Chapter 2 :The Cullens

Who are you?'' I ask a bit rudely then I intended to, my eyes beholding the most striking, handsomest and pale face.

I'm Edward Cullen, Bella's boyfriend,'' he says formally, with a smile playing on the edges of his mouth.

Is Bella here?'' I ask but I needn't have because Bella appeared at the door just then.

Hey, Emma,"she says brightly and giving me a hug.

Hello you,"I tell Bella. Its great to see her. I go in and Charlie gives me a hug and tells me to stay for as long as I can. It was a fun evening with Edward who was ever so charming and I have dinner with Bella and Charlie, though Edward doesn't join in. I notice Edward's pale face, strange eye colour and coldness. I casually ask Edward whether he's wearing contacts.

No, I don't. Why do you ask?" he says.

Curious," I say and shrug the question off. But I can tell what he is. And I can tell he knows that I know. He leaves soon after dinner and I wait as Bella slowly clears up the table. Charlie's gone off to watch a basketball match and I follow Bella up to her room.

You don't mind,do u? I'll get the spare room ready soon,"She says apologetically, glancing at the mattress on the floor.

Sure, I don't you've done a lot for me and I really appreciate it,'' I say, smiles and jumps onto her bed. I want to ask Bella if she knows what Edward is. I cleared my throat and was about to open my mouth and blurt out what I know when there's a tapping sound coming from the window and Bella calmly gets up, and goes to the window.

Keep a secret will you?'' she ask, looking at me with a guilty look. I nod and Bella opens the window and in climbs Edward and my worst suspiciouns are confirmed as he climbs in and I give him a hard look.

You're a vampire, aren't you?" I say in a low tone.

I thought you knew. Your face gave it all away,'' Edward says with a dangerous tone.

The eye's, they're not red. Why?" I demand.

A certain reason. How did you know?'' he asks, his face livid.

Edward, Can't you read her mind?" Bella asks cutting in.

No, I can't. She's blocking me. Like you,' 'he says, his tone suddenly gentle.

I met a vampire like you. Except for the eyes of course," I say

He smiles lightly. We hunt animal. We're sort of vegetarians in a way. But we're very safe to humans,"Edward says grinning.

We?'' I repeat after him.

My family and I,"Edward says with an easy smile.

They're like you?"I ask hesistantly.

Edward laughs. Of course they are," He says.

Have any special powers?,"I ask curiously.

Mind Reader,'' Edward says shortly.

And you can't read me?'' I ask in disbelief.

He shakes his head. No I can't read you,'' he says with a small smile on his lips.

I smile, glad that he can't read me.

Edward leaves shortly after that and gives Bella a kiss on the lips and then slips out of the room.

What was that all about?" Bella says, flabbergasted.

I smile innocently and shrug. I don't know. Besides I was concerned about you,'' I say lightly.

She smiles. I can take care of myself, Emma. Anyways, want to come over and meet the Cullens tommorow night with me?"she asks excitedly.

Sure. Lets go over to the La Push Beach tommorrow. I want to see Emily and Leah too," I say happily.

Bella winces. I don't blame her: She and Leah never did get along well.

I can't. I've got something to do tommorow," she says , absent-mindedly

I frown. Well okay then, Lend me your car. I'll go down to La Push myself," I say pleadingly.

I can do better than lend you my car. I can get Edward to lend you his sports bike,'' she says while rolling her eyes. It was quite obvious she didn't like the bike.

Great then. I'll go tommorow morning and be back before evening," I say

We talk for a little more untill we finally slump off to sleep.

Next morning, I wake up but couldn't bring myself to wake up and went back to sleep. Bella came in a while later and woke me up

Wake up sleepyhead," She says throwing the curtains apart. It's a sunny morning, suprisingly. I dive under my duvet and cling on to it as Bella tries to pull it away from me. I let her pull it away from me and simply curl up and go back to sleep. Bella sighs loudly and walks out of the room. I sigh happily. then I hear footsteps again. Suddenly something ice-cold, wet and hard hits me hard on my face and my body. I jump up and see Bella grinning evilly, holding a bucket.

You so shouldn't have done that," I scream and charge at her. Bella drops the bucket and runs out, screaming. I chase after her, furious. We run downstairs and Bella nearly runs into Charlie. I crash into Edward who felt like I had purposely ran into a huge boulder and slammed hard on it. And he didn't even stagger over. He simply laughed at Bella and I while Charlie lectured us.

You could have hurt yourselves," Charlie shouted. Bella, you know what a magnet you are for danger, you should have known better," He lectured.

He went on for ages and then I went up to get ready. By the time I was back down, Charlie had left and only Bella and Edward was there. I stole a piece of toast from Bella's plate and gulped it down. She gave me a look and I smiled back innocently.

I went up afterwards and had a shower and got into some clean clothes and came back down. Edward then placed a pair of keys infront of me.

Do be carefull with the bike wherever you're going," He says seriously.

I nod and then say goodbye to him and Bella, grab the shiny, black helmet from Edward and strut out. And as soon I open the door, I had to cover my eyes. The bike which was so gloriously shiny and beautiful, stood there, calling my name. I jam the helmet on and jump onto the bike eagerly. I sped down the highway and race of to La Push.

The bike was superbly fast and heads turned as zoomed down the road. I smile gleefully. I reach La Push within half an hour. I decide to go over to Emily's and Sam's first because I knew my way there better than I did to the Blacks or the Clearwaters. I took a turning and reached their place in no time. I take off my helmet, place it securely on the bike and get off.

I walk to the door and I knock on the door as loud as I can. I stand back and wait and look at the woman whom just opened the door. She's the same but from one side of her face. Her expression instantly lights up.

