Music's Silver Sound
Chapter 1-One Summer's Day
"Bella, sweetie, could you go find the cat for me? I think he ran into the forest next to the house. Just run over and see if he's there. If he is, could you grab him for me? Thanks sweets." Asked Mrs. Gershwin.
"Sure Mrs. Gershwin, no problem." I responded, trying to push the annoyance out of my voice.
Mrs. Gershwin was the only friend my mother ever made in Forks. In the short time my mother happened to live here, she had only befriended the cat-lady who lived down the street, or highway, I guess.
Now, whenever I came to Forks over the summer, I had to stay with her par my mother's request. My mother always said she wanted to keep touch with Mrs. Gershwin, although she never really meant it, and I was how she did it. Mrs. Gershwin loved having me and she loved my mother. I think the only reason my mother made me stay with her, was out of respect for the old lady.
For three days each summer, I brought my small bag of clothes and stayed in the tiny guest room in Mrs. Gershwin's stuffy old house.
The guest room had old frilly white, now yellow, curtains adorning the windows that showed an amazing view of, you guessed it, forest. The whole house had the burning odor of cleaning supplies and pine fresh air freshener.
Mrs. Gershwin always tried to get me to play with the cats, or help her plant some tulips in the front yard, but I wouldn't have any of it. The one time she got me to do anything was when she cornered me, after I left the bathroom. I was trying to sneak around the corner and run back into my room, when she found me. She asked me to go find the cat, because she was too old to go search through the forest herself
I couldn't possibly say no, it would hurt her too much, even if I hated her. And I also thought it wouldn't be so bad to walk around a little bit. So I went.
She had told me to follow the trail until it started to fade. Then I should turn around and come back. She said not to wander too far, because she wouldn't be able to come if I needed her help. Yeah right, like I would need her help.
I walked to my room to grab my sneakers and my raincoat. While she wasn't looking, I pulled my book into my pocket. Maybe I would be able to read after I found the cat.
I walked quickly under the shelter of the leaves to get out of the light mist that was now turning to rain. I meandered down the trail, letting my mind wander away from my body, and into the story I had just been reading. In school, we were told that we had to read a Shakespeare play over the summer. I had chosen Romeo and Juliet, because, of course, it was the only one my mom had in the house. She loved romance novels, and I loved the classics, so Romeo and Juliet was a must for us.
I was looking ahead to where the path made an abrupt left turn, when I heard meowing from behind me.
I quickly turned around and saw Nate, the cat, walking towards me down the path. I looked around to see if anyone had found him, but was too shy to say something. I noticed a quit rustling of leaves from where Nate had left the forest just moments earlier.
"Hello?" I called through the trees.
No response.
"Hello?" I called again, just a little louder.
Again, no response.
"Seriously, if there's someone out there, all I want to do is thank you for bringing the cat back to me. If you don't want to say anything, that's fine with me, but I'm just saying thank you."
I waited to see if the person would come, but I heard nothing.
I finally turned around and saw Nate behind me, curled up on the leafy ground. "Come on Nate, lets go back home so old cat lady can stuff you with even more junk food." I pushed him with my foot, but he wouldn't budge. He opened his mouth and meowed again. I glared at the fat old cat, sure that he had been laughing at me.
"Come on you stupid old cat. LET"S MOVE!" I screamed at him. He looked up at me, pushed himself to his feet, walked about ten paces ahead of me, and sat back down again.
I glared at the cat with such menace that I was sure I was shaking.
"COME ON YOU STUPID OLD CAT! STOP LYING AROUND, AND GET BACK TO MRS. GERSHWIN'S HOUSE!" I was so mad at this old cat, that I stomped my feet. The cat opened his eyes and glared at me, mad for waking him up.
"YOU'RE MAD AT ME?" I screamed at the cat. "IF MY MOTHER WASN'T SUCH GOOD FRIENDS WITH MRS. GIRSHWIN, I WOULD LEAVE YOU HERE FOR THE WOLVES! I SHOULD LEAVE YOU HERE, YOU'RE A MEAN OLD STUPID CAT WHO BITES PEOPLE! I STILL HAVE THE SCAR FROM WHEN YOU BIT ME LAST SUMMER, YOU STUPID FILTHY CAT!" I wanted to punch something, which was weird for me because I'm normally a non-violent person.
"Fine," I said to the cat "if you want to stay here, then I'll just go. Find your own way back, Nate."
I started walking away. When Nate was about five feet behind me, I heard a rustle of leaves and a meow.
