Summary: What if Alanis "Lanie" "Lanis" Swan was born as Bella's twin? Aka my personality and problems injected into the twilight saga as an innocent by-stander. But do I have my own adventure while Bella has hers?
My Sister Alanis
by Norm Norm Noman
Chapter One
You Oughta KnowBella
I was born three minutes after her, and she probably didn't even know I existed. Alanis. I had seen her in photos and such- my dad told me my mom didn't want me to know what they did- sort of a Parent Trap deal (except this doesn't end the same) - separating the relationship, as well as ours. But he was still so proud of our family, he couldn't contain his joy, his pride, that not only my parents had me, but had Alanis as well.
He told me about them- about my mom and Alanis, on my eighth birthday. His eyes shone with sad joy, I can remember that.
My parents do keep in touch, though, and I remember a day, late in November, when we were five, that she-my mother- called him, crying.
I remember how he dropped the phone and froze for a moment, and then got angry, picked it up, and yelled at her. Accusing her. Asking if Lanis was fat.
Why?
That's the day she was diagnosed with type one diabetes.
That's the day my dad decided to go to college- to medical school, to become a doctor.
The day I saw my father cry his eyes out, for the first and possibly last time.
The first day I wished I knew my sister, so we could do something about it together- deal with it together.
The day that I became the woman of the house- taking care of him at all times.
How I remember that day well.
Oh, and no, Alanis is not fat.
I'm fifteen- we're fifteen- and I'm very, very excited.
I get to meet my sister today.
In an effort to join families, my dad has been arguing with my mom for two years, and now finally, she has agreed that it is time. They flew here, and moments from now, we will meet, as she steps out of the terminal.
***
Alanis
My mom decided that we would 'vacation'. I love vacationing and all, but my question is why Seattle? We'd been there before, shopping. My mother was a successful Buyer for some company, which paid plenty. It didn't take her long to find what she needed for her job either; an hour or two tops for a weeks worth of clothes. We'd vacationed all over the west it seemed like. I had been to Idaho, Texas, California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, and Nevada-- all for my mom's job aka my 'vacations'.
Our flight was quiet. Not even a peep out of my mom. All she did was stare at me with sad, solemn eyes, as I re-read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the millionth time and listened to the soundtrack along with it.
I sighed, bored out of my mind as Harry did something with someone and went all angst like he does all of the time. Stupid boy. All you have to do is run up to him when he's not looking and shout 'avada kedavra' and take off, hoping there's no death eaters... That and kill off his horcruxes... Okay, more complicated than I thought.
But still…
She sat and stared at me. It made reading a whole lot more complicated, like when you are on the phone, someone walks in and you realize they have heard all of your embarrassing conversation—not only annoying but embarrassing and it makes it hard to talk.
I shifted uncomfortably, trying to angle away from her. I fail, I know. I'm on a freaking air plane.
I sighed and sat my book down and tried to sleep. I tossed, I turned, I tried sitting upside down.
Fail.
She wouldn't stop looking at me! Dear god! I unbuckled my seat and mumbled "Bathroom…" and nearly ran down the walkway.
In front of me in line, was a guy. I-chee-wowa! He was hot. Surfer hot. Wavy blonde hair, brown eyes, and tan skin. He had tan shorts on and a brown t-shirt. He winked. I blushed and looked down, I hope he's not a player. Thank god I wore a cute outfit. "Hi…" I mumbled. He was leaning against the luggage spot.
"Hi, I'm Eros." Was he Greek? I'm pretty sure. He had an accent lingering in his voice.
I made a weird noise. "A-lanes- I mean, Alanis." I shook my head. I was not good with people outside of my head.
He laughed. "Your name is beautiful."
I blushed again as a mother with a four year old stepped out of the bathroom. "Ladies first," Eros said, making me blush once again. I stepped inside the cramped bathroom and took a breather. I really didn't have to pee.
"Oh god…" I mumbled as I looked at myself in the mirror. Why did I have to be such a dork? I fixed my hair and washed my hands—two minutes ought to be enough time in a bathroom… right?
I opened the small restroom door. Eros was still outside and just looking at him made me blush.
He smiled. "I- I know this is kind of sudden, but here is my number." He handed me a slip of paper. I blinked. "Text me, call me." He blushed and hid himself in the bathroom.
I walked back to my seat in a daze. I just got hit on? Where's Can-did camera? Whose hat is secretly taping me??
I sat down, hiding the paper in my pocket. Mom just stared at me again. For the love of all that is holy! Look away woman!
I let out a shaky breath and got lost in the world Harry Potter once more.
Soon, I heard from the loudspeaker: "...It's 4:46PM. We will be landing in Seattle soon, please buckle