The first of the inevitable rain drops began falling from a sky covered with thick iron gray clouds, adding yet another layer of precipitation to the already sodden town of Forks Washington as a white Volkswagen beetle that had seen better days pulled out from a driveway in front of a whitewashed two-story house, causing the occupant of the car to sigh heavily. Risa blinked up at the clouds for a moment before turning her lips into a small frown, resolutely refusing to turn on the windshield wipers in hopes that her denial would somehow cause the storm to go away. After several moments in which the rain instead increased in volume, she gave up with a huff of defeat and clicked on the wipers. OK, she loved a good rainstorm, like any sane person, but there had to be a limit on how much water could fall from the sky, right? Apparently not...

Risa Kimura was a thin girl of average height, with sixteen years of life under her belt. She had long silky black hair that fell to the middle of her shoulder blades, bangs cut in layers around her face. She was Japanese by birth, which explained her almond shaped dark brown eyes, but had moved to the United States with her family when she was six she never had found out why her father had decided to take a job in Washington of all places, but she didn't complain. Most of the time. From what she could remember of Japan, it hadn't rained nearly as much as it tended to do here.

And if the rain hadn't been enough of a dampener, Risa was also having to start at a new school in town. Her former high school had recently seen the closing of its doors, the city funding unable to support having such a high concentration of high schools in one area, And had split the student population, sending them to the remaining schools in the area. She, naturally, was part of a smaller group that had been funneled into Forks High, Taking her away from her two best friends and subjecting her to be a subject of curiosity along with the nineteen other students that had been dealt a similar fate. Part of that was probably due to the fact that her parents had decided to purchase a house in the small town recently for some reason, Adding to the stress. Whatever the case was, she was no longer going to be commuting to the next city to get to school.

Pulling into a space in front of what she assumed was the front office, Risa Cut the engine to her car and stuffed the keys into the pocket of her jeans, flipping up the hood on her grey rain jacket before she braved the downpour, making a beeline for the office to get the paperwork for her first day at Forks High.



Releasing a slow controlled sigh, Jasper Cullen tried his best to work the tension out of his muscles, uncurl his hands from the fists they had become on his thighs. He concentrated on watching The fall of the raindrops out of the back window of the Volvo he was sitting in, focusing on every minute detail as the droplets of water broke against the pavement, the grass, the houses... But of course, his mind was much more capable of focusing on several things at once, so his worry continued to plague his thoughts, despite his effort to put the matter aside. For he and his family, Edward, Rosalie, and Emmett, were once again headed towards the current Hellhole of his life: Forks High school.

Jasper, and the rest of his adoptive family for that matter, were vampires, Predatory creatures that instinctively hunted and fed on the blood of humans, so the simple matter of pretending to be a regular student at a school full of fragile, Breakable, blood filled teenagers was a constant temptation. Fortunately for the unsuspecting humans, the Cullen Family worked particularly hard on resisting the call of human blood, practicing a "vegetarian" lifestyle, preying instead on animals. Being the newest member to the family, the least experienced with interacting with humans, Jasper frequently struggled to stay true to the choice of abstinence.

'It's because I'm weak.' He found himself thinking bitterly, casting his golden gaze down onto his clenched hands, staring at the crisscrossing pattern of scars on his skin. He had lived in such a different world then the others, where he had known nothing but fighting, death, and blood... Going down that particular line of memories wasn't going to help if he wanted to not kill anyone today. Jaw clenched, he lifted his gaze once again to the rain, trying to strengthen his resolve once more.

Fresh schedule in hand, A map of the school to accompany it, Risa ducked back out of the office and hurriedly got back in her car, trying to ignore the drip of rainwater from her jacket on to the dark washed pair of jeans she was wearing. She was momentarily grateful that she wasn't wearing a white T-shirt for her first day, speckles of water almost invisible against the dark red of her rib knit sweater, something that surely would have made her stand out among her peers and had jokes plaguing her for months. She could almost imagine a ghost of a conversation, people discussing the weird Asian girl with the white see-through shirt... But she quickly shook off the thoughts, not actually having made the blunder of wearing white in the rain, focusing instead on maneuvering her car around the edges of the school property, making her way towards the student parking lot. Pulling into a space between a couple of other cars that had seen better days, Ri sucked in a deep breath before she cut the engine, trying to brace herself for the upcoming immersion, and then released the air in a puff that made her cheeks momentarily bulge. Giving her head a shake, she briefly studied the map she had been given, comparing it to her schedule and locating her first period before stuffing the papers into her bag and getting out of the car, slinging one strap over her shoulder. Locking the car behind her as she walked away, she tried not to focus on a fluttering panicky feeling starting in her stomach.

