Chapter two;
I wake to the sound of my alarm. I groan and hit snooze, realizing that it's Monday; my first day of school. We'd been in our new house for a few days now, finally all unpacked, and fortunately I would only have to go to school for two more months before my high school graduation arrived. Thankfully, Mom had called the school Friday, and they arranged for another student to walk me to all of my classes today. I was glad, because I knew I would get lost, but I still wasn't looking forward to it. I glance at my window and see that it is an overcast dark day. I groaned again, pulling myself up to get ready. Throughout my life, I never really cared too much about my appearance when it came to clothes, make up, and how I did my hair. Rustling through my dresser, I threw on some dark jeans, boots, and a dark green sweater remembering to grab an extra jacket before heading downstairs. When I reach the kitchen, dad is in uniform about to leave for his first day of work. He gives me a knowing smile, because I am sure he is just as nervous about today as I am.
"Morning, Dad." I say giving him a quick hug.
He kisses the top of my head. "Morning, Kiddo. Nervous?"
"A little," I shrugged.
He smiled again, "Me too."
I began to pull my hair back into a ponytail as my mom rounded the corner.
"I made some eggs and bacon. I want you both to eat a good breakfast." She said, yawning.
"I can't today, sweetheart. I'm already running late for work on my first day." Dad told her.
They gave each other a kiss, "You girls have a good day. Bella, you're going to do great." He said. I smiled at him and waved goodbye.
I lived three blocks from Florence High School, and just before I left my yard, I glanced over to the house next door. It was dark, and quiet. It had me wondering about the dark boy, and if he was my age. Maybe I'd have some classes with him. The sidewalk was icy, but I didn't mind walking, despite the freezing temperatures. The sky was almost blindingly white, full of snow clouds. I think back to Phoenix, and recall walking to school, as well. I loved it. Its good exercise, plus I was still saving up money to by myself a car. I was glad to find that the walk to school was peaceful until it started to flurry. When the school was in eyesight, I began to see people. All of them bundled up in what mostly looked like the school colors of blue and white, and their breath making smoke in the air. It was a beautiful building. Old, like everything else around here, but it was a piece of history. Two stories tall, and at the top of the two pillars to the entry way it read, 'Florence High.' As I made it onto the lawn, everyone began staring at me while talking. Fortunately, I couldn't make out what anyone was saying, and continued my way up the stairs into the giant stone building. My face already burning red with embarrassment and I sighed in relief to see the office conveniently located just inside the front doors. Carefully, and as quietly as I can, I turn the door knob to the front office and step inside. The first thing I notice is how warm it is. I unzip my jackets immediately. I see posters on the wall for The Florence Huskies. The old woman behind the front desk looks up at me with a smile.
"You must be Bella Swan. Welcome to Florence High, dear."
She was kind, and though she was probably over sixty, she was very beautiful. "Thank you, very much." I reply sheepishly. I look to her name tag and read, Martha King.
"Here is a copy of your schedule, and I have arranged for Alice to walk you around today. You both have a similar schedule." She points over to a small girl reading an old Shakespeare book. Before she puts it down, I see the title, A Midsummer Night's Dream: One of my favorites. She looks up to me and smiles brightly.
"Hi! I'm Alice. It's really nice to meet you."
"You, too" I say. I really meant it. She seemed friendly and normal enough—a stark contrast to the others I encountered outside—so I suddenly became very grateful towards this Alice girl . "I'm Bella."
Alice and I both turn back to Martha. "You two run along now. The first bell will be ringing anytime, now." She says sweetly. "Have a great day."
I follow Alice out of the office, and as soon as the door closes behind us, she turns to look at me.
"You're very pretty." She says.
I'm almost taken aback at her bluntness. "Uh, thank you. So are you."
"Thanks! So, let me see your schedule." I hand her the small slip of paper.
She begins to read aloud, "AP English, Trigonometry, P.E., and French II. Nice! I'm in all of those classes, too, except, P.E."
I frown, wishing she was. I hated P.E. and it would have been nice to have someone I knew in there, suffering with me.
"I'm actually a junior, by the way." She says rather proudly.
"Wow," I replied, impressed.
I follow her down a crowded hallway. I try not to notice people watching us as we pass by them.
