CHAPTER 2
SHINY NEW TOY

IN a town with a population of three thousand one hundred and twenty people, only a handful were students at the high school. With Margo's recent encounter with the new kid, she noted that it would now be three thousand one hundred and twenty-one. It had been that number just last year, but an elderly man by the name of Jenkins who lived along the border of Forks died, leaving them again at three thousand one hundred and twenty.

Margo was a frequent helper of the school's student affairs office. She didn't want to be associated with any clubs, because she preferred working with adults more. Margo wasn't the same as her best friend, Melinda Cox, who usually talked to everyone and was a cheerleader for their football team. Everyone liked Melinda, and they sometimes scorned her for spending most of her time with a know-it-all like Margo, but Melinda never complained. She happened to like Margo, and would much rather sit with the younger girl at lunch than most of her cheerleading buddies that probably shit-talked her behind her back.

Margo swiftly opened the door to the office on that early Monday morning, slapping her hands on the counter of the secretary. "Morning, Mrs. Dooley," she greeted. "Got anything for me? I have a free spot of time at lunch to put up anything on the bulletin board or organize any scripts."

Mrs. Dooley smiled before spinning in her chair to grab a stack of pink papers. She placed them on the high counter. "The Sci-Fi Club is holding an entertainment night, apparently." She explained with a bored tone. "If you could place these on most of the lunch tables today, that would be excellent."

Margo eyed the pink flyer with ease. The club was showing random episodes of the Twilight Zone this weekend at seven. She raised her brows for a moment and took the papers in her hands. "You can count on me," she replied as she slipped the stack inside her bag. Margo then leaned onto the counter, whispering, "Between you an me, you're going to be getting a new student in here today. Brunette, named Bella Swan."

Mrs. Dooley's eyes went wide. "New student?" She whispered loudly, causing a few faculty members to glance at them. "Huh, Swan. Must be related to the Chief."

"Maybe," Margo shrugged. "There hasn't been a new student since ... well, since me." She smirked and flipped her hair over her shoulder, causing the secretary to chuckle. "But, I guess there's a new time for anything."

•••

They were playing volley ball in gym today, because clearly the coach liked to make his students suffer. Melinda and Margo was situated with a team on one side, while they spied Jessica Stanley and Mike Newton on the other. Melinda watched Margo try to serve the ball towards Mike's head each time she got it in her hands, which was actually pretty hilarious. Margo had a vendetta against Mike since she said she liked him at the beginning of last year, because she usually "crushed on guys with a pea-sized brain," which didn't go over well whatsoever. Mike completely rejected her, and now Margo hated his guts.

Margo smacked the ball in Mike's direction once it was in her range, and the blonde boy quickly dodged it. He stared at Margo from across the net, lifting his arms up in confusion. Margo only glared his way. The ball was sent over the net again, but this time, it went towards the new girl, Isabella Swan. She struggled with the game, and ended up hitting the ball so hard that it went over to the other side and pounded Mike in the forehead.

Melinda and the other students gasped loudly, but Margo was left in a fit of giggles. "God, Mar," Melinda said with a shake of her head, "can you at least pretend to be sympathetic? Just once?"

"And why would I do that?" Margo asked with a deadpanned expression.

Melinda found herself releasing a laugh while she ran a hand through her wild dark curls. The two looked over to Bella approaching Mike with worry, exclaiming, "I'm sorry! I told them not to let me play."

"No, no, that's okay." Mike said once he laid eyes on the pretty brunette. A smile graced his lips. "You're, uh ... Isabella, right?"

"Just Bella."

Mike nodded and laid out his hand. "Yeah, hey. I'm Mike Newton."

Jessica Stanley was now sprinting over to them, because just about everyone knew that she had been crushing on Mike since ... forever. Whenever he talked to another girl, Jessica was there.

"She's got a great spike, huh?" Jessica laughed loudly. "I'm Jessica, by the way! You're from Arizona, right?" She asked, to which Bella nodded. "Aren't people from Arizona supposed to be, like ... really tan?"

The three shared an awkward laugh when Margo and Melinda's eyes met. Melinda crossed her arms over her chest. "Looks like the new girl has found her people," she muttered.

"And out of all people, Jessica and Mike?" Margo scoffed. "Maybe now she'll park near them. She took my damn parking spot this morning."

Melinda rolled her eyes, "Tragic."

After another round of volley ball, coach allowed the class to end early for lunch. Margo quickly changed back into her sweater and jeans, and waited outside for Melinda, seeing as she always took longer. Melinda eventually walked out in a black turtleneck and maroon skirt, waving goodbye to someone in their gym class. "Could you take any longer?" Margo asked.

Melinda frowned towards her.

Margo ignored the look as she pulled out the stack of flyers from her book bag. She handed half the pile to Melinda. "Mind helping me put these on the tables? If we start now, we'll have more time to eat."

