Chapter 2: Welcome to Masen

The town of Masen, Oklahoma was a small town with barely three hundred people. There was only one General Store, which held everything from ammunition, to baby blankets, to canned foods. It was ran by the Newton family-a older couple, with a son around my age. As Charlie introduced them to me, I could feel their gazes shift from curiosity to shock. Apparently, though almost no one knew about me, it was very clear by their pregnant glances that they all had heard of my mother.

Charlie didn't so much as parade me around town as he took me to meet a few very specific people. For that I was glad. Besides, I soon found out that by introducing yourself to two members of Masen, you were actually introducing yourself to two-hundred members. By the time we had exited the post office (located directly next to the general store) people were stepping up in the road to greet me by name, and to shake my hand.

It was all very overwhelming.

Just after lunch-which we had enjoyed at widow Cope's home, per her request-Charlie took me into the office to meet his deputy. I was immediately relieved to find that no criminals were locked away at the moment.

Charlie noticed my glance at the jail cells. "Its been quiet week," he informed me. "Normally we have one or two men in here for their overindulgence of whiskey."

"Oh."

At one of the two desks near the door sat a man only a few years older than myself. He was very large and rippled with strength-the width of his arm equaling three of mine. His large and beefy legs were propped on the table in from of him, as the rest of his body was reclined backward in his chair. I could only see his chin, because the rest of his face was covered by a heavy hat. A snore erupted from his bear-like chest.

I almost laughed-my first in months-as Charlie rolled his eyes. He stepped forward and kicked on of the legs of the chair, causing it to fall backward with a loud thump and a curse. My cheeks flooded color at the profanity.

The large man leapt up to his feet, gun drawn. He swung it around wildly, his eyes wide with alarm. I gasped as it pointed in my direction.

"Cullen!" Charlie barked out.

The man blinked slowly once, and then twice. He looked at Charlie before seeming to gain purchase of his surroundings.

"Shit, Sheriff," he groaned, his eyes drooping with exhaustion.

"Emmett," Charlie's voice was practically a growl. He nodded her head in my direction. "This is my daughter, Bella. And watch your mouth 'round a lady, boy. That's an offense."

Emmett grinned at me, tucking his gun away neatly. He stepped forward, offering his hand. When he shook mine, my entire arm jiggled with the movement. "Mighty nice to meet ya, Miss Swan." His smile was wide and contagious-it reached it eyes and was tinted with dimples. "You'll have ta excuse my language, Ma'am. The only women I'm around these days are my wife, my Ma, and my sister. The first two are used to it-the third cusses worse' an me." His chuckles vibrated through the station. He nudged Charlie teasingly with his shoulder. "Sheriff here been talkin' about you comin' for almost a full month."

I saw Charlie blush as he rolled his eyes again and changed the direction. "Any calls in today, Cullen?" His tone was brusque.

"Not yet-"

With perfect timing, the door to the station swung open. A woman burst in and I gasped at the sight of her.

Her dress was short, going all the way up to her knees. On her legs, instead of simple cream stocking, were black webbed tights that I had never seen before. Her dress was covered in lace and the color itself was outlandishly bright-a green that almost made me want to cover my eyes at the sight of her. Even her shoes seemed provocative, high heeled and silk covered. Her blonde-red hair was curled and piled high on her head, just above her heavily painted face. She even had a feather sticking out of the top of her hair band

I could-underneath all of this-see that she was very pretty. But I couldn't take my eyes off her outfit.

Emmett shot straight up at the sight of her, taking a few steps backward. I saw Charlie glance at me-my mouth most likely gaping wide- before blushing brightly himself.

This woman walked with a purpose, her hips swaying in such a way that I would never be brave enough to do.

"Sheriff," she said, her voice surprisingly deep and serious. "I think you should be headin' down to the saloon-mighty nasty brawl going down."

"Right." Charlie's words were a sigh. "I'll be back," he announced to the room.

The woman looked at me then and she smiled.

She walked up to me and I swallowed. "Hi there, sweetie," she told me, touching her finger to my nose. "You must be the Sheriff's daughter. I've heard an awful lot about ya, honey. I'm Tanya."

She stuck her hand out to shake mine.

I didn't know what to make of a woman like this. On one hand, they way she was dressed would make it forbidden to talk to her back home, and her appearance obviously caused a reaction among Charlie. But she was acting very polite and nice, and despite her dress, she had done nothing wrong.

I stood there for a moment, unsure of my actions.

Emmett had relaxed at this point and went up to us, smiling politely at Tanya. "You'll have to excuse Miss Swan, Tanya. She ain't yet used to our ways out here. Your probably giving her a bit of a scare."

