She was only acting her age. It was normal for seventeen-year-olds to flirt, party, and make stupid decisions. Why did Edward Fucking Cullen have to keep ruining her fun?
Bella Swan moves in with her dad after she finds living with her new stepfather too awkward for her taste. There she grabs the attention of the entire High school student body, including the elusive Edward Cullen. She though isn't interested, especially after his treatment on her first day of school.
Edward finds himself stalking the new human. He can't get her out of his mind and he's pretty sure she's his mate. If only she wasn't so wild and stubborn then claiming her would be easy.
XXX
Chapter I: Rude
I felt myself fighting off a killer headache after guzzling down a few of the first-class whisky bottles. I didn't think I'd feel shit from how tiny the drinks were, but lesson learned.
The man next to me chuckled, tapping on his laptop, "Told you."
Yup. He did warn me in the beginning that they were pretty strong, especially on an empty stomach, but my stupid ass decided to brush him off. Now I'm counting down the minutes till we land.
One of the flight attendants had asked me to go back to my coach seat, in the back of the plane, but the hot daddy salt and pepper, waved her away, "I already told the last attendant, that she's with me."
The short-haired, thinned-lipped woman placed her hands on her hips, "Sir. We have strict rules-"
"And I don't care." The man replies, continuing to type, "No one is sitting here and I'm paying for her drinks."
Her hazel eyes squinted, "Is she even old enough to drink?" God, can she shut up already? My head was pounding!
"If she wasn't old enough, how did she order the drinks?" He asks her rhetorically. Pfft he ordered the booze. I just indulged.
The lady looked like she wanted to keep arguing but another first-class passenger called her from the front.
Thank God for small miracles!
My seat buddy handed me a pair of sunglasses, "Here, they'll come in handy."
Weirdo. Who carried two pairs of sunglasses? Why was this attractive guy even wearing sunglasses on the plane? Unless..."Are you high?"
I pointed to his face, snickering, "I'm trying to help you out, girl." He shut his laptop, placing it in a carry-on bag.
He was so high. Why else would anyone wear sunglasses indoors? My friends back in Phoenix did the same shit when they were over the moon. Nonetheless, I thanked him for his generosity in taking the shades.
My ride from Phoenix to Seattle would've sucked ass if I had to stay in the coach seat the whole ride. I got stuck with sex-deprived parents and their infant triplets. As soon as the pilot gave me the okay to move, I moved.
I managed to sneak into first class and onto this relaxing seat next to a hot daddy stranger. He was chill. Got me drinks and didn't ask questions. My kinda friend.
Alas, our friendship couldn't sparrow anymore as our flight landed. Meh.
I was in the middle of trying to figure out which luggage was mine, without vomiting from watching the rotations, when I heard the familiar gruff voice of my dad.
"Isabella!" Ugh, too loud dad. That's what I wish I could've said, and perhaps I did. Although I couldn't tell with him squeezing the daylight out of me and muffling my voice with his regular plaid.
Dad was an alright dude. He was twenty-one and pretty sturdy from being in the police force. He also got some caterpillar thing going on above his lip.
"Dad, what is that?" I giggled pointing at the fuzz, "This isn't 1982."
He rolled his eyes, ignoring my comment, "Is this it?" He motioned to the backpack I carried on the plane.
"Not even close old man." His left eye twitched, possibly remembering the amount of clothes I had back in Arizona.
Twenty-some minutes later we had all six of my baggage with us and a trolley to push it all to the cruiser. Dad had to flash his police badge for the security team to allow us to leave with it outside the main building, but usually being a cop had its advantages.
He threw everything in the trunk and the back, slamming the door closed when he finally got the last luggage squeezed, "Dammit Isabella, next time don't bring an entire Seventeen store."
I rolled his window down, "You mean Forever Twenty-one?"
"Isn't that what I said?" Sometimes I think my dad is getting dementia. Nah it must be a dad thing.
"No, you said Seventeen, which is a magazine. Forever Twenty-one is a store." I tried pushing the passenger seat back, but it was stuck, "Dad your stupid car is broken!"
He faces palmed himself at a red light, "You're fat luggage is in the back, genius."
"Oh right." Maybe we're more alike than I thought.
