A/N: This is my first Twilight fic so I hope you're not too hard on me!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

The sound of my alarm rang in my left ear. I half-raised my hand to try and turn off the blaring. I groaned, today was Saturday and I had nothing to do to kill the time. My homework was done, and the laundry washed and pressed. Today was going to be a long day. I thought groggily. I got up and went through my morning routine. When I went down stairs to the kitchen I saw Charlie sitting in his chair reading the newspaper on one hand and a cup of coffee in the other hovering in mid-air.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Charlie." I warned, while going to the cupboard and getting a bowl to pour myself some cereal.

"Oh." Charlie said, looking at the cup of coffee in surprise. "Hey Bells. You got some mail." He said, taking a sip and going back to the sports pages.

"Anything big?" I asked going to the part of the counter where we put our mail.

"Kind of. I didn't know you were friends with the Cullens. Good for you Bella." He said still reading. I did a double-take.

"What did you say?"

"You got a letter from Alice Cullen. Pretty fancy paper, I might add. But then again, they are the richest family from here to Canada probably." Charlie lifter his chin a little in my direction.

I went over to the mail once again, and stared blankly at the off-while lacey, somewhat heavy envelope. It screamed "money, and lot's of it". What did this mean? I thought her brother hated me, with all that staring on my first day of school. I ran up to my room wanting to open the letter in privacy.

I threw myself on my bed and carefully tore off the family crest from the back. So old-fashioned. In exquisite, quill-and-ink writing it said:

Ms. Isabella Swan,

I know that this is somewhat odd for me to send you this letter out of the blue, but I was wondering if you could join me for afternoon tea today, Saturday. If not, just call me at 206) 102-2690 and maybe we could reschedule. The directions are inside the envelope behind this letter.

Alice Cullen

What? Alice Cullen wants to have tea with me? I didn't believe this, I looked at the paper the letter was written on. It had the Cullen family crest on it just like the back of the envelope. It looked too expensive for someone from Forks to go out and buy to play a sick joke on me. I might as well do it, if I have no other choice. If it was a sick joke, it I'll give me a good reason to leave Forks, I knew eventually this little town would get under my skin eventually.

I went down to tell Charlie my plans for the day. "So you are friends with Alice Cullen?" He asked, absolutely shocked.

"Not in so many words." I said, looking down at my feet.

"Well, you have to start somewhere. I like the Cullens, I've never got any trouble from them since they got here. Good for you Bells." Charlie gave me a huge smile. He probably thought I would never find any friends here. I internally laughed at the thought.

"Yeah, well…"

"I'm going fishing with the guys again. You don't mind right?" He asked, worried.

"No of course not Dad," Weird, I rarely call him that. "I have to turn this place upside down with all the cleaning I have to do." I assured him.

"Good." He sighed in relief. "Well, I'm heading out. Billy and Harry are probably waiting for me."

"Bring back a truckload." I smiled.

"I will." He promised.

After Charlie left it took me till one to clean the whole house. I was shocked at the amount of dust and debris that was hidden in every nook and cranny of such a tiny house. I sat down to a late lunch and ate contemplating on Alice Cullen's letter.

Did this have anything to do with Edward, her brother and his odd and hostile behavior towards me? Or was it just her way of welcoming me to Forks? Did she sympathize with me because she and her family had to go through the stares and side-glances of being the "newbie" of the town? A million questions went through my head, but I still couldn't find any rhyme or reason to her sudden gesture. The whole prank theory went out the window when I thought it over while cleaning the bathroom. No one in this town bore any ill will towards me… yet right?

I took a shower around two o'clock and didn't bother to do anything to it. This wasn't a formal visit right? I put on a blue turtleneck, with some faded jeans and a blue fleece jacket. I put on some of my favorite perfume just in case. I looked at myself one more time before grabbing my keys and wallet and leaving. This is as good as it's going to get.

I took the letter just in case it was a prank and show her that I had been sent there believing she sent it to me. I also took the directions since I didn't know the way. I was surprised and yet not so much that they didn't live in Forks itself.

I drove down a three-mile long lane and was blown away by the grandeur and simplicity of the grounds. The Cullens were definitely not your typical Olympic Peninsula family after all.

I parked my decrepit Chevy somewhat far from the mansion that stood proudly on a slight hill. I walked the rest of the way and could have sworn I felt someone pass me, but then again, the wind here was always shifting. I reached the steps to the porch and just as I was going to start climbing them, Jasper Cullen opened the door, a huge smile on his face.

"Ms. Isabella Swan?" He asked expectedly. His voice was like milk and honey, not at all the voice that I presumed. He was beautiful of course.

"Yes." My voice broke from the nervousness that suddenly took me.

"Come on in." He gestured to the open door behind him.

I grew hesitant. This was a mistake. It had to be.

"Don't worry, I don't bite." Jasper said, giving me a wide smile. I tried to smile but it didn't really reach my eyes.

I went in, and gasped slightly when I saw the interior. It was absolutely breath-taking. Just like everything else involving the Cullens. Beside the huge staircase sat a grand piano you only see in movies. It was on off-while almost the same color as the parchment and envelope that Alice sent me. I tore my eyes away from the piano and looked at Jasper. His eyes were light amber, just like Edward. I thought. Once inside he led me to the living room.

