Meeting the Cullens

Chewing on the cardboard-like consistency of the pizza in my hand, I placed the crust down on the plate - without the terrible cheese and low-budget tomato sauce to bolster the taste somewhat, I had no merit to gain from eating the cardboard-like dough.

Looking down at my plate, I saw the chips and the salad and I really just couldn't be bothered for it, so I pushed the plate away before resting my head in my hands.

Ever since yesterday when I saw Dr. Cullen, I've been feeling...odd. Not in the 'I think I might be in love with a man' kind of odd but the, 'I feel extremely bipolar all of a sudden'.

Just listening to the racket surrounding me right now was making me teeter on the edge of shouting out that everything should shut up in anger.

I felt like a barrel of gunpowder and everything was capable of setting me off.

Some sophomores were playing basketball and I was slowly getting pissed off. Which made me wonder - Why? Why was that so grating to me? Why did the sound of the ball hitting the ground, the jeering and cheering of the two people's friends, the sound of their shoes squeaking on the laminated floor? Why did it all annoy me so much?

Just as I was getting to my limit and just as I was about to turn around and slap the ball away from the guy closest to me, I felt my body tense.

I kept my eyes forward, on the entrance to the canteen...and then they entered.

I'd been at Forks Highschool for two weeks and not once had I seen them. But right now, I was beginning to understand the amount of rumors around them. The Cullens.

Walked in like a tightly knit group, with most of them with their arms wrapped around another - in pairs. A guy with a girl.

Weren't they siblings? Adoptive siblings, sure, but siblings nonetheless, right?

But right now, it seemed like rather than platonic relationships, they were in romantic relationships. The first pair I saw, a small petite girl with a tall blond guy. The petite girl had messy black hair and looked extremely thin. Not in a sickly way though...that just seemed to be how she was born. Lithe and slender, I guess you could call it. Her expression was extremely animated, with a wide smile and a large doe-eyed look.

The guy, however, seemed the complete opposite. He was tall, well-muscled (even more so than me) and a brooding expression. He looked...oddly restrained. Like every action he did was calculated so he didn't lose control. Control of what? I have no idea.

The next pair was made up of an absolutely stunning girl and an equally handsome guy. Though, this guy looked like he should be power-lifting for world records instead of being in highschool. He was about 6'5" and must've weighed dozens and dozens more pounds than me. He had dark curly hair and the tawny eyes that seemed to be the usual for the Cullens.

Another weird thing I realized - they all have the same, unusual eye color but none of them are related. What's that about?

Saving that thought for later, I looked at the blonde next to him and, well, damn...she was really hot. It was like she had every advantageous trait a woman could have. She was tall, slender yet not too thin, had as absolutely stunning face and from the way she held her chin up and pushed her chest out - she knew she was beautiful and she owned it completely.

After these two pairs, I could a glance of two Cullens who actually looked like siblings and weren't hanging off each other like a couple.

I was actually quite sure they were legitimate siblings as well.

How so? Well, they looked like genderbent versions of one another and other than one having masculine features and the other having feminine, they looked quite a lot like one another.

The first one I took notice of was the guy - just like the blond guy from earlier, this one also looked like the broody type. He actually had similar colored hair to mine - a reddish brown. But his was more brown so it took on a bronze-like color. Metallic-looking, I guess is how I'd describe it. He had the same color eyes as the others, furthering some weird suspicion I had about their origins. Dr. Cullen couldn't have possibly searched the Americas orphanages for children with the same eye color as him, right? He definitely couldn't have found 6 children with those odd-looking golden eyes, that's for sure.

The angsty guy was about 6'2", so an inch shorter than me and he was less broad than me as well, giving off a scholarly look with his lanky figure.

When I moved my eyes from him to what looked like his sister...I was quite frankly stunned.

When I looked at the others, I felt annoyance, anger--I'd even go as far as to say a sort of instinctive dislike for them. Nothing strong or enough to get me to walk over and throw a punch at them. But definitely enough for me to feel the need to scowl at their presence like how you would if someone you didn't like joined a conversation you were having with your friends.

But...when I looked at the short bronze-haired girl, I didn't feel any of that. Well, no, that'd be a lie. I felt it, clear as day just like when I looked at the others. It was just that something else was overshadowing it.

A sort of attraction. Like a subtle magnetism between her and me.

To my utter surprise, she looked right back at me after not even a second had passed of me looking at her.

The earlier sounds that annoyed me simply disappeared. Falling to the wayside. All I could hear was my own heartbeat. I was tunneled vision on her entirely and I couldn't look away even if I wanted to. Which I didn't. A part of me was completely fine with just staring at her for however long I could. It scared me. This feeling, whatever was happening--It scared the shit out of me.

