I walked down the hall way to gym class, my combat boots thudding against the linoleum. Everyone cleared the way for me, as if I had a radioactive aura. Nobody wanted to get close enough to me to obtain the horrible "Goth cooties" as my arch nemesis had put it.

I am you're average girl. I have brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin and a heart beat. Nothing made me any different from the rest of my classmates in Forks, Washington. Nothing at all. I was the queen of normal. . . .well, that's a bit of a lie. There was something that made me different from everyone here. Something I considered that made the town seem less dull.

I was a Goth. The only one in the whole school, actually. Lonely? Heck yeah. My fault? Heck no. Whose fault was it? Mike Newton; scum of the Earth. His occupation? To make my life a living Hell.

My personal goal to get him back for all the things he's done to me? Maul him in dodge ball today.

As if getting hit in the head was all he deserved from me. The thought made me want to roll my eyes so badly. He deserved so much more then physical pain.

He deserved to have his heart ripped out, just like he had damaged mine.

It had been less then three months ago when I had moved here. My mother had died in her sleep due to heart failure, and I was sent here to live with my father, Charlie, who was never around. He was currently in Tokyo, doing business with the company he worked for, and leaving me alone to stand on my own two feet.

All the people of Forks believed me to be a spawn of Satan himself; all because I dressed differently. And the only reason I dressed differently was because I was at war. With the town's people, with my own grieving for my mother, and most of all, I was at war with God. He didn't have a right to take away good people like my mom. She had been everything to me. My mother, my playmate, and all the colors of the rainbow.

When she died, the colors faded into black. And that's all I wore. Black and gray and only the bare necessity shades.

Not the most intelligent reason to become a fan of the darkness, but oh well. This was a way to cope for me.

Mike made things so hard for me. the entire town knew about my mother and who I was, for some reason. And he just felt the need to mention her death to me every chance he got. And he also made time to comment on my "scary wardrobe". Did it really matter what I dressed like?

To the microscopic town of Forks, it did. Didn't enjoy American Eagle? Congratulations, you're now an outcast! Drive anything older then the year 2002? You have been awarded the title of odd ball! Thought cheerleading and football was just a way to spread the idea that people who did those sports were the top of the line, and should be stopped? Ding ding ding! We have a total loser! Other wise known as . . . me. Bella Swan.

I snuck past the other girls changing in the locker room and stood in my usual corner. I slid my Emily Strange sweater over my head, revealing my black and deep purple, high collared corset with fish net sleeves. I heard some one snicker behind me.

Without looking I could tell who it was. Jessica Stanley. Co-torturer of me. in cahoots with her boyfriend, the vile Mike Newton. I'd know her snotty whiney anywhere. Her laugh reminded me of Mr. Ed, the magical talking horse. I wished I could send Jessica to the glue factory instead of the animal. She deserved it more.

"What the Hell do you think you're wearing?" she sneered. I made a point of ignoring her, my back still turned.

"Hello? Are you listening to me?" I remained silent, unbuttoning my shirt and sliding off the fish nets.

"Hey! I'm freaking talking to you!" I slipped off my black Victorian skirt and dumped my clothes to the side of my gym bag, still not acknowledging her.

I heard an exasperated huff from behind me. "You aren't, like, ignoring me, are you? Nobody can, like, ignore me!"

"Of course not; we can't drown you out," I muttered so she wouldn't hear. I pulled on my black shorts over my pale legs.

"Stop ignoring me! I, like, totally rule over you!" Jessica was fuming.

I froze in disbelief. She didn't just say that? Geez, she really had no life.

I tugged on my black, snug-fitting Cradle of Filth tee shirt. "Turn around when I'm talking to you!"

All of a sudden, I was pushed forcefully from behind. Of course, being the klutz I was, I lost my balance and fell forehead first onto the edge of the hard stone bench. Pain shot through me at light speed, and I knew my expression was twisted in agony. Oh dear Lord! Wow . . . that was more painful then I thought it would be.

I heard Jessica laugh, and she was joined in by another. I groaned, and it had nothing to do with my forehead.

Lauren Mallory. Awh crap . . . today just wasn't my day. Jessica's hench-woman was here to share my agony.

"Good one, girlfriend!" I heard a cackle, a horse laugh and then a slap sound. I had seen that motion enough to know they just slapped high fives.

I slowly picked myself up, grimacing. I stumbled over to the mirror to inspect the damage.

A little drip of blood was coming from the middle of my head, a dark purple bruise already there. That was certainly unattractive. But then again, I was always a bit on the plain side. At least my black eye shadow and lipstick was intact.

