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LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

BILLIE BURBANK WAS THE LITERAL PERSONIFICATION OF SUNSHINE.

It was funny, because she had resided in the rainy town of Forks since she was just a newborn. Though the July sun didn't pop out on the day of her birth, that didn't stop the girl from entering the world with a cacophony of giggles.

Katherine Burbank was a single mother, and had freshly turned twenty two by the time Billie was born. She was also readily studying for the LSAT exam when she all but bundled up her baby and whisked her away to the seclusion of dreary old Washington. Somewhere where they could have peace and quiet, just the two of them.

Billie was a natural extrovert, so much so that the idea of doing independent work in class gave her the chills. She loved collaboration, and group presentations were a strong suit of hers— but that being said, she was Captain of the high school's debate team, and could definitely hold her own ground when she needed to.

Her closest friends were two of her fellow extroverts; Jessica Stanley, the busybody who had lived down the street from the Burbanks for the past decade, and Mike Newton, the athletic boy who sat next to her in homeroom during their freshman year. They had their other friends, too, but the two blonds and the brunette had been a tight knit trio ever since Billie introduced them to one another.

And sure, had Jessica developed a larger than life crush on Mike this past year? Oh, absolutely. All Billie could do was sit and watch as her friends subtle flirtations bounced off of the boy who was none the wiser to the advances he was getting. It'd made movie night at the Newtons a little awkward at times, but Jess was great at bouncing back.

Which is why the Stanley girl had all but cornered Billie on her way to the lunchroom, babbling on about some new girl who transferred in the middle of the year. Based on the gym class she had just come from, Jessica recounted how Mike was practically drooling at the sight of the new girl.

The jealousy in her friend's demeanour was astounding, so she merely nudged her shoulder with her own. "How many times have I told you, Jess; if he wanted to..."

"He would," her friend finished with a sigh. "I know, I know! I can't help it— if you had a crush, you'd feel the same!"

A bubble of laughter came from the blonde who was still holding onto her textbook in one hand and a brown lunch bag in the other. "I think I'm gonna be single until I die," she told her, and though the fact was self-deprecating, she paired it with a joking smile to show she really wasn't bothered by the fact.

"Yeah, by choice," Jessica emphasized with a groan, the two of them stopping at the brunette's locker in order to grab some lunch money. "You have guys fawning over you, like, 24/7. You just gotta woman up and pick one, B."

"I think I'm waiting for the one," she said with a shrug, laughing when she heard her friend groan. "You know I'm a hopeless romantic... sue me."

Their conversation was intercepted by Mike, and the infamous new girl by the looks of it who was meekly standing behind him. "Are we talking about Billie's lack of love life again?" he questioned, a teasing smile on his pale face.

That earned him a playful shove from Billie, the girl sticking out her tongue as he dropped his heavy arm around her shoulder. Her gaze flickered to the new face among them, her own eyes darting literally anywhere else.

Billie shrugged out of Mike's hold and threw her hand forward. "I'm Billie," she introduced, her smile widening when the girl clasped her own hand around hers. "You must be the new girl— Chief Swan's daughter, right?"

Billie knew who she was long before Jessica had even mentioned her arrival. Her mother and the Chief were great friends, had been since the Burbanks moved to town, and Charlie was kind of like a father figure to her. A kind man, one who told Katherine that his daughter would be moving in with him for a bit.

The brunette wearing an olive green baseball shrug overtop a white long sleeve nodded, going to shake the girl's hand. "Yeah, I'm—"

"Bella Swan," Mike supplied for the girl in his usual boisterous tone. "She's from Phoenix, down in A.Z!"

God, she loved that boy, but he was so prone to letting himself talk over others. Jessica came back into the conversation when a nearby locker slammed shut. "Way to let the girl speak, Michael."

She sauntered off in the direction of the lunchroom, Mike following after her to berate her for using his legal name against him. This led Bella and Billie to fall into step together, walking in the same direction the other two went in.

"Phoenix, huh? How's the weather like there? I'd assume pretty warm," Billie asked, offering her two-sense about the weather despite never having been to Arizona herself.

Bella nodded. "Very."

A beat of silence passed before they caught up to Mike, who stopped and was holding the door open for them up ahead— though his gaze was focused on Bella for the most part.

"You're not a bigger talker, are you?" Bella  winced, going to apologize before Billie cut her off with a small laugh. "It's cool; Mikey always says I can hold a conversation on my own, so I can definitely talk enough for the both of us. Long as you're okay with that?"

Billie's smile was optimistic, hoping to corral a new friend into the mix as she looked to the girl that was only an inch taller than she was. She mentally cheered when the girl next to her gave a small grin of her own. "Yeah, for sure."

"My mom totally has a crush on your dad, by the way. But you didn't hear that from me!"

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Bella and Billie got along like a house on fire.

Where Billie was a natural chatterbox, mind drifting in all directions to cover every topic that flowed into her brain, Bella was more than content to listen. They were complete opposites in every way, and somehow they managed to spark up an unlikely friendship much to the dismay of the Stanley girl.

It also helped that Katherine Burbank, being a state litigator, had been well acquainted with Charlie for many years. The two parents immediately encouraged their friendship, and that was that.

The Burbank girl was also the only person Bella could confide in about how weird Edward Cullen was being towards her now. She'd known about their piss poor first impression in Biology, but it seemed as though he was trying to rectify his actions, after being absent for a couple days, in some odd way.

Billie thought that his fascination with the Swan girl was extremely weird, especially considering the Cullens rigorously stuck to themselves. In fact, in all the time she'd spent at the high school, the only Cullen she'd ever spoken to was Alice after literally running into her in the halls earlier last semester. She remembered thinking that the pixie girl was made of steel, but shrugged it away when Alice helped her stand up with a wide smile. Then, they'd never interacted again after that.

The evening of the dress shopping sealed the deal, because while Billie was at home having a night-in with her mother, she'd gotten the call from her new friend about what had occurred after getting dropped off at home by Edward Cullen himself.

"Mind reading?" Billie reiterated, a hint of skepticism in her voice. She had to excuse herself from the living room where she and her mother had been watching one of those old black and white films, because discussing the very topic of mind reading would've made Katherine demand her phone be put on speaker. She was like a teenager at heart; always wanting in on the 'hot goss' as she always said. "And he can't read your mind? Did he say why?"

"I know it sounds crazy," the other girl started, voice sighing out in exasperation, "but even you have to admit there's always been something odd with the Cullens."

Billie never enjoyed scrutinizing others; she was the girl who famously enjoyed giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, so she simply hummed. "Yeah, but we're all a little odd in our own ways... I mean, Jess has to do a cucumber mask before bed every night, or else she can't sleep."

"This is serious, Billie," Bella exclaimed, "we can talk about it in person; I'll come pick you up for school?"

And when they talked about it, Billie had to agree with her friend that yeah, all the signs were pointing in the 'Edward's not as normal as we thought' direction. She tested Bella's theory when she saw the boy walk into their shared AP History class and screamed in her mind.

When she saw him stop in the aisle, eyes turning to her own for a split second, she had to conceal her smile behind her hand.

Bella: 1

Cullen Family Secret: 0

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[ wyn's note ]

hi cuties, and welcome to FROM EDEN!

ben barnes as aro volturi just does something to me (really, ben barnes as anyone does it for me).

i hope you guys will enjoy this one; we'll be jumping right into the events of new moon in chapter one — but the volturi will make their appearance in a couple of chaps, cause i wanna establish some new moon plot first!

also, billie's definitely the golden retriever friend. if that wasn't already clear enough LOL

all love!! x