Metamorphoses

I wish I owned Twilight, but I don't. Alas.

AU – all human

Originally planned as an "Edward woos and wins Bella" story, "Metamorphoses'" backstory became so interesting to me I couldn't stop typing it. If you enjoy the story and would it to reach the point I had intended originally, let me know!

EPOV

I can't imagine why I agreed to this. What the hell was Alice thinking? The Cullens hadn't been so popular in high school that we'd want to relive the experience. Well, truthfully, I knew exactly what Alice was thinking. She wanted to rub her, well our, metamorphoses into the faces of all those who were cruel or simply dismissive of the freaky Cullen twins back in the day.

Alice had been this pale, tiny girl with short hair and no curves in high school. She was easily overlooked. I had been taller, but nearly as skinny, and definitely a geek. Science and music were my passions then, as they are now. However now, for some reason, no one had any interest in calling the boss a geek. Well, there were plenty who were unaware of my lofty status as the youngest ever board member of the biggest pharmaceutical company in the United States, but they didn't have any interest in calling me a geek either. That was due to Jasper's interference.

Actually, much of our transformations had to do with Jasper and Rosalie, the Hale siblings. When we left Forks, Washington at the end of high school we thought we'd try out our luck in the big city. A move to Illinois to attend the University of Chicago was all it took. Alice ended up in a dorm room with Rosalie Hale. She was the hottest thing on campus and she saw Alice as her own personal mission. Rosalie often moaned about how lucky Alice was to be built like a heroin chic supermodel. Her boyish figure was ideal for the latest fashions which often looked better on hangers than they did on women. Her pale skin was flawless, according to Rosalie, all she needed a few styling products in her hair and she'd be perfect.

It took one semester for Rosalie to transform my sister from an unnoticeable pixie, to the most popular lady on campus. Rosalie, herself, would probably have held that title, except that she was head over heels in love with her high school boyfriend, Emmett McCarty. Emmett was a 'big man on campus' and, I mean that both figuratively and literally. He was the biggest guy I had ever seen. He was easy going and smart. Deceptively so, since he also enjoyed crude humor, was loud and amazingly athletic.

My sister and I often hung out with Rosalie and Emmett. Knowing them got us into all the right parties. We met all the right people. I worried about what kind of effect this would have on my twin. The guys were all panting after her. I had to admit she was the best damn looking woman in the room, no matter what room we were in. Her bubbling personality really started to shine and her self confidence went from nonexistent to over the top in short order. She never lorded her status over any of the less lovely; my twin was an amazing person through and through. Frankly, all Rosalie did was make the outside match the inside.

There was no reason, it seems, for me to go into protective brother mode. Alice showed no interest in any of the guys at school. She confided in me once that she found men her own age too immature. They were mostly interested in drinking and getting laid. Alice wanted a nice guy. She blamed me for spoiling her for any regular boys.

It was shortly after this conversation that Alice started eying my speculatively. She showed up at my dorm room one morning with a bag full of styling products and a determined look. She attacked my longish, bronze colored hair and didn't leave until I was appropriately coiffed. I didn't spend too much time looking at myself in the mirror, but had to admit the new style did have a certain charm to it.

This was the start of my transformation. Alice did all she could with the styling products and I was still doing my hair the way she showed me to when the four of us decided to meet up with Rosalie's brother, Jasper, who attended nearby Columbia College, for Spring Break. Emmett was excited about the chance for a little debauchery in Tampa. I worried about spending a week tailing my sister in an effort to keep the frat boys at bay. Turns out my concern was unfounded. Jasper met us at the airport having arrived a day earlier and I could practically hear the click when he and Alice looked at each other for the first time. A quick look at Rosalie's face confirmed that this was all a set up.

Three days later the five of us were sunning ourselves poolside at the hotel when I heard Alice clear her throat meaningfully.

"Ahhhh, Edward," Jasper said.

I looked over at him, where he sat with my sister draped over him on a lounge chair.

"Yes?"

"Feel like hitting the gym with me?"

I'm sure my expression turned sour, but a warning glare from Alice told me not to turn him down.

"Sure, why not."

It quickly became clear that Alice had put Jasper up to a makeover plan of her own. We spent two hours in the hotel's limited gym and Jasper didn't use one piece of equipment. He spent the entire time showing me how to use the machines properly, adjusting weights for me, even taking some notes. This gym didn't offer any free weights and Jasper muttered something about waiting until we got back to Chicago to get me started on those.

My transformation was slower than Alice's but just as drastic. It took close to year for me to develop the same definition in my chest, arms and abs, that Jasper had. Then it was Alice's turn to worry about the effect the loose college coeds would have on me. She didn't have cause for concern. Honestly, Alice and Rosalie were the two best looking women on campus and their kindness and class set the bar impossibly high. I had a few dates with a girl named Kate and went out for a whole month with the generically pretty Tanya, but both became bored with me. Our impatient hormones led to a few satisfactory make out sessions, but they were frustrated with my lack of interest in the party scene.

Graduate school was less of the same, really. The students here tended to be more focused on their studies than the undergrads. It was in graduate school that I used my free time to rededicate myself to music. I had found my undergraduate studies more challenging since my double major in business and chemistry had severely curtailed my leisure time. What free time I did have I had tended to spend with Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett or at the gym. Studying for my MBA, even in the accelerated program I was taking advantage of, left me enough free time to dust the cobwebs off my piano. Jasper was well on his way to his PsyD. He had always had a way of understanding people's emotions and motivations. He'd make a great psychologist. Emmett was two years away from taking the Bar and Alice was showing promise in her Masters of Fashion Design program. Rosalie started working right out of college. She supplemented her income with local modeling jobs. Truthfully, she was becoming quite popular with local agencies and was finding it harder and harder to turn down the lucrative opportunities that were presented to her. Emmett encouraged her to take the work while it was available.

The five of us lived together in a huge house that was conveniently located and all was right in the world. From time to time Alice would get frustrated with my lack of a social life and set me up on a date, but nothing ever came of it. She wasn't bothered by these failures, cryptically commenting on me getting experience for when it really counted. As if I'd have time for that any time soon.

Years passed and one day, a few months ago, Alice got wind of our 10-year reunion while surfing the 'net. She filled out an RSVP in both our names and made me promise to go. Rosalie and Emmett had gotten married almost two years ago. He was a junior partner at a huge firm in the city. Rosalie made him the envy of everyone he worked with. Drop dead gorgeous, smart and faithful, despite frequent opportunities to stray. They were a dangerous pair, really. It wouldn't be long before the name McCarty would be added to the letterhead.

Alice had served as Rosalie's maid of honor and Jasper dropped to his knees and begged her to marry him as soon as he saw her at the church. It was quite romantic, really, and our high school reunion would serve as an opportunity for all of us to go to Forks so our parents, Esme and Carlisle, could finally meet Jasper face to face. Emmett and Rosalie were tagging along so that Rosalie could be part of the wedding planning.

And so now, here we were, getting ready to leave for our 10-year reunion from our parents' palatial home along the river outside of Forks, Washington.

Well, we're finally on to the reunion in the next chapter. Please review this one before moving on, however. I love constructive criticism.