First Impressions
The sound of the pounding rain woke me from my light slumber, causing me to groan and stretch my arms out to rid myself of the dull ache that pounded. I could almost feel the knots tied in my back and moaned as I pulled the muscles into a more compatible state. I had been out late last night, due to an extra-long shift at the Port Angeles theatre, and was looking forward to sleeping in, but nature had other plans for me.
I was sitting silently, listening to the patter of the rain on the roof, when I heard a loud swearing coming from the hall—Charlie was up. Dad was a retired police officer for the Forks police department. He retired a few years ago after he broke his back trying to split up a gang fight and got paralyzed from the waist down. He could still get around, but not as easily, and still insisted to keep his reputation as Chief of Police. Every morning he never failed to wake me up with his string of profanities as he fought the stairs, and thought I'd become used to it, today it was just too much.
I leaped from the bed from the bed with a purpose and stomped to the bathroom with an aggravated sigh of annoyance. Charlie looked stunned to see me up so early, as he sat mid-way on the lengthy staircase, but I swept past him and into the quaint, outdated bathroom. I stared furiously into the mirror and began to harshly scrub my face with a wet cloth. Unsatisfied with the outcome, I jumped for the knob in the shower and yanked it to the hottest temperature it offered, then undressed, and jumped in, only to hop back out. The heat was way too much and had shocked my senses, bringing me down from my rage of anger.
I finished my morning routine with my ritual calm, and then scurried down the steps to find a note on the fridge.
Bella,
Went fishing with Billy, won't be back until tomorrow, so don't wait up for me.
Dad.
I felt the wave of exasperation creep up on me again, but hurriedly pushed it back down. I had no reason to be angry that my father woke me up early and left me to do all the chores with practically no food. Of course, why would I be angry?
I decided to leave the chores and go out to eat before hitting Port Angeles for my shift at noon. I ate quickly at a local diner and then pursued the long, one hour drive. I listened to Debussy the whole ride, and smiled widely when Clair De Lune played on the old radio system, I tapped my hands to the soothing beat. This was my favorite song. There was something about its calm, tranquil demeanor that masked the mystery veiling the whole composition. It also told a story. But which tale it told depended on the listener. It was a song that could keep someone up at night, or put them to sleep. To me, it depended on my mood.
Finally, I reached Port Angeles. It was an old town, full of classic red brick and worn wood buildings. It was fairly little, bigger than Forks, but smaller than practically every other town ever known. But it gave me an income so I wasn't complaining.
I had time to rush to the movie theatre, clock in, put on my uniform, and say a brisk "hi" to Eric, before working the ticket booth. The crowd was thin, and there weren't that many patrons so I could catch up other things. Throughout a half hour, I had a debate with Eric over how much a turkey cost at thanksgiving, checked my voicemails, and E-mails, and was just getting started on my homework when more people showed up.
There were three girls and four guys, and laughing loudly at some unknown joke. They were so rowdy, I'm surprised I didn't notice them at first, but I was so engrossed in my essay that one of them had to slam their hand on the window to get my attention. I startled, not expecting the scare, but when I looked up, I froze in shock.
Right in front of me was a humongous guy; he must have been at least seven feet tall! That wasn't all though—his muscles were bulging out as if threatening to pop and his smile filled his face dimples. His short, curly hair was in a mess on top of his head and wavered every time the wind so much as whispered.
"Could we get seven tickets to a random movie?" His booming voice seemed to shake the ground beneath me, and I jumped again, bursting out of my reverie.
"Uh, yeah, which one?" I asked stupidly, not hearing what he said seconds before. They all erupted in laughter and I was confused, until I had a sudden gush from my short term memory. "Oh, right, random movie." I quickly spun around and grabbed seven tickets from the "Barbie's Great Adventure" pile, and slid them under the hole in the window as he handed over the money. "Here you go, theatre eight." I said with a fake smile.
"Thank you." He said, equally as happy.
I waited until they left, and made sure no one was coming to the booth before running over to Eric and spurting out my childish scheme. He laughed along with me, then, good naturedly shoved me back to my station so he could "Get back to work."
It was twenty minutes before they all came back out, all looking mad—all but one.
"You!" The big one bellowed, causing me to full out grin for a few seconds before containing it. I turned around to try to make a façade that I was being professional, but he wasn't buying it. I could hear fast, heavy steps coming towards me, then Eric warning someone to stay out, and next thing I knew; I was being forcefully circled around to face him.
"That wasn't very nice." He whispered menacingly.
"Dude, let her go," yelled someone from behind. "It's not that big of deal." The expression on the guys face changed from one of anger to arrogance.
"No, I don't think that wasn't a nice trick, I think she should learn her lesson." It all seemed to happen in slow motion. I saw him pull his arm back, flexing his hefty muscles all the way, and then, with a great amount of force, he began to swing forward. I closed my eyes, and turned my head as much as it would allow, and waited for the impact. But it never came, instead I felt the guys' large hand being ripped from my shoulder and I quickly looked to see one of the guys from the group pinning him down as best he could. I didn't see how it was possible for him to do it; he was so much smaller than the one he was trying to defeat. Almost all at once, Eric and the other man from the group and came over to help, and soon he was calmed down enough to storm out of the theatre with five of the others hot on his trail. I looked up to see one coming towards me, and flinched before I saw it was the guy that saved me.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said soothingly as he walked forward to stand in front of me. "I'm sorry for my brother's behavior, he has severe anger issues. I promise it will never happen again."
"It's okay," I whispered.
"No, it's not. How about this, we'll exchange numbers and I'll take you out to dinner next weekend and then we'll find some way to make it even" He proposed.
I smirked before saying, "Is that your way of hooking up with girls?"
"Well, of course, it works every time." He said, with thick sarcasm. "Come on, it's my way of apologizing."
"Um, how about no?" I said, and began the walk back to my booth.
"Come on; at least tell me your name." He called from behind me. I turned around to give him a retort but froze. I finally got a good look at him from a distance, and couldn't believe how handsome he was; I had no clue as to how I didn't realize this before.
He was tall, a bit lanky, but he made it look stunning. His skin was a pale ivory that seemed to glitter in the sunlight, and was utterly beautiful. On top of his head was a mess of copper locks that spun out in every direction and it, like so many of his features, was perfect. I moved further down his face in my inspection, and focused on his eyes. They were a mesmerizing shade of green, like a stained glass window, emanating light, and seemed like they could see into my soul, no matter how cliché that sounded. We stood there, facing each other, staring directly into one another's eyes, frozen.
All the sudden he began to walk forward in slow, rhythmic steps, until he stood right in front of me, keeping the contact the whole way.
"What is your name?" He asked in a low whisper, and I could feel his breath on my face he was so close.
"Bella," I answered as if in a trance. He smiled, and it was heart breaking to see something so beautiful.
"Edward" He replied and I couldn't help but think how well it suited him.
"Edward!" Someone called from the door. "Come on!"
"I'll see you next weekend," He said, then handed me my phone. I stared at him, shocked. He pick pocketed my phone from my jeans, without me knowing! I heard him laughing as he walked out the door, and shook my head before walking back to my booth. Was it crazy that I was at least a little bit excited for next weekend?
