The Peace Keeper

The office was small and much warmer than it was outside. Fluorescent lights flickered ever so slightly, illuminating the room enough to make me squint a bit. It was an average school office; small waiting area with uncomfortable looking chairs, a carpet that resembled vomit, and a few certificates and awards hung on the walls. There was a counter separating the waiting area from the desk, a large woman with red hair sat behind one of the three.

She looked up when I shut the door behind me. “Can I help you, Miss?”

I nodded. “Yes, I’m Emma-Kate Dawson, the transfer student from Philadelphia.” It came out as a question, rather a statement. Also I blushed at my Philadelphian accent, which showed compared to her Washington one.

“Ah, yes, of course!” The woman shuffled a few papers that lay on her desk. Finally she plucked one out of the heap and held it close to her face. She adjusted her glasses and nodded, obviously marking it as the right sheet. “Here you are, dear.” She reached into a small rack of papers to her left, pulling out two. “Schedule, map, and a slip I’d like your teachers to sign.”

I reached over and grabbed the papers from her hand. “Thank you.”

The receptionist then went over the best routes to my classes, and other meager facts of the school. I just nodded politely, already bored before class even started.

“Alright, I’ll send you on your way now.”

I nodded and swiftly made my way to the door. Shivering due to the sudden cold, I glanced at my schedule which said I had first period Trig in building three with Mr. Varner…Just what I need, a morning filled with math.

Building three was easy to find (due to the large ’3’ writing in black on the side of the structure). I slipped in through the door with a group of other teenagers, trying not to stand out. The group followed through, hanging their coats up on the hooks that protruded from the wall. I would’ve done the same, but seeing as I was only wearing a sweatshirt, I decided against it.

As inconspicuously as I could, I made my way to the teacher’s desk, and handed him the slip the receptionist asked me to have my teachers sign. His eyebrows raised, and nodded (all without looking at me) and scribbled his John Hancock on the first blank line. Mr. Varner then placed me in an empty desk right in the middle of the room…Just my luck.

I quietly took my seat, students staring me down all the way. Gulping, I sat down, allowing them to analyze me.

I stuck out more than I planed. My clothes might have been casual like theirs, but defiantly more city-esque. The Forkianites had ghostly white skin, mine was a nice honey color. Also, most of the students were fair-haired or had a light brown color. I had unruly dark brunette curls that I had styled and gelled. The other teenagers left their hair be, not doing anything really special to it.

When class started, I kept my head down, not really wanting to deal with all the stares I was getting. I attempted to pay attention to Mr. Varner, as to keep my mind busy…but math had always bored me out of my skull, so I took to doodling in the margin of my note book. I basically knew everything he was talking about, anyway. Being home schooled never restricted me to keeping pace with other students, so I moved as quickly as I felt like.

“Ms. Dawson, can you tell the class what the answer to the problem on the board is?” Mr. Varner’s voice pulled me from my boredom-lined world.

I took a second to glance at the problem before returning to my doodles. “X over three.”

Mr. Varner’s voice sounded surprised. He must have been sure I wasn’t paying attention. “That’s correct.” Then he continued to drone on about Sine and Co-Sine.

The class went on like that until the bell rang. By that time the first three pages of my notebook had been filled with mindless drawings.

As soon as I stood up, three people were at my side. Two girls and one boy. The girl had short brown hair, the other had longer blonde hair. The boy had an cute baby-face with pale blond hair. Defiantly a boy-next-door type.

The blond girl was the first to speak. “Hi, I’m Jessica. You’re Emma-Kate Dawson, right? The new girl?”

I was tempted to reply “No, I’ve lived here all my life. You were just too dumb to notice.” But decided that would be too harsh for a first impression. So instead, I just said, “Yeah.” Which sounded more like a “yah” thanks to my accent.

She grinned. “It’s so awesome to get new students here. Where are you from?”

I gave a forced grin. “Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.”

“Oh, so you came from across the entire country?” Her pencil-thin eyebrows shot up. “What made you come to a place like Forks?”

“My dad got a job transfer nearby.” I stuck with my alibi.

“Oh my gosh,” She suddenly gushed. “You have to sit with me and my friends at lunch today! Tell us all about city life and such.” We turned a corner and stepped out of building. “Oh, by the way, this is Mike Newton and Angela.”

“Nice to meet you,” I nodded to each.

Mike smiled brightly and replied, “Likewise.”

Angela just gave a shy grin and nodded back.

“So what class do you have next?” Jessica butt in.

“Uhh…Spanish in building one.” I pulled out my schedule and glanced it over.

“Oh my Gosh! So do I!” She grinned widely. “Common, I just have to introduce you to everybody!” With that she grabbed my sleeve and pulled me in the direction of building one.

I glanced behind my shoulder to Mike and Angela. “See you later, I guess.” And gave a small wave.

They both returned it, laughing a little.

Jessica dragged me to Spanish, introducing me to anyone who had the misfortune of crossing her path. Once in Spanish, I abandoned her to go to the teacher, getting her to sign my slip-thing. Then I was asked to take a seat (luckily in the back this time) next to a pale girl with brown hair.

I plopped down next to her, slightly exhausted from the sprinting I had to do to keep up with Jessica.

The girl turned to me. “Hi,” She said quietly, gathering my attention. Then she extended a hand. “I’m Bella Swan. I was the new girl before you showed up.” She smiled slightly.

I gave a light-hearted laugh and shook her offered hand. “Then you know my pain.” Grinning, I introduced myself. “Emma-Kate Dawson, from Philadelphia.”

Bella opened her mouth to say more, but was cut off by loud Spanish jibble-jabber, signaling the start of class.

Bella and I stole conversation throughout class until the lunch bell rang out.

“I guess I’ll see you later.” She smiled to at me.

I grinned back. Bella was probably the nicest person I’ve met so far. “Yeah, see you.”

Before another syllable could be uttered, Jessica came and snatched me up, babbling about something or other.

I groaned quietly. ‘Nothing like a warm welcome from a gushing blond…’ I thought sarcastically.

Luckily, I was able to slip away when we entered the cafeteria. I slinked into the lunch line, sighing in relief. The first day is turning out to be harder than I originally planned.

“Oh hey, Emma.” A voice next to me said.

I was near snapping point from Jessica, as was about to tell the person off, until I realized it was only Bella.

Calmed, I responded, “Hey Bella, long time no see.”

She got my joke. I knew from the few previous conversations I’ve had with Forkianites that no one else would. Bella then achieved a look that said she just remembered something. “Oh, this is Edward and Alice Cullen.” She pointed to the people in line behind her. “They’ve been meaning to meet you.”

I leaned forward to get a better look at the two. “Hi, nice to meet you--”

I cut myself off when I finally got a good look at them. I lost all breath and stood ridged with shock. One thing came to mind…

‘Vampires…’