To anyone on the outside, Bella Swan was incredibly, blatantly and extraordinarily, ordinary.
She had nothing interesting to tell people about herself. Bella led a simple life with her mother and her new step-father in Phoenix, Arizona. She was in 11th grade at high school, was a straight-B student and her hobbies included reading and cooking. She had no remarkable achievements to her name and when people asked her about herself, she drew a blank. After all, there was nothing to tell. But note, that although she had nothing extraordinary to tell about herself, she had a rather extraordinary secret.
Bella viewed herself as average-looking. With her pale skin, chocolate brown eyes, and lips that were a little too full for her slim jawline, she knew she wasn't beautiful, but she knew she wasn't repulsive either.
Bella pulled all of her tangled dark chestnut hair over her shoulder. Although she didn't know it herself – it was a nervous habit of hers. Sitting on the front porch, she rested her elbow on her knew and her face in her palm. She watched as her mother loaded up the car with her luggage. Her mother volunteered to load the car, so she didn't feel the obligation to help, nor would she have offered anyway.
Today was Bella's last day in Phoenix.
It'll be good to see Dad. Bella had chanted this in her head for such a long time that the words have almost lost all meaning. Bella and her father, Charlie, did not have a close relationship. Bella was a result of two young teenagers in love and a drunken night in Vegas. She was only three months old when her parents split. To his face, she was unsure whether to call him 'Dad' or 'Charlie', because he had never been an important enough part of her life for him to be considered a father figure to her. Of course, he called her every few months to see what she was up to (topics include: school and visiting Forks, his hometown). Bella never blamed Charlie for their lack of a father-daughter relationship as it was her mother who took her away from the gloomy, wet and grey town of Forks when she was so young. She doesn't blame her mother, either.
To Bella, this is what her life is and always has been; she accepts that.
Renee, Bella's mother, had recently married a minor league baseball player, Phil. Phil is a nice guy and she couldn't picture anyone better suited for her mother than him. As they were newlyweds, she felt that she was intruding in a way just by living with them. She felt out of sync with them and felt that they needed their 'honeymoon' period before they were ready to get back to their normal dynamic. It was Bella's idea to move to Forks in the first place - to give Phil and her mother the space a couple needs. However, Bella's mother misconstrued Bella's notion to go to Forks– Renee thought that Bella wanted to spend an entire school year with Charlie, and so, organised for Phil and herself to tour America in the hopes of finding Phil a job.
So, Bella's stay in Forks became a long-term stay, rather than the short-term that she had anticipated.
Whilst Bella loathed the idea of spending an entire school year in Forks, with her father whom she hardly had a relationship with, she saw how happy and excited her mother was when she organised the trip. Phil was excited, too. Bella spent a lot of her life making other people happy, which was one of her most honourable qualities. But, in making others happy, Bella often sacrificed her own contentment. This was the case in this situation.
It was a sunny day in Phoenix, Arizona. Bella was glad for this – it meant that her last day would be one filled with sun; something she was going to be lacking for the next few months. As she sat on the porch, she tried to soak up as much sun as possible. She would miss the sun the most.
Forks featured warm (but not hot) summers and cool (but not cold) winters, meaning that the average weather all-year-round was fairly consistent. It rains over 200 days a year. In the hot months of the year, it is described as wet, but not as wet as the winter months.
For most, the rain would not be a problem. For Bella it was a huge issue that contributed highly to her distaste for Forks.
Bella has held onto a secret since she was 9 years old.
Bella is a mermaid.
"Phil, could you please give me a hand?" Renee called out. She was struggling to lift a suitcase. Bella didn't offer to help; she was lost in her own world. Bella wished she could go swimming and forget all of her troubles.
"Be right out, hun!'
Bella wished for only one more day in Phoenix. She wanted to go swimming in Theodore Roosevelt Lake at midnight, or go on a day trip to a beach and swim for hours on end. She wanted to go to the beach and swim to another continent
On the plus side, she thought, there will be a lot more water in Forks that I can swim in
Bella heard Phil approach the front door. He carried the last of her luggage in one hand and the house keys in the other. He set the suitcase down next to him and locked up the house. Bella knew that this was it; this is the moment that she must leave the sunshine behind and trade it in for rain. The moment where she will leave her mother to live with her father. The moment that she will leave behind her old life for a new one.
