Good luck tended to avoid me. Charlie left first, off to the police station that was his wife and family. **

"I'm sorry, if you come in the future I will try and spend time with you."

"Dad, it's ok, you've been alone for so long its habit and plus I do not mind the alone tie." Bella said

Charlie nodded, still feeling guilty as Lily began again.

**After he left, I sat at the old square oak table in one of the three unmatching chairs and examined his small kitchen, with its dark paneled walls, bright yellow cabinets, and white linoleum floor. Nothing was changed. My mother had painted the cabinets eighteen years ago in an attempt to bring some sunshine into the house. Over the small fireplace in the adjoining handkerchief-sized family room was a row of pictures. First a wedding picture of Charlie and my mom in Las Vegas, then one of the three of us in the hospital after I was born, taken by a helpful nurse, followed by the procession of my school pictures up to last year's. Those were embarrassing to look at — I would have to see what I could do to get Charlie to put them somewhere else, at least while I was living here.**

"If you come to live with me I will not need the pictures, so I will move them, if it makes you feel better." Charlie said.

Bella nodded as Lily began to read again, still wondering where she fit into all of this.

**It was impossible, being in this house, not to realize that Charlie had never gotten over my mom. It made me uncomfortable.**

Charlie shifted uncomfortably but didn't say anything.

**I didn't want to be too early to school, but I couldn't stay in the house anymore. I donned my jacket — which had the feel of a bio-hazard suit**— **and headed out into the rain.**

Alice looked as if she would hyper ventilate and Jasper reached over to touch the back of her hand, instantly calming her.

**It was just drizzling still, not enough to soak me through immediately as I reached for the house key that was always hidden under the eaves by the door, and locked up.**

"Hmmm, maybe I should move that" Charlie muttered to himself thinking of all the robberies he had to cover where people did that, including his own deputy.

**The sloshing of my new waterproof boots was unnerving. I missed the normal crunch of gravel as I walked. I couldn't pause and admire my truck again as I wanted; I was in a hurry to get out of the misty wet that swirled around my head and clung to my hair under my hood.**

**Inside the truck, it was nice and dry. Either Billy or Charlie had obviously cleaned it up, but the tan upholstered seats still smelled faintly of tobacco, gasoline, and peppermint. **

"I would never give a dirty truck to anyone!" Billy said "And seeing as I am in a wheel chair in the book, and I hate the smell of peppermint it must have been Jake" Billy said**

Remus, Aberforth, Albus, Ariana, James, and Sirius looked at him like he was crazy.

"What?" He asked feeling unnerved by the stares.

"You...you...you don't like peppermint?" Ariana stuttered looking as if he had committed the greatest of all crimes

"No, never have either." He said, the look on his face made the others not want to question it further and so Lily continued.

**The engine started quickly, to my relief, but loudly, roaring to life and then idling at top volume. Well, a truck this old was bound to have a flaw. The antique radio worked, a plus that I hadn't expected.**

"I remember sitting in that truck with you and Jake when you were really little trying to get you two too sleep and it was the radio and the engine that seemed to knock you two out." Charlie said

Bella blushed and Jake smiled, he still did that some nights when he couldn't sleep.

Edward smiled at the blushing girl wanting to kiss her.

The room had a pleasant feel to it as Lily continued to read.

**Finding the school wasn't difficult, though I'd never been there before. The school was, like most other things, just off the highway. It was not obvious that it was a school; only the sign, which declared it to be the Forks High School, made me stop. It looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon-colored bricks. There were so many trees and shrubs I couldn't see its size at first. Where was the feel of the institution? I wondered nostalgically. Where were the chain-link fences, the metal detectors?**

"Bella, not every school is architecturally bland like in Phoenix." She fake scolded, wondering if Phoenix was the best place to send her to school in, that was one of the pluses of Forks, it was safer than Phoenix, there would be no need to worry about metal detectors, Renée was wondering if maybe they just moved out of Forks and to Seattle. Even if we moved over the cascades it wouldn't have rained as much as Forks, she thought to herself.

Bella rolled her eyes at her mother, she liked the way Forks High sounded, she was just so used to school looking a certain why, it was would be something she would be used to in the green mushy town of Forks if the school was a replica of the one she went to in Phoenix.

**I parked in front of the first building, which had a small sign over the door reading front office. No one else was parked there, so I was sure it was off limits, but I decided I would get directions inside instead of circling around in the rain like an idiot. I stepped unwillingly out of the toasty truck cab and walked down a little stone path lined with dark hedges. I took a deep breath before opening the door.**

"It's not that bad, and you are likely to be the only other one in there so you will not get a lot of attention compared to what you will get in the rest of the day." Jacob tried to encourage.

Bella paled more than she already was at this.

Lily taking pity on the older, yet younger girl, continued to read.

**Inside, it was brightly lit, and warmer than I'd hoped.**

"We do have heating you know Bells" Chief Swan teased his daughter, who blushed in response.

**The office was small; a little waiting area with padded folding chairs, orange-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, a big clock ticking loudly. Plants grew everywhere in large plastic pots, as if there wasn't enough greenery outside. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly colored fliers taped to its front. There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, red-haired woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a purple t-shirt, which immediately made me feel overdressed.**

"Mrs. Cope, as the first person you encounter at the school she tries to dress informally to give you a less intimidated feeling, or something like that" Chief Swan informed the room.

**The red-haired woman looked up. "Can I help you?"**

**"I'm Isabella Swan," I informed her, and saw the immediate awareness light her eyes. I was expected, a topic of gossip no doubt. Daughter of the Chief's flighty ex-wife, come home at last.**

The three in question shifted uncomfortably in their seats at that.

**"Of course," she said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school." She brought several sheets to the counter to show me.**

**She went through my classes for me, highlighting the best route to each on the map,**

"Which is likely the most popular route to take, thus experiencing the most number of people, you should always plan to take the longer back ways to avoid unwanted attention." Sirius said. Narcissa, Reagulus, and Bellatrix stared at him.

"What" He finally asked his family.

"You said something smartish!" Narcissa exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's been known to happen now and then, so moving on, Lily can you continue?" He said shifting at the stares of his family.

**And gave me a slip to have each teacher sign, which I was to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled at me and hoped, like Charlie, that I would like it here in Forks. I smiled back as convincingly as I could.**

"So not very convincing" Percy said "I remember they said she couldn't lie" He said exasperated at the looks he was getting.

"But Percy-" Fred said

"That was a joke!" George said

"You never joke" They said in unison.

Percy did the mature and adult thing and stuck his tongue out at his brothers.

**When I went back out to my truck, other students were starting to arrive. I drove around the school, following the line of traffic. I was glad to see that most of the cars were older like mine, nothing flashy. At home I'd lived in one of the few lower-income neighborhoods that were included in the Paradise Valley District. It was a common thing to see a new Mercedes or Porsche in the student lot.**

Edward and the others that were used to cars but that they were all the same with little variation in different types were amazed at the diversity in vehicles that seemed to occur in the future. Those that didn't know about cars were lost.

**The nicest car here was a shiny Volvo, and it stood out. Still, I cut the engine as soon as I was in a spot, so that the thunderous volume wouldn't draw attention to me.**

"Well a new Volvo isn't that bad," Bella said thinking of the cheerleader that just got a Lamborghini, and she wasn't even 16 yet.

**I looked at the map in the truck, trying to memorize it now; hopefully I wouldn't have to walk around with it stuck in front of my nose all day.**

"Doubtful you are new there will be people lining up to help you" Chief Swan said. His daughter just looked at him in horror at the implication of the attention she will get.

**I stuffed everything in my bag, slung the strap over my shoulder, and sucked in a huge breath. I can do this, I lied to myself feebly. No one was going to bite me. I finally exhaled and stepped out of the truck.**

**I kept my face pulled back into my hood as I walked to the sidewalk, crowded with teenagers. My plain black jacket didn't stand out, I noticed with relief.**

"So you are trying to blend in" Charlie said

"So" Bella snapped

Everyone decided to leave her alone and let Lily continue.

**Once I got around the cafeteria, building three was easy to spot. A large black "3" was painted on a white square on the east corner. I felt my breathing gradually creeping toward hyperventilation as I approached the door. I tried holding my breath as I followed two unisex raincoats through the door.**

James was tempted to tease her but one look at her face, and more importantly Lily's face he decided to rethink his former temptation.

**The classroom was small. The people in front of me stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. I copied them. They were two girls, one a porcelain-colored blond, the other also pale, with light brown hair. At least my skin wouldn't be a standout here.**

"I thought we had been over this" Sirius said, Narcissa slapping his head and Bella glaring daggers at him, "sorry" he said rubbing the back of his head.

**I took the slip up to the teacher, a tall, balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Mason. He gawked at me when he saw my name — not an encouraging response — and of course I flushed tomato red. But at least he sent me to an empty desk at the back without introducing me to the class. It was harder for my new classmates to stare at me in the back, but somehow, they managed. I kept my eyes down on the reading list the teacher had given me. It was fairly basic: Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Faulkner. I'd already read everything. That was comforting… and boring. I wondered if my mom would send me my folder of old essays, or if she would think that was cheating.**

"I would for reference but if the teacher catches on you can get in trouble for self plagiarism, so you would still need to site it." Renée said to her daughter

"That can happen?" Hermione asked.

"Yes it can" she responded

"Well that's just stupid," Luna said "You have the same experiences you have the same mind, you are going to say similar things, I mean talk about being over zealous" She said.

With Luna still mumbling about the ridiculousness of self plagiarism Lily continued to read.

** I went through different arguments with her in my head while the teacher droned on.**

**When the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, a gangly boy with skin problems and hair black as an oil slick leaned across the aisle to talk to me.**

**"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" He looked like the overly helpful, chess club type.**

Some people giggled, Luna continued to mumble but no one said or did anything to really interrupt Lily's reading, James and Sirius would have on principle but were still slightly scared of Lily to do it.

**"Bella," I corrected. Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at me.**

**"Where's your next class?" he asked.**

**I had to check in my bag." Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six."**

"I am almost sure that in a school that small you do not need to specify the building or teacher in that way"Reagulus said

"Do I have to draw a picture? I am not used to school's of this size, I am used to thousands of students and hundreds of classrooms, I am sorry I go into more detail than likely necessary ." Bella huffed crossing her arms and leaning back.

**There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes.**

**"I'm headed toward building four, I could show you the way…"Definitely over-helpful. "I'm Eric," he added.**

**I smiled tentatively. "Thanks."**

**We got our jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. I could have sworn several people behind us were walking close enough to eavesdrop. I hoped I wasn't getting paranoid.**

"Not likely," Renée said pursing her lips. It was people like that that had been one of the deciding factors in leaving and taking Bella with her was the lack of privacy.

**"So, this is a lot different than Phoenix, huh?" he asked.**

**"Very."**

**"It doesn't rain much there, does it?"**

**"Three or four times a year."**

**"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered.**

"Well here's your sign" Bella said, those that had seen the Blue Collar Comedy tour understood the others had looks of confusion.

"It's not important" Billy said in his story tellers voice, "We may be able to show you later if you want." He said

They agreed and Lily continued.

**"Sunny," I told him.**

"Well I blew it that time around" Bella said

**"You don't look very tan."**

"Again stupid clichés" Luna said finally ending her mumbling of the stupidness of self plagiarism.

**"My mother is part albino."**

**He studied my face apprehensively, and I sighed. It looked like clouds and a sense of humor didn't mix. A few months of this and I'd forget how to use sarcasm.**

"Wow, he seems worse at the whole sarcasm thing than my sister Petunia" Lily said shaking her head, before she continued to read.

**We walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym. Eric walked me right to the door, though it was clearly marked.**

**"Well, good luck," he said as I touched the handle. "Maybe we'll have some other classes together." He sounded hopeful.**

**I smiled at him vaguely and went inside.**

**The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. My Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, who I would have hated anyway just because of the subject he** **taught,** (several people snickered)** was the only one who made me stand in front of the class and introduce myself. I stammered, blushed, and tripped over my own boots on the way to my seat.**

A few more people chuckled at this, Emmet being the loudest. "I hope they talk about any athletic class you may have" he said. Rosalie looked at him, it was hard for her to resist the sparkling eyes, dark hair and dimples of this boy.

She then scolded herself, she was engaged after all and she turned her attention back to the young red head.

**After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask me questions about how I was liking Forks.**

"Oh c'mon! I'm not going to tear you to shreds if you come talk to me, though most people tend to avoid me" Bella said, Carlisle and Billy filling that away in case it became important in the books.

**I tried to be diplomatic, but mostly I just lied a lot. At least I never needed the map.**

"There's the silver lining!" Emmet shouted. Fred and George looked at each other a pranksters' glint in their eyes, both thinking Emmet would be fun to play pranks with.

**One girl sat next to me in both Trig and Spanish, and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. She was tiny, several inches shorter than my five feet four inches, but her wildly curly dark hair made up a lot of the difference between our heights.**

"Bushy hair is the worst" said a bushy headed Hermione with a scowl.

**I couldn'tremember her name, so I smiled and nodded as she prattled about teachers and classes. I didn't try to keep up.**

**We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. The boy from English, Eric, waved at me from across the room.**

**It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them.**

**They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't gawking at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught, and held, my attention.**

**They didn't look anything alike. Of the three boys, one was big — muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair.**

"That sounds like me" Emmet said, "though I would be about 70 or something so maybe it could be my grandson" He contemplated.

** Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond.**

"That sounds like me but I would be history by 2005, even my grand children would be long gone at that point..." This time Jasper spoke up

**The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair.**

"And that sounds like me," Edward said running his hand through his bronze colored hair, not understanding.

**He was more boyish than the others, who looked like they could be in college, or even teachers here rather than students.**

**The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the ****_Sports Illustrated _****swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back.**

"Well that's vague," Rosalie said "though the unique hair color it sounds like me, but not quite..."

**The short girl was pixielike, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.**

"That's me!" Alice said, she knew it didn't make sense she just had a feeling, sometimes she would get visions and others just strong feelings of what will happen in the future.

**And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in this sunless town. Paler than me, the albino. They all had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes — purplish, bruiselike shadows. As if they were all suffering from a sleepless night, or almost done recovering from a broken nose. Though their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, angular.**

Billy was on edge, knowing about the Cullens' secret, only there were two more that were not there in his grandfather's stories

**But all this is not why I couldn't look away.**

**I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful — maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronzehaired boy.**

Edward and Rosalie both beamed, thinking they were hearing about grand children or great grandchildren, respectively, not even considering it could be them. Alice, Emmet, and Jasper all pouted jokingly.

**They were all looking away — away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as I could tell. As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray — unopened soda, unbitten apple — and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway. I watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible. My eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.**

**"Who are ****_they _****?" I asked the girl from my Spanish class, whose name I'd forgotten.**

**As she looked up to see who I meant — though already knowing, probably, from my tone — suddenly he looked at her, the thinner one, the boyish one, the youngest, perhaps. He looked at my neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to mine.**

"Uh oh sounds like someone is being angry." Ginny pipped up.

**He looked away quickly, more quickly than I could, though in a flush of embarrassment I dropped my eyes at once. In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest — it was as if she had called his name, and he'd looked up in involuntary response, already having decided not to answer.**

**My neighbor giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table like I did.**

"Oh, someone has a juicy little secret..." Emmet said in a sing-song voice.

