Pick A Pic Challenge
Title: One In A Billion
Penname: itsjustme1217
Banner: .com/albums/pp69/ms_ambrosia/pick_a_
Rating/ Disclaimer: T
Summary: Edward Cullen has changed the lives of the people in Forks. Maybe he has changed your life as well.
You can see all the stories and vote here
www .fanfiction-challenges. blogspot
Many thanks to my beta team RPfangirlDC, TongueTwied, and Stefter
Hi honey! You should sit next to me since this is your first time at a meeting.
Oh I can always tell.
Me? I'm Bella, pleased to meet you. I guess it was me and my friends who founded this group of oddly obsessive ladies.
Oh my! Almost seventeen years ago it's been. Come on, let's have a seat. The others are starting to arrive.
Don't be shy honey. We're all here for the same reason.
Don't you even act like you don't know what I am talking about! You might be able to fool the people you work with and even your family but you won't fool of any of us. You are here for the same reason that we all are-Edward Cullen.
Don't cry little one. There is no shame. Here, amongst us, it's normal.
Of course I know him. We all do in some way. He leaves a lasting impression on everyone he comes into contact with.
Me? At the age of 34, I'm one of the founding members of this here group, but that's not to say I'm the oldest. I think I'm right in the middle of it. He's affected those younger and older than me.
Do I love him? Well, honey, maybe I should just start from the beginning. In some ways it seems like a lifetime ago and in other ways it feels like it was just yesterday. You know how that goes.
Back then I was seventeen, with no self-esteem. I was pretty much scared of my own shadow and it didn't help that my mom chose my new step-dad over me. She promptly sent me to live with my father, whom I barely knew, as soon as the "I do" had been pronounced. Dad, being the police chief, was never home, and I had no idea what to do with myself. The rejection I felt was immense. I cried for days, missing my room, my friends, and my school. Everything here was new and unfamiliar and I was having a hard time adjusting.
You know it's hard for any seventeen year old girl in the best of circumstances. Dealing with the anxiety of new surroundings and my family issues only heightened the self-loathing I felt. Still, I don't think I have ever dreaded anything like I did that first day of school. I was terrified. I'm sure you remember how disconcerting school could be-being the new girl turned me into some kind of shiny new toy. Everyone seemed to want to talk to me but instead of feeling relieved, I just felt like I had been placed under a microscope for the student body to examine, and in my teenage mind, I surely came up short.
I just wanted to get through the day...
Will this day never end?
I left the lunchroom after being assaulted with questions from what felt like everyone in the student body. This charade of normalcy is exhausting. I wish so bad that I was invisible so that I wouldn't be forced to interact. I just want to get through these last two classes so I can go home and curl into a ball on my bed under this cloud of hopelessness that follows me wherever I go. I stopped at my locker and got my book-bag and some gum out of my purse. Shoving the stick of Juicy Fruit in my mouth, I grabbed my stuff and started in the direction of my new biology class.
Holding my schedule in one hand and my backpack strap in the other, I made my way through the halls. Forks High School was much smaller than I had been used to in Phoenix. So far I had found it pretty easy to locate everything and I discovered that I had already covered most of the class material. I repeated this to myself as I walked through the science room door so that I would have a convincing answer when Charlie asked the mandatory parental question, "How was your day?"
I kept my head low, letting my hair fall slightly forward to hide my face. But after handing my slip to Mr. Molina, he gestured to a seat and I had to look up to see where to go. My eyes raised slowly in the direction of the pointing finger. I did register a table for two, and a smile pulled at my lips, before everything else fell away but him. The way the light shone through the windows next to him, it almost appeared that God had chosen to put a spotlight on his most spectacular creation.
My heart stopped.
Time stopped.
If I were a cartoon character there would have been little red hearts dancing around my head.
He crooked his finger, motioning me to him, and I moved as if on a conveyor belt straight to him. For the first time in my life, I was smoothly gliding across the floor. His hair was chaotic in both color and style. His face hurt to look at; too much pretty at once is a shock to the system. My eyes twitched moving over his face from his chiseled jaw to his pouty pink lips to his soulful green eyes.
