Then Fate Walked In...

BPOV I was ten years old when I first saw him. He was sitting with his arms folded outside Ms. Bertram’s office. His sparkling green eyes set into a glare. The door next to him swung open and a circular lady stormed out and stood in front of the beautiful boy. “Edward Masen! How many time do I have to tell you off before you get into your head?!” The lady screamed. “Letting the frogs escape will not turn you into the ‘Frog Leader’!” Her face was flushed as she continue to scream, he sat there just the same as if she was nothing mere than a cat purring. “Are you even listening to me Edward?!” She screamed an octave louder than naturally possible. “Maria, Only dogs can hear you…”He smirked with a roll of his eyes. I gasped before giggling for the first time on months. They both turned to look at me; both had different expressions on their face. His was a more apparent smirk and her expression was just utter shock. She shook her head and straightened up her blouse. She gave a small cough. “You m-must be Isabella Swan.” She said through a tight smile. I quickly nodded. “Bella.” “Right well in you come, Edward you will be cleaning the dishes for the next two weeks.” He grunted and walked away. I watched him walk away, running his fingers through his tousled bronze hair. I walked slowly into the big yellow room and took a seat on the leather sofa opposite Mrs. Ancaster’s desk. “Now, Bella. Welcome to Littleton Adoption Centre!” She smiled brightly as she did spirit fingers with her hands. My expression must have been of shock because she quickly placed her hands down on her desk and gave a quick cough. “SO do you have you papers here?” I pulled out the manila folder from my suitcase and handed it over with a smile. She quickly flicked through the pages, nodding and saying “Yes” To a few pages. “Oh Bella, I’m so sorry to hear about your mother. We have a counseling number if that helps!” My face fell at the memory. A few months ago my Mum had died of cancer. The doctors kept asking about my father but I had never met him so I decided I would prefer to come here. Realizing I hadn’t said anything I nodded solemnly. “No thanks. I’m dealing with it.” I half-heartedly smiled. She seemed nice enough just a bit intrusive. “Bella, you seem quite mature for your age, well compared to others here…” She said it as if she had just drank off milk. “Yeah, my mum said I born middle aged…” I lightly laughed at the memory. Mrs. Ancaster nodded her head knowingly and continued discussing the paperwork while I sat in my own little world of the better times with my mother. Finally, she stood up and gestured me to follow her. I then realized she mentioned a tour of the adoption home. We walked around for about half an hour before she showed me my new bedroom there were two beds so I would have to share with someone else. I smiled gratefully when she shut the door, leaving me alone in my new room. It would take some getting use to that was for sure. I collapsed on my bed with a sigh. I sat for a few minutes before deciding to unpack. I pulled out a dress that the assistant here insisted I packed. It was deep blue with pretty frills here and there. Suddenly the door slammed open. I jumped in fright as a very small girl walked in. She had short black hair in pigtails and probably only reached just below my shoulder. “Hi! You must be Isabella! Wow! This is SO exciting! My name’s Alice! I thought that they put me by myself because apparently I talk too much which I think is just a bit extreme… I can be quiet! See look! I’ll stop talking!” She squealed in a hurry of words all tumbling into each other. I barely blinked before she started talking again. “Well actually, maybe I’ll talk because you’re new and we have SO much to talk about! And I can’t have you thinking I’m a mute! So where are you from and OH. MY. GOSH. I LOVE YOUR DRESS! It’s SO pretty! Where did you get it from?!" It was amazing she hadn’t run out of breath already! I sat down on my bed and continued to nod and pretend I was listening. It was something I’d learnt to

do very skillfully after my Mom died. After about half an hour, Alice finally stopped talking. Surprising I had already started to like her. Usually the talking thing would freak me out but she was just so darn likable. A bell rang twice before Alice jumped up from my suitcase. I just realized she had unpacked my entire suitcase for me. “What was the bell for?” I asked. “Oh! It’s dinner! Wow, that was fast, I’m going to enjoy having you here! Your just SO talkative!” Alice grinned. I laughed and shook my head as I had only said a few words. I walked with Alice linked on my arm into the large dining area. There were three rows of people chattering and a large buffet at the front of the room. We sat down next to a few people who I had seen outside on the grass when I was on the tour of the school. “Hey guys, this is my new room buddy, Isabella!” They turned around and out of the few people I noticed the boy I remembered as Edward who was sitting outside Mrs. Ancaster’s office. They smiled and greeted me. “Bella, right?” I couldn’t contain the smile that erupted from my face as he remembered my name. Sure Alice saying helped but just the way it rolled of his tongue held some meaning to it. “Yes.” I said quietly. We all sat down at the middle row of tables. I walked out the front to get my meal and was impressed as it looked better than what my Mom would cook. She never was very good at cooking. As I reached for a plate my hand brushed across a slim white hand, sending an electric current through my arm. I looked up and gasped as I saw Edward retracting his hand away. He furrowed his brows and looked away angrily. “Just get a plate Swan.” My “o” shaped face turned into a frown as I angrily got a plate and stormed off to the food. I walked back to the table where Alice was seated. You could hear her tinkling laughter bubbling from the other end of the room. As I walked cautiously to the table hoping not to trip on my own feet on the first day, Edward shoved past me and sat down at the tables. Why is he so rude?! Surely I couldn’t have offended him already… I thought to myself. I sat down and ate in silence, going over the day in my head trying to figure out what I could have done wrong. As I walked back to my room, I realized I was a bit obsessed so I decided to read before going to sleep to clear my head. I pulled out the book my mom had started reading to me and soon fell into a deep sleep. I woke up to soft whispering outside the door. I opened one of my eyes to see Alice and Edward arguing. I tried to listen into what they were saying. “She zapped me though!” I heard Edward complain. “I’m sure she didn’t mean to! Just be nice! Please? For me?” “But she’s so annoying!” Edward whined again. Then a heard Alice gasp. “OH. MY. GOSH. You have a crush on her don’t you!” Alice squealed quietly. “Wha? N...NO! Of course not! I don't! Stop being silly you stupid little pixie...” He grumbled. “Well why are you going red and stuttering?” I grinned from ear to ear subconsciously. Once I realized I must look like a complete idiot I tried to control my facial expressions. I tried to hear more so I leaned closer to the edge of my bed. Clumsily, I fell of my bed with a loud thud. I let out a scream and then a hushed “Crap.” The door opened and Alice and Edward stood open mouthed as I lay on the floor, rubbing my head. “Bella! Sorry, I didn’t hear you wake up…”Alice said quickly, helping me up from the ground. “Yeah, it’s okay. I’m sure the first floor knows I’m awake now anyway…” I smiled. Alice and Edward started laughing and I just sat back on my bed. “Well, I better be off...” Edward said quickly before he scurried off. Alice turned back to me. “So did you hear any of that?” “Hear what?” I bluffed innocently.

Alice smiled. “Nothing much, doesn’t matter…” “Hey! Seeing as were up so early, why don’t I give you a make over?!” She grinned from ear to ear. “No! No! No!” I said quickly, I had always hated make up and I wasn’t about to start liking it now. Alice pouted her bottom lip and made her eyes twice their usual size and batted her lashes. “Please?!” she begged. “Ugh.” Was all I had to say for her to realize my defeat… She spent almost an hour ‘prettying me up’. I had to say though; she was quite good for a ten year old… After she had finished with my hair and make up, she suggested we go down stairs to eat breakfast and then go out on the grass oval. We ate quickly as the sun started to shine brighter. As I walked over to return my bowl still half full as I wasn’t very hungry, I heard Alice call out from behind me. I turned to see her point to the door but as I turned back, I tripped over someone’s foot and went crashing to the ground. Everybody gasped and turned to look at me. I blushed deep scarlet as I picked myself up. The same thin, white hand I recognized from yesterday was there again, helping to clean the mess up. I heard Edward sigh heavily. “Klutz…” He laughed roughly. My blush deepened as I hopped to my feet and brushed myself off. “Thanks.” I smiled brightly. “No problem… I had to do it anyway; I’m on kitchen duties…” He said, running his hands through his hair again. It was quite short but looked perfectly ruffled. I felt myself gazing at his hair so I shook my head. “Come on Bella!” I heard Alice chirp from the door. “Hey Eddie!” I heard her giggling and then the door slamming shut. “So do you have to wash up for much longer? Maybe you could come and sit with us on the oval…” I mumbled blushing faintly once again. “Maybe…” He sighed and turned away back to the kitchen quickly. I stood there for a bit then decided to go find Alice. As I walked through the door, I nearly bumped into Alice. She stood waiting right in front of the door with the biggest grin plastered across her small face. She tugged on my wrist with a surprising amount of force for someone so small. We reached the oval and she squealed and jumped up and down hysterically before folding herself into a small cross legged pose on the grass. I sat down wearily; worried in case she might attack me. “You SO have a crush on Edward!” She exploded with a massive grin that could quite possibly be the size of her head. I felt my cheeks burn and knew I was busted. “Gah!” she sighed in obvious contentment and collapsed her back to the ground. She laid there for a while before her chatter began again. “So, have you spoken to him yet? Maybe I should set you both up! Is it his eyes? They’re such a pretty green… I have this fantastic dress in that color…” She mused. “That was the first time we’ve spoken actually… And maybe you should get him to wear that dress sometime…” I giggled. Alice’s eye’s lit up before she burst out in a fit of laughter at the thought of it. “Oh Bella, I love you so much already…” She smiled as she wiped the tears from her eyes. I smiled because I felt the exact same way back to her. “Promise we’ll always stay friends!” “Of course Alice!” She gave me a hug and picked up a rock from next to her. She started tossing it up and down before gasping in shock. “What’s wrong Alice?” She looked up at me from under her long, dark lashes. “Promise not to get mad at me? I promise it’ll be worth it!” “Umm… Sure…” I was worried now. Hopefully she wasn’t going to throw the rock at me to see if her foundation really did work wonders… I shuddered at the thought. She quickly tossed the rock but not at me, Mrs. Ancaster’s office window…

I gasped at shock and wondered if we should run away, but before I could, Ms. Ancaster was looking out of her window, bright red with anger and looking at me and Alice. I turned to face Alice but gasped when she pointed at me. No! Mrs. Ancaster stormed out of her office and walked over to me. She grabbed my wrist and we both walked inside the building. I shot Alice death glares as I was taken inside. She smiled angelically and gave me a wink. A freaking' WINK! The nerve! Once we were inside she gestured to a seat and walked back an fourth for a bit. “Now Miss Swan, I know that grieving may cause bad behavior, I’ve seen it many a times in my years, but putting you anger into property damage is not the solution. You can either see a counselor for two weeks or you can assist in Kitchen duties.” I gawked at her, unable to believe she believed it was me without question. I guess when your so angelic looking, It’s hard to think she’d do anything of the sort. “Kitchen Duty.” I grumbled angry that I was taking the blame of something I didn’t do. “Okay, you can help out Mr. Masen doing that then. Then suddenly a light bulb flicked in my head. It was so obvious now why Alice threw the rock, she was setting us up! I almost laughed at her efforts. Mrs. Ancaster noticed a smile playing with my lips. “I’m sorry, Miss Swan, is something funny?! Well maybe the kitchen staff will find it just as funny… go to the kitchen NOW.” She huffed. I walked quickly but just as I got to the door. I thought if maybe I should make a detour to my room just to check my hair… stop thinking of your looks! I thought to myself. I went to open the door when suddenly the door swung into my face, causing me to fall back to the ground. “Oh crap! I’m so sorry Bella! I didn’t realize you were there! Are you okay?!” As I held the bridge of my nose I matched the voice to the one person I didn’t want to see me like this. Edward. “Yep!” I whispered in a high pitched tone. “Let’s get some ice for your nose… Oh geez! It’s bleeding!” As I opened my eyes I saw him rubbing the back of his neck worriedly. He held out his hand to help me up. I looked at for a bit. I grabbed it quickly, noticing the same tingle through my bones at his touch. We headed towards a large double doored refrigerator. He opened the left side and pulled out a tray of ice and whacked it in the sink. He picked up the ice cubes and put them in a near by tea towel. He looked at me again and placed it on my nose. I cringed at the coldness, which hurt my nose anymore. Edward chuckled. “So why were you standing on the other side of the door if you weren’t wanting to be hit?” He smirked. I rolled my eyes. “I got in trouble and got assigned kitchen duty.” His jaw dropped in shock. “Going rebel already?! You’ve been here less than 24hrs and you’re already in trouble.” He laughed. “Hmmm… Maybe I have some competition then!” I smiled. “Yeah well actually I was just blamed for it…” I shook my head at the thought of Alice. “Really?! Well tell me who it is and I’ll slam a door in their face…” His laughter filled the kitchen, causing me to start laughing with him. “So how long have you been here then?” I asked as we cleaned the tables ready for lunch. “All of my life I guess… My parents died when I was a baby.” “Oh. I’m really sorry…” I mumbled. “It’s not too bad I guess… But what about you? Why are you here?” He asked. “My Mom. She uh, died a couple of months ago…” “Geez that would be pretty sucky…” He said running his fingers through his hair. “Yeah. Very sucky…”I mumbled. The lunch bell rang just before we could say anything else. We took out the trays, knives, forks, spoons and plates. As Kitchen assistants we got first serving.

“Hey, you wanna eat in the kitchen?” He asked as I filled my plate. I looked up and couldn’t stop the grin spreading across my face. I’m sure I must have looked like an idiot but I couldn’t care less. “Sure!” I said on the brink of a squeal. He smiled and nodded his head towards the kitchen door. He put his plate on top of the counter and pulled himself up. I did the same in front of him, still grinning like a loon. “So what’s sharing a room with Alice like? Surely she doesn’t shut up…” He chuckled. “It’s… different… She’s very outgoing so I don’t have to talk much which is good…” He laughed. “Much? I’m sure you couldn’t get a word in if you tried!” I giggled. “She’s just so girly; I’ve never really had a friend like that so it’s a bit strange for me…” “Really? I thought all girls loved make up and clothes… and accessories!” He mimicked Alice’s voice perfectly, leaving me in a fit off laughter. “No, no, I don’t really like that sort of stuff… My best friend was always my next door neighbor Jacob. We used to go bike riding, fishing and going down to the beach… It was so much fun…” I laughed at the memory. He smiled before stuffing his face with a large helping of the pasta on his plate. His cheeks looked like the kind of cheeks you’d find on chipmunks instead of a little boy. I laughed even harder at the sight. He frowned and threw a piece of his pasta at me. I gasped and threw two back at him. “Hey!” He laughed before he threw some back at me. I hopped off the counter and hid behind the island in the middle of the room. I peeked up to see Edward not sitting in the place I had left him. Suddenly I felt pasta being thrown at me from behind. I gasped and turned around. But I slipped on a piece of pasta on the ground and once again fell on my back. As I fell, my legs hooked around his, causing him to fall over next to me. We both erupted into another round of laughter. We lay there for a while, just staring up at the ceiling of the kitchen. “Geez Bella, we’re going to have to get you either warning cones around you or a pillow for your back!” I hit his arm playfully. We faced each other for a few moments. Then suddenly he lent in and kissed me on the cheek. Before anyone could say anything, Mrs. Ancaster walked in. “Mr. Masen and Miss swan! You have some serious explaining to do!” She screamed. We both jumped up from the floor, my face burning red but still managing to have the goofiest grin on my face. He KISSED me! My heart soared and from then on I was in my own little dreamland. We were sentenced to Laundry duty as well as the rest of our Kitchen duties. This only made me smile more. I would have to be spending so much more time with Edward! Even though I may have to do chores, it was with him. “Why are you grinning so much? We have to do Laundry work!” He laughed. I tried to compose my face as we walked towards the laundry room. We got off to work straight away. “So when does school start?” I asked, trying to break the awkward silence, and also trying to hear his soft velvet voice. “Uh… next week I think…” He shrugged. “Oh.” Not exactly a conversation starter. Wasn’t he going to talk to me and explain that kiss?! I thought impatiently to myself. He turned to the hamper full of clothes and sighed. He started to put them into piles, colors and whites. I put them into the washing machine and picked up the powder from the shelf. I started to pour the powder until Edward coughed for attention. I turned to him and smiled. “About earlier…” He started. He walked up to me and leaned against the washing machine, causing my heart to flutter. “I’m sorry…” “Oh.” I said, turning back to the washing machine. I didn’t realize how much

powder I put in… I was too busy drooling over Edward. Silly Bella! Silly! Then his hand shut the machine and turned the knob the heaviest wash and pressed on. “Crap…” I muttered to myself. “Sorry?” Edward asked, looking hurt. “Oh! No! Not you! I just uh…” Suddenly the washing machine started to hammer around quite louder than usual for washing machine. He sat on the machine which stopped some of the sound. Maybe that would stop the noise, and surely I didn’t put to much powder in… I hopped on top of the washing machine with him. We sat quite close. “Bella… would you like to-” “OH MY GOSH!” I screamed as bubbles started coming out of the washing machine at a rapid speed. I wrecked the moment but if we didn’t stop it soon, we could flood the room… “Edward!” I screamed. He still hadn’t realized. He must have thought I was crazy for jumping up and down… I started hitting the washing machine with my fist shouting, “Stop! Stop!” “I’m sorry Bella… I just thought you might have wanted to go out with me but… I, uh, I’m sorry if that was too fast…” He mumbled, running his fingers ferociously through his hair. He looked so stressed which caused my heart to ache. “No, Edward! The machine! I broke it! I put in too much powder and now it’s going to explode!” I wailed, still hitting the machine. But then I hit it too hard. “OUCH! My wrist!” I started whimper, holding it to my chest. The bubbles were now covering the floor as Edward jumped off, seeing the bubbles for the first time. He pulled out a cord which caused water to splash out in his face and then into mine to see what he just did. He quickly put it back in and started looking at the buttons on the machine. He found the off button and quickly pressed it. With a sigh of relief, we both lent against the washing machine. Whoever let ten years olds do the laundry was seriously crazy… “Bella, Bella, Bella… What are we going to do with you?” He laughed. I pouted my lips in frustration. I hated being the entertainment everywhere I went. “Naww, Bella! On the upside… It’s a lot more fun with you here.” He smiled. “I haven’t had this much fun in ages!” He smiled as he wrapped his arms around me. I felt so comfortable in his arms. I just wished I could stay there forever. “Bella?” “Yes?” “Will you meet me at the top of the stairs at midnight?” “What? Why?! I can’t stay up that late! I get all crazy and have giggling fits!” I laughed. “Oh come one Bella… For me?!” He asked, giving puppy dog eyes. He was just as bad as Alice, If not worse… “Ugh, fine… buy why?” “It’s a surprise!” He smiled, causing me to smile brightly back. I snuggled back in his arms. I had only met him yesterday and already I was wrapping myself in his arms. I had never been able to trust myself with anyone this fast. We cleaned up the laundry room and went to prepare the dinner table. I ate quickly but not eating much as I was far too excited for later on tonight. I still wasn’t sure how I would stay up so late but I guessed that the nerves would probably be enough to get the job done. As I cleaned up the plates I kept passing glances at Edward who was drying the dishes next to me. He could obviously feel me looking at me because he kept smirking at me. Just as we finished, I blew a few bubbles at him and ran quickly up to my room. I shut the door behind me and ran to my bed and collapsed on it. “Well hello sunshine!” Alice laughed. I had completely forgotten about sharing a room. I looked over to her. She was reading a magazine on her bed with the biggest grin possible on her face. “You can thank me later…” She giggled. “Oh Alice! He’s just so sweet…” I just lay on my bed as if I had just taken happy pills… I must have been a sight too… what with the pasta in my hair, all of

Alice’s make up probably running down my face, my jeans still wet from the washing machine incident! But I really couldn’t care less. Alice laughed. “I hope I didn’t get you into too much trouble… I know you got Kitchen Duty but why where you in the Laundry room?!” “We got in trouble for throwing pasta in the kitchen during lunch…” I blushed with a giggle. Alice gasped before laughing. “So are you guys getting close?” I bit my lip. I’d already said more than I would usually say to anyone, especially someone I only met yesterday, but she had some kind of power that sucked all information out of you, no matter how much you resist. “He kissed me!” I squealed. Alice’s chin dropped before she let out a high pitched scream and started jumping on her bed. We both laughed. She got ready for bed and I just got changed into a new set of clothes. I quickly got under my blankets before Alice saw them. She fell asleep quickly while I stared up at the ceiling going over scenarios in my head of where he could be taking me. When the clock flicked 12:00am, I shot out of bed, stumbled a bit but softly turned the door handle and crept across the landing. I got to the stairs and then I saw him sitting on the top stair. His beautiful green eyes flicked up at me and he gave a crooked grin which left my knees wobbly. He stood up and offered me his hand and I took it willingly. We were half way down the stairs when I cut straight to the chase. “Edward? Please tell me where we’re going?” I pleaded with my eyes. He let out a quiet mischievous laugh and shook his head. “It’s a surprise Bells you have to wait.,” “It’s a surprise Bella…” He smiled deviously. I bit my lip and continued to follow him down the stairs. I followed him towards the back door, making sure to tip-toe in case anyone heard us. Edward slowly opened the door, careful about the creak of the door. A gust of wind brushed over me, causing me to shiver. We both ran out to the oval, still hand in hand. He led me to the bottom of the oval where the swings and slides were. I gasped when I saw a picnic blanket and a Pokemon backpack. Edward knelt down on the blanket and opened the backpack. He pulled out a bag of marshmallows and a flashlight. He switched the flashlight and put in underneath his face. “Mwahahah!” he laughed evilly. I couldn’t find it in me to tell him that he looked way cuter then he did scary. So I just smiled. “I pinched these from the kitchen before you came…” He laughed as he opened the bag. He couldn’t open the bag with made me laugh. Suddenly the bag burst all over the blanket. We both gasped before scavenging as many as we could, and put them all on our laps. “So are we telling scary stories with this flashlight?” I said as I picked it up. “You mean Mrs. Ancaster stories?” He laughed. “Not yet. I want to do something first.” He jumped up and walked over to a tree. He picked up a sharp stick from the ground and started engraving something into the bark. Once he had finished he turned to me and let out a triumphant smile. I looked at where he had been engraving something and saw a love heart with our initials inside it. A goofy grin spread across my face along with a deep blush. It touched me more then he realized. He laughed and walked back to the picnic blanket. I sat down and not even the sharp stick I sat on ruined my brilliant mood. We talked and ate our marshmallows for awhile, time flying by quickly. I soon ran out of marshmallows though which caused me to frown. “Would you like a marshmallow Mrs. Masen?” Edward beamed. Mrs. Masen. I happily took the marshmallow and put it in my mouth. This picnic just kept getting better and better… I looked at my watch and realized it was half two in the morning. “I think we should go now Edward…” I glumly said. I had too much of a good time to go back to bed but I knew that if I didn’t go then, I would fall asleep there and then.

