I was walking down the empty math wing to my locker, when all of a sudden the most beautiful guy turned the corner. His hair was short and brown. His skin was just a tone darker than my own. One of his eyes was dark brown and the other just a little lighter than that. I know him. I knew everything about him. His name is Cole, he has been my best friend ever since the day I met him on the public transit bus to school. I've also loved him since then.

I quickly snapped back into reality before he noticed I was staring at him. I opened my locker and grabbed my coat. It was far to warm outside to wear both a sweater and a jacket so I just stuffed the jacket into my back pack and slung it over my shoulder. I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could. A hand suddenly startled me as it touched my left shoulder.

"Hey princess" Cole snickered as I spun around to face him.

"Hey Cole, and HA-HA just because I was a princess in my dream doesn't mean you can call me that." I replied. He called me princess because I had a dream that I was a princess and he was my knight in shining armour. I wished he would mean that I was HIS princess.

"Cole Aren't you late for play practice?"I said. He could tell I was frustrated, but anyone would be. It was muggy out, and it was the warm kind of rain. The odd thing was that it was the middle of winter.

I walked away before I said something I'd regret. The only thing I wanted was to get out of the dreary school. My house was only a five minute walk from the school so I didn't mind walking, I liked to take a walk through the cemetery when I was upset, to get things off my mind. There was a new tomb stone today. I stopped to look at it and to my surprise it said my name. It was dated sixteen-ten so I figured my name must have been common back in that era. It certainly isn't now.

My mother is an old fashion namer. My name is Isabella, it came from an ancestor that died protecting this town. My brother William was named after the towns founder William Bartlett. Both from the sixteen hundreds.

I walked through the door and my cat Romeo came running. My mom named her. That's right a girl cat, named Romeo. We have two cats' Romeo is old we've had her since my brother was born. We also have a kitten that belongs to me. His name is pentacle but we call him Penta for short. I named him that because the only part of him that isn't black is a little orange pentacle on his forehead.

I went into the bathroom only to find pentacle sleeping in the sink. I looked in the mirror only to find the same old plain reflection staring me in the face. I didn't fit in at all when it came to appearance. My family is all whiter than I. My skin is darker than all the white kids at my school but too light to be black it's like it doesn't want to choose a color and stay there. My hair is blonde with natural highlights. My eyes are dark brown not matching me at all, and my face not matching the rest of my skin at all is as white as the snow.

"Bella! Pentacle attacked me again"Screamed William.

"Will stay away from him. Will, if you keep on bothering him and pulling his tail he will keep on attacking and scratching you."I said noticing that penta had left the sink. I went out and picked the kitten up and put him in his bed. My brother is the most annoying eight-year-old that I have ever met. He whines about everything. He pulls the cats tail and expects him to just take it.

"Stop bothering Romeo, Will" I said as I waked into my room. I knew he was bothering her just by the sound of her paws scattering across the floor. When I got into my room I opened my laptop, as soon as I opened it a new message popped up from Cole and it read:

BELLA ANSWER YOUR CELL PHONE!

I'd forgotten my cell phone at home and as soon as I closed the conversation my phone rang.

"Sorry Cole I left my phone at home today. What was it you wanted?"I asked into my phone.

"Are you going to the Hollywood dance?" He asked.

"Yes" I replied.

"Will you go with me?"He asked anxiously.

"Sure but the dance isn't for thirteen days why are you asking me now?"I said.

"Well I didn't want Ryan to ask you first. There have been some rumours that he was going to."He replied. We talked for a bit more then I went online and did my homework. Will tried to get in a few times but gave up. Penta fallowed me in after I went to the bathroom and was now playing with the lace on one of my shoes. Mom still wasn't home by eight and will was bugging me for supper so I ordered Chinese. I couldn't cook if I was the last person on earth that was able. Everyone would die anyway from food poisoning.

The phone wrung, it was just mom calling to tell us that Uncle Albert came up from California and that's why she was late getting home. After supper arrived, I let will stay up until nine-thirty because it was a special occasion. After I got him settled, I went into my room and wrote about the crazy events of the day. I went to bed an hour later at ten-thirty.

I woke up to my alarm clock, which I had forgotten to turn off the night before. I flipped open my laptop and there were fifty messages waiting from Cole. Most of them were just the usual "You there?" but there was one that really caught my attention. It was different, it read:

"Bells I was going to wait until the dance but . . . Never mind."

