There were so many things I disliked about the world, and let's say there's one that I dislike the most.
Edward. Anthony. Masen. The mere sound of that horrid name sends tingles in my spine and makes me hate the poor guy even more. And to think I had a crush on him! Of course, he was the most 'handsome guy in school,' but only a select few knew his true meaning in this world: to make our lives a living heck. Well, I'm pretty much exaggerating, but who cares?
My name is Bella Swan…and this is my story.
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BAM! In Juxtaposition
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By Herm-Own-Ninny879
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01. I smiled, you ran away
BPOV
Hello there fellow LiveJournalists,
Have you ever had one of those days where you felt the world was raging against you in a midst of flame and fury? Well…today was one of those days. My parents, Renee and Charlie Swan, went against my will and might by shipping us, all three of us, off to Forks, Washington to live a dreary life in the rain and darkness. Oh joy. My father had received a promotion from the Phoenix Police Force to become the police chief of the Forks Police Station. After doing some fine Google-ing, I found out for myself that the Forks area was a tiny little speck on the Washington Olympic Peninsula. Psh. And my dad called it a 'promotion.' It wasn't exactly in my taste. I disliked rain. I disliked the cold. I now disliked Forks, Washington.
But, leaving Phoenix wasn't exactly going to be hard, either. I really didn't befriend a lot of people during my years here; only a select few decided to come up and talk to me during my elementary school years, but we'd all never formed any sort of mutual bond with each other. So the only thing I had left to do was to pack up my bedroom. Easy enough, due to the fact I had little to ship off.
My mother, Renee, wasn't that excited at all, either. She disliked the rain and cold, but she decided to go with him on a whim. I remember, last night, my parents were in a heated argument about where I would go to school. Finally, in the end, they decided to send me to Forks High School—of which they were alumni of. Oh, great. I'm going to be attending a school with a bunch of teenagers who had known each other since they were in diapers or their parents and their grandparents knew each other. But I could care less. I was used to being alone, you know?
I think I shall end here, fellows. Ta-ta, and see you in Forks; my computer is being packed out today.
-The Swan
PS. Pardon my calloused, ignorant ranting.
I let go of the keyboard and stretched my fingers slightly, sighing loudly. I looked around my barren room—it looked like something out of a mental hospital. I've never seen it this empty before—all-off-white walls and a soft, light brown wooden floor. Usually, my walls would be filled with some random poetry and minor posters of movie announcements. My room 'accessories' (as Renee would love to call them) were in boxes in the corner; nothing at all strewn on the floor like it usually would. The only things that were left were my Dell Laptop and my foldable mini-desk. My family slept in sleeping bags as we gradually packed up. Charlie and Renee were busy downstairs, cleaning up the kitchen before we left this afternoon.
"Isabella Swan!" I heard my father shout. Oh great. I shut off my laptop after I updated my LiveJournal and stalked off down the stairs and into the sunny, bright kitchen my mother had decorated our first year here in Phoenix. My mother was currently underneath the main kitchen sink; her feet were sticking out from underneath the agape cabinet. Charlie was busy unscrewing and replacing light bulbs in the sockets.
"What?" I sighed. Charlie stepped down from his step-stool and dusted his hands off with an old washcloth.
"We're about done with the kitchen; Renee's going to re-check the house one more time—"
"Mom, the house is OKAY already," I groaned in protest. Renee slid out of the crevice that was the cabinet and rolled her eyes at me.
"Bella, dear, we're selling this house today. We told the buyers that they would get a good deal with this place because it's easy to clean and it's the perfect family house, so we're trying to emphasize that fact," she explained oh-so-matter-of-factly. I grimaced. I was never much of a clean-freak.
"My room is fine, don't touch it anymore," I stated bluntly, and my mother then rolled her chocolate eyes.
"Fine, fine, Bells, I won't. Just bring down your things in ten minutes; the truck'll be here any minute," Renee stuck her tongue out playfully and went back under the sink, toying with the pipes. She giggled. Wow, was she enjoying herself or what?
Charlie walked with me out of the kitchen and ruffled my hair playfully. I smiled awkwardly as he tried to strike up an actual conversation.
