BPOV
It had been a few days, and I was still quite a bit uncomfortable in this new house. Not because they treated me badly, but because all of this is so different from what I am used to that I haven't been sure how to behave.
Most families stared at my scars constantly and obviously, or try to avoid looking at me altogether. The Cullen's, on the other hand, treat me as if I look normal. They invite me to join them in every activity they do, big or small. They always ask if I want to go to the store and buy groceries or come play some video game. I sometimes accept the activities they want me to join them on in the house, but never off of the property. I don't want them to have to deal with the stares and rumors that would start to go around. They are too nice for me to let that happen. They don't deserve to have to deal with the rumors that would go around about them because of me.
It won't be much longer that my presence would be forced on them. Just yesterday, I heard a part of a conversation between Alice and Edward.
"Alice, I'm not going to deal with this much longer!" Whatever Alice had said seemed to have set him off, because at this point, my attention was only drawn to them because of his yelling.
"Why do you keep agreeing to it, then?" Alice was much harder to hear, as she wasn't yelling, so I had to get a bit closer. Not that I was eavesdropping or anything.
"What am I supposed to say? No? You all want to keep letting foster kids come in, and I don't want to disappoint any of you."
"Mom and dad would gladly stop if they knew it bothered you this much."
"I know. But they really enjoy doing this, and I don't want to take this away from them."
Alice's voice got much quieter this time, as she had successfully started to calm Edward down. "They would stop for you and you know it. And you've never been so adamant about this before. Are you sure this isn't about who we have here this time?"
"No. Why would you say that?" Edward's voice was starting to get a little louder again.
"I saw how you look at Bella." Alice seemed to be taunting him now.
I had a good idea of what she meant here, even if her tone didn't make as much sense. Her reasons for taunting, almost teasing him, were beyond me. Her words however...
After the first night with the party, Edward had done his best to avoid me. And when he was around me, he stared. Constantly. His reaction to me was the only one of his family that made sense. I was used to the stares and avoidance. That's what Edward did.
His family, on the other hand, was a completely different story.
EPOV
How does Alice do that? I hadn't let anyone know what I thought of the girl. Although Alice just seems able to do that. She's able to guess what will happen a lot of the time, especially with me. Stupid twin thing again.
But, really, was pointing out that she knew about my feelings necessary? I was already aware of how I felt. What made it even worse was when she asked me: in my room, where anyone could hear me.
I shudder just to think of what we had been discussing within range of someone stumbling on our conversation and listening in. We should have held it where we usually have conversations we don't want people to hear. But of course, Alice didn't want to do things the easy way for me.
It was only the last part of our discussion that really bothered me. Alice started hinting at the idea that I might like the girl. Which I did. It was hard not to like the girl. Which, of course, was why I was avoiding her. I couldn't fall for someone who would be leaving soon. That was not a good idea. Not a good idea at all.
I've been using Alice to help me avoid the girl. I convinced her to let me know where she was most of the time, so I wouldn't have to see her and fall for her even more.
There were times, however, when I was in the same room as the girl. And all I could do was stare. These were the only times I allowed myself to think her name, as it fit her so perfectly. Bella. Pure beauty. I could tell she didn't see herself this way, which was sad, as she really was beautiful.
Her beauty that held me captive was getting more and more potent as time went by. A couple of hours ago, I proved this fact to myself yet again.
I went into the kitchen to get a snack. Just as I got there, I remembered that Alice had recently told me that the girl was hungry and was going to get a snack. But she had seen me by the time I made this connection, so I couldn't turn around and come back later. That would have been extremely rude.
Not that I wanted to leave and come back later. In fact, I should have wanted to leave so that I didn't fall for this girl any more than I already had. But I didn't want to leave. Not at all.
"Hello, Edward." She looked down as she talked, as if she was embarrassed, but I was used to this, so it didn't bother me too much.
"Hello, Bella." I had decided that even though I was avoiding her as much as possible, I would at least be cordial to her when we had to talk to each other. It was the least I could do for the girl I was falling in love with unwillingly.
Bella finally looked up at me and started blushing. I still couldn't figure out why she blushed when she saw me looking at her – okay, it was more like staring, but I couldn't help myself – as she never seemed to blush around anyone else. Surely she was used to people noticing how beautiful she was.
"Are you looking for something?" she asked when I still hadn't moved or stopped looking at her. "I-I can leave if you want me to. I d-don't mean to be a bother." She looked as if she was causing a problem.
"No, you're fine. I just wanted to get something to drink." I grabbed a can of pop and fled from the room before we had a conversation that would lead me to declare my undying love for her.
See? I had just fallen further in love with her in the last couple of minutes. Just from one short conversation that we had.
And Alice's smile as she passed me on the stairs told me she had heard our conversation and noticed my response to it.
A/N: Okay, so as a Christmas present, I decided to update this chapter, but if I don't get some reviews, I am just going to write the story for myself. I don't care how many reviews I get, but I do want some feedback on what you all think of the story.
Not too much to ask, is it?
This story might seem slow, but it will start to pick up speed shortly. There won't be much action in it, but there will most likely be a bit of drama, if I know myself and the story continues to go where I think it will go.
So, as my dad likes to say...
Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!
May the new year be more blessed than any year yet.
