Chapter 1

February 11th, 2014

The screeching of tires could be heard throughout the entire building of Hale Industries as well as the obvious sounds of a car crashing and the pleas for help. However, the building was empty except for a solitary man with a ponytail, red plaid shirt and tattered jeans. He looked on and smiled softly before turning around and going home.

Present Day

The smell of burnt … something… filled the small house. "Who let Rose near the oven again?" Upon entering the kitchen, she saw grey smoke coming out of the oven. She sighed dramatically before reaching for the fire extinguisher – this sort of thing happened far too often – and looked through the oven's glass to determine if there was a fire to extinguish. At least it was not on fire. She put the extinguisher down and looked around, trying to find the cookie killer.

"Why don't you just use a clock or timer, I think your phone has an app for that." She said when her younger sister peeked out from the bathroom.

"Bella can just sense when they're good to eat." Rosalie complained bitterly as she shut the door again.

"Well, Bella is a natural cook, you suck." She turned to the right into her, well, their room. It was tiny and cluttered. It was, as you'd expect with three girls living together. Seemingly there were only two beds, one in the far corner, below the window and the other stood awkwardly next to the door. How did three girls sleep there? Well, the bed below the window had a bed drawer. That was the bed that Alice and Bella shared, since they were the lighter pair and Rosalie got the independent bed.

Alice didn't think of her sister as fat, but she was tall – like 5'9 tall – and well, Bella was an average 5'4 and herself, she was the shortest straw at 4'10. As for their living arrangements, that was complicated.

Their father, good ol' Charlie O'Shea, had passed away at age 48. He had been a good man, for sure, and though he had survived three heart attacks, the thing to take him had been a freak car accident. He had a quick death, he was killed on impact, but the events surrounding his death were odd. Despite his lack of accident record, it was concluded that his death had been his fault: he had simply lost control of the steering wheel and crashed against the light post. The real issue came when his last will was read out two weeks after his passing: all of his money, propriety and belongings were to go to his wife and children.

Here's where you think: what's the problem? As it happened, Renee and Charlie never married and because of Renee's feminist ideals their daughters were not registered as Charlie's. Which meant that his lawful wife and children were not Renee, Alice, Rose and Bella.

He had been married to Sue Clearwater two years ago and had adopted her children: Leah and Seth. So they got the money and the real estate and the family name. Renee had been grief stricken for days after finding out and the daughters developed hateful feelings towards their father.

Good ol' Charlie soon became fucking old bastard Charles.

So… there was no inheritance, no money and technically, not much else. The house they were living in had been a gift to Renee when they decided to move in together twenty five years ago and it took a lot of convincing – three years, two babies and a very bad case of morning sickness, to be exact – to make her accept the house as her own.

Alice still lived with her parents since she graduated claiming that she was saving up all that she could to finance her clothing line. Single, but with no time for boyfriend or regular friends, she was more of a loner, despite her clear chirpy and talkative personality, as it was, she claimed to not have time for anything. So she was saving up to be eligible for a bank loan and that way finance her dream. Currently, she worked as a fashion consultant for aspiring celebrities and personal image for some small time politicians that couldn't afford the most prestigious advisers. But they paid well and she calculated that in a year more or so, she'd be able to reach her goal.

The other two, Rosalie and Bella, were still in college – Rose was on her last year and Bella was in her junior year – they had shared an apartment, funded by Charlie and when all of his things were revoked to be given to his lawful wife and offspring, well… let's just say Rose and Bella were out of the list. So that left them with no place to live in, fortunately their mother took them in. Tuition for school however, was another matter entirely, one that was not settled as easily as they would've liked.

Since Rose was in her last year, the school administration board gave her the rest year worth of tuition free since she already had a pretty big scholarship. As for Bella, she also had a 50% scholarship and a 10% financial aid, but her measly paid part time job would not be able to pay for the other 40%. She applied for more scholarship but was put on hold because of her criminal record.

"Why is Rose still allowed near the kitchen?" asked Bella to no one in particular as she entered the house. None of the sisters had bothered to clean the mess up and the longer they left the cookies to melt; the harder it would be to get them out. But none of them had the time or motivation to actually do something about the cookie remnants. Bella rushed to the room the three of them shared and took off her black crop top and put on a simple t-shirt that read 'I speak for those who can't', Alice eyed her with disapproval but otherwise kept her criticism to herself.