"I'm Edward Cullen. You're Bella?" he asked. My body tensed awaiting the twenty questions game I had been forced to deal with all morning. I nodded, sitting down in my seat, allowing my hair to curtain my face once again.
"Bella?" he whispered, just as Mr. Molina began the class.
My shoulders hunched forward and my eyes stung with tears. I didn't want to cry. I was sick of answering all of these questions about my parents and why I moved here. Maybe I should just tell them the truth. That's what they want. Obviously, they can see that something is wrong with me. No one wants me. Edward Cullen is no different. I should have known. All the really handsome ones are assholes.
I'll just tell him so he can laugh and make his jokes and then maybe he'll ignore me for the rest of the year. When he asks why I moved here I'll just tell him my mom got remarried and now she doesn't want me anymore. When he asks about my dad, I'll just tell him that I don't know anything about him and he's never home anyway because he doesn't want me either. With my mind made up, I turned toward Edward awaiting the assault.
With a lopsided grin, he asked, "Got any more of that gum?"
When he smiled like that, it was hard not to smile back. I fished a pieced of gum out of my book-bag and handed it to him, to which he winked. The simple action was so erotic when he did it that my eyes rolled back in my head and I barely stifled a moan. My eyes snapped back to his, hoping I hadn't embarrassed myself too badly, but he had turned his attention back to Mr. Molina.
And, that was it. He didn't ask me any questions. He didn't make any snide remarks. He didn't try to turn me against another student he was pissed at, like some of the girls had done in my English class. Best of all, he didn't resort to lewd sexual comments to make me uncomfortable, like that guy Mike Newton had done at lunch.
I watched him out of the corner of my eye, completely ignoring the lesson being given. It was fascinating to see all of his little mannerisms. I noticed the way little lines appeared around his eyes when he smiled. When he didn't like something his jaw would clench. When he was concentrating on something, a thin vein line appeared vertically down his forehead.
He smells like the ocean, crisp and clean, like peaceful days and blissful nights, and as I sat observing him, I didn't think about my broken heart. I didn't wonder about my worth. I didn't think about my parents or friends or new schools. He made it all so easy to forget. A person could get lost in him forever. Maybe he's an angel that radiates Prozac.
It was the same every day that year. He didn't ignore me or even act like I had the plague. In fact, he didn't treat me any differently than he treated anyone else. He flirted shamelessly. He recited poetry and spoke like a hopeless romantic. At the same time he was silly and snarky and extremely witty. He was an enigma-a mystery that deserved much study in order to be solved. I took every opportunity to sigh and swoon over him.
I couldn't get him out of my head. What started out as looking forward to just seeing his face everyday turned into dreaming about him at night and thinking about him constantly to the point that I found it difficult to accomplish anything else. If I saw a man's shirt in a store window, I wondered what it would look like on him. If I heard a song on the radio, I wondered if he would like it. In every book I read and every movie I watched, he was the male lead.
I convinced myself there must be something wrong with him. He had to have some flaw. I mean, he's human...and a man. I began going out of my way to see him more frequently thinking I could get him out of my system if I could just find proof that he wasn't some supernaturally perfect immortal.
Look, here comes some of the girls now. And James!
That's Lauren, Jessica, Rose, Alice, Tanya, Victoria, Kate, and James. We are the original nine. Together, we started this group. We've all been best friends since high school. Of course, we didn't start out as friends. We all have our own story of how we met and fell in love with Edward, as I'm sure you do as well. It took us a while to find camaraderie in that fact and stop competing all the time.
You know he saved Lauren's life in the school parking lot one afternoon. The final bell had just rung on a Friday and it had been snowing. Tyler Crowley's van skidded right across the ice to where Lauren had been standing. Edward was there in a second. I was one of the very few who was in the right place to see him actually pull her out of the way. You know Edward though, he wouldn't let anyone make a big deal about his heroics. He left as soon as the ambulance sirens could be heard coming down the street. The man's a saint. See, that's the day Lauren fell in love with him...and that's the day we became enemies.
As I said, we didn't start out as best friends...
