Disclaimer : I don't own it.

Note : I keep imagining this scene of a different way Bella and Edward could meet. It happens various ways, but always takes place in the same area. I wanted to try for something a little different with this story. It's still Edward/Bella though. I also can't guarantee if I'll be bringing in his family much or not. And if I do, it might not be until much later in the story. Every time I've worked them in, it's changed my ideas a lot, so I'm struggling to stick to the plan. LOL

We all know who 'he' and 'him' will be for the most part. And with the references, I'm hoping you'll get all the 'she', 'they' and other 'he' references, as well. I hope you like it. Notice that there won't be a whole lot of action for a while, but that will pick up. Promise. Mostly Bella's POV, but also some Edward's POV.

JuseaPeterson - Between the two you mentioned in your review to Twilight One-Shots, this is my most recent and somewhat original story, so I thought this would be the one I'd go with. :)

NOTE2 : I got a complaint from a reader about all the review replies in later chapters, so to appease that reader, I've decided to repost all the chapters without the replies. For those of you who've read this story already, you already know what I answered, so...

Warning : I'm not sure where this story is going to go, but I'm going to list it as 'T' for now. There might be the faintest of foul language, but not often at all (I'm actually trying to avoid it), and there might be some graphic violence later on. Again, not too graphic, but I want to list the rating at 'T' for safety.

Summary : Bella Swan lives in Forks Washington with her Police Chief father, Charlie Swan. Every day, she walks to school via a path through the woods. It's same old, same old, and she often wishes something interesting would happen to her. One day, she meets a mysterious stranger on the path, and unknowingly gets her wish. Who is he and what does he want? More importantly, what is he?

Legend :

"Speaking"

Thoughts

Flashbacks/Visions/Dreams

Notes/Messages

(Scene/POV Changes)

(Bella's POV)

Who is that?

That's the thought that ran through my mind when I first saw him. I was walking along a long, somewhat overgrown path, through the woods, on my way to school. It was early in the morning, and the forest was misty and dark, as the sun rarely shone here in Forks Washington. The air was cool, and the plants were thick and green. The path was gorgeous and almost like some sort of fantasy come to life.

I loved using it to walk to school. It helped to relax me as I made my way to a long, tedious day of school work, and dealing with gossips, bullies, and my few friends. It started some distance outside of Forks, and ran through the woods, straight through the center of the town and a ways out of it on the other side. There was a way to it from the backyard of my father's house. There were some breaks that led to other paths, but most of them were overgrown from the lack of usage. Even this one.

I'd really thought I was the only one who ever used this trail. I'd asked my friends Angela and Jessica about it, but they both stated they used their cars to get to school. Angela didn't have ready access to the path, and her mother was overly worried about her safety. That was her explanation, anyway. Jessica was just grossed out by the idea of mucking through the bug and dirt infested under-brush.

They were great friends. Angela Weber was shy and sweet, with long black hair, black eyes and glasses. Her skin was pale, like everyone else's, considering that Forks was a cloudy, dreary town. Jessica Stanley was more loud and boisterous, with a thing for Mike Newton, who had a thing for me...apparently. She was a huge gossip, and I didn't get along quite as well with her as Angela, just because I knew she could never keep a secret. She had long blond hair, blue eyes, and the same pale skin.

Mike Newton was the puppy dog of the group. He followed me around, always trying to help me out, asking me to a dance, or overall, trying to be overly friendly. I turned him down every chance I got, but he never relented. He had this round, baby-ish face, and stood about average height. He was slender, had blonde hair and blue eyes.

Me, I was average, with long brown hair, brown eyes, and pale skin. The only difference was that I should have been a lot more tanned, considering I'd only recently moved to Forks from sunny Phoenix Arizona. Maybe I really was part albino?

My point is... I thought I was the only one who ever used this trail. The school days were long and monotonous, and I often found myself wishing something interesting would happen. Something different.

Then I saw him.

It was about the second month into my new term at Forks High, and he was the first person I'd ever seen on this trail besides me. I hadn't even realized someone else was on the trail until I heard a twig snap.