Normally, she would've challenged the youngest of the bunch, but seeing that they were both running late for their respective jobs, she was quiet about it. "You coming for dinner?"

"Of course" answered Bella rolling her eyes. "I can't afford to eat out."

"Oh, no, I was just wondering if the Williams were gonna feed you, since you're babysitting…"

"Nah, its just an hour, the Mrs. had some emergency business to attend to." Bella was also juggling several jobs during the school year, she was a literature tutor for high schoolers, a grammar and vocabulary mentor for middle and elementary school aged children and a nanny for toddlers and infants. On the weekends she spent her time volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center, which obviously, was done for free and according to Alice, was a total waste of time.

"Hey, have you seen my pearl bobby pins?" Rose asked as she entered the room. She had put on a clean dress and needed the pins to secure her up-do.

"You'll look ridiculous, we're doing you a favor by not helping you find them." Bella said loftily as she left the room.

Rosalie sighed and sat on her bed, concentrating on the floor, trying to remember where she last saw them. Alice smiled into the shirt she was sewing, "Just use regular pins."

"No." Rose shook her head fiercely. "No. This is personal; Bella has been hiding them. I need to find them, it's a pride thing." She grabbed a pillow from on top of her bed and put it on the floor, she kneeled on top of it and then got on all fours.

"Well, I'm done. Gotta run, good luck with your fake pearl pins." The fake comment was probably unnecessary, but the pins were truly the tackiest things ever invented. And she did know where they were; she and Bella had thrown them in a trashcan near the McDonald's downtown last week.

Rosalie sighed, "Can you give me a ride?" Alice looked at her amused, and told her she was heading to the industrial district.

"I know, I have an interview at Hale Industries." Alice blanched; she was rarely taken by surprise, especially by her own sister.

"Umm, sure." Rosalie looked smug at having known something Alice hadn't. They had two cars, one to the name of their mother and the other to Alice's, Rose only had a bike to her name and taking the bike through some not so nice parts of town was not safe. Unfortunately.

The car ride was filled with Alice's mindless chatter about how surprised and excited she was that they were both going to the same place. She was going to advice a newly come vice-something on public image. Rosalie, on the other hand, wanted a position in the car making process and hoped she had enough recommendations to score the spot. She had just four more months until graduation and was trying to find a decent paying job to be able to afford a masters degree and get a very good paying position.

After twenty minutes of senseless conversation, Alice parked on the street across from a gigantic building that was covered in glass and had over thirty different cars on display. "What a waste of good parking places." She commented to Rose, who was admiring the vehicles with wonder and hoping she'd one day be able to better some of their engines.

Upon entering, they were greeted by a: "Welcome to Hale Industries" from an elegant girl, "do you have an appointment?"

Before they could answer, a blond man who was in his thirties approached them, "Yes, do you both work for Ms. Swan?"

"Mr. Hale? I'm Alice Swan, I'm the image consultant." She said as she shook his hand.

"Very pleased to meet you" he threw the girls a charming smile and Rose had to put all of her willpower not to roll her eyes. Alice however, managed to keep a straight face and answered as was appropriate.

"Is the other young lady here with you?" he said motioning to Rosalie.

"No. I'm here for an interview." Rose said crossing her arms.

"Oh, you must be Jasper's. Gwen, be a dear and let my brother know she's here." Gwen immediately set to the task and Mr. Hale said goodbye to Rosalie and left with the other sister. Five minutes later and Rose was starting to get annoyed, there was only so much a person could do to entertain oneself in a reception hall with no magazines, no pamphlets, no anything, not even chairs. She was just starting to consider sitting in the floor when another blond man appeared.

"I am so sorry for the delay. But, there was an issue with the production line of cowl screens." He stuck out his hand and said what she already knew, "I'm Jasper Hale, chief automobile designer, and you must be Ms. Swan." He was a handsome man, and though he looked young to be chief anything, Rosalie guessed that his last name must put him in the important people list. She couldn't help but note that he wore simpler clothes than his older brother who was wearing a suit. Jasper had don on jeans and the fanciest piece of clothing on him was a vest.

"Rosalie" she answered with a smile as she shook his hand firmly and forced herself to meet his eyes.

"Well, Rosalie, why don't you tell me how you'd fix our cowl problem?" Rosalie was surprised by the question but was quick to ask for details on the problem and asked to see the factory.

