Forks

They were back on the road early the next morning ready for another long day of driving. They should make it to Forks sometime that evening.

Good time was made and they arrived at the house not long after Charlie got home from work. He came out to greet them as they pulled into the driveway.

"Hey guys. I'm glad you made it here safely." Charlie said as he made it to them. He wrapped Bella up in a warm embrace that she returned awkwardly with bags already in hand. "Hi Ch-Dad." she said.

Alex was next. "How are you doing Dad?" he asked while returning the hug.

"Not bad. No new aches or pains in a while so life is pretty good at the moment." Charlie replied.

They released each other and Charlie grabbed some of their bags and led them inside and up to their rooms.

"I cleared out some space in the bathroom for the two of you." Charlie said as they passed by it.

"Right, one bathroom." Alex heard Bella mutter.

"Well, here we are." Charlie said placing Bella's bags on her bed. "I left everything the way it was, but if you want to change anything you just let me know. A new coat of paint or something like that."

"Thanks Dad." she said.

An awkward silence filled the room.

"Right." Charlie said and made his way out, leaving Bella to get settled.

Alex continued down the hallway to his own room. He had continued to visit Charlie well after Bella had stopped so his room was not as bad as hers but he had missed the last few years so there some slightly dated posters and other things a younger Alex had that were no longer needed. A trip to the nearest Goodwill would be in his near future.

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A rumbling in the driveway drew them to the front yard where an ugly orange truck had just pulled in.

Charlie was already outside and talking to them. Alex recognized them immediately. The older one in the wheelchair was Billy Black. Charlie's best friend. The other was his son Jacob.

Charlie heard them and turned. "Come say hello you two. You both remember Billy don't you?" he asked.

"Of course I remember. How are you Billy?" Alex said while shaking his hand.

"I'm still dancing." he said smiling.

"Hi Billy." Bella said.

"Bella." Billy said in greeting. "I'm glad your finally here. Charlie hasn't shut up about it since he told me you were coming."

"Alright keep exaggerating and I'll roll you into the mud." Charlie said.

"After I roll into your ankles!"

Which led to them play fighting in the street.

"I see they are still at it." Alex said to Bella and Jacob.

"I think it's getting worse with age." Jacob said.

"HI. I'm Jacob. We used to make mud pies together." he told Bella smiling.

"Yea, I remember." she said.

She shot Alex a look for help.

'Wow. He's crushing already.' Alex thought.

Before he could save her Billy and Charlie were back, breaking the awkward moment.

"So, what do you think?'' Charlie asked Bella

"What?" she replied.

"Your homecoming present." he said

"This!" Bella said shocked.

"I just bought it off Billy here." said Charlie.

"I totally rebuilt the engine." Jacob said jumping in.

"Oh my gosh, this is perfect." Bella said.

She and Jacob got into the truck as he told her about it.

"I knew you already had a car Alex but I figured Bella would like to be able to get around on her own." Charlie said turning to Alex.

"Yea, your right. She was never really interested in her own car back in Arizona but it is still good for to have her own way around. "Alex said.

Looking at the truck Alex was glad more than ever that he had seen to his own transportation needs. He silently promised Bella that he would do some upgrades of his own to the rust bucket.

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They had the weekend to get settled but Monday came and it was time for school.

They decided to take separate cars. Bella needed the practice and Alex did not spend years working on Mildred for nothing.

Pulling into the school parking lot they got a lot of attention, if for different reasons.

"Nice ride." one kid called to Bella insultingly.

He was ignored completely.

Alex parked farther away. By the time he caught up to Bella near the office she was already making excuses to a guy Alex assumed was Eric. They made their way into the office to get their schedules..

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Alex had History as his first class. He entered the classroom and headed to the teachers desk and gave her his paperwork.

"Hello Alex I am Ms.Clarke." the teacher said.

She stood and introduced him to the class. "Class this is Alexander Swan. He is a transfer from Arizona. Alex would you like to tell the class a little about yourself?''

"Uh, Okay. My name is Alex. I'm from Phoenix. I can hold my breath for over three minutes. I once painted a portrait while only using my feet. I like the show Supernatural. Most importantly I absolutely hate tomatoes." Alex said to the class.

"...I see." Ms.Clarke said uncertainly. "Well, you can take your seat now Alex."

