First, I'd like to say thank you to a very epic person for reading my stupid original crap. Sorry for not telling you what my name was until I started posting.
I'd also like to tell you right now that THERE IS NO BELLA IN THIS VERSION! I do not like her, and so I shall not tolerate her in my story. I'm replacing her with my OC. She's sort of similar in the clumsiness, but that's more of a similarity to me than intentionally connecting her to Bella. If you don't like that, go away.
(No, I'm not that nice. Quite frankly, if you don't like that, you can go away, too. =3)
I've never really given much thought to how I would die. I've always assumed I'd die of old age, in my bed, next to my peacefully sleeping husband of a ridiculous number of years. I never thought my existence would be snuffed out by a vengeful ex-boyfriend, let alone before I'd had a chance to really live. Now, as I'm fighting a futilely for my life, I only regret that I won't be able to say goodbye. I don't mourn for myself, I mourn for the love I leave behind.
I guess the only way for this to make sense is to start from the beginning. Now that I'm practically gone, I've got all the time in the world for reminiscing…
It started when I moved in with my mother. Up until my junior year, I'd lived in Swansboro with my father. Then, he'd married Phil. Phil's a great guy, but he traveled a lot. I knew Randy, my dad, wanted to travel with him, but he didn't want to leave me by myself. I didn't want to be the one to make him unhappy, so I decided to go spend some quality time with Heidi, my mom, in the dreary little town where she lived, called Forks.
As I stood at the foot of the steps leading to the plane, I looked around at the blazing sky for one last time. In my pocket was a small pebble that I'd found a few years ago on a trip to the beach; it was blue and gold and green like the Atlantic I'd left behind. Randy and Phil waved goodbye one last time from the terminal, and I boarded the plane. Me being me, I fell down the stairs twice and ended up kicking someone behind me in the head. I found my seat as quickly as I could and tried to do as little damage as possible. Looking from side to side sheepishly, I made sure no one was looking to see me make an idiot of myself as I tried to slide in with all the grace I could muster, which isn't much.
I made it almost in, and then caught my foot on the back of the seat in front of me. A small squeak escaped from the back of my throat, and tried to stop myself from face planting. It was not a successful attempt. I bashed my head against the window and hopped into my seat, holding my head and my foot, hoping no one saw. Hah, right.
I listened to the attendees telling us how to buckle our seat belts and whatnot. The seat next to me stayed empty until the very last passenger got on. I'd been hoping no one would sit there, but no. Someone sat down. I kept looking straight ahead.
"Hello, my name's Edward," he said quietly. His voice was like velvet.
"I'm Nick." My full name was Nicolette, but I hated it. I wasn't here to have a conversation, I was here to travel across the country, so there was no reason for him to know my full name, anyway. I pulled my feet up and rested my head on my knees. I really hoped this kid would leave me alone.
"Fine," Edward muttered. "I'll leave you alone." He looked away. I started doing some breathing exercises I'd learned in clarinet lessons, and I calmed down a bit. I'd been antsy for a while, which was probably because I was leaving where I'd lived for most of my life. I was going to miss North Carolina but going to Washington was the right choice.
I fell asleep somewhere in mid-flight, and I guess Edward covered me up with his jacket, because when the attendants announced that the plane would be landing soon, I woke up and found it on me. It smelled great, like sweet tobacco and mint. Phil smokes a pipe, and he'd always have a little jar of tobacco in his pocket, and Randy chewed mint leaves all the time. It smelled like home. A single tear squeezed out, and I quickly wiped it away. I handed Edward back his jacket.
"Here," I said roughly. He set it back in my lap.
"You can keep it, Nicolette." I shrugged inwardly. If he wanted to give me stuff, whatever; I wouldn't stop him. Everyone got off the plane, and I turned my phone on to call Randy and tell him that I'd made it without the plane crashing (he had an irrational fear of planes). When I turned it on, my text alert went off. It was from my boyfriend.
Nini I dnt thnk we cn do the lng dstnc rltnshp thng
It took me a minute to decode what the hell he was saying, but when I did, I got a sick feeling in my stomach.
What do you mean, Jared?
Jared and I had been together since freshman year, and before I'd told him I was leaving, it looked as if we'd be together for a long time. My phone buzzed again.
Nini dnt play dmb. We tlkd abt ths b4 u lft
I didn't think you would go through with it! You said we could try the long distance thing! I haven't even been gone a week!
Now he was pissing me off. I'll bet he'd found someone else. He sent me an exasperated emoticon.
WHATEVER ASSHOLE! GO SCREW WHATEVER CHEAP WHORE YOU'RE SHACKED UP WITH!
