Beta One: Belle of the Boulevard

Beta Two: Diana Wolfskill / Diana in Houston

Beta Three: Hayleehoo

Beta Four: icul8er

Summary:

Bella Swan is mute and new to Forks High School. Edward Cullen is the popular, but sweet, captain of the Varsity team. Bella hides away from attention, but what happens when she catches the eye of the captain and his friends? AH AU CANON

Chapter 1: New Town

Bella P.O.V.

I stood in front of my bedroom door. This would be my new room for at least the next two years, or until I was accepted into the University for the Disabled.

My dad, Charlie, is the caring, but silent type he's also the only person I can rely on in my life. and the only person my life. We hadn't seen each other in years, but we still loved one another.

Renee was blaming herself for my decision to come to Forks. But now, as I looked around my new room, remembering the simple memories with Renee, I realized how late my decision really was. Charlie should have been a part of my life since I was born, instead of living hundreds of miles away.

I wished that Renee didn't resent Charlie as much as she did. It was not his fault that she didn't want to live in Forks, and that I was born mute. Somehow, I knew that I was the reason that they had gotten a divorce. If I wasn't mute, Renee wouldn't have thought of moving closer to a disabled school, and Charlie wouldn't have to make the choice between living so far away and living in a dreary, little town.

Renee had recently gotten engaged to a fairly nice person. He was too young for my liking, but he took care of her. I'd felt guilty for so many years when Renee had been forced to take care of all of my needs, instead of going out and having fun in the dating world. I also felt sorry for Charlie. He was never able to be in my life because Renee was too stubborn and wanted to prove that she could take care of me all by herself. She took full custody of me, making the distance even further between Charlie and me.

Now I was here after so many years. Charlie was a little uncomfortable when he tried to speak to me; he didn't understand sign language. I wasn't upset with him; he simply hadn't been able to practice. Renee and I had always been in sync with each other when we were communicating. She took up a job at my old school as a kindergarten teacher for disabled students. This enabled her to speed up the pace that she was learning sign language at.

I sat down on my bed, looking around my room at all of the drawings that Charlie had never taken down. Outside the window it was raining lightly, making the atmosphere smell like a pungent mixture of wet asphalt and grass. Backed up against the wall, at the foot of my bed, was a table with an old computer. I appreciated Charlie's efforts to make this transition easier for me. The internet had been practically my best friend back in Phoenix.

Glancing away from the computer desk, I caught sight of a picture frame with a photo of Renee smiling back at me. Renee had objected to me moving here several times. She loved her new baseball player husband, Phil. He had to move around a lot because of games and switching teams, and it wasn't easy for me to move after I had already settled in one place. My disability had made it hard for me to do anything that a normal person would do. When I had suggested that Renee travel with Phil and that I would just move in with Charlie, she had thrown a gigantic fit. That incident had just proved how childish she had gotten from being around a younger husband all the time. My mother was never what anyone would call mature, but she had turned into what most people might call a drama queen.

Phil was a nice person, but I didn't like the "pity look" he gave me all of the time, especially when he often forgot that I was mute and that I couldn't answer him. Eventually he started ignoring me; he just didn't know how to act around me. I was slightly hurt, but I got over it. I had other disabled friends who were treated much worse. Being around them taught me how to improve my reactions towards other people.

I had many disabled friends from my old school and from the Internet. With my friends' help, I had gotten new technology to be able to communicate with others without using my voice. Whatever I typed on my keyboard, it could be heard out loud. Since I couldn't talk properly with my friends, I took advantage of text messaging and IM chatting. On the Internet, I found many unique people to chat with.

Before coming to Forks, I had given my Mom back the cell that she had given me; she had decided to give me the silent treatment that day. I knew that Charlie couldn't afford a cell phone or Internet. But Charlie told me on the way he had dial- up internet. Now I knew that I would have internet here at Charlie's, and it was a relief, but it was dial up. Either way, now I will be able to keep my promises and email my mom and my internet friends.

In one way, I was glad to be in a new place; away from the high-speed Internet, away from and common bullies, but closer to my dad. I wanted to start over as a real person, have the chance to see if I could make a real and normal friend. All of my old friends made the world seem as if it were an evil place where only devils live. I wanted to see how disappointing the world could get. It would seem crazy to someone else, but I needed to see the hurt myself to learn from the pain. I had found happiness in my own imperfect life. I wanted to discover if there were actually advantages to being a mute.

I was also hoping to get to know Charlie a bit better. I wished that I could tell him how happy I was to be at his house. Sometimes this mute thing really made me upset. I couldn't even tell Charlie that I was ecstatic to finally be living with him.