"Bells, I know you're a bit down that we're leaving—"
I seriously didn't care that we were moving. I just cared about WHERE we were moving TO. Rainy, cold, murky little Forks…
"I'm fine dad, don't worry."
"You just look a bit wary, is all," he said, shrugging with a light tone to his voice. "I'm doing this for us, the family, so we can get out of the heat a little," he explained a little more.
He sounded like he was trying to sell me a used car.
"…and the weather is nice, not too warm or too sunny, it's just right. And the kids there are wonderful; I visited there last summer with ol' Marty down at the Force Station here in Phoenix, and I re-acquainted with my old friends, the Blacks. They're from the Quileute tribe down at La Push. It's a Native-American reservation on the outskirts of Forks."
Here we go again. He was turning our conversation into a car deal.
"Don't you remember old Billy Black? He's in a wheelchair now, poor guy," Charlie shook his head. "But his son's a tall beast! Remember Jacob?"
I couldn't recall the name.
"No," I said simply.
"He's a sophomore, sixteen, I believe," my father continued on. I was getting a little bit annoyed with his connotations to Forks. "Tall, tall kid. Handsome-looking too."
If Charlie tried to pair me up with guys who were family friends I never ever, ever remembered, I'd rather run away and join a troupe of circus freaks. Or maybe I'd go on grand theft auto and then run away.
"Nice, dad, but if you could excuse me, I've got to get my stuff ready," I said quickly, and walked past him as fast as I could and rushed up the stairs. I left him with a bewildered look at the foot. Rushing into my room, I shut the door as quietly as possible, and before I packed up my laptop, I decided to check on my LiveJournal comments. I usually got a dozen or more per day per entry.
Welcome, The Swan! You have 20 new messages.
I figured. Clicking on the link to my inbox, I found a bombarded folder full of comment notifications. Wow, and I just posted this entry ten minutes ago. One was from one my 'pen-pals,' a girl from Forks whose parents Charlie knew. He told me to start getting in contact with her so I could at least 'have some friends'. The girl's name was Angela Weber.
QuietIntegrity says: (2007.08.28, 9:04 AM WST)
Bella! Don't worry. I'll try and find you on the first day of school. : )
I scrolled down the list and found even more from people I'd befriended online, or they were people from here, in Phoenix.
immaretard3 says: (2007.08.28, 9:02 AM WST)
omg swan ur not gonna b on 4 a while? Don't worry we lj people r gonna be waitin 4 ur next entry! lmaoo we luv u
RPattzfangirl10 (2007.08.29, 9:00 AM WST)
Enjoy Forks, Swan-dear! I hope you keep up with the continuously hilarious blogging of yours.
I rolled my eyes at this. Some of these people were weird; I met them on a whim in some of the Communities I joined on this website. I've joined a lot of those: Emily Dickinson Forums, the 'Charlotte and Emily Bronte' community, some rock band things…and a writers' guild…a lot of them. I just joined them right away when I saw the titles; I barely interacted in most of them, which was quite sad. I've had this account for the past two years. But at least I could get my story out to those who wanted to hear it.
I finished reading the rest, my notifications popping up then and again, but I ignored them and turned the power off once more. I folded my laptop and put it in my case; sighing at my old childhood room. I wouldn't miss it that much; I've learned not to get too attached to things ever since my grandmother died nearly six years ago. But I loved my connection with her; it just ended too soon. So there. I've learned to let go of things pretty easily after crying for days after my grandma's funeral.
My mother made her final inspections of our former house (she went into my room without my permission and nearly grounded me for leaving a single thumbtack on the wall. How was I supposed to notice that little white thing? It was the same color as the paint!) and we packed the boxes into a moving van that would get there a little after we arrived in Washington. We talked with this new family that was going to move into our house (their kids looked scary) and got ready to go after they gave us the check for the house payments. Mr. Bowie – one of my dad's friends from the station, apparently – gave us a ride to the airport that would take us—especially me—to complete and impending doom. After a few teary goodbyes (for mainly my mom and dad), we boarded Terminal 2 and hopped on (not really) the American Airlines Flight 93156 to Seattle.
