Chapter 2

First Sight

When I had gotten back from my walk I found Jasper in the kitchen eating cereal. I walked in the small kitchen and turned off my blaring music. Jasper looked up and rose one eyebrow. "Ya' know, the more you blast your ears out like that the sooner you go def?" Jasper had always been something of a nerd. Of coarse he doesn't look like he is, a lot of the girls at my school call him 'hot' and try to get his number out of me. It's highly disturbing, luckily I live with him and know underneath his face he's just a book worm.

"Oh my gosh." I said, my face forming into fake surprise. "I didn't know that. Isn't it amazing that after all the million times you've told me I can't remember?" My face turned from fake surprise to annoyance. "I'm not home over the summer to get another lecture Jasper. Unless your intention of this was to bug me to death." He just looked down a little hurt. Okay so I laid it on a little to hard there, but I'm so sick of him trying to run my life with his goody-two-shoes smartness.

So I just turned to get my cereal. We ate in silence. I checked my watch 6:49am, I paused, What time is the new kid getting here?. I glanced up at Jasper, "Hey, Jazz. What time is the new kid getting here?" I asked, looking up at him.

He looked up with a grimace planted on his face, Oh, great,"8:30. Why, do want to have time to find a way to kick me out of the house before he gets here, so I don't-as you say-'bug him to death'?" I looked down.

"Sorry," I said quietly, silently hoping he'll forgive me.

"Whatever, Bella." he said getting up to rinse out his bowl. Nice going Bella, ever heard of karma?, I thought to myself mentally punching myself in the face. I sighed and went back to eating.

I checked my watch, 7:36. Good, I thought. I had been working on cleaning the house spotless for the new kid. I had my I-pod on with a low volume for Jasper's sake. He must have noticed when I was half-way done, because he looked at me and when I looked back he smiled at me and I smiled back and continued cleaning. Obviously I was forgiven.

I had just finished all the chores I could think of. Esme had helped me with most of them, but it was still a lot of work. I walked into my room and plugged my I-pod into my stereos and turned up the volume.

Jasper always thought that my variety of music was strange. I'll listen to just about anything rock, country, rap, pop, heavy metal, and classical music. I walked over to my bed, plopped down, and continued reading a book called Wuthering Heights, to which I had a great fondness for.

EPOV

I held my breath and knocked lightly on the door then rang the doorbell. I took a step back and waited for some one to answer the door. A girl yell out, "He's here." in what seemed to be a very bored voice. I heard some one hurriedly walk to the door and undo all the locks.

A women in her twenties answered the door, when she saw me she opened it wider and stepped back - leaving the door half-way open. He's very handsome, she thought. She, then, extended her hand and said, "Hi. I'm Esme, you must be Edward Mason."

"Yes, I am." I said as I reached out and shook her hand. When our hands touched, her eyes widened and she looked down at our hands.

"My, my. Your hands are freezing! You must be cold. Come on inside." she said and quickly ushered me inside. She seemed a very caring mother. I walked through the open door and set my bags down as she shut the door. I looked around the small living room, it had a nice charm to it. My head turned towards the doorway as a boy around the age of seventeen walked in a shook my hand.

"Hey, I'm Jasper. You must be Edward." he said letting go of my hand. "Yes I am and," I said looking to Esme. "Did you decorate this house? If you did it looks amazing!" I said looking all around. The house looked like it was pulled strait out of the 1800's, it was unbelievable!

"Actually, yes. It's my job." she said obviously embarrassed. Jasper nudged me and whispered in a teasing tone, "Suck up." I smirked at him. Just then a very beautiful girl-again, about my age-walked in filing her nails. She came in and just kept filing her nails, until Jasper decided to step in. He cleared his throat. "Rose, this is Edward. Ya' know, your knew adopted brother?" he said, getting kind of annoyed. Then she finally looked up, but when she did she jumped back like she was shocked.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, even though I knew exactly why she did that. "Uh, no. it's just your eyes are so bright." she said looking at me again. His eyes look like they were implanted with topaz. Geez, this family can't get any weirder, she thought. Then she shook her head as if she had a headache. I chuckled under my breath, making sure to be quiet so the others would not hear.

Jasper rolled his eyes and turned back to me with another grin on his face. "Here I'll take these to your room," he said, picking up my bags. "Be right back." After a few minutes of small talk, Jasper came back into the room with an annoyed look in his eyes and a grimace planted on his face. Why does she always act like this, she's making us look bad, he thought. I got confused, once again. Who's 'she'? I thought to myself.

