A/N: Here is Chapter 2 of Quiet Screams. We are just getting started...so the rated M/N-17 will be for the chapters to follow. If you are looking for another story to occupy your time, please check out my other one: Sorority Row. =)
As always, thank you to my lovely betas Tiffany (vampiremama) & Tanya (AcrossTheSkyInStars). They take time out of their busy schedules to keep me in a straight line =) 3

Chapter 2

Ignorance is Bliss

It had been a few days since my sister and father had fought, and everything was quickly swept under the rug. Alice went back to hanging out with her friends, and my father desperately tried to ignore the situation as much as he could. It was only brought up late into the evening when both our parents were drunk off their asses.

Ignorance and avoiding anything real could be my family's motto.

I was bent over in the passenger seat of my mom's car as she drove home, ruffling with my new hair style. My long, dark hair had grown nearly down to my butt and was getting in the way. I agreed to go into the salon with my mom, and came out swearing the stylist.

"I don't know if I like it, mom," I said as I parted it to the side with my fingers. I pulled down the visor's mirror and sighed. It was the shortest my hair has ever been, right below my shoulders. The stylist had talked me into adding auburn highlights and bangs. I had gone in for a trim and came out looking like a totally different person.

"It looks great, Bella! It's a new season, a new you." She was pushing her voice to sound so positive, which totally wasn't her. I wondered what her deal was.

"Right…so since it is summer, I thought that Alice and I could hang out a little outside of the house. Is that okay?" I chewed on my lip, waiting for a reply. I knew that it didn't really matter what my sister and I did. My parents would be off getting drunk or at work either way. They hardly ever checked in on us, unless one of Charlie's deputies spotted something suspicious. I assumed if I asked, it wouldn't come back and bite me on the ass when we got into trouble.

"Yeah, sure…whatever Bells." My mom shrugged it off like it was nothing. She had one hand gripped tightly to the wheel and the other was hanging from her mouth while she chewed on a nail. I could tell that she wanted to get home to have a drink.

I rolled my eyes at her while we pulled into the driveway. I noticed a couple of vehicles parked outside the house at the curb, and knew that Charlie must have the graveyard shift this evening. There was no way in hell he would knowingly let anyone loiter outside his home, and mom was too busy jonesing for the next drink to care.

There was a crowd standing around the driver's side of a silver Volvo, and I could barely make out my sister's tiny profile surrounded by the taller crowd. As I started for the house, her voice carried through the yard, "Bella!"

"I'll be inside in a bit mom," I hollered over my shoulder as I walked toward the group.

Alice skipped over to me and tucked her arm into the crook of mine. She had the biggest smile plastered on her face, and was absolutely glowing. "Bella, come meet my friends!"

She bounced over to the Volvo and the crowd parted to turn to see who the crazy, little pixie's sister was.

My lips curved into a tight smile as my eyes scanned the group. The person standing nearest to me was a tall blonde boy who Alice introduced as Riley. He nodded a hello, but his eyes never quite met mine as they scanned my body.

I took a step to the side, avoiding his gaze, and bumped into a red headed wall that didn't budge. Alice just giggled as she introduced me to Victoria. Victoria exhaled sharply and gave me an evil glare. She had wild, red hair that curled down her back. Her fierce eyes made me blanch.

"Oh Vicky play nice. Don't worry about her Bella. She's just jealous when the guys eye someone else's candy." Alice giggled, yet again. She seemed so happy, and I couldn't figure out what had changed about her. Maybe she did feel more comfortable around her friends. She seemed more at ease with them than she did with the rest of our family.

She jumped on the guy's back that was standing closest to the Volvo. "This big lug here is Emmett. He may look intimidating, but he's a big softy." Emmett was huge. He stood about four inches taller than everyone there, and his muscles seemed to be bulging out ready to rip the thin fabric of his shirt to shreds. He had beautiful blue eyes. Emmett was nowhere near my type, but when he winked at me and his eyes sparkled my heart fluttered which in turn made me smile.

"Yeah, a big softy who does steroids," another guy mentioned. Alice poked the other tall blonde in the stomach and told him to be nice, while Emmett hit him in the balls, effectively doubling the kid in two.

