Twilight OC Rewrite VERSION TWO

Chapter Two: Open Book

"Do you know the Cullen family?" Bella asked. There's that outstanding exception. I could hear the hesitation in her voice, but I don't think Dad noticed.

"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." I added.

Dad surprised us both by looking rather 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 Dad make. He must feel strongly about whatever people are saying.

Bella backpedaled. "They seem nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. They're all very attractive," she added, trying to be more complimentary. Though I knew how she really felt. She was seething still over Edward Cullen.

"You should see the doctor," Dad 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."

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, I went upstairs unwillingly to start the math homework my sister had probably already started on. I could feel a tradition in the making.

That night it was finally quiet. I fell asleep quickly after assuring that Bella was peacefully asleep, exhausted.

The rest of the week was uneventful. We got used to the routine of our classes. By Friday I was able to recognize, if not by name, almost all the students at school. In Gym, the kids who were placed on teams with Bella and I learned not to pass us the ball and to step quickly in front of us if the other teams tried to take advantage of our weaknesses. I happily stayed out of their way, always looking for an opportunity to sneak off and read. Bella tried to stay out of the way, too, but her luck seemed to be worse than mine.

Edward Cullen didn't come back to school.

Every day, I watched my older sister anxiously stare towards the back of the cafeteria until the rest of the Cullens entered without him. Then I could relax and listen in on the lunchtime conversation. Most of our friends knew by now that Bella would speak for me and they never pushed as to why. I'd done a good job of hiding my stutter with the help of my sister. The discussion mostly centered around a trip to the La Push Ocean Park in two weeks that Mike was putting together. We were invited and had agreed to go, more out of politeness than desire. Bella had said to me after the initial invite that beaches should be hot and dry. What I didn't say was although I wish we weren't going with a group of people, I was very excited to see La Push.

By Friday, I was perfectly comfortable entering our Biology class, and Bella seemed to relax, too, no longer worried that Edward would be there. For all I knew, he had dropped out of school. My outburst rarely crossed my mind now, but I could tell my twin had a harder time trying not to think about him and why exactly he wasn't there.