I do not own this material. this and all other characters mentioned are ©2008 by Stephanie Meyer.

the song for this chapter is 'Undying Love' by two steps from hell.

I, myself, will never forget the day Alice brought it home. As a sister she was able to see my reaction–– so why did she subject me to this? They all hoped that I would meet someone, especially Esme. But why did they have to force me into meeting people, people I would never be able to love?

Alice flitted through the door, a smug grin on her 'delicate' face. Translating the American anthem to Norwegian, her thoughts were twisted–– unclear. In her petite hands she carried a box, about the size of an iPad. Her spiky black hair was slicked down by the rain; something she usually hated. Now she ignored it.

When she saw the confusion on my face, her grin got even wider– something i would have thought impossible by the size of her head.

"Don't worry. Its not that bad." she said

"Coming from you, that always means that it will be that bad." I retorted. I was frustrated... my temper was something that flared almost instantly these days.

She rolled her eyes.

Emmett slid down the banister, and Alice laughed, temporarily unraveling her thoughts, and I peeked into her scrambled mind.

Alice, realizing her mistake, quickly started listing the Arabian alphabet, pronouncing each letter carefully.

My eyes flashed– even I could feel them; and Emmett's smile faltered. Was he in on this too? Were the rest of them?

"Alice, why?" I whimpered. It was so un-masculine that Emmett grinned.

"It's just a book! read it! please... maybe we should all read it with you." she encouraged, and my temper flared yet again.

"Esme, Carlisle, Jasper, Rosalie!" she said before I could stop her.

"Now look what you've done." I groaned.

"Come on Edward, just read the preface, and three chapters. That's all I'm asking." she smiled, and I knew she had won.