AN: Like an old blanket, so comfortable and familiar. I tend to prefer third person for the very reason that it allows telling the story from multiple perspectives - but 'Nicknames and Rumors' was a fun exception, and it was too tempting not to tell the story from Edward's point of view. The characters aren't mine, but they're so fun to play with. Updates weekly, for as long as I can manage.

One

I glowered at my brother, silently daring him to speak the words.

"Just because you don't have a girlfriend—"

"Fuck you, Emmett!" I bit out, folding my arms over my chest. It was the same taunt Emmett always fell back on when he was sick of my shit, and I should have gotten used to it by now. But it never failed to get a rise out of me, and Emmett knew it.

"Come on, Em," Jasper spoke before Emmett could reply, his usually mellow voice almost concerned.

"I don't need your pity, Jasper," I directed my irritation at Alice's boyfriend, aware I was being a dick but unable to stop myself. I had to look away as Jasper regarded me with a steady stare, his gray eyes filled with nothing but unfazed concern. The urge to apologize rose to my lips but I couldn't get the words out, angrily staring down at my lap in silent frustration.

"I wish you guys would just whip out your dicks and get it over with already," Rosalie huffed before reaching into her purse to pull out her compact. My gaze swivelled in her direction but she was already regarding her reflection in the compact as if nothing else in the noisy lunch room existed. "You're never going to convince Emmett to like Radiohead, Edward, and that you guys fight over this shit—"

"If he drives," Emmett reasoned, turning to Rosalie, "we have to listen to his emo, sad-sack music and I don't know if I can stand another—"

"Radiohead isn't emo!" I insisted, leaning forward. I then sighed, realizing Emmett was baiting me again. And I was falling for it—again.

"Look—it's the new girl." Alice's soft voice distracted the table at large from the argument. Alice wasn't usually capable of exercising any restraint, but she had somehow managed to keep from staring, her blue eyes briefly darting towards a table on the opposite side of the cafeteria. This was probably what reminded the rest of us to keep from twisting around in our chairs and gawking.

But after a quick glance over my shoulder, I snorted dismissively. "Who gives a shit?" She was sitting next to Mike Newton, of all douchebags. I'd overheard murmurs among the other students about her all day, but hadn't really paid attention. She wouldn't have warranted any reaction had we still been in Seattle, at a bigger school where a new student wasn't anything remarkable. After glancing at her, I didn't see any reason to change my initial impression.

"Maybe we'll be friends," Alice hopefully offered, tilting her dark head.

I lifted my brows doubtfully before reaching for the apple I'd been eating when Emmett started in with his digs at my music. "Jessica Stanley is probably telling her how weird we all are right now." A flash of disappointment crossed Alice's pale face but I pretended I hadn't seen it as I bit into the apple.

I frowned down at my tray of half-eaten food and abruptly pushed away from the table. "I'm going to class." I flung the apple core away from me, restraining a smirk as it narrowly missed Rosalie's salad. She glared in response and when I just shrugged, thrust her middle finger in my direction. "Whatever," I waved a hand, yanking my backpack off the floor.

I stalked out of the cafeteria on impatient feet, ignoring the swarm of voices and noise around me. It had started out as a shitty day and it certainly hadn't gotten any better being at school. I had gotten up so late that Esme had been forced to knock on my door and come into my room, her voice genuinely annoyed as she reminded me, "If you're going to insist on driving everyone in, you have to actually get up at a reasonable time."

I had groaned in response, longing to stuff my head under my pillow and ignore the disappointment in her voice. But I'd rolled over, nodding in her direction as I'd dragged a hand over my face. I hesitated to throw back the sheets since I only slept in boxers, but Esme had already turned on her heel, gently closing my bedroom door behind her.

Emmett had started in on the music the minute I'd turned the key in the ignition, and I'd initially tried to ignore him—which worked for all of sixty-two seconds. "Goddamnit, Emmett, are you really going to give me shit when you listen to Mötely Crüe unironically?"

