Chapter 2
BPOV
"Hello, you must be Bella, I'm Edward Cullen." I hesitate for a second thinking to myself that there is no way that his face could ever match his voice. I look up to find myself staring into the most amazing pair of green eyes that I have ever seen. To say that his eyes were just green is like saying that the sun is just bright or that chocolate just tastes good. The green is like a sparkling emerald or maybe freshly cut grass in the summer. They were brilliant. I tear my eyes from his gaze and try to take in the rest of him. He has a jaw that is so perfect and angular that you would swear that it must have been sculpted by a master artist. The stubble on his chin was absolutely perfect, not too much not too little. How did he get that just right? Then his hair… I mean seriously I could have spent hours just trying isolate all of the colors of his hair. Immediately I noticed copper, with some bronze touches, and then in other areas some lighter patches almost blond and then I could swear that I see areas of almost a walnut color and then…I notice him run his hands through that hair. The style to say least screams I just got laid it was damn good. I take a second to make sure that I'm not drooling and force my mouth shut. "Hi" I stutter Brilliant Bella, how about some more stimulating conversation. Let's try to prove that you can utter more than one syllable at a time. I stand up slowly on my unsteady legs and I must have wobbled a little bit because all of a sudden I feel a pair of very strong hands grab me by the waist to keep me from falling. I blush again and pull my hair to make sure that it's covering my face. It was then that I heard a childlike giggle to my left and I instantly remembered that Tinkerbell was still sitting with me. Oh God, I wish that the floor would just open up and swallow me whole. Edward immediately came to my rescue "Thanks Alice for waiting with her, but I think that it's time that we start the lesson. I don't want her to be uncomfortable, so maybe now would be a good time to go find Jasper and spend some time with him." Alice jumps up and starts skipping out the door but stops instantly and does a little spin and says to me " Bye Bella, enjoy your lesson" it almost seems like she is implying something else though and then I heard Edward start coughing. "Enough Alice" As she is dancing out of the door, she said please make sure that you see me before you leave, I want to talk about us doing something together just us girls. Like I said, we are going to be the best of friends."
I stand in place for a moment unsure of what to say or do next. Then Edward spoke up and said "Please excuse Alice, apparently she forgot to take her Aderall today. We try to keep her caffeine to a minimum, but I swear she must have Red Bull by the cases stored in her room." I laugh nervously but I can tell that he is trying awfully hard to make me feel at ease. I notice that he has a stool sitting next to the piano bench and he asks me to take a seat there. He sat quietly at his piano bench for a moment, before he asks why I had decided to take music lessons now. I explain that truly this was Charlie's idea and that I was convinced that there was no way was I going to be able to do this. He sat thoughtfully for a moment and then stated "Truthfully, I'm used to younger students, so I may have to take a different approach with you." "Do you have any interest in music at all Bella?" I explained that I love music, that along with literature there was nothing that I loved more, but I know that loving music and performing music are two different matters all together. He seems thoughtful and I was sure that he was going to say that he wouldn't be able to do this and to go home, but to my surprise he got up from the bench and walked to the double doors shutting them firmly before turning around and coming back to the piano. He said that today he had decided that we will not actually be doing a lesson, but instead taking the time to talk and discover music that ignites the passion in me. "So Bella, tell me; what kind of music do you listen to?" " I am almost embarrassed by what I'm going to say, and I think that he can tell and laughs softly "There is no need to be embarrassed, all music has value, all music no matter what is beautiful in it's own way; so talk to me about it." " Well, I say, I will listen to anything, but truthfully, I'm kind of a rocker girl. And I mean by that I mean more classic rock. " I was raised on The Beatles, Aerosmith is probably my favorite band of all time" as soon as I said that he started playing Dream On, perfectly. "Keep talking" he said. I have lost focus for a moment, I was captivated by watching his hands. His fingers were long and slender, his touch firm. Wow, if I keep staring I know that he's going to kick me out and sue me for sexual harassment. I think that he knows what he's doing to me so gently he says "What else Bella? Think about memories certain songs have attached to them. Tell me the songs and what it feels like when you hear them" I start thinking about being a little girl and every time that I had a nightmare, mom would come in and sing me back to sleep with Blackbird by The Beatles, so I guess that would be a comforting song. He quickly switched songs to that one and I couldn't believe how easy he made it seem. "What