"Up so soon?" Lauren was by my side in an instant, and pushed me down again. My elbows made contact with the stone floor. Why is it there was so many stone things in this locker room . . . .?

I winced at the pain again. I must have a target on me or something, because these girls never took a break.

But this time I got onto my feet and balled my hands into fists. "What the heck is your problem?" I asked them.

"Our problem?" Jessica was gawking at me as if she was bewildered by what I said. "We're not the freaks here!"

"I'm not the one pushing people down! I'm not the one who thinks I'm queen of the universe!"

"But you're still the freak."

I glared at her, my eyes stinging. Oh no . . . please, don't betray me, eyes! Please don't cry Bella!

"Look," Lauren pointed at me, stabbing me with her French tipped nail, drawing blood as she scratched me deliberately. "She's crying! Little baby Bella is crying! Awh!"

Jessica and Lauren laughed louder. That's when I snapped. I focused on Jessica's nose and wound my fist back, making sure to tuck in my thumb like in the movies. And then I punched her so hard I heard a pop sound come from her nose.

She was on the ground screaming in no time at all. Lauren was starting to get hysterical. "You freak! Look what you've done to her!"

"I know!" I said excitedly. "I think I broke her nose! Isn't that awesome, the way the blood is pouring like that?"

Of course, I meant it as a joke, but Lauren and Jessica weren't smart enough to know that. Lauren's eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she slumped to the floor, and Jessica stopped squirming.

They both simultaneously fainted. It seemed as if this was totally choreographed, except the funny part was that it wasn't.

I noticed that everyone had left the locker room already. Gym had already started. I left Jessica and Lauren on the floor and quickly ran out to get hassled by Coach Clapp.

Just as I suspected, Coach Clapp chewed me out for awhile about being late. "What do you have to say about this? What's the excuse this time?"

"I was taking out the trash," I said truthfully. Just not in the way he'd expect. . . .

He rolled his eyes. "Just pick a team and grab a dodge ball."

I did so, picking the largest one out of the bin. My team looked grateful they had me on their side; they knew dodge ball was my game. As the game began, I zeroed in on the one person who I wanted to harm the most. I couldn't see him. I craned my neck and squinted my eyes in an attempt to spot Mike's spiky blond head. He was gone.

The next second I knew, I was on the ground again, except instead of getting pushed, I was hit with a dodge ball in the square of my back. The side of my face made contact with the hard wooden floors. OW!! My face hurt again!

"Never turn you're back to the enemy, Creepy."

So that's where he was. Behind me all along.

I jumped to my feet and glared at him. he had a lot of nerve doing a sneak attack like that. "Mike, get a life."

He frowned. "Now, now, I'll have none of that from you! no wonder your mom bit the dust; she was trying to escape your temper."

I grit my teeth. Murder was the only thing I was thinking; my palms tingled with the very need to smack him and cause him pain. And this was coming from someone who considered herself to be a pacifist.

"Mention my mother again. I dare you," I growled softly. His eyes widened and then tightened.

"Your mother deserved to die! She gave birth to a nobody like you!" He watched me, wondering what I was going to do. When I didn't do anything right away, he laughed nastily and turned away.

I tackled him to the ground and punched his lights out in less then a second. "never turn your back to the enemy, Mike," I returned his words, smirking.

Coach Clapp pulled me off of Mike. "Principal's office. Now."

"Yeah, sure," I gave him an innocent look and skipped off to get my stuff from the locker room. Jessica and Lauren were still out of it.

I whistled to myself as I ran out of the building. Principal's office? Yeah, right! Like I was going to do that anytime soon!

My red truck was in the parking lot, flaunting itself off around the cream colored Hummers and vans. It was like a beacon signal for me, and I dashed towards it. And slipped of course. Right into the bed of flowers at the side of the building.

I spat out the mouthful of dirt and brushed the rest off my clothes. Curse my clumsiness. I managed to make the rest of the way to my truck without further incidents occurring.

I pulled out of my spot and drove off at the slow speed my truck enforced. I popped in my CD by Harry and the Potters (yes, I like wizard rock, don't you dare say a word) and began the long drive to the empty house in the forest.

Charlie just had to buy the house farthest away from civilization, didn't he? Sure, I didn't have any friends, but that didn't mean I wanted to be kept in the middle of the forest with no one in a 5 mile radius.

The sky was getting darker and started to rain. Not that I was expecting Malibu sunshine in Forks, but I didn't want it to rain just yet. Not until I got inside my house at least. But I could get over that; it wasn't very important.

Green trees past by in a blur because the rain was coming down harder. I had no idea that rain could be so fast; it took less then three minutes to pour down furiously! It was a good thing that I had gotten in the car when I did, I guess.

