Ay ay ay… here we go, more Boarders! Mr and Mrs C shall be within the next week! ;)

"So Bella, what brings you to Braxwell?" Carlisle asked politely as I positioned myself on a nearby large white faux suede couch.

"I moved to Forks, and I sent myself here," I decided to get that cleared up right away – no one was forcing me to do anything in my family, so I'd done it for them.

"I see," the doctor swept a stray hair back into place as he took a seat in an armchair across from me. Edward took a spot on my couch a respectful distance away.

"Edward," Carlisle asked after an awkward few seconds of silence, "Might I ask why you've brought Bella to meet Esme and I?" Esme poked her head out of the kitchen and smiled; I smelled cookies from her direction, and smiled back. As I brought my head over to look at Edward in wait of his response, I saw a smile flit across Carlisle's face: a wry, almost conspiratorial smile. What was that supposed to mean? Was I just overanalyzing everything because I was nervous?

"Well," Edward inclined his head towards me with a shy grin, "Isn't it acceptable these days for a young man to bring his girlfriend over to his house to meet his parents?"

What on Earth was he talking about? I barely knew him, and he was calling me his girlfriend? Not that I didn't object; he was gorgeous, but way out of my league… So why would he even bother?

His father was stern almost at once, and I was turning redder by the second. "Edward, are you sure you can handle a girlfriend right now? Are you sure you'll be able to keep up with your studies? After all, you have to set a good example for your peers." The speech was quite viable, but the way he'd said it had me wondering; the words sounded like code for something else the way he was enunciating them.

Edward was the picture of innocence as he replied, leaning forward, "Of course Father, of course. You know me, everything's up here-," he tapped his head for emphasis, "-I'm certain I'll do fine. In fact, I'll even ask Alice… ask Alice to tutor me if I'm having trouble. I just can't let Bella go; she's definitely one of a kind."

Ask Alice what? I was certain it didn't have anything to do with a tutor. He had slipped, and covered it badly. Now I was even more assured something was up. But he'd called me one of a kind… Why? I was plainer than drywall. I looked over at Edward for a possible answer and instead of finding him happy and at ease as he was previous, I saw his mouth moving so fast it looked like a blur, and Carlisle looked like he was… listening to him? I had to say something; this was just getting way too weird.

Just as I was about to speak, however, Esme came in with warm and delicious looking chocolate chip cookies. "Bella, would you like one?" She came straight to me and set them down on the coffee table, and I smiled up at her.

"Thanks, they look wonderful!" I took one gladly, momentarily forgetting that the mother was strange too. I took a bite and warm chocolate melted in my mouth as I chewed. I finished it quickly and she urged me to take another, as she sat down on Carlisle's armrest and watched me eat.

Once I was on my third, I noticed that none of them had taken a cookie, and not wanting to be rude, I asked Edward, "Would you like one?"

He started shaking his head but then changed his mind – with a glance over at Carlisle first - and said, "Uh, sure, yes, please."

"Here," I passed him one and then turned to his parents, "Would you like one as well?"

"Oh, no thank you Bella, we're fine," Carlisle smiled and stood up, "I actually have to get back to work."

"And I have to go… do the laundry," Esme added hurriedly as watched Edward munch his cookie slowly with an…uneasy expression on her face, "You two stay here and talk. And maybe Edward, could you play…?"

"Of course, Mom," he grinned and looked away, but something wasn't right. That was the sort of expression one had when they were… blushing, except he wasn't. His pale skin remained the same shade, even with slight embarrassment.

"Play what?" I asked as Esme disappeared under the stairs and Carlisle had gone out the back door.

"I'll show you," he truly smiled and pulled me up and along to a dais where a large grand piano was the centerpiece. His touch sent a shiver through my body, but it had nothing to do with the frigid temperature.

He sat me down on the piano bench and slid in beside me, and realization dawned as he pulled the cover off the keys. "You play piano?" I whispered in awe. A moment of wordless conversation passed between us as he stared deep into my eyes and gave me a beautiful crooked smile; I had to look away due to the incredible emotion on his face.

As I did so, his fingers hit the keys and I was mesmerized. He began playing a soft, though still energetic melody that was exceedingly heartfelt and mature, but yet so innocent in its beauty that I had the sudden instinct to reach up and pat his shoulder gently.

"This one is Esme's favorite," he smiled and looked away from the keys, into my eyes again, "I wrote it to honor my parent's relationship."

"You wrote this?" I looked up in shock and amazement; he was incredibly talented, and at so young an age… I sat there in quiet contentment as I watched his fingers dance across the keys lithely, creating the most beautiful music I'd ever heard.

"It's beautiful," I whispered as he finished with a note that seemed to hang in the air once the song was over, though his hands were no longer touching the keys. In fact, one now held my left as he stood up and guided me down from the dais.

"Lunch is almost over," he remarked quietly, and I looked down at our intertwined hands. I was afraid of that.

"What classes do you have?" I whispered hopefully.

"Spanish and Math."

"Oh," I kept my eyes on the ground as we made our way back out into the pouring rain. It was silent as we walked on, so I looked up, only to see him staring at me expectantly. "Oh, I have Trig and English." The way I said it made it sound like a death sentence.

"Then I suppose I shan't be seeing you the rest of the school day," he inclined his head and brushed now-damp hair off his face, "Would you like to come for coffee with me later?"

"There's a place to get coffee here?" That would be convenient.

"Actually, I was thinking off the school grounds. I would drive, of course." He smirked; of course he would drive, what wasn't he good at?

We were walking indoors now and I noticed he dropped my hand instantly as people began staring. He looked down at me again and I caught a sad, almost wistful look in his eyes as he did so. "Bella, would you like to go for coffee with me tonight, at 6:00?" His eyes burned mine with intensity and I stopped right in the middle of the hall.

"Of course, Edward," saying his name sent a thrill through my body, igniting my nerves and causing my knees to feel wobbly.

"Well I will see you later, Bella Swan," he smiled and leaned towards me with his hand outstretched, but he quickly dropped it, turned on his heel and was swallowed up by the chaos of the hallway.

My first day here, and already I had a date. But just what was I getting myself into?

Ooooh Bella you're in for more than you think… Muahaha

So she's veeery suspicious, but she doesn't yet know… This whole 'going for coffee' thing shall be very interesting to write and for that I need more time, and time is something I don't really have right now. Must go to my little brother's hockey game, then do my math homework… yaaaawn…

REVIEW! :D

Reese

Oh, BTW, I've got a poll going for which story you'd like to see a chapter of next, so you can go vote in that if you wish. :)