With a nod Alex made his way to the only free seat in the room. Alex could see at first glance that the girl he would be sharing a desk with was a vampire. What came as a bit of a shock though was that he did not recognize her.

Sitting down next to her, he turned extending his hand. "I'm Alex" he said

"Yes, I know. I heard your very interesting introduction." she said with a slight amused smile. She took his hand. "My name is Edythe. Edythe Cullen."

"It's nice to meet you Edythe." Alex said releasing her hand. It was cool to the touch but not uncomfortably so or even as much as he was expecting.

There was not much time for them to talk during class but when the bell rang they left with a good first impression of each other.

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Bella was annoyed. In Phoenix there were enough P.E. activities that she could always find something to do that did not require a lot of physical exertion. Here though, not so much. She was forced to play volleyball with everyone else. She was having to hold herself back so much that it was messing with her coordination a bit.

Slowing herself down she accidently sent the ball into the back of someone's head. As she was apologizing another girl ran up.

"She's got a great spike huh?'' she said " I'm Jessica by the way."

"I'm Mike. Do you want to sit with us at lunch?" he asked.

"Sure." Bella replied.

----------------------

Bella was at lunch. She was sitting with Jessica and her friends. They were currently in a discussion about current school events Bella knew nothing about so she was not part of the talk. Alex set his tray down beside Bella, taking the seat Eric had left vacant with his earlier departure.

"So how has your day been so far?" Alex asked her.

"Fine I guess. P.E. sucks." she said

"Noted. I think I have that next." Alex said.

"Hello, and you are." Jessica asked interested, having noticed him sit down.

"I'm Alex. Bella's twin." he said.

Jessica began to say something else when Bella spoke. "Who are they?"

A group of very good looking pale teens had just entered the cafeteria. They got their trays and went to an empty table across the room.

"Those are the Cullens." Angela said.

"They are Dr. and Mrs.Cullen's foster kids. They moved down from Alaska a few years ago."

Bella watched with fascination as they walked by. She could tell just as easily as Alex could what they where. Their eyes intrigued her however. Instead of the normal red theirs were a golden color.

Leaning over to Alex she whispered in the language she had created as a child. ~"Why are their eyes that color? I know they are vampires, they should be red."~

He did not say anything for a moment and she knew he was reading their minds.

~"They call themselves vegetarians. They only drink animal blood. I guess it has an effect on eye color."~

Just then two more came into the room.

"Who is that?" Bella asked.

"Edward Cullen." Jessica replied knowing who Bella was talking about.

"He and his sister Edythe are the only ones single in the group." Angela said.

Bella kept giving them glances throughout lunch, interested in the vampires. Alex noted she was looking at Edward a bit more than the others.

Alex had to admit he gave Edythe a few looks himself.

---------------

Alex monitored Bella through her Biology class with Edward. He was fairly sure it would play out like he thought it would but better safe than sorry. When Bella crossed in front of the fan it affected Edward as expected. They worked their way through an awkward class and Edward fled as soon as the bell rang.

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~"Do I smell bad?"~ Bella asked Alex after they got home after school. They had previously decided all vampire talk would be done in secret.

He gave her a quick sniff. ~"You smell fine. Why?"~

~"Edward Cullen acted like I stunk during class today."~ she said.

~"Ah, No it's the exact opposite. To him your blood is the most appealing thing he has ever smelled."~ Alex said. ~"He has excellent self control. Most vampires would have drained you right there in class."~

~"If he had tried he would have failed."~ Bella said with confidence.

Alex just grunted in acknowledgement. He fully believed her.

~"Still is this not cool. Vampires we may actually be able to talk to and learn about them. We still don't really know all that much about them other than that they exist."~

~"True. Just be careful and take things slow. We don't know how they will react if they know we know. Also be aware that Edward is a telepath similar to me but more limited, and Alice can see visions of the future based on our decisions so if you decide on something regarding them she will probably see it so be careful."~

~"Got it."~ she said.

A/N-----------------

I stuck mostly to canon for this one. I could not really find anything to change here.

I have only recently discovered Edythe as a character in a few works, all of which are short and incomplete with her being a minor side character. As such I know nothing about her. Instead of putting my own description of her I will leave it undefined and you can picture whoever you want as her.

I am making this up as I type mostly so any ideas or suggestions are welcome.