Prologue

I had loved only two men in my life.

Of course, they hadn't actually been men to begin with. When I met them, they were boys. But that was fitting, since I was only a girl myself at the time.

My childhood had been a lonely one until they came along. I had always felt out of step, never really fitting in with the other girls my age. I'd tried everything I could think of to get them to like me, but nothing ever worked. For some reason I didn't understand, I just didn't seem to have much of a talent for making friends.

That all changed when I met them.

When my parents had told me that a new family would be moving into the house next door, I was a confused mixture of nervous and excited. Would this new family include a girl close to my age? Would she be the best friend I had longed for? Or would she end up hating me like everyone else seemed to?

I had butterflies in my stomach as I stood in my front yard, watching the moving van pull in to the driveway next door. The burly men dressed in matching blue shirts climbed down from the huge truck and opened the back. They were soon unloading heavy pieces of furniture and carrying them into the three-story white Victorian that had always kindled my imagination.

The house had been empty for a long time. The last occupant – a formidable old grand-dame according to my mother and an ancient dragon-lady according to my dad – had died when I was still just a baby. Rumor had it that the old lady, Elizabeth Masen Platt, had left the property to her son, but that he had had no desire to live in the house. He hadn't sold it though, and had just held on to it for all these years.

I secretly thought Mrs. Platt's son must be crazy for not wanting to live in such a beautiful place. Growing up, it had always seemed to me to be the next best thing to having a castle next door.

The house had a multi-gabled roofline with overhanging eaves. On one side, there was an actual tower inset with windows on the ground floor and opening up to a circular balcony on the third. There were dentils and wrought iron decorating the roof and the tower balcony. There was a wraparound porch with distinguished white columns appearing to stand sentinel on either side of the emerald green door. Shutters the same shade of green framed every window but one – my favorite one. On the third floor there was a room with a bay window that faced the now overgrown garden.

I'd never been inside the house, but in my heart I knew that room with the bay window would rival any secret bower belonging to a fairytale princess. And I spent hours dreaming that I was the princess who lived in the magical room that overlooked the garden.

According to my parents, Mrs. Platt's granddaughter and her family would be the ones living in my dream house now.

Would one of them occupy the room with the bay window? Maybe their little girl who would hopefully be my new best friend?

And if we did become friends, maybe she would invite me for sleepovers in the room with the bay window. Wouldn't that be almost as good as living there myself?

I was lost in dreams until a black luxury car – a Mercedes – startled me by parking on the street between my house and the one next door.

This was it. This must be them.

The car's windows were darkly tinted, so I couldn't make out who was inside. I held my breath as I waited for my first glimpse of the new neighbors.

The front passenger side door was the first to open and out stepped the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Her hair fell in caramel-colored waves that curled around her shoulders in a style that reminded me of those popular in the 1940's. Her skin was pale but flawless, her make-up kept light to let her natural beauty shine through. The pencil skirt and delicate, frilly blouse she wore were the same deep purple hue as the peep-toe pumps on her feet. And when her eyes fell on me and a gentle smile graced her lips, she made me feel special, even though we hadn't yet met.

Drawn to her, I closed the distance between us. "Hi," I said, "Welcome to the neighborhood."

"Hello," the woman's voice was as gentle as her smile. "Thank you for the welcome. What's your name, sweetheart?"

I opened my mouth to answer her, and it was a good thing, because my mouth surely would have dropped open anyway at the sight of the gorgeous blond man who was emerging from the driver's side of the car. I was stunned speechless for a moment. I had never seen a man this handsome outside of the movies.

Luckily, I remembered the woman's question before the silence became embarrassing. "Umm, I'm Bella. Bella Swan. And I live right there." I waved my hand in the direction of my house, and then wished I could kick myself. Of course that's where I lived. Could I be any more lame?

The woman held out her hand to me. It took me a second to realize that she wanted to shake my hand like I was someone who mattered and not just a kid. When I placed my hand in hers, she said, "It's nice to meet you, Bella. I'm Esme Cullen. And this is my husband, Carlisle."

"Hello, Bella," Mr. Cullen said in a smooth baritone that held the trace of a lilting accent. "Thank you for the welcome. It's an auspicious start to our life here."

I didn't know what to say, so I just smiled and nodded in his direction.

Nobody else left the car.

I was confused. I had been told that a family was moving in, but was it just the two of them? Or did they have babies or maybe toddlers secured into carseats in the back?

Returning my attention to Mrs. Cullen, I decided it was time to do some fishing for information. "You know, Mrs. Cullen, if you have little ones, I'm a great babysitter. I've taken a first aid class and a babysitter certification class at the hospital. And I'll be twelve in September. So, if you ever need me…"

"Thank you, Bella, but we don't have babies anymore. Now they just act like babies from time to time," she said throwing an exasperated glance towards the car.

"Actually, we have a son who is exactly your age," Mr. Cullen added.

A son. I did my best to hide my disappointment. Maybe they also had a daughter who was just a year or two older or younger. I wouldn't be picky about age when it came to a best friend. I put on a smile that I hoped looked genuine as I replied, "That's great, Mr. Cullen. I'll be happy to show him around school when it starts if he'd like."