I should have been worried about the snow or at least about the ice underneath of it. Really, I should have been. It was a nagging tiny little voice in my subconscious that grew more distant with every second that I was allowed to observe Edward. I basked in the serene that came with his presence. I let it envelope me like a bubble, keeping out real life and holding him inside with me. Just like a bubble though, it was easily burst...
I waited by the water fountain with my back pressed against the cold, stucco wall while he retrieved his supplies and placed them in his backpack. My breath hitched and my heart raced watching his long fingers wrap around the spines of the textbooks. When he gathered everything he needed, he closed the locker door and started down the hall to the exit doors.
I followed stealthily behind, admiring his backside. His long legs propelled him faster than my short, stubby ones and I nearly had to jog to keep close to him. I was panting when he stopped to help pick up the papers Tyler had dropped out of his notebook onto the floor. He's so sweet. I stopped too, moving against the wall, again, out his line of sight.
He smiled when Tyler thanked him. My head tilted to the side and I exhaled heavily. My heart swelled with love for him as I watched their interaction. Tyler must have said something funny because Edward laughed loudly and I felt my face stretch wide with my own smile. A real smile. Most days only he can get a real smile out of me.
He patted Tyler on the back and then he was moving toward the parking lot again with me trailing behind. Luckily, I had been able to park next to Edward that morning, and I was ecstatic to be in his presence that much longer.
Suddenly Edward was gone and people were moving around me like a blur. I didn't understand what had happened at first because I had been so caught up in Edward. My mind had just registered the chill of his absence when I heard it. The scream brought me out of daydreams and I quickly realized something was really wrong. More wrong than me not being able to see Edward. I grew nervous as my eyes scanned the crowd for him. Then, through the crowd, I saw him. He was moving so quickly. He wrapped his arms around Lauren's waist from behind, pulling her to him. He made it four steps before they fell and rolled away just as Tyler's blue van skidded into Lauren's grey Toyota.
It all happened in slow motion and yet was over in an instant. My head reeled. Edward could be heard loudly proclaiming that it wasn't a big deal and, if Lauren was alright, he needed to be heading home. When Edward was gone, I was able to think a little more clearly, replaying the events in my mind. Seeing Edward moving at lightning speed, saving Lauren's life, I realized at that moment that he was a hero. My hero.
That's when I knew, I stood there dumbstruck with the realization, I'm in love with him. Not just a crush or some kind of infatuation. I'm honest to God, head over heels, unequivocally and irrevocably in love with Edward Cullen. My hands shook and I broke out in a sweat with this knowledge. How can I love him? I'm never going to have him. I'll never hold him. I'll never feel his warm plump lips against mine. I'll never feel his long, lean body pressed against me. Then just like the epiphany before, it struck again like a lightning bolt. He's going to break my heart.
I doubled over, my body bent at the waist with the ache I felt. It took a moment of deep breathing to balance myself and when I stood I met Lauren's gaze. She was scowling at me, ready to pounce. We glared, sizing each other up. I knew she loved him. One look told me that. I understood. How could she not love him? Just because I understood didn't mean I had to like it.
Lauren started toward me and I was prepared to strike when Alice and Rose approaching caught my attention. I backed up a few steps trying to keep all three girls in my line of sight. I didn't want to fight. I could still feel the pieces of my broken heart floating around in my blood stream. I needed to get away from there. I didn't have time for whatever was going on with these girls. I needed to get home where I could collapse in solitude and nurse my gaping, wounded heart.
Lauren got to me first. "I love him Bella," she insisted as if her life depended on my believing her.
From my left, Rose snorted, "None of you are good enough for him." She spoke with great disdain as she tossed her long, golden hair over her shoulder.
"He saved me too," Alice said timidly. "So don't think you're special or anything."
All eyes swung to Alice. "He did," she insisted, nodding her head rapidly.
"I love him," Lauren squeaked.
We stood watching Alice, waiting for her to begin.
"I was in Port Angeles. It was dark and I...I took the wrong street and got lost in this alley. There were these m-m-men..." Alice visibly shook, recalling her encounter.
"The men were calling me names and threatening me. One even pushed me. I fell and skinned my knee but suddenly, he was there." she said excitedly. "Edward," she whispered reverently.