**"That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife." She said this under her breath.**

"Those are our first names," Edward said

"And my last name" Rosalie said paleing, the only way a child would have her last name is if her parents had a baby boy, which was impossible, or it was her, also impossible.

"m-m-maybe it's a coincidence" Jasper said, no longer as calm as he had been.

The only one not worried was Carlisle, he figured he must have many male descendents to pass the name on to.

Billy sighed, knowing the truth of these young, lively people in front of him and the cold dead monsters they would become.

**I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening. The other three still looked away, and yet I felt he was speaking quietly to them.**

**Strange, unpopular names, I thought. The kinds of names grandparents had** (The youngsters in question scowled at that)**. But maybe that was in vogue here — small town names? I finally remembered that my neighbor was called Jessica, a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jessica in my History class back home.**

**"They are… very nice-looking." I struggled with the conspicuous understatement.**

This brought giggles from the more socially attuned people of the group and dark glares were sent at the laughers by the more socially awkward members, those like Lily just observed with indifference.

**"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all ****_together _****though — Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice**(the mentioned couples smiled at each other, still not knowing it was them and not relatives)**, I mean. And they ****_live _****together." Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, I thought critically. But, if I was being honest, I had to admit that even in Phoenix, it would cause gossip.**

**"Which ones are the Cullens?" I asked. "They don't look related…"**

**"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales ****_are _****brother and sister, twins — the blondes — and they're foster children."**

**"They look a little old for foster children."**

**"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."**

**"That's really kind of nice — for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything."**

**"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I got the impression that she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some reason. With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children, I would presume the reason was jealousy. I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though," she added, as if that lessened their kindness.**

Many people in the room rolled their eyes at this, or Jessica's attitude toward the situation.

**Throughout all this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to the table where the strange family sat. They continued to look at the walls and not eat.**

**"Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. Surely I would have noticed them on one of my summers here.**

**"No," she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a new arrival like me. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."**

**I felt a surge of pity, and relief. **

The room occupants all looked at the girl curiously, she just shrugged, how was she supposed to know what she would be thinking in two, almost three, years time.

**Pity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. Relief that I wasn't the only newcomer here, and certainly not the most interesting by any standard.**

Most of the room understood a bit more now.

"I don't think you are uninteresting." Edward said in a barely audible tone. Both he and Bella blushed after this.

**As I examined them, the youngest, one of the Cullens, looked up and met my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression. As I looked swiftly away, it seemed to me that his glance held some kind of unmet expectation.**

"I wonder what that could be?" Remus said.

**"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" I asked. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, and he was still staring at me, but not gawking like the other students had today — he had a slightly frustrated expression. I looked down again.**

**"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd turned her down.**

"If by some weird power that is me then I would not go near a person with that attitude with a four foot pole." Edward said.

Billy grimaced, which was not missed by the Remus, Lily, Luna, and Rowena.

"What a nine and a half foot pole?" Bella asked , those that got the reference holding back their giggles with all their might.

"Still not then" Edward vowed even though some of these people wouldn't be alive until after he was long since dead and buried.

**I bit my lip to hide my smile. Then I glanced at him again. His face was turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were smiling, too.**

**After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They all were noticeably graceful — even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't look at me again.**

"Why do I think that this will not be the last we hear of Eddie-boy?" Emmet said striking a Thinker like pose.

No one could answer and as tempted as Edward was to say not to call him that, he didn't because for all he knew this Edward Cullen could like being called Eddie, it surely wasn't him after all. Right?

**I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than I would have if I'd been sitting alone. I was anxious not to be late for class on my first day. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me that her name was Angela, had Biology II with me the next hour. We walked to class together in silence. She was shy, too.**

"Oh I loved Mrs. Weber, one of the few sensible women in that town" Renée said reminiscing on the play dates that she and Angela's mother would have, in fact they still kept in touch.

**When we entered the classroom, Angela went to sit at a black-topped lab table exactly like the ones I was used to. She already had a neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, I recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual hair, sitting next to that single open seat.**

"So the only open seat is next to Mr. Grouchy pants?" Rosalie said. Edward just stuck his tongue out at the girl, in defense of his unknown relative.

**As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face — it was hostile, furious.**

Chief Swan, Renée, and Bella frowned at this.

** I looked away quickly, shocked, going red again. I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table. The girl sitting there giggled.**

**I'd noticed that his eyes were black — coal black.**

**Mr. Banner signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about introductions. I could tell we were going to get along. Of course, he had no choice but to send me to the one open seat in the middle of the room. I kept my eyes down as I went to sit by ****_him_****, bewildered by the antagonistic stare he'd given me.**

Their frowns deepened.

**I didn't look up as I set my book on the table and took my seat, but I saw his posture change from the corner of my eye. He was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad. Inconspicuously, I sniffed my hair. It smelled like strawberries, the scent of my favorite shampoo.**

Chief Swan was turning red at the treatment his daughter was receiving.

**It seemed an innocent enough odor. I let my hair fall over my right shoulder, making a dark curtain between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher.**

**Unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something I'd already studied. I took notes carefully anyway, always looking down.**

**I couldn't stop myself from peeking occasionally through the screen of my hair at the strange boy next to me. During the whole class, he never relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far from me as possible. I could see his hand on his left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under his pale skin. This, too, he never relaxed. He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his light skin. He wasn't nearly as slight as he'd looked next to his burly brother.**

**The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the day was finally coming to a close, or because I was waiting for his tight fist to loosen? It never did; he continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn't breathing. What was wrong with him? Was this his normal behavior? I questioned my judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she was not as resentful as I'd thought.**

**It couldn't have anything to do with me. He didn't know me from Eve.**

**I peeked up at him one more time, and regretted it. He was glaring down at me again, his black eyes full of revulsion. As I flinched away from him, shrinking against my chair, the phrase ****_if looks could kill _****suddenly ran through my mind.**

**At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making me jump, and Edward Cullen was out of his seat. Fluidly he rose — he was much taller than I'd thought — his back to me, and he was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat.**

Chief Swan looked like he was about to explode.

**I sat frozen in my seat, staring blankly after him. He was so mean. It wasn't fair. I began gathering up my things slowly, trying to block the anger that filled me, for fear my eyes would tear up. For some reason, my temper was hardwired to my tear ducts. I usually cried when I was angry, a humiliating tendency.**

Bella blushed at this, but her father was now giving a glare to the young boy in the room.

**"Aren't you Isabella Swan?" a male voice asked.**

**I looked up to see a cute, baby-faced boy, his pale blond hair carefully gelled into orderly spikes, smiling at me in a friendly way. He obviously didn't think I smelled bad.**

**"Bella," I corrected him, with a smile.**

**"I'm Mike."**

**"Hi, Mike."**

**"Do you need any help finding your next class?"**

**"I'm headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it."**

**"That's my next class, too." He seemed thrilled, though it wasn't that big of a coincidence in a school this small.**

**We walked to class together; he was a chatterer — he supplied most of the conversation, which made it easy for me. He'd lived in California till he was ten, so he knew how I felt about the sun. It turned out he was in my English class also. He was the nicest person I'd met today.**

"I don't know who was a worse gossiper, Mrs. Stanley, or Mr. Newton" Renée scowled, thinking that had she talked to Angela more then that statement would be changed.

**But as we were entering the gym, he asked, "So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."**

Chief Swan sighed in defeat, he didn't know what to do, it's not like the Edward in front of him, who was from 1918 he reminded himself, could do anything.

**I cringed. So I wasn't the only one who had noticed. And, apparently, that ****_wasn't _****Edward Cullen's usual behavior. I decided to play dumb.**

**"Was that the boy I sat next to in Biology?" I asked artlessly.**

**"Yes," he said. "He looked like he was in pain or something."**

**"I don't know," I responded. "I never spoke to him."**

**"He's a weird guy." Mike lingered by me instead of heading to the dressing room. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you."**

"Ah the famous Newton first stage flirt, I can see some things never change." Renée said.

**I smiled at him before walking through the girls' locker room door. He was friendly and clearly admiring. But it wasn't enough to ease my irritation.**

**The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform but didn't make me dress down for today's class. At home, only two years of P.E. were required. Here, P.E. was mandatory all four years. Forks was literally my personal hell on Earth.**

Several people could be heard stifling giggles, Emmet was not one of them, he was in full blown laugh out loud while rolling on the floor mode, but one glare from violet eyed Rosalie sobered him up really fast. The other women looked at her in awe as she smiled smugly.

**I watched four volleyball games running simultaneously. Remembering how many injuries I had sustained — and inflicted — playing volleyball, I felt faintly nauseated.**

More people were trying not to giggle, Emmet was still sitting silently.

**The final bell rang at last. I walked slowly to the office to return my paperwork. The rain had drifted away, but the wind was strong, and colder. I wrapped my arms around myself.**

**When I walked into the warm office, I almost turned around and walked back out.**

**Edward Cullen stood at the desk in front of me.**

Everyone groaned at this, even Edward.

**I recognized again that tousled bronze hair. He didn't appear to notice the sound of my entrance. I stood pressed against the back wall, waiting for the receptionist to be free.**

**He was arguing with her in a low, attractive voice. I quickly picked up the gist of the argument. He was trying to trade from sixth-hour Biology to another time — any other time.**

Almost everyone was frowning at the boy now except Billy who looked utterly perplexed, maybe the veggiepires weren't so bad after all.

**I just couldn't believe that this was about me. It had to be something else, something that happened before I entered the Biology room. The look on his face must have been about another aggravation entirely. It was impossible that this stranger could take such a sudden, intense dislike to me.**

Wanting to stick up for the boy Edward finally spoke: "Anyone think maybe the scent of strawberries or another of her natural smells could be bothering him so rather than get the new girl to stop using a certain product she may be attached to he decided to change classes so no one else was disturbed by his issue, what ever maybe to her smell?"

Everyone looked at him in shock except Alice who rolled her eyes, no one else though about that.

**The door opened again, and the cold wind suddenly gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling my hair around my face. The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked out again. But Edward Cullen's back stiffened, and he turned slowly to glare at me — his face was absurdly handsome — with piercing, hate-filled eyes. For an instant, I felt a thrill of genuine fear, raising the hair on my arms. The look only lasted a second, but it chilled me more than the freezing wind. He turned back to the receptionist.**

**"Never mind, then," he said hastily in a voice like velvet. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." And he turned on his heel without another look at me, and disappeared out the door.**

**I went meekly to the desk, my face white for once instead of red, and handed her the signed slip.**

**"How did your first day go, dear?" the receptionist asked maternally.**

**"Fine," I lied, my voice weak. She didn't look convinced.**

**When I got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. It seemed like a haven, already the closest thing to home I had in this damp green hole. I sat inside for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly. But soon I was cold enough to need the heater, so I turned the key and the engine roared to life. I headed back to Charlie's house, fighting tears the whole way there.**

"Oh dear," Renée said. thinking about the mess this move that ay not happen would cause.

"Well that is that chapter" Lily said marking the page and closing the book.

"I say we take a five minuet stretch break and then we return to reading" Rowena said.

Everyone agreed and moved around a bit, some disappearing into bathrooms, others exploring the room in detail. When the time was up Salazar used a sonorous charm to get everyone back to order.

"So who is next?" Lily asked.

"May I?" Esme asked. No one said anything so the group passed it around until it reached her. She opened the book and giggled before she read. **The Open Book**

Others joined in her giggling before she began to read the second chapter.

_**-AN-**_

So there it is everyone I finally finished! Tuesday I am going to try and update my other stroy. I now admin two pages on facebook, have a job, and am taking online classes so I am trying to take the jumbled mess of time and turn it to a clear picture. But I promise NEITHER STORY WILL BE ABANDONED! They will be finished. :) Until Tuesday, enjoy.

*This will become important and will be better explained when they read the 6th Harry Potter book, here's a hint in this story group not everything is as it seems.

** because I have Bella at the age she stopped going to Forks Billy is not in his wheel chair as of yet, if it still says that in the first chapter, the prologue, I'm sorry

-RJE


	3. Chapter 2- Reading Open Book

**The Open Book, **Esme Read

**The next day was better… and worse.**

"How can it be both?" Peter asked.

"Well that can happen in many ways, the day could start one way and turn, or it can be that something was expected the next day and didn't happen, or-" Rowena started.

"Alright we get it! Miss. DiZono, please continue" Godric said

Rowena just humped and crossed her arms glaring at him.

"Please, call me Esme," She said before she continued to read.

**It was better because it wasn't raining yet, though the clouds were dense and opaque. It ****was easier because I knew what to expect of my day. Mike came to sit by me in English,****and walked me to my next class, with Chess Club Eric glaring at him all the while; that ****was flattering. **

Chief Swan got really red, this was his baby, and he didn't want to hear about boys "flattering" her.

**People didn't look at me quite as much as they had yesterday. I sat with a ****big group at lunch that included Mike, Eric, Jessica, and several other people whose ****names and faces I now remembered. I began to feel like I was treading water, instead of ****drowning in it.**

"Well that's always the best way to look at things" Emmet teased

Bella stuck he tongue out at him**.**

**It was worse because I was tired; I still couldn't sleep with the wind echoing around the ****house. **

"You'll get used to it eventually," Jacob said.

**It was worse because Mr. Varner called on me in Trig when my hand wasn't raised ****and I had the wrong answer.**

"I really hate when they do that" Bill said to Charlie who nodded in agreement.

"How can you not raise your hand or know the right answer!" Hermione asked in horror

"Math is far from my thing." Bella told the young girl.

"But still-"

Esme continued to read before an argument could break out.

**It was miserable because I had to play volleyball, and the ****one time I didn't cringe out of the way of the ball, I hit my teammate in the head with it.**

Everyone laughed no one more so than Fred, George, and Emmet though**.**

**And it was worse because Edward Cullen wasn't in school at all.**

The women in the room smiled knowingly as Edward and Bella both bushed.

_She's cute when she does that_ he thought, and then shook his head resigning himself to the fact that nearly a century separated them and he shouldn't have thought that about a lady, that was not the proper type of relationship.

**All morning I was dreading lunch, fearing his bizarre glares. Part of me wanted to ****confront him and demand to know what his problem was. While I was lying sleepless in my bed, I even imagined what I would say. But I knew myself too well to think I would ****really have the guts to do it. I made the Cowardly Lion look like the terminator.**

Chief Swan, Renée. Billy, Jacob, and Bella, Hermione, and Harry all laughed. Those that didn't know what the references were looked at them like they had an extra head

"Not really important" Renée said noticing their looks.

**But when I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica — trying to keep my eyes from ****sweeping the place for him, and failing entirely — I saw that his four siblings of sorts were sitting together at the same table, and he was not with them. **

"Aww," Helga said, "Someone has a crush"

Bella and Edward blushed as Chief Swan turned red in anger thinking that Bella is too young to have a crush on anyone.

**Mike intercepted us and steered us to his table. Jessica seemed elated by the attention ****and her friends quickly joined us. But as I tried to listen to their easy chatter, I was ****terribly uncomfortable, waiting nervously for the moment he would arrive. I hoped that ****he would simply ignore me when he came, and prove my suspicions false. He didn't come, and as time passed I grew more and more tense.**

"Shouldn't the fact that he hasn't shown make you less tense, I mean he is not there and so he can't be mean." Charlie said.

