SKIN DEEP
fifteen | bella's arrival

Imogen was ripped from her sleep by someone jumping on the bed, repeatedly. This is what having a sibling would've been like, Imogen thought as she groaned and pulled the covers over her head. If only it was possible for her to have a sibling. "Rise and shine, sleepy head," Alice said in a singsong voice, continuing to bounce on the bed slightly.

Imogen groaned once more and peeled the covers down with her fingers so that only her eyes could be seen. Her eyes pleaded with Alice, but Alice shook her head at the unspoken question of if Imogen could stay in bed. "Why not?" Imogen asked from under the covers, making her voice sound muffled slightly, but Alice heard her clearly.

Alice looked towards the glass wall and stated, "Well, for one, it's past twelve," and as she stood up she added, "and the I don't think that we're ever going to be good cooks no matter what the tv says."

Imogen sighed and sat up, giving Alice a slight glare but not meaning it at all. Before she could even contemplate what happened, Alice disappeared and was back the next second with clothes in her hands. She placed them on the bed and smiled while Imogen groaned once more, "Why couldn't Isabella just go for food before coming here?"

Alice smiled at the idiotic girl who seemed to forget that she needed to eat too, "And leave you starving? We're making the food for both you and Bella, so if you don't want to end up with food poisoning, I suggest you hurry up and get down there."

Imogen just shook her head with a slight smile on her lips and started to dress once Alice rushed out of the room and back to the kitchen. Once she was dressed, she walked out onto the hallway and towards the bathroom that the girls had showed her last night when she said she needed to use the facilities. They had also sorted her a toothbrush out then, so at least she wouldn't be filling their nasal passages with the stench of her morning breath.

That wouldn't be too nice.

As she brushed her teeth, she looked at herself in the mirror, noticing that she had bags under her eyes from having an interrupted sleep in the middle of the night. She sighed and took of her nasal prongs to quickly wash her face. Once she was refreshed although still very tired, she made her way down to the kitchen. 

When she entered, she saw that everyone except Jasper and Alice were preparing food but stopped for a second to glance at Imogen before continuing making what already looked like a professional chef had prepared it. Imogen glared at mid-air, realizing that Alice was only saying that to try and tempt her out of bed, but it was obvious that Imogen would not be getting food poisoning from the vampire family.

Esme smiled as she continued to grate a block of cheese, "How are you this morning?"

Imogen smiled back and ran a hand through her slightly tangled hair and sighed, "Slightly tired." She wasn't about to tell them that she had been woken in the middle of the night, hoping that they didn't know about her little intimate conversation with Jasper, but her worries were proven correct when Emmett spoke from where he diced besides Esme.

"Jasper said that you woke up last night," he glanced up with a risen eyebrow while he said it before continuing to focus on his very precise dicing. 

Imogen only nodded at Emmett and pursed her lips before a seemingly annoyed Rosalie spoke, "Is she even Italian?" From where Imogen stood, she could see that one of Rosalie's legs was twitching. She didn't want to be making food for Bella, is what Imogen deciphered. 

Stepping into the kitchen and besides Rosalie, she rested her hand on the one that was free of holding the glass bowl that was being filled with salad by Emmett from across the island counter. "Her name is Bella," Emmett deadpanned while Rosalie took a second to acknowledge Imogen's actions with a slight glance and a twitch came from the corners of her lips. She was really annoyed if she refused to smile.

Carlisle turned his head around from cutting up something himself and said, "I'm sure she'll love it, no matter what." He glanced at Imogen and smiled slightly, "I hope you don't mind that it's Italian."

She shrugged and smiled, "Anything is fine." He nodded and turned back to cutting.

A second later, Rosalie seemed to sniff the air making Imogen look at her with amusement. She turned to face where Imogen had come from, giving the girl who now stood besides her a quick glance, "Get a whiff of that." The others seemed to sniff the air pretty obviously making Imogen smile to herself at how open they were about their true selves. Rosalie added in a singsong voice, "Here comes the human."

Esme let out a girlish smile, seeming really excited and walked around the island counter and towards the open archway where Edward and Bella appeared together, both looking slightly weary. Imogen smiled at Bella, and Bella seemed to calm slightly at the sight of her friend whom she hadn't seen much of recently.

"Bella, we're making Italiano for you," Esme stated, a bright smile on her face at meeting the second girl who had caught the attention of one of her 'sons'.

Bella looked slightly taken aback and made the noised, "Oh, uhm." Imogen knew that Bella definitely felt out of place and she was surprised at herself for feeling so not out of place.

Edward, also seeming to feel quite awkward, introduced Bella to Esme, "Bella, this is Esme. My mother for all intents and purposes." Imogen let out a slight chuckle at him, covering her mouth quickly hoping to hide her chuckle, but everyone caught it.

