DISCLAIMER: As much as I wish I did, I own nothing pertaining to Twilight. *Sigh*

A/N: As you can read on my profile, I have been out of the FanFiction writing realm for a long time. This is my first foray back into it, so I beg you, be gentle. I always wanted to explore a different side of Bella than what we all see in the books. I've attempted to do that here.

The story is from Edward's point of view. I've been toying around with making alternate chapters from Bella's POV. Please, let me know if you would like to read that. Otherwise, I'll just stick to Edward. I find him the most interesting, anyway. ;) Enjoy!!

I sat down at my usual lunch table, tray full of disgusting lunch food in hand. An involuntary groan escaped my lips as I realized that I was, indeed, the odd man out. Again. I sank lower in my seat as my friends paired off. Rosalie Hale and my brother Emmett. My sister Alice and Rosalie's brother Jasper. And then there was me. Edward Cullen, loner extraordinaire. The constant misfit, the fifth wheel in our little group. It's not like I enjoyed being alone; in fact, I hated it with an all-consuming passion. I longed for someone to fill the chasm deep inside me. But I had lost too much, was too broken, to be comfortable with anyone.

The Cullens and the Hales had a reputation around Forks High School. We were quiet; we kept to ourselves, and were considered outsiders. We never let anyone close, and our living arrangement only added fuel to the fire. No one knew what to make of us, and that made them stay as far away from us as possible. We were a mystery that no one could solve. If they knew about each of our pasts, then we would become even bigger freaks than we already were.

All five of us were adopted by Carlisle and Esme Cullen. They're young-in their mid-thirties-but they have a deep compassion for the suffering. We were all adopted within two years of each other. First me, when I was 12. My parents were killed in a car accident when I was 10, and I spent the next two years in various foster homes. Carlisle was my attending physician when I was in the hospital with a broken arm, courtesy of my foster brother. Before I knew it, the paperwork had been filed and I was officially their son. They gave me the choice—as they did with all of us—of keeping my last name. But I ceased to be a Masen the day my parents died, so I became a Cullen instead.

Emmett was next. He had been in foster care since he was a baby. Born to a 16-year-old coke addict, the state had taken him away from his mother when he was three days old. He was 13 when Carlisle treated him for a football injury. Just like me, Emmett came home with him days later and never left. Also like me, he adopted the last name of Cullen.

Jasper and Rosalie were the next to join our family. Fraternal twins, they were also 13 and came to live with us several months after Emmett arrived. Not legally adopted like Emmett and I are, they don't talk about their past, but they opted to keep their last name, Hale, instead of changing it to Cullen.

Alice was the most recent arrival. Showing up on the doorstep as a teenage runaway looking for shelter a year later, she was my age and full of life. She had run away from an abusive home, where her stepfather molested her every night since she was six. At 13, she'd had enough. She had been living on the streets for almost a year when she stumbled onto our door. Carlisle and Esme immediately took to her. Though not legally adopted, she changed her last name to Cullen and took to life with us spectacularly. She seemed perfectly at ease with Carlisle after only a year, proving what a survivor she really was.

So it was the five of us, banded together, for better or worse. Like the three Musketeers, only with two extra Musketeers. Rosalie and Emmett immediately took to each other, and though it seemed strange and incestuous to those around us, they were inseparable. The same for Alice and Jasper, though they had only recently begun to feel an attraction for each other. It was an inside joke among our family that it wasn't incest, since Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice were "permanent residents." No one else outside of our family seemed to get that.

Though it was a lonely existence, it was a comfortable and happy one. We had moved to Forks a year previously from Alaska when Carlisle was transferred to a Port Angeles hospital. We were outsiders there too, so it didn't bother us much anymore. Besides, Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett were seniors and would be graduating at the end of May, and Alice and I were only a year behind them.

I heard Alice giggle at something Jasper had whispered in her ear, and rolled my eyes. They were so disgustingly gooey with each other. Emmett saw my expression and chuckled under his breath, earning a narrow-eyes glare from me.

"Hey lovebirds, knock it off. Edward's apparently feeling insanely jealous." His voice boomed to the end of the table, causing Alice to look up in surprise. I hissed through my teeth and muttered curses under my breath. Alice's expression was apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Edward. We didn't mean to make you feel left out." Of all my "siblings," Alice was by far the attuned to my moods and emotions, probably because she was the one I was closest with. I granted her a small smile to show her that she was forgiven, and turned to grimace at the food on my tray.