I looked over towards Edward who was lying down asleep. I laughed lightly, not wanting to wake him up. He looked too adorable. The light snore making me chuckle a bit. I wondered how I was going to get him inside. I would have to wake him…I thought to myself. “Edward…” I whispered, giving him a gentle nudge. “Edward.” I said louder that time. Then I had an idea. I walked over to the backpack and pulled out a drink bottle that he brought. I opened the lid and poured it all over his sweet head. He screamed, luckily not loud enough for the people inside to hear. “Bella!” He shouted with an angry look on his face. He sat up and hugged his knees with a pout. “Aw, I’m sorry Edward, but you weren’t waking up!” I batted my eyelashes like I had learnt from time with Alice. He sighed and gave a small smile. I flashed him a bright smile and sat next to him. “I’m going to get you back for that though…” He laughed, wrapping one of his arms around me. “How about a truce if I give you something?” I smiled. I really wanted to give him something for all he had done for me. And just because it was him… He looked at me suspiciously. “Okay…” I lifted my hand and took of a simple but sentimental bracelet. “It’s a friendship bracelet. The colors mean friendship, loyalty and love. My mother gave it to me when we went to the Markets before she got sick.” “Bella, I can’t take this. Keep it.” “No! I want you to have it.” “But Your Mom gave it to you…” “And now I’m giving it to you. Keep it! It’ll make you think of me when we’re not together...” He looked at it for a few moments and then gave me his wrist. I fastened the bracelet around his wrist and smiled because of how perfectly suited it looked on him. He smiled at it and gave me a quick kiss on the top of my head. He was five inches taller than me so my head was in the perfect position for him. “I’ll keep it forever Bella.” We packed everything away and walked back to the building. Edward walked me back to my room and gave me another quick peck on my cheek. I blushed and crept back into my room. That same goofy grin came back over my face as I sunk into my bed, not bothering to get changed. That night, I dreamt of Edward. Of His beautiful green eyes, his perfectly soft tousled hair, the way sparks went through my body at a slight touch of his skin. I didn’t ever want to wake up. Weeks and months past, and Edward and I grew inevitably closer. It was soon his eleventh birthday and we all got taken to the local Pizzeria. I was really happy with the present I had bought him, it was a new baseball bat, He told me he loved baseball so I saved up and thought it would be perfect. “Bella Mella!” Edward shouted from the head off the table. My face grew hot with embarrassment at his decision of rhyming words with my name. I smiled as I walked over to take a seat next to him. “Happy Birthday!” I grinned, giving him a huge hug. “Thanks Bella, now, do I get a birthday kiss?” He winked. I rolled my eyes and planted a kiss on his soft cheek. “Thank you.” He smiled. “That’s the best birthday present so far!” I giggled and handed him my present. “Wow Bella, thanks! You shouldn’t have!” He obviously didn’t mean it as he ripped off the paper and took a swing with the bat, showing me an impressive trick: flicking it up in the air, tapping the end and flicking it back over. I just gawked. If I did something like that, I would have not only broken the windows, but my hand and possibly the noses of people standing within a meters radius. “Oh, and I have a present for you, Bella.” He said reaching into his pocket. “But it’s your birthday not mine!” The truth was I had always hated people giving me gifts. “Oh come on, Bella! Stop being such a baby…” He pulled out a small love heart charm covered in crystals. “I thought it could be like a friendship necklace like the bracelet you gave me…” He held up his wrist to show me the little threaded

bracelet which held no comparison to this necklace charm he was giving me. His was far too special. “Edward… It’s fine; I didn’t want you to get me anything for the bracelet! It was a truce bargain, remember?” He took my hand and pulled me off the chair and took me outside the pizzeria. “Please Bella, It would mean so much to me if you have it…” He looked up at me from under his dark lashes and pouted his bottom lip. “It can be your birthday present as well if that makes it any better… and I’ll get to see it everyday because I’m never letting go off you.” I sighed with defeat at his sweet words and lifted up my brown hair up so he could fasten it onto my necklace chain. With him this close, I could smell his distinct scent. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was he smelt like, but it drove me crazy. He turned round to face me with a bright smile as he looked at it. “Thank you Bella.” He looked so happy that my mood went from being sulky to just pure happiness. He had always had this affect on me. I gave him a tight hug and he returned it, wrapping his hands around my shoulders and my head. We stood there for awhile, just content in each others arms. The door of the pizzeria swung open and Mrs. Ancaster looked at us both. “There you both are! We were looking for you! Come on in the Pizza’s ready.” We pulled out of our position and looked at each other for a moment before we turned towards the door. “I love you Bella.” “I love you too Eddie-kins…” I giggled. He put his arm around my shoulder and after a few steps he rubbed his knuckles in my hair. “Noogie!” He yelled before letting go and running to take a seat at the table. I laughed and ran in after him. The Pizzeria was filled with laughter and chatter as the night continued. Every so often I would just sit and stare at Edward. Whenever he caught me looking at me he’d smile and I’d turn red and turn away. I’ll get to see it everyday because I’m never letting go off you. Those words kept swimming through my head over and over again. It just made me so happy that he felt the same why as I did. I knew I’d never be able to live without him. People said I was silly and that nobody finds their perfect person when their ten, but I couldn’t help but feel proud that I had. “She has a temperature and I’m guessing it’s just a mild case of the flu. So I suggest that she just stays in bed for a few days, drinks plenty of water and eats healthy. She can also take this medicine which I’ve prescribed… And you’ll be better in no time Bella!” The unbelievably handsome doctor said warmly as he signed a few sheets. “Thank you Carlisle, oh, I Mean Dr. Cullen…” Mrs. Ancaster was outrageous! She was flirting like a crazy lady on my Doctor! He smiled politely back. “No problem Mrs. Ancaster, Bella will be better very shortly. Here’s the medicine.” He picked up his briefcase and turned for the door when Mrs. Ancaster quickly stopped him. “Maria! Please… So Carlisle would you like a cup of tea before you leave?” She batted her eyelashes at him. “Uh… Sure... that would be great.” He said rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Goody!” she squealed and dragged him downstairs. Once they left and were safely down the stairs. There was a gentle tap on my door. “Enter if you want to be deadly ill…” I groaned in my raspy voice. Edward opened the door slightly and put his head in and chuckled lightly. “Does that mean no hello kiss?” “Not unless you want to have a sore throat, disgusting sounding medicine and having Mrs. Ancaster flirt with the doctor right in front of your death bed…” He came closer and gave me a kiss on my cheek. “If it lets me kiss you then I don’t care…” My cheeks went pink and I smiled before having a loud coughing fit. “Wow Bella, you really are sick!” He took a step back and laughed. I stuck out my tongue and let out a chesty cough again.

“Regretting that kiss yet?” I asked. “Never!” He chuckled softly. I smiled and started to feel a bit drowsy. “Edward I’m feeling a bit tired. I’ll talk to you later yeah?” I didn’t hear his response because I fell into a heavy sleep due to the medicine Dr. Cullen had given to me earlier. I woke up in serious need of a new box of tissues. I rolled out of bed and crawled to the door. I grabbed the handle and pulled my way up the door. I saw from my reflection in the mirror that I had a bright red nose that could only compete with Rudolph the reindeer. I opened the door and stumbled out, catching my foot on the door. I grumbled to myself about my feet and walked over to the stair case. My eyes were barely open and I couldn’t see my footing so I tripped on the stairs and slid down on my stomach. Once I reached the bottom of the stairs, I whimpered about the pain of my head and then got back up on my feet. “Ugh.” I walked over to find the storage cupboard full with everything but tissues. Maybe Mrs. Ancaster has some in her office… I thought to myself. I closed the cupboard and walked over to her office, growing more tired as I walked. I finally reached the door and noticed it was only three quarters shut. I peeked in to see if anyone was in there. And there was. There were five people in there. And I could feel my stomach churn with fear. “So Alice, Edward, These are your new foster parents, Carlisle and Esme Cullen.” Mrs. Ancaster said in a more cheery then usual voice. Suddenly it felt like my pulse was in my head. My breathing hitched and my heart hammered. Everything felt like it was crumbling but I had to remain quiet and strong. I needed to know more before things got out of hand and they couldn’t refuse their adoption. I leant in closer to the gap in the door, trying to hear more. “So we’ll just get you both to sign some papers and then you two can pack your bags.” Edward and Alice nodded. They both looked slightly glum. “Hey Bella!” Someone from behind me shouted, scaring me half to death. I fell forward into the room in shock, receiving angry, confused and upset looks from everyone in the room. I turned back to glare at whoever scared me. Great, that Jack kid… typical of him… “Can we help you Bella?” Mrs. Ancaster said, obviously fuming. “Yeah, um, actually, I need some tissues…” The Lady with soft caramel hair started rummaging through her handbag. She walked over towards me with a smile. “Here you go Sweetie…” she said as she handed me a packet of tissues. “Oh, thanks…” I smiled before hopping up to me feet. Damn her and her organization…I looked at the tissue and took a deep blow to show my enthusiasm for her tissues. “Well! Now that we’ve got that sorted... thank you, greatly appreciated!” My face was deep scarlet as I looked at them all. My gaze stopped at Edward. His eyes looked apologetic and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I quickly left the room and ran upstairs to my room as fast as I could. My legs felt as if they were disconnected to my body. I reached my room and slammed the door shut. I slid down the door and felt tears prickling my eyes. I wasn’t sure what to do. I could throw a complete tantrum and refuse to let them leave, or I could just pretend as if I’m perfectly fine with the situation at hand and take it as it is. I wanted to throw a tantrum with everything I had in me but I knew that if I started I’d probably start bawling my eyes out and need more tissues for my runny nose. I lifted myself up from the ground and threw myself onto my bed. It wasn’t long before there was a faint tap and the door. I ignored it and continued to rock myself back and fourth on my bed. The door opened slowly and Alice crept in and sat on the end of my bed. “Bella I’m so sorry…” “W-When are you l-leaving?” I sobbed, cutting straight to the chase. Alice let out a sigh. “Once we’ve finished packing…Oh Bella!” Alice started crying with me. She wrapped her little arms around me tightly. We sat there for half an

hour, just crying into each other’s grips. She soon pulled away to look me in the eyes. “Bella promise you won’t forget me?” She wiped her eyes but her bottom lip was still quivering. I gave a light laugh through my tears. “Alice, how is it possible for anyone to forget you?” She smiled brightly and gave me a quick tight hug. “You’re the greatest friend I’ve ever had Bella! I’m going to miss you so much!” “I love you too Alice …” now my lips were quivering. We embraced for another quick moment. “I think I should go talk to Edward…” I thought suddenly, my throat feeling thick. “Oh!” Alice grabbed my wrist quickly and pulled me back on the bed. “I don’t think he’s… ready to say goodbyes yet. He’ll come to you Bella.” I felt a bit hurt by that but knew he wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye. Alice got off the bed and pulled out her suitcase from underneath her bed and stared at it for awhile. She then opened her wardrobe and started placing some of her beautiful clothes inside. I watched, wanting so desperately to rip all of her clothes out of her suitcase so she could stay with me longer, just packing but I knew I had already made a big enough fool of myself enough today. She finally finished and stood it upright. She sat down with me on my bed again. We both just sat there in silence, looking at her suitcase for awhile. “Bella… I’m going to be crying every night until the day I die, I swear!” I frowned at her. “Don’t be silly! You have to always stay happy for me! Promise?” She looked up at me from beneath her lashes and quickly turned her frown into a bright smile. “That’s better.” Mrs. Ancaster came to the door and stuck her head inside. “Ready Alice?” She smiled. Alice turned to me as she stood up and nodded. “But- But! But he’s a doctor! He was just supposed to take my temperature! Not my friends!” I shouted. “Isabella… Hush now… You should be happy for your friends! Stay here please, I don’t want you to make a scene downstairs too!” She hissed. “No! But, But – I have to say goodbye to Edward!” I cried. “He’s already in the car, waiting for Alice, Bella. Have a bit of dignity and just wait here. I’ll come and talk to you later.” I stood frozen. He didn’t want to say goodbye to me. He just left. Like that. I collapsed back onto my bed I could feel my heart pounding heavier than ever before. I felt like I was being suffocated. I wanted so much to shut my eyes to stop the tears from spilling over but they were refused to shut. I saw their lips moving but I couldn’t hear anything. I saw Alice crying and being pushed out of the room by Mrs. Ancaster. Then the first thing I heard was the door slamming shut behind them. I jumped back at the impact of the door. The world started to feel like it was collapsing around me. Like I had built up my castle only to watch as it crumbles in front of me now. I rested my head on my pillow down and just let the tears soak through my pillow. Every time I thought they had dried out, another round of tears burst through. Months went past and I tried to behave as I usually would, and I hoped with all my might that nobody could see through my façade. Instead of playing with friends like the rest of the kids here, I spent my days reading. I had found a new love of Classic English Literature and found solace in books where I could forget my life and be transported through to another time. I always got asked the usual “Are you okay?” or “Want to go for a walk?” But faked a bright smile and shook my head. Making excuses such as I had homework to do or I hurt my ankle. Apparently the injury related excuses were move believable so I started using them more frequently. A few years passed and people started to not even bother anymore which suited me perfectly. No need for small talk. Only eight more years left here and counting. 8 years later -bpov It was my Eighteenth birthday and I was out celebrating with two of the people I

had come the slightest bit close to over time. There was Angela, a girl I had befriended when I moved to High School. She was one of the nicest people I had met their and I loved hanging out with her. There was also Jessica. Jessica was a bit different to Angela… more loud and opinionated I guess you could say. “Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Bella! Happy Birthday to you!” They sang to my embarrassment. I felt my cheeks burn bright red as people at the restaurant looked over at our table in shock. People must have thought they were drunk. Which they were but they insisted they weren’t. I covered my face with my hand and banged it on the table. “Geez guys, do you have to embarrass me like that?!” I said looking up at them from the table. They were giggling hysterically over nothing, causing more heads to turn around. “Don’t be so SHILLY Bella Mella!” Jessica laughed, swatting my arm. “Bella Mella! I like it!” Angela laughed. “Bella Mella! Bella Mella!” Angela never usually got drunk but when she did it usually quite funny. But there was something about the way she said ‘Bella Mella’ that sounded familiar. I looked away from the two girls in front of me, singing ‘Bella Mella’ repeatedly. I glanced over to the entrance and saw a tall man with tousled bronze hair. He looked over at Angela and Jessica for a quick moment and my heart suddenly skipped a beat. His dazzling green eyes took me back to a ten year old Bella, so naïve and trusting. He looked to the girl standing with, shook his head and walked out. Of course he has a girlfriend… it’s just you that separates herself away from the world… I thought to it was when I felt a cold brush of wind that I realized I had been chasing after him. I looked around the car park but couldn’t see him anywhere. I sighed and felt another piece of the heart I was slowly mending, fall apart. Jessica and Angela stumbled out of the bar after me. “Bella? What’s wrong? I promise I won’t call you Bella Mella again!” Angela said as she walked up to me. “No, I just needed some air. Are you ready to go home now? You’re starting to wobble a bit…” I laughed half-heartedly. I drove Angela and Jessica back to their houses. I reached the adoption centre with a sigh. This is why I couldn’t drink with them… I’d be put on every duty possible if I had even taken a whiff of some. I slumped back up to my room and fell into a deep sleep. I dreamt of Edward again that night. It was starting to become less frequent over time but the surprise encounter wasn’t going to help matters. EPOV You’d think that after eight years, I’d get over her… But I was apparently very horribly mistaken. I saw her everywhere; well at least I thought I did. Whenever I ‘saw’ her I tried my best to get away. Tonight was no different… “So where are we going Eddie-kins?” Tanya asked as we drove in my car to a restaurant I had planned to take her. I didn’t actually feel remotely attracted her but my family seemed to think otherwise. She was pretty, but nothing special… So as a party pleaser, I agreed to take her out for dinner. “Don’t’ call me Eddie-Kins…” I said firmly. My Bella used to call me that to tease me and I wouldn’t have her wreck that memory for me. “Well fine Mr. Grumpy pants…” she said, folding her arms tightly on her chest. I sighed heavily, I didn’t want to be rude but this girl was already annoying the crap out of me. “Look, Tanya, I’m sorry… We’re going to that new restaurant, La Macias.” She started clapping her hands as if she was a fricken seal. I internally groaned. Hopefully tonight wasn’t going to drag on too long… I parked the car swiftly and jumped out the car. I walked around to Tanya’s side of the car and opened the door for her. Carlisle and Esme had always taught me to have good manners and be respectful. So this didn’t seem out of the blue for me

but apparently it was for Tanya who jumped onto me and pulled my neck in for a huge kiss. I pulled away quickly and began to almost run inside the restaurant. “Hi, table for two under Cullen?” I asked the hostess. “Are you flirting with her Cullen?!” Tanya screeched behind me. I turned around in shock to see Tanya with her arms crossed and tapping her foot. “I just asked about our reservation! How is that flirting?” I laughed in amazement. “Edward Cullen, Don’t you dare try and be a smart ass…” She was glaring at me now. Bloody Glaring… “Geez Tanya! Calm down!” This lady had serious problems… I turned back to the hostess. “Sorry about that, table under-” “You better not be apologizing for me!” I swung my head around to look at her when I heard something which brought back memories I really didn’t want to deal with on top of this crazy lady… “Bella Mella! Bella Mella! Bella Mella!” I heard some girls singing. I looked over at where I was hearing the voices and saw it was just some two totally pissed girls. I sighed and looked back at Tanya who was apparently having a cozy chat with the hostess now. Talk about Bi-Polar… I thought to myself. “Come on Tanya; let’s go somewhere else for dinner…” I muttered as I pushed her outside and towards my car. “But I like it here! The hostess was a real Darling!” She laughed. I just sat her down in the car and walked quickly to the driver’s side of the car. I turned the ignition and drove out quickly. I really didn’t want to wallow over Bella tonight. I just couldn’t take it again and again. I wasn’t a strong enough man for her to continue breaking my heart with visions of her wherever I went. But as I looked in my Rear-view mirror, I saw my vision standing outside the restaurant looking puzzled. I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to focus on the road. Tanya had been complaining the whole way to the next restaurant. Getting sick of it, I swerved a few cars to do an illegal U-turn. A few minutes later I was parked outside of her house. She got out of the car smiling mischievously, expecting me to get out with her. Instead I shut her door, and pulled down the window. “Hope you have a great dinner Tanya…” I smiled. Her chin dropped and I drove quickly away. That was enough Tanya for one night. I pulled up in front of my house, and parked in the garage. I sat there for a few minutes, playing with the strings of the bracelet Bella had given me eight years ago. I had never taken it off. It may sound disgusting but it meant too much to me to let it out of my sight. I smiled and jumped out of the car. I entered the house ready for another night of being the fifth wheel. Everyone had moved on; except me. I opened the door slowly, hoping nobody would hear me so I could sneak into my room with out being bombarded with questions and accusations. I managed to get to the bottom of the staircase until getting caught. “You didn’t seriously think you’d get away from us did you Edward?” Alice laughed, not looking up from her card game that she was playing with her boyfriend Jasper. I sighed and turned around to face them all. Emmett turned around from the sofa, with his girlfriend Rosalie cuddled closely to him. “Eddie! What are you doing here? There was a reason we set you up with Tanya...” He winked. Rosalie grunted and punched Emmett in the arm. He whimpered and rubbed his arm. Carlisle and Esme had adopted Emmett a few years after me and Alice. He was a bit obnoxious when he first arrived but we grew to love his childish behavior. Rosalie and Jasper were both twins that went to our school. We had all come quite close over time, almost like an even bigger family. I loved them all and enjoyed spending time with them all but I always felt empty and alone when I was with them. They tried not to be too close with each other in front of me but it didn’t

help matters much. I knew it seemed crazy to still be hung up on what now resembles and childhood crush but I still had a strong urge to be close to her. There was never a day that went past that I wouldn’t think of my Bella. I knew it was stupid and of course she would have moved on so why couldn’t I? Once I got my drivers license I kept going back to the adoption centre, hoping to catch a glimpse of her but never saw her. All of the other people were there out playing with each other on the oval, all except for her. After a few months of searching, I figured somebody would have adopted that beautiful girl. She may not even have looked like I thought she would. Her beautiful brown hair could now be pink dreadlocks and one of her soft brown eyes could have fallen out causing her to wear an eye patch. But I was still in love with this pink haired pirate. I chuckled a bit then realized I had laughed out loud. I woke up from my deep thoughts and looked up. “Edward? Edward?” I heard Jasper shouting. I realized I was so wrapped up in my thoughts I didn’t even hear what they were saying to me. “Geez Alice, Your brothers zoning out again!” He laughed, swaying and shaking his arms around. Alice laughed and hit his arm. “Piss off Jasper…” I laughed. He always did this to me... “So Edward how was your date? Your home quite early…” Rosalie smirked. I just glared at them and their horrible choices in dates. “Come on… give us some of the horny details!” Emmett screeched. I shook my head in amazement and stormed up the stairs to my room. I could hear Emmett even from my room. “That good?!” He chuckled. “Ouch! Babe…” I sighed and decided to listen to some music. Music filled my room and I collapsed back onto my bed. I lay there for awhile just staring at the ceiling and thinking back to eight years ago when my life felt complete. The thoughts and music lulled me to a soft sleep. I woke up to a tapping on my door a few minutes later. “Come in…” My throat was thick from sleep. I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair. Jasper opened the door and bound in and sat heavily on my sofa. “So apparently your date didn’t go as well as we hoped it would. We just thought you two were quite similar…” I just stared at him blankly. “Similar.” I laughed. “So I have a split personality disorder and accuse people of flirting when they ask for a table? Gee, you all have such a wonderful insight on the workings of Edward Cullen…” Jasper raised an eyebrow before chuckling darkly. “Sounds like a nut case Edward!” He managed to say between laughs. “But I have to admit, the split personality is one thing you have in common…” I picked up a book from next to my bed and flung it over to wear he was sitting, hitting his eyebrow. He yelped out in pain. “Geez Edward! What the fuck!” Jasper yelled. “Ah crap, I’m sorry Jasper but you had it coming…” I winked. “Look, I actually came in here to ask you something until you decided to physically attack me…” I sighed heavily, hoping it wouldn’t be too bad. “What?” “Can you cover my shift at the hospital tomorrow?! Please?! I wanted to spend some time with Alice tomorrow; I promise I’ll make it up to you.” He begged. The things he would do for Alice… even talk to her emotionally challenged brother. “Fine, what shift?” I asked. “Nine till Twelve.” Jasper, Emmett and I had all been helping out Carlisle for two years now as they were short of staff al the time. We didn’t have to do anything big like surgery, just cleaning up peoples wounds, stitching and refilling cabinets. It was quite fun when we all shared shifts. I nodded to Jasper and he thanked me before telling Alice the good news. I sighed and relaxed back onto my bed before falling into another light sleep. Bella POV