"I love him," Lauren repeated, almost to herself.
"We all love him stupid," Rose shouted.
Alice's eyes snapped to Lauren's. "I thought because he saved me that it meant that he loved me."
Alice and Lauren stood staring at each other while Rose picked at her fingernails. Time seemed to stretch out forever as we stood in the school parking lot with the snow flying all around us. Principal Banner came around clapping her hands loudly and effectively ending whatever trance the four of us had been involved in. Slowly, we each began backing away while keeping our eyes on the others.
Anyway, after that day, I stopped following him. I ignored him in biology. I did my best to push thoughts of him out of my head, but Edward Cullen is not to be forgotten. He's too much and yet never enough. I could no more stay away from him than fish could stay out of water. Why should I deny myself the happiness he gives me? At the end of the day, all the twists and turns fall away and all that is left is bliss. In my old age, all I will remember is the way he made me feel in these small hours. You know what I mean?
Of course, I'll tell you what happened. Just calm down little one.
Now, where was I? Oh yeah, I couldn't stay away...
As I said, it was a really bad winter that year. It snowed constantly and the wind never stopped blowing. Temperatures were extremely low, just walking out the front door to your car would take your breath away and freeze your bones. I blamed the weather for my stalking tendencies. There was nothing else to do but watch Edward...
Being with him up-close and personal in biology was cathartic. Observing the way his eyes sometimes twinkled with mischief and learning the broad hand gestures he made when he spoke. I did all the things that girls do to look enticing to a man. I batted my lashes and twirled my hair around my finger. He flirted right back but never made a move beyond that.
That one hour was never enough though so I continued following him in the halls. In some ways I was eager to learn everything about him but mainly I just wanted to be near him. I even drove by his house a few times on the weekends when I was lonely and missing his distractions.
Things with the girls at school had gotten worse too. As glorifying as it was being in his presence, as dazzling as it was to look at him, hearing his voice is a spiritual experience. It has the power to both calm and electrify, sending shivers through your body and numbing you to anything but him.
Things with the girls at school had gotten worse too. Alice, Rose, Lauren, and I competed for his attention were none too nice to each other about it either. Snippy comments, eye rolls, and even some pushing and shoving were not uncommon. It didn't take the four of us long to figure out that we were not the only ones vying for Edward's attention either.
One morning, before classes started, I found Jessica and Victoria in the bathroom. Clothes and makeup were strewn everywhere and the room reeked of cheap perfume and hairspray. They both gave me dirty looks as I walked in, looks I immediately recognized as meaning, "Stay away from Edward." I bit my lip to hold in my giggles as they stuffed their bras. When I came out to wash my hands they were wobbling on their too-high high heels and wearing short mini skirts and tube tops in neon colors. I just smiled as they scowled at me.
Edward was oblivious. He smiled and spoke to them just as he did with any of the other girls. He always seemed to be exactly what each girl needed at the time they were with him. It's not anything he ever did on purpose. He honestly cared about everyone. He was just always very sensitive and intuitive, whatever you were feeling he felt it too. Because of that he often wore his heart on his sleeve and allowed his emotions to rule him. If he felt you were sad, he wanted you to be happy. It was like he radiated that emotion and it emanated back to you. And none of it was that he thought highly of himself or because he had any romantic agenda but because that's the kind of man he was…is…will always be. That was just one more reason we all loved him.
Don't worry honey, this story has a happy ending.
You never did mention where you are from?
Ah! Shy huh?
That's okay. I'll hear it all when you introduce yourself and tell your story during the meeting.
Don't be nervous. There is nothing to worry about. There is no judgment here and nothing you could say would be shocking to any of us. Just let me finish my story and you'll see what I mean, sweetie.
So the winter gave way to an early spring and soon it was hot. So hot you couldn't breathe. And with no rain in sight, the race for Edward's affection was way more dangerous. School was winding down for the year. Most of us would be going away to college in the fall, including Edward. We all wanted to land Edward before school let out so that we could at least spend the summer with him. We knew it would be more difficult to find chances to be near him after those last few days and everyone was stepping up their game...
