Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, a very talented Stephanie Meyer does. :P

Prologue:

I felt like I gave him everything. He gave me a broken heart and a simple goodbye. This was the last time we would go through this. At least that's what I told myself.

Chapter 1: False pretenses

"Emmett! Let's go already." My darling brother had himself, yet again, attached to his girlfriend's face. Sighing to myself I got into my old, faithful, red Chevy and waited for them to tire of each other and begin arguing. That's not a rare occurrence lately. Personally, I believe it's because they spend too much time together, but who am I to judge? I'd never even been in love. Ah, love. What a word. Emmett and Rosalie were the prime examples of it for me. My Father certainly wasn't a role model for it, what with his five (and counting) wives. He'd divorced four of them already; and I'm certain that the latest one, Sue, would be soon on her way. You see, my father was a bit of a "gold-digger" for lack of a better word. When they went to court to settle the money, who would ever believe that Charlie Swan, police chief of Forks, Washington, father of star pupils Emmett and Bella, would ever use a woman for her money? Certainly not many people, obviously. And I, Isabella Marie Swan, certainly wasn't a role model for love. Sure, I've had boyfriends, but none of them for love. They were mostly for show, and out of acts of loneliness. A knock on the door brought me out of my musings. There was Emmett standing at the passenger side waiting to get in.

"Sis! Unlock the door, would you?"

I hit the locks and waited for my brother to lug himself into Rusty. (My truck is a part of me, it deserves a name. Don't judge.) I heard a tap on my window, so I rolled it down to see my best friend, Rose standing there. Yes, she was my brother's girlfriend, and my best friend. She was quite the character; once you got past her bold bitchiness.

"Helloooo? Whoa Bella, someone's heads in the clouds today," Rose said.

"Sorry Rose. I'm just kinda stressed out about this party on Saturday." Ah, parties. Parties and I don't mix. I'm what many people call a lightweight. And I just know that Mike Newton is going to attempt to slip me something. Mike has had a crush on me for as long as I've been in Forks. He's sweet and all, but… there's something off about him. Not to mention the fact that I don't like him the same way.

"Doll, it'll be fine. Do you think either me or Emmett will let anything happen?" Rose questioned.

I sighed. "No, but you two might be too busy sucking face to pay any attention to myself being abused by Mike."

Rose laughed. "We'll see. See you two later."

Emmett and I both said our goodbyes and then we were off to our house.

"Can't wait to see what Sue cooked. I think I'll be sad to see this one go." Emmett said, thinking with his stomach instead of his head again.

I laughed saying, "I'm sure you will. Well, maybe your stomach will."

Emmett put his hand over his heart in mock horror. "Was that an insult to my stomach?"

"Yes, Em it was. "

Emmett crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin in the air. "I'm not speaking to you." Just as he said this, his stomach growled.

"You might not be, but your stomach sure is," I retorted.

"Hmph." Emmett said.

"Well it's a good thing we're home." I said as Emmett jumped out of the truck.

We walked inside the house, saying short greetings to Sue.

"Hey Sue. Where's Dad?" Emmett questioned.

"Avoiding all time here before he can sign the divorce papers…" I answered him in my head. Sue, of course, had other ideas.

"Oh honey, he's still at work. Poor soul, working his heart out to feed the family… I told him I could help…" Sue mumbled. At this point, I stopped listening to her. None of what she said mattered. Sue was a lovely woman, really. But why get close to her; when soon, she'll just be a memory in the past? This is what always happened. I never even knew my real Mom. She was like all the rest. Only she was the first. I guess Dad made the mistake of drinking too much and then having sex with her twice. After that, he became careful when he drank; and not to get too intimate with the women. We all knew he was sexually active; just not with women he married. Kids were too much of a liability to him. Luckily for him, my Mother was willing to give away all her rights to us, or his plots would have been completely ruined by having to be attached to her because of children. Don't get me wrong, Dad loves Emmett and me. But if we ever got in the way of his plans, I honestly don't know what he'd do. My Father was extremely selfish in that way.

Soon, dinner was over, and Dad still hadn't come home. Emmett and I knew what this meant. He was "busy" with someone. And that someone was most likely his secretary. The atmosphere was heavy when we all went to sleep, Sue was upset with Dad, and I was actually feeling some sort of regret for Sue. Ignoring her cries from the other room, I plugged in my iPod and fell into a deep sleep.

Ugh, Monday mornings. Complete with a hellish argument from Dad and Sue. Great. Emmett and I ignored them to the best of our abilities, and got ready for our day at Forks High School. Soon we were pulling into the parking lot. I noticed a silver Volvo beside Rose's red BMW. That's odd. I've never seen that car before. My thoughts were cut short when I heard first bell.

"Shit! I'm going to be late." I screamed to no one in particular. Unfortunately for me, this meant I had to run; and I am extremely uncoordinated. I, of course, fell and dropped my books. As I began to try to get up, I saw a hand pop in front of my face. I took it, and my mysterious stranger helped me to my feet. Once I was standing again, I brought my face up and was met with the most beautiful face I'd ever seen. He had this wild bronze hair, a perfectly sculpted nose, and lips that when they opened, revealed a row of perfectly white teeth. When my eyes ventured upward, however, I was met with the most extraordinary sight I'd ever seen. His eyes… His eyes were a glowing jade. And they seemed to go on forever. The more I looked in them, the more transfixed I became on this glorious man in front of me. Then when he spoke, I almost fainted. His voice was sultry. Almost like velvet, so soft, yet deep at the same time.

"Are you alright?" He asked me.

I think I answered yes. I had no recognition of speaking though.

"Good. By the way, I'm Edward Cullen. It's nice to meet you…" He said, and waited for me to speak.

"Hello.. Edward. I'm Bella. Bella Swan."

"Pleasure to meet you, Bella Swan. "

Oh. My. God. When he said my name, that was it for me. I think I just fell for this boy….

Author's Note: So this is my first venture into fanfiction. This is the first thing I've ever written, so I'd appreciate some feedback. (: Negative, positive, whatever you can give me. (: By the way, if you're interested in being a Beta for this story; I could use one. So review please? :)