Not surprisingly, half an hour later the problem had been solved and Rosalie was the new manager of engineering for Hale Industries' newest project. She shook Jasper's hand and went back to the reception to wait for her sister. She looked at her clock, it was six thirty and she was starting to get hungry.

"Patience is a virtue." She was about to lash out at the man who had decided could meddle in her ability to wait patiently when she saw him. He was gorgeous. He had sandy blond hair and the bluest eyes ever framed by small wrinkles making him look more real. She was gaping at him and he found it amusing, as would anyone.

"Uh, mmm, eh - that's really none of your business." She was able to get out. She mentally slapped herself. She shook her head and turned around. Alice, hurry up, she thought almost desperately.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude." He walked around her so that they stood face to face. "I'm Royce."

"Ms. Swan." His eyebrows shot up; he hadn't expected to receive such a cold exchange from her.

"Well, Ms. Swan, hopefully one day you'll forgive my trespass and allow me to call you by your first name." Rose was dying from embarrassment inside. She hadn't meant to sound so impolite, but she couldn't help herself. She went on bitch mode when there were boys around. She was about to attempt to apologize to Royce when Alice finally emerged from the elevator.

"Hey, Rose! You won't believe – " Alice stopped talking when she saw Royce and smiled politely and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Rose…? "

"Oh, he's Royce. Royce, she's my sister, Alice." There was a twinkle in his blue eyes that made Rose burn with embarrassment at him having heard her name.

"Nice to meet you, but we should get going. Goodbye" Rosalie said before any of them could do anything else.

"A pleasure ladies." He managed before the girls got out of the building. Rosalie sighed in relief.

"You should really take a class on how to treat men without being rude." Alice said calmly as she put all of her books and magazines on the back seat of the car.

"I know!" she answered while putting her hands on her face. "I just – I can't help myself. I see a cute boy and its like I'm on autopilot." They got in the car and Alice tried to give some tips to her younger sister about how to be nice.

"It's useless. We've had this conversation like a million times. I can't change!" she said in despair. Alice simply rolled her eyes and allowed Rose to wallow in her anguish.

It had always been like this. Since Rose was fourteen and she started calling boys' attention. She just verbally and non-verbally punched them and rejected them without even trying.

Not a lot of boys came up to her, probably scared by her beauty and those who did manage to find the courage to go speak with her were rejected in four words or less. Hence, the prettiest of the sisters remained as single as the day she was born.

They'd had four interventions, the first one when she actually punched a guy because he was trying to get her some fruit punch, then when she was asked on a date by a guy eleven years older than her and she told him she was not going anywhere with a pedophile, and so on.

When they arrived at their house the smell of cookies had been long gone. Rosalie quickly went to the kitchen to see how badly she'd have to scrub. To her surprise everything was clean and she was momentarily confused. Their mother wouldn't have cleaned it, but she knew of a certain someone with OCD tendencies that wouldn't be able to stand the mess. "Bella!"

"Don't worry about it, you just have to promise to give me your firstborn!" She answered from upstairs. Rose went to their room and hugged Bella who was sitting in the floor trying to read, "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm the best."

"You are! Thank you!" Rosalie leaned down and kissed her sister's cheek.

"How did your interview go?"

"Amazing! I got the job!"

"Great! What's the pay?"

"Bella!" Alice scolded.

"What?" she looked to Alice who just rolled her eyes. "I wanna know how soon you can help me pay school!" She said it jokingly, but they were all working several jobs and had agreed that ten percent of their earnings would go to Bella's tuition. For which Bella was immensely grateful and was planning on repaying them as soon as she could. "I clean your cooking fiascos and you pay for my school! Its only fair." She finished and winked.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." Alice announced and Bella groaned.

Rose laughed and started to put on her pajamas. "You should've taken a shower while we were out."

"Ugh, I know. But I have to finish this book by tomorrow." She sighed and was about to continue reading when Rose asked suspiciously:

"Do you have to write a report or take an exam?" her sister had the decency to look sheepish.

"Neither." Rose raised an eyebrow. "There's this talk about population growth and environmental sustainability and – don't give me that look!" Rose sat on her bed and wondered why her sister liked to get herself in trouble.

"I'm all for the defending of the unborn, but I think your methods are a bit…" she thought for a moment, trying to determine which word would be appropriate for her sister "…wild." She decided. Bella just looked offended.

"They are not!"

"If that were true you wouldn't have several restraining orders against you." She said and pointed at the folder underneath Bella's bed.

