A/N: Hi everyone! So, I thought of the idea for this story while listening to "Beauty of the Dark" by Mads Langer. I put a link to the video of him singing it live, or acoustic rather, on my profile. Check it out! It's what birthed this story! I envision this to be as though Bella and Edward are telling YOU a story. They are talking to YOU. It will be BPOV and EPOV only! Reviews are greatly appreciated!!

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, I just get to play with them :)

Chapter 1: Introductions

BPOV

What do you do when you feel like you're drowning? When you feel like you're suffocating? Is there anyway out? Do you have anyone to pull you out? I don't.

Hi, I'm Bella Swan. (extends hand to shake) 17 years old. Plain. Agonizingly plain. Sigh.

I didn't always used to feel this way. I just, somewhere along the way, I lost my spark.

I had what you would call a boring childhood. I lived with my parents, Charlie and Renee, until I was 4. Then Renee took a liking to baseball and decided Charlie wasn't enough for us. I thought differently. She wanted me to go with her to Florida with her and Phil. Even at 4 years old, I knew I didn't want to. She left me with Charlie and rarely looks back to see how the dust has settled.

See, Phil is a Minor League baseball player, but he thinks he is the world's greatest. So does Renee. She calls me every time he goes into a new city to try out. Although she never calls to tell me he didn't make it onto the team…

My dad, Charlie, he's a quiet man. Much like me, he keeps to himself. He doesn't let people in for fear of them leaving or hurting him. He is the the police chief here in town.

Oh yeah, that reminds me. I never told you where I live. Drumroll please! Forks, Washington! Yeah! Oh wait, what's that? You say you've never heard of it. That's impossible! It looks like a mere speck of dust on a map…. I can't see why anyone would have never heard of this place. It rains constantly, the sun rarely shines. No wonder my mood is so blah.

I'm in high school. Summer is coming to an end, so I'm getting ready to start my senior year. It never really felt like summer. All it did was rain.

Back to school. My "friends". I have one good one, Angela Weber. Although she is just as quiet as me, so I guess we aren't like best friends or anything. Plus, she is always with her boyfriend, Ben Cheney. Then there's Lauren Mallory and Jessica Stanley. Now what can I say about them? In a word, they're bitches. Jessica is THE gossip queen of Forks High and she doesn't like me. Never has, although she acts like we're "besties" to my face. Lauren….blonde hair, sneering voice, never has liked me. I heard her talking about me behind my back one day. She denied it. Bitch.

Then, there are the guys. Tyler Crowley is a nice kid. Very artsy. Mike Newton. Parents own the sporting goods store in town, total jock, thinks all the girls love him. Kind of obsessive over me. Has no Clue that Jessica is in love with him. Eric Yorkie, smart, nerdy, plays chess. That's about it for him.

Did I miss anyone? Oh yeah, the Cullens. The infamous Cullens. There are 5 of them. Emmett is loud, looks like he should be the school quarterback, but doesn't play. Rosalie is the beautiful ice queen. Jasper is the curly haired blonde boy. Has a southern drawl when he talks….IF he talks. I've seen a few scars on him from afar, but have never heard any rumors about them. Alice is the ball of energy. She reminds me of a fairy. Tinkerbelle maybe. Then there's Edward. He's brooding, always looks angry, never talks to anyone but his family or teachers. He bumped into me in the hall once. Didn't even say excuse me. He just stared at me like I smelt bad or something. Asshole.

Two of the Cullen kids, Rosalie and Jasper, were adopted by Dr Carlisle Cullen and his wife Esme. Not sure of the circumstances behind it all. Edward and Alice are twins; Emmett is their older brother and all the biological children of Carlisle and Esme. Rosalie and Jasper are brother and sister.

Now, ready for the Cullen story to get complicated? Rosalie and Emmett are dating. Alice and Jasper are dating. I know, it's weird, but hey, to each their own I guess.

