The next day, Katherine was surprised when Ashley offered to do her papers for her.
"You're not trying to make me give you something, are you?" she asked, suspicious of Ashley's motives.
"When have I ever done that?" Ashley asked as she curled her eyelashes.
"All the time. And since when do you curl your eyelashes?"
"Since now," Ashley said. "Now, don't you have someplace to go?" She touched up her lip gloss after saying this, and then walked out into the hall. After slinging the bag full of newspapers over her shoulder, she stared at her reflection in the porch's glass door. She adjusted her hood, pulled down on her sweater, ran her fingers through what hair was visible a couple of times, then headed out the door.
She fidgeted a lot on the way over, and prayed for a mirror the entire time. Which was a tad bit strange, because normally Ashley felt confident, and knew she looked fine without any reassurance from reflective metal. But she didn't know what she wouldn't give for a stainless steel refrigerator to check her appearance with right now...
She starting scanning the titles of the songs on her iPod, looking for something suitably happy and confidence-boosting to listen to. Ashley had just been about to choose a song when a car alarm went off.
"Seatbelt," she sang to herself. "Back seat. Trunk space." Then she pushed the button, choosing a song by The Idlers. She turned up the volume in an attempt to drown out both the car alarm and her obsession with Dane Cook. The familiar reggae-ska beat relaxed her, and she started to feel better.
When the song ended, Ashley realized that she had been walking down the dirt road very slowly. She hit 'next', picking up the pace. Soon she rounded the corner which put the Cullens' driveway in view. Her heartbeat sped up a little.
Ashley took one deep breath before starting up the long driveway. She kept her eyes down, knowing what she wanted to see, but also knowing that it probably wouldn't happen. When she finally convinced herself to look upwards, however, her wish had been fulfilled. Plus some, it seemed.
Brandon Cullen was sitting on his front porch, engaged in animated conversation with another boy and two girls. The boy was almost as painfully beautiful as Brandon, and the girls were enough to make Ashley's small remaining amount of self-confidence fly out the window. One was short, with black hair that was cropped short and spiked in every direction. The similar hair colour gave Ashley reason to hope that she was Brandon's sister, and not his girlfriend.
The other girl had brown hair, and was staring at the new boy in a way that made Ashley absolutely certain that she wouldn't have to worry about her. And that, had she preferred the boy with the auburnish hair, she would have had no chance.
As Ashley approached the four, the tiny girl stopped talking midsentence, and simply left. Brandon glared at her retreating back, and the brunette placed her hand on his arm comfortingly. His head suddenly turned to face Ashley, and he grinned again. She grinned back and looked down to reach into the bag, trying to hide her blush. She didn't have time to let it fade, though, so she was going to have to pretend it wasn't there. As she approached the porch, she noticed the trio all suck in a breath at the same time. It was kind of creepy. They didn't seem to be breathing anymore...no, their shoulders were moving up and down slightly, they were breathing. That was good. Not breathing can result in death.
"Hey," she said to the two she didn't know. Her voice wavered, she didn't feel comfortable around them. The instinct to run was back. But, because it was stupid, she ignored it. "You must be the new neighbors. I'm Ashley."
The new boy smiled. "Edward Cullen. I'm Brandon's brother." This boy's voice was not cashmere, but more velvety.
"And I'm Bella," the girl said in a voice that sounded like bells, melodic and enchanting. "Bella Cullen."
"Are you all siblings?" Ashley asked.
"Edward, Alice, Emmett and I are siblings." Brandon chimed in, his cashmere voice softer than ever. Imaginings ran untamed through her head as she turned to ogle his face.
There was something Ashley wanted to ask, but she couldn't remember it...
"And Bella is my wife," Edward said. It was kind of creepy, Ashley thought. That was what she had been trying to remember. At least they weren't incest. But... weren't they awfully young to get married?
Bella glanced subconsciously at the ring on her finger. Ashley looked as well. It was beautiful, though she didn't much like the engagement ring, which was too old-fashioned. Ashley turned to hand Brandon the paper, and saw out of the corner of her eye Edward grabbing Bella's hand to kiss the ring on her finger. Nobody else she knew did that. She decided then that old-fashioned boys were okay. But modern rings were much more gorgeous.
"Well, see you around," Ashley said.
"Goodbye," Edward said.
"See ya," Bella said with a warm smile and a wave. Ashley liked her. She seemed very nice.
"Until the next time your sister forces the paper route upon you," Brandon said, as he entered the house, with a small wave.
When he closed the door behind him, Ashley realized her mouth was hanging slightly open. Bella and Edward were both looking away, although Edward seemed to be smirking. But Ashley hadn't been spotted, so she shut her mouth and continued with the paper route absentmindedly. She ran into a couple of people, totally ignored others, and forgot to put newspapers in two mailboxes. She had no idea of which two it could be. She'd have to wait for them to call and complain, she supposed.
All day, the only thing she could think about was the fact that Brandon had implied a future meeting. He thought he'd be seeing her again.
This was good. Very good. She could hardly wait until tomorrow.
A/N:
This chapter goes out to WolfxAngel, who not only reviewed, but favorited the story! You are officially awesome. Does anybody else here start singing 'Hellooooo! I'm a caaaaar!' when they hear a car alarm?
Also, is their anyone reading this who could edit my writing? They call them beta-readers on fanfiction sites, right? (I really am clueless.)
Next chapter should hopefully be out soon. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon.
-Megan
