AN: Thanks to those of you who have added this troy to your Alerts and Favorites lists! It really mean a lot to me! And a big thanks to .destiny - my first reviewer! I really appreciate the kind words and I extended the sleepover bit because you said you were excited about it! That's how it works people! Tell me what you like and want to see happen and I'll try my best to incorporate it in the story!

Rosalie picked me up the next night at exactly 7 o'clock. I was more than a little nervous to be spending the night at a complete strangers house. I had never been extremely popular at my old school. I had one good friend, Angela, she was amazing and I missed her. Other than that, I was a bit of a social recluse. It wasn't something I liked about myself, so I knew I needed to make an effort. To at least try and make friends with these girls. I already felt like me and Rosalie were friends, hopefully it would be that easy with Alice.

We pulled up to a giant house buried deep in the woods. I couldn't help but gasp in shock as I took in the sight. The house was beautiful. A three story red brick house with a wrap around porch.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Rosalie asked as we made our way to the house. I just nodded, to stunned to speak. "Yeah, the Cullen's are probably the richest family in Forks." She could obviously see the worry in my eyes as she told me this and quickly tried to calm me down. "But you could never tell just by talking to them. They are so sweet and down to earth. Material things mean very little to them. A word of advice though, don't get between Alice and her clothes." She winked and smiled and I couldn't help but let out a giggle. If they're as nice as she says they are, then this shouldn't be too bad.

We walked up to the door and Rosalie walked in like she owned the place. The house was exquisite. The color scheme, the fresh flowers, the furniture, the grand piano, it was almost to much to take. I couldn't believe I'd be staying the night here. I felt very out of place in my dingy jeans and t-shirt combo and smelly converse to top it off. I was so distracted by the house itself I almost didn't notice the people sitting on the couch. A tall boy with wavy blonde hair and blue eyes, who looked a lot like Rosalie, was sitting on the couch. His arms were wrapped around a small pixie-like girl with black spiky hair. They both looked up and smiled at us as we entered. The small girl jumped up from the couch and skipped over to me.

"Hi Bella! I'm Alice!" She said, wrapping her arms around me. "I'm so glad you came! We're gonna have a blast."

"Um, yeah, thanks for inviting me. You have a really beautiful house." I sounded like a mumbling idiot but nobody seemed to notice. The tall boy stood up from the couch and made his way over to where we were gathered.

"I'm Jasper, Alice's boyfriend and Roses' brother." he said as he extended his hand. "It's really nice to meet you Bella."

"Uh, yeah, yeah you too Jasper." I smiled as I shook his hand.

"Well, I'll leave you ladies to it then. See you tomorrow." he said mostly to Alice and Rosalie as he walked out the door.

We headed up to Alice's room which was on the third floor so she gave me the grand tour on the way. She showed me the kitchen first and told me to help myself to anything in it. Then she showed me where all of the bathrooms were, there were so many I gave up counting half way through the second floor. We made it to the third floor and she showed me another guest room, the bathroom we'd be using and a linen closet where some extra blankets were in case I got cold during the night. As we finally headed into her room, I noticed a door at the end of the hall she had skipped.

"What about that room Alice?" It only took a moment to realize how rude I was being. She caught the look of horror on my face immediately.

"It's okay Bella, you're not being rude calm down" she giggled. I calmed down a bit but was still horrified at myself for being so nosey. "That's Edward's room. He's my cousin. He never comes out of it, so you probably won't see him." Ah, the mysterious cousin. I had almost forgotten about him. I had so many questions, but I had already been rude enough for one night. My questions would have to wait. I looked back at Alice and smiled. She smiled at me for a moment before her face became serious. "Just don't bother him, Bella, and he won't bother you." With that she turned and dragged me into her room.

I admit it. I hadn't had this much fun in years. Maybe in my whole life. We talked, watched movies, baked cookies, even gave each other manicures. It was just so girly. I really had never done anything like that before.

"So Bella," Alice began "tell us all about your love life!" I cringed. When I was talking to Emmett, my lack of a love life was a good thing, it was less awkward that way. With Alice and Rose, it was just embarrassing.

