Twilight OC Rewrite VERSION TWO

Chapter Two: Open Book

Our first weekend in Forks passed without much incident. Dad, unused to spending time in the usually empty house, worked for most of it. Bella cleaned the house and got ahead on homework and wrote Mom more bogusly cheerful emails. I drove 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.

Since I wanted to get some reading in, after I got home from the almost empty bookstore, I grabbed something large from our collection of books — I can't remember which one because I hadn't gotten to open it — and went for a stroll in the woods behind our house to find a good reading area.

It was cloudier than forecasted when I walked out of the house, but I didn't mind. It was my favorite kind of weather. Knowing Bella wouldn't have wanted to join, I didn't invite her, but that was okay, too, because I knew we both needed a little alone time.

As I strolled farther into the woods, marking the paths I took so I wouldn't get lost, I stumbled upon a U-shaped clearing with some fallen trees throughout the space. Judging by the state of the trees, the breakage seemed to be recent. I chose the least damp one and sat down, ready to read whatever I'd grabbed, when I heard rustling around the clearing. Setting the book at my side, I looked around without standing up to see if I could see what animal might be nearby without scaring it off. After a few moments of hard squinting, I could've sworn I'd seen ... something human-ish off to my left, opposite the way I came in, but it was gone almost an instant later. Feeling a strange sense of foreboding creeping up on me, I got up from the fallen tree and ran. Unfortunately leaving my book behind.

The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet, so Bella was able to sleep well, which meant I was able to sleep well, too.

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

All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable around these new people than I thought I would feel at this point. I could tell Bella felt more comfortable than she ever expected to feel at all.

When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white. I could hear people shouting excitedly at each other, and had to bite back a squeal. Snow!

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

"Ew," Bella added. I knew this was coming.

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

"No. That means it's too cold for rain. 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 we have," I said, "On TV."

Mike laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. We all 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. Mike apparently had the same notion. He bent over and began scraping together a pile of the white mush.

As Bella was watching the interaction, I bent down and started tracing small lines in the snow, enjoying what I could before we had to hurry to class.

"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" I heard Bella call to Mike. Once people start throwing wet stuff, she goes inside.

As I scramble up from my snow drawings, I feel the same unusual sensation from a week ago. Someone trying to pull away my hair, scalp, skull. I look up and meet eyes first with, if I remember correctly, Christian Hale, and then with Edward. He looks confused, but furious, again. As I look away and straighten myself, I don't tell my sister that her time to confront the strange boy is upon us.