Shooting the moon - Edward Cullen

chapter 1

Another day lit the sky outside my window. The colours that filled the sky were some of my favourites: pastel shades of violet, blue and pink mixed with vivid oranges and reds in an impressive wash of colour across the blank expanse of sky. I'd always tried to catch the beauty of these sunrises on camera, but it seemed an electronic gadget could never fully capture every detail in the same way as the human eye.

I opened the window wide to let the fresh wintery air flood into my room; I knew I'd regret it later. It wasn't that I would be uncomfortable with the cool temperature because I was used to the cold, but more that the rest of the family preferred not to live in arctic conditions and so would probably moan at me. They didn't have quite the same experience of dealing with the cold, mainly because their rooms are always nice and toasty. Not mine. My room juts out from the rest of the house, giving it 3 external walls; and I have learnt over the years that it can get very cold. I once woke up to find that I could actually see my own breath.

Luckily, unlike my parents, I'm a northern girl, which means I grew up with the ability to survive near sub-zero temperatures with nothing more than flimsy material covering my skin. I learnt to love the fresh feeling of the cold against my skin rather than thinking it is uncomfortable. My parents both grew up in the mild and sunny weather of Cambridge and so it had taken them longer to adapt to the cooler weather in the North of England. As for my little sister, Ashleigh, she just liked the attention she got from complaining.

With a sigh, I turned to face my room. A sumptuous, deep purple covered the walls and, to me, seemed to warm the entire room. Along the side wall was a large bed that doubled as my place relax when my friends came over to chat. Thrown across the end of the bed was a purple velvet comforter. I reached out to run my hands along the top of it, sighing at the feather soft feel under my fingertips. The comforter was my favourite thing to snuggle into if I was having a down day. Not that I had many, but there would always be those times in the month when I just wanted to curl up in velvet luxury and wallow to the sounds of melodious guitar songs and soft piano tunes. These sob sessions never lasted very long thanks to my invasive little sister. I was sure the very idea of someone enjoying a little bit of quiet time was foreign to her bubbly nature.

My eyes surveyed the rest of the room. I guess it was a typical teenage girl's room, but I liked to think that somehow it showed just a little bit of who I was. I would hate to think that a room I had lived in for 18 years showed nothing about me.

Golden and cream sheer curtains danced in the slight breeze from the open window. As my eyes continued their tour around my room, I smiled when I saw the little unique objects that really gave the room a personal touch. A crystal lamp, which I had bought when my family and I had been on holiday in Paris, sat above my bed and would shoot rainbows around my room when it was switched on. The wall opposite my bed was covered in pictures, art I'd drawn, photos I'd taken. I'd even begged Mum to let me scrawl song lyrics and literary quotes in between the pictures. Some were from historical geniuses whilst others were just silly things I'd heard either from friends or the media.

I snapped out of my distraction, created by the wall of images, and closed the window before Mum came and ranted about losing heat.

The first thing I saw as I turned was my reflection in the mirror. I knew it wouldn't be pleasant but I still recoiled from the sight. I had been out the night before and it showed all over my face. My chest-length hair was a matted mess of curls and waves all flicking in different directions.

I took a deep breath and was hit with the unpleasant odour of stale smoke with just a hint of sweat and beer.

Lovely I thought with a grimace.

Last night's make up still remained on my face, leaving me with smudged panda eyes and pink stained lips. Attention to my mouth reminded me of the need to brush my teeth.