Chapter 2

Serena would have loved to stay locked in the house for ever. The idea was very tempting, but it wouldn't be possible. So she decided she'll spend her time somewhere else, maybe in a library, where she was sure no one would pay attention to her. That's what she was hoping: that she'd be invisible to others. But she didn't rise her hopes up because she knew that in such a small town as Forks a new face would definitely drag attention. She opened the door of her BMW X5 and as she looked at her car she realized she had to change it to something more ordinary. She would have to look for someone who was willing to sell their car in the neighborhood.

The trip to the library wasn't long. Serena imagined the amount of time she had gained moving here and she was disturbed by the idea. It wasn't enough that…

Suddenly the phone rang. It was Lena.

"Hi, mom! Yes, I'm fine. Everything's fine, mom. You don't have to worry so much about me. No, I'm not coming home, I've told you already for a hundred times already. Mom, I'm driving right now and I'm not sure I'm aloud to speak on the phone . I'll call you later. Bye"

Serena knew it wasn't a nice thing to hang up on her mother but she couldn't talk to her and lie. It was better to keep distance with Lena. This way she'll get over her daughter's departure easier and faster. Well, at least it was a theory Serena had and she didn't bother to torment herself with other solutions. She had other things to worry about. Like the fact that a police officer was stopping her for breaking the law. It wasn't such a big deal, just 25 miles per hour above the legal limit.

"Officer Swan. Do you know that you broke one of the most important driving rules, miss? Can I have a look at your papers, please?"

Serena couldn't afford to loose her license right now. So she decided to play the nice girl and hopped she would be forgiven.

"Here you are, officer. I'm really sorry about it. It's just I need to go to the hospital right away. I don't feel very good and I think I might need a doctor's help." She put on her best I-feel-really-sick face, which usually worked for everyone. She could become very pale when she wanted to.

Please, let me go, please. Serena was begging him inside her head.

"But the hospital is on the other side of the town, Miss Carmin" officer Swan said looking at he papers.

"I am new to town and I don't know really where it is, but I thought that it might be this way. I guess I was wrong. " Serena shrugged as she said this. Shrugging was good, it made you look innocent.

"You are really not looking very well, miss. I think I will escort you to the hospital if you don't mind."

Okay, she was off the hook for the breaking the rules part, but now she had to go to the hospital, which wasn't such a good idea. Why did she have to tell him she was sick? Don't you ever think, Serena??

"That will be very kind of you." She hoped he would let her at the hospital's door and would go away. She started to feel anxious. She couldn't go to hospital, she wasn't even feeling bad. Great! Fantastic! NOT!

The damage is already done and she had to be careful if she wished to be invisible. She followed the officer's car that was almost flying on the road. He should have thought she was really sick. Was she that good at faking? Sometimes she wished she could hear other people's thoughts. It would save her from a lot of trouble.

As the officer's Swan car stopped in front of the hospital, Serena waited for some moments for the officer to go away, but that didn't happen. Of course it didn't. With her luck!! She told herself that it would be fine. Yeah, right!!

"I know a great doctor here. He is a friend of mine, Doctor Cullen." Charlie told Serena as they were heading for the hospital's doors." Actually my daughter will marry his son in two weeks" at this his face turned bright and he broke into a large smile. "He is a very qualified doctor. A couple of weeks ago Jacob-he is one of my friend's son- fell off a motorcycle and broke his foot and arm, well, actually I think he broke one half of his body, and he was already walking, with crutches of course, in a couple of days and it was doctor Cullen who took care of him. He'll make you feel better in no time."

Serena just nodded. What could she have said to this man who was so happy about his daughter's marriage to some doctor? Or was it the doctor's son? She wasn't sure and she didn't care. She would have run out of there like the wind if not for her plans. No, some stupid mistake will cause her trouble, trouble to have to find another town, another house and so on. As she was walking through the hospital she decided she would try to explain the doctor the situation and maybe he would understand. Aren't doctors always nice?

But the moment she saw Carlisle Cullen, she wasn't too sure about that. He had this extremely beautiful face and his pale skin was glowing as if it was made of marble.

"Oh" Serena gasped when she saw him. It was so… not true. So… unreal.

"I should have probably warned you" chief Swan said to Serena when he saw the expression of shock on her face. "Doctor Cullen has an impressive effect on people who see him for the first time. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

Serena wasn't so sure. She was staring at Carlisle as if she had never seen other people in the world. He had light skin, that was shining. How could that have been possible? Serena felt the urge to turn back and to run away, but he had already seen her.

"Hello, Charlie. How are you?" doctor Cullen asked cheerfully as he approached them. "Is there something wrong?"

"Actually, I think this lady here needs some medical help. She is not feeling that good." Officer Swan said before Serena decided to answer.

"I'm Carlisle Cullen." the doctor said as his face brightened with a large smile that showed his perfect white teeth.

"Serena Carmin. Nice to meet you." If someone had been near it would have been difficult to hear what Serena was saying, but it appeared that doctor Cullen had heard her perfectly because he answered her.

"Nice to meet you too, Serena."

"Miss Carmin is new to town." Charlie informed Carlisle, who nodded in response as if he already figured that out. Serena thought that piece of information wasn't necessary for the doctor to know and she threw a threatening glance towards the police officer, but he couldn't see it because he was standing right in front of her. It isn't your duty to go screaming around that I'm new to town. "I helped her find the hospital."

