Chapter One

One day can change your life. One day can ruin your life. All life is three or four big days that change everything. – quote from the movie Riding in Cars with Boys.

I don't remember much about the day my family moved to Forks, Washington. I was a scrawny eight year old kid then who looked more like a six year old. I don't remember seeing our house for the first time, my parents smiling at each other as they unlocked the door, or even climbing inside the yellow cabinets in the kitchen to look for stuff the previous family might have left behind. No, those were just things I imagined I would have done. There is one thing I do know for sure though.

That was the day I met Edward Anthony Masen.

It was rainy. Of course it was. Ninety percent of the time it's raining in Forks. . . but the reason I remember it was raining was because I was wearing my favorite red raincoat. I explored the backyard that first afternoon. Hoping to find the perfect spot for the swing set I had been begging my dad to buy me. Before we moved here we lived in an apartment in Phoenix Az. and we never had room for one. But now that my dad had gotten the job as Chief of Police in Forks through the connection of his friend Billy Black we had a real house with a real backyard.

The backyard had been overgrown with yellow and purple weeds sprouting up to knee level. I made it across the yard and suddenly came across the property line to our neighbors. The reason I knew this was because instead of tall grass and weeds there was a perfectly mowed and manicured lawn in front of me. The bushes were all trimmed into perfect squares and the terracotta pots were full of beautiful flowers

And in the very back of the yard right next to the tree line sat a swing set. My stomach grumbled in excitement when I realized I was going to have neighbors to play with. Then that's when I noticed him. He was sitting on the swing looking at me. He was small and pale . . . with a massive amount of reddish hair on top of his head. I was across the yard from him but already I could see his big eyes shining from underneath his glasses. He waved at me and I started walking to him.

As I got nearer I started making out his features. I held my breath when I realized he must be an angel. His skin was pale and his hair looked so soft as it fell in ringlets and stuck to his wet face. But mostly I noticed his beautiful green eyes as he looked up at me through his glasses. I swallowed and felt a little quiver in my belly.

"Hi! I'm Edward Masen. . . wanna swing with me?" He asked in a lilting voice.

"Sure." I said shyly and took the swing next to him.

"What's your name?" he asked as he kicked off with his right leg and started to swing to match my pace.

"Bella." I offered softly. "I love to swing. I made my dad promise he would buy me a swing set now that we have a backyard." I pointed in the direction of our new backyard.

"So you're moving in next door? I was so glad when the old man who used to live there moved away last summer . . . he had this huge ugly dog that would bark and growl at me like this!" Then Edward proceeded to bark like a dog and growl like an insane person. We both busted out laughing.

"That's so funny!" I had giggled. We continued to swing until we were both going so high that the legs of the swing started to come up off the ground an inch.

The back door of Edwards's house opened and I saw a very tall beautiful lady walk out carrying a rather large platter of cookies. She had on a polka dot dress and her caramel colored hair was brushed back into a matching headband.

"I could hear you kids laughing from all the way in the kitchen!" she exclaimed happily . . . her eyes shining in the same bright way that Edwards had. "Who is your new friend?"

"Her name is Bella, her family just moved in next door." He told the lady who I could only assume was his mother.

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Masen." I said as I got up from the swing and went to shake her hand. My father had taught me to always be polite and to greet adults in this manner.

"Oh, how precious of you dear, but I am Mrs. Cullen. And it's so nice to meet you too! I saw the moving trucks this morning and I cooked up a batch of cookies for your family to welcome you to forks. Would you like to introduce me and Edward to your family?"

"Sure! What kind of cookies?" I asked and stood on my tippy toes to see. Cookies are a very distracting food indeed because as soon as she said the word cookie my mind had abandoned the questions I had as to why this lady's last name was Cullen and Edward's last name was Masen.

"Oh a few different kinds, chocolate chip, sugar cookies, peanut butter!" she showed me.

"Wow!" I said. "You must really like to bake. My mom doesn't really like to cook . . . we usually eat the stuff you get from the frozen food section."

"That's my favorite section!" Edward joined in. "It's where they keep the ice cream!" He was walking over to us now and I looked at him to say that I agreed when the words died in my throat. He was limping on his left leg.

"Are you okay?" I asked worriedly "Did you hurt your ankle when we were swinging?"

Edwards face grew red and he looked up at Mrs. Cullen. "No dear. Edward was in a car accident when he was four years old and his left leg suffered some major injuries. But the good news is that when he gets a bit older he will have a few surgeries to help fix his leg and he'll be able to walk perfectly." She said lovingly. She leaned down and kissed the top of his head and he smiled back at her. I didn't know what to say so I just smiled at him in a friendly way and didn't mention it again as we made our way back to the new house.

