A/N: Short disclaimer that I´ve never read Wuthering Heights (as I´m from the Netherlands and it wasn´t mandatory to read). The opinions were from peers who´ve read it, so the views don´t reflect my own and might not reflect yours.

Chapter 5: A Boring Lunch

¨Hello Edward,¨ I squealed. Real sexy. Real mature.

When I said his name out loud, my heart was flipping over and it was suddenly very hot in here. Lunch would be a total disaster, I just knew it!

I turned around and saw he stood right behind me. Seeing his crooked grin and piercing eyes from up close made me even more nervous than I already was. His strong, sweet scent and messy auburn-coloured hair mesmerized me greatly and all I could do for a second was just stare at his handsome face.

All the books I've read talked about attraction. But I was sure, no author could ever find the right words to describe Edward Cullen.

¨You don't have to be nervous,¨ Edward said softly, as if he could sense my quickened heartbeat. But I was sure, the whole school could hear it at this point. ¨Alice is thrilled you´re joining us today.¨

The line in front of us moved and I paid for my yoghurt. I concentrated very hard on the money in my hand, to keep my mind from wandering.

¨Yes, she's amazing.¨ I lamely admitted to him. I shouldn't look directly into his eyes, as I felt my cheeks getting more and more red with each passing second. He would think I was such a loser, blushing each time I saw him. Pathetic.

Edward grinned. I secretly hoped he would say something cheesy, like ´you as well´ or something like that. I wouldn't even mind if he used a cheap pick-up line on me. I would be glad with literally anything. Anything at all.

But, he only came to me to make sure I wouldn't run away, I was sure of it. Which, considering I wanted to do that just a second ago, was a valid reason.

¨Let's hope you think the rest of the family is amazing as well.¨ Edward winked at me and together, we walked over to their table.

Wait, family? Did that mean they were all related? Those people? Those attractive people all shared the same genes? For real? Life was so unfair!

And did he secretly ask me if I thought he was amazing as well? Or was I reading too much into this? Maybe my hope toyed with my sense of judgement, that had to be it.

Alice´s enthusiasm put an end to my doubts. As soon as we reached the table, she jumped up, greeted me and rearranged our seating positions.

She made me sit in between her and Edward. Jasper sat next to her and the two other people sat in front of us. Especially the blonde girl looked slightly annoyed.

¨I´m thrilled you could join us, Bella.¨ Alice eagerly smiled at me. ¨Let me introduce you to the rest. You already know Eddie… ¨ Alice grinned as if she thought about something else, and I noticed Edward gave her a dirty look. But it happened so quickly, I wasn't even sure it even happened at all.

¨And this cowboy here is Jasper, my boyfriend.¨ She pointed at the one with the cowboy boots. Jasper timidly smiled at me, it was clear he wasn't as chatty as his girlfriend. I could relate to that, so I nodded in his direction.

¨Moving on. Mister Muscle over here is Emmett. But don't let his physic fool you, he's actually a softie.¨ Alice pointed at the guy I thought would be the captain of the football team and gave him an air kiss. He rolled his eyes at her and the whole table grinned at their exchange.

¨Don´t give me away too quickly, Allie. And Bella, it's nice to finally meet you.¨ Emmett winked at me, and again, I saw that multiple people gave him a dirty look.

Something was going on here and I didn't know what.

And what did he mean with the word ´finally´? I mean, I only talked with Alice since yesterday, I suppose. Was I reading too much into this, as always?

As if she could sense I had my doubts, Alice quickly continued the introductions.

¨And last but not least, this is Rosalie. Emmett's girlfriend and Jasper's twin sister.¨ The beautiful blond girl only gave me a quick nod before she turned away, and that was it.

¨It's nice to meet you all,¨ I stuttered lamely to the group with cheeks as red as a tomato.

God, I was so out of my comfort zone here. I didn't even have one remotely interesting thing to say. I mean, I didn't even know how to keep a conversation going half of the time with my own parents, let alone with these handsome strangers.

Maybe I could still leave, if I faked being sick or something.

¨So, how's your proposal about Wuthering Heights coming along?¨ Edward asked me quietly, ending my constant overthinking and worrying.

I instantly smiled as I thought about our English assignment. I even forgot for a second that I sat so close next to Edward and that I was surrounded by new people. New people who clearly hid something. Or at least, that's what I thought.

