This is my disclaimer! I don't own Twilight.
Chapter One
Bex POV
"Oh God, we just got off the interstate. That must mean we're getting close." I groaned, reaching over to the driver's side to clutch my brother's arm melodramatically.
We'd been in the car for almost an hour, driving from the airport in Port Angeles to our new home in Forks, Washington. We had rented two autos, a blue Ford Focus and a black Ford F150. Carson and I were following my dad, in the truck, and we were not looking forward to this move.
Our only remaining relatives live in La Push, the Indian reservation about ten minutes outside of Forks, but I'd only been up there a handful of times, and none of them recently. The only thing I really remember about it is the constant cold. And the fact that there is absolutely nothing to do. It's way boring. You can't even watch the grass grow, because there isn't any. It's either woods or mud, because it rains so much.
I'd loved my old life. Mostly because everyone had loved me! I had all the best clothes, the hottest friends, the coolest car. I was one of San Marcos High's most beloved cheerleaders. Everyone knew that next year when I became a senior, I would be named head cheerleader! These lofty aspirations were all taken from me late one night when my mother borrowed my car. She never got the chance to return it…
"Whoa. You're getting into some dangerous territory here, thoughts." I mentally chastised myself, shaking my head. No thinking about depressing stuff.
But anyways…the second Dad announced my impending doom, I Googled it. Forks has a total population of 3,545, according to the 2012 census. It rains 234 days a year, and even when it's sunny, it's cold. The beach isn't even a real beach. It has pebbles instead of sand! Pebbles I tell you! It's ridiculous!
I tried to talk to the man. I tried to tell him! Normal people move from small towns to big cities. It's your basic theory of urbanization! But nooooooo. Not us Gilberts. We're moving from San Marcos, a small college town in Texas, to an even smaller town halfway across the country.
His only reply was to say he thought we needed to be near family in times like these.
I, of course, instantly realized what an insensitive B-witch I was being. The man just lost his wife. He wanted to be near something familiar!
To be honest, I don't think he could face living in the city the two of them had built their lives together in without her. But, what he didn't realize was that now, not only had I lost my mom, but my whole life as well.
"Whoa was that it? Is that all?" Carson asked, taking his eyes off the road ahead to whip his head around and look behind us. We'd just driven down Main Street, which should have been the heart of this whole town. But there was only, like, eight buildings on it. The rest was all residential. The phrase "had I blinked, I would have missed it," came to mind.
I voiced this complain to my brother. He's on my side of this whole moving thing, but also like me he decided to keep his mouth shut after realizing how much Dad missed mom.
"Oh God…That's pathetic….Haha sucks for you!" Carter taunted.
He's here for a weekend. Then he gets to return to his happy little life in San Marcos. He goes to college there. His life wasn't being uprooted. He gets to live in the dorms, same as always. He's just here to help us move in.
He doesn't have to start at a completely new school, in the middle of the year. Come Sunday afternoon, he's flying back to San Marcos. "Can you believe that Dad used to live here?" He asked after a pause, during which the only thing we saw out of the truck's windows were trees.
"No." I snorted. "It must have driven him insane."
It's true. Dad grew up here. He was the valedictorian of Forks High, back in the day, and his sister, my aunt Sarah, was captain of the softball team here.
The very same day he graduated from high school, Dad moved to Port Angeles to work for some big corporation, which eventually transferred him to Texas where he met my mother and started our family. He recently convinced his work to transfer him back to Port Angeles, committing himself to commuting an hour into work, and an hour back every day.
Aunt Sarah, on the other hand, stuck around. She married one of the native Quileute, a man named Billy Black, a few years out of high school. They had twin girls, Rebecca and Rachel, and a son named Jacob a few years later. Aunt Sarah died tragically in a car accident a few short years after Jake was born. Jacob really wasn't old enough to remember her well, but the twins took her death pretty hard.