"The asshole who is crying like a school girl is Jasper," Alice said as her arm slid back into my side and she tugged at me to take a step closer to the Volvo.

"Howdy," I heard the small, high-pitched voice of the kid who was now straightening back up and punching Emmett in the arm, only to be rejected and put into a head lock. I giggled at their carefree attitude.

As I got closer to the car, I noticed the same green, piercing eyes that I'd been dreaming about for weeks. "You've already met him, but I don't know if anyone ever formally introduced you two. Edward, this is Bella, Bella this is my best friend Edward." Alice giggled as she left me and walked over to Emmett who still had Jasper's head squeezed between his python arms.

My eyes turned away from Alice's retreating body and back towards Edward's who was staring intently at me.

"Hi," I squeaked and nervously ran my fingers through my hair.

"Hey…" he said coolly followed by a sly grin. "I see you've cut your hair."

My eyes bugged out of my head and I let out this ridiculous cough-groan thing that I couldn't explain.

"Oh yeah, sorry I didn't say anything Bella. I noticed something was different about you. I just couldn't pin it." Alice was, once again, on Emmett's back, struggling against him to release Jasper.

"Don't worry about it. I don't think I really like it anyway," I said running my fingers through it again.

"I do. I think it makes you look older, and very beautiful, Bella." Edward's soft velvet voice made me blush. I looked back at towards him and his eyes had grown a shade darker within seconds. His eyebrow was quirked up and my new favorite grin had appeared again.

"Um, right," I said rather rudely and looked down towards my feet. No matter how hot he was, he was making me extremely nervous. Alice had mentioned that he a year older than her, which would make him nineteen. What kind of nineteen year-old freak would be hitting on a fifteen year-old girl? Not to mention the fifteen year-old daughter of a police chief! I mean, it was okay for me to have a slight crush on him…being the younger of the two…right? However, every time I was near this guy, he stared at me with hungry eyes.

I bit my lip and looked around at the group. None of them were paying attention to Edward and I, until I cleared my throat, and six eyes flew up to meet mine.

"Sorry, um…it was nice to meet you all. Alice, I'm just going to go inside. I have some things I need to do." It was a total lie. I was a horrible liar, so I knew that Alice saw right through me when her eyebrows crunched together and she put her hands on her hips.

"Why, Bella? I thought you were going to hang out with us," she questioned as she began to tap her foot on the gravel.

"I will. Maybe this weekend, okay? I just have some things I need to take care of. I'll see you inside. Bye guys." I didn't stick around for her reaction. I ran as quickly as my clumsy feet would carry me into the house and up the stairs to my room. I fell onto the bed in embarrassment.

Edward probably hated me now, but I couldn't shake the age difference. What kind of guy was he? I screamed into my pillow and kicked my feet. Why did he have to be so damn gorgeous?

After thirty minutes of peeking through my curtains down at Alice's friends, and a total of four times that I caught Edward Cullen looking up and catching me, Alice finally came inside.

"Bella, what the hell was that? Why were you such a bitch to Edward?" She hadn't even given me a chance to explain before she slammed my door and continued. "He thinks you hate him! He was so worried he did something to upset you. I spent the last thirty minutes down there trying to prove him otherwise. I said you must have just had a bad day. What the fuck, Bella?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off again by Alice's frustration.

"He was giving you compliments, Bella. I heard him call you beautiful. Did you at least thank him?" She was tapping her foot again with her hands on her hips.

"Err, well no not really. Alice, don't you think that it is a little creepy that a guy who is almost twenty years-old is flirting and calling a fifteen year-old beautiful? He kind of freaks me out." I picked at the purple quilt on my bed without making eye contact with her. I knew if I looked up she was going to explode.

"What? Are you serious? For one, you'll be sixteen soon. Also, age is just a number, Bella. He could be one hundred and nine and it shouldn't matter, if you like him. To top it off, you told me you liked him! You told me how gorgeous you thought he was, and…"

It was my turn to cut her off, "Oh no, you didn't tell him that I think he is hot, did you? Seriously? I confided in you, Alice. That wasn't supposed to be spread around."

"Oh don't get your panties in a bunch, Bells. I didn't tell him anything that you told me. He mentioned something about you and asked if I thought you could possibly like him. I just told him to go for it." Alice had quieted down finally, but she still seemed very frustrated. Her frustration reminded me of how happy she was outside with her friends.

