Briana Lassiter played with her can of Coke as she listened to the buzz of the students around her. Moving from New York City to the tiny town of Forks, Washington had not been her idea – her parents had decided that the whole family needed to be closer to her grandparents, and so she and her younger brothers had been uplifted and deposited into the small group of teenagers that made up Forks High School.
A group of people passed outside the window, headed towards the door of the cafeteria, and Briana stared. They were impossibly beautiful, most of them. All of them pale, with bruises around their eyes as if they were tired or recovering from a broken nose. But everything about their features were perfect. Briana felt like she couldn't breathe.
"Who are they?" she managed to gasp out, sure she hadn't seen them since she'd moved here during the summer.
Amanda Weber turned around and grinned as she saw who had captivated Briana's stare. "The Cullens."
Jess Newton grinned as well, and settled into her chair to dish the news. "They're Doctor and Mrs. Cullens' foster kids. They moved down here from Alaska, like, a couple of years ago. They were up there visiting all this summer."
Briana nodded, still spellbound. These impossibly perfect people came through the doors in pairs, so that was how Jess introduced them.
The first one was big, a real weightlifter type, with dark curly hair. He had his arm around a blonde that so impossibly statuesque it hurt to look at her.
"The big, dark-haired one is Emmett Cullen, and the blonde is Rosalie Hale. They're a thing, like, together together. All of them. I don't even think that's legal."
"Jess," Amanda admonished. "They're not actually related."
"Still, they live together. It's weird."
"What's with her necklace?" Briana asked quietly. She'd just noticed the large pendant hanging from the blonde Rosalie's neck. The crest on it was a lion rearing over three shamrocks, underneath a protective hand."
Jess chuckled. "We call it the Cullen crest. All of them have it on them in some way or another. It's kind of cool, actually. Rosalie has that pretty obvious necklace, and Emmett's is on his wristband, see? Right there."
Briana was still nodding when the next couple came in.
The honey-blond boy was muscular, but not as muscle-bound as his adopted brother. His face was stiff, but he looked glued to the pixie-like girl at his side. She had short, dark hair and moved like a dancer. Just as Briana thought that, the girl lifted up the boy's hand and spun herself around.
Jess continued her explanation. "The little dark-haired girl is Alice Cullen, and she's kind of weird. And that's Jasper Hale, the blond one who looks like he's in pain."
Briana nodded again. She could see their Cullen crests as well: Jasper's was on his wrist like Emmett's, and Alice's held together a piece of ribbon at her throat.
The beauty of the bronze-haired boy that came in next made it impossible for Briana to breathe again, but any thought of catching his attention was sidetracked by the look of absolute adoration he bestowed on the gorgeous brunette at his side.
"And them?" she asked.
"That's Edward Cullen. He's gorgeous, obviously, but completely in love with her, so don't even think about it. She's Bella Masen. They're practically attached at the hip."
Briana sighed in disappointment, but not before noting the Cullen crest on Edward's wrist, and on the pendant around Bella's neck.
The male counterpart of the last set of people to walk through the doors shocked her. He looked nothing like the rest of them. He towered over the girl at his side; his hair was black as pitch, and his skin a dark russet that made his white teeth stand out. The girl at his side look diminutive next to him. The top of her bronze curls barely made it past his shoulder, and she had to tip her head to look him in the eye. She had her Cullen crest on a necklace, like the rest of the girls, and he had his on a wristband, like the rest of the boys.
"The big Indian boy is Jacob Black. He and Bella are the only ones not related to Dr. Cullen or his wife. And the girl is Edward's sister, Nessie."
Briana raised an eyebrow. "Nessie?"
Jess shrugged. "Her real name is Renesmee, but they all call her that."
"What did you mean by not related to Dr. Cullen? They're all related?" Briana asked as she watched them sit down at the table farthest from her.
"Yeah. Well, not all related, technically. Emmett and Alice are brother and sister, and they're the older siblings of the twins, Edward and Nessie. They're all Dr. Cullen's brother's kids. He died in some kind of plane crash. And Jasper and Rosalie are twins, but they're Mrs. Cullen's cousin's kids or something like that. They lost their parents too."
Briana nodded, mentally sorting that out in her mind. "And Bella and Jacob? You said they weren't related?"
"No, but they grew up together. Their dad's were, like, best friends or something like that. All their parents went out to celebrate some anniversary or something, and the car crashed. Dr. Cullen was wicked nice and adopted them both, so they could stay together."
"That is really nice," Briana admitted.
"Yeah, and it sucks that they're all together. Dr. Cullen is, like, foster-father slash matchmaker."
"Maybe he'll adopt me," Amanda said with a wicked grin.
Briana joined in the laughter.
The Cullens didn't hang around after the youngest of them graduated. They never made trouble, or scandal, and Emmett and Rosalie got married in a huge celebration that turned into an epic party. Briana married Jess's older brother, Mike (she said they'd been named after their great-great-grandparents or something), and no one ever saw the Cullens again.
Well, not for another 200 years.