Disclaimer: If I were Stephanie Meyer the movie would most definitely not be PG-13. Not if I were directing Robert Pattinson. ;)
Chapter One
The city flashed through the windows as the aging tan four door zipped down Lake Shore Drive. My passenger side window faced out onto the lake, and I tore my eyes away from the looming sky scrapers to gaze out at the vast expanse of Lake Michigan.
"That's Navy Pier, Bella." Charlie pointed out my window at the bright concentric lights of a ferris wheel. He had been pointing out landmarks all the way back from O'Hare International Airport, making conversation.
I smiled at him before turning my gaze back from the concrete and steel behind him. My plane had gotten into Chicago only a few hours before. I hadn't yet had time to adjust to the harsh lines and the omnipresent grey. Phoenix called itself a sprawling metropolis, but it was nothing like this.
"There's shopping there." Charlie gestured out his window as we rounded an S-curve. The speedometer perfectly conformed to the sternly regulated 35 miles per hour. In case you couldn't tell I was his child on looks alone, our uncommon driving styles would be a dead give away.
We drove for a little while in silence, the tires smoothly moving along the asphalt without a hint of hesitation at the winter ice underneath. Streetlights cast beams of light as the car flickered in and out, revealing Charlie's concentrated face at evenly spaced intervals.
"How far is y…home?" I asked. He would like it better if I called it home, even if the word felt awkward and unwieldy in my mouth. Just like "Dad".
"Half an hour." His hands were at ten o'clock and two o'clock as he drove 45 and not a mile per hour faster. "Evanston is just outside the city."
"Cool." I settled back against the seat. My eyelids felt heavy as I gazed out at the water. It wasn't long before I nodded off against the cool glass.
Weak sunlight spilled through the closed window onto my bed, waking me up for good. Charlie had shaken me awake when we got home, but I had barely processed the two story house or the short flight of stairs that led to my room. Blinking red on the otherwise empty bookshelf across the room informed me it was 9:00. Time to get up.
The two days before I started school at the local public high school were a blurred, cold, grey montage of unpacking, rearranging and hoping I had packed warmer clothing than what I kept pulling out of my suitcase. Chicago in January was much colder than I had expected. Charlie was obviously trying to make me feel as at home as possible, pointing out the sheets he had bought me and the old truck filling the driveway next to his car. Otherwise, he really didn't say too much. It was okay though. I wasn't a big talker
My mother, Renee, was. When I called her the next morning all I had to contribute was the occasional "yes", "no" and "that's great!" as she asked a few brief questions before launching into a story about her new husband Phil at preseason. I missed her a little, but she deserved a chance to be with Phil. She sounded ecstatic on the phone.
There wasn't much else to do. Just as Charlie had said, Evanston was outside the city, a suburban utopia of matching houses, manicured front lawns and quiet streets. Snow was plowed off the streets but rarely shoveled off the sidewalks, and trudging through the snow to the corner was, as I soon found out, not worth the effort. Northwestern University, where Charlie was the head of campus security, wasn't far and neither was the beach. I didn't have much of an urge to venture into the snow to visit either. Instead I unpacked, rearranged and used the stove for what must have been the first time in a few years. Charlie showed the most excitement of the whole weekend when he found out I could cook. Just like conversation, neither of us really did emotions well I guess.
Monday morning dawned (wait for it) grey and cold. I pulled on a sweatshirt and jeans and grabbed my backpack on my way down the stairs. After making sure there were scrambled eggs and bacon waiting for Charlie, I grabbed two pieces of bacon before going out the door. He had offered to take me on the first day, but I didn't want to make him late.
Like everything about Chicago, Evanston Township High School was different. The red brick building could not have been more of a contrast to the low and sprawling Arizona high school where I had gone for freshman, sophomore and half of junior year. Its size was intimidating even without its student body present.
It took me three tries to find the student parking lot, and my clunky truck looked out of place among the Hondas and Priuses and occasional BMW. Rust flakes came off on my hand as I slammed the driver's side door. I tried to wipe it surreptitiously on my bulky winter coat before entering. I only succeeded in slipping on the ice in the parking lot.
Finding the office took longer than the parking lot had. Thankfully, I had left myself plenty of time. Finally, as students were beginning to clear out of the halls for first period, I found the sign pointing out the way to the office. A tired looking woman whose nameplate labeled her the "Administrative Assistant to the Registrar" handed me a schedule and an intimidating map of the school without getting off the phone.
By the time lunch came around I was exhausted. ETHS was much bigger than any of the schools I had gone to before. The hallways were more crowded too with everyone from a couple guys who passed in a cloud of sweet smelling smoke to a group of girls with identical tote bags and patterned scarves. As a junior in Arizona, I had been in classes with only other juniors; here there were seniors in my APs and the occasional freshman tossed into an elective.
