Chapter 8

I began to hyperventilate. I don't know why I was so nervous to be meeting whoever it was Alice had lined up but as I hardly knew Alice or Rose I felt the need to impress them. Since I had spent my whole life trying to impress people, I wanted the new me not to care but right now, I felt my inner gut telling me to try for these friendships, so I did. We walked up the gravel drive, my heels digging in to the stones, to the large, old-fashioned white doors. Alice pushed it open, twisting the brass door knob.

"Mom, I'm home!" Alice stepped in to the quite environment and the house instantly had a little life in it. Not that I thought it was lifeless before, but before it was a quiet, mature environment – the kind that you would imagine the inhabitants of to read books together in the lounge and go to afternoon gold in their beige trousers and coloured polo shirts, going for G&T's in the club house after until they were happily sloshed.

"Alice!" I heard a strangely familiar voice call from the kitchen. I brushed it off though thinking that maybe the similarity was in Alice's voice. That was until the woman walked around the corner and I realised that the connection was more than just the voice.

"Esme!" I dropped my bag and ran across the hall in to her shocked arms. She chuckled and wrapped her arms around my mid-section which is all she managed to reach up to with these killer heels on.

"Oh, Bella! I forgot to give you my number – I thought it was going to be ages until I ever saw you again and then all of a sudden, you're here and you've met my daughter." Esme pulled away, appraising me. I laughed.

"Yeah, your daughter and I happen to be next door neighbours," I smiled looking at her. "I know crazy right." I added after seeing the look of shock she gave me.

"I knew you were going to the same school – well I told you didn't I – but I had no idea that you would even see each other unless I introduced you. I mean, not that I'm not happy of course."

"Of course, I mean-"

"Excuse me." Alice interrupted. Esme and I both turned to her in surprise having forgotten she was still with us. "You seem to have forgotten that your daughters are here. I know you may love Bella more but it's still polite to say hello to them." She crossed her arms across her chest and rolled her weight back on to one leg and raised her brow, staring pointedly at our bodies, still hugging each other.

Esme smiled. "Oh yes of course, Dear. I'm sorry – come here." She stepped back and towards Alice slightly, opening her arms up wide. Alice was so bi-polar. She flipped out of her mood and ran towards her mom like a little girl. She jumped before she reached her and wrapped her tiny legs around Esme's waist. No matter Esme's small size, she still managed to catch her. I laughed as Esme held out her other arm and like it was some secret signal, Rose leapt at her encasing her in her long arms.

I laughed heartily, watching them in silence until the door opened from behind me. I turned to see who it was but I was positive I already knew. I mean, Esme was here and so was Alice and Rose so who was left? Apart from Alice's brother who – according to Alice – was still in New York, then Carlise was the only likely candidate.

I watched as he edged through the doorway, clambering carefully over the step. His arms were ladled brown bags filled with groceries and heavy looking cartons of milk. Looking the same as the day I first saw him, the only thing that had changed was his outfit which was now a casual pair of jeans matched with a white button down shirt that had the sleeves rolled back to his elbows.

He walked slowly forward testing the ground before he transferred any weight over for fear of tripping. It made me laugh out loud and I immediately regretted it as he stopped still and held his head to the side, listening intently. After a few minutes he sighed shaking his head to himself and carried on tapping along the floor trying to make his way through to the kitchen, I presumed. I waited until he'd taken another ten or so steps before I coughed again. This time he stilled for longer listening but on hearing nothing more, he carried on. The third time I spoke and this time he knew for definite that it was me.

"Carlise!" I whispered but it was enough. He bent down, dropping the bags and flipped round to me, a bright smile lightening up his face.

"Bella," He grinned. "What are you doing here?" He rushed towards me and hugged me to his chest in welcome. I laughed and returned the hug wrapping my arms around his muscles torso. It was such a shame that he wasn't closer to my own age. No, I didn't mean that. He obviously loved Esme but if he had a son … A thought struck me then. He did have a son; A 'gorgeous' one apparently. I was almost pulled in to my thoughts but Carlise dragged me from my mind before I could. It was a good thing really. I didn't want to start blushing and then have to explain myself to Carlise, Esme, Alice and Rose.

Carlise smiled indulgently and shrugged one shoulder again as he bent down to pick up half of the bags. He made his way through to where I presumed was the kitchen and Esme, picking up the remaining bags, followed him. Alice sighed and, grabbing my hand, began towing me up the large staircase. Rose followed closely behind.

"Let me know when the boys get here, okay?" Alice called to his retreating form.

Not waiting for a reply she dragged me up the stairs and began chattering away animatedly to herself – or Rose – but which ever way, I wasn't paying attention. So far I hadn't had the time – or the energy – to look around the house but now, as we slowly made our way up the stairs – I managed to find the time and boy did I like what I was seeing. The house was modern but with an old fashioned twist. You could tell Esme was artistic just by some of the timeless pieces of furniture scattered here and there. As you went up the hall way, there were sporadic pictures showing family members, mostly Alice and her brother but sometimes there was a blonde girl with them. All the walls were a stark white emulsion paint that made them appear clean and fresh but they were dull as well so the colour wasn't as harsh to the eyes. Contrasting the light tones, the hallway floor was a dark cherry wood that was thick and old so your shoes didn't make a sound but it was warm and perfect for this house. The ceilings were quite high and I presumed that had been to counter the height of the family or rather, the men of the family. Not that I knew how tall the son was but I could only presume that, from some of the pictures I'd seen, he was more like his dad than his mom. Not that it would matter either way because both of them were gorgeous! The bannister of the stair case was matching the wood of the floors but the poles supporting it were made from a wood similar to the texture but white.