"Sure," Melinda replied with a nod. The two walked quickly to the cafeteria, noticing that it was already filling with students. Bella Swan was being led towards Jessica's table, where Mike was pulling out a chair for her. Angela Weber, Eric Yorkie, and Tyler Crowley were also seated there.

"Hey, Mikey!" Eric greeted as Mike took a seat besides the new girl. "You met my home girl, Bella!"

Mike's brow shot up. "Your home girl?"

Melinda and Margo crossed the cafeteria and placed a flyer on Mike's table. The blonde's eyes met Margo's, but he quickly looked away to glare at Eric. Margo scoffed under her breath, completely unaware of Tyler Crowley's presence besides Bella as he kissed her cheek and said, "My girl." Tyler pulled Mike's seat from under him and dashed off, charging right into Margo and causing her stack of papers to fall to the floor.

Margo's eyes went wide. She watched Mike sprint after Tyler throughout the cafeteria, and she stomped her foot down in anger. "God, you guys are so immature!" She spat, lifting her fist in their direction. The rest of the people at the table were staring at Margo with shock, but Bella's eyes were the only ones that held sympathy.

"It's like first grade all over again," Jessica muttered with an awkward laugh towards Bella. "You're the ... shiny new toy."

Margo knelt down and began to pick up the flyers that were once in her hands. Melinda did the same, but soon stopped her friend's motions. Margo glanced at her with confusion. "This isn't worth the effort. We still have more flyers in my hands." Melinda then shrugged. "And hey, when you look at it –" she motioned for them both to stand "– the flyers are spread on the floor evenly. It looks kinda cool, right? People will still look at it."

"I guess," Margo sighed, throwing one last glare in Jessica's direction, "if the janitor doesn't clean it up." The two then went back around the cafeteria in a circle, placing each of the flyers they had left on a table. It only took a few minutes, and finally the two could grab lunch.

Roasted turkey and gravy was the special today, but knowing their cafeteria, it all came from the freezer. Margo frowned at the sight of the molten turkey behind the glass. The lunch lady tapped her finger impatiently, until eventually, Margo just asked for a bowl of salad. The worker handed her the bowl, and though all Margo saw was wilted lettuce, she'd take it over the turkey any day.

Melinda and Margo walked towards their table, earning the usual confused looks as to why the head cheerleader was sitting with the big brain of the school. No one would ever understand it, but they didn't have to. Melinda dug into the lukewarm turkey on her tray, placing a piece of it in her mouth. Margo made a disgusted expression as she shoved a forkful of vinaigrette-coated lettuce in her mouth.

"It's getting warmer," Melinda brought up. "I think it's time we finally took that trip to the beaches."

Margo rolled her eyes. "Forks has no beaches, and even if they did, they'd be nothing compared to the sunny sands of Cali. I miss them most of the time."

"Okay, point made. There are no beaches in Forks," Melinda agreed. "But there are some in La Push. A lot of people visit those beaches and say they're beautiful. I heard you can whale-watch there too."

"La Push?" Margo leaned her cheek in her hand. "Never heard of it." Another forkful of lettuce.

Melinda narrowed her eyes. "Shocker," she muttered. "Whenever you have your little road trips with your aunt, you always head East. La Push is West of Forks."

"Alright, enough with the lessons. I'm usually your tutor." Margo waved the issue away with her hand. "So you want to go to La Push?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Margo shrugged. "I don't know, maybe we should just –" She was cut off, trying to look for a distraction but soon found it when she spotted a specific group of teenagers walking into the café. "Hey, would you look at that! It's the Cullens, whoop-de-doo."

Melinda turned, eyes focusing on the group of extremely pale teenagers walking towards their lunch table. She stared at one in particular, the older boy with dark curly hair and large in height: Emmett Cullen. Melinda had a crush on Emmett since the day his family moved, but she always stared from afar. Margo watched her friend drool over him while she placed her chin on her fist. "Hey," Margo whispered, plucking the spit adorning Melinda's lip, "no drooling."

Melinda sighed heavily. "I missed my chance a long time ago," she said, glancing towards Emmett's girlfriend, Rosalie with the golden hair. "Now he's with his ... step-sister? Are they even related?"

"Doctor Cullen adopted them from a foster home. They're not actually related, but it doesn't matter," Margo replied, chewing on a piece of tomato. "The Cullens keep to themselves. Let it stay that way. The last time I bothered Edward in biology, he looked at me with murder in his eyes. I'd rather not talk to any of them unless I have to."

"Edward's still available, right?" Melinda asked. "Maybe I'll give him a shot. Who can resist a cheerleader?"

Margo looked away, spying a certain new girl staring at Edward Cullen over her shoulder. Margo watched their eyes connect from across the lunch room, and both seemed oddly uncomfortable with the stare, yet they were still doing it. Her brow knitted together as she pointed in their direction with her fork. "Well, I think Bella Swan may be swooping in to steal your man. Watch out, Mel."