"Yea but it could also mean he is there and avoiding me and I drove him from his family." Bella said.

"Or he could be sick." Percy said.

Rowena smiled at the logical and likely answer that he came up with.

**I walked to Biology with more confidence when, by the end of lunch, he still hadn't ****showed. Mike, who was taking on the qualities of a golden retriever,** **walked faithfully by my side to class. I held my breath at the door, but Edward Cullen wasn't there, either. I exhaled and went to my seat. Mike followed, talking about an upcoming trip to the beach.**

"I have a feeling that he is going to become really annoying really soon" James said

Chief Swan glared at him in defense of the kid.

"What I meant is that people that mindlessly follow others but do not really care if they are being listened to but keep talking anyway are really annoying." James explained.

Snape suppressed the urge to laugh at that as that is what Peter did at school.

Before anyone could say anything else Esme continued to read.

**He lingered by my desk till the bell rang. Then he smiled at me wistfully and went to sit ****by a girl with braces and a bad perm. It looked like I was going to have to do something ****about Mike, and it wouldn't be easy. In a town like this, where everyone lived on top of ****everyone else, diplomacy was essential. I had never been enormously tactful; I had no ****practice dealing with overly friendly boys.**

"Good" Chief Swan grumbled. No one was good enough for his baby.

**I was relieved that I had the desk to myself, that Edward was absent. I told myself that ****repeatedly. But I couldn't get rid of the nagging suspicion that I was the reason he wasn't ****there. **

Edward received glares from Chief Swan and Esme who already like the girl. He looked down and muttered an apology. Before Esme continued to read.

**It was ridiculous, and egotistical, to think that I could affect anyone that strongly. It ****was impossible. And yet I couldn't stop worrying that it was true.**

More glares were sent to Edward.

**When the school day was finally done, and the blush was fading out of my cheeks from ****the volleyball incident, I changed quickly back into my jeans and navy blue sweater. I ****hurried from the girls' locker room, pleased to find that I had successfully evaded my ****retriever friend for the moment. I walked swiftly out to the parking lot. It was crowded ****now with fleeing students. I got in my truck and dug through my bag to make sure I had ****what I needed.**

**Last night I'd discovered that Charlie couldn't cook much besides fried eggs and bacon.**

Chief Swan blushed, he usually went to a diner or the reservation to eat because of that.

**So I requested that I be assigned kitchen detail for the duration of my stay. He was ****willing enough to hand over the keys to the banquet hall. I also found out that he had no ****food in the house. So I had my shopping list and the cash from the jar in the cupboard ****labeled FOOD MONEY, and I was on my way to the Thriftway.**

**I gunned my deafening engine to life, ignoring the heads that turned in my direction,****and backed carefully into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to exit the parking****lot. As I waited, trying to pretend that the earsplitting rumble was coming from someone****else's car, I saw the two Cullens and the Hale twins getting into their car. It was the shiny****new Volvo. Of course. I hadn't noticed their clothes before**

Alice lit up at the mention of clothes.

**-I'd been too mesmerized by their faces. Now that I looked, it was obvious that they were all dressed exceptionally well; simply, but in clothes that subtly hinted at designer origins.**

"Oh c'mon Bella! Please describe in better detail than that. I want to know what they are wearing! Colors, skirt lengths, type of pants!" Alice said.

"Well I think I can tell you that girls only wear skirts and dresses on special occasions or sometimes at work and school but that is few and far between, I only own one skirt and no dresses. And they are likely wearing jeans." Bella said.

Most of the women looked scandalized, sure Rosalie had seen a few younger girls in pants, but they still wore skirts the majority of the time, and no young lady would wear anything but a skirt. Carlisle looked as if he was suffering from severe culture shock. Not only were women talking freely and openly in the presence of men with no fear or shame but women not wearing dresses? Unthinkable! Jasper also looked shocked but not as badly as what Carlisle did. He was used to women having a little more freedom but not wearing dresses and showing their legs? And it was normal to do so? It seemed simply barbaric to him. Edward was blushing because of the lack of modesty being shown by women in this new time. The four founders also looked beyond shock at this revelation as well.

Esme smiled and continued to read.

**With their remarkable good looks, the style with which they carried themselves, they could have worn dishrags and pulled it off.**

Alice and Rosalie crunched up their faces in horror.

**It seemed excessive for them to have both looks and money. But as far as I could tell, life worked that way most of the time. It didn't look as if it bought them any acceptance here.**

**No, I didn't fully believe that. The isolation must be their desire; I couldn't imagine any****door that wouldn't be opened by that degree of beauty.**

**They looked at my noisy truck as I passed them, just like everyone else.**

"Oh c'mon people it's a noisy car, do you really HAVE to look, I mean you saw it yesterday! Get over it!" Hermione huffed. Bella, and all those that valued privacy nodded along with her. The gossipers, Narcissa and Rosalie shrugged in indifference.

**I kept my eyes ****straight forward and was relieved when I finally was free of the school grounds.**

**The Thriftway was not far from the school, just a few streets south, off the highway. It****was nice to be inside the supermarket; it felt normal.**

"Maybe for you but what's a highway?" Rowena asked.

Arthur Weasley excitedly explained about highways, as best as a pure blood wizard could, those from the times of highways nodding or adding information where it pertained, and those that were of a time before highways listened in wonder.

"Ah, and what, pray tell is a _Thirftway_?" Rowena asked exquisitely.

Chief Swan explained, first having to explain about big grocery stores and then about how each area has them.

Even Tom Riddle, who knew of stores you could buy many things in at once was surprised at how much things will change in a small amount of time.

**I did the shopping at home, and I fell into the pattern of the familiar task gladly. The store was big enough inside that I couldn't hear the tapping of the rain on the roof to remind me where I was.**

"An indoor market so big that you can't hear rain?" Bellatrix asked looking absolutely perplexed.

"Muggles are more amazing than we give them credit for" Arthur said, knowing what this girl would grow to become and hoping to prevent that.

**When I got home, I unloaded all the groceries, stuffing them in wherever I could find ****an open space. I hoped Charlie wouldn't mind. **

"Of course I won't mind" Chief Swan said, feeling bad that his daughter didn't know enough about him and living habits.

Bella smiled, so far the only thing that I could see bad about living with her father was the fact that she seemed to chase another from his home and the rainy and cold climate.

**I wrapped potatoes in foil and stuck them ****in the oven to bake, covered a steak in marinade and balanced it on top of a carton of ****eggs in the fridge.**

**When I was finished with that, I took my book bag upstairs. Before starting my****homework, I changed into a pair of dry sweats, pulled my damp hair up into a pony-tail, and checked my e-mail for the first time. I had three messages.**

"I bet someone is in trouble!" Emmet, Fred, George, Tom, Bellatrix, James, Sirius, and Remus said together

"What is an e-mail?" Helga asked testing the strange word on her tongue.

Bella, the most technologically savvy of the gathering launched into an explanation about what it was and a nutshell explanation as to how it worked.

"I wish we could do that!" Draco exclaimed. All those from the past agreeing with him.

**"Bella," my mom wrote…**

**Write me as soon as you get in. Tell me how your flight was. Is it raining? I miss you****already. I'm almost finished packing for Florida, but I can't find my pink blouse. Do you****know where I put it? Phil says hi.**

**Mom.**

**I sighed and went to the next. It was sent eight hours after the first.**

**"Bella," she wrote…**

**Why haven't you e-mailed me yet? What are you waiting for?**

**Mom.**

**The last was from this morning.**

**Isabella,**

**If I haven't heard from you by 5:30 p.m. today I'm calling Charlie.**

**I checked the clock. I still had an hour, but my mom was well known for jumping the****gun.**

**Mom,**

Everyone giggled at that.

"Erm, Renée you may want to calm down just a wee bit" Helga said warmly. Her companions snorted.

"Yes well you are one to talk" Salazar said

"Yea Lega, you are such a mother hen yourself" Godric said.

"Sal, Ric" She said sweetly

"Yes" They said in unison slightly scared

"Shut up" Helga said, the two men looked terrified.

"Well I had good reason to be worried…" Renée said proceeding to explain some of the horrible things that have happened on air planes.

Everyone looked saddened when she told of the attack on America in 2001, they may not all know what America is but they could all understand about the hate driven cowardice of what happened on that day.

"Cowards." Godric said, eyes smoldering.

Esme nodded in agreement and then continued to read.

**Calm down. I'm writing right now. Don't do anything rash.**

**Bella.**

**I sent that, and began again.**

**Mom,**

**Everything is great. Of course it's raining. I was waiting for something to write about.**

**School isn't bad, just a little repetitive. I met some nice kids who sit by me at lunch.**

**Your blouse is at the dry cleaners - you were supposed to pick it up Friday.**

**Charlie bought me a truck, can you believe it? I love it. It's old, but really sturdy, which****is good, you know, for me.**

**I miss you, too. I'll write again soon, but I'm not going to check my e-mail every five****minutes. Relax, breathe. I love you.**

**Bella.**

"Urm, wouldn't it have been quicker to just say it all at once?" Tom said

"You know what it prolly would have, I will remember that in the future Tom." She said smiling sadly having read the Harry Potter books _(AN: 1-5, she is from 2004 and Order of the Phoenix came out in 2003)_

Tom smiled at the girl, wondering why she looked sad when she saw them.

**I had decided to read **_**Wuthering Heights**_ — **the novel we were currently studying in ****English — yet again for the fun of it, and that's what I was doing when Charlie came ****home. I'd lost track of the time, and I hurried downstairs to take the potatoes out and put ****the steak in to broil.**

**"Bella?" my father called out when he heard me on the stairs.**

**Who else? I thought to myself.**

"Well you had only been there a day, I'm no used to someone else living with me you know" Chief Swan eased his daughter.

She did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at him. Then they both broke into laughs. After they calmed down Esme began to read again smiling at the bonding between father and daughter.

**"Hey, Dad, welcome home."**

**"Thanks." He hung up his gun belt and stepped out of his boots as I bustled about the****kitchen. As far as I was aware, he'd never shot the gun on the job. But he kept it ready.**

"Thank heavens I have never needed to use it." Chief Swan said

"Gun?" Narcissa asked.

Hermione, ever willing to explain something launched into an explanation of guns.

Those that were unfamiliar with them looked flabbergasted.

"You have so many ways in which to get killed." Rowena stated.

"That's not even the half of it" Harry said shyly. When everyone looked at him he refused to say more but pointedly looked at Esme to continue, which she did.

**When I came here as a child, he would always remove the bullets as soon as he walked in****the door. I guess he considered me old enough now not to shoot myself by accident, and****not depressed enough to shoot myself on purpose.**

"don't talk like that!" Edward exclaimed, that is how his best friend's cousin died.

"Sorry." Bella said blushing.

**"What's for dinner?" he asked warily. My mother was an imaginative cook, and her****experiments weren't always edible. I was surprised, and sad, that he seemed to remember ****that far back.**

The women in question blushed profusely.

"Oh it can't be that bad, my sister could burn cereal!" Lily said causing most to explode in laughter. Lily noticing the perplexed looks told them about how you make cereal and how it is impossible to burn and those, the founders, Carlisle, and Jasper joined the rest in laughter.

**"Steak and potatoes," I answered, and he looked relieved.**

"I think I know what I want for dinner now" Ron and Sirius said.

**He seemed to feel awkward standing in the kitchen doing nothing; he lumbered into the ****living room to watch TV while I worked. We were both more comfortable that way. I ****made a salad while the steaks cooked, and set the table.**

**I called him in when dinner was ready, and he sniffed appreciatively as he walked into ****the room.**

**"Smells good, Bell."**

**"Thanks."**

**We ate in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't uncomfortable. Neither of us was****bothered by the quiet. In some ways, we were well suited for living together.**

**"So, how did you like school? Have you made any friends?" he asked as he was taking****seconds.**

**"Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica. I sit with her friends at lunch. And****there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice." With one****outstanding exception.**

"Wonder who that could be?" Charlie said

Bella glared at him.

**"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid — nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods****store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here."**

**"Do you know the Cullen family?" I asked hesitantly.**

**"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man."**

**"They… the kids… are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school."**

**Charlie surprised me by looking angry.**

**"People in this town," he muttered. "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could****probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued, getting louder. "We're lucky to have him — lucky that his wife wanted to live****in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved****and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I****thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature — I haven't****had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of****some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a****family should — camping trips every other weekend… Just because they're newcomers,****people have to talk."**

**It was the longest speech I'd ever heard Charlie make. He must feel strongly about****whatever people were saying.**

**I backpedaled. "They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves.****They're all very attractive," I added, trying to be more complimentary.**

**"You should see the doctor," Charlie said, laughing. "It's a good thing he's happily****married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work****with him around."**

Those that were raised in an old fashioned way looked appalled at the behavior of these nurses, Carlisle in particular. Esme felt a peculiar anger she had never felt before in regards to what was said.

**We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I started ****on the dishes. He went back to the TV, and after I finished washing the dishes by hand —****no dishwasher — I went upstairs unwillingly to work on my math homework. I could feel ****a tradition in the making.**

"Yay tradition!" Ariana said mockingly then muttered "boring" under her breath.

**That night it was finally quiet. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted.**

**The rest of the week was uneventful. I got used to the routine of my classes. By Friday I****was able to recognize, if not name, almost all the students at school. In Gym, the kids on ****my team learned not to pass me the ball and to step quickly in front of me if the other****team tried to take advantage of my weakness. I happily stayed out of their way.**

"Aww" Emmet groaned. Esme glared at him and he sunk back in his seat in silence.

**Edward Cullen didn't come back to school.**

**Every day, I watched anxiously until the rest of the Cullens entered the cafeteria****without him. Then I could relax and join in the lunchtime conversation. Mostly it centered around a trip to the La Push Ocean Park in two weeks that Mike was putting****together. I was invited, and I had agreed to go, more out of politeness than desire. Beaches should be hot and dry.**

Everyone stared at her.

"Ok, maybe not dry, in a total sense of the word, but warmer than it'll be at La Push" Bella said defensively.

Everyone, except Renée rolled their eyes at her.

**By Friday I was perfectly comfortable entering my Biology class, no longer worried ****that Edward would be there. For all I knew, he had dropped out of school. I tried not to ****think about him, but I couldn't totally suppress the worry that I was responsible for his ****continued absence, ridiculous as it seemed.**

Most of the women and Chief Swan glared at him and he apologized.

**My first weekend in Forks passed without incident. Charlie, unused to spending time in ****the usually empty house, worked most of the weekend. I cleaned the house, got ahead on ****my homework, and wrote my mom more bogusly cheerful e-mail. I did drive to the ****library Saturday, but it was so poorly stocked that I didn't bother to get a card; I would ****have to make a date to visit Olympia or Seattle soon and find a good bookstore. I ****wondered idly what kind of gas mileage the truck got… and shuddered at the thought.**

"Most older vehicles actually have surprising great fuel mileage." Jacob said

Not waiting for anyone to ask a question Esme continued.

