Chapter 2: Cryptids

The sounds of rain pouring heavily outside roused me from a comfortable dream-less sleep, half an hour before my alarm. Climbing out the bed and down the stairs, I saw that Charlie was still asleep. I decided to whip up some eggs on the stove for breakfast, leaving a plate for him. Seeing how early I was to wake, I decided to do my makeup at home. Expertly dusting on translucent powder to my foundation, setting it in place. Whipping out my cheap dollar store eye-shadow pallet, I colored my eyelids with earthly tones and dark reds, deepening the shadows of the outer corners of my eyes with an almost black. Finishing my eye look with glittery lavender at the corners and center of my lids, lining with dark eyeliner and red mascara.

Carefully packing up my cheaply packaged products, I checked one final time in the mirror. A simple black hoodie with a cartoonish skull embroidered at the corner, tucked into loose, faded black jeans- ripped of course. Noting the colder weather outside, I grabbed an oversized jacket, pulling my hood over the back. Zipping the sides of my everyday shiny platform boots, I hauled my bag over my head, making sure to lock the door behind me.

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Banner greeted me with his usual quip at my "garish" outfit, which I politely gave a small acknowledgment to, before power-walking to my seat in the back. A few minutes after me, Cullen arrived, meeting my eyes before Banner's. Our teacher said something to him, but I wasn't really paying attention.

Cullen looked like a god on earth, though that might seem like an over exaggeration, it really wasn't. His face was flawless, clear of any visible blemishes, I had to ask for his skin-care routine. Like me, his outfit of the day was completely in black; he wore a comfy looking woven turtleneck, a silver chain necklace adorned with a cross rested against his chest.

"Good morning."

"Morning." I replied back.

He pulled out his seat next to me, "You're pretty early.."

"I like to avoid the morning rush." I said, referring to the massive last-minute crowd of students desperately speed-walking to their classes. Cullen smiled at my comment and agreed with me. Apparently, big groups of hormonal teenagers weren't his thing too, cool. I noted his continuous tapping on his lap and slight fidgeting, much like his sister.

The bell rang and Banner began his usual morning announcements as students scampered in late. He gives out a lab sheet that I had already done back in Phoenix. With the power of me and Cullen's brain (and the answers I remembered from last year), we finished rather quickly.

Our quiet conversation was drowned by the loud clanking of beakers and chattering. Sitting in the back corner of the room felt like we were in our own separate box.

I told him about my extravagant life in Phoenix, about my mom's small apartment littered with healing crystals and burning incense. I admitted that I had stolen a couple of obsidian and quartz to decorate my room with, mom never noticed. Cullen shared small snippets of his own life; I learned that his mother, Esme, was an interior designer. Their home off the main roads and burrowed in the woods, was remodeled by her, though the children of course had decorated their own individual rooms.

"My room? It faces the backwoods actually. At night I'd sit by the window and listen."

"Listen for what?" I asked, curious.

He grinned, "Mothman."

I laughed and elbowed his arms, "We're not even in the right town."

"Do you believe in him?"

"Mothman?"

Cullen nodded, he rested his head down unto of his crossed arms on our table, still observing my reaction.

"You won't laugh will you?" I asked nervously.

"Never." He said it with such confidence, something told me that he wasn't just talking about my response to a silly cryptid.

"I do, well I think that any monster out there exists, to be honest. For all I know mermaids could exist, maybe even vampires."

Cullen looked startled so I rushed to explain myself before he thought I was insane, "I know it sounds crazy, but people believe in some big guy up in the clouds. And there's so much out there that people don't know or can't explain.." I shrugged, "Plus, I've seen some weird things that can't be explained. For all I know, the Boogey Man could be living in Utah."

Cullen huffed out a soft laugh, he placed a cold hand on my shoulders. The cooling sensation spread from his touch, I felt the weight of his palm to be soothing. "Relax, if it makes you feel any better, I believe in them too."

