We don't down Twilight!

BPOV

I attempted to turn and walk away from him, hoping he didn't actually want to talk to me.

But as I spun on my heel, I heard his perfect voice call, "Hey!"

"What do you want?" I practically growled at him.

"As a member of the host nation, I wanted to welcome you to London and hope you enjoy the Olympics." The words sounded like he forced them out of his lips, like they were a mere formality and he was obligated to say them.

"Oh, I'm so glad you could take the time to so graciously and willingly greet me." Massive sarcasm.

The likes of him couldn't be bothered with anyone he didn't deem worthy of gracing his perfect presence. Everything about him was perfect – his body, his hair, his face, his voice. Absolutely everything. And he knew it. And flaunted it.

I actually couldn't even believe he showed up for the opening ceremony. The swimming events began right away. I would have thought that such a poster boy would be too focused on winning to bother coming tonight. Just like he couldn't even be bothered to come to the Beijing Olympics.

I had legitimately broken my leg, preventing me from swimming. In Cullen's case, however, reports suddenly came in right before the Olympics stating that he had grown ill and was not healthy enough to compete. I thought that was total bullshit. He was probably too worried about his precious lungs to expose them to China's polluted air.

And if his stuck up countenance wasn't enough to make me hate him, he was dating the snobbish Tanya Wickham. Where Cullen was the poster boy of the British team, Tanya was the female face of the team. With her supermodel looks that rivaled even Rosalie and her long, curling strawberry-blonde hair, she was the top female celebrity in the entire nation. And of course she was also a swimmer, so I had to spend time near her in the pool. Luckily she rarely saw fit to lower herself enough to talk to the rest of us athletes.

The media had been pushing the two swimmers together. Tanya of course was all too eager to date Cullen. Edward – I forced myself to think his name – however, lowered my opinion of him even more by agreeing.

I couldn't believe anyone with an ounce of common sense would date someone like Tanya, but I suppose Tanya and Cullen did have similar snobbish tendencies.

For once Tanya wasn't latched onto Cullen's arm, looking for attention and photographs. I wondered where she was.

"What's your problem?" His unnaturally perfect accent cut through my thoughts.

Oh, so he thought he was so much better than me.

"What's my problem?" I practically yelled back. "Just because I don't instantly drop to the ground at your feet worshipping your greatness doesn't mean I'm a worthless bitch. Why don't you get back to your arm candy? Where is she, anyway?"

That felt very good to let out. I was usually too shy to speak out like that, but Cullen brought out the worst in me. I refocused on his face to hear his response, forcing myself not to rake my eyes over his too-perfect-for-his-own-good body. I wondered if, had he not been born so utterly perfect, he would have turned out to be less of a snob.

I doubted it. Looks were influential, but personality doesn't change.

I was once again pulled from my speculation by his answer.

"You know what? I don't care what you think of me." Ha! Like I believed that. "And Tanya is back at our hotel room sleeping."

Tanya ditched the opening ceremony but Cullen came? Interesting.

"Shouldn't you be with her? Preparing for your precious races and getting sleep?"

"Actually, I'd rather be at the ceremony, thank you very much."

Now that answer shocked me. What was he referring to? It didn't sound like him at all.

"BELLA!!" Saved by Alice yet again. She bounded up beside me with the rest of our friends slightly behind. That saved me the trouble of having to find them.

"Edward," she greeted Cullen. Alice was friendly to everyone, even the people that didn't deserve any respect.

True to form, he nodded briefly and turned on his heel, striding off with quick, powerful steps. I couldn't figure him out. For a second his words sounded almost human, but then a second later the stuck up poster boy had returned.

I stared at the space where he had stood for a few seconds, deliberating over ways to avoid meeting him for the rest of the Olympics. My odds were not very good, as there was only one pool for all the races. We were bound to be in the building at the same time.

Alice snapped her fingers in front of my face and I jumped. I must have been staring off into space again. Alice must be getting used to it by now, since I was constantly lost in thought.

Alice grabbed my hand, pulling me practically off my feet as we began walking again. We wandered amongst the athletes again, but my heart was no longer in it. After my confrontation with Cullen, I had lost a bit of faith in the Olympic spirit.

It had been about an hour since the end of the ceremony, and the crowd of athletes was drastically thinning. As much as Alice and Rose loved to party, even they had to admit that it was time to head back to the hotel.