My alarm woke me earlier than I would have liked that morning. The light cruelly snuck in through my curtains and into my tired eyes. I sat up and stretched, the cold breeze hitting a part of my exposed skin. I shuddered and got up from my warm, comforting bed. I looked around the room that I had attempted to make homey. It had failed miserably but to my joy, I was only going to have to look at it for another week. I had used my savings to rent a flat the other end of town. I smiled at the thought and turned to the wardrobe. Even though it was a weekend and it seemed like regulation for all people my age to spend it in my warm bed until lunch, I had a job, working at the local coffee house. It wasn’t much but as it surprisingly paid well, I didn’t complain. I put on my black top and pants and grabbed my red apron. I tied my hair into a slick ponytail and headed towards the door. “Ah, Bella, off to work?” Mrs. Ancaster smiled as she stood by her office door with a coffee in hand. I smiled and meekly nodded. “Yeah, I’ll see you later.” I never spoke to her much throughout the last eight years. She thought she had taught me manners and how to behave but the reality was that I knew that if we spoke for too long I’d either say something I’d regret later or she’d bring up a subject I really didn’t want to talk about. Great, only eight thirty and already I was thinking about him. I must have some sort of crazy obsession. I brushed past Mrs. Ancaster and walked down to the bus shelter which was only a five minute walk as my car was in for repair for the next few days to my dismay. I got on the bus and headed off to work. The one thing that worried me on the bus was some of the crazy people I got stuck sitting on the bus with. This morning it just happened to be a crazy cat lady. “-And so I told him, you can’t love me if you don’t love my cats…” I nodded with a shocked smile on my face. I put my earphones of my iPod in, hoping she would get the message I wasn’t really in the mood for her life story. Apparently she did realize but thought my earphones may be a tad distracting. She yanked them out and started to continue with her story. “That’s better dear, I was concerned you couldn’t hear me with those little things in your ears, you probably had some funky little jam playing huh? Oh, that reminds me of one of my first cats, Kitty; whenever I played this one song she just used to bounce around like a nutter! Salem was the complete opposite though; He used to run away from the music. Oh! How rude of me… going on like this to you…” I nodded, thankful that I wouldn’t have to hear anymore about her cats. “I should have introduced them to you first!” She laughed. I gawked at her and imagined hitting myself around the head with a frying pan a few times. She fiddled around in her basket for a few seconds before she started hissing. Yes, hissing. “Bad cat, Bad cat! Me-ow!” She wailed. I was shocked that she started ‘meowing’ to the basket. She pulled out a cat and sat in the small space between us. This is Jenkins the third.” She smiled as she started to stroke the cat and making purring noises herself. I could probably just get off the bus and walk the next two stops… I thought irrationally. I looked out the window, trying to block out the crazy cat ladies words. We stopped at the next stop and I was about to get off when I felt the claws of a cat dig into my arm. I screamed and looked down to see two cats hissing and attacking each other. In the cat ladies basket was another cat that kept taking swipes at my arm. The cat lady was oblivious to her cat’s mental behavior and was still telling me names, descriptions of every cat and which flavor food they prefer. Then from the corner of my eye I saw the same perfectly tousled hair I had dreamt about for eight years. I looked up and caught his eye just as the bus started to drive off again. It couldn’t have been. There’s no way, I’m sure he isn’t the only one with perfect hair and sparkling green eyes… I looked down at my lap and sat in thought until I got to my stop. I managed to get off the bus this time but still received a few slashes to my arm. I walked up to the coffee house and fastened my apron. “Bella!” Rosalie greeted me from behind the counter. “Hi Rosalie” I smiled. Rosalie had been working here for a few months before I got

the job. We ended up great friends as most of our shifts were at the same time. “What happened to your arm?” She said as she lifted my arm to take a better look at it. “Oh, just some crazy cat lady on a bus…” She laughed and dropped my arm. “Well once you get this new apartment I will be able to drive you here without you being savagely attacked. Rosalie was the one who found my new apartment because the building was next door to her house. “How long until you move in?” “Uh, six days now” “Can I have an Espresso please?” A customer asked. I turned around and started to make the order. “Wow! That must be really exciting.” “Yeah it is.” I started to pour the boiling water into the cup and looked over to Rosalie. “So how was your weekend?” “Yeah it was good. I just hung out at Emmett’s house. We tried to set his brother up with a date but he came home not even an hour later! It’s like he enjoys being a complete loner…” I lightly laughed and finished up on the drink order. I walked over to the customer with the drink but slid on somebody’s coat that was draped over their chair. I fell onto my back and the boiling drink fell on my right hand. I yelped in pain and rushed up to put in under some cold water. “Oh my gosh! Bella! Are you okay?” Rosalie said as she rushed over to check if I was okay. “I’ve already told Michael that gloves should be part of our uniform… maybe we should get bum pads to protect your bum as well…” She giggled. “I’m okay; it’s just a bit sore. I’ll just go clean up the mess.” I turned off the tap and realized my and was bright red. It hurt so much but I really didn’t want to make the scene I had made any bigger. “Geez, Bella! Your hand! You should go down to the hospital and get it checked out. I’ll clean up here.” Another round of pain went through my hand and I realized Rosalie was right. “Are you sure?” I asked as I attempted to take off my apron with one hand. “Yes, now go!” I smiled and ran out of the door, glad that the cold wind eased the sting of my hand. Luckily the hospital was only a few streets away so I could easily jog there. I bumped into a few people and nearly knocked one man over as I ran. I slipped a few times and tripped over an imaginary rock, but managed to get there five minutes later. “Hi, I just scolded my hand and wanted to get it checked out.” I panted when I reached the main desk. “Sure, take a seat. Oh, and you’ll need to fill in a few forms.” The blonde lady behind the desk smiled as she handed me a clipboard and a pen. I took a seat and realized I had burnt my writing hand… great. I filled in the forms very messily and on a very strange slant, hopefully it was still legible. I handed it back and waited only a few minutes later until I was called to be checked out. “Isabella Swan?” A muscular man in scrubs asked from the hallway. I got up and walked over to him. “Hi Isabella, I’m Emmett. Let’s go get your hand sorted out.” He smiled. He looked about double my size so I imagined I must have looked quite small and scrawny to him. He took me inside a room and gestured for me to sit on the bed. “Ok, Isabella. So you burnt your hand while…”Embarrassingly enough, his lips were moving as he tried to pronounce what I had written. “Ri-Ropped…Tripped!” He yelled, happy that he had been able to read my indecipherable writing. “I was holding an Espresso and tripped on a coat…” I explained, my face burning red with embarrassment. I sounded like such a klutz. Emmett started laughing as he looked at my hand. “I’m…”He started to say in between laughs. “I’m sorry, it’s just, it’s quite

funny… and just your writing on the paper…” I sighed and closed my eyes. Surely doctors weren’t supposed to laugh at their patients… am I that sad that they just can’t help but crack themselves up over my misfortune? I looked up at Emmett and he was trying to control himself as he was flipping through the rest of the information I managed to write on the forms. “Okay well, back to your hand.” He took hold of my arm and started to look over it. After half an hour of examination on my hand, it was bandaged up and I had been given some medicine. “So don’t do too much with your hand for awhile…” He winked. I gasped and snapped my hand back from him. “I mean don’t fall over anymore and stop making coffees for now!” He laughed at my accusation. “Oh, right, of course. Well thanks.” I smiled and walked out of the room bright red face and all. I decided I would just go home as Rosalie had probably told our boss, Michael what had happened. I got home and went straight to my room as I was already tired from today’s events. I took the medicine that Emmett had given me and I laid down on my bed. A montage of my day went through my head as I laid and looked up at the ceiling. My bus journey home, I had to sit next to Mr. Gangster Rap who continued to rap and ‘beat box’ in my ear. And he wasn’t even good at it. He was just some strange pale nerdy looking kid with a golf vest on. Then I went through my hour at the hospital. How I accused the Doctors assistant, Emmett of thinking dirty… and then when I fell at the coffee house… That must have been a sight for some of the customers... Then my bus journey there, the crazy cat lady and her cats… and him. Cut it out Bella! I thought to myself. I mentally slapped myself across the head for thinking about him again. But I couldn’t help wonder if it was him or not, it could have been just a figment of my imagination or perhaps just a complete stranger… A complete stranger... Surely that’s all he would be to me. He obviously would have changed a lot from the sneaky eleven year old I knew so well. The person who wanted to be the ‘Frog Leader’…It still made me smile at the thought of it. But now I would barely know him so why wasn’t I letting go? He could be a crazy serial killer for all I know! After conjuring up all the evil things Edward could be, my medicine kicked in and my eyes started to droop. They grew heavy and I couldn’t fight to keep them open anymore so I let the medicine take over and I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. Edward POV My alarm went off at the time I had regrettably set it and I instantly regretted helping Jasper out. It was too cold to get out of bed but I knew I had to. My fist slammed the clock next to my bed and I let out a deep yawn as I retracted my hand from the now quiet alarm clock. Who says violence doesn’t resolve anything? I thought to myself with a chuckle. I heaved myself out of bed and headed into the shower to restart my body. The hot water slid down my body and defrosted my stiff joints. I picked up my shampoo and realized it was strawberry scented. I smiled and happily scrubbed it in my hair. I knew that I would get teased by Jasper and Emmett and probably anyone who walked too close to me, but I couldn’t help but love it. I got out of the shower and threw on my scrubs. I headed downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed myself some toast that Esme was cooking. “Good morning Edward! Wow, your hair smells wonderful!” She smiled. I groaned but couldn’t help the small smile that played across my face at her sweet thoughts. “I didn’t know you were working this morning...” “Yeah, I’m covering Jasper’s shift so he can hang out with Alice today.” I rolled my eyes as I chugged down some orange juice. “Well that’s lovely of you Edward, have a good day.” She waved as I jumped out of my seat and headed towards the door.

I got in my car and started to drive towards the hospital but decided to get a newspaper on the way. I paid for it and looked up to see the same girl that had been haunting my every thought in a bus passing by. I felt an urge to jump on the bus and hold her in my arms but just as I took a step forward, the bus drove off. I sighed and slowly walked back to my car. I sat down for awhile and then realized I would be late if I kept mopping around any longer. I turned the keys in the ignition and drove off. I got the hospital on time and I saw Carlisle talking sternly to Emmett about something. I started to walk over and discovered that he was being told off for something. “Emmett how many times do I have to tell you that the syringes are not for water guns?” Emmett looked up as I approached and remembered something I really hoped he would have forgotten. I started to turn and walk away but I heard Emmett shout. “It was Eddie’s Idea! He was the one trying to scare off some of the patients here by squirting the water at them!” I stood frozen, hoping that all of those years of practicing my magic disappearing trick would pay off. “Edward?” Carlisle bellowed. Apparently it hadn't paid off. I turned around slowly, afraid of his facial expression. I was sure the outcome wouldn’t be good. “Edward, what the hell were you thinking?!” He screeched. “It’s not what it sounds like…” I quickly stated. “Well then what the fuck does it sound like?!” He was really angry now. Carlisle never swore so this was extremes for him. “It was just this one patient that was giving me the shits…” I sighed, exasperated. “And so you decided to scare the hell out of him as if your some crazy doctor with a syringe?! Edward! I should have you fired! Geez, did you break into the medication room or something and get high?” Emmett started snickering behind us. Carlisle looked at him and then turned back to me with a glare. “Edward…” “I didn’t! I swear! Emmett, piss off! Carlisle, I didn’t, he’s just a big, fat idiot, and surely you know that…” “Edward and Emmett Cullen… I’ve never been more embarrassed of you both…” Carlisle whispered, barely audible. I looked down at my shoes in shame. “I’m sorry Carlisle. I promise to be on my best behavior from now on.” I started to kick my shoes against the floor. “Yes well. I think I need to cool off a bit. Emmett, go to the front desk and you can be on minor injury duty. Edward, go get five coffees one for each of us, Dr. Limpis and Dr. Smith. The coffee machine here is broken. Go, both of you now.” With that, Carlisle stormed off, shaking his head. “Ed, you got off Easy!” Emmett said as he slapped my back. “Oh Shut up Emmett… I can’t believe you told him!” I walked off towards the main entrance. As the coffee house was just a few streets down, I could easily walk it. I walked slowly, enjoying the time by myself. I reached the coffee house and sighed as I opened the door of the shop and the warmth hit me like a flood of satisfaction. I walked in a few steps and saw Rosalie bent down on the floor. “Hey Rose.” I laughed. “Hey Edward” She said in surprise. “Well don’t you look dashing in your manly scrubs?” She teased. I cocked an eyebrow at her and laughed. “So is the floor more interesting than taking orders then?” “Ha-Ha… Actually one of my friends who work here tripped and burnt her hand. She went off to the hospital and now I’m cleaning up.” I laughed which I knew was mean but I couldn’t help myself. “Stop it… she was actually hurt!” Rosalie protested.

“Okay, okay. Is she okay?” “Her hand looked pretty bad but something tells me she’s going to live…”She smiled. “Mom… well you never know… these burns on the hand… their quite deadly…” I joked. “I better get these coffees for Carlisle. See you later.” “Okay, well say hello to Emmett for me.” I nodded and walked towards the counter to order the drinks. As I walked back to the hospital I was in deep thought about this morning when I went to buy the newspaper. It had to be her, she returned my questioning glance. But this could all just be an exaggeration of my memory… It happens all the time… but never so clear… I thought. I shook my head and tried to push it to the back of my head and think of more important things. I pushed the entrance door of the hospital and found Carlisle. After I had handed out the coffees to the Doctors he had named, I restocked some of the draws full of cotton buds. The shift went by slowly and Carlisle was now weary of my every action so I had to keep reporting to him. On my way home I decided to stop past the CD store. I was still in my scrubs but couldn’t care less. I parked my car on the curb and hopped out of the car. I searched around the store for awhile and decided on buying a couple of CD’s. I walked up to the counter and was greeted by an overly friendly assistant. “Hey” She said in a flirtatious tone. I shook my head and put the CD’s on the counter. “Hi.” I paid for the CD’s and began to walk off until she stopped me. I considered walking away but she ran in front of me. “Your bracelet thing…” She looked in disgust at it. Anyone would, as it was all scruffy and worn now, but to me it was the most beautiful thing to existence. Scratch that. It’s the second. I smiled at it and took hold of it. “It came off when you walked away.” She smiled and played with her hair. I walked past her and shot a ‘Thank you’ over my shoulder on my way out. I put on the Taking Back Sunday CD and drove home. I parked in the garage and just sat there in my car listening to the gentle hum of my car. I always did this when I was alone. I didn’t really enjoy other company in instances such as this. I looked at the bracelet that I had been holding the entire journey home. I smiled and fastened it back on my wrist. It got tighter over time and the knots at the ends became harder and harder to tighten. Once I had managed to successfully tie it up, I got out of the car and walked inside with a smile. The house was empty which was quite rare for the Cullen residence. I looked around and decided to sync the CD’s to my iPod and then I wandered aimlessly around the house. I got changed and then settled on going into the garden. I had always loved our garden. The garden was very long and extended onto a small creek. I stepped onto some small rocks as I tried to get to the other side of the creek. I walked around for awhile. I used trek around here when I was about 14. I had come here so many times growing up that I never got lost anymore. I did the first time I came here and Esme nearly had a heart attack. I walked towards an area that I had come to love over time. It looked like a little meadow and there were always warm rays of sun shining through. I decided to sit there. I had my iPod with me so I decided to sit and listen to some music. I had always enjoyed classical music and it fitted my meadow perfectly. I enjoyed lying there for awhile, watching as the clouds drifted away. The sun caught a glimmer on a metal box which I had just noticed from the corner of my eye. I sat up and instantly knew what it was. On my third visit here, I decided to bring apart of me here. I walked over to it and opened it. I looked at it for awhile not daring to touch it. I finally reached down into the box and picked up the objects inside. There was a DVD of me playing the piano when I first moved here. I didn’t play in front of people when I was at the adoption centre but I did it quite a lot when people were busy outside or something. When I arrived at the Cullen’s I found it heard not to play in front of them as they seemed to always be so supportive and encouraging. From then on I had loved playing and they had recorded me

numerous times. This was my favorite though as it was my song for her. I fumbled through the rest of the things in my box. I picked up a picture of Alice, Bella and me. It used to make me smile for days straight just by looking at it. I was pulling on one of Alice’s small pigtails from behind Bella’s back and Bella had just planted a kiss on my cheek. There was also a baseball and glove in the box. Then I found a birthday card from Bella from my birthday before I left. I wanted to keep it because it said Love Bella. I found this so heart-warming and insisted on keeping it. There was another photo in the box, this one of my parents with me when I was only a week old. My mom was wearing the same love heart charm on the neck that I had given Bella on my eleventh birthday. I didn’t tell her it was my mom’s as I knew she wouldn’t have taken it. I didn’t want to look through the box anymore as everything inside brought a new round of memories of her. I closed it and looked at the closed box for a few moments, letting the wave of heart ache flow over me. I felt a drop of water on the cheek and looked up at the sky. It was starting to rain. I picked up the box, deciding that I would find a better day to look at it. I walked back to the creek. I hopped onto the stones. I got to the other side and walked back to the house. It was lit up now as people were home. It made me wonder how long I was out there. I flipped open my phone and realized it had been five hours. Time had always seemed to fly by when I was out there. I walked through the back door to see everyone getting ready for dinner. “Edward! Where have you been?” Esme frowned. “I was worried!” “Just across the creek” I smiled and helped Alice set the table. “How was your day Alice?” I smiled. “Brilliant!” She smiled so much it looked as if her face about to fall off. “Thank you for helping Jasper...” “No problem.” I grinned. I loved seeing Alice like this. It hurt me to see her so upset when we first got here. I always heard her saying ‘I promised to be happy so I’ll be happy!’ To herself like a little mantra but I didn’t understand it completely. But then she met Jasper and she has been jumping around ever since. There was a knock at the door and Alice ran over as fast as her little legs could carry and opened the door. Rosalie and Jasper walked in. Jasper hugged the might out of Alice and Rosalie started kissing Emmett passionately. I looked away and just sat down at the table. I took a deep sigh. They had each been dating for four years and I had grown more used to it, but it still put me off my food slightly. We all discussed our days, Carlisle subtly adding that he would have to be watching me and Emmett a bit closer, Esme tutted but then lightly laughed. “Oh! Is it that Mike Newton kid from our school?” Alice asked when I explained what happened. “Oh! Him! Geez, no wonder… I thought it was someone half normal…”Rosalie laughed. “Apparently he has the smallest-” “Emmett! We’re eating!” Esme screeched with a look of horror on her face. She knew Emmett far too well. “Chill Esme, I was just going to say he has the smallest storage space in the back of his car…”Emmett said angelically, batting his eyes. It seemed like a Cullen tradition. Esme raised an eyebrow then looked back at her food. While Esme was looking away Emmett shook his head animatedly and pointed towards his crotch... Jasper, who was chewing his food at the time, burst out laughing, his food spluttering all over Carlisle. “Jasper!” Carlisle yelled, jumping up from his chair. He wiped away some of the half chewed potato from his cheek and glared at Jasper. Jasper looked like he was about to crap his pants there and then. “I…I’m sorry Dr. Cullen…” “What is it with you three boys?” He asked incredulously. He pushed his chair in and picked up his plate. “Thank you Esme, dear, that was lovely but I might just go into my office for awhile…” He walked off and brushed another piece of Jaspers

potato from his shirt. As soon as he left the room, everyone was in hysterics. They couldn’t stop laughing. Later that night I decided to sort through the rest of the things in the meadow box. I hesitated to open it then decided I could show Alice and she might be able to cheer me up if I get too affected by anything. I walked to the door and called Alice from the landing. Alice bounded up the stairs as if in a bubble of happiness. “Yes Edward?” “Today I found a box of some of my old things and wanted to know if you wanted to look through them with me.” I batted my lashes, hoping she wouldn’t deny my pleading. “Okay. Sure.” She smiled. “Jaspers playing x-box with Emmett anyway…” She skipped into my room and looked at the box on my bed. “Is this the box?” “Yeah, I kept it on the other side of the creek and just found it today.” She sat cross legged on the end of my bed and opened the box. She gasped as she looked inside. “Oh my gosh! Edward! I didn’t know you had this!” She looked as if she was about to cry and suddenly I felt guilty for bringing her down with me in my misery. Just as I was about to tell her to go and find Jasper again, she looked up and started laughing. “Edward you big bully!” She chuckled. I started laughing with her. She was always such a good pick me up, she transformed the upsetting picture into a laughable one. I was so grateful that Carlisle adopted Alice as well otherwise I never would have gotten through it all. I sat down and watched as she rummaged through the rest of the box. She pulled out a letter and looked up at me as if to ask to open it. I looked at it strangely, not knowing what it was but nodded anyway. She tore open the paper. “Dear Bella, This is my goodbye. This letter is bittersweet, bringing you comfort and an end to us. I’m sorry, but I didn’t know how to say goodbye to you. So I didn’t. I know I was a coward but I knew that seeing you cry would cut me into pieces that would be beyond repair. I also know that this letter is a few years too late but I’m hoping this letter will bring closure to us both. I don’t actually think closure is the right term for us, but I’ve had too many sleepless nights and I’ve come to realize you deserved at least this letter. Yours always, Edward Cullen” Alice read quietly. We were both silent, neither knowing what to say. “Why didn’t you send it?” Alice asked so quiet I had to check she actually did say something. She did, and I didn’t have a response. “I was too scared. I didn’t want to hurt her.” “So you decided to wallow in your own self pity? Edward, you already hurt her more than you think. The night we left I could see the pain in her eyes. She thought you didn’t like her anymore…” I was frozen, frozen into a state of shock and pain. I felt like I should crawl into a cave and die. Or at least be killed by a hungry pack of wolves for hurting Bella. I felt so ashamed. I never thought I would be the one to hurt Bella. I wasn’t even sure she reciprocated the same feelings towards me. I knew there was something, but I wasn’t sure how strongly she felt towards me. I looked up at Alice who was huddled into a ball and looking gloomy as hell. I shouldn’t be allowed near civilization, I hurt anyone who comes close to me. I sighed put my head in my hands. My fingers pulled at my hair and I felt like screaming. I felt Alice get off my bed and I felt relieved for her. I didn’t want to hurt her like I had hurt Bella, at least for now I had just affected her good mood. She could always bounce back at a simple touch from Jasper. I just wasn’t sure if Bella bounced back after my departure. I heard a click and I looked up to see Alice at my CD player. She hit play and the Spice Girls filled my room. I laughed at her bad sense in music. “Maybe this will put us in a better mood. If we start to get soppy, we can just