Looking to her left, Imogen noticed how annoyed Rosalie truly looked. She hadn't moved an inch since Bella and Edward made an appearance and was still clasping the glass bowl in her hands. Imogen furrowed her brows slightly and whispered while the others continued to speak, "Are you okay?" Rosalie just kept a blank face as she stared at Bella and her 'brother'. 

Rosalie seemed to not being paying attention to her but to what was being said. When Imogen noticed Rosalie's stance alter slightly, she took a step back and luckily in time for what happened next. The glass bowl that Rosalie was holding smashed in her hands, exploding all over and somehow missing Imogen. 

She stated in a very annoyed tone, "Perfect," before storming out of the room. Imogen went to follow, but Emmett placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a sad smile before following in his girlfriend's footsteps. As she stormed off, her voice could be heard echoing as she spoke to Emmett, "This is dangerous for all of us. The entire family will be implicated if it ends badly."

The remaining three vampires and two humans glanced between each other, all silent as they listened to what Rosalie ranted about as she stormed of with Emmett at her tail. But, before anything more could be said about what Rosalie was implying, Alice and Jasper made an appearance.

Alice came skipping forwards and flung her small body into Bella's, giving her a quick hug, pulling away and stating, "Oh, you do smell good." Imogen glanced at Alice and rose an eyebrow at how openly she stated it, which Edward appeared to be grossed out by, shaking his head and turning up his nose. Alice noticed his actions and said, "Oh, don't worry, Bella and I are going to be great friends." Somehow, Imogen believed that someday, with a lot of work, it may actually come true. Even Imogen was barely classed a friend of Bella's.

As Alice stepped back to stand besides Jasper, Imogen turned her gaze to his, both of them clashing for a few seconds until he turned his gaze back to Bella. Carlisle cleared his throat as Jasper remained the most silent Imogen had ever seen him and stated, "Jasper's out newest vegetarian. It's a little difficult for him."

Imogen then came to notice that he did seem to be a bit rigid as though the smell of Bella was making him feel unnerved. She frowned at that because he never went rigid or silent around her. All he may do when they speak is clench his fists, which she assumed may have been because at first he felt awkward and most recently the topic of conversation may have made him uncomfortable. And she was sure that that was what it was, because other than the rarely clenched fists, he seemed to have no trouble at being around her. 

She was brought out of her thoughts when an arm was placed on her elbow and her eyes connected with Alice's, "I'll take you home seeing as though Rosalie ruined the meal." That's when Imogen noticed that Edward and Bella had disappeared. Imogen cast a glance at Jasper who was watching her with slightly golden eyes, before nodding at Alice and smiling at the remaining vampires. She was forced to follow Alice when the vampire grasped her arm and pulled her slightly, causing Imogen to stumble back and follow her, holding her free hand up to give a small wave to the three vampires.

***

Evelyn smiled at her daughter as she entered the house, her hands clasped in front of her and the smile widening every second. "How was it?" she asked, extremely curious as to what had happened throughout the night.

Imogen shrugged her shoulders and muttered, "Okay." She started to ascend the stairs as her mother continued to ask questions from the bottom of them where she now stood.

"Anything exciting happen?"

Once Imogen reached the top of the stairs, she turned and smiled down at her mother, "They know that I know that they're vampires," then she turned to walk away, knowing that her mother was now curious as ever. As she made her way to her bedroom, she shouted, knowing her mother was still stood at the bottom of the stairs, "And we're playing baseball in a few days."

Seconds after Imogen sat on the edge of her bed and fell backwards, there was a knock at the door. She knew it was her mother because her father was out doing god only knows what again, so she took a deep breath and said, "Come in."

The door opened cautiously and Evelyn popped her head around the door, before slowly walking in and leaving the door wide open. "What did you say to them?"

Imogen smirked slightly, but it faded and turned into a smile when she thought of how she blurted it out. She wanted to, for once, put her mother's slight fear she felt to rest. Turning to look at her mother, "I blurted out that I knew about them, but don't worry, they don't know that you know."

Evelyn looked to her feet before walking further into the room and taking a seat on her daughter's desk chair. She ignored the last part of the statement, but she did feel slightly better about them not knowing that she wished for them to turn her daughter. "What were their reactions?"

Imogen smiled a bit more and sat up, "Slight shock then relief."

Evelyn smiled and came to the realization that the Cullens were bringing out the real Imogen, someone she had rarely ever had the chance to talk to. "I would feel relieved too if I didn't have to hide a secret from one more person."

Imogen just nodded and looked down at her nails, picking the old nail polish off. She sighed and looked at her mother and smiled slightly, "Thank you."

Evelyn's eyes widened and her mouth dropped slightly with shock at her daughter's gratitude. "What for?"

"For giving me last night," then she let out a deep breath and added, "and for bringing us here."