( ooc ; the story of bella swan. part I ; twilight )

[vitale]

Isabella, or Bella, as she would rather have been called, was born in the small, boring town of Forks, located in Washington State. Her memories of this town were unknown, for when she was only a few months old, her young mother whisked her away to the lively, bright world of Phoenix, Arizona. It was here that Bella spent her life growing up; once in a while going to visit her father, Charlie, in Forks. Most of the time, Bella dreaded these visits. How could she go from the beautiful Phoenix to the boring Forks? It was torture to her young mind.

Her days as a child were spent in the warm sun, the brown earth warm upon her pale feet. Her skin, a translucent white, seemed to never tan, which bothered her, yet she never really spoke of it. After years of spending most of her time in Arizona, upon her seventeenth birthday, Bella came to the conclusion that she would move back to Forks, as so she could visit her father and live with him. At first, she hated this idea; she looked upon it as her own punishment. She was doing this to herself, after all. And her mother, bless her soul, tried to talk her out of it hundreds of times - only to be turned down. No, this was something she had to do. For years, Charlie had come all the way down from Washington to visit her in Arizona. This wasn't fair, she decided, and thusly chose that she would move to Forks in order to live with her father.

As she stood in the airport, she quickly decided that this was a terrible idea, and wanted to forget the whole move to Forks and simply stay in Arizona.

Of course, she went anyway.

Suddenly finding herself in Charlie's car (where had the hours gone?), she thought more on this situation. Boring little Forks stood in front of her like a bad omen, one that would ultimately cause her boredom to a high extent. But Charlie just looked so happy to see here there …

And so she decided to stay.

Her first day of school at Forks High school was a mess; the school being small in numbers, with everyone growing up with each other. She was the odd one out, coming from Arizona, yet still being as pale as a ghost. As she walked through the hallways, she could feel everyone's eyes on her. Good and bad glances, mostly bad, in her book, accompanied her even as she made her way to her first class. Her face a bright red, she sat down quickly in her chair. It was here that she met her first person, a boy named Eric. He was nice to her, telling her how to get from here to there, or how to find the cafeteria.

After meeting yet another girl, it was finally lunchtime. Sitting with a group of chattering teenagers, Bella was hardly interested. They kept asking her questions about her life … and while she was embarrassed, she gave lighthearted answers. Turning herself away from the makeshift friends she had acquired, she suddenly found her gaze drawn to a group of people sitting at a far away table.

But these were, she was quite sure, not ordinary people.

They were, to put it simply … perfect. Everything about them screamed perfection and grace. Two girls sat at the table; one looking nothing short of a model … long blonde hair that lay gently against her chest, large, beautiful eyes. Another sat close by, her hair cropped short, yet she still held an elegant, graceful poise. Three boys sat at the table … each beautiful in their own right.

But there was one boy that caught her eye out of all the rest.

His hair was of a light brown/red … a color she had never seen before. His eyes were so dark she swore they were black. She was captivated.

As it turns out, this group of enchanting people were the Cullen children. Revered for their beauty and quick tongues, apparently no one had ever actually spoken to them. The children gave off a strange air … one that was thick with mystery and danger. Needless to say, while Bella was all together interested, she was warned to not even bother getting to know them. They never spoke to anyone other then themselves. And they were definitely not interested in dating.

Lunch passed and junior biology took its place. Walking into the class, the first thing Bella noticed was the fact that a pair of eyes was silently watching her. Shivering at the feeling, she quickly handed her note to the teacher, and was pointed towards her seat.

That said seat being right next to the boy that had held her fancy; Edward Cullen.

Blushing as she passed by the strange boy, she could feel his gaze upon her, intent on looking at something that lay beneath the surface. Sitting down, she allowed her hair to fall over her shoulders, creating a wall between the two of them … so she could basically look at him without her noticing.

Yet, as she kept her silent watch, she noticed something a bit … odd.

Edward seemed to be in pain. Gripping onto the counter tightly, his knuckles were stretched so tight she swore they were going to rip. His eyes looked upon her full of hatred and disgust … and she didn't know why she deserved it. The second the bell rang, symboling that the class was over, Edward was out the door without so much as a single word. Confused and a bit hurt, Bella was led to her next class, gym, by a kind boy named Mike.

Finally, the day was over. And so, her first day at Forks High School came to a close.

The rest of the days passed by the same as they had begun.

Yet, oddly, Edward Cullen did not return to school for what seemed like ages.

Finally, on one random day, a melodious voice was heard. Blinking in surprise from her seat, Bella looked up … only to find Edward standing in front of her, a charming smile splayed across his lips.

"Hello, my name is Edward Cullen."