Tanya turned back to me then, her face apologetic. "Oh, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya sweetie."

"No.' my voice was shaky. "I'm fine-really. It's lovely to meet you, Ma'am."

"You too," she smiled at me. I could see then, that behind all of the make up, Tanya almost had a motherly appeal. She appeared to be several years older than I. "You look just like your Pa, you know that? He's a good man, your father."

She turned to Emmett. "How's your wife, Sugar? She doin' alright?"

Emmett laugh and half groaned. "Sick day and night," he informed her with a look stuck between misery and pride. "I'm thinking it's a boy."

"Tell he 'hi' for me," she told him, heading out of the office. "Nice to meet, ya, Miss Swan." she called as she exited.

I let out a breath as the door shut behind her. "You'll have to get used to Tanya," Emmett told me, gesturing towards a seat.

"Is she a…" I let the word go unsaid.

"A woman of ill repute?" he finished. I blushed and gave a small nod, avoiding his eyes. "Yes, Miss, but its different out here than the east. Tanya's a good lady. She's just got a job that's a little different than ours. My wife used to work with her, you know."

"Oh" I said quickly. "I didn't mean to-"

He held his hand up to silence me. "I know you didn't, Miss Swan. I'm just sayin' that things are little different out here."

I smiled wryly at him. "I'm beginning to see that, Sir."

We shared a gentle laugh.

A few minutes later Charlie burst back in the door. His clothes were ruffled and ripped in a few places and his mood seemed to have taken a turn for the worst.

"I'm too old for this," he muttered, dropping down tiredly into his chair.

I took a long minute to steel my nerve before approaching Charlie. "Father," I asked, running my hands nervously down my dress, "I know you have to…to work, but would it be alright if picked up some things on my own? For the house, I mean? I've got some money and-"

"No, that' fine," Charlie seemed eager that I wanted to do something. "But you don't need to spend any money you have. If its for the house, you can go ahead and put in on a tab from me. No one should bother you about it, and if they do have 'em come see me."

I nodded my understanding. We agreed to meet back here in an hour, and I said a quite good-bye with Emmett before heading out.

The streets were filled with people who all seemed to have a place to go. I looked around-gaining my bearings-before heading off. I entered to General Store again, with a overly polite greeting from Mrs. Newton.

"Miss Swan!" She gushed. "How nice to see you in here again! What are you looking for?"

"Oh, I just need some things for dinner tonight…"

"Of course, of course." She pulled me by the arm and led my to the store counter. "I'm sure we can get you everything you need." She turned away from me, yelling towards the back of the store. "Michael!" a pause. "MICHAEL!"

The curtains which led to the back were pulled apart as the blonde haired male I saw earlier came into view. "What, Ma?" he groaned, his eyes settling on me after a moment.

"Please assist the lovely Miss Swan with whatever she might need."

"No, really-"

"Sure, Ma." Michael turn to grin at me. "What's first, Miss Swan?"

"Oh, I-" I turned to tell Mrs. Newton that really, I was fine on my own, only to see her gone. "I guess." I swallowed, ignoring the nerves fluttering within me. Hadn't I dealt eith enough new people already today?. "I guess I need flour and eggs?"

His grin was just a little too bright for my liking. "Right this way, Miss Swan."

We worked through the entire list in about half an hour-which I though was just a bit longer than necessary, especially considering how uncomfortable I was. It seemed that as we began Michael was very polite and behaved fine. But by the end, however, I couldn't help but notice how close he stood to me, and that his hand swept across mine a time or two. Was this just another aspect of Western society I wasn't familiar with? Did people get too close and too polite normally? Was I over reacting again?

"Where would you like this?" Michael asked me, holding all of my bags as I finished putting them on Charlie's tab. His body seemed to shake with the effort of holding them all, and I wondered why he did let me take some, or at least make two trips. There was no point in hurting himself.

"Our wagon?" I guessed out loud. "You don't think anyone will take them, do you?"

"I doubt many would risk the Sheriff's fury, Miss Isabella."

I jumped slightly at the sound of my name that way. Though it certainly wasn't improper, no one else-not even Tanya, with all her "sweeties" and "sugars" had used my first name. How did he even know it? I had certainly never told him.

I sighed, thinking about how much information had spread around town by this point.

"Miss Isabella," he addressed me again. I felt my face scrunch at the sound of my new informal title. I didn't like the way my name sounded, rolling of his lips. Like it was too practiced-like he took too much pleasure in saying it. "My shift ended in just a few more moments, and I would be most delighted to show you around town." His smiled took up his entire face, but not in the charming, natural way Emmett's had. Michael's smile took effort.

"Oh," my mind scrambled, trying to think of an excuse to go alone. "Well, I-"

"Michael!" the name was screamed at a alarmingly high pitched voice, the sound almost nasal.