"Over there is your locker, but we'll get to that after first period. And that is the cafeteria," She points to a large room surrounded in windows that look out into the halls, and the day outside. I nod, and continue to follow. We get to a green door that reads, 'AP English: Mr. Crown' I follow Alice inside and see an old balding man look up at us from behind a book. I notice that it is the Shakespeare book that Alice had been reading in the office.
"Hello there Alice," he says with a husky voice. "You're Bella Swan, I'm guessing." He looks at me and tries to give a small smile that comes off almost creepily. I nod, and try to smile back at him.
"That's wonderful. Alice, why don't you have her sit next to you, and grab her book from my desk, please." He turns back to me, "Welcome to AP English, Bella. I'm Mr. Crown." I take a seat next to Alice as she hands me an old copy of, A Midsummer Night's Dream.
The rest of the day seemed to drag on, annoyingly. However, I did manage to get my locker open on the first try. It helps that Alice is very sweet, and thankfully she talks a lot. I don't mind it, because it keeps me entertained. She has lived here her whole life, and apparently lives only a few blocks from me. Her family owns the family grocery store. By the time lunch rolls in, I'm starving. I stand in line behind Alice as we fill our trays with food. We reach the end of the line when I hear someone call Alice. I follow Alice's eyes until I see a stunningly beautiful blonde girl across the room waving her arm.
"Alice! I'm over here!" The girl yells, and sits back down to her own food.
Alice nods, and motions for me to follow her. Suddenly, I'm nervous again. I can't believe I make it to the table in one piece.
"Hi, Alice. Hey, Bella." The girl said without hesitation.
"Hey, Rose. Bella, this is Rosalie Hale. She's a senior like you." Alice said, patting my shoulder.
"Um, hi, Rosalie. It's nice to meet you." I said, my cheeks returning their color.
Rosalie smiled, and flipped her long hair behind her shoulder, "This whole town has been talking about your move up here for a least a month." She said laughing. "My dad is now your dad's deputy."
I kind of let a giggle slip myself, "Whoa, this town really is small." Both Alice and Rosalie nod in agreement while laughing.
"This must be quite a weather change for you, huh?" Rosalie asked, laughing.
"Um, yes. I think I'm already over all this snow." I answered annoyed.
"Trust us," Alice said, "We've been over it for seven months!" We all laughed in unison. I devour my food, thankful to see that Alice and Rosalie have as well. I glance around the cafeteria, noticing how close knit everyone is. It doesn't seem like there is a whole lot of conflict between anyone. However, I then realize that most everyone here has grown up together. The bell rings, and I return my attention back to Alice and Rosalie, who are picking up their lunch trays, and slinging their back packs around their shoulders. I do the same.
"Hey Bella," Rosalie begins, "I have P.E. next period too. You can walk with me if you'd like."
I begin to nod. "Sure, Rosalie." I turn to Alice and say meaningfully, "Thanks so much for showing me around today. I would have been a lost wreck without you."
"No problem, Bella. I'm glad to have some classes with you! I'll see you guy's later, okay?"
"Bye, Alice." Rosalie and I both say.
Walking down the hall toward gym, Rosalie turns to me, "You can call me Rose by the way. Rosalie makes me sound like an old woman." We both chuckle.
"I have to be honest, Rose; I'm not really looking forward to P.E." I tell her.
"Neither am I." She admits. "I think boys are the only ones who enjoy P.E. Speaking of boys, though, this class has a lot of cute ones." She said bumping her shoulder into mine. For some reason my cheeks begin to threaten with color.
"I'm actually not really into dating. I mean, I like boys, but I don't date." I said, almost regretting it as soon as the words came out. This lit Rose up.
"Seriously?" She exclaimed. "Why not?" She asked, looking seriously puzzled.
I shrugged, "Oh, I don't know. Back in Phoenix, no one ever really caught my eye."
"I hear that." Rose replied. "Well, maybe we can find someone for you here." She said with a sly smile. I had no idea what was going through her mind, and I'm not sure I wanted too. We push through the heavy gymnasium doors. It was very large, and looked like it had been remodeled. A big Husky face was on the floor we walked across making our way to the Girl's Locker Room. Once inside, I wasn't quite brave enough to change in front of the other girls, so I went into a stall instead.