**The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet, so I was able to sleep well.**

**People greeted me in the parking lot Monday morning. I didn't know all their names,****but I waved back and smiled at everyone. It was colder this morning, but happily not ****raining. In English, Mike took his accustomed seat by my side. We had a pop quiz on**_**Wuthering Heights**_**. It was straightforward, very easy.**

"Didn't you say you read it fourteen times?" Hermione asked

"Yes." Bella said

"Well then of course it'll be easier for you as you enjoy it, but someone who may not enjoy the book may have a harder time" Luna said, earning a smile from Ravenclaw.

**All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable than I had thought I would feel by this ****point. More comfortable than I had ever expected to feel here.**

Chief Swan beamed and the others looked happy at that statement as well, except Renée who secretly wanted her to hate it so she would have her baby back.

**When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white. I could hear ****people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks, my nose.**

**"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing."**

"Aaaannnnndddd there goes my previous statement of enjoying it there" Bella said.

Most of the people in the room looked as if she grew a third eye, second head, and two arms….

**I looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling ****erratically past my face.**

**"Ew." Snow. There went my good day.**

"See I agree with me!" Bella pointed out.

**He looked surprised. "Don't you like snow?"**

"No, I said ew because I love it so much." She said in a fake happy voice much to the amusement of James, Sirius, Lily, Harry, and Draco.

**"No. That means it's too cold for rain." Obviously. "Besides, I thought it was supposed ****to come down in flakes — you know, each one unique and all that. These just look like ****the ends of Q-tips."**

**"Haven't you ever seen snow fall before?" he asked incredulously.**

**"Sure I have." I paused." On TV."**

Esme hurried up in a desperate attempt to finish the chapter, but she heard scratching as someone wrote down _TV_, which she was curious about but she just wanted to get some water or tea, or something to drink!

**Mike laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of ****his head. We both turned to see where it came from. I had my suspicions about Eric, who** **was walking away, his back toward us — in the wrong direction for his next class. **

"Rule #2, Never, EVER try and look innocent, you always end up looking suspicious." Fred, George, James and Sirius said.

**Mike** **apparently had the same notion. He bent over and began scraping together a pile of the ****white mush.**

**"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" I kept walking as I spoke. "Once people start throwing wet****stuff, I go inside."**

**He just nodded his eyes on Eric's retreating figure.**

**Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently it****was the first snowfall of the new year. I kept my mouth shut. Sure, it was drier than rain**— **until it melted in your socks.**

**I walked alertly to the cafeteria with Jessica after Spanish. Mush balls were flying****everywhere. I kept a binder in my hands, ready to use it as a shield if necessary.**

Everyone snorted in laughter.

**Jessica thought I was hilarious, but something in my expression kept her from lobbing a****snowball at me herself.**

**Mike caught up to us as we walked in the doors, laughing, with ice melting the spikes****in his hair. He and Jessica were talking animatedly about the snow fight as we got in line****to buy food. I glanced toward that table in the corner out of habit. And then I froze where****I stood. There were five people at the table.**

"dun, dun, duuuuunnnnn" Ginny said, making everyone jump at the quiet girl.

**Jessica pulled on my arm.**

**"Hello? Bella? What do you want?"**

**I looked down; my ears were hot. I had no reason to feel self-conscious, I reminded****myself. I hadn't done anything wrong.**

"Yeah!" Godric said, pumping his fist in the air

**"What's with Bella?" Mike asked Jessica.**

**"Nothing," I answered. "I'll just get a soda today." I caught up to the end of the line.**

**"Aren't you hungry?" Jessica asked.**

**"Actually, I feel a little sick," I said, my eyes still on the floor.**

**I waited for them to **_**get **_**their food, and then followed them to a table, my eyes on my ****feet.**

"Someone seems a tad bit self-conscious" Rosalie sang teasingly.

Alice took the initiative for Bella and slapped the back of her arm causing Rosalie to wince.

**I sipped my soda slowly, my stomach churning. Twice Mike asked, with unnecessary ****concern, how I was feeling.**

**I told him it was nothing, but I was wondering if I **_**should **_**play it up and escape to the ****nurse's office for the next hour.**

**Ridiculous. I shouldn't have to run away.**

"Exactly" Salazar said "Oh c'mon I am all for that noblest of traditions that is running away but not even I would run away here." He said to the curious looks.

**I decided to permit myself one glance at the Cullen family's table. If he was glaring at ****me, I would skip Biology, like the coward I was.**

**I kept my head down and glanced up under my lashes. None of them were looking this****way. I lifted my head a little.**

**They were laughing. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett all had their hair entirely saturated****with melting snow. Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping****hair toward them. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else — only they****looked more like a scene from a movie than the rest of us.**

**But, aside from the laughter and playfulness, there was something different, and I ****couldn't quite pinpoint what that difference was. I examined Edward the most carefully.**

**His skin was less pale, I decided — flushed from the snow fight maybe — the circles****under his eyes much less noticeable. But there was something more. I pondered, staring,****trying to isolate the change.**

**"Bella, what are you staring at?" Jessica intruded, her eyes following my stare.**

**At that precise moment, his eyes flashed over to meet mine.****I dropped my head, letting my hair fall to conceal my face. I was sure, though, in the ****instant our eyes met, that he didn't look harsh or unfriendly as he had the last time I'd ****seen him. He looked merely curious again, unsatisfied in some way.**

"Wonder what that means Eddie-my-boy" Emmet said wagging his eyebrows.

"Don't call me that" Edward growled.

**"Edward Cullen is staring at you," Jessica giggled in my ear.**

**"He doesn't look angry, does he?" I couldn't help asking.**

**"No," she said, sounding confused by my question. "Should he be?"**

**"I don't think he likes me," I confided. I still felt queasy. I put my head down on my****arm.**

**"The Cullens don't like anybody…well; they don't notice anybody enough to like them.****But he's still staring at you."**

**"Stop looking at him," I hissed.**

**She snickered, but she looked away. I raised my head enough to make sure that she did, contemplating violence if she resisted.**

Everyone rolled their eyes at that, already seeing this girl was clearly not a violent type.

"What?" She asked.

"Well Miss. Swan, Bella, you trying to be violent would be like, a lion only eating grass, just not going to happen" Jasper said

Bella huffed and crossed her arms. Edward couldn't help but think she was as cute as a kitten when she tried to be mad like that.

**Mike interrupted us then — he was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the ****parking lot after school and wanted us to join. Jessica agreed enthusiastically. The way she looked at Mike left little doubt that she would be up for anything he suggested. I kept ****silent. I would have to hide in the gym until the parking lot cleared.**

"That moment when _gym_ becomes the lesser of two evils" Bella sighed.

**For the rest of the lunch hour I very carefully kept my eyes at my own table. I decided ****to honor the bargain I'd made with myself. Since he didn't look angry, I would go to ****Biology. My stomach did frightened little flips at the thought of sitting next to him again.**

**I didn't really want to walk to class with Mike as usual — he seemed to be a popular****target for the snowball snipers**

"Maybe we should-" said one of the Weasley twins. "Yeah and then we will-" said the other. Their mother glared but they kept whispering. Finally they looked up and Esme continued to read.

— **but when we went to the door, everyone besides me ****groaned in unison. It was raining, washing all traces of the snow away in clear, icy ****ribbons down the side of the walkway. I pulled my hood up, secretly pleased. I would be ****free to go straight home after Gym.****Mike kept up a string of complaints on the way to building four.**

"You mean I got lucky?" Bella asked shocked at the turn of events.

**Once inside the classroom, I saw with relief that my table was still empty. Mr. Banner****was walking around the room, distributing one microscope and box of slides to each****table. Class didn't start for a few minutes, and the room buzzed with conversation. I kept****my eyes away from the door, doodling idly on the cover of my notebook.**

**I heard very clearly when the chair next to me moved, but my eyes stayed carefully****focused on the pattern I was drawing.**

**"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice.**

**I looked up, stunned that he was speaking to me.**

**He was sitting as far away from me as the desk allowed, but his chair was angled toward me. His hair was dripping wet, disheveled — even so, he looked like he'd just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel. His dazzling face was friendly, open, a slight smile on his flawless lips. But his eyes were careful.**

**"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself ****last week. You must be Bella Swan."**

"Um great job introducing yourself, but in the future, remember YOU HAVEN'T Talked to her!" Gorge said

"So be careful what you call her." Fred continued.

"She expects you to call her Isabella at the very least" Emmet said

"I could have heard her say it to someone else you know!" Edward said in his own defense, wondering why he is acting like this is himself at this school.

**My mind was spinning with confusion. Had I made up the whole thing? He was ****perfectly polite now. I had to speak; he was waiting. But I couldn't think of any thing conventional to say.**

**"H-how do you know my name?" I stammered.**

**He laughed a soft, enchanting laugh.**

**"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to****arrive."**

**I grimaced. I knew it was something like that.**

**"No," I persisted stupidly. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"**

**He seemed confused. "Do you prefer Isabella?"**

The pranksters all sighed as they face palmed.

"There goes your best alibi, but I do wonder how you would know that." Aberforth said.

Edward shrugged not knowing either.

**"No, I like Bella," I said. "But I think Charlie — I mean my dad — must call me ****Isabella behind my back — that's what everyone here seems to know me as," I tried to explain, feeling like an utter moron.**

"Or they are trying to be polite, most people will call you by your formal and full first name when they are being polite, of course in my time only large families that have members of the same names carry nicknames and that is only among close family." Rosalie said. The others from before her time and Emmet nodded in agreement.

**"Oh." He let it drop. I looked away awkwardly.**

**Thankfully, Mr. Banner started class at that moment. I tried to concentrate as he****explained the lab we would be doing today. The slides in the box were out of order. Working as lab partners, we had to separate the slides of onion root tip cells into the****phases of mitosis they represented and label them accordingly. We weren't supposed to****use our books. In twenty minutes, he would be coming around to see who had it right.**

**"Get started," he commanded.**

**"Ladies first, partner?" Edward asked. I looked up to see him smiling a crooked smile****so beautiful that I could only stare at him like an idiot.**

**"Or I could start, if you wish." The smile faded; he was obviously wondering if I was****mentally competent.**

**"No," I said, flushing. "I'll go ahead."**

**I was showing off, just a little. I'd already done this lab, and I knew what I was looking****for. It should be easy. I snapped the first slide into place under the microscope and****adjusted it quickly to the 40X objective. I studied the slide briefly.**

**My assessment was confident." Prophase."**

**"Do you mind if I look?" he asked as I began to remove the slide. His hand caught****mine, to stop me, as he asked. His fingers were ice-cold, like he'd been holding them in a****snowdrift before class. But that wasn't why I jerked my hand away so quickly. When he****touched me, it stung my hand as if an electric current had passed through us.**

**"I'm sorry," he muttered, pulling his hand back immediately. However, he continued to****reach for the microscope. I watched him, still staggered, as he examined the slide for an****even shorter time than I had.**

"Interesting," Carlisle muttered filing it away for later.

**"Prophase," he agreed, writing it neatly in the first space on our worksheet. He swiftly ****switched out the first slide for the second, and then glanced at it cursorily.**

**"Anaphase," he murmured, writing it down as he spoke.**

**I kept my voice indifferent. "May I?"**

**He smirked and pushed the microscope to me.**

**I looked through the eyepiece eagerly, only to be disappointed. Dang it, he was right.**

**"Slide three?" I held out my hand without looking at him.****He handed it to me; it seemed like he was being careful not to touch my skin again.****I took the most fleeting look I could manage.**

**"Interphase." I passed him the microscope before he could ask for it. He took a swift****peek, and then wrote it down. I would have written it while he looked, but his clear, elegant script intimidated me. I didn't want to spoil the page with my clumsy scrawl.**

"I'm sure your hand writing is beautiful just like you" Edward said before clapping his hands over his mouth in shock. Both Bella and he glowed red and Esme continued, taking pity on the poor souls.

**We were finished before anyone else was close. I could see Mike and his partner ****comparing two slides again and again, and another group had their book open under the ****table.**

"Cheaters never prosper." Luna, Lily, Hermione, and Rowena said.

**Which left me with nothing to do but try to not look at him… unsuccessfully. I glanced ****up, and he was staring at me, that same inexplicable look of frustration in his eyes.**

**Suddenly I identified that subtle difference in his face.**

**"Did you get contacts?" I blurted out unthinkingly.**

**He seemed puzzled by my unexpected question. "No."**

**"Oh," I mumbled. "I thought there was something different about your eyes."**

**He shrugged, and looked away.**

**In fact, I was sure there was something different. I vividly remembered the flat black****color of his eyes the last time he'd glared at me — the color was striking against the****background of his pale skin and his auburn hair. Today, his eyes were a completely****different color: a strange ocher, darker than butterscotch, but with the same golden tone. I****didn't understand how that could be, unless he was lying for some reason about the****contacts. Or maybe Forks was making me crazy in the literal sense of the word.**

Everyone looked puzzled, not many knew what contacts were and even fewer knew you get different colored ones.

**I looked down. His hands were clenched into hard fists again.**

**Mr. Banner came to our table then, to see why we weren't working. He looked over our****shoulders to glance at the completed lab, and then stared more intently to check the****answers.**

**"So, Edward, didn't you think Isabella should get a chance with the microscope?" Mr.****Banner asked.**

**"Bella," Edward corrected automatically. "Actually, she identified three of the five."**

**Mr. Banner looked at me now; his expression was skeptical.**

**"Have you done this lab before?" he asked.**

**I smiled sheepishly. "Not with onion root."**

**"Whitefish blastula?"**

**"Yeah."**

**Mr. Banner nodded. "Were you in an advanced placement program in Phoenix ?"**

**"Yes."**

**"Well," he said after a moment, "I guess its good you two are lab partners." He****mumbled something else as he walked away. After he left, I began doodling on my notebook again.**

"Likely about how it's a good thing you two are partners so everyone else can work it out for themselves." Lily reasoned.

**"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Edward asked.**

**I had the feeling that he was****forcing himself to make small talk with me. Paranoia swept over me again. It was like he** **had heard my conversation with Jessica at lunch and was trying to prove me wrong.**

**"Not really," I answered honestly, instead of pretending to be normal like everyone else. ****I was still trying to dislodge the stupid feeling of suspicion, and I couldn't concentrate.**

**"You don't like the cold." It wasn't a question.**

**"Or the wet."**

**"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live," he mused.**

**"You have no idea," I muttered darkly.**

**"****But you said you were starting to like it…" Peter said speaking for the first time.**

**He looked fascinated by what I said, for some reason I couldn't imagine. His face was****such a distraction that I tried not to look at it any more than courtesy absolutely demanded.**

**"Why did you come here, then?"**

**No one had asked me that — not straight out like he did, demanding.**

**"It's… complicated."**

**"I think I can keep up," he pressed.**

**I paused for a long moment, and then made the mistake of meeting his gaze. His dark****gold eyes confused me, and I answered without thinking.**

**"My mother got remarried," I said.**

**"That doesn't sound so complex," he disagreed, but he was suddenly sympathetic.**

**"When did that happen?"**

**"Last September." My voice sounded sad, even to me.**

**"And you don't like him," Edward surmised, his tone still kind.**

**"No, Phil is fine. Too young, maybe, but nice enough."**

Renée blushed so bad even the Weasleys would never be able to compete.

