The next morning I woke up with dread. It was the first day of school. A day I didn't particularly look forward to. Well, the first day for Bella and I. It was January, the beginning of the second semester, but it was still weird to show up after an entire semester of school.

I went to take a shower and when I came out of the bathroom, Bella was already dressed and ready. She always had been an early riser, even when we were younger. 

I saw she was wearing a green bowling shirt and jeans. I was wearing a green cardigan with jeans and sneakers.
I grabbed my backpack and walked downstairs. I heard Bella behind me.

We saw that Dad was already gone. He usually left for the station pretty early. "You wanna drive?" I asked Bella, holding out the keys. "I want to survive, so yes." Bella said, grabbing the keys. I stuck out my tongue. She was right though, I was a terrible driver.

Far too fast for Bella's taste. It didn't take long to reach the school, even though it didn't look like a school at all. More like a bunch of houses joined together. Bella parked the truck and I climbed out. We went to the office to pick up our schedules.

The woman behind the desk looked at us weirdly, like she was trying to search our features. She had probably seen our mother around, at least before Mom ran off with us. I realized most of the town probably thought Mom was flighty. That she was a horrible person for divorcing our father. 

Dad would have put stop to the rumors though. It was sad, but sometimes I think he still loves her. I smiled fakely at the receptionist and walked outside. Bella smiled at me. "Well she was nice."

"Liar." I said, sticking my tongue out at her. I'd always been very good at telling when people were lying to me, whether it was little white lies or something bigger. She raised her eyebrows. "How do you always do that?" She asked me. "I don't know, I guess I just have some sort of built in lie detector." I joked. 

We walked down the hallway and I accidentally bumped into a guy. "Sorry." I said automatically, stepping away from him.

The guy was Asian and had shoulder length black hair. He looked at Bella and I and immediately shook his head. "No it's fine. You're the new girls' right? Isabella and Adelaide." He said, and it was more of a statement than a question.

This school barely had any kids, so of course they would spot someone new. It was weird attending a school with so few people, especially considering how huge our old school was.

"Actually it's Bella." Bella corrected quickly. "Yeah and you can call me Addy." I said also, not really wanting to be called Adelaide by everyone. Not that I didn't like my name, I did. It was just a mouthful. It was funny to me how Bella and I both shortened our names, but that was our parent's faults for making our names so long. 

The guy nodded and began to walk beside us. "I'm Eric. The eyes and ears of this place. Anything you need, I got it. Tour guide, lunch date, shoulder to cry on."

Bella and I exchanged a quick look.

"I'm more of the 'suffer in silence' type." Bella told him. And she was right. Bella was sometimes too selfless. She was so used to taking care of Mom that it was ingrained in her to never care for her own wellbeing. 

"I'm on the school paper and let me tell you, you two are news." Eric said and I rolled my eyes. A school paper? Couldn't they think of something else to write about? I suppose in a place this small we were the only news in years.

Bella immediately winced, but he didn't notice.

"So which classes are you two headed to?" He asked, and I could tell he liked Bella by the way his eyes kept straying to her. Better for me, he could bother her.

"Um, government, with Jefferson." Bella said. I glanced at my schedule and saw I had Trig. Great. I was terrible at Trig. I forced a small smile and told Bella I was gonna go. She gave me a grimace, probably mad I was leaving her with Eric the "shoulder to cry on."

I walked to Trig, and I had to introduce myself to the class. I introduced myself as Addy, because I didn't feel like correcting people all day. I went to sit by a tiny girl with wild curly brown hair. "Hi. I'm Jessica. It's so nice to have a new girl here at school." Jessica said, and I knew she was being fake.

I smiled at her anyways. "Hi, I'm Addy. I bet it is." I said, a tiny edge to my voice. She didn't notice. Trig was not as hard as I thought it would be. It seemed that our school in Phoenix was a little more advanced. I went to my next class, English, which Jessica was in too.

