I took one last deep breath and attempted to calm myself down. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I chanted my new mantra over and over again.

It had been ten years since I'd stepped a foot inside Forks, and now, here I was. I hadn't seen anyone from this town except for Charlie since I was six years old. I hadn't been back for the summer or Christmas break. Instead, Charlie came to visit us. Well, me. I was certain Renee was the last person he wanted to be near after she walked out on him.

I could still remember that day down to the last detail. Not only was it my last night in Forks, it was my former best friend's birthday. His seventh birthday. I hadn't seen him since he was little a boy. I'd often let my mind wonder to what he was like now. What he looked like…what his current interests were. Did he still live in the same house? Was he still friends with everyone? Did he still sleep with his ninja turtles blanket? Were his walls still blue?

There was one way to find out. I just had to get out of the car and step through double doors calling out to me. I'd been parked in front of Forks High School for ten minutes now. No one else was here yet. I came early. I wanted to prepare myself by getting acquainted with the building. I knew I only had a matter of minutes until the students started to arrive.

I glanced at my reflection in the rearview mirror. Would they recognize me? They don't know I was back yet. Though, by the end of the day, I was sure the entire town would know. I made Charlie promise not to tell a soul, just the school administration. So far it seems he kept his promise. There haven't been any visitors welcoming me back when we arrived at the house yesterday after he picked me up from the airport.

I could do this. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath. Come on, Bella. You know these people. Well, you used to. How different could they all be now?

I opened my eyes and gripped the door handle. I can do this. Just open the door and enter the building. I was expected at the main office. I can do this.

I stepped outside of the ancient truck and slammed the door closed. First step accomplished. Now I just had move across the lot and actually step inside the building. The bundle of nerves flapping around in my stomach only increased with each step towards my destination. I can do this.

I glanced over my shoulder, at my truck. Maybe I couldn't do this. I could run back to my truck before anyone noticed me. I could race back to Charlie's house and tell him I changed my mind about living here again. I could escape to Phoenix. But then I'd be abandoning him, just like Renee did ten years ago. I couldn't do that to him. I was 16, almost 17 years old. I was a big girl. I could do this. It wasn't rocket science. I just had get inside and move from there.

But what if they hate me? What if they're mad at me for leaving? They couldn't possibly blame me. I was just six years old! That still doesn't mean they'll welcome me back with home arms. Or worse…what if they don't remember me? What if they forgot all about me?

Oh, stop it! You're psyching yourself out. Just get inside the damn building!

My inner voice sure was snappy today.

Shut up.

I rolled my eyes at my corniness and proceeded to trek towards the high school. I can do this.

------

It didn't take too long for me to receive my schedule for the rest of the year. Fortunately, I arrived just two weeks after school started so it shouldn't take too long to catch up. It was better than starting in the middle or end of the school year.

I clutched my schedule in my hand and headed towards the hallway. I could see people walking past through the glass on the door. I gulped and my stomach fluttered. I can do this. I opened the office doors and stepped into the hallway. I was surrounded by a bunch of different voices talking all at once. People walked past, some of them glanced at me and probably wondered who I was.

Were any of these people my former friends? Had I already passed Edward? How different would he look now? I could only imagine him as a short seven year old boy with a toothless smile, green eyes and tousled bronze hair. He couldn't possibly be the same size anymore, and I was confident all of his teeth were probably intact now.

I kept my eyes on the piece of paper in my hand and searched for my first class. I only lifted my eyes up to glance at classroom numbers. I avoided all eye contact. I was nervous that someone would recognize me and I'd be expected to know who they are but then I'd freeze and be at a loss for words, and they'd stare at me like I was slow and tell everyone.

"Hey," a male voice called out behind me.

Do I look back? Is he talking to me? What if he's not? Would I look stupid to glance over my shoulder? What if he is talking to me and I don't look? Would he think I'm rude and stuck up? Gah!

"New girl," the voice said again.

Okay. I was almost certain he was talking to me now. Unless there was another new girl today who just happened to be walking beside me. I glanced sideways. Nope. No girls walking along beside me. I slowed my pace down and looked over my shoulder. My brown eyes met a pair of blue eyes.