Rain boots splashing in collected puddles that she wondered had ever completely evaporated before, Risa tried not to look around too much, fearing that she would catch the eyes of a curious teenager and go tripping over her own feet. She wasn't a clumsy person naturally, but if she tried to walk and focus on anything else, she usually ended up falling. Definitely not something she wanted to do within the first minute of getting to school. As it was, she was moving a bit faster then was probably normal and consequently ended up bumping someone with her arm that she hadn't immediately seen. Cheeks flushing with embarrassment, the teenager turned towards the person she had hit, looking out from her hood at another girl with a light brown jacket and blonde curls hidden within her own coat. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to run into you like that." Risa apologized sincerely, her voice coming out with a bit more of her Japanese accent because of her agitation. "are you all right?"



The lustfull emotions beginning to roll off of Emmet and Rosalie were just starting to get on his nerves when Edward mercifully snapped at them to take it elsewhere. There was a momentary stab of irritation from Rose, but the pair quickly left with a whisper of fabric, closing the door behind them quietly. Jasper glanced towards his adopted brother, aware of the concern that Edward was feeling as the bronze haired vampire also got out of the car, whispering a question to him even as he pretended to check one of the tires of the Volvo. His first reaction was to get irritated at having his thoughts on display, but Jasper instead opted for a chagrined sort of gratitude for the concern. It wasn't Edward's fault that he could pick out all of the thoughts that crossed his mind, just as it was impossible for Jasper not to notice the emotions of those around him. That was just what they were.

Settling on an answer that was a combination of truths, Jasper had just gotten out of the car himself and had opened his mouth to respond when a sudden shift in Edward's mood made his muscles freeze, His nostrils flared to scent the air. Naturally, the warm sent of blood hit him first, several students still walking through the parking lot, and the back of his throat Felt as if it had suddenly ignited into flames. He struggled not to focus on the instinctive urge to jump towards the nearest group of people, give in to the sudden burning desire to quench his thirst. Reaching out, he gripped Edwards shoulder, using the contact to focus his thoughts and discover the reason behind the sudden tension he could feel coming off of him.

"What's wrong Edward?" He hissed in a low voice, still scanning the area for potential threats. It was almost as if his brother were having a similar struggle to his own... Tightening The grip he had on Edward's shoulder, Jasper truly hope that wasn't the case.

A fresh wave of guilt washed over Risa as she noticed that her collision with the other teenager had caused the girl to drop her bag, contents spilling out. Before she could react and help pick up the mess, The papers and other paraphernalia had already been collected swiftly, most going back into the bag that had been dropped. Expecting an angry retort, some sort of insult, she was slightly taken aback as the girl instead smiled as she turned in her direction, Insisting that everything was all right. Ri blinked A few times quickly before she offered her own tentative smile in return. "thanks. I am sorry though. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

Carefully pulling her own hood back, shaking off a few excess raindrops on to the entrance rug, Risa was surprised A little when the girl Drew her attention again, looking up from some papers she was holding and asking about locker locations. Feeling slightly awkward, especially when the girl also admitted that she herself was also new to Forks High, But in a rather pretty sounding British accent, Risa nevertheless could only give a helpless shrug to her shoulders as she too moved away from the entrance doors. "i'm sorry to say that I can't. You're not the only one that's new... They transferred me here after my old school closed. This is my first day." She confessed apologetically, brushing back part of her black hair from her face. Somewhat curious now about the location of her own locker, she unzipped her backpack and pulled out her schedule, scanning over the information in search of anything of relevance. "you said 216, right? Looks like they gave me the locker right next to yours. Hopefully that doesn't mean they shoved us off in some forgotten corner of the school." She chuckled softly. "want to see if we can find it together?" She asked, feeling another explosion of nervousness.



