The story begins a few days after Bella's eighteenth birthday.

All of these lovely characters belong to Stephenie Meyer and her Twilight series.

Chapter 1: Calendar Keeping

BPOV

Ever since my birthday, Edward had been acting strange. I knew it had to do with Jasper's sudden outburst, but I was too afraid to bring it up and have him feel hurt by what had almost happened, again. He had told me that he wanted to come over right after school and I welcomed the idea, but for some reason, it made me uneasy. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Just then the final bell rang and I left the gym, after changing, and found Edward leaning against the wall as usual. He still seemed troubled, but I didn't press the matter. We walked to our cars in silence and then he sped to my house while I took my time trying to drive home, thinking about what could possibly be going wrong.

I hadn't seen Alice or Jasper since the incident and I hoped maybe they had come back to visit. But the mood seemed wrong for that to be the right answer.

As I pulled into the driveway I saw that he had tortured expression on his face. I hoped nothing was wrong with his family or Charlie. I got out of the car as quickly and calmly as possible hoping I wouldn't let him on to the fact that I was worried. He didn't seem to notice as he quickly walked over to me. He lifted up my chin and put my face in his hands. He stood there for a moment, looking deep into my eyes as if he were trying to convey what he wanted to say through thought. He held that same tortured expression as he leaned in towards my face. He pressed his cold lips against mine quickly and impatiently, urging mine to move faster. I felt confusion along with the normal lightheadedness and dizziness.

He broke the kiss and looked at me with that same pained expression.

"Let's go for a walk," he said slowly. I didn't know what to think or say so I just nodded. He led me into the nearby forest until we were just under the covering of the trees, then he stopped abruptly and turned towards me. I had an ominous feeling about what was going to happen, but I tried to push it away and forced myself to look into his topaz eyes. They didn't seem to shine like they used to, ever since my birthday.