He grumbled under his breath, handing me something small, thin, and silver, "Here."
My hands shot up, "I don't want any trouble!"
"It's gum, Isabella!" He swears handing me the chewy substance, "Next time carry some if you planning on underage drinking."
Shit. I forgot, "Thank you, daddy!" I tell him sweetly.
The ride home was comfortable. Dad didn't ask and he wasn't the talkative type. He had the radio on low, allowing me to catch up on necessary Z's.
I woke up, slightly better, gum stale in my mouth, "Ewe, tell me I didn't swallow any bug." I spat the candy out the window, hoping it bounced off his cruiser.
I stretched in the car, pushing my arms as back as I could with the cramped seating. My feet I had to stretch by placing one on the dashboard at a time.
"Really?" Dad grumbles, "Teenagers."
"Hey! My feet are cute!" He ignores my comment. Instead, he parks the car on the driveway.
I got out of the car to properly stretch, staring at our modest eggshell-colored home. It was a two-bedroom, one-bathroom place, pretty average: living room, kitchen, and washing room on the ground floor, two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, and a small attic.
"Shit," I swore realizing I needed to go up the stairs, "This is going to take some cardio Dad!"
"You think?" He began taking all the luggage out, while I opened the front door.
Everything looked old, worn, and boring. My dad needed an update. This stuff looks like it belonged decades ago. I'm pretty sure half the stuff was from Gran was alive. The house was passed down to my father after she snoozed for eternity.
I walked back out just as I began hearing a roar, "OMG dad tell me we don't live near a zoo?!"
He pinches the spot between his eyebrows, "No Isabella. We have wild mountain lions, but they don't venture close," oh God, "but that's not the noise anyway."
A few seconds ticked before an old faded blue pickup parked next to the cruiser.
Some teenager hopped out, grinning cutely while getting an older dude in a wheelchair out.
"Yo Dad why is the cover of one of Mom's romance novels here?" I whispered jokingly.
He had long hair, just like mom's favorite books, pretty muscular, but not overly. His skin was a handsome dark tan color and his eyes were a unique almond shaped. It seems that in a few more years he might make it to a runway show for men.
The wheelchair guy also had long hair. He was tan like his possible son and shared the same brown eyes. He looked like if he could stand he'd be the tallest.
"Billy!" Dad went to hug the older man, "Jake you're just on time!" Lazy old man.
Poor Jake cocked his head confused, "Huh?"
"Help us with some luggage boy. This girl," He pointed back with his thumb, which I answered with a wave, "Brought her entire room."
Jake's eyes bugged at my XL six pieces of luggage, "I only brought the necessary."
"Damn girl," Billy chuckles, "I'd hate to take you camping."
I sniffed. I'd likely only take two, depending on how long we're in the woods.
Dad wheeled Billy closer, while Jake jogged over to my stuff, trying to carry it up to my room. He somehow knew where it was, "Sweetheart you remember Billy and Jake?"
I lowered my sunglasses, squinting at Billy, "Rachel and Rebecca's dad?" I vaguely remember playing house with identical twins when I was a kid along with a few other indigenous people.
"I'll take it!" Billy jokes, opening his arms for a hug. Which I gave. Hey, his son was helping with my heavy stuff, "Put your back into it, Jacob!"
Jake was spewing swear words as he came down a third time to carry another bag, "What's in here?!"
"Clothes?" Charlie tried answering.
"Women stuff," Billy answered his son.
"What they said." I'm so glad Phil paid for my ticket and luggage. I think he was just as glad to get rid of me as I was.
Phil was my stepdad. He and his mom recently married and let me tell you, having a new stepparent as a teenager gets awkward quickly. Sure, he travels for a living, but when he was there...
"I could use some help here!" Jacob insisted when he came down a fourth time.
"Fine." I said, "Some gentleman you are."
"I carried most of your stuff upstairs!" He cried out, "No drinks, snacks, or tv offered."
As soon as I got up to my room I huffed, "You'll get your reward Jakey." A memory flashed of a little boy covered in mud chasing me and the other girls around.
"So you remembered," He says tiredly, throwing himself on my new bed, "Bring it in then," he opens his arms waiting for a hug.
Dad arrived with my last bag, "Boy get your ass off the bed! I just made that!"