**"Why didn't you stay with them?"**

**I couldn't fathom his interest, but he continued to stare at me with penetrating eyes, as if my dull life's story was somehow vitally important.**

"Well someone obviously has a crush on you so of course it is!" Alice gushed, receiving glares from Edward and Bella.

**"Phil travels a lot. He plays ball for a living." I half-smiled.**

**"Have I heard of him?" he asked, smiling in response.**

**"Probably not. He doesn't play **_**well**_**. Strictly minor league. He moves around a lot."**

**"And your mother sent you here so that she could travel with him." He said it as an****assumption again, not a question.**

**My chin raised a fraction." No, she did not send me here. I sent myself."**

**His eyebrows knit together. "I don't understand," he admitted, and he seemed****unnecessarily frustrated by that fact.**

**I sighed. Why was I explaining this to him? He continued to stare at me with obvious****curiosity.**

**"She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy… so I decided it ****was time to spend some quality time with Charlie." My voice was glum by the time I ****finished.**

**"But now you're unhappy," he pointed out.**

**"And?" I challenged.**

**"That doesn't seem fair." He shrugged, but his eyes were still intense.**

**I laughed without humor. "Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair."**

"Yeah" Harry and Severus said darkly

"That is very selfless of you Miss. Swan" Helga said, Godric actually agreeing with her.

**"I believe I **_**have **_**heard that somewhere before," he agreed dryly.**

"Seems we can add you to the club then." Regealus said after hearing Harry and Severus and thinking of his own family.

**"So that's all," I insisted, wondering why he was still staring at me that way.**

**His gaze became appraising. "You put on a good show," he said slowly. "But I'd be****willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."**

**I grimaced at him, resisting the impulse to stick out my tongue like a five-year-old, and ****looked away.**

**"Am I wrong?"**

**I tried to ignore him.**

**"I didn't think so," he murmured smugly.**

**"Why does it matter to **_**you**_**?" I asked, irritated. I kept my eyes away, watching the ****teacher make his rounds.**

**"That's a very good question," he muttered, so quietly that I wondered if he was talking****to himself.**

"More like asking both you and himself for some type of answer." Luna said.

**However, after a few seconds of silence, I decided that was the only answer I was going to get. ****I sighed, scowling at the blackboard.**

**"Am I annoying you?" he asked. He sounded amused.**

"Well duh, you keep talking and stopping, making me think you are done and then you start to talk again." Bella vented. Edward looked sheepish.

**I glanced at him without thinking… and told the truth again." Not exactly. I'm more ****annoyed at myself. My face is so easy to read — my mother always calls me her open ****book." I frowned.**

**"On the contrary, I find you very difficult to read." Despite everything that I'd said and****he'd guessed, he sounded like he meant it.**

**"You must be a good reader then," I replied.**

**"Usually." He smiled widely, flashing a set of perfect, ultra white teeth.**

**Mr. Banner called the class to order then, and I turned with relief to listen. I was in ****disbelief that I'd just explained my dreary life to this bizarre, beautiful boy who may or ****may not despise me. He'd seemed engrossed in our conversation, but now I could see, ****from the corner of my eye, that he was leaning away from me again, his hands gripping ****the edge of the table with unmistakable tension.**

**I tried to appear attentive as Mr. Banner illustrated, with transparencies on the overhead****projector, what I had seen without difficulty through the microscope. But my thoughts****were unmanageable.**

**When the bell finally rang, Edward rushed as swiftly and as gracefully from the room****as he had last Monday. And, like last Monday, I stared after him in amazement.**

**Mike skipped quickly to my side and picked up my books for me. I imagined him with****a wagging tail.**

**"That was awful," he groaned. "They all looked exactly the same. You're lucky you had****Cullen for a partner."**

**"I didn't have any trouble with it,"**

**I said, stung by his assumption. I regretted the snub ****instantly. "I've done the lab before, though," I added before he could get his feelings hurt.**

"Boo," most of the boys, baring the obvious exceptions, said.

**"Cullen seemed friendly enough today," he commented as we shrugged into our ****raincoats. He didn't seem pleased about it.**

**I tried to sound indifferent. "I wonder what was with him last Monday."**

**I couldn't concentrate on Mike's chatter as we walked to Gym, and PE didn't do much****to hold my attention, either. Mike was on my team today. He chivalrously covered my****position as well as his own, so my wool gathering was only interrupted when it was my****turn to serve; my team ducked warily out of the way every time I was up.**

"Stupid badminton racquets" she gripped. "What when you get hit in the head, full force mind you, it hurts really bad, and then add it to the fact it was your racquet you hit yourself with." She said

The pranksters were all roaring in laughter, that is until Lily, Molly, Rowena, and Esme glared at them.

**The rain was just a mist as I walked to the parking lot, but I was happier when I was in ****the dry cab. I got the heater running, for once not caring about the mind-numbing roar of ****the engine. I unzipped my jacket, put the hood down, and fluffed my damp hair out so the ****heater could dry it on the way home.**

**I looked around me to make sure it was clear. That's when I noticed the still, white****figure. Edward Cullen was leaning against the front door of the Volvo, three cars down****from me, and staring intently in my direction. I swiftly looked away and threw the truck****into reverse, almost hitting a rusty Toyota Corolla in my haste.**

**Lucky for the Toyota, I stomped on the brake in time. It was just the sort of car that my truck would make scrap metal of.**

**I took a deep breath, still looking out the other side of my car, and cautiously pulled out again, with greater success. I stared straight ahead as I passed the Volvo, but from a peripheral peek, I would swear I saw him laughing.**

Bella glared at him as he was doing exactly that in the room. He shut up pretty quick and gulped.

**_AN: It is FINALLY done! Sweet mother of Pearl. I kept getting writers block, but now I am back in the swing of things so be looking for more updates, on all of my stories, in the coming days! Than you for bearing with me! Enjoy, and happy reading. ~RJE_**


	4. Chapter 3- Reading Phenomenon

_**-AN- **__you recognize it I don't own it :), enjoy_

"Ok, so who would like to read?" Esme asked.

She barely got the words out when Hermione shot her hand into the air.

Smiling at the girl's enthusiasm she handed the book over.

**Chapter 3, Phenomenon,** Hermione read. She cleared her throat and began.

**When I opened my eyes in the morning, something was different.**

**It was the light.**

"Well duh, you go to bed when it is dark and you wake up and it's light" James said.

Being the mature 16, almost 17, year old that she was she stuck her tongue out at him thereby allowing Hermione to continue.

**It was still the gray-green light of a cloudy day in the forest, but it was clearer somehow. I realized there was no fog veiling my window.**

**I jumped up to look outside, and then groaned in horror.**

"And her I was thinking that you would welcome the lack of fog." Godric said trying to suppress a laugh.

Bella glared at him.

**A fine layer of snow covered the yard, dusted the top of my truck, and whitened the road. **

The Bella in the room groaned. Everyone else giggled, except Rowena, Hermione, and Percy.

**But that wasn't the worst part. All the rain from yesterday had frozen solid — coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, gorgeous patterns, and making the driveway a deadly ice slick. I had enough trouble not falling down when the ground was dry; **

Emmet let out a loud laugh

**it might be safer for me to go back to bed now.**

**Charlie had left for work before I got downstairs. In a lot of ways, living with Charlie was like having my own place, and I found myself reveling in the aloneness instead of being lonely.**

**I threw down a quick bowl of cereal and some orange juice from the carton. I felt excited to go to school, and that scared me. I knew it wasn't the stimulating learning environment I was anticipating, or seeing my new set of friends. If I was being honest with myself, I knew I was eager to get to school because I would see Edward Cullen. **

"Awww" several of the girls cooed together, making Edward and Bella blush.

**And that was very, very stupid.**

"You know it's not bad to show your emotions every now and then." Bellatrix said

Bella smiled but didn't say anything.

**I should be avoiding him entirely after my brainless and embarrassing babbling yesterday.**

"But it wasn't brainless babble, he was asking you question and you answered." Narcissa, who was a slight romantic said.

"I just don't like talking about myself." Bella mumbled.

"Well we will just have to work on that." Narcissa said, Alice and Rosalie nodding in agreement. Bellatrix groaned and looked to Hermione almost pleading for her to continue.

**And I was suspicious of him; why should he lie about his eyes? I was still frightened of the hostility I sometimes felt emanating from him,** **and I was still tongue tied whenever I pictured his perfect face. **

"That is what we call crushing on someone, and by the way it sounds it's a bad one." Renée said nudging her daughter in the shoulder. This time it was Bella's turn to groan.

**I was well aware that my league and his league were spheres that did not touch.** **So I shouldn't be at all anxious to see him today.**

"He talked to you didn't he?" Alice asked.

"Well…yeah.." Bella responded not entirely sure as to where this was going.

"Then that means that he thinks your spheres touch." Rosalie affirmed.

Bella blushed.

"Also going to have to work on your esteem." Everyone her Narcissa mutter.

**It took every ounce of my concentration to make it down the icy brick driveway alive. I almost lost my balance when I finally got to the truck, but I managed to cling to the side mirror and save myself. Clearly, today was going to be nightmarish.**

"Don't" George exclaimed

"Yeah, you'll jinx it!" Fred said. Molly glared at them. Hermione just rolled her eyes and continued to read.

**Driving to school, I distracted myself from my fear of falling and my unwanted speculations about Edward Cullen by thinking about Mike and Eric, and the obvious difference in how teenage boys responded to me here. **

"Or they could have noticed you before but you didn't notice for what ever reason." Salazar said

"Trust me, the boys in Arizona notice you." Renée said to encourage her daughter who blushed.

**I was sure I looked exactly the same as I had in Phoenix. Maybe it was just that the boys back home had watched me pass slowly through all the awkward phases of adolescence and still thought of me that way. **

"Please if we can spend almost an entire year at a boarding school starting at age 11 and still find a boy to date and eventually marry you should be fine." Molly said trying to be encouraging.

Bella just gave her a weak smile before sinking into the chair.

**Perhaps it was because I was a novelty here, where novelties were few and far between. Possibly my crippling clumsiness was seen as endearing rather than pathetic, casting me as a damsel in distress. Whatever the reason, Mike's puppy dog behavior and Eric's apparent rivalry with him were disconcerting. I wasn't sure if I didn't prefer being ignored.**

"You are a strange one." Jasper, who liked to be around people as a general rule, said.

Bella huffed.

**My truck seemed to have no problem with the black ice that covered the roads. I drove very slowly, though, not wanting to carve a path of destruction through Main Street.**

Chief Swan and Jacob looked at each other, guessing what he had done.

**When I got out of my truck at school, I saw why I'd had so little trouble. Something silver caught my eye, and I walked to the back of the truck — carefully holding the side** **for support —** **to examine my tires. There were thin chains crisscrossed in diamond** **shapes around them.**

Chief Swan smiled that he had helped his daughter out.

**Charlie had gotten up who knows how early to put snow chains on** **my truck. My throat suddenly felt tight. I wasn't used to being taken care of, and Charlie's** **unspoken concern caught me by surprise.**

"Thanks, dad" Bella said

"You're welcome Bells" Chief Swan said, blushing slightly.

**I was standing by the back corner of the truck, struggling to fight back the sudden wave of emotion the snow chains had brought on, when I heard an odd sound.**

"This can't be good." Draco said, finally speaking.

**It was a high-pitched screech, and it was fast becoming painfully loud. I looked up, startled.**

Renée grabbed Bella's hand and Chief Swan paled.

**I saw several things simultaneously. Nothing was moving in slow motion, the way it does in the movies. Instead, the adrenaline rush seemed to make my brain work much faster, and I was able to absorb in clear detail several things at once.**

**Edward Cullen was standing four cars down from me, staring at me in horror.** **His face stood out from a sea of faces, all frozen in the same mask of shock. But of more immediate importance was the dark blue van that was skidding, tires locked and squealing against the brakes, spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit the back corner of my truck, and I was standing between them. I didn't even have time to close my eyes.**

**Just before I heard the shattering crunch of the van folding around the truck bed, something hit me, hard, but not from the direction I was expecting. My head cracked against the icy blacktop, and I felt something solid and cold pinning me to the ground. I was lying on the pavement behind the tan car I'd parked next to. But I didn't have a chance to notice anything else, because the van was still coming. It had curled gratingly around the end of the truck and, still spinning and sliding, was about to collide with me **_**again**_**.**

"Ok are you magnetic or something?" Sirius asked.

"For danger yes I am." Bella sighed, she couldn't feel the hand her mother was gripping but her father looked a little better hearing that she wasn't crushed.

**A low oath made me aware that someone was with me, and the voice was impossible not to recognize.** **Two long, white hands shot out protectively in front of me, and the van shuddered to a stop a foot from my face, the large hands fitting providentially into a deep dent in the side of the van's body.**

**Then his hands moved so fast they blurred. One was suddenly gripping under the body** **of the van, and something was dragging me, swinging my legs around like a ragdoll's, till** **they hit the tire of the tan car. **

"Wow, wonder who the superman is?" Jacob said.

Billy looked serious as he glanced at Edward, he wasn't one yet but he knew why he was there and capable of this. Everyone else just looked confused.

**A groaning metallic thud hurt my ears, and the van settled,** **glass popping, onto the asphalt — exactly where, a second ago, my legs had been.**

**It was absolutely silent for one long second before the screaming began. In the abrupt** **bedlam, I could hear more than one person shouting my name. But more clearly than all** **the yelling, I could hear Edward Cullen's low, frantic voice in my ear.**

"Aww" The girls cooed again.

"Ok do you have to do that every time?" Bella asked getting annoyed.

Narcissa, Rosalie, Helga, and Alice looked at each other "Yup" they said in unison.

Bella, Bellatrix, and Rowena groaned. Renée, Molly, and Esme started to laugh and Hermione rolled her eyes. The men just looked out of place, as did Ginny and Arianna who were both less than girly because of their brothers.

**"Bella? Are you all right?"**

**"I'm fine." My voice sounded strange. I tried to sit up, and realized he was holding me** **against the side of his body in an iron grasp.**

Bella glared and girly group stayed silent.

**"Be careful," he warned as I struggled. "I think you hit your head pretty hard."**

**I became aware of a throbbing ache centered above my left ear.**

**"Ow," I said, surprised.**

"You shouldn't have said anything." Bella said

"Why it sounds like you are hurt, you need to get it looked at.

"Well I wouldn't have noticed the pain and I've had worse so I know it is nothing major." She explained

**"That's what I thought." His voice, amazingly, sounded like he was suppressing laughter.**

"And then jerk Edward comes out." Bella said.

Edward looked confused, and so Harry leaned over to explain it to him.

"I am not" He exclaimed

"I beg to differ." Bella said crossing her arms

"Oh, Bella lighten up, it is funny when you think about it." Her mother said.

**"How in the…" I trailed off, trying to clear my head, get my bearings. "How did you get over here so fast?"**

**"I was standing right next to you, Bella," he said, his tone serious again.**

"Yeah and I'm the Queen of England." Bella said

"Really? I thought you said you were from Phoenix" Carlisle said

"I was being sarcastic, it's a phrase, when someone says something stupid like 'I was right next to you' when they were not people will counter with something like 'yeah and I'm the Queen of England,' something as equally ridiculous as the previous statement." Bella explained.

Carlisle looked intrigued at learning this new fact.

