Crossroads

T W O

Bella did not welcome the sound of her alarm the next morning. The rain had kept her tossing and turning all morning. The endless drone gave her no moment of peace. She half considered not even getting out of bed, however she knew the longer she put it off the harder it would be to convince herself to go to school. Bella groaned as she dragged herself out of bed and spent the morning telling herself all the reasons why she should go to school. The list was very short.

It was easy to find the high school. Bella followed the parade of cars filled with teenagers and found herself standing in front of a brick building. She keep her head down as she followed the signs towards the front office. She tried to ignore the whispers and stares that followed her. Bella sighed in relief at the rush of warm that enveloped her once she stepped inside the office. Her lips twitch at the various potted plants that decorated the small room. It seemed no one in Forks ever got tired of the vegetation there.

An older woman with greying hair glanced up from her world as Bella entered. She stood and smiled widely as Bella stepped further inside. The woman stuck her hand out eagerly as she said,

"You must be Isabella Swan! We're all very excited to have you back dear."

Bella quickly shook the woman's hand before running her fingers nervously through her hair.

"Um, it's Bella actually and I just needed to grab my schedule."

Bella only half listened to the woman as she explained to her she would have to get a signature from all of her teachers and turn it in once the school day was over. Bella already felt overwhelmed as she was being handed her class schedule and a map of the school. It seemed there was no turning back now. According to her schedule her first class was in building three. If she as in better spirits, Bella would have found it amusing that a high school with only three hundred students needed multiple buildings to hold its students.

Bella jumped when a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She glanced to her right to see an oily faced teen who seemed to have no concept of personal space.

"Hey, you must be Isabella! I'm Eric," he said, squeezing his hand around her shoulder.

Bella shrugged his hand off and laughed uncomfortably. Her teeth ground together to she kept herself from going off on the guy.

"It's Bella actually."

She had the funny feeling she would be repeating that phrase all day long.

"Where's your first class? Maybe I can help you find it."

Bella shot him a tight smile. "No, I should be fine."

Bella silently prayed that he would go away. Eric had other plans.

"Really it's no problem."

Bella sighed as she handed over her schedule. Eric read over it and lamented on the fact that they only had one class together. Bella didn't feel the same. She guessed it was nice of him to show her the way, but he stood too close for comfort. It didn't help that every corner she turned down, a million of eyes were glued to her. She was at her wits end and she hadn't even started the first class. After Eric, not many people went out of their way to introduce themselves. It wasn't until her fourth class of the day that another person spoke to her.

"Hi! I'm Jessica! Where are you sitting at lunch?"

Bella stared dumbly at her. "Um, well...I don't know." She didn't know exactly what answer the girl was looking for.

Jessica smiled, her whole face lighting up. "You can sit with me and my friends! Eric told me how he met you this morning. You guys have AP government together."