Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Obviously.
1. Amber and Ebony
I remember how the sun used to shine. Non-stop. Relentlessly, caressing the grassy meadows and swaying trees and making was for a warm breeze to brush by and comb through my long honey-colored tresses. It was very rare that it would rain in our quiet, sunny little town. But when it did, I loved it.
Ever since I could remember, I would dance out on the front lawn on days when it would rain. I knew it was weird, but it made me feel warm. The rain made me feel safe.
The day I turned twelve was the last day of regular sunshine I saw for the next four years. There was a week or two of sunshine in the summer, which were usually in mid to late July, and the random sunny day once or twice a month, but, other than that, I loved it. I loved to feel the cool droplets against my skin, soaking my hair and clothes. My parents thought it was a bit odd that I had taken a liking to such permanently dreary weather. I suppose any normal person would have missed the sun. Then again I had always been, as my parents had put it, a bit odd. No one had any problem with pointing it out to me, either. I didn't mind it, though. I liked who I was. I was unique.
This was one of the many thoughts I pondered on while I lazed about my back porch steps one morning. I was writing-- about what, I forget-- and every now and then I would look off in the woods and a heavy wind would swing by me, sweeping my hair clumsily about my face. The rain had yet to start, though dark clouds loomed overhead and his the golden sun. The soft chiming of church bells could be heard in the distance, as they could several times each day. In the dim, peaceful surroundings I had lost almost all sense of time. The digital clock on my phone beeped once. I sighed heavily as I realized it was nearing eight, then stood up.
As I walked to my car, I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched. I reached out for the door handle on the driver's side of my deep silver Malibu. There was a rustle somewhere out in the distance of the thick wood, and I froze. After a few minutes of silence, I decided it was nothing and got into my car.
My house was very far back in the woods. The gravel driveway alone spanned two or three miles and came out onto an even longer mountain path. About a mile up from where I turned onto the trail was an old, almost ancient, mansion. It looked like something out of an old monster movie and had been abandoned for years. Some people believed it was haunted. I thought that was complete and total bogus. I had went inside it enough to know whether or not the place was really haunted. Even so, no one would go anywhere near it.
But, this particular morning, all the lights were lit and two cars, a shiny silver Volvo and a monstrous Jeep, were parked in front of it. Had someone actually decided to take residence there? Or were there just some pranksters looking for a thrill?
I put the thought out of my mind and drove on. It was a ten minute drive out of the woods, and then a five minute drive to my high school. First period was a free period for me, so I wasted the extra hour and a half in the library, sketching nothing in particular, just whatever happened to pop into my head. Then, as the bell rang, with a groan and deliberate hesitation, I made my way to my first real class of the day. When I walked in there was already someone sitting in my usual seat.
He was very handsome, with pale gray skin and bronze hair. Dark circles lingered beneath his eyes, as if he'd never slept a night in his life. And as my eyes met his, they turned from amber to pitch black. I continued to stare blankly at his dark, captivating eyes as they narrowed into a hateful glare. Then his lips curled up over his glistening white teeth. With that, I immediately looked away.
"Miss Porter, is something wrong?" Mrs. Whitby, my teacher, asked. I guess she then noticed that I was looking awkwardly away from the boy in my seat. "Oh, we've rearranged the seating chart. You'll be sitting in front of Mr. Cullen from now on," she gestured to him. I groaned inwardly. And I sweat I could feel his glare burning into my back the entirety of class. I hated algebra now more than ever, and I didn't even think that was even humanly possible.
Relief washed over me when the bell for third period rang. I actually had friends in that class; I had someone to talk to . Of course, my best friend Katrina noticed that I was upset the second I was in her sight, and was instantly on my case.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing," I sighed, then plopped down exhaustedly into my desk. "We just got a new student today in algebra. A guy."
Kat's eyes lit up. "Who? What's his name?"
"I only know his last name; Cullen."
"Edward or Emmett?"
"You know him?" I asked incredulously.
"Well, I've met Emmett. He and his sister Alice have art with me in first. They don't really talk much. I've seen Edward walking out in the halls with them. Describe the guy in your algebra class for me."
I took a breath and began to speak, but stopped as something near the doorway caught my attention. Much to my horror and shock, the same bronze-haired Cullen walked in. But, thankfully, he took a seat on the opposite side of the room. At least that way I didn't have to feel his black gaze piercing through the back of my skull.
"That's him," I breathed.
"That's Edward Cullen. I guess I can't blame you for staring. He's absolutely gorgeous."
"I don't think he likes me very much."
"Why not?"
"He glared a hole straight though me during class."
"Oh...well, did you say or do something that might have offended him?"
"No, I haven't even spoken to him. Not a single word."
Katrina's eyes looked up at Edward, then quickly flashed back to me. "He's staring. You must've done something."
"Kat, I'm telling you, I haven't done anything!"
"You like him, don't you?" Katrina blurted suddenly, grinning a wicked grin.
I paused for a moment, stunned. "Where the hell would you get an idea like that?" I snapped.