I introduced Mrs. Cullen to my parents and they thanked her for the cookies. They started talking and my dad suggested I take Edward up to see my room. I was glad to go along with his suggestion. Adult conversations were so boring.

"It's just up the stairs." I told him in a soft voice. I gave him a chance to say that he couldn't make it up there but he never said anything as we climbed the stairs. I did so slowly and he kept up with me the whole time. I turned right and opened the door in the corner.

The room was medium sized and there was a window that faced the side of his house.

"Hey, your room faces mine!" he informed me excitedly.

"Awesome! Maybe wr can make a phone out of a piece of string and two cans!" I giggled.

All my stuff was still in my boxes but there were a few picture frames at the top of the nearest box and I showed him my friends I left behind in phoenix.

"Are you sure you're from Arizona? You don't seem tan enough to me." He quipped.

"I don't tan . . . I burn. I got that from my mom." I replied back and stuck my tongue out at him.

"Are you sad you had to move?" he asked after a minute of examining my pictures.

"No. I mean I guess I'll miss my friends . . . but I've got a feeling that I'm going to make some pretty good ones here." He smiled a very crooked smile at that.

"So how old are you?" He asked.

"I just turned 8 a couple weeks ago." I replied.

"Cool, I turned eight this summer. Maybe we'll be in the same class. When do you start school?"

"Monday"

"Cool"

And it turns out we were in the same class. The next few weeks flew by quickly as I met all my new classmates. There was Edward of course. And two twins named Rose and Jasper Hale. They were both really smart and constantly bickered over who was the top of the class. Then there was Mike Newton who only wore shirts with the logos of his favorite sport teams on them. Tanya Denali, Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory were best friends who always wore outfits that color coordinated. Eric, Tyler, and Ben were all obsessed with Britney Spears and at recess they would stand in a circle and ogle racy pictures of her that they printed off the internet. Then there was Angela. She was really shy and liked to read. I often saw her carrying a book with a dark haired boy with round glasses and something weird on his forehead. I had to ask her what the book was about.

And then there was James Dwyer. He was the son of my mom's new boss. And he was the meanest kid I've ever met. He bullied everyone, interrupted class with rude comments, and tripped people who passed him in the hall. And I was his new favorite victim.

One day he tripped me on the way back inside from recess and Edward reached out and with surprising force knocked James on his ass.

"You're gonna wish you didn't do that you crippled freak!" James growled at Edward as he stood up. In a terrifying moment I thought James was going to punch Edward but then a teacher walked out of the closest classroom door and told us to hurry back to class.

"Are you alright?" Edward asked me as he helped me get the wet grass off the front of my shirt.

"Yes. Thank you Edward! But I wish you hadn't of pushed him . . . now he's going to want to get back at you." I worried aloud.

"It's ok. He doesn't scare me." Edward replied. "Hey, it's music class next!" he reminded me cheerfully. Music class was my favorite class because Mrs. Cullen was the teacher. We all gathered in the music room and we were singing out of the music book today. Mrs. Cullen asked Edward to come up and play the piano for us while she directed us. I loved it when Edward played the piano. I swelled with pride as I listened to him play. My best friend was a musical prodigy. He played in recitals along with kids twice his age. It just seemed that he was good at no matter what he did.

I opened my mouth to start singing and I cringed. I had no singing voice. Or musical talent whatsoever and I will admit that I was a bit jealous of Edward for being good at something. I wish I was good at something too.

"Why the long face?" Mrs. Cullen asked as she bent over to see what was wrong.

"I can't sing very well." I replied in a small voice. And the one thing I really loved about Mrs. Cullen is that she didn't try to convince me that I could. A lot of adults lie to kids to spare them their feelings. But Mrs. Cullen had a way of focusing on the good things and turning the conversation away from the bad while keeping the honesty intact.

"Well that's ok Bella. You might not sing at the level you want to but I'm sure there is something you are really great at."

I shook my head and frowned. "There is nothing I can think of."

"How about dancing or art . . . there are plenty of ways you can express yourself. Why don't you talk to your mom about joining Mrs. Stanley's Ballet class? It starts next week . . . I think you'd be so lovely dressed all in pink." She tapped the end of my nose with her finger and continued around the class to help other students.

After school got out that day I sat down with Edward in my backyard while we ate afterschool snacks. "Mrs. Cullen thinks I should try out ballet class." I said through a bite of peanut butter. Edward laughed at me for a good minute before seeing the look on my face. He sobered up. "Why would you want to dress up in a stupid tutu and hop around on stage" he asked seriously.

"I don't know Edward. I just want to be good at something. You have piano . . . and you're so good at it. You love it! I want to do something I love too."

"Well, I guess since you put it that way." He said. "I think it's a good idea."

