Chapter 1:

Bella rumbled up to the empty brick building in her rusty old truck, scanning the parking lot for familiar vehicles. It was a month before school was supposed to start, and summer soccer league was starting up. Bella was early. She had never been an early riser for school, but when it came to soccer, Bella was ready to go at any moment.

It was an unusually dry day for Forks, though the wooden sign in front of Forks High School was still noticeably saturated from the rain that had surely fallen early this morning. Bella swung her truck door open and hopped down, narrowly avoiding a rock that would have surely cost her a sprained ankle. She sighed to herself and smiled as she watched a familiar Nissan roll into the lot. She slammed her door shut and reached for her duffel bag out of the truck bed and turned to the now parked car.

Mike Newton, her boyfriend of nearly a year, stepped out of the dark blue car and turned to smile at her. His blonde hair was neatly spiked, despite the schedule of today's events, and his freckles were more pronounced in the sunny light. Bella smiled back, and walked toward him.

"Hey baby, how's it going?" Mike smiled once again and reached out for a hug before reaching into his back seat and gathering his duffel. After shutting his door and locking his car, he and Bella headed toward the municipal field Forks High used for all outdoor sports activities. The only people visible on the field were Coach Banner and Lauren Mallory, a girl Bella had played soccer with since moving to Forks in the 5th grade.

Mike let her hand go as they reached the bench, and they both sat to roll on socks and tie up their cleats.

"So Bella," Lauren said between chomps of her bubblegum. "You going out for forward again?"

Bella smiled down at her shoe as she tightened her laces. "Yeah Lauren," she replied, looking up at the bottle blonde. "I plan to. Why?"

Lauren sneered and shrugged her shoulders. "No reason."

Lauren had been trying to get under Bella's skin ever since they were ten and Bella scored a goal on her during a penalty shot. It wasn't even during a real game, considering they were on the same team at the time. They had been scrimmaging during practice one afternoon and Lauren was placed in the goal, where she never had much luck. Bella found her attempts completely entertaining and managed to somehow always one-up her failed jabs.

By this time more people had gathered on the field, some new faces and many familiar ones. Bella saw her two best friends, Angela and Jessica approaching the field and gave Mike a quick peck on the lips before running to the two girls.

Jessica squealed when she saw Bella running toward her and dropped her duffel bag. Angela smiled and waited for Jess to let go of Bella before turning to her friend for a hug.

"You look so tan Bells!" Jess smiled at her, revealing a set of bright white teeth. Her dad was a dentist, one of the few in the Forks/La Push area, and Jess always had a brilliant smile.

"How was Tallahassee?" Angela interrupted the still exuberant Jessica.

Bella had spent most of her summer in Florida, touring colleges and participating in a summer soccer camp at Florida State. Six long weeks of sun and sand, Bella was glad to be home in the milder climate of Forks.

The girls continued to catch up while heading to the field and began to run warm-up laps. Coach Banner had disappeared into the Coach's office after Bella and Mike had shown up to the field, and had yet still to return.

Coach Banner walked out with a clipboard in hand, and whistled sharply as the group began to jog towards the center of the field.

"Welcome, everyone!" Coach Banner had always been enthusiastic about soccer, his love for the sport evident in his Biology classroom where he kept running stats on his extra white board at all times. "Now, I have some bad news this year."

Bella tensed as he glanced at her.

"The girl's team has unfortunately been cut from the budget." Coach Banner paused and waited for the outcry of well-placed indignation from the females in the crowd.

"How can they just cut the team like that Coach?" Bella was angry. No, Bella was livid. Soccer was her reason for waking up every morning. Even in the off-season, she was always early to school for conditioning in the weight room and ran cross-country in the fall to stay in shape for the spring season.

"Now you girls know it wasn't my decision. The school board needed to make cuts, and because the girl's team always has to travel farther than the boy's, it just made more fiscal sense to cut the program completely," Coach Banner explained. He didn't sound happy about the situation, but defeated.