"It really should be illegal what they pass as food here," I commented, pushing the tray away from me in disgust. Alice giggled and Rosalie allowed a small smile to play at the corners of her mouth. I was about to launch into a monologue about the dietary drawbacks of rubber pizza when Rosalie spoke.

"Did you guys see the new girl?" Her tone held a tinge of disdain. I frowned at her as Alice nodded warily.

"No," Jasper, Emmett, and I answered simultaneously. Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"Total trash." My frown deepened as I opened my mouth to reprimand her.

"Rose, don't make assumptions about people. It's not polite." Rosalie just rolled her eyes at me.

"Oh, give me a break, Edward. As saintly as you are, you would still find this girl to be complete and utter trash." I glowered at her, remembering why she was my least favorite. Alice tsked quietly.

"Rosalie, just because she's a little rough around the edges does not make her trash. You don't know anything about her," she pointed out in her soft voice. "I mean, look at us. We of all people should understand. We know better than anyone what it feels like to judged because of our appearances." Rosalie rolled her eyes again.

"I'm telling you, she is trouble with a capital T." Alice opened her mouth to respond but snapped it shut upon seeing the determined look in Rosalie's eyes. She just shook her head.

You are so judgmental sometimes," was all she said. Rosalie let the subject drop. She knew better than to fight publicly with Alice. She looked over my head and smirked. I followed her gaze and felt my jaw drop as the new girl walked through the door to the cafeteria.

She was definitely rough "around the edges," as Alice had put it. Her long brunette hair was straight and loose around her shoulders, with dramatic bangs that hung in her eyes. When she moved her head, I saw the lights bounce off the magenta highlights in her hair. Her huge brown eyes were heavily made up with dark eyeshadow and a generous amount of black eyeliner. Her pouty lips were a dark red, which looked shocking against her creamy pale skin. She wore baggy black pants with a studded belt around her hips, and a tight black shirt that left no curve untouched. She had piercings all the way up both ears, a bar through her eyebrow and a ring in her lip.

She was absolutely the most gorgeous girl I had ever seen.

Beneath the hard exterior seemed to lay a vulnerable soul much like my own. Her eyes, though hardened as she glared at those who stared at her, were rimmed with pain. She obviously put up a front so she wouldn't have to deal with the pain she felt internally. I had to meet her.

I couldn't drag my eyes away from her. When she turned her head her gaze met mine, and her eyes widened slightly with surprise before narrowing again. I averted my eyes and looked back to the table, where conversation had resumed. No one seemed to notice my reaction except for Alice, who gave me a knowing nod and a little wink. She gracefully rose from her chair to come sit next to me.

"Her name is Isabella Swan, but she likes to be called Bella," she told me in a low, confidential tone. "She just moved her from Phoenix to live with her father. Apparently, she was too much for her mother to handle. She's extremely smart, but very introverted and doesn't seem to let anyone close to her." I just gaped at Alice, wondering how the hell she knew so much. She answered my unspoken question with a shrug.

"I listen, that's all. Plus," she leaned in conspiratorially, "she's in my first class." I chucked softly, thanking Alice with my eyes. She smiled back at me, her eyes glazing over with worry. "Just be careful, Edward. She seems to be extremely vulnerable, but I don't know if it's just a façade. I don't want you to get hurt." I smiled gently at her.

"Thanks Alice. But you're assuming I even get up the nerve to talk to her, let alone ask her out. Let's just take things one day at a time, shall we?" She smiled and nodded slightly.

Just then, a shrill bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. I took my time gathering my books and the offending tray, depositing the congealed mess into the wastebasket. I walked with Alice to her next class, since the room was right next to mine, and she smiled knowingly at me. I quirked an eyebrow at her questioningly, but she just giggled and ducked into the classroom. I shook my head, then turned and walked the few steps to Biology. Once inside, I stopped short, seeing what had made Alice smile.

The new girl—Bella-was sitting at my lab table. Alice must have seen her walk into the room over my shoulder. Bella sat ramrod straight, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared down anyone who dared look in her direction. Her mouth was set in a tight line and her dark eyes were narrowed. She looked positively miserable.

I took a deep breath and walked the aisle to the table, sitting down gingerly on the stool next to her. I put my books on the table and turned to introduce myself.

"Hi. You must be Bella. I'm Edward Cullen," I said, offering my hand to shake. She turned slowly to look at me, eyes still narrowed, as she glanced at my outstretched hand and up to my eyes. She scowled and turned away. I dropped my hand, suitably embarrassed.

So much for introductions.