Title: The Best Of Times
Chapter 1: Birthday Bitterness And Old Friends Make For A Long Day
Rating: T, some language later on, not so much now.
Disclaimer: I don't own any aspect of Twilight and all its proceedings, they continue to belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Summary: Ava Swan never expected to move to Forks, Washington permanently. Then again, she never expected to be imprinted by a hot-headed shapeshifter. Eventual Paul/OC. No Bella-bashing. Follows New Moon (mostly). There's no way I can make this sound original, ever.
Notes: This isn't going to be a 'love-at-first-sight' fic because love doesn't exist kiddos, take it from me. Just kidding, the love and crap doesn't happen until waaay later in the story if I play my cards right. That being said, if you're expecting a 'Paul sees OC and falls in love, OC sees Paul and falls in love, thinks he's super hot, and they have a bunch of shifter babies' this ain't it and I would poke around elsewhere...Wellll, the 'Paul sees OC and falls in love' might be pretty spot on, if my knowledge of imprinting is accurate. Shape-shifters fall and they fall hard.
BUT, if you want a slow burn (hopefully), OC-insert story then I would read the first few chapters at least. I will mention that since this is a primarily OC-insert story, the chapters will focus mostly on the actual happenings of the film, the romance and junk will take a backseat.
I reiterate, no Bella bashing, because despite her seeming hatred towards her humanity I like her. No vampire bashing either, that means no blatantly describing Edward as a stalker because, truthfully, I was all Team Edward when I was 12 and watched New Moon. This fic will take off where the film starts, so NOT following novel NM because I'm not about to dig that book up just to re-read it; I don't have time for all that.
If characters are OOC, just know that I don't care enough to nit-pick every single thing they do. I've already stated that there's no way I can make this sound original. If you have constructive criticism, it is very much welcome! And if you are itching to leave a negative comment, please do so but remember that no one will appreciate them as much as you apparently do.
And I leave you with these parting words: Grammar sucks.
"Happy birthday to you!" You sang loudly, knocking repeatedly on Bella's door with your elbow. Trying to balance a box and two cupcakes was definitely harder than you anticipated. "Bella!" You called again, kicking lightly at her door with the tip of your sneaker. At this rate you were both going to be late for class, "come on! My hands are full, can you please get up and open the door?"
"She still down?" Charlie came up from behind you and eyed the shut door. You maneuvered the box as best you could to face him and lifted a shoulder halfheartedly, "I have no clue. Either she's out like a light or, the more plausible theory, she refuses to open the door for me."
"I got it," he muttered, giving the door a few more knocks and opening the door slowly, holding two presents in his hands, "happy birthday." He stepped inside and you followed, smiling widely before shooting your cousin a dry look.
"Still in bed, I see."
"Isn't it my birthday?" Bella answered, raising her eyebrows slightly.
"Then I'll let this one slide," you laughed, nudging your uncle forward slightly for him to hand Bella his present. He took a few steps, clicking his tongue and she frowned at the two of you, finally noticing the boxes you held, "I thought we agreed no presents."
You silently rolled your eyes behind Charlie as he responded, "well, the one from me s'not wrapped, so it doesn't count." He handed her a digital camera with a small bow. You quickly took a large step to stand beside Charlie and leaned forward in anticipation, "I picked the color. Pink. Just like your bright, little personality."
"Ha, ha." She smiled slightly at you, toying with the camera in her hands before turning to her father, "that's actually great. Thanks, Dad."
He held out the next present, "ah, it goes with this one from your mom. We coordinated...well, she coordinated me." You sat down at the edge of her bed and stared at the bright yellow wrapping paper being torn away to reveal a scrapbook. "It's to put your pictures in from senior year." Charlie continued before heaving a sigh, "senior year...how'd either of you get so old so fast?"
"You're not going to start crying, are you Uncle Charlie?" You teased. You swiped your finger across the edge of the cupcake and quickly licked it off, balancing the other on top of your gift.
"Your sympathy, Ava. It just warms me." Charlie drawled, he crossed his arms across his chest, "it's just now you two are so old. Time just flew by."