Soon it was lunch time, and I walked with Jessica. Not out of desire to be her friend, but just to be by someone. I glanced around the cafeteria for Bella, and saw she was walking to the same table I was. I sat down beside her. "How was it?" I asked her, taking a sip of my water bottle after.

She smiled lightly. "Easy." She told me and I grinned. So, she'd noticed it wasn't as advanced here too.

Angela pulled out her camera and snapped a picture of Bella and I.

"Just needed a candid for the feature." She remarked with a smile. Bella looked embarrassed even if she knew Angela meant no harm.

Angela was pretty with dark hair and glasses. She was in my English class and was one of the nicest people I'd met today.

"The features dead, Angela." Eric said, sitting down beside Bella. I rolled my eyes at him slightly. Angela looked like her feelings might be hurt, so Bella shook her head quickly. "No, it's fine."

"Don't worry, I've got your back, baby." Eric said, standing up. I glanced at Bella and she made a face.

"Oh, I see you've met my homegirl, Bella." A blonde haired guy said, walking up to Bella. He looked pretty average looking to me, but Jessica must like him the way she was eyeing him.

"And you must be her twin sister, Adelaide." The boy said and I glanced at him.

"It's Addy." I told him shortly, then turned back to my tray. I didn't want to be rude, but I wasn't so fond of this guy. 

"Oh, so Bella's your homegirl?" Eric asked Mike mockingly. I could feel the waves of discomfort just rolling off of Bella, which only made it so much stronger for me.

Out of nowhere, a boy came and kissed Bella on the cheek. "My girl."

I winced. Did no one have personal boundaries here?

"Sorry to mess up your game Mike!" The boy who kissed Bella yelled, and Mike chased after him. Eric left too, and I sighed in relief.

Jessica glanced at Bella, looking a little annoyed that she was getting so much attention.

"Wow, it's like first grade all over again and you're the shiny new toy."

Bella just looked over at me, knowing we felt the same way about Jessica.

I looked away then, looking around the lunchroom. The lunchroom was so different compared to our school in Phoenix. This cafeteria could be tripled in size and still not be as big as our old one. But a lot of things were the same. There were the usual high school cliques at each and every table. 

I glanced over at Bella as I heard her gasp.

"Who are they?" She asked, and she sounded so amazed, I had to look for myself.

I looked to the door. I felt my mouth drop as I saw two of the most beautiful people I'd ever seen. Jessica giggled at our reactions.

"The Cullens. They moved down here like  two years ago from Alaska. They're all Dr. Cullen's foster kids, but they're all together. The blonde girl, that's Rosalie. And the big dark haired guy, That's Emmett, they're like a thing." Jessica said, her tone dripping in judgement.

I didn't like the way she was talking about the Cullens. I didn't understand how anyone could hate them, seeing how beautiful they were. Rosalie was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. She had hip-length golden hair, and her figure was one that belonged in a magazine. Her features looked like they'd been painted on. The face every girl wanted. 

Emmett just looked scary to me, though I could see the appeal. He had huge muscles and looked a little older than Rosalie, like he could be in college. He reminded me of the guys you always see in action movies who were ridiculously invincible- although something about Emmett made me believe it wouldn't be so ridiculous if he did the stunts the actors did. 

"Jess, they're not actually related." Angela piped up.

"Yeah but they live together. It's weird." Jessica said in an accusing voice.

"Dr. Cullen's like this foster dad/matchmaker." Jessica added and Angela grinned. "Maybe he'll adopt me." She said and I chuckled. For some reason I felt intrigued by this Dr. Cullen.

"What, does he look like them too?" I asked them and they both blushed. "Well, my aunt works at the hospital and she has a hard time working with him around." Angela told me and I smiled.

Rosalie and Emmett sat down at a secluded table and two more stunning people walked in.

"The little dark haired girl is Alice. She's really weird. She's with Jasper, the one who always looks like he's in pain." Jessica told us.

Alice was really beautiful, and tiny, like some sort of fairy. Jasper had honey colored hair and he looked to be around Emmett's age as well. And Jessica was right, he did look like he was in pain. But why? It was strange.

