I was looking forward to getting to know Edward Cullen a little more on Monday, but he didn't show up to school. None of the Cullens did. Their empty table was sad to look at, but I didn't let it bother me. Maybe they all caught the flu or something. I sat next to Jessica and the rest of her friends today. To be fair, she wasn't my first choice for a friend, she just reminded me so much of Allison that I couldn't help but compare those two. Both were into clothes and totally obsessing over the male population of the town.

The girls were planning to go to Port Angeles after class to pick up dresses for the Spring Dance and me, wanting to make normal friends and feel like a normal teenager, got myself an invitation to the shopping trip.

I left my truck at the house and quickly made my way back to Jessica's car, which she parked at the bottom of my driveway.

"Was your uncle okay with us going?" Angela Webber, one of Jessica's friends, who was nicer than anyone I'd ever met before, asked me.

"He works late hours, I left him a message." I lied, thinking I should've just told everyone I was emancipated. This fake uncle was giving me more trouble than I wanted.

"Oh, what does he do?"

"Something connected with law, I'm not sure really, I don't see him much." I shook my shoulders, hoping Angela would drop the subject.

"You happy already that you decided to go shopping?" Ben laughed at me from the seat next to me. I gave him an angry look and he put his hands up in the air in a defeated motion.

Ben was following me for this trip since I still couldn't exactly control the stupid mind-reading and was in no mood to get drunk in front of a priest's daughter and the biggest gossip girl of Forks High. I was actually kind of glad for his presence today, maybe this shopping trip wouldn't be as dreadful if I had someone who detested it as much as I did with me.

The drive to port Angeles wasn't half bad when the topic switched from me and my fake uncle to the Spring Dance. Jess and Angela were talking about their dates and trying to persuade me to go to the dance with them. I caught myself wondering if Edward would go with me if I had a chance to ask him out. We could go as friends even…After all, what for were all those ballroom dance classes that Father insisted on?

My first shock at the cranked-up music that Jess blasted was soon over and I even caught myself singing along to some of the songs with the other two girls. Were that how normal teenagers with no strict Father or a robot mother behaved all the time? I liked it, it felt like I was my own person for the first time.

Jessica parked the car next to a small boutique that specialized in special-occasion dresses and all three of us walked inside. The small shop was crammed with different styles and colors of dresses, glitter, jewels, and pieces of fabric mixed inside in my overwhelmed brain. I reached my hand to touch the silky dark blue dress to my right and felt a small smile creep onto my face. Maybe shopping for something other than practical clothes could be more fun than I thought. I have never had an opportunity to wear something like that. It was either the Umbrella uniform, sweatpants, and a hoodie or some baggie T-shirt that I stole from one of my brothers, most often Klaus. My family didn't go out much unless it was for a mission, so my only nice clothes were a strict knee-length black skirt and a cotton green blouse to go with it.

"I think I'll try this one on," I told the girls and grabbed the dark-blue dress from its hanger.

I noticed Ben stayed behind when I entered the changing room. I took off my clothes and let myself get into the nice silky fabric dress. It felt cold on my skin, but I even liked it. When I looked at my reflection, I finally saw myself as a girl. My long brown hair was lying in soft waves on my chest, only supported by the sunglasses I still had on my head. The dress exposed my shoulders and made me look like I actually had curves. The V neckline made my chest seem bigger and the tight waistline made my hips look slightly larger. I twirled around, trying to contain my excitement before coming out to let Jess, Angela, and Ben tell me what they thought about the dress.

"You have legs!" Jessica screamed and I looked down at my legs. The dress reached just above my knee, exposing that part of my body as well as the shoulders. "You need to start wearing more dresses, Bells, your calves look great!"

"Thank you," I murmured shyly and looked at Ben. He was giving me two thumbs up which made me blush harder.

"Angela, look at Bella! Doesn't she look amazing?" Jessica talked to the still-closed curtain of another fitting room. Angela's head popped out of it and she squeaked when she saw me.

"She's right, you have very nice legs," Angela spoke and then pointed to the right side of the store. "You should definitely get some heels, and then no one will be able to pay attention to anything except your legs."

I followed her finger to the stand with shoes. I've never worn heels that high, and to be honest, I wasn't sure if my clumsiness would help me with that. I took a deep breath and decided to be brave today. I chose the black platforms that looked like they would go with the only purse that I had and tried them on while Jessica and Angela were trying on some other dresses. I walked around the store in heels, supporting myself by holding onto the walls and the shop consultant, who seemed to find my situation amusing.

"Bella, whose side are you on?" Jessica asked when I made my way to them again. I looked at Ben, hoping he would give me a clue as to what Jessica's question was about. My brother looked like he wanted to disappear into the thin air right then.

"Sorry, what are you guys talking about?" I asked receiving no help from Ben.

"Tampons or pads? I say tampons since you can wear them with thongs and they don't make any sound when you're walking, and you can swim with them." Jessica spoke and I smiled in Ben's direction. I got why he was so uncomfortable. Men and periods are two things that should never cross.