Esme looked expectantly at Jasper. He sighed, "Bella's blasting her music again and she locked her door, she couldn't here me when I knocked." Or banged, he added in his thoughts. Rosalie rolled her eyes, Esme shook her head as if trying to shake off her annoyance at this mysterious 'Bella'.

Jasper looked back at me with a apologetic smile, "Sorry, she's not trying to be rude or anything, jus a girl who likes her music." he said.

I laughed, "I can understand that." I said grinning at him, letting him know I didn't take offense. He looked relieved.

"So Edward," my attention shifted to Esme as she started talking. "I heard from you sister, Alice, that you play piano." she said, looking hopeful. I just then noticed the grand piano in the corner of the room. I felt a smile tugging at the corners of my lips and didn't attempt to hold it back.

"You heard correct," I said, and suddenly being here didn't seem like such a bad idea. I listened in to everyone's thoughts. Oh that's so wonderful! We finally have a use for that old thing, Esme thought. All I got going through Rosalie's head was, Huh, that's strange. He's got looks and talent, I thought only I had that skill. I mentally rolled my eyes at her self-centeredness. Then I listened to Jasper, That is so cool! Bella's going to run screaming in here when she here's him play, he thought.

I can't believe this! I thought, Who's the heck is Bella? "Oh Edward, will you play something?" Esme asked, forcing me out of my internal confusion.

"Uh, sure." I said, already starting to forget about the mysterious Bella. I walked over to the piano bench as everyone swarmed around me. I relaxed as I sat down, I placed my fingers over the right keys and thought of the newest song I'd written. I let out a sigh of contempt, feeling at home already, and I played.

BPOV

I had heard the chatter of everyone in the living room and knew the new boy was here, I also heard Jasper banging on my door, but I didn't want to introduce myself until it was absolutely necessary. I was done reading, though, so I shut my book, turned off my music, and waited for my name to be called.

But a sudden silence in the front of the house made me listen more closely.

And that's when I heard it.

The piano.

Someone was playing the piano, and very beautifully I might add. I sat up and listened for a few minutes before I decided that I wanted to here it more clearly. So I stood up and walked out of my room, leaving the door open behind me.

I walked down the stairs, carefully, trying not to make any noise. But, being me, I tripped on the last step – letting out a small yelp – and stumbled into the doorway of the living room. I straightened myself up and realized everyone was staring at me.

Everyone but the boy who sat stiffly at the piano. His fingers still raised over the keys, as if time had stopped and only left a picture off him in the middle of his song.

And even though I could only see the back of him I could already tell he was good looking. I don't mean school-boy-crush good looking, I mean gorgeous-model good looking.

"Uh… s-sorry" I stuttered, me eyes still locked on the perfect picture before me. "I swear I didn't mean to interrupt your song." I said, singling him out. Begging him with my eyes to turn around.

Then his voice, as soft as velvet and as warm as honey, filled the room, and I lost my total train of thought. "That's alright," he said stiffly, removing his hands from the keys but not turning around. "I was almost finished, anyway. I don't think I've met you yet." He sounded as if the politeness was forced, or at least as if he wasn't breathing. Which I noticed after a few seconds, that he wasn't.

"Bella," Jasper said, startling everyone. "This is Edward Mason. Edward, this is our sister Isabella." he introduced.

"Bella." I quickly corrected him, he smiled. He knew how much my full name annoyed me. I scowled at him. I walked over to the piano bench and said, "Hi, it's very nice to meet you." I started to raise me hand as he turned to face me. Then I saw his eyes, and my hand froze, half raised. I felt my face turn into a plain of shock and horror. I watched his tense features turn from confusion to one of frustration.

Esme started filling me in on Edward, but I was too busy trying to think off what to do next, considering I'm going to be living down the hall of a blood-sucking vampire!

EPOV

I don't get it! It just doesn't make sense! I thought to myself while pacing the floor of my 'new room'. The girl is there. I can here her tense footsteps hurriedly walking back and forth around her room, I can here her opening drawers, sifting through laundry, pulling the Velcro of a bag, smell her intoxicating floral scent. I know exactly where she is, but when I try to read her thoughts… nothing. I can't here anything, but not only that, she treats me as if she knows I'm a deadly monster.

