The Cullens have just moved to Forks. This is during the summer so they aren't in school right now. Bella has been in Forks for a year now and is really good friends with Mike Newton. She hasn't met Jacob yet.
"This place is never busy!" Mike groaned.
I rolled my eyes in his general direction. The store where we worked was never busy. Nobody cared much about hiking equipment. Nobody had that much money to waste. A job was a job though and I was lucky to have one in the small town of Forks.
"Are you actually surprised?" I asked with my eyebrows raised. He laughed.
"Of course not. I'm just bored out of my head."
"Aren't we all?" He laughed again.
"Are you busy tonight?" Mike asked me.
Oh crap. Mike had been asking me out weekly basically since I had come here. I hadn't wanted to ruin our friendship with one of the select friends I had made this year, so I've just been making excuses. He was just so persistent. I was beginning to wonder if I should just give in.
"I don't know Mike-," I started.
The bell on the store door chimed as it opened. A girl about my age entered. She had spiky, short, black hair and was very small. She was really pale and had black eyes with shadows under them. She was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. Mike seemed to feel the same way because he cleared his throat to try to regain himself. She girl almost danced towards our various displays of shoes and hiking equipment and shot me a radiant smile. I blinked, surprised. The door opened again with the familiar bell and this time, two men stepped through. One looked older than the other did. The older man had blond hair and the same pale face, the same dark eyes, the same shadows. He smiled at Mike and me before joining the girl. The other man followed suit. He was clearly the most beautiful out of the three. His face was pale with purple shadows under his eyes but the eyes themselves were a warm, melted gold, almost like topaz. He had tousled bronze coloured hair and a square jaw. He didn't look in my direction. Mike and I tried to snap out of our trance and put on the cheesy smiles that Mrs. Newton had taught us to do. I walked over.
"May I help you?" I asked the older man innocently.
"Just browsing. Thank-you." His voice was smooth like velvet.
I walked back towards Mike behind the counter and I shrugged at him. He just shook his head slightly. I put my smile back on and resumed position.
"How long will this take, Alice?" The younger man asked the girl.
"As long as it takes." She replied simply. "I've been wanting some new hiking boots for a while now. You offered to come, Edward so don't complain."
Aha, the beautiful man's name was Edward.
"You made it sound like you knew exactly what you were getting…" Edward muttered.
"Stop it you two. Don't you need some news boots too, Edward?" The older man asked.
"Not particularly." Edward shrugged.
Alice stuck out her tongue and Edward rolled his eyes.
"Why didn't Jasper come?" Alice asked.
"He… went hiking with the others." The older man answered.
There was a tone to his voice that I couldn't pick up; like there was more meaning to his words than what he led them on to mean. Mike had turned towards me so it looked like we weren't eavesdropping. Me? I couldn't keep my eyes off of Edward.
"Alice?" Edward asked.
"Hmm?"
"Are you okay?" Edward asked her. She raised an eyebrow.
"What makes you think otherwise?"
"Just your eyes…" he trailed off.
They stared at each other for a minute and looked away.
"I may not be as old as you are, Edward but I can control myself." Alice said.
"I'm just making sure." Edward defended himself.
"Do you hear this Carlisle? No faith in me what so ever. It's practically insulting!" Alice teased.
I didn't know what they were talking about. But the older man's name was Carlisle. These names sounded so old… like hand-me downs or something. So Edward was older than Alice was. That was all I gathered from the argument. Maybe he thought that she was going to throw a fit because she looked angry or something. It wasn't my business but I just couldn't look away…
Alice picked up some boots without even trying them on and carried them towards Mike and me. I smiled at her.
"Are you new in town?" I asked politely. It was true that I didn't recognise them. I punched numbers into the cash register.
"Yes." Carlisle told me.
"Well there are some pretty good trails around Forks." Mike assured them.
"That's good to hear." Carlisle smiled. "This is my son, Edward, my daughter Alice and I'm Carlisle Cullen. We just moved in."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Bella Swan and this is Mike Newton." I smiled back.
"Pleasure." Carlisle said warmly. "You look about the same age as my children. How old are you?"
Edward smirked about something. I ignored him.
"Seventeen." I answered.
"You kids might like to get together sometime." Carlisle suggested.
"I'd like that!" Alice shrieked.
"Yes. That would be nice." I smiled. Mike nodded.
"You might have to come and visit sometime Bella. We haven't made any friends yet here. You can meet my wife, Esmé and my other children, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett." Carlisle said.
"That sounds great."
I was surprised by their forwardness about making friends. Edward was glaring at his father but Carlisle took no notice. Alice was impatient and kept shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Mike was forcing a smile still. I looked at the cash register and was surprised that Alice had chosen one of the most expensive pairs of boots in the store. The price was over two hundred dollars. To my immense surprise, Edward pulled a wad of cash from his wallet and placed it on the counter infront of me. I saw more bills in his wallet but he pulled it out of my sight. He truly was really beautiful. These people were probably rich then. Carlisle handed me a piece of paper where he had scribbled the address of his home in elegant script. I smiled. These Cullens were complete strangers and they just handed me their address.
