Chapter 5 (Blood Type)

Open on a stunned Bella being late for class. The early classes pass by that Bella is unaware and she makes her way to her daily cafeteria unit and seeks out Edward with his family. He is conspicuously absent from them and she is disappointed. Jessica then points out that he is sitting alone and trying to get Bellas' attention. She slowly meanders to where he is and he requests that she sit with him.

Whoah!! What's this? Change of heart?

He starts to converse with Bella and bluntly, she points out that she doesn't comprehend half of the things he says. He then makes it clear he still thinks it is a bad idea that they are friends but he is tired of fighting himself because she holds a greater appeal to him than anyone else. He says to her:

p92"What if I'm not a superhero? What if I'm the bad guy?"

Lunch ends and she is off to biology class and he says he is ditching. Bella gets to class and the lesson of the day is...blood typing. Everything starts off fine but when the teacher proceeds to pierce Mikes finger, Bella loses it by getting faint.

Oh boy do I remember this. We did our blood typing in 9th grade and I thought for sure that I was going to pass out too. I cannot stand to see my own blood (opposite of Bella) but other peoples blood does not phase me.

Mike is to take her to the nurse and halfway there, out of nowhere appears Edward. He picks her up, takes her to the nurse and tells Bella he was in his car and he thought Mike was dragging her body off to bury. Edward proceeds to charm his way to get Bella out of gym (her last class of he day) and says he will drive her home.

Problem how to get her truck back? Edward informs her he will have Alice drop it off after school and they get into a heated discussion but Edward wins. They arrive at Bellas house and he wishes her well on the friends outing to the beach over the weekend, tells her he will not be in school the next day and asks her ever so sweetly to take care of herself and not: "fall in the ocean or get run over or anything."

So now I am back in junior high and high school myself 24 and 22 years ago respectively and empathizing with the characters in "Twilight." Each movement, rejection, classic situation (especially the blood typing in this chapter) has brought me to the realization that I still have a lot of that young girl in me and she is not dead and gone like I once thought. She is coming out as I engross myself into this journey of reading. This blog although so new has also brought me to the knowledge that people can change as they mature. I certainly want to get to know the people who read my comments and find out how they themselves have been affected by this series. Thanks to recent developments in my personal life for allowing me to continue this effort. Onward and Upward!

Chapter 4 (Invitations)

A month passes since the near accident and Bella's small group of acquaintances are watching over her and never giving a thought to the perspective of Bella that Edward was the hero in this scenario. Edward has taken to ignoring Bella again during class and only giving her the occasional nod of his head in acknowledgment of her presence.

A big school event is forthcoming, a 'girls choice ' dance. Jessica asked Bella who she was going to ask and she said she was not even going to the dance. Jessica proceeded to say she is going to ask Mike if that is okay. Bella says yes because she herself has no interest in Mike. Mike still tries after Jessica asks him to feel Bella out on whether she was going to ask him and she tells him she will be away.

Biology class, Edward is there and staring at her and the awareness she tried to forget springs alive again. When class ends HE speaks to her.

p74 "I'm sorry." "I'm being very rude, I know. But it's better this way, really."

Bella does not understand this cryptic comment, but goes along. The day ends with Eric leaning on her truck in the parking lot. He repeats the sentiment about the dance and she lets him down with the same answer as Mike. She is getting ready to drive home and gets stuck in the lot behind Edwards car and here comes Tyler to be the 3rd person to query about the dance. All these date requests are getting tiresome. What next?

The next morning she approaches Edward about the holdup the previous night and is irritated at him. He shocks her by saying he overheard she was making a run for it the night of the dance and wanted to know if she wanted to go with him to Seattle. This confuses and yet thrills her. She eventually says yes.

Okay.We have now established who the main characters in this saga are. Personally, I am thinking that Bella reminds me that I was once young and 'crushed' on the cutest boys in school. Of course she is more subtle about it than I ever was in her mannerisms and does not gush they way I did. She sees herself as ordinary which cannot help the plight of the other boys, Mike, Eric and Tyler. In my case, I was always trying to be the center of attention which now as an adult I see was not always the best approach to make and keep friends. As well, Edwards state of hot and cold is supremely confusing even to me. I always say that the 'Y' chromosome that men carry make them somewhat defective. Next up Chapter 5

Chapter 3 (Phenomena)

Snow turned into rain turned into an overnight ice mess. What a thing to wake up to. Especially for clutzy people like Bella. She dresses eats and leaves for school with the knowledge she will see Edward.

Arriving at school safely, she realizes that Charlie (her father) has put chains on her truck tires. At this gesture, not knowing whether to laugh because he sees his awkwardness in her or cry because of his apparent love although he cannot verbalize it, she contemplates. She is struggling to compose herself when....--- A loud screech interrupts with just seconds to observe....Edward is several cars away looking horrified and a large blue van is careening across the parking lot straight at Bella. All of a sudden recognition that Bella was not alone, someone was speaking to her and ohmigod it was HIM. He pushed her out of harms way. The accident that wasn't was over and he had some answers she needed but realized she was not going to get as the throng of school goers were rushing the scene, calling 911 and trying to determine the severity of what happened.

Charlie arrives on scene just as they were loading Bella into an ambulance. She's untouched by the incident but fuzzy on the details. In the Emergency Room, a fellow student Tyler is being treated for the injuries he received in the incident. Tyler was driving the blue van and hit a patch of ice which caused the skid. Edward is also there but under his own steam. In walks the doctor. This MUST be Edwards father the resemblance is so strong.

Bella is going home but prior she attempts to confront Edward to get the truth of the incident. When she looked at him she could tell his unpleasantness had returned and she was not going to get the answers she so desperately needed. That night she dreamed of Edward Cullen.

