Preface

I never knew how I would die. Or how old I would be. I guess 16 is a good age to die. I stared my killer in the eyes, not hearing what he was saying. I stood perfectly stil, not scared or anything. After a moment, he cocked his head and said something. I didn't move or speak. I guess it was a good way to die, for someone I loved. That must count.

If I hadn't gone to Forks to start a new life, I wouldn't be facing my death. At least I'm happy now. I actually have friends, and I found the one thing I wanted most. I was almost finished with school and life was great, so I could die content. I smiled briefly and the monster in front of me raised his eyebrow. He asked me a question, but I shook my head and said softly, "I can't hear you."

My killer smiled and began moving forward, moving into killing position.

Chapter One *

All my life, my world has been soundless. No, I lied. Mostly soundless. I'm what you call deaf, but not completely, but almost there. I have a very severe form of LVA, which means that the insides of your ears are swollen and destroyed. It's a birth defect, so I've never known sound, really. I can hear people when they talk loudly, or if I turn up my music loud enough, I can hear it without my hearing aids. I've never known different, so it doesn't matter to me.

I sat silently on the drive to the airport. My mom, Renee, was trying to get my attention, but I wasn't really ready to lie again. 'I have to do this,' I thought, turning to my mom. She smiled and said, "You ready for this?" pronouncing each word delicately.

I nodded. I guess I had gotten so good at saying this lie over and over again, it was becoming the truth.

She looked at the road again, an emotion flashing in her eyes very quickly, and then it disappeared. She turned up the volume on the radio, but I couldn't hear it. All I could feel was the beat of the song, vibrating the car. It must've been a pleasant song, for the beat was light and bouncy, possibly something classical. My mom was constantly listening to classical. Hum…must've been Claire de Lune.

We drove in silence for a moment, then she reached into her purse, pulling out a small object. "Here," she said handing it to me. "Just in case you need to contact me." I looked down to see a shiny new celllphone (AN: an Xpress Music Phone *sob*). My eyes widened. I had never had a cellphone before. I looked out the window and subtly wiped away my tears.

We pulled up to the airport and I got out, pulling out my small duffel. We had already sent everything else to Charlie's and he called, saying he got everyone of my 5 boxes. My mom made me take as much of my hearing aid supplies as I could.

Renee hugged me briefly, and tears were running down her face as I turned and began to walk briskly to board the plane. I had to take my hearing aids out and made sure that they didn't go though the security magnetometer or it would beep and my hearing aids would be fried. I didn't go on planes much, as you can notice.

I finally sat down in my seat and unzipped my small purse, putting my hearing aids away and pulling out my ratty copy of "Wuthering Heights". I started reading and eventually fell asleep. I woke up when we began to land, thanks to my head smacking the window. I rubbed my small bruise and climbed off the plane.

I walked into the waiting area, looking for the luggage round, to find my duffel and Charlie. I walked over and began looking through the crowd for him. Was he late? I looked at my watch and saw that I had arrived a half hour early. Great.

I found my bag and stood there waiting. I kept glancing at my watch and that made the wait seem longer, so I took off my watch and put it in my pocket. I sat down on a bench by the luggage claim and began playing with my new phone. After a while, I took a look at my watch. He was now 10 minutes late.

I stood up and began walking in circles around the luggage claim. After another 5 minutes, I let out an exasperated sound, which was probably very loud, because everyone in a 15-foot radius turned and looked at me. I blushed and ducked my head. I stared at the handle of the bench and out of the corner of my eye, I saw people still staring at me. A few minutes later and when they stopped staring at me, I began my search for Charlie once more.

I was about to go around the luggage claim again when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I let out a yelp and turned quickly. There stood Charlie, all wet and cold. I smiled and he smiled back, and then began to lead me out into the rain to his car. He brought the cruiser.

Great.

I climbed in and he turned on the heater. The car began to get toasty warm and we began to head to his house. There was nothing the whole way, no talking or attempt at making a conversation. That's okay, I wasn't really a talker. But I can talk. That's why I don't have a translator at school and don't really do a lot of ASL. It's weird, I guess, but that's how I was raised.

The reason my mom left my dad was because she wanted to get me some help. Charlie didn't have the money nor will to put me into hospitals and audiologist centers constantly. She packed her bags and mine and we left. She took me to Arizona, where some of the best audiologists are and they taught me how to talk and read lips. She did her best to pay the bills, with Charlie's help and I learned how to communicate without using my hands.