You were about to answer back when Bella suddenly shot her head up from the scrapbook, "I didn't," she frowned, "It's not that old."
Charlie leaned forward slightly, staring at Bella's hair, "I don't know...is that a gray hair?" He pointed at a few strands and Bella backed up, "no. No way" She quickly swung her legs around the side of her bed and stared into the mirror for a few seconds, while you tried to contain your laughter. She sighed in relief and gave Charlie a dry look.
He held up his hands in defense and gave her a small smile, "happy birthday." He said before turning around and walking out of the room. "That's really funny," Bella said sarcastically, flopping back onto her bed and holding out her hand towards you in defeat, "alright, let's end this. Hand it over."
"Excuse you," you pressed the present against your thighs and raised an eyebrow, "you're not getting anything until you sound a little more enthusiastic about receiving said gift."
"You want me to jump up and down?" She dropped her outstretched arm onto the duvet and dropped her upper body towards you, burying her face into the blankets, "because I'm not doing that."
You lowered your head slightly closer to her head, "Maybe a nice, 'wow, Ava, you got me a super amazing present that you spent actual time on and a cupcake. Thank you for being the best cousin ever'. That'll suffice."
She lifted her head slightly to speak in a muffled voice, "You're going to have to repeat all that."
You grabbed a stray pillow by your feet and smacked the back of her head, "you know what. I hope you get loads and loads of gray hairs this year. You're going to age an extra 30 years."
She lifted herself up and frowned, "that's just mean."
"Here." You finally held out the box in front of her face and she straightened up, putting the cupcake to the side and tearing at the paper. You didn't really want to buy anything extravagant, knowing that Bella would just be upset, so you settled for something with a more personal touch. You'd never done any sort of artsy thing for anyone but you figured if you were going to start, Bella would be a good place. It was a relatively simple task, an abstract painting seemed easy enough. All you had to buy was a canvas and a few tubes of paint and you were set.
"I used colors that reminded me of you."
"I see black, white, different blues...light purple?" She asked, looking up questionably. You hummed, appreciating the meshed colors and traced the slightly raised canvas with your fingers, "that one was all me, sister. I love light purple."
She gave a small laugh and stared at the canvas for a few more seconds, "Thank you." She said, looking up and you gave a small nod, "no problem. Don't ask for another one though. I'm pretty sure I permanently stained my bedroom floor."
With that being said, you stood up quickly and tossed the pillow still in your hand at her head, "now hurry up. It may be your birthday but I don't think Mr. Berty will take that as an excuse to miss first period."
After bounding back into your room, you made a quick check of your backpack to make sure you had your supplies and notebooks in tow. You knew Bella wouldn't take too long to get ready and you made your way downstairs to grab some breakfast. Swinging the freezer door open you audibly groaned, "someone finished all the waffles," you mumbled to yourself.
Making a quick glance around the kitchen you grimaced before spotting a slightly brown banana. You remembered Bella mentioning that spotted bananas were supposedly healthier for your digestive system.
Or something.
Grabbing it off the counter, you peeled it and stared out the window of the kitchen facing the thick forest. You spared a glance towards the sky, even though you could already guess the outcome. The overcast clouds causing it to be perpetually gloomy.
You thought back to your first week here, months ago, and how absolutely miserable you were. After moving from your hometown, you didn't really know what to do with yourself. You didn't know anyone other than Bella, your uncle Charlie, a few of his friends, Jacob Black, and a few of his friends. Having to start a new school with all new people was absolutely terrifying to you, and the fact that Jake wasn't going to the same school as Bella and yourself just made you think things were going to be that much harder.
Bella introduced you to her friends at the beginning of the year and they were friendly enough. Quite the group, you noted, not really knowing how they formed initially; chalking it up to it being a small town with slim pickings.
And then Bella introduced you to her boyfriend, Edward Cullen. He was nice. A little odd, but you knew plenty of awesome people who were slightly odd. Bella being one of them, you thought, laughing inwardly.