"Well, let's go in my cabinet now." Doctor Cullen addressed Serena now. "I'll have to check you first. I guess I'll see you later, Charlie." he said and started to move along the corridor. Serena stood still. She didn't want to move from her place, but after a few seconds she surrendered to her reason and followed Carlisle. After a few moments she heard the elevator's door close: Charlie was gone. She had to explain the situation to the doctor, but now it was even harder than before. Doctor Cullen appeared to be in very good terms with the officer and that made everything more difficult. How ironic it was: it was just a small situation that could be handled by every normal human, but to Serena it seemed impossible to handle. She started to feel the first symptoms of panic inside of her body, but she couldn't just run away.

"Please, take a sit." Carlisle Cullen told Serena in a very polite manner.

She obeyed him without saying a word.

"So, what's bothering you?" doctor Cullen asked her and she could feel his gaze on her. She couldn't watch him in the eyes.

"Actually I don't feel sick. I only feel bad about this whole situation." Doctor Cullen looked at her surprised, but didn't interrupt her and Serena was grateful for that. "I invented this excuse of being sick because I broke this tiny law of a certain speed limit permitted." Serena said in a very innocent voice.

"I see." Doctor Cullen said, but Serena wasn't so sure. He had this impenetrable face and she couldn't tell if he would let her go or if he would call the police chief officer to come after her. And then the doctor smiled, not in a mean way. Serena felt relieved and suddenly she realized how stupid it was for her to worry over such little things. And Carlisle Cullen was nice. Not extremely nice, just nice. It was a stupidity to think that he would be a menace to her. "I have children of my own" he continued.

"I know." Serena said. "Officer Swan told me about your son, who is marrying his daughter, if I got it right."

"Yes, his name is Edward. He also likes the speed. But that's not a thing that Charlie knows, otherwise he would have been more reluctant towards his and Bella's wedding."

"Bella is his daughter?" Serena asked even though she already knew the answer. It was a polite thing to do.

"Yes, and he cares about her a lot. Don't worry. I'll tell officer Swan that you had food poisoning, that was almost lethal, but we managed to bring you back to your feet." at this he winked and Serena couldn't help smiling back.

"So, how do you like the town of Forks?" Carlisle asked casually.

"It's beautiful. In a very green way." Serena told him and he smiled, obviously pleased by the idea that she liked his home.

"You came here because of your parents?" doctor Cullen continued.

Serena felt as if she was at an interrogatory. It made her feel uneasy. But she wasn't a person who could lie in a convincing way. She preferred not to mention things rather than lying. "Sort of." She waited for a moment to find the right explanation in order not to make him suspicious before she continued "Well, it's complicated. I just needed to be on my own for some time, so I decided to travel somewhere. So, here I am."

"I would have never thought that Forks is a place for young people to travel" Carlisle said and Serena just nodded in agreement but didn't bother to explain. "It's usually the big cities they are headed to. How old are you?" Serena waited for this question to come up, but she wished it would not occur to him to ask it.

"Eighteen."

"And your father agreed to let you travel? To Forks?"

"My father left two days after my birth so I wouldn't know and I wouldn't probably care."

Carlisle looked at her in a pitiful way but he was interested in this little, breakable human. "And your mother? Wasn't she against your voyage? "

"Of course she was. She wouldn't have been my mother if she agreed to let me go. But I think she understands… in her own way." Serena gave the doctor the I-think-you-asked-too-many-questions look and Carlisle stopped himself from asking the next question. His curiosity could wait for some other time. He had a feeling they would meet again.

"I probably got carried away with the questions. You know, my children are teens of your age so if you ever want to hang out with somebody you can ask me to introduce them." Carlisle told her and was pleased and at the same time surprised by the fact that she didn't express her amazement by the fact that someone his age(he became a vampire at 28, so he could barely pass for a 32 year old person) could have kids her own age. Maybe Charlie already told her that his children were adopted. In a way, they were.

"Okay." Serena was heading to the door. Before opening it she decided to thank the doctor for being nice to her and excusing herself for the time she stole from him. "You're welcome." Carlisle said and gave her another beautiful smile.

Serena was aware of the fact that she couldn't choose the option "invisible" as she planed and now she had to use the plan B. That was a problem because she hadn't thought about a plan B. Her A was so good, that she thought nothing could go wrong. She sat in her car and put the radio on. A rap song filled her ears. It wasn't exactly her type of music, so she changed the channel. Nothing seemed to please her so she turned the music off. She definitely had to buy some good music.

So what now? Going to the library didn't seem such a pleasant way to spend her time. She decided she'll have a tour of the town.

She was bothered by the idea of the doctor. She saw his extremely beautiful face in her head and their short dialogue repeated in her mind. Why did he have such an interest in her? Did he know something about her? No, of course not. That can't be possible. Or was he just curious about her? Her phone rang and she reached for it in her bag, but it slipped from her hands under the seat. It kept ringing so she stretched her hand to get it but instead of getting a grip on it, the mobile slipped further away. She bent over to get it and then she heard a woman's scream and suddenly her car hit something. She stopped the car at the same moment and she realized with a great shock that the something she hit was actually someone.