"Really?" I instantly perked up.

"Really. What kind of weird things did you see?" He propped himself up with his elbow resting on the table.

I dramatically whipped my head left and right before leaning in and poorly obscuring our faces with my hand.

"When I was 12, I was in a national forest with my mom. And I saw something move in the corner of my eye…" I paused for a dramatic effect, gauging Cullen's emotion. He seemed to be curious, locking eyes with me as if he was trying to read my mind. I continued, "When I turned around, behind the trees a couple yards away.. There was something, someone there. But as I moved closer, they turned around and poofed." I waggled my fingers at him.

"Poofed?" Cullen echoed, raising an eyebrow.

"Poofed. I was so sure that someone was there, when I checked behind that tree, I saw-"

"Mr. Cullen, Ms. Swan, having a nice chat back here?"

Banner's sudden voice jump-started my heart.I quickly whipped my head and body away from Cullen.

"We finished our work, Mr. Banner." Cullen said, his voice in a calm tone, clearly unfrazzled by the man catching us- even if we weren't doing anything wrong.

"Is that so?" Banner collects our papers and gives it a brief run-over. After a few long minutes, he gave a satisfied nod and warned us to keep our voices down. I slumped back into my seat as he turned his back, letting out a sigh of relief.

"What did you-"

Just as Cullen had started his question, the shrill bell sounded. The sound of rustling papers and clattering binders and chairs drowned out the rest of his words. I gave him a questioning look as I began packing my own things as well. He shook his head and mouthed "later". Giving a nod, I mouthed a goodbye and a small wave before heading to my next class.

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Long stares and whispering were becoming common to me as I sauntered through the lunchroom clad in my dark attire. Sometimes, people felt brave and shameless enough to yell out my name, Isabella of course. I hadn't expected someone to shout out my name in a happy and friendly manner instead of one in a snarky, condescending tone.

"Bella!"

Alice Cullen waved over at me excitedly, her pink cut off sleeves turned arm-warmers dangled and flailed in the air, almost whipping one of her siblings in the face. Said sibling scowled and playfully smacked at Alice with a well manicured hand. Awkwardly and well aware of Cullen sitting on the other side of Alice, I gripped my lunch tray of prison food and walked over to the group.

"Hi.." I raised my tray as a form of greeting. Alice made room between her and Cullen, allowing me to slide right in. "Hi!", she responded back, I had to smile, her enthusiasm was contagious. She grabbed the arm of the girl sitting next to her, the girl looked and felt like a pale gothic queen, gauging my worth as a lowly serf. "Bella, meet Rosalie! Rosalie, meet Bella!"

Rosalie gave me a tight smile, lips colored a deep velvet. Next to her, a buff tanned skin boy laughed, staring at her face.

"Rose, don't be so nervous!" He chuckled.

'Nervous? Her? Nervous? If anything, I should be the one shaking in my boots.'

Rosalie furrowed her brow and elbowed the boy next to her, sticking her chin up in a haughty manner. The rowdy teen let out a choked laugh and dramatically fell onto the other kid next to him. Said kid groaned exasperatedly, nudging at the obviously heavier boy.

"Emmett, I'll steal your xbox if you don't get off of me."

"How could you Jasper?! I let you play smash bro with me, we're comrades!"

"We were, until you stole Daisy from me. You know I only play Daisy."

"You can't call dibs on a character!"

I laughed at their playful argument, finding their antics comforting and way less nerve-wracking from my initial image of unapproachable models.

"Sorry about them, they're idiots." Cullen's voice reverberated from my right ear, I felt tingles spread from my ear to my neck and let out a nervous chuckle. The lanky boy in a faded hoodie and collar-like choker stared at me strangely.

"No problems, I think they're pretty funny."

Emmett cheered, "You hear that Rose? She thinks we're funny!"

Rosalie groaned and shifted her weight onto Alice, scooting further from him. "Shoo, I don't want your cooties."