"Ok, what do you suggest I do Gandhi?" Rose sighed. She didn't have any real suggestions that her sister would consider.

"I thought so. Praying outside clinics every weekend is not the answer, Rose. We have to speak up."

"Ooh, Bella's going to another protest tomorrow?" said Alice as she entered the room while drying her hair on a towel.

"Apparently there's a lecture she's going to crash." Alice laughed and Rose gave a small smile. Bella simply huffed and continued her reading.

Rose eventually started braiding her hair and stopped thinking about Royce; Alice reached inside her trunk for the blue dress she was working on, took out her sewing glasses and started on the job. "Have you eaten Bella?" she asked, taking on the role of mother hen.

"Nah, I was waiting for you." She answered with a smile, not taking her eyes away from the book in her hands.

"How sweet of you." Rosalie said sarcastically while rolling her eyes. Bella was a great cook, but if it came down to defending her views and eating, she'd starve. "I wanna eat pizza. Pepperoni pizza."

"Rose, we ate that two days ago." Bella countered finally taking her eyes off of the book.

"So?"

"So?" Bella echoed indignantly. "Alice, shed some light on our uncultured sister."

"Actually…"

"Oh, come on! There are plenty other things we can eat. Something that is not as pricey." Alice scrunched up her nose, lamenting how their standards had lowered so much. They used to eat caviar and escargot every other day and now… now pizza seemed like a luxury.

"There's cheese and bread…" the idea wasn't too appealing to any of them since they had eaten that for breakfast yesterday but it was cheaper than pizza and so it was settled.

"Fine" said Rose dramatically while fake crying. "What we do to keep you in school and away from drugs."

Bella felt a pang of guilt but Alice saw it and was quick to assure her that it was a joke. She shrugged, still a little remorseful but chose to not dwell too long on it. Bella volunteered to make the sandwiches but Rose was quick to remind her that she had nothing to do today and that grilled cheese sandwiches were among the two dishes she could prepare.

"Dinner is served!" Rosalie hollered and less than one minute passed when Bella came rushing in, exclaiming how the lord had been good to them. To which Rosalie scolded on grounds of not making fun of her religion.

"Not making fun!" Rose lifted her eyebrows. "Just saying that food could convert me." Bella shrugged and sat down on one of the chairs near the sink.

"You didn't burn them!" Alice exclaimed happily.

"Just eat your food."

Renee was bound to appear sometime the next day, it was usual for her to disappear for weeks, but never more than a month and so tomorrow was the day before the month was due. None of the girls knew for sure what it was that she did; however, she came back in a very good mood so no one thought to question her about it. Their mother was young looking, almost on the verge of forty, russet colored hair and green eyes, everyone wondered why out of the three girls, nobody looked remotely close to her. Bella was the one who could claim to have a close resemblance to, but it was very hard to spot.

Indeed, the next morning at exactly five fourteen their mother closed the door with a bang and exclaimed:

"Good morning honey bees!" Bella groaned and uttered a curse, Rosalie had woken up enough to throw a pillow at her and Alice was deep asleep, probably dreaming of her newest design.

Bella rolled out of her bed into the floor, uttered another curse and got up. Rosalie managed to get up in a much more graceful manner and immediately ran for the bathroom leaving Bella with the task of waking Alice.

"Alice" she said as she poked her "Alice, Renee is here." With that Alice sprang up and started getting dressed as quickly as she could.

October 13th, 2004

"Momma, please!" Were the desperate pleas of a fifteen year old girl. Long black hair tied back by a pink bow, grey eyes round and wide, begging for understanding. Green eyes filled with disdain stared right back down.

"One or the other, Alice" she tried, there was no way Renee would allow any daughter of hers to do something as degrading as sewing clothes. Renee had arrived a day earlier than usual and had caught her oldest child with a sewing machine, making a pink dress.

Alice begged her mother to not throw away the machine and Renee's mind suddenly came up with the perfect compromise: hair for clothes. Alice's long locks would have to go if she wanted to continue sewing and designing clothes.

Present Day

"Why has nobody cooked breakfast? I'm starving!" complained Renee from the kitchen.

"Bella! Go!" Alice urged hastily as she started putting on shoes. Bella snapped out of her still sleepy state and ran to the kitchen to start making breakfast in her pajamas.