When she saw my face, her face went from turned to pure horror and when I shook the hand she extended, she yanked it back as if it had burned her! Even if she did know what I was, which she doesn't, she could have at least risked being polite. Especially since all she did was stammer out something about 'needing to call Emily' and walked tensely out of the room.

But there's no way she knows what I am, I'm just paranoid, that's it. I'm just paranoid because the mind reading skill I've had for eighty years suddenly doesn't work on a simple girl with no manners. She's just calling her friend to tell her… to tell her about the new good-looking 'adopted' brother she now has. Just like any other human girl. Just like a human would.

BPOV

Ring! Ring! Ring!

"Come on Emily pick up the phone!" I angrily grumbled into the receiver, looking behind me to make sure I hadn't been followed into the woods were I was calling my best friend. Not that I would be able to see him if he had followed me, but checking helped me relax ever so slightly.

"Hello?" A kind and familiar voice answered.

"Emily!" I screamed, not being able to hold in my panic.

"Oww, gosh Bella, where's the fire?" she said, in a slightly confused voice.

"At my house! Or rather that's where the ice is!" I said, trying to refrain from screaming.

"What the heck are you talking about Bella?" she asked, not hiding the confusion in her voice.

"I can't say," I whispered, suddenly very paranoid. "But I need to meet you somewhere, you and the pack. I have an announcement, and this is huge." I said, looking around me at the silent forest.

"Oh my gosh, Bella! Are you a lesbian? Man this is gonna kill Jake! No to mention me, how am I supposed to hang out with you if I think your looking at my boobs Bella?" she said so seriously I almost smiled. Almost.

"Oh for Pete's sake, Emily! I'm not a lesbian! You've got to be serious now Emily, this is life or death! No joke." I said, trying to sound annoyed. It didn't work, but at least Emily got serious.

"Alright, where do you want to meet?" she asked.

"The b-" The beach, I almost said, then thought better of it. I may be paranoid, but better to be safe than sorry. "Where we always meet. I'll be there as soon as I can shake off Jasper." I said, thinking of the crap I'll be getting from him for being rude to Edward, as the monster decided to call himself.

"Alright, see you then," she said, and I snapped the phone shut, turned and started walking back to the house.

I thought through a few things as I walked, for one, what I was going to say to Jasper, but I also thought of the look he gave me when I first looked at him. He looked confused, frustrated. Though I'm pretty sure his confusion came from the emotions on my face, I'm usually really good at not showing how I really feel, but I was caught off guard, it won't happen again. But I still don't get why he was frustrated, it wasn't like he was trying to do something, and his piano playing was, unfortunately, beautiful, so that couldn't be it.

I was in sight of the house, walking through the yard, contemplating this when I looked up and saw none other than Mr. Perfect Piano Player himself, watching me through the open window to 'his room'. The littlest bit of surprise came across his face and he turned away, closing the window and shutting the curtains. I was pretty shock myself, but did a better job of hiding it.

As I continued to the house I thought, not of why it looked as if I had a vampire stalker, but of why the window was open. It was freezing outside, and I know, vampires don't get cold, but doesn't he think my family would get suspicious if they walked into his room, only to find it was as cold as a freezer box?

Was he following me? the thought suddenly popped into my head and I stopped at the back porch. Why would he follow me? but I was humoring myself, I knew why he would follow me. He suspects I know about him. Panic and genuine fear flooded through me. If he found out I knew about him, he would kill me.

"It's just their way," Jacob had once told me. "They don't want anyone looking into them. If their secret was let out, they'd be hunted, hated. They would have to go into hiding just like before." he had said, looking at me with an intensity I couldn't understand. A cross between worry and seriousness. "So me knowing about them, about you, is actually putting my life at risk?" I had asked him. "Yes, Bella. That's why I never wanted you to know. I couldn't stand it if I lost you."

No, I thought to myself. He doesn't know I know, he didn't follow me. He only opened the window to clear his head from all the human smell, that's it. If his 'siblings' were vampires too, then he would have to endure the smell that much longer, until they kill us… Or so they think.

Determination set in as I walked into the house. If I was to get to LaPush in time I would have to deal with Jasper first.

He doesn't know I know. He just want to kill us. Just like any murderer. Just like any other vampire.

EPOV

What am I doing? The thought popped into my head as I jumped from my two-story window, landing gracefully on my feet. My eyes went to the spot in the woods that Bella had just disappeared into, probably to make her phone call in private. I started running.

But why was I following her? That thought pulled me up short, and I abruptly stopped in front of the opening to the woods where the human girl had ventured. Why was I following Bella? When I saw her walk out the back door and into the shadowed woods, I hadn't thought of anything except following her.