listen to the music and get cheery!” I laughed lightly. “I don’t think we’ll get cheery Alice… more like brain dead…” She dramatically gasped. “I think you’ll find that this song is very cheery! Unless you prefer S Club 7” She started squealing and left my room and ran back a few moments later with a new CD. I groaned hammered my head into my pillow. I could hear Alice singing loudly along and her little steps on the ground as she danced around. I heard her laughing which lifted my mood a bit. Jasper and Rosalie left half an hour later. Alice had helped me sort through the rest of it. She found positive notes for most things which I was thankful for but I knew that the wave of guilt would wash over me as soon as I went to sleep. And when I did go to sleep, the wave surprisingly wasn’t as heavy as I thought it would be. I managed to fall asleep shortly after my head hit the pillow and I realized I really was in good need of sleep. My eyelids fell heavily over my eyes as I drifted off to sleep. Bella POV I zipped up my final suitcase and looked around my room. It was empty except for a few more boxes that the removalists still had to move. I sat on my bed, silent. Then the reality hit me that I was finally leaving this place. I couldn’t resist the squealing and jumping up and down that came with my elating emotions. My phone suddenly beeped so I took it out and saw 1 new message flash on the screen. I flipped it open and saw a text from Rosalie. Hey I’m outside when you’re ready! Rose x Rosalie had offered to drive me down to my new apartment as it was only next door to her house. I used to use the spare car here that Mrs. Ancaster had bought to save lots of drama. I usually thought of it as mine as nobody else here could drive but I knew I couldn’t take it with me when I left so I had to rely on buses and the helping hand of Rosalie. The rest of the removalists came into my room and picked up my boxes. As they left my room to go back to their truck I took a final look at my empty room, the room where I had laughed till my stomach hurt, cried till my eyes stung and spent my days losing myself in books. I smiled and shut the door behind me. I skipped down the stairs and fought the urge to do a happy dance. I stood still for a few seconds to regain my self integrity and composure. I reached the door and couldn’t control myself any longer. I let out a jiggle of my hips and started waving my hands in the air. But my dance was cut short when I heard a coughing from behind me. My head shot around and I saw Mrs. Ancaster with a questioning look on her face. “There was a fly?” I bluffed quietly. I scratched my forehead and hoped that my hands would cover the redness of my cheeks. “Yes, well, I was just going to say goodbye to you Bella” Mrs. Ancaster smiled. “Oh. Well, goodbye.” I smiled before turning back to the door. I really didn’t want her to ruin my mood. “Bella! Wait a moment…”She laughed stiffly. I turned around to face her and she was cleaning the lenses of her glasses. “Bella, I know we never really spoke much, but you should know that I always did have a soft spot for you.” She winked. “A soft spot… For me?!” “Why yes dear!” She laughed. “I always said that you were one of my greatest achievements.” I couldn’t believe it. I really couldn’t believe she had just considered me an achievement. “Excuse me? Do you mean the last eight years where I’ve been trying to avoid you because I couldn’t stand talking to you? Yes you’re right; I sure am one heck of an achievement!” I shouted. She looked quite taken aback by what I had said so I took that opportunity to make a dash for Rosalie’s car. I could hear Mrs. Ancaster running after me. I waved at Rosalie but probably looked like a loon as I was power walking on the verge of running towards her. I motioned her to start to car so I could jump in and leave but she didn’t understand what I was saying and just looked at me confused. Then to make matters worse, her phone started ringing. I

jumped in the front seat of her shiny red convertible just in time to hear her answer her phone. I really wanted to grab it from her hands and throw it out of the car but Mrs. Ancaster was at the window of the car at that point. “Isabella Swan, I don’t know where you’ve suddenly got your anger from but I want it to stop right now. You can’t be so rude and then run off like that! Have I taught you nothing?” She fumed. She obviously wasn’t very athletic as her face was bright red from that little jog she did. Her figure didn’t show any athletic signs either for that matter. “Mrs. Ancaster, I need to be on my way. Thank you for putting me up the last eight years, you’ve been a bundle of joy to live with” I smiled sarcastically. “HIT IT ROSE!” I yelled, hoping she knew what I meant. Luckily she did and she looked quite scared. She closed her phone and shoved her foot on the pedal and did a small U-turn out of the pebbly entrance of Littleton Adoption Centre. It was the last time I would be seeing it, and for that I was relieved. I felt as if I was a caterpillar that had just shed a layer of its skin. I was a fresh person and felt as if I should forget anything that had pulled me back to those years of my life. Then I thought of him. Once again he had popped into my head. I tried to push him out of my thoughts as I was now a new person and with that I should no longer have to put up with the stupid Edward Masen that plagued my thoughts and pushed me into a shell of fear of being hurt. No longer would I fantasize that I would bump into him on a street corner and he would whisk me into his arms and we would run away from the world and just live in each others warmth and comfort. No, I shall refuse to think of him as anything greater than a childhood crush that ripped out my heart, stomped on it with a heavy pair of shoes, put it in a paper shredder, and then set it alight. Yes, that is the only way I should start to think of Edward bloody Masen. I smiled and then heard what I had just said and realized I sounded like an emotional wreck with dark metaphors. I scrunched up my nose and decided once we got off the road we were on, I would put an ending to all thoughts of Edward. I tapped my fingers impatiently as we started to get closer to the end of the road. I had never realized how long this road was. I just wanted to be able to forget him and start fresh. The car came to a stop and I looked up to see we had stopped at a set of traffic lights. “Since when are there traffic lights on this road?!” I screeched, not meaning to scream out loud. Rosalie turned to me and looked a bit shocked at my sudden outburst. “Chill Bella, we’ll get there soon enough!” I nodded and apologized. I took a deep breath as we were only a few meters away from the fork in the road. We would be there soon enough and I could put Edward out of my thoughts. I smiled at the thought but then realized I didn’t want to let go of him yet. I wanted a few more minutes just to think about him before I cut him out of my life entirely. I started to panic as we grew closer to the roads end. I quickly ripped out my phone from my pocket and dialed Rosalie’s number. Rosalie’s phone starting to ring and she turned to me and smiled. “Do you mind getting that for me?” She smiled angelically. My eyes widened in shock. This wasn’t how the plan was supposed to go! She was supposed to pull over and answer it! Not give it to me as we continue towards the Edwardless roads! I smiled weakly at her and then turned to the phone. I picked up her phone from the cup holder and flipped it open. “Hello?” My voice wobbled a bit and I turned to face Rosalie with a smile. “Oh hi… Mrs. Uh...” Crap. What was Rosalie’s last name? “Hale!” I shouted. “Yes, Rosalie is here…” I turned to Rosalie and gave her a tight smile. Rosalie pulled into the curb and took the phone from me. I waved my hands around in frenzy as I panicked of what to do. I went to grab my phone from next to my leg but knocked it to the floor. “Hello? Hello?” I heard Rosalie shouting at the phone. I couldn’t see my phone on the floor as I bent down and fumbled around for it. I found my phone and quickly pressed ‘end call’.

“Bella why does this say the phone call was from you?” Shit. I was busted. I went to lift my head up but hit it on the glove compartment. “Ouch…” I frowned. Rosalie was still looking at me with her phone flashing, ‘Call with Bella ended’. “Oops! I guess I must have… misread it… and accidentally called you… I think I’m on the verge of dyslexia!” I shrugged and awkwardly laughed. I smiled brightly hoping she would just forget it. She raised an eyebrow and turned back to the steering wheel. She shook her head and pulled out into the road and drove off. “Bella I hope your not turning into one of those strange metal people… I mean I can’t live next to some weird nut job!” I laughed shakily. “No way! And I promise if I go insane you have full permission to send me into a madhouse…” “Right well, I think I’ll need that on paper.” She laughed. We turned right at the fork in the road and I sighed. My plan had backfired completely and now I wouldn’t be allowed to think off… Enchiladas… I cringed as I tried to change the direction of my thoughts. I would make this new life work. I would! We soon got to the apartment and it was even better than I remembered. The removalists were already parked outside and followed us upstairs. Rosalie’s phone started to ring again and she had to say goodbye. She told me I would have to have a housewarming party and I told her she had to be crazy. I was never one for the party scene and there was no way I would have my own. Once the removalists had left, I started to unpack but loneliness took its toll as the silence grew more poignant. I hoped it would fade once my things were all set out but I was wrong. I had most of the essentials but still needed to buy a few more things. I decided to get to sleep early that night but when I searched for my toothbrush in the last box, a glimmer of light caught my eye. I rummaged through to the bottom of the box where I found a silver necklace with a small heart covered in crystals. I remembered back to the day I had decided that it held no friendship value in it so I stored it in a small box of treasures I kept. That day was last week. I slumped back on my bed and realized I had already broken my promise. I put the necklace back in the box and found my toothbrush and toothpaste. I brushed my teeth with more force than usual. It felt as I was trying to scrub away Edward more than anything. I spat the toothpaste out in disgust and collapsed back onto my bed. I felt hollow and alone. I hugged another pillow trying to comfort myself but ended up throwing it against the wall and lying on my stomach until I fell asleep. Everyone felt this way when they moved into a new apartment by themselves, right? I let my dreams take me away to a better time. Times were I didn’t need to worry about feeling alone, a time where I felt loved. I woke up later than usual as I didn’t end up getting much sleep that night. I stumbled into the kitchen and then remembered that I didn’t have any food. I was alone and hungry. I groaned and pulled my leg up to my chest as I sat at the breakfast bar. I tapped my fingers on the counter as I fought between getting dressed and going to the shops or just staking it out. My stomach let out a loud grumble and I had a winner. But as I walked into my room I remembered that I would have to go through the boxes to find my clothes. Then I remembered an upside of moving here. I knew people. I found my pair of Ugg boots and walked out of my house merrily. As soon as I got outside to the fresh air, I realized it probably wasn’t the smartest option to walk around in a pair of small silk boxers and a tight lace camisole. My face flushed red and I rushed to the house which I remembered Rosalie pointing out as hers. I knocked on the door and got a honk from a passing car as I waited for Rosalie to answer. To my humiliation it wasn’t Rosalie. Standing in the doorway was a tall blonde haired boy who looked like he had just rolled out of bed. Not that I would have looked much better… He looked me up and down and lifted and eyebrow. “Oh, sorry, I must have got the wrong house… I was looking for Rosalie and-” “No, she’s here, she’s just eating breakfast. I’ll get her for you. Come in.” “Oh, thanks.” I smiled. It was much warmer inside the house than outside so I took

the invitation happily. I walked in and saw Rosalie getting up from the kitchen. “Bella!” She looked me up and down just like her brother had and laughed. “Don’t have any food yet?” she smiled. I smiled and shook my head. “Come into the kitchen” She giggled. The blonde haired boy was in the kitchen, sitting down and eating a bowl of cornflakes. He looked so dead that it looked like he was about to fall face first into his bowl. “Cornflakes, Coco Pops or toast?” Rosalie asked. “Coco pops please.” I beamed. I ate it quickly, remembering how hungry I was. I didn’t have dinner last night either. “Oh, I forgot to say, Bella, this is Jasper, Japer, this is Bella.” He smiled and nodded. I waved with my spoon in hand and turned back to my food. “Oh Rosalie, I just remembered, Alice wants to know if you wanted to go shopping with her today. Actually, scratch that. You’re going shopping today with Alice.” Rosalie rolled her eyes and laughed lightly. “Want to come along Bella?” She asked. “Oh no, its okay, I need to get some food in the house and finish unpacking.” I smiled. “Well okay, you should come over later tonight though Bella, we’re having a poker night.” She beamed. “Maybe” I smiled as I got off of the chair. “Thanks for breakfast though. Nice meeting you Jasper.” He nodded and Rosalie escorted me out. “I’ll talk to you later then.” She smiled. I nodded and walked out back to my empty apartment. I opened the door and looked at a few of the boxes around the room. It definitely seemed more exciting moving in here a few days ago. I sighed and plunked myself on the sofa. I knew that I was quite definitely not going to Rosalie’s house later on tonight. So I would just rent a few movies while I’m at the grocery store. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. Today was going to be quite slow. Jasper POV Who the hell would walk from who-knows-where in such small pajamas?! Was she crazy? She’s probably got Hypothermia after that… I shook my head as I stared into my bowl of cornflakes. Rosalie trotted back into the kitchen with a smug smile on her face and I already knew she was planning something. “What are you planning Rose?” I said worried. She looked at me and just smiled. She sat down and took a bite of her toast. Once she had finished her mouthful she started to talk. “I think I’ve just found the perfect couple.” Her smile was now starting to get freakily large and I felt sorry for whoever she was setting up. She usually picked people who would rather kill each other than spend a night in some fancy restaurant. “Who are the poor victims?” “Edward and Bella” She grinned. I thought about it for a moment, they probably wouldn’t look too bad with each other and I knew Edward had a thing for Brunettes from experience. And she was actually quite pretty. “So how are you planning to set them up?” She obviously hadn’t thought that far so she sat there for a few seconds thinking. I laughed lightly and continued to eat my cornflakes. Rosalie’s eyes lit up quickly and she pushed her chair out and walked over to the fridge. She started to rummage through it and pulled out the salsa jar. She opened the jar and started to pour it in the sink. “Hey what are you doing to the salsa?!” I yelled. She smirked at me and told me her plan. “But what if she doesn’t have salsa?” She scrunched up her nose as she thought about it. “Jasper…” She batted her eyelashes. I laughed and shook my head. “For Alice? It is her brother and I’m sure she’ll thank you once they start dating…” I rolled my eyes and sighed.

“You could have just hid the salsa…” “It’s more authentic this way. Thank you Jasper!” She grinned. “Just go down to the shops and put it in her basket when she’s not looking…” She smiled and walked out of the room. I laughed humorlessly and stared at my cornflakes. Geez I was a pushover. Maybe Emmett was right when he told me to grow a pair… I mused. Later, just before lunch, Rosalie told me she just saw Bella leave which was my cue to follow. I felt like a stalker as I drove along. She was walking so I got there before her. I was in the magazine isle when she finally walked in. I quickly covered my face with the first magazine I got hold of. I poked my head over the top of the magazine to check if she had gone down one of the isles. She had and so I pulled the magazine from my face. There was an elderly lady looking at me with a shocked face. I looked at where she was looking and it was at the magazine I was holding. I looked at it and noticed I had picked up a real raunchy magazine, the cover full of naked women. I smiled and laughed meekly at the lady before putting down the magazine and walked off quickly to find the jars of salsa. I picked up a large jar of salsa and went to go find Bella. Embarrassingly enough, I found her choosing pads. I put my head down, too embarrassed to look up and not wanting her to recognize me. She was looking at the packs when I swiftly placed the jar in her already full basket. As I went to walk away with my head down, I accidentally hit a stand of tampons and condoms and all the boxes started to fall down. I saw Bella turn around quickly from the corner of my eye and I noticed that the jar I had balanced in her basket was about to fall to the ground. I turned around to catch it but it smashed on the floor in front of my hands. The same elderly lady that caught me with the magazine came down the isle while I was frantically picking up boxes of tampons and condoms while Bella stared confused at me and the smashed salsa. The old lady gasped and stormed past me. “Disgusting generation…” She hissed. “Jasper? What are you doing?” Bella asked as she bent down and helped me with the boxes. “Oh hey Bella… Fancy running into you here!” I laughed shakily. “I just came here to buy some pads for Rosalie I smiled and picked up a pack of pads from in front of me. “Maternity pads?” Bella asked with a raised eyebrow. I really needed to look before I picked things up… “Yes… She’s like a bloody river! Just whoosh!” I laughed awkwardly making wave movements with my hand. She looked at me as if I were crazy. Her cheeks turned pink and I knew that this was going worse than I thought it would have, and I imagined it going bad… “Oh okay well…”She put the last box of tampons on the pile I had started making with the boxes. “Tell her I say hi then.” She smiled. “Yeah, will do. Oh and you dropped your salsa…” I said as I looked at the mess on the floor. “Oh, I didn’t get the salsa.” “I think you did…” I winked. “No… I didn’t” “I think you did!” “No jasper, I didn’t pick up the salsa…”She said slowly. “Well I think you should because it’s one of those traditions… Everyone on our road has Salsa… You should buy it just as a precaution…” She just looked at me and took a deep breath. “Fine, I’ll buy the salsa. Okay?” “Great!” I smiled. My job was done for the day. She laughed lightly and waved goodbye to me. I rubbed the back of my head and decided to pick up some Doritos on my way out as the salsa had put me in the mood for some nacho cheese… If this plan didn’t work I think I’d shoot Rosalie and then myself. Edward POV “Edward! Hurry up! We’re all ready and now we’re just waiting for you…” Alice shouted from the bottom of the staircase. I sighed and put down my book which I

was actually enjoying until Alice decided she wanted to start being ‘little miss punctual’. I heaved myself off of my bed and shrugged on a jacket and some shoes. I walked as slowly as possible from my room and down the stairs, receiving a glare and a tapping of the foot from Alice. “Edward Anthony Cullen, if you don’t get down these stairs-” She stopped mid-sentence after she saw me running for dear life’s sake. She never needed to finish those sorts of sentence. I knew well enough from experience that she could think of countless ways to torture me and she wasn’t kidding when she threatened me. “We’re taking Emmett’s Jeep because you weren’t fast enough Edward Cullen.” She smiled angelically. She knew that I hated being a passenger in a car, especially Emmett’s car. He found it humorous to terrorize the natural wildlife and landscape. I groaned at Alice and followed her small figure out of the door. I guess I should be pleased, she could have done a lot worse… I shuddered and walked outside to see Emmett already in his jeep, bouncing up and down to a song he had playing. Great, Emmett music… I jumped into the backseat of the jeep and strapped myself in securely, praying I would be able to get to Rosalie and Jaspers house in one piece. Emmett spun the car around so quick any viewers would have missed it and drove out of the long driveway. I took a deep breath and looked out at the passing scenery. “I never knew that Rosalie was so into poker…”Alice mused. Emmett turned down the music a fraction and shook his head still on the lookout for any mud tracks from the rain. “She isn’t. She didn’t want to have it but I used my charm to persuade her to do it.” Emmett grinned so big that he could go out on Halloween without a mask. Alice shuddered and gave a tinkling laugh. “I don’t think you would call that a charm…” She laughed. “But Rosalie was really excited for some reason and kept saying how I would love her so much after tonight.” “Rosalie and Jasper have both gone quite strange by the sound of it…” I contributed for the first time. Alice turned around to look at me. “What do you mean Edward?” “Well I went over his house today and he kept freaking out and muttering things about salsa, tampons and grandmas…” Alice gasped. “Salsa? Is he learning how to dance? But what about the tampons and the grandma…” She sat in thought for a few seconds before letting out another large gasp. “Jaspers doing salsa with a grandma and he saw her tampons!” She sobbed. “But he knows I can dance! Why didn’t he do salsa with me!? And I have tampons! And I have tampons! He can see my tampons if he really wants… I mean, they’re nothing exciting…” She sobbed. “That grandma probably has really cool tampons… and maybe he prefers older ladies with cool pre-menopause tampons…” She was now in tears, utterly convinced that Jasper was going to leave her for a Grandma with cool tampons. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I let out a loud laugh, filling the car and overtaking Emmett’s music and Alice’s crying. Alice turned to me and glared. Her bottom lip quivered and then she let out a vicious snarl. I instantly stopped and held my breath until my every need to laugh had disappeared. That took a while so I sat in silence for a few minutes and stared out at some of the birds that were now traumatized for life. We finally got to Rosalie and Jaspers house after a quick stop at a petrol station. Alice made a frenzied purchase of every pack of tampons in sight and Emmett had an urge for Doritos and salsa after the discussion of Jaspers dance classes. Everyone jumped out of the jeep and walked up to the door. Alice knocked on the door impatiently until Jasper opened the door. “I bought tampons!” Alice grinned. Jaspers face paled and stood frozen. We all walked around him to the table that was set up for Poker. “Hey Rose.” Emmett greeted as he pulled her up into a tight bear hug. “I brought

Doritos and salsa.” He grinned. He received the same response as Alice had got from Jasper. I smiled that I had guessed right earlier in the car, the Hales had lost it. I sat down at the table and watched as both couples tried to figure out what was going on. “I bought pink ones and there are these cool twisty ones that are all different colors…” I heard Alice babble to Jasper who was still pale faced at her bag full of tampons. “I’m sorry… I just thought you liked the Nacho Cheese flavor…”Emmett was explaining. There was something up with Rosalie and Jasper. Well, more Rosalie than Jasper. It was understandable that Jasper didn’t exactly want to hear about Alice’s personal hygiene, no matter how lovesick he was. There was a loud smash and I turned around to see Rosalie staring at a smashed jar of salsa on the floor. “Oops” She said in a blank voice, obviously not caring that she may as well have done the same to Emmett’s heart. “It slipped…” Emmett bent down to the jar and covered his mouth with his hand. He looked up at Rosalie. “Rosalie…You know what?” Rosalie looked at him warily. Things didn’t sound pretty and anyone who had met Emmett was sure to know that food wasn’t something you could joke around about. Everything was dead silent, waiting for Emmett’s reaction. “It’s still salvageable” She gawped at him and everyone was thinking the same thing, ‘He did not just say that…’ “Rosalie, I’m going to need a spoon and a bowl, stat. We only have seconds left.” Rosalie’s eyes doubled in size as she stared at Emmett. “Oh come on Emmett! You can’t be seriously wanting to save it… it’s on the floor!” “Rosalie, don’t joke with me… this is perfectly good salsa sauce!” “That happens to be on the floor where people’s feet have been…” Emmett gasped. “Rosalie, I’m starting to think you don’t care about my salsa that you dropped!” “Starting to? Emmett seriously… it’s salsa… I’m sure that Edward is more than willing to go get you some more salsa…” Why was I being brought into this?! I hadn’t said a word since I got here! Emmett hung his head low and rummaged in his pocket. He pulled out his car keys and threw them to me. I caught them by reflex and stared blankly at them. “No, no Edward! I can’t have you spending money like that…” I smiled; happy I wouldn’t have to go out. “Just go to the apartments next door and go to room 3. The girl there is one big fan of salsa! She’s sure to have some.” Rosalie laughed and battered her lashes at me. “It’s okay; I’ll just head out to the shops. I’ll get some drinks while I’m there as well.” “No!” Rosalie shouted. I stopped halfway from getting off my chair. “Just go next door! She’s my friend and I invited her anyway. Maybe you could persuade her to come?” I sighed and lifted myself off of the chair completely. I walked over to the door and shot a glance at Jasper. He smiled and shrugged. Great, so now not only do I have to get Salsa from a complete stranger, but I had to try and persuade them to come with me next door… not suspicious at ALL! I walked in the cold night air, my breath showing in little clouds in front of me. Luckily someone was walking out of the building with a large hoodie on, some hair flowing out of the hood. I quickly grabbed the door before it closed. At least I wouldn’t have to wait in the cold while I rung the buzzer, I thought. As I looked at the doors and their numbers, I suddenly couldn’t quite remember what number Rosalie had said. I had a feeling I knew but wasn’t sure. I knocked on a door and waited for a reply. The door opened and there stood an elderly lady. “Yes dear?” “Oh hi, my friend Rosalie next door was just wondering if you had any salsa.” I smiled and tried to look like a sweet young boy again. “No sorry, my doctor didn’t want me to have it as it gives me bad side effects

these days. She smiled. I grimaced at the thought. Working at the hospital, you learn code words for things such as side effects and it really wasn’t something I would like to discuss. “That’s okay; I’ll just drive down to the store. Oh and she wanted to know if you still wanted to come over for poker night.” She looked confused for a moment but smiled and took my arm (which I really wasn’t offering) and walked with me to the door. “My name’s Briony” She attempted to wink but came out looking as if she was severely tired and her were drooping. I faked a smile and walked her back to Rosalie’s house. I knocked on the door and a few seconds later Rosalie answered the door. She had a bright grin across her face but it faltered when she saw the lady standing next to me. “Edward? Who’s this?” She smiled sweetly but confusion coating her voice. “Briony… The lady you invited… Isn’t it?” “I said girl… not a lady who had a pet dinosaur you idiot!” “Young lady! That is no way to speak about your elders! Get some respect!” Briony shouted. She walked around Rosalie and into her house glaring at Rosalie the whole time. I followed Briony inside and saw Emmett on the ground huddled over where his salsa had spilt. He had a bag of opened Doritos with him and I decided not to put the two pieces of the puzzle together. Jasper and Alice were talking on one of the sofas happily about something not relevant to personal hygiene to Jaspers pleasure. But Briony stopped as she walked past Jasper. “You!” Briony bellowed and pointed to Jasper. Jasper looked up and his face paled again at the sight of her. It looked like he knew her or something. Maybe he’s just a terrible neighbour… “He- hello…”He choked, getting up from his seat and slowly backing behind the sofa. “Is this her?” Alice shouted, looking light a light bulb had just gone off above her head. “Is this your salsa partner that you’re leaving me for?” “What are you talking about Alice?!” Jasper asked incredulously, still wary of Briony’s every move. “Don’t play games with me Jasper Hale! I know who she is!” “Alice, no, this grandma just found me in the shops with a raunchy magazine and condoms all over the floor!” “What were you doing reading one of those magazines in the public eye?! We made a deal you would save them for ‘Jasper time’!” Alice’s voice had just reached a new level in high pitched shouting. Jasper cringed and I heard Emmett snicker about and imitate Alice’s voice when she said ‘Jasper Time’. I had to admit though; I found it quite funny myself. “All I wanted was salsa Jasper! Not magazines for horny men and condoms!” Rosalie laughed. “I didn’t mean to! But when I was watching Bella walk through the door, I had to grab a magazine and that was the one my hand seemed to pick up first! And then when I put the salsa in Bella’s basket, I walked into a tampon and condom stand and it crashed down!” Bella… if it weren’t such a funny story I would be all glum for the mention of the name. Nobody knew of my obsession besides Alice and that was because she claimed to love her just as much as I did. The truth was that nobody ever knew the deep feeling I had for her. The flame was not as strong and overpowering as it was then. But it was still effecting my everyday actions. I had only dated a few times since Bella, and neither of them actually meant anything to me. My thoughts were shortened when Briony started complaining. “Young man, you had taken the last copy of Zoo and you had knocked over the stand I needed!” Briony said in a low tone. She turned on her heel and walked straight to the door.