No, this was a topic I could talk about for hours. A topic I deeply loved. Books. I could talk for hours about plots and storylines I thought were interesting. Perks of having an author as your mother, I guess.

Needless to say, books were the most comfortable things out there for me, as they provided me with a universe in which I could drown in. As I didn't have any friends besides my own parents, books were always there for me.

Not that I would say that out loud. Ever.

¨Great, I think I'm almost finished with it, but I´ve read all the mandatory books of this semester already, so that´s a plus. And I generally really like Wuthering Heights so that´s also in my favour.¨ I said, trying to come off as a cool student. Edward smiled at me and for a second I truly forgot how to breathe.

¨You´re in luck then. What did you think of it?¨

My whole face lit up. Yes! Book talk was my favourite kind of talk.

¨Well, I love the setting. All characters are so far removed from social norms, which make them lonely. And the setting reflects that, which is so cool.

I also absolutely love how unlikable everyone is. Heathcliff is actually an asshole. He's angry and violent and I think everyone who reads Wuthering Heights hates him at some point. And Catherine is also screwed up in her own way. They are both monstrous.¨

Edward nodded at me, allowing me to continue which I happily did.

¨I also enjoy the circle of violence and aggression. Truly, nothing about that has changed since the book was written, which is extremely clever.¨

During my talk, Edward had leaned in slightly towards me. I hadn't noticed it before, but I did right now and immediately blushed. I was somewhat embarrassed of that. But then, Edward did something that amazed me even more; he talked back.

¨I personally think Heathcliff's relationship with Hareton was very interesting.¨

Now, it was my turn to lean in towards him. Our knees touched each other again and I felt a familiar jolt of electricity rushing over me, but I didn't care. I was impatient and wanted to know more about his views. Right now.

¨What do you mean?¨

¨Well, Heathcliff said he didn't love Hareton, right?¨ Edward asked me

¨Yes?¨

I was utterly confused.

¨I actually think he did, even though he said he didn´t. I think he loved him despite not wanting to, because he reminded him of himself. In his own egoistical way, he loved him as a son because he saw himself in him.¨ Edward explained to me.

I actually really liked his explanation, as it made sense to Heathcliff's character.

The realisation that Edward liked reading made him even ten times hotter than he already was, if that were even possible. Great, just as I needed. As if he wasn't distracting enough as it is already.

¨That's why you're Carlisle's favourite.¨ Emmett loudly laughed.

I looked up in surprise. I had completely forgotten about the others. Really. I had focussed all of my attention on Edward. The fact that we weren't alone had slipped my mind altogether.

¨Who´s Carlisle?¨ I asked.

And just as a few minutes earlier, almost everyone frowned at Emmett. And I wondered if he had said something that wasn't for my ears to hear. The table went silent, waiting on who would speak first. It was Alice.

¨He's our father. We´re all adopted by him and his wife Esme. You might run into him as he´s the local doctor, although we wouldn't want that of course,¨ she said to me.

I shivered at the word ´doctor´. Believe me, I had seen my fair share of doctors growing up, and I tried to stay away from them as much as possible now.

I think my reaction might´ve confused them, as Alice quickly continued.

¨But please don´t dwell on the abortion part. We´re all a family, although not a traditional one.¨ She sighed. ¨Anyway, why don't you tell us a little bit about yours?¨ Her eyes lit up again and she eagerly moved closer to me to listen to what I had to say.

¨It's slightly more boring, I´m afraid. My mother´s a writer and my father´s a cop.¨

I almost apologized for how dull my life was. Or at least, it was dull if I didn't tell them I moved states more often than I could count. I guess that would be interesting to tell, but no way in hell would I bring that up.

Emmett whistled. ¨A cop, huh? Must be annoying at times.¨

I chuckled as I remembered all the times Charlie was way too overprotective due to what he saw while working. ¨It really can be, yeah.¨

¨It sounds so interesting, though. Can you please tell us more, Bella?¨ Alice greedily asked me and I laughed at how eager she sounded.

¨Sure, what do you want to know?¨ I asked, while I took a spoonful of yoghurt. It was then that I noticed they weren't eating anything at all.

I must´ve looked really confused at the almost empty table in front of me, because Edward immediately responded.