Why was I now going to live with him? Because there was a doctor in Forks that could successfully do a Cochlear Implant without any problems or side affects. Charlie said he would take me in. Renee decided against it first, but I was able to persuade her to stay with Phil, her new husband. He does baseball, so now she could travel with him. She finally agreed, as long as I text her at least once everyday.

We eventually arrived to the house, and I saw a red truck in the driveway. "Who's here?" I asked, turning to Charlie.

"No one," he said, " That's yours."

I felt my jaw drop and I smiled. "Thanks, dad!" I hugged him briefly, making us both uncomfortable and climbed out. I grabbed my duffel and purse from the back of the cruiser and walked over to my new truck. I looked through the window to the inside and looked all over. It was perfect! Better than what my mom wanted to get me. She wanted to get me a Subaru or something. That would've been expensive.

I turned to Charlie and asked, "How much?"

He smiled and shook his head, indicating he wouldn't tell me. I pouted. He could've paid a lot for it. He said, "Drop it. I will never tell."

I rolled my eyes and we went into the house. He let me go upstairs and unpack by myself, a feat that would've been impossible if my mother was there. I put my clothes in the closet and put all my hearing aid supplies in my desk drawer. I put my blankets on my bed, and puffed up the pillows, wondering why I did so. They would useless in a few hours. I sat on my bed, staring out the window as it rained. Soon, I began raining as well. Maybe not as silently as the rain outside, but I would never know.

I didn't sleep well, and it showed. I had purple rings under my eyes and my eyelids felt heavy. I took a deep breath and climbed out of bed. I hurried to the bathroom and began to shower, hoping it would wake me up and I wouldn't be such a mess. The warm water hit my skin and, if anything, it only made me more tired.

I got out and blew dry my hair, French braiding it into 2 braids. I hurried to my bedroom and pulled on my favorite pair of blue jeans and my brown tee. I grabbed my new backpack and my Phoenix Cardinals sweatshirt and hurried downstairs for breakfast.

Charlie was finishing his cup of coffee when I came bounding down the stairs. He looked up and said, "Got everything?"

I shook my head, realizing I had forgotten my hearing aids. I ran upstairs quickly and grabbed them, turning them on and cramming them in my ears. The loud music they make when they turn on sounds like funeral music. The upside, I guess, was that they were not noticeable. Invisible to the naked eye, unless you knew.

I hurried back down the stairs and Charlie said, "See you later. I'll be home at 8, and don't forget your appointment at 3."

I nodded and said, "See ya, dad."

I grabbed some wheat thins, throwing them in a bag and gulped down some milk before grabbing my Vans and heading out the door. I climbed into my truck and turned it on, jumping at how loud it was (even to my ears) and how much it vibrated. I began pushing the gas pedal, realizing that I would have to push hard to get it to even inch along. I sighed and eventually got out of the drive way, making my way to school.

I drove around for a while, realizing I didn't know where the High School was. Luckily, a shiny Volvo full of teenagers drove by me and I began following them, hoping that they were going to school. Sadly, I had to push my pedal hard to even be close to keeping up with them. They were going freakishly fast. Luckily there were lights everywhere and luck was not on their side today. I was able to make it to school, thanks to them.

I realized that school must be starting soon, because there were people everywhere. And some of those people were turning and looking at me. Was my truck really that loud? I quickly found a parking space near the main office and parked, turning my truck off before it had the teachers looking out the windows.

I climbed out, only to slip in a puddle. I caught my self, but accidentally bruised the back of my head from hitting it on the door. I stood up, looked around and saw that no one noticed. 'Yes….ow….'I thought.

I closed the door and locked it, throwing my keys in my bag and hurrying, without killing myself, up the stairs to the office. I opened the door and the secretary at the desk looked up and said, "May I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Isabella Swan-"

"Oh, okay! I'm Mrs. Cope," she said, typing something in the computer and getting up. She walked over to the back cabinet and grabbed a folder from it. She came over and opened it, revealing my schedule and a map of the school. She handed the two papers and gave me another slip, saying, "Give this to all your teachers to sign, then bring it back to me at the end of the day, okay?"

