Bella mentions somewhere in Twilight that she had grown up with a lot of the kids at her school, so they still see her as she was when she was younger, not accepting the fact that people change, or that they have changed. If they saw her as some weird, anti-social kid then, they probably still think the same of her now and so they don't bother to get to know her.una wrote:In reading all these posts, a question comes to mind that may have been discussed a while ago, but it may be new for most of us here. When Bella came to Forks, it seems the only tie she left behind was to her mother and consequently her step-father. Why do you suppose that is? She seemed to make fast friends in Forks, how is it that she didn't seem to have any friends back in Arizona?
She was shy, and didn't relate well to people, and she probably didn't make much of an effort to make friends because there wasn't really much point. All the cliques have already been established, and she didn't fit any of them because she isn't like anyone else. And trying to push yourself into a clique just doesn't work.
The fact that she's new was possibly the main reason why she made friends in Forks. They didn't know her from when she was a kid, so they hadn't built up an opinion or judgement of her yet. The people weren't as judgemental and made the effort to talk to her and get to know her, most of them weren't like the kids in Arizona. And Forks didn't really seem to have cliques, like Pheonix may have had. You have goofballs like Mike having friendships with quiet Angela, bubbly Jessica and catty Lauren. I also think it's because she is beautiful. Ofcourse she doesn't think so, but everyone in Forks sees her that way. The reason why they didn't in Pheonix? Again, they already had this firm opinion about her from a young age and always saw her that way. Its just what happens.
And its a different school, different town, different people which can make a lot of difference.
It's not just Bella fault as to why she doesn't make friends easily. The kids either want to get to know her, or dont. The Forks kids did, the Arizona kids didn't. But I do agree that Bella is different. Quiet, observant, introverted. She got that from Charlie, and having to look after Renee and being forced into this mature role from a young age obviously had something to do with it.