His family was also, almost painfully, polite. Not really your crowd. But Bella seemed to like them very much, sitting with them every day during lunch.
But despite all this, you settled into a nice routine. You went to school, did your work, hung out with Bella, and every now and again, Edward by association. You even tolerated the spontaneous trips shopping that Jessica and Angela dragged you along on, knowing that Bella would just turn them down since she spent a good chunk of her time with Edward anyway.
"Ready?" You were jolted out of thoughts as Bella swung her backpack around her back, giving you a strange look, "you OK?"
You finished off the banana and nodded, "yeah." You muffled, speaking around your full mouth. You pointed to the front door as a silent direction to head on out. Passing a random bush outside you flung the banana out onto the open grass.
You heard Bella clear her throat and look at the peel, pointingly.
"What?" You laughed, "it's good for the environment. Biodegradable." You threw her truck door open and climbed into the passenger seat, "when you going to let me drive her?"
"Right after never." Bella answered, starting her up and pulling backwards onto the road. "I'd let you drive my car," you innocently said, fiddling with the seatbelt. Despite having your own ride, you still preferred the drive to and from school with Bella and her truck.
You spared a glance your car that was sitting in the small driveway, relishing in it's clean exterior that you managed to obtain after an hour of scrubbing top to bottom. Kind of pointless, you now noticed, watching the large rain clouds cover the sky.
Somehow, Charlie managed to send it along with you when you moved to Forks. Imagine your surprise and utter elation when you woke up the day after your arrival and your car was sitting in the driveway; it felt like you still had a part of your old self with you. You could only guess how much it would cost to send a car but after looking it up, you closed it out quickly, preserving your sanity.
The rest of the ride was left in mostly silence, like it usually was, other than the radio playing lowly. 'Another missing hiker brings the total to three presumed dead. Rangers are searching for the killer animal-' you quickly switched the station, "that's depressing." You frowned, "and sad. Imagine disappearing out of nowhere." You shook at the thought and glanced at Bella staring at the road absentmindedly. You raised an eyebrow and poked her upper arm, "did you even hear me?"
She snapped her head towards you quickly and gave a nervous smile, "What? Sorry." Bella answered sheepishly, "I'm kind of out of it."
"Maybe it's your old age," you teased, "you're losing it."
"Shut up." She laughed slightly.
Once you pulled into the school parking you met the eyes of Bella's old group of friends. "Aren't they usually inside by now?" Bella said quietly, shooting them a nervous look.
"Usually," you agreed, "maybe they heard it's your birthday."
"Hmm," she tugged at her hair nervously, "hopefully not." She quickly shifted attitudes and gave them a friendly smile.
Jessica pounced, "today's the big day, girls." Bella immediately gave her a confused and slightly panicked look and Jessica stuck out her neck slightly, "the R and J essay due?"
Bella looked at you in relief, not noticing your reaction, and smiled nonchalantly back towards the group, "oh, yeah."
Mike held out an arm and in a poor Shakespearean accent called out, "Wherefore Art thou, Bella? Ava?"
You must have looked sick because Angela waved her hand in front of you, "earth to Ava? You OK?"
You shrugged sheepishly, "yeah. I just forgot that we had that stupid thing due today." You said, "I'm about 99.9% sure it's sitting on my laptop in my room, yet to be printed out. I'm dead meat."
"Ava, seriously? I'm pretty sure it's, like, 90% of our grade." Jessica huffed, crossing her arms and giving you an exasperated look, "you're going to fail and watch us graduate!"
"Jess-" Mike tried placating her, before holding out an arm in suggestion, "I could give you a ride back to your house to get it." You shook your head quickly, "that's OK Mike. I'll just...fail." You finished lamely, "or convince Mr. Berty to give me an extension or something."
"If anyone is on Berty's good side, it's you," Eric pointed out, "just say you had food poisoning. Or like, your dog ate it. Hm?" He looked to Angela, his eyebrows raised at his suggestions.
"Or," Angela began, looking at you supportively, "you could just be honest and say you'll turn it in tomorrow?"
