Disclaimer: We have said it before and we'll say it again, We don't own Twilight! But, girls can dream of diamonds instead of zirconias, right? Kudos to Stephenie Meyer's, she does own Twilight! I know another story, what can I say I have been working on this for a while it was inspired by the song from Taio Cruz, sort of in a roundabout way. Many Thanks to Dazzleglo and Oneof Eddiesgirls for their help beta-ing it. Co-written with JD909626 (If you do not recognize her name, she was the author who took over for the story 'My Mate' and what a fabulous job she did! I am personally grateful she agreed to do this with me! Summary: "And last, but not least, is Edward Cullen, a/k/a 'Heartbreaker.' He's broken almost every girl's heart here," What if Bella believed the rumors Jessica was telling her? What would the Cullen's have to do to get her to see the truth? Is Bella really that much of a klutz? My first AH, thankfully it's not JD's. a/k/a Heartbreaker Chapter 1 Bella's POV
I have always hated the first day of school and senior year was no exception. To say I was where I expected on my first day at Forks High School would be a lie. I expected to be sitting in a corner by myself reading, instead I find myself surrounded by a few acquaintances that had been nice enough to ask me to join them. Let's see how long that lasts. As I sat here in the cafeteria with my 'new found friends,' I noticed the five floating visions that walked in and my curiosity was definitely peeked. I did not know it was possible to be that perfect. Yet, there they were strolling to a table about as far away from us as possible.
"Who are they?" I asked the brunette next to me, wishing I could remember her name.
"Oh, they're the Cullen's. Their dad is head doctor at Fork's Hospital," the girl next to me named Angela said. And I thought to myself great, I'll probably be on a first name basis with him shortly knowing me.
"Trust us Bella; you want to keep as far away from them as possible. You see…they hookup with each other. They're like together, together. It's just not right," I snuck a quick peek only to be caught by the bronze haired boy.
Jessica proceeded to go off and name them all, telling me who was with who. She caught my attention when she finished with, "and last, but not least, is Edward Cullen, a/k/a 'Heartbreaker.' He's broken almost every girl's heart here," with his looks it was no big surprise.
Of course, when I snuck another peek I was caught yet again causing my face to burn with a very deep blush. In my feeble attempt to minimize my embarrassment further, I gathered up my trash and books for a hasty getaway. Keeping my head down, I told everyone I would catch up with them later and headed for the door. I could feel people staring at me, but I made no attempt to see whom it was, I just needed to be out of here and fast before I fell on my face.
Once my trash was safely in the bin, I proceeded to walk into the glass door, so much for a graceful getaway. It was in my best interest that I willed myself not to turn around. I did not want to see the entire school populace staring at me like a freak. Hopefully I did not break my nose, and considering it was not bleeding, I took that as a good sign and pushed my way out the door. Crisis averted, wouldn't be meeting Dr. Cullen today, but then again the day was still young.
I actually managed to find my next class, Biology with Mr. Melina after only tripping over my own two feet, twice. I was early so that was a good sign and I breathed a sigh of relief. After he had signed my form from the office, he directed me to a lab table and returned to his desk. With ten minutes until class started, I wasted them thinking about Heartbreaker.
Why is it I am always attracted to things I can't have? I really cannot say why I am attracted to him besides his Greek godlike appearance. There is just a mysterious aura to him, he is…intriguing. I barely registered the other students filing in, until one in particular caught my eye. Why did Heartbreaker have to be in one of my classes?
Great…now, I can spend the rest of the school year looking at someone I cannot have. I saw a small glimmer of hope that maybe he had the wrong room when he hesitated at the door. The look on his face puzzled me; he looked like he was horrified.
Quickly, he told the teacher, "I'm going to be sick," and ran down the hallway. Well, that was a relief; I almost thought it was me who horrified him.
When class finally crawled to a halt, it was my turn to be horrified when I read my new schedule. "Oh…great, gym class!" I internally groaned. Mike was kind enough to walk me there; little did he know I was a walking disaster zone.
