Chapter 1:

"You don't have to go through with this," Renee, my mother, told me for the millionth time. Her and her new husband had just gotten married and they want to travel. I know that she said she would wait until I graduate and move out, but why would I hold them back? And plus, it would be nice to see Alice and Rosalie again.

My name is Bella Swan. I live in Phoenix at this minute, but in under 12 hours I will be living in Forks with my dad, Charlie. I visit him every summer for 2 weeks. The reason I even go anymore is because my best friends Alice Brandon and Rosalie Hale live there. I have known them since we were 5 and we have been best friends ever since. When my parents split and I would go to Charlie's regularly we would always be together. It has been nearly a year since I have seen them. I talk to them on the phone at least 5 times a week, but it is never the same without them around. It would also be nice to see Charlie more often. I know how lonely he gets. In a lot of ways I am like Charlie. I like to keep to myself, not talk every second of my life, and just be left alone.

Even if I am very close to my mother, it's always nice to see Charlie. My mom is very talk-a-tive and never gives you space to breathe sometimes. I am mostly the adult in the household and now I think I should let Phil experience her alone for a couple years. Of course I would miss her, but all-in-all it will be better for everyone.

"Yes, I do Mom," I answered and she rolled her eyes while grabbing some of my bags from the car with Phil.

"No, it is up to you if you want to stay we are fine with waiting a couple of years. It is no big deal," she said and I forced back rolling my eyes. Because as much as she said it wasn't a big deal, it was. And as many times she says I can stay a couple of years longer and is fine with waiting, she really isn't. I know how bad she wants to start her life with Phil and I don't want to be the one to hold her back. I took a deep breath in and sighed it out.

"Mom, I swear it will be a nice change for everyone," I said. I knew it was kind of a lie, but I have said it so many times to her and myself that it has become a truth. It was her turn to sigh as they checked in all of my baggage and I was next to go through security. "I will call you as soon as I land."

"Promise?" she asked and I gave her a hug and whispered in her ear, "Promise."

"Okay, I love you. Be safe and keep me updated all the time."

"I will. I love you, too. Keep her in line, Phil," I said and went over to give him a hug and he smiled.

"I will try my best," he said and I smiled and waved good bye to them as I headed on the plane. The fight went by quicker than I expected. After it landed I waited for a couple minutes and then took a deep breath and headed off. I spotted Charlie and went over and gave him an awkward hug. We smiled at eachother.

"Hey, Bells. How are you doing?" he asked.

"Good. And yourself?" I asked.

"Same as always," he said and I never really knew what that meant so I just nodded. He went over to grab all of my things and I called Renee. She was relieved and told me to call her once I was settled in. When I hung up and turned around and saw them. I almost screamed with excitment. "Alice? Rose? What are you doing here?" I asked with a smile on my face.

"You didn't think we would let you unpack alone, did you?" Rose asked and I smiled and gave them both hugs.

"Yeah, I am offended," Alice chirped and I laughed with them.

"Wait, it's Monday...Shouldn't you be in school?" I asked.

"Why would we be there-" Rose started and Alice finished.

"-if you were here?" Alice concluded.

"Slackers," I muttered and they laughed. We got everything loaded into the car and drove home.

"Just as I remember," I murmured lowly to Alice and Rose and they both laughed. Charlie helped all of us until everything was unloaded. Charlie left us alone as we unpacked everthing.

"I missed you guys soo much, you have no idea," I said and they nodded in agreement. "So...anything I should know?" I asked and Alice turned away quietly and I knew something was up. Rose looked at me signifying I was right.

"Alice...?" I asked and she looked up innocently.

"What?" she asked as if she was busy.

"Alice Brandon if you don't speak I will choke it out of you!" I said and she glared at me while Rose and I laughed.

"Rose...a little help?" she asked and I looked at them with curious eyes. Rose sighed and nodded.

"I set her up with my cousin," Rose said.

"Jared?" I asked shocked. I had always visited their close family when I came down during the summer. Jared always hung out at Rose's house.

"No," Alice said. "Why would I go out with him? Do you not know me at all?" she asked and I quieted down. Jared Hale was a bad kid. He was a player and did a lot of drugs. He has been in trouble with the law numerous times. "Then who?" I asked and Alice answered.

"Jasper," she said and I looked at her and grinned. I always knew that they would be perfect together. Rose and I have discussed it many times and Alice insists that he would never be interested.

"HA! Rose and I were right," I said and Rose laughed while Alice glared. Rose was a hard core Christian. It came from her parents. Her dad was a pastor. This extended into Jasper's family, but obviously didn't get to Jared's side. But this doesn't mean that Rose has a clean slate. She has done more things with boys than I have and has come closer to having sex with someone than Alice or me. She wasn't a slut, it was just that the whole sex before marriage thing didn't make as much sense to her. And that was why I was shocked that she could have hooked Alice up with Jared. She has very strong opinions when it comes to druggies. She is very protective of Alice and I and is almost like our mother. It gets us angry sometimes. But even if Rose only sees black and white without a shade of gray, Alice and I know that she is only looking out for us. Which was sweet, but a lot of time unnessary. We were old enough to know right from wrong, and a little trust from Rose to make our own decisions would be nice every once and awhile.

After helping me a ton with unpacking I decided to order pizza for dinner. Charlie was having Billy Black and his son, Jacob, over. Jacob has always been a good friend. He was more like a brother to me than anyone else. I knew he had feelings for me in a stronger way, but I just couldn't return the favor. That would be too wierd. But like I said, he is family and you gotta love Jacob. In the middle of getting ready, the door bell rang and I saw Charlie grabbing a box from the pizza man. I sighed, I really missed Jacob. The last time I came to visit he went out of town with Billy so I couldn't get to see him. After putting on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt I Went down and found Jacob in the living room. I immediately squealed and ran up to him. He smiled and gave me a hug and spun me around and then set me down.

"How have you been?" I asked.

"Good. Kids down in La Push are pretty cool now. They all miss you."

"Well... thats interesting...," I said and almost said awkward. I knew they all thought of me like Jake did, but I barely knew them.

"Yeah," he said.

We had a good dinner. It was full of stories from the past and present. It was really good to see Jake to say at the least. He was stronger now and I could tell that by physically looking at him and when you talked to him it was emotionally as well. He might admit to having a thing for me which will make things weird and I didn't want it to be that way. We said our goodbyes and I went to sleep once they left.

I told Charlie I wanted to start school as soon as I get there. I didn't want to be around the house all day doing nothing. So I started the next day. Everyone looked at me with curious eyes and I just looked down all day. I found out that I had English with Rose which was a relief. We talked about our day and then I caught his eye. We were sitting not 3 feet from each other and it was obvious we were talking about each other.

"Who is that?" I asked.

"Edward Cullen. He hangs out with Jared," she added and I knew immediately that she didn't approve, so I just nodded and Edward and I stared at each other for a while until the bell rang for lunch. I thought about it all the way through lunch and noticed I had a feeling of...him. It was the weirdest thing. It was like I knew where he was and what he was thinking. Not literally of course, but...still. I knew he was looking at me and I turned around to see him looking with an unreadable expression on his face. I knitted my eyebrows together and looked away. He was probably just looking at me like I was the new girl. Everybody was. I kept trying to tell myself it was normal...but I knew in my heart that it wasn't.