This is my newest story. I've been out of the writing game a while now so bare with me! I will be aiming to finish my other stories but I just need the inspiration. So enjoy and tell me what you think….
The Curse of Love
Chapter 1
BPOV
Boys can't seem to get enough of me. This isn't ego or an overactive high level of self-esteem, this is simply a fact; and I hate it. I've never thought of my appearance as being anything extraordinary, my personality isn't that of a social butterfly or cheerleader. I'm quiet, I read Jane Austen novels and I live with my dad in a small town called Forks. My life is as normal as it gets. I get good grades in high school (mostly because rather than go out or have fun, I study,) and I work behind the counter of the local Dairy Queen. My dad is the Chief of Police and makes a modest living, and my mum lives in Jacksonville, Florida with her new husband Phil.
So as you can see… not anything particularly to brag about. Yet somehow I am a siren for the male half of the species near and far. I got used to it for the most part. I would just keep to myself, politely reject the teen male population of my school and run to my car at the last bell to avoid ambush. I learnt to deal with it to a certain extent until it became the one aspect of my life that ruined my chance of happiness.
The day the Cullens came to town was officially the worst and best day of my life. Mike was asking my out for the millionth time in the cafeteria at lunch whist his wannabe girlfriend Jessica was yet again giving me the stink-eye. I only noticed them out of the corner of my eye- thank God for peripheral vision- and proceeded to dribble my Diet Coke down my chin.
They were the most beautiful humans I had ever seen; alabaster skin, blood red lips, amber-golden eyes and a penetrating life altering gaze. He looked straight at me, we locked eyes for only a few seconds, and then I ran. My tray was left abandoned, food barely touched, as I bolted to the bathroom.
"No Bella, you can't possibly even contemplate it. You'll only get your heart broken. He will be just like the others, spellbound for whatever sick joke curse you've got. It won't be real."
I chastised myself like this for a good 5 minutes, hoping the flutters in my stomach were from bad cafeteria fish tacos and not the tell tale signs of a crush. I didn't even know his name but that didn't stop me thinking about him until he turned up in my fifth period English class. Kill. Me. Now.
"Class, we have new students joining this class. Please welcome Jasper, Alice and Edward Cullen. Have you three read Romeo and Juliet before?"
Miss Fry had a dead wish inviting this home wrecker into my life, worse, my sanctuary of an English class.
"We have," Alice replied in a voice that sounded like a chiming bell. Alice and the other boy sat together in the empty desk at the back. Just my luck, the last remaining seat was right next to me.
He sat down quickly to allow Miss Fry to start a discussion on Mercutio's soliloquy "Queen Mab", and introduced himself again in a whisper,
"Hi, I'm Edward Cullen, please to make your acquaintance,"
When was he from, 19th century? Who says that? Although I was completely vocally capable in my head, my mouth wasn't quite so competent.
"Errrm, ermm, hi, I'm Bella Swan,"
Is that seriously all I could say? Probably the only thing that would be appropriate. 'I want to really love me' would most likely not make sense for a start, and would secondly scare him for sure. All I could do was read the poetic words of the Bard and try not to make eye contact. Miss Fry had given the Cullens a copy each of the play so there was no need to share, no need to fraternise with the extremely hot and sexy enemy.
We didn't utter a sound throughout the entire period. At the welcoming gong signalling the end of obligatory learning I made a sound, which may have been intended as a statement of farewell but ended up a grunt. How very ladylike. Various calls of my name could be heard down the corridors, but I ignored them all. My destination, my car, was almost in sight, if I could only get there without a blockade I could get home and relax and forget the warm burning eyes of the new boy. Luckily my only hindrance today was I needed to double pump my clutch to get my old orange Chevy truck to start. As soon I got home I ran up the path and slammed the front door, sliding down to the floor with relief.
EPOV
"How was your first day at school my darlings?"
Esme, my mother, greeted all of us with a welcome home hug and kiss on the cheek.
"Fine thanks," I replied in a monotone voice. Generic as the response was, I was still trying to figure out just how good my day was. Classes were simple, but when you've repeated high school 37 times, the material becomes rather repetitive. It was the people we were constantly trying to figure out.
"I joined the cheerleading squad," Rosalie piped up. She and my brother Emmett are seniors this time. Only because Emmett is huge and our parents were accused of drugging him with steroids last time he was a junior. The rest of us looked like teenagers so we can pass for younger.
Rosalie is a force of nature, speaks over 30 languages and is a very flexible gymnast. I have no doubt that is one of Emmett's favourites of her attributes. Emmett is her husband; master of all sports and, strangely, a math genius. Alice is artistic and likes to design, be it interior decoration or fashion. Jasper, Alice's husband, is excellent with a rifle and is interested in psychology. I am the musical one. I have played almost every instrument in existence and, when I am inspired, compose on my grand piano. I also love to read. The classics are, stereotypically, my favourite. Dickens and Austen are among my favourite writers.
These are all the 'normal' characteristics of our personalities. Jasper, Alice and I are gifted in other ways. Jasper manipulates mood, Alice can see the subjective future and I can read minds.
Did I forget to mention we are all vampires and in no way blood related?
"Edward? You're thinking too hard? Did something happen today?" Mother does worry.
"He just met a girl, that's all," Alice does like to butt in.
"Actually I don't recall meeting a girl in the sense you are talking Alice. I spoke to the girl who sat next to me in English and she could barely complete an introduction. I think she even grunted at me when the bell went. This hardly seems like a highlight of my day enough to mention to Mum."
Esme and Alice exchanged 'knowing glances' as Jasper likes to call them. Essentially, Alice has had a vision and is conveying to Esme that this girl is in fact a highlight; I just don't know it yet. I hate this look because it is almost like telling me my future before it has happened, which I prefer to avoid unless absolutely necessary. Alice's visions can change, as the future is influenced by every single decision an individual makes, but if it is a path I discover I want to pursue, the element of surprise, which I treasure in life, is lost.
"Stop it you two," I snapped and went straight to my piano. As I played one of my oldest compositions, my fingers moving without much conscious thought required, I reminisced about the girl with the chocolate brown eyes and like-colour hair, pale skin and a flustered demeanour.
Having the power to read minds is a blessing and a curse. I have to block out the constant noise, which at times can sound like a badly tuned radio. I find out secrets that are none of my business. I hear what teachers really think of their students. I hear the answer to a question. I hear the dramas of teen life. Today the most common thought on the male student body's mind was one Miss Bella Swan. I found it intriguing, and was delighted to experience her first hand. But apart from her obvious beauty, I don't understand why they are all obsessed with her. The way she disregarded my presence next to her for a full hour told me she either finds me attractive and therefore felt awkward, or she is naturally timid and introverted. The second would imply that she doesn't get close to people and so one would assume that the majority of those boys know nothing about her. And still the relentless idolisation continues. It doesn't make sense. What is even more irritating is that I can't read her mind. I have never had this issue before and I don't see why she should be so different.
I knocked on the door of my father's study. Dr. Carlisle Cullen is my foster father, if I needed such a thing at 112 years old, and a doctor at Forks Hospital. He is over 350 years old and originally from England. His accent still has a tinge of London in it. He has seen and done so much that I figure he must have a theory on this complex girl.
So, they met. The chapters will all be about this length, maybe longer if I'm on a roll. Just to be clear… age-appropriate men fancy Bella… not her dad or little kids etc…
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