When Bella left school, she went home and grabbed some cash from the jar in the kitchen cupboard to do some grocery shopping. Charlie didn't have any food in the house, and he couldn't cook to save his life, so she had requested to do the cooking for the remainder of her stay.

After doing her shopping from the Thriftway market, Bella returned home, unloaded the groceries, and got started on her homework. Her homework was a five page essay on women's rights, and three trigonometry worksheets. When she was finished, she got started on dinner making steak and baked potatoes. Bella went upstairs to her room to occupy herself with some television when her phone rang.

It was Renee, calling to ask about how Bella's first day went and to talk about Phil's job.

"So, baby, listen if spring training goes well me and Phil could be moving to Florida," Renee explained.

Bella heard an operator on the other end asking for a dollar and twenty-five cent for an additional three minutes.

"Mom, where is your phone?"

"Okay, I didn't lose my power cord, it ran away screaming. I literally repel technology now."

Bella just chuckled. "I miss you, Mom."

"Aw, baby, I miss you too," Renee cooed, "but tell me about your new school. What are the kids like? Are there any cute guys? Are they being nice to you?"

She wasn't going to tell her about Edward. Bella didn't want her mother to overreact and get over-protective.

"They're all very welcoming, I guess."

"Uh oh, tell me all about it."

"It doesn't even matter," Bella said annoyed.

"Yes it does, honey."

"Mom, I have to get dinner ready. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay, I love you," Renee said.

"I love you, too," Bella replied.

After talking with Renee, Bella went back downstairs to take the potatoes out of the oven, and put the steak into the broil. Charlie came home not long after that and they ate dinner, mostly without speaking. They only talked about how each other's day had been.

"Do you know the Cullens?" Bella asked suddenly.

"You mean Dr. Cullen's family? Yeah, why do you ask?"

"They don't seem to fit in that much. People talk about them a lot."

Bella was surprised to see her dad look upset.

"People in this town sometimes," Charlie muttered. "Dr. Cullen is a wonderful surgeon who can work anywhere he wants, and make twice as much. We're all lucky his wife wanted to live here. Never once have I had any trouble with his children, and they all stick together like a real family should, but because they're different, people have to judge them. It's not right."

That was the longest speech Bella had ever heard her dad make.

"They keep to themselves, but they seem like good people." Bella backpedaled.

Charlie nodded in agreement and whispered, "Yeah."

Bella decided not to press the issue any further. When they were finished with dinner, Charlie cleared the table while Bella washed the dishes. After they were done cleaning up, they both said goodnight to each other and Bella went upstairs to her room and fell asleep quickly.

The weekend was uneventful. Bella had gone over to Jessica's house with Angela to help Jessica pick out an outfit for June Richardson's birthday party. June was a girl from Bella's gym class. There was also a plan for a trip to La Push Beach that Mike was putting together.

Monday at school, Edward wasn't there. He wasn't there on Tuesday either. She planned on confronting him, demanding to know what his problem was, but every time she'd come to school she would only see his family there.

A part of Bella was relived, but another part was upset at the thought of Edward skipping school simply just to avoid her.

The weather had gotten colder when Bella went to school on Thursday. A layer of snow dusted on top of her truck, and had whitened the roads. All the rain from yesterday had frozen solid, making the driveway icy. When she made it outside, Bella saw that Charlie had put snow chains on her tires. She made a mental note to thank him later and made her way to school.

In English class, the class had a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights which was very easy. When the class had ended, Bella's fifth period biology class along with the second period biology class had all met outside near two buses in the parking lot to meet Mr. Banner and go on a field trip to the Natural Science Museum just outside town.

The wind had picked up, making it colder to Bella's dismay.

"Fuck this weather," Bella said, breathing on her hands while rubbing them together.

Mike Newton came up beside her.

"You don't like the snow?" he asked.

"No. This shit is terrible."

Mike burst out laughing, and then a ball of snow hit the back of his head. They both turned to see Eric with his back turned, playing dumb. As Mike bent down and scooped up two balls of snow, Bella went and sat on the second bus with Jessica and Angela. There was no way she was getting caught in a snowball fight.

Mr. Banner came outside a few seconds later to stop the snow fight, and went to Bella's bus to check attendance. Bella wasn't paying any attention until he called someone she didn't expect.

