After finishing off my food, I was playing with the cap of my water bottle when I saw them out of the corner of my eye. Sitting at a table in the far corner of the cafeteria. I turned my head and looked at them for a moment.

Emmet was the first one my eyes were drawn to, the tallest of the bunch for sure, muscled with the curliest dark hair, his gaze went to Rosalie on his right and I could see the faintest hint of a dimple in his soft smile. Rosalie was looking off into the distance, her blonde hair, long and beautiful with a slight wave to it.

Beside her sat Alice, the smallest of the Cullens, her spiky dark hair stylish but wild, her mouth was moving almost as fast as her hands were as she was talking, next to Alice was Jasper, his honey blond hair fell to his collarbones, he was sitting almost as straight as a statue, his eyes closed and his arms crossed, almost like he was sleeping.

Lastly, my eyes landed on Edward, his coppery bronze hair, not as perfectly styled or coiffed as in the movies, I could appreciate the way it was messed up almost artistically. Roaming my eyes over their group once more before settling back on observing Edward, I noticed the almost sickly pale pallor of their skin, and I could faintly see the dark shadows under their eyes, and if according to the books and movies, their eyes will be a dark brown or black today. All their other features however were straight, perfect and angular. Not a single blemish, or visible scar.

Getting Jessica's attention I asked, "Who are they?" She looked up and turned around, and in turn Edward looked up towards our table, his gaze was on Jessica for less than a second before they flickered to mine. He held my gaze for a second longer and then turned and looked away.

Jessica gasped a little and then started, "Those are the Cullens and the Hales. Emmett, Edward and Alice Cullen and Jasper and Rosalie Hale. Alice Cullens is the short one with the black hair, Edward Cullen is the one with the bronze-ish colored hair. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good enough for him. Jasper and Rosalie are twins, they're the blonde ones. And Emmett is the big one. Alice and Jasper are a thing and so is Rosalie and Emmett."

Turning to look at Jessica, I thought about how I wanted this interaction to go, I could follow the script of this predestined meeting or I could try to live it my way, making a split second decision I said, "Wow," I let out a low whistle, "They're definitely attractive."

I turned back to the table and looked at Jessica. She was practically bouncing in her seat, her curls flouncing around her face. Knowing that she wanted to gossip, I gave her my full attention. ''Okay, I'll bite. What's the story behind the Cullens?"

She gave me a giant smile, "Okay so, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen adopted Edward, Alice, and Emmett. The Hales - Jasper and Rosalie - they're Mrs. Cullens niece and nephew."

"That's nice of her, a lot of people can't handle that many kids like that," I said, watching her take a few breaths.

"Yeah, Dr. Cullen is like in his twenties or early thirties and I think Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids though," She said, jealousy clear in her voice after glancing over at them, and I gave her a sharp look.

"I don't think, whether or not Mrs. Cullen can naturally have kids is any of anyone's business. That's a really personal issue." I said, disappointment lacing my words

Jessica looked startled at me for calling her out for her behavior and sheepishly lowered her eyes, "I-I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. It just slipped out"

Suppressing the urge to roll my eyes I let out a sigh, "Look, Jessica, there's a lot of women out there that struggle with fertility issues and wish for nothing more than to be able to have a baby. The fact that they can't makes them feel like they're a failure. Some women even undergo numerous medical procedures just to try to get pregnant. Whether or not Mrs. Cullen can have kids doesn't mean that's why she adopted those kids."

Standing up, I grab my bag and start to take my lunch to the trash when the girl next to Jessica speaks up before I can leave the table, "Um, Bella? I'm Angela, we've got Bio II, with Mr. Banner together. I could walk you there."

"Thanks Angela!" I beam at her, "Maybe we can sit together too?"

"Mr. Banner has assigned seats in his class, I've already got a partner." She apologizes as we start to walk off, before we've even taken 2 steps Jessica calls out to us,

"B-Bella? Um, I wanted to apologize if I upset you with what I said. I like, totally wasn't thinking."

Giving her a gentle smile, "That's okay, Jess. You just gotta be careful with the stuff you say because you never know what anyone is going through. Plus, people's personal medical problems are just that. Personal."

She gives me a nod, "I'll do better! Promise!"

"I look forward to it Jess," Turning to Angela we start to walk out of the cafeteria and on to Mr. Banner's class.

Knowing that this is the moment that changes Bella's life forever makes me nervous. If it all goes according to the book, I'll make it out alive at least.

So that's chapter 9! Next is the anticipated biology scene.