I pondered that for a minute, then came to a conclusion. I've never wanted to read anyone else's thoughts more than hers. Maybe I wish that because of the fact that I can't read her thoughts. Or maybe… or maybe it's because of her.

Her odd behavior, her resentment to me, her guarded eyes, her intoxicating smell… it pulls me to her, draws me in. Of coarse the fact that I can't read her mind, doesn't help in that subject.

I just want to find out why she acts so weird, that's all.

And, yeah, I want to here her say something nice about me.

"… need to meet you somewhere, you and the pack." Pack? "I have an announcement, and this is huge." she whispered into the phone. She looked around, as if sensing an intruder, but she looked the wrong way, I was in high up – to high up for her to see if she did look at me – in a tree not 20 feet from her.

Then the sound of her friends voice filled the phone, "Oh my gosh, Bella! Are you a lesbian? Man this is going to kill Jake!" Whose Jake? I thought almost angrily. "Not to mention me, how am I supposed to hang out with you if I think your looking at me boobs, Bella?" her friends said, trying to lighten the mood. But Bella wouldn't budge.

"Oh for Pete's sake, Emily! I'm not a lesbian! You've got to be serious now Emily, this is life or death. No joke." Bella said, with no hint of anger in her voice. Ok, she budged a little, but at least she wasn't laughing.

"Alright," said the voice from the phone. "Where do you want to meet?" I leaned forward, listening extra hard.

"The b-" Bella stopped short. The what? I thought frustratingly, once again trying to read her mind and once again, failing. Bella spoke again, "Where we always meet." Uhhh! How's that supposed to help me? I almost growled out loud. "I'll be there as soon as I can shake off Jasper." she finished. Goodbyes were said and she shut the phone, heading back to the house. What happened to, "I have this new hot 'adoptive brother, you should come over and meet him!" This is definitely not what I had expected.

I jumped to a few trees where I could safely land without being noticed, did so, and ran back to the house. I had climbed the side of the house jumped through the window and turned around in my room when Bella came out of the opening of the woods. Instead of ignoring her and closing the window, like I should have done, I stood there, window open, watching her cross the yard.

Then suddenly, without the warning of her thoughts, she looked up to my window and saw me staring at her. I could feel me eyes widen as she stopped in the middle of the clearing.

Then, while trying to stay at a human speed, I turned away, shut the window, and closed the curtains.

Idiot! She probably thinks I'm some crazed stalker, who's going to show up in her room at midnight! Stupid, stupid! I chastised myself while pacing my room. But what did she mean 'where we always meet'? Who's 'we'? And what 'pack'? It doesn't make any sense! I wish I could follow her. But it would look suspicious to her family. Maybe I should just chill – no pun intended-. I'm just paranoid is all.

I wonder if anyone would mind if I played the piano for a little while?

BPOV

I walked into Jasper's room, it was more like a library then a bedroom though, the walls were almost completely covered in books and shelves. "Alright, tell me how rude I was so I can leave already." I said, my patience almost all used up with just having to be here.

He looked up from on of those books with a look of annoyance and disappointment. He was lounging in his reading chair in the corner of his room, that chair was probably the nicest piece of furniture in the house. It took forever for Jasper to earn enough to buy it, but I have to say from personal experience, that it wasn't a waste of money. Whenever I had a ruff day I would fall asleep in his chair only to find myself in my onw bed later on.

"You already know how rude you were, so why would I have to tell you?." he said with resentment. Uh oh, that is not what I wanted him to say. That means he already knows what he's going to make me do. Not good. I looked down, trying to look 'ashamed of my actions', as to get off the hook easier.

"You know that's not going to work. Your still busted and you're still going to go apologize to Edward for your rude behavior." he said sternly.

WHAT? My jaw dropped before I could stop it.

"Bella what is your problem with this guy?" Jasper nearly shouted, standing up and slamming his book down on his desk. "I don't get why you have to be so rude to him. Do you know him or something?" he asked, steaming. I recovered from my shock and glared at him.

"No, I don't know him. I just-"

"Then why do you have to be so disrespectful?" he did shout this time. Sometimes I feel as if Jasper is my dad, Carlisle is too nice to yell, he just gets disappointed, which hurts just as bad. So I guess Jasper just evens that out, but it's not like he's always yelling, he's actually the best brother a girl could ask for, he just hates disrespect.