"So Bella, can I walk you to gym?"
"Sure, is it your next class?"
"Yeah, were playing volleyball," he chuckled as I gasped.
He would soon find out it was in his best interest to stay as far away from me as possible. After the mandatory outfit change, I timidly entered the gym, approached the teacher and handed him a note. He did not heed the warning letter from my last PE teacher instead; he laughed and told me to head over to the volleyball court. That was the biggest mistake of his life.
Yeah, it didn't seem like a bad move for the first five minutes because I managed to hover in the back, but as the rotation began, I ended up in the serving position. I spiked the volleyball directly into Mike's face, and he was on my team. From all the blood pouring down his face, I would say I broke his nose. The teachers scrambled over trying to get it to stop, but every time they touched it, he would wail like a baby. In the end, they called for the nurse to come and tend to him.
Class went on while we waited and before the nurse could arrive, I tripped one of the girls when I fell over her feet, so now the nurse would have to see if she broke her foot. Two students in fear of being near me dragged her over to the bleachers just to be out of my disaster zone.
Well, at least the nurse was already on her way. You would think the coach would bench me, not a chance, he thought he knew better. That would ultimately be his undoing since the next time the ball came careening towards my face, I swatted it away. That only caused it to hit him square on the back of his head and send him flying into the cement wall knocking him out completely. It was humiliating standing there while everyone stared at me gasping in shock. The nurse finally came in and, of course, freaked out not knowing where to begin.
"What the heck happened here?" she gawked at all the wounded.
Everyone just pointed at me; I do not think the nurse will be one of my fans. Luckily, the assistant coach who finally realized I was a menace to the class benched me. After that, everyone pretty much steered clear of me considering three people were sent out by ambulance. The assistant coach told me I was benched for the year, which was a ray of sunshine in my book.
When the bell finally rang ending the school day, it was a relief to finally get into my truck and away from everyone. Charlie bought it for me because he said it was as sturdy as a tank. I will never forget when he smirked at me and said, "it will be impossible to hurt yourself in that beast."
"Yeah…but what about the poor pedestrians walking the streets? They'll never know what hit them," I smirked back. He looked flabbergasted as I climbed into the mammoth rust bucket and pulled away.
At least on the ride home, I managed not to run anyone over. Once my homework was done, I headed to the kitchen to cook. Whatever made me think cooking was a good idea after my day, I will never know. By the time Charlie arrived home, the kitchen looked like World War 3 had broken out in there.
"Bella! What happened? Did your friends run off after the food fight?" he fought to keep in his chuckle, but failed miserably.
"Hey! That's the last time I try to cook for you!" I mocked feeling hurt, but he didn't buy it.
I really don't remember how the flour ended up covering the cabinets. It might have been when I dropped the pan of pasta sauce on the counter after it burned my hand. Then again, it could have been when I cut my finger making the salad. On the other hand, perhaps it was when I dropped the gallon of milk on the floor and the carton broke open sending milk splashing everywhere, but I cannot say for certain.
"Come on kiddo, let's go to the diner, you can clean this up later."
The ride to the diner was quiet; neither of us really knew what to say to each other. After safely making it to the table, I could not help but notice the bulk of the menu consisted of massive amounts of fat laden red meat, yeah that's healthy. While we waited for our food to be delivered, Charlie opted for dinner conversation.
"So…how was your first day?"
"Well…as good as can be expected for me…," I challenged him with my eyebrow.
"What was the casualty count?" He chuckled.
"Three, sent to the hospital by ambulance," this time I chuckled, not that I was sadistic, but really when will people learn to take some advice.
"Three hunh, I guess the gym teacher didn't fully comprehend the weight of the letter from your last one…," he chuckled knowingly.
My klutziness was well known, one might even say legendary. If you did not want to get hurt, you stayed away from me. It made making friends in Phoenix - difficult. I had hoped when I came to stay with Charlie that I could hide it somehow, but after today the cat was out of the bag.