Once we'd made it back out into the gym, it was flooded with people setting up volley ball nets on one end, and a group of boys beginning to play basketball on the other. For the most part, it looked like all of the other girls sat in the bleachers, and just watched. I began to smile, because I was perfectly fine with that. I followed behind Rose to a spot on the bleachers, and she began introducing me to a few of the other girls. I waved and said hello back to all of them. One girl in particular, Jessica Stanley, gave me a really mean once over, and turned away. It kind of hurt my feelings. I couldn't have done something to make her upset. I'd only been here at school for six hours! Sitting on the uncomfortable bleachers, I began to look around at the other students, avoiding Jessica's direction. Not surprisingly, it was rather loud and hectic.
I shifted my eyes from the basketball game, and the volleyball game. Then, all of a sudden, I did a double take, and my eyes locked on. My breath caught in my throat, and it was as if all of the sound in the gym faded around me. I heard my pulse in my ears, and my heart constricted in my chest. I realized that it was hard to breathe, and I was staring. Playing volley ball on the opposite side of the gym, there stood a boy. A man, I guess I should say. He was tall, and lean, but with defined muscles. His hair was sort of wild, but I am assuming that it was from running around a hot gym hitting a ball into the air. He was so beautiful that it hurt me, physically and mentally.
My thoughts were running at a furious pace, and my heart felt like it had stopped beating altogether. He was in between two other boys, and they were laughing, while trying to hit the ball to the other side of the net. Their enthusiasm had me assuming that their team was winning. I felt myself loosing focus on him, but realized that someone had been speaking to me.
"Earth to Bella." Rose said loudly.
I shook my head and looked over to her, "Yeah?"
"Who were you looking at?" She asked, curiously.
"Nobody." I said too quickly that it came out as a stutter.
She began to laugh at me. "Uh, you were completely zoned out."
I shrugged my shoulders, and my eyes wanted so badly to drift back towards the boy, but I held them back. Rose's eyes began to search the gym, and I was praying that she wouldn't find who I was looking at. Then, as if the devil heard my prayers, her eyes zeroed in, and grew wide to match the smile on her face. I followed her stare with my own eyes, and my heart stopped beating, again.
"You were looking at Edward Cullen, weren't you?" She said questioningly.
I tried to play it down, but I knew she was looking straight at him. "I don't know who Edward Cullen is." At least I was honest.
"The tall boy across the gym with the crazy hair." She began to raise her arm and point, but I grabbed it immediately, and pulled it back down. I felt all eyes on me, and my cheeks began to burn, like there was a smoldering fire beneath them. I tried to give Rose a knowing smile to keep quiet, and when all she did was nod, and turn back to the other girls, I sighed in relief. Without hesitation, I let my eyes slowly wander back to the boy called Edward Cullen. I was startled when the bell rang, and everyone filed into their respective locker rooms as quickly as they had come out at the beginning of the period. As I followed the other girls, I watched Edward from afar, glad that he hasn't looked at me. I was afraid I may die if he did. I changed my clothes in the bathroom stall again, and noticed that my hands were shaking. Why am I so nervous? I shook my hands, took a deep breath, and returned out into the gym, relieved that the day was over. Rosalie caught up with me and began talking instantly.
"You like Edward Cullen!" She shrieked as I tried to quiet her voice. "I mean, he's so gorgeous, and all the girls want him, but he doesn't ever date. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen him speak to another girl, let alone like one."
My heart fell heavy and I was sad at her words. "I was just looking around, Rose. No big deal." I told her, trying to sound truthful.
"Sure, sure, but I know that look. I've actually had the biggest crush on his older brother, Emmett, since I was sixteen."
My heart lifted at her news. "Really?"
"Yeah. He's so hot. He's a freshman at the community college in Canon City. Edward, Emmett, and their younger brother Jasper, are all adopted. Edward's dad is the town doctor, and his mom is on the Town Committee."
I was loving all the information that she was pouring out. "So, have you ever talked to Emmett?" I asked eagerly.
She let out a small sigh, "A few times, yeah. Every year the town has holiday parties, and I am so excited for the Spring party this year, because I'm going to make my move on him." She gushed excitedly.
"Your move?" I asked raising my eyebrows.
"I'm going to tell him how much I like him, and I know he won't turn me down, because every year, he's always staring and winking at me." She hedged on before I could say anything. "Maybe you can get with Edward. I'll introduce you tomorrow if you'd like. The party is in a few weeks. " Her demeanor was sweet, but I was too nervous for that. Right now, anyway. Secretly, I wished I had her confidence.