"Edward Cullen," Mr. Banner called.

Bella turned around quickly to see Edward sitting in the back of the bus by himself, looking more beautiful than ever with his hair saturated by snow. She had noticed something was different about him that she couldn't figure out.

"What are you looking at, Bella?" Jessica interrupted.

In that moment, Edward's eyes met Bella's, and she quickly turned away, face flushed with embarrassment. She had convinced herself the next time she saw him she was going to tell him off, but now here she was acting like a complete coward.

"Edward is staring at you," Angela whispered.

"Does he look pissed?"

She looked confused by Bella's question. "Not really. He just looks curious."

"This whole staring thing you and him keep doing is kind of creepy," Jessica said, chuckling a little.

Bella shoved her playfully. "Just don't look at him."

Jessica turned away and started talking to Angela.

For the rest of the bus ride, Bella sat in silence. She just nodded her head and agreed with whatever Jessica and Angela were saying since she was too busy thinking about Edward. After a while, the buses arrived in front of a white, three-story building. Once inside the building, Mr. Banner split the class into three groups.

Bella was put into Mr. Banner's group with Mike and Angela while the other two were led by two of the staff members. She prayed to whatever higher power that Edward was not in her group, but of course he was anyway since she must have some sort of bad luck.

Her group made their way to the botanical gallery where one of the museum workers was giving a tour. Bella walked over to one of the display glasses examining an artificial plant made like the red huckleberry. She heard someone come up next to her, but she kept her eyes on the display.

"Hello," said a low, soft voice.

She looked up, shocked that Edward was speaking to her. His face was absolutely beautiful along with the slight smile on his lips.

"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself last week. I'm Edward Cullen. You're Bella Swan?"

She was confused. Why was he being so polite all of a sudden? He didn't leave a very good impression from their first encounter, but his attitude had completely changed. She decided to go along with it and be nice even though she was still upset with his past behavior.

"Yes," Bella confirmed. "It's nice to meet you, Edward."

Bella turned her attention to another one of the display glasses, then spoke up.

"You seem to be in a better mood," she said.

Edward looked confused. "Excuse me?"

"You looked kind of angry with me last week, and you haven't been in school."

"Yeah, listen…about that." He rubbed the back of neck and frowned sheepishly. "I apologize. I was having some personal issues at home so I couldn't come to school, but my behavior was unacceptable. I was in a bad mood and I took it out on you. I'm sorry, Bella."

"It's okay. I accept your apology," she said, smiling slightly. While she still felt a little angry at him, she respected the fact that he was at least apologizing for his past behavior toward her. Maybe he wasn't a big jerk after all.

They were quiet for a few seconds before Edward spoke. "How are you enjoying the weather?"

Bella started at him and huffed out a laugh.

"Are you really asking me about the weather?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well, I don't really like the cold, or the rain for that matter."

"Why would you move to a place like this then?" he asked curiously.

Bella was surprised. No one had ever flat out asked her this, and she wondered why he cared.

"I don't think you'll be that interested."

"Try me," he pressed.

She stared at him for a moment before answering.

"My mother got remarried."

"Oh, when did that happen?"

"Last July. To a guy named Phil."

"You don't like him, or…" Edward trailed off.

"No, that's not it. I like Phil a lot, and he makes my mom happy, so that's all that really matters to me."

Edward stared, completely engrossed in Bella's story, and she couldn't understand why he was so fascinated with her life.

"If you don't mind my asking," he continued, "why didn't you stay with your mother and Phil?"

"Well, Phil travels a lot, and my mom stayed home with me and I knew it kind of made her unhappy, so I just decided to live with my dad."

"Wow," he said, and Bella looked at him confused. "That's a really great thing you did. I know my opinion probably won't matter, but I think that's really amazing how selfless you were."

"T-thank you," Bella said, half smiling like an idiot and flushing with embarrassment. Any hate she felt toward him was slowly going away in that moment.

"We should probably get going. The group is leaving."

She nodded in agreement.

They were making their way back to the group when Bella almost slipped backward, but Edward caught her by her waist.

Bella didn't realize how close they were until she turned to him, face inches away from his almost within kissing distance. She quickly removed herself from his grasp.

"I'm sorry…." Edward started, but Bella cut him off.

"N-no, it's fine, I'm so clumsy." She looked embarrassed, fumbling with the hem of her jacket.