Bella cursed in frustration, earning surprised looks from some freshman and an arm around her shoulder in support from Mike. There weren't many other girls' leagues at the near-by high schools. They often ended up playing in many out of state tournaments, which were school sponsored and therefore school budgeted.

"Now, I have no qualms with you all participating in the summer league. The league is co-ed anyway, and travels costs aren't the responsibility of the school. But you need to know, that due to the guidelines of the school board, that girls cannot try out for the boys team." This piece of information elicited an even stronger reaction from the group, even from some of the males. It was well known to the town of Forks that the girls' team outshined the boys every year. They made it farther in play-offs, and garnered more wins since the establishment of the team almost ten years ago.

"That isn't fair Coach!" Bella yelled above the crowd. "Are we just supposed to sit back and pretend this isn't happening?"

"Bella, I've talked to the school board already. Trust me, they know how much I am against this. I almost stepped down from coaching because of this decision. There isn't anything we can do, unless we can find enough money in the budget to pay for everything."

Coach Banner watched Bella as she absorbed this information. He knew of all his female soccer players, Bella would take this the hardest. She had always been the most devoted and was going to be up for consideration as team captain before the team had been cut.

"Now, as I said, the summer league is still open to everyone, and I would like for you girls to stay on and play. I know it will be a let-down come soccer season, but it's better than nothing right?" He didn't sound too convinced, but Bella knew he was simply looking for the bright side.

When he heard no arguments against this, he switched topics and began practice.

Bella stomped angrily to her truck, satisfied by the slapping noise her flip-flops made against the asphalt. She threw her duffel bag into her truck bed and yanked open her creaking truck door.

"Bella! Bella wait!" Mike was yelling for her, jogging to catch up. She had taken off faster than he had anticipated.

"I'm sorry Mike, I just need a minute to cool off. Can you believe this? This has to be the most ridiculous thing I've heard since we found out the school was spending more money on movies than books."

"I know, Bella, but at least we still have summer leagues."

Bella opened her mouth again but Mike interrupted her before she could get a word in. "Look, I know you are upset. Let's just not think about it right now. How about I come over for dinner tonight? Do you think Charlie will mind?"

Charlie was Bella's dad, and also the Police Chief of Forks. He actually liked Mike Newton, and Bella had learned after six months into their relationship that asking Charlie if Mike could come over was a moot point.

Bella sighed in frustration and simply shook her head. Mike gave her a quick kiss on her forehead and told her he would call before heading over. Bella climbed into her truck and started the ignition, glancing quickly behind her before reversing and flying out of the parking lot. She made it home too quick, and knew Charlie would disapprove if he had seen her speeding down the side streets of Forks. Bella didn't really care, at the moment, and pulled up next to her driveway on the gravel that had been laid down for extra parking. She smiled when she saw Jasper's motorcycle leaning against the side of the garage, and stomped inside after grabbing her stuff.

"JAY!" Bella threw her voice loudly into the house as she shoved open the side door into the kitchen. Her twin was sitting on the kitchen counter, covered in dripping milk and staring at the door wide-eyed and frightened.

"Jesus Christ Bee, was that really necessary?" Bella laughed at the sight of her brother covered in milk. There were Lucky Charms spilled across the floor, and the empty bowl Jasper had been eating out of was still resting in his frozen hands, his spoon halfway to his mouth. Bella shrugged her shoulders, still giggling as Jasper shoveled his spoonful of Lucky Charms into his mouth. He gracefully leapt off the counter, over the white puddle on the brown linoleum, and stood in front of Bella, sprinkling her with milk. He put the bowl in the sink and looked back to Bella.

"What the hell gave you the idea that coming in here, screaming like someone died would be beneficial to my eating cereal?" Bella rolled her eyes as her brother spoke, and turned to the pantry to find a mop.

"Jay, I had a shit day ok? I just need to take a break." Bella began to mop up the milk with a roll of paper towels that had been hidden behind a pyramid of canned vegetables. Jasper's unique way of putting away groceries had Bella amused since they were young.