“This generation is a joke!” She spat as she left the house. It was silent as we heard the door slam shut. Nobody knew what to say so we continued to wait for the moment to cool over. The first to break the silence was Emmett. Emmett was now in another fit of laughter. He had doubled over and was on the ground, literally in tears. “The grandma’s a pervert!” He managed to say in between gasps for air. “And Jasper…Jasper knocked over the condoms and tampons!” Emmett had started rolling on the ground, clutching his sides. Jasper frowned and curled up on a ball on the sofa. Rosalie was looking worried and drumming her fingers on the kitchen bench. I looked over to Alice who was staring open-mouthed at Jasper. “And who is this Bella Jasper?” Se asked, placing one hand on her hip. He looked up and sighed. “Alice, it’s not what you think… I was just helping Rosalie out with one of her friends…” Alice turned to Rosalie. “You’re trying to get rid of me for one of your other friends?” Alice gave Rose the unbelievably sad eye treatment, evening breaking my heart. “No! Alice, I was actually just trying to set her up with someone and I needed Jaspers help!” Alice slumped down on the sofa next to Jasper. “Being jealous is so tiring…” She yawned. “I’m not sure which way I should be facing when you’re like this…” Jasper nodded and pulled Alice’s head into his chest. “I wouldn’t have anyone else Alice, you don’t need to worry.” He kissed her on the top of her head and she closed her eyes and smiled. I decided to give them some privacy by turning around to face Rosalie and Emmett. Rosalie was taping her foot next to Emmett, who was still on the floor, trying to catch his breath. “Emmett, would it hurt for you to be romantic ever? I’m starting to think that you prefer the ground to me…” Emmett turned his face up to Rosalie. “How about I show you why I prefer you to the floor tonight?” He winked. Rosalie sighed and sat down. “Stop trying to sweet talk me Emmett Cullen…” I shuddered at the thought that that was sweet talk to them. I had never felt more alone in the presence of my four of my favorite people. As it appeared, we wouldn’t be playing poker tonight. I decided to retire to Emmett’s jeep, away from the lovers. I grabbed the keys from the sideboard and walked outside. I got inside Emmett’s jeep and started to fiddle with the radio until I settled on a song. You've got this new head filled up with smoke I've got my veins all tangled close To the jukebox bars you frequent The safest place to hide A long night spent with your most obvious weakness You start shaking at the thought You are everything I want 'Cause you are everything I'm not… I sat in the car, strumming my fingers to the beat of the drums. I saw the girl that left the apartment door opened walk back into her building. I couldn’t help but watch as she took off her hood and type in her code and walk in. There was something about her… the way her long brown hair fell onto her back. As minutes ticked by I decided to look for something to do. I rummaged through Emmett’s mess and settled on apiece of paper and a pen. I started to doodle over the page. My eyes weren’t focused on my doodling, instead my brain taking me far away from the car. I looked down at the page and noticed what I had been doodling. Instead of doodling, I had been sketching. Sketching the orphanage where I had met the one person who had affected my every waking hour, the girl who had become a regular character in my dreams. I looked at the paper and scrunched it with all of my anger. I threw it out of the car window. I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel and hastily put the keys in the ignition. I reversed quickly and drove towards the one place I hoped would give me a peace of mind. I didn’t care that it was now quite late. I needed a clean slate

and the only way I would get that was from closure. If I could just see her and tell her goodbye, maybe it would be enough for me to walk away and to have a normal life. I would be able to move on; I could be in a relationship without comparing the girl to Bella. I would be able to sleep at night without feeling gloomy as hell and I could walk down the streets without being paranoid and insisting to myself that I had just seen her. I reached the familiar street and it didn’t take long with my speed to get to the orphanage. I drove through the trees covering the driveway. I parked the car and jumped out. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do or what I was going to say but I had to at least get out and make an attempt at solitude from this girl. I walked up to the door and knocked impatiently a few times. It took a few minutes and just as I began to walk away and give up, the door opened. “Edward? Is that you dear?” a familiar voice croaked. I turned around to see Mrs. Ancaster in her dressing gown, looking just the same just a few shades greyer and a few more stress lines. “Mrs. Ancaster… is Isabella Swan here?” No use beating around the bush. “Would you like to come in Edward?” She asked quietly and knowingly. I looked at my watch and guessed I had about fifteen minutes to spare. “Sure.” As soon as I had said goodbye to Bella like I should have done eight years ago, I could leave and start my life properly. Mrs. Ancaster handed me a cup of tea as we pulled up a seat in the kitchen. “Now, Edward. What brought on this surge of emotion?” I sighed heavily. “I just wanted to say goodbye to Bella. I didn’t and the feeling of guilt is still quite heavy on my shoulders.” She nodded. “You’re actually just two days late she just moved out…” I hung my head and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Do you know where she moved to?” “I’m sorry Edward, firstly, I’m not allowed to give that information out and secondly, she said she would give me the information once she got settled…” I pulled at my hair in frustration. How could she just disappear like that? I took a sip of the tea Mrs. Ancaster had made and told her I had to be on my way. She insisted that I stayed and explained the story properly but I really didn’t want to go back into the pit of my emotions with her. Especially here, where I first realized that I had the biggest damn crush on her it felt like my heart was going to explode. I sped my way through the late night traffic, brusquely honking the horn at anybody who dared to get in my way. My trip there hadn’t done anything healthy for my sanity… instead of helping me, it shredded me. It hadn’t give me a fresh start like I had expected it would, it only made me realize that she had moved on and it was about time I did. It just surfaced even more fucking memories… I nearly hit a few cars on the way back to Jaspers place. I had to keep swerving and reminding myself to focus on the road. It didn’t help at all. I finally got there and they were all on the front steps looking worried. “Are you okay Edward?” Alice asked in a hushed tone after running up to the car. I nodded and glared the other way. I really wasn’t in the mood for family bloody therapy… Alice took my expression as a signal I wasn’t going to say anything on the subject so she got in the car quietly and buckled herself up. Emmett did the same, relieved that I had moved into the back and he was able to drive. I nodded to Rosalie and Jasper as my signal of farewell and they waved with a small smile each in return. We all drove in silence apart from when Emmett claimed he saw three rabbits and insisted on naming them Flopsy, Peter and Tevin. Apparently Tevin is like Devin but with a ‘T’… I don’t think he’s ever actually been normal… We got home and I decided to just go to sleep and forget about my day for the few hours I could manage to sleep. But as my head hit the pillow I realized that not even sleep could make it disappear. She was always there, no matter if I was conscious of not.

But I would face her and her beautiful face, my haunting angel. Bella POV I woke quite late that morning. I sat up in bed thinking about how today had an amazing feeling about it. I jumped into the shower and got dressed ready for work with a smile across my face. I made myself some toast and for the first time, it I didn’t burn it! It really seemed like the start of a great day. Rosalie was working the same shift as me and kindly offered to take me to work. I skipped to her house in my happy mood but caught my foot on a rock, tripping me over and landing face. It was a great day… As I picked myself up I saw a scrunched piece of paper on the ground. Curiosity taking over, I opened the paper to see a picture of a building that looked strangely familiar. I realized it was Littleton Adoption Centre, the orphanage I had spent eight years of my life at. It was actually a really good drawing of it. It even had the surrounding trees and there was a faint shadow in the window that I guessed was the evil Mrs. Ancaster. I smiled at it and noticed by one of the trees a silhouette of a girl with dark, long hair. The picture started to freak me out about its accuracy and the chances of the paper coming from the other side of town to right by my house. I quickly shoved it in my pocket and continued on my journey to Rosalie’s front door. I knocked on the door and Rosalie opened it quickly. She said goodbye to Jasper and jumped in her car. On the way to the Coffee hose, she was explaining how her parents were coming home from Vancouver in a few days time and the troubles of last nights events, saying that she had a crazy old lady shouting at Jasper about condoms, tampons and magazines. I stifled a laugh and remembered the time in the supermarket. It was probably the same lady as I was sure I had seen her in my building before. We finally got to the Coffee House and managed to get a great parking space. We got out and I stumbled my way to the front door. I actually managed to walk into the door to my utter embarrassment. The people inside must have got a sight as my face pressed against the doors cold glass. I walked behind the counter, cheeks still flaming. I made some orders and continued on with my day. Michael, my boss had asked if I could do a late night shift as well as somebody else had called in sick. I agreed quickly, having nothing better to do with my night, but when Rosalie was asked as well, she seemed to be a bit angrier then my initial reaction. Probably because I was the only one without a life…I thought to myself. As we were working a late shift, Rosalie and I had been offered an extended lunch break so we decided to go to a restaurant close by. We ate and discussed life, well Rosalie discussed her life while I sat, eating my food thoughtfully. There was still a feel of wonder in the air as I munched down a piece of broccoli. Once we got back to the Coffee House, it was a bit fuller and we didn’t get much time to talk between orders. Time went quickly and it was soon dark out. I was in the back room cleaning some of the mugs and spoons when the lights went out. I sighed and put down the mug I had been cleaning. I took of the rubber gloves I was wearing and walked into the front of the store. You could barely make out the figures but it was quiet loud all the same. I could hear Rosalie talking to a few people and a tried to make my way over to her. I walked into every surface and slipped over something I couldn’t see on the floor. “I think it’s just broken fuse…” I heard Rosalie sigh. “Maybe we could go round the back then…”I heard a male’s voice chuckle suggestively. I could hear Rosalie laugh and start to say something in a seductive tone. I made a quick decision to turn and walk away. The sooner the lights were back on the better.

If it was a fuse, I knew I would be able to fix it. I had watched an electrician do it a few times and I had picked it up quite quickly. I walked; well, slid on my bum to a small room which I knew held the electrical mains. I opened the door and took a step inside. The door slammed behind me, causing me to jump. It wasn’t a big room, just used for holding mops and brooms and a few boxes. It was dark and I couldn’t see anything. My hands fumbled around, trying to feel my way to the electrical mains. “Ah ha!” I found it and suddenly the door swung open. I couldn’t see the person, only seeing a tall figure. I held my breath at the tall, silent figure looming in the doorway. The door slammed shut behind the figure. “Shit!” A male voice shouted, obviously scared of the door slamming like I was. I gave a small cough of recognition, causing the man to scream and jump back, hitting his back against the door. With the door shut, I couldn’t even make out the figure anymore. I could only hear our breathing. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you jump; I was just trying to fix the electrics…” “No, no, it’s okay…” I heard him laugh awkwardly. “You probably think I’m a little girl now huh?” “I wouldn’t say little… more like preschooler…”I laughed. “Gee, thanks. But at least you can’t see my face right? I can go unknown as the mysterious high pitched screamer…” “Well that depends if we get the lights back on…” “Oh right.” Even though I couldn’t see, I could make out his teeth as he smiled, perfectly white and the beautiful shade of his eyes, Emerald green. I was thankful that he wouldn’t be able to see my cheeks flush red. I moved my hand against the wall again to try and find the mains. “Maybe if we opened the door we could get a bit more light in here…” He suggested. I heard him try and turn the knob. “Fuck…” I heard him mumble. “What?” “It’s locked…” BELLA POV I woke up suddenly, wanting to slap myself continually across the head. I left my stupid purse at the coffee house… I got up from my warm bed and checked around; making sure it wasn’t just a dream. To my luck, it wasn’t there. I quickly shrugged on the first clothes I could find and the spare key for the coffee house that I had for when I needed to lock up. I caught the bus, luckily not having to wait long as it was a frequent bus route. I sat on the bus and for one of the first times I wasn’t sitting next to anyone. I hugged the scarf I wore tightly and pressed the button for my stop. I fell off the bus, dizzy from being deprived of sleep and walked up to the door. The lights were still on which was strange but I figured Rosalie had just forgotten to turn them off. The door was still unlocked as well which was even stranger. I walked in and I heard lots of shouting from the corner of the room. I looked over to see Edward sitting on a chair, the focus of the shouting. The shouters around him all looked familiar. Rosalie, the doctor who worked on my burnt hand-- Emmett or something…, Jasper and short girl who was hard not to not recognize. It was my first ever girl best friend, Alice. They all turned around and gawked at me. I felt my cheeks flame as the focus wasn’t on Edward anymore, it was the unwelcome visitor, who was to my dismay, me. “Bella!” Alice screamed so loud I had to check the windows weren’t smashed. “Alice!” I returned. She was already standing in front of me and pulling me into giant, tight hug. I felt my eyes start to water as I remembered how much I had missed her. As she pulled out of the hug I saw tears spiking her eyes as well. There was a cough from the rest of the group and I looked up to see everybody looking confused and impatient, though Edward looked momentarily relieved to have the attention diverted.

“Bella,” Rosalie said soothingly as she walked over to me. “We know Edward hurt you and we’ll help you get even…” “Rose, you don’t even know what happened! Why are you still jumping to the conclusion I hurt her? Can’t I just explain?” Edward shouted, obviously frustrated. “Zip it Edward!” She said in a seething tone. “But--” “No! Nada! Shut up! People like you shouldn’t be allowed to talk…” She spat. Edward hung his head in defeat, knowing he wasn’t going to get a word in. I thought it was a bit unfair as he hadn’t physically hurt me, but my lips weren’t moving to defend him. I started moving slowly backwards, wanting to get out of here, my purse wasn’t that important… Alice saw me trying to leave and caught my wrist. “You can’t leave Bella! I haven’t had a chance to say hello silly!” She laughed I took a deep breath and pulled out a chair as I knew it would be a long night… “I have it! I know how we can get even!” The doctor’s assistant shouted and jumped up and down madly and starting waving his hand around in the air as if he were in class. “Yes?” Jasper asked. The first time he had spoken since I had arrived. “Group huddle!” He shouted. They all started to group up into a tight huddle but when Edward and I started to walk towards them, we both got told off and told not to talk or listen to them. I rolled my eyes and walked back to my seat. They all whispered into the circle and there was the occasional squeal, ‘ohh’ and ‘ahh’. They separated into twos and looked at me and Edward mischievously. Emmett and Jasper walked behind the chair Edward was sitting on. “What are you going to do?” Edward sounded worried, and I would be too as their sly smiles licked across their faces. Emmett and Jasper suddenly wrapped their arms around Edward’s torso and arms, securing him to his seat, Edward fought against their restraint but were unsuccessful. “Now, Bella. Please stand here…” Rosalie smiled, telling not asking. She started to push me forward. I stood less than a meter in front of Edward and as soon as I made eye contact with him I looked down at my feet. “Bella, you can have one free punch. Use it wisely...”Emmett laughed menacingly with an evil grin. “I’m not going to punch him…” I said in shock. I had never wanted to hit Edward, not even when he left without a goodbye and not even when he sat in front of me, ready for a punch, there was still no want in side of me to cause him pain. “Bella, don’t be a weakling. Hit the crap out of him!” Rosalie yelled. “Yeah, he deserves it after how he hurt you!” Jasper nodded. “It’s the only time you’ll get revenge, and he may not learn if you let him get away with it!” Alice shouted. “Hit him!” “He’s like a dog; you need to flick his nose, to teach him!” Alice yelled. “Hit him!” “Go on!” “Just hit him!” “You know you want to…” Everyone was talking at once and my mind was rushing, my head was started to feel dizzy as everyone started to yell different reasons why I should hit him. “Just do it!” “Beat the hell out of him!” “Hit the damn guy!” “He’ll never learn!” Adrenaline kicked in and without realizing it, I slapped Edward so hard my hand was ringing madly. He yelled out in pain and a red hand mark was starting to form on his cheek. I turned around quickly and sat down on my chair and held my head in

my hands. I couldn’t quite believe I had just hit him, talk about peer pressure… He hadn’t even done anything to me, it was my fault yesterday for running, because I was so shocked and scared, I wasn’t ready to see him again though I had always believed I had. It was reflex actions; he had hurt me before so much that it only felt natural for me to run from that pain. I wasn’t one to be knocked down and set myself up to be knocked down again, I wasn’t that strong. I was scared of how vulnerable I was when it came to him. I could hear muffled cheers and applauds, as my hands were covering my ears. I looked up and over to where they were all standing and where Edward sat, still pinned to the chair. He was only held back by the Emmett guy though. Jasper was standing in front of him and kept slapping him across the face and then laughing, slapping him again and so on. I felt so guilty… I had hurt him when he hadn’t needed to be and I had now made a fool of him in front of his friends. I stood up and walked over to Edward. He looked up at me and winced. I leant in closer to him and gave him a kiss on his soft cheek. My lips tingled from the touch of his cheek. As I pulled my face away from the side of his, he looked dumbfounded at my gesture. As I turned around, everyone had frozen at the scene in front of them. I tried to walk away but Rosalie shouted “Chair” to Alice. Alice scurried to get a chair and put it next to Edward’s. It seemed I was going to be the other victim of questioning now. “Isabella Swan, Edward Cullen…” She said in a stern voice as she paced back and fourth in front of us. “Cullen? I thought your last name was Masen…” I asked, confused. “I changed it once I was adopted.” He muttered. “Wait, how did you know his real last name Bella?” Jasper asked. Everyone besides Alice was confused. “Edward, Bella and I were all friends at the adoption centre.” Alice filled them in. “Well, Bella and Edward-” “Alice!” Edward hissed, cutting Alice off. “No, tell us!” Rosalie pushed. Emmett let go of Edward and walked in front of us, the four of them stood in front of us as if a police questioning. “Edward and Bella were like soul mates! They spent every waking hour together, never parting! It was so cute, apart from when Edward got angry and jealous when I wanted girl time with Bella…” Alice mused. “I wasn’t jealous…” Edward mumbled angrily. “We weren’t soul mates… I just believed Edward when he said ‘I love you’ because I was a naïve little ten year old…” “Do you seriously think I was lying?!” “Well isn’t that sort of obvious Edward? Besides, we were kids; we didn’t know what love was!” “I did!” “You think you did…” “How would you know?” He spat. “Because you didn’t even say a measly goodbye!” I shouted and glared at him, the boy who had caused so much pain because he couldn’t give me just a few minutes of his time to say a simple goodbye. Edward’s eyes widened and his mouth opened but nothing came out. As the room fell silent I realized that my breathing had been quick and heavy, I could feel my heart pulsing in my hand and my ears felt hot, my eyes started to flicker as tears grew. I had always hoped that my allotment of tears for that chapter in my life would be close to an end and I had almost believed that it had, until he returned and resurfaced every emotion and every tear. “You both need counseling… You’re worse than a married couple…” Emmett said in disbelief. “You’re wrecking the moment Emmett!” Alice screamed. “I need to go…” Edward said quietly as he jumped up from his seat. It was his turn to run away now. But I didn’t want him to, I wanted him to sit with me and talk

more about everything. I wanted a reason for why he hadn’t said goodbye, he kept saying he had loved me so why such a rational departing? I stood up and reached out my arm to grab his shoulder but faltered and retracted my arm. He walked briskly out of the room, shaking his head the whole way. I felt my lips tremble and I sat back down on my seat. I traced the contours of my hands, waiting for somebody to start talking. “Do you need a ride home Bella?” Rosalie asked softly. I looked up at her and nodded my head lightly. We drove home in silence, neither knowing what to say or where to start. I enjoyed it better that way; it gave me time to think. As Rosalie parked the car I jumped out quickly before she had the chance to say anything. I thanked her and ran off to my apartment. I opened the door and flopped onto the bed. As my bed molded itself to my body, I realized how exhausted I was. I fell asleep straight away in my clothes, not having to think about anything. I woke up to a banging on the front door. I peeked open my eye to my alarm clock. It was half eight and I groaned, wanting to stay in bed forever and never move. I grudgingly retracted myself from my warm nest of a bed and trudged to the door. I was still in the clothes I wore last night I remembered as I opened the door. On the other side of the door were Rosalie and Alice. Alice was holding up a black zip case with a perky smile. Her smile was too perky for the unearthly hour. “Get dressed!” Alice sang. My chin dropped as she flung the zip case on top of me and bounced inside. Rosalie followed with a cunning smile across her face. I walked into my room and shut the door. I unzipped the bag and my face fell as the clothing she had brought held no clue as to where they were taking me. It was a blue trench coat, red sweater and tight cream fitting pants. There weren’t any shoes in her chosen outfit so I presumed I could wear my own, of which I felt truly blessed. I hadn’t seen Alice in years but I knew her taste wouldn’t have changed much, especially seeing her clothes yesterday and this morning. I brushed my hair and twisted it into a messy bun. I walked out to go brush my teeth and Alice ran over with a shoe box. I groaned as I had already put on the outfit and now I had to wear her shoes… “Really Alice?” I groaned. “Yep!” She smiled brightly. I took the box and opened it to see shiny black patent leather peep toe heels. The heel looked like it was made for a midget who needed to reach the top cupboards in her kitchen. And I wasn’t that small… I looked up at Alice who was batting her eyelids at me. I sighed and put them on. I wobbled a bit but managed to walk to the bathroom without to many falls. Rosalie laughed and continued to flick through a magazine. I finished up brushing my teeth and followed Alice and Rosalie outside to the car, but it wasn’t Rosalie’s red convertible out by the font steps, it was a yellow Porsche. I turned to Alice who was clicking the unlock button on her set of keys. “Get in!” I laughed and shook my head. This girl hadn’t changed one bit. She couldn’t settle for anything less than the best. “So where are we going?” I asked from the backseat as we drove through town. “It’s a surprise Bella” Rosalie smiled as she turned around from the passenger seat. “Isn’t it funny how we all know each other?” Alice laughed as she swerved into a parking space so small I wouldn’t have dared to attempt. I opened the door of the car and looked up at the big grey building in front of us. I saw gold metal plaque which read, ‘Ms. I Hamilton, Marriage counselor’ “Why are we at a marriage counselor?!” I asked in astonishment. Were they crazy?! I followed Alice and Rosalie up the stairs and fitted all of the pieces of the puzzle together once we were inside. Edward, Emmett and Jasper were all sitting on a row of chairs, arguing with each other. Well, Edward arguing. He fell silent when he looked up and saw me. I turned around and walked back to the door. I swung open the door was about to storm out with a dramatic exit when my legs got twisted and I tripped over face first. As I fell, my forehead smashed