So my analysis thus far is totally correct. Edward is a head case. Nice to nasty and back again. Unfortunately, you can tell Bella feels strong emotions towards Edward as she goes from the need to confront him to the craving to see him to the dreaming of him at the end of the chapter. I am thinking 'schoolgirl crush, but at this point I am enthralled with the mystery that surrounds Edward and need to know what comes next because I am getting thoroughly engrossed and do not want to miss a thing.

Chapter 2 (Open Book)

Another typical teenage day. At least Bella is starting to make friends. The boys in school seem to be paying a little attention to her. All but one. Edward turns out to be a no-show and this gets Bella wondering and worrying.

At home, she finally gets in touch with her mother via e-mail about the few mundane experiences she has had and starts to settle in with her dad.

This cannot be easy on a 17 year old female to be a child of divorced parents and having to remember each moment where your loyalties and duties lay.

She queries her dad regarding the “Cullen” clan and he tells her the little he knows, emphasizing that the students have not given him any trouble and the medical field in Forks was lucky to have Carlisle.

Days pass and still no Edward at school. Running through my head at this point is that Edward is a total mental case who needs psychiatric help.

Second school week…snow. Not favorable weather for the awkward people like Bella and I, rain is a little more preferable. Lunch this day has now brought heightened awareness to Bella that Edward has returned and she will have to face him in Biology class. They are seated as partners but the atmosphere is slightly less tense than the prior week. He introduces himself, and strikes up a conversation while they are doing their class work, trying to get to know her better. Okay, now I think he really is imbalanced to be so polite after being so utterly rude. The day ends with Bella wondering what in the world just occurred.

My take: Although her various struggles seem to outshine those of the ‘average’ teenager, it seems that the daily grind of the “American” teen has not changed much in the 22 years since I personally left high school behind me. The intrigue is still with me so...onward to Chapter 3!

Preface and Chapter 1 (First Sight)

You are introduced to the narrator of the book in the preface. No name and no nonsense. Just a matter of fact statement from someone who acknowledges the trouble they are in and the situation they are facing. Brave soul.

Interesting start to a novel that is meant for 'young adults'.

I think I should stop right now and not waste my resources in reading this, however I am intrigued, so I continue.

In Chapter One we discover the narrator is a young female about 17 named Bella.

This story is obviously told from her perspective as you read a little further. She is painstakingly normal, awkward, and the assumption being made is she has not grown into herself yet by the tone of her thoughts.

p. 10 "I didn't relate well to people my age. Maybe the truth was that I didn't relate well to people, period".

Personally, at this point is when I started to empathize with her character due to feeling the same awkwardness during my school years.

First day at a new school and she's the center of attention although not happy about it, makes a few tentative friends and is especially observant at midday in the cafeteria, observing a group of 5 students (three male, two female) sitting isolated in a corner. She gets the gossip on them from another girl sitting with her and you now know these are The Cullens.

Stop: Is this what this novel was going to be? A telling of a young girls high school struggles? Continue...

Biology class: Bella is forced to sit with one of the male students from the 'cafeteria clique' and he seems to dislike her on sight. (Something else I identify with). She makes it through class, finishes her day and retreats to the office to turn in her first day documentation. Edward (you now know), her biology cohort is there trying to change his schedule. Why? Bella finishes up and gets in her truck. She is contemplating her day and heads for home.

My take on this beginning is that it's going to be about the struggles of Bella to fit in with a new life style and some overwhelming weirdness with this guy Edward. I will continue reading the story because of course now, I am starting to need to know what the discord is from Edward to Bella and I want to relive (in my mind) a much simpler time in life before my reality comes crashing in on me again. Tomorrow: Chapter 2

My Twilight Addiction

Okay readers. Don't hate me.

My knowledge of "Twilight" was nil to none even when the movie came out in November of 2008. Vampires remind me of horror films and even knowing that little did not endear me to the story or the film.

At the time, I was too busy being disappointed that "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" was postponed until Summer of 2009. As well, the young adult gothic romance, fantasy or however 'Twilight' is categorized is way outside of my normal reading genre or my normal movie viewings. I am so embedded emotionally into the classics of authors like Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Hemingway and others along with my guiltiest pleasure of the dime-store romance that this series was off my horizon and in outer space. Remember this as well, I am 38 almost 39 years old!

My first contact with "Twilight" came as a gift from a friend in return for a favor I had done. She presented me with the book and I thanked her kindly although I never thought I would actually pick it up and read it.

Boy was I ever wrong!!

That same evening, my curiosity got the better of me and I started reading it. Shocker...I actually liked it...no not liked LOVED! I could picture the characters in my head, hear them speaking and drown out the reality of my own crazy life. I literally did not put the book down until I finished it at 1:00 AM the following morning!

Okay, I thought I was done and although my curiosity won out I was absolutely NOT going to go out and purchase the sequel books and was NOT going to see the film. I was and still am upset about the Harry Potter thing thinking the studio postponed the release for fear of competition. How right I probably am now that I see what a HUGE phenomena this Twilight saga really is.

I went to work the following Monday and was speaking to a co-worker and she said she had the movie on DVD and would lend it to me. I thanked her and that Friday I borrowed the movie and took it home to watch. When I got home and put the DVD on (my husband went in the other room) and I got so mesmerized by the film that the next day I had to go out and purchase my own copy which I knew I had to have in my vast DVD Collection.

I then told my friend that I absolutely had to have the rest of the books, which to my surprise she said she was going to purchase for me in a few weeks time. I watched the film several times in the next few weeks in anticipation of receiving the rest of the "saga". I planned on not being as intricately involved in the rest of the books as I was the first, however that turned out to be impossible! This blog is going to take you through my experiences chapter by chapter, book by book as a more mature reader of a young adult series.