I turned the alert off for texts and called Randy's phone, but he didn't answer. I tried Phil's cell, and he picked right up. "Hey, Phil. Tell Dad to pick up his phone every once in a while, will ya? I just wanted to let you guys know I got on and off the plane with no major damage done." I'd mastered the art of masking my emotions over the phone.
Phil laughed. "Sure you did. I'll tell Randy." Phil was easygoing, but he didn't talk a lot.
"Oh, and can you tell Jared that I hope that he gets crabs from whatever skanky bitch he's fucking today? Thanks, I'll talk to you after I get into Forks." I hung up on the astounded gasp on the other end of the line. Leaning against the cool glass of the terminal, I tried to keep myself together. Usually I'd burst into tears when things went wrong, but I refused to have a meltdown in this public a place.
I got myself under control and headed out to meet my mom at the front of the airport. She pulled up late, as usual, but I didn't mention it. On the way to her house, she chatted about everything and nothing at the exact same time. By the time we got there I thought my head was going to explode. The only thing I'd brought was a carry-on with bare essential in it; Randy and Phil had shipped the rest of my stuff before I left, and it was waiting for me when I got to Forks. I hoped to God that she hadn't gone through my stuff.
When I slowly climbed the stairs up to my new room, I found my things stacked up in boxes around the edges. Thank you, unobtrusive parent. I unpacked my clothes into the closet and dresser that were set up. Throwing my favorite blanket haphazardly over the bed, I closed my eyes for just a second. Hours later, Heidi came up to tell me that dinner was ready and that Randy was on the phone.
"Um, okay, I'll be down in a second." I was still wiped out even after sleeping on the plane and after I got off. Stumbling down the stairs, I picked up the corded phone. "Hey Dad. I tried to call you earlier, but you didn't answer. Did Phil tell you?"
"Phil told me that you'd called, and then he told me what you said about Jared." Oh, shit, Randy sounded mad as hell.
"Um, yeah Dad. He broke up with me in a text. That deserves a little anger. I'll talk to you later, Mom made dinner. Tell Phil I say hi." I hung up and ran into the kitchen, where Heidi was trying to look like she hadn't been on the other phone listening to the whole thing. "Give it up Mom, I heard you breathing over the line. Any advice?"
"Well, if I were you, I'd fly back home, kick this Jared's ass, get trashed and sleep with his best friend. But I'm not you; I'm your mother, so I have to tell you to let him go. Maybe you'll meet a nice boy here." I smiled and hugged her.
"You're really great now that you're clean, Mom. I've missed you." We ate our dinner, which wasn't too bad considering Heidi cooked it. She was known for her lack of cooking skills. I yawned and said goodnight, and went back upstairs. Challenge one: getting to Forks, complete. Challenge two: a brand new high school, chance of success minimal. I'd need all the sleep I could get to keep myself from punching some annoying dick in the face.
I woke up, opened my eyes, and rolled over again. It was 3 AM, and I was wide awake and I had a killer headache. Damn jet lag. I sat up and wobbled down to the kitchen. After drinking some water, I was still awake. I searched for the Tylenol, but I didn't find any. What I did find was a bottle with some random guy's name on it, a prescription for Vicodin. Shit, this was bad. This was what Heidi was supposed clean of. I stormed back up the stairs and threw open her door.
"Mom, what the fuck is this? I thought you were clean! That was one of the conditions of me coming here!" I stared down at her from my considerable height. I got my height from Randy, who is 6'7".
"Nicolette, I haven't taken any in months! That's just for bad days…" She gaped in horror as I crossed to the master bathroom, tossed open the door, and flushed the narcotics. "Nicolette, what the hell did you just do? I told you I haven't taken any in months!"
I looked at her coldly. "You also told me you didn't have any drugs in the house. I don't know what to believe from you. I'm going for a run." I stomped to my room, tossed on a track suit, and some running shoes.
Once I was on the street, I set a fast pace and didn't let myself slow down until I was thoroughly lost. Looking around, all I could see was trees and trees. I sat down on the damp side of the road and burst into tears, for everything. They were angry tears, angry at Jared, the bastard, and angry at Heidi for having the drugs, and angry at myself for thinking she could change. As I sat there, wallowing in the shithole my life had turned into in record time, someone pulled up in a shiny silver Volvo. The window rolled down. In the driver's seat was Edward.
"Hey there, Nicolette. Need a ride home? You look kind of lost." He smiled at me. Why the hell not, my subconscious said. Hopping in the passenger seat, I looked over at him.
"Let's just drive around for a bit, I don't have anywhere to be."
Yes, this is a crappy first chapter, but it's all I've got for now. Hopefully, school won't be a pain in the ass and I'll be able to update a lot. Reviews are appreciated! =333