"That's very kind of you, Bella. I'm sure my son would be delighted to have such a charming tour guide. My name, though, is actually Dr. Cullen. I've taken a position at the local hospital."

A blush crept across my cheeks. I felt like I'd just made a mortifying mistake by not addressing him by the correct title, but honestly how could I have known? "I'm sorry, Dr. Cullen," I apologized.

His eyes softened as he looked at me. "Think nothing of it. In fact, knowing that we're going to be good friends, I'd be pleased if you'd call me Carlisle."

"And I'm Esme."

I smiled at them both. I'd never met such cool grown-ups before. Well, not ones who hadn't known me since birth like my parents' friends.

"Thank you, Carlisle. Esme."

Glancing curiously over Esme's shoulder at the Mercedes, I asked, "So where are your children? Didn't they come with you? Or are they arriving later?"

The couple traded a glance that was half-amused and half-aggravated.

"I'm afraid our eldest isn't happy about moving here and is currently sulking in the backseat," Esme answered. "Our youngest feels the need to be supportive, which is why you haven't seen either of them yet."

Carlisle opened the rear driver's side door and said, "Come on out, Edward. Bella came over to meet you. She's graciously volunteered to show you around your new school. Be a gentleman and greet her properly."

So Edward must be the son who was my age. But was he the elder or younger sibling?

Curious, I stood on tiptoe to see if he would get out of the car. Moments later, I saw a head with the craziest tousled hair I'd ever seen emerge. And the color! It was not exactly red nor was it brown, but some unfamiliar combination of the two. It wasn't auburn or chestnut or mahogany. If I had to name it, I would say it was bronze, but I'd never encountered anyone with bronze hair before.

As Edward turned to face me, I saw that his skin was milky-white. On most people, it would probably make them appear sickly or weak, but his was just the natural creamy complexion of a redhead. And luckily for him, he had gotten the gorgeous skin without the curse of freckles to go along with it.

At last, he focused his gaze on me, and I could see he had the same dark green eyes as his mother. Framed by long eyelashes that any girl would kill for, his eyes were truly beautiful.

He was definitely cute. Not that I cared about that. I wasn't really interested in boys yet.

Edward walked around the car and came to stand before me. Reaching out, he offered me his hand just as his mother had. "Hi, I'm Edward."

"Hi, Edward. I'm Bella. Well, Isabella really. But everyone calls me Bella," I rambled a little nervously as I took his hand. But as my hand came to rest in his, my nervousness instantly disappeared and I felt a sense of peace and belonging that I'd never felt before. Intuitively I knew that I would be comfortable with him, that it would be easy to like him. "I hope we can be friends," I said sincerely.

He smiled at me. Well, it was more of a half-smile really, one side of his mouth pulling up into a winning crooked grin that made me feel warm and happy. "I would like that, Bella. Very much."

I returned his smile, extremely pleased with my new friend. But I was still curious about the other Cullen sibling. Did Edward have a sister? And if she was this sulky and unfriendly, did I really want her to be my best friend?

My musing was interrupted by Esme opening the rear passenger door and declaring, "I've had enough. It's time for you to stop the moping and come out and be sociable."

From where I was standing next to Edward, I couldn't see into the car. I only heard a voice – a definitely male voice – say in a petulant tone, "Aw, mom. Do I have to? What do I care about the baby next door?"

Baby?

I was horribly offended.

Didn't this boy realize that I was practically a teenager? Or I would be in a year and just a couple of months anyway.

"Jasper Zachary Cullen!" Carlisle said sharply, "Get yourself out here right now and be civil."

"Okay, okay. I'm coming. But I'm not happy about it."

"I think we figured that out on our own, son," Esme said with a hint of amusement in her tone.

I already knew I wouldn't like this particular Cullen, sight unseen. There was absolutely nothing he could do to repair my negative first impression of him now. It was too late.

I crossed my arms over my chest and let out a huff, waiting.

And then a tall boy of fourteen or maybe fifteen unfolded himself lazily from the backseat.

My mouth went dry.

I was frozen.

I couldn't help but stare.

His hair was the same golden blond of his father but he'd obviously inherited his mother's waves. It was longer than his brother's, falling just past the tops of his ears. Also unlike Edward's messy but stylish disarray, Jasper's hair was brushed carefully away from his face – drawing attention to his eyes, his nose, his high cheekbones, and of course his soft-pink lips – but was still a riot of blond waves and curls that practically begged to be touched. His eyes were a striking silver-grey like a still pond on an overcast day. He looked to be about the same height as Carlisle already, and he had to still be growing. His body was lean, but he didn't look skinny or scrawny. There appeared to be some muscle under his grey t-shirt, but he didn't look over-muscled like a football player. Still, he definitely had the body of an athlete.

Nope, I definitely wouldn't like this particular Cullen.

Love, on the other hand… Now that was an entirely different matter altogether.

For those of you who read my story On a Lonesome Road, I'm planning for this to be quite the departure. This is my first attempt at a semi-fluffy romance. We'll see how it goes, huh?

Huge thanks to DeltaSwan90 and Gemmabobella for always giving me their honest opinions...even when it hurts. And I'm extremely grateful to Vican for creating such a wonderful banner.