"Right," Emmett shot back, "because your emo tunes are so much better." He sighed. "If you got laid every once in a while, you might actually like 'Girls, Girls, Girls.' Or you could give 'Kickstart my Heart' a try—"

"Emmett," Alice's voice had been a warning from the passenger seat, since she could see how my knuckles were getting white around the steering wheel.

It hardly mattered though, since our destination was Forks High, the purgatory we'd been exiled to after I'd gotten expelled back in Seattle. I pressed my lips together as I pulled into the parking lot, found a spot, and killed the engine. I knew better than to complain. After all, I was the reason we were stuck here, in the smallest, most boring town imaginable, with weather that managed to be even worse than what we'd experienced in Seattle.

"Come on, Edward," Alice had sighed, as if reading my mind. "One more year to go."

I'd restrained a groan as I'd followed her into the school, a low slung series of brick buildings built around courtyards that would have seemed more green had the sky not been so gray. I'd been further annoyed to find I had math for my first class. While I didn't suck at the subject, I didn't relish the idea of trying to get my brain to figure out calculus first thing in the morning. My schedule didn't improve over the course of the day, with Spanish taught by bitchy Miss Goff after math, gym after that, and physics right before lunch. Because neither one of my siblings was in the class, and neither were the Hales, I was partnered with Ben Cheney. If I hadn't already been in a shit mood, I might not have minded since Ben was quiet and smart—but I hated having to talk to anyone who I didn't already know and barely grunted at him through most of the class.

By the time I'd gotten through the cafeteria line and found my siblings gathered around a table near the back windows, I'd managed to calm down some—but then Emmett had started in again on my music.

I abruptly ducked out of the building through a side door, stalking across the courtyard to the line of trees bordering the school property. What difference did it make if I skipped the rest of the day? It wasn't as if the teachers actually got started on anything important on the first day, and if I did happen to miss anything, I could always make it up. A smile flickered over my lips at the thought of disappearing into the trees, finding a trail up the hillside where no one could see me and I wouldn't have to put up with the bullshit of this aggravating school.

But I paused at the tree line, the smile fading from my lips. I knew the school would call the house and as much as I didn't want it to affect me, I could picture Esme's face when she picked up the phone. I'd looked away from that disappointed expression too many times to count.

With a groan, I turned on my heel and stalked back across the courtyard. The final bell was ringing as I shot down the hall and found my next class. I hesitated in the doorway as I saw most of the seats at the front were taken, with one open spot next to my sister. It was only as I set my backpack on the floor that I realized the new student sat on my opposite side. She didn't look up even though I had briefly loomed over her, her gaze so intently fixed on her doodling you might have thought Miss Bloch had already started class.

The teacher turned from the white board with a smile and began the same spiel that all the teachers rattled off at the beginning of each class. I restrained a grimace of frustration, wishing I'd worked up the nerve to skip. It wasn't as if missing classes had ever affected my grades; the social workers had often said I was too smart for my own good. Esme knew it, too, but insisted I needed the routine and normalcy of school no matter how much I complained about going.

Frowning, I looked away from Miss Bloch's cheery expression, wishing she would get on with it already. But looking away put the new student directly in my line of sight, and I found my gaze narrowing as I examined her profile. She was still doodling, so focused on her notebook that it wouldn't have been crazy to assume she was copying notes from another class. But when I glanced down at the page, I only saw swirls and squiggles…and a stick figure dangling from a parachute that appeared to be dropping into flames.

I bit back a smile, lifting my gaze to the sliver of face that was visible behind the mass of brown hair spilling over her shoulders and down her back. I frowned as I was forced to admit my initial dismissal of her wasn't entirely warranted.

My quick glance across the cafeteria had given me a glimpse of a pale girl with dark hair, and while both of those observations were true, there was something more to her appearance that was oddly compelling. I looked away before Alice noticed my distraction, forcing myself to focus on my own blank notebook. I resisted the urge to draw any stick figures as Miss Bloch spoke.

