She ran her hand over the faded red paint of the pickup truck Charlie had given her earlier in the day. She couldn't believe that Charlie had thought to be so generous and idly wondered if Renee had anything to do with it. Knowing her, she'd probably insisted that he provide her transportation because Renee knew that Charlie might keep odd hours with his police work and she wanted Bella to have some means of independence while there.

Bella had saved up to buy her own vehicle but now she wondered about other ways that money might go to use. Either way, the truck was a good thing because there was no way that, especially as the new girl, she was going to ride to her first day of school on the bus.

As if I weren't going to be conspicuous enough already, she thought as she scooted into the driver's seat and closed the door behind her, from what Charlie had told her about the town's excitement over her arrival. Why couldn't he have kept it a secret? I mean, sure, the school officials would need to know because she had to be enrolled. But who else needed to know? NO one, that's who. She'd rather be a fly on the wall than a main attraction any day.

She tucked a few errant strands of brown hair behind her ear before putting her foot on the clutch and turning the key in the ignition. What was it that Jacob had said? Something about a 'double clutch'? She pumped the pedal and jumped slightly as the beast roared to life. Looking around, she hoped that the truck wouldn't bother the neighbors with its rather impressive reverberation.

"Bella! Bella!" Charlie trotted out the front door of the house as she rolled down the window.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, are you going to take this thing for a spin?" He asked, a thin line of worry creasing his brow.

"Uh, yeah. I was just going to drive Dracula around a little, yanno, to get a feel for him."

"Dracula?" Charlie quirked an eyebrow at her, shifting his weight lazily to the other foot.

"Yeah, that's his name." She patted the dash, smiling. "You gotta admit that this truck is a beast." Charlie just stared at her, once again choosing not to waste words when he had no comment. "Why?" She cleared her throat. "Did you need something?"

She sadly noted that the air around her father was starting to solidify in a white mass around his body, presumably from exhaust fumes. With a little cough and a glance to the back of the vehicle, Charlie commented, "Maybe I should have Jacob look at this thing again..."

"No, no. It's fine. I'm sure the engine is just...airing out...or something. I'll see you in a bit, okay?" She gave Charlie a half smile as she put the truck into reverse. He stood in the yard, waving slightly, his gray streaked mustache accenting the constant state of concern he'd been in since she'd arrived.

Just as the back end of her truck made it into the road a woman screamed. She slammed on the brakes and turned to see a woman bend down and scoop into her arms a dog on a leash. It looked like a yorkie. Charlie's mouth was agape for half a second before he jogged over to the woman to presumably apologize on Bella's behalf. She gave them a sheepish smile as she struggled to get the truck back into gear. She finished pulling out and drove away from the house, whispering sorry under her breath as she passed.

See; Dracula. The truck is already out for blood.

Bella made a dry run to Fork's High School without further incident. It
was Saturday so no one was around. The high school looked like every
other high school she'd seen. There were lots of windows, tons of brick
and of course there was a lonely flag pole out front. The chain slapped
against the metal pole in a disjointed clatter as the wind blew
drizzling rain across it. The dreary weather added a note of gloom to
the landscape, shadowing features that might otherwise have been almost
likeable. Perhaps it was her mood, but to her eyes it was a scene
befitting Edgar Allen Poe himself.

Dracula had proven difficult to handle at first but she was confident
she'd be able to control the beast's more primal urge to stutter and
stall within the next few days. Actually, it had only stalled out twice
during her drive but that was because she had found her mind wandering
back to the days leading up to her arrival in Forks and the decision
that had made it necessary.

She'd decided that she didn't begrudge Renee or Phil their need to be
alone as newlyweds, or their desire to move to Florida for Phil's
career. She was happy for them both. Their romance had been rather
whirlwind and it felt odd having someone else around after so long to
take care of Renee - to find her lost set of keys, to pick up last
minute items at the convenience store down the road, to focus her on the
task at hand. Phil stepped into the role admirably from day one, as if
he instinctually understood Renee's...disability.

At first, Bella had suspected that he was trying to prey off the good
natured innocence of her mother's naivety but it was soon clear to see
that he genuinely cared for her and made her the happiest she'd ever
seen Renee. That reality alone solidified the decision for her to move
to Forks in Bella's mind. Renee didn't need her anymore, and frankly
that was a good thing. Bella had her own life to live. But that didn't
keep her from feeling a distinct disconnect from the world around her
since her primary role as caretaker had been removed and now she had to
figure out what her new role in life would be.

Despite her understanding of the situation, there was definitely a part
of her that wished her mother had given her more time to process these
changes. In a matter of days it seemed she'd packed up her few important
belongings and was leaving the hot, dry air of Phoenix behind. She
wasn't overly fond of Phoenix while she was there but it had been home
for so long that looking back she truly did miss its dramatic
differences from Forks.

Returning her attention to the present, Bella sighed softly as she again noted the weird drizzle that Forks seemed to pretty much always be
covered in. It was a good thing that she didn't much care for the state
of her hair because if she did this place would be a nightmare. She sat
for a few more moments, having nowhere in particular to go, before
deciding to head back to Charlie's. She was getting hungry and needed to
finish unpacking her clothes for school on Monday.

Dinner was nothing special. Bella had discovered that there were several boxes snuck into her luggage of the organic herb flavored couscous that she and her mother both liked. The simple yet kind gesture from her mother made her feel both happy and sad at the same time.

Could she be missing her mother already? Well, if she was honest with herself she missed both Renee AND Phil. There was nothing that could pick her spirits up quite like Renee's soft, gentle empathy or Phil's ambitious enthusiasm. As the thought had occurred to her, she realized that she hadn't known she felt that way before. So, in honor of that revelation she decided to fix couscous as a light evening meal.

Of course, Charlie didn't want to have anything to do with it so he offered to treat them both at the local diner. It didn't take much to convince him that she just wanted to stay home and finish getting settled in. He seemed a little unnerved by her presence in the house, as if there just wasn't enough space in it anymore.

He left her sitting Indian style on the couch with a warm bowl of couscous in one hand and the remote in the other. He'd insisted on showing her how to work the controls before he left, bless his heart. She set aside the remote as soon as he was gone and leaned back to enjoy the silence of the house while she ate.

It wasn't long though before she went upstairs to finish folding, hanging, shifting and dispersing her belongings throughout her room and the single bathroom. The chore gave her a sense of peace and as she stowed away her last bit of luggage she decided that it might just be...tolerable...here after all.