I looked back down at my tray when Bella gasped once again.

"Who's he?" She asked. I looked towards the door. And saw a really gorgeous guy. He had bronze hair and looked the youngest out of the family. While the others could pass for college, he looked as if he was a junior.

"That's Edward Cullen. He's totally gorgeous, obviously, but don't waste your time. He's too good to date anyone here." Jessica said, with a mean edge to her voice.

I bit back a laugh. She'd obviously been burned before. I saw Bella was biting her lip to hide a smile too. I looked at the table the Cullens were sitting at. They were all so beautiful, it was unfair. Like a photo shoot for the cover of a teen magazine or something. It was hard to describe. They made every other person in their vicinity look plain.

They also looked really tired, for they all had purple bags under their eyes. Almost as if they never slept. And they were pale. Paler than Bella, who was probably the most pale person I'd ever seen. I noticed she was still staring at them.

Just then, Edward looked up and met Bella's eyes. It was as if someone had called his name.
I saw Bella blush. And then he looked at me. I stared back, not really phased by his stare. I thought of why he was looking at Bella with such intensity. Almost as if he wanted her to answer some question for him.

Which made no sense at all. He looked away then, and I did too.

After lunch, Bella was off to Biology. I had to go to Psychology, which was the only class I was even remotely excited for. The mind and its workings had always fascinated me.

When I entered the classroom, I saw that Alice Cullen was sitting alone at a small table.

The only free seat was beside her, so I took it. When I sat down beside her, the hairs on my arm stood up. It was strange, I felt like I needed to run, which made no sense to me. Alice Cullen was so tiny. There was no way she could hurt me. But something inside of me wanted to get as far away from her as I could. 

I smiled at her anyways, determined to be friendly.

She smiled back, revealing perfectly straight white teeth. Of course. Everything about them was perfect.

"Hi, I'm Addy." I told her. She smiled. "I know." She told me. "I'm Alice. Don't worry, we're gonna be great friends." She said and she sounded like she really believed it. I smiled slightly, trying not to be weirded out.

She was a little strange, but there was nothing but truth in her statement. And she seemed as genuine as Angela was.

"That would be nice." I said, smiling at her.

We began to do our assignment and for a few minutes we were silent.

"So, you moved from Alaska?" I asked her, because for some reason I found myself curious about the mysterious Cullens.

Alice smiled. "Yes. My family used to live there."

"So you must be fans of the cold weather?" I asked, with a laugh. I couldn't imagine living somewhere like Alaska.

"Yeah, we all prefer the cold." She said and it sounded like she was in on some private joke. I smiled at her, but continued to study her throughout the class. As she copied down notes, I noticed her handwriting was amazing. I doubted there was anything that wasn't perfect about Alice Cullen.

Soon the class was over and I parted ways with Alice. I walked up to Bella, who was waiting in the hall for me. I glanced at her face and saw she looked quite angry. She seemed to be on the verge of tears. Bella always cried when she was angry.

"What's going on?" I asked her. "Edward Cullen. He acted like something was wrong with me. I just saw him trying to switch classes." She told me quietly, but I could hear the anger in her tone.

It seemed like Edward Cullen had really bothered Bella. Nothing ever really upset her, so I knew this was serious.

Bella and I arrived home after going to grab some groceries for the house. It turned out our father didn't keep much food and didn't know how to cook very well.

