The images in the window blurred past me as the plane finally skidded to a halt

Hi! This is my very first story so please bare with me and please excuse any mistakes I may have made.

I want to say a big thank you to my wonderful editors Sneha & Loren :D So please review and let me know what you think!

Chapter 1 – A New Beginning

The images in the window blurred past me as the plane finally skidded to a halt. This was it – England. My biggest move yet. Ever since my parents died five years ago, I had been constantly juggled between care homes, distant relatives and orphanages. My longest settlement had been with my Great Aunt Elise in California. Elise was a frail old woman and she was in no fit state to take care of me, in fact, most of the time I was the one taking care of her. It was a quiet three years and her home was quite secluded so I never really got the chance to make real friends. But Elise was better than nothing; she grew to become quite fond of me and I loved her. We kept each other company and she enjoyed teaching me old family stories and educating me in her own way. However, fate was never on my side and tragedy struck again. Now she was gone too so the next thing I knew I was being flown off to England, to live with my mother's eldest brother Carlisle, his wife Esme and their two children Alice and Emmett. I didn't really know much about them, I'd never met them before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I knew that Carlisle was a doctor and that Alice and Emmett were around my age but that was about it.

As soon as we had been told that we were allowed to leave the plane, I made my way into the terminal. No one had thought of telling me what Carlisle looked like so I wondered aimlessly through the bustling crowds, hopefully making my way towards the luggage conveyer belts. As I approached it, I saw a tall, shockingly handsome blonde man, wearing business clothing, standing next to a slightly taller, older-looking man in a suit, who appeared as if he was holding my suitcase. The blonde man, who looked more amazing than any celebrity I'd ever seen, began making his way towards me. I hesitated for a moment before I took a step forward. He gave me a movie-star smile and outstretched his hand.

"Why, you must be Isabella. I'm your uncle Carlisle." He spoke in a deep, alluring British accent. I took out my hand and nervously shook his.

"Nice to meet you sir, and actually it's Bella."

"Oh, you can just call me Carlisle. How was your trip here, Bella?"

"It was very good, thank you. I am a little tired though…" I yawned involuntarily.

"Of course, we'd better be heading back anyway, it's an hour drive back from Heathrow and I want to miss the rush hour." Carlisle said, glancing at his watch. "Oh, and this, by the way," he said, gesturing to the man who was holding my suitcase, "…is our butler, Dennis." That explained the suit.

"Good to meet you miss," he smiled at me and nodded his head a little.

"Nice to meet you too, Dennis." I smiled back at him.

"Right then, we'd better make a move then. Dennis…" Dennis nodded.

"Ah, yes sir, I shall go and get the car." Dennis smiled and bowed a little before each of us again and then walked off towards the exit.

"This way Bella…" Carlisle gestured towards the way Dennis had just gone off in and we made our way out of the airport. "You know, Bella, we were all very pleased when we found out that you were coming to stay with us. Alice especially, she would absolutely love having a sister around." He smiled and I blushed a little. "I don't suppose you've heard much about us?" I shook my head timidly and he chuckled. "Well, it must certainly be a little unnerving for you, new country, new people; it's a big step from California, that's for sure."

"There's a few more cars around here. Compared to the parts where I come from anyway…" I noticed, glancing around the hundreds of vehicles that had filled the parking lot and those leaving the airport. Suddenly, a sleek black Mercedes with dark tinted windows pulled up against us.

"Speaking of cars…"Carlisle mumbled to himself. "After you, Bella." I crept into the back timorously while Carlisle sat in the front next to Dennis and gestured for him to drive on.

I stared wide-eyed as the city of London flickered past my window. I couldn't see much out of the tinted screens but I could make out towering skyscrapers and jostling pavements. People of all different nationalities making their ways home as another day of work had come to an end. The drive was fairly quiet; Carlisle was probably just letting me adjust to the surroundings. I liked that though, the silence. It reminded me of back home in California with Elise. Elise was a quiet reserved person, which was probably why I got on with her so well. The silence was like a haven for me; time to think, to imagine, to dream of happy endings and other worlds. I wasn't a very people person myself so it was peaceful and calming.

After around half an hour on the motorway, Carlisle spoke again.

"So, what do you think Bella?"

"It's different, I'll give you that."

