Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
Umm, so this is my first story. I actually am really embarrassed that I'm posting this, because I'm not sure how good it is. But I'm doing it anyway. Yay? The title comes from the song "These Are the Moments." If you haven't heard it, listen! Review if you want to, I guess. Also, I didn't have anyone look this over… the grammar is probably horrible! Sorry!
Preface
It's been said that blood is thicker than water, but I don't necessarily believe that's true. Your family is not something you choose. You're stuck with them for better or worse. But your friends, well, you choose each other; and besides, not all family is blood.
Chapter 1
"Mary Alice Cullen, get your skinny, pixie ass off of me!" I grunted.
I've learned many things during my decade long friendship with Alice; her socks always have to match, her favorite snack consists of a strange combination of pickles and mayonnaise, and that under no circumstances, do you give her coffee before 9 am; you will live to regret it.
Looks like someone forgot rule number 3. Sigh.
"But Bella," she whined, "we have to get ready!"
"Okay, first of all, tell me who the hell gave you coffee; I need to go murder them. And secondly, why in the hell are you in my room at 8 in the morning, Mary Alice?"
I watched, somewhat apprehensively, as she made her way to my closet. It was way too early to play Bella Barbie, but for some reason, coffee always made her decide to come to me for an early morning torture session; her weapons of choice being a brush and a pair of heels. She was magical with that brush, but who is in the mood for that at 8 am?
"Silly Bella, did you forget what today is?" Alice sang.
"Erm…. Yes?" I looked at Alice for help.
In response to my silent plea, Alice sighed, grabbed my desk calendar, and threw it at me. It missed, of course. Alice is a lot of things, but hand eye coordinated is not one of them. I picked it up off of the ground and glanced at it. As soon as I saw the date, it dawned on me.
"Graduation," I whispered.
Most high school students look forward to graduation. I am not one of them. For me, graduation means change. I hate change. I wasn't looking forward to graduating; not at all. I glanced around my bedroom suddenly felt rather nostalgic. This room is completely me. My life is in this room; my band and choir awards are on my dresser, my clay dinosaur from 3rd grade is on the shelf, and on the walls are pictures of my best friends: Alice Cullen, Rosalie Hale, Jasper Hale, Emmett Cullen, and Edward Cullen.
The six of us have been best friends for years. We do everything together. We shop together, study together, hang out on weekends together, and most of us have even fallen in love together. Rosalie and Emmett are a couple, as are Alice and Jasper; they have all found their soul mates in each other, and I am jealous of what they have. I want to find my other half somewhere, but not just in anyone; I want my other half to be in Edward.
He is my one of my best friends, and I am in love with him. Urgh! Could I be any more cliché? He's the perfect guy; gentlemanly, handsome, and musical. Perfection all wrapped up into one gorgeous body, too bad that body happens to be my best friend's. Eff! Clearly, I am certifiable. Bring on the crazy-bulance! weeeooo, weeeeoo.
I was startled from my musings when I felt a small hand on my arm. I had forgotten that Alice was there.
"Bella?" she asked softly, "do you want to talk about it?"
I looked at her curiously, and she motioned to my right hand. In it was a picture of Edward and me when we were about 16. He was giving me a piggy-back-ride, as we gazed intently at each other. Honestly? I keep that picture under my pillow, but when the heck did I pick it up!? I stared down at the picture, and got lost in the memories of that day.
"SHIT," groaned a teenage girl, as her flip flop broke during a walk through the park. "These are Alice's! She is going to kill me!"
"Hey now," soothed her companion, a teenage boy of about the same age. He stroked her face and said, "Would I let my mutant of a twin hurt you?"
The girl reluctantly shook her head, and the boy grinned in satisfaction.
"Hop on," he demanded, as her offered her his back, "we can't have you walking home barefoot, can we?"
She giggled and jumped on.
"You better hang out tight," he warned, before taking off running. Before long they were both laughing, the flip flop long forgotten.
As they neared the boy's drive-way, he slowed to a walk, but not allowing the girl to get down yet.
"Wait until we get inside," he said, and turned back to look at her. He stopped walking, and they stared into each other's eyes for a moment. They were suddenly interrupted by a loud clicking noise.
They looked forward to see the boy's twin sister, Alice, hold a camera.
"Sorry," she apologized, not sounding sorry at all, "you guys just looked so cute."
The girl hopped down, and looked up at the boy. As their eyes met, they dissolved into giggles, and they walked towards the house with Alice trailing behind them. They had almost reached the door when the heard,
"Hey! What happened to my shoes?"
That was the day that I started falling for my best friend. I glanced over at my other friend, and tried to look happy.
"I'm fine Alice; just feeling a little sad." I said, as I forced a smile, "You know that I have wanted Edward for years. I never told him, because I thought it would ruin our friendship. Now I just wish that he felt the same way about me."
"Bella," she sighed, "you know how I feel about this. My brother loves you too! He's just a stupid guy who doesn't know it yet."
"But…" I started to protest, but she interrupted me.
"No buts!" Alice exclaimed. "I'm right, and you're wrong! It really is that simple. Now sit down while I decide what to make you wear! It's graduation! You have to look HOT! Besides, Rose will be here to help me soon. She didn't think you would react well to an early morning Bella Barbie."
"Rose is coming?!" I asked happily.
"Of course she is! Emmett and Jazzy are coming too! Did you think that our best friends would miss our graduation?!" She asked, incredulously.
"Honestly?" I replied. "Yeah… I didn't really think that it was important enough to drive from Seattle for."
Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie all go to the University of Washington. We would be joining them there in the fall.
"Bella," Alice sighed, "they wanted to be here for us. Most people are excited about graduating. It's a big step."
As she was speaking I heard someone coming up the stairs. Assuming that it was Charlie, I didn't even turn to look when I heard the door open. I knew that I was wrong, when I saw the grin on Alice's face.
"BELLYKINS," was all I heard before I was scooped up into a huge bear hug.
"Emmett!" I choked out, "can't breathe!"
"Oops," he said sheepishly as he let me down. He held on to me until he was sure that I was steady on my feet. I have quite the reputation for being clumsy.
"Bellykins, I missed you!" exclaimed Emmett, with a big grin on his face.
"I missed you too Emmy," I said, chuckling to myself. Emmett was always the excitable one.
"And what about the rest of us?" I heard an amused voice ask in the background. I screamed as I looked behind me, at the three people standing there.
"Jazz! Rose! I didn't notice you! I was too busy trying to make sure that this big lug here didn't squeeze all of the air out of my lungs!" I playfully said, motioning to Emmett. "How have you all been?" Jasper opened his mouth to respond, when suddenly Edward cut him off.
"What about me Bella?" he asked in his musical voice. "I don't get a greeting? I missed you!"
"Edward, I saw you yesterday," I replied in a tone that questioned his sanity. "we got Subway, remember?"
"But I could have done something big since then! Something huge!" he pouted. I opened my mouth to respond with a "that's what she said", but Alice cut me off.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! They've all been fine, everything is fine." said Alice, with some exasperation in her voice. "Now you can go! I have exactly an hour and a half to make Bella beautiful!" Before they left, Jasper and Alice hugged, and I found myself wishing, once again, that I had what they had.
I said good-bye to Emmett and Rosalie, and tried to give the other two their moment. When I turned to say good-bye to Edward, he hugged me tightly for a couple of blissful second. Damn he smelled good! After he released me, I tried not to look too disappointed. I turned and saw that Alice and Jasper were still having their moment.
"Alright, alright, break it up," I sighed. "It's time for Mary Alice to make me beautiful." I sat down, facing the mirror, and waited for Alice to come get me ready for my first step into adulthood.