Just before we start this little story – I want to tell all you who have come to see if I have put some kind of thing on the page that says how I don't own Twilight and all the ideas and characters and situations and rights and royalties belong to SM and Summit and whoever else owns the franchise, that I said that. You just read it. So there.

So, I know it's been a while, but this story has always been nagging me to write a bit more. Hopefully with some free time coming up in about 6 weeks I will be able to do a lot more work on my stories. I've been a bit neglectful so far.


I saw Alice leaning by the car talking quietly to Jasper when I arrived. She jumped when she saw me standing next to her.

"Ready to go, Alikat?" I asked her, trying to embarrass her in front of her crush.

I almost couldn't hear, but she grumbled lowly before kissing Jasper on the cheek and getting in the car. Jasper's cheeks turned a light shade of pink, and I couldn't help but tease him about it.

"Goodbye, Jazzie-poo," I said in a high Alice-worthy tone of voice, and leaned across and puckered up like I was going to kiss him on the cheek too. Thankfully Jasper slapped me away in time.

"Fuck you," he said, giving me his equivalent of an evil stare – which wasn't really one, as he looked like a fucking pansy with his boofy blond hair and perfect teeth.

"Good afternoon, girls," Emmett broke us up. "Jasper, just for the future, when someone kisses you, you don't slap them away, duh," he said to us, and yanked the passenger side open to get in.

I rolled my eyes at his behaviour, and with a quick nod at Jasper, I got in and drove us to the local post in Forks. If there was a competition for the worst US Post Office, it would be Forks Regional.

Alice and Emmett were so used to the ritual that they didn't notice me grabbing a carefully sealed envelope out of the glove box and stuffing it in my jacket pocket. They also didn't notice me getting out of the car, or the amazingly loud creak the old Post Office door produced when I opened it.

I got my letter stamped and paid for, and it was carelessly chucked in a canvas bag to be sent to Arizona; to the last known address of my mother. Carlisle's last contact with her had not ended well, and although she thought she'd moved away from us, and disappeared off the face of the earth, it didn't help her when her when my grandparents accidentally – or not so accidentally – disposed the email and home addresses to us a couple of years ago. I was very smug the day that I received the email that was supposed to be sent to a Ms Elizabeth Mason.

The ride home was uneventful – if you could call the ridiculous banter that Emmett and Alice engaged in that. I remained calm and quiet, and eventually shut them up with music. Claire De Lune was my mother's favourite – I remembered her repeatedly playing it on the piano when I was younger. That was before this whole mess happened.

I shook my head to clear where my thoughts were going, and concentrated on the damp, green scenery surrounding the road.

The next morning was had the same monotonous routine as the last, and before I knew it, I was seated next to Jasper, who was inconspicuously trying to get information out of me about Alice.

"What restaurant did you say you went to with her the other day?"

Jaspers idea of being subtle was heavily staring at the board while twisting a ballpoint pen with his fingers.

"Sergio's."

I looked out the corner of my eye and saw Jasper frown miserably.

"Mexican?"

I nodded, hiding my smirk.

"Oh."

I shook my head and looked across the room, just in time to see a flustered Isabella Swan make her through the door, tripping over the metal bin just to the side. She gained her balance again and searched the room quickly, retreating to the desk at the front left of the room, and slamming her folders down. She was out of breath, her hair was in tangles, and the clothes she was wearing – well, Alice wouldn't have approved, although I say plaid jackets worked very well with her.

Fingers snapping in front of my face made me catch Jasper's attention.

"Oi."

I turned and raised my eyebrow at him. He suddenly looked nervous.

"What flowers did you say she liked?"

I sighed.

"When did I ever mention flowers and Alice in the same sentence?"

He grew red.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, go ask Esme or something. How would I know?"

He shrugged and shrank back in his seat, utterly defeated. If I didn't feel sorry for the sap, I'd be laughing.

I groaned, giving up. "Roses, Jasper. Pink and white, to be exact."

Jasper stored that in his internal memory drive and shut up, and I turned to face the front. A minute or so later, Ms Anderson came running in. Where's the fire?

"Sorry I was late guys. Little... traffic hold up." She breathed out, while organizing the heap of papers in the stack she just brought in.

Tyler laughed, "yeah right, Miss A. Traffic?" He snorted.

Ms Anderson didn't answer, just huffed and kept organizing.

Tyler turned to Mike, who was sitting next to him, and started talking loudly.

"Did you hear Mr Williams didn't show up to class yesterday afternoon?"

While Tyler was saying this, he had his eyes set on Ms Anderson – like all of us – but was turned towards Mike.

As soon as he has said Mr Williams' name, Ms Anderson's hand froze for a second, then shook as she continued shuffling paper around. When the sentence was finished, her face flushed red. Mike chuckled under his breath.

"Do you know what I think Tyler?" Mike answered loudly," I think he needed to–"

"Here is the bulletin for today!" Ms Anderson cried out, holding up said piece of paper. She started calling out the events listed.

I don't know how Ms Anderson thought her activities with Mr Williams were inconspicuous. The whole school knew about their "secret" affair, and we had made a silent pact to tease them till they gave in and revealed themselves.

