12

Isabella Swan stole my heart when I was fourteen years old. I was sitting on my bike outside the Thriftway, waiting for Emmett, when she walked past me. I'd never taken much notice of girls up to that point, but the moment she looked back over her shoulder and smiled at me, it was like a switch being flicked on.

If I was scared to approach her, I needn't have been. When she left the store and saw me there, still waiting for my brother, she sauntered over.

"Hey."

This was totally foreign to me. I wasn't one of those guys that ever really hung out with girls. Especially not pretty ones like her. I opened my mouth to reply, but all I could manage was a cracked, "Hi." She giggled, a lovely, bright sound.

"I'm Izzy."

"Edward."

She tilted her head and smiled, lighting up her rich, brown eyes. It was the first time ever I actually noticed what color someone else's eyes were.

"What are you doing?" She stuck her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, and crossed one leg in front of the other.

"I'm waiting for my brother, he's taking forever." I craned my neck slightly in the direction of the door. If he saw me talking to a girl I'd never hear the end of it.

"He's not around this tall…" She held her hand up in the air. "Brown, curly hair, killer dimples and likes hitting on the cashiers? Only I think you could be waiting a while."

I curse and roll my eyes. He did this on a regular basis.

"I don't have anywhere else I have to be, if you want to hang out for a while?"

I wasn't used to her forthrightness or how completely relaxed she seemed. There was something about this girl that had me mystified. I thought I knew all the girls in town around my own age; Forks wasn't big enough for strangers, and yet I know I'd have remembered if I'd met her before.

At that moment I'm pretty sure I'd have followed her anywhere, if only to find out more about her.

I stood up and made room for her behind me.

"Sure, have a seat." I tried to sound as though this was a common occurrence; that maybe I was always riding around with a girl on the back of my bike. She grinned, swung her leg over the saddle and grabbed onto my shoulders. A thrill ran through me as the warmth of her hands reached my skin through my t-shirt as I pushed away, fighting to keep the bike upright, and feeling my confidence grow as I succeeded.

It was the first time I'd done anything like that; acted so impulsively. By the time I got home hours later, having completely lost track of time, I'd missed dinner. My mom was calling the police station as I walked in through the kitchen door. She didn't know whether to yell at me or hug me, so she did both.

It wasn't the last time my relationship with Izzy Swan made my mom cry.

~S~