Chapter 1
Reluctant Arrival
Moving to Forks was the hardest decision I'd ever made. I was leaving a lot behind, my aunt, grandmother, friends, and my own son. I was here to fill in for a teacher who had retired, and moved away.
Not that I blamed him really.
I was called here by my desperate college friend, Debra, who happened to be the principle of Forks high school. Poor Debbie, she was running around like a chicken with her head cut off trying to find a new teacher.
She was my closest friend, and she'd done a lot for me in the past, so I figured I do this for her. No matter how much I didn't want to be here. Debbie and I had been friends since our freshman year in college, we had been roommates.
So here I was, sitting in the freezing cold airport in Seattle, waiting for Debra to arrive. Why on earth did they have the AC on in a town as cold and rainy as Forks anyway? The bottoms of my jeans were soaked from accidentally stepping in a huge puddle on the way in from the plane.
Of course coming from Texas, I don't own any rain boots or sneakers really, so I was wearing flip-flops. I'm sure that my toes were going to fall off soon.
"Crystal!"
Sitting up, I searched the crowd for the voice, it really sounded like Debra. Not realizing that I looking in the totally wrong direction, I jumped when a hand touched my shoulder. Turning, I relaxed when I looked into the familiar green eyes of my closest friend.
"You scared the living daylights out of me!" She laughed, walking around the bench I was seated on to stand in front of me.
"Awe, you didn't miss me?" Debbie cooed, wiggling her finger in my face. Playfully scowling, I lightly slapped her hand away. We shared a warm hug, Debra running her hands through my thick, frizzy hair.
"Lord, your hair is turning into a fro! " Rolling my eyes at her playful teasing, I nudged my elbow into her side.
"Whatever Deb, don't make me whip your booty right here in this airport." We glared at each other for a minute, before busting out in joyful laughter. I could always count on her to make me feel better about leaving Texas.
I still missed home though. I'd never been so far away from my family; I never left Texas before today.
"-ystal? Crystal!" My head snapped to the left, and I stared at Debra with wide eyes. "Huh?" I forced out.
She gave me a knowing look. "You know, it isn't so bad here. It's a great place, really it is." I just nodded at her comment. I knew she was telling the truth, but I loved big cities, and meeting new interesting people.
As a young girl, I never envisioned my future self to be a small town mom, I wanted to be somebody, travel the world. See everything there is to see, exotic people, beautiful landscapes, popular land marks.
That's what I wanted to do with my life, but sadly, that never came to be. Instead, I became a teacher, and had a child a year and a half after.
Not that that was a bad thing, I love Stephen with everything I have, but there was so many things I wanted to do before having a child. A lot of things I haven't seen and done. I absentmindedly loaded my bags into Debra's van minutes later.
On the way to Forks, we chatted, catching up, and telling horrible corny jokes that made us laugh entirely too hard.
We pulled up to the small brick house I was renting out that was about a block or two away from Debra and her husband's place. This place is a three bedroom, two bath, and from the photos Debra emailed me a few weeks ago, it was pretty spacious.
"Hey, thanks for finding me this place Deb." I smiled at her as the both of us took a few bags within our hands. We walked up to the red front door, and Debra handed me the key. I unlocked the door, and we stepped inside. The place was empty; my furniture would be coming next week.
Along with my Samoyed, my little baby, Teddy. He will be arriving two or three days after my furniture gets here. Oh gosh I missed his cute little face already. He was staying with at my aunts house back home.
Looking around, I inspected the dark wood floors and clean white walls. "I like it, really spacious." Debra nodded as she set my luggage on the floor. "I know, I figured you'd want some extra room for Stephen, and your office space."
I grinned over at her, "You guessed right." I said as I set the heavy luggage in my hands on the floor as well. "Do you want a place to stay until your things get here?" She asked, rubbing her hands together to warm them.
"No, I'll be okay, I have a blow-up bed in one of these pesky bags. You can go on home, it's pretty late." I stretched out my limps, winching at the sound of my bones cracking.
