The American Dream
Ch.1
I huffed in annoyance and lifted the dust ruffle on my bed to peer underneath. "Where are you?" I mumbled while searching in vain for my math book.
"Looking for this?" came a familiar voice from the door way.
I twisted my head around to see my sister leaning against the door frame, the missing book in her out stretched hand. "Oh Rose! Where did you find it?"
"I found it exactly where you left it; on the hallway table. You know, when you were gossiping on the phone with Alice?"
"I wasn't gossiping Rose, I just listen to Alice gossip." I grabbed the book, adding it to the stack in my arms, and followed Rosalie downstairs for breakfast. Charlie was already at the table with the paper spread out in front of him and coffee in hand.
"Morning dad," I said as I took my seat across from Rosalie and helped my self to a glass of orange juice. The three of us continued on with our breakfast. The only noise was the sizzling of the eggs being slid out of their hot pan by my mother.
"Renee, did you see these headlines?" my father gestured to the paper he was reading with his free hand.
"No, dear," my mother answered as she deposited two perfectly fried eggs on his plate.
"They say there's more trouble with these greaser gangs in Port Angeles. They are all a bunch of kids with no morals if you ask me." No one had asked him, but dad was Chief Swan, head of police in our small home town of Forks and he had an opinion about everything. My mother answered with a nod and a smile as she joined us at the table. I glanced up at the clock over the stove as I finished a bite of toast.
"Oh jeeze! Rose, we've got to get going!" We were going to be late for school if we didn't get moving. A quick wave to my parents, "Bye, mom. Bye, dad." and Rosalie and I were out the door.
The walk to school was almost always wet. If you could count on one thing here in Forks it was that. The constant rain and mist that hung in the air and clung to you everywhere you went. Rosalie glided along, the mist seeming to part for her as she moved gracefully through it. I on the other hand was anything but graceful. I was more on the uncoordinated end of the spectrum. As I looked at Rose ahead of me I noticed for the millionth time in our lives how unlike we really were.
Rose, our parents said, took after our gran on mom's side. She was poised and beautiful with long limbs, gorgeous blond hair and crystal blue eyes. She was a cheerleader, a straight A student, and our parent's pride and joy. I on the other hand took after my mom as far as looks went. I had nice enough brown hair; it was long, wavy, pretty, but not like Rosalie's. My eyes were what I considered my best feature. They were the color of a warm cup of hot chocolate with little god flecks in them. I was not a cheerleader, I had a strong B average that I worked hard for, and I was my parent's "other" daughter. I was Rosalie Swan's little sister.
BEEP! BEEP!
I looked over my shoulder at the sound of the car horn. There on the side of the road in a brand new pickup was Rosalie's boyfriend, Emmet. He smiled and waved, motioning for Rose to come over. She opened the passenger door and climbed in.
"Hey Bella wanna ride?" Emmett called to me.
"No thanks," I waved and smiled as they drove off. Rosalie and Emmett were the golden couple of our school. Heck, they were the whole town's golden couple. The prom queen and her star quarter back. They had been going steady for all four years of high school now and with them both graduating in the spring it was a pretty sure thing they'd be married before next fall.
I continued my walk to school and was soon passing Alice's house.
"Hey! Bella!" Alice called as she came out her front door.
"Hey Alice," I smiled back as I waited for her to join me.
"Emmett already pickup Rose?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah, now that Emmett has that truck I doubt Rose will ever walk to school again."
Alice laughed at that and nodded in agreement. The walk to Forks High School went by quickly. Before I knew it we were crossing the parking lot chattering on about the upcoming day. Then they pulled in.
Sure I had seen them plenty of times in my life; we'd all gone to school together since kindergarten, but that didn't stop me from staring every time I saw them. They were the Hale brothers: Jasper and Edward. Jasper was older, Rose's age and Edward was 17 like Alice and I. They roared into the school parking lot in their old loud car. It was hard not to notice that car. Even harder not to notice was the two gorgeous boys riding in it. Jasper had this wavy blond hair and these bright blue eyes. He was muscular and had a look to him that was part tough, mean kid part sensitive, misunderstood rebel. Alice was over the moon for him. Then there was Edward. He was slighter than Jasper, still muscular but not as bulky. He had this bronze colored hair that he wore just a little too long and he would run his fingers through all the time. His eyes were this amazing shade of green and they were so intense. I'd only seen him smile a few times in class. He had a gorgeous crooked smile. I dreamt about that smile.
The Hale brothers exited their car and set off towards the school building. Alice and I stared after them. As gorgeous as they wore and as head over heels as we were for them Alice and I had never actually talked to either of them. The Hale brothers weren't what Chief Swan would have called "moral, upstanding boys". In fact they were the exact opposite. Jasper and Edward smoked, the rode motorcycles, and they wore leather jackets. The looked just like Marlon Brando in "The Wild One". No, my parents would have never approved of boy like Edward Hale, but I certainly did!
"Oh Bella I wear he looks just like James Dean," Alice swooned. I shook my head and laughed, "Aw Alice, come on, we don't have time to oogle the Hale boys right now, we have to get to class."
I linked my arm in hers and steered her towards our English class. She stuck her lip out in a pout but allowed me to drag her away from her view of Jasper's retreating figure. As we reached the door to our English class I glanced over my shoulder and stole one last glance at Edward. My heart jumped into my throat; my eyes were staring right into those deep emerald pools! I instantly turned red and looked at my feet, but before I turned away I could have sworn I saw that crooked smile.