Just like Dad, they couldn't stand living in a place where they had so many memories of their loved one. Also like Dad, they left the second they turned eighteen. Rachel got a scholarship, and is currently attending Washington State University, and Rebecca got married and moved to Hawaii. From what I hear, they hardly ever come back to visit.
We don't really talk to the Blacks much. Just the phone calls during the holidays, and mailed gifts on Christmas and birthdays. But from what I hear, Billy's diabetes has confined him to a wheelchair these past few years, and Jake's had to really step up and take care of him. Poor kid. He's had it tough.
Before long, we were pulling into the driveway of a small, two-story house behind Dad. It was redbrick with a grey roof, with a quaint little wrap around porch, set on a foundation about two feet off the ground, so you had to walk up a handful of steps to get on it.
It was tiny compared to our house in Texas, but I guess we really didn't need all that much space since there'd only be two of us living here. And really, after I graduate next year, it'll just be Dad here.
Our new house had three bedrooms, with Dad's master bedroom downstairs so us kids could make more noise without disturbing him. Not that that was ever a problem before. He's such a work-a-holic, he doesn't really ever sleep. He just works.
The other two bedrooms are upstairs. The larger one is mine! It's a corner room, so I'll have two windows. My bed is going to go under one of them, after I buy one tomorrow that is, and the other one has a built-in window seat under it. It's actually bigger than my old room! It'll be awesome once I get it all decorated and painted.
It does have a conjoined bathroom with Carson's room, though. Since Carson really doesn't live with us anymore, we're just going to shove his bed in one of them and call it a guestroom while storing all of the boxes of junk that would have gone in the attic, if we had had one.
It was really late when we got in that first Friday, though, so we pretty much just dragged our baggage inside and crashed on pallets in our respective rooms. We were too tired to really do anything constructive, and we had to wake up bright and early to drive back into Port Angeles and shop for all our new furniture in the morning.
o*O*o*O*o*O*o
The next morning started with a bang. I mean it actually started with a bang. My dad tripped over my suitcase coming in to wake me up, and banged into the floor.
"Are you okay?" I asked, jumping up and trying to stifle my laughter.
"I do not like disorganization." He replied, picking himself up off the ground with as much dignity as he could muster. Yup, he's fine. "We're leaving in about an hour, so hurry up and get ready." With that, he walked out of my room, luckily without tripping on anything else.
I heard him go into my brother's room and to wake him up, so I hurried and grabbed my bag of toiletries so I could beat Carson to our shared bathroom.
I always took longer to get ready than Carson anyways, so it makes sense that I should get the shower first. I feel like it should have been a house rule, but noooooo. First come first serve is what goes around here. All Carson really needs to do is run a comb through his hair and pull on a pair of pants and he's ready to rumble, but nope. I had to be a girl.
Every day I spend twenty minutes in the shower, twenty minutes painting my face, and fifteen minutes straightening my hair, thirty if I want to curl it! And that's all before picking out what to wear.
But hey, perfection takes time. And I did not get voted the hottest girl at San Marcos High on the football team's annual hottie list by slacking off on my appearance.
Today was the exception though.
We're going all the way into Port Angeles to furniture shop, so I didn't have to worry about any of my new classmates seeing me looking all gross and what not. So today I just pulled my long dark hair up into a messy bun and only slapped enough make-up on my face to deem myself not-horrible. Just some foundation and light eye make-up. Then I pulled on my baggiest, comfiest pair of gray sweatpants and my black San Marcos Bobcats hoodie.
I figured we'd be doing a lot of walking around, so I also pulled on my black converse with the lime green laces. It didn't even take me an hour! The guys were surprised when I walked downstairs, ready to go on time for once.
Dad was on his phone, probably checking in with work or something, and Carson was lying on the floor, assuming that it would take me forever to get ready.
"Ready?" Dad asked, surprised. At my nod, he nudged Carson with his foot. "Come on, let's go." He grabbed his wallet and the keys to the rental car off the bar, and we headed out the door. Dad was driving, so Carson climbed into the passenger seat.