The school hallways were becoming crowded as the fourth period dismissal bell rang to signal lunch. Girls began running out of classrooms, pushing and shoving to get behind Edward in the lunch line. I kept up the best I could as we fought for the right to walk behind him. Rose elbowed me in the throat and Alice kicked me in the kneecap, but I stayed strong, shoving Lauren into the lockers and yelling loudly about Jessica's tissue boobs. Right as we were about to enter the cafeteria, Victoria beaned me in the head with an apple.
I sat at the lunch table, next to the one where Edward always sat, along with the other girls all staring menacingly at one another. None of us got to be near him thanks to our antics in the hall, and I wasn't proud of how I was behaving. After a few minutes of debating I took a deep breath and spoke up to the group.
"We are going about this all wrong."
"What are you talking about?" Jessica sneered at me.
I looked around as Tanya and Kate joined the table.
I sighed deeply. "All this fighting is getting us nowhere."
"What are you suggesting, Bella," Alice asked wearily as if I was trying to trick them somehow.
"Look, all I'm saying is that it doesn't really matter what we wear or how we act. Ultimately, it is Edward's decision so let's just make him decide and get it over with," I told them as I picked at my salad with a fork.
"I have a feeling this is something we shouldn't be attempting at school," Lauren spoke fearfully.
"We'll go to his house tonight. We'll meet there and go together and just ask him outright," I said to everyone.
They all agreed and we decided to meet at Edward's house at seven o'clock that evening.
The rest of the day went by uneventfully and soon I was home trying to decide what to wear. I found a white slip dress my mother had bought for me to wear to a wedding once. Looking in the mirror, I knew it was perfect. To calm my nerves before it was time to leave, I decided to bake some cupcakes. Sugar is always good when heartbreak is involved, and there was definitely going to be a lot of that tonight.
Thankfully, baking distracted me enough to fill the time and keep my nerves at bay. Soon I was placing my Tupperware container of baked goods in my truck and driving to Edward's. The other girls were already there waiting for me. Tanya and Jessica had both brought alcohol, and we all decided to have a drink before knocking on the door.
Edward's house was the only one on the dirt road. We were able to park and sit on our cars as we talked, without causing any alarm. Soon, everyone was feeling tipsy and talk of him began. It seemed we had a great deal in common and we all felt the same about Edward. Tipsy turned to drunk just about the same time the rain began to pour down on us. Not one of us made a move to leave. In fact, it felt like more than a storm was brewing. Tanya and Victoria were suddenly fist fighting in the road while Jessica and Alice loudly cried their sorrows.
In my attempt to stop the fight, I slipped in the mud, breaking the tension between us. Soon we were all laughing as we were slinging mud at each other until I felt like my chest would explode if I didn't get in a real breath. I sat down and looked up at the Cullen house. There he was, standing in the window with the light of the room behind him illuminating his form. He looked like an angel with sun rays shooting out from him. The sight warmed my heart.
I gasped as the latest epiphany struck me like lightning. He has saved me in so many ways, I looked around at the girls stretched out on the lawn teasing each other, thinking how he has now given me a family.
"You know," I told them with eyes still glued on Edward's silhouette, "there's nothing like unrequited love to make you feel like your heart has been wrung out like a dishcloth."
Lauren scooted over closer to me and put her arm around my shoulders.
"We all love him..." I continued, "some kind of love should come from all of this. We have so much love between us, just think what we could do together."
Everyone nodded. Alice cleared her throat and spoke, "It's like the paradox that if you love till it hurts there can be no more hurt only more love."
So it was decided. We left that night without bothering Edward. We stopped fighting and began sitting together at lunch and even meeting up afterwards to talk, which was usually about Edward, but we branched out eventually and started to share with each other everything that was going on in our lives. We became sisters. We also started doing things for charity, collecting donations and giving our time. It was our way of giving back to the world what Edward had given to us.
I guess it shouldn't have surprised me when I saw the love-struck look in James' eye.
"He's ruined me," James whined one day as he sat down heavily in a seat by Victoria. He sat with his elbows on his knees and his hands balled into fists that he rested his chin in while Victoria rubbed his back.