"So…Charlie, what's the deal with the Cullen's?"
"Now…Bella, you know how I feel about small town gossip and prejudice views."
"Oh…come on - I am not asking if…," my sentence was halted when the largest Cullen male, Emmett…I believe, walked in and up to the counter.
His order must have been called in because the waitress just smiled and handed him a small brown paper bag. She gave him a sympathetic smile as he paid her. What was that about? He glanced our way and politely nodded to Charlie before exiting.
"Spill dad! What's up with them?"
"Fine…but, you need to keep an open mind here, promise?"
"Right! Whatever you say…," I gave the Girl Scout hand pledge.
"They moved here two years ago from Alaska. Their dad Carlisle is the best doctor I have ever seen, which now that I think about it, that's a good thing since you're living here. A little younger than you would expect, but he and his wife have raised those kids to be the most well mannered teenagers I have ever known," he paused when our food arrived and I thought sarcastically to myself, maybe we should send the good doctor a fruit basket or at the least I should go down and introduce myself as the person who would be causing his emergency room business to increase by 500%. Then he picked up right where he left off.
"Their mom Esme is a very well known architect which allows her to work from home. She's like June Cleaver the way she takes care of those kids."
"June who?"
"Never mind…I am just old and outdated. Anyway, I never have any problems with the Cullen's, not like the rest of the yahoos around here," he waved out the window to the
boys playing football in the parking lot.
"I heard they date each other?"
"Well if they were related that would be an issue, but since they are not…," he left me hanging while he took a bite of his steak.
"What do you mean they aren't related?"
"Doctor Cullen and his wife foster them all. Jasper and Rosalie Hale are the blonds and they're twins. His wife's sister died and they took them in when no one else would," I swear if he did not stop taking bites of his steak, I was going to have to smack the fork out of his hand, but on second thought, that probably wouldn't end well.
"The three Cullen's - Emmett, Edward and Alice, they were from his side of the family. That's why they have the same last name as the doctor. Emmett's parents just dropped him on their doorstep one night with no explanation as to why. Edward and Alice's parents were killed in a car accident. And...that's all there is. So you see Emmett dating Rosalie and Jasper dating Alice doesn't break any laws of man or nature," every time he said Edward I replaced it with a/k/a Heartbreaker.
"Now all they need to do is foster another girl for Hea - Edward," I grumbled as I chewed on my salad.
"Isabella Marie, those kids have been through hell and if I hear you are disgracing their good names, I will ground you for life. Do you hear me?"
"Okay…I get it. Chill will ya, I was just saying he must be lonely being the only single guy there," internally I smirked because with his reputation there was no way he was lonely.
I let the conversation die there so the rest of dinner was quiet. After we got home, the fun ensued as I now had to scrub the kitchen from floor to ceiling. At least I only fell off the counter once. By the time I dragged my sorry butt to bed it was all I could do to collapse onto it. As tired as I was, you would think I would have slept like a rock, but visions of Heartbreaker made that feat impossible.
The next day started much like the day before. After yesterday's stellar performance everyone one walking down the halls pretty much pressed themselves as far into the walls as they would allow. I dragged my way through my classes until lunch.
Unfortunately…today, I was not welcome at the table with Mike and his friends. Their sneers assured me of that. In an effort to keep everyone safe, I sat at the picnic benches outside, alone, in the rain. It really wasn't raining, more like misting. I was soaked by the time I reached Biology class. Wet sneakers and a clean floor were not the best combination for me, so when I quickly tried to take my seat, I slipped on the girls backpack in front of my table. Well the result was me on my back groaning and the entire class laughing at me. Great! That's a real morale booster. Much to my disappointment Heartbreaker was not at the lab table he was expected to sit. I figured that fact out yesterday when the room was filled and it left the only chair left open, next to me. However, he never showed, he was out again. Why this fact bothered me? I will never know!
