Chapter 2 - The Cullens

Today seemed like any other day. I woke up and opened the closet door. My father unlocks it before he leaves for work in the morning. That douche is actually the chief of police. Outside, he acts like he's the best dad in world. It frustrates me to no end and people definitely won't believe me if I told on him.

Sighing, I went into the shower and washed off all the dried blood. There were marks all over my body. I'm pretty sure that I had a few broken bones. Great, I guess I'll be wearing a hoodie again. It was the only way to cover all the marks. I limbed my way to the kitchen after getting dressed and found some stale bread which I swallowed hungrily. The only time I ate was when he was out and if there was some leftover food from the day before. I was never given money. When I tried to talk to him about getting a job, he slapped me. So that was out of the question.

In school, I didn't really have friends because I refused to talk to any of them. They would just hurt me like Charlie did and I knew it. Plus, they all thought I was emo. The teachers had asked me if there was something wrong but I just denied. Charlie had warned me about telling people about his rampage at home. To say I was afraid about what he might do to me was an understatement.

Finally I reached my school. I had hobbled the whole way here. I quickly got to class wanting to avoid the stares people gave me. When my classmates asked why I was always limping I simply told them I was clumsy.

Lessons were a blur. I didn't really pay much attention. The teachers never called on me anyway. Soon it was recess. When I walked through the cafeteria doors, everyone stopped talking and turned in my direction. "What the…Well this is new..", I thought. Then I turned around and my jaw literally dropped. They were gorgeous.

One of them was burly and was like a giant teddy bear when he smiled, showing his dimples.

The other one was short with jet black hair that was spiked in all directions. She was beautiful and wore designer clothes. She was more of a pixie.

The last one made my heart stop and then beat so fast I thought I was having a heart attack. His hair was in a casual disarray. It was copper-ish and it looked so soft I wanted to run my hand through it. His features were angular and his lips seemed to coax me to kiss him. I had to mentally stop myself from doing anything stupid. Eventually our eyes met and my breath caught in my throat. They were the most magnificent emerald I've ever seen. There were tiny specks of gold in them too. I almost drowned in those delicious pools, unable to look away.

Unfortunately or fortunately, I had to break eye contact with the greek god as the pixie skipped forward and gave me a hug. Ouch, I winced as she pressed against my sore wounds.

The pixie giggled and said, "Hi! I'm Alice Cullen and we're new here! I know we're going to be great friends!"

Her voice was like wind chimes. I nodded and murmured, "Bella".

The burly one guffawed. "You're going to scare the poor girl Alice."

"Oh and I'm Emmett and this is Edward" he said turning to me.

Edward.. huh. Weird name. "I can introduce myself Emmett thank you very much" he replied. His voice was velvet. It soothed me effortlessly. He offered to shake my hand but I flinched away and he instantly dropped his hand. Hey, you can't blame me for being scared. I've been abused since I was 6 years old. It's been 10 years . Nothing has changed.

Alice, as though she hadn't witnessed my discomfort, asked where I usually sat so I pointed to the empty table at the back of the cafeteria. She gave me a weird look but just bounded forward, pulling me along. We settled down and I noticed that the whole cafeteria was silent. They were all staring at us and had been watching our exchange all along. Emmett who noticed this too, said, "Man, all this people really need to mind their own damn business!" Everyone looked away in a flash and there was a hum of noise as they talked about the new piece of gossip.

I must've have been really out of it to not realize that we had new students. Beautiful ones at that. Alice talked about going shopping and some slumber party but I politely refused. No way in hell Charlie was going to let me out of the house. I tried not to look at Adonis a.k.a Edward at all because I'll be mortified if he caught me drooling. They would think I'm some creep. Whoa Bella! Since when did I bother about what people thought about me?

"I'm hungry. I'm going to grab something to eat. You guys want anything?" Emmett asked. Alice asked for a salad and Edward remained quiet.

"How about you Bella?" I felt myself blush and shook my head quickly. "Why not?" Alice blurted out.

"I'm not that hungry." I said and looked away hoping they would drop it and they did.

"Look, I don't think you should be associating with me if you want to have a social life in this school. I'm an outcast here." I mumbled.

Edward looked furious that I had said that. "We don't care. We like you and we couldn't care less about our social life." The other two nodded along fervently and gave me a genuine smile.

I was ecstatic but i knew this friendship wouldn't last. They might find out about my father and I couldn't let that happen.

I didn't have any other lessons with the Cullens that day so I was bored again but everyone was still buzzing about them.

During English, I heard Jessica whisper, "What do they see in that Swan girl anyway. She's just some emo freak!"

I'd be lying if I said that didn't hurt.

Once school ended, I rushed home as quickly as possible. Charlie hates it when dinner hasn't been cooked for him and that would mean another round in the closet. However, I was actually looking forward to school tomorrow. A smile graced my lips has I thought about seeing Edward and the other Cullens again.

When I arrived at my house, I was practically skipping, or at least trying to skip with a limp leg. I immediately stopped when i saw his cruiser parked outside. Charlie's probably pissed. Oh joy.

AN - Review?