I looked in the mirror one last time before walking out the hotel door. I had come to Florida with Melody, my mother. My biological mother to be exact. I had grown up with my father and was never close to my mother. I had a step mom who had been in my life ever since I could remember, and as far as I was concerned, she was the one I would always call mama.
Melody had lived in New Jersey from the time I was four until a few months ago, when she decided to move to Washington so that we could "be like mother and daughter should be." She practically had to beg me to come to Florida with her to my Uncle Sandy's graduation from medical school. I wasn't really excited about sitting through three hours of walking and hand-shaking, but I hadn't seen my uncle for a few years and we were all meeting his soon-to-be-wife Telah.
Melody and I had fussed for over an hour about what I would wear to the graduation. Unbeknownst to me, she had brought with her a yellow sundress in my size, hoping that she could get me to wear it. I wouldn't budge. I just wasn't the type to wear dresses or skirts, especially not one with flowers and frills, so we compromised, well, ended the argument, when I just took myself to the bathroom and came out a few minutes later in black slacks and a silk blue shirt, the only silk shirt I owned. And now I was cursing her name as I stumbled out of the hotel room, tripping over a nonexistent obstacle in my one inch heels. I hadn't brought any sort of dress shoes with me; I don't even own a pair, so she insisted I wear a pair of her heels.
We drove to the auditorium in silence. She had tried to strike up a conversation about one of Telah's brothers, Edward, but I wasn't interested in anyone that she wanted to try and hook me up with.
Soon we arrived at the auditorium and found our seats. Melody wanted to go find my uncle in the line up of graduates outside and tried to convince me to go introduce myself to the Cullens, Taleh's family, but I just started to stand up, heading for the bathroom. "Honey, why are you acting like this? The Cullens are a great family and that boy of theirs, Edward, is dying to meet you," Melody said to me as I stood up. "Mel…, uh Mom, I just really need to go to the bathroom. Plus, I'm sure that Edward is not looking forward to meet me," I said, tripping over her name. I never called her Melody to her face; it would completely break her heart. "I'm not much to look forward to anyway," I mumbled as I walked away, sure that Melody hadn't heard. But when I looked over my shoulder, she just stood there shaking her head, a little disappointment and sadness hinted on her face.
I slowly found my way to the bathroom, expecting to see women waiting in line, but was surprised when I only had to wait behind two girls talking incoherently about fashion this and fashion that. I couldn't help but overhear their conversation. A little eavesdropping wouldn't hurt. Maybe I could pick up a thing or two about fashion since I didn't have anything better to do at the moment…
"I definitely think you should have worn your red Prada shoes. They are a little extreme for a graduation, but they would have gone excellent with that outfit," the blond girl said to the short pixie-like girl.
"Thanks for telling me after we leave," the pixie teased. "I guess I wasn't really concentrating this morning when I got dressed. I've just been so excited about meeting Sandy's niece. Sandy told me that she was our age, and considering we might be going to school together…" she cut herself off, clapping her hand to her mouth.
"What?!" the blond girl said. "How come I am the last to know every….
I was sure that I didn't just hear my uncle's name in that conversation. And if so, what was all that about? Did she just say she might be going to school with "Sandy's niece?"
I didn't have time continue to ponder on what I had just heard, because the two girls ahead of me walked into two stalls that had just became available and the bathroom attendant pointed me towards a stall at the back of the bathroom. I didn't really need to use the restroom, so I just walked into the stall and checked my phone for any messages that I might have received until I thought it was safe to flush the toilet and walk out without suspicion.
I made my way back to my seat and as I was about to sit down and try and get comfortable, I noticed this guy walking down the aisle, towards where I was sitting. I couldn't help but notice how unbelievably gorgeous he was. He had messy, bronze hair that stood up at odd angles, but he somehow pulled it off elegantly. He was dressed in a pair of dark jeans, along with a button-up black silk shirt, and a grey sweater to complete the ensemble. If I had seen him walking down the street, I would have thought he had just stepped off the runway, like a Greek god from a fairy tale.
I was so entranced by his looks that I didn't notice that he was walking straight towards me until he was right in front of me. "Hi, I'm Edward," he sang out, "It's very nice to meet you, Bella." I did the mistake of looking him square in the eyes and heard myself gasp. They were such an amazing green-color, that I stumbled over my words as I tried to introduce myself. "Ed-d-ward? C-c-cullen?"