Jake groaned, rolling off the bed to the floor, "Ah this is still comfy. Wake me up when food is ready."
Something tells me we're going to be good friends again. The Blacks were old family friends. Billy and dad being besties since they were boys. Their friendship began when my great aunt, Molly Swan married a man from the reservation, great uncle Quil Ateara. Or is he just an uncle? Meh, he's pretty old so he's gotta be great.
We had pizza and watched some sports. Ending the night with a promise to visit, "You tell cousin Quil to be ready for a game of Monopoly." I cracked my fingers playfully.
Jake rolled his eyes, "You two are just the same. The idiot said the same thing before I came today."
I pouted, "Why didn't he come over with you guys?"
"He got detention again," Jake sighs like it's a normal occurrence, "Old Quil is coming back next week. He had to visit a convention for Native Americans in Oregon."
I nodded in understanding, "Is he still working?"
"Nah. He's just making sure the reservation people get their needs met." Great Uncle Quil happens to be one of the tribal council members, and so is Billy, but last I heard only one can take off at a time.
I hugged my childhood friend, "I'll see you. Drive safe!" I waved at the two as they drove out into the road.
"Hey isn't the reservation that way?" My mind was pretty foggy, but I thought-
"It is." Dad gruffs shaking his head, crossing his arms as Jake did a speedy U-turn to get back in the right direction, "One day I'm gonna take his license away."
The next day I woke up to heavy rain. Great.
My hair was already a haystack, the humidity was just going to make it worse. Sigh.
I spent over an hour in the bathroom trying to get ready for my first day. After I got my strays down using a whole lot of shea without making it look greasy I got dressed in a simple blue turtle neck, long-sleeve dress, black leggings, and some low-heel booties.
Dad raised his brow when he saw me finally arriving, "Seriously bells? A whole hour just to get ready?"
"Pff Dad if you think that's long you should see how long I take on hair wash day." That's an extra half hour just to wash and another half hour to style.
"Women." He mutters sipping his black coffee.
I grabbed some of his semi-burnt eggs, "Dad I think I'm gonna have to take over cooking duty if you manage to burn breakfast."
"You can cook?" He was skeptical considering mom sucked in the kitchen too, but hey a girl needed to learn to survive.
Soon it was time to leave, "Come on Isabella."
I sat in the cruiser, with my feet on the dashboard and seat backed up, "Now this is relaxing!"
"Would you put your feet down?" Dad snapped, trying to shove my feet away, "Did your mother allow you to"
"Yes." I cut him off grinning, "Who do you think taught me?"
"Women!"
I laughed, crossing my legs instead, "Speaking of women," I wiggled my brows, "Any caught your eye?"
My dad was pretty good-looking. He wasn't too old having gotten my mom pregnant at nineteen. At thirty-six he was still a catch!
"No." He blushes similar to how I flush whenever I get embarrassed or emotional.
"Dad we gotta put you online," I state mentally listing all the dating websites my mom went through before meeting Phil.
"Not happening." He glances at me from the corner of his eye, "You better not be online either young lady."
"Sure, sure."
"Bells..." His voice warned, finding my answer unamusing.
"Chill dad," I say, giving a scouts honor, "I'm not on any dating sites and I'm not planning on it till I'm like twenty-four."
He looked at me incredibly, "Why twenty-four?"
"Cause at twenty-two I'll be done with college and I need some time to find myself a place and a job before thinking of finding someone," I answered in a duh voice.
"What's wrong with young people these days?" He complains about the lack of sociality when it comes to dating. While at the same time demanding no dating. Whatever daddy-o.
He parked the car walking me to the office to get me situated, "Good luck Bells, call me if anything."
"With what?" I squinted, reminding him of my lack of a device.
"Oh right," He says as if remembering I didn't own a smartphone, "I'll work on it, Isabella."
He left shortly after leaving me to deal with the head secretary, Mrs. Cope. She was a plump, frizzy, grey-haired, elderly woman. She was nice. Unlike those Phoenix secretaries who always judged every teenager.
"There you are dear," She handed me my schedule and map of the school, highlighting the easiest routes to each class, "Just bring back this slip signed by each of your teachers and you'll be all set."