Oh my god, Emma. Is that you ?" She squels

Yeah it's me, Emily,'' I say reaching over to hug her.

Well come on in then. I made same cupcakes and I want you to be the first to try them. It's a new recipe I got off the internet,"She says excitedly

I grin widely and step in to her warm and cosy kitchen. It smells great with the smell of chocolate and raspberry floating through the air, and arousing the depths of my stomach. Emily holds out a tray full of cupcakes. I take one and take a bite and chew apreciatively. And the cupcake tastes so good, I nearly swoon.

Wow, this is really good, Emily," I choke out through a mouthfull of cake.

Thank you, Emma," She says, grabbing a chair and dragging it over to where I were sitting. She sits down and I look closely at her.

What's happened to you?" I ask softly, looking at her damaged side of her beautiful face.

Oh this?" she says, her fingers skimming over the fragile skin of her face. I got mauled by a bear,"she says casually

By a bear ?"I ask, horrified

But just then we are interrupted. The front door slides open and in walks in a bunch of half- nude guys.

I instantly recognise Sam Uley and Seth Clearwater. Hey Sam, Seth,'' I say cheerfully.

Emma?"They say together.

Yeah,''

Wow. Its been a long time. How are you,'' Sam says.

I'm fine. Going to be in Forks for a while now,''I admit.

That's good to know... ,'' Sam says but he's cut of by a an excited scream from a girl a the door.

OMG, Leah!'' I yelp excitedly

Emma,''Leah screams and we run forward to hug each other.

I've missed you so much,''Leah says happily.

Me too. But I'll be here so much now, you'll get sick of me,'' I joke

She laughs and then a guy cuts in.

Come on, Leah. You can't keep your friend all to yourself you know it's rude!'' he says,smirking

Oh shut up, Paul,'' Leah says dramatically.

He's right, Leah. Emma let me introduce you to the troop,'' Sam says.

Sam did a very good job of introducing everyone to me. When I shook hands with Paul, he brought my hand to his lips and went ''Pleasure to meet you demoiselle,'' he says in this totaly fake french accent.

Charming, Monseuire,'' I say back in the same accent.

Everyone laughs and then I meet Jacob who looks the same as ever. Well way taller, more buff and cuter.

Hey Jake,'' I say, holding my hand out for him.

He stares at me and slowly takes my hand. He held my hand as if he was terrified he would lose my hand or something. But eventually he did let go. I smile and scan his looks slowly. His eyes were the most enchanting I'd ever seen. They were this this gorgeous glossy light brown colour that looked polished almost exclusively for him. I couldn't help but not stare at his eyes. He suddenly smiled at me and I blush.

I spent the rest of the afternoon throwing glances at Jacob and blushing whenever he caught me. And then before I left, Jacob rushed to the door.

Hey will you come over to La Push tommorow?" He asks me.

Depends on what I'm doing tommorow,'' I say cooly all the while wanting to say 'Of course'.

Well if you're coming over, I was wondering if you'd like to come, I could take you cliff-diving tommorow. As in like a date," He says, grinning.

Um, sure. Yeah that would be great,'' I say trying to control my glee.

Great. I'll call you tonight then,'' He says smilling widely.

I nod, smilling and get on my bike. I wave at him and then I leave. I race home and catch Edward coming out the door. Hey,'' he says casually.

Hey,'' I reply cheerfully.

Are you coming along tonight with Bella to my house?" He asks.

Yeah. I would like to meet your family. I've never meet vampires like you, so I'm preety curious about you guys,'' I admit.

He chuckles lightly and then leaves.

I went in and close the door after me and run upstairs. Bella,'' I sing when I see her on the floor, reading Wuthering Heights.

Hey, Had a good time?"She asks me.

I nod. What time are we going over to meet the Cullen family?"I ask.

Around 7-ish,'' Bella says. Oh and I've got your room ready for you,'' she adds.

I nod and walk to my room. Bella is such an angel,'' I mutter, looking around the room. The room is clean, had a sweet scent and had the basic stuff like a bed ans more. My bags were at the side. And my phone and my laptop was on the small wooden table. The room was a pale purple colour and had purple bedspreads and a purple duvet on the bed.

I dance around the room for a little and then head to the shower for a hot bath. Without realising I spend an hour in the hot bath. The hot water felt good against my skin after being out in the cold air.

I dried myself and get dressed. I help Bella get dinner ready for us and then have a quick dinner with her. Then I get dressed into a plain red t-shirt and my black jeans. I also put on a jacket because it was cold outside. I put on a little makeup and then dash down. Bella's already outside with Edward and we get in the car.

Meeting the Cullens was fun, especially vampires like Alice and Emment. I had fun meeting them. I like Alice best because we immediately hit off, they both of us being fashion fanatics. I liked Emment too because he sort of reminded me of my own brother, James. Emment is funny, mischievious, and a great big bear of the brother I had. Jasper, I found a very intresting person.

His gift made me think that the Cullens were very different from the other's. Rosalie was ok but Carlisle and Esme were absolutely wonderful. I simply adored both Carlisle and Esme. I spent my time with the Cullens knowing about each other's past and then drooling all over Carlisle's collection of books.

Please feel more than welcome to the books, Emma. I can see only how much you want to get your hands on them,'' Carlisle said, with a twinkle in his eys. I smile gratefully and ventured through the appealing books.

Carlisle even picked ot his favourites and showed them to me. He lent me two of his books and promised me I could come by anytime for the books. Esme told me to come over often and Alice made me promise we'd go shopping and have a sleepover sometime with Bella. I had a great time with the Cullens and I could tell that Bella was preety pleased about the fact that I got along well so quickly.

But it's easy to do so with the Cullens. They're so warm and gracious towards me, almost as if I were a member of their family,'' I think sleepily and head off to sleep.