First Date

HOPE

Friday came here like it was riding a snail and I was getting impatient with time. But finally it did arrive; Aunt Alice and Aunt Rosaline came over to jump start my transformation.

"Hope, it could be worse. You have sleep to pass endless hours of the night unlike me," she pointed out. I never thought about that which led me to believe that Uncle Edward was probably about to explode while my dad is sleeping away some of his anxieties.

"Well, Hope, we picked out this little ensemble for you tonight…"Aunt Rosalie showcased. It was a pair of nice jeans – definitely from some expensive designer – and an orange designer blouse.

"Thanks, but I had already chosen to wear a skirt and a top," I said.

"Sorry, Hope, but Edward said no skirts and no dresses." Great, leave it up to the man who isn't my father to lay down some rules.

"Whatever." For the first time, I wasn't so hyped about going to this party anymore. It would be nice to be with William, but Uncle Edward was totally tripping. He was going to have to calm down with all of these anti-dating rules.

Finally after hair and makeup, I walked towards my floor-length mirror, satisfied.

"It says 'I'm here to have a good time, but I'm slightly interested.'" Aunt Alice projected as she swiped her hand across the air. I smiled and thanked them both before heading downstairs. Slowly, I saw Uncle Edward with his head down on the piano keys, while Aunt Bella soothingly rubbed his back.

"You don't want to know," she said as my brow drew up quizzically. I sat down on the couch which alerted Uncle Edward from his funk. He came towards me and knelt beside me, taking my hands.

"My sweet baby girl, don't do anything that would make me question my faith in you. Don't let him do anything that would even tempt me into killing him. Just know that I will always love you even if that boy doesn't," Uncle Edward promised.

"You have my word. And could you promise to chill out. It's just a date to a party. He's only doing it to be nice." I knew immediately Uncle Edward was about to have rapid fire of the mouth.

"Nice for what?!"

"Well, on the first day of school he was sort of…rude to me."

"AND YOU'RE GOING ON A DATE WITH HIM!" Uncle Edward blew up. I flinched back from his wrath as he stalked into the gameroom. A crash escaped the room as Aunt Bella fled after him.

"Oh dear," I heard her whisper. I waited until they both came out of the room – Uncle Edward looking composed. "Honey, it's alright," she said soothing her husband. He was muttering incoherently under his breath too low for me to hear.

"Ding-dong," the doorbell rang and of course Aunt Alice was already there to open it.

"Hello. You must be William?" she greeted. I got up from the couch to see him standing there. He was gawking at my aunt and I didn't like it one bit.

"Hi William!" I said, trying to pull him out of his trance.

"Oh, hey Hope. Here I brought something for you." He handed me a delicately wrapped box. I decided I didn't want to open yet.

"Thanks, would you like to come inside for awhile?"

"Sure." I led him inside, while silently scolding myself for having such an attractive family – he hasn't seen Rosaline yet. We sat on one of the couches in the sitting area in front of the Plasma TV. "Well, you live pretty far in the woods. I would have never guessed this would be back here. And it's massive, too," he complimented as he awed over the house.

"Thanks," Edward muttered while he came in to sit on the opposite couch. "I'm Edward, her uncle."

"Nice to meet you, sir." William extended his hand for a shake. Uncle Edward took it and applied an unfriendly amount of force that made William massage his hand in pain. Aunt Bella came in bearing a tray of cookies. I placed the gift on the table.

"I'm Isabella, her aunt. Feel free to call me Bella."

"Or Mrs. Cullen," Uncle Edward grumbled.

"Thank you, both. You have a very lovely home and a lovely niece. But, unfortunately, we have to get going." Yes, William was taking initiative.

"Where are you going again?" I hoped Uncle Edward wasn't going to be starting anything.

"To a mutual friend's party." Nice answer, William.

"Will there be drugs? Alcohol? Parents?"

"No, no, and yes."

"Humph." Uncle Edward crossed his arms. "So when do you plan to have her back?"

"Ten – forty-five."

"Have a nice time then." Uncle Edward relaxed a little before he and Aunt Bella guided us to the door. "Hope, could I have one last word with you, please?"

I had no idea what this could be about, but reluctantly I went over to him. "Yes. I still haven't forgotten my promise."

"Oh I know that. Just be careful, okay, love." Something was troubling him, but he knew it wasn't right for him to say.

"Okay. I love you, Uncle Edward." I pecked him on the cheek and raced to William's car, where he waited by his passenger door for me to climb in.

"Ready?" William asked.

"Ready."

EDWARD

Something wasn't right about this boy and I still couldn't figure it out. I was trying to pick through his thoughts, but I couldn't find anything wrong with them. None of his answers seemed to be false. He had normal teenage boy thoughts – even though I didn't want to admit that.

But why couldn't I just let it go. I told Hope to be careful and soon, they disembarked from the driveway and into the night. Bella slowly made her way back inside as I stood there on the stoop, still thinking.

"Edward, come inside, please?" Bella called. I sighed and trudged into the kitchen where she was working, and then I sat at the bar in Hope's stool and sunk my head into my hands. Alice and Rosalie were there talking to Bella about some new shop that opened in Barcelona and how they wanted to take Hope.

"Edward, are you okay with this?" they asked.

