Before moving to Forks I bid my vampire family, and mum and Phil goodbye, taking a few of my favourite things from my tower and my room in Phoenix, including my small harp (there wouldn't be room in my Forks bedroom for a full sized concert grand harp) , guitar, flute, and a few of my favourite paintings. I planned to buy a car when I got there because I had no intentions of riding around in the police cruiser with my father- the Chief of Police. I also couldn't let Santiago ship my Audi R8, or my Bugatti Veyron to the US for me because they would stick out badly in such a little town, and I didn't want that kind of attention. Instead, I figured that I would probably get a small, relatively inconspicuous car that could still go fast- I hated driving slowly. I promised Santiago that I would let him know what I bought so that he could send me the parts I would need to boost the engine and tune the car.
I promised to regularly call and email my vampires, and said goodbye, wondering what life would be like in Forks, with my father and two full years of high school awaiting me.
I had packed lightly, intending to go shopping once I was there, I knew I would need more warm clothes and coats as it was always cloudy in Forks, and rained for at least 300 days a year. Heidi had been disappointed that she wouldn't be able to send me loads of clothes, but I had been firm, knowing that my relatively small closet in Forks wouldn't be able to hold the copious amounts that she normally bought me.
Didyme and Sulpicia had helped me select some of my favourite jewellery to wear to dances and proms, which they made me promise to attend. I hoped the kids at school would think that it was costume jewellery, as some of it used to be crown jewels of England, and was ornate, beautiful and priceless. I didn't need people asking questions about where I had gotten it.
Before I left, I had promised Aro, Marcus and Caius that I would only use my shields if I was in danger, or practising somewhere where I was sure I was alone. I also couldn't tell anyone of my connection to them in the unlikely event that I ran into any vampires. Most importantly, I was under no circumstances to tell anyone I was the Volturi Princess, or tell anyone about my gift. All of these promises I made, I knew that if anyone found out about my give, or my ties to the Volturi I would be in danger, and I fully intended to live my life in Forks like a normal human.
I got off the plane in Port Angeles, easily spotting Charlie in the crowd, his police officer uniform making him stand out. "Hi Dad." I greeted him.
"Hi Bells." He said, hugging me softly. We grabbed my luggage and headed for what would be my permanent home for the next two years.
It was mainly silent as we drove, Charlie wasn't one for small talk, and neither was I. Eventually though, Charlie broke the silence. "Oh yeah, you got about 20 magazines in the mail yesterday." He seemed puzzled.
I smiled. "Yeah dad, they'll be coming every month, I have subscriptions to them all." I explained. The only changes in my magazine subscriptions over the years had been the change of the two children's magazines for Vogue and TV Weekly, the rest were still the same.
I looked down at my cuff, running my fingers softly over it and smiling as I was reminded of my vampires. My cuff had been resized a couple of times over the years as I grew, but it was still the same, the 12 diamonds, combining to a total of 6ct, still sparkling brightly in the sun at the centre of the engraved freesias.
"Oh, and I bought you a car." He said. I inwardly winced, certain that as the police chief he would have chosen the slowest and safest transport possible. I smiled at him, "Thanks Dad, but you didn't have to do that, I was happy to buy my own."
"Oh it's okay Bella. It's Billy's old 1953 Chevy truck, and he sold it to me pretty cheap." He explained, looking pretty proud of himself. "It was just sitting around now that he's in a wheelchair and can't drive."
"Thanks Dad, I really appreciate it." I said sincerely, touched by how thoughtful he had been, although I was already thinking of ways that I could disable the car so I could buy something better. It looked like my plans to not use my shield would be forgotten before we even reached Forks at this rate, as I wondered absently whether I could park the truck on a hill and invisibly push it with my shield until it ran into a tree and crashed.
"It's nothing Bells." He said, "I just want you to be happy here."
I grinned at him, "I'm sure I will be dad." I said, and we soon lapsed back into a comfortable silence for the rest of the drive.
We soon reached home, and I got my first look at the truck Charlie had bought me. I had to admit, it had a certain charm about it, but I doubted that it would go over 50 mph. "Wow Dad, It's charming," I said cheerfully. He seemed pleased that I liked it, and I felt slightly guilty for planning on destroying it.
Charlie helped me bring my stuff upstairs, my instruments and paintings having already arrived by courier a few days ago. He left me to unpack, and I was grateful that he didn't hover. Once I sat down I realised how tired I was, and I decided that now would be a good time to practise with my shields.