The sky was lit up with an enormous flash of lightning, causing me to be temporarily blinded. I slowed down to a stop in order to stop the colors from running rampant under my eyelids.

My hand gripped my locket possessively as I closed my eyes. The cold metal calmed me down. But also . . . it brought back memories of my mother. She had given this locket to me the day before she had died. I remembered it clearly. . . .

"Bella! Come here, sweetie!" My mom waved me over to her side at the picnic table. I rushed over to her, anticipating a cheese sandwich and berry juice. And apple cobbler. Goodness, my mother's cobbler was amazing.

"Yeah, Mom?" I sat down next to her on the wooden bench.

"I have something for you," she said, hiding something behind her back. "Guess what it is!"

"Lunch?"

"Nope."

I thought for a while. "A bug?" I wrinkled my nose. I wouldn't put it past my mother to do something totally gross.

"No, silly girl! A locket!" She pulled out a silver oval locket, dangling from an intricate delicate silver chain.

"Thanks, Mom!" I giggled and slipped it over my head and around my neck. It fit perfectly.

"No problem, sweetie." She slipped her arms around me, hugging me close. "My mom gave it to me and so on. And do you know what she told me?"

"No, what?"

"She told me that this locket had been placed under a charm by a witch long ago," my mother began, getting animated. Oh, boy. This was going to get interesting. I snuggled closer, anticipating a good fairy tale. "The witch wanted to help out her little sister, who had no magical powers. The entire family did, and the little sister was the black sheep of the family; the normal one. Or in their case, the abnormal one."

I laughed. "They had a pretty screwy sense of the word normal."

"Magical powers were all they knew. Now be quiet and let me finish."

I pouted but obliged.

"The witch made the locket and dipped it in a potion that wasn't labeled. She was pretty sure it meant 'good health'. It wasn't until it was around her sister's neck did she realize what it was; a binding potion. Whenever her sister wanted something, desperately needed something, the older sister had no choice but to help her out. Now, the younger sister respected her older sister's position. It was a real pain to do something against their own will to help someone out. So they came to an agreement. The older sister would only come when the younger sister said the magic words."

"What were they?" I asked.

"They had to be the most heartfelt words that she could muster. It is supposed to change from girl to girl. And this locket is the same necklace in the story. Or so said my mother. Anyway, all the women in my side of the family handed this down. So we could all be binded, connected. So we could all help each other when the time came."

"So if I'm in trouble or need you, all I have to do is use this locket to get you?" I asked, skeptical.

She laughed. "Not really. But I'll be able to send help. Because we're binded, Bella! Forever!" she hugged me closer and laughed.

"I love you, Mom," I said, laughing along with her.

"I love you, Mom," I whispered in the dark car. My fingers tightened around the necklace. The cold hard metal was starting to cut into my skin because I was gripping it so hard. And for some reason, I couldn't see it very clearly; everything had fogged up. I blinked, and was horrified to discover that I was crying.

I tried to wipe them away, but the more I did so the more I wept. I felt stupid and childish and needy to be doing this, but my heart was aching so horribly. . . . I missed my mom so bad.

I wrapped my arms around my knees and cried harder. Mom, please help me. I need you. I love you. I want someone here to love me back. I want you back, Mom. COME BACK!

"Someone help me," I whispered desperately. My throat felt tight, especially when I gulped. The pain was so bad I couldn't even swallow correctly.

Out of no where, a loud boom noise hit the back of my truck. The entire truck shook from the impact.

"What the Hell!" I shot up into a rigid sitting position. I was scared out of my skin. Nothing could possibly upset the balance of my truck. A rampaging herd of elephants might, but they weren't native to Forks. I think.

Whatever it was, it definitely came from the trunk area. I opened the car door and hopped out to investigate. Maybe a deer had grazed the truck? No; it would have to be a monster deer. The Incredible Hulk deer.

The pounding rain drenched me immediately. I shook my matted, tangled brown hair from my eyes and trudged through what seemed like an ocean to the back of the car.

If it hadn't been for the fact I was afraid of drowning, I would have fainted into the lake-sized puddle at my feet.

Because in the back storage area of my tuck, there lay a bronze haired, ivory winged angel, knocked out from when he plummeted from the sky into my car.

But besides that, there was two other things that caught my attention. One, the boy was undeniably the most gorgeous, inhuman being I had ever seen. His black eyelashes were exceptionally longer then my own, and he had snow white skin; a very sharp contrast to his beautifully messed up bronze hair.

And two . . . the gorgeous dude angel thing in my back of my car? Yeah. . . .

He was naked.