"For fuck's sake! Why are you still in your pajamas? You are such an embarrassment." Alice flinched and quickly ran a brush through her hair, willing the process to go faster so that Bella could go up and get dressed. After hearing their mother chastise Bella for another minute, Alice was finally presentable enough to go downstairs and relieve her sister from the myriad of insults thrown her way.

"Hello Renee." She greeted.

"Alice! Finally! Someone who doesn't look like she just rolled out of bed!" Renee was glad that at least one of her daughters had the sense to be up bright and early, ready to go. She wasn't one to display affection, she didn't hug her firstborn upon her entering the kitchen and Alice didn't even attempt to. "How have things been? No! Don't you dare cook for me. Bella will have to."

Alice knew that was to be expected and despite that she still tried to convince her to allow her to cook. Bella had to go to school today at seven and if Renee wanted her to cook, it meant she wanted her to clean up as well. Meaning that Bella would be out of the house by eight thirty if she was lucky. "At least let me help you unpack." If Renee said yes, Bella's departure would be at seven forty.

Renee made a show of thinking about it and decided it wouldn't hurt her to allow Alice to unpack. "Go."

"Is she in a bad mood?" Rosalie asked as she was heading down the stairs.

"She's had worse." Alice whispered.

After Bella came downstairs Rose volunteered to help with the dishes and Alice volunteered to put the leftovers in the fridge. Renee was lenient which allowed Bella to get to her first class. Rosalie left a little after ten to class, which left Alice with Renee, yet as soon as she finished cleaning Renee's suitcase she holed up on her room to sew.

Ever since Charles mysterious death Renee had turned colder and more vicious. She felt that her three daughters owed her and the fact that her lawyer hadn't managed to get them at least a little part of the inheritance had left Renee exhausted. On top of that, there was no way to prove that Alice, Rose and Bella were Charles' daughters because he had been the last living member of his family tree and Sue's children were from her previous marriage.

The day prior to Renee's return she'd received an e-mail stating that Charles' widow was pregnant, that had also contributed to her irritable mood. "Damn her!" she yelled as she turned over the coffee table at the living room. Alice balked from upstairs, glad that she was nowhere near her mother and set back to work, ignorant of what caused Renee to snap.

The rest of the day went by without much trouble; Rosalie and Bella would not be coming back until dinnertime and Alice had to run downtown to buy more fabric. When she returned Renee was sprawled in the living room's couch, staring vacantly at the upturned table.

"Don't bother." She said quietly before Alice could ask if she was all right and left.

The clock read three forty four with two seconds when the phone rang. Alice knew who would be and tried to reach the phone before her mother did. Unfortunately she wasn't as fast as she'd hoped and Renee picked it up before the first ring was over.

"Damned be the hour!" Renee screeched. "Alice!"

"Yes?" she answered as she started going down the stairs.

"I'm going to go pick your goddamned sister from jail. When I get back I want this mess clean." She didn't wait for an answer and stormed out the house, green eyes ablaze with fury.

As soon as the door was closed Alice reached for the phone.

Rosalie had finished her two classes and had gone to Willets Point, where the Hale Industries' manufacturer was located. There, Jasper – her new boss, had given her a tour of the place and introduced her to some of the people who would be working with her on the new project. She was nervous, since she hadn't met who'd be her area boss. After all, she had gotten a good rank: manager of engineering. It was clear that Jasper would be directing the design of the car, but the functioning of it was on the hands of someone else.

They walked through a couple of metal doors where men were working and Rosalie exhaled in defeat. She had hoped there'd be at least another girl. She'd met a nice gal called Vera two rooms back, but it was clear they wouldn't be dealing with each other often.

"And here" he said while motioning to a guy who was underneath a chassis. "is your new boss."

"Hey! You'll make him scared of me!" the guy underneath the structure kicked Jasper's sheen without getting out of the car. Jasper made a face. "Bud, don't listen to Jasper, I'm E— " he got out of the car and looked genuinely surprised at seeing a girl. But it was probably due to the fact that Rose was wearing a pink dress. "Emmet." He finished while cleaning his hands in his jeans and then offered one to Rose.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Rosalie Swan," she shook his hand and smiled, glad that it wasn't her who had trouble speaking for a change.

"Right back at ya'." Jasper elbowed him. "I mean, you too." Emmet gave her a smile, one so big that showed his dimples.

Right then her cellphone started ringing. "I'm sorry I'll-" she was about to turn it off, but Emmet was quick to tell her to pick up, that he'd see her tomorrow at four.