"Um… I had a boyfriend for a couple of weeks my freshman year." I stopped hoping that would be enough. It obviously wasn't as they smiled and nodded for me to continue. "But, he broke up with me when I refused to go down on him. I haven't even attempted dating someone since."

"What a dick!" Rosalie exclaimed, shaking her head.

"Well it's good you got out of that relationship early then. He was clearly only after one thing." She said, disgusted. I smiled and nodded in agreement. We sat in silence for a moment while I tried to push the memories of my only and very unsuccessful relationship out of my head. Alice placed her hand on my shoulder and I looked up at her.

"Don't be sad Bella. You'll find someone soon and they'll be perfect, I just know it." Yeah right! I thought to myself. I looked around trying to find some way to change the subject.

"So, it's my turn next. I'm thinking Hot Pink" I reached down and grabbed the ugliest shade of pink nail polish I'd ever seen and tossed it to Alice, who squealed with delight when she saw the color. The conversation started flowing after that and talk of relationships didn't come up again.

We talked and laughed until almost 3 am before we finally crashed on Alice's enormous bed. When I woke up I saw that it was still dark. Then I realized I was shivering. I looked at the clock, 4:30 am. I shivered again and looked down to see the blanket I had been under was missing. I looked next to me and saw Alice and Rosalie bundled up in it. I didn't want to wake them, but I was freezing. That's when I remembered the linen closet. I got up quietly trying not to wake anyone up and headed to the door stubbing my toe twice on the way. The closet was right next to the bathroom, opening the door as quietly as I could I grabbed the first blanket my hands touched. I turned to head back to Alice's room when I saw a sliver of light at the end of the hallway. Curiosity got the better of me when I saw where the light was coming from. Edward's door was open, just a few inches.

I started towards the door quietly, trying in vain to avoid the squeaky floorboards. As I got closer to the door I heard a beautiful melody coming out of the room. Clair de lune, it was one of my favorites. I was surprised he was listening to it. Not many teenagers listen to classical music. I finally got close enough to take a peek inside the room. What I saw shocked me. He was sitting with his back to me, on a short stool in front of an electric key bored. He wasn't listening to Clair de lune… He was playing it. I watched in awe as his fingers moved gracefully up and down the keys. I could see the muscles in his arms flex through his thin gray t-shirt. As the song came to an end, he sat back and ran those glorious fingers through his tousled bronze hair. He brought his hands back down to begin a new song when I unthinkingly shifted my weight to my other foot. Crap! I thought as the floor boards squeaked beneath me. He abruptly turned around to face the door. His eyes met mine then and I gasped as the beauty of his face hit me like a ton of bricks. He was too beautiful. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity until he slowly, very slowly got up from his seat and started walking towards me. I needed to say something, apologize. When I realized I couldn't speak, I decided I needed to just walk away. When I realized I couldn't move, I panicked. But I never broke eye contact with him. He was standing right in front of me now. His green emotionless eyes staring into my own. I vaguely noticed his hand moving and resting on the door knob. He slowly started to push the door closed, holding my eyes until the door blocked my vision. Then it shut with a click.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and turned to go back to Alice's room. I curled up on Alice's bed with my blanket, trying to forget what just happened. I closed my eyes only to be met with the most stunning green eyes I'd ever seen. Those eyes, his eyes, were now permanently burned into my retinas.

I awoke the next morning alone in Alice's huge bed. I stretched my arms out and my hand hit something laying next to me. I picked it up and saw a folded piece of paper with my name written on the outside of it.

Bella,

We didn't want to wake you. Get dressed and meet us in the kitchen, we have A LOT to do today!

~Alice

I didn't know exactly what Alice had planned for the day but considering the conversations we'd had last night… it probably involved shopping. I started to get dressed when I suddenly remembered what had happened last night. Was Edward downstairs? Did he tell Alice about me? Does he hate me? Does he think I'm a freak for just staring at him like I did? I couldn't go down there and face them. Calm down Bella. Maybe he didn't say anything. You can't hide up here forever. I continued getting dressed and slowly headed downstairs. I walked into the kitchen and was greeted by an overly excited Alice.