"Well, feel free to visit soon Bella. You too Mike." Carlisle told me before heading out the door.
I nodded and smiled.
"Thank-you, come again soon." Mike said in a false cheery voice. I rolled my eyes so only he could see it.
Alice danced after Carlisle and flashed me a brilliant smile before heading out the door. They were so graceful. I wished I were like that. Mike eyes followed her out the door. Edward crossed the room but our eyes met for the briefest second and he gave me this crooked smile of apology that literally made my heart fail. Beside me, I heard Mike snort.
"You can breathe again, Bella." He reminded me. I blushed crimson.
"I wasn't the only one. You couldn't stop staring at Alice." I mocked him.
"That was her name?"
"Were you even paying attention?" I demanded.
"Not really." Mike admitted. I rolled my eyes again.
"Ah… right. You were too busy watching her."
"You're the one to talk! You were watching that Edwin guy the entire time!"
"Edward." I corrected. "And no I wasn't."
"Sure, sure. So how about tonight?"
Jeez, this guy never gave up. I gulped.
"I don't think so Mike. I think of you as a friend mostly. I'm sorry."
"Mostly?" Uh-oh.
"I just want to be friends." I corrected.
"As friends do you want to hang out?" he asked me.
NO! NO! NO! I wanted to scream. There was never just friends with Mike when we were alone. I racked my head for an excuse.
"I can't though, Mike. I'm sorry. I promised Charlie that I'd watch the game with him tonight." I made up. He bought it.
"Okay. Well I'll see you tomorrow then." He sighed.
"Yep."
I locked the cash register and helped close the store. I waved as I walked out the door. I had nothing better to do, I drove to Carlisle's house.
When I was driving, it took me ages to find the right path to turn onto. It was really confusing. I knocked on his door and Alice answered about two seconds later. I jumped.
"Hi Bella!" she said delighted.
"Hello Alice."
"Come on in." she gestured inside.
She led me to a living room where the rest of her family, I presumed was sitting. She gestured for me to sit beside her, which just happened to be beside Edward as well. I shifter uncomfortably. She took no notice.
"This is Jasper,-"
She pointed out a boy about our age on the other couch. He was beautiful too, of course.
"Emmett-,"
I noticed the other man. He was burly and tall. He had a huge grin on his face.
"Rosalie-,"
She pointed out the most beautiful person in the world. Rosalie Cullen was stunning. Everything from her blond hair to her delicate pale features seemed to radiate the room. I was surprised I hadn't noticed her before. I could hardly look away from her.
"And Esmé." Alice finished.
She gestured towards a really pretty woman who smiled warmly at me. Her hand was in between Carlisle's. All of the Cullens were the same, but so different. Their features were as different as possible but the pale skin and eyes seemed identical. Carlisle and Esmé looked far too young to have teenagers.
"You've already met Edward and Carlisle of course." Alice said.
I nodded. Carlisle smiled and Edward did too, but it was a small smile. It pleased me anyway though.
"I'll show you the house." Emmett offered.
"Sure." I said sheepishly.
Alice dragged me to my feet and we followed Emmett. He showed me the beautiful house.
"What's in that room?" I asked, pointing to the closed door we had just passed.
"Edward's room." Emmett explained. "He doesn't like people going in there."
We passed several closed doors. The excuses were the same. Emmett said that everyone's rooms weren't the cleanest from the recent move. I believed it.
EPOV
I had never seen anyone so beautiful. But I was afraid. Alice had seemed to expect this for a long time. I would have to ask her later. I was afraid because I didn't want to hurt her. I didn't want to inflict myself upon her, being a vampire and all. I didn't want to sacrifice the life that Carlisle had built for me. I was tempted to follow Bella as Alice and Emmett dragged her around the house but I didn't want to tempt myself further. Nobody had ever been so tempting before. Even the smell of her blood was tempting. I had experienced worse thirst before but she still smelled delicious. Floral, somehow. When Emmett had brought her to the family room downstairs, Alice came up and joined me. Rosalie drifted off to follow Emmett – clearly she didn't trust Bella alone with him – and Alice dragged me into the other room.
"Why won't you even look at her?" Alice demanded.
"What have you seen?" I asked her.
"I'll tell you when you tell me." She said stubbornly.
I sighed and focused my attention on her thoughts. Nice try Edward but I won't even think about it until you tell me why you want nothing to do with her. I sighed again.
"I have… felt this away about anyone. Not like this. I'm not going to risk her life because I was a fool. I'm not risking Carlisle's progress with this family. I refuse to complicate things." I explained. "Your turn." I added.
"I saw you and Bella together. Your arm was around her waist and her head on your shoulder. You were just kissing her cheek and I have never seen you look happier. You belong together." Alice told me.
I stared at her. Surely this was a joke. I was aware of my current feelings but to go that far? To put everyone around me in danger of exposure? To risk her life? I felt selfish as I knew that was what I wanted.
"I won't do that to us." I promised.
"We can trust her. Trust me on that." Alice assured me.
"Why can't I read her mind? I've been trying since we were at the store." I asked mostly to myself.
"I'm not sure." She admitted. "Be around her. I think she likes you too."
Alice walked away towards Bella in the other room. I followed her.