**I turned to sit up, and this time he let me, releasing his hold around my waist and sliding as far from me as he could in the limited space. I looked at his concerned, innocent expression and was disoriented again by the force of his gold-colored eyes.**

**What was I asking him?**

**And then they found us, a crowd of people with tears streaming down their faces, shouting at each other, shouting at us.**

**"Don't move," someone instructed.**

"Not really anywhere to move to" Bella grumbled

**"Get Tyler out of the van!" someone else shouted.**

**There was a flurry of activity around us. I tried to get up, but Edward's cold hand pushed my shoulder down.**

**"Just stay put for now."**

**"But it's cold," I complained. **

"Great, if nothing else I'll prolly get hypothermia from being cold or pneumonia because I'm likely soaking wet." Bella complained

**It surprised me when he chuckled under his breath. There was an edge to the sound.**

**"You were over there," I suddenly remembered, and his chuckle stopped short. "You were by your car."**

**His expression turned hard. "No, I wasn't."**

"Do we really have to do this again?" Tom asked, it was slightly annoying.

**"I saw you." All around us was chaos. I could hear the gruffer voices of adults arriving on the scene. But I obstinately held on to our argument; I was right, and he was going to admit it.**

**"Bella, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way." He unleashed the full, devastating power of his eyes on me, as if trying to communicate something crucial.**

**"No." I set my jaw.**

**The gold in his eyes blazed. "Please, Bella."**

**"Why?" I demanded.**

**"Trust me," he pleaded, his soft voice overwhelming.**

**I could hear the sirens now. "Will you promise to explain everything to me later?"**

**"Fine," he snapped, abruptly exasperated.**

**"Fine," I repeated angrily.**

"Oh, first lover's spat? I think it was." Helga said

"No, I don't like him like that, he's too distant." Bella said

"Ok, but by the end of the series you will most likely be married to him." Helga said.

"Impossible." Bella retorted.

At that bets were made around the room as to weather she would marry him or not, Billy bet, and prayed, that she didn't Jacob, Chief Swan, Renée and Bella also bet that she wouldn't. Everyone else said they would.

**It took six EMTs and two teachers — Mr. Varner and Coach Clapp — to shift the van far enough away from us to bring the stretchers in. Edward vehemently refused his, and I tried to do the same, but the traitor told them I'd hit my head and probably had a concussion.**

"Which I most likely do not have." Bella said glaring at Edward.

"But you could." Edward stated.

Again bets were taken. Edward, Carlisle, Jasper, Rosalie, Chief Swan, and Renée bet that she did. The rest thought Bella could be right this time.

**I almost died of humiliation when they put on the neck brace. **

"You gotta do what you gotta do." Chief Swan said to his daughter.

**It looked like the entire school was there, watching soberly as they loaded me in the back of the ambulance. Edward got to ride in the front. It was maddening.**

"I can only imagine." Renée said knowing her daughter hated being in the spot light.

**To make matters worse, Chief Swan arrived before they could get me safely away.**

**"Bella!" he yelled in panic when he recognized me on the stretcher.**

**"I'm completely fine, Char — Dad," I sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me."**

"Gah, just what I need, more people not believing me." Sour that her mother and father both bet against her. _They should know by now_ _that I know the damage that is inflicted on me _she thought bitterly**.**

**He turned to the closest EMT for a second opinion. I tuned him out to consider the** **jumble of inexplicable images churning chaotically in my head. When they'd lifted me** **away from the car, I had seen the deep dent in the tan car's bumper — a very distinct dent** **that fit the contours of Edward's shoulders… as if he had braced himself against the car** **with enough force to damage the metal frame…**

"Jeeze Edward, what did you eat that morning? Because not even wheaties are that good for you" Bella teased. When she got a blank look she sighed and explained the joke.

**And then there was his family, looking on from the distance, with expressions that ranged from disapproval to fury but held no hint of concern for their brother's safety.**

"Which means they know what makes it so he is not hurt." Rowena said, wondering what it could be.

**I tried to think of a logical solution that could explain what I had just seen — a solution that excluded the assumption that I was insane.**

"Well we know you are not insane based on what we just read." Alice consoled.

**Naturally, the ambulance got a police escort to the county hospital. I felt ridiculous the whole time they were unloading me. What made it worse was that Edward simply glided through the hospital doors under his own power. I ground my teeth together.**

"This whole situation has you really angry doesn't it." Godric said

"What ever made you draw that conclusion?" Bella said sweetly, the sarcasm dripping from her tone.

**They put me in the emergency room, a long room with a line of beds separated by pastel-patterned curtains. A nurse put a pressure cuff on my arm and a thermometer under my tongue. Since no one bothered pulling the curtain around to give me some privacy, I decided I wasn't obligated to wear the stupid-looking neck brace anymore. When the nurse walked away, I quickly unfastened the Velcro and threw it under the bed.**

"Bella," Her mother groaned.

"What's Velcro?" Arthur asked.

Chief Swan explained Velcro and the purpose of the neck brace and as soon as he finished Hermione continued.

**There was another flurry of hospital personnel, another stretcher brought to the bed next to me. I recognized Tyler Crowley from my Government class beneath the bloodstained bandages wrapped tightly around his head. Tyler looked a hundred times worse than I felt. But he was staring anxiously at me.**

"Ugh, now I am going to have to listen to him apologize more times than necessary." Bella predicted.

**"Bella, I'm so sorry!"**

**"I'm fine, Tyler — you look awful, are you all right?" As we spoke, nurses began** **unwinding his soiled bandages, exposing a myriad of shallow slices all over his forehead** **and left cheek.**

**He ignored me. "I thought I was going to kill you! I was going too fast, and I hit the ice** **wrong…" He winced as one nurse started dabbing at his face.**

**"Don't worry about it; you missed me."**

**"How did you get out of the way so fast? You were there, and then you were gone…"**

**"Umm… Edward pulled me out of the way."**

**He looked confused. "Who?"**

**"Edward Cullen — he was standing next to me." I'd always been a terrible liar; I didn't sound convincing at all.**

**"Cullen? I didn't see him… wow, it was all so fast, I guess. Is he okay?"**

**"I think so. He's here somewhere, but they didn't make him use a stretcher."**

**I knew I wasn't crazy. **

"Yay for Bella!" Alice cheered

**What had happened? There was no way to explain away what I'd seen.**

"Well obviously there is you just haven't found it yet." Luna said, scaring everyone.

**They wheeled me away then, to X-ray my head. I told them there was nothing wrong, and I was right. Not even a concussion. **

Bella stuck her tongue out as most of the room got money from the few who didn't trust Bella.

"Told you so." She couldn't help but say

"Yes, I should never bet against you when it comes to injuries" Renée said and Chief Swan nodded in agreement.

I asked if I could leave, but the nurse said I had to talk to a doctor first. So I was trapped in the ER, waiting, harass**ed by Tyler's constant apologies and promises to make it up to me. No matter how many times I tried to convince him I was fine, he continued to torment himself. Finally, I closed my eyes and ignored him. He kept up a remorseful mumbling.**

"Are you a psychic Bella?" Lily asked

"No, I just know people." She said simply.

**"Is she sleeping?" a musical voice asked. My eyes flew open.**

**Edward was standing at the foot of my bed, smirking. I glared at him. It wasn't easy — it would have been more natural to ogle.**

**"Hey, Edward, I'm really sorry —"Tyler began.**

**Edward lifted a hand to stop him.**

**"No blood, no foul," he said, flashing his brilliant teeth.**

**He moved to sit on the edge of** **Tyler's bed, facing me. He smirked again.**

**"So, what's the verdict?" he asked me.**

**"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go," I complained. "How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?"**

**"It's all about who you know," he answered. "But don't worry, I came to spring you."**

**Then a doctor walked around the corner, and my mouth fell open. He was young, he was blond**

"That sounds like me" Carlisle said, wondering how that could be.

**… and he was handsomer than any movie star I'd ever seen. **

Carlisle may not have known what a movie star was but he knew was a compliment and he blushed at it.

**He was pale, though, and tired-looking, with circles under his eyes. From Charlie's description, this had to be Edward's father.**

**"So, Miss Swan," Dr. Cullen said in a remarkably appealing voice, "how are you feeling?"**

**"I'm fine," I said, for the last time, I hoped.**

**He walked to the lightboard on the wall over my head, and turned it on.**

**"Your X-rays look good," he said.**

**"Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard."**

**"It's fine," I repeated with a sigh, throwing a quick scowl toward Edward.**

**The doctor's cool fingers probed lightly along my skull. He noticed when I winced.**

**"Tender?" he asked.**

**"Not really." I'd had worse.**

"Yes, and I bet he saw it all on those x-rays" Edward said "It's good to finally hear a term her understood, and knew what it was.

**I heard a chuckle, and looked over to see Edward's patronizing smile. My eyes narrowed.**

**"Well, your father is in the waiting room — you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all."**

**"Can't I go back to school?" I asked, imagining Charlie trying to be attentive.**

The Bella in the room shuddered.

"what is so wrong with that?" Chief Swan asked.

"She doesn't like to be taken care of, she is independent, not that this is a bad thing, but she doesn't take protectiveness well." Renée answered for her.

Those from times when women were supposed to taken care of, and they enjoyed it, looked shocked.

**"Maybe you should take it easy today."**

**I glanced at Edward. "Does **_**he**_******get to go to school?"**

**"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," Edward said smugly.**

**"Actually," Dr. Cullen corrected, "most of the school seems to be in the waiting room."**

**"Oh no," I moaned, covering my face with my hands.**

**Dr. Cullen raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to stay?"**

"That one I knew was not pain but embarrassment." Renée said proudly

Bella rolled her eyes.

"Well how am I supposed to know that, I don't know how she is, I just met her." Carlisle defended, not sure why he was referring to the Dr. in first person.

**"No, no!" I insisted, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and hopping down quickly. Too quickly — I staggered, and Dr. Cullen caught me. He looked concerned.**

**"I'm fine," I assured him again. No need to tell him my balance problems had nothing to do with hitting my head.**

"I have a feeling that you will come to learn Bella's balance and danger magnetism all to well." Renée said mysteriously

Bella face palmed.

**"Take some Tylenol for the pain," he suggested as he steadied me.**

**"It doesn't hurt that bad," I insisted.**

**"It sounds like you were extremely lucky," Dr. Cullen said, smiling as he signed my chart with a flourish.**

**"Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me," I amended with a hard glance at the subject of my statement.**

**"Oh, well, yes," Dr. Cullen agreed, suddenly occupied with the papers in front of him.**

**Then he looked away, at Tyler, and walked to the next bed. My intuition flickered; the doctor was in on it.**

"Wish someone would just say what it is." Bill said

**"I'm afraid that **_**you'll**_******have to stay with us just a little bit longer," he said to Tyler, and began checking his cuts.**

**As soon as the doctor's back was turned, I moved to Edward's side.**

**"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I hissed under my breath. He took a step back from me, his jaw suddenly clenched.**

**"Your father is waiting for you," he said through his teeth.**

**I glanced at Dr. Cullen and Tyler.**

**"I'd like to speak with you alone, if you don't mind," I pressed.**

**He glared, and then turned his back and strode down the long room. I nearly had to run to keep up. As soon as we turned the corner into a short hallway, he spun around to face me.**

**"What do you want?" he asked, sounding annoyed. His eyes were cold.**

"So this Edward is back. Can you make up your mind as to how to act around me?" Bella said annoyed.

**His unfriendliness intimidated me. My words came out with less severity than I'd intended. "You owe me an explanation," I reminded him.**

**"I saved your life — I don't owe you anything."**

"Ouch" Emmet said

**I flinched back from the resentment in his voice. "You promised."**

"She has a point there" Rosalie said, desperate to know what is going on.

**"Bella, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about." His tone was cutting.**

"Point to Edward" Fred and George said

**My temper flared now, and I glared defiantly at him. "There's nothing wrong with my head."**

"And Bella gets another point." Alice beamed.

**He glared back. "What do you want from me, Bella?"**

**"I want to know the truth," I said. "I want to know why I'm lying for you."**

**"What do you **_**think**_******happened?" he snapped.**

**It came out in a rush.**

**"All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me —Tyler didn't see you, either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both — and it didn't, and your hands left dents in the side of it — and you left a dent in the other car, and you're not hurt at all — and the van should have smashed my legs, but you were holding it up…" I could hear how crazy it sounded, and I couldn't continue. I was so mad I could feel the tears coming; I tried to force them back by grinding my teeth together.**

**He was staring at me incredulously.** **But his face was tense, defensive.**

**"You think I lifted a van off you?" His tone questioned my sanity, but it only made me more suspicious. It was like a perfectly delivered line by a skilled actor.**

**I merely nodded once, jaw tight.**

**"Nobody will believe that, you know." His voice held an edge of derision now.**

"Point to Edward, no one would believe that." Charlie said

**"I'm not going to tell anybody." I said each word slowly, carefully controlling my anger.**

**Surprise flitted across his face. "Then why does it matter?"**

**"It matters to me," I insisted. "I don't like to lie — so there'd better be a good reason why I'm doing it."**

"That deserves a point for Bella." Rosalie said after discussing it with Alice

**"Can't you just thank me and get over it?"**

**"Thank you." I waited, fuming and expectant.**

**"You're not going to let it go, are you?"**

**"No."**

**"In that case… I hope you enjoy disappointment."**

"She'll figure it out. It is easier if you just tell her." Chief Swan said

"Yes, she always has been very observant and able to figure things out that no one would even dream of." Renée agreed.

Edward groaned.

**We scowled at each other in silence. I was the first to speak, trying to keep myself focused. I was in danger of being distracted by his livid, glorious face. It was like trying** **to stare down a destroying angel.**

**"Why did you even bother?" I asked frigidly.**

**He paused, and for a brief moment his stunning face was unexpectedly vulnerable.**

**"I don't know," he whispered.**

Chief Swan glared at him. "Because it was the right thing to do."

"yes sir." Edward nodded a bit scared.

**And then he turned his back on me and walked away.**

**I was so angry, it took me a few minutes until I could move. When I could walk, I made my way slowly to the exit at the end of the hallway.**

**The waiting room was more unpleasant than I'd feared. It seemed like every face I knew in Forks was there, staring at me. Charlie rushed to my side; I put up my hands.**

**"There's nothing wrong with me," I assured him sullenly. I was still aggravated, not in the mood for chitchat.**

**"What did the doctor say?"**

**"Dr. Cullen saw me, and he said I was fine and I could go home." I sighed. Mike and Jessica and Eric were all there, beginning to converge on us. "Let's go," I urged.**

**Charlie put one arm behind my back, not quite touching me, and led me to the glass doors of the exit. I waved sheepishly at my friends, hoping to convey that they didn't need to worry anymore. It was a huge relief— the first time I'd ever felt that way — to get into the cruiser.**

**We drove in silence. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I barely knew Charlie was there. I was positive that Edward's defensive behavior in the hall was a confirmation of the bizarre things I still could hardly believe I'd witnessed.**

**When we got to the house, Charlie finally spoke.**

**"Um… you'll need to call Renée." He hung his head, guilty.**

**I was appalled. "You told Mom!"**

**"Sorry."**

"While I would like to know I know I would overreact" Renée sighed.