¨We´re on a special diet.¨

I nodded in his direction, while I thought about all diets that… well… did not let you eat anything. It sounded way too hipster and it wouldn't be a diet for me, that's for sure.

¨Has your mother ever published a book?¨ Jasper asked and I sensed a slight Southern accent from him.

¨Yes,¨ I proudly told him. ¨Multiple, actually. But she always writes under an alias, because she wants to be published for her talents and not because she's a popular name in the industry. You might´ve never heard from her while she has written over a dozen books already.¨

Jasper's eyebrows rose. ¨Really? That's impressive.¨

And I couldn't help but agree with him. Renee´s job really was the coolest.

¨Can you recommend one of her books to me?¨ Edward asked.

I turned to face him and saw his signature crooked grin. Oh, be still my beating heart.

¨S… sure,¨ I stuttered. Really, it was actually very impressive if you thought about it; I could even stutter on a one-syllable word.

I gave him a worn-out copy of a fantasy book I had in my bag. Renee had written that one not too long ago, but after a few rereads, the book clearly showed signs that someone loved it very much.

¨I´m looking forward to analysing it with you,¨ he promised me and I couldn't wait for him to finish the book already.

¨Do you own any more skirts?¨ Alice abruptly blurted out and since I was facing Edward at this point, I could see his brotherly annoyance at his sister. It made me chuckle, as I never experienced this kind of sibling-banter before.

And I liked it.

Probably more than I should.

¨Yes. And I own a lot of dresses as well,¨ I grinned at her. This made her do the little excited jump again and Jasper reached out for her hand to calm her down a bit.

¨You should not have said that. She's going wild now,¨ Emmett jokingly told me and seeing how excited Alice became after we discussed clothes for literally a second, I couldn't help but agree with him.

¨Do you know what you'll wear tomorrow?¨ She squealed.

¨I´m afraid not.¨

¨Sis, how many times do we have to tell you that no one does?¨ Emmett rolled his eyes.

Alice immediately pouted. ¨Oh, shut up, Em.¨

Edward leaned in again, as if he were just as drawn to be close to me as I was to be close to him. But if that was just my imagination doing tricks on me, then I wouldn't want to wake up any time soon.

¨I should've warned you. They´re always like this.¨ He whispered, loud enough so everyone could hear him. Which they did.

¨Hey, hey. Don't listen to our Eddie. He´s biased.¨ Emmett pointed out.

¨Oh, shut up, Em.¨ Edward imitated his sister, rolling his eyes while doing so.

¨You see how they´re treating me, Bella?¨ Emmett closed his eyes and pretended to be very hurt by his siblings.

Jasper and I quietly chuckled at the sight of them, while they bickered some more.

The only one who kept quiet during this whole conversation was Rosalie. Actually, now that I thought about it, she kept quiet during the whole lunch break.

She always pretended to be busy with something else, or she just stared at her nails for a few minutes. The blond femme fatale kept herself out of the conversation and considering no one asked her to join, I could only conclude she did this a lot, or she wasn´t fond of me.

But, I did notice that she studied me the whole time she ignored everyone else. So maybe, she just didn't like me. And I didn´t know why.

Somewhere at the end of our lunch break, her amber-coloured eyes suddenly met my brown ones. And I didn't like what I saw in them. Where her siblings had been warm and welcoming, her eyes sent shivers down my spine and made me uncomfortable.

¨So, you're in Forks now, but where are you from actually?¨ The goddess asked me in her cold and distant voice.

My eyes widened and I didn´t know what to answer her.

Memories I tried to successfully suppress came flooding back to me. How was that even possible? I hadn't thought about that in years! I tried desperately to give Rosalie an answer.

Where was I from? That wasn't even a hard question for most. But for me, it was, as I had absolutely no idea.

I knew the last few towns we came from and I could easily name them. But before that... Things became blurry at best. Completely black at worst.

A headache stronger than any other pain I had ever felt surprised me and took my breath away. I closed my eyes, as I tried to fight against this pain I hadn't known before.

¨I don´t know,¨ I whispered as tears ran down my cheeks. I didn't even feel that. I just stood up and left.

A/N: I really hope this chapter has answered some questions you previously had about Bella. BUT, has also raised other questions that have yet to be answered.