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Ch. 2- Introductions

Bella's POV

Ugh, my hands were sweating. I really was just plain horrible at meeting new people. Especially ones my age...that I would be living with for two months... well, actually this situation was pretty unique...

"Aren't you excited, Bella?" my mom asked, in a voice that implied that I should be excited and wasn't.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure they're all nice." Well, the best I could really hope for was that they would leave me alone... I'm sure that wouldn't be too hard with their friends there and everything.

Look on the bright side, Bella, I thought. Well, umm, at least it's at the beach? Which is good? Right?

"They will be, sweetie, don't worry. Esme was a very nice friend of mine... I can't believe we've been out of touch all these years. Why, I remember one night when we were juniors and we were on our way home from clubbing and our car broke down..."

I gasped and laughed in all the right places, but I really wasn't listening to Renee's story about the old days. I was really thinking about what was going on back in Forks. A lot of people, like me, were going away.

Billy got this strange idea that Jacob needed to spend more time with his sisters, so he was spending the summer with Rebecca and her husband in Hawaii. And he was not happy about it. Apparently he and Rebecca were enemies growing up or something.

It was weird, not seeing him. Jake left for Hawaii about a week ago, so I hadn't seen him since then. We usually saw each other every day—practically lived at each other's houses—so like I said, weird. I already missed him.

Angela was away too—she was doing this foreign exchange program in France for the summer. And Mike, Jessica, Ben, Lauren, Tyler, Eric, Lee, Samantha, and Katie Marshall were on this school field trip to Washington D.C. until August.

So I guess Forks wouldn't really be an exciting place to be this summer.

"Bella? Did you hear that? Esme married a doctor. He's worked at all the best hospitals in the country," my mom said, bringing me back to the car where I was currently riding to the "gorgeous, huge, huge house" of the Cullens.

"Mmm. Interesting," I answered.

"Well, you'll get to meet him now. We're finally here!" she said, as we turned a corner. "Oh, I'm so excited! Esme and I have so much catching up to do!"

"Right," I said, my stomach feeling queasy.

And then I saw it. The Cullens' house.

It had to be the largest, most beautiful place I'd ever seen in my entire life. The front lawn was electric green, lush, and every blade of grass was exactly the same length. And then there were the gardens. Blueberry bushes and daisies lined up in a neat row beside sunflowers so tall they touched the windowsills. There were wooly lamb's ear and geraniums and tulips encircling a small patch of trees with exotic fruits I couldn't even name. And then there was a small patch of my favorite flower—purple irises. The smell was intoxicating.

And there was the house.

It was a soft gray color, which somehow made the giant walls seem kind. From what I could see, the back wall of the house, the part on the bay, was made entirely of glass. Yes, the place was absolutely monstrously enormous, but it was just... beautiful.

"Wow," my mom gasped. I nodded in agreement. "Wow" didn't even seem to cut it.

"Well, I guess we should go in now," I said, eager to get these introductions over with.

"Okay," answered Renee, and we started up the steps and rang the doorbell.

Almost immediately the door was opened by a good-looking, pale woman with a heart-shaped face and billows of caramel-colored hair. She grew excited when she recognized Renee.

"Oh, Renee! I'm so glad you come make it! And this must be Bella," she said, her soft brown eyes turning to me.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Well, I'm Esme," she said. "Why don't you two come in and meet my family and some friends?"

"Alright," agreed Renee, and we followed Esme as she led us into her living room.

We entered to see six people sitting on various couches and chairs. As soon as I walked in, I saw the most beautiful boy that I had ever seen.

He had bronze hair, rumpled and just long enough to brush against his eyelashes. He was very pale, had gorgeous features, and had perfect muscles. But it was his eyes—his bright green eyes—that I couldn't look away from.

He was staring at me as well, and for a second it seemed like nothing was happening—just us looking into each other's eyes.

"Okay, everyone," said Esme, breaking us from our staring contest. "This is Renee"—she gestured to my mom—"and this is Bella"—she said, motioning to me. "Obviously you all know that they will be staying with us for the summer.

"Okay, Renee and Bella, this is Carlisle"—she pointed to a tall, blonde man—"my husband. These are Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper"—she gestured at a stunning girl with blonde hair halfway down her back, a very muscular boy with dark, curly hair, and another boy with blonde hair—"they are some friends who are also staying for the summer. And these are Alice"—she motioned to a petite girl with short, spiky black hair that was quivering with excitement—"and Edward," she said, nodding to the breathtaking boy with the green eyes.

"Hi," I said, feeling like an idiot. They smiled though.

My breathing relaxed a little. Well, a least the introductions were over.