Twilight OC Rewrite

Chapter Three: Phenomenon

When I opened my eyes in the morning, something was different.

It was the light. It was still the gray-green light of a cloudy day in the forest but it was clearer somehow. I realized there was no fog veiling the window.

I jumped up to look outside, and almost yelled in joy.

A fine layer of snow covered the yard, dusted the top of our truck, and whitened the road. Even better still, all the rain from yesterday had frozen solid ⎼ coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, gorgeous patterns, and making the driveway an ice slick. I knew Bella would be grumpy this morning when she saw what lay in wait for us, but I couldn't help my excitement.

Dad had left for work before we got downstairs. In a lot of ways, living with Dad was like having our own place.

I threw down two quick bowls of cereal and some orange juice as Bella came moping down the stairs. I felt excited to go to school, and I could see Bella oddly felt the same way, despite her grudge with the weather. I found myself wondering what class would be like with my new biology partner.

I felt stupid, because I didn't even know him. He was also the adopted sibling of the boy who drives my sister insane. I also saw him openly laughing at me yesterday. I should be embarrassed, dreading the thought of having to sit beside him.

It took every ounce of my concentration to make it down the driveway alive, mainly because Bella was clinging onto me trying not to slip and fall. I almost lost my balance when I finally got to the truck, but I managed to cling to the side mirror and save us both. Clearly, today wasn't going to go as well as I was hoping.

Riding to school, I distracted myself by thinking about Mike and Eric and the obvious difference in how teenage boys responded to us here. I was sure I looked exactly the same as I had in Phoenix. Maybe it was just that boys back there had watched me pass slowly through all the awkward phases of adolescence and still thought of me that way. Perhaps it was because I was a novelty here, where novelties are few and far between. Possibly, my crippling anxiety and silence was endearing to some. Whatever the reason, Eric's overly-helpful behavior was disconcerting. I'm sure Bella thought the same thing about Mike Newton.

Our truck seemed to have no problem on the black ice that covered the roads. Bella drove very slowly, though, not wanting to carve a path of destruction through Main Street.

When I got out of the truck at school, I saw why we'd had so little trouble. Something silver caught my eye, and I walked to the back of the truck — carefully holding the side for support — to examine our tires.

There were thin chains crisscrossed in diamond shapes around them. Dad had gotten up who knows how early to put snow chains on the truck. My throat suddenly felt tight. I wasn't used to being taken care of, if you didn't count Bella and I taking care of each other, and Dad's unspoken concern caught me by surprise.

"Hey, Alex.." I looked over the truck towards my sister. "I think I'm gonna stay here for a second, you know, brace myself for today."

It was obvious that she was watching Edward, who stood across the parking lot by his car with all of his siblings, but I wasn't going to point out to her that I knew that.

"Okay, Bella. Just don't be late." I started walking towards the school, leaving her with that. I can understand why she wants to brace herself. Just last week, we were speculating why he hated her and then, yesterday, he struck up a conversation like everything was normal.

As I was reaching the school doors, I wondered if I needed a break. I had a run-in with one of those siblings, too. It was almost as surprising as Bella's. I stopped just in front of the doors to think when I heard an odd sound.