Only You Can Save Me

I've been living in Forks now for about four months. I don't mind living with my father, Charlie, and the friends I've made here are alright… It's just… I feel a little empty on the inside… Sometimes I wonder if I'm missing something from my life. I sighed, turned the ignition off and grabbed my school bag. I hadn't even made it out of the car park before Mike noticed me and came rushing over to greet me with an overly big smile.

"Hello Bella. My, my don't you look as lovely as ever today"

"Oh, thanks Mike" I gave him a weak smile.

Mike was a lovely guy and all, but I really wasn't interested in him in that way. He has tried on a number of occasions over the last four months to get me to go out on a date with him, but I always managed to come up with plausible excuses.

"So, ready for another exciting day at Forks High?" He nudged my upper arm with his elbow.

"Um, yeah… Can't wait" I said without showing any enthusiasm.

"Come on Bella" He said cheerfully as he placed his arm around my shoulders. "It's not all that bad"

"Some days seem worse than others" I mumbled as I spun around and managed to get out of his grip, just in time to see a silver Volvo pulling up the car park.

Mike turned around and followed my gaze to see what I was looking at. A guy I'd never seen before casually stepped out of the vehicle and ran his hand through his thick, bronze coloured hair.

"Oh my god! Who is that?" I heard Angela shriek as she came up beside me, closely followed by a drooling Jessica.

"He's heavenly" Jessica breathed as she fanned herself with her hand.

"Oh please!" I heard Mike sighed in annoyance. "Look at him. He probably thinks he's a god or something"

"Maybe he is…" Angela said quietly as this new guy started to head in our direction.

I stood there in silence. This guy looked perfect, sure, but I had to agree with Mike… He seemed a little arrogant.

By now a lot of girls had notice this 'heavenly god' strolling through the car park, and within moments he was swarmed by them, each one dying to introduce themselves to him. But the strangest thing was that he ignored all of them! He didn't even lift his head to look at how pretty some of them were.

"What an arrogant arsehole!" Mike cursed, turning to me and guiding me up the stairs towards the school building.

"He seems a little intimidating though…" Angela spoke to Jessica as we were walking down the corridor towards our English room. They were trailing behind Mike and me, chatting non-stop about the new guy.

"I know! Did you see his stern facial expression? He's clearly angry about something" Jessica said.

"He's probably just annoyed at having to start a new school" I suggested.

When we finally reached our English room, I noticed that one of my shoe laces was undone so I stopped and crouched down, just outside the door.

"I'll save you a seat, Bella" I heard Mike say as everyone including himself pilled into the classroom.

I quickly tied my laces and went to hurry inside, when I lost my balance and stumbled on the doorstep. Everyone inside gasped as a set of strong hands grabbed me from behind and stopped me from falling flat on my face. Once I was stable on my feet, I turned around and looked up to see the new 'god' blankly staring down at me.

"Um… Thanks" I said nervously tucking some of my brown hair behind my ear.

He remained silent, even as some of the girls clapped. He then walked around me and headed straight to the empty desk behind Mike. I followed him down the same aisle, and took a seat next to Mike, who appeared to have a sour look on his face. Once I had settled down and taken my books out of my bag, I couldn't help but feel the new guy's eyes boring into the back of my head. I was considering turning around to take a peek, when for some reason Mike decided to wrap his arm over my shoulders.

"What are you doing?" I whispered strongly to him.

Mike simply smiled at me before glancing over his shoulder to make sure this new guy was watching. What happened next has hilarious. Out the corner of my eye I saw the new guy kick the chair right out from underneath Mike, which sent him falling to the ground. I couldn't help but laugh seeing Mike down on his butt, swearing at the faulty chair legs. But I knew there was nothing wrong with his chair. I turned around and smiled at the new guy, but his gaze bored so deeply into mine, that I had to look away.

Finally the lesson was over, and I watched as the new guy bolted out of the room as quickly as possible.

The rest of the day went rather fast and before I knew it, it was lunch time.

"I wonder where the new guy is…" Jessica said as I took a seat in between her and Mike.

"Who knows, maybe he's too scared he'll be swarmed by girls" Mike chuckled before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Does anyone even know his name yet?" Angela asked.

Eric sneaked up behind her and grabbed one of her fries. "I heard one of the teachers address him as Mr. Cullen… No one's been able to get a first name out of him yet. He won't talk to anyone"

"Cullen eh? Well that's what we'll call him then if he won't provide us with any other name" Jessica said.

"Oh by the way, have you all signed up for the dance class that starts after school tomorrow?" Angela spoke up, changing the subject.

