BitterSweet Cherries

Chapter Three

There were literally moths in my stomach. Okay, not literally.

My nerves had been raging all morning. Along with the unsettling dream from this weekend, there were also the first-day jitters.

But besides my nerves, today had actually gotten off to a good start.

Apart from some accessories and lip gloss, I had decided to keep it plainer than usual today: a white tee, tights, and my new green raincoat— Charlie had taken me and Bella shopping yesterday. Well, more so just stood awkwardly while we browsed— just in case.

Bella was already waiting in the car for me. After a goodbye from Charlie, we parted ways. Us to school and him to work.

Apart from my constant flicking through the radio channels, it was a quiet drive.

Within twenty minutes we pulled up to a big, older-looking brick building with banners of blue and gold. I had never seen the highschool before but it looked practically identical to the Forks Elementary and Middle schools, albeit a little bigger.

Bella walked slightly behind me, tugging at her backpack as if trying to make herself smaller.

I put a good amount of effort into my appearance. A grunge haircut to my dark brown hair (only recently redyed from blonde after a Buffy phase) made it look impossibly fluffy. I usually kept it on the shorter side but right now it reached just below my shoulders.

My facial features matched my fathers, albeit a little softer, and my latest growth spurt which had left me neck-and-neck with Bella ( actually, I stood a little bit over her now. Had that happened over the weekend? ) would suggest that I got my height from him.

Between the two of us, I easily stood out more. But despite the fact that she tried hard to avoid it, Bella always garnered more attention. She was like Renee in that way.

Just then, a tall nerdy-looking kid appeared in our path.

"You two, are the Swan girls." He had phrased it like a question but it sounded more like a statement.

Nonetheless, I nodded.

"Helena Swan," he gestured towards me " I remember you. "We had third grade together."

I didn't recall him at all. Nonetheless, I nodded. "Yeah, Mr.Cane's right?"

He beamed at that, "Yes!"

I gave him a smile. While talkative, he seemed nice enough.

"And you're Isabella Swan, the new girl. Hi. I'm Eric. The eyes" he made a dramatic gesture towards his eyes, "and ears of this school. Anything you need, just call me."

"I'm more of the suffer-in-silence type" Bella deadpanned, but Eric chuckled.

"Do you think you can show us to the office?" I asked.

The secretary, Mrs.Cope, had already been expecting us. She had our schedules and slips all printed out and ready to go when we got there.

I tucked the slip into my back pocket, examining the orange schedule in front of me.

"Let's see..." I wondered out loud, "French, Gym, US history, Trigonometry, then Lunch, Earth Science, and Finally art".

Not too bad.

"Yours?" I asked Bella as we made our way out of the office.

She just handed me her paper.

"Yikes," I said as I looked over it. It looked like we didn't have any classes together.