"Hey." He smiled at me. I glanced up at his spiky blonde hair. Something about this guy seemed familiar. He couldn't be Edward. Not unless Edward took a few trips to a plastic surgeon.

"Hi," I replied in a soft voice.

He took that as an invite to invade my personal space and looked down at my schedule. "Need a tour guide?"

"Actually, could you point me in the direction of my first class?" I asked shyly.

He smiled before taking the paper from my hands. After a couple seconds, his eyes wide nearly popped out of their sockets. He darted his eyes to me and then back to the paper.

"Isabella Swan?!" He practically shouted. "Holy shit! Is it really you? You're really back?"

And so it begins…

I nodded weakly. Who was this guy?

"It's me," he said as if he could hear my thoughts. "Mike. Mike Newtown!"

An image of a small blonde haired boy popped into my head. "Mike! Oh my god!"

An old friend.

He threw his arms around me and I didn't even mind. Mike and I were good friends back in the day. He used to help me cut up worms for our own amusement. The strange things I did as I a child…

"How have you been?" he asked. "Did your mom come back with you? How long are you staying?"

I laughed as the questions spewed from his mouth. "I'm good. No, Renee didn't come back with me. She's still in Phoenix with her husband, Phil and my baby brother. I came back because I realized that if I didn't do it now, it'd never happen." That was true. If I had stayed in Phoenix for my junior year, I would have stayed for my senior year also. I kept asking myself what would happen if I ever came back…now I'd get to discover those answers. "I don't know how long I'm staying," I admitted. "At least for the rest of the year. That much is certain. If I don't really like it here, I'll probably go back to Phoenix my senior year."

He laughed. "You're going to hate it here. Guarantee it. But you'll love us."

I had an urge to ask him about Edward. About all of them. "So, is everyone still here? You know, the old gang?"

He nodded his head and my heart jumped in excitement. That meant that Edward was definitely still here. Butterflies danced in my tummy. Oh, God. Now I really was quite nervous. Would he accept me? What was he going to do when he'd see me? Did he remember asking me to be his girlfriend? Did he remember the charm bracelet, the one I never took off?

I was wearing it now. It never left my wrist. I rubbed it whenever I was in the mood to reminisce. Would he notice it? What would he think?

"We should get going," Mike said. "First bell is about to ring."

I smiled at him and followed him to my class. He turned us around, in the opposite direction of where I was walking, which meant I was going the wrong way. Awesome, Bella! What if Mike hadn't shown up? I would've been lost and entered the classroom late and everyone would've stared at me!

"Do you have this class too?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Nah. My class isn't far from where I found you."

Aww. He headed in the wrong direction for me. How sweet. Now what did he want? Guys weren't nice for no reason at all. They usually wanted to be compensated. I'm keeping my eyes on you, Mike Newton.

"But," he continued, "we have English, biology and gym together."

Ugh. Gym. I was forced to take it. At least I'd have someone to protect me from the balls. I saw Mike checking me out from the corner of his eye. Then again, maybe not. I may need protection from his.

We arrived at the classroom with a minute to spare. Thank you, Mikey! He handed me my schedule back and said a quick goodbye before racing off to his own classroom.

Half of the students were already seated and their eyes were glued on me. I heard a few murmurs. I could make out words like 'her' and 'girl' and 'new'.

Ah. To be the center of attention. I internally whimpered. Someone save me.

My eyes scanned over the students, looking for a bronzed haired boy. There wasn't one in sight. I sighed. But what if he dyed his hair? Or maybe it changed naturally?

It was funny that he was the only one I was really curious about seeing though I was friends with quite a few other people. But he was my first boyfriend. Even if it only lasted a couple hours. Actually, technically, we didn't break up. Would that still make him my boyfriend? Or was there a time limit to how long you could go without communication before the relationship turned void and you were free? Or did relationships between little kids not even count? I wondered what he thought about all of this.

I walked up to the teacher and handed her the sheet of paper that needed to be signed by each teacher.