"So.. I heard Edward gave you a painting." Alice grinned smugly as Emmett cried from behind her . Cullen let out a sound of protest that was cut off but Emmett's shout of "YOU GAVE HER A PAINTING?" Seemed like he was getting cut off a lot today.

Remembering the painting, I felt my heart tighten and warmth filling my chest. Smiling, I said, "It's the best welcoming gift anyone could ask for.. Oh! Speaking of which." I turned to Cullen, "Which one do you like better? Chocolate chip or peanut butter?"

"Um…"

"Chocolate chip!"

"Peanut butter is obviously superior."

"I'm uh, allergic." Cullen gave me an apologetic smile.

"Gluten?"

He nodded, stiff, "Yup."

God, he was such a bad liar. I guessed that he really didn't want anything in return, though I could respect that. Even so, I wasn't going to back down.

I groaned, "That's a bummer, do you have anything you really like?"

Cullen softly smiled, "You don't have to give me anything, Bella."

I picked at the side of my lunch tray, "Yeah, but I want to." I made sure to make the most determined face, just so he couldn't refuse. And it worked.

"If you're allowed out at night, I'd like to take you somewhere..if you want."

My heart skipped maybe ten beats, I was sure my face was flushing red. Nervously, I stammer out, "On the weekends.. I am."

Cullen let out a sigh of relief, "This Saturday, 6? I'll take you to Port Angeles, it's not much but there's a record shop I go to a lot."

I nodded, "That sounds great. I'd love to go with you"

"OOOOH! EDWARD'S GOT A DATE!" Emmett cheered, Alice joining in in his whooping. Rosalie and Jasper shared a tired look but seemed to be happy too. Cullen nervously rubbed the back of his neck, but looked at me with a soft smile. Alice's eyes lit up and she tugged at my sleeves, "We can go dress shopping!"

"Dress shopping?"

She beamed, "For prom silly!"

'Oh no, prom.'

"Oh.. I was thinking about sitting that one out actually.."

Both Alice and Rosalie let out a tantalized gasp, the latter clutching her chest.

"No way! Then poor Eddie's gonna go alone." Emmett faked a sad face to emphasize his point, or maybe it was supposed to be a Cullen impression.

"It'll be fun I promise!" Alice pleaded. Rosalie stared at me straight in the eye and said, "I can and will make you a queen." Alice vigorously nodded, "Rosie's styling skills are out of this world, not that you need it of course." She gave me a teasing wink.

"If it's dress shopping, then I can come with you guys..?" I relented.

Alice cheered as Rosalie smiled fondly as the bubbly girl. "It'll be super fun, I swear!"

"Not this week." Cullen commented.

"Of course not." Rosalie smirked, "We can't take your first ever date away from you, can we?"

"First ever date?"

"The bell's going to ring in a bit, we should get ready." Cullen frantically cut in,

Alice giggled and whispered something into Rosalie's ears. Even Jasper seemed amused at their decision to gang up on the poor boy.

Wanting to get the attention off poor Cullen and me, I searched the table for a quick topic change. Noting how none of them had any lunch trays of death, "You guys don't eat lunch here?"

Jasper scoffed, "I'm not putting that crap anywhere near my mouth."

I nodded, "You're not wrong." I pushed my own tray away, deciding to make something after school to eat instead.

"Our mom's a great cook though." Alice added in, "That's why we don't eat at school."

"You should definitely come over and try what our mom made." Emmett waggled his eyebrows at both me and Cullen.

Cullen abruptly stood up, clattering my tray against the plastic table. He pulled his backpack over his shoulders, I noted the many pins that littered his bag; some seemed antique, others, handmade. My eyes caught the flash of an enamel apple pin, a cross-like dagger striking through its core.

"Bell's ringing in a second, we should get ready."