Bella and I agreed we would take turns on the cooking. It wasn't too different from living with Mom, as far as the tasks went. It was nice, however, to have a little peace. Mom was always distracting us and wanted us to go on adventures with her. It was fun for a while, but once we started balancing the checkbook, it started to become less fun.

~~~~

Bella and I spent the rest of the week falling into a routine. Edward Cullen didn't come back to school all week, which made Bella think it was somehow her fault. I'd assured her there was no way it was, even though I was confused myself. Why would he just leave?

Everyday in Psychology, Alice and I talked. We'd actually became good friends, just as she'd said we would be. The rest of the Cullens I never really talked to. I saw them, of course, but I hadn't made friends with any of them.

Before I knew it, it was Monday again. Bella and I got dressed and went downstairs to find Dad was still there. It was strange, seeing as he usually left before we woke up.

We ate breakfast with Dad and it was nice. It was nice to sit quietly with Dad sometimes, seeing as he was so quiet himself. The three of us headed outside then.

Bella slipped on the ice and Dad hurried to help her up. "Thanks." Bella remarked as she walked to the driver's side. Bella had been driving a lot, seeing as I wasn't too good of a driver and the roads were icy.

"I put some snow tires on your truck, just to make sure you two will be safe." Dad told us as he walked to his cruiser.

Bella and I smiled at him. "Thanks, Dad." I told him and Bella smiled. "Yeah, thank you." 

"It's no problem." Dad said, scratching his neck.

I knew Bella and Dad both felt awkward showing emotion and it showed in this moment.

"I might be home late tonight. I'm heading over to Mason County. A security guard down at the Grisham Mill got killed by some sort of animal." Dad told us.

"Animal?" I asked in surprise.

"Well, you're not in Phoenix anymore, Addy. It's dangerous here. It was probably a bear. Anyways, you two be careful." Dad told us and we both nodded.

"You too." I told him as he climbed into the cruiser.

Bella and I climbed into the truck next and began to make the way to school.

"An animal? I didn't expect any of this to happen around here." Bella said.

"Neither did I, but then again, there is a lot of forest around us. Lots of animals live in the forest. Maybe one escaped." I told her, even though something told me it wasn't what it seemed.

We reached school and the day passed by quickly once again. I was shocked to see Bella and Edward walking beside each other in the hallway as I made my way outside. They seemed to have made up oddly enough. 

I walked towards the truck, stopping once I saw Alice at her vehicle with her family. I saw Edward leaning against the back door. Bella walked past us, glancing at me for a moment before heading to the truck.

"Hey, Alice." I greeted, and sent a small smile to the others. Emmett returned it, while Rosalie looked at me curiously.

Jasper just seemed to be holding his breath or something. He looked really uncomfortable by my being there. Edward was in his own world staring at my sister.

"Hey, Addy. You headed home?" Alice asked me, noticing how I was watching her family. I let my eyes stray back to her.

"Yes, we are. I was wondering, have you heard about that security guard who got killed in Mason County? My dad is going to investigate and he said it was some type of animal." I told Alice, who immediately tensed. I didn't think I imagined the way the rest of the Cullens did as well.

"Yes, I did hear about that. So horrible. Hopefully your father will find the animal." Alice told me. I nodded just as I heard a terrible sound. A loud screeching noise of a car sliding on ice.

I glanced over and saw Bella standing at the tail of the truck, looking absolutely terrified as she stared at something in front of her. I followed her line of sight and saw Tyler's van was headed straight for her. I screamed her name, holding my hand over my mouth in shock.

I took a few steps towards her, but Alice stopped me. "She'll be okay." She said, grabbing a hold of my arm. I tried to pull away, but I couldn't even move.

What the hell? I took in a shaky breath as I saw something flash past me. I watched in horror as the van came to a stop.

Alice let go of my arm, and I ran over to the truck. I was terrified for what I'd find.

"Bella!" I yelled and looked down. Bella was sitting up, unharmed. Edward Cullen was holding onto her and helping her up. I looked to him in shock before pulling Bella into a hug.

"What happened?" I asked her, then glanced at Edward. She looked at him too, then looked back at me.