I wanted to know what he was going to write before he decided against it. Penta was still asleep on my pink hello kitty pillow when I yanked it out from under him and threw it at my wall knocking him over in the process. Knowing my luck it was something awful like he was never speaking to me after the dance, or that he was going to get a girlfriend. There was always that little bit of hope that it was something good. But I wouldn't put a rest to it until I found out what it really was. This had my mind going a thousand thoughts a second.

I got up and looked out the window it was just beginning to become light out so I grabbed my back pack that had my book of shadows and my candles in it and went up to the lake to cool down. The lake was still partially frozen but I stuck my hand in anyway I pulled it out right away. I took out my candles and lighter and picked up some rocks and sticks and made a human sized Pentacle with them. I put each of the candles on each point of the star. I then took out my lighter and lit each candle with care. I looked through my book of shadows for a simple calming spell of any kind. I chose a simple levitation spell.

I was in harmony not remembering that the world around me even existed. All my problems seemed to disappear. I loved the smell of the lake. All I could smell was water, dirt, and pine with a hint of candle wax. I felt like I could stay there for hours just me and nature. My senses seemed more alive and in tune with my surroundings. My cell phone ringing snapped me out of my blissful state of serenity.

"Hi mom." I said as I answered my phone.

"Bella where are you?"She asked.

"I'm at the lake mom I woke up early so I went to the lake to clear my mind" I replied.

"Well, come home I need you to babysit William and Maria" She Demanded. I hung up the phone and put all of the candles out. I poured the melted wax out onto the lake it floated away until it hit ice. Then I stuffed them into my back pack. I had forgotten that Maria was coming home today. Maria is my little sister, Williams twin to be exact. She had gone away on a class trip that Will didn't get to go on because he got in trouble for throwing his snack at the teacher.

I ran home as quickly as I could because I knew I was going to get an earful about leaving with out telling anyone. Mom was just leaving as I got in the door so she didn't have time to yell at me. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a peach for breakfast before I changed out of my now very dirty Pajamas. Romeo was asleep on my bed with a playful Penta biting at her ear. Will was in the living room playing with the cats toys seeing as all of his toys except for him video games had been taken away due to his troublesome nature. Maria stormed through the door, threw her bags down and ran into her room. When I walked in she was on her bed sobbing.

"Reenie-beenie whats wrong? Why the sad face?" I asked.

"Mommy wont take me to get a hamburger at the burger hut" She replied.

"How 'bout I take you and Willie to the burger hut and you two can play in the play ground" I offered.

"Okay Jelly-Belly" She said. I sat on her bed and brushed and braided her hair so she would be calm enough to go. Having her hair played with has always calmed her down. I got up and went to put get her bags and put them in her room. Maria was really sensitive when it comes to being told no and will just never listens when he's told that. We went to the burger hut with the play place. Despite the name its pretty nice inside for a fas food joint. Its walls were all wooden and the floor was a more worn looking wood. The theme in this one was country western. They all had different themes. I ordered the burger hut special and ordered them kids combo's. They liked the toys they got inside. They finished up eating then went and played for a while until Maria came out crying because will pushed her down the stairs. I had to drag will out and take them home. Only to be met at the door by romeo.

I went into my room and heard the sound of a new message on my laptop which I had forgotten to close. The Message was of course from Cole. He told me I have to wait until the dance to find out what he was going to type. We talked for a little while until he signed off so he could catch the bus to my house. I put my favorite song on and waited. I couldn't wait to hear his Melodic velvety voice. I loved him so much I couldn't stand to be away from him for a long period of time. I played the song a few times before the door bell wrang. I rushed to the door because I knew that when I opened it Cole would be waiting on the other side. I opened it and let him in. We went into my bed room and sat on my bed.

"Y'know Cole, you're my best friend in the whole wide world and... and bestfriends tell eachother everything right?" I said

"Not a chance Bells. You have to wait until the dance" I put on my pouty face and sat there. I put on some music and we looked at each other. He started to lean forward slowly. Our lips were almost touching when all of a sudden Will bust through the door.

"ISABELLA! MARIA WONT PLAY WITH ME! SHE'S TOO BUSY WRITING IN HER STUPID DIARY!" He screamed.

"Will you can't make her play with you. She will play when she's ready. But for now you have the computer to play with so go do that until she is ready to play with you" I said. He stormed out slamming the door behind him. I stuck my tounge out and threw a pillow at it. Cole and I sat in silence for a few seconds then burst out laughing. Will had the worst timing. Cole was about to kiss me and Will ruined it.