I also missed Phil, even though he might not have been the most welcoming person in the world he had still been family. I remember watching him playing baseball with little kids and wishing Charlie could be there with me. He loved sports and loved to participate. I remember from when I was little, Charlie always insisting that I play catch with him. I almost never caught the ball, my clumsiness getting the better of me.

Before I had moved to Forks, I had decided that I would change two or three things with Charlie; permanently. The first would be that I would get my dad back. The second would be to be able to attempt to play sports with him. The third and final step that I wanted to take was to teach – and improve- Charlie's sign language. When he reached for my bags at the airport, he signed to me, "I wish I had cheese". When I frowned at him, he said he was trying to say that he missed me. I chuckled until we reached his cruiser. For now, I decided that we could communicate by writing on notebook paper. He could get the text lingo down; eventually. I laughed again at the thought.

I sighed as I opened my old book. This year, I might lose every last shred of my barely-there confidence, and wouldn't be able to find it again, but at least I would find my dad. As they say, "To gain some, you have to lose some".

(A mile away from Bella's House)

Edward's P.O.V.

I was sitting on the bench, playing the piano when I felt my mom's hands brush my hair.

"How was your day, honey?" My mom asked, going through her normal after-school routine.

This was my everyday way to talk to my mom. I was my mom's youngest, so I was considered 'her little baby'. Once, on Mother's Day, she had wished for no one to buy her gifts. She had demanded each sibling to have bonding time with her when she realized that we never hung out or talked to her anymore.

My dad promised to take her out on a date once every two weeks. My oldest brother, Emmett, had made a promise to have cooking lessons for their bonding time. My twin sister, Alice, didn't have to promise anything, because she spent the majority of her mother-daughter-bonding-time shopping. In addition, I had to promise piano lessons each day after school with her. However, contrary to my original beliefs, most of the time I appreciated the lessons with her. It would get me more emotionally closer to her than I had ever felt before.

"It was okay. A lot of girls came to talk to me during practice. The coach got mad and gave me a detention for disturbing practice, but Alice came to my rescue just in time." I smiled at the memory. Coach had made a new rule the first year that I had made the varsity team, because of the girls who would jump between the courts to talk to me: no talking unless I wanted a morning detention of running three miles.

My mom started to shake with laughter. "What am I going to do with you, Heartthrob? At least I am happy that you're not like your brother. God only knows how many girls he's gotten up into his room."

I laughed at her disgusted look. "You make it sound like he's a man-whore!" Oops! The words came out before I could edit them.

"Edward," my mom chasten, while grabbing my ear and twisting it.

"Oh! Ouch! Sorry, sorry, sorry! Mom, please!" I pleaded, twisting away from her grip.

"You know the rules, Edward," my mom reminded me while putting more force on my ear.

I looked up at her through my eyelashes, making my best "puppy-dog" look. I repeated the saying that all of my siblings had learned to repeat. "I won't curse in public or under my breath. Cursing is wrong. I am sorry, Mom." I sighed as she let go. The saying itself was embarrassing enough.

I looked at the keys on my piano. From the corner of my eye, I caught my mom fighting a smile. "Where do you boys learn such horrible language…? Anyway, did you practice the piece I gave you a week ago?"

Uh oh. "Well, actually, I, um…practiced it a few times, but you know with school and stuff, I wasn't able to fit much practicing in." I looked up at her with a guilty expression. The piece was hard, but if I had memorized it, she would sign me up to play at the church. I really didn't want the whole town to know that I knew how to play the piano.

She shook her head in disapproval. "Edward, you had a week to practice the piece_"

"Mom, I'm home," Alice's tinkling voice called from the front door. Saved by the pixie. Phew.

I took that as a hint from her and ran upstairs to my room. I could hear my mom protesting while Alice distracted her with events from school.

I owe her one. It actually paid to have a twin sister sometimes. She would always go and bail me out of any problem without a second thought.

I started to play some random classical music from my stereo and lay down on my stomach on top of my bed. I could feel myself drifting to sleep when I felt a bag on my back. I looked around my shoulder to glance at my twin, standing with her hands on her hips and grinning at me. I knew that look very well.

"I bought new clothes, Edward. Come on! You have to try them on right now. We're going to the movies tonight and you can't bail." She pointed toward the bag full of clothes that was still on top of my back.

I looked at her pleadingly, already knowing that no one could stop the force of Alice Cullen. She placed the bag down on the ground and grabbed my arm to pull me up from the bed, while I whined in protest.

"Edward, stop arguing and go change or this one bag will change into two bags!" she threatened.

I shut my mouth and sighed in defeat, grabbing the clothes in the bag and leaving to go change in the bathroom.

I hated trying on outfit after outfit, but it was better to do it in the confines of my bathroom than in a mall dressing room.