"And I say pads because as much as they're only supposed to be worn with more modern underwear and are more noticeable, they are more practical and will definitely prevent leaks."

"Okay, Izzy, I can't. I'm sorry, call me when this conversation is over," Ben spoke guiltily and disappeared. I made sure I concentrated on Angela and as soon as Ben's form could no longer be seen, I was bombarded with thoughts. My concentration on Angela's thoughts helped a little, but the buzz around them was too much.

"Do you guys mind if I take a quick trip to the bookstore? I'll meet you at the restaurant." I tried to sound like I didn't feel like my head was going to explode. I was so grateful that I bought the dress and shoes that I wanted already.

"Not at all, we still have a few dresses to check out." Angela waived me off. "We'll get your bags to the car." She promised, I smiled in gratitude and opened the door.

When my concentration on Angela's thoughts run out, I myself started running. My safe haven, the liquor store, couldn't be further away. The last two blocks were nearly unbearable. I knew I could call Ben, but I didn't want to be so dependent on my dead brother anymore, I already made him sit through the shopping trip and hear conversations about periods.

"I heard a rumor you saw my ID said I was over 21," I told the cashier. He scanned my mickey and accepted my money with a weird smile on his face.

As soon as I was out of there, I walked behind the store and opened the bottle. After three sips, the thoughts in my head dialed down. They didn't disappear, but at least they weren't as loud or coherent anymore. I sighed happily and finally took a look around. I didn't know where I was, and with my mind concentrating on stopping the headache, I lost all sense of where I was going. I didn't recognize any signs around me, so I did the next best thing that I could think about. I took another sip from the bottle and started walking.

It took me a few minutes to realize that I could no longer hear the extensive chatter in my head. It was actually rather quiet, other than the few occasional buzzing that I managed to hear. I was about to get my phone out of the bag and dial Jessica when I heard footsteps behind me.

"Hey, baby, I saw you leaving the liquor store." The voice sounded from far away and I hoped it wasn't addressed to me. "Where are you going, sweetheart, come hang with us."

I looked around instinctively and saw two men coming in my direction.

"Sorry, boys, I'm meeting with some of my friends," I yelled at them, hoping this was just a misunderstanding.

"I'm sure we can be more fun than your friends, baby."

I turned back around and started walking a little faster now. Fucking hell, why did these things always happen to me? When I reached the end of the street, I realized two things. One, it led to some kind of storage unit parking lot and not to any busy streets. And two, it was a trap since another three men just appeared from around the corner. Fuck my life.

I sighed and looked up at the strangers.

"What do you want?" I asked, venom in my voice.

"You." I could hear one of the guy's thoughts. I was glad that the mind-reading was dialed down because of alcohol since the glimpses that I did hear were disgusting and so immoral.

"Get back," I warned.

"Oh, come on, baby, we can give you the best night of your life." The first two men joined us then. I greeted my teeth in anger.

"I warn you now, don't come any closer," I spoke seriously. The men laughed and did exactly the opposite. One of them had the audacity to place his hand on my waist. I pulled Luther's strength from my core and crushed his wrist in my hand. The man yelled out in pain, quickly taking his hand away from me.

"Come on, baby, you'll like it, don't be like that." The other men were apparently too drunk to understand that messing with me was not in their best interest.

"I heard a rumor you broke your buddy's nose," I whispered to him and looked in amusement as the man raised his fist and punched one of his friends straight in the face. If I didn't have another three men around to concentrate on, I would have been laughing my ass off. I allowed myself to smirk though. I loved Alison's power sometimes. "I've heard a rumor you two…"

I was about to make the other two guys kiss, but the screeching of the tires stopped me mid-sentence. The grey Volvo appeared out of nowhere and stopped right in front of me. The front door flew open, and Edward Cullen emerged from the vehicle. I bit my lip at the sight of his face. He was angry and sort of scary. Like a lion hunting his prey. It was also incredibly hot.

"Get in the car." He spoke seriously, still not looking in my direction. His gaze was fixed on the three men who were still standing on the ground.

"Yes, sir!" I smiled, amused at his reaction. What an interesting turn of the evening. I got into the passenger seat of the Volvo and watched as Edward walked back to his car, still eyeing the men.

When he finally started driving, I could see that he was pissed at something. Edward didn't speak and I couldn't help but want to end the silence between us. Maybe it was the booze in my system or the adrenaline rush from the fight, but I felt braver than I ever was before.

"Thank you for picking me up." I started with something simple.

"It's never a problem." He spat out.

"How did you know where to find me?" I asked again. I didn't care if he wasn't in the mood to talk because that was all that I wanted to do.

"I didn't know."

"Oh, so driving around empty dark alleys of Port Angeles is your hobby? Very interesting, I pictured you more of a stamp collector or autobiographies enthusiast."

I got him there. A small smile appeared on his face, and he looked at me in amusement. "Stamps and autobiographies then, huh?"

"Yeah. I was fine, by the way, you didn't have to interfere. A few lessons would have been good for these jerks."

