Twilight: Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

Bella is dressed in her favorite sleeveless shirt to fly out of Phoenix, but her carryon item is a parka. She’s headed for a tiny town in Washington state called Forks. It’s on the Olympic Peninsula and is the rainiest place in the United States. When Bella was just a few months old, her mom “escaped” Forks with Bella—and like Mom, Bella hates the town. But now, she’s “exiling” herself there voluntarily. Before Bella boards, Mom reminds her that she doesn’t have to go. Bella feels panicky for a moment; her mom is “erratic” and “hare-brained” and will struggle to feed herself, even with her new husband Phil around. But Bella lies that she wants to go and tells Mom goodbye. 

Bella eventually gets off her final plane in the small town of Port Angeles. She has an hour in the car with Charlie to look forward to. Neither Charlie nor Bella is talkative, so Bella is certain that the drive will be uncomfortable. Sure enough, Charlie greets Bella with an awkward hug and ushers her to his police cruiser (he’s the police chief in Forks, and Bella plans to buy herself a car so she doesn’t have to ride with him). As he puts Bella’s bags in the trunk, he shares that he bought a Chevy truck off his old friend, Billy Black, for Bella. It’s very old, and Bella frets that she can’t afford to both buy it and get it fixed—but Charlie says that it runs great, and that it’s a gift.

Bella stares out the window at the greenery until they get to Charlie’s tiny two-bedroom house. He and Mom bought it right after they got married. Bella spots the truck immediately and loves it: it’s red and solid metal, so she’ll survive any accident. She thanks Charlie, and he acts embarrassed.

Charlie helps Bella carry her things upstairs to her bedroom and then leaves her alone to unpack. It’s nice to be alone and not have to pretend to be excited. Tomorrow, she’ll attend her first day at Forks High School, which will now have 358 students total. Bella knows she’ll be a curiosity, coming from Phoenix. Unfortunately, Bella isn’t tan, sporty, or blonde, like girls from Phoenix should look. Instead, she’s pale, with brown hair and no coordination. When Bella finishes unpacking, she notices that she already looks sallow in this light. She’s never going to fit in—she doesn’t relate well to other people.

In bed later, Bella struggles to fall asleep—the rain is too loud. When she wakes up in the morning, it’s foggy outside. She eats breakfast with Charlie, and when he leaves, she looks around the house. It looks exactly like it always does: Mom was the last person to paint the cabinets, her and Charlie’s wedding photo is still up, and all of Bella’s school photos are also on the wall. Charlie clearly isn’t over Mom. Ready to escape, Bella heads out to the truck; it’s clean, and it starts with a roar. Fortunately, the radio works.

The school is off the highway, like everything else in Forks. It doesn’t look like the schools Bella is used to; the grounds are heavily landscaped, and there aren’t any metal detectors. Bella parks in front of the office and heads inside. By the time she returns to her truck with her schedule and a map, other kids are starting to arrive. She follows the traffic to the appropriate parking lot and is glad that most of the cars are older—the newest car is a Volvo. She parks and studies the map; hopefully she can memorize it.

Finally, Bella gets out of the truck and is relieved that her plain black raincoat doesn’t stand out. She follows some kids to building three and finds her English class. Kids stare at her, but Bella takes a seat in the back. She’s already read everything on the reading list, so she wonders if she can get Mom to send along the essays she already wrote for those books. When the bell rings, a boy with dark, oily hair introduces himself as Eric and offers to show Bella to her next class. He seems like the “overly helpful, chess club type,” but Bella accepts. As they talk, Eric is shocked that it only rains three or four times a year in Phoenix, and he doesn’t understand Bella’s sarcasm. Bella is glad to leave him.

For Bella’s next two classes, a tiny girl with dark curly hair sits next to her and then invites Bella to sit with her at lunch. Bella can’t remember the girl’s name. As Bella sits with the girl and all her friends, she spots “them” across the lunchroom. They don’t talk or eat. The three boys are beautiful, and the two girls are also gorgeous. Though the five all look different, they also look alike in that they’re very pale. Their eyes are all dark, and their faces are all angular. They’re “inhumanly beautiful.” As Bella watches the tiny girl in the group dump her apple in the garbage, she asks the curly-haired girl who they are. As she asks, Bella notices that the bronze-haired boy in the group catches her eye and quickly looks away.

The curly-haired girl, Jessica, giggles. She explains that the group are Edward, Emmett, and Alice Cullen,  and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. They live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife. In a scandalized voice, Jessica says that Emmett and Rosalie are a couple, as are Alice and Jasper. None of them are related—the Cullens are all adopted, and the Hales are foster kids. Bella notes that it’s nice of Dr. and Mrs. Cullen to take care of kids like this, but Jessica seems reluctant to agree. Jessica says the family arrived from Alaska two years ago. Bella is relieved; she’s not the only newcomer. Noticing the bronze-haired boy staring at her again, she asks who he is. Jessica says with a sniff that he’s Edward, but he doesn’t date.

One of Jessica’s friends, Angela, walks Bella to biology next. The only open seat is next to Edward Cullen. As Bella passes him on her way to the teacher, Edward looks suddenly furious. Embarrassed, Bella checks in with the teacher and takes her seat next to Edward. He leans away from her as though she smells. Bella surreptitiously sniffs her hair, which smells fine, and spends the rest of the class sneaking glances at him. He barely breathes and keeps his fist clenched. The one time Bella catches his black eyes, she thinks of the phrase “if looks could kill.”

Edward is up and out of the classroom the moment the bell rings; Bella is shocked that he’s being so mean. As Bella gathers her things, a cute blond boy introduces himself as Mike and offers to walk her to her next class. It turns out that they both have gym next. Mike talks about living in California and then asks if Bella did something to make Edward act so oddly. He says Edward is “weird.” The gym teacher lets Bella watch instead of play volleyball, and finally, the bell signals the end of the school day.

Bella heads back to the office but almost leaves instantly—Edward is at the desk, trying to switch his biology class. Bella can’t believe this is about her. As another person enters the office, letting in a gust of wind, Edward stiffens and turns to glare at Bella. Bella is terrified. Edward thanks the secretary without switching his class and leaves. Bella gives the secretary her paperwork and tries not to cry.