The plane ride was a quiet affair. Charlie whipped out a fishing magazine, and Renee immediately fell asleep after we reached high altitudes. Bored, I took out my Discman and played this new song my mom's family friend, Phil, gave to me for my birthday. The band was a little bit too loud for my taste, but after playing it over and over again, I got used to the loud vocals and drum-banging; I got some of the lyrics down as well. I fell asleep as one of the bridges of the last song on the CD, 'Shameless,' bounced onto my ears. The last words I heard were…
You talk like you're famous, you're shameless.
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"Bella."
I snapped my eyes open, and Renee was shaking me awake. I looked at my watch and nearly jumped out of my seat. I had been listening to the CD for nearly four hours straight. I pulled off the headphones and turned the Discman off. I rubbed my eyes blearily and my mother pointed to the plasma screen in front of us. We were ten minutes to landing time. I quickly buckled my seatbelt as instructed on the screen and grumpily put away my precious music player. I wasn't going to be surprised if my hearing abilities were diminished. Those headphones could reach the MAX.
The minutes ticked by slowly; each a passing minute. We finally descended into the Seattle-Tacoma Airport, and it was already dark outside. As the plane screeched to a halt on the runway, we finally attached to the portal-like things (I forgot what they were called.) and walked into the bright lights of the arrivals area. There was a crowd of people waiting outside the terminal for their arrivals, and I spotted no one familiar. Charlie told me that people would be waiting with a big reception for us at our old house (that I do not remember at all). We would be living in the house my parents first bought when they got married to each other. It was the first house I was in as a baby.
We went through so much security desks and passport reviews, plus Renee almost got put in quarantine because she let out a few sneezes once we past the first round of security-check-in. Once they were sure she was definitely NOT contagious, they let us go off on our 'merry little way,' as Charlie so jokingly put it. Ha, ha, ha.
"Charlie, I think that's one of our luggage bags—" Renee pointed to a large, mahogany Skymate roller-bag. Charlie ran over and got it before a woman mistakenly took it. I heard him shout a sorry before she whacked him with her Dooney & Burke purse. Luckily, the woman's husband stepped in and dragged his wife away before she could cause any trouble at all. "Ah! Charlie, are you okay?!" Renee asked frantically as Charlie winced and carried the bag.
"I'm perfectly fine, I received quite the welcome present," he pointed to a small bruise on his head. Renee shook her head and patted it gently. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he said hurriedly as we got the rest of our bags and headed to the Terminal Transportation area. We hitched a ride in an airport taxi and drove off to Forks.
I lulled to sleep on Charlie's shoulder and woke up once we arrived in front of an oddly-familiar home. It suddenly clicked to me.
We got out of the car and walked towards the front; the porch light was on. I gave an appraising look to my father, who merely grinned and opened the door—it was unlocked.
"SURPRISE!"
We received such a raucous gathering in front of us. There were a bunch of families bunched up in my parents' living room. I poked around to see if Angela was in the crowd, and I finally found her. I ran up to her and gave her a hug. We had been corresponding too long through the internet and seeing each other only through pictures.
"It's so good to finally meet you, Bella!" Angela exclaimed. She was a pretty girl with curly brown hair and chocolate eyes.
"Same here," I laughed brightly. Angela pulled on my arm and brought me to a group of teenagers sitting together in the dining room.
"Guys, this is Bella Swan," she announced, a little bit shy. Everyone said 'hello' at different times, some apathetic, but one boy looked glad. "Bella, this is Mike Newton, Jessica Stanley, Lauren Mallory, Tyler Crowley, and Eric Yorkie," she gestured towards the group. "Oh, and Conner, Austin, and Katie."
"Nice to meet you," I said shyly. I didn't really like big groups much.
"Likewise," the Lauren girl said smugly. My dad poked his head through the kitchen door.
"Bells, come on out, there are more people I would like you to meet," Charlie whispered loudly, jabbing his thumb in the outside direction. I nodded and mumbled 'nice to meet you again,' to the group and wobbled out of the kitchen. Everyone was so happy to see my parents again, I could see. Especially my father. He was talking to a man with dark hair and light blue eyes, and a lady with bronze-colored hair and bright-green viridian pupils.
