In The Right Key

Chapter 4: Misguided Jokes

Chapter 4: Misguided Jokes

"Mom, Dad, this is Bella Swan."

Carlisle and Esme (Edward had told me their names in the car) seemed out of place as parents, as they both looked twenty-something. Carlisle had blond hair and those golden eyes and Esme had hair like flowing caramel with darker irises than the latter. Both were more beautiful than one the most praised actors, slender and graceful. Feeling insignificant, I shook their unsurprisingly freezing hands and was attacked by a little ballerina.

"Hi, Bella! I'm Alice!" She hugged me tightly and my eyes went wide. The other three looked surprised. They started to warn her (trying not to freak me out, I guess) but I hugged her back. It was so hard to hug her, she was so short. Her spiky black hair brushed my chin. Edward moved as if to pull her off, but she beat him to the punch.

"Alice, there's no need to kill the guest," Carlisle joked but his tone suggested something more, something to add to my investigation. I thought I was getting closer to finding out what they were, but I kept hitting brick walls. All I got was a family of crazily beautiful crime fighters. Somebody had their crazy flakes this morning. I needed to be more creative. I then saw Jasper, his tall figure standing completely still. All of a sudden, I was calm. Too calm. Hmmm. . .

"Hello, Bella," he said politely. With it came a feeling of welcome. I definitely added that to my list.

"Hi, Jasper," It was so easy now. As soon as I was feeling completely at ease, a cold wind blew it away. Black ice attached to a body was standing at the top of the stairs. Rosalie. A goofy grin came from nowhere and just hardly melted what it was behind. Emmett made a fast connection between me and Rosalie. He even looked scared. He covered it and came down the stairs to greet me.

"Hey, beautiful," Yes, he received some looks. "What? Isn't that what her name means? Lighten up, guys." He laughed and I laughed with him.

"Hey," I replied, smiling. Thank goodness I didn't think to return the joke. Rosalie walked down the stairs and into another room without looking at any of us.

"And that's Rosalie," Edward said. The hate that I felt from her was felt by everyone. I would never understand it. For some reason, Alice laughed and Edward looked terrified and annoyed. Emmett and those big muscles of his tried to lighten the mood.

"So, is Eddie here still being a prude?" Emmett said, smiling hugely. Edward and Alice showed their feelings, groaning and grinning respectively.

"Emmett," Esme warned him, but was trying not to laugh. Emmett ignored her.

"Let me apologize on his behalf." Uh-oh. Before I could breathe, he lifted me up and put me over his shoulder. He ran up the stairs at a breakneck speed, yelling profanities at Edward that I couldn't quite understand due to the bouncing of Emmett's steps. They sounded like "finally getting shagged" and "you're certainly hard enough," but I couldn't be too sure. I hoped my ears were betraying me. He went through a door on what I presumed was the third story and dropped me gently on the couch. After regaining my equilibrium, I looked around the room I was in. It was bright with gold carpeting, that same window-wall, shelves and shelves of books and music, and a frustrated looking Emmett.

"Idiot doesn't even have a bed. They could do it on the floor or that couch, but that doesn't really seem . . ." Emmett muttered. I tuned out the rest, my blush so grand my cheeks almost bled. Then, out of nowhere, Emmett was on the floor, pinned down by a furious, gorgeous Edward.

"Bella is my friend. Don't ever think or say things like that again." Now they were wrestling. I had to stop them before someone got hurt.

"HEY!" I yelled. I didn't dare go over there. It had "Danger Zone" written all over it. Surprisingly, they stopped right away. They sat on the floor and waited like little kids about to be scolded.