"Alice will be right with you."

"Thank you." I took a seat in the crème color sofa. He walked out of the room, and left me to soak everything in. Atop the huge fireplace that was the main attraction of the living room hung a six-foot high, five-foot wide family portrait framed in a light tawny.

Esme, the only one I hadn't seen ever, sat in the center. Her smile radiated even on oil and canvas. She had a motherly face, with chocolate-colored hair curled slightly. Everything about her screamed "Mother". On her right hand side sat Alice. Her hair just as black and cropped as in real life. She had an all-knowing smile on her face, almost as if she knew you were looking at her. On Esme's left was the epitome of female beauty, Rosalie. She also, looked inhumanly beautiful, even more than Esme and Alice put together. Her sun-kissed hair also fell off of her shoulders, her face showed an almost haughty look. Of course she knew how beautiful she was. She would be an idiot if she didn't.

My eyes moved to the men. Directly behind Esme, was Carlisle. Both hands on his wife's shoulders. And just like his wife, his smile was kind and welcoming. On his left was Emmett, his left hand on Rosalie's left shoulder. He had a goofy grin plastered on his broad face, almost mocking. My eyes skipped the person next to Carlisle, and onto Jasper. Probably because he was the one that greeted me at the door, he had a delicate smile on his face, taking you in, just like Emmett, Jasper had his right hand on Alice's right shoulder. This made the painting look whole. Then I looked at the person that my eyes skipped and was taken aback more than any other face on the canvas.

Edward.

He was in a league, of his own. He stood on Carlisle's right hand, almost as if he was the second-in-command of the family. His face was magnificent, and he had a slight smile on his lips. Not like Jasper's, Edward's was more mysterious and debonair. His eyes bore into mine, even though I knew they were just paint and cloth. But at the same time, the painting didn't do him justice. He was more beautiful than the rendering, surely the artist knew this.

"He's gorgeous, isn't he?" A delicate voice whispered in my ear. I stifled a scream. Alice Cullen stood behind the couch were I was sitting, bent forward towards me.

"What?" I asked, sounding mentally impaired.

"Jasper. He's gorgeous, isn't he?" She asked clarifying. Her eyes on the painted Jasper. Her eyes told the whole story. Alice was head over heels for him.

I felt myself flush. "Um…"

Alice gave a small laugh. It sounded like wind chimes getting hit slightly by a breeze. "I know, I know. He's not your type."

I looked down, terrified. Was it that obvious, my staring at Edward?

"You know, he was right. Blue is your color. I'll remember that." She said, putting her arms on the sofa.

What did she mean 'he was right?' She couldn't mean Edward right? It was probably Jasper. After all he did greet me and she had just mentioned Jasper.

Before she or I could say anything heavy metal music drifted from somewhere in the top floors. Alice pouted looking at the ceiling.

"I'm so sorry. He's being extremely rude."

"Who do you mean?" I asked meekly.

Alice looked at me shocked that I didn't know who she was talking about.

"Bella, I was talking about-" The music got suddenly louder and more violent. Alice's face turned from apologetic to enraged. "Now he's just doing it to annoy me." She straighted herself and said almost in growl, I never imagined someone so delicate-looking and sweet would ever make such a sound, "Edward."

My eyes almost popped out of my head. Edward was the one behind the music? Why would he want to annoy Alice? Was it because he knew that I was here, in his house? I looked down from Alice's face, which was still looking at the ceiling, I suddenly felt like crying from both anger and indignation. What did I ever do to him? Why did he hate-no, loathe, no that's not the word. Abhorre. Yes, Edward Cullen abhorred me. But why? I wanted to run out of the house and never look back.

Alice's head snapped to look at me. "Are you crying?" She asked, about to put her hands on my face, but thought better of it. This made me want to cry more.

Just like it started, the music stopped abruptly. I heard running, and then unexpectedly Edward Cullen was at my feet, looking thunderstruck.

"Bella?" His voice sounded pained.

"What now Edward?" Alice reproached.

He ignored her. "I'm sorry if I made you cry. It's just that Alice didn't tell me that you were coming and I wanted to annoy her." His voice was pure silk.

Was Edward Cullen apologizing to me?

"Alice, I think I should go." I said getting up from the sofa, resolved. This was all a joke.

"You can't go, Bella. I so wanted to get to know you." She turned to Edward, "Look what you've done." Edward got up in sync with me. My eyes never left his nor this his ever leave mine.

"Bella, please forgive me." Edward almost begged. This couldn't be true, this was all a dream.

"Thank you for inviting me, Alice. I truly appreciate it. But I must leave." I walked past Edward and walked towards the door. I was so engulfed in my thoughts that I didn't notice when Jasper appeared and opened the door for me, looking at me with a knowing look, almost as if we knew exactly how I was feeling.

I half ran to my truck and drove home. I didn't shed a tear once. Not until I threw myself on my bed that is.

N/A: I know that was kind of long. I'm sorry, it's just that I had so much to write!!! Please tell me what you think!!!