That's another one of our stupid family rules. There used to be an intense battle whenever we went anywhere about who would get to ride in the front seat. I have no idea why, but it's always been a huge deal to Carson and I. It's a power thing, I guess.
Anyways, eventually, the 'rents decided that, to make it fair, we would switch turns. We actually had a list when we were younger, but now we just keep track in our minds.
So since Carson got shotgun, I climbed into the backseat…all by my lonesome.
"Let's get in, and get out. I don't want to waste the whole day shopping. Oh! And we're going out to eat with Billy for dinner later." Dad said, pulling out of the drive. "And no, you can't skip, Rebecca." He said, seeing me start up from the backseat.
Nothing against Uncle Billy, but I really don't want this town's first impression of me to be hampered by my wierdo family. I prefer not to be seen with them until I've made my own impression on this town. I crossed my arms and pouted, even though I really wasn't all that upset. It's just what I do.
"Is Jake going?" Carson asked. They're not all that close, but both of them being teenage boys and everything, they have a lot of common interests. Whenever we all get together, they always act like best friends.
"No. Billy said he's busy."
"Aw man." Carson groaned. And then, the next seven hours of my life were spent sitting in a car and then picking out furniture.
o*O*o*O*o*O*o
"Glad that's over." I said, sliding into the front seat. Yup, it's my turn now.
"What are you complaining about; I'm the one that paid for it." Dad joked.
"You shouldn't of had kids if you didn't want to pay for us." I replied.
We'd managed to get all the furniture our new house needed in one trip. It's supposed to be delivered tomorrow, so we're all going to have to sleep on the floor again. But, oh well. What are you gonna do?
Right now, I'm just glad we're on our way to go eat. Since Uncle Billy's been wheelchair bound for a while now, he can't drive, so we picked him up. So it was a full hour later before we were seated at the diner (and by the, I mean do mean the. As in the only diner in Forks),
It wasn't even that great of a place to eat, either. It was really just a burger joint. So we pretty much all just got burgers and fries. The whole affair was all pretty generic, including the conversation.
"So, how do you guys like Washington so far?" Uncle Billy asked after a slightly awkward pause.
We gave the appropriate "It's good," and then Carson broke the tension with some comment about how cold it is up here. After that, the conversation went pretty good, if a bit superficial.
"So how long you here for Carson?" Uncle Billy questioned.
"I'm catching a plane Sunday night. So, till tomorrow." He answered.
"Still majoring in business?"
"Yep, just like his old man." Dad answered for him, practically glowing with pride.
"And what about you Bex? Still cheering?" Uncle Billy asked, turning to me.
Bex is an old family nickname of mine. You know, Bex. Short for Rebecca. One of Uncle Billy's twin daughters is also named Rebecca, so it got pretty confusing whenever we were visiting each other, or talking about both of us. The other Rebecca is older, so she gets to keep her name. Everyone just calls me Bex now, even my friends back home in San Marcos who've never even met cousin Rebecca.
Except my dad, that is. He still calls me Rebecca. I don't really mind. I've just been Bex for as long as I can remember.
"Um, no not really. I was, but we're moving here too late in the year. They already have the team set, and most of the season is already over, so…" I mumbled, looking down and twirling a fry around on my plate. Uncle Billy had touched on a sore point there.
I love cheerleading, and the friends it brings me, but I wouldn't be able to cheer here in Forks. Their team is already established. I've never not been a cheerleader before, so I don't know what I'm going to do with myself.
"Oh. Well…there's always next year." He said, sensing my disappointment.
Dad just kind of looked down at his food. I know he felt bad about uprooting our lives, and this just reminded him. I, of course, immediately felt like a jerk for making this harder on him. He's just doing what he thinks is best.
After a slight moment of awkward silence, Uncle Billy started talking again. "So how'd the furniture shopping go? Get everything you need?"
"Oh yeah. In just a few hours. They're delivering tomorrow." Dad said, straightening up now that the conversation was back on safe territory. "That reminds me! I was going to ask you…We wanted to take advantage of the empty house tonight by painting it. That way we don't have to worry about protecting the furniture, you know. Where's the best place to get paint?"