I squared my shoulders and looked him in the eyes, "I wasn't trying to be," I lied smoothly, I used to be a horrible lire until I had to do it on a regular basis. "He just looked like someone I used to know, and hate." I said firmly, no longer glaring at him.

"Well then your going to walk up to his room, knock on his door, and explain that to him with a sincere apology." he said, already leading me out of his room. I ground my teeth together. Lie to a murderer, I can do that… I think. I thought to myself as Jasper led me to the vamp's room.

He stood me in front of his door and walked away, he looked over his shoulder and motioned to the door before continuing down the hall. I sighed and looked at the door, there wasn't a sound from the other side.

Well, I might as well get this over with, I thought to myself. So I took a deep breath, raised my shaking hand, and knocked on the door.

I barely had to wait two seconds, when the door opened and Edward appeared at the doorway. I gasped slightly and for a few seconds could only think of how beautiful and perfect he was. The only time I'd ever been this close to him, I'd been in so much shock from finding out what he was I never really looked at him. His tousled bronze hair was in a disarrayed fashion that looked as if a professional stylist had just finished with it but at the same time looked as if he hadn't touched it all day, giving his hair a look any guy would envy. His skin was pale, like white satin, that fit perfectly with his features instead of standing out. And his eyes. His eyes were the color of polished topaz, a color of cold stone yet had a warm and kind touch to it.

Of coarse that fact that he had moved into the doorway so we were only inches apart, didn't help anything. I didn't move away.

WHAT THE HECK AM I THINKING! I squeezed my eyes shut, slightly shook my head, and took a step back before looking up. "Can I help you?" he said, almost hesitantly.

I looked up to his golden eyes and told him straight out, "I'm sorry for my behavior earlier today. You sort of reminded me of a person I knew, and hated, and I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions." I lied with a steady voice, I hoped he wouldn't notice the lack of emotion in it.

He smiled politely, a small smile, but his eyes showed the same frustration when I'd first seen him. "Don't worry about it." he said dismissively. "Were you going somewhere?" he said as if the words didn't belong on his lips. It took all of my strength to keep from grounding my teeth and clenching my fists. He had better not ask to come.

"Yeah, I was just heading out." I said looking straight at his eyes, trying to tell him not to ask what he was thinking. But of coarse, he did.

"Where are you going?" he asked trying tot look casual but also genuinely curious.

I had to hold in my sigh of frustration. "To meet some friends." I said, and I swear I saw his eyes flash. I'm smarter than you think, vampire. I thought smugly.

"Alright," he said, closing the door behind him, my eyebrows rose and all the smugness vanished. "I'll walk with you downstairs, I was heading to play the piano anyways." he said, and a wave of relief washed through me. He looked at me, "If that's ok with you." he asked.

I was shocked. Why was he asking my permission? I thought, very confused but hopefully not showing on my face. "Uhh, s-sure." I stumbled, the shock plain in my voice. I mentally kicked myself.

Another small, but dazzling, smile crept onto his face. "Alright then," he said gesturing to the stairs. "Shall we."

"Yeah, ok." I said, and tried walked ahead of him, but he kept pace perfectly.

"So are all of you orphans?" he said, as we got to the stairs.

I looked up at him, "Yeah. Esme can't have kids so she adopted. Jasper was first, Rosalie second, me, then you." I said. It would have been rude if I had left him out.

He nodded, "How long have you been here?" he asked. Singling me out.

"Three ye-" I stopped when I tripped on the last step, arms flailing in front of me. I always either catch myself or hit the ground. Not this time.

This time Edward caught me. His arms went around my waist when I was halfway to the ground. We froze. For a heartbreaking moment, it actually felt nice… right. Then he slowly, and gently, pulled me up straight. He took his hands away when I could stand. We stood there looking at each other for a minute.

I broke the silence, "Thanks… I always trip on that last step." I said, nervously.

He nodded. "Are you alright?" he asked sincerely. His eyes filled with concern that somehow seemed to fit perfectly on his face.

"Yeah I'm fine. Well I'll see you later. Thanks again." I said, heading for the door.

"Bye Bella." he said. Looked behind my shoulder and saw him smiling, for some reason, I smiled back. As his smile grew, it turned into a crooked grin that sped my heart up.

I walked out the door. I got into my car and put my head back and took a deep breath, trying to calm my speeding heart. For a few minutes I actually wasn't thinking about the fact that he is a vampire.

What is wrong with me?