I walked out of the office, dreading my first class, trigonometry. I had taken geometry back in Phoenix and I needed trig in this school to go into calculus. Gah, I hate math.
"Isabella Swan?" An Asian guy stepped into my view, "I'm Eric. Eric Yorkie!" He looked like one of those small dogs with how eager he appeared, holding his hand out.
I shook his hand, "Hi?" Who was this dude?
Eric grinned happily, walking beside me, "I'm captain of the glee club and journalist crew here in Forks High. No news gets passed me," As if that explains why he was talking to me so openly.
Even though he was weirdly nice. He had style. His hair was thick, black, and slightly curly, bangs covered his forehead. His headphones were stationed by his neck ready to connect anywhere. He wore a blue raincoat, jeans, and some high-top Chuck Taylors.
Eric helped me find my math class. He also introduced me to Jessica Stanley, Captain of the math club. She was also a huge gossip. No wonder she and Eric are friends. They loved the juice.
Jess was okay. She talked a lot.
Eric met us outside of math to accompany Jess and me to our next class, English. There I met Angela Webber. She was awkward, tall, dark-haired, almost willow-like, but nice. Ang was the Captain of the physics club.
After English, Eric met me again after class, walking me with Ang this time to Advanced American History. Sadly this school had no college placement courses. Darn. I was hoping to graduate a year early from college, but alas I only managed to scratch one semester down.
Ang and I sat in front of the class. I met Lauren. She was a bitch. I was surprised she wasn't the captain of the cheerleading squad. She had better things to do than join anything.
The next class I had was Spanish III with Jessica again. We sat by one another, "Don't worry I'll tutor you." There was a glint in her eyes like she was ready to pounce and get the load down of my life.
Finally, it was time for lunch. The food looked just as crappy as at my previous school.
I grabbed a chicken strip salad, an apple, and water. Jessica and Eric dragged me over to their table where Angela sat along with Lauren. They also named some others: Mike, the typical blond playboy, Tyler, possibly a "Mama's boy" and a football player, there were a few others, but I couldn't recall their names.
Most of them asked me questions about Phoenix. They all wanted to know what it was like living outside of Forks, "There's more to do that's for sure."
Halfway through lunch, I noticed an odd group of students. They sat near the corner of the cafeteria, most tables pushed far away from their group. In normal circumstances, I'd say they were the rejects, but none of them looked the part.
There were five of them. Two girls and three boys.
The girls were really beautiful. One looked like a Victoria's Secret model with her beautiful straight blonde hair and flawless skin. The next girl was tiny compared to the blonde. She had short spiky hair and was staring at the blond boy.
The guys all seemed older than eighteen honestly. The blond guy was curly-haired and seemed like he was hating his every choice. That or he was holding in a big shit.
The next guy was a giant muscular bear. He looked ready to enter the world's strongest man competition. His hair was as dark as the pixie girl. He looked opposite to the other blond boy. He was the only one grinning.
There was one more boy. He seemed the youngest. The guy looked muscular, but nowhere near the bear, closer to the blond. He had a unique shade of brown hair, like the shade of a penny, copper?
"That's the Cullen family," Jessica began, glancing over to the pale, beautiful, students, "They moved here like three years back."
I nodded, chewing my unseasoned chicken, "Oh-yuck haven't these lunch ladies ever heard of salt or pepper?"
A loud bark of a laugh was heard from the Cullen group, almost as if the big guy heard my remark.
"I think my mom said that we get the same caterer as the senior living in town," Angela says, handing me a tiny salt packet.
"Poor old people." I said, shaking my head, dumping the salt on the chicken and taking another bite, "Nah salt can't save this chicken. Fuck now I'm gonna eat this shit."
Jessica and Angela stared at me in awe, shocked at my potty mouth, "Isabella!"
"What? It's not like I can throw it out. I already paid!" I forced the lettuce down my throat, "Never again."
Michael and Tyler snickered while Eric gave me a high five, "Girl, " he stretched the word out, "I like you!"
"Thanks, I think I might like myself too," I joked, turning back to the beautiful family, "So whose who Jess?"
Jessica went back to the regular self once gossip was involved, "Okay, okay so listen here Isabella: the dark-haired ones are technically the Cullen siblings, all adopted, and the blondes are the Hale twins, fostered."