"I'll see what I come up with." You sighed, already racking your brain for a good enough excuse to keep your average in his class. Bella had her hands shoved in her jacket pockets before a moment of realization passed her face. She slipped out her new camera and glanced at it, "let me take a picture of you guys. My mom wants me to put together, like, a scrapbook full of memories." She shook her head lightly, as she spoke.
"Oh." "Cool, yeah." They answered back, "I take them. I'm not in them," Angela tried slinking to the side but Eric quickly got a hold on her, "No, no, no. Come here."
Bella held up the camera, "well, you are today."
You were fine with just watching the photo be taken until Bella discreetly nudged you slightly towards the group.
"You already took one of-" You managed to mumble lowly before Eric grabbed your upper arm to move you in the middle of him and Mike. You sighed and plastered a smile onto your face as both boys threw an arm around your shoulders. You groaned inwardly; Bella had already taken a photo of you on the way to school.
"You'll photoshop this if my nose looks big, right?" Jessica asked, propping a hand on her hip and smiling. You could see Bella roll her eyes at the girl and you shot her a discreet wink. Jessica was a nice enough girl, just cared way too much about how other people saw her. You never really understood how Angela became friends with her, if you were being honest. They were pretty much polar opposites.
"Don't worry, I'm in the picture. No one will be looking at you guys." You heard Eric say before Bella lifted the camera. "Say cheese," You said, through your smile, right before the camera went off. "That's good," Bella smiled, looking down at the photo. You straightened yourself and saw a familiar Volvo pull into the parking lot. It seemed you weren't the only one, as Mike let out a sigh, "oh good. Cullen's here." He said sardonically. You moved to Bella's side and Eric let out an unenthusiastic cheer.
"Well," Jessica said, "talk to you guys later. See you in class."
"Yeah, bye," waving, as the group moved towards the entrance. You usually stayed with Bella throughout the morning, you figured that since she didn't sit with you at lunch you'd just hang around until the first bell. It'd become a habit since you started here and you weren't deterred by the company of any of the Cullens'. You turned with Bella to welcome her boyfriend and immediately you saw the change in her. Her eyes brightened up and a smile graced her face. Bella wasn't one for smiling very much but you noticed that the minute that Edward was in the vicinity, there was very little that would dampen her mood.
He approached you and stopped in front of Bella, "happy birthday." He said immediately.
Bella shook her head, looking elsewhere, "don't remind me."
Edward smiled at her and gave you a nod of acknowledgement, "good morning Belinda."
"Morning," you answered, rocking on your heels back and forth. For some reason, Edward took to calling you by your middle name. You didn't mind very much, you actually liked it but he was one of few who actually used it regularly. Edward leaned closer to Bella; usually they didn't dive too deep in the PDA when you were around, which you were grateful for, but today being Bella's birthday you doubted they'd give you the courtesy.
"Bella, your birth is definitely something to celebrate." Edward replied, his attentions back on her. She gave a small scoff and looked up at him through her lashes, "Yeah, but my aging's not."
You rolled your eyes at Bella's melodramatic answer. She's been so weird about her birthday this year. Normally, she at least placates the presents, cake, and birthday mentions but this year she almost seemed bitter. You just thought it was her turning the big one eight.
Even Edward seemed to note her attitude, "your aging?" He chuckled, "I think 18 is a little young to start worrying about that."
"I agree," you interrupted. Their eyes both darting to you and you took a step backwards towards the front of the school, sensing that they wanted to speak privately, "I'm going to head inside. Gonna try to convince Berty to extend the deadline by a day."
"Alright," Bella answered, "maybe if you cry, he'll extend it?" She suggested with a straight face.
"Bella, your sense of humor never fails to amaze me. I'm not going to cry, I'm going to charm." You joked, taking a few steps backwards.
"Good luck with that," Edward said, holding up a hand in good-bye. You gave him an unamused snort and they turned their attention back to each other. Just as you walked a ways away out of earshot, you felt someone grab at your side.
You let out a gasp of surprise and whirled to the side to face Jacob, "hey!" You smiled, bumping him lightly with your fist. You glanced back at Bella to see that she was still talking to Edward, paying neither of you any mind.