The rest of the time Cole and I were in my room, we talked about alot. Mostly about what we were going to wear to the dance. And how he couldn't wait. When he left my heart sank because I didn't want him to go. Mom got home around eleven drunk. Uncle albert must have taken her out to a bar to meet guys. My dad died a few years back and mom never got over his death. He was musrdered on his way home from work one night. He didn't actually die until the next day. William and Maria were only five when it happened to they had a harder time dealing with it than I did. I was actually a little glad when it happened because my father was a drunk. He would come home every night drunk or he would come home and drink. When he was drunk he would hit mom for stupid things. She loved him anyway. Some times he even took it out on me. I grew up seeing mom cry from the pain of being hit but it was nothing like when he died. The family has been trying to help her find another man but she doesn't want to because daddy was her soul mate the only man she ever loved. She would do anything for him.

The rest of the week past by quickly. Mom coming home at normal times the twins fighting and me just abosorbed in thought casing my self to trip alot. They day of the dance had finally arrived. And not to a very good start. On my to school I passed that grave again. This time the date was different. The date was two days from now. I thought itwas just a trick of my eyes so I just kept on going. As soon as I entered the school I was crowded by people asking me about stupid untrue rumors.

"Look the nxt person to ask me about another stupid rumor isn't going to be very happy with their answer." I said. I walked away. I couldn't stand being around people and what was worse was that these people who were spreading the rumors were supposed to be my friends. I walked over to the stairs by the math wing and just sat in the corner. Cole was at his locker when he noticed me sitting there.

"Whats up with the sad face Bells?" He asked.

"People are spreading stupid rumors about me."I replied.

"My princess, Don't worry about what they say you andI both know its not true so smile and be happy. We are going to the dance to night and we are going to have a good time." He said. I put my head down because I was trying not to cry. My face was hidden by my hair. Tears started to fall uncontrollably leaving dark spots on my jeans as they hit. Cole tilted my chin up with one finger and wiped my tears away. He pulled me into a hug and I let my body go almost limp. When the first bell rang he walked me to my class and left for his. I spent the rest of the day avoiding people then I walked home to get ready for the dance. I put on my blood red dress, red scarf, brown boots, and brown fedora. I let my hair hang down in its loose ringlets and put a little pink clip in to keep half of my bangs out of my face. For once in my life I actually looked good. That is until Cole stepped through the door. He was wearing a white cotton blend shirt under a black blazer with a tie and dress pants.

We left holding hands and didn't let go until we had to be split into girl guy lines. Then our hands linked as soon as we got out of the lines. I was his date and he wasn't intending on letting anyone forget it. Most of the music was really bad the first slow song was terrible. But by the middle my friends started requesting some songs. The last song came quickly and Cole took me out side the gym for a few second.

"Bella, will you be my girlfriend? I've loved you since I met you." He asked.

"I love you too and yes" I replied. My face was as red as a tomato. We went back in and danced closer than before, it felt right. After the dance was over Cole's mom drove me home. I got out and thanked her for the drive then I went inside and wrote in my diary for a while. Then I put some music on ans went to sleep. I woke up late the next morning so I just threw on an old pair of jeans and I sweater and Grabbed a peach as I was heading out the door. The wind was blowing hard with the now rainy weather. I walked past that grave again but payed no mind to it. I knew if I was late one more time I would loose my exemption not that it really mattered I knew I wasn't going to be late for class I just liked to be there early so I could talk to my friends.

Cole was late I was wondering if he missed his bus or not. The first class dragged on and on until finally the bell rang. I met up with Cole in the main section of the upstairs he told me he needed to talk to me at lunch. With the events of the night before I thought it would be a good thing so I went to class cheerfully. Cole and I met up at my class room and walked over to the stairs by his locker.

"Bella we should run away together"He said.

"Why?" I said confused by his sudden intrest in rebelling.

"Because my family is moving to Germany and I can't live without you"He replied.

"But if we run away together they could always find us" I looked at my legs.

"Lets commit suicide" We said together. We got up and walked out side. We held hands and walked over to the busiest street near the school. We stepped up to the curb and hugged then kissed.

"It looks like this is good bye" I said.

"Yes. I love you Isabella Gilbert" He replied.

"I love you Cole Snow" We stepped off of the curb right in front of a speeding bus then everything went blank.