"Oh, now you'll come with me." I said as I turned around.
I gasped. Nate had come up behind me and was standing in between my legs, hissing at a girl.
My eyes went wide and I felt heat rush up my neck and face.
I stared at the girl. She was wearing clothing that seemed appropriate for warm California weather, not the rainy weather of Forks. She was leaning against a tree, looking at me with kindness dancing through her golden eyes. Her hair was straight, sticking up, and crowning her face in an inky black shadow. The humid weather seemed to have no affect on her clothing or hair. Whereas my hair was damp and frizzing, and my clothes were just as bad.
"Umm…. Hello." I mumbled, still bright red.
She smiled kindly and said, "Having trouble with your cat?" Her voice was high and tinkling, and had a sickly sweet ringing to it. Her voice made the quote, "Just as sweet as music's silver sound" run through my head. She sounded genuinely kind, without any trace of sarcasm. I didn't know how to respond to that. I just stared at her numbly. She kept staring back at me.
Finally I managed to say, "Thanks for bringing the cat back. I really do hate him, but he doesn't deserve to be eaten by wolves. Maybe something worse, but not wolves. I don't even know if wolves come out this far, but who knows. Maybe there was one who got lost or something…" I trailed off, feeling like an utter idiot. I knew I could babble along with the best of them, but it was still humiliating.
Her smile became more of a smirk and I swear I could hear her giggling. I glared at her, "What's so funny?"
She looked up with excitement in her eyes, and looked me over again.
I was searching her face closely, looking for something in this strangers face. I found it, she seemed expectant of my yell, and the outburst gave her even more energy than she had before.
The fact that she enjoyed my annoyance made it grow stronger. So I said, "Why are you staring like that? I know I'm a little different but I'm not some submissive kid who'll bow down at your feet just because you're older than me, and look really pretty, and stuff." I had started off strong, but my ending was pretty lame.
While I spoke, she had begun to smile in respect, until she heard that last part. That's when she said, "Why thanks. That means so much more than you would think."
I stared with confusion, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just that I appreciate your compliment. Nothing else." she responded.
"Oh." I could think of nothing else to say, so I just looked at my shoes.
"What's your name?" she asked me, even though she looked like she knew the answer.
I looked down. "If I tell you, you won't go and tell some crazy lunatic guy and have him stalk me, right?" I knew it sounded crazy, but something about this girl just put me on edge. Her smile widened and she started laughing again.
"I promise I wont have anyone stalk you, I just want to know your name."
"My name's Bella." I said curtly, annoyed that she had been laughing at me, even if what I said was idiotic to the extreme. I looked into her eyes, and saw that she was waiting to say something.
"So, you're the police chief's daughter, right?"
"Yea," I said wearily "how do you know Charlie?"
"I think most people in this town would know who the police chief is."
Even though what she said made absolute sense, I still wasn't so sure if I could trust her. I felt very comfortable around her, almost like an old friend, but there was just something about her. What was it? I needed to know more about her. Maybe if I'd seen her before, I would know why I felt this way.
"Well, what's your name? Do you live in Forks or what?" I asked
She looked unsurprised by my question, as if she'd been expecting it.
"My name's Alice, and, no, I don't live in Forks. I'm just visiting the area."
"You're visiting the forest?" I hadn't meant for it to slip out, it just did.
She smiled again. "No, actually I was just walking through with my friend."
I was confused, "Your friend? Is he invisible?"
She laughed a little at my ridiculous question, then answered, "I think he's just looking at some trees. I hear him coming, I'll go get him. I want him to meet you. You're fascinating."
I blushed scarlet again. I didn't like being treated as some experiment.
She had disappeared around the trees, and was heading back with a tall blond guy in tow.
She bounced, there's no other way to describe it, back over and said, "Bella, this is Jasper."
The guy named Jasper looked at me with piercing yellow eyes. I stood up a little straighter, raised my chin, and stared right back.
Apparently this wasn't the response he'd been expecting because his eyes went a little wider and he turned to look at Alice and said, "She's curious and excited. A little untrusting too, but very comfortable. It's very strange. I think she was bored before when I brought the cat out, but we gave her something to think about."
He had spoken so quietly that I had to strain to hear it all. Once he had said something about a cat I blurted out, "Oh, so you were the one to bring Nate back? Thanks, I really appreciate that." I smiled up at him while he looked down at me in amazement. Alice, though, was smiling very proudly, like she'd won an argument. My smile faltered when Jasper glanced down at Alice with a complete expression of amazement on his face.