"Wow, the family must be loaded to take in that many kids." I said incredibly, "Parents must be saints to have patience for five teenagers!"
"Well, I guess," Jess said, possibly never thinking like I did, "anyway the big guy is Emmett, the small girl is Alice, and the brown-haired guy is Edward, those are the Cullens,"
"Next, we have Rosalie and Jasper Hale. I think they're related to Mrs. Cullen." She watched my reaction as if I was going to judge.
"Nice," I don't know what else to say honestly. The information was quickly boring my impulsive mind.
Jessica gawked before smirking as if revealing juicer information, "They're also all dating one another."
"What the fuck?!" I may have blurted it out a little louder than I intended. I quickly looked away from the prying eyes in the cafeteria.
Angela coughed embarrassed for me too, trying to clear up Jessica's gossip, "She means Rosalie Hale and Emmett Cullen along with Jasper Hale and Alice Cullen."
"Oh shit. Okay," I sipped some of my bottled water, "For a second there I thought they were all living some incest orgy skit."
Eric laughs loudly beside me, "OMG if that was true then could I join?"
I cracked up with Eric, "Someone's thirsty."
Jessica and Lauren stared at us as if we lost our minds. Mike, Tyler, and Angela didn't seem to care much, while the others were talking about who knows what.
For the rest of lunch Eric and I talked about our hidden love. Anime. Ahh, there's just something about Japanese, Korean, and Chinese comics that makes it a billion times better than regular comics.
"Eric you so gotta come over to my place and see my mini library! I've got so many manga, manhwa, and manhua that you'll be stocked for months!" I'm sure Dad wouldn't care if I brought Eric over.
"I'm planning on it, Isabella! I'm also gonna bring some webtoons tomorrow to start getting you hooked!" He's been praising the photo like comics for the past ten minutes, promising they're worth the investment.
The bell rang signaling the next round of classes. This time it was Angela and Mike with me for Biology.
"I can't believe you're into that stuff Isabella," Mike says, placing his hands behind his head, "Comics are just so boring. I'd rather wait for the action movie to come out."
"That's probably what you think cause you never picked up a comic from the opposite side of the world, you should try it," I told Mike, who shrugged uninterested.
Angela decided to put her two cents in, "There's a Barnes and Noble over in Silverdale we can probably find a decent selection."
"Ugh not you too Ang," Mike seemed disgusted.
Just as we arrived at class I said, "I bet we can change your mind." I winked at Ang who looked confused.
"Maybe you can Swan," Mike flirted, believing the wink was for him, "Oh damn."
His smile instantly dropped to a scowl, "What's wrong?" I asked, turning around to see most seats filled.
"We have assigned seats. Sadly, you're with Cullen." He looks crestfallen while Angela smiles apologetically.
Edward Cullen was already seated in the back of the class. He stared out the window, possibly trying to ignore the buzzing in the class. I had my slip signed before being instructed to move into the back with Edward.
Something happened in the next few steps because the once bored expression turned to disgust. His nose wrinkled, and his hands covered his face like the foulest smell he ever smelled entered the room.
Once I sat down, the guy had the nerve to glare as if I was stinking up the room. I didn't reek!
I sat fuming as he silently made upchucking noises. He turned away from me, moving his seat as far as the desk allowed.
Mike looked back a few times, looking confused at Edwards's reaction, giving me silent glances speaking volumes of "Are you okay?"
He wasn't the only one who noticed. Everyone, but Mr. Banner noticed Edward's reaction. Talk about embarrassing! What was wrong with this kid?
Right before the bell rang, Edward stood up, rushing out of the room in a hurry. Rude!
Mike and Angela came over after he left, "Who stuck Cullen with a pen?"
Stupid Fucking Cullen.
"Ugh, he's a jerk." I said, biting my cheek from saying anything worse about my lab partner, "Anyone got gym next?"
My final class was gym, worse than math. I sucked at catching, kicking, and pretty much anything physical.
Luckily, I didn't need to participate today.
The day was soon over, and I headed to the main office to deliver my slip. The universe must be enjoying toying with me today cause Fucking Cullen was in the room trying to change his schedule till I shut the door.
"Never mind." He turns away from Mrs. Cope, glaring my way before heading out.
Rude!