"What happened? You just got back from Florida! What could have possibly…Did Newton do something?" Jasper's contempt for Mike was not unknown to the Swan household. In middle school, Mike hadn't realized that Jasper and Bella were twins until it was too late. Jasper had caught him bad-mouthing his sister and had disliked him from that day on. Things only got worse in high school, especially when Bella started dating Mike. Jasper not only took on protective brother role, but also found ways to make it very clear to Mike that he was not welcomed into the Swan "circle of trust."

"No, Jay. They cut the girls soccer team at school." Bella had thrown away the soggy paper towels and was rinsing her hands off in the sink as Jasper placed his empty bowl in the dishwasher.

"Shit Bee…" Jasper put his arm around her shoulder as the siblings stared for a minute out the kitchen window. "I know what you need!" He said suddenly. He disappeared from Bella's side and was back downstairs in two-minutes flat. He had changed out of his dairy-covered clothes and into basketball shorts and an old Forks PD t-shirt. He was tugging on his left sneaker when he came hopping back into the kitchen on one foot. Before Bella could realize what he was doing, he grabbed her wrist and led her through the side door to their backyard.

Living on the outskirts of Forks also meant they had a lot of unoccupied land surrounding them. There was no fence around their backyard, which reached to the top of a steep hill. At the bottom of the grassy hill was an outcropping of rocks that Bella and Jasper had discovered when they first moved here. Jasper turned back and smiled knowingly at Bella as they both began to race towards the rocks.

Bella felt the air begin to chill but the speed of running downhill was allowing her to push it out of her mind. She easily passed Jasper, and reached the large gray boulder quicker then her twin. Jasper soon was by her side, panting and reaching for his stomach. Bella simply laughed, and turned to the back of the large boulder. There were many smaller rocks that could easily be climbed to reach the top of the large boulder. Bella began to trek up towards the large boulder, with Jasper still gasping for air.

"Maybe you should lay off the smoking, Jay." Bella knew her brother didn't smoke all that much and it was really just more him being out of shape then anything. She still could give him crap though.

She sat triumphantly at the top and waited for Jasper to climb up.

Jasper and Bella hadn't always been close. When they moved to Forks in the 5th grade, all they had was each other. They quickly made separate friends in middle school, though, and that had put a strain on their relationship. Bella's first friend in Forks was Angela Weber, whom Jasper didn't mind. But after a series of Jasper creatively finding ways to say no to Bella's friend Jessica, the siblings found themselves constantly butting heads.

It wasn't until freshman year, when their parents announced their divorce that the two grew close. One night, when their parents were arguing over some trivial detail of the divorce, Jasper had snuck in the house completely drunk and had found his way into Bella's room. Bella had been sitting on her bed, iPod in her ears, trying to ignore the negative energy flowing from the living room, when Jasper busted in reeking of alcohol. Instead of turning him in (their dad was Police Chief, what was Jasper thinking?) she let him sleep it off on her floor and brought him a steaming cup of coffee the next morning. The two never really acknowledged that night, but from that moment forward they had become the best of friends.

They were complete opposites, much like their parents. Jasper was calm, quiet and steadfast. That was what he inherited from Charlie. He was tall and lanky, like their mother, with her blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. With the exception of a few nights of partying in the summer, he was generally well-behaved. Generally being the operative term. Jasper was in a band, and instead of putting his efforts toward school he focused heavily on his guitar. He was an amazing lyricist and had the ability to tell stories in his songs that Bella absolutely loved. Jasper was convinced he would one day find his big break in music, and therefore his GPA wasn't as stellar as it could have been.

Bella was like her mother. She was always moving, and very athletic. She wasn't very graceful, but she was kind and sweet and hot-tempered. Her looks came from Charlie. She was Charlie's child all the way, with his wavy dark hair and wide brown eyes. She smiled like her daddy and she laughed like her mother. That was how she had always been described. Bella had always been well-behaved, though she was easily excited and tended to have a lot of energy. While graceful on the soccer field, her clumsiness off the field was notorious, and she had many faded scars to prove this.

Bella sighed and laid back on the rock, while Jasper settled in next to her cross-legged.

Before Bella could speak, Jasper broke the silence. "They're sending me to Dawson."