"What?" I asked. "What did I do? If I wasn't supposed to hear that then I'm sorry. I have a tendency to listen in on conversations. My mom always called me her little spy. When we were at restaurants, she asked me to listen in on people's conversations to amuse herself. It was kinda weird." Once I realized what I was saying, I was horrified. I never talked this much. I was usually asked to talk more than I was asked to stop talking. Why was I saying so much when talking to this odd pair?
While I was pondering that thought, I noticed Jasper lean down to speak to Alice again. His back must get tired, I thought, she's so short and he's so tall. Out of politeness for their conversation, I looked down at Nate. He was hissing and spitting and curling around my leg. That's odd behavior for him, he would usually just bight the people he doesn't like.
Even though I was trying not to pay attention to the conversation, I heard it anyway. "She has amazing hearing for a human." Jasper said. A human, I thought, if I was a human then what were they? I pushed this thought out of my mind, it was way too disturbing. "She isn't fazed by our presence. When I approached her, she naturally turned into a defensive pose. I told you she would act like this, but you wouldn't believe me" Alice had said that. Why would they have affected me, I thought. They were just people, hopefully. Thinking about this, I gulped. This caught their attention.
Jasper looked at Alice and said under his breath, "She's starting to feel the natural aversion. But her need of knowledge is stronger then it."
I glared at Jasper, "If you guys are going to talk about me, why not just say it aloud. And by the way, how come you think you know what I'm feeling? To tell the truth, I am starting to feel a little scared of you guys. You're all creepy and casual, and meeting in the woods is just a little murderesque don't ya' think." I kept rambling on, and as I did, my voice got louder and louder. Jasper made a move towards me, but I stepped back before he could do anything. They were watching me like I was an ant in their science project. I was wary, and creeped out, and confused. I just wanted to go home and read. It wasn't fair that I had to be here in Forks. I hated it here.
As the tears started to drip down my cheeks, Jasper said, "Bella, it's o.k. We'll walk you back to Mrs. Gershwin's house. Right Alice?" he looked towards her. "Of course we will. Jasper will carry the cat, and we'll walk you back." She looked at me and smiled, a pleading look coming into her eyes.
I looked up at them, wanting to trust them, but something was keeping me on edge. Maybe it was the amount of cleaning products back at cat lady's house that was getting to my head.
"O.k. I'll go with you, but I don't feel like I can trust you." I said apologetically.
"That's o.k. Bella, we're used to that." Alice said.
Used to it? What did that mean? I looked at her confusedly. She sighed and shook her head. I guess I'd never find out. I walked back down the path with Alice and Jasper walking quietly behind me.
As I approached the house, I saw Mrs. Gershwin look up from her gardening. "Is that your grandmother?" asked Jasper.
"Are you kidding?" I asked back "I hope you were. She would probably drown her grand children in lace and cat fur if she wasn't careful." I rolled my eyes,
Alice had a bemused expression, so I clarified. "She's absolutely obsessed with cats and lace. It covers her whole house. It's no wonder that she never married."
They both laughed a little, then turned back to me. Alice's face suddenly went hard and cold, while her eyes were distant and glazed over. Jasper watched her protectively, and watched me with guarded eyes. I was about to ask, but Alice was already speaking.
"Here Bella, you're going to need this. Hold out your hand and close your eyes." I looked at them with apprehension but did what she asked.
I felt something cold and hard drop into my palm, and I closed my fingers around it instantly. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was holding a thin silver ring with one small purple stone in it. Along the inside edge was a small engraving. When I peered closer I saw that it said "music's silver sound". I ran that through my head and realized that I had just read it.
"Hey Alice?" I said.
"Yeah Bella?"
"That's a quote from Romeo and Juliet, isn't it?" I asked. She looked at me with respect. "Yeah, it is. I loved that quote. When I read it, I thought it was a beautiful line." I nodded, completely in agreement with her.
I wanted to ask her something else about Shakespeare, but Jasper said, "Sorry Bella. We can't stay. Our friends will be wondering where we went."
"Oh, o.k. Jasper. Alice, nice to meet you." I nodded at both of them, and walked back to the frilly house.
As I walked, I slipped the ring onto my finger and felt the icy cold that emanated from it. The ring was smooth, and fit very snugly on my finger. I vowed then and there that I would never take it off. This ring represented the only excitement I had ever found in Forks