"Charlotte, may I talk to you for a second?"

Everyone's head snapped to the doorway, where Mr Williams was poking his head around the door, and then turned to Ms Anderson.

"Err... sure Peter," she smiled, brushing a hand through her hair and smoothing down her pencil skirt. She turned to us, "I'll be back soon," she said, and searched her desk for the bulletin, which she threw on Simon's desk at the front, and walked swiftly to the door.

As soon as the door closed, everybody let out the breath they were holding and Tyler whistled dramatically, making all of us laugh.

I looked around the room, and saw Isabella sitting in her seat, brow furrowed and looking confusingly around the room. Of course, the new girl wouldn't be in on all the gossip.

The bell rang shortly after, and with Ms Anderson still not back, we all rushed out of the room to go to our classes before she could stop us.

I had World History first, and Alice was already sitting in her seat next to mine when I arrived.

"Do you and Jasper want to come shopping with me on Saturday?" She asked excitedly, nearly vibrating on her seat.

"Sure."

She looked at me in shock.

"Conditions though, are that I get to choose when I want to leave, okay?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

"I'll ask Jasper at lunch." I said.

"Yay!" She shrieked, and turned to talk to Angela about exam results.

When I arrived early to chemistry, I was greeted by Kate and Garrett sucking each other's faces off.

"Lovely."

They broke away from each other; a thin trail of saliva still connected their two mouths. I fought back the urge to vomit and looked away as I sat down next to Garrett, purposely turning my chair away from him.

Why couldn't Jasper and Alice just do that? Flirty acquaintances one day, sucking face the next. I silently begged that Saturday would be the magic day for Alice and Jasper to finally get together. Their little mating ritual had been really getting on my nerves over the summer.

I saw Bella for the second time that day at lunch – sitting by the popular airhead of the school, Jessica Stanley. I had to suffer through my AP classes with her whiny voice at the back of the classroom. I didn't understand why a modest girl like Bella would possibly like to have Jessica as company. Then again, Jessica probably snatched her up so she could be in the limelight – not many people were brave enough to talk to new kids at school.

Emmett and I were arguing over my Xbox when Alice interrupted.

"Edward, the new girl is staring at you." She whispered enthusiastically, like she was telling me the cure for cancer.

"And?" I enquired. I really didn't know why Alice found this big. Girls stared at me all the time. Don't get me wrong – I wasn't egoistical about it – but most of the ladies in this town had been swooned by my smooth talking and dishevelled appearance at least once in their lifetime. Sue me.

"So, Bella seems nice. She's in my Government and English class. I already introduced myself." She bounced in her seat excitedly.

Bella was nice, was she? Yesterday in Biology I don't remember getting the customary friendly reception. I got balled fists and restrained posture – like she was a vampire lusting for my blood.

"She's coming shopping with us on Saturday." Alice squeaked, her smile spreading the width of her face, yet her eyes smirked with a guilty expression.

My eyebrows shot up at this information. "Are you two already that acquainted?" I asked Alice. "Does she know what a monster you turn into when surrounded by racks of clothes, bubblegum chewing sales personnel and pop music?"

Alice narrowed her eyes at me and sipped her lunchtime protein shake. She should really start eating normal food sometime soon. A liquid diet couldn't be good for long.

I got back to the issue of Bella. "Does she have to come?" I whined as a last resort.

"Bella is my friend," Alice emphasized the word. "If it makes me happy, she can come, right?" She said, pulling out the guilty card.

I looked towards the cracks in the wall as an end to the conversation.

"You two can get more acquainted in Biology," Alice smirked, standing up. Looking around, I realised the cafeteria was almost empty. I grabbed my books from the table and dumped my tray, pinching a surprised Alice in the side before making my way down the hall.

Bella was already sitting at my – our – desk, her hands holding her hair in a death-grip, her mouth silently forming words as she furiously stared at a text book laid in front of her.

"So, I hear that you're coming with us on the Saturday shopping trip," I offered as a conversation starter when I got into my seat.

Her eyes widened as she turned to me, her mouth trying to form words, but no sound was coming out.

"You're coming?" she managed to bellow out.

"Well," I scoffed. "Alice is my sister, and it is my responsibility to look after her in such a big city..."

She dropped her horrified expression for a moment. "Where are we going?" She asked, confused.

"Seattle?" It came out as a question.

Her eyes bugged out of her head. "All the way there just to get some clothes?" She asked, shocked.

I laughed. "I know, right?" But, with Alice, I was kind of used to it.

Bella laughed along with me when I said that. She had a nice laugh, link wind-chimes twinkling. I bit my lip at the sound, but a second after berated myself that I was even thinking that. Edward Cullen does not get caught up by girls. And yet Bella Swan had come like a hurricane into my life, and just her laugh had me totally engrossed in her.

In the back of my mind, was the little nagging sensation that I was now, indeed, looking forward to that shopping trip on Saturday.


Please have a look at this story of mine on Fiction Press:
www(.)fictionpress(.)com/s/2851938/1/Memories_are_Made_of_This
I would really appreciate any feedback (good and bad) as I am handing it in as part of my Creative Writing assignment. Thanks xx

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