"Thanks, but I think I just like looking, but we'll see what happens. And don't tell anyone, okay?"
"Okay! I can keep a secret." She whispered. I instantly felt better, because I believed her. "Do you want to walk home together?"
"Sure, that would be great." I replied. And it was great. She lived five houses down from me, and she was an only child as well. We were able to relate on a lot of things, and I felt like I made a lifelong friend. Maybe Florence, Colorado wasn't going to be so bad after all.
The next couple of week flew by as I got into a nice routine. School became very regular, and I even looked forward to it. I loved hanging out with, Alice and Rose. We laughed so much at the most stupid things. My school work came easily to me, but that was no surprise. I'd always been good at academics. Except for math, that is. I hate math. Although, now my favorite part of each day was, P.E. I pined over Edward, and I was thankful when Rose nudged me, giving me the look that I was being too obvious at staring. He still never noticed me, and I was all right with that. The time would come when Edward and I would speak. I looked forward to that day, and even dreamt about it periodically. Tomorrow was the last day of school before Spring break would start. Since me, Alice, and Rose, now walked home together every day, I knew where they lived, and knew we would get to hang out over break. My parents were even planning on attending the town Spring party next week. Unfortunately, I was extremely nervous about it, but Rose assured me that it would be good. I was anxious to see how things went with Rose and Emmett.
On the last day of school before break, we were in P.E. I was seated next to Rose and we were discussing going shopping for a dress to wear to the Spring party, when I was hit in the back of the head by a ball.
"Ouch!" I yelled. Instantly I was mad because it did kind of hurt. I spun my head around to see who the culprit was, and as soon as I saw who was running towards me, my heart began beating so fast that I felt like it would leap out of my chest. Edward Cullen was in front of me, and leaned down to pick up the volley ball.
"I'm really sorry about that. We need to stop letting Jasper serve. Are you all right?" He asked. He has the most beautiful voice that I have ever heard. His chiseled face is so beautiful, I felt tears beginning to well up in my eyes in embarrassment and just plain nerves. I cried when I was nervous. It hurt to look at him, and be in such close proximity. Rose nudged my ribcage to bring me back to life.
"Oh, uh, no, it's fine. It didn't even hurt." I stammered out. My cheeks were on fire, and I was sure that everyone around me could hear my heart thudding. A smile broke across his face and I felt the tears come back to my eyes.
"Well, I'm sorry again and I won't let Jasper serve the ball anymore." He laughed. "I'm Edward Cullen, by the way. You're Bella, right?"
"Um, yes." I was proud to not of stammered so bad that time.
"Welcome to Florence." He said smiling. "I hope you're liking it so far." I was surprised that he was still here in front of me starting a conversation.
"I am, actually. It's beautiful here."
"Yeah, that's probably my favorite aspect of this place." He told me honestly. Just then, one of the boys on the court called out.
"Edward! Are you going to talk all day, or can we get back to playing?" One of the boys yelled.
Edward looked over to the boy, whom I was assuming is Jasper. "Yeah, just a minute" He called back, almost sounding frustrated.
Edward looked back to me, "Sorry about that. It was nice meeting you, Bella. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around."
"Yeah, definitely. Bye" I replied, somewhat saddened that he wasn't going to be so close to me.
He jogged back to his teammates and they picked up where they left off with their game.
"Well, well, well." Rosalie teased. "Looks like Edward Cullen came out of his hard shell."
"What do you mean?" I said.
"I mean, he never talks to girls. It's like he can't even see them. I'm impressed." She leaned in closer to me, "Plus, he keeps looking over at you…" she whispered.
"What? No way!" I whispered back, almost too loudly. I jerk my head to look over at him, and sure enough our eyes meet before he looks away quickly. My life is complete, I thought. I felt warm from the inside out, despite hearing Jessica sighing loudly behind me.
On the walk home from school, Rose and I gushed to Alice about our P.E. experience. She was really excited, and quoted Rose by telling me that it was extremely rare for Edward to talk to a girl. I felt so honored, and enormously giddy. Rose assured me that he would be at the Spring Party, and I could not wait. We decided on dress shopping this weekend. By the time I made it to my house, it began to snow. Surprisingly, I'd gotten used to it, and kind of began to enjoy it. I made it through my front gate when I heard the boy next door begin to play his harmonica. I paused, and looked over to him. He stopped playing, stood up, and he walked over to the end of his yard. He was very mysterious, and slow moving. It was like, moving was the easiest thing on earth.