"Oh, you'll get used to it, well, if Alice allows you out of her sight for a moment or two." He chuckled. We turned off the motorway just then and began driving down some narrow country roads. There was a lot greener here and the houses were cute and cottage-like. The road stretched on for a few more miles until we finally came to a large set of silver gates, which to my surprise, opened automatically, onto a winding gravel driveway. And this led up to the most beautiful house I'd ever seen…

Carlisle led me into the glass porch while Dennis unloaded my suitcases from the car. He swiftly hit a large brass knocker three times and as the door opened, I was greeted by a beautiful woman with flowing, shoulder-length caramel hair. Her face lit up into a warm smile and she appeared to be in her late thirties, early forties at most. Carlisle spoke first. "Esme, this is Bella, Renée's daughter." Her smile grew wider.

"Bella, my dear, how lovely to meet you!" She brought me in and embraced me tenderly.

"I trust the flight was good?"

"Yes, it was thank you."

"You can just call be Esme by the way, aunt makes me feel a little old!" She chuckled. Her voice was soft and extremely pleasant. I could tell we were going to get along.

"Oh, here I am chatting away, do come on in dear and make yourself comfortable." She led me through a grand hallway and into an open off-white living room, where two large coffee-coloured sofas were surrounding an immense silver 52" plasma screen TV. Carlisle sat down in a cream armchair whilst I took one of the sofas, sitting next to Esme.

"I'm sure Carlisle has already told you but we really are delighted that you have come to stay with us and I really do hope you enjoy yourself here, and at the boarding school for that matter…"

"Boarding school?" No one had said anything about staying at a boarding school.

"Yes, St Bartholomew's, didn't Carlisle mention it to you?" She gave him a questioning look, but he simply shrugged.

"Well actually dear, I thought we'd let her get settled into the country first before I informed her of any of the school arrangements." Carlisle said, before picking up a newspaper that was lying on the coffee table and beginning to scan it.

"Oh of course, sorry dear, how thoughtless of me, you've only just got here. But I suppose as I've already told you, I might as well tell you the rest. Well, you see Bella, your uncle is a very busy man and he works at St. Thomas' in London which is quite a distance away. As for myself, I am an accountant and I am constantly travelling places so the most convenient option for ourselves and the children, we found, was sending them to a boarding school. It's not too far from here and it's a fairly modern kind of place. They give their students a lot of freedom so I'm sure you'll like it, Alice and Emmett certainly do, and you can come back and visit at weekends and holidays whenever you feel like it. The new school year is about to begin so you wouldn't have missed out on anything, which is actually the reason why Alice and Emmett aren't here. They were quite adamant on picking you up from the airport but their dormitories have recently changed and they wanted to settle in before the term starts. Knowing Alice she probably just wanted to decorate it all!" Esme rolled her eyes and chuckled, then smiled at me encouragingly.

I hadn't ever been to a boarding school before but from what Esme had just described it as, it didn't seem to be too bad; at least this would give me a chance to make some proper friends. Carlisle then looked up from his newspaper.

"Oh, and while we're on the subject, I thought it might be nice if you could begin to settle into your dormitory as well and of course begin to acquaint yourself with some of your fellow students, so would it be okay with you if I dropped you off tomorrow at Bart's? Obviously I want to allow you a day of rest here to get over the jet lag but Bart's is the place that you really need to get used to, seeing as it is the place where you will be spending most of your time. That's why I thought it would be more prudent for you to get settled in there as soon as possible."

"Sure, that's fine," I said as I let out another involuntary yawn. Jet lag.

"Right then dear, by the looks of things you must be extremely tired. I think you should maybe have a rest." Esme helped me up and a young, brown-haired woman, wearing a black apron, scuttled in.

"Georgia, would you please take Bella to the guest room. I think she needs a rest." Georgia looked over, smiled at me and gestured for me to follow her.

"This way, miss." From what I had gathered, Georgia was most probably some kind of maid of the house, which was hardly surprising considering the owners' occupations. She led me up a spiralling oak staircase and down a long corridor. At the far end, she opened a door and led me into a fairly big, light blue room, with a cream dado rail lining its perimeter. It was occupied by a large, double, wooden bed, dressed with blue silk sheets at one side, with a French-style cream dresser and dressing table at the other end. On the south facing wall were a set of bay windows leading out onto a petite balcony. Once Georgia had left the room, I changed into some more comfortable clothes and then lay down on the bed, staring at the crystal chandelier that hung directly above the centre of the bed. Within moments of my eyes closing, I had drifted to sleep.

So there you go, Chapter 1. Now hit that review button and please tell me what you think :D