"Bella, say one word, and I'll go back and rip their heads off."

"Oh, that's very sweet, but I'm not into murder really, just ass-kicking," I smirked.

"They deserve so much more than that." He sighed frustrated and angry again.

"And you are the judge of that because…" I asked.

"You don't know what those lowlifes were thinking."

"And you do?" I asked ecstatically. He was definitely the mind reader; I was 100% sure of that now. But how was he also super-fast then? Can someone actually have two abilities? "Besides, what makes you think I didn't know what they were thinking?"

He laughed at that and I cocked my eyebrow at him.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You are." He stated simply.

We continued driving until I gasped and started looking in my purse for my phone. I was very late for the dinner with Jess and Angela. Edward, after hearing me complain, turned the car around and drove us back to Port Angeles.

I managed to catch the girls when they were leaving the restaurant, glad that we made it in time thanks to Edward's speeding.

"Bella! We were so worried, I tried calling you, but you never picked up." Jess started talking but quickly stopped when she saw Edward appearing next to me.

"Sorry, I met Edward at the store and we got carried away talking. My phone was on silent, I didn't hear your calls." I apologized sincerely.

"Oh, that happens, right?" Angela smiled at me and looked at Jessica knowingly. "Are you getting home with us?"

"I think I need to make sure Bella eats; I can drop her at her house after," Edward suggested and I felt like my heart sang with happiness. All I wanted was to spend more time with him.

I said goodbye to Jess and Angela and promised to see them back at school tomorrow. Edward and I walked inside the restaurant then and were seated at a more private booth in the corner. The smell of Italian food filled my head, and I heard my stomach growl in anticipation.

After we ordered…well after I ordered, since Edward wasn't hungry, we eyed each other for a few minutes in complete silence, neither wanted to start talking first. I sighed and asked my question then.

"So, you can read people's thoughts?" I kept eye contact, even when he pretended to look like my comment is the most hilarious thing that he has ever heard. "It's not really a question, Edward. I know you can."

He stopped laughing then and looked at me seriously. "Does that bother you?"

"Not in the slightest." I shrugged. "I've seen worse."

"So what can you do? How were you able to get that guy to punch his friend in the face?" He asked.

"Ah, so you show me yours if I show you mine…" I smiled and bit my lip. I noticed the waitress coming back with our drinks and thought it would be perfect to see what his reaction to Alison's gift would be. "Okay, I can do that."

"Here are your drinks, your food will be out in a few minutes."

"Can I order another drink?" I asked her.

"Sure, what can I get you?"

"Whiskey, straight."

In my peripheral vision, I noticed Edward's face elongate slightly in a shocked expression.

"Can I see some ID?"

I looked at Edward, smiled, and winked, before turning my attention back to the server.

"I've heard a rumor you checked my ID and it said I was over 21," I spoke the sentence for the second time today, and the waitress's eyes glazed over for a second.

"Sounds good. One whiskey coming up." She smiled at me and disappeared into the kitchen.

"What was that?" He asked.

"I don't believe in fake IDs." I shrugged my shoulders. "And my migraines are back."

"So you just need to say I've heard a rumor, and people will do whatever you tell them to do?"

"Exactly. So much fun, right?"

"When did you get that gift?" He asked, still looking surprised.

"When I was 6, I think." I shrugged. To be honest, I didn't remember when I got most of my sibling's gifts. The one that I actually remembered getting was Klaus's since it took Father the longest to find a way for me to copy it. And that was not fun…at all.

"I've never heard of anyone who could do that."

"Right back at you, mind-reader." I winked again.

We talked about our gifts the entire time we were at the restaurant. The only time we took a sidestep from that conversation was when the server got me my whiskey and Edward frowned. He decided it was his duty to remind me that I proved my point and didn't have to actually drink it. He got a deserved, "thanks for the advice, mommy," from me and had to watch as I chugged the liquor. The thoughts that were starting to sound louder went back to the soft buzzing.

Edward drove me home, just like he promised, and I quickly went inside the house, making an excuse that I didn't want my uncle to find out about this new driving arrangement. As much as I liked talking to Edward this evening, I still didn't feel quite safe around him yet. He had powers and I wasn't sure how he got them, so until I knew the full truth, I would have to be cautious around him.

That night was one of not many that I decided to sober up before falling asleep, My house was secluded enough for the thoughts to not bug me and I knew that my brother would appear to watch over me when I go to bed. After a few hours of peaceful sleep, I was thanking the universe that I decided to sober up before bed tonight out of all the nights because Ben's scream woke me up in the middle of the night.

"What…What?! Where's the fire?" I screamed back, tired, and very much annoyed.

"He was here, in your room!" Ben exclaimed angrily. "Got through the window and left right before you opened your eyes! I saw him run, he's faster than your eyes could even register!"

"What? Who are you even talking about?!" I asked confused and a little scared.

"Mary fucking Poppins, who do you think I'm talking about? Your boy, Edward. Fucking creep."