"Edward saved me. He pushed me out of the way." She muttered. I looked to Edward in surprise. How had he gotten to the van so fast? I was sure I'd seen him standing only a few feet from me.

"Thank you." I told him and he nodded, but he was still looking at Bella. I glanced across the parking lot as the screaming began. All of the students rushed over to see the spectacle.

It took a few teachers to move the van enough for the stretchers to come in.

Bella was mortified that she had to go into the ambulance, but Edward insisted on it. He claimed she hit her head when he pushed her out of harm's way. I also wanted her to get checked out, just in case he was right.

Edward refused a stretcher of his own, as did I. I told them I only arrived after the accident happened, while Edward seemed to have some sway with the EMT's. Maybe it was because his father was a doctor.

Bella was forced to put on a neck brace and she was looking at me in embarrassment when we heard Dad's voice.

He must have been speeding all the way from Mason County. Well, at least he was safe from being pulled over.

"Bella! Addy!" Dad said in panic, rushing towards us. He looked distressed as he saw Bella on the stretcher.

"I'm completely fine, Char--- Dad." Bella corrected herself.

Dad didn't look convinced, so he turned to an EMT for a second opinion. They allowed me to ride along with Bella to the hospital, as did Edward, but he was in the front seat. I wondered why he was so worried about her. Maybe he liked her. It would certainly explain the staring.

We made it to the hospital and Bella was taken to the emergency ward. I watched as the nurse took Bella's temperature and her blood pressure.

When the nurse finally walked away, Bella ripped off the neck brace and threw it under the bed. I chuckled quietly.

I heard another flurry of voices and saw Tyler Crowley, the one who'd been driving the van, being placed in the bed beside Bella.

The next few minutes passed having to listen to Tyler mutter how sorry he was. Bella closed her eyes after a while and I grinned. I guessed she was trying to tune him out.

I looked over as Edward Cullen walked in. He stood beside Tyler's bed and glanced at me. "Is she sleeping?" He asked and I grinned as Bella's eyes popped open.

Edward was smirking at her and she glared at him. I guessed she was still mad about him telling the EMTs to put the neck brace on her.

"Hey, Edward I'm really sorry-" Tyler began. Bella had told him that Edward pushed her out of harm's way.

"No blood, no foul." Edward said with a grin.

Edward moved to sit on the edge of Tyler's bed then, and I saw Tyler tense. 

"So what's the verdict?" He asked Bella.

"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go. How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?" Bella asked him in annoyance.

"Well, it's all about who you know. But don't worry, I came to spring you." Edward told her.

Just then the double doors opened and in walked, well a supermodel of a man. He was the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen. He had light blonde hair and his eyes were golden. A color I'd never seen before. He looked way too young to be a doctor. He couldn't be older than 25. When I saw how pale he was and the circles under his eyes, I knew he had to be Dr. Cullen.

"I heard the Chief's daughter was in." Dr. Cullen said in a very appealing voice, but I was still too busy staring at him to really register his words.

I forced myself to try and snap out of it. I didn't want to look stupid in front of the handsome doctor. I saw Bella was surprised by his good looks too because she looked at me quickly.

"So, Miss Swan, how are you feeling?" Dr. Cullen asked her. I watched him, still unable to think clearly. There was something about him that drew me in. I felt some sort of pull to him. I heard someone cough and looked to see Edward staring at me in amusement.

I looked over at him, wondering what he was so damn amused about. He just smirked at me.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to Dr. Cullen. He was checking Bella's head for any pain. I saw Bella wince.

"Tender?" He asked her, but she shook her head. "Not really." Bella told him. I rolled my eyes at her. She was always trying to downplay her injuries.

Edward chuckled at her and she glared at him.

"Well, your father is in the waiting room. You can go home with him now, if you'd like. Come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all." Dr. Cullen told her.

"Can't I go back to school?" Bella asked him.

"Maybe you should take it easy today." He told her.

"Bella, you should listen to the doctor." I told her. 

Dr. Cullen looked at me then. It was like time stopped as the two of us stared at each other. I felt a little dazed under his gaze, but I couldn't look away from him. 