His voice alone had sent her world spinning, and yet when he had actually acknowledged her like a normal human? Utter confusion. Stuttering out her reply and greeting, the two soon got to work on their lab questions, talking occasionally. Or, to be exact, she mainly did the talking. He just listened and random said some things.

The day passed by with Bella feeling tingly with joy.

And then, when the next morning rose, that feeling was run over by a truck.

Almost quite literally.

It had rained the previous night, and had frozen solid during the night. By morning, the ground was completely encased in ice. Getting out of her car, Bella soon found herself sitting on the ground, having slipped on the ice. Surprised and alarmed, that shock was soon all but washed away when suddenly she heard the squealing of tires.

Heading straight towards her was a car. Or, rather, a van. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Edward's terrified expression.

The next few moments passed by in a blur.

One moment, Edward was completely across the parking lot. The next, he was standing in front of her, his long arms slamming into the metal of the van. Said hands were placed into two large, hand shaped dents, and the car slammed to a stop.

Shock filled her entire being, and before she realized it, Edward had her in his iron grip. His voice was all it took to shake her out of her momentary stupor, yet within a few seconds, she was right back in it again, too shocked to even realize what was going on.

A few hours later she was transported to the hospital. Nothing was wrong with her except for a few scrapes and cuts, and she was allowed to go home.

Not before bitching out Edward, of course.

He denied saving her from the van. He denied the fact that he had stopped a piece of moving metal with his own two hands. "I wasn't dreaming!" she had yelled at him, and he had casually shrugged. The more he denied, the more infuriated she got, and soon she completely walked out of the hospital, anger fueling her every step.

Once again, life returned to normal.

During on biology class, Bella got around to asking Edward about what he actually was. Edward, with that crooked smile of his, turned to her and simply said "Guess."

After hundreds of guesses ("Bitten by a radioactive spider?" "Nope." " Dang."), the class was over and soon she went home.

The days passed by slowly then. One day, her biology was doing blood testing … and as it turned out, Bella grew faint at the sight of blood. Nearly fainting not once, but two times, she was soon escorted to the Nurse by Mike … sadly for the boy, was intercepted by Edward. Edward then helped her the rest of the way to the nurse, and it was here that he helped her get out of gym, and she was driven home.

The way home was filled with question asking, all done by him. He asked what her mother was like, what her father was like, what her favorite color was … the works. The two became closer with that single conversation, and Bella found her thoughts filled with Edward for what seemed to be weeks.

And then, one night, as she was camping with her friends, Bella realized the truth.

Jacob Black, the son of her father's friend, spoke of a horror story that was apparently an old tale known from those that lived on the grounds close by to their camp site. Apparently, those that guarded the campgrounds were descendents from wolves … and the wolves protected the grounds against vampires. Or, as Jacob so blatantly put it … the Cullen family.

Returning home and still surprised at this sudden realization, Bella drifted off to sleep … and went to school the next day, hoping to see Edward so she could ask him about this legend. Sadly, he wasn't there. As were none of his brothers and sisters. Confused and annoyed, that night, her friends decided that it would be a good idea to head into town.

Of course, it was here that yet another meeting of fate happened upon her.

They were looking at dresses for the spring dance in a small store, and while she tried to act amused, her interest could only hold her for so long. Leaving the store and promising to return, she decided to take a walk … only to realize that she was being followed. And that she was cornered.

Quite sure that she was facing death yet again, she prepared herself for whatever awaited her … yet it never came. Again. Instead, she heard a voice commanding her to get into the car, and she complied happily. The voice belonged to Edward, as it were. The two of them drove to a small restaurant, where they got a private table. It was here that Edward began to speak about how he had been following Bella ever since she had arrived in the small town … how he had been keeping tabs on her. He spoke naturally; talking about he had listened to her stalkers thoughts … about what they were going to do to her …

And how it filled him with rage and terror all at the same time.

Overcome by this thought, she had reached out to touch his hand … only for him to draw it back. Reaching a second time, her skin finally met his in a brief moment of contact. But oddly enough, his skin was as cold as ice. Drawing away from her, the boy continued to talk about what he was going through, and how he felt like he simply couldn't keep away from her anymore. She couldn't help but agree with him when he called her a magnet for disaster, because she knew it was true.

The ride home was full of answered questions. After telling him her last theory about vampires, Edward practically openly told her that she was right. A question session then was held.

"How come you can come out during the daytime?"
"Myth."
"Burned by the sun?"
A laugh. "Myth."
"Sleeping in coffins?"
"Myth."

This knowledge came as a surprise to her, yet she was happy that he could openly tell her these things. Getting out of the car, he had leaned so close to her face she swore he was going to kiss her … and yet he didn't. Disappointed with this, she made her way into the house.