"Hey. I'm Jacob Black." He said, nicely.
"Hi, Jacob. I'm Bella Swan."
"Sorry about not introducing myself sooner. I wanted to give you time to settle in."
"That's alright. I should have come over sooner. Do you go to the High School?" I asked, remembering that I still had not seen him.
"No, I'm homeschooled, actually. It makes it easier for me to take care of my dad."
"Oh, I see. Is he sick?" I regretted the words, thinking they may be too personal.
Jacob didn't seem to mind. "Yeah, he was diagnosed with cancer a couple years ago, but he's in remission now."
"That's great! I'm glad to hear that…well at least that he's in remission." He nodded and it got quiet and awkward when neither of us knew what to say next.
"So, your dad is the new Sherriff, huh?" He smiled.
I returned his smile, "Yeah, he is. He seems to really love it."
"Are you enjoying school so far?"
"Surprisingly, yes. Everyone has been really nice."
"That's good. I am so glad to be out of that place. Are you going to attend the Spring Party?"
"Um, I think so. A few of my new friends have convinced me." I didn't want to show how excited I actually was about it.
"Awesome, I'll be there, too. You owe me a dance." His words caught me off guard, but his smile was friendly.
"I'm not sure about how much dancing I'll be doing, but okay, that sounds good." I returned his friendly smile.
"Well, I better get back inside, but it was great to finally meet you, Bella."
"You, too."
We both let out a small smile before waving good bye to each other.
Sunday rolled around, and I was getting ready for Rose and Alice to pick me up to go shopping. I was very excited for someone who doesn't even like to shop. I heard that the town Spring party is pretty formal, so I was anxious to find the perfect dress. A dress that I hope Edward Cullen would notice me in. Fortunately, my parents gave the 'O.K." to go to Colorado Springs with Rose and Alice. It was a bit of a drive, but Rosalie insisted, because of their huge mall.
The drive to Colorado Springs went by quicker than I though. All three of us were so glad to finally be shopping for our spring dresses. Alice finally opened up and told us of her miniature crush on Jasper Cullen. Rose and I were ecstatic. It all fit perfectly. After trying nearly every store in the mall with no luck, we decided to go across the street from the mall to this small boutique called, 'Special Occasion.' Ironically, the name fit perfectly to our moods.
The store keeper was a beautiful Indian woman. I was instantly jealous of her dark hair, and dark skin. She showed us around, gracefully, and just like that, the three of us had found our respective dresses. Alice got a silk navy blue, one shouldered, floor length dress. Rose went for a short red cocktail dress, and I had found the most beautiful emerald green, strapless, satin, almost knee length dress. We left the shop feeling like we were on top of the world. We blared music, and talked all the way back to Florence.
The day that the Spring Party had arrived, I was over at Rosalie's with Alice, to get ready for the big night. Rose had very lenient parents, and I was loving it. She even managed to steal each of us a glass of wine. I felt myself begin to really loosen up here in Florence. I wanted to do things that I'd never done before, like drink, or smoke pot, and be somewhat reckless. I'd always been so straight laced in my life that I felt like now was the time to start living it. Me wanting Edward Cullen so bad that my heart could feel death creeping in on it, motivated me to realize that I had to make him mine. I let Alice do my hair, and Rose, apply my make-up. I have never been good at either, but it was probably because I never cared enough about it, until now, that is. When I saw myself in the mirror, hair pulled up in spiral curls, make-up done like a movie star, perfect just above the knee length dress, and six inch black heels on, I felt ready to kill with my looks. I had a feeling that my parents would hardly recognize me, and that gave me a thrill. The plan was, after the Spring Party, Rosalie's parents were leaving for Aspen, so that left Rose in charge of the house. More like, in charge of the after party. She invited the entire student body, including the Cullen's, of course. I was extremely anxious about how it all would turn out, but I used that feeling to drive me to make it the perfect night. Edward Cullen would want me in his arms, and I would be fulfilled. I would be a new person after tonight. I was sure of it.