"Yes. I'm fine with it." I had no energy left in me to object. I had spent the greater part of energy ranting and frustrated. I needed to hunt. "Bella, are you going to hunt with me?"

"In a minute, I need to get that horrible smell out of the sitting area. I think I burned those cookies." No wonder they didn't take them.

Bella disappeared leaving my sisters to torment me with their minds. "Stop it," I spoke with as much authority as I could muster.

"We're sorry, Edward. Who would have thought you would have developed such a paternal disposition." Alice shrugged as Rosaline considered her comment.

"Ugh, it is not cute for her to be with that boy. None of it's cute. It's torture." I rose from the bar and retrieved my coat from the rack. "Bella, I'm gone." In the instant I said that, Bella sped to my side.

"I hope you weren't planning to leave me again," she smiled.

"I couldn't even consider living without you, love."

HOPE

It startled me on how long it took us to break through the trees, but then I remembered I wasn't riding with a crazy vampire who happened to think ninety miles per hour was slow. Finally, we approached the main road and we on our way to Nicole's party.

"So, what do you think about my skills with adults?" William raised his right brow as he started to smirk.

"Pretty impressive, I have to say."

"Thanks. Hey what was wrong with your uncle?"

"He has issues with letting go of things," I said simply.

"They seem pretty cool and young."

"Yeah, they are."

"Who was that who answered the door?"

I knew this question was coming. No one could help themselves from asking. "That was Alice, my aunt."

"Oh."

"Just oh. You're not going to comment on pretty she looks our anything?"

"She's pretty, but she's no you."

I was shocked by his comment. "No me. What's that mean?"

"You're pretty, too – in your own way. A way that makes me think there has to be more to you than I think," he concluded. I was flattered by his comment, but also frightened. What did he mean there was more to me? He barely knew me?

"You just met me," I tossed at him. He stopped the car and I noticed that we were already at a house that was spilling with kids.

He leaned over at me and whispered, "That's what makes you so interesting." I felt like my heart was pounding against my rib cage as I pulled myself out of his car. He took my hand and led me inside to the already active party.

"Hey I got one question to ask? Were you lying when you said there will be parents here?"

"I guess we'll find out," he chuckled.

Around ten – thirty William and I arrived in the front of the house. My first date was fun. William and I found as a corner in the party and ended up talking about each other. He was an easy person to confide in. I found out that he couldn't dance, which didn't bother for I wasn't that coordinated on the dance floor as well. Before we knew, time had past us by and we ran out the house so I would back home in time only to end up early. So, now we sat in his car, waiting for the right time to depart.

"I really had a good time tonight with you, Hope," William remarked.

"Yes, it was…nice."

"Hope, I have to admit you're an amazing person, I hope that we could spend more time together. I want to know you." His eyes bore into my with a sincerity that even Uncle Edward couldn't challenge.

"Didn't we talk about me enough tonight?" I kidded, trying to wane off the intensity of the moment.

"And yet it seems like I'm only skimming the surface." His voice sent a secret thrill through me – was it right to feel this way so soon? His comment left me flattered and yet frightened again. How much did he wish to know about me?

The car became awfully quiet. "Well, I guess you better get inside. Your uncle is probably looking for you." He had turned away from me in an attempt to start his car when I grabbed his hand.

"Well, technically we still have a little over ten minutes," I stated.

"True. I'll walk you to the door." He got out of his car, and politely opened my door taking my hand in the process. Hand-in-hand, he led me just to the stoop of the steps. Then, he turned to face me when I noted the grin he had plastered on his face. "Did you ever open my gift?"

My eyes budged in recognition. "No, I'm sorry." My face drew up in an apologetic pout.

"Then, it's a good thing I grabbed it before we left, isn't it?" He pulled out the rectangular box from his pocket and I gasped at the sight. Slowly, he opened it, revealing a yellow and white gold necklace bearing a charm that featured a pair of eighth notes. "I saw it and I immediately thought of you and your music. It symbolizes you and my passion for music and hopefully we'll be able to be together more in the future."

"Thank you, William." Then, I lifted my hair from around the nape of my neck. He meticulously and gracefully secured it around me. I softly fingered the charm, feeling its zeal. He drew his hand away from me leaving my skin tingling from the sensation left from his touch.

A smile stretched across his face radiating a warm glow onto my cheeks, and I batted my eyes in content and smiled nervously back. He lifted up my chin so his eyes were the only thing that held my attention.

"Hope, may I…?"

"Yes," I eagerly consented. He leaned towards me until I could feel his breath swirling sweetly in my face. I closed my eyes and waited for his lips to caress mine. Soon, I felt the moisture touch my lips, my cheeks, my nose – all over my face. My eyes shot opened as I realized what had happened. This would have be been my first kiss – if the sprinklers hadn't cut on.

William chuckled as he tried to clear the water from my face. In a matter of seconds, we were soaked. "I'll call you," he said before ushering me towards the door. Once, I was safely shielded from the showers under the porch, I waved William off. He sprinted to his car, dodging the sprinklers. As he was tucked into his car, I stole away into the house, slammed the door, and smiled as I fingered the display of affection that was wrapped around my neck. I had been swept away by William.

But, my smile drifted towards a grimace when I realized why the sprinklers had come on.

"UNCLE EDWARD!"

haha...that makes me laugh every time I read it...okay. I'm good. REVIEW, please and thank you. :)