She smiled at me and told me to take a seat anywhere. By this point, I was sure the entire class was seated. I eyed a few empty seats and decided to go with the one in the back. The one next to a curly brown haired girl. I walked up the aisle, ignoring the eyes burning holes on my back. I was just a new girl. It was not like I was about to flip backwards and put on a little dance for everyone. Avert your eyes, please. Nothing to see here.

I sat down and the brown haired girl pounced immediately. "Hi! I'm Jessica. What's your name?"

Jessica. I knew a Jessica. Was it the same girl? Maybe. Maybe not. Jessica is a common name.

"Bella."

Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open.

I'm gonna bet that it's the same Jessica.

"Oh my god! Bella Swan?! No freaking way!"

The corner of one side of my lips lifted up. "Yes freaking way?"

She squealed and snapped her fingers at a blonde girl in front of her. "Lauren!"

I knew a Lauren too.

The blonde glanced back, her eyes shifted from Jessica to me, to back to Jessica. "Guess who she is?" Jessica jerked her head in my direction.

"Miley Cyrus's cousin?"

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Isabella freaking Swan."

Lauren's eyes snapped back to my face, along with everyone else in the room. Jessica was a tab bit loud and everyone could clearly hear her. Audible gasps and whispers were heard around the room. Damn. Was I like celebrity in this town? I wondered if anyone would ask for an autograph.

People started shooting questions at me but the teacher clapped loudly. "Eyes up front! You can socialize after class."

Gah. At least I have forty minutes before I was to be devoured. Better prepare myself.

Half way through class, Jessica tapped my arm and handed me a piece of paper.

When did you get back? - Jess

I sighed and pulled my pen out.

Yesterday. I wrote back.

I handed her the paper and she scribbled something down. She handed it back after a minute.

No one knew you were coming back! Have you seen anyone else yet? - Jess

Just Mike. I shoved the paper back on her desk.

She looked a bit bitter when she read what I wrote. Uh oh. Stay clear from Mike Newton unless I want to be ripped to shreds. She wrote something and gave me the paper.

Are you back for good? - Jess

For now. I wrote.

After I handed the paper to her, the teacher snapped her eyes towards us. We stopped immediately.

-------

The bell rang and I sighed. I gathered my books together as quickly as possible, wanting to escape the hounds waiting to attack.

Jessica and Lauren followed me out of the room. The entire hall was crowded and people were slowing down to get a glimpse of me. Didn't they have something more important to do? Like scoot to their next class? I swear I'm not going to start doing a strip tease in the middle of the hall. Move it, people.

"Angela!" Jessica shouted while standing right next to me.

Angela must gave been clear across the hall if she had to be so damn loud.

People in the hall made a small path and we wiggled through it. I followed Jessica as she hopped down the hall. "Angela!" She called out again.

A tall girl who looked vaguely familiar stopped walking and turned around to look at us. Jessica skipped over to her. I felt something weird and my eyes drifted to the left, near the lockers.

My heart skipped a beat.

There was a tall boy…no…there was a tall man leaning against a locker with untamable bronze hair and bright green eyes. But he wasn't looking at me. He was talking to a small gothic looking girl with short spikey black hair.

"Bella Swan!" I heard Jessica screech.

The bronze haired man shifted his eyes to Jessica, seeming to be interested in what she was saying.

"Bella Swan is back!" She said and pointed directly at me.

I blushed and lowered my head.

When I looked back up, a pair of intense green eyes were locked on me. I swallowed and stared straight back. His lips parted and he didn't even blink. Neither did I.

I suddenly felt a tug on my arm and I was being led away, in the opposite direction of where he was standing.

"Edward," I whispered to myself. That was definitely Edward.

Why didn't he come over to me? Why didn't he say hi? Was he just as stunned as I was? He certainly was not a little boy anymore. He had grown up quite a bit. And he was rather attractive. Attractive? Who am I kidding? He's gorgeous!

"Bella." Jessica snapped me out of my trance. "You remember Angela, right?"

I looked at the tall skinny girl in front of me and nodded. I was standing in a different hallway with them, but my mind was back in the hallway where I had just seen the only boy who ever asked me to be his girlfriend. I hoped to him again today. I hoped he was in some of my classes. And most importantly, I hoped he actually would talk to me.