"Probably Newton's Sporting Goods Store. It's right off Main Street. You can't miss it." He answered.
"Oh great! Thanks."
"Don't forget to use primer first. The white walls in our hallway? They used to be red. It took me about a million coats to cover it up without primer!" We all had a good laugh at Uncle Billy's expense.
The rest of diner was spent trading stories. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be. Uncle Billy is pretty hilarious! I'm actually looking forward to getting to see more of him.
o*O*o*O*o*O*o
After dropping Uncle Billy off on the reservation, we headed back into Forks and onto Main Street to look for this Newton's Sporting Goods Store. It wasn't that hard, actually. When you're living in a town the size of a postage stamp, it's actually really hard not to find something.
For my room, I ended up lime green paint. Because I'm awesome, I also got a little bit of black paint (I only want my ceiling and one wall black, sort of like a design statement, I guess), and glow in the dark paint. Aw yeah! This is gonna look so rad.
After thinking about it again, Dad decided he didn't really want to deal with painting the rest of the house. He thought it'd take a lot of work for little reward, and I have to say, I agree with the man. So we were all just painting our own bedrooms (well, Carson was really painting the guestroom, but…who cares).
"Did you guys find everything okay?" the baby-faced guy at the register asked as he rang us up. He was…cuteish. I guess. He looked about my age, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and big cheeks. The nametag pinned to his sweater said his name was "Mike."
"Yep, found everything just fine thank you." Dad replied.
"So, are ah, you guys new in town? Or just visiting?" Mike asked. He was addressing all of us, but looking at me. I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. Kid thinks he's smooth.
Dad apparently missed Mike's sentiment. "New. Just moved back up here from Texas. I grew up here, you know."
"No kidding?" Mike said, finally glancing at my father. "You must be the Gilbert's then!"
Carson and I looked at each other, both totally creeped out. I turned back to face Mike with my eyebrow raised.
"Forks is a small town. A really small town. You'll find that out soon enough." Mike said, sensing my discomfort and responding with a grin.
"Ahh." I said. Perfectly logical answer, I guess, but I took a step back anyways.
"So…you guys going to Forks High?" He asked, once again looking just at me.
"Graduated." Carson grunted. I could tell that he was already getting tired of this Mike guy.
I said nothing, so I wouldn't draw any more attention to myself. But Dad seemed to take this as a cue to talk for me.
"Rebecca here is going to be a junior, though." He said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I could have killed him. I do not want to get all buddy buddy with this kid.
"Oh cool! I'm Mike Newton. I just graduated last year. My family owns this store." Mike officially introduced himself and held out his hand for me to shake. I took it reluctantly, just hoping this awkward little interlude would pass by more quickly if I semi-participated. "Maybe I'll…see you around."
"Yeah…maybe." I replied. Thankfully after that, Mike actually got around to ringing up our items, so we paid and left.
"Well he's…friendly." My brother mumbled in my ear on the way out. I could tell he was dying of laughter at my discomfort, so I socked him in the arm.
Then we drove home and changed into clothes that we didn't mind ruining with paint. We got all prepared to start painting, and then realized we didn't have a single paint brush in this entire house. We'd bought paint and primer, but it never occurred to any of us to get any brushes.
"Well…now what?" Carson asked as we all stood in the hallway next to our respective paint cans, at a loss of what to do.
"Well…um." Dad scratched his head. "I guess I'll go call Billy really quick and see if he has any we can borrow." He whipped out his cell phone, and dialed the number. After a quick talk, he hung up. "He has a few we can take. We've just got to go get them." He said.
"I'll go, Dad. I've got to figure out the layout of this town soon anyways. And there's no time like the present." I said grabbing the truck keys with fake enthusiasm.
"Great. Thanks Rebecca. Carson and I will put down the tarps while we're waiting."
"Cool. Be back in a few!" I called, walking out the door.