AN: My first fanfic so be gentle if you can. Constructive criticism is appreciated and welcomed.
Don't, but wish I did, own twilight and all its great (and very hot) characters.
I was jolted awake by this awful screeching sound. As my hand slammed down on my alarm clock the noise went away. "Ten minutes, just ten minutes more" I grumbled. As per usual no such luck as the next thing I heard was heavy footsteps running up the stairs. "Eddie my boy, if you want that ride to school you better get your ass outta bed now!" which was accompanied with a loud banging at my door. "If you're not in the shower asap the shower will be coming to get you." I had learned the hard way that Emmett never threatened, he promised. Don't get me wrong Emmett was a great step-brother and I loved him to death. But not in the mornings.
Since my choices were a lift with Emmett or a very long walk I jumped out of bead and headed to the shower. Ever since Carlisle took away my car for yet another detention (of which I have lost count) I've had to bum rides with whoever is available and that usually is Emmett. He was the captain of the football team and this being his senior year the scouts were out in force. There was now practice before and after school. Hooray, sitting and doing nothing when I could be in my bed and fast asleep. Besides I didn't get the big deal with detention. I tried to explain to Carlisle that at least it wasn't a suspension or expulsion but he didn't buy it. Does it hurt to look on the bright side of the situation?
Fifteen minutes later I was showered, dressed and stuffing some toast into my mouth. Just in time to catch Emmett running to that monstrosity of a Jeep he drives. I hopped up into the passenger seat and off to school we went. Off to yet another boring day at Forks High where nothing and no one seems to change at all. Same girls throwing themselves at me, same teachers saying shit I already know and same bleachers where I have to seat and wait for practice to finish.
At dinner that night Emmet was going on about the upcoming game against the La Push team on Saturday. There has been a rivalry going on between the two schools for forever. Something about a group who encroached on the Quileute land, breaking a treaty and causing a whole bunch of general havoc. Even though this was at least a hundred years ago the grudge still remains. It was rumored that a couple of college scouts were going to be there and both teams were out to impress. Carlisle was eating it up as per usual, loving that his son was the all-American football player while his step-son just wasn't.
It wasn't till dinner was almost over that Carlisle said he wanted to talk to the family.
"A new colleague will be joining us at the hospital to take over the business operations. We're going to host a small gathering to welcome her and introduce her to some of the staff. As head of surgery it was decided that I host the party this Saturday."
Oh, hell, another group of forty plus-year old stuffy doctors comparing mid-life crisis cars and obscure medical procedures. Emmett and I usually had to play the dutiful sons and show how entertaining and perfect we could be. That was easy for him but me, I preferred to left out of all that. Last time I tried just hiding out in my room but Carlisle came up and had a shit fit. While I had zoned out Carlisle kept going
"We're incredibly lucky to get her on our staff. She was offered positions at several prestigious hospitals but chose ours. Mentioned enjoying a quiet place outside of the city and actually thinking the weather looked nice, hmmm."
As Carlisle droned on about this latest addition I sat there and tried to amuse myself by imagining how stuffy and boring she would look. Probably short, with thick glasses and some ugly dress. Throw in some yellowing teeth with frizzy hair and you had the old, and kinda crazy, librarian at school. The one they keep throwing retirement parties for but never left (AN; no joke I had one in high school). Finally Carlisle slowed down with the compliments and started telling Esme how the party should be planned. I finally went to make my getaway.
"I'm just going to head up and do some homework……" but Carlisle stopped me with a motion of his hand.
"Wait a moment Edward. This is going to be a very important gathering and I want to make sure you know to be on your best behavior. I will not be embarrassed in front of my guests and least of all our new colleague. There will be no repeat of the last party, am I clear?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll play nice with the others" was my snarky comment. With that last remark I made a mad dash for the stairs leading up to my room. Once there I cranked up the stereo to drown out the rest of the noise. Thank God Carlisle never came up here. Looking around I smiled at my room remembering the fight to keep it the way I wanted when Carlisle moved in. It had burgundy walls on three sides with the last wall being all glass with a sliding door for my balcony. Most of the wall space was taken up with shelves holding up my book and CD collection with a special section just for vinyl. My bed sat in the middle with a great gold-ish comforter and tons of pillows. Emmett always teased me for all of them, saying that it was girly to have that many pillows on a bed but I loved them.
I stepped onto the balcony with the cool night air around me. Digging around I found my pack of smokes and lit one up. The smoke burned my lungs and the nicotine hit my system, causing a relaxed sigh to escape my lips. What a day and it was only going to get worse till we got through this bullshit party. I was going to need a hell of a lot more smokes.
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The dreaded day was finally here. Esme was directing all of the various caterers and staff around the house and in the yard. Emmett and I were just staying out of the way because the minute we stepped foot downstairs we'd be arranging chairs and setting up more tables. Carlisle was busy getting in the way and critiquing all the work, telling people how to do a job he knew nothing about. Typical.
People were starting to arrive so Emmett and I headed downstairs to do our duty. About a half hour later and way too many, "Can I take your coat for you?" and "Isn't the weather nice?" and the absolute worst, "How's our next surgeon doing?" it looked we were finally done. Now all we had to do is make an appearance in the backyard and I could go hide while Emmett played the favored son.
Emmett headed back and I was just shutting the door when I heard the most beautiful, musical voice say,
"Is this the Cullen residence?"
I opened the door quickly and saw the perfect vision of loveliness. She had long flowing mahogany hair that hit her waist, her skin was pale and perfect and she curved where every woman should curve. The most fascinating feature was her eyes. They were a clear and perfect topaz, a color I had never seen before. On anyone else they would look strange but on her they were perfect.
"C-can I take your coat?"
"That would be wonderful, thank you." As she handed me the bulky item my hand briefly brushed hers and immediately it started to tingle, like an electric shock to my skin. She started for a second and quickly handed me her coat without further contact.
"Everyone is in the backyard. " Since I felt so disturbed by what happened I had to add, "You seem to be the last one here. I guess that would make you late."
"Well, since the other guests are waiting for me to arrive I would say they are early" was her quick reply. "You see I'm Isabella Swan, I just signed on to work for the hospital and this would be my welcoming party."
Oh, shit. I was officially screwed. And not in a good way.