It's just a few months, Bella, it's just a school year you can do this, she tried to motivate herself to stand up of the front porch and to get into the car, just think of all that swimming
The car was now loaded and ready to go to the airport.
"You ready, Bella?" Renee asked. She was leaning against the front passenger door of the car.
Bella stood up and stretched her arms up to the sky. She looked at the beautiful clear blue day that it was. She wasn't ready to leave this behind… but she knew it was too late now. She also knew that she was flexible – she would try to make this work. She just wanted Renee to be happy.
"I am.' She said simply, unsure whether she was convincing at all.
As she walked towards the car, Renee took a step towards her and embraced her in a tight, motherly hug.
"Bella, I am going to miss you so much." Her voice cracked – she was on the verge of tears.
"It's not really for that long. You'll hardly have time to miss me." Bella promised her. She knew her mother was going to have an amazing time on the road. It's something that she has always dreamed of doing.
They broke away from each other. "I love you, Bella-" Renee put her hand on Bella's cheek. '-so so much."
"I love you, too." Bella felt that now she may cry. She would miss her mum, her home her whole life in Phoenix.
Phil was already in the car. He rolled down the window and called out "C'mon guys, you don't want Bella to miss her plane!"
Bella and Renee laughed. Phil was right – they were running behind schedule. Bella preferred to be a little late if it meant she had a few more precious moments in the Arizona sun.
"He's right, let's go." Renee laughed, opening the car door.
Bella got in the back seat and sat quietly as they made their way to the airport. She laughed at the fact that she was wearing a sundress and one of her carry-on item was a coat. The absolute absurdity of the situation was funny to her. And in situations like this, all you can do is laugh.
They approached the airport and Bella looked out the window at the life she was leaving behind for the next year.
The flight from Phoenix to Seattle was 2 and a half hours. From Seattle, Bella connected to a flight to Forks; a little under an hour.
Bella had moved around a lot ever since she was little (she's lived in Forks, California and Portland, before finally settling in in Phoenix when she was 11), so flying was no issue for her. However, the one hour car ride to Charlie's house to the airport was a little worrisome.
Charlie and Bella were a lot more alike than what they knew. Aside Bella inheriting his chocolate brown eyes and pale complexion, they both thought they didn't have much in common. But Bella also inherited Charlie's introverted personality. Two introverts in a one hour car ride would a situation filled with awkward silence. The two of them knew that.
Bella touched down in Forks a little after midday. To her immense surprise, it was not raining when she landed.
See Bella? She told herself It's not so bad.
Bella made her way to baggage claim carrying only an empty water bottle – she had put on her coat already – and her phone. She arrived at the conveyer belt and looked around for Charlie.
I hope he didn't get the time wrong. Bella felt a twinge of anxiety deep in her stomach. How could he have forgotten? Bella reached for her phone and contemplated calling Charlie. She was waiting for a few minutes and had expected Charlie to have already been waiting for her before she arrived. As she waited she threw out the water bottle, making sure to recycle it.
"Bells!" Bella heard an all too familiar voice call out. At the sound of her nickname – one that only her father gave to her – she turned around.
Charlie Swan approached Bella, sporting his police uniform. Police Chief Swan, she mused. On the right side of his chest read C. Swan in yellow letters and on his left, the bright yellow forks emblem stood out. What stood out to Bella though, was the fact that he had just come in from outside – and the water on his waterproof police jacket glistened under the artificial light. Although he held an umbrella in his right hand, it was clear that, although dripping wet, it had not been used. In noticing this, Bella realised that it had started raining in the few minutes that she had been waiting for her luggage to come around. Great she though sarcastically Just great.
