Bella Swan POV:

I slowly amble over to the window, my polished dressy school shoes clacking against the hardwood floor as I walk, and peer outside the lace curtains, which are rippling slightly back and forth against the light early morning breeze. The sight of our small garden unfolds before me. It's summertime, all the grasses and flowers blooming in our garden. I see my daddy, Charlie, out in the orchard in his bright orange hunting clothes, and then there's a young man with him, they are both standing there, looking at something in the garden by the old tire swing I used to frequently play and swing back and forth on as a little girl.

"Bella," my Mama Renee calls, my heart jumping in my throat in alarm. "It's time for school now, honey. Better get walkin' and say goodbye to daddy!"

Mama always hated the thought of me being late for school. I hop down the staircase and into the kitchen, where she's resting in her chair by the window. She turns in her chair to look at me as I enter. "Guess what we're having for supper tonight? Your old favourite! String beans and lamb!"

I lick my lips and she laughs at my show. She pecks my cheek with her cold lips and I hug her goodbye. I run out the door and out to my daddy in the garden and then he and the young boy hear me and they both turn. Daddy walks over and meets me halfway. "Sweetheart," he says, "Shouldn't you be on your way to school already?"

"I know, daddy, but I forget something," I tell him. He smiles at me. Oh, you silly girl, his smile says to me, and then I look at the young boy, hoping my daddy would introduce him to me and explain why he was here.

There was no lying, that just by the sight of the young man; I was hit by a bad case of the nerves. He looked a year or two older than me, at the very most. And boy was he handsome!

This beautiful stranger, he was wearing a dark-brown suit that seemed to accentuate his tall, lean and lithe body in a very appealing, yet simultaneously daunting way. His hands, which I noticed then, were covered in dirt and grass stains – he was clearly a worker, and a hard one at that – clutched at the tattered braces, which held up his trousers, on either side of his hips as he regarded me curiously, his brows thick and fierce as his eyes scrutinized the whole of my body and the school clothes I was wearing.

My daddy leaned in, interrupting both of our ogling, and kissed my forehead. "Go on to school now, Bells," he tells me sternly.

I couldn't seem to find the feeling in my toes to move. All I could do was wonder, wonder what this beautiful man was doing here in our garden of all places. But most of all, I wondered what name he goes by... if it matched the resplendent quality of his facial features.

I hear daddy clear his throat loudly, but I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away from the young man. Just at that very instance, as he looked back at me, the sun raked in on his face, an orange, ethereal glow covering his pale skin, and I saw that he had a slight amount of stubble on his sharp chin. The sunlight seemed to bring out the prominence to his sculpted cheekbones and made his lovely green eyes twinkle.

"Bella, go to school now," my daddy repeated. He sounded upset so I did not hesitate. I wouldn't dare push my father. I would have gotten a scolding from him later. I begin to walk over to the opening of the trees and when I look back over my shoulder, the young man waves at me goodbye and smiles.

I almost stumble over a branch, and have to catch one of the tree trunks with my hand for support. Okay, Bella, I try to calm myself, willing myself to breathe slowly and deeply. That boy was singlehandedly the most beautiful boy you've ever seen – and he waved at you and stared at you like he liked what he saw, too!

At that mere thought, I started skipping all my way to school and found myself eager to return back home afterwards to see if he was there again with my daddy or not.