It surprised Bella having Edward that close to her made her feel some affection toward him. She couldn't deny the physical attraction she had for him, but it was his eyes that caught her attention. She knew there was something different about him. The last time she saw him she remembered his eyes were pitch black, and now they were back to the brown color. Bella was mesmerized.

"Do you have contacts?" Bella blurted out.

He hesitated before answering. "No." Edward looked bothered by her question, so she left the topic alone.

Bella didn't understand how he could have had pitch black eyes, and then brown ones unless he was lying for some reason. It kind of freaked her out, so she truly hoped there was a logical explanation and she wasn't losing her mind.

"We should go," Edward said, going back to the group. Bella followed behind him, and both remained quiet for the rest of the tour.

Once the last tour was over, all three groups met back up at the main entrance, and once Mr. Banner was done with his roll call, they all made their way back to the buses. On the bus, both Jessica and Angela demanded all the details about what Edward and Bella talked about. Bella kept it short since she didn't want to brag.

She took a glance at Edward sitting at the back of the bus. He was still by himself, staring out the window. Edward was strange, and this was coming from Bella who barely had any friends back at her old school or even hung out with people, but there was something about Edward that intrigued her.

Bella decided she was going to ask Edward to go to June's birthday party with her. She had never asked a boy out, especially someone like Edward, and it made the butterflies in her stomach go full force.

It was the end of the school day when the buses returned. Bella waited outside the bus for Edward, feeling like she was ready to vomit. When Bella saw Edward get off the bus and make his way to his car, she followed behind him fighting to keep her legs from shaking.

Jessica called out to her, but Bella raised her right index finger and said, "One minute."

"Edward," Bella called. He turned to her, looking surprised. "Can we talk for a second?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Edward asked.

"Well, I was wondering if um…if m-maybe y-y-you…" Bella stumbled over her words feeling completely idiotic. She tried to speak again but no words came out. She hid her face in her hands, face flushing with embarrassment.

Edward crossed his arms and just looked at her, creasing his eyebrows in concentration, which made Bella feel even more nervous. She took a deep breath and decided to just get this over with to save herself anymore humiliation.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to a party with me?" She said it so fast she wondered if Edward had even heard her.

He looked at her for a second, and then flashed a crooked smile so beautiful it put Bella in a daze. She couldn't believe someone so gorgeous like Edward actually existed.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Edward asked.

Bella shook her head yes. "If you don't want to…"

"No, no, it's not that it's just no girl here has ever asked me out before so it's kind of surprising."

"Well, do you want to go with me?"

Before Edward could answer, they both saw his family standing by his car, staring at him and Bella with brooding eyes which made Edward tense up and look worried.

"I actually don't think that would be a good idea."

"Oh." Bella's voice was low and sad.

"I'm sorry, Bella. It has nothing to do with you. I swear."

"It's okay, Edward, I understand. I should get going."

"Bella."

"I'll see you later, okay?"

Edward called her name again but she just continued to walk to her truck, feeling dejected. How could she ever face to him again after this? She felt so stupid thinking Edward would ever go out on a date with her. She just wanted to get out of there and forget the whole thing ever happened.

When Bella reached her truck, she heard a loud scream. She turned to see Edward across the parking lot, eyes widening in terror as he screamed her name. Several other students held the same terrified expression.

What caught Bella's eye was a dark blue van sliding across the icy concrete right in her direction. There was no way Bella could move out of the way in time, but before she knew it, she felt something grab her waist and pull her down, making her hit her head on the door of her truck.

Someone cursed, and Bella recognized the voice belonged to Edward Cullen. He was kneeling in front of her protectively, and he threw out his left arm, slamming it into the side of the vans door making it come to a halt with the sound of a metal thud and shattering glass.

Bella stared at Edward in complete shock. He was completely unharmed without even a single hint of damage to his body.

It was quiet for a second, and then the entire parking lot erupted into chaos. Throughout all the screaming, Bella could only hear Edward more clearly in her ear.

"Bella, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" Edward asked, his voice frantic.

There was a throbbing pain in the back of Bella's head and she winced in pain as Edward helped her up to her feet.

"My head is pounding," she replied, holding the back of her head. "How did you get to me so fast?"

Edward looked worried and his voiced turned serious. "I was right next to you, Bella."