"It's just not like you to get so upset over a guy giving you a dirty look," then she quickly added, "No matter how hot he is."
I blushed. "It's not like that. I don't like him. I just want to know why he seems to hate me so much!"
At that, I turned poutingly away from her. Thanks to Mrs. Wright, who began the day's lesson, Kat wasn't able to push the subject any further...for the moment. There would be no escaping it during lunch.
Or at least I thought. But when the lunch bell rang, Katrina went on ahead of me, stopping at Edward's desk. He gave me a fleeting look beneath his long, thick lashes, then whispered something in her ear. And I couldn't move. I was too stunned. Kat looked it too. Their whispered conversation lasted for a few minutes, and then Kat moved on, light-headed and confused.
I followed after her. I had just begun to realize how much I couldn't stand the uncomfortable air of being alone in the same room with him.
He moved swiftly in front of me, stopping in the doorway and blocking my path. He was turned toward me, his black eyes burning into me once more. At first his sudden movement had scared me, but fear soon flared up into anger and irritation. Even so, I tried to control myself. I tried to be nice.
"Excuse me, please," I said as politely as I could manage. He didn't move. I fought back the urge to shove him out of my way and storm past him. Instead, I folded my arms together impatiently and looked him dead in the eye. "What is it?"
"You think I hate you," he stated.
"Well, don't you? You haven't shown anything to prove otherwise."
His eyes lightened a little bit, but he didn't reply. He just stood there, staring at me silently. His face was focused, intense, as if he were searching for something and my face somehow held the answer. "You're different," he said in an almost questioning manner.
I didn't reply for a while. I didn't know how. "You hate me because I'm different?"
"No, I don't hate you."
"Then what was the deal earlier? And why are you holding me hostage now?" I demanded, my voice hinting at my annoyance. And he seemed to sense it.
"Listen, I don't hate you..." He began.
"I'm leaving," I stated as I attempted to squeeze past one of his muscular shoulders. Immediately I felt something grab my arm and pull me back into the room. The next thing I could comprehend, I was pinned to the wall, Edward hovering over me. His face was merely inches from mine and his hands were on either side of my head. My eyes stared up at him, wide and a little scared.
"Listen," he stared.
My voice was quiet and trembling as I struggled to maintain the same firmness I had possessed before. "L-let me go."
"Not until you listen." he paused. "I don't hate you. And I'm not going to hurt you," I knew he was referring to my body's involuntary, panicked shaking. "Stay away from me."
"What?"
"You heard me. Stay away."
My voice shifted from scared back to annoyed. "Gladly. But it's kind of hard to do when you've got me pinned here like this."
He moved away from me with the same swiftness he had before. So swiftly, I didn't actually see him move. One moment he had me against the wall, the next he was gone. I was left even more confused by him than before.
Lunch went by in a hazy blur. I didn't eat. A sick feeling bubbling up in my stomach warned me against it.
"Hey, Lyn, what exactly did he say to you?" Kat asked worriedly.
I kept a blank, vacant expression as I continued to poke at the inedible-looking substance on my lunch tray I was told was supposed to be turkey and gravy with my fork.
"He told me to stay away from him."
Kat blinked, obviously not expecting that response. "What?"
"He told me to stay away from him," I repeated in an uncaring tone.
"Wow. So he really does hate you, huh? He didn't sound like it when he talked to me. I thought he was going to ask you out or something."
"Yeah right," I muttered with a rueful laugh. "Like that would ever happen."
My face was still down, but my eyes were looking toward the table across the room where Edward sat. He was sitting with his burly brother Emmett and his pixie-like sister Alice. Two others sat with them, both honey blonde-- one a gorgeous girl with a slim figure, the other one a lean-looking boy with perfect posture. They were all equally pale. And equally beautiful.
They weren't speaking to each other, nor were they eating. They all just stared blankly down at their untouched food. The blonde boy looked up for a split, wrinkled his nose and little and furrowed his brown, then his gaze moved back to his tray. His lips moved inaudibly, rapidly, his eyes locked on Alice. I couldn't even begin to guess what he was telling her, but, whatever it was, both Edward and Alice looked up at me. The wave of indifference that consumed me worsened the sick feeling in my stomach. I just couldn't take it. Why did it bother me so badly?
I left the table without a word, emptying my full tray into a nearby trash can and just short of sprinting out of the cafeteria. My feet carried me forward aimlessly, just as long as I could get away from those eyes, those many sets of charcoal black eyes, staring intimately into the depths of my being. It didn't even register when the heavy glass door that was a side exit near the front of the school swung open before me and the heavy rain began to pound against my body. Consciousness didn't even reestablish its former grip on me until I was in my own driveway, slumped against the steering wheel of my car.
I felt sick. Unbearably sick. I felt a tightening squeeze in my chest that came from rejection. Why the hell was it getting to me? I'd only known him for one stupid day, and already he was bugging the bejesus out of me. I needed to get him out of my mind. I needed to forget. I wanted to forget...