else Bella?" " What was the song that was playing the first time that you were kissed?" I started mumbling then, and tried to answer under my breath that I had never been kissed. That was the first time that this perfect man missed a note. It kind of startled me for a moment but quickly he recovered and acted like it hadn't happened. I then started describing that when I felt rebellious, I liked to listen to Ozzy or maybe Billy Idol. He got a laugh at that. Then it all just started flooding out. I went on and on for what seemed forever about how when I felt overwhelmed and needed to relax that I put on Pink Floyd. He stared at me for a moment when I said that and said that he falls asleep almost every night to Dark Side of the Moon. It felt like I had been there for hours, but realized that it had barely been a half an hour. How was it possible that after just knowing him for such a short time, that he has made me feel so totally comfortable, speaking to him about things that I never have with anyone else? He stopped playing at that moment and turned to look at me, I didn't quite understand what he was doing as I had never seen anyone look at me like that before. He said that since I wasn't going to try to play anything today that he would give me another kind of homework assignment. "I want you to go home and throughout the week any time you feel any emotion, I want you to write down a song to go with it. Please name the emotion and tell me why the song applies to it." "Please let Charlie know, that since I did all of the playing today, that there will be no charge for today and that I will wait until our first real lesson next week to cash his check." He stood up and held his hand out for me to take in order to help me up. He then kissed me on the cheek and said " I truly hope that you will decide to continue the lessons." "I have to run an errand to run now, but let me help you find Alice . I know that she would be pissed if you left without seeing her, and we don't want an angry pixie now do we?" and then he winked at me. Once again at that I turn the color of a very ripe tomato and he laughs. A genuine laugh this time, if it weren't such a beautiful sound, I probably would have stormed off, but for some reason my feet were still glued to the same spot. He started to lead me out, with his hand resting gently on the small of my back. My body tries to read something into that so simple gesture but just as quickly my head shuts it up, stating that he is a gentleman that noticed earlier that you have trouble staying upright on flat surfaces and wants to make sure that you don't fall again; effectively avoiding a law suit. I quickly agree with my head, because I am so plain that there is no way that this exquisite man would ever notice me.
As soon as he opened the double doors to his music room, I saw her. Alice was there waiting for me and again with the bouncing. She has this huge smile on her face and I can't help but wonder what it's for. I notice at that moment Edward stopping to pick up his leather jacket and a set of keys. As he is stepping out of the door he turns around and says "until next week Isabella."
I almost forgot to breathe after that statement. Nobody ever calls me that and I never thought that I would want them to, but after hearing him, I'm thinking about never answering to Bella again.
I turn and smile at Alice, wondering what has made her so happy. She walks up to me and hugs me. I can't help but think that this has to be the most affectionate family I have ever met. She asks me to follow her up to her room, immediately she begins pulling clothes out of her closet and holding them up to me and either throwing them down claiming that they are all wrong or muttering to herself how perfect that color is and that he will "lose it" over that. I am frozen in place, mouth hanging open, thinking what the hell? Has she lost her mind? Apparently she doesn't notice or doesn't care one, because then she starts pulling out jewelry, shoes, and bags to match the outfits. Once she is satisfied with whatever it is she is doing, she starts tripping all over herself, to get to her very large vanity debating as to curly or straightened, and either smokey eye or red lips. Oh shit, I have now picked up on the fact that she wants to play Bella Barbie. "Uh, Alice" I stutter, "I'm not exactly that girl." You see me, hoodie, ripped jeans, Chucks, that's more me. "Silly Bella" she exclaimed, that may have been you today, but not any longer, at that she starts throwing clothes at me telling me to try them on. I am too terrified to argue, apparently there is no challenging her when she is on a mission. After about an hour of this torture I explain to her that I have to be on my way so that Charlie and I can have dinner. She reluctantly consents, but takes my cell phone and programs her number into it and quickly calls her phone so that she has my number too. As I am on my way out, she tells me that she will be at my house at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, because we have to go shopping. Something about my underwear won't do. I am really confused now, but I can't help but think that it will be really nice to have a close friend. As she hugs me goodbye, I hear Esme laughing somewhere in the house, wishing me luck and telling me to be careful on my way home.