I toss my backpack on the couch and head upstairs. I made the mistake of drinking and driving. With my coordination, or lack there of, I should have known it wouldn't turn out well. I spilled Monster Java all down the front of my shirt. I glance at the clock and start to feel the nerves building in the pit of my stomach. Emmett will be here in about twenty minutes. I dig through my closet and pull out a long sleeve Forks High t-shirt. I sigh in the mirror as I twist my hair with my hands and clip it all up to the back of my head. This is as good as I'm going to get. I cram the hem of the shirt into my jeans and smooth it out before going back downstairs to dig my cell phone out of my purse. I press the speed dial and wait for Charlie to pick up.

"Hey Bells. You home?"

"Hey dad. Yeah, for a little while. Mr. Fisher asked me to tutor a guy in my class so I'm going over to his house to help with Statistics."

"What guy?" Here we go. Charlie Swan, Chief of Police, starts his interrogation.

"Emmett Cullen."

"Dr. Cullen's oldest boy?"

"Yes sir."

"Okay. I'm on late tonight, so be careful. Are you driving home?"

"Emmett's picking me up."

"Be safe."

"I will. Bye Dad." I hang up the phone and nearly jump out of my skin at the knock at the door. I look up and see Emmett grinning through the glass. I wave my hand and grab my backpack and purse before heading to the door. He reaches out and takes my backpack from my hands. I look at him a little surprised and he just grins.

"Uh, thanks." I mumble while I lock the house. He opens my door and tosses my backpack in the back seat. I buckle myself in and watch as he trots around the front of his Jeep and jumps heavily behind the driver's seat.

"Thanks for doing this, Bella. There's no way I'm letting Mr. Fisher bench me. He and Coach Turner are seriously riding my ass."

"I don't mind. Besides, you need this class to graduate, right?"

"Yeah, no shit." He offers me a lopsided grin as he maneuvers through the streets of Forks heading out of town towards his house.

"I just hope I can help then." I fiddle with my fingers as we drive. Why am I so nervous?

"Thanks. Rosalie'll kill me if I fail. Not to mention my folks."

"Yeah." I laugh along with him as we pull down a long, tree lined driveway. I had heard about the Dr. and Mrs. Cullen's house, but apparently I hadn't been given the full scope of it. Wow. I mean, wow. I tried to hide my obvious insecurity as we pulled up to the huge house nestled in the forest. It's all wood and glass; large windows from floor to ceiling. It looks like something out of an Architecture magazine. Emmett opens my door and grabs my backpack from the backseat. He leads the way up the steps and holds the door for me. Who knew Emmett Cullen had manners?

"We can use the kitchen." He leads me through the house and I'm struck by the modern beauty of it. There are more windows than walls and everything is decorated in light hues of cream and browns. Emmett tosses his own books on the table and then my own. I stop at the table as he heads straight for the refrigerator. Holy Crow. The kitchen is amazing. I love to cook and this is like kitchen heaven. All stainless steel and granite.

"What do you want to drink? Coke, Sprite? Kool-aid?"

"What color?"

"Red."

"Sprite, please." He hands me a can of Sprite and pulls a bag of chips out of the pantry. He opens the bag and offers some to me. I shake my head and he immediately crams a handful of chips in his mouth. I grin at him and he just smirks as he chews.

I take a seat at the large table and start digging through my backpack. Emmett pulls out the seat next to me. Soon we fall into comfortable conversation about the quiz.

We had been working for about an hour when I heard the front door open.

"Hello, Sweetheart." Ms. Cullen is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.

"Hey mom, you're home early. This is Bella." She smiles at me after kissing Emmett on the top of the head.

"Hi, Mrs. Cullen."

"Please, call me Esme. I had a client meeting that ended early. How's the studying going? Is it making better sense, Emmett?"

"Some. Bella's making it a little easier for me to understand."

"We really appreciate this Bella. I think Emmett would just die if he couldn't play football."

"I don't mind. I just hope I'm explaining things right."

"Are you staying for dinner? We'd love to have you."

"I…" I look over at Emmett and see him grinning at me and nodding his head.

"Why not Bella? Jasper and Rose will be over later for game night. Stay."

"I wouldn't want to put you out." Dinner? I'm being invited to dinner at the Cullen's. Angela would die right about now.

"Nonsense. Are you allergic to anything? Anything you won't eat?"

"Liver?" I croak out before I can feel the blush staining my cheeks.

"Ew. Who does?" Emmett laughed.

"We're having chicken." Esme smiles before turning to place her purse and bags on the counter.