"It looks like we have a new student! Miss Swan, do you want to come to the front and say a few words?"

I glanced back in the new student's direction and saw it was obvious she was trying to disappear into the floor. Her pale cheeks had turned bright pink and she briefly gripped the edge of her desk as she hesitated in her seat. I wondered for a brief moment if she was going to refuse to do as the teacher asked. I bit back another smile at the thought, imagining she might be the rebellious type. But she lurched to her feet and took two steps forward to reach the front of the room.

Her lips parted but she remained silent, her brown eyes briefly flaring wide as words clearly failed her. I couldn't help wondering what the hell Miss Bloch was thinking, asking someone to come to the front of the room—even if the class was small.

"Bella," she garbled out. "Bella is my name." She shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans as her brown eyes darted wildly around the room, obviously struggling for what else to say. "I was born in Forks, but I lived in Phoenix and now I'm back." She sucked in a breath, clearly mortified. "I like books," she finished weakly before hurrying so quickly back to her desk, she nearly tripped over her own feet.

Bella. I pondered the name as I resisted the urge to glance in her direction. The introduction had given me additional time to try to figure out what was bugging me about her, studying her features as she struggled through her forced, impromptu speech.

But there wasn't really anything I could pinpoint. I wouldn't have thought she was from Arizona given the ghostly whiteness of her skin—or that she was necessarily from a big city since there wasn't anything trendy or distinctive about her clothes. She was oddly nondescript for being so distracting, her jeans faded, her Converse scuffed, and the t-shirt under her cardigan free of logos or smart-ass text. She was bland.

Miss Bloch went on about our reading assignment for the following day as she handed out books, and I tried to focus on what she was saying. But I found my thoughts repeatedly returning to the conundrum of Bella Swan, dwelling on her like she was a math problem I had to solve. I glanced in her direction but she was looking down, scribbling in her notebook as the bell rang.

I ground my teeth, wondering what the hell was wrong with me. Worse, as I stood up, I realized Alice was staring at me. Her blue eyes darted meaningfully in Bella Swan's direction and I resisted the urge to shake my head and adamantly deny I'd been paying any attention to the new student.

I was saved by the abrupt sound of tearing fabric, and the whoosh of papers and books falling to the floor. I glanced over my shoulder to see the new student leaning down, her cheeks bright red as she struggled to gather up the mess of textbooks and assignments. I briefly thought to kneel down and help her but quickly stepped around her with a muttered word of excuse instead. I would never hear the end of it from my family if I'd given in to that instinct.

As Alice and Jasper followed, I leaned down to my sister to murmur, "Alice, her cardigan is exactly like my grandmother's." It was a shitty save but at least it was true; the new student wasn't stylish, and Alice tended to notice things like that.

But my sister simply lifted her brows at me and shook her head, her expression worried as she glanced back to where the new student was still gathering up her papers. Another girl had stooped to help her, and I denied the dart of relief I felt about that as I turned into the hall and headed towards my final class of the day.

"What the hell, Edward?!" Alice furiously whispered as she scurried to keep up with me. "What if she overheard you?"

"I doubt it," I sharply replied, before shrugging my shoulders. "And so what if she did?"

Alice simply huffed a sigh as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever, Edward." Her blue eyes narrowed as she peered up at me, as if she looked hard enough, she might see inside my head. My gaze dropped to the scuffed floors of the corridor, avoiding her penetrating stare.

"You have chemistry now, right?" We'd all looked over each other's schedules at lunch, looking to see what classes we shared.

Alice paused, as if considering whether she was going to let me change the subject. But finally, she sighed, lowering her arms. "Yeah." Her mouth quirked with a small smile, though curiosity lingered in her gaze. "See you in the parking lot after school?"

"Yeah." I turned on my heel, heading down the hall to history, desperately wishing the day was over already.