I smiled at him. We set in silence for a while because the peanut butter always made converstion difficult. And we were just as happy to sit in silence enjoying our sandwiches and eachothers company. But along with the silence came the questions I had been too scared to ask him. Was today the day I would be brave enough to ask?

"Edward . . . why is your last name Masen different from Esme's and Carlisle's?" I asked in a quiet voice.

He looked up at me for a minute with a sad look on his face. I thought he would ignore my question at first but then I was surprised when he answered. "Esme is my aunt. My mother's sister. Her name was Elizabeth and my dad's name was Edward like me." He said in a sad voice. My heart was stuck in my throat and I could feel my lips quivering. He continued, "My parents died in a car crash when I was four years old . . . the same crash that messed up my leg."

He looked so small and empty sitting beside me. I didn't want to see that sad look ever again so I scooted closer to him and took his hand. "I'm so sorry that happened to you." I whispered.

A couple of months later it was Christmas time and it was the big night of the ballet recital. I had been working really hard to get the dance down. It seemed like it was harder for me than it was for the other girls because I had absolutely no sense of rhythm . . . but I had worked hard and I could do the dance perfectly.

My mom helped me into my pink costume and braided my hair up into a bun. She took pictures of me on our front steps and told me I was the most beautiful ballerina there ever was. Yeah right. Way to keep the honesty intact mom.

Before the ballet recital began there were performances by the kids who take Mrs. Cullen's piano lessons and Edward played O Holy Night. It was beautiful and everyone cheered when he was finished. My dad even cat whistled for Edward and he and Mr. Cullen laughed good naturedly.

A short while later it was time for my class to dance the Nutcracker. I was extremely nervous as we began and had to concentrate really hard on not messing up. I looked out into the audience and there were my parents smiling up at me. I resisted the urge to wave at them and continued dancing. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Edward was standing off to the side of the crowd looking at me with that crooked grin of his. I felt my face heat and knew I was blushing.

Then I saw it. James was about to trip Edward from behind. Fear clutched at my heart. If Edward fell it might injure his leg further . . . before I knew what I was doing I had jumped off the stage yelling "Edward behind you!" He realized a moment too late and James had tripped him. Edward fell to the floor with a sickening thud. I screamed and ran to him but I didn't pause to see how Edward was. I ran straight at James and yelled, "What did you do to him?" and punched him right in the face. There were gasps from the parents around us and when I turned back around I saw Carlisle on the floor beside Edward helping him back up and checking him out. I was so glad that he was a doctor in that moment and knew Edward couldn't be in any better hands. Edward was dusting himself off and looking up at me dazedly. "I'm okay." He answered my unspoken question.

"Isabella Marie" damn. It was my mother.

"Yes mom?" I looked over at her and saw James by his father's side in the background sporting a bloody nose. My head fell. I was in so much trouble. I had just hit my mom's boss's kid.

"Get your stuff together we are leaving."

The next morning was the start of Christmas break and I was grounded to the house until Christmas which was in five days. On the day that my mom worked at the diner my dad, who was off work, let Edward come over. We hung around the house all day watching Christmas specials on TV and playing board games.

"Thanks by the way."Edward had said in the middle of a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos. I knew he was talking about James even though he didn't specify.

"Any time."

"My best friend is a badass." He gushed.

When Christmas Eve came he brought over a wrapped gift and handed it to me. "It's from my aunt and uncle." He said. "She said wait till tomorrow to open it but I won't tell her if you wanna open it now."

"That's very tempting." I told him as I placed it under the tree with the other presents. Somehow I knew I didn't want to open it in front of Edward.

The next morning I woke up at 8 am and my family sat around the tree opening presents. Finally, after a few new outfits and a very fluffy stuffed lion I opened Mrs. and Mr. Cullen's gift to me. I gasped in shock as I raised the lid. I was a digital camera. I picked it up and examined it closely. It looked really expensive and professional . . . not something you give to a kid.

"Wow" was all I could manage to say.

There was a note that came with it so I lifted it out of the box and read.

Dear Bella,

Sorry your dance recital was ruined darling. I know how much it meant for you to want to be great at something . . . but perhaps I pushed you in the wrong direction. You are a very special girl. You see the world differently than other people do.

Take Edward for example, you saw passed his handicap and made him feel like a regular kid. He wouldn't want me to tell you this, but before you moved here he had a hard time making friends. But because you saw beyond his limp he was able to see beyond it as well and he has been able to become more fully himself because he has you in his life.

You'll never know how precious a gift that has been to Carlisle and me.

So, since you have a knack for seeing things in a new light I thought I might do the world a favor and give you this camera . . . so you can capture the world the way you see it and share it with the rest of us.

Love,

Mrs. Cullen