His face was turned down, so I couldn't see it clearly, but I could easily see that he was paler than anyone I'd ever seen. His hair was unruly and bronze, sticking up in a sexily messy fashion from the top of his head. He was taller than me, probably about six feet if I had to guess, long and lean, with a slightly muscular frame. What got me, however, was the fact that he was walking in chilly Forks weather in a black t-shirt and black jeans.

Where was his jacket? Wasn't he cold?

I felt my heart rate increase as we neared each other. I noticed he was about my age, but he was heading away from the only school in the area. Maybe he was skipping, or maybe he didn't go to school here? The only other school I could think of was the Quileute native school, and he didn't look like a Quileute native to me. He was definitely beautiful though, as I could make out his angled cheeks and full, ruby red lips.

As we got closer, he lifted his head, and I felt my heart skip a beat when dark golden eyes landed on me. They were distant and uninterested, but sharpened almost immediately. His steps seemed to falter, and his entire body stiffened up. The once golden eyes had flickered to a deep, penetrating black that seemed to bore through me, and his expression seemed to change to an inhumanly hostile one that had me fearing him at once.

Gone was the 'who is he?' question, and it was immediately replaced with 'what is he?'. Surely no human could look so foreboding, especially in only a matter of seconds.

But then... I was just being paranoid. After all, if he wasn't human, what was he?

I found my eyes locked on his. I had stopped walking by this point, but unfortunately, so had he. His eyes were narrowed dangerously, and his hands were clenched by his sides, his fingers digging into his palms. His eyes were blacker than the darkest night, and his already pale face seemed to pale even more, until it reached deathly shades of ash.

Swallowing heavily, I licked my lips, trying to work past the lump of fear that had suddenly formed in my throat. My mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and my ears were ringing. My chest felt tight and my vision began to cloud over. It was about then that I realized I'd stopped breathing, and took a deep breath. My sense of smell wasn't that great, but I clearly picked up this unusual sweet perfume in the air, and I blinked at the stranger.

He'd taken a step closer. His eyes were locked on my mouth, and he was still glaring at me with dangerous intensity. His body was held so straight, he didn't even shake the tiniest bit. That's why it was easy for me to pick up on the fact that he wasn't breathing.

As quickly as he'd taken the step forward, he'd backtracked two. It was...faster than I could really keep up with. One moment, he looked like he was about five feet away and ready to kill me, the next, he was ten, and glancing around anxiously, a low, rumbling sound vibrating it's way from his throat.

Wait... Did he just...growl? I blinked again, and when I opened my eyes, he was gone.

"What the...?" Looking around, I tried to see if he'd just managed to slip by me, but there was no sign that he'd ever been on the trail. He wasn't in front of me, or behind. He wasn't anywhere, and there was nothing else to suggest that strange confrontation had ever happened. Did I just...? Shaking my head, I began to walk. I was embarrassed when my steps were shaky, and I stumbled several times, but I pushed it aside as I caved in and just began to run through the woods.

He was....fast. Too fast. His eyes...they were gold and then black, but eyes don't just change color. I felt a bubble of nervous laughter echo up inside of me, but choked it down as I came upon the end of the trail and exited into the field that led to the school. Slowing to a brisk walk, I stumbled again, this time from clumbsiness and not fear, and caught myself. And humans can't move that fast. And they don't growl like that!

There had been little human about that growl. It sounded surprisingly feral and hostile, and I had a feeling that in any other circumstance, it would have led to my death. But that didn't make sense. Actually, very little about that encounter made sense.

Well that just sinched it for me.

"Talk about an overactive imagination!" I muttered to myself, letting the nervous laughter out as I made my way through the parking lot and up the stairs to the school. But the twig... No, I knew that could have been part of my overactive imagination. Chancing a glance back towards the woods, I gasped when I saw a pale figure standing at the edge of the path, glaring at me.

Another blink and he was gone.

Shaking my head, I frowned as I turned and entered the school. Overactive imagination, or....something more...?

I realize that I've jumped right into it. I hope you don't mind.

Hope you like it.

R+R please

Thank you.

Tenshi