Twilight
As the first book opens, her mother is married to Phil Dwyer, a minor league
baseball player who is much younger than she is. Phil travels a lot due to his profession, and Bella notices how much her mother wants to be with him while he travels. So, to make it easier for them, Bella moves back to her birthtown of Forks, Washington, to live with her father, Charlie Swan (or Chief Swan).
She enrolls at Forks High School and notices that boys are immediately attracted to her, although she dismisses the advances. She makes quite a few new friends, including Jessica Stanley, Angela Weber, and Mike Newton.
The one group of people at Forks High School that truly intrigues Bella are the Cullens, a mysteriously beautiful family, comprised of five adopted children. In particular, the youngest, the "impossibly handsome" Edward Cullen, captures her attention. At first, Bella is sure that he hates her — they are forced to sit next to each other in
biology class, and he gives her a frightening look of loathing, then clenches his fists and grinds his teeth, not even glancing her way. Later on, she finds him in the office trying desperately to switch out of the class. Despite this strange behavior, Bella finds herself drawn to him, but still believes that he is trying to switch classes in order to avoid being near her, which puzzles and upsets her exceedingly.
After a week-long absence, Edward returns and speaks to Bella for the first time. He is pleasant and civil, and she notices that his eyes, which were jet black/onyx when she first met him, are now a beautiful shade of gold/topaz.
Shortly after, Edward saves her from being hit by an out-of-control van with what seemed like
supernatural speed and strength. A suspicious Bella confronts him about it at the hospital, but he refuses to talk about it, reluctantly promising to 'explain later'. Bella soon starts having dreams about Edward. For several weeks, they do not talk to each other.
As the story progresses, Bella finds out from a family friend, Jacob Black, that the Cullens 'supposedly' are
vampires, or, as they are referred to by Jacob's American Indian tribe (The Quileutes), "the Cold Ones". They are supposedly different from other vampires in substituting animal blood for human blood, refusing to hunt humans. The Cullens call themselves "vegetarians" because only drinking animal blood is like someone eating tofu instead of meat.
Even as Edward and Bella become romantically involved, it is hard for them to be together, because her blood "sings" to him. Although he does not drink human blood, Edward constantly lusts for it, and Bella's blood is especially tantalizing for him. The scent of her blood is so alluring that it causes him actual physical pain to be with her. He must control his desires at all times, and finds out to mild annoyance that his mind reading capabilities do not work with her.
Eventually, the two declare their love for one another and grow closer, asking each other questions and getting to know each other better. Edward introduces her to his family, and she is asked to watch their baseball game.
Danger reveals itself in the form of a visiting vampire coven led by James; a sadistic tracker vampire who has set his sights on killing Bella. Edward and his family save Bella and destroy James, although the other vampires of his coven, Victoria and Laurent, survive. Bella escapes death with broken ribs, multiple fractures and bruises and a permanent crescent-shaped scar on her hand where James had bitten her.
Although being bitten by a vampire would have changed Bella into a vampire, Edward drew out the venom before its effects could take place. Bella spends time in a hospital with Edward constantly by her side, where he admits that his sister Alice saw a vision of Bella becoming a vampire. However, he is determined to keep her human, despite her own determination to become a vampire. The reasons behind his intentions are not revealed in
Twilight but is eventually revealed by Edward in
Eclipse.
Edward takes Bella to the prom despite her broken leg and angry protests. And again, they confess their true love for each other. There are high levels of tension as book ends with Edward and Bella's differences of opinion about turning her into a vampire.