We meandered out of the stadium and breathed in the air of London. It was drizzling slightly, of course. There was no escaping the rain in Britain. Luckily I would avoid it mostly from all the time I'd spend in the pool complex.

We decided to walk the short distance to our rooms from the stadium, even in the rain, so that we could enjoy the feel of London.

As we wandered through the streets, we discussed all of the things we wanted to do during our stay in the city. Alice and Rosalie of course began naming off places to shop. They could only list Covent Gardens and Picadilly Circus before I began to protest. But Alice knew how to get me as she explained that Covent Gardens sold all sorts of things and many different antiques as well.

They also wanted to go visit Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.

Jasper squeezed in his desire to go visit the British Museum and see the Rosetta Stone. It wasn't surprising with his love of history.

Same thing with Emmett. He of course wanted to make faces at the beefeaters and take pictures with them. He was just like a little kid sometimes, but we loved him for it.

I knew my friends would drag me around to most places in London, but my one stipulation was that we wander through Hyde Park. It was supposed to be absolutely gorgeous and huge. I could spend hours wandering through it and finding a nice area to curl up with a book. That would be my ideal heaven. All the typical tourist activities weren't especially important for me. I still wanted to see them all, but I wanted to take my time getting to them. But with such intense friends, my own timeline would be completely ignored.

Our discussion lasted us right up until we reached the front of the hotel where most of the U.S. athletes were staying. Alice and Jasper were rooming of course, and the same went for Rosalie and Emmett. Somehow I had managed to procure a room all to myself. I didn't have anyone else I'd want to room with, but I was unnaturally lucky for once.

We all hopped into an elevator and rode up to our rooms on the third floor. We had requested rooms near each other, and the hotel had complied.

I said goodnight to my friends, hugging Alice and Rose quickly with the excitement from earlier rising again.

I paused at my door, calling, "Try to calm down enough to get some sleep!"

Even I might have trouble getting to sleep tonight from all the emotions coursing through me at the moment. After a few failed attempts with the key, I finally stumbled into my room. It was still fairly neat; we hadn't been here long enough for my stuff to migrate far around the room.

I decided to take a nice long soak in the Jacuzzi bathtub in my room. I started the water and lowered my body into the warm water. My muscles relaxed instantly and I breathed a sigh of relief. The day was over, and I would soon be in control of my life again, once my races began.

While I was in such a peaceful mood, I decided to look back and reflect on my day. I still couldn't believe how quickly everything had changed. What had started as the perfect night with anticipation of friendly relations had quickly turned into a bitter confrontation.

I still couldn't believe how half-assed Edward Cullen's attempt at a cordial greeting was. He hadn't even tried to sound excited to be there. I wondered if he acted that way to everyone or just me.

Or maybe everyone else was too dazzled by his "absolute perfection" to pay attention to what came out of his mouth. Sure his appearance was even more gorgeous than Emmett or Jasper, who were both pretty damn good-looking, but his behavior and mannerisms made up for it.

I attempted to steer my mind off of the topic of Cullen. He didn't mean anything, anyway. He in no way affected the outcome of my Olympics. His girlfriend, however, was a different story. She would be racing against me.

But she was merely competition. Only this and nothing more. Just an obstacle to beat in the pool. Defeating her would probably shut her up very effectively.

Ah, the races. As much fun as all the showy events were, I couldn't wait to put the athletics in the spotlight. I wanted to show the world what I, Isabella Marie Swan, could do.

With that thought, I finished my soak and got out of the tub. I dried myself off and walked out into the room, wrapped in a towel, to grab some pajamas.

I threw those on and tossed the towel over the edge of the tub. After brushing my teeth, I crawled into bed.

Beginning my nighttime routine which was guaranteed to ease my mind and bring me sleep, I grabbed a book and started reading.

After a few chapters, I had successfully lost my mind in the world of Pride and Prejudice. I turned on some soft, soothing classical music and imagined myself as Elizabeth Bennett, dancing to the music with Mr. Darcy.

I felt myself slowly drifting off to sleep.

Right before I became lost in unconsciousness, however, a sudden image invaded my mind. I was too far gone to protest this image, no matter how startling it was.

In that final instant, the image of Mr. Darcy in my fantasies transformed into the face of Edward Cullen.