The plane landed jarringly as I stared out of the small window, a sense of cold dread settling heavily in the pit of my stomach. 'The overcast sky matches my mood perfectly' I thought wryly, walking to baggage claim. A shy smile tugged at my lips and relief flooded me when I caught sight of Charlie Swan. Forks, Washington's Chief of Police, and, my father. He wasted no time pulling me into an awkward hug and just as quickly grabbing my two overstuffed suitcases I'd abandoned behind me. Charlie muttered a swift "Missed you, Bells" and jerked his head toward the direction of his police cruiser. With my carry-on bag containing my iPod, and a few books, strapped firmly to my back, we managed to wrestle my suitcases into the trunk and lazily made our way to the small, wet, and very green town of Forks. I watched houses and trees blur by until we reached a small two-story house, painted white, but chipping and covered in grime. Its was exactly the kind of two-story house you'd see, in any small town in any movie.
Sitting in the driveway was a rusty red monster of a truck, I turned to Charlie curiously looking back and forth between the truck and him. I cleared my throat, "Were you expecting company today? I think they beat you here." He gave me an embarrassed grin and sniffed. "Nope, she's all yours Bells, I had her fixed up for you. I figured you didn't want to go to school in the cruiser." He chuckled to himself and my mouth fell open. "It's not much- "he began, and I immediately cut off his sentence "I love her Cha- Dad" I cleared my throat again. "Thank you." I choked out, my voice thick with emotion. I ran to the truck running my hands over the sides of the bed and opening the door. Charlie fished the keys from his front pocket and threw them to me, bad idea for someone as clumsy as myself. I closed my eyes for some god forsaken reason, my hands out preparing to catch them and regretted it as soon as the keys made contact with the bridge of my nose. I hissed in pain as I felt the keys cut my face a little and the sound of metal hitting the concrete forced my eyes open. Charlie stood in the same spot he threw the offending object from and barely contained the laughter spilling from his lips. "Still as clumsy as ever Bella? You haven't changed a bit" I scowled lightly and scooped up the keys. "I've changed more than you think." I muttered darkly as he pulled my bags from the trunk.
I sighed, shut the trucks door, and walked over to help lug my stuff up the narrow stairs. I began unpacking my clothes and setting up my room as best as I could. I glared at the purple walls, remembering the summer I picked out that colour nearly 8 years ago now. I'd have to ask if I could repaint and redecorate since this was home now. I pulled open one of the boxes I'd shipped up here before my arrival and froze looking at the picture frames in the box. My heart clenched painfully as I went over in my head the reason I was moving in with my father to begin with. My beautiful mother Renee and her husband Phil were on their way to a party celebrating Phil going pro in his baseball career. A drunk driver swerved into their lane on a narrow two-lane road in the pouring rain and that was that. The guilt ate a hole in my chest and I wished once more that I had been with them like I was supposed to be. I shut the box and shoved it away from me, cradling my head in my hands as tears welled in my eyes. I heard Charlie shuffling past my door and I swallowed the lump in my throat, taking a deep breath to center myself again.
Choosing to ignore the pile of boxes, I walked to my door and opened it, coming face to face with someone I didn't expect to see. A grin flashed across my face and I couldn't help but yell" Jacob!" He wrapped me in his huge arms and laughed "Hello cousin, its been what, 5 years now? You haven't changed a bit!" I bit back a laugh as he set me down and I eyes his huge arms and a tribal tattoo covering the upper half of his arm. "You certainly have." I murmured, a hint of sadness colouring my tone. "I'm sorry it's been so long Jake, I never intended to stay away for so long." His smile softened slightly," I know Bella, but that's in the past. You're here now and that's what counts. Speaking of, I have so many people I want you to meet, so Charlie agreed that I could drag you down to the Res for some quality time." He mussed my hair pulling me down the stairs by my wrist, leaving me no time for a rebuttal. "As long as we don't have to eat any mud pies I wont protest." I shot him a smile and his pouted "That was one time Bells!" I couldn't help but laugh, my pain temporarily forgotten. Jake had the ability to be my own personal ray of sunshine and that's why he was my favourite cousin. Charlie chose that moment to come down the stairs and I managed to yell a hasty "Bye Dad!" over my shoulder before Jake shut the door and pushed me towards his Bike.
I raised an eyebrow, questioning him silently. He shrugged and shoved a helmet and a leather jacket towards me impatiently. Soon enough we were speeding down the slick roads of forks passing small shops, and a few places I recognized like the one diner in town, the library, and the school. I shivered, my thoughts drifting to the torture I would endure being the new kid. I loathed attention. I let my mind wander to the possibilities of what my first day would be like. I'm positive I'll be bombarded with questions and stared at like some kind of zoo exhibit. I was brought out of my thoughts by a flash of yellow that I assumes was a car speeding passed us on the opposite side of the road. The momentary glance I got of the car was that it was expensive looking I'm not a car person, but I can certainly appreciate a fast car when I see one. I thought I heard a deep rumbling, growl, but I pushed it off as belonging to the bike.