But a part of me ached. It yearned to be next to her and the thought of not being next to her enraged me like I never thought possible.

Her light gold eyes, looking back at me and just acknowledging me made me feel happier than I had in weeks. Part of me felt terrible that all it took to feel happy after 'that' happened was a single look off of some pretty girl but another part of me didn't care. That part of me was just glad I didn't feel depressed and sad beyond belief anymore.

Though, as quick as this feeling came, it disappeared as the girl's head snapped away from me and her walking speed picked up, letting her surpass her siblings and lead the way to where they were going to sit.

Which from where she was heading, seemed to be the opposite side of the canteen.

The further she got away, the easy it was for my normal thoughts to come back. Which left one thought?

...What the fuck just happened? What was that? Those feelings...did-did I just fucking fall in love or something?

Utterly confused by the emotions swirling round in my head, I looked to the Cullens that just sat down, speaking to one another in hushed whispers. Which is when I realized that bronze-haired chick had sped up her walking after seeing me look at her...did I freak her out? Well, it wouldn't surprise me. I was just staring at her like some kind of perv.

Well done, Will. You goddamn jackass.

Even as I chided myself, the very thought that she'd dislike me sent a pang of panic through my body and I had to physically stop myself from getting up and walking over to apologize.

"What the fuck is wrong with me..." I gave a hushed and confused whisper to myself as I stood up, grabbed my bag and went on my way.

Not knowing that 3 of the 6 Cullens were staring holes into my back, no less.

All I could think about was how on edge and confused I currently felt. The changes I'd been feeling in my mentality since yesterday when I saw Dr. Cullen when I was visiting Jess, were truly getting to me. Not just that - after seeing the other Cullens and being in the same place as them for the first time, I felt like the changes were speeding up and becoming more drastic.

My pulse was erratic, my skin felt hot and I was beginning to sweat. I felt dizzy alongside confused.

Not a good combination, honestly.

So, I was already on my way to the school reception so I could try and get a day off school. I really didn't feel up to it right now. I felt like I'd either pass out from how fast my heart was beating or that I'd beat someone half to death if they even tried to speak to me.

. . .

Sitting down in class, I was instantly annoyed again - they didn't let me go home despite the burning fever and the sweating. They gave me an ice pack and let me go and have a shower. Ah, and they oh-so-graciously provided me with a towel.

Dicks.

To pass the time, I decided to look out the window at the overcast sky that usually looked over Forks. It was a distinct difference to Austin, Texas, where I was from, which usually had clear skies.

Part of me still wanted to be there but another part of me knew the reminders would be much too painful to live around. It's why I chose to come to Forks even thought I didn't need to. I needed to get away from that place even if it meant moving to Washington and living in a town with more rain in a day than all of summer in Texas.

At least this place is peaceful, right?

Though I don't know if it's the trauma or the town but ever since I've come here, my body and mind had been getting stranger and stranger. Mainly my mind but this morning, after waking up, I looked in the mirror and I could've sworn that I'd grown and widened a few centimeters.

Just like what happened earlier in the canteen, it was beyond odd.

Thinking of what happened in the canteen earlier...I genuinely want to know what that was about. I've been thinking about it for the past 10 or so minutes and I've come no closer to figuring it out.

It was like one of those fairy tale moments when people fall in love with another person at first sight. But this...this didn't feel like love. I'd had my fair share of relationships and while I hadn't strictly fallen in love with a girl, I do know what the beginnings of those types of feelings feel like.

And it sure as shit isn't like this.

This felt like a dependency. Or rather, that bronze-haired girl was a life ring and I was drowning. I felt like I had to grab onto it with all my might and never let go.

But I really didn't want to trust such a weird and obsessive feeling. It made me feel like a few screws were getting loose in my head, honestly.

Just as I thought this, I felt someone sit down next to me.

Confused, I turned to them. I hadn't had someone sit next to me all this time in biology class because the person who sat next to me was always absent. I never really paid attention during the register, other than answering when my name was called, so I didn't know who it was supposed to be either. Never really bothered me, honestly.

I should've been bothered, in hindsight. It would've prepared me for this moment.

As I turned, I saw the bronze-haired girl from the canteen earlier, looking slightly uncomfortable and sitting as far from me as possible. My heart beat began to speed up again and I was uncharacteristically nervous about being near her. I wasn't a lady killer or anything but I wasn't a useless klutz either.

But as I looked at her perfectly shaped face, I had one thought:

...Shit.