Chapter: One
Rating: T (for swearing)
Length: ~1400

Author's Note: I'm back with the first chapter of the rewrite! There's two main things I tried to focus on in improving the story - making each chapter longer, and keeping to the one character's point-of-view as much as possible throughout a chapter (this one's Rosalie). Also, I disliked the abrupt beginning of the old version of this story; it began in the middle of a scene, so that's changed too. For all those who haven't read the original and are wondering what the hell I'm going on about, this story is a revamped, and hopefully better, version of another one that went by the same principles. It's the same story in essence, just changed a little in the way it's written - so no big plot changes.

Anyway, enjoy and be sure to let me know what you think! Reviews honestly do keep me writing.

P.S. Flames? Pointless. Don't waste your time.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of the characters, just the concept of this story.

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It was the first day of a new year at Forks High School. It was raining - as usual (honestly, is that even worth noting?) - and there was going to be a whole new bunch of irritating high school humans to hear the rumours surrounding the ever-mysterious Cullen clan. The whole thing was amusing, really. The humans made up the most implausible stories possible, everything but the truth. We practiced witchcraft, we were under witness protection, we were in a cult...everything one could imagine. Except, you know, that we're not human. No, that would be too frightening for their minds to comprehend. That they're not actually the top of the food chain. Or perhaps I'm giving them too much credit; maybe they're just a completely unimaginative, boring species in general. That would seem to prove correct - at this school, anyway. The instinct to conform to the norms of their society – namely, follow whoever the popular girls are at the top of the ladder each year – and fit in on such a shallow level showed that they were all simply insecure and timid; they felt the need to seek approval for everything they did. Did they bother to appreciate what they had, simply by being human? No, they were too concerned with their own superficial worries to really be grateful for anything real or realise the potential they all had.

Yes, humans were all the same.

It had only been a few hours, and already I was sick of the restrictions of school. The humans predictably lived up to my expectations by spending the morning discussing (gossiping about, really) a new girl. She was stirring up more gossip than our family, even. This irked me a little. I knew it was just the vain, selfish part of my personality rearing its head but I felt no desire to suppress it. My egocentric thoughts never failed to annoy Edward, but I simply appreciated my beauty for what it was. I wanted to look good. It was nothing like the trivial human appreciation for beauty; I knew I was gorgeous, by their standards and ours. I sought no approval from anyone but myself. That was how it should be.

Her name was Isabella, but she kept insisting (though not in an obnoxious way) that people call her Bella. She'd just moved here from Phoenix, Arizona to live with her Dad, Charlie, the head of the tiny police force of Forks. Predictably enough, the boys were practically tripping over their own feet – figuratively – trying to attract her attention. Already Eric Yorkie, Mike Newton and plenty of other boys whose names I didn't bother to learn had shown their interest - not openly, just hints which she seemed quite oblivious to. That was yet another thing I detested about this race; they never said what they meant, and that was why they usually ended up disappointed.

Bella was pretty, for a human, though not remarkably so. A girl named Jessica had befriended her somewhere between the start of the day and lunchtime. I smirked. Poor girl. It looked like she was unwillingly caught up in Jessica's world of gossip and the school scandals. Jessica was known for her ability to make up rumours about anything, and I guessed that she had only assigned herself Bella's guide in an attempt to get some new information.

I turned my attention back to our table, only to hear Edward and Emmett in a debate over which was the best hunting grounds in the country. Sighing in exasperation, I turned my attention elsewhere. Alice and Jasper were holding hands, and she was encouraging him in his mental struggle to not drain one of the humans here. Jasper always had to try the hardest. Personally I always thought it was simply because he wasn't really committed to abstinence; he was only here for Alice. Of course, he had made peace with the rest of us, and he and Emmett shared a brotherly bond, but privately I thought that if Alice somehow died he would leave us.

Apparently, the thought wasn't so private – Edward shot me a glare from across the table. Always the invader of privacy, aren't you? I thought, irritated. I'm allowed to have an opinion. I'm not going to tell him what I think, so it's irrelevant. Tune my thoughts out or something if you're so fucking against hearing them, and leave me alone. He showed no sign of hearing me – he was good at that, though I suppose you had to be with his power, else you would go insane – and refocused on his conversation. I took satisfaction in the fact that I had a better record than Edward. I'd never tasted human blood, and that was something I was extremely proud of. My record was just as good as Carlisle's in that sense. Edward had gone off on that rampage after he was turned, drinking the blood of so many human criminals he lost count. Though he tried to justify the decision by saying that it was better to kill criminals than innocents and that the rest of the humans were better off without them, who he killed didn't make a difference to me - a human was a human. Why bother putting them into categories of good and bad? I suddenly heard my name mentioned, and I went to turn and see who had spoken it – an involuntary reaction. It was the girl Jessica again. I smiled; it was about time she'd gotten around to informing Bella of us. They were whispering, stupidly – we were across the room from them, there was no way in hell a human could hear well enough to know of the conversation from that distance. Bella glanced at Edward, quickly, and dropped her gaze again. I felt a faint stab of jealousy. Damnit, I'd thought I was over him once and for all. Evidently that was not the case, though my conscious mind felt no attraction towards him whatsoever. Leftover emotions, then, that was all. Again, I heard my name mentioned.

"The Hales are brother and sister, twins – the blondes – and they're foster children."

Bella sneaked a quick glance over here yet again, however this time she was staring at me. I met her gaze, a challenge, hoping to portray slight contempt. As soon as Bella realized I was glaring, her face turned bright red and she looked down quickly. But I'd definitely seen it – that was a touch of admiration in her eyes. I tossed my hair back, pleased. I loved what I could show just with my eyes and my expression, not needing words to convey even slight emotions. I wondered how long Bella would put up with Jessica for – until she found a nicer friend, no doubt. Another shy girl named Angela had been trying to start a conversation with her for a while. No doubt they would become better friends; they had much more in common.

The bell rang, loud and shrill in my ears, and the student body let out a collective groan. I, however, was relieved. Lunchtime was no different to the rest of the time spent in school, a pointless waste of time. There was only just over an hour until I could get out of here for the day, and after throwing my food in the trash can, I marched off to my last class with renewed enthusiasm for the end of the school day.