Sunlight streamed through my window into my eyes. I saw the fire, and I sat up straight, my eyes narrowing against the blinding light. Sunlight did not usually filter through the clouds of rainy Forks, Washington, and I was surprised to look out the window beside me to find not one cloud in the sky, and the world was lit by yellow drops of gold.

I walked groggily out of my bedroom, stumbling down the long hallway, peeking into my parents' bedroom. My father, Carlisle slept soundly, a small whoosh of breath the only sound he made. I snickered before continuing on my journey. Was Esme in, reading or whatnot, or was she out and about like she was half the time on a Saturday?

I checked the house, finding the house quiet other than our ginger and white longhaired kitten, Margie, scratching at the fridge. Smiling to myself at her antics, I opened it, getting a little milk and a water bottle and dumping some of it in her water bowl. I swished it slightly to mix it as she wove around my legs, purring quietly. She began lapping at it after I set it down, and I put some left over cat food in the other bowl as well, just in case she was hungry too.

After feeding the kitten, I went outside with my homework and a book. My sunglasses placed firmly on my face, I also got a lawn chair so I could lounge in the sun instead of hide away under the porch. I felt around in my backpack for cigarettes, taking on out and lighting it. I stared into the trees, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the silence of the day. With Carlisle sleeping, and Esme out, I had the house and the day to myself. It would be a pleasant experience.

Being an only child was a hard ordeal, especially when you had been so close to having a sibling.

When I was only three, my mother became pregnant again. My father was excited, buying all sorts of baby things that could be used for both a girl and a boy. We never did find out. My mother was driving home from her friend Jolene's house when a car ran a red light. He crashed straight into Esme's car, on the passenger's side. She got pretty beat up; broke almost every bone in her body, since the other car pushed her straight into a telephone pole. She had a collapsed lung and a major concussion; it was a wonder my mother made it out alive.

That was a hard time for me and Carlisle. We played hooky - him from the hospital, me from school. We stayed at home playing board games in silence, watching TV in silence, reading in silence. Everything we did was in silence. We walked on egg shells, thinking if we did one wrong thing, Esme would die.

It's easy to say that baby did not make it out of that car crash. But my mother did. Though, even now, she has scars on her face, and half of it is partially disfigured. She's blind in one eye. She only has one lung and she has to take medications. And the worst to her is she can no longer bear babies.

I sighed, stumping out my cigarette. I couldn't even concentrate on it anyway. Coughing slightly, I took out my math homework and a pencil. I began laboring over equations and numbers, wishing we were allowed to use a calculator.

After two grueling hours, I stopped. Someone was coming up the drive. It was a quiet sound, so I doubted it was a car. A bike, maybe?

Most people wondered why we had a gravel driveway instead of pavement. We could definitely afford it. Two times over, and still have enough to have whatever we wanted. My mother's job as an interior designer - she was quite well known, and had a waiting list - and my father's job as a surgeon/doctor (I never have known) were both well-paying occupations, and both hoped that I would follow in one of their footsteps. I was still completely confused on what I wanted to do.

But we didn't want pavement. It smelled bad, and it ruined the effect - we wanted to stay completely green. Or…as green as we could be.

I pretended to go back to my math homework, waiting expectantly for whoever was coming up the long driveway to reach the clearing where our house sat.

A couple minutes passed before I heard the tires screech to a stop on our gravel driveway. I looked up, gazing into the peering eyes of Bella.

She laughed as I stared at her, astonished. Why was she here? Especially when I looked like shit? "Sorry…I probably should've called. But, um, my father wanted to pass along a message to Dr. Cullen, who I assume is your father?"

I nodded, still completely speechless. So that's why. Nothing to do about me. Perfect. "Uh, yeah…my dad's asleep right now. You know, working the night shift and all," I spat out, only stuttering once. "If you want, you can stay here 'til he gets up. He's like a bat - he doesn't sleep long."

She laughed, though I wasn't really kidding. Carlisle really didn't sleep long. At the most, he slept for six hours each day, then woke up. You just couldn't keep him down. I glanced at my watch, the one my Grandma Chewy had given me - it was way childish, but I was too lazy to get another one - and noticed it was ten o'clock. My father reached home at seven every morning, meaning he had slept for only three hours so far. I still had a good two hours left.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she jogged up to where I sat. I closed my Algebra book, my pencil lead cracking. Fuck. That was my last piece. I'd have to get more.

"Just math homework."

"Where's your mom?" She said it so simply, so curiously, I wondered if she really did care where my mother was.

"Probably off shopping for garden gnomes and other things to 'spice' up our house." I looked back at it. "I can't fathom what we could possibly need after all the crap she buys almost every week."

She laughed again, and I chuckled twice, before I marveled in how beautiful her laugh sounded.

Yep, definitely whipped. Fuck. It was hard to admit.

After her laughter died away, she choked out, "I can't believe you used the word spice and fathom. Oh my gosh, you are too much."

I stared at her. I couldn't help myself. I had to ask. "How are you and Paul?"