"I can't stop thinking about him," James stated. "What is wrong with me?"
"If there is something wrong with you then there is something wrong with all of us," Rose told him.
"It's him," Jessica said dreamily. "Edward is magic and myth and everything good about the world all rolled into one man. I mean, it's not, like, normal right? We'd be crazy if we were not infatuated with him."
After school was over we went our separate ways but ended up right back here in Forks with each other when college was finished. Sure we had gone out into the world and met lots of new people, but upon returning home, we all realized that despite the passage of time and new people we had met, there was never anyone like Edward. We started meeting here at the bar once a month to celebrate how he has touched our lives. We talk about him and everything we love about him. We discuss our intense reactions to him. It has become sort of a ritual and we all looked forward to it.
You know, one day a girl came over and said she couldn't help but overhear our conversation, and she wanted to know who it was we were talking about. As soon as I spoke his name, the poor girl's knees gave out. Crumpled onto the floor, she told her tale. She worked at the bank and had been in love with him since he started coming in to deposit his weekly checks on Friday evenings. She joined us and soon people just started showing up with similar tales, so many that the bar's owner offered us their rear banquet room to accommodate all of us once a month.
It seems Edward's fingerprints don't fade from the lives he touches.
We like being close to Edward and despite his travels, he always comes back. He still lives in his parents' home although they died a few years ago. He told James once that Forks just feels like home. Edward is home for us more than any place on a map could ever be.
What?
No, I never asked him out. I took what he gave gratefully. For an hour a day, he gave me a sense of peace and an excuse to smile when I couldn't find any other. He gave me that freely, without even having knowledge of the service he was providing. He was just being himself. The purest gift, one might even say, divine. To ask for something in return would be like the sun asking the earth for payback for the many years of warmth it has provided. Just think, a love like that lights up the entire sky.
You feel it too. I know you do. The world is a little bit better just knowing that he exists right?
No, I never married, Some of the girls have though. About two years ago, Alice married Jasper Hale, but she continues to attend these meetings every month. I asked her about it once, and she laughed and explained. She loved Jasper, but all the love in the world didn't fill the void in her soul, a space left after what Edward had unknowingly stolen.
It's not the same kind of love she explained. Her husband was the best and she would never leave him. He was easy and safe and fun to be with but Edward was an all-encompassing love. Like the stars in the night sky, he covers everything.
All the member have their own story.
Take Ang for instance, she comes to us from Texas. Edward being an investor and all, he travels a lot. Well, Ang says she was addicted to him the first time she saw him in the Artpace Museum where she had worked. She spoke with him and fell hard. Luckily, he had told her where he lived and when he left she figured "Why not?" and followed him here to Forks.
Don't look so surprised honey. It wouldn't surprise me to learn there is a chapter just like this one in areas all over the world. Maybe there's a Donna in Colorado who can relate everything she says and does back to him. Or a Jessica in New York who becomes tongue tied at the mere thought of Edward Cullen. Maybe it even expands further than that, and there's a Tina in Australia with her own little group of sisters.
I laugh sometimes thinking how wonderful it would be if all those little groups all over the world could connect somehow. You know, chat about Edward, look at pictures of him, and relay each of their own personal stories. That would be amazing don't you think?
Anyway, it's time to start the meeting. Excuse me for a minute will you?
I stand and clear my throat before declaring, "I hereby call this meeting of the EDdicted to order. Has anyone had any encounters this month?"
"Oh good!" I exclaim. "Alice, please stand up and tell us about it."
"I saw him in the hardware store. I was so nervous. He was wearing those black boots. You know the ones. The Doc Martens?"
Murmurs, sighs, and swooning break out around the room.
"He said to me, 'Alice, you're looking well as always. I hear you got married. He's one lucky guy.'" Alice shrieked with excitement. "And then he winked and I almost died."
The ladies, and James, were getting wound up as catcalls and whistles erupted within the room. I knew I had to reign them in or they would discuss this all night.
Clearing my throat again, I inform the group that we have a new member.
"It's your turn honey. Stand up and tell us how you fell in love with Edward Cullen."