1: Skinny Love (Ed. Cullen)

4.

Bella knocks on Bambi's door and enters the room, Bambi is already awake on the other side and sat on her bed with her laptop open, she smiles at her twin.

"Morning" she greets. Bella smiles back.

"Hey...." Bambi closes her laptop and jumps up as Bella sits on the bed.

"Okay, so what's the game plan?" Bambi asks pulling a skirt from her dresser and a shirt.

"What?" Bella asks, Bambi turns to her.

"Well...are you going to play the quiet, loner book girl or...are you going to try something different? New school, new Bella?" Bella raises an eyebrow at her sister. "Come on, Bells, this is a new start, make some friends, real friends, maybe even meet a boy, fall in love...fall out of it..." Bambi teases, Bella smiles and shrugs.

"I don't know....I mean, it would be nice if it wasn't just us two" Bambi nods agreeing, though she had friends back in Arizona they weren't friend friends, they were just people she sat with in class or something ate lunch with. "What about you?" Bella asks Bambi.

"I was thinking of trying out for the track team" Bambi offers pulling off her over seized sleep shirt as she walks behind the screen in her room. "And maybe a music club..."

"Well track you'll get onto no challenge, I've never seen anyone run like you" Bella offers holding out Bambi's hair clips as she steps out from behind the screen. Bambi smiles taking them from her and goes about pinning up her hair.

"What about a book club?" Bambi asks. "You like to read"

"Yeah, but maybe not enough for a club....but I think we shouldn't be the loner twins any more" Bambi smiles in the mirror watching Bella. "We'll do better" Bambi nods and stands.

"No more loner twins" she agrees, Bella holds out her pinkie finger, Bambi smiles and loops her own with her twins. "We haven't done this since we were twelve" Bambi points out.

"Felt like a pinkie moment" Bella offers with a smile, Bambi smiles back.

"A pinkie moment" she agrees, they both tug on their pinkies and then unloop themselves. "Come on, or we'll be late" Bambi grabs her jacket and her bag before she and Bella leave.

.................

Bella's big red truck is loud, belching and turning heads as Bella parks, mortified, Bambi smirks and pulls her scarf around her neck, she doesn't need it but she wears it through habit. All eyes are on them as they climb out of the truck, Bambi straightens her jacket as Bella steps in a puddle, soaking her sneakers. She sighs as Bambi smirks.

"Not a word, Bambi" she scolds.

"Only you" Bambi tells, Bella shoots her a look, Bambi smirks. "You want to do this together?" she asks holding out her hand, Bella nods and takes it.

"Together" Bella agrees, the twins turn to face the school and squeeze one another's hands and then they slink towards the school.

....................

Bambi leads the way thru kids who stare openly; a few brave ones say hi. They're all talking about them. This is Bella's hell. The younger twin shrinks behind her big sister, though they are twins, Bambi is still her big sister, and Bella thinks of her as much. Bambi is her shield, her protector, her buffer. Everything is made easier with Bambi around her. Bambi squeezes Bella's hand. They're looking for room numbers, lost. Constant stares at Bella and Bambi, the outsiders. Bambi jerks back a little, Bella bumping into her back when a sweet, nerd-cute, motor mouth boy, Eric, appears in their path.

"You're Isabella and Nadine Swan, the new girls. Hi. I'm Eric. The eyes and ears of this place. Anything you need. Tour guide, lunch date, shoulder to cry on" Bambi raises an eyebrow and looks to Bella who shrugs wearing an 'Is he for real?' look.

"We're kind of the "suffer in silence" type" Bella tells him.

"Good headline for your feature. I'm on the paper, and you're news, Babies, front page" Bella looks panicked.

"I -- no, I'm not news -- I'm, seriously, not at all" Bella stutters.

"Yeah, not news" Bambi tells him.

"Whoa, chillax. No feature" he assures them both, Bella relaxes and releases her grip on Bambi's hand.

"Would you mind just pointing us toward Mr. Varner's class?" Bambi asks. He leads them away, enjoying the attentive stares, Bella cringes from them, clutching to Bambi.

"You've missed a lot of the semester, but I can hook you up - tutor, cliff notes, medical excuse.."

...........................

"What an a-hole" Bambi complains as she and Bella head down the hall after Mr. Varner's math's class, Bella shrugs. "Like seriously there are some dark pits of hell reserved for men like him" Bella chuckles into Bambi's arm.

"Oh, notice board" Bella points out and steers them both towards it. "Maybe they have something about the track team" they both stop in front of the board and Bambi snorts.

"Well the drama club thinks very highly of themselves" she points out lifting up one of the many drama club notices, copies of them covering everything else.

"See if we can't find.....ah, here" Bella lifts a sheet to show the track poster. "Thursdays after school...." Bambi hums and looks over it as Bella keeps looking. "And here, music....urm...tuesdays, so that's helpful...."

"Yeah" Bambi answers pulling out her notebook to write it all down. Bella looks to her.

"Did you pack it?"

"Of course...." Bambi answers with a smirk slipping the notebook away. "I suppose I should start practising again"

"Yeah" Bella teases. "Come one, we've got gym...." Bambi smirks and pokes her sisters cheek. "This is your field, Bambi....give me a book any day" they take off down the halls.

.............................

Bambi pulls her hair out of the back of her sports bra and pulls a hair tie from her wrist. The girls are avoiding the twins, probably not wanting to make the first move, Bella sits next to her sister tying up her shoelaces on her trainers, first day at school and they have gym. Like who sits there with their schedule and thinks that is a good idea. Lucky both girls had thought ahead and taken them kits in with them, even if just to set in their new lockers. Bambi pulls her jumper over her head and shoulders and sets her necklace and ring in a pocket in her bag before zipping it up and looking to Bella who has shrunk back into her shell a little, she hates sports as much as Bambi hates fake people. Bambi touches Bella's arm and smiles a little, Bella nods and stands.