Bella bolted up, turning her head and accidentally hitting Jasper with her long brown ponytail. He barely noticed as he gazed towards the deep forest at the edge of their property. "Dawson? As in Dawson, the boarding school outside of Port Angeles?" Jasper simply nodded as Bella took this information in.

The collective "they" Jasper was referring to were their parents. Though they lived with Charlie, their mother, Renee, still had shared custody. She lived in Seattle, with her new husband Phil who played for the Mariners. Divorce improved the relationship between their parents, and they often consulted one another, mainly about Jasper and his failing grades. While Charlie's police chief salary was by no means six figures, Renee was a successful Psychiatrist. Her practice alone would have paid for Jasper's boarding school fees, though Phil made a bit of money too.

Bella pulled her knees to her chest and leaned toward her brother, who supported her weight. "When did you find out?"

Jasper tensed his jaw. "A letter came in the mail today. It had my name on it, so I opened it." Bella smiled, knowing he probably would have opened it anyway. Their parents had been discussing an alternative school for Jasper since his 3 week stint in In-School Suspension last year. "It has my roommate information, class schedule, list of supplies. Like fucking Hogwarts, Bee. They are shipping me off, officially."

Bella sighed. "At least it isn't military school." She felt Jasper shiver at that suggestion.

"At least it's just Port Angeles, and not…I don't know, Utah. You will be able to visit on weekends right? When do you have to move in?"

"I'm not sure about visiting. Classes are supposed to start next week."

"But that's the—"

"I know. The music festival in Vancouver. I can't ditch out on the guys Bee."

Bella nodded her head and stood up, reaching for Jasper. "We will think of something Jay. We always do. Too bad we can't just switch places, huh? If we were identical, we could really shake things up."

Jasper laughed as he and Bella climbed back down the rocks, slowly making their way back up the steep hill. The sun had begun to set and they knew Charlie would be home for dinner soon.

Bella glanced up the hill and noticed the short path between the house and where they were standing. "By the way, Jay. Mike is coming over for dinner." She laughed as Jasper cursed and she ran the rest of the way to the house.

Dinner was on the table and for once Charlie had made it home on time. Bella had prepared chicken parmesan, and the pan was in the oven as Jasper prepared the salad. Mike and Charlie were seated at the table, playing catch up and talking sports. Mike's parents own the local sporting good store, and Charlie often hit him up for the inside scoop on the latest fishing gear.

"These new rods we are getting in—," Mike whistled. "Charlie, they are a sight. They cast so smooth, you would think you are throwing air." Mike winked at Bella who was watching him air-cast. Jasper snorted when he heard Mike say "throwing air" and Bella smacked him with an oven mitt.

Bella pulled the chicken out of the oven and set it in the middle of the table when she heard the doorbell ring. She looked over at Charlie, who was just as confused as she was. Jasper simply smiled, left the kitchen, and returned with Tanya Denali in tow.

Bella groaned internally, but forced a smile on her face as she walked to grab another plate out of the cupboard.

"Oh, I hope I'm not intruding!" Tanya exclaimed, as she crossed to Charlie and sat down in Bella's seat. "I was in the neighborhood, and Jasper said I could stop by."

"Nonsense, Tanya. Bella always makes enough for extra guests."

No, Dad, Bella thought. Bella makes enough for leftovers, so you have lunch for the next two days. Bella doesn't make enough for skanks to come over whenever they please and eat two bites of salad.

Bella set the plate down at an empty spot roughly, and smiled an apology to a startled Tanya. Mike had been watching the leggy blonde girl, mesmerized, since she walked in the kitchen. Tanya didn't attend Forks High. She lived north of Forks, where her family owned a large estate off of Lake Pleasant. Bella swatted at the back of Mike's head with a handful of napkins before sitting down and serving their meal.

Jasper attempted to make small talk with the table, but Bella refused to participate. Instead, she simply smiled forcefully, and stabbed at pieces of chicken, smacking her food unnecessarily. Tanya and Jasper had met, ironically, through Phil. Tanya's mother was a PR agent for the Mariners, and Jasper and Bella had attended many events sponsored by the baseball team. Tanya and Bella had been pushed together by their mother's one night at a charity event, though Tanya found more interest in Bella's twin than Bella.