I nearly fainted when he smiled at me. "You must be Adelaide, Bella's sister. I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen." He told me, and I somehow managed to smile back and shake his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Carlisle. I mean Dr. Cullen." I said and winced automatically. Who says things like that? Why hadn't I just called him Dr. Cullen?

Carlisle pulled his hand back and I cleared my throat. I saw Bella looking at me in amusement, as was Edward. Oh great, everyone gets to see me embarrass myself.

"Well, does he get to go back to school?" Bella asked, finally pulling me from my embarrassment.

"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived." Edward told her smugly.

"Actually, most of the school seems to be in the waiting room." Carlisle told her.

"Oh no." Bella said, placing her hands over her face. I gave her shoulder a reassuring pat. "Don't worry, Bells, I won't let Newton anywhere near you." I joked and she looked up at me with a half smile.

"Would you like to stay?" Carlisle asked Bella, seeing her reaction.

"No, no." Bella said, standing up instantly. She stumbled and I reached out to steady her, as did Carlisle. I couldn't stop myself from glancing at him once again.

What was I thinking? This was a doctor, my sister's doctor, no less. There was no reason for me to be acting this way around him. 

"I'm fine." Bella insisted, but I held onto her arm anyways.

"Take some Tylenol for the pain." Carlisle told her.

"It doesn't hurt that bad." Bella said, once again being stubborn.

"It sounds like you were extremely lucky." Carlisle said, signing the chart with a flourish.

"Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me." Bella told him and it seemed like she was trying to suggest something else. Like maybe Edward hadn't been beside her. 

"Yes, very lucky." Carlisle said, looking very busy all of a sudden.

"I'm afraid you'll have to stay with us a little longer." He told Tyler.

Bella and I walked out of the room and walked into the waiting room. Carlisle was right, there was half the school waiting. I only hoped we could escape without having to talk to all of them.

Dad rushed over to us. "I'm fine, Dad. Nothing's wrong with me." Bella told him quickly.

"Then you should probably call your mom." Dad said. Bella and I groaned. Mom would be inconsolable and it would take hours to talk her down.

"You told her?" Bella asked angrily. Dad nodded, looking sheepish.

"She's probably just freaking out." Bella said.

I stayed behind with Bella while Dad went to fill out more paperwork. Seriously how much paperwork was needed for a ten minute visit?

"Bella, let's go." I said to her, but she wasn't listening to me. I saw she was leaning on the wall, looking into the hallway.

I got up and walked over to her. "Bells, you ready?"

"Wait." She told me, then gestured towards the hallway.

I looked into the hallway, and saw that Alice and Edward Cullen were talking to Carlisle.

Carlisle looked up at me and I looked away instantly, flushing. I didn't understand why I couldn't keep eye contact with the man.  "Maybe we should do this in my office." Carlisle said quietly, leading Alice away.

"Can I talk to you?" Bella asked Edward, who looked very annoyed as he walked over. "What?" He said angrily. Why was he being a jerk?

"Don't talk to her like that!" I said angrily. "Lets go, Bells." I said, grabbing her arm. She shook it off. I'd just defended her and she ignored me? I sighed and walked away, leaving them to talk or whatever they were doing.

I walked right into something very hard and very cold. I glanced up and saw it was Alice Cullen. Odd that she was so sturdy with how tiny she was.

"Oh I'm sorry." I said quickly. Alice smiled at me. "It's fine."

"Where did Carlisle go?" I asked her, then realized I shouldn't be calling him Carlisle and blushed.

Alice grinned at me, raising her eyebrows. "Carlisle?" She asked me, her voice rising an octave. She seemed highly amused. "Sorry, I meant Dr. Cullen. He introduced himself as Dr. Carlisle Cullen and Carlisle just seems less of a mouthful." I rambled, looking away. Alice laughed, and it sounded like music.

"No it's okay, we all call him Carlisle anyways. Besides, I better get used to it." She said, and I wondered why she'd have to get used to it. After a second, I felt uncomfortable sitting in silence, so I blurted out, "Okay, well I gotta go." I walked down the hall with all of the day's events playing in my mind.

How did Alice know that Bella was going to be okay when the van nearly hit her?  And why had I been so weirdly attracted to Carlisle Cullen?
And why was there something weird going on between my sister and Edward Cullen?
Forks was not going to be as uneventful as I thought.