Bella & Edward Cullen

The premise for both the Bella Swan character and the Twilight series originated in a dream Stephenie Meyer had in which an "average girl" and a "fantastically beautiful, sparkly ... vampire ... were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods." In this dream, the pair "were discussing the difficulties inherent in the facts that ... they were falling in love with each other while ... the vampire was particularly attracted to the scent of her blood, and was having a difficult time restraining himself from killing her."

Meyer's original characters were unnamed; she took to calling...

When I walked into Edward's house my jaw dropped, and I stopped right in the doorway.
"Yeah, Esme and Alice went a little overboard this year." Edward said studying my expression.
"A little?" I asked.
"Ha. I think they wanted to show off their decoration skills for you." Edward explained. Of course I freaked out.
"For me? Why in the world would they do that?!"
"Well Bella, think about it: you're their future daughter and sister in-law... and besides, we haven't celebrated Christmas around here in a long time." he said with wistful look in his eyes. All of a sudden I was up in Alice's room,...

(Notes: This section is self-gratification at its very worst. I was just having a blast being all pink-ribbons-and-bows girly with the prom thing. Enter at your own risk.)

Extended Prom Remix

"When are you going to tell me what's going on, Alice?"
"You'll see, be patient," she ordered, grinning deviously.
We were in my truck, but she was driving. Three more weeks and I'd be out of the walking cast, and then I was going to very firmly put my good foot down about the chauffeuring business. I liked driving.
It was late May, and somehow the land around Forks was finding ways to be even more green...