Thankfully, I avoided the classic lunchroom dilemma of lacking a seat with the help of a girl in my fourth period Spanish class, Jessica Stanley. She kept a steady flow of dialogue without any help from me down the stairs to the cafeteria, through the lunch line and while guiding me to a partially filled table.
"Eric." Jessica pointed to him as she told me his name. "Lauren. Angela. Ben." He had an arm around the back of Angela's chair. "Mike. This is Bella. She's in Ramon's class with me."
"Hey Bella." Mike grinned and gestured to the empty chair next to him. "New here?"
I nodded, tucking strands of hair behind my ear. "From Phoenix."
"Arizona." His grin widened and he pulled back the chair. I sat. Jessica pouted slightly as she took the seat next to me, two down from Mike.
"Why aren't you tan?" Lauren was tanner than I was.
I shrugged, opening the plastic wrap on my turkey sandwich. "I don't really tan."
"Hey Mike." Jessica reached over me to put a hand on his arm. "You'll never believe what I heard…"
The conversation started up again, flowing around me as I picked at my turkey sandwich. They talked about people I didn't know and gossip I wasn't really interested in, so I didn't mind just listening. There was no reason to open my mouth, until they walked in.
There were five of them, the most beautiful people I had ever seen. Three boys, two girls, all with clear, pale skin, perfect hair and bodies straight out of the magazines Renee had read religiously in the months leading up to her wedding. It was impossible to tear my eyes away as I watched them cross the cafeteria floor with grace that didn't belong in this institutionalized, drab lunchroom.
"Notice the Cullens and the Masens?" Jessica's voice startled me out of my daze. She gave me an understanding smile and put a hand on my arm. "Don't worry, we all did at first."
"They're siblings?" It didn't seem likely, the way four of them were coupled off.
"Those three are adopted." Jessica pointed to the two stunning blonds, a boy and a girl, and the massive dark-haired boy with his hand firmly in the blonde's grip. "By a doctor at Northwestern and his wife. Rosalie and Emmet are dating." She said it in a hushed voice, that trailed off into a giggle. "Jasper is dating the little one, Alice. She and her brother are emancipated minors. They live by themselves." She giggled again. "And Edward is single."
I followed her line of sight to the one standing by himself, currently loading his tray with cheese fries and a cherry coke. His back was to us and I couldn't help staring again. Jessica was still talking in my ear but I was focused on the mysterious boy in the dark blue shirt.
Suddenly dark blue wasn't the color consuming my vision. Instead, my gaze met a pair of honey-colored eyes. There was nothing sweet about them. It was a penetrating, probing gaze and I shrank away from it, unable to break my gaze, unwilling to meet those eyes.
"Caught." Jessica was smirking next to me. Finally, at the sound of her voice, I tore my eyes away from Edward Masen's. "Don't worry. We all tried."
"And failed." Lauren's voice had a note of annoyance. "Apparently none of the girls here are good enough for him. But who cares about Edward. Have you seen Dr. Cullen? That's a serious DILF. Too bad he's never at any of Rosalie's parties."
"Rosalie throws incredible parties," Jessica said, jumping back into the conversation. "Every year, only upper classmen get invited, and this year that means us. But they're invitation only."
"She's in my Lit class." Lauren looked bored, inspecting her nails. "I'm obviously going."
"Invitations go out one week before the party." Jessica continued as if Lauren hadn't spoken. "It's a big deal. You're not supposed to talk about it so that only the people invited know where it is. Usually it's somewhere incredible." She sighed. "I heard last year it was on the 109th floor of the Sears Tower."
"The hottest club in the city I heard," Mike volunteered. "No idea how she got in." He slung an arm around the back of my chair. "I'm in Edward's AP Bio class. I'm obviously getting an invite. You could be my plus one. Since you're new."
"Um." I looked from him to the slightly put out Jessica.
"You don't get a plus one," Jessica corrected. "Invite only, remember?"
Mike's reply was cut off by the sound of the bell. I stood up with a sigh, taking my mostly uneaten food over to one of the many trash cans. Resisting the urge to look over my shoulder for Edward, I dug in my bag for my schedule. Time to find my next class.
I fell asleep over my Pre-Calculus book after a dinner of steak and potatoes with Charlie. When my alarm woke me up the next morning it jolted me out of the heaviest sleep I'd had in months.
I know I had dreamt too, but I couldn't remember. There was just one fragment that struck me as I was climbing into the cab of my truck that morning: an intense honey-colored stare.
Author's Note:
I know it's slightly short…they'll get longer as the story progresses. This is all set up so I know it's boring but bear with me! It's going to get much better very fast. Chapters will get longer too.
Review please! More reviews means faster updates!