Slowly, the feeling of agitation slipped away from Edward and Jasper felt his own body relaxing in response. He tried not to let the frown linger on his face as he glanced quickly from the dent in the car to the other vampire's face, not wanting to draw suspicion from the humans still lingering around the parking lot, but decided against raising objections as Edward again insisted that the sudden reaction was nothing. Hoping that this was truly the case, the tall blonde vampire plucked his backpack from where it still lay on the seat of the car, hooking the straps across his shoulders as he sighed softly. "if you insist." He murmured softly, turning towards the high school and beginning to walk towards the tangible aura of excitement, worry,, Curiosity, and hormones that usually permeated the building.

Every step was a challenge, the barrage of emotions stronger today thanks to the acceptance of a handful of new students, and Jasper found that he was choosing to hold his breath rather then subject himself to the tormenting scent in The air, not wanting the extra distraction as he played the human teenager. He again wondered how the others handled this immersion so easily, how Carlisle could go so far as to perform surgeries and treat the wounded, but again chastised his own weakness in the matter, admitting to their years of experience that he did not have. Idly noting the presence of new vehicles in the parking lot, Jasper attempted to ignore the emotions swirling around him, trying to resist the temptation to cast a calming influence over the school just to have a moment of peace.

"i'm glad I only have another year of this." He huffed, Giving his head a shake as he turned his steps in the direction of his first class. Calculus. A subject he could probably teach better then the current teacher. Not that he would admit that to Mr. Bertie's face.

A soft laugh escaped past her lips as the blond girl admitted to being relieved at not being the only new student at the school, though Risa was under the assumption that all of the new students starting today were coming from other schools. Apparently, she was mistaken. Giving her head a small shake and pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, she put on another smile. "I agree. It will be nice to not be the center of attention."

Zipping up her backpack once more, Risa slid it back onto her shoulders before riffling through the papers still in her hands until she located the map of the school she had been given. Dark eyes quickly scanning over the page, she was slightly annoyed that there didn't seem to be any indicator of locker numbers anywhere on the map. She released a heavy sigh through her lips, once again absently brushing her bangs from her eyes, before giving a shrug to her companion. "looks like we are just going to have to hope that we get lucky." Risa emphasized this point by smacking the back of her hand against the front of the map. "they decided to omit the locker numbers."

With another sigh, Risa picked a direction and began walking, taking a moment to briefly glance towards the other teenager. "So, um... My name's Risa, by the way." She offered, giving a Quick flash of her teeth in a grin before she glanced once again away, not wanting to run into anyone else. "What's yours?" She then asked, waiting for the response.

The response never came. Eyebrows drawing together in a confused look that made her lips slightly pucker, Risa turned her head to look at her new companion and came to an uncertain stop when she didn't see the girl there. Pivoting on the spot, she saw the other at a standstill several paces back down the hallway, fingers against her forehead, Looking as if she were in some sort of pain, or concentrating on something very hard. Growing concerned, Risa quickly approached, hesitating with her hand partially outstretched as if to grip the girl by her shoulder. "hey, are you all right? Is your head bothering you? I've got some aspirin in my bag if you need something for it...." She offered, frowning somewhat as she studied the other's face.



"yes." Jasper sighed, Mirroring the fatigue he felt from Edward and his own emotions as he thought of the inevitable change they would have to go through once again. "until we have to do it all over again." He agreed, words coming out quickly and quietly, trying to preserve what little air he had left in his lungs in case he needed to speak in class.

The shift in Edward's emotions was once again abrupt, alarming, slamming into Jasper and catching him off guard, making every muscle in his body stiffen with alarm as he came to a sudden halt, eyes once again snapping to his brother. The influx of new students was having a much bigger impact on the both of them then he would've liked, their actions becoming too obvious, two strange. But Edward could have stopped hearing thoughts, Jasper could have stopped feeling emotions, just as easily as a human could lift a boulder. Momentarily making the assumption that this second reaction was similar to the first, Jaz didn't hesitate to soothe away some of the anxiety he could feel coming off of the bronze haired vampire.

After a moment, Edward looked directly at him and Jasper met his gaze with a question in his thoughts and on his face. He got an answer, but it wasn't something he was expecting to hear. Things were changing. Changing how? Before he could get any other answers out of Edward, the other had begun to walk away, Pulling out his cell phone, Fingers tapping quickly against the device as he wrote a message. Presumably, the message was to Carlisle, but Jasper would have to wait to find out what it was about later. Edward wasn't giving away any information at the moment.partially annoyed, wishing he had a better understanding of the changes that were happening around him so that he could be better prepared, the blonde vampire resisted the temptation to go after his brother as he turned in the opposite direction, striding down the hallway in the direction of his own class.

