Chapter 1: The story so far

A/N: No, the dog's name isn't Jake but it went great at that line. *chuckles

Dislaimer: Not mine I swear

I returned home, slightly breathless to find my cute 7 month old golden retriever puppy sleeping soundly in Charlie's favorite leather armchair. I chuckled and woke her up gently, leashed her and out for walk. Forty minutes and a quick run at the open market later we were back home. I took my book bag from my car, let Rocki roam free and happy in the house and I headed up to my room. I had a sneaky suspicion that Edward had been here at my absence.

Thankfully I was wrong.

I unlocked my window and let the soft breeze in. Then I opened the secret compartment of my bedside table and pulled out two identical leather bound dark brown pocket books. My diaries or should I say "The Diaries". I opened them on my bed and I threw myself on it with my new, fresh of the shelf, diary. I have always been a fan of writing.

I guess now is a good time to start a new diary and tell you about my life.

Dear Diary,

You are the first diary of my adult life. Congratulations. Let's talk a little, shall we? I'll start. My name is Isabella Marie Swan. Only child of Charles Swan and Renee Dawyer. I live in a small town called Forks.

I was born here 18 years and 3 days ago. I was named Isabella Marie after my great great great great great grandmother. According to my late grandmother I look alot like her, or did when I was a baby. My parents split and my mom moved to Phoenix taking me with her when I was about four years old. I used to spend summers here until I took my courage with both hands and told dad I don't really like it here in the summer and we decided we'd spend summers together in California.

Last year mom got remarried and I decided to leave the newlyweds in their bliss of traveling together and moved here in January to spend some quality time with dad before college. Mom was sad about me leaving but also happy she could travel with her new husband, Phil, so she accepted it. She even let me take our 2 weeks old puppy with me, not that she'd take good take care of Rocki but anyway.

The strange stuff started after I moved here. Well stranger than dreaming of a ethereal gazebo where I would meet my look-a-like every few nights and talk, that is. I moved here on a Saturday. My plane landed in Port Angeles and I was eager to meet dad. I had missed him so much. We are a far more perfect match than me and mom. Don't get me wrong, I love Renee and she is my best friend but with Charlie, some times we didn't need words to communicate.

We got to my childhood home and after getting Rocki out of her cage to let her get acclimated with the house dad left me alone to unpack. I found that the drawer of my bedside table had a false bottom. In there were 2 old looking diaries. Being the sucker for history that I am I settled in my old rocking chair to read them.

Imagine my surprise when I saw my own handwriting!

The first diary was from my seventeenth year and had a big smile on the moving day. I was so surprised that I pulled out my own purple diary from my carry on bag to compare them. They were identical, word for word. Then I read how 'me' met a guy called Edward Cullen who was a vampire. A vampire that sparkled, I laughed out loud at that! She fell in love with him and him with her. A rogue vampire chased her to Phoenix, bit her but didn't change her. The summer part was strangely blank and then a few days after her/my birthday in September he left her after an accident at his house during a birthday party. She fell in a catatonic phase. My old childhood friend, Jacob Black pulled her together and then left her as well. The last entry was in spring break where she was going to take her life.

I remember shaking my head thinking that it was a cruel joke. I couldn't really have found diaries from me to me! I shook my head, placed them back and went to the diner with dad. I ate my words the next day.

I met Edward Cullen, in biology, as predicted by the diary. At his murderous look during class I knew that the diaries were real, or at least held some truth.

So I took some precautions. Well, actually, gazebo me took them. She directed me to a box in the attic, next to my old dollhouse of a really beautiful mansion where I found a nice old lock.

It was for my window, so no-one could open it more than half an inch, from the outside. According to those diaries Edward had a tendency of stalking/watching her as she slept. I also set up accommodations for Rocki in my room, instead of the living room as we had previously decided.

On a movies trip to Port Angeles I picked a yoga DVD and started exercising immediately. If I was going to spend the next year next to a coven of vampires I had to improve my balance. Yoga and the usual book-on-head and try to walk a straight line helped with it. Ridiculous but worked. Who am I to complain?

As I met Edward and decided to keep my friends close and my 'enemies' closer I found out that Rocki hates vampires. Every time Edward or someone from his family was close enough to touch she'd growl. Color me impressed!