The week continued on in much the same fashion. Heartbreaker was out and I was the social pariah. The only good news came in the form of the people I hurt. By Friday, they were all back in gym class and as far away from me as possible. At least I would not be expected to see any of them until Monday.
Saturday I woke feeling refreshed and ready for some fun. Of course to Charlie, that meant a trip to the reservation to see Billy. I have not seen him since I was a small child and hoped he didn't remember the mud pie incident. I groaned just thinking about it. There is no short version of that tale.
I was four and visiting my dad. He made a last minute decision, deciding to go fishing with Billy Black. His wife Sarah was nice enough to agree to sit for me while they went. I remember standing on the dock with my first aid kit in my folded arms as they pulled away. I nearly threw it in the water when I heard a boy's voice come up behind me.
"Hey, I'm Jacob, your dad's with my dad," he said pointing at the boat that was almost invisible now.
"Nice to meet you Jacob, I'm Bella."
"We're making mud pies want to join us?"
"Sure, is it safe?"
"Yeah, how much trouble can you get into making mud pies?"
"I don't know," I grumbled and followed him to where his twin sisters were making them.
Feeling accomplished when I managed to make my first one, I handed it Jacob, which he happily ate. Three pies later, his mom came out screaming and we spent the afternoon watching him throw them back up.
I was surprised when we pulled up in front of the house because standing there were six russet colored skin boys. They looked a little intimidating really as they were all over six feet tall. The second my foot touched the ground I was swept up into two burly arms.
"Welcome back stranger!"
"Jacob?" I gasped.
"Who else?" He chuckled.
"Bella, this is the pack; Sam, Jared, Embry, Paul and Quil," he said as he slipped his arm around my shoulder.
"Hi guys, hey those are cool. Are they real tattoos?"
"Yeah, they're tribal tattoo's, we all have them," he flexed to show it off.
"Oh…hey, here are the girls," I looked up to see six girls strutting our way.
"Bella, this is Emily, Kim, Leah, Claire, and you remember my sisters Rebecca and Rachel," he pointed out each as he went.
"Yeah…I remember. Hey…it's nice to see you again and nice to meet you all," I waved nervously accidentally slapping Jacob in the face.
"Ahhh Bella, I see you're just as klutzy as ever," they all chuckled making me feel even more nervous about their close proximity.
"Um…I should go, Charlie's probably looking for me…," in my rush to turn and run, I tripped over my own foot.
Just as I braced for the impact, it never came. I felt Jacob grab me by the waist and pull me back before I could plant my face into the ground.
"I think you would be safer with me," the way he said it sent shivers down my spine.
He almost sounded possessive of me. I didn't really like that feeling, after all, who would want to possess me anyway? We spent the rest of the day hanging out as they put it 'in a pack.' One thing became abundantly clear; they were all paired off except for Rebecca and Jacob. The whole brother sister thing would have been creepy. When Charlie finally called for me, I was ready to put the day to an end, but Jacob had one more thing he felt he needed to do.
"When I heard you were coming home I made you a present," he dangled a silver link bracelet with a tiny carved wolf hanging from the end in his giant hands.
"Oh…you didn't have to do that," I shifted between my feet nervously.
"No…but I wanted to. Will you wear it?"
"Sure, since you went through the trouble. How can I say no?" I really wanted to say no, but there was something etched in his face that told me it would be wiser to just accept it.
He chuckled as he closed the links around my wrist. It became awkward when he started leaning towards me. I really think if Charlie did not come around the corner, he might have tried to kiss me. Did he have a death wish?
"See you tomorrow Bella," he leaned away and I moved towards the safety of Charlie.
As I lie in bed I had a distinct feeling the bracelet was something other than a welcome home present, but I did not know what that might be. For the life of me, I had no idea what he meant when he said he would see me tomorrow. He went to school on the reservation, how would he see me?
A/N So what's on your minds? Why was Edward out? Does the bracelet mean more? What did Jacob mean about tomorrow? I know and I am not telling! But…I would love to hear what you think.