I nodded and turned, heading out the door and going to my first class. I realized she hadn't given me a bell schedule, but luckily, it was on the back of the map. All I had to do was set my watch to the schedule.

I looked at the map and figured that my first class was English, with Mr. Mason, in building 3. I found it behind the cafeteria and hurried in, hoping I wasn't late. I went in and realized I was the only one there. The teacher looked up and said, "Yes?"

I went over to him and gave him the slip and the doctor's note I had, stating that I had to sit in the front. He nodded and said, "You came on a good day. I was going to redo the seating arrangement today."

I nodded and he sat me in the front. A few minutes later, a few girls walked in, giggling. I ducked my head, appearing extremely interested in the class brochure. They walked pass me, not noticing I was there. I let out a breath and tried to calm down.

I guess the reason why I hated school was because people would either ignore me or say horrible things to me. I was happier when they ignored me, so I let them. I reread the brochure until some guy walked up and said, "Hey, you're in my seat."

I looked up and the teacher stepped in, saying, "No, I rearranged everyone's seat. You're in the back now, Mr. Yorkie."

The guy nodded and turned to me and said, "Sorry," then walked to the back and sat down in his seat. I turned and looked infront of me. I saw on the board it said, "Essays due Friday." The teacher saw me looking at the board and said, "You don't have to do it."

"I want to," I said, knowing I would have nothing better to do. He raised his eyebrows and handed me the paper, telling me what to do.

The bell rang and the teacher stood in front and said, "Settle down everyone. School is starting." Once everyone was down in their seats, he said, "Welcome, today, everyone. Today we are going to start Romeo and Juliet…"and he went on. I paid attention and took notes, trying to get everything that was said. A while into class, I pulled out my watch, and set it to the bell time. When the bell rang, I turned it on and now it was set for my classes, vibrating when the bell rang.

I grabbed my things, putting them in my bag when the boy from earlier came over. "Hey, sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to be rude."

I smiled and said, "Oh, it's okay. No harm, no foul."

I tried to hurry out of the classroom when he said, "Hey, are you Isabella Swan?"

"Yea, but I prefer Bella."

"Okay, Bella, where are you going to now?"

"Government with Jefferson, building 6."

"Need help finding it?"

I smiled politely. "No, Thank you. I think I can find it."

"Okay, well, will I see you later?"

This boy is not getting the hint. "I don't know. Nice to meet you." I hurried out the door into pouring rain. I quickly pulled my hood on before I ruined my hearing aids and ran to building six.

Yep, I could tell that today would go well.

I went to all my classes and when it came to lunch, a girl from my history class, Jessica, had permanently attached herself to my hip. She wouldn't stop talking and she wouldn't leave me alone! I tried to understand what she was saying, but she was talking too fast and too quiet to process. I would nod or say some random thing every once in a while to make it look like I was paying attention.

She walked with me to all my classes and to lunch, talking like there was no tomorrow! I grabbed an apple, a slice of pizza and a small salad before looking at her again. She was still talking. I nodded and said, "Hey, I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

"Are you sitting with anyone?"

"Um, I usually sit by my-"

She grabbed my arm and said, "Okay! Come on! You can sit with us!"

I was about to object when a pixie-like girl came up and said, "Hey Bella! We sit over here!" She grabbed my arm and lead me over to a table off to the side of the cafeteria.

I turned to Jessica and said, "Sorry, I'll sit with you some other time, Okay?" She nodded and went off to her table, looking back along the way. I turned to the pixie and said, "Thank you for saving me."

"No problem!"

"I really don't have to sit with you," I said, trying to get her to let go of my arm. Boy, she was strong!

"Oh, please? We would love it if you would!"

I was about to object when she let go of my arm and sat me down at a table. I looked up and saw 5 other people staring at me. I smiled and said, "Hi."

"Bella, this is my boyfriend, Jasper," she said, pointing to the blonde guy on the other side of the table. "This is Rosalie, his sister." Whoa, self-esteem plummeting. "and my 2 brothers, Emmett-" Holy Cow! Giant! "and Edward." I turned and looked at the boy in front of me and almost lost my senses. He was…beautiful, if not handsome. He stared at me, his eyes deep and his face suddenly pained.

He stood up and said a brief, "Hi," before turning on his heel, throwing his food away and leaving the room.

I sat there with his family, shocked and stunned. What did I do?