"You sure?" She asked, shifting on her feet. I just nodded silently. The home sickness was really starting to set in, and at the moment, I was done talking. Walking Debra to the door, I watched her get in her van and pull off with a dark feeling.
After closing and locking the door, I slipped off my shoes, and went upstairs to my own bedroom. My eyes were stinging with tears as I just sat down on the tan carpeted floors of the large bedroom. For awhile, I just cried, missing my family, and everything I left behind me.
I knew that Stephen was an adult now, a freshman in college, but I still wanted him near me. He was, after all, the only child I'll ever have. So there I sat, lying on the floor, tucking into a ball of my own sadness, bawling like a little girl. Gradually the rain tapping on the roof relaxed me, it relaxed my mind and soul, dulling the homesickness a tiny bit.
Sitting up, I rubbed my dry eyes, and wiped the tears away. Standing, I shuffled into the conjoined bathroom, flipping on the lights, I grimaced at the dark circles and bloodshot eyes. I turned on the sink, letting the cool water wet my cupped hands. I splashed the water on my face twice, then inspected my face.
Dark brown, almost black eyes, shaped almost like almonds. My lips were small, but were still plump, my nose was a little to long to fit my rounded face, my eyebrows were always cut to be sharp and defined. Light brown skin with red undertones, kind of reminded me of the color of brunt sugar. All in all, I thought I was a pretty good looking woman.
As a teenager, I absolutely hated my nose with a passion, along with the small gap I have. Stripping off my clothes, I went to the shower, and ran water until it became hot. I adjusted the water to my liking and hopped in. After scrubbing myself clean, I wrapped a towel around my body, and left the steaming hot bathroom. Looking around, I realized that I had forgotten my clothes downstairs.
I shivered, the cold air was blowing my long dark dreads behind me as I rushed back down to the first floor. After making sure that my towel was going to stay wrapped up, I crouched down to pick up the biggest one, which held most of my wardrobe. Taking back to my bedroom was a pain, my towel kept on slipping down. I dried my body off, then dug through my bag for nightclothes.
I pulled out a pair of navy blue sweats, a pair of warm fuzzy socks, and a loose fitting grey t-shirt. Slipping them on, I yawned, stretching out my aching limbs. I was tired from the plane ride, along with the temper tantrum I'd thrown earlier. I went back downstairs, and grabbed my brown leather purse from the floor. I dug through it, pulling out my cellphone. I sat down, cross-legged on the wooden floor, and dialed my Aunt's number. After a few rings, she picked up with slight confusion in her tone.
"Crystal?"
I smiled,"Yeah, it's me Auntie. I just called to let you know I arrived."
Her voice warmed up quickly, I could hear the smile in her voice, "That's good. I'm glad to hear from you. How's Forks so far?"
"Cold and wet." I said back, unenthusiastic with the thought that I was miles away from my home, "well, I was happy to see Debra -, you remember her right?"
"Of course I do. She's the girl you brought home winter break years back." Auntie stated, her tone smart. I went on telling about my day before asking her about my grandmother.
"She's good." Auntie said after awhile, then continued thoughtfully," A bit riled up from you leaving, but she's okay." I sighed, shaking my head slowly. I knew that Auntie was altering the truth, but I decided to keep that thought to myself to prevent an argument. We talked for a few more minutes, then said our goodbyes and hung up.
I clutched the phone in my hand tightly. Hearing her voice felt like a cool crisp breeze in a barren desert. It was refreshing. Standing, I slipped my phone unto my pants pocket, and went back upstairs after flipping off the lights. It was way past dinner time, but I just wasn't hungry. Deb gave my the local pizza places number, but I just didn't want to force down anymore greasy, heart stopping fast food at the moment. I stepping inside my room, and sat down on the mattress that sat on the floor.
Curling up, I fell back on the bed, and closed my eyes. I focused on the rain hitting the roof of the house, and fell into a dreamless rest.
Sorry if this first chapter is boring you, but I really wanted to introduce you to Crystal, and I really wanted you to get kind of a picture of who she is, but more about her life back in Texas will be reveal.
Reviews are appreciated