**I slammed the cruiser's door a little harder than necessary on my way out.**

**My mom was in hysterics, of course. I had to tell her I felt fine at least thirty times** **before she would calm down. She begged me to come home — forgetting the fact that** **home was empty at the moment —** **but her pleas were easier to resist than I would have thought. I was consumed by the mystery Edward presented. And more than a little obsessed by Edward himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid.** **I wasn't as eager to escape Forks as I should be, as any normal, sane person would be.**

"It's not that bad. Just look at it objectively and you will see it's true beauty" Jacob said.

Through these books Bella had been doing just that, and it did sound nicer than she was used to, minus the snow, ice, and brooding jerks.

**I decided I might as well go to bed early that night. Charlie continued to watch me** **anxiously, and it was getting on my nerves. I stopped on my way to grab three Tylenol** **from the bathroom. They did help, and, as the pain eased, I drifted to sleep.**

Carlisle wore a triumphant smile.

Esme smiled at him, a blush coloring her cheeks when he caught her looking.

**That was the first night I dreamed of Edward Cullen.**

"So now he is your dream man as well." Alice said.

Bella glared at her but she just kept smiling.

"Chapter's done" Hermione said.

"I suggest we take a short break to stretch, get something to snack on or drink" Molly proposed. Every one agreed and set out in their own directions.

**_-AN-_**

**_So it's done. We're off to change the future; this horrible future of ours will be up in the next day or so, I promise and then the next chapter of A bunch of people will follow soon after that. Also I have been thinking about getting a beta for all my stories, but I'm not sure yet. Anyway Review, and enjoy. Happy reading ~RJE_**


	5. Chapter4- Reading Invitations

_~You recognize the name or if it is in bold then I do not own it!~_

"What is this dark fizzy stuff?" Salazar asked staring at the cup that Lily gave him.

"It's called Pepsi and it is simply wonderful." She said passing out glasses of the dark drink to all those from the past and the pure-bloods who looked at it suspiciously. Those that knew what it was, and Luna took their classes eagerly and Lily put the now empty container in a trash bin.

"Oh just try it already you wusses." Luna said taking a sip from her glass.

Godric, finally bolstering up the courage raised glass to his lips nervously. "Hey, that is good!" he exclaimed taking another sip.

Slowly those that had never had it before followed Godric's example, all enjoying it after the first nervous taste. They also snaked on some chips and cheezeits, which most of the room eyed cautiously as well.

After about 15 minutes everyone had got some food in their stomachs and had finished their drinks they gathered back on the couch.

"So who wants to read this chapter?" Salazar asked.

"May I?" Luna asked.

"Certainly." Rowena said handing the girl the book.

**Chapter 4, Invitations.** She read in her dreamy voice.

**In my dream it was very dark, and what dim light there was seemed to be radiating from Edward's skin. I couldn't see his face, just his back as he walked away from me, leaving me in the blackness. No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't catch up to him; no matter how loud I called, he never turned. Troubled, I woke in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep again for what seemed like a very long time. After that, he was in my dreams nearly every night, but always on the periphery, never within reach.**

"Even by my standards that is a weird dream." Harry said

No one else said anything though so Luna continued to read.

**The month that followed the accident was uneasy, tense, and, at first, embarrassing.**

**To my dismay, I found myself the center of attention for the rest of that week.**

"Why me?" Bella groaned.

"Just lucky I guess" Emmet teased.

"Emmet." Bella said

"Yes, Bella" he answered innocently.

"Shut up." She growled

**Tyler Crowley was impossible, following me around, obsessed with making amends to me somehow. I tried to convince him what I wanted more than anything else was for him to forget all about it - especially since nothing had actually happened to me - but he remained insistent. He followed me between classes and sat at our now-crowded lunch table.**

Bella put her head in her hands and muttered something unintelligible.

**Mike and Eric were even less friendly toward him than they were to each other, which made me worry that I'd gained another unwelcome fan.**

"Poor dear" Molly said sympathetically.

**No one seemed concerned about Edward, though I explained over and over that he was the hero - how he had pulled me out of the way and had nearly been crushed, too. I tried to be convincing. Jessica, Mike, Eric, and everyone else always commented that they hadn't even seen him there till the van was pulled away.**

Bella shot the Edward in the room a smug glare and he just put his hands up in surrender.

"I only know what the rest of us in this room know." He said

**I wondered to myself why no one else had seen him standing so far away, before he was suddenly, impossibly saving my life. With chagrin, I realized the probable cause - no one else was as aware of Edward as I always was. No one else watched him the way I did.**

"Pathetic." Fred said.

"FREDRICK!" Molly yelled at him.

"Sorry Bella." He said looking at his still visually angry mother.

**How pitiful.**

"She agreed!" Fred said now defending himself.

"That doesn't matter young man!" Molly fumed.

"Definitely a Gryffindor." Salazar whispered in Godric's ear, who in turn puffed out in pride.

**Edward was never surrounded by crowds of curious bystanders eager for his firsthand account. People avoided him as usual. The Cullens and the Hales sat at the same table as always, not eating, talking only among themselves. None of them, especially Edward, glanced my way anymore.**

"Bet they did when you weren't looking." This time George teased.

"GEORGE!" Molly roared.

"Sorry." He mumbled to Bella

**When he sat next to me in class, as far from me as the table would allow, he seemed totally unaware of my presence. Only now and then, when his fists would suddenly ball up - skin stretched even whiter over the bones - did I wonder if he wasn't quite as oblivious as he appeared.**

"Of course he's not, he is just of the male persuasion and they tend to have the emotional capacity of needle when it comes to dealing with girls." Esme said

**He wished he hadn't pulled me from the path of Tyler's van - there was no other conclusion I could come to.**

**I wanted very much to talk to him, and the day after the accident I tried. The last time I'd seen him, outside the ER, we'd both been so furious. I still was angry that he wouldn't trust me with the truth, even though I was keeping my part of the bargain flawlessly.**

"You should tell her." Carlisle said, obviously not knowing the truth himself.

**But he had in fact saved my life, no matter how he'd done it. And, overnight, the heat of my anger faded into awed gratitude.**

**He was already seated when I got to Biology, looking straight ahead. I sat down, expecting him to turn toward me. He showed no sign that he realized I was there.**

**"Hello, Edward," I said pleasantly, to show him I was going to behave myself.**

Most in the room giggled at this.

**He turned his head a fraction toward me without meeting my gaze, nodded once, and then looked the other way.**

Bella growled in frustration.

**And that was the last contact I'd had with him, though he was there, a foot away from me, every day. I watched him sometimes, unable to stop myself- from a distance, though, in the cafeteria or parking lot. I watched as his golden eyes grew perceptibly darker day by day. But in class I gave no more notice that he existed than he showed toward me. I was miserable. And the dreams continued.**

"Oh, if there is one thing I hate more than being ignored it's repetition of this kind." Bella said.

Renée laughed her daughter, even Billy and Chief Swan smirked at her.

**Despite my outright lies, the tenor of my e-mails alerted Renée to my depression, and she called a few times, worried. I tried to convince her it was just the weather that had me down.**

"You know your mother could have had some advice on that subject." Helga said.

Renée, Chief Swan, and Bella all looked at each other before breaking into laughter.

"No offense Helga but if I were to offer any advice on a guy it would be to ignore any advice I give out in relation to a guy." Renée, the most composed of the three said.

"Oh." Helga said before gesturing to Luna to continue.

**Mike, at least, was pleased by the obvious coolness between me and my lab partner. I could see he'd been worried that Edward's daring rescue might have impressed me, and he was relieved that it seemed to have the opposite effect. He grew more confident, sitting on the edge of my table to talk before Biology class started, ignoring Edward as completely as he ignored us.**

"Clueless." Rosalie sneered.

**The snow washed away for good after that one dangerously icy day. Mike was disappointed he'd never gotten to stage his snowball fight, but pleased that the beach trip would soon be possible. The rain continued heavily, though, and the weeks passed.**

**Jessica made me aware of another event looming on the horizon - she called the first Tuesday of March to ask my permission to invite Mike to the girls' choice spring dance in two weeks.**

"Um it is clear that you are not even remotely interested in him in that sense, why would she ask for your permission?" Alice asked

"Unfortunately Alice, some girls are just as clueless as some guys." Molly said

**"Are you sure you don't mind... you weren't planning to ask him?" she persisted when I told her I didn't mind in the least.**

"It said she was in my gym class correct?" Bella asked.

"I believe it did." Alice responded

"Then why the _heck_ would she think that _I_ would invite anyone, let alone _go_ to a dance?" She asked.

Everyone laughed.

"I have no idea, but you do have a point." Renée said.

**"No, Jess, I'm not going," I assured her. Dancing was glaringly outside my range of abilities.**

"Well that is basically what you just said." Jasper said.

"Not. Helping." Bella responded angrily.

**"It will be really fun." Her attempt to convince me was halfhearted. I suspected that Jessica enjoyed my inexplicable popularity more than my actual company.**

**"You have fun with Mike," I encouraged.**

**The next day, I was surprised that Jessica wasn't her usual gushing self in Trig and Spanish.**

"So she isn't in my gym class, but there must be rumors, I mean what kind of high school doesn't have rumors about that stuff?" Bella said.

**She was silent as she walked by my side between classes, and I was afraid to ask her why. If Mike had turned her down, I was the last person she would want to tell.**

**My fears were strengthened during lunch when Jessica sat as far from Mike as possible, chatting animatedly with Eric. Mike was unusually quiet.**

"I don't know if I should be thankful to be rid of his continuous and most time unwelcome chatter or worried that he will double up talking to me" Bella said confused.

"Both." Emmet said in a mischievous way. Bella glared at him "Ok, shutting up."

**Mike was still quiet as he walked me to class, the uncomfortable look on his face a bad sign. But he didn't broach the subject until I was in my seat and he was perched on my desk. As always, I was electrically aware of Edward sitting close enough to touch, as distant as if he were merely an invention of my imagination.**

**"So," Mike said, looking at the floor, "Jessica asked me to the spring dance."**

**"That's great." I made my voice bright and enthusiastic. "You'll have a lot of fun with Jessica."**

**"Well..." He floundered as he examined my smile, clearly not happy with my response. "I told her I had to think about it."**

**"Why would you do that?" I let disapproval color my tone, though I was relieved he hadn't given her an absolute no.**

**His face was bright red as he looked down again. Pity shook my resolve.**

**"I was wondering if... well, if you might be planning to ask me."**

"If I was I would have asked you already nitwit." Bella said while facepalming.

**I paused for a moment, hating the wave of guilt that swept through me. But I saw, from the corner of my eye, Edward's head tilt reflexively in my direction.**

**"Mike, I think you should tell her yes," I said.**

**"Did you already ask someone?" Did Edward notice how Mike's eyes flickered in his direction?**

**"No," I assured him. "I'm not going to the dance at all."**

**"Why not?" Mike demanded.**

"Ok he is definitely in that hell known as gym with me WHY WOULD I? Is he blind or something?" Bella said.

"You do have a very valid point, I mean we have heard about your days in gym, which at this point have been too few to consider and I believe that you have wiped out everyone in the entire class at this point at least once." Alice said. Bella did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at her.

**I didn't want to get into the safety hazards that dancing presented, so I quickly made new plans.**

**"I'm going to Seattle that Saturday," I explained. I needed to get out of town anyway - it was suddenly the perfect time to go.**

**"Can't you go some other weekend?"**

"Take a hint already!" Rosalie grumbled.

**"Sorry, no," I said. "So you shouldn't make Jess wait any longer - it's rude."**

**"Yeah, you're right," he mumbled, and turned, dejected, to walk back to his seat. I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to push the guilt and sympathy out of my head. Mr. Banner began talking. I sighed and opened my eyes.**

**And Edward was staring at me curiously, that same, familiar edge of frustration even more distinct now in his black eyes.**

**I stared back, surprised, expecting him to look quickly away. But instead he continued to gaze with probing intensity into my eyes. There was no question of me looking away.**

"Creeper much?" Bella asked.

"What?" he asked back in response

"I believe, and I am no expert on teenage slang, that she just called you a stalker." Chief Swan said.

"We like it, we're gonna use it." The twins said in unison. James and Sirius nodding in agreement.

**My hands started to shake.**

**"Mr. Cullen?" the teacher called, seeking the answer to a question that I hadn't heard.**

**"The Krebs Cycle," Edward answered, seeming reluctant as he turned to look at Mr. Banner.**

"Well someone deserves and A in multitasking" Lily teased.

**I looked down at my book as soon as his eyes released me, trying to find my place. Cowardly as ever, I shifted my hair over my right shoulder to hide my face. I couldn't believe the rush of emotion pulsing through me - just because he'd happened to look at me for the first time in a half-dozen weeks. I couldn't allow him to have this level of influence over me. It was pathetic. More than pathetic, it was unhealthy.**

**I tried very hard not to be aware of him for the rest of the hour, and, since that was impossible, at least not to let him know that I was aware of him. When the bell rang at last, I turned my back to him to gather my things, expecting him to leave immediately as usual.**

"So of course he stays" Bella groaned.

"Sorry to disappoint." Edward said, a small smirk playing at his lips.

**"Bella?" His voice shouldn't have been so familiar to me, as if I'd known the sound of it all my life rather than for just a few short weeks.**

**I turned slowly, unwillingly. I didn't want to feel what I knew I would feel when I looked at his too-perfect face. My expression was wary when I finally turned to him; his expression was unreadable. He didn't say anything.**

**"What? Are you speaking to me again?" I finally asked, an unintentional note of petulance in my voice.**

**His lips twitched, fighting a smile. "No, not really," he admitted.**

"That's a funny way of showing that your not talking. Is that some future thing or a muggle thing?" Godric asked.

"It's a clueless teenage boy of any kind thing." Molly responded

**I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly through my nose, aware that I was gritting my teeth. He waited.**

**"Then what do you want, Edward?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed; it was easier to talk to him coherently that way.**

**"I'm sorry." He sounded sincere. "I'm being very rude, I know. But it's better this way, really."**

**I opened my eyes. His face was very serious.**

**"I don't know what you mean," I said, my voice guarded.**

**"It's better if we're not friends," he explained. "Trust me."**

"You are one strange dude you know that." Hermione said bravely. Edward frowned in return.

**My eyes narrowed. I'd heard that before.**

**"It's too bad you didn't figure that out earlier," I hissed through my teeth. "You could have saved yourself all this regret."**

**"Regret?" The word, and my tone, obviously caught him off guard. "Regret for what?"**

**"For not just letting that stupid van squish me."**

**He was astonished. He stared at me in disbelief.**

**When he finally spoke, he almost sounded mad. "You think I regret saving your life?"**

**"I know you do," I snapped.**

**"You don't know anything." He was definitely mad.**

"Before anyone takes the dig I _know_ I have an odd way of showing I don't regret saving her. I don't know why I, or my descendent, is acting like this but I am sure there is a logical solution." Edward said

Helga looked like she wanted to say something but opted not to.

**I turned my head sharply away from him, clenching my jaw against all the wild accusations I wanted to hurl at him. I gathered my books together, then stood and walked to the door. I meant to sweep dramatically out of the room, but of course I caught the toe of my boot on the door jamb and dropped my books. I stood there for a moment, thinking about leaving them. Then I sighed and bent to pick them up. He was there; he'd already stacked them into a pile. He handed them to me, his face hard.**

**"Thank you," I said icily.**

**His eyes narrowed **

**"You're welcome," he retorted.**

"Can you feel the love." Bellatrix said sarcastically to which Bella, Renée, and Chief Swan burst out laughing. "What?"

