Chapter 4

BPOV

Today had been a nightmare! I still didn't understand most of it. I had looked forward to meeting the mysterious Cullen. Now, I just wanted to hurt him. I couldn't understand him; I was sure he hated me. I just didn't know why. If I had done something wrong I could understand, but he seemed to hate me for no good reason.

At first I thought he was a bit rude, but the more time I had spent around him, the more I came to realise he just hated me! Every time I spoke, he had something nasty to say. Every time we made eye contact, he would glare at me. Then there where the times he didn't know I was looking; when he'd laugh and joke with everyone else, and his eyes would sparkle and he would smile. The hostile glares, it seemed, were just for me.

If that wasn't enough, Edward seemed to turn me into a total...well, bitch. I was rude to him, too. However saying "he started it," would just sound childish, but he did. Everything about him made me hate him; his crocked grin, the messy bronze hair, his voice, those emerald eyes, and the fact that in his board shorts today, he'd looked like a sculpture of some Greek god. Wow, I really noticed a lot!

I decided to have a shower and change. I washed the sand and salt from my skin and hair and changed into my sweats. Then I stood in the middle of my room for five minutes. I really was having a hard time concentrating on anything except how much I wanted to punch Alice's twin brother in the face.

Giving myself a mental shake, I decided to read our English reading assignment, Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. I looked around my room, checked my back pack, and then went outside to check the truck. I couldn't find it anywhere, which meant I must have left it at Alice's.

I poked my head in the living room. Charlie was sitting in his arm chair, while the couch was occupied by Jake.

"Dad, I'm just going over to see Alice. I think I left one of my books there on Thursday night."

He just waved. I took that to mean he'd heard. Jake didn't seem to care at all.

I knocked on the Cullen's front door and was a little surprised when Esme answered.

"Oh, Bella..." she smiled "...Alice isn't here."

I wasn't expecting that. I knew Emmett and Rose where going to dinner, but Alice had said she was going to watch movies with Edward, hence why I went home.

"Alice went out?"

"She left with Jasper about an hour ago."

I smiled, maybe Jasper had listened earlier.

"That's great! Do you mind if I run up to her room, I think I left my book here on Thursday?"

"Of course."

I made my way up to Alice's room on the second floor, hoping Edward had gone out too, or was on the other side of the house. Running into him was not something I wanted to do. I wasn't a hundred percent sure I wouldn't punch him on sight. Alice's door was closed, and I could see light coming from under the door of the next room. Great, Edward was home. Quietly, I opened Alice's door and turned on the lights.

Alice's room was beautiful. The main piece of furniture was the huge princess bed, with it purple gossamer curtains. There were two other doors, one led to a closet that was as big as my bedroom, the other which stood a fraction open, led to the bathroom. I could hear the shower running. It took a few seconds before I remembered that both Alice and Edward's rooms had doors to the bathroom, then a few seconds more before I worked out who was in the shower.

Quickly looking around the room, I saw my book sitting on top of the deck. Of course, I thought, Its on the desk, and where's the desk? Right beside the open bathroom door. While I was deciding whether to just run and grab it or wait until he was back in his room, I heard the water shut off.

"Alice, is that you?"

I was going to answer "no," I swear I was. But, it's hard when the person who asked walks in the room two seconds later wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist! Let be honest, it's possible to shock a girl to silence with a nice body and Edward's was a lot better than nice.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." I shot back. Anyone else and I would have just answered.

"This is my house; you're in my sister's room. So yes, you do have to explain yourself."

I took a breath and unclenched the fist I had just envisioned breaking his prefect nose with.

"Well?" he asked expectantly.

"Alright, I admit this is your sister's room..." I said as evenly as I could, "...however this is not your house; this house belongs to your parents. Who, for your information, know I'm here and said I could be."

I then made my way to Alice's desk picked up my book and headed for the door. At the last second, I realised I should leave Alice a note. So back to the desk I went, this was all made a little harder by the fact that Edward was still standing in the room with only a towel on.

I scribbled a quick note:

Alice,

I had to grab my book for English - don't forget I'm working tomorrow. If I don't see you before I pick you up Monday, ring me! What happened with Jazz?

Love, Bella.

I left the room, turning the light off as I went, leaving Edward in the dark.

I got a call from Alice about an hour later letting me know that Jasper had kissed her. She was ecstatic that her and Jazz where together, Edward was home, I was staying this summer, and there was only two weeks until vacation. I was happy for her and Jazz. I just wasn't looking forward to a summer vacation with...Edward.

It's funny how when you want time to slow down, it seems to speed up. With that in mind, I ended up on the first Saturday of summer vacation hiding in the woods from my friends.

It had been two weeks since Edward had returned to Forks, and in that two weeks he had systemically destroyed everything. I didn't go to the Cullen's any more. Every time Edward and I were in the same room, it was just nasty, hostility coming off us in waves. He and Alice had fought about it so many times. Not to mention, Emmett had come close to punching him when a few of his remarks got real nasty. In the end, I just decided to remove myself. When I wasn't there, I knew Edward was a different person. There was no way I wanted to be the reason the Cullen's where fighting.

I was lying on my blanket in the meadow I had found one day not long after I moved to Forks. I loved it. It was always a great place to sit and think, to read, and to play my guitar. Jake was running through the wild flowers, and I was reading my tattered copy of Pride and Prejudice when the cell in my back pocket started to ring. As I pulled the cell out, I debated whether I was going to answer it. I didn't recognise the number so I answered.

"Hello."

"Isabella Marie Swan! Where the hell are you?" Alice's voice demanded.

"Out walking Jake, why?" I sighed. I knew I shouldn't have answered the phone.

"Why didn't you come over this morning? We were supposed to go down to First Beach."

"I thought I'd give it a miss today, Al, you go down. We'll catch up on Monday, I promise."

"Oh, no young lady. If you aren't at my house at nine tomorrow morning, Rose and I are coming after you!"

"Alice, I have to work tomorrow."

"No, you don't. I already talked to Mrs. Newton. She gave you tomorrow off." Alice sounded extremely smug.

"What? Why would you do that?" I demanded.

"Because Bella, Rose and I have to go shopping for new clothes, and we need you!"

I groaned, "Shopping?"

"Yes, Bella. Shopping!"

"Wonderful."

She hung up.

As I lay back down staring at the sky, I wondered how bad shopping tomorrow was going to be. I shuddered.

I had underestimated Alice yet again. The idea of shopping in Port Angeles all day kind of made me want to fake my own death. However, Alice drove Rose and me to Seattle, where we went to a Starbucks and sat in a nice corner to talk most of the morning. Then we went to lunch at a restaurant where the menu was written only in Italian. The shopping was, well I hate to admit it, fun. I found the most amazing dress, a little black one. Alice liked me in it so much that she bought it. It would now stay in her closet until I wanted to wear it.

I lounged across the entire back seat of the car, while Alice drove and Rose sat up front rummaging thought the glove-compartment.

"Hey look what I found!" Rose was holding up a CD.

"Rose, put it away it's not mine."Alice didn't even look.

"What is it?" I asked.

" A CD," grinned Rose.

"Really, what gave it away?" I replied. Alice laughed. "What CD is it, Rose?"

"It's Taylor Swift!" Rose burst into laughter.

Alice almost had to pull over she was laughing so hard. I didn't get it.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Oh sorry, Bella." Alice giggled. "It's funny because of whose car this is."

I had always thought the sliver Volvo was Esme's, apparently not.