I still remember how I had blanched when at school I had actually met the Cullens. They were real. According to local 'gossip girl' aka Jessica Stanley they were newcomers as well, all adopted, dated within the family and in high school. Exactly the same as the diaries. Our first meeting in biology went down also exactly as the diary described. I had panicked. That's when I decided I would follow my diary-self to the letter. Only difference? I'd keep my heart out of it. According to the diary I would take my life, I could only imagine how that would kill dad and mom.

I couldn't ignore the differences thought. According to the diary dad and I had almost no relationships and friends and there was no Rocki. So I weaved in and out.

I kept my friendships from Phoenix and made new friends here. Angela, Ben and Mike became good buddies. I kept a slight distance from Jake, what was the point if he was going to abandon me as well? Unfortunately the lines were easily blurred as he's dad's best friend's son.

Also within the 'better keep your friends close and enemies closer' tactic I kept an easy friendship with Jessica as well. I got together with Edward drawing the line at above collar, he didn't seem to mind. Thankfully none of the family powers were working on me. Not Edward's mind reading, nor Alice's visions and no empathy from Jasper. Rosalie, the goddess like girl never liked me. I didn't let it get to me though, I had met real bitches and queen bees in Phoenix, an undead egomaniac girl was no match for me, and she knew it.

Unfortunately my careful watch over my diary life and my real one didn't stop the rogue vampires from getting in my way. Plus I had a feeling I wasn't supposed to deviate from 'diary life' too much. Thankfully I was able to talk with the leader, James, before he hunted me down. Also thankfully he seemed to have a head on his shoulders and was able to think with it so I got out with no broken bones but with the bite unfortunately. I should explain this one better, huh?

According to the diary this rogue coven leader vampire, James, would hunt me all the way to Phoenix where he would attack me in my old dance studio, break my leg, crack my skull, break a few ribs and bite me. If a vampire's venom, aka something like saliva, remains in a human's bloodstream the human would change to a vampire.

After meeting the rogues, they walked in on the Cullens and me where they were playing baseball 'vampire style' and smelled me, James decided to hunt me and Edward, Jasper and Alice wanted to drive me to Phoenix. However I used a small time window when I was supposed to tell dad blatant lies and pack for Phoenix when I actually walked into the woods, scrapped my hand purposely and waited for James to come. He did. I told him about the plan to go to Phoenix and offered my blood to him right there and then. He accepted the deal and started drinking. The Cullens arrived in time, attacked him, sucked the venom out of me and during the whole mess, James managed to leave unscathed.

That caused a fight between me and Edward that didn't last very long. In my books, me being alive and unharmed was in the plus side. A fight with Edward, meh didn't really matter. He was the same as the diary, annoyingly possessive!

I put my foot down and spent my summer here with my friends except 2 weeks in Jacksonville, Florida with mom and another 2 week in Phoenix with my old friends. Edward hated that. Actually he hated that I didn't allow him in my bedroom, that I kept Rocki (even when he ordered me to give her away, hah as if!) and that I have my own mind instead of the 'Diary Bella' that almost wore a collar and walked on all fours around him.

Then was the next big incident. The party. From. Hell. Alice insisted on throwing me a birthday party against my wishes, without any of my friends there. Yep just the Cullens and me. When Alice gave me a paper wrapped gift I got a paper cut. I may have kicked off my clumsiness, (seriously after reading the diaries who wouldn't?), but I still have my moments. Everyone went barbaric well vampiric actually. Jasper made a run for me, Edward threw me at a nearby glass table full of fine china and glass goblets that broke and cut my arm. Having read about it I made sure to fall with my back and avoid the extra blood loss. I will never forget the small evil smirk on Alice's face that turned to an angry scowl at that.

I asked to go home after that. No one stopped me. And today Edward left me. big surprise there. Well now I can actually start my life here.

Time to start dinner, cu later diary.

xoxo

Bella

With that I closed my diary, hid it in the mentioned secret compartment of my bedside table and went downstairs to treat dad in out favorite Mexican food. Chicken fajitas with Mexican salad and sangria for him, soda for me. Rocki was happily playing and barking at my feet as I cooked.

Dinner was pleasant. Dad and I talked about our respective days and I told him about the Cullens moving. He didn't particularly like them so he was ok with it. He didn't hate them and he liked the difference they made in the small town but he never trusted them. He always said he felt there was something off about them. I never told him about them being vampires or the diaries. My gut told me it wasn't time yet.

After dinner dad took Rocki out for her night time walk and I did my homework. We watched a movie together and headed to our respective beds.

Tomorrow is a new day.