"It's a song in a movie called the Lion King, in the movie it is sung by a warthog and a meerkat and it is ironic because they are singing about two characters that really are in love." Bella explained.

"Movie?" Draco asked.

"It's a.. I'll explain it during break." Hermione said hating to stall sharing information but Luna had already begun to read again.

**I straightened up swiftly, turned away from him again, and stalked off to Gym without looking back.**

**Gym was brutal. We'd moved on to basketball. My team never passed me the ball, so that was good, but I fell down a lot. Sometimes I took people with me. Today I was worse than usual because my head was so filled with Edward. I tried to concentrate on my feet, but he kept creeping back into my thoughts just when I really needed my balance.**

**It was a relief, as always, to leave. I almost ran to the truck; there were just so many people I wanted to avoid. The truck had suffered only minimal damage in the accident. I'd had to replace the taillights, and if I'd had a real paint job, I would have touched that up. Tyler's parents had to sell their van for parts.**

"That is why older cars are better than these newer ones. Some of them even get the same gas mileage as the new cars, if not better, but everyone wants the flashy and shiny brand new thing with all the gadgets and gizmos!" Chief Swan ranted.

**I almost had a stroke when I rounded the corner and saw a tall, dark figure leaning against the side of my truck. Then I realized it was just Eric. I started walking again.**

**"Hey, Eric," I called.**

**"Hi, Bella."**

**"What's up?" I said as I was unlocking the door. I wasn't paying attention to the**

**uncomfortable edge in his voice, so his next words took me by surprise.**

**"Uh, I was just wondering... if you would go to the spring dance with me?" His voice broke on the last word.**

**"I thought it was girls' choice," I said, too startled to be diplomatic.**

**"Well, yeah," he admitted, shamefaced.**

**I recovered my composure and tried to make my smile warm. "Thank you for asking me, but I'm going to be in Seattle that day."**

**"Oh," he said. "Well, maybe next time."**

**"Sure," I agreed, and then bit my lip. I wouldn't want him to take that too literally.**

"And he prolly will." Bella sighed in resignation

**He slouched off, back toward the school. I heard a low chuckle.**

**Edward was walking past the front of my truck, looking straight forward, his lips pressed together. I yanked the door open and jumped inside, slamming it loudly behind me. I revved the engine deafeningly and reversed out into the aisle. Edward was in his car already, two spaces down, sliding out smoothly in front of me, cutting me off. He stopped there - to wait for his family; I could see the four of them walking this way, but still by the cafeteria. I considered taking out the rear of his shiny Volvo, but there were too many witnesses. I looked in my rearview mirror. A line was beginning to form. Directly behind me, Tyler Crowley was in his recently acquired used Sentra, waving. I was too aggravated to acknowledge him.**

"Please not again, please not again, please not again." Bella was chanting quietly everyone but Luna chuckled at this as she continued to read.

**While I was sitting there, looking everywhere but at the car in front of me, I heard a knock on my passenger side window. I looked over; it was Tyler. I glanced back in my rearview mirror, confused. His car was still running, the door left open. I leaned across the cab to crank the window down. It was stiff. I got it halfway down, then gave up.**

**"I'm sorry, Tyler, I'm stuck behind Cullen." I was annoyed - obviously the holdup wasn't my fault.**

**"Oh, I know - I just wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here." He grinned.**

**This could not be happening.**

**"Will you ask me to the spring dance?" he continued.**

**"I'm not going to be in town, Tyler." My voice sounded a little sharp. I had to remember it wasn't his fault that Mike and Eric had already used up my quota of patience for the day.**

"That's it if I still decide to move to Forks, which after this I may not, I move_after_ this freaking dance!" Bella exclaimed fed up with it already.

**"Yeah, Mike said that," he admitted.**

**"Then why -"**

**He shrugged. "I was hoping you were just letting him down easy."**

**Okay, it was completely his fault.**

**"Sorry, Tyler," I said, working to hide my irritation. "I really am going out of town."**

**"That's cool. We still have prom."**

Bella made some sort of noise at this that did not sound human but like an angry kitten being run over by a tiger.

**And before I could respond, he was walking back to his car. I could feel the shock on my face. I looked forward to see Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper all sliding into the Volvo. In his rearview mirror, Edward's eyes were on me. He was unquestionably shaking with laughter, as if he'd heard every word Tyler had said. My foot itched toward the gas pedal... one little bump wouldn't hurt any of them, just that glossy silver paint job. I revved the engine.**

**But they were all in, and Edward was speeding away. I drove home slowly, carefully, muttering to myself the whole way.**

"First sign of madness" Sirius started to say.

Bella glared at him and he grew quiet again.

**When I got home, I decided to make chicken enchiladas for dinner. It was a long process, and it would keep me busy. While I was simmering the onions and chilies, the phone rang. I was almost afraid to answer it, but it might be Charlie or my mom.**

**It was Jessica, and she was jubilant; Mike had caught her after school to accept her invitation. I celebrated with her briefly while I stirred. She had to go, she wanted to call Angela and Lauren to tell them. I suggested - with casual innocence - that maybe Angela, the shy girl who had Biology with me, could ask Eric. And Lauren, a standoffish girl who had always ignored me at the lunch table, could ask Tyler; I'd heard he was still available. Jess thought that was a great idea. Now that she was sure of Mike, she actually sounded sincere when she said she wished I would go to the dance. I gave her my Seattle excuse.**

**After I hung up, I tried to concentrate on dinner - dicing the chicken especially; I didn't want to take another trip to the emergency room.**

Everyone in the room stifled their laughter, it would have been a full blown fit of laughter but Bella's glare stopped that from happening.

**But my head was spinning, trying to analyze every word Edward had spoken today. What did he mean, it was better if we weren't friends?**

**My stomach twisted as I realized what he must have meant. He must see how absorbed I was by him; he must not want to lead me on... so we couldn't even be friends... because he wasn't interested in me at all.**

**Of course he wasn't interested in me, I thought angrily, my eyes stinging - a delayed reaction to the onions. I wasn't interesting. And he was. Interesting... and brilliant... and mysterious... and perfect... and beautiful... and possibly able to lift full-sized vans with one hand.**

**Well, that was fine. I could leave him alone. I would leave him alone. I would get through my self-imposed sentence here in purgatory, and then hopefully some school in the Southwest, or possibly Hawaii, would offer me a scholarship. I focused my thoughts on sunny beaches and palm trees as I finished the enchiladas and put them in the oven.**

**Charlie seemed suspicious when he came home and smelled the green peppers. I couldn't blame him - the closest edible Mexican food was probably in southern California. But he was a cop, even if just a small-town cop, so he was brave enough to take the first bite. He seemed to like it. It was fun to watch as he slowly began trusting me in the kitchen.**

Chief Swan scowled as the rest of the room shared a laugh at his expense.

**"Dad?" I asked when he was almost done.**

**"Yeah, Bella?"**

**"Um, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to Seattle for the day a week from Saturday... if that's okay?" I didn't want to ask permission - it set a bad precedent - but I felt rude, so I tacked it on at the end.**

Chief Swan raised an eyebrow at her

"Bella!" Her mother reprimanded.

"Sorry dad." She said in repsonse

**"Why?" He sounded surprised, as if he were unable to imagine something that Forks couldn't offer.**

**"Well, I wanted to get few books - the library here is pretty limited - and maybe look at some clothes." I had more money than I was used to having, since, thanks to Charlie, I hadn't had to pay for a car. Not that the truck didn't cost me quite a bit in the gas department.**

**"That truck probably doesn't get very good gas mileage," he said, echoing my thoughts.**

**"I know, I'll stop in Montesano and Olympia - and Tacoma if I have to."**

**"Are you going all by yourself?" he asked, and I couldn't tell if he was suspicious I had a secret boyfriend or just worried about car trouble.**

**"Yes."**

**"Seattle is a big city - you could get lost," he fretted.**

**"Dad, Phoenix is five times the size of Seattle - and I can read a map, don't worry about it."**

**"Do you want me to come with you?"**

**I tried to be crafty as I hid my horror.**

**"That's all right, Dad, I'll probably just be in dressing rooms all day - very boring."**

**"Oh, okay." The thought of sitting in women's clothing stores for any period of time immediately put him off.**

"And that ladies, is one way to get a girls' day out in the modern world." Renée said.

The men from said era nodded in agreement.

**"Thanks." I smiled at him.**

**"Will you be back in time for the dance?"**

**Grrr. Only in a town this small would a father know when the high school dances were.**

**"No - I don't dance, Dad." He, of all people, should understand that - I didn't get my balance problems from my mother.**

"Of all the blasted people to ask that!" Bella mumbled.

**He did understand. "Oh, that's right," he realized.**

**The next morning, when I pulled into the parking lot, I deliberately parked as far as possible from the silver Volvo. I didn't want to put myself in the path of too much temptation and end up owing him a new car. Getting out of the cab, I fumbled with my key and it fell into a puddle at my feet. As I bent to get it, a white hand flashed out and grabbed it before I could. I jerked upright. Edward Cullen was right next to me, leaning casually against my truck.**

"Ok, seriously, I have three teenage sisters and an older sister that for some reason come to me when they feel emotional, _I_ can't even follow you right now." Jasper said in frustration.

**"How do you do that?" I asked in amazed irritation.**

**"Do what?" He held my key out as he spoke. As I reached for it, he dropped it into my palm.**

**"Appear out of thin air."**

**"Bella, it's not my fault if you are exceptionally unobservant." His voice was quiet as usual - velvet, muted.**

Someone, who shall remain unnamed, *hint Renée, hint, hint* snorted in disagreement.

**I scowled at his perfect face. His eyes were light again today, a deep, golden honey color. Then I had to look down, to reassemble my now-tangled thoughts.**

**"Why the traffic jam last night?" I demanded, still looking away. "I thought you were supposed to be pretending I don't exist, not irritating me to death."**

**"That was for Tyler's sake, not mine. I had to give him his chance." He snickered**

**"You..." I gasped. I couldn't think of a bad enough word. It felt like the heat of my anger should physically burn him, but he only seemed more amused.**

**"And I'm not pretending you don't exist," he continued.**

**"So you are trying to irritate me to death? Since Tyler's van didn't do the job?"**

**Anger flashed in his tawny eyes. His lips pressed into a hard line, all signs of humor gone.**

**"Bella, you are utterly absurd," he said, his low voice cold.**

**My palms tingled - I wanted so badly to hit something. I was surprised at myself. I was usually a nonviolent person. I turned my back and started to walk away.**

**"Wait," he called. I kept walking, sloshing angrily through the rain. But he was next to me, easily keeping pace.**

**"I'm sorry, that was rude," he said as we walked. I ignored him. "I'm not saying it isn't true," he continued, "but it was rude to say it, anyway."**

**"Why won't you leave me alone?" I grumbled.**

**"I wanted to ask you something, but you sidetracked me," he chuckled. He seemed to have recovered his good humor.**

**"Do you have a multiple personality disorder?" I asked severely.**

**"You're doing it again."**

**I sighed. "Fine then. What do you want to ask?"**

**"I was wondering if, a week from Saturday - you know, the day of the spring dance -"**

**"Are you trying to be funny?" I interrupted him, wheeling toward him. My face got drenched as I looked up at his expression.**

**His eyes were wickedly amused. "Will you please allow me to finish?"**

**I bit my lip and clasped my hands together, interlocking my fingers, so I couldn't do anything rash.**

**"I heard you say you were going to Seattle that day, and I was wondering if you wanted a ride."**

**That was unexpected.**

**"What?" I wasn't sure what he was getting at.**

**"Do you want a ride to Seattle?"**

**"With who?" I asked, mystified.**

**"Myself, obviously." He enunciated every syllable, as if he were talking to someone mentally handicapped.**

**I was still stunned. "Why?"**

"Yeah, why." Chief Swan asked looking at the boy who shrugged unsure himself.

**"Well, I was planning to go to Seattle in the next few weeks, and, to be honest, I'm not sure if your truck can make it."**

**"My truck works just fine, thank you very much for your concern." I started to walk again, but I was too surprised to maintain the same level of anger.**

**"But can your truck make it there on one tank of gas?" He matched my pace again.**

**"I don't see how that is any of your business." Stupid, shiny Volvo owner.**

Helga laughed. "What I may not understand every words of it but I do understand the point of it and the point is funny." She defended.

**"The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business."**

**"Honestly, Edward." I felt a thrill go through me as I said his name, and I hated it. "I can't keep up with you. I thought you didn't want to be my friend."**

**"I said it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be."**

"Would you make up your bloody mind already? Gah!" Charlie said

"CHARLES STEPHEN WEASLEY! You watch your language!" Molly Weasley yelled

"Yes Mum." He said

**"Oh, thanks, now that's all cleared up." Heavy sarcasm. I realized I had stopped walking again. We were under the shelter of the cafeteria roof now, so I could more easily look at his face. Which certainly didn't help my clarity of thought.**

**"It would be more... prudent for you not to be my friend," he explained. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Bella."**

Molly glared at her son, who was tempted to say something regardless.

**His eyes were gloriously intense as he uttered that last sentence, his voice smoldering. I couldn't remember how to breathe.**

**"Will you go with me to Seattle?" he asked, still intense.**

**I couldn't speak yet, so I just nodded.**

**He smiled briefly, and then his face became serious. **

**"You really should stay away from me," he warned. "I'll see you in class."**

"You really should work on being clearer." Billy said which caused everyone to jump as they forgot he was there.

**He turned abruptly and walked back the way we'd come.**

"That's the end" Luna said marking the page.

"Whose the next victim, I mean volunteer." James said

"Well it is from my point of view and I have yet to read so maybe I should go?" Bella said

No one said anything so she took the book from the blond girl, cleared her throat and opened to the next chapter.

_**-AN-**_

_**See I'm updating again :D Tomorrow is A Bunch of People... then Reading Among Frenemies then I'll take 2 days off and then the rotation will start anew :) Looking for a Beta for ALL my stories. PM me if you are interested! Hope you enjoy! ~RJE**_


	6. Author's Note

Hello Lovely readers. I have recently been thinking of adding another fandom into this. I can do this one of two ways.

The first way is to add the three new characters into the story and having just this one version of events. The second way I can do this is when the new characters are set to appear (the next chapter I will be posting in a few days time) I can split the story into two versions. The original version without the newbies and then the alternate version with the newbies. I do not want to discourage reading so that is why I am alerting you to these possibilities. If you could leave your opinion in the comments that would be fantastic! But before you make your decision I really should tell you who the new comers will be, as that may sway many votes. The new characters will be Rose Tyler, Captn. Jack H. and the 10th I do this there may be some slight bashing of select Weasleys and Dumbledore but only slight like there would be anyway there will just be an extra character or two participating in said bashing. Anyways tell me what you think, if no one comments I will add our new pals and do a single story. That's about it...keep an eye out for the next real chapter (this note will be deleted after the real chapter is up) Thanks :) ~RJE

PS: A backstory as to how these three will be provided upon their appearance.


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Harry Potter, Twilight, Friendship, Humor