I unzipped all of my suitcases and left them open on the floor, and then opened my closet and drawers. I closed my bedroom door and stood behind it in case Charlie decided to come back upstairs. Then I got to work unpacking everything quickly with my shields and placing them in the drawers and closet, extremely grateful for my gift.
Once the suitcases were under my queen sized bed, I set up all of my instruments in a corner of my room, moving my rocking chair over near the window. Then I placed my laptop on the desk next to my bed. The three painting were harder to place. I carefully unwrapped them from the packaging they had been sent in, and held them up against the walls with my shields as I stood in the middle of the room, deciding where to put them. I had just decided where to put them when I heard a soft knock at my door. I softly put the paintings on the floor, scolding myself for nearly revealing my gift on my first day in Forks, and thanking my lucky stars that Charlie knocked first. I opened the door to find Charlie standing there, an apologetic smile on his face. "I'm sorry Bella, but I've got to go down to the station for a couple of hours, one of the guys called in sick" he explained.
"It's okay Dad," I said, assuring him, "I've got to finish unpacking anyway," I lied.
"Okay then. I'll be back before dinner, I'll pick up a pizza or something," he said, making his way back downstairs. I waited until I heard his cruiser leave before proceeding to hang my painting up. I flopped down on the bed and pulled out my iPhone, calling Volterra.
After assuring them that I had gotten here safely and that I was settling in well, I explained to Santiago that it was going to take me at least a few weeks before I could get rid of the truck and get something faster. Santiago seemed to think it was hilarious that I was going to be driving a vehicle that would, undoubtedly, have trouble going over 60 mph.
Slightly cheered by my phone call, I then called Renee and assured her as well that I was fine. She had never liked it here, and she seemed to be afraid that I would hate living here too. In fact she sounded almost puzzled when I said I was fine here.
By the time I had finished with my phone calls, collected my magazines from where Charlie had left them for me on the kitchen table, and hung my paintings, Charlie was back with a pizza. I was relieved to find that we both had the same taste in pizzas, and I soon remembered that Charlie was a hopeless cook. I offered to take over the cooking now that I had moved in. He seemed grateful for the offer, and showed me the jar where the food money was kept. He had next to nothing in the cupboards, so I took the food money and put it in my school bag, deciding that I would have to go shopping after school tomorrow.
I slept peacefully, and woke early in the morning, mentally preparing myself for another day as the 'new kid.' Thanks to my alternations between Italy and America, I had been the new kid many times, and it never seemed to get any easier, what with the stares and whispers. The only consolation was that I knew it would die down within a couple of weeks, even less if something more interesting happened to come along.
I arrived at school early, knowing I would need to get my schedule, and a map before school started. I was one of the first to arrive, and I hurried to the office, avoiding the stares of the few early students.
In the office, I found an older lady behind the desk with a name tag that said Ms Cope. "Can I help you?" she asked.
"I'm Isabella Swan," I explained, "The new student." I watched as recognition dawned.
"Of course, Chief Swan's daughter," she exclaimed. "We've been expecting you." I smiled politely and she gave me my schedule, a map, and a slip to have all my teachers sign and give back to her at the end of the day.
I said goodbye and headed slowly for my first class, taking note of the buildings I passed, and referencing them against the map. On my way I was accosted by an overly zealous guy with blonde hair. "Hi, you must be Isabella, the new girl right?" he asked.
"Just Bella," I corrected.
"Well I'm Mike Newton." He introduced himself, before giving me a spiel about the school. As soon as was politely possible, I extracted myself from the conversation and headed for my class once again, making a mental note to try and avoid Mike at all cost.
I managed to make it through the first part of my day, only having to put up with one other guy, called Eric, who wanted to walk me to class. On the bright side, I met a very sweet girl called Angela, and her friends Lauren and Jessica. Jessica, I quickly realised, was the gossip queen of the school, and as we sat down to lunch she filled me in on the latest school gossip.
I glanced over the cafeteria as I half heartedly listened to Jessica before I froze in shock. I blinked, making sure I wasn't just dreaming, but sure enough, at the back of the cafeteria sat five inhumanly beautiful vampires at their own table. They had trays of uneaten food in front of them and were all staring off in different directions. "Who are they?" I asked, cutting Jessica off in the middle of her spiel.
Jessica took a look at the vampires I was staring at. "They are the Cullens," she explained. I was pleasantly surprised by the name, and realised that this must be Carlisle Cullen's coven, which relieved me because I knew they were vegetarians. "They just moved here from Alaska with their parents. They're all adopted. Dr Cullen, their father, and his wife Esme adopted them all."