We both pivoted to see a girl of our age all but sprinting towards us, holding the hand of her companion. Though both girls had dark hair and pale skin, there was a world of difference between them.

The first girl-the one who had called out Michael's name in an absurdly familiar fashion-wore an expression of joy and excitement. Her dress-though modest-was brightly colored and her hair was a little too loose for most settings. She all but ran to us, and I could see her exaggerated bosom bouncing with each step.

The girl she was dragging behind her, however, did not wear a look of joy, but rather of exasperation and humiliation. She was several inches taller than the other girl, and her dress was far simpler.

"Why, Mr. Michael Newton," the first girl's voice is practically a purr as she greets the young man beside me. "Where have you been hidin' all week, sir?" I think she wants to sound teasing and playful, but all I can hear in her voice is her nasal accent. If she had had a fan in her hand, I imagined she would have fluttered it in time with her painted eyelashes.

"Miss Jessie," Michael gives her a low bow, and I can feel his eyes flicker between us. He casts a uninterested glance to the friend of the nasal-toned girl. "Miss Weber."

"Mr. Newton." her response shows there is no affection lost between them.

Michael waves his hand in front of, showing me off as if I were his prize pony. "May I introduce you to Miss Isabella Swan. She's new in town and just accepted my offer to show her 'round ." My lip twitches at his blatant lie. For the first time in quite a while I feel outrageously annoyed.

I've been irritated before, of course, but with my mother or with my step father. This is the first time someone my own age-a peer-has bothered me so. I'm not used to being able to do anything about irritants. In my world, the only words young Lady's got to use were "Yes, Ma'am" or "No, Ma'am."

But this is a new world-a wild world. Why not let myself get a little wild too? If only to get rid of Newton.

"Actually, Miss Jessie, Miss Weber, I agreed to no such thing." I muster up the best glare I can manage-it feels odd on my face, because I've never made the expression before. "And I do not appreciate you putting words in my mouth, Mr. Newton." I turn back to the other girls. The first look at me with contempt, the second has a shadow of a smile gracing her features. "It was a pleasure to meet you both, but I really must be going." I give a quick and small curtsy before walking quickly down the road.

I walk with a lightness within me that I've never felt before. In Connecticut, I would not have dreamed of speaking rudely to anyone, let alone a young man. My mother wouldn't have heard it.

How will you ever marry, Isabella, if you continue to behave so boorishly?

But now I realized that one good thing, perhaps just one, about moving here was that I needn't be Isabella ever again. I could redefine myself-become who I wanted to be. Maybe I could be good enough for some man, good enough for my father, good enough for somebody.

A little over fifteen minutes later I exited the small and somewhat lacking bookstore with a new copy of The Republic. It was one of my favorites, and I had been forced to abandon my last copy at home-back east.

I was walking across the street to my father's office when heard a loud rip, and looked down to see a tear in the hem of my dress. I stopped, setting my book carefully down in a mud-free patch of dirt so I could examine it. The dress was one of my better ones, and reasonably new, and I loathed having to buy more. Luckily the tear was small, and I had been meaning to do some sewing soon.

"Ma'am! Ma'am!"

Suddenly I was flying backwards through the air, a hard weight pushing against me. Unconsciously I griped the solid force that flung me, hoping to somehow brace the oncoming fall. I clinched my eyes and mouth tightly shut, preparing to feel the ground stick my back.

A loud uhf echoed from below me as my head thumped against the dirt bottom.

A pain reared through my skull. I gave a small moan at the feeling of pain that shocked the back of my head. My hands instinctively tightened around whatever I may have been holding.

I kept my eyes closed to help with the pain, but could clearly hear mutterings and gasps from a crowd surrounding me. I sighed, thinking of the unfortunate gossip that was sure to increase. Each whisper or mumble around me cause a small hammer to beat inside my skull. I felt dizzy with it.

A smoothness swept across my jaw line, moving up to cup my blushing cheek. My head was tugged upwards. "Miss? Miss? Are you quite alright? Should the physician be called?"

My eyes fluttered open then. I squinted against the uncomfortable brightness of impaling sunlight. Finally my eyes having adjusted, I was met with a shocking, blazing emerald gaze staring back at me.

The face smiled at me-a wide, crooked smile. "Miss? A pleasure to met you. I'm Edward Masen."

I moved my arms to grip my head. It did nothing to alleviate the pain.

The word came out of my throat with a groggy slur. "You are quite handsome, Mr. Masen. Although you must watch where you're going. I think you've hurt my head."

My skull dropped back and suddenly the world faded out. The voices, thankfully, disappeared into the darkness.