I felt like I had only been asleep for a few hours when I heard Edward whisper into my ear. "Rise and shine."
That was when I heard it, the phone ringing. Edward clicked it on and put the receiver to my ear. "Hello?"
"Bella? Is that you? You sound awful." The person said at the other end.
I took a look at the alarm clock next to the bed. "Its 1:30 in the morning, of course I sound awful. Who is this?"
"It's Shelbie, I'm sorry that I called so late, I just really need somewhere to stay." Shelbie mumbled.
"You're all the way across the state, how could you stay at my house?" My eyebrows furrowed with worry. It wasn't like Shelbie to sound sad, let alone would she try to mooch a stay at my house.
Edward looked at me with concern; he mouthed "who is it?" I mouthed "Shelbie" back to him. He gave a curt nod.
"I'm not in Kettle Falls anymore; I'm at the Seattle Airport. It's complicated, I just need a place to stay, alright?" her voice cracked with emotion, "I'm sorry I called."
"No, Shelbie, Wait! I'll call Edward and we'll pick you up. Okay, but it will take a while. It's going to be okay." I said good-bye and hung up.
Edward looked at me with concern and tilted his head to the side. "Is Shelbie okay? Why does she need a ride?"
"I think she ran away, she seems pretty tore up about it. We have to go get her." I stood up, went into the bathroom and got dressed. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and thought about Shelbie. Why would she run away from home? What was going on here?
I went back to my bedroom to find Edward waiting for me at the end of the bed, looking like an angel made of Alabaster stone. Be still, my heart.
"Go home and get your car. I'm going to wake Charlie up and tell him that one of our friends is in trouble that you and I are going to Seattle to pick her up." I kissed him lightly on the lips. "I'm worried. She doesn't act like this."
He kissed my cheek, his lips cool and soft. "I'm worried too." In an instant he was out the window.
I could hear Charlie snoring in his room, once I knocked on the door the snoring stopped and I could hear Charlie shuffling to the door. He opened the door in a t-shirt and boxers, scratching his head in confusion. "What do you need, Bells? Do you know what time it is?"
"Dad, one of my friends are in trouble, I called Edward, he's going to pick me up in a little bit. We're going to Seattle to pick her up at the air port."
"Honey, who's in trouble? What's going on?"
"It's Shelbie, that native girl that was here a few weeks ago. She lives on the other side of the state, but she took a plane here. She's not like that, she's in trouble and Edward and I are going to pick her up." I raised my hands palm up as a sign of desperation, Charlie did not comprehend.
"Maybe I should come with you guys; do her parents know she's gone?"
"I don't know," I heard the sound of gravel crunching under tires coming from outside. "That's Edward; I'll be back with Shelbie in a little bit." I bolted for the stairs.
"Be careful Bella, I want to talk to this Shelbie person when you get home."
Right when I was in the Volvo, Edward took off before I could even close the door. We road in silence for most of the way, thinking about Shelbie and wondering if she was okay.
I sighed and shook my head. "What would make her do this?" I whispered, mostly to myself, but Edward could hear anyway.
"I have a few ideas." Edward said, never taking his eyes off of the road, his grip tight on the steering wheel. He looked even more like an angel in the darkness of the night, the only light coming from the dials on the center console and the speedometer. He looked like a beautiful forlorn angel.
"You think it could be because of her Dad?"
"That, among other things." He said simply. This was how Edward acted when he was upset. Edward Cullen: Master of Short Sentences.
"What other things could there be?"
Edward sighed deeply. "She…she had problems with other people. A lot of people were jealous of her, for various reasons, she got picked on a lot. Maybe she just got fed up with it and left. Then…well, then there's other things."
"What kind of things?" I was really worried now. He sensed my feelings and put his hand on my knee, I put my hand on top of his.
"Her Dad could have passed away, that or another member of her family." He said solemnly.
I couldn't bring myself to speak. All I wanted was to get to Shelbie as fast as possible. We came to Port Hadlock in no time. We took a late ferry and crossed over into Seattle, we turned onto the highway to get to the airport. The lights from the buildings and signs flashed here and there. I heard a plane go by over head and new that we were close. In fact, as I looked closer I could see it not that far ahead.
I hastily put some quarters into the meter, dropping most of them on the cement. Edward picked them up and put the rest of them in the slot with no trouble and turned the handle. My hands were shaking from the adrenaline coursing through me. We set the meter for an hour. Seattle had a pretty big airport and Shelbie never told us were to find her. We had to go hunting.
We half ran into the airport, looking for someone to be at a counter working. On the other side of the long hall there was a lady working the help desk. She was obviously board and was filing her nails and smacking her gum. She perked up once she saw Edward and me, or should I just say Edward.