"Hey yourself! What happened to 'I'll come by La Push, don't worry Jake'," he mimicked you, raising his voice a few octaves.
You shoved his shoulder with a warning look on your face, "OK, one: I don't sound like that and two:," you shoved him again a little harder, "what happened to 'I'll come hunt you down, if you don't come see me', huh? I'm not the only one to blame."
He raised his hands in surrender, "alright, tiger, keep that up and I'll have to file for harassment."
You scoffed and poked at his biceps, "oh shut it. I know I may look like I can handle myself in a tussle but I'm a wimp."
"A tussle?" He laughed, throwing his head back, "who even says that? God, you are such a dork."
"Well you're friends with me, so what does that say about you?"
"Mm, my capabilities of choosing friends is low? Guess we'll have to stop speaking."
"Oh, I wonder how I'll survive," you said dramatically before giving him a serious look, "easy."
"You know, words like that," he tapped his chest, "they hurt me. Really."
"Jake, don't you have someone else to talk to?" You suggested, jerking your thumb behind you, "maybe wishing a certain Miss Swan a happy birthday. Charlie mentioned that he told Billy. And since you're concerned about all things Bella, I'm sure he told you,"
"She's making out with Cullen, I'd rather not get in the middle of...that." He shuddered, eliciting a laugh from you, "and I'm not concerned about all things Bella. I'm concerned about all things friends. So you're included in that too."
"So is Edward included in your little deal?" You teased, "you stare at him certainly enough."
"Har, har." Jacob rolled his eyes and frowned, "I just don't like 'em."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." You waved him off, "you have got to get over your seemingly unwarranted hatred for Edward. He's not a bad guy."
"Not just him, all the Cullens'." He corrected, before changing the subject, "but really, when are you heading over to see me. You know how far your house is from mine? Far. Like, really really far. I can't keep up this one-sided friendship."
"Yet you somehow managed to make it all the way here to wish Bella a happy birthday," you mentioned again, nonchalantly. You knew that Jake had a crush on Bella. Had for a while if you were being honest, she had been the topic of conversation from time to time on your phone calls back and forth when you lived in your hometown. You never minded though, Jake was a great guy and Bella was actually pretty sweet when she wanted to be.
Before you turned 10, your family would come to Forks for nearly the entire summer. After they stopped coming, either work or the timing never being right, you begged them to let you visit even if it was for a small amount of time. After that, they sent you off to Forks for one week out of the summer, usually falling into the same time Bella would be visiting her father.
Growing up, Bella grew acquainted with Jake through you, but they never became as good a friends that you were with them, separately. Now that you lived in Forks, you noticed happily that they had become closer.
There was a time when you harbored a small crush on the boy, back when you were 10 years old and he threw a rock at you. You didn't know where your reaction came from, but from that moment on to the eve of your 13th birthday, you pined over him. At this point though, you didn't feel anything towards Jake other than a close friendship. If anything, he acted more like an annoying younger brother.
"Hey, watch it. You shouldn't bully other people you know."
"I am not bullying, I am making an observation." You shot back and quickly checked your watch. You had less than five minutes to get to class and beg for an extra day, glancing back you saw that Bella and Edward weren't...attached anymore, "well, now is your chance." You suggested, brushing past him and shoving him in their direction, "I have things to do and people to meet, so I gotta split."
Jacob took the hint and took a few steps before turning around and speaking, "you have to come by and see me! Help me with the old Rabbit."
You turned around and shook your head, laughing, "if you want me near that car and something goes wrong, that's on you."
"I'll take my chances," he gave you a thumbs up and jogged towards the couple. Edward, noticing his impending arrival, turned away to leave Jacob and Bella to converse alone.
You turned around finally with no distractions and wondered, what the hell was with those two?
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Incorrect Quote(s) of the Chapter:
Ava: I got the cake!
Edward: That says, Happy 18th Birthday Bailey.
Ava: Oh, shit, she's gonna be 19 isn't she?
Edward: Her name is Bella.