"Bella, this is Edward Masen, and his lovely wife, Elizabeth," he said, gesturing towards the couple. I could see they were around Charlie and Renee's ages, but a little bit older. "I used to attend high school with Ed until they moved to Chicago a few years later. They moved back here, and now they have a son your age!"
I groaned inwardly, but showed bright happiness on the outside. "Nice to meet you!" I repeated just like I did in the kitchen, but this time, I shook their hands.
"She looks just like Renee," Mrs. Masen gushed. I blushed and looked down. "I'm so sorry Edward Junior couldn't be here on time; he's out hanging with Jasper Whitlock and Emmett Cullen. They're always together," she made a face, but it was still pretty on her. "He'll be here shortly."
"Oh, it's no problem!" Charlie exclaimed. "I'm perfectly fine with that; maybe Bella could make more friends here in Forks."
"Dad…" I hissed quietly so the Masens wouldn't hear. Charlie jabbed me in the hip gently and they carried on their conversation. I stole away and was about to grab an available punch cup when…someone grabbed it the same time as me. I flinched away and looked up to see a short girl with short-cropped, spiky hair. She was pale and pretty, with features as dainty as a faerie's.
"Oops," she laughed, handing the cup to me. I gestured for her to take it back and she laughed, and drank it all in one short gulp. "Sorry about that. You must be Bella Swan, right?"
"Yeah," I blushed. Grrr. Stupid blushing. "And…you are…?"
"Alice Cullen," she said brightly. "It's so cool; I actually get to meet you properly without Lauren's group looming around the premises all the time."
"Lauren?"
"She's a witch," Alice shuddered, "But anyway, you're going to Forks High School, right?"
I nodded. Alice's face lit up immediately. "THAT IS SO AWESOME!" she gave me a huge hug and I nearly lost the ability to breathe; she hugged me so tight. "We could be friends, right?" She was a little too enthusiastic, but I liked her. She seemed pretty cool. Grinning, I replied with a happy 'yes,' and we continued to talk through the night. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lauren Mallory, with Jessica Stanley and Angela, folding her arms grumpily.
"So then, my brother, Emmett—"
"Did I hear someone mention my name?" a cool, chipper voice said suavely. Alice and I jumped, and behind us was a good-looking guy with dark hair and black eyes. He was lean and muscular, and seemed like a big teddy bear. Alice turned around and smiled cheekily.
"Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear," she grinned. "Where are Alice and Jasper? Jasper and Edward's parents are here already."
"Edward's parking the car, but Jasper passed out from exhaustion," Emmett said amusedly. "He drank too much."
I gaped at them. Drank?
"Pepsi too much for him to handle, eh?" Alice laughed. Emmett grinned from ear to ear. He had perfect teeth, I noticed. I sighed in relief.
"He was so buzzed; he was dancing with a bunch of people at the club. So Edward and I decided it was time to go, so we brought him home first. We told Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock already. They're perfectly fine with it. However, Mr. and Mrs. Masen are slightly annoyed again that we brought Edward to a club."
The doorbell rang, and I heard Charlie tend to it right away.
"Ah, you must be Edward! You look so much like your mother," he exclaimed. Alice and I shot up our heads, and the other girls in the room that were our age our younger looked up with appraised and eager expressions.
"Thank you, sir," a soft, melodic voice mused. "Are my parents in?"
"Edward," Mrs. Masen called, gesturing for him to enter. Edward grinned, and stepped in.
I examined him carefully.
He had reddish-brown hair, and the greenest eyes I'd ever seen anyone with. He was lean and tall, about 6"3, and he wore a dark-blue, buttoned-down shirt and black skinny jeans. I felt the girls in the room feel like fainting.
Edward stopped in front of his mother, and I heard her tell him that she 'would talk to him later' about the partying, and she pulled him towards me.
"Edward, dear, this is Isabella Swan."
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or anything, because Stephenie Meyer does. I just own my plot :P. I don't own the wonderful website LiveJournal either. HAHA.
Or any other commercial brand-item mentioned.
I came up with this story while at work (I have a summer job at the current moment, which explains my lack of updating my other stories) and I just couldn't stop. I hope you think its okay...just tell me if it's worth continuing or not. This is pretty much my first Twilight FanFic. R/R please! Thanks,
-Herm-Own-Ninny879