Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight, not me
Beep. Beep. Beep.
My first thought every morning:
Ugh. Why does my alarm have to sound like a dying duck?
My second thought:
How is it already 5:30 in the morning?
Dragging my body out of bed and towards the bathroom, I throw an envious look back at my bed where there is a distinct lump under the covers in the form of my Chihuahua, Sid.
After a scalding hot shower, and throwing on clothing for the day, I take a long look at myself in the mirror. I try to recognize the girl staring back at me. We share the same physical characteristics: 24 years old, 5'8" tall, long, wavy, dark brown hair, coffee colored eyes, curvy, hourglass shaped body. Even though we look alike, I can't recognize myself in the reflection. Glancing at the clock, I realize that I'm running late. I take Sid on a quick walk, and make sure he has water and food before grabbing an energy drink and running out to Gonzo, my blue CR-V, to make the drive to work.
I quickly find a parking space and rush into my classroom. Turning on my IPod, I search for music to help me organize myself before my classroom is filled with first graders. I finally decided on my classical music playlist and opened my lesson plan for the day when Alice Brandon, one of my best friends, came barreling into my room like a Tasmanian Devil. Behind her, our other best friend Rosalie Hale, walked in at a more human pace. Where Alice is short and pixie-like, Rosalie is tall and supermodel-like. The three of us became best friends the first day of my junior year of high school, when I went to live with my dad full time. We continued onto college together and while Rosalie and I majored in Elementary Education, Alice double majored in Dance and Art. Rose now teaches fourth grade, while I teach first grade, and Alice is the art teacher at both the elementary and middle schools in our school district here in Seattle.
"Bella. Bella. Bella! How was your date last night?" Alice asked in her singsong voice.
Ugh. My date that Alice set me up with. Why is it that the people who are coupled off feel the need to play matchmaker to all the single people?
"Alice, we had nothing in common. Why do you insist on setting me up with all of these guys?"
"I just want you to be as happy with someone like I am with my Jazz. Are you sure you gave him a chance?"
"Alice! He was so dull, and all he listened to was Top 40. I cannot be with someone who only listens to Top 40. Plus, I threw out some of my best pop culture references and he didn't get any of them. And when he came to pick me up, Sid didn't like him, I can't be with someone that Sid doesn't like."
Rose snorted and just gave me an incredulous look.
"Guys, can we please talk about this later? The kids are going to be here soon and I still have to make sure that everything's ready for their project later today."
Alice looked like she was about to scream, but instead just sighed and said, "Fine. Your house. 7pm. You cook. Rose will bring the wine. I'll bring the facials."
When I get home I rush to change into jeans and a band tee. Seeing that I have a few hours before the girls get here, I decided to waste some time playing on my old upright piano, one of the few things I kept to remember him by. Whenever I play, I tend to lose track of time. I was still playing when I heard the girls come in.
"We didn't mean to disturb you," Rosalie said.
"It's been so long since you've played," Alice added.
Deciding that I didn't want to talk about why I haven't played in a long while, I said, "Sit down, you guys, I'm just going to go get started on dinner."
Alice was the first to broach the subject of my pathetic love life. "Bella, you can't be alone forever, and your reasons for not making any second dates are really getting ridiculous! So a guy likes Top 40, big deal! You've been known to sing a long to Top 40 from time to time too."
"Alice, you know I only sing along to his songs."
"Bella! I'm sick of this, you need to get over it. You dumped him six years ago, stop acting like the victim here."
"I know I dumped him, and I also know that I made the right decision, look where he is now. All of his dreams have come true."
"Not all of them."
"Alice, what are you talking about?"
Rose, never one for subtlety, decided to just blurt out, "Edward's moving back here. He's coming home."
I couldn't breathe, it felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice water over me, "Edward's coming home?" I whispered. The last thing I remembered before everything went black was hearing Alice confirm that Edward was indeed coming home.