"Hey Dad." She smiled at Charlie. Over the phone she avoided using the names 'Charlie' or 'Dad', as she didn't know what was appropriate. On the plane Bella decided that 'Dad' would be more appropriate as he was, well, her Dad, and he was letting her stay with him for a whole year. So Charlie became 'Dad'.
Although Charlie's expression rearely displayed what he was thinking/feeling, he was so delighted that Bella had called him Dad.
"Have you been waiting her for long?" Charlie seemed a mixture of flustered and anxious. "I promise I have been here for a while, but there was a parking violation outside and so-" he babbled on.
"Dad, it's fine. I only just got here." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. Bella had been waiting for a few minutes, but she didn't expect to have to be waiting alone, unsure whether Charlie had forgotten about his daughter coming to visit him for the first time in years.
"Oh, good." Charlie sighed a sigh of relief.
Bella stood behind a small crowd and waited for her luggage to come around. She stared at the unfamiliar bags until she spotted a familiar suitcase and began to step forward. "That's one of mine."
"I'll get it." Charlie volunteered. At this, Bella stopped and allowed him to retrieve her luggage.
"Ok. Thanks. It's the red one there." She pointed to the red bag that had just come onto the conveyer belt.
Charlie took two steps forward, then paused and turned towards Bella. "Would you mind holding this?" Charlie asked.
"Sure." Bella offered, reaching for the umbrella. Then she realised, the umbrella… was wet. Well, it's too late now, you're just going to have to grab it – no big deal. Bella's inner monologue told her to grab it, so that's what she did.
Charlie held it out, holding the handle himself. Bella took a step forward and grabbed the handle – which seemed to be the only dry part of the umbrella. She awkwardly brushed Charlie's hand with her own as she grabbed the – thankfully – dry section of the umberella. She gave a quick smile, as if to say the words 'I don't mind.'
Bella held the handle and rested the umbrella tip on the ground, just in front of her feet. She thought this would be safe and would not get any rain water on her. She watched as Charlie walked towards the conveyer belt – as soon as people saw his police uniform, they gave way to him. Bella was glad that Charlie offered to grab her luggage; first, because it was heavy and she didn't have good upper body strength and second because, as a police officer, he had an easy time making his way through the crowd.
Bella stiffened, her heart raced and she felt dizzy. A single drop of water from the umbrella had dripped onto her sandal-dressed foot. In an airport, with a crowd surrounding her – she threatened to reveal everything that she had spent almost half of her life keeping hidden from everyone… everyone. Now, within a momentary lapse in judgement and with something as simple as agreeing to hold a dripping umbrella, she released that this could be it. She could grow a tail in front of everyone.
Luckily quick thinking was Bella's forte. When you have such a huge secret like Bella, you cannot afford to be without this trait. As all eyes surrounding her were either on the conveyer belt with everyone's luggage or on friends and relatives who were homeward bound, Bella could get away with this one. She had only been in Forks for mere minutes and she was already risking everything.
Double checking that no eyes were on her, she looked down at the single drop of water on her right foot. With her right hand resting beside her (her left hand held the umbrella far, far away from her), she twitched her fingers ever so slightly, ready to evaporate the single drop of water off of her foot, and avoid showcasing the fact that she was, in fact a marine mammal. She felt the water heat up and disappear before her very eyes. Only a few seconds more and she would have been in deep turmoil. She was relieved to feel that her foot was dry… for now.
You're safe, Bella, you're fine. She hoped the colour would reappear in her face before Charlie came back with her bag. She saw Charlie make his way over to her, her luggage in hand. He set it beside her.
"Any more?" he questioned.
"Just a small one." She kept her eyes peeled, looking out for her bag.
"You ok, Bells? You look a little pale." Charlie noticed. Bella still felt dizzy with anxiety and her stomach felt like it might expel its contents. Her stomach still felt turned.
"I think the plane made me feel a little bit sick, that's all." She lied smoothly. As she said this, she saw another familiar bag come around. "That's mine, too. The small red one." Bella was thankful for the distraction.
