Chapter 1
I was proud of myself. I didn't need anyone to be proud of me. I knew I was going to miss Charlie, I loved him so much, but there comes a time in a girl's life when she has to move on...or in my case, away. I had decided, with no particular agenda in sight, to move away from my small country town home to the big city of New York. I knew no-one or anything about the city, all I knew was, that I loved it so much and it was my dream, since I was 7, to live here. It wasn't the usual appeal of New York that attracted me. Most people came for the fashion, the expression, the city life style. Clubs and Bars that were crazy and adventurous. I liked it because of the hustle and bustle. I loved blending into a crowd of people, sitting alone in a cafe where no-one but the kind barista who knows your order recognises you. I loved that individuality was accepted and not gossiped about. I loved the anonymity. I had no big dreams. I just wanted to make a dime or two and live life to the full. I was currently sitting in a small cafe' just across the road from my small apartment. I was enjoying my usual Chai Latte and people watching. I enjoyed doing this. It helped me gain perspective. I always thought of myself as ordinary. I'm 6'4 with long brown hair and an alabaster complexion. I have deep brown eyes and never considered myself fashion conscious, I often wore plain jeans and a white t-shirt. It was my trade mark look.
I sipped my latte and watched as a father with his young children came and sat on the table across from me. I smiled. The innocence of children was bliss. The young girl bounced over onto a chair and climbed carefully to the top. She leaned over and stared at me. I waved and gave her a smile. She grinned and waved back.
'Hello!' she said, the cuteness radiating through her sweet child voice.
'Hello,' I responded kindly. I didn't want to be rude, yet at the same time I didn't want to hold a conversation with her, so i looked down at my book and pretended to read.
'What's your name?' she asked ignoring my attempt to avoid her.
'Bella, what's yours?' I asked now trying cut the rude edge from my voice.
'Honour,' She said proudly and she turned around with a sweet flick of her curly blonde hair and started a conversation with her brother. I gagged slightly at her name. Poor child. I pretended to focus back on my book. I, every so often, would sneak glances up at the small crowd on the little New York street. A man in a grey suit hailed a taxi while a woman shared her detest for McCain with a colleague. They both chortled along. Beside me I heard a young man holding a conversation with his mother over the phone. I was amused, he seemed to be lying to her about something and not doing a very good job. I stifled a laugh. I finally decided it was time to move. My house was desperately in need of food and the local grocery market was only a few blocks away. I snapped my book closed and walked up to the counter.
'Hi,' said the friendly boy with spiky blonde hair, 'Just the coffee today?' he asked while looking my body over, I nodded nervously. I hated being gawked at and this particular barista always gawked, his tongue always licking the ground.
'I'm Mike by the way. Are you new to the area?' He asked in an attempt to start conversation. I turned beet red and nodded gain.
'My name's Bella,' I said still refusing to make eye contact.
'Oh, well hey Bella. Maybe I should show you around sometime, maybe we could grab a drink?' He asked hopefully. I heard someone sigh behind me.
'Ummm, maybe,' I said as I began walking away. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
'Oh, come on baby, you and me, good times,' He said smirking. I shiver ran down my spine and his long hand ran up my arm and too my shoulder. I snatched my arm away, I was now beet red for a different reason, anger.
'I said NO!' I confirmed loudly, but this just encouraged the sleazy boy.
'Don't be like that baby,' he said in a greasy whisper. I was about to hit him in the face when I felt a cool had touch my arm.
'I'm sorry are you bothering my girlfriend?' A sweet Texan voice asked. The Mike boy snatched his hand away and shook his head. He took my money, refunded my change and sprinted out of sight into the back area of the store. My jaw dropped. I turned my body to see who my saviour was and my jaw, if possible, dropped even further. There stood three young men. The man with his hand on my arm was tall and had curly blonde hair. He reminded me of an old fashioned movie star. Flanking his left side was the biggest, scariest, curly haired, dimple faced man I ever did see and to the right was the twin of Adonis.
T-t-thankyou,' I stuttered as I moved my dull arm away from the three exquisite creatures. The big one smiled while the blonde one nodded kindly. The third stood, staring off into space.
'Any time Ma'am,' said the Texan. He slid his hand down and gathered up his coffee.
'Are you new to the area?' The biggest of the three asked confidently. I nodded.
'Yes, I moved here last week,' I said, again turning red. I didn't like attention, ever.
'Yeah, we've seen you. You come for coffee at the same time we do,' He said placing himself at the front of the group. I nodded and smiled. I began backing away.
'Thanks again,' I said as I backed out the door. The blonde smiled and the big one looked although he wanted to chat more, but my shy character warded that off. I shot them a smile and carefully backed out of the store, however, as my clumsiness would have it, I forgot the step and fell into the hoards of people pushing past to get to work. I was now lost in a sea of feet. What a wonderful way to start my New York dream.
****
My embarrassing stint caused the three boys to rush to my aid and, although extremely mortified, i appreciated it. The big one acted as a guard against the flowing crowd while the blonde one helped me to my feet. The other merely stood and attempted to avoid laughing.
'You okay?' the blonde asked. I nodded and smiled.
'It's okay to laugh, it happens all the time,' I said giving all three boys the go ahead. The blonde looked at me awkwardly while the third boy burst out laughing.
'You're funny,' he commented. I smiled sheepishly. The big one leaned forward and held his hand out.
'I'm Emmet and this is my brother Edward and our friend Jasper,' I shook all of their hands and smiled.
'I appreciate all of your help, I think I owe you all coffee,' I said honestly.
'No ma'am, if anything we owe you a coffee,' the blonde, now known as Jasper, said kindly.
'I don't understand?' I asked.
'We hate that Mike guy, he is rude and sleazy. You presented us with a situation, in which we could tell him to back off,' Emmet responded kindly.
'Oh, well a beer sometime,' I said jokingly.
'Tonight?' Edward asked keenly. I looked to him and suddenly became nervous.
'Sure,' I said not thinking.
'Okay, well meet here at 7 tonight,' Emmet organised and then turned his back. He waved sweetly. Jasper and Edward followed.
'I'm looking forward to it,' Edward said and I, for the first time in my life, was speechless.
***
As I threw my hoards of clothes all over my bedroom floor discovered that I owned way to much of the same thing. I let out a loud moan.