At the top of the stairs, to the right, was a short corridor that, when Alice took us through, led to a large open room with an entire wall made of glass. In front of the window wall was a desk facing out across the breath taking view with one solitary chair behind it. The desk, like much other furniture in the house, was an old fashioned wood that stood dark in contrast to the continuous white walls and almost white, soft carpets.

"This is my dad's study." Alice informed me as she watched me look around. Against the right hand wall was an old-fashioned, dark wood book shelf that filled the length of the wall leaving only about half a foot of space at the top. Alice smiled and gestured to the door to our immediate left. "Shall we" I nodded.

"Yeah sure." She pushed it open and led us in. I was slightly shocked. I had expected great bathrooms but nothing like this one. For a starter, it was massive and secondly, the entire thing was tiled in marble which shocked me to no end.

"It's lovely, isn't it." Alice asked – or rather, stated. I nodded anyway as she carried on. "I helped my mom design it when she moved in. She wanted the perfect space for her and dad to relax and … have fun." She winced as the words helped her mouth and I couldn't help but laugh. I could guess exactly what 'having fun' was and I didn't really want to think about it. Hell knows how much the thought of my own parents made me feel sick, let alone any one else's.

"Yeah it's nice." I walked in trying to take every tiny detail in to remember later. I doubted I would get to come back in this particular room for a while and I just wanted a memory of what it was like so that when I was designing my perfect house, I knew exactly what to ask for. The shower walls were glass that, as Alice informed me, could fog over if you pressed a button when you wanted to shower. I couldn't believe that people actually had things like that – I thought it was only in dream magazines.

"Right, let's move on. I won't show you mom and dad's room yet, we can always see that later. Let's just get on with the rest of the house." I nodded as she led me back out through to the hallway. We walked round the staircase which was – I realised – in the centre of the house winding up and around to wherever the top floor was.

The next room was a little way down the corridor to our right. Once again the door was made from a dark wood matching the downstairs floors and the walls as we went through were a white colour with the exception of the main wall which had a metallic-pink flower pattern on. The large king-sized bed was pushed up against that wall with old fashioned bedside cabinets and a chest of drawers next to it. There was a simple, pink lamp on the dresser and, as you walked in, a matching to the chest of drawers wardrobe against the door wall. The carpet was once again a soft, white carpet and wall facing out was made of glass. It had a very girly yet mature feel about it and I found myself – despite my hate of the colour pink – imagining coming over to sleep and staying the night in the simple room. I don't know why but I could just see myself fitting there nicely.

"I like this room." Alice smiled and nodded her head as if her suspicions were confirmed.

"Yeah," She replied. "I thought you would. There's just something about it, isn't there?" I nodded. "Well it's good anyway because it's yours." I did a double take as her words sunk in.

"Pardon?" Alice laughed.

"The room's yours Bella. Rose has her own room here and so do Em and Jazz so if you ever need to stay here for the holidays or even just over night some time, it's yours. After all, you won't want to spend all of vacation staying at the Campus but you're not going to be able to travel back to America every time either." Her logic was undisputable and instead of being worried that some one had spent money on me - even if it wasn't specifically for me – I found myself smiling along and thanking her. I had only known Alice for a brief period but already she was changing the way I acted - around her anyway.

We wandered through the bathroom and the rest of the spare rooms down the corridor, Rose's, Em's and Jazz's included, then we made our way up the next flight of stairs. This floor housed a music room which Alice informed me was sound-proof, another library, an ex-playroom (which was now a very modern office) and two more rooms, one a gigantic ensuites bedroom belonging to Alice and the other a massive walk-in wardrobe or more specifically, a dressing room. Alice's room was beautiful. It was a mix of white walls and dark teal colours that made the room grown up but mellow and very me-ish. She also had dark, old-fashioned furniture but she added her own style magazines and her new modern technology to make it the perfect bedroom. I could just see her flitting about in it as she walked to the speakers and flicked through her music until she found something she liked.

Singing along, she led us from her room across the hall to the dressing room. Now, I didn't really have a great eye for fashion, but even I could appreciate the amount of designer clothes that were stacked in this room. Rail after rail were lining the walls over box after box of designer shoes. She pulled a few pairs out to try on and then, grudgingly, left when I had gotten bored of her play-room.

It suddenly occurred to me. "Alice, what about your brother? Where does he sleep?" She turned to look at me fully in the eyes and after seeing whatever it was she was looking for there, she turned away and muttered in a low voice.

"Are you sure you're ready to see this?' I nodded as she looked quickly back over her shoulder. 'Okay, but be warned. It's nothing like the rest of the house." And with that she led me up the last flight of stairs.