Though Alice and I were twins, there were many differences between us; differences which made us individuals. Alice is the complete opposite of me. Alice was really hyper, but I was naturally a quiet person. She had short, black hair that she could style differently every day, while I had messy, untamable, bronze hair. She was a shopaholic and I was music obsessed. You could always find her switching her outfits ten times a day, whereas, I could keep on the same outfit for a week time. I had severe anger issues while she was bubbly. We both agreed on the same things most of the time. We both hung out with the same people, and sometimes finished each other's sentences. But, she had a stable relationship, while I was single and planned to stay that way until I died.

Our many similarities didn't go unnoticed either. Both of us had bright green eyes; unlike Emmett with his blue eyes, like our father's. Emmett was a muscular, looks-like-he-lives-at-the-gym kind of person, but his child-like personality made him more likeable than the typical jock. He could be intimating if he wanted, but he was usually just a fool. He had women around him constantly. He was quarterback of the senior football team. He didn't care what anyone thought of him; he was spoiled and loved attention. He always pushed me to center of attention too. Emmett also had the capability to be a very deep down and wise person when he wanted to.

My parents adopted Emmett. My mom, Esme, had two miscarriages, and my dad tried to convince her into trying in vitro fertilization or other therapies and techniques, even adoption, but she insisted that they keep on trying. After one year, my mom conceived Alice and me. My mom was the happiest woman in the world. She always wanted to know what it felt like to be a mother. When she was pregnant, she would cherish every moment of it, from the first kick to even the agonizing labor pains. She hardly complained during the conceiving process because she was too grateful to be able to have the experience.

Being adopted didn't make a difference to Emmett. Emmett, Alice and I were only one year apart. Alice was my dad's favorite, that much was a given. She is Emmett's favorite too. Whenever someone would look at her funny, Emmett would step into full protective mode. I didn't have to worry; I knew my little twin was stronger than she looked. Sadly, Emmett turned into a player when he reached high school. Mom and Dad were strong believers in respecting women, both continued to push us to be gentlemen, but Emmett just ignored it all.

I remembered the time my dad and mom had told Emmett he was adopted. He was thirteen. Emmett had cried for the first time, thinking that his real parents didn't want him and that was why he had been put up for adoption. Alice turned the tables on everyone. On the day Mom and Dad spilled the news; she was at a summer camp. When she came back, and I told her everything, she cried and ran away. She refused to come home until Emmett would come and get her. Eventually, my twin telepathy came in handy. I saw her crying by the shore at First Beach in La Push. Emmett had run as fast as he could. He had wrapped his big arms around her, promising her that he was her brother, and that he wouldn't ever leave her. She clung to him the whole ride home while I tried to wipe her tears, whispering calming words to her.

Mom and Dad were more comfortable talking about the subject after that. Mom had explained how she had fallen in love with Emmett. He had dimples, blonde hair, and blues eyes that reflected my dad's. Dad had looked into Emmett's adoption file. Dad was a doctor and one of his patients was a pregnant fifteen-year-old girl who had Emmett. Sadly, she had died during labor. She was raped, so no one knew who Emmett's biological father was. My dad just couldn't give Emmett up. He showed Emmett to Mom and after that, they were hooked and had begun to spoil him rotten with gifts.

Emmett used to act like a spoiled brat, but that all changed when he met Rosalie Hale, the daughter of a famous lawyer. She used to go to an all-girl boarding school in Italy, but was transferred here when her father started to work in Forks. She could have taken a job as a runway model. She was very vain and selfish oftentimes; she went from being rude to downright hurtful sometimes. Her personality was something no one could take, except for Emmett. He was absolutely crazy about her.

Jasper moved here from Texas. He was Rosalie's twin brother. They had nothing in common. Rosalie and Jasper's parents were divorced, forcing Jasper to move to Texas, leaving his father to live with his mother. Two years ago, their parents had remarried after working out their differences. The distance was huge between Jasper and Rosalie. They had only agreed to disagree on everything. Jasper was more emotional in relationships, while Rosalie was all about physical appearance.

Jasper started to date Alice right around the same time that Rosalie started to date Emmett. Neither brother could object, but promised to protect them. I objected strongly, until I started befriending Jasper. I realized that he was nothing like his sister. He really cared about Alice. The way they looked at each other was enough proof of undeniable love. Dad was also a little wary of the situation, but after he talked to Jasper, man-to-man, he realized that he was actually a caring, and overall good person.

Between the two couples, I was the odd man out, the third wheel, well in this case the fifth wheel. Emmett was horrible, but at least Jasper and Alice had the decency to be respectful towards me and not perform PDA. I just don't think that the right person, for me, really exists. And if she did exist, I would surely have found her by now. Right?