Soon enough La Push came into view and Jake was pulling into his makeshift garage. Two men leaned on the counter, shirtless with their arms crossed and grins adorning the mouths. Jake cut the engine and hopped off the bike in one fluid motion almost knocking me off and went over to the two men wrapping his big arms around their necks and dragging them over grinning like a fool. "This is-""Quil and Embry." I finished with a grin of my own. "How could I forget you two!" They shrugged off Jakes arms and practically tackled me in a hug. Sandwiched between their large bodies I gasped for air as their hot skin touched my exposed flesh. "Alright let her breathe guys" snapped Jake grabbing Embrys shoulder. They pouted but obliged, thankfully. "You're all so warm what the hell?" I asked eyeing their matching tattoos, the same one Jake had. "If I get sick from one of you I'm going to kick your asses." I stated crossing my arms. They all shared a secretive grin. "Don't worry Bells, I think you're safe." Said Quil with a snort. Jake stretched his arms above his head and grunted looking out the window. He grabbed my arm again and pulled me from the garage calling the other two to follow. After a 10 minute walk to the beach, Jake lead me to a bonfire surrounded with other Quileute tribe members. Several of the men present had the same tattoo as Jake. I shrugged to myself brushing it off.
Jake turned to me after glancing towards his father briefly, and I took to time to smile at my uncle. "Since you're family Bella, they're allowing me to bring you to a council meeting. Technically you'd be the first outsider to ever hear our legends." He whispered. I nodded excitedly and mouthed "Thank you" as we sat on one of the logs furthest from the fire. Billy began speaking and I shivered clinging to every word he spoke. My mid raced as Billy talked on and on and the Quileute legends spanning from the original story of the 3rd wife, explaining that legend says decedents could shape shift into giant wolves, and I felt myself paling considerably when Billy uttered the phrase "Cold Ones." I shifted in my seat, eyes downcast. I listened intently as he continued the story, speaking of the differences between the golden eyes and the red eyes, how these cold ones forced the decedents to change into these wolf beasts, just by being nearby. I noticed several of the men in attendance with sneers on their faces. A woman suddenly appeared pulling behind her a cooler and another man, considerably larger than the rest of them, with a cooler of his own, but I was too engrossed to even look at them. Billy swiftly finished his story, leaving my mind reeling. They spoke of these legends as if they were real. I contemplated the words quietly and my head snapped up when Jake nudged me. He nodded over to the man who just arrived. "That's Sam and his fiancé Emily, they just brought dinner" He said patting his stomach with a grin.
I snorted softly, and my smile faded when Emily turned around. She had several long scars down her face and neck on the right side that made look it look like she was permanently frowning. The other half of her face was lit up with a warm smile that I couldn't help but return. She held out her hand which I gladly took. "I'm Emily." She said softly, her eyes a warm and welcoming brown. "You must be Bella, Jacob here hasn't stopped talking about you for weeks." Jacob shot her a glare but continued roasting 3 hotdogs on a stick, others joining him in the act. They brought enough feed to feed 60 people easy, yet there was only around 20 of us in attendance. "I'm his favourite cousin, of course he was talking about me" I heard laughter around me and Jake was blushing scarfing down his food already.
The heaviness of the previous conversation lifted, and the rest of the evening was full of way too much food, easy banter, and reconnecting with some of my oldest friends from when I lived in Forks almost 10 years ago. As the night drew to a close, Seth and Leah Clearwater appeared running down the beach at full speed towards me. They were closest to me besides Jake and I was thrilled to see them running towards the bonfire party. Leah screeched and jumped into me, causing me to fall back as she landed roughly on top of me. I blushed and laughed in embarrassment as I tried to catch my breath. "Bella! I can't believe you're actually here!" she said grinning ear to ear. I peered at Seth over Leahs shoulder and noticed his smile was just as wide. I pushed Leah off me and attempted to stand up only to fall back and be caught by Sam, who gave Leah and Seth a disapproving stare. I shook my head clearing the sand from it and glanced at Sam, muttering a quiet "Thank you." And hugging them both with all my strength.
They had all gotten so tall, my head barely cleared their shoulders. In the flicker of the bonfire light I saw their arms too bore the strange tattoo as many of the others. They weren't even 18 yet. Leah noticed my frown and raised an eye brow. "You okay Bella?" I cocked my head staring back at her "You're only 17 and Seth is 15, How did you manage to get a sick tattoo like that?" It got quiet and Leah tensed. Sam overheard my question and said calmly "It's the mark of our tribe Bella, when you reach age 14, should you choose, you are allowed the privilege of receiving the mark. Simply a rite of passage. Obviously not everyone wants it but it is presented as an option for those who do." His mouth twitched, the orange firelight seemed to darken his features somehow. I shrugged. The activity hesitantly resumed and son enough Jacob was carting me off to go back home. I hastily gave Leah, Seth, Quil, and Embry my phone number so we could keep in touch, and off we went, flying down the road towards the place I now called home.