on the door knob and as I lay on the ground, the door slammed shut behind me. Then, the icing on the cake was when someone decided they needed marriage counseling and swung open the entrance door with such force and speed it whacked my back. “Ow…” I whimpered in pain and crawled off to the side. I slowly tried to get to my feet when a pale hand flashed in front of me, offering the persons assistance. I followed the arm up with my eyes until it reached a familiar face, the same one that I had been trying to escape from. Once I made eye contact with him, I couldn’t help but take his hand. People should have their names tattooed to their hands to save eye contact… It would be so much safer. I stood up and our hands were still holding. I snatched it back and brushed my legs off. I looked up and bit my lip. Edward looked as if he was looking for something in my face; his search was cut short as “Mr. and Mrs. Cullen” was called by the receptionist at the front desk. We both looked at the other four confused. “You both have issues… and you were basically married… who would be better?” Alice shrugged as if sending eighteen year olds to a marriage counselor was what everyone was doing these days… I turned to face Edward. He looked at me and shrugged as well. I sighed heavily and started to walk forward to where the sign for Mrs. Hamilton’s office was. I knocked on the door and it opened to a fairly large lady with glasses and cropped red hair. She looked us up and down and tilted her head to the side. “How old are you both?” “Eighteen” We both said in unison. “Huh” She shrugged and turned around to a large leather sofa. What was it with everyone shrugging at me today?! I thought angrily. “So Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, how long have you both been married?” “Eight years” I whipped my head around to Edward who was smiling angelically at Mrs. Hamilton. He looked at me sideways and shot me a cooked grin. I felt my cheeks go pink and a smile spread across my face like a disease. “We were forced into marriage by my sister, Alice who wanted to organize a party…” He continued. “Eight years?” Mrs. Hamilton asked incredulously. I took a deep intake of air and nodded. “So you were forced into marriage when you were ten?” She asked. “Oh no” I shook my head and some colour returned to Mrs. Hamilton’s face as she thought we were joking. “Edward was eleven.” And once again her face blanched. I heard Edward snort next to me; I tried to control a laugh erupting at the sight of Mrs. Hamilton in front of us. “And uh, you’ve been having these difficulties for the last eight years then?” She coughed to try and focus on us as if we weren’t people from a crazed cult or something. “No, Edward left eight years ago and I only just ran into him the other day when he looked us in the closet…” “You locked Bella in a closet?!” “I was trying to fix the lights and run away from my brother who was suggesting places and positions…” he winked suggestively. “For you and your brother to do?” Mrs. Hamilton’s eyes doubled in size. “No! He has Rosalie to care for his needs.” “Is your brother a sexaholic Edward?” “I guess you could say that…” He chuckled. “Is that why you felt pressured into locking Bella in the closet?” “No!” We both shouted in unison. “Well I think we may need the rest of your family in here so we can focus on the broader view of your issues. Would that be okay with you both?” We both shot each other worried glances but turned to face Mrs. Hamilton and nodded. She picked up her phone and spoke to the receptionist. “Can we please have the other Cullen’s in here please Jane?” A few minutes later, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper walked inside the office. Each had a different look of emotion spread across their face. Alice was bouncing

around and excited, Rosalie looked bored; Emmett was laughing and whacking Jasper on the back who looked as if he was a child being sent to the principal’s office. They al sat on the other sofa, squeezing and trying to position themselves to fit. It didn’t help that Emmett took half of the sofa up with his giant muscles. “There’s nowhere to sit!” Rosalie fumed. “You can sit on me…” Emmett winked and Mrs. Hamilton quickly jumped out of her seat. “No! I would like Rosalie and Emmett to be as far as possible if it wouldn’t cause any inconvenience…” Emmett chin dropped and looked as if Mrs. Hamilton had suggested throwing him off of a building. Rosalie tilted her head and decided to sit next to me. “Now that we’re all settled, I think it’s time for group discussion...” Mrs. Hamilton smiled warily. “I think we should start off with each of you writing on a piece of paper how the selected person troubles your situations. It’ll all be anonymous and we’ll try to work out how to solve it. Understand?” She asked as she ripped up some pieces of paper. She handed each person a pen and paper. “So we’ll start at my side and go clockwise. Edward goes first. Just write how he makes situation more troubled and what the main problem is.” “What if we need more paper?” Emmett laughed. “You don’t know enough words to fill up half a page, Emmett…” Rosalie smirked. After a few chuckles and a meow, the only sound to be heard was the scratching of pens to paper. Everyone was busy writing what sounded like long paragraphs. I wasn’t sure what to write. Finally, I pulled my pen down to the paper and wrote one line, “Terrible at goodbyes.” But then I realized it wasn’t very summative. “Leads people on and then goes AWOL.” “And stop, I’ll collect your papers now.” Each sheet of paper was handed back and Mrs. Hamilton slipped on a pair of glasses. She gave out a big sigh as she read them all. One page was filled back to front in small cursive writing which I assumed belonged to Alice by the little love hearts everywhere. “So by looking at this, it appears Edward is extremely dramatic, a heartbreaker and ‘never gets any’…” Mrs. Hamilton said as she shook her head. “Is this supposed to be helping us?!” Edward shouted. “Oh and Emmett, go get screwed you horny bastard!” “Well maybe if Rosalie would like to accompany-” he started until Mrs. Hamilton cut in. “Enough!” She shouted. Edward sat down and glared at Emmett. Mrs. Hamilton was pulling her hair out, trying to regain control. “I’m not sure if you know this put I’m taking notes on this, I’ll be working out ways on how to solve all of your problems. Usually I’m restricted to marriage but I can sense your family has a few… issues, you need to resolve before anything further can progress.” Edward crossed him arms angrily from next to me and Emmett just started shaking his head. “Next I would like you all to write about Bella, from what I’ve heard some of you don’t know her very well but I would like you to write about how you know her so far.” I started to twiddle my fingers anxiously. Finally once they had stopped and handed back to Mrs. Hamilton, it felt like school all over. “Apparently Bella is a bit clumsy and can’t stand on her feet, was someone’s first proper best friend and doesn’t know anything.” She concluded. “I know things!” I shouted, not meaning to say it out loud. Mrs. Hamilton nodded and scribbled in her notebook. “Next is Rosalie” We all scribbled our summary and issues and handed the sheets back. “Too vain to bother with many people, uses her looks to get her places and forgot the condoms last time.” “Emmett!” She screamed. “Don’t you have any self dignity?!” Emmett was in hysterics and close to tears until Mrs. Hamilton told him he was up next. “Never shuts up about sex, diverts any conversation towards a sexual reference and

has no dignity.” Emmett mumbled under his breath, one word louder than the rest, sex. We repeated the steps with Alice and Jasper. “Alice is very judgmental with others clothing, won’t let people dress to their own standards and is way too chipper all the time…” Alice gasped in horror. “I just give people my opinion and divert them from evil! Evil flared pants, evil flared pants…” She muttered to herself and started rocking back and fourth. “Jasper is always extremely emotional and depresses everyone when he’s depressed, makes everyone else sloth-like when he can’t be bothered leaving the house and apparently doesn’t have a stable emotional climax…” Jasper remained unfazed by everything that was said about him; as if she was just repeating the same thing he heard everyday. “Okay everyone, I have worked out what each of you shall do to try and correct your problems. Edward, you are to write a journal of all of your feelings and emotions and not show them to anyone but yourself. Bella, you are to have a walking frame to help you stand and a neon vest to warn others of your presence. You are also to answer everything somebody asks you to prove you are listening. Rosalie, you are to go without a mirror and any means of make up and hair stylers. Emmett you are to go without sex and the mention of any sexual reference. Alice, you are not shop and wear only one outfit which I will provide, you cannot add anything or take anything. Jasper you are to appear the opposite of how you truly feel. For example, if you are happy, act sad. Now you are each to do these for two days and I will have you all on guard of each other. I would like you all to place $50 in this bowl which you can all have back once you’ve each completed the two days. Are we clear?” Everyone nodded, depressed and pulled out their wallets and purses. I pulled mine out, emptying my purse entirely. “I shall see you all in two days time.” Mrs. Hamilton sighed as we left her office solemnly. As we walked past the reception, the receptionist, Jane ran out and handed me an orange vest and walking frame and Alice with what looked like a potato sack. She fell to her knees and started to yell, “Why?!” It was a bit strange that they had these behind the desk, but it made me hope we obviously weren’t the only people to be so strange. One thing I was sure of, these two days were going to be hell. Bella POV I sat on my bed, staring at the neon orange vest that was resting on the stupid walking frame. Surely I didn’t fall over and hurt people that much… My thoughts were interrupted by a quick and shockingly loud banging on the door. I grabbed the walking frame and briefly put on the vest. I walked past the kitchen and grabbed a knife for protection. Whoever was on the other side of the door had a mighty temper and I was afraid that temper would be taken out on me. My mind created a montage of all of the possibilities. The most potent image that reoccurred in my thoughts was a deadly killer, wishing me to be his next victim. I shuddered and swung the door open, knife raised. “HIIIIIIYAH!” I yelled at an unprepared Alice. “Bella!” she screamed in fear. “Don’t do that to me!” She wailed. “Wait, that’s a brilliant idea Bella! If you accidentally cut my dress to shards, then I’ll have no choice but to wear other clothes!” She grinned. Then I looked down in what she was dressed in. I looked twice as bad as a shabby potato sack… but I had to hand it to her, she made it look better than it would look on someone like me. But what surprised me more was the bum bag she wore which I hadn’t seen her receive yesterday. I couldn’t help the laugh that erupted from me. It sounded like I had been put on laughing gas. “Bella! You’re supposed to be supportive! She said I couldn’t change the dress in anyway, and besides, I don’t think you’re vest in much better…” My laughing fell short.

Hoping to stop her glaring at me, I asked, “So why the bum bag?” “It was on my front doorstep this morning from Mrs. Hamilton” She hissed. Rosalie suddenly crept next to Alice. She was wearing a large hat and big shades. “Is anyone looking?” She whispered. “No, but they will do… You look completely suspicious Rose!” Alice giggled. “I doubt you’d look bad without the hair and makeup done, you’ve always been drop dead gorgeous…” I smiled in envy. Rosalie pulled of the glasses and smiled. “You think?” “On other thoughts, maybe you should wear the glasses to match the hat…” Alice smiled awkwardly. Rosalie had huge black bags underneath her eyes and looked half dead. I never realized how much she had depended on makeup till now. “Let’s go grab a coffee… I could barely sleep last night I was having so many nightmares about this piece of bin liner... Wait, I can’t buy it… Oh my gosh! I can’t even buy freakin coffee! This is crazy! Shopping is part of daily life! It’s needed to create civilization! I might have to bring coffee from home when we go” She whispered the last few words. My chin fell and I felt my cheeks flush at the thought of being in the public eye with this stupid orange vest that blinded people and this crazy walking frame. “NO! No, no, no…” Half an hour later, I had been dragged, kicking and screaming, walking frame and all to the shopping centre. Rosalie was still wearing her over-the-top-large hat and sunglasses. I swear she was going to knock people out, the brim was that long. Alice was wearing her potato sack and bum bag and I was dressed in the stupid orange vest and had my walking frame in hand. We must have looked a sight as we received continuous wary glances from passers by. Alice continuously fell to the ground and started screaming as we passed certain store with countless sales. As we were making our orders at a coffee bar, Edward, Emmett and Jasper walked past. “Jasper!” Alice squealed and ran up to him straight away. “Ugh” he unwrapped Alice’s arms from around his waist and threw them back to her sides in disgust. He turned around and stared into the sky. Alice was completely baffled by his unusual behavior. Emmett was laughing hysterically at Alice, pointing and crouched over, trying to catch his breath. Alice raise an eyebrow at him, shook her little head and focused back onto Jasper who looked like he was about to cry. Rosalie walked over to Emmett but could barely stand near him as her hat was too large. She tried to tilt her head upwards so the hat would move and she could stand closer to him but ended up just hitting him with the hat. “Ouch Rose! And don’t get too close you little sexual kitten!” He growled as he tried to run away from her. I caught eye contact with Edward but he showed no trace of emotion, instead just staring at me as if I was a mere pigeon on the sidewalk. Then I remembered what his assignment was, he wasn’t allowed to show any emotion. This would definitely be fun… “I can’t believe we have to do this…” Edward growled to me, face still blank. “It’s not like it was my idea, it’s your crazy family that signed us up for this…” “But you’re the crazy person they signed both of us up for…” My mind went blank and I didn’t have anything to say back to his insult, so I decided to go with the one thing that would get to him… “Pervert!” I screamed. I saw a flicker of shock in his eyes but it still didn’t reach his face. “Huh?” He asked in a flat tone. I pouted as it wasn’t as bad I thought it would be. “No I will not have sex with you on that table!” His chin dropped and a few people swerved around us, one lady covering her child’s ears and eyes. Edward looked like he was having trouble not showing any emotion now. “Oh I think I can change your mind about that Bella…” He said, trying to catch my

bluff as he took steps closer and closer to me. I picked up my walking frame and slammed it in between us so he couldn’t get any closer. “Didn’t you learn never to assault a disabled lady?!” “Bella, if you’re trying to make me lose this bet, I can do the same and make you lose yours…” “Oh yeah? I’d like to see that…” I smirked, knowing he couldn’t do anything. Edward ripped the orange vest off of me and I gasped at how quick his fingers moved and his inappropriate gesture. A quite bulky waiter from the restaurant tapped Edward on the shoulder from behind him. Edward turned around and was given a full blown punch to his face. Edward fell onto my walking frame and clutched his nose. “What the fuck!” He shouted as the waiter walked off, mumbling about respect. “Revenge is a bitch isn’t it?” I smiled. “Oh, and wait, isn’t anger an emotion Edward?” I asked coyly. “Bella, it doesn’t count if he got punched in the face because you wanted to get back at him for calling you crazy!” Alice gasped, trying to keep in a peek of laughter. But now that she mentioned it, it was a bit of an over reaction on my behalf and I felt sort of guilty. “Sorry Edward…” I mumbled as he got to his feet. His eye looked like it was starting to swell. “We should get you some ice… Can we have some ice over here please?” I shouted over to the passing waiter. A few minutes later, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper had all disappeared and I was left covering Edward’s face with the ice pack. “I won’t tell if you won’t tell…” I smiled half heartedly. He nodded with the same expressionless face that was starting to get on my nerves. “So how have you been in the last few years?” I asked, trying to get some small talk going. “Okay” “Is that it?” “Yes” “Well thank you for your contribution to the conversation Edward…” I shouted and put more pressure onto the ice patch. He hissed and tried to keep his face emotionless. I stood up from the chair and was about to turn to walk away when he caught my wrist. “Wait,” He begged with his eyes. “Don’t go, please?” I took in his face, and then as the emotion still hadn’t struck his features, I looked at his eyes. They looked like they were pleading and I couldn’t help but sit. He was showing me his emotions through his eyes which was good enough for me to bother talking to him again, still trying to gather some information on the boy who had captivated my every wakening thought. “My years have been… emotional…” His eyes had a sparkle to them and I realized his sentence was sort of ironic compared to the circumstances. “I never really forgave myself for not saying goodbye…” He muttered. My heart rate and breathing slowed as the feelings resurfaced my body. My fingers and eyes tingled as I looked at him intensely, wanting to capture his thoughts, wanting to save this image for the time where he would leave my life once again. “I’m really sorry Bella… I was weak, I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to leave you, I didn’t want to see you crying, I wanted you to forget me, I-” “You wanted me to forget you?” “Yeah, well, I wanted you to move on to be normal…” he trailed off, still conveying every emotion through his beautiful green eyes. I could see pain in them, which consequently caused a stab in my chest. “Well I wasn’t…” I equaled. He clenched his jaw and I was getting so sick of the no emotion veto. “Can I ask you something?” He asked. “Didn’t give me a chance there did you?” I laughed lightly at the overused joke. The corners of his eyes perked up and I nodded my head for him to continue. “When you found out it was me in the closet… were you disappointed?”

My brown creased at his question, “Why would you ask that?” “Well you sort of made an abrupt exit… but you still haven’t answered my question…” I stayed silent for a moment, taking in the moment where I could hold my cards to my chest, but about to expose them all. “Yes. I thought that maybe if things continued on the outside, I would get over you… I guess I was mistaken.” “Get over me? You mean you weren’t over me all of those years?” “Bella! We’re leaving now, you coming?” Alice interrupted, appearing from nowhere. I looked at Edward as he sat in front of me, staying true to his bargain, not once showing any emotion on his perfect features. “Yes” I said to Alice. I smiled at Edward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before getting up from my seat and starting to walk with Alice back to her car with my walking frame and orange vest. I was in a complete daze for the rest of the trip home, finally getting one step closer to getting into the inner psyche of Edward Cullen. But as Alice jumped out of the car, I took notice of her potato dress. “Oh my gosh… Alice! What happened to your dress?!” Rosalie snickered as she got out of the car, her face sticky and dripping from some dark substance. “Rosalie! Your eyes!” her laughter stopped and they both looked extremely guilty. We all walked up to my apartment and they finally spilled on why they were both sticky and oddly colored, Alice on her clothes and Rosalie on her face and hair. “I needed colour! It’s so boring just wearing this ugly thing!” “I needed eye shadow! Eyeliner! And then there was the matter of hair…” They both confessed. My chin dropped as they explained in full detail of their attack in the food court…Alice squeezing stolen sauces all over her self as she wasn’t permitted to buy them, trying to get some colour and detail on her ‘dress’, Rosalie trying to use the sauces it as make up and to style her hair. I felt quite proud of myself that I hadn’t succumbed to such extreme measures. *** “So should we have a chick flick night or a horror night?” Alice asked as we walked around the aisles of the movie store. I didn’t feel quite as embarrassed as I walked around, as Rosalie and Alice were both a lot worse off. Rosalie still hadn’t seen the extent of her damage as she hadn’t been able to look in a mirror. “I think we should go for the classics… I was looking for Love Actually but it’s already out…” Rosalie sighed. “Oh! I have that at home! We’ll just go to my house instead…” As we started to walk towards the door to leave, a movie title caught Alice’s eye. “Oh my gosh! I’ve been looking for this for ages!” She squealed. As she picked it up and ran over to the front desk, I screamed and leapt into the air to stop her. “Alice!” Everything was in slow motion as I soared through the air and was about to land on top of Alice till my foot got trapped and I fell on top of the walking frame. Instead Rosalie took the DVD out of Alice’s hands and flung it to the other end of the store. I looked up from my fetal position on the ground from where I had rebounded off of the walking frame. The lady behind the counter looked completely shocked at the sight in front of her. I couldn’t blame her expression as I stood up and straightened myself up. “Let’s go” I smiled casually as I pushed the walking frame towards the door like the grandma I must have looked like. I had developed a sort of lib from my terrible landing; I assumed gymnastics wasn’t exactly a career option for me. It was the first time I had ever been to Alice’s house, and I was completely baffled by it. It was a beautiful white house surrounded by trees and a running lake at the back. “Wow… Alice… Now this is the way to spend a childhood…” “Well anything’s better than Mrs. Ancaster” She laughed and I nodded my head knowingly.