"No, you were by your car across the parking lot."

Just then, a crowd of people found them. Mr. Banner yelled for one of the bus drivers to help him get Tyler Crowley from out of the van. Bella heard the other staff members arrive, but her attention stayed on Edward. He wasn't going to get out of this one without giving her an explanation.

"This is not the time for this." His voice was annoyed now.

"Edward, I saw what you did."

"Bella, I promise you I will explain everything later, but right now I can't."

Bella looked at him for a second before answering. "Fine, but we will finish this."

Edward nodded in understanding.

Jessica and Angela made their way through the crowd and ran toward Bella with tears running down their faces. Jessica was asking Bella if she was alright and what had happened while Angela called the paramedics, but Bella was just as confused because it all happened so quickly.

The EMTs came minutes later with the stretcher's and got Tyler first, then Bella. Edward refused his, and decided to ride in the front where he told them Bella had hit her head and probably had a concussion. She felt so ridiculous when she had to put on a neck brace. Bella cursed under her breath when she saw her dad's police cruiser pull up. He ran toward Bella as soon as he saw her in the back of the ambulance.

"Are you alright?" Charlie asked, panicked.

"Dad, calm down. I'm okay." she replied.

Charlie turned to the EMT to get their opinion. Bella tuned them out and turned to see Edward's family staring with disapproving, angry looks. None of them bothered to check to see if he was okay, or even look the least bit concerned for his safety. Bella then turned to see a deep dent on the right side of the van, and dent in the rear bumper of her truck where the van had slammed into it.

The image of Edward stopping the van played over and over in Bella's mind and she still couldn't make sense of any of it. There was something not right about Edward, and Bella was going to get some answers one way or another.

At the hospital, they placed Bella in a long room with a line of beds. As the nurse was putting a pressure cuff on Bella's arm, another nurse brought a patient in. It was Tyler, who was in Bella's government class, and he looked ten times worse than she did with his bandages wrapped around his head and his left hand. He winced in pain as the nurse helped him onto his bed. It wasn't until Bella's nurse left that she decided to take her neck brace off, and Tyler immediately started apologizing.

"Bella, I'm so sorry!"

"I'm okay, Tyler. Are you okay? You look terrible."

"Don't worry about me! I could've killed you! I hit the ice wrong and lost control of the car." The nurse started undoing the bandages from his head and hand exposing his cuts.

"It wasn't your fault. Don't worry about it," Bella assured him, but his expression showed he was still upset with himself.

As the nurse was dabbing his cuts, he spoke up again. "How did you get out of the way so fast?"

"Edward moved me out of the way," Bella answered.

"Edward Cullen? I didn't see him anywhere. Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's okay. I don't know where he is though."

So she wasn't the only one who noticed. Bella knew she hadn't imagined what she saw.

After a few minutes, Bella was taken to get a CT scan of her head and then returned to her room. She was glad she didn't get a concussion and asked if she could leave, but the nurse said she had to talk to the doctor first. She sighed and decided to watch some television.

Tyler continued to apologize before Bella finally convinced him it wasn't his fault, and then their attention turned to people entering their room.

It was Charlie, a African American woman who Bella assumed was Tyler's mother, and the doctor. Seeing the doctor made Bella's mouth fall slightly open. He was absolutely beautiful and young looking like he belonged in Hollywood. The doctor had dark brown skin, medium length black wavy hair, and the same brown eyes like Edward. This had to be Edward's father.

"Hello, Miss Swan. I'm Doctor Cullen," he said in a softly spoken British accent. He walked over to the light board behind him and turned it on. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Bella replied.

Dr. Cullen walked back to Bella and pulled out his penlight, shining the light in both Bella's eyes.

"Now you may experience some post-traumatic stress, but according to your x-rays, you have no signs of any head trauma, so I'd say you will be just fine."

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. "Is she good to go home?"

"Yes, she's free to go. Come back to me if you start to feel dizzy, or start to have trouble with your eyesight."

Bella nodded her head in understanding, but before Dr. Cullen could walk off, she spoke up.

"It's a good thing Edward was there to pull me out of the way or it would have been a whole lot worse."

"You're boy?" Charlie asked Dr. Cullen, but the doctor ignored him, suddenly busy signing the papers on his clipboard. Bella was suspicious with how tense Dr. Cullen looked, but he just played it off.