Nodding, I pulled my own bag over my shoulders just as the bell rang. The rest of the Cullens followed suit, each of their bags personalized and fitting in their respective aesthetics. Alice had a transparent backpack, decorated with attached kandi beads and neon button pins. Rosalie held an impossibly small gothic vinyl shoulder bag, lined with expensive-looking fabric. Emmett's bag was worn and lined with metal rings and dulled spikes. Jasper had a similar bag to mine, a messenger bag; it's faux leather material shined dully with the fluorescent lights.

The halls were cluttered with students making their way to their classes or just loitering around during their free period. They quickly parted and made a path for the domineering Cullens, either consciously or unconsciously. I passed by two girls who made direct eye contact with me. They glanced at Cullen's figure and then back to me, focusing primarily on my facial features. I felt my nerves prick at their scoff and giggles. As if sensing my emotions, Cullen moved closer to me, giving a heart-throbbing smile to sooth my nerves. Grateful and touched at his caring actions, I flashed my own back to him.

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"You got something to say, Bells?"

Charlie raised a brow, peering over his newspapers.

"Who? Me?"

He gave me a knowing look and I relented.

"You know Cullen- uh, Edward?"

"You asked about his family the other day, what's the matter? Did something happen? You didn't pick another fight did you?"

"Wha- no! I know how to pull my punches dad, you don't need to give me another lesson."

Charlie nodded sagely, "I have taught you well, now what's got you all worked up then?"

I lounged as casually as I could against the kitchen counter, "I might've been asked out… on a date?"

"A date?"

"This Saturday, 6. Cul- Edward's picking me up."

"Edward huh.." Charlie rubbed at his chin, "Nice kid, quiet… Don't stay out too late kiddo. Let me know when you're coming back."

I lazily saluted at him, eventually sauntering back into my bat-cave of a room, not before saying "good night" to Charlie of course. As soon as my foot passed through my black-painted door frames, I ran in straight to my bed, muffling an excited squeal into my pillow. Rolling around to ease the bubbling energy erupting from inside, I clutched a spare pillow in my arms, squeezing with all my might.

'Oh God what am I gonna wear?'

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"Bella!"

Alice ran over and bumped hips at me as I approached the school's parking lot, still empty as it was still early in the morning. In the not-far distance, I could see the rest of the family, Emmett waving his arms at me, narrowly missing Cullen's head. I smiled back, though not at the same ferocity as the pixie girl, "Morning Alice."

She tip-toed and leaned in, bringing her hand to cover her mouth as she whispered, "You can come over to our place tonight, me and Rosie will give you a make-over." I looked at her surprised, "How did you-?"

Instead of gracing me with an answer, Alice simply winked, her glittery star studded makeup reflected in the gray sunlight. She pulled me towards the rest of the Cullens, each of them greeting me a good morning. Cullen and I naturally fell in step next to each other as we made our way into the building, he gave me the softest of smiles. I think my heart might have stopped and dropped in the lot just at the warmth that filled his amber eyes. I quickly turned to face down at my feet as I heard a snorting giggle most likely coming from Emmet, acutely aware of the heat running down to my neck from my ears.

Our biology teacher was somehow in the classroom before us, it was like the man lived in the school. Edward and I settled in our seat, the windows sheened white, reflecting the gray lights shining through the heavy clouds.

"My dad gave me the 'ok' yesterday."

Cullen perked up, for someone who seemed so untouchable from day one, his emotions were so easy to read. I couldn't resist smiling.

"Really?"

"Yup, 6 on Saturday right?"

"Right." Cullen looked as if he couldn't be any more happier. From the front of the room, I could hear Banner scolding a student, not unusual. Cullen tensed, but before I could ask what was from, the boy made way towards me while calling my name.

"Hey Isabella!" He grinned, hands shoved into the center pockets of his gray hoodie. "I'm Mike, don't know if you know me."

I smiled back, albeit awkwardly, "Hi Mike, uh, I go by Bella."

