The story of Mary Alice Brandon (Alice/Bella)

Chapter 11

Alice and Bella's friendship progressed as one might expect. They exchanged phone numbers after school that day and the former promised to text Bella as soon as she got home with her family. Irina and Kate took to the brunette fairly well considering that they had already had contact with her before. At lunch the following day Alice took Bella's hand and dragged her over to the infamous Cullen table. The other students were still in shock as one of the most beautiful girls in school seemed to be attached to the new girl's hip.

Alice brought her friend over to her family's table and began introductions. Of course Emmett was all smiles and 'hey Bella's'. Rosalie was a different story as she gave a curt nod. The boys, Edward and Jasper held out their hands for a courteous handshake but it didn't go any further than that. The pixie then proceeded to tell the group that she was going to be eating lunch with her friends today and went back over to Bella's table.

Mike almost choked on his own spit as he took in the sight of the new addition. Jessica groaned silently and Angela and Eric were surprised, but nice to the beautiful Cullen. Alice cheerfully greeted the small group of friends and sat down right next to Bella.

She told them about how she was looking forward to being friends with all of them and began small talk. Bella couldn't believe she was this close to Alice. Sure the small girl wanted to be her friend and she was thankful for that, but there were a few times that the mere sound of her voice brought Bella back to the dream she had a couple of weeks ago. Why was Alice in her dream to begin with? Why did her eyes always change color?

It was a couple weeks of just nothing but talking and laughing and enjoying one another's company. Bella was so glad to have this time with Alice because it gave her a new perspective on her friend. She was kind and gentle and ready to offer advice on any situation. Alice gave some dating advice to Eric who really wanted to ask Angela to the upcoming spring formal the school was having. Bella didn't really hear the words she was saying but that was because she was too busy staring at the girl. The teen was taking in her friends almost ethereal beauty, and it was sometimes overwhelming to say the least.

It was on Friday a couple weeks after Alice became friends with Bella and her group when something unexpected happened.

Bella was going to her truck ready to go home for the day when she set her backpack on the hood to look for her keys. It was still cold and icy out since it was the end of January. She had to be super careful while she walked, and she was really grateful for the ice tires that Charlie put on. Ice tires being a set of chains wrapped around the rubber so they would skid or slip. Alice and Bella had already said their goodbyes and the former went to her brother Edward's Volvo for the trip home.

The brunette took a look over her shoulder for one last look at Alice and the pixie smiled her signature mega-watt smile. Bella waved in response and turned her attention back to finding her keys. With her headphones in her ears, she found the task miserably daunting for a moment, but once she found them, she held them up in victory.

What Bella didn't notice however was the sound of screeching tires gliding along the tarmac. Tyler Crowley's van wasn't as lucky as Bella's truck when it came to certain safety upgrades. The boy pumped on his brakes but couldn't stop. A bunch of students called out to the boy to pull his emergency brake, but with his heartbeat ringing in his ears it was hard to hear anyone. Dread filled his chest as he came up on Bella and her beat up Chevy truck.

Bella turned around and was ready to go to the driver side of the vehicle when she saw Tyler's frightened face. She knew there was no way he could stop the van and her eyes widened as her fate seemed sealed. Tears welled in her bright green eyes and her knees began to shake.

But after what seemed like a century, Bella screwed her eyes shut and waited for the pain that would come next. Her knees buckled and she fell against the side of her truck. What came next wasn't pain from the van hitting her in her upper body, but a comforting arm around her back. It held her up as her body seemed to go limp and kept her from the icy ground. A second later, she felt that arm pull her into a hard yet slightly soft torso.