How did Bella fall in love with Edward so fast?
Twilight (2005) by Stephanie Meyer is a bestselling vampire novel, the first in a hit series that has been adapted to the screen.
When 17-year-old Bella Swan moves from Phoenix to the small town of Forks, Washington, to live with her dad, little does she know that she’s about to have the most thrilling and frightening experience of her life.
On her first day of school, Bella sees a mysterious group of extremely good-looking students: Rosalie and Jasper Hale, and Emmett, Alice, and Edward Cullen. She learns they are adopted and live together with Dr. Cullen, a renowned local surgeon , and his wife. Bella is particularly drawn to Edward. In class, Bella sits next to him. To her surprise, Edward is immediately hostile toward her.
A short time later, one icy morning in the school parking lot, Bella is standing behind her truck when a van comes skidding toward her. Before she knows what’s happening, Edward appears out of nowhere and jumps between her and the van. Miraculously, Edward seems to lift the van away from her. Bella can’t grasp how Edward was able to come to her aid so quickly or how he could have rescued her without getting injured himself.
Bella starts thinking about Edward all the time. She also dreams about him. But when they see each other at school, Edward tells her it’s best if they not become friends. Bella can’t understand. Then one day, Edward tells Bella he’s tired of avoiding her. Bella starts asking questions. To her surprise, Edward insinuates that he might be dangerous. Bella isn’t scared; instead, she is curious and even more attracted to him.
At a beach party, Bella talks to her friend, a Native American teen named Jacob. When she asks Jacob about the Cullens, he tells her that his people are wary of Edward and “the cold ones”; they’re rumored to be vampires.
Bella starts thinking about the strange things she’s noticed about Edward, like his incredible speed, agility, and strength. Even though she suspects that Edward might be a vampire, she can’t stop pinning after him.
Later, Bella goes shopping with friends in a nearby town. When she takes a walk by herself, she notices that four sinister men have started following her. Suddenly Edward pulls up out of nowhere to collect her. He admits later that he followed her because he knows trouble has a way of finding her. He tells Bella that he had read her would-be assailants’ and knew what they were planning to do. Edward admits that he is indeed a vampire, but he assures her that he and his family hunt animals, not people.
After Edward tells Bella the truth, they start spending lots of time together. One day Edward takes Bella to his favorite forest meadow. He admits that when he first met her he had been so overcome with desire that he had resented her. Then Edward gently kisses Bella’s neck, collarbone, and lips, proving to both her and himself that he can control his vampire impulses.
Later, Edward tells Bella his story. He was born in Chicago in 1901. At age 17, he was dying of influenza. Dr. Cullen found him and made him a vampire. Vampires live forever. He and his siblings all have special powers. For example, because as a human Edward was always sensitive to other people’s thoughts, as a vampire he is able to read minds.
One day Edward and his siblings take Bella to play ball in the rain. While they’re playing, a strange group of backpackers emerges from the forest. Bella realizes they’re vampires. One of them, James, catches Bella’s scent and realizes she’s human. Edward quickly races off with Bella, but they know James won’t give up chasing Bella because he is what’s known as a tracker.
In a panic, Bella tells her father that she’s headed back to Phoenix to be with her mom. She and Edward make plans to reunite there and run away together. Jasper and Alice escort Bella to Phoenix.
Just when Bella thinks they might be able to escape James, she gets a call. It’s James. He claims to be holding Bella’s mom hostage. Bella races home to save her mother. Following James’s instructions, she meets him at a dance studio close to her mom’s house. There she learns James has tricked her. In fact, Bella’s mother is safe in Florida, where her husband, Phil, is working.
In the studio, James menacingly circles Bella. He tells her a story. It turns out that in the 1920s, he had been hunting Alice, at the time a patient in an asylum. Before James could get to Alice, Dr. Cullen turned her into a vampire. James explains that he is hunting Bella as his revenge against the Cullens. He lunges violently at Bella, and she is knocked out from the blow.
Bella awakens to find herself in the care of Dr. Cullen and Edward. Edward is frantically sucking James’s vampire venom out of her bite. Once again, Edward has saved Bella’s life. Bella begs Edward to turn her into a vampire so that they can live together forever without fear. But Edward refuses…for now.
