Twilight OC Rewrite VERSION TWO

Chapter One: First Sight

They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where we sat as possible in the long room.

There were six 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 us either, 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 our attention.

Of the six, three of them looked similar, but at the same time, none of them looked alike. Of the four boys, one was big — muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair. Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond. The third was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair, more boyish than the others. The last was built similar to the second, muscular and lean, but taller than the others with sandy blond hair and a serious expression.

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. 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.

And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students in this sunless town. Paler than us. They all had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes ⎼ purplish, bruise-like 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.

"Who are they?" Bella spoke up, asking the question lingering in both of our minds.

"That's Dr. and Mrs. Cullen's adopted kids. The big, dark-haired boy is Emmett Cullen, the other darker-haired boy is Edward Cullen, the small, dark-haired girl is Alice Cullen, the two blondes that look alike are the Hale twins, Jasper and Rosalie and the other blond is Christian Hale, their cousin who's staying with them while his parents are in Italy or something."

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

"Yes!" Jessica agreed with a giggle. "They're all together though — Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they live together." Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town.

"They look a little old for foster children." Bella added.

"They are now. Jasper and Rosalie are eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt on their mother's side or something like that. Christian is the cousin on their father's side."

As we watched the strange family, Edward looked up and met our gaze, with evident curiosity which swiftly turned to slight frustration.

"What's his deal?" Bella asked. I could tell that this was the boy who peaked her interest the most. The cousin of the adopted siblings, Christian, seemed more on-edge than the rest of the group, and I couldn't help but wonder why.

"Oh, Edward? He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good enough for him." She sounded almost upset.

I wondered when she had been rejected.

After lunch it was time for Biology II, which we found easily. As we entered and approached the teacher with our slips, Bella nudged me and nodded her head once, showing me Edward Cullen sitting next to one of the only open seats. He immediately went rigid, with a hostile, furious expression on his face.

The teacher directed us to our seats. I was sat in the seat right in front of Edward and Bella was sat right next to him. Glad to be at least close to each other, I sat without complaint.

As class started, I looked back to check on my sister. Bella kept her head down, avoiding Edward's eyes, but snuck a couple glances through her hair. His fist was clenched and his stiff position never relaxed.

Edward didn't stare at Bella or even glance her way, unlike most everyone else in the room. He, instead, focused his attention on the new head in front of him. As I noticed he was staring almost right at me, I turned back around and didn't look back again. I stared forward, worrying over my sister, barely listening to the teacher when I started to feel a weird sensation on the back of my head. It felt as if someone was trying to move my hair, my scalp, my skull like a curtain. A soft tugging in either direction, but I was sure no one was touching me. This went on for a few minutes before, in an unsuspected rage, I turned around, looking Edward in the face and yelled, "If you have something to say, then just say it!"

This made the entire class freeze. Everyone was staring at me, including Mr. Banner, our teacher. Bella had jumped from the sudden shout of my voice and was staring at me like she'd never seen something so strange in her entire life. Edward looked completely stunned.

Within about two seconds, my face started to burn. I slowly turned to face the front of the room and quietly apologized to Mr. Banner, sinking in my seat, stating I had no idea why I blurted that out. The obviously displeased teacher said he'd give me this pass, because it was my first day and continued teaching after directing all the students to pay attention once again.

When the bell rang, Edward nearly jumped from his chair and left the classroom in an almost frenzied state, whether because of my shouting or not was unknown to me.

As Bella was rising from her seat, she gave me a look of confusion and concern, silently asking if I was feeling alright.

"Aren't you Isabella Swan?" a voice said.

Bella looked up to see a baby-faced, blond boy at her side as I came up on her other, completely ignored by the new person.

"Bella." She corrected, with a smile.

"I'm Mike."

"Hi, Mike. That's Alexandra." Bella said, pointing to me.

"Do you need help finding your next class?" He asked, ignoring me once again, which I was thankful for after the first brave boy we encountered paid a little too much attention.

"Headed to the gym, actually. I think we can find it."

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

Mike walked us to class, chattering the whole way there, but only to Bella. He talked about how strange he thought Edward Cullen was to act so standoffish when given the blissful opportunity to sit next to her, completely ignoring what had happened between Edward and I. He was very nice, but that did little to calm my nerves.

When the final bell rang, I was relieved to make it back to our shared truck and I could tell Bella was, too. The whole way home, Bella fought tears at the horrible reaction from a certain peer and ranted to me about why Edward seemed so angry about her sitting by him. I thought of how I wished I could crawl in a hole and never come out, knowing that by tomorrow, everyone would be aware of what happened in biology.