A POV

The day could not have gotten any stranger. I walked into a school, a big brick building with ivy growing on the sides. It looked like it was transplanted straight from one of those high school dramas Mom was always watching. Everyone looked like model or actor versions of high school students: blonde and tall with perfect physiques and even more perfect faces. The lighting was even soft in the hallways, slightly yellow and sort of dim, like the school was really a studio and we were filming the next big movie. I was immediately self-conscious, knowing that my vintage dress and hand-sewn tights probably cost less than their socks did.

I'd thought I would love living in California.

When my grandmother left Mom the house in her will, I was ecstatic, leaping for joy. I was finally going to be somewhere I belonged. As much as I loved the plantation home I'd grown up in – the one thing of Dad's we had after he left and mom destroyed everything – I couldn't wait to be in California. Los Angeles, in fact. The land of vast wooded canyons and delicate, gorgeous starlets. A place that had the ability to make you into nothing or everything depending on how you looked at things. A place of artistry so thick it clings to the scent of the jacaranda trees and the roses in the gardens. A place where the beach is a stone's throw away. I had visions of myself sunbathing, enjoying the air by the sea, inhaling the salty sweetness of it. I could feel the sun's rays already, so different from the heavy humidity of southern summers. I felt like I needed the change like I needed water: it was a necessity for me to survive, to flourish.

Of course, now that I was in my new school, surrounded by my new classmates, I couldn't help but feel left out. Left out like how I was left out when Dad left. When he packed his bags and disappeared into the night, my mom simultaneously destroyed everything about him yet clung to the one thing most likely to bring up every painful memory.

Edward.

After Dad left and Mom became a shell, a shadow of who she used to be, Edward was the one thing she had of his that could almost stand in place of him. Edward was practically our father's twin with his bright green eyes – the same green eyes I had – and his strong features. As much as I loved my brother, I resented him for looking so much like the man my mother couldn't let go of. She clung to Edward like he was a life raft, her salvation from the pits of hell, and she completely forgot that she had a daughter. It was like she could see that I was close to breaking like she did. Mom didn't realize that when Dad left her, he left us all, and that we were all a little broken because of it. I sometimes wished at night that my features would transform, change and mold, shift and slide into Dad's so that she could love me, too. Love me like she loved Edward.

I couldn't deny that after Dad left, I clung to Edward too. He was my protector from my mother's mood swings and from the other kids at school. He took care of me, made sure I ate when I didn't want to, and made me go to school when I refused. My tiny stature and my perpetual porcelain skin made me a target for the southern belles in my classes, with their big blonde hair and gentle laughter. They'd singled me out for ridicule ever since kindergarten because of my dark hair and my wild ideas. They mocked me when I'd said that I wanted to grow up to be an elf queen. They started playing pranks on me, and when I ran home crying from school one day after they pushed me in the mud, Edward promised that it'd never happen again. Edward made sure that they wouldn't touch me again, though I don't know how. When he graduated, the wolves descended, anxious to get their teeth into the girl that had been so guarded from the outside world, but by then I'd built up enough of a cocoon around myself that their words didn't hurt me, didn't change me and force me to be something I couldn't handle. They terrified me, truthfully, but I made sure never to let them see.

The cocoon was useful when I stepped into my new school building. I didn't really care about the fact that I was being completely ignored by everyone else around me. I preferred it that way, because then I didn't have to stand up for myself and show them how weak I really was without Edward there to scare them away. I was content being in my own world. That is, until I decided to open up the seams of my cocoon for a second and let everyone in.

The only person I had ever really told about the dreams was Edward. Then again, I told Edward everything. With my mother so lost in the past, he was all I had. He told me he understood, and that he sometimes felt like he could read people's minds; hear their innermost thoughts and desires. He also said that I should never tell anyone so that I didn't have to worry about defending myself. Protecting myself. He gave a hug and told me I'd never have to worry about protecting myself, because he'd always be there to do it for me. Except he wasn't in that classroom with me.

And I opened the cocoon.

The words fell out of my mouth, tumbled and somersaulted, before I could realize what was happening. After it happened, I thought that maybe I did it on purpose so that I didn't have to hide anymore. I wanted friends, even if I kept everyone at arm's length. I wanted to be accepted and to go to slumber parties and to feel that feminine camaraderie that all the other girls at school seemed to have with each other. After all, a seventeen year old girl should have more friends than just her nineteen-year-old brother.

This was why, when I stepped into the commons during lunch, I was prepared for the words slung at me. It was my own fault for showing myself to them, even for that tiny second. Yet even though I was prepared, I was still caught off-guard by the sheer number of people screaming at me. It was as if those twenty five students in the classroom had mutated and multiplied. In reality, I knew that they had simply just told their friends of the weird new girl with cheap clothing and insane thoughts. I never dreamed that I'd find a new protector. Someone who saw how I was really about to fall apart inside the safe haven I'd built around myself.

Bella Swan.

Her name sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. All I knew was that she'd put her arm around me and said, "Fuck them." When I closed my eyes, I could remember how Edward would tell me the exact same thing as we walked down the hall. As I talked with Bella, I saw that she was kind but hard, almost cynical. Even though she said she believed me about the dreams, I was hesitant to trust her. Still, without Edward around to take care of me, she seemed like my best alternative. She seemed strong enough, with her designer jeans, black T-shirt, and black boots. Her posture gave off a "don't mess with me" vibe that completely clashed with my gauzy hunch.