"Morning Bella! Hurry up and eat breakfast, we've got so much to do and only a few hours to do it!" I took my seat at the table next to Rose and started on the stack of pancakes Alice set in front of me.

"Thanks Alice, these are great." She smiled as I wolfed down two of the four pancakes on my plate. "So what exactly are we doing today?"

"Shopping of course!" She was beaming at the very mention of the word. "School starts tomorrow and I want to make sure we all look our best."

"Good luck with that. I'm a mess when it comes to clothes and shopping."

"You have nothing to worry about Bella. I just happen to be an expert when it comes to clothes and shopping. Rose isn't too bad either." Alice gave Rose a little wink. She turned her head back to smile at me but something behind me caught her eye. Her expression turned to shock as she focused on whatever it was. "Good-Good morning Edward…" Oh God. I turned around to see Edward walk into the kitchen. Eyes fixed straight ahead not responding to Alice. Silence filled the kitchen as he made his way to the pantry and grabbed a breakfast bar. "I made pancakes if you want some. We have plenty." Again, no response as he made his way to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. He swiftly began to walk out of the kitchen but before he left he shot one glance in my direction. Our eyes met momentarily before he dropped them to the floor and continued out of the kitchen. I looked back at Alice, who was staring at Rose, who finally broke the awkward silence.

"In the 2 ½ years he's lived here, I've never seen him come down for breakfast. And I'm here for breakfast a lot."

"That's because in the 2 ½ years he's lived here, he hasn't come down for breakfast. Or lunch. Or dinner. Not once." Alice responded shock still present in her eyes.

"Wait, so he just doesn't eat?" I asked dumbly. I looked down at my plate before Alice's eyes could meet mine. Keep your big fat nose out of this Bella! "Sorry, I should mind my own business." I mumbled.

"Bella, it's okay. You should here the story from me anyway. Lord knows what our fellow classmates will tell you about him tomorrow." I looked up at her and she smiled a sad smile. She took a deep breath and began her story. "Edward came to live with us a little over two years ago after his parents died." I nodded my head, I'd heard this part. She took another deep breath before she continued. "I don't know the whole story, no one really does, but the evidence suggests that Edwards father killed his mother than turned the gun on himself. Edward saw the whole thing." Tears welled up in my eyes. How anyone could live through something so terrible was beyond me. "Edward came to our house that night. We had always been really close, kind of like best friends I guess. But when he walked through the door, he wasn't my cousin anymore. That Edward was gone. I tried to hug him and comfort him but he pushed me away and went up to his room. He Didn't come out for three days. When he finally did start coming out he would only do it at night, when he knew we were all asleep. When he went back to school, he didn't speak to any of his friends and as soon as he'd get home he'd lock himself in his room. And that's how it's been ever since. Only coming down in the middle of the night to eat and only talking when he absolutely has to. I can count how many times he's spoken to me since he's been here on one hand." Alice broke down after that and started crying hysterically. I felt so guilty for bringing it up. Why am I such a loser! Ugh!

"Alice, Alice, I'm so sorry!" I said running to her side and hugging her to me. "I shouldn't have said anything, I need to learn to keep my big mouth shut!"

"No, Bella, believe it or not I'm actually happy right now" she said still sobbing. I shot her a questioning look and she managed to laugh a bit through the tears. "I'm just so happy he came down here. Sure he still looked sad and he didn't talk to me, but something was different about him. I just wish I knew what caused it."

She managed to pull herself together and Rose and I helped her clean the kitchen. We were headed out the door when Alice stopped me, a serious look on her face. "I meant what I said before Bella, kids are going to talk tomorrow at school. Especially after they see you hanging out with me. Don't believe anything they say about Edward. I've told you everything we know about that night and the rest is just lies." I nodded in agreement and we made our way to the car. Who would be so mean to make up lies about something so horrible. Would people really talk that badly about poor Edward? I knew one thing, I would definitely put a stop to it if they did.

Please review! I'm hoping to get a chapter out everyday or every other day and reviews inspire me to write faster!