She leaned forward as we came closer. She had blond curly hair and looked to be about forty, very pretty though; she was wearing high-gloss red lipstick. Her name tag proclaimed her as Debbie.
"What can I do for you?" She had a Jersey City accent, I also didn't miss that she was only talking to Edward.
Edward grabbed my hand and drug me closer to him, wrapping his arm around my waist. "We were wondering where the gate is for a flight that came in from Spokane." Edward looked at me, winked, smiled and kissed me. "Our wedding is coming up and her Maid of Honor is flying in from Spokane, but she forgot to tell us were to pick her up." He looked at me again. I couldn't help but smile.
When we looked back to Debbie, her smile seemed to be plastered on to her face. "Congratulations! If you'll excuse me, I'll go check." She turned around and walked into a back room.
I put a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. "Did you see the look on her face?" I whispered, my shoulders shaking from the built up giggles.
She came back in a few minuets. "The last plane to come here from Spokane landed about an hour and a half ago." She pointed farther down the hall and made a gesture to go to the right. "Go down that hall, turn right. She should have picked up her bags down there. Maybe that's were she's waiting. Or just check outside." She turned back to us, the smile still on her face. "Congratulations on the marriage. I hope you have a happy life together. Have a good night."
"Bye Debbie thanks for the help." I smile at her, this time she didn't return the gesture.
"Yes, thank you very much." Edward said looking back to Debbie, both of us already a third of the way down the hall.
We came to the room where you claimed your bags. The conveyer belts that brought the bags around were all off, except for one, apparently a plane had just come in. The room was very large, with many seats along the walls to sit and wait for baggage and people. In the far corner of the vast room, I could see a small figure with two suitcases curled up on one of the seats. Their legs were brought up to their chest, I couldn't tell who it was, and they had their head down and resting on their knees.
I looked to Edward the question already written to my face, asking 'is that her?' He simply nodded and stepped closer, quietly sitting beside Shelbie.
He put his hand on her back, "Shelbie?" He asked, though he already knew it was her.
She raised her head, smiling, though the tears on her cheeks were fresh. She gently dabbed the tears away around her black eye. "Oh, Edward!" she sobbed, burying her face in his jacket.
I rushed forward and put my hand on her back as a comforting gesture. She turned to me now and hugged me. "Thank you so much for coming to get Me." she whispered.
"It's going to be all right now. Lets get to the car; you can explain things in there." I grabbed her hand and led her back the way Edward and I had come. Edward followed, grabbing the two suitcases with ease, Shelbie already had her carryon shouldered and was looking back at Edward. "Do you want me to take one of those? They're pretty heavy."
Edward just smiled back, "Trust me, I'm fine."
As we passed by Debbie I waved to her, but she ignored me, sending a little finger wave to Edward. He smiled and plowed forward. Once we got to the car Edward put the suitcases in the trunk and opened the door for Shelbie and I. He got situated in his seat before he spoke.
"Shelbie, what happened to you?" Edward said, not looking back, staring at the steering wheel.
"Oh, you noticed the black eye?" Shelbie said.
"Yeah, we noticed." I said, "It's kind of hard to miss."
"Well, it's a funny story. Jess Shimmals was saying stuff to me. Calling me a savage, and red-skinned inbreed, she said that my Dad deserved to die because the world needed one less Indian." Shelbie looked upset at first, but then her frown turned into a smile. "So I punched her in the face and slammed her head into the locker. We ended up rolling around on the floor, she got one good hit to my eye, and then we were pulled apart by the teachers. I got suspended for five days, but my Dad said that he's had it with me. I was supposed to move in with my aunt down on the rez. Even though I like Jacob, my Dad wanted my aunt to arrange my marriage." The smile faded and was replaced with tears. "So I ran away. I couldn't stand to know that I couldn't be any ware near Jacob."
Edward pulled out of the airport and turned to go to the marina to catch a ferry. While we were pulling into Port Angeles Shelbie fell asleep. Edward had to carry her into the house. It was 5:00 and Charlie was up and ready to leave for work. He took a look at Shelbie and stood out of the way so Edward could take her up to my room. Charlie gabbed my arm and pulled me aside. "I'll talk to her once I get home from work, I want her to tell me what happened to her eye. Get some ice out of the freezer to put on it when she wakes up." He kissed my forehead and left the house, muttering something that sounded like "I'm late"
Edward came back down the stairs and led me to the couch. We sat there watching cartoons until I fell asleep, my head resting on his shoulder.
Authors note: None of this is true. I added Shelbie back in here to make the rest of the story flow. Although, I'm not saying that I wouldn't like slamming Jess' head in a locker wink