"That's nice of her." I observed, knowing it would take a very caring person to willingly care for five immortal teenagers.
"Yeah, but I don't think she can have kids of her own or something." She stated, somehow seeming to think that that would make her less of a person. "How utterly rude." I whispered and frowned.
Jess missed my frown, and continued telling me about them. "The small girl with black hair is Alice Cullen, the blonde guy next to her is Jasper Hale, and they're like a thing. The blonde supermodel is Rosalie Hale, Jasper's twin." I internally rolled my eyes, knowing that there was no way they were biologically related. "The big guy with muscles is Emmet Cullen, he's with Rosalie, and the guy with the bronze sex hair is Edward." She finished with a sigh. "But he doesn't date," she warned me, "Apparently no one here is good enough for him" she sniffed, making me wonder "when had he had turned her down" I wispered not really wanting to know but she continued.
"So like, don't waste your time."
I chuckled, "I wasn't planning on it." I assured her knowing Damn well I was lying. I continued eating my lunch in silence as I observed them. I watched as Jasper seemed to be in pain, and I could see, even from a distance that his eyes were dark with hunger. I watched as Alice left the table, dumping her food props in the bin as she danced gaily out the door. She was abnormally graceful, even for a vampire.
Rosalie was without a doubt the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, which is saying a lot when you've grown up with vampires. Beside her Emmet and Edward appeared to be having a one-sided conversation. I frowned and listened closely. "Actually Emmet, I'm a bit disappointed, Jessica didn't tell her much about us at all. Only the barest hint of a scandal." Edward whispered. I was very thankful that I had such acute hearing; it was obvious that no other humans would have even noticed they were talking. All of a sudden Edward chuckled, "Yeah, me too." He whispered. I was confused, I was positive that Emmet hadn't actually said anything.
All of a sudden, as if someone had called his name, Edward's head whipped around and he made eye contact with me. I stared back, studying him. He was without a doubt the best looking person, vampire of human, that I had ever seen, his features perfectly angular, with his dishelmed bronze hair, and sparkling golden eyes making him look like a god. He seemed to be confused by me, a frown starting to form on his brow as he continued staring for a moment longer before he seemed to catch himself and looked away just before the bell rang. I quickly dumped my rubbish and walked off to class, trying to avoid Mike and Eric.
I managed to get to the biology room without an escort, and had Mr Banner sign my slip. He welcomed me to the class and told me to take the only free seat in the room, next to Edward Cullen. I turned and made my way towards him, but as I passed a heater I suddenly saw him stiffen as he turned to glare at me. His eyes were now pitch black, a stark contrast to the honey gold they had been at lunch. I knew he was hungry, and I quickly wrapped my shield around myself and prayed that he had enough control to resist trying to eat me, as I quietly sat next to him.
He leaned his chair as far away from me as possible, I could tell he wasn't breathing, and I saw his fingers gripping the edge of the desk tightly. As we silently worked out way through the lesson, with me using my hair as a curtain so that he couldn't see my jugular pulsing, I prayed that he wouldn't lose control, because he would have to kill all of the other people in the classroom if he did to keep his existence a secret. I decided to help him out, and I placed a shield around him, holding his torso in place so that he couldn't move. I knew he wouldn't notice, as he was staying absolutely still, but it would be evident if he did choose to move.
Thankfully the lesson came to a close with Edward still motionless beside me. Just before the bell rang I released the shield around him, and watched as he jumped to his feet the moment the bell rang, racing at a barely human pace, out of the classroom. As I packed up, I saw finger indents in the side of the desk where he had been gripping tightly. I subtly used my shield to smooth out the dents when no one was looking before I headed for my last period of the day- Gym.
I was terrible at sports, and always had been, although I did find it quite entertaining to watch vampires play sport. Due to my clumsiness, gym was by no means my favourite subject, and I have to admit I'd been a bit upset to find that it was compulsory at Forks High. I was given a uniform and told that I could sit out for the day, so I sat on the bleachers and l let my mind wonder to Edward Cullen.
I was confused by his reaction to me in biology. I knew he didn't eat humans, it was evident in his eyes when he wasn't thirsty, and I was confused by the fact that it seemed to be only my scent that set him off. He seemed to have perfect control when he was around everyone else. Then here was his one sided conversation with Emmett. I had a feeling that Edward had a gift.
I was shaken from my thoughts by the bell ringing, and I rushed to my truck eager to get home. As i drove out I noticed that the Cullens had the only nice car in the lot, a silver Volvo. I only barely remembering to stop at the shopping centre to pick up some food, in my rush to get home and talk to Aro.