The inside seemed better than the outside, which was quite hard to beat. Alice was throwing blankets across the floor in front of what appeared to be the biggest TV I had ever seen. It was hard not to feel a bit bitter about this house and the Owners, they were of course the reason I grew up without my two best friends. I smiled anyway and Rosalie skipped back from presumably the kitchen with a mountain of chocolate and popcorn. As we looked over Alice’s extensive DVD collection we decided to watch a horror instead. Alice turned off all of the lights jumped onto the sofa. “This is going to be so good, this movie so scary! The first time I saw it I ran out of the room! Luckily Jasper was here and he had seen it before so he prepared me for everything an-” “Alice?” “Yes?” “Shut up” “Shutting up” We were halfway through the movie and usually I wasn’t too bad with scary movies, but I had to admit, I was trying to stop myself gnawing on the pillow I was holding onto for dear life. The main character, Sarah had just entered the villains lair, and you could tell by the change in music something terrible was about to happen. Shadows danced around the room and soft trickles of wind ran along my spine. I let out a violent shiver and bit harder into my lip. There was suddenly a blood hurdling scream from Alice, which in return caused me and Rosalie to scream equally as loud. Alice was pointing to the window. I looked over and screamed louder as I saw a shadow of a person with a knife. There was something dripping off of the blade of the knife. As the blinds were shut we couldn’t see anything but the silhouette. We all continued to scream, each of us jumping up from the ground and the sofas. We ran around the room, nobody knowing what to do. The shadow moved and started walking in the direction of the door. There was a loud bang on the door and we all ran into the kitchen. I ran over to the knife holder, angry that the largest was coincidently taken, and took the second largest there. Alice picked up the stainless steel frying pan which I knew from experience were pretty darn heavy and Rosalie had found a baseball bat. Alice started to run back to the stairs and we both followed her. She ran to the first door which was locked. Then as we checked the other on the landing, they were all locked. “Alice! What’s going on?!” I wailed, jumping up and down in fear. “Stop!” Rosalie shouted. We both froze and turned around to look at her. She pointed at a camera on the staircase. We gasped and I felt like an idiot for not putting two and two together. “Cameras downstairs too?” I asked, not really needing an answer. They nodded and sighed. I felt my cheeks flame a bit at how stupid I was acting… We crept down the stairs, arms tightly linked. We walked slowly around the corner, trying hard to not make any sounds. We looked around for the other video camera and I grabbed my walking frame, knowing that I had spent the last ten minutes without it and I had been recorded breaking my half of the bargain. “There!” Alice hissed as she pointed to the top of one a paintings opposite the TV we had been focused on. “They were in here when we were watching TV!” Rosalie growled. “Do you think they’re watching us now?” I gasped. I walked up to the camera and ripped it down. “Games up, you’re dead.” I snarled. There was a loud eruption of laughter from outside. The door swung open, still causing me to jump. Following the masked Emmett was an emotionless Edward with a wet knife and Jasper who was crying and clutching his sides for dramatic effect. “Well done boys…” Rosalie clapped. “That was quite well done… But I wouldn’t want to be you when it comes to revenge… Edward should know, check out his black eye!” I couldn’t help but apologize for it again, the left side of his face was purple

and swollen, and his eyes looked small as they squinted through the inflammation of his eye. He shook his head and put down the knife on the sideboard table. “Trust me, nothing can beat this footage!” He laughed darkly as he shook the camcorder in his hands. “We’ll think of something” I winked. “Jasper you can stop crying now…” Edward nudged. Jasper stood up straight and smiled proudly. “Thank you, thank you!” he bowed. Alice shook her head and cringed as Jasper continued to try and receive applause. “Right… Let’s go to my room…” Alice smiled angelically with a twinge of awkwardness on Jaspers behalf. We all ran up the stairs, I managed to catch one of the legs of the walking frame on the railing and slammed face first into the staircase. Alice shut the door once we were all inside and turned to us. “Let’s get down to some serious planning…” She grinned darkly. Bella’s POV I grabbed one of the pillows that was strewn across Alice’s bed and squeezed it tight. I still felt a bit anxious after the recent attacks and it was obvious Rosalie felt the same as she kept pacing about as Alice grinned menacingly. “So they went for the easy, cliché, scare the girls as they watch the scary movies… but little do they know and are they preparing for a cunning plan devised but the evilest of girls…” She smiled slyly. I felt myself lean subconsciously towards her. “Girls, we need to hit them below the belt, we need to get them so bad that they’ll think twice before crossing paths with us again, we-” “Wait a sec Alice…” Rosalie interrupted. “When you say below the belt…” She smirked and poked her head out of the door to make sure nobody was listening. She then shut the door again and smiled darkly. *** Alice slammed the boot of her car and giggled mischievously as she skipped to the driver’s side of the car. I rolled my eyes and slid into the back seat, next to more shopping bags from our little preparation outing. Alice knew she wasn’t allowed to shop but when Rosalie and I left her outside, she started crying and rocking back and fourth. Apparently the police didn’t take to kindly to having emotional wrecks causing havoc on the streets. “They won’t know what hit them…” Rosalie chuckled. I bit my lip and as I ruffled through a few of the bags that were falling onto my lap. I felt my cheeks burn as I saw them again, finding it just as embarrassing as I did shopping for it. I quickly threw the bag to the other side of the seat and looked out of the window for the rest of the journey. “We’ll do this tomorrow when they won’t be suspecting it…” She continued. *** “I really think I’m coming down with something… It won’t work if I throw up!” I lied, trying to find any plausible excuse. “Oh shut it Bella. You’re doing it. Get over it and take it like a Cullen.” Alice said, exasperated. “But I’m a swan!” “You’re not that graceful…” Rosalie snorted. “Not helping Rosalie!” Alice hissed. “Now get ready before I get you ready myself.” Alice turned the flush of pink in my cheeks as an agreement and handed me the two bags. I scurried away to her walk-in-robe which was probably bigger than her room to my shock. I gingerly fingered the lacy bra in my hands and I couldn’t help it as my face set alight and colour spread across my cheeks. I quickly ripped off my clothing and switched my plain white bra for this embarrassingly saucy bra. Fire engine red. It had laces, ribbons and I cringed just looking at it. I refused to look in the mirror before I quickly threw on the new top Alice had bought me purposefully for my task to bring Edward down. I put on the stupid orange vest and walked out.

Once I walked outside of the wardrobe, Alice seemed to be adjusting something on Rosalie’s shirt. Rosalie was wearing a pair of extremely tight leather pants and a tight shirt that definitely accentuated her amazing figure. I felt sorry for Emmett as I looked at her, she could probably manage to crack a few unsuspecting nuns and perhaps a few gay men in her outfit. I felt like I was violating her just by looking so I quickly turned my gaze towards Alice. “There we go” She smiled as she took a step back and admired her handiwork. She turned to me and grinned. “I’m fitting the cameras on us all so we can keep this in evidence.” I nodded my head as she came closer to me and started pulling at my shirt. “This won’t work…” She frowned and then suddenly as if a light flashed, she pulled out a box from her vanity and rummaged around before pulling out a hairpiece. She fiddled with some small wires and finally smugly smiled and slid it into my hair. “Perfect!” “Okay, let’s go ladies.” Rosalie grinned as se flicked her blonde hair behind her exposed shoulders and sprayed herself with some perfume and pranced out of the room. Alice turned to me and sprayed mine and her own necks and followed Rosalie out. I felt the butterflies churn in my stomach and I felt like folding over and just laying my head along the cool floorboards. I was suddenly grateful for the walking frame as I wouldn’t be able to keep my balance. By the time I was halfway down the stairs I could see Rosalie creeping behind the sofa where Emmett sat and through the door. “Emmy!” she called, “Can you help me outside with one of the cars?” Half of my mouth twisted up at the corners as he got up from his seat and walked straight out to his bait. Next was Alice’s section. She crawled up next to Jasper and hugged his waist. Alice and Rosalie were both about to start their parts of the plan; I now had to find Edward. “Where’s Edward?” I asked Jasper as I walked past as he frowned at Alice. “In the kitchen, he was finding some food for us so we could watch the game.” I nodded and crept towards the kitchen, my breathing was beginning to become quite uneven and my hands felt clammy. It was as if I was preparing for a solo singing performance. I just had to breathe slowly and easily. I reached the door and took a second to regather myself. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing patterns. I had always been a terrible actress and I knew he wouldn’t believe me for one second. I snapped my eyes open and pushed the door open with determination, I wouldn’t fail Alice and Rosalie like this, I couldn’t let the boys get away Scott free. They would pay. Rosalie’s POV “What’s up Rose? Usually you’re good at these kinds of things…” Emmett shouted to me as he walked down the front stairs. I was leaning over the engine of the car, just as Emmett had watched Megan Fox do numerous times in Transformers. I knew my butt looked amazing in these pants, and I was vindicated as Emmett came into eye line with me. His jaw dropped and he blinked a few times too many. He stood frozen at the bottom of the stairs and I was beginning to wonder if he was going to start breathing again anytime soon. “abyf guh bihl lociy…” He chocked incoherently. I felt flattered by his mumblings and this increased my confidence. I looked up at him from underneath my lashes and pouted my lips with an angelically seductive confused look. He shook his head and rubbed his forehead before looking back to me. He spoke to me with closed eyes, “You ‘kay?” he asked, his voice higher than his usually deep and masculine voice. I took a step away from the car and walked towards him, making sure to move my hips with extra potency. “I’m fine… I just need these big muscles of yours to help me lift something for me…” I asked in a softly seductive voice as I placed my hand on his right bicep, I squeezed it and looked up at him, smiling sweetly. He was starting to lean towards me till he jumped forward towards the car. I remained standing where he had made his abrupt exit from and closed my eyes angrily, trying to regain my seductive charm.

“What’s wrong exactly?” He asked from behind me. I bit my lip to contain the viciousness that would have spilled if I had opened my mouth. “The stand won’t come out; I was wondering if you could hold it while I work on the engine…” I replied in a sweet tone before I turned around and continued with my plan to break Emmett. As I tinkered with the engine, delaying all of the simple steps so I had more time to work on Emmett, I occasionally looked up at him, who to my pleasure was still trying hard not to stare at me. I looked down at the engine, trying to think of something I could use to my advantage. I smiled as I saw it, sitting innocently there. I twisted the metal pipe a bit too far, releasing lots of dirty steam. I stood back and waved a hand in front of my face. “It’s so hot…” I complained at the steam, which in fact, wasn’t that hot at all. I picked up the bottom of my top and wrapped it forward and tucked it around, forming a knot and revealing my bare stomach, the camera on it still set towards Emmett. As I got back to work, I heard Emmett whimper and I presumed that it would be best to get him while he’s down. I noticed my hands dark from oil, and I had an instant idea. I rubbed the back of my hand along my forehead, slightly dirtying it, knowing how he some reason loved my dirty with oil. I breathed out heavily and as I rubbed my hand on my chest and stomach, leaving the dark oil smearing onto my contrastingly pale skin and as it smeared, Emmett’s eyes following every movement of my hand, his mouth parting slightly. It was just too easy with him… I closed my eyes and bit my lip. I exhaled heavily and before I knew it, Emmett’s lips were pressed roughly on mine and I was pushed against the side of the car, Emmett wrapping his muscular body around me. Still too easy… Alice’s POV As I crawled into Jasper’s side, I was on a mission, I was determined to bring him down; even if he was the one I promised I would never hurt. But this was a different scenario; it was hurt in another context. And he would be punished. “Jasper…” I trailed off sweetly as I looked up to him. His arm was limply draped over my waist and for a second, as his face glared at me from his tall status, I truly believed that he didn’t want me next to him. If it weren’t for my presence in the room at the time of his assigned mission, I would be worrying and scrutinizing every action that could have caused his look. “Yes Alice?” He spat which I took happily as I knew by his tone he was truly interested in what I had to say. As I thought about it, I mentally laughed at the peculiarity of our current relationship. I shook my head and returned my gaze back to Jasper. “I think it’s high time that I told you something…” I started off for dramatics. He rolled his eyes and nodded for me to continue. I cleared my throat for anticipation and blurted it out. “I have a crush on Mike Newton.” I had the joy of seeing his eyes bulge quickly before he recomposed himself and smiled warmly at me. “Wow Alice, that’s great… I’m real happy for you.” He grinned before pinching my chin and refocusing on the TV in front of him. My jaw dropped and the hurt that he was so understanding and quick to believe. I mean seriously, Mike Newton?! Ugh, I think I just threw up in my mouth. On impulse, I stood up and threw my arms to my sides, fists in balls. “What do you mean you’re happy for me?” I hissed. Crap, I’ve probably just blown this whole thing… “I just always thought you two would make a cute couple someday…”He shrugged. I felt my face bunch up angrily and my lips trembling in anger. “Great! So perhaps you could come with us on our date Monday night!” I smiled cockily. “Can I bring Jessica then? We could do a double date or something...” He smiled angelically. My fingers twitched as I tried my damned best to think of something to reply to his suggestion.

“As long as you can provide your own transport… Mike doesn’t know yet but he’s gonna get lucky…” I winked evilly. I could see the disgust glint off of his eyes. Suddenly I was caught up in the tangles of my lies, the temptation of making him jealous felt like a current of adrenaline coursing through my body. My brain felt clearer than usual, as each response came instantly without a break of thought. “Oh, no problem… I was going to take Jessica to a moonlit stroll on the beach… and then, well…” He trailed off suggestively with a wink. I gasped as that was what we did on one of our dates; he was using that, so I would use his weakness… “Mike said he would teach me how to ride a motorbike!” I squealed. “Can you believe it?!” He had wanted so much to teach me to ride a motorbike but I always chickened out and argued about the disgrace of helmet hair. His eyebrows furrowed slightly. “You mean ride a tricycle? Isn’t that what he’s upgraded to recently?” He laughed. “Nope… I bought a complete leather outfit that I’m going to wear on his full blown motorbike.” “Well have fun with that, I guess meanwhile I might as well take Jess shopping… I’ll be taking her to the grand opening of the little boutique that’s opening on Reed Street, I know the owner so we’ll be getting 75% discount.” Bull’s eye. He hit right on target. My whole body felt weak and I thought I was about to collapse. “S-s-seventy five?” I whimpered. He nodded his head with a small smile. “Well you have fun with your tricycle riding.” He winked the final blow that made me fall to the ground. As my face lay against the cool floorboards, I realized that I should be stronger than this; I should be able to think of something that would cut him deep. “We’re secretly engaged.” The words tumbled out of my mouth as my head rose from the ground. He looked at me with a panic stricken look on his face, finally cutting through his armor. “Excuse me?” “You heard me… We’re secretly engaged, we’ve been aware of our overwhelming emotions for each for awhile now. We kept it to the janitor’s closet, sometimes we were a bit more open about our affections when you were away but I guess there’s no keeping the truth from you now. He proposed last weekend… I told you I was shopping but we really went Texas. He was showing me the marvel of Houston... We’re thinking about getting a place out there.” I was really biting the bullet here, trying to cut out every part of Jasper that made him who he was and spiting it back in his face in the cover of the so-called love of my life, Mike Newton. “He’s so amazing… oh and in bed…” I sighed and rolled my eyes into the back of my head. His face was like stone. I had pushed it too far and gone sort of crazy with the Mike Newton stories. I was about to give up and apologize when Jasper suddenly jumped up onto the sofa and started jumping up and down hysterically as if he were a child of four. “Jasper?! What are you doing?! Get down!” I screamed. He just looked at me with the biggest smile across his face. “Oh Alice! I’m just so happy… I’m just going to have to jump all day!” He yelled in a high voice. He laughed joyously and my face fell into one of complete and utter shock. “O-M-G” He stopped suddenly and had his palms down. Did he just say OMG?! What’s wrong with my Jasper?! Why is he acting so… me?! “We should have a party!” He squealed as he rolled his eyes into the back of his head and flicked his blonde hair. It was all too much; the air started filling my head in unstable amounts, causing everything to leave my mind apart from the one question that kept circling around. What the hell does he think he’s doing? “But there’s so much to do! I have to get Mike on the phone… Oh! And then we can get pink balloons everywhere and I have to wear my new shirt! And Oh My Gosh! We should get Puppies!” He squealed before jumping up and down again. He started giggling like an idiot and as he jumped down from the sofa he looked at me and grinned. He came a few steps closer so his face was right by mine and as my breathing settled, hoping he was about to quit his little charade, he whipped out his phone and yelled, “I have to call Jessica!” in my face. He ran past me and up the stairs,

leaving me dazed and confused. I fell on a heap on the sofa, completely baffled about what to do. What just happened?! Bella POV I walked into the kitchen headstrong, I had a mission and I wasn’t going to fail. I was going to walk back out of the room a successful lady and people will finally think twice about messing with me… I am Bella Swan… focused and ready to bring down that stupid man in front of me, bending into the refrigerator with his perfect little bouffant… I walked with my chin high, ready to tackle my mission. “Edward… there’s something I need to tell you…” I started. He turned around and momentarily caught me off guard with his model looks; people like him shouldn’t be allowed to turn around like that with such a smile… But it was time for action… Pretending to faint heavily on the ground, I could hear Edward’s feet tap on the ground and the wind brush past my body as he bent down to me. “Bella?!” He yelled as he raised my shoulders from the ground and started shaking me. “Bella! Bella! Can you hear me?!” I fluttered my eyelids open like I had seen way too many times in movies and looked up at Edward who looked genuinely worried which I had to admit, made my heart flutter. “Oh Edward! Sorry, I think it’s just the lighting in here… I think I need some air…” His brows knitted in my reasoning but as I shut my eyes slowly again for emphasis, he lifted me from the ground and guided me outside carefully for air. “Are you okay now Bella?” He asked as he assessed me carefully, staring intensely into my eyes. So intensely I had too look away to gather my thoughts. I looked back at his concerned face and meekly nodded my head. “Can we get out of here?” I asked, batting my lashes for optimal effect which to my surprise worked. Perhaps I wasn’t as bad as acting as everyone told me… “Sure. Where do you want to go?” He pulled his keys from his pocket and went inside to get the stupid walking frame for me. He opened the door for me which I couldn’t help but smile and threw the lousy hunk of metal into the backseat. As we drove along the main road we kept out eyes open for the first store to come into sight. Luckily it was a shop big enough for me to improvise my mission in. “Let’s go to K-Mart!” I grinned as Edward pulled into the parking lot. I felt proud of how well I was going so far as we walked inside, though when I looked back down and heard the clang of metal, I remembered I had a walking frame and a fluorescent orange vest on. Nothing to be proud of Bella… We walked around the aisles, making small talk and the occasional joke and I briefly forgot my mission as I fell into the trap otherwise known as Edward Cullen’s eyes. I had been there before and knew that it was never a safe place to fall. As Edward started flicking through some DVD’s that were on sale, I figured it was a good enough time as any for my third of the bargain. I looked around looking for it, the inspiration I needed. And then I saw it and felt extremely guilty for what I was about to do. I threw my walking frame into the next aisle and screamed suddenly. “Hey! Come back!” I screamed at the lady walking in the opposite direction to us. “She stole my walking frame! Edward! That lady stole my walking frame! Look! She’s getting away!” Edwards head shot up and looked around the corner at the lady who was surprisingly fast with her walking frame… I would have to ask her for tips… That was if she would survive today and get sent to prison… The poor unsuspecting lady…“Get her!” I yelled quickly as Edward ran up to her and snatched the walking frame from her. “Excuse me; I’ll need this back…” The small lady looked up at Edward and hit him once with her purse. “You vial man! Help me! Give it back!” She shrieked. He started to walk back towards me when suddenly the lady started shouting louder at him. She reached behind her and picked up a basketball from the sporting equipment stand and threw it perfectly at the back of his head. He fell slightly forward, crashing into the

walking frame. I gasped as he turned around to face the lady and shouted, “Ouch! What was that for?! You can’t steal walking frames and get away with it you crazy prehistoric grandma…” “I’m not old!” “Uh, yeah actually you are… and the wrinkle cream in your basket isn’t going to help you much, I think there’s a certain amount of wrinkles they can save, and you’re just a lost cause…” Edward snarled before turning back to face me with a proud look that would have been dashing and heroic if he weren’t crumpled to the floor by a couple of hefty security guards. I winced as I saw the men on top of him pin his arms behind him. This wasn’t exactly going to plan… “That lady stole her walking frame!” He shouted breathlessly as he was still recovering from the heavy man that had been sitting on him. “She doesn’t look like someone who would need a walking frame sir…” One of the security guards pointed out as he looked at me who was standing up straight perfectly. “My legs!” I gasped as I fell to the ground stiffly, my bad acting returning. The second security guard came up behind me and pulled my arms behind my back as well. “It’s for our marriage counseling! She has to have a walking frame and I’m not allowed to show emotion!” Edward tried to explain, still on the ground. “That’s a good one… you can tell that to the chief…”The first guard laughed humorlessly. “How old are you both? Twenty?” “Actually I’m eighteen…” I corrected. The guard who was pinning arms behind Edward looked up at me, all signs of laughter gone. From the ground, Edward was now banging his head repeatedly on the ground. “Just saying…” I shrugged. *** “So I think it’s the underage marital union part that brought us here…” Edward frowned. We had been sitting alone in the chiefs office for ten minutes and for that and the entire journey here, we had been in what I called an argument and what he called a discussion of opinions in who was the reason we were in the police office. “Well you were the one who stole the ladies walking frame!” I justified. “You were the one screaming for me to get it back!” He called me out, I had nothing to say to him as I couldn’t exactly say, ‘Oh yeah, haha, that was part of the prank…funny right?’ I took a deep breath and wriggled aimlessly in the uncomfortable plastic chairs we were both seated on. My stomach growled loudly and I blushed at the volume of my stomach and frowned when I heard Edward snicker. “You know Chief Mallard keeps a stash of M&M’s in the second to top drawer?” Edward smiled evilly. I gasped with mock horror. “Mr. Cullen have you been here before?!” “Perhaps…” He smiled crookedly. The only thing able to keep my eyes away from his lips was yet another growl of my stomach. “Your stomach seems to be quite persistent…” he laughed. I bit my lip for a bit until I couldn’t take the hunger anymore. I jumped from my chair and got onto my knees behind the Chief’s desk. Remembering I was handcuffed, I turned around and tried to open it from behind me. But unsuccessful, I frowned at my stubby fingers and sat back on the ground. A smile was playing with Edwards lips as he started to walk over to where I was having my pouting session. He turned around and opened the drawer easily. Him and his damn long fingers… I saw my target of desire and reached in with my hands behind me to retrieve the lovely M&M’s when once again I was stopped by my stupid short fingers... “I don’t think even my fingers are long enough to get them…”Edward frowned. I looked at the lovely prized possession and then went with the first thing to come to mind. I ducked my head into the drawer and pulled the bag out with my teeth, feeling like a complete savage. I smiled as I faced Edward, M&M’s in mouth and he started laughing.