Pausing with the little bottle of aspirin partially pulled from her bag as she finally received a reaction, Risa adopted a look of sympathetic concern at the explanation of brief but intense headaches. She had very little experience with headaches herself, but she knew her mother suffered with frequent migraines. The idea of having overwhelming pain to the point where it made every other action near impossible sounded miserable. But Madison seemed to recover quickly, even revealing her name at last, and didn't except the offer of painkillers. Nodding her head in acknowledgment, Risa let the bottle drop back into the depths of her bag, readjusting The backpack into a more comfortable position once again.

"i'm glad to hear that they don't linger." She said sincerely, turning to walk alongside Maddie down the hallway once again. "and I'm glad we ran into each other. Literally." She added with a slightly embarrassed giggle.

Finding their lockers wasn't as much of a challenge as they had been expecting, The cafeteria within sight as Maddie pointed out their numbers sandwiched in between what looked like a trophy case and the door of a classroom. Breathing a momentary sigh of relief, Risa twisted The dial on the lock to the number she had memorized the day before, relieved when the locker opened easily. She deposited her jacket but not much else, she didn't have any textbooks yet, and quickly shut the door again, spinning the dial before turning back towards Madison.

The two Took a few moments to compare their schedules, holding them side-by-side. Risa Felt a twinge of disappointment as they quickly discovered that they only shared one class, gym. And that wasn't until the end of the day. At least she had lunch to look forward to. With so few students, it didn't make sense to have multiple lunches. "well, looks like I'll be seeing you at lunch. Good luck." She offered, waving her hand before briefly consulting her schedule once again and turning her steps in the direction of her first class.

Calculus was bound to be an interesting way to start off her day. Risa didn't particularly mind math, but it wasn't her favorite subject. She preferred the sciences and anything having to do with art and music. Unfortunately for her, Forks wasn't big enough to have many extracurricular classes, especially not those that involved the purchasing of musical equipment or supplies for an art class. Still, she would make do with biology, Her class directly after lunch, And expand her artistic cravings at home. Despite being one of several new students, she was stopped frequently on her way to calculus, the regular students quite excited buy a new face. She smiled politely, participated in a little chatting, but frequently had to remind the other students that she didn't want to be late for class. She was surprisingly worn out by the time she did get to the classroom and Risa wearily made her way to the front of the classroom, giving her teacher, Mr. Birdy, A piece of paper that the woman in the office had asked her to get signed by all of her teachers. He gawped A little, but made quick work of putting his signature on the paper and handing it back, indicating a seat that she could take in the second to last row. With a small smile for the man, she quickly made her way over to her new desk, sliding into it and pulling out a notebook, pencil, and a couple of extra erasers.



Just his luck, Jasper had to have two of the new students in his calculus class that morning. Not completely surprising, considering how few students there actually were, but he wished it had played out differently. The second of the new students, a girl with Japanese features, Had been directed to a seat very near to his own, only separated from him by one other person. He could feel her nervousness, anxiety, fatigue, excitement, and trepidation like a tangible cloud, mirroring the other new student who had been placed on the other side of the classroom. Her arrival had sparked a renewal of excitement and curiosity from the regular students, a distinctive attraction coming off of the boys and a few stamps of jealousy or condescension from the girls. Jasper momentarily had to fight off yet another wave of temptation to simply soothe the room around him, Closing his bright golden eyes for several seconds as he waited for the peak in the emotions to calm down.

And on top of the raging emotions, he couldn't help but feel the heat rippling off of the bodies around him, hear the pounding of hearts and the sound of blood moving through veins. To distract him from thinking about the temptation of satiating his ever present thirst, Jasper concentrated on what he had felt from Edward earlier, worked on picking apart the emotions that he felt. But this exercise did him no good. He had no idea what had caused such anxiety and his brother. Not having a source or explanation brought back his frustration and Jaz opened his eyes once again only to narrow them slightly with annoyance. Finally making up his mind, he slipped a cell phone from one of his pockets, flipping it open and quickly typing out a message and sending it to Edward.

tell me what is going on. You know I don't like being in the dark.