Charlie promptly walked to grab the bag. Bella packed light, as the majority of her clothes were designed to be worn in the Arizona heat. The clothes in her bags were mostly new purchases, to prepare herself for the gloomy, constant winter town that is Forks, Washington.
"That's everything?" Charlie double-checked with Bella.
"That's everything." Bella confirmed.
Bella's large suitcase had a handle and could be wheeled along the ground. Her other bag had a shoulder strap. Charlie awkwardly wheeled her suitcase behind him whilst trying to balance her shoulder strapped bag on his shoulder. Whilst her shoulder bag was small, she knew that it was heavy – she filled it with her favourite books. Watching Charlie walk lopsided with her shoulder bag and wheeling her large suitcase behind her, she saw that he was an accident waiting to happen.
"Are you sure you don't-"she was offering to help him, but before she could finish, her cut her off.
"I've got it, Bells. The car is parked right outside – not far." He assured her
Charlie was stubborn – another trait that Bella had inherited. She didn't say anything, but hoped that he had the coordination to get to the car as she allowed him to continue his awkward walk.
She spotted Charlie's police cruiser as soon as they got out of the airport. The airport was sheltered from the outside, which made it so much easier for Bella to feel a little more relaxed. Charlie had parked in the one-minute drop off zone, which although it was convenient for the both of them, she knew he was not allowed to park his car there. She wondered if the parking violation he mentioned before had anything to do with him parking there. She brushed it off. She was thankful for where he had parked, even though it meant that her police chief father had broken the law.
Whilst the parking spot that Charlie chose was convenient, Bella would still have to walk a mere metre from the foot to the car where the shelter ends. This though, Bella had under control. She practiced in the shower for a long time, manipulating the water around her so that it was just that – around her, not touching her at all. But to do this, she needed both of her hands free. The umbrella in her hand suddenly felt a lot heavier.
The two of them made their way to the car and Charlie put both of Bella's bags in the back.
"It's unlocked." Said Charlie, noticing that Bella hadn't stepped out from under the shelter that the roof of the airport allowed her. Little did he know, she knew the police cruiser was unlocked. She was just thinking of a way to use her powers of water to manipulate the rain so not a single drop hit her. Charlie was just about the close the back of the car when Bella asked-
"Could you put this in there, too?" handing out the umbrella to Charlie. She knew her powers would be more reliable than Charlie's old umbrella at keeping her dry.
Charlie looked puzzled. "Are you sure you don't want it?" Charlie knew Bella's detest of rain, which bordered on phobia-like. Having lived in Forks all of his life, the rain didn't bother Charlie. He had bought the umbrella with him for Bella.
"Yeah." Said Bella. "I'll be fine."
Charlie shrugged and took the umbrella away from Bella, putting it in the back.
Now Bella's two hands were free, she could move the rain around. She went to take a step out of the shelter before realising, how was she supposed to open the car door, without getting rain on one side of her?
Luckily, at this point, Charlie came around and opened the door for her. He assumed that Bella had not heard him tell her that the car was unlocked. The passenger side of the car was closest to her which made it oh-so-easy for Bella, now that she could use her powers. Just like she had in the airport, she rested both of her hands by her side. She turned her arms, facing her palms outward. The rain – which would be more appropriately labelled a drizzle -, at Bella's hand movements moved by her will. The water stayed dangerously close to her, however Bella did that purposely so it did not as if she had the power to move water by a simple hand movement – that might just arise suspicion. So she kept it close to her, but not close enough that it would touch her – she had enough self-control for that.
She smoothly got into the police cruiser and fastened her seat belt.
"Ok." Charlie mumbled, starting the car up. He turned to Bella. "Let's go."
Again, although he didn't show it on his face, Charlie was so excited to have Bella stay with him. He had been looking forward to this day ever since he found out that Bella wanted to visit Forks. For weeks he had been busily preparing her room, cleaning the house and stocking the pantry with foods he knew that Bella liked.
Bella felt… not the exact opposite as Charlie did… but she felt fairly close. She detested Forks, she loved Phoenix.
The two began their journey to Forks. Charlie, excited. Bella… not so much.