"I…I need to call my Dad and make sure it's okay. He's on late shift tonight."

"Of course, dear." Before I can pull my phone from my purse I hear someone coming down the stairs. I didn't even realize anyone else was home.

"EMMETT!"

EPOV

I dig through my jacket pocket and swear. Fuck. Damn Emmett. Where are my car keys? He owed me a favor and paid up by filling my car up last night. What the hell did he do with my keys? He drove us to school this morning so I didn't even realize I didn't have them with me. I look at my watch. Shit, I'm going to be late. I told Tanya I would come over tonight. I start to pull my jacket on as I bound down the stairs.

"EMMETT!"

"WHAT?!"

"WHERE ARE MY KEYS? I'M LATE!"

"ON THE TABLE! AFRAID YOUR LITTLE EMO GIRLFRIEND WILL YELL AT YOU?! YOU ARE SO WHIPPED!" He yells at me from the kitchen. The douche.

"SUCK MY DICK, EMMETT!" I round the corner in time to see my mother's eyes widen in shock and then narrow in absolute fury. Oh. Shit. Before I can form some sort of apology, she has me by the upper arm and is dragging me into the formal dining room off the kitchen. I'm seventeen years old and stand a good foot taller than my mom. She really couldn't move me if I didn't want her to, but I'm no fool. We all learned long ago, you don't mess with Esme Cullen. She's like the John Wayne of mother's. She takes shit off no one. I was screwing off in middle school once and all it took was one call from the teacher. Mom showed up the next day and sat beside me in every class. She even ate lunch with me. When the other kids started laughing and making fun of me she called them all by name and threatened to call their mothers. No one messes with Esme Cullen. No one.

"Mom…I…" I glance over her shoulder quickly to see Emmett barely breathing he's laughing so hard. Oh shit. He's got company. Oh great. The new girl. Bella. Now she's going to think I'm a total loser. My mom pulls my chin so I'm meeting her furious eyes.

"Were you raised to speak in such a manner?"

"No, but…" Her eyes narrow at me and I swallow hard. "No ma'am."

"I'm extremely disappointed in you, Edward. Such vulgar language and in front of a lady! You know better. You march yourself in there and apologize for your complete lack of manners and then you can go right back upstairs until dinner."

"But I'm supposed to meet Tanya!" Her grip tightens on my arm and I wince a little. For someone so small she is freakishly strong.

"Not anymore. I don't care for her much anyway. She's not very respectful and I don't find that appealing in the least. Perhaps this is her influence. You never acted this way before. You can call her now and then hand over your phone."

"Mom! You can't…"

"Don't you dare argue with me Edward Anthony." Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Yes ma'am." I could just die right now. I know Emmett and Bella heard all of that because Emmett is now giving me the finger and laughing and Bella just looks horrified. Of course she's horrified. She's watching my mother castrate me right in front of her. Great. I pull my phone from my pocket and quickly dial Tanya. I try to turn my back for a little privacy, but Mom's having none of it. She's pissed.

"Hey. I can't come tonight….no….I, uh…." My mom raises her eye brow at me and crosses her arms. Shit. "I'm grounded. Sorry. I'll call you when I get my phone back….yeah, bye." Great. Now Tanya thinks I'm a wuss. Mom reaches out her hand and I grudgingly give her my iPhone. Hopefully it's just for tonight. I don't dare ask. I'm in enough shit.

"Now you go apologize to Bella and I better not ever hear language like that out of your mouth again. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am. I'm sorry." I take a deep breath and walk back into the kitchen. Emmett's convulsing from laughter that he can barely stay in the chair and Bella is blushing furiously. Mom is standing right beside me glaring at me. Here goes.

"I'm sorry for my…" I glance over at my mom and she nudges me in the back with her thumbnail. Ow. "…rudeness. I apologize for my language and I'm sorry if I've offended you in any way." I finally meet her eyes and…what the hell? She's smirking at me? Bella Swan is smirking at me. Fuck me.

"Thank you for the apology, Edward. I'll try to overcome my shock. " She can barely talk from trying not to laugh at me. Dammit. Emmett nearly loses it until Mom throws him a death glare. That sobers him up. Peckerhead.

"Now if you'll excuse Edward. He'll be in his room until dinner." I duck my head and make my escape. I don't think I've ever been so humiliated. God, I hope she doesn't tell anyone about this. That's the last thing I need. Shit. I stomp back up stairs and throw my jacket back across the chair. I strip my shirt off and flop back on the bed. Dammit.