"Aw shit, my bad Bella."

I shook my head, "It's ok."

Mike stood there for a few more seconds while I sort of stared back in an awkward silence.

'Does he want me to say something?'

"Uhh..Are you going to the dance Bella?"

"Dance?"

"The spring dance, it's girls choice."

"Uh, I'm not a dance person."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

He didn't move, I looked over to behind him. Banner was setting a pile of worksheets on the table. I turned my attention back to Mike, he seemed.. nervous?

"Do you want to go to the dance with me?" His voice cracked at the last word.

"Sorry I'm not sure if I'm going."

"Oh, well if you decide to go then.."

"Isn't it girl's choice?"

"Yeah, well.. I figured you would be too embarrassed to ask.."

I raised a brow, Cullen coughed. He was probably feeling just as awkward as I did, maybe even more from the second-hand embarrassment .

"Embarrassed." I managed out, this conversation was close to killing me and I wanted it to end before I dropped dead on the table.

Mike nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, since you look- well I mean, we're so different. Like socially."

"Socially."

"Like uh, you know..?" Mike flailed his hands aimlessly, I stared back with a deadpan glower, hoping that he would bugger off.

"No. I don't."

He obviously didn't get the hint in my tone and continued on trying to explain his thought process-which I was not interested in, at all -whilst digging himself an even deeper grave.

"You're like the new kid, and you dress,well uh. Kinda weird, but in a cute way I swear. And I'm more of the uh, you could say, popular guy around. But I think you're pretty hot, so don't be too afraid to approach me. I promise I don't bite."

He ended his spectacular speech with a wink and a disgusting play-growl that I would never get out of my head. I never wanted mind-bleach more in my life. Cullen shifted in his seat, I could see his jaw clamped tight together, either from trying not to laugh or gag.

"Not interested in you at all. Sorry." I attempted to give a smile, which came out more as a grimace a retail worker would give at a complaining customer.

"Not interested? How-" Just as he started on his rebuttal, the bell rang and I had never been so relieved in my life.

"Mr. Newton", Banner called from the front of the room, "Get to class now, you don't want Ms. Paris to be waiting, do you?"

Mike sighed and shot me a dirty look. "Talk to you later, Bella."

I heaved out a long, and loud sigh as Mike exited the room, slumping over the table. Cullen cautiously put his hand on my shoulder, his always cold hand seeping through my shirt, it felt so comforting.

"That was awkward."

"Tell me about it." I replied, my voice muffled by my sleeves. Turning my head to the side, I saw how the gray light seeping into the classroom seemed to make Cullen's skin glow. "Spring dance huh.."

He lowered his gaze, almost bashfully, "So you're not going at all?"

"Well… it depends really."

"On what?"

"If a certain someone is available."

Cullen face fell, I had to swallow down a smile. "If it's you, then I don't know a single soul in this world who would refuse."

I laughed, heart clenching even tighter and face most likely flushing red.

'What a sap…'

Testing my head against my crossed arms, my view of Cullen turned sideways, though he stilled looked like an angel from any angle.

"I'm not sure… this guy's wayyy out of my league."

Cullen scoffed, "No way."

"Yes way."

He focused his gaze on me, making direct eye contact. Were his eyes always this reddish shade of brown? Hard to tell, Cullen never really liked maybe eye contact I noticed, unless he was being serious about something.

"If anything Bella, the person out of anyone's league, is you. You're an amazingly kind person, not to mention how free-willed you are. I've only known you for a couple days, but who knows just how much more of a brilliant person you are. I swear to you, I've never seen anyone as beautiful and amazing in my life before."

I didn't know how to reply, well. How do you reply to such a heart-felt confession. Lucky for me, I didn't have to, the bell rang and we quickly shifted in our seats to face the front.

With the buzzing in my head and heart, I could barely hear Banner over the thundering of my heart beats.

I could only pray that Cullen couldn't hear it too.