When we found that we had the same classes for the rest of the day, I was inwardly pirouetting with happiness. I knew that she wouldn't let the other students harass me like they had in the commons, and I was looking forward to getting to know something about my surprise savior. She proved to be insightful as we passed notes discussing The Picture of Dorian Gray. She held the same belief that Basil was the sole catalyst for Dorian's hedonism. She showed that she had a subtle way with words in theatre when we read lines from Julius Caesar. Her smooth mezzo voice weaved in and out of the words, created a siren song around me. I got lost in her spell, lost in the timbre of her enchanting voice. When she had spoken to me in the commons, I didn't really notice it. All I noticed was large brown eyes and flowing brown hair that shined in the film set lighting of the hallways.

After theatre, she turned to me and said, "Please, let's skip gym. I really don't feel like huffing and puffing around the track. Let's get out of here."

I looked around, kind of nervous about the prospect of skipping a class on the first day. She'd said earlier that we would have to hang out at my house, and I was nervous for her to be there. She seemed like she wouldn't have belonged in the run-down little bungalow my grandmother had given us. She was more at place in a mansion. I knew that Mom would be at work, but I hadn't yet memorized Edward's class schedule at the university. Still, I felt compelled to tell her yes, and for the second time that day the words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.

She led me to her car, a black sports car that looked incredibly expensive. My eyes widened, knowing that I absolutely didn't belong here, in this car, with this girl. Bella saw my expression, laughed, and said, "I'll tell you all about why my car's so fancy on the way to your place. Lead the way, Ms. Brandon."

I got in and buckled my seat belt quickly. I set my books on my lap and waited as Bella slipped on a pair of dark sunglasses. She turned the car on, put it in gear, and seconds later, we were driving swiftly through the streets of Los Angeles, my hair flapping around my face wildly as Bella's flowed around her in gentle waves.

"So, Alice, where do you live?" she asked me. Her lips were full, almost overly so, and they shifted into a grin as she looked at me through her sunglasses. I gave her the directions I remembered, hoping that I hadn't forgotten the way home. I still was kind of confused by the large expansive city. It made me feel even smaller as I looked around at the skyscrapers and the hills surrounding me.

"Ok, so, I said I'd explain the car. I'm permanently borrowing it from my mother. She's an actress. My dad's an actor. Have you ever heard of Charles Swan and Renee Dwyer?" My eyes felt like they were going to explode out of my head, they got so wide. I was sitting in a car with the daughter of Hollywood royalty! After what had happened earlier in the day, it didn't seem right. It seemed unreal, surreal, a dreamscape, even.

"Yes," I squeaked out. My voice was barely audible, and Bella laughed again.

"Don't be intimidated, sweetie. I barely even know them, and they're my own parents. Besides, I was kind of hoping you wouldn't be the type to be blinded by fortune and fame. From what I saw earlier, you didn't seem that way," she said. I noted a tinge of sadness in her voice, something forlorn and ancient that has tugged at her since childhood.

"No, I'm okay. I was just surprised," I said as I looked down at my hands in my lap. I all of a sudden became very worried that she would think I was using her for her family. I knew that she could tell from my address and the state of the neighborhood that I didn't come from a family with money. I was terrified that she'd think I'd clung to her to use her. I didn't want that, not now that I actually had a friend. Well, at least I thought I had a friend.

We drove in silence for a few minutes then came upon my street. Trees lined almost every inch of the street, creating a branchy tunnel we passed under until we got to my house. She pulled into my driveway, and I saw that Edward's car was already in the driveway.

"Whose car is that?" Bella asked as we got out of her car and walked up to the front door.

"It belongs to my brother Edward. You'll meet him in a second, I guess," I said quietly.

I was worried as we stepped into the house. I'd never had a friend before, and I was scared Edward would go into protector mode. He never let anyone come close to me after the day those girls pushed me in the mud and called me names. Even with Mom, I never got to say a word. The only person I ever talked to was him, until Bella.

Bella looked around the house, staring at the dried flowers mounted and hung on the walls. I said to her, "My grandmother loved flowers. I think she imagined herself a faerie queen in this house after my grandfather passed."

"That sounds kind of neat, actually," Bella responded as her hands brushed the frame of the violets that hung near the hallway. "Which one's your room?"

I led her down the hallway, showing her the pictures of my grandparents that hung on the walls. I'd always loved my grandmother. She felt like my kindred spirit with her insights, her love of all things nature, and her inquisitive nature. I was devastated when she passed, even though my dreams had told me it was going to happen.

Hey, Al, you're home early —" I heard Edward say as he stepped out of his bedroom. He stopped the second he saw Bella. His eyes narrowed, the green turning murky and dark. "Who the fuck are you, and what the fuck are you doing with my sister?" he asked Bella, his eyes shooting emerald fire at her. No, no, no, Edward, not again, I thought to myself, desperate to say something but frozen in place.

Bella looked between the two of us, saw something that startled or frightened her in our stances, our expressions, and asked, "Is everything okay?"

Edward's voice seethed ire as he said, "Get the fuck out of my house and leave my sister the fuck alone."

Bella's eyes widened with fear as she turned around, brown hair flowing behind her as she ran down the hallway. I could hear the front door slam, then her car door slamming as well as she got into her car and sped far away from me. I couldn't stop the tears from flowing down my cheeks as I ran to my room, my only sanctuary from everyone, and locked the door.


Thanks to queenofgrey, izzzyy, and of course my Rob for being my S&B crew.

Read and review, for it makes me pirouette with happiness. : )