Hexed In Forks (FANFICTION)

1. The new boy in the rain

If the air in Phoenix had teeth, Forks had claws.

I could feel it the second I stepped off the plane—a weight to the overcast sky, like it was watching me. Waiting. The clouds in this town didn’t roll. They loomed. And somehow, even the rain felt personal.

Charlie didn’t hug me when he picked me up. He hadn’t hugged Bella either, a year ago. That’s just how he was. Quiet. Guarded. We both got that from him, though she tried harder to pretend otherwise.

The ride home was mostly silence, broken up by a few awkward “how’s school?” and “how’s Mom?” questions, but I didn’t mind. I liked the quiet. It was safer than noise. And for me, silence meant control.

Because sometimes, when I wasn’t in control... things broke.

And not metaphorically.

---

Forks High looked like the set of a low-budget horror film: damp pavement, sad red bricks, a parking lot full of rusting cars, and the smell of wet pine everywhere. My first thought wasn’t fear or dread.

It was: This place is going to hate me.

I wasn’t flashy or openly rebellious. But I didn’t blend either.

My skin was pale—not in a romantic, vampire way, just in an I-don’t-go-out-much way. I had thick black hair that curled just slightly at the ends, especially in the humidity, and my eyes were a clear steel-gray that sometimes caught too much light. That, combined with my sharper-than-average cheekbones and tall, wiry build, got me stares.

Bella used to joke that I had a “runway face.” I used to joke that she had the emotional range of a teaspoon. We were even.

She didn’t know about the powers.

No one did.

---

It was third period when I saw them.

The Cullens.

They sat together at a table in the cafeteria, untouched food on trays, speaking without speaking. Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, Jasper.

Gods carved from ice. Cold, ethereal, intimidating. And yet somehow, beautiful.

There was something off about them, and it wasn’t just the way people avoided their table. It was the way I felt it. Like a shift in pressure when I walked past them. Like gravity tried harder around them.

And then he looked at me.

Edward Cullen. Bronze hair, face like marble, eyes gold and unreadable.

He looked at me like I was a secret he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

I looked away first.

---

Biology. Of course it had to be Biology.

As fate would have it, I got the only empty seat in the lab—next to Edward Cullen.

He didn’t say hello.

In fact, he leaned ever so slightly away from me, his jaw tight, like I smelled bad or something. Rude.

“Pleasure’s all mine,” I muttered, setting my books down.

He didn’t answer.

The scent of formaldehyde and burnt coffee hung heavy in the air. Mr. Banner started droning about mitosis, passing out slides for microscope work, but I couldn’t focus. Not with Edward sitting there like I was a personal insult.

It annoyed me.

Not because I cared. But because he noticed me—and then acted like I was something to avoid.

I was used to indifference. This? This was different.

When class ended, he bolted from the room like something had chased him.

---

By the end of the week, he was gone. “Family emergency,” they said.

Right.

I wasn’t stupid.

I knew tension when I felt it. And Edward Cullen didn’t just feel tense—he felt dangerous.

And I hated that it made me curious.

---

Sunday Night

Charlie was asleep. Bella was over at the Cullens', which... was weird in and of itself. She’d become close to Edward since she moved here. Too close. I thought it was a phase. Now I wasn’t sure.

I sat alone in my room, staring at the ceiling, fingers itching with that hum under my skin again. Like static. Like something trying to get out.

I took a deep breath and whispered to myself:

“Calm.”

The lightbulb above flickered... then stilled.

Control. Always control.

Because if I didn’t—

The doorbell rang.

I frowned.

No one ever visited us.

---

It was raining harder than usual. I pulled the door open and—

Edward Cullen stood on the porch.