"Ali? I'm sorry. I'm just really nervous about the whole age thing. I thought it was a little creepy, but you're right that it shouldn't matter. You really like all of them, don't you?" I questioned, pondering each of the interesting characters I had met today. They didn't seem anything like what my parents made them out to be…

"They are all really great people, Bells. They understand me. I know that sometimes people might consider me a little…well…"

"Out there?" I finished for her.

She rolled her eyes, "I was going to say reserved. Thanks Bella, but yeah. They don't think as highly of me as they would of someone like you. Mom and dad are the same way. Sometimes I wonder if they wish you were their only child. I try really hard Bells…and it seems like they think I'm nothing but trouble. I'm jealous of what you have, and who you are. My friends make me feel like I'm someone, not just a troublemaker."

"Oh Ali, that isn't true. Mom and dad love you and don't think you are just a troublemaker. They don't know who your friends are. You look so happy around them, and I'm sure if mom and dad saw that they wouldn't mind them." I gave her a hug, and when I pulled back, she had a huge smile plastered on her face.

"So does that mean you'll start hanging out with us? Edward really likes you Bella. It would be awesome to have my sister date my best friend! Then I'd never have to be apart from either of you!" As I nodded, she jumped up and down and giggled.

I didn't know what to think of everything that Alice had dumped on me, but I knew that I would give anything to keep my sister that happy. I wasn't going to push anything with Edward, out of fear of my parents…and well hell, because I was terrified of him.

It was just the beginning of summer, and I was already bored out of my mind. I was trying to occupy myself with books, movies, and redecorating my room…but nothing seemed to work.

So on this particular morning, I found myself walking around town trying to distract myself. Time was ticking slowly by, and on my second trip around town, the noon bell finally sounded at the same time my tummy growled. I made my way into Forks Café and slouched down in the only booth available.

The waitress was flustered and running amuck around the café. After a few minutes of rushing around, she noticed my presence and huffed. As she sauntered up to my table, I took a closer look at the worn-down server. She was tall, statuesque, and had long, wavy blonde hair that was pulled into a pony tail. Although her nametag was crooked, and she had stains on her uniform from a long shift, she still looked like a model. I chanced a look around at the patrons and noticed the obvious stares from the men as she stalked by.

As she got closer to the booth, I sank down a little further. Her fake smile was plastered across her face, and even though her nametag said Rosalie, her entire form spelled BITCH! I absolutely hated girls like this. They were snooty and cocky because they knew they were beautiful.

She cleared her throat, placing her manicured hand on the side of the table.

"Hi, how are you doing today?" she rushed out.

Like you care, I thought. "Just fine and you?" Then I thought, like I care.

"Busy as ever. Can I get cha something to drink?" she offered.

"A coke please…" and she was off. Rosalie worked quickly, while I watched in amazement. She served me and the other customers in record time. I observed as she stacked plates and carried everything with grace. My initial impression of her was that she was a total bitch, but her smile and kind-hearted attitude never faltered while she served every table. Must really need the tips, I snickered to myself as she wiped off the table across from me.

Before I knew it, my plate had been cleared and most of the other customers had left. She smiled as she approached my table to give me my tab. "Can I get you anything else?" she asked.

"Perhaps an ounce of your energy and motivation," I teased.

"Girl, don't let that fool you. I'm beat!" She slinked down into the booth across from me. "We are short a couple of waitresses and this is my ninth shift in a row."

"Are they looking to hire?" I asked before I thought it over.

"Seriously? Yes! Let me get you an application." She sprang to life and ran back to the server station. I stayed and talked to her for a few hours while I filled out the application and she cleaned around me.

Within a few days, I was hired onto the day shift and had a new friend. My boring summer looked like it was shaping into a busy one.

It had been a long couple of days of running my ass off at the café. The weekend was quickly approaching and I knew Alice would have beaten me if I backed out on hanging out with her friends. Thankfully, I had weekends off, but my busy schedule hadn't given me the opportunity to process what I was going to do about Edward.

The bell over the door dinged and alerted me that I had better kick my brain into overdrive, because Edward Cullen was sliding into a booth in my section.