Bella knew Jasper had invited Tanya over because of Mike, and was paying him back with kicks to the shin under the table every time Tanya said something that made Bella cringe. Which was practically every time the poor girl spoke. It was a juvenile approach at payback, but Bella felt a little relief every time Jasper smirked to hide the pain.

The dinner plates were rinsed and stacked in the dishwasher by Jasper and Charlie while Bella and Mike found their jackets to take a walk. Tanya sat the table, studying her cuticles.

The air was damp tonight, as always, but it wasn't too cold. Bella was wearing her letterman's jacket, and Mike was holding her hand as they stepped off Bella's driveway and into the empty street. Bella watched the stars as Mike led her along and talked about soccer.

"And Bells, did you see my pass? I mean, Eric didn't even see it coming when Tyler went in for that goal." Bella didn't respond. "Bells, are you listening?" Mike whined slightly. Bella winced.

"I'm sorry, Mike, I just don't feel like talking about soccer right now."

"You're still bummed? It's just soccer Bella, it's not the end of the world. Besides, this means you won't miss any more of my games." Mike turned his big blue eyes to Bella, genuinely surprised by this sudden revelation. "Maybe Banner will let you come on the overnights? Maybe you could be team manager?"

Bella stopped walking at this suggestion, and bristled slightly when Mike turned to gauge her reaction. She didn't know whether to be angry at the suggestion of overnights, or team manager, but both made her see red.

The overnight suggestion was the one that pushed her buttons the most. She and Mike hadn't gone there yet in their relationship. Bella could barely think about the subject, much less imagine going through the actions with Mike. It wasn't that she didn't care about Mike. Their relationship was fun. It was easy, something that was dependable. She didn't stress over many things, and trusted him. He was her first serious boyfriend, meaning he lasted past the two month mark. Sure they had fooled around, but nothing past second base. He was eager for more, and she knew this. He brought it up every chance he got.

But Bella wanted the…moment…to be special. She wanted it to be meaningful, with someone she, well, loved. And Mike wasn't that someone. Sure she loved his company, and his adorable freckled nose, and the way he held doors open for her. But there was something in their relationship that was missing, and Bella was sure it wasn't anything either of them could change. It wasn't something tangible.

Lately Mike had been pressuring Bella even more. He had almost succeeded before she left for Florida, but she stopped herself when she realized her shirt was off and he was reaching his hands lower for her pants. She had left his house in a hurry that night, and had avoided the topic since.

"Overnights Mike? Really?" Mike could read the tone of her voice, and he quickly spun to face her.

"I didn't mean…that's not what I was implying, Bells. You know that." He tried to brush it off by laughing with his last statement, but Bella wasn't buying it. "I just meant that it would be fun to have you around, you know, and I bet Banner would let you practice with us. It'd be just like summer league."

"Except I wouldn't be able to compete for a title, or work my way toward earning a scholarship like I had been planning. Or play with the same girls I've been on a team with since I was ten. Or get to wear my own jersey, not my boyfriends. Or, I don't know, play soccer, the game I love." Bella was letting off steam now, frustrated by the days events. "These things are important to me Mike. Overnights with the boys team would not be satisfactory." Mike snapped his eyes to eyes, reading her implications exactly as she had intended.

"You know Bella, maybe if you weren't such a cocktease I wouldn't be begging you want to spend some time with your boyfriend."

"You know what happens next, right? We're through."

Before Mike could even realize what he said, Bella reached out and socked him in the cheek. Without waiting for a reaction from him, she turned on her heel and walked away from Mike.

"Keep walking baby! I know you will be back!" Mike yelled, as he rubbed his cheek and cracked his jaw.

Instead of replying to Mike, she kept her back turned, sticking her middle finger in the air. Her mother would have grounded her for a week if she had witnessed that action, but Bella just yanked the door to her house open and yelled for her twin. They were going for a ride, whether Tanya was still around or not.