Days passed normally. Bella had begun to sit with Edward at lunch … much to her delight. The stares she got from everyone around them wasn't something she was too thrilled with, though. She knew they were thinking things about her … and yet she tried her hardest to ignore it.

One day, Edward took her on a trip to an open field. A random open field ... and while she wondered why he had taken her here, she didn't bother asking.

The day was spent with truths being spoken … and Edward finally stepping into the sunlight. His skin seemed to sparkle … or rather, it actually DID sparkle, much to her surprise. He had been as perfect as she had imagined …

And she had never loved him more.

More days passed. Boring school was boring.

Finally, she was allowed to meet Edward's family. His mother, Esme, was a kind woman, beautiful inside and out. His father, Carlisle, was a doctor at the nearby hospital. Upon meeting his siblings, Alice took an immediate liking to her. Jasper, one of Edward's brothers, was kind enough to say hello, yet was afraid to get near her. He was having trouble with controlling himself around those who smelt good. (In the blood sense.) so he had kept his distance. Not that Bella minded, really … she just wanted to be accepted.

Rosalie, Edward's other sister, was another story altogether. The girl openly showed that she did not like Bella, and did not care for Edward's actions. His other OTHER brother, Emmett, didn't seem to care much for Bella … yet didn't hate her either.

This made her happy.

More school days passed. And, as it were, they were still boring.

One day, the Cullens invited Bella to a game of baseball. She would not be playing, she told them, for she was horrible at the game.

And she was right in this choice.

The family was not only super fast, but they also just so happened to have super strength with everything they did. Baseball wasn't an exception. One hit of the ball meant it flying basically miles away … and with the super speed that the family held, something hit that far away could still be counted as an out. It amazed Bella to no end.

Yet, the happy day was shattered when Alice suddenly had a vision. Wild vampires were making their way towards their happy family.

But, of course, things would not stay happy.

For one of the wild vampires had decided to play a game with Bella. A hunting game, as it were. And she was the target.

Horrified and infuriated to a rather high extent, Edward had gotten her out of the area within moments, telling the girl that she was to leave Forks immediately. Bella protested, of course, which only made him angrier … yet she soon won over the boy when she told him that she had to go and see Charlie. Agreeing that she would leave with Alice to Phoenix, Edward finally seemed to calm down a bit.

The two of them parted ways, and Bella and Alice were sent off to Phoenix. Awaiting a phone call from Carlisle was torture … without knowing how things were going. Finally the phone call came, saying that the vampire, James, had vanished from their sight. Horrified, Bella asked how Edward was. And, of course, said boy was beside himself.

Being told not to worry, Bella went to sleep … yet was awoken when a certain phone call came to her.

The voice on the phone told her to go to an old dance studio … or else her mother would be killed. Held hostage, as it were. In exchange for her mother's life, Bella decided to listen to the vampire's words …

Only to walk into a trap.

Her mother's voice, which she had heard over the phone, was nothing more than a recording from an old family video. Horrified, Bella soon found herself face to face with her "killer". The man taunted her endlessly … and soon enough, he had injured her to a rather bad extent. Her head had been cracked against a wall, and blood was pooling around her. She had felt teeth bite into her hand, thinking nothing of it. Soon enough, the world went black, her hearing became as if she were under water.

Yet, through the water, an angelic voice was heard. The angel was sobbing, pleading for her to open her eyes … to say something. Through the pain, she felt soft touches here and there, all over her broken body. Upon opening her eyes, she found that her angel had been none other than Edward, who was currently beside himself with agony and fear about her well-being.

Then she began to scream.

Fire was shooting through her hand; a fire that she swore was burning at her flesh. Yet, no fire could be seen. Edward and his family, whom had arrived to save her, … knew what this meant.

She had been bitten. If the fire was not stopped … she would become a vampire as well.

Horrified, Carlisle told Edward that the only way to stop it was to drink the poison that would turn her into a vampire out of her hand. Agony filled the boy, and he swore that he couldn't do it … practically sobbing for someone else to try. Yet, in the end, it was Edward who had taken the fire away. Sleepy and relieved that the fire was gone, Bella drifted into a deep sleep.

And awoke in the hospital.

Apparently, Carlisle had told Bella's parents that she had, as he so calmly put it, fell out a window. Of course her parents believed this, because after all, she was very clumsy. Her mother pleaded to her to return to Florida with her, for she had moved to Florida with her current love interest in hopes of him joining a basketball team. Bella refused, of course … because after all, she had finally found the love of her life. How could she possibly leave?

Finally, after months of getting better and healing, Bella was perfectly fine and back to normal.