“Wait a second…” I said suddenly through my clenched teeth. “How are we going to eat them?” I wasn’t sure if my words were decipherable to him or not, seeing as I had a packet of M&M’s in between my teeth… but he appeared to be wondering the same question as his laughter stopped and he looked momentarily distressed by the current situation. “Is it already open?” He asked in a very concerned tone compared to most people when they discuss the packaging of M&M’s. I placed the packet on the ground so we could assess it properly. Luckily, they were already opened. Edward picked up the bag on its side from the ground and started pouring some onto the desk. “Food is served” He grinned. I laughed as he started eating the M&M’s from the table in front of him. “You’re not serious are you?” I laughed. He turned his head and looked up at me innocently. “Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked, honestly confused as to why I was objecting eating off of an unknown table. With another growl of my stomach, I started eating the M&M’s as well. After demolishing our share of Chief Mallards M&M’s, we sat back against the wall, satisfied at a job well done. “So we’ve been here for half an hour and the Chief still hasn’t come back yet… Do you think we’ll be here much longer?” I sighed as I rested my head against the wall. “We shouldn’t be. Hopefully we won’t get charged either.” I turned my head to face Edward. As I watched him close his eyes and lean back, a wave of guilt crushed over me. He had another bruise forming on his cheekbone from where he was spear tackled. I doubt he was caught up in this much trouble over our time apart. “I’m sorry” I whispered. His eyes opened slightly and he looked at me confused. “Why are you sorry?” “For coming back… You’ve had nothing but trouble since I’ve been here.” He smiled and shook his head. “Don’t be sorry. It’s more fun this way… Can you imagine us if we were together in high school?! Now that’s an exciting life… I just always hung out in my room, never did much… and now I have a reason to… well I don’t exactly have a choice with you. You sort of take me with you in your hurricane of a life. I just wish I never left in the first place. I missed you. More than you know possible…” I didn’t have a single response for him so I lent in and gave him a kiss on the cheek but as I pulled my face away, his lips brushed along mine and kissed them softly. My eyes opened as I saw his just a few centimeters away from mine. His breath washed over my face. Wanting more, I quickly kissed his soft lips again. Suddenly before I was aware of it, my lips were pressed firmly into his and the kiss was deepening quickly. I wasn’t sure who was navigating but whatever was happening it felt surreal. As the taste of lips coated mine, the lust taking over me grew unbearable. Suddenly I was glad Alice had given me a top that was so easy to rip open, but I had no hands. As Edward’s lips trailed along my cheek and then across my neck, my fingers tugged at first the two layers of material on my back. Both ripped off easily as if I had tugged them from the front. I pushed myself further against Edward, wishing I could wrap my arms around him and pull him closer to me. Suddenly all I could think of was the need to deepen the kisses he was planting along my jaw and have him closer. I was so overcome with lust and need that I wouldn’t have heard the door opening if not for the booming voice of an angry man. I flew off of Edward; face possibly the reddest humanly possible without my face exploding. I really needed to gain some self control if I was going to be spending more time with Edward... stupid hormones... “Chief Mallard!” Edward choked; traces of my green M&M’s across his face and neck. Who knew I was a messy eater? “Young lady where is you’re shirt?!” “Where the hell did your shirt go Bella?” Edward asked curiously. I glared at him

and trailed my fingers along the ground behind me, trying to find where it actually did go. I found my shirt and used the tips of my fingers to grasp the material before remembering my hands weren’t able to reach in front of me… and another part I wasn’t too happy about… it was in tatters… Great… beingin a room topless with the boy you haven’t seen in eight years and the towns Chief… nothing beats first introductions. *** “So let me get this straight, you went to a marriage counselor- not because you’re married and having issues, but because your siblings needed entertainment and thought you were both strange enough to fit the criteria?” “Yes” Edward and I both said in unison. “And this lady, Mrs. Hamilton suggested to you both that you- the topless girl – should wear an orange vest and use a walking frame so you don’t hurt innocent civilians? “When you put it like that-” I started. “And you… green cheeks, you were told you weren’t allowed to show any traces of emotion… right?” “If you could refrain from calling me green cheeks-” “So why did you feel the need to harass the elderly lady if you were provided with your own walking frame?” I sighed heavily. “It was an honest mix up, I misplaced mine and jumped to the conclusion she stole mine…” “You two both failed…” “If we’re not going to be charged can we please leave?” I begged as I remained seated minus a shirt. “You’ll need to call for someone to pick you both up. You can use the phone at the front desk.” The Chief laughed. I shot death rays at him, hoping he could feel the pain I was shooting towards him. It was times like his I wish I had super powers. As Edward and I walked through to the front desk, we received raised eyebrows, snickers and I even received a few snorts. I impatiently waited for Edward while he phoned his home phone five times over. “Nobody’s answering…” He growled as he turned back to me. “Look’s like you’ll have to catch the bus or walk…” The lady behind the desk giggled. “Can’t we get a courtesy ride or something?” *** We both sat in silence on the bus as we waited until we reached Edward’s house. Even though once I had the handcuffs removed I was able to put at least my orange vest on, I felt on the verge of nakedness. It didn’t help matters much when I got the Velcro stuck on the bus door, revealing myself once again. Not too mention every seat on that bus was full and it just so happened that everyone’s attention seemed to be on the girl flashing as she paid for her ticket. Once again I was the weird one on the bus. Never again… “Hi Bella” A voice from behind me spoke. I turned around and was shocked to see my old school teacher. “I thought you would have gone for a job in writing or teaching…” Never, ever, EVER again... Bella POV I sat on my sofa, glaring at the clock on the wall opposite me; just daring the minute hand to strike 10 o’clock. As the second hand played along, trailing against the numbers, there was the sound of a car honk its horn downstairs. I sighed angrily at Alice and her damn promptness. I heaved myself up, not at all wanting to go to see Mrs. Hamilton and sharing everything that had the desire to keep to myself. I pulled my walking frame from next to me and started hobbling towards the door. I shut the door timidly, in an attempt to control my rage. I walked hesitantly towards the lift and took a few deep breathes to control my self

as I saw the words, ‘Out of Order’ printed across the doors. I growled and turned in the direction of the stairs. This should be fun… I thought to myself as I took the first step, watching my feet’s movements with cautious eyes. I took each step slowly and smiled at my achievement. But my cockiness got the best of me as my feet knotted with the metal framing and I felt the air brush harshly against my face as I fell in front of me. My head continued to collide with each step as I slid forward, my arms flapping around trying to find something to hold onto. I finally hit the awaited bottom of the staircase. My head spun and just I was about to pick myself up from the ground, the walking frame came to a clanging halt. On top of me. With another honk of the car, I hurried out of the door and walked nonchalantly towards the impatient yellow Porsche. I opened the door, and threw the walking frame into the car and slid in, muttering under my breath. I looked up to see Rosalie looking at me with a bushy eyebrow raised. “Bella, your hair is a mess and you have a red cheekbone…” She snorted. “It’s not like you can talk, Sideshow Bob…” I snapped back. Rosalie’s hair looked as if had been teased into sticking 30cm away from her head. Her face looked as if it was drained from any life it once held. She turned back to face forward and imitated my voice sardonically. Alice reluctantly turned around to face me as well. I couldn’t help the gasp that escaped my lips. She nodded her head and then turned to hit the accelerator. Alice’s hair for once wasn’t pristine, instead, looking as if she had been tugging at her hair all night, her once bright and lovely eyes now ghastly as she had dark shadows reining her face. Her lips were white from stress and bone dry. I shuddered at the thought of what could have caused this traumatic change. Alice parked the car swiftly and groggily stepped out of the car. I noticed now, as I had a full view of her, that she was still wearing her sauce stained potato sack and bum bag. She had also developed a nervous twitch, fingers unable to stay still, she continuously zipped and unzipped her bum bag and was talking to herself, saying, “Do you have this is in a smaller size?” and “Do you accept Visa?” Rosalie stood beside her, looking equally traumatized. Looking at her now, I could see how much she depended on make-up and hair products. I walked up to them and we all stared at the intimidating building in front of us. We must have looked a sight, the three of us standing in a line, looking up at the building. Rosalie with her hair combination of an afro and dreadlocks, Alice with her ‘dress’ and talking to herself and then me, half red cheek, neon orange vest and walking frame. And to anyone who saw me yesterday, criminal record for assaulting the elderly. We started walking slowly up to the building, taking deep breathes. When we entered the building, Edward, Emmett and Jasper were all already seated. Edward looked as if he was asleep with his eyes open, Jasper was ‘talking’ to him, bouncing on his seat animatedly and Emmett was flicking through car magazines with the occasional whimper before he threw it across the room and picking up another. I was about to sit down when Jane, the assistant, called out to us that we were ready to be seen. I walked silently next to Edward towards the corridor leading to Mrs. Hamilton’s office. He lightly wrapped his hand around mine, leaving a trail of tingles on my fingers. I looked up to Edward whose face was still set in stone, his bright green eyes firmly facing forward. We reached the door and we stopped, waiting for everyone else to catch up. “You ready?” He asked wearily, not knowing how nervous and snappish this had making me be all morning. I looked down to our hands and nodded my head. “Yes” I answered truthfully. As Edwards hand inched towards the door handle, Alice came running past with Jasper close behind. She opened the door quickly and waved a clear snap lock bag in the air with three blank DVD’s inside.

“I have footage of our tasks! Look-” she stopped mid sentence and her eyes bulged at something in the room. Not many things stopped Alice mid sentence, so everyone ran into the room to see what had stopped her. “Carlisle? Esme?!” Edward stammered. “Look who came home early!” Mrs. Hamilton smiled from behind her desk as we all stood in the doorway, not knowing what to do. “We received a few phone calls from a few alerted members of the community and we rushed home…” Carlisle started as he stood up from the sofa. “They were all warnings from the police…” He started pacing back and forth as we all started muttering to ourselves about our police incidents. “Rosalie, Jasper and you must be Bella, I’m not sure what you three have been up to but we were called home because Alice, apparently you weren’t fit to be in a public centre as you were screaming, crying and scratching at store windows hysterically! You had to be escorted home!” He said incredulously as he pinched the bridge of his nose just the same way as Edward always had. “But they had a sale at-!” “Alice, I’m not finished. Emmett! I had a phone call regarding your comments towards some innocent people in the street!” He cut off. “Telling women that they needed to wear my clothing, telling them that they should be ashamed for not dressing appropriately, telling one poor woman that she should go home and become a nun!” He shook his head in disbelief and Esme had her head in her hands at the situation. “Oh! But Edward! You actually managed to get arrested! And for assaulting an elderly woman! Cleary none of you are making sense to Esme and I, so hopefully this session will help clear out some issues that you all clearly have!” After a few silent moments, we all awkwardly walked inside the office and squeezed around on the sofas, trying to find room for us all. Mrs. Hamilton moved from behind her to sit on the front, crossing one leg over the other. As we waited patiently for her to discuss her view, she pulled down her wire-rimmed glasses and cleaned them. Finally she started talking after an impatient cough from Emmett. “I can see that you all have been very busy with your tasks, trying your hardest to keep to them. But from what I’ve heard, you all went through more trouble than necessary for this task. But I’m grateful. And this is because now that you’ve all seen the trouble and consequences, you might all just realize that these things that you tried so hard to go against are the things that make you who you are. These things that you betted against are your personality traits…” she smiled with a knowing look as she bobbed her head. “Now, Alice, are we going to see these DVD’s?” “W-w-what DVD’s?!” She laughed shakily. “The progress ones you were talking about when you came into the room!” “Oh! You must have me confused! I was talking about my recording of The Notebook… Such, a sad movie have you-” “Alice just hand me the DVD’s…” Mrs. Hamilton cut off, hell in her eyes. Alice’s eyes widened in shock and she quickly handed her the DVD’s with no hesitation. Mrs. Hamilton put the first DVD inside, hit play and turned off the lights. Music started playing and words came across the screen saying, ‘Rosalie’s Revenge’ “I added music and a title for special effects…” Alice mumbled bashfully, leaning into Jasper’s. it's her hands on my hips, i can't escape 'em it's that mouth and those lips, try not to chase down that's just the way things are and way they'll always be girls do what they want whoa boys do what they can girls do what they want whoa boys do what they can

Suddenly the title shot and music cut into Rosalie running outside of the house. She opened the door and went to her car and drove it in reverse from the garage. The camera bounced as she got out from the car. “Okay, I’m about to get Emmett out here to help me… he’ll never know what hit him…” She laughed into her camera before calling out to Emmett as she leant over her cars hood, pulling at a few metal things that looked completely foreign to me. I looked over to Rosalie and Emmett, Emmett was completely engrossed into the video while Rosalie kept fidgeting. Emmett probably didn’t even know what the video was about, lucky enough for her. “Hey! Check me out!” He laughed loudly, “I knew the extra weights would increase my biceps!” Rosalie sighed but looked up and smiled. “What’s up Rose? Usually you’re good at these kinds of things…” Emmett shouted as he walked down the front stairs but faltered as he came into view of Rosalie. He blinked a few times and his jaw seemed unable to find its usual position. Emmett started mashing together his words, none of which making any sense. “You ‘Kay?” he asked in a high pitched squeak. The camera straightened up and started to move closer to Emmett. His face became tenser as she got closer and closer. “I’m fine… I just need these big muscles of yours to help me lift something for me…” Rosalie asked in a soft voice and her hand placed itself on his bicep. There was a light and shaky sigh from Carlisle and Esme and as I quickly glanced towards them, Carlisle was rubbing his forehead and Esme was staring into her hands as if they held the key to the universe. On the screen, Emmett had walked away and Rosalie remained standing facing the house. She turned around to see Emmett looking at the car. “What’s wrong exactly?” He asked. “I can’t believe you did this Rose…” Emmett muttered to Rosalie. “The stand won’t come out; I was wondering if you could hold it while I work on the engine…” She replied in a sweet tone. Mrs. Hamilton hit fast forward with the slow beginning, pleasing Rosalie, but stopped when she saw things heat up on screen. Pervert. As Emmett leaped into the camera, Esme let out a loud gasp and started hammering her head against Carlisle’s forearm. “Press stop!” Rosalie shouted but as nobody moved, too shocked to do anything, the sounds of groans and panting for breath filled the room. “Press stop!” She screamed again before jumping from her seat in a launch to the TV. She pressed a button but as nothing happened, she started to get more frantic and her actions jerked and quickened. She started whacking her hand to the top of the player, anxious to stop the sounds. On the screen, you could see Emmett push Rosalie into the car and rip her shirt off of her into the backseat, still a view of it all. Mrs. Hamilton finally intervened, finding the stop button on the remote for Rosalie. Rosalie turned away from the TV and smoothed a loose strand of her hair away from her face before nonchalantly taking a seat and whacking Emmett around the head. “Ow! What was that for? It’s not my fault you wanted to record me!” He shouted as he rubbed the back of his head. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms tightly. “Onto the next DVD then?” Mrs. Hamilton smiled, receiving glances of shock and horror. But she merrily took the liberty of picking up the next DVD. I let out a gasp as my name came onto the screen and another song started playing loudly. I can't get her out of my head and it drives me crazy. "That girls a trick", my friends said, but she drives me crazy. Honey, this is unkind, you're taking over my mind. This'll be my demise and I take you out for a drive. You're taking over my mind and it drives me crazy. Oh, she is a brown haired girl in a pattern white dress and I've never been so obsessed. “Don’t you think the song suits, Edward?” Alice smiled as she turned to face us.

“It was between this and that song from the titanic…” “We don’t actually need to watch this right? I mean, the last DVD proved enough right? Wouldn’t it be sort of hazardous to Esme?!” I cried but everyone turned to face the screen of which I was walking towards Edward. “I can do this, I can do this! I don’t care how ridiculously good looking he is, or how perfect his hair looks today! I’m going to bring him down…” I heard myself muttering on screen. There were a few snorts and giggles, most from Emmett. “I swear I didn’t say that! Or at least out loud…” I shouted, trying to impossibly cover some of the damage. I looked up at Edward who had a goofy smile playing at his lips. “You think I’m ridiculously good looking?” He whispered into my ear. “Maybe…” I blushed. “I think I need some air…” I said weakly on screen as Edward lifted me into his arms and carried me outside. And embarrassingly enough, True by Spandau Ballet started playing and the time period of which Edward was taking me through the door, was replaying. “Alice!” I hissed, to which she just smiled angelically and turned back to the screen. “Can we fast forward? Knowing Alice, this will probably take some time…” Mrs. Hamilton hit fast forward and as I suspected, there were a few more replays and some animated love hearts. She hit play when she saw the words K-Mart light up and suddenly my heart rate started to quicken. He would know that it wasn’t an accident as I’d said; it was actually a matter of me throwing the walking frame into the next aisle. My breathing hitched as the video showed us walking along, talking and laughing and then I saw as Edward was flicking through the DVD’s, he would hate me if he knew I had set that part up. He only though the beginning was a set up! As I could tell from the way that the camera shook, I was about to throw it, I couldn’t let him see it, I just couldn’t, I had to do something- And quick. My fingers twitched and impulsively as I saw my hands on the screen reach down, I leapt on top of Edward, crashing my lips into his, but missing and head butting him. “Ow!” He shouted, cringing further into his seat and held his head. I rolled onto my side, holding my head in pain. “Why do you have such a hard head Edward?!” I shouted. “Why did you attack me?! I was just watching the video and you head butted me! Was I taking up too much sofa room or something? Was I breathing too heavily? Geez, Bella!” “You… you took up too much room, would you mind moving over a touch?” I mumbled. He shook his head in disbelief and moved over to the edge of the sofa. My breathing started to settle, though my head spun, and I turned my attention back to the television. And it was paused. Paused… I glared at Mrs. Hamilton, innocently wasting my efforts of diverting Edward’s attention. She pressed play as soon as everyone was silent and quickly fiddled with my hands, distracting myself from the screen. People gasped and laughed at the scene. Turns out I had hit someone with my walking frame, and you couldn’t help but laugh at Edward getting tackled by two overweight security guards. Funnily enough, that part was in slow motion with Chariots of Fire in the background. Time passed slowly, I occasionally dared to look up at Edward. And every time I did, he had a stone face, his jaw clenched tight. I refused to look up at the screen and see more of it, but then I heard familiar sounds and voices from the police station. I looked up and I was arguing with Edward over the reason of why we were both brought in. “So I think it’s the underage marital union part that brought us here…” Edward argued. “Well you were the one who stole the ladies walking frame!” I justified. “You were the one screaming for me to get it back!” I tried to tune out again, this time by trying to think of excuses of how to get out of this situation, I doubted somebody like Mrs. Hamilton would excuse me to go

to the bathroom, something told me she enjoyed awkward moments. I looked back up at the screen and embarrassingly enough, Edward and I were eating our M&M’s. After finishing our snack, we sat back against the wall, satisfied with our work. Turning my head from the screen, I looked up at Edward. But this time instead of his jaw being clenched tight, he looked hurt and confused. His brows were knitted together and he looked as if he wasn’t even breathing. I felt so stupid for not stopping any of this. It was obvious that this stupid prank had wrecked everything. It grew silent on the TV and I suddenly knew the source of his confusion. It was the kiss. The camera lent in and gave him a kiss but as I pulled away, his lips brushed along mine and kissed them softly. The screen was growing darker as I leant closer towards him. I quickly kissed him again. The screen was dark from where the camera was tightly squeezing in between the pair of us. But with the sound of a loud moan, the camera flew across the floor. And just as Rosalie’s had ended, it was completely black but the sounds were still loud and filling the room. But it didn’t stop there. Chief Mallard’s voice boomed and filled the room. “So you twoare half naked!” “Chief Mallard!” Edward’s voice choked. “Young lady where is you’re shirt?!” Chief Mallard shouted, sounding as if he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “Where the hell did your shirt go Bella?” There was a groan of embarrassment and the camera soon came into light again. “Carlisle, are all of our children sex crazed now?” Esme wept from her seat. “Topless in a police station?” Emmett snorted. “Congratulations Edward, I didn’t give you enough credit!” My cheeks blushed ferociously, more than they had at all today. Edward stood up and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I have to go Mrs. Hamilton, I need some air…” Without waiting for her response, he walked out of the room brusquely. I shot a look towards Mrs. Hamilton and quickly chased after Edward. When I caught up to him, he was standing on the stairs, walking back and fourth. “Edward!” I breathed heavily as I pushed open the doors. He looked up at me and started to walk down the stairs. “Wait!” I yelled. “Why?! I’ve been waiting eight freakin’ years Bella! And now, as soon as I think I get my hopes up on the thought we’re making progress, it’s all a set up! None of it was real! You just wanted revenge…” He shook his head and walked further down the stairs but I grabbed his arm and pulled him around to face me, searching his eyes. “Do you seriously think I would care that much about a bet? You’d think it would be pretty obvious by now my feelings for you are strong enough to last eight years without so much as a mere letter…” “But we don’t even know each other anymore! Those eight years were one of the biggest impacts on my life. Maybe we’re just caught up on what could have been…” “But we’re not! I was crazy about you then… and then seeing you again, being near you, nothings changed; especially not my feelings for you.” “Well I don’t know Bella, maybe you’re just caught up in your female lust, and I know you sure as hell were in that video, I was too! If you actually watched it properly, you can see it was lust, nothing more.” “What are you saying? You don’t feel the same way?! That I don’t feel that way about you?! How dare you tell me what I feel?! I’m sorry if my feelings for you aren’t reciprocated but you should grow up and realize that something’s are simple. Like us. We were supposed to be simple. But somehow you can’t function that in your stupid brain of yours! You just try and keep searching for the reason behind everything! Well perhaps there isn’t a reason for us! Maybe it just is!” Tears were now rolling down my cheeks, the burning pain inside of me had returned. It felt just as it did when he left, because that was what he was doing now.

Leaving. And though he had only been in my life for a short time recently, I was back to square one. All of those feelings I had for him eight years ago had been resurrected, and though I had believed I would never feel anything like that again, I knew that I could the first time I saw him smile at me. His arm reached for me but I took a step back, knowing that his touch would hurt rather then heal. He was the one person that could kill me at the same time as bringing me to life. I needed him as much as I need air to breathe but every time he doubted it all, it was another stab in the heart as I knew it was impossible for him to feel the same way as me. I was just stupid and naïve for thinking he ever did. My knees felt weak and I my breathing was jagged and uneasy. “I’m sorry I’ve caused you hurt and confusion. I won’t bother you again.” I whispered blankly. With another look at his face, which was twisted in pain and sorrow or more like regret, I took a deep breath in and ran. I ran down the stairs, more tears falling down my cheeks and the cold wind stinging my face as I ran faster then I ever had before. I didn’t know where I was going, I just ran. Needing to get away from it all, anywhere I could be alone and not having to think about his words and the pain inside of me that felt like I been cut open and been ripped slowly of every vital organ necessary for my existence. But I didn’t care. I used the pain to push myself further through the streets. As I slowed to a walking speed, a few cars stopped and asked if I needed help but I shook my tear stricken head no. I did need help, but only one person could help me and pull me out of this nightmare. When I made my way to my apartment, I thought about going to Rosalie’s. Instead I shook my head and stepped inside of my house. I stripped off my clothes and sat on my bed. It was deathly quiet and still. I couldn’t take the pain and suffering. It was too much. I sauntered into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. I first stopped to look at my reflection in the mirror. My makeup was smeared, I was half naked and my heart was broken once again. I took the box of razor blades out and set it on the counter. I didn’t have to think about how to do it. I took a blade out and walked into the living room. I took a seat on the piano bench and ran the blade across my wrist. I just skinned it. A small drop of blood slipped out. This wouldn’t do. I don’t feel any better. I thought. I did it again adding lots of pressure this time. I felt a stab of pain. I moaned and looked at my other wrist. I slit that one as I did the last. Blood began to flow at an intense speed. I knew that I had less than thirty minutes to live if I did nothing. I didn’t want to do anything. My life was already over and my family was gone. I looked at the piano. I wanted to play it one last time. I started to play Beautiful Dreamer. The movement of my hands caused more blood to spill. My heartbeat increased in speed. I left red fingerprints on every key I pressed. Before I finshed the song, I grew weak. The notes were spaced with seconds before I hit the next. Then the doorbell rang. Someone pounded on my door with fists. I took a deep breath and ignored it. I heard Rosalie and Alice yelling a man. My phone buzzed in my purse. My heart slowed and so did my breathing. I started to cry again. I heard her say “I can’t belive you did this to her! Rose, she’s not answering. Do you have a key?” I couldn’t let them see me like this. I fell backwards off the bench with a thud. I turned over and crawled across my kitchen floor, smearing bloody handprints all over. I stopped because I was dizzy and I forgot what I was doing. I remembered to hide. I pulled open the pantry door and shut it. My breathing was shallow. I had no more tears so I couldn’t cry. The front door opened. People walked in. I feared at the false murder scene that they would see. I wished for death and I was so close to get. All I had to do was reach out and take it. “She’s not here. Let’s go. Wait-” I suspected that they saw the piano and blood. Alice shrieked. While Rosalie gasped. “Oh my God.” I heard Esme say. Crap. I am so embarrassed. His foster parents are here. Death. I need Death now. Footsteps followed the trail to the pantry door. They stopped in front of it. The knob turned and I died.