As she walked away, about to answer, she heard the two men speaking quietly.

"She looks just like –" Emmet started to say, surprise coloring his voice.

"I know." Jasper interrupted.

"Hey." Rosalie finally said to Alice. She swiftly explained the situation with their mother and she went to buy ice. From across the main entrance she saw Royce, who smiled at her and waved. She decided to ignore him and rushed home.

"Rose, Bella." Rosalie simply nodded and went upstairs to hide the ice in the trashcan.

It wasn't that they were expecting violence from their mother; it was that Bella got into fights and Renee wouldn't give her anything for the bruises, claiming that coddling Bella would be counterproductive. What they knew for sure was that it had been three weeks since their father's death and Renee had left a day after, coming back now and having to bail her youngest daughter would make the scolding that much bigger. Thus, they grabbed three cokes from the fridge and hid in their room until Bella made it upstairs.

The car ride had been uncharacteristically silent. Bella didn't try to talk to her mother and Renee tried to not loose it while driving.

They got to their house; from the outside it looked like any of the others surrounding it: white brick walls, two floors and stairs that lead to the main door. Once inside it was a completely different matter. The brownstone had been adapted to become a single-family residence. The first floor was quite open, to the right was the living room, where a blue couch sat on the far side of the room facing a TV set that their father had deemed necessary, to the wall in the right was a white bookcase that had titles that ranged from Austen's classics to The Velveteen Rabbit to Eating in the Light of the Moon. Bella tried to go up to her room but before she could even make a step in that direction her mother started speaking.

"Isabella Marie Swan." Bella flinched. "Why can't you try to be open to the truth?" Renee was not someone to be messed with; she looked like a peaceful hippie, but was the happy owner of a black belt in karate and in mixed martial arts. Aside from the physical threat that she was, she had intellectual knowledge that made her an unforgivable opponent. "I've tried to instill in all of you girls the way to live." She stepped closer to Bella.

"Mom, I— " before she realized what she'd done wrong, Renee had already closed the distance between them and slapped her.

"Do not call me that." Renee had always had an aversion to the title and had preferred her daughters called her Renee or ma'am if necessary. Not even Charles had understood the reasoning behind this choice. Bella simply put her hand up to her left cheek where the slap had landed.

"Sorry. It slipped." Renee remained quiet; her eyes alight with anger. "I know you don't believe in what I fight for— "

"You are not fighting for anything! You are giving the opposing group more arguments to their side!" Bella frowned, and Renee looked relieved that her daughter seemed to be contemplating what she did wrong. "Your so called 'cause' has no feet or head. Stop it. Stop trying to convince the rest of the world of something that will not and can not be changed."

"I can try!" Renee scoffed. "People are the ultimate resource; through innovation or intensification, humans can respond to increased numbers!"

"That's not the motor to your argument and you know it. You just want women to stop being able to have bodily autonomy."

"Renee, the overwhelming majority of pregnancies occur as a result of consensual sex." Her mother's green eyes twinkled with mirth. "It is unjust to deny an unborn child's right to life in favor of a bodily autonomy right that could have been vindicated earlier, and without violence, through the practice of abstinence or contraception." By the end of her speech Renee's humor had gone from mildly amused at a child's antics to immutable outrage.

"What you are is worse than any of your self-appointed 'enemies'. You are an anti-feminist! An insult to all of us!" she yelled as she slapped her, leaving a nasty red mark on Bella's face, which she was certain, would later develop into a bruise.

With a wounded ego and burning face, Bella left her mother and ran upstairs where her sisters comforted her. Oblivious to their sister's assailant, they assumed she'd gotten beat up in prison, again.

"Oh, Bella. Look at your face." Alice hovered with the ice in her hand. "You have got to stop making those people mad!" Rose nodded and Bella remained quiet, allowing her sisters to live in blissful ignorance.

An hour later Rosalie went downstairs and to ask her mother what she wanted to eat. She found Chinese food containers and a note:

Bella, I'm sorry for snapping at you. The food's on me.

The evening took a much calmer path, Renee didn't show up again and the sisters decided to talk about movies and boys. Rosalie told them about Royce's wave and how she'd ignore him, which earned her reproachful looks from Bella and Alice.

A/N: Hi everyone! This is my first story and I would really really really appreciate comments. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you're liking the story so far, I'd love to hear from you!