"Yeah, he got to me so fast-he was nowhere near me."

"Well, it seems like you were very lucky then." Dr. Cullen smiled before walking over to Tyler and his mom. He was definitely in on what happened with Edward.

When Bella and Charlie walked into the hallway, they could see Edward and Rosalie around the corner. They were having an argument but their voices were low.

"Hey, Dad, I'm going to go talk to Edward really quick," Bella said.

"Alright, I'm just going to fill out some paper work," Charlie replied before walking off. Bella only walked toward them midway before coming to a stop and hearing part of their argument.

"I mean what the fuck were you thinking, Edward?" Rosalie said in a low angry voice.

"I couldn't just let her die." Edward's voice was calmer.

"You fucking might as well have, because this isn't just about you!"

Bella was completely taken back and hurt by Rosalie words. How could she say she was fine with Bella dying? Bella could never be that cruel to anyone, especially to someone she didn't know, and who never did anything to her.

"Edward," Bella said getting both of their attention. "Can I talk to you?"

Edward stood there more a minute like he was contemplating on whether or not he was going to speak to her, then turned backed to Rosalie and whispered something in her ear. Rosalie just rolled her eyes before storming off. Edward made his way toward Bella like he had an attitude and she prepared herself for whatever lie he was about to feed her.

"What?" he said annoyed.

"You need to start talking," Bella demanded.

"What are you talking about?"

He tried to play dumb, but Bella wasn't having it.

"Don't give me that. How did you get over to me so fast?"

"I told you I was standing right next to you, Bella."

"No, you were across the parking lot by your car."

He was looking worried, but he still tried to keep a calm demeanor. "Bella, I think you hit your head a little too hard."

Bella was pissed now. Edward was trying to gaslight her and she didn't like that.

"There is nothing wrong with my head."

"What the fuck do you want from me?" His voice was angry, and Bella was getting intimidated, but she wasn't backing down.

"I want to know why the hell you're lying to me."

Edward crossed his arms and glared at her.

"Okay, please tell me what you think happened?" he snapped.

Bella snapped right back letting her words come out in a rush. "I know that you weren't anywhere near me, and Tyler didn't see you either! I know that I was about to get crushed but you stopped the van and pushed it away with your hand like it was a damn toy, and there wasn't a single fucking scratch on you!" She stopped to catch her breath. She was so angry she wanted to punch Edward straight in his mouth.

Edward just stared at her like he was questioning her sanity, but Bella could see through his little act.

"You actually think that I physically stopped an incoming van from crushing us?"

"I don't think. I know."

Edward scoffed. "You're absolutely insane, you know that? No one is going to believe you."

"I wasn't going to tell anyone. I just wanted to know the truth if I'm going to be lying to everyone."

"Can't you just say thank you, and get the fuck over it?" he said angrily.

"How about you take that thank you, and shove it up your ass." She shot back.

He laughed without humor. "You're never going to let this go, are you?"

"Hell no," Bella replied quickly.

"Well, then I hope you really enjoy disappointment."

He turned his back and stormed off.

Bella was so furious she was shaking. It took her a minute to get herself together before she made her way to the waiting room. She couldn't believe she actually thought that Edward may be a good person and wanted to go out with him. He was a dick, and she would never talk to him ever again.

The waiting room was filled with some kids from school. After Bella had explained to Mike, Jessica, Angela, and Eric that she was fine and so was Tyler, apart from some minor injuries, she walked over to Charlie who was waiting by the exit.

"I'm ready to go, Dad." she said putting on her jacket.

"Um…Bells, I called your mother."

She look at him in disbelief.

"Dad, you didn't!"

"I know, I'm sorry, but your mother would have killed me if I didn't tell her."

Bella groaned. "Dad!"

"I'm sorry."

"Oh, god, she's probably having a heart attack right now." Bella pulled out her phone and began dialing Renee while making her way out the hospital with Charlie following behind her.

The car ride home with Charlie was completely silent. He tried to say sorry a couple of more times when they got home, but she was just not in the mood and went to her room. Bella was already pissed at Edward, and now she had to convince her mother that nothing like this would happen again.

Bella talked to Jessica and Angela on three-way on a few minutes, before deciding to go bed early. That night was the very first time she dreamed of Edward.