She smiled. "Good. He sent me flowers last night. It cost extra, to send them so late. He's so sweet, isn't he?"

"Yeah. Perfect." I swallowed my bile as I choked out the words. She didn't seem to notice the change in atmosphere. Perhaps she was just pretending. Or perhaps she just didn't care enough. Whichever, it left a weight in my stomach.

She was still with the creep. How? Why? Was that kiss not as great to her as it was to me? We could be so much.

But no. She chose that football scum. Worse than scum. Football…I couldn't think of a word to describe my distaste for Paul.

I needed a cigarette. I hoped she didn't mind, but the anxiety that I felt for her confession was too much. The smoke on unhealthiness from the tobacco and nicotine would be perfect to ease that anxiety.

I took out the thin, round stick and stuck it between my lips, lighting it with my lighter. Bella smiled at me, though she wrinkled her nose in distaste. Well, I guess we shared the same feelings about each other's lovers - her to my addiction, and me to her…boyfriend.

This couldn't go on much longer. The silence. I sucked in a drag, letting the smoke billow out of my nose. The smoke inhalation I received from the cigarette made me cough in a delightful way. I greedily sucked in another drag.

Coughing a little more, I smiled at her again, hiding my shock and betrayal. The kiss must have meant nothing to her. "Well that's great. Um…Do you want anything? Are you hungry?"

"Starved, actually, but I don't want to eat your food. I'm just here on an errand." She smiled at me, apologetically.

"Nonsense," I grinned at her. "We've got enough food to feed two families our size. Anyway, don't messengers need to have a full stomach to remember their messages?" I winked at her.

She chuckled and replied, "I suppose your right…" I got up, grabbing my school stuff. It would be just my luck to have it start pouring on such a beautiful day while my school books are outside. Getting drenched. That would be a wonderful time.

"Just move your bike into the garage. I'll get some eggs and bacon cooking." She nodded, grabbing her bike and beginning to wheel it toward the large garage. I stared after her for a second before continuing on my way.

As I walked in, I dropped my backpack on the floor, and put my math books on the table. Margie curled around my legs, purring, and I stretched down to pet her. But I was on a mission. I was sure Paul couldn't cook - he had been in my Home Economics class two years ago…bad memories - and maybe a good meal would win her over. A guy had to use everything he had, right?

As I took out the carton of eggs, I decided to make my father a meal as well. Couldn't hurt, could it?

I didn't hear her come up behind me, but all of a sudden, she was beside me, cracking eggs into a bowl. She automatically seemed to know to put six in, and she began whipping them for scrambled. How did she know they were my favorite? "So, what does your father need to tell my father?"

"Oh, I have no idea. Something about how my father needs to repay your father for something, I guess. Apparently, at the time, Charlie bought something from your dad, but he didn't have the money to repay him. Now that Charlie's on his way to 'fame' he has the money. He got his paycheck in last night. Half of it's going to Dr. Cullen and the other half is going to fund my mom has for me in the Southeast." I got a pan with edges out, trying to appear nonchalant. Then I carefully took a butter knife and let a slab drip onto the pan. It was getting strangely hot in here. I opened the window as Bella put the burner on.

"Oh. Well, that's cool, I guess." She shrugged, and I changed the conversation. "What do you want with it?"

Bella thought about it for a minute, and I stared at her face, cataloguing each minute detail in my head for further use. "I'm not sure. The only things I can think of that go well with eggs are sausage and bacon, and we can't make that."

I was stunned. "What?"

"Well, I know that you're a vegetarian, so I assumed that you wouldn't want pork."

"How did you know that?"

She cleared her throat, obviously uncomfortable with this turn in the conversation. "Well, Alice was dancing with Jasper last night, and your name might have come up…"

To say I was confused was an understatement. I was beyond confused. "Why?"

She shifted, biting her lip and looking at her feet. "Well, I might have mentioned our talk to Alice and Angela, and she might have mentioned it to Jasper, and Alice might have asked what you were like, and he might have told her all there was to know about you, and Alice might have told me what Jasper told her."

I stood there blankly, completely forgetting about the eggs. "Oh." That's all I could come up with. Inside, something broke though. Euphoria washed its way through me. Our talk had meant enough that she mentioned it to her friends.

And before my mind could catch up with my actions, she was pressed up against the counter, my lips pushed fervently to hers. There was no resistance. She wanted this just as much as me. Her fingers laced through my hair, tugging and pulling, and a inferno blasted its way through me, sending every nerve ending into flames.

I hoisted her up onto the counter, and her legs locked around my waist. She opened her lips to my persistent tongue, and the battle for dominance kicked me. I lost every thought about breakfast, about my father a floor above me, and the fact that she had a boyfriend. That fact was the easiest to forget. I couldn't have cared less.

My arms were like a vise, holding her tightly to me as we fought with our hormones.

A throat clearing close by made us stop, remembering everything I at least had forgotten. I turned, my cheeks flaming to an embarrassing red to find myself face to face with the one and only Dr. Carlisle Cullen. My father.

"So…is this the girlfriend I've heard nothing about?"