Disclaimer: I don't own anything…all props go to Stephenie Meyer

"Have a nice time with your aunt honey," my mother shouted to me as I got on the bus. I was in for a six hour bus ride to Virginia and I didn't know what to expect. My mother and I had been arguing for the longest time, and over the dumbest things. It seemed that we just couldn't agree on anything. I love my mother, I really do, I just dislike her a little bit I guess. I just want everything to go smoothly before I go to college. That way there aren't any grudges when I leave. My mother noticed that I felt this way, and she decided to send me to stay with my aunt. I always thought of her more as my mother, and this would be the first summer that I didn't have to spend in summer school because of unsatisfactory grades.

I had a strange feeling that this summer would be the best summer of my life, and I didn't know why…

As the bus pulled off I saw my mother out of the corner of my eye waving vehemently at me. I didn't know if she was trying to catch my attention to tell me how much she would miss me, or to tell me how much fun she would have without me. She always had a way of kicking you when you were down, and right now, I'm at the bottom of the totem pole. I don't even understand why I have to take the friggin bus for God sake…we have plenty of money, and I could have been there in two and a half hours by taking a plane. But no…my cheap mother had to send me on the bus. And spend the rest of her money bailing her good-for-nothing boyfriend out of jail for the umpteenth time.

Trying to "make the best out of this trip" as my mother put it when I walked in my room yesterday to find her packing my bags I popped in my earphones and let my music carry me somewhere else.

ooOOoo

A few hours later I woke up uncomfortable and cranky. I was hungry, upset at the movie they were playing, and worst of all, I had to pee. There was just something about public bathrooms that made me uneasy. I don't know if it's the fact that the person using the bathroom before me could have some type of disease which I would catch, or the fact that it stank really bad. I didn't have time to ponder which one was worse, so I just held my breath, and did my business.

On the way out of the bathroom, after washing my hands an unreasonable amount of times, the bus bounced up and down as we were going down a long and bumpy road. The most horrible thing that someone like me, who was "hilariously clumsy" as my family put it, could ever go through, happened. After one final hump and bump, I seemingly flew into a strangers lap. A stranger who was surprisingly gorgeous.

"OH MY GOSH! I'M SOOO SORRY!!" I exclaimed as I got up. The wincing he was doing told me that there were certain parts of him that I just injured.

"Don't worry, it was just a foot, nothing major," he said in a very alluring voice, that just made me melt. In reaction to his beauty, I embarrassingly commented, "I didn't know good looking people took the bus" which caused him to chuckle so sweetly, I wanted to kidnap him right then and there.

"And, what pray tell is your excuse," he asked, which caused me to blush uncontrollably.

"You know the usual, mother hates me, and sends me away to think about life, when in fact I'm almost an adult, and can make responsible decisions for myself, and I'm almost about to go off to college, and wont be near her anyway," I said as I blushed even more, surprised about how much I just gushed to a total stranger. Instead of looking at me like I was crazy, he just nodded. Taking his silence thereafter for rejection, I just said "well I'd better go, before I end meeting everyone else on this bus, which in turn made him smile. A smile which in fact I had never seen before that was so…so…SEXY!

Again he nodded and went back to his reading, which I noticed was one of my favorite books: Wuthering Heights.

After my little incident I ate some food my mother packed for me. At least I know that she didn't intend for me to die on this trip. I read some of my battered copy of Wuthering Heights, and then went back to sleep with my ipod. Some more hours later I awoke and saw a sign that said Maryland, and knew I still had a while to go before I got to Virginia. As I looked out the window I was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. I looked up to see the same stranger whose lap I fell on smiling at me asking me if he could sit down. Since the bus was no where near full, I smiled warmly and said "Sure," a word which changed my life forever.

"My name is Edward, it's nice to meet you," he said as if he was on a job interview, or meeting someone of high stature.

"I'm Bella," I said, noticing how juvenile I sounded, but he didn't seem to mind it at all. Attempting to converse with this Edward person, I asked him "what bring you on this bus ride?" he smiled and said, I'm going to visit some relatives down in Newport News, and I got tired of taking a plane everywhere I go. It saves me a whole lot of money, and it gives me some time to myself." He said coolly.

"That's great; I wish I would have taken the plane though. I just want to get this over with," I said, unable to hold back the longing in my voice.

"Well, I'm sure glad you didn't," Edward said, as I blushed and looked out the window to regain my composure. Surprisingly when I turned back, he was getting up and he said, "Well I'll talk to you later, I promise." Feeling vexed, I eventually brushed it off, and went back to my music. Luckily it didn't take long to go back to sleep.

What do you think? This is my first story and I need all the help I can get. I promise the story will take off over the next few chapters. Please review. It only takes a minute, and every little bit helps!

G.J.