Everyone said that they had already signed up apart from Mike and me. I wasn't into dancing.

"Come one guys, it'll be fun!" Angela said, pleading for us to join.

"I hate dancing" Mike groaned.

"And I'm terrible on my feet" I said truthfully.

"You've got to give it a go, Bella. I'm sure you'll make a wonderful dancer if you put in some effort" Eric said, patting me on the back.

To shut them up and make them all happy, I decided I'd give it a go seeing as they all were. Mike stood his ground though; he worked most nights after school anyway, so he wouldn't have the time.

"You better go see Ms Waters and put your name down before all the spots fill out" Jessica said.

So that's how I spent most of my lunch time… Searching the school for Ms Waters. I eventually found her in one of the staff rooms, and she was delighted to see that I was giving dancing a go. On my way past the music rooms, I began to hear a piano playing the most soothing melody I'd ever heard. Creeping closer to the room where the music was coming from, I peered inside to see who was playing. I immediately raised a hand to my mouth in shock, as I saw 'Cullen' sitting at the piano, delicately running his fingers along the keys. He must have felt my presence, as he abruptly stopped playing and shot his head around.

"Oh, hello..." I said, giving him a small, nervous smile as I glanced over his face.

He stared up at me with his eyebrows furrowed. It was clear to me that I wasn't going to get a response out of him. "I'm sorry it's just, geez… That sounded so beautiful and I was curious to see who was playing"

"Well, now you know" He said without any emotion in his voice.

"Ah! So you do speak!" I laughed, but he didn't seem to think it was funny at all. "Sorry about that. Um…" I awkwardly shifted my weight from one foot to the next. "Ok, well I guess I better go and leave you in peace…"

"What's your name?" He called out, just as I had turned to leave.

I stopped in my tracks and slowly turned back around to face him. Even though he was about six metres away from me, I could still see his piecing eyes burning straight into mine.

"Bella Swan" I whispered.

For the first time since this guy had stepped foot onto school grounds, he smiled. It was only a little one, but it still made my stomach flip to know that he had the effort to give me one.

As I was staring at his perfect lips, I almost didn't hear him say "I'm Edward Cullen"

My eyes grew wide and I leant against the door frame for support. "Really? Wow!" I said, sounding a little too excited.

He raised one of his perfect eyebrows and gave me a strange look. He probaby thinks I'm so weird.

"Oh, I mean… It's just no one here knows your name yet, and I guess it's cool that I'm the first one" Far out I'm so stupid, I'm making things worse I thought to myself.

Edward took his eyes off me for a moment and glanced around the large room, before returning his penetrating stare.

"Why are you talking to me?" He asked, genuinely wanting to know the answer.

My cheeks started to burn and I let my dark hair fall over my face as I stumbled for words. "Um, well… I thought you might like to at least try talking to someone… Seeing as though you're brushing everyone off so far…"

He tilted his head and I noticed that he was narrowing his eyes in what seemed like annoyance.

"But, maybe you're happier not talking to anyone, and I understand that… You know I'm still quite new here myself. Been here about four months now -"

"Look… Bella, was it?" He asked, interrupting my rambling nonsense.

I nodded and suddenly felt really embarrassed for mouthing off a million miles per hour.

"If you're going to stay and chat can you at least come inside? I don't want the whole school to hear your voice echoing through the corridors"

My whole body suddenly tensed up and I kind of froze on the spot. I wasn't expecting that, I thought he was going to tell me to get lost.

"Sorry" I whispered as I managed to get my legs to work and walk into the room. I partially closed the door behind me and turned around to see that Edward was back to facing the piano. He started playing that lovely tune again as I slowly made my way over to one side of the piano.

"Where did you learn to play like that?" I asked, watching as his pale fingers elegantly glided along the keys.

"I don't know" He shrugged. "Suppose it just comes naturally"

My eyes focussed now onto his face. He was clean shaven with a lovely sculptured jaw line, and his lips looked so smooth and soft… Bella, come on. Snap out of it! I mentally shook my head and tried to lean casually against the side of the piano. Edward kept his eyes focused on the keys in front of him and continued to play.

"So, um… Why do you choose to ignore everyone here?" I asked, immediately regretting my words. I heard him sigh and noticed how he shifted uncomfortably on his seat.

"You wouldn't understand…" He instantly stopped playing and got up, scrapping the wooden chair on the floor. "Just, do yourself a favour and leave me alone!"

And with that, he grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the room leaving me standing there all alone and feeling like a complete idiot.