Okay, back to me I guess. I used to have a crush on Edward, until he knocked me down. Now I loathe him. He knows it too. I think. I stare daggers at the back of his head. Give him dirty looks.

I sound childish, don't I? Really, I'm not. Sometimes I just need to get it out. I hold it together so well on the outside. The inside, now that's a totally different story. I'm a mess. Obviously I'm not close enough to anyone to be able to vent to them. My dad and I, we don't get into the emotional talks, never have. I don't think we ever will. It's more comfortable for us both that way.

So that is me, in a nutshell. I should get to bed….school starts tomorrow. Yay. I'm so not ready for this.

EPOV

I used to have this flame inside of me. It burned so brightly. Now it's gone. I'm not sure where it went, but with it, it took my ability to compose, write music, smile…. How do I get it back?

Oh hey. I'm Edward. Edward Cullen. Pleasure to meet you I guess, although I'm not offended if the feeling isn't mutual. Let's see, what's to know? I'm 17 years old. I'm misunderstood.

Once upon a time I was kind of outgoing. I wrote songs, composed piano music, hell, I even had fun back in the day. I'm not sure if it happened suddenly or gradually, but one day I just felt like something was missing. I felt empty. Been that way ever since. Now, I don't know how to get out of the dark that has enveloped me.

I have a great family life, always have. I had a great childhood. So, it seems it's nothing lacking in the familial department. By the way, I should tell you about them, huh?

Carlisle, he's my father. We've always been close; he introduced me to my love of reading and the arts. He is a surgeon at the hospital here in Forks. (Remind me to tell you about Forks later…) Esme, my mother, she's a beautiful woman, inside and out. She has a knack for interior design, which she does on the side. She was made to be a mother.

My siblings are an odd bunch. First we have Alice, my twin. She is a bit…excitable. She is very pixie-like, always hyper and on the go, loves to shop. She also has a most annoying habit of always being right, always seeming to know what's going to happen before it does. Then there's Emmett, he is big and loud. He can't help but to play practical jokes, and joke constantly. It's just who he is. Alice and Emmett are my blood siblings. Jasper and Rosalie were adopted but are every bit as much of a brother and sister to me as Alice and Emmett are.

Jazz and Rose are brother and sister, their parents decided they just couldn't be burdened with kids. Rose was 5 at the time, Jasper was 4. Mom and dad knew their parents, the Hales, from around town and heard that they were having "problems" raising them. So, Carlisle and Esme stepped in and adopted them. No one knows where the Hales are now.

Ok, what now? Oh yeah, I was supposed to tell you about where I live, Forks, Washington. It's very green and it's very wet. Most people hate that, I love it. It just seems to capture the mood I am in 99% of the time—dreary.

School is, well, it's your typical high school. You have your dumb jocks; Mike Newton falls into that category. You have your nerds and artsy types, which would include Angela Weber and her boyfriend Ben Cheney, also Tyler Crowley and Eric Yorkie. Then there's Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory, two of the most vicious girls I have ever laid my eyes upon. They are constantly trash talking someone. Both have a disgusting obsessive habit of trying to get me to sleep with them, each behind the other's back. Heh. If it weren't so sick, it might actually be funny. That leaves us with your odd people out- me and my family. We don't really fit in anywhere. People shun us, say we're "too pretty" to be taken seriously. And what does that mean anyways?

So, I've never had a girlfriend. I had a crush on a girl for 2 years. Isabella Swan. Then one day I accidentally ran into her in the hallway. I was instantly hit with the smell of her shampoo, strawberry scented, and I froze. I wanted to say something but I couldn't. Just as I was about to open my mouth, she gave me the dirtiest look and walked away. After that I've avoided her. I can't say that I really like her much after the looks she gives me anyways. That's a lie. I totally still crush on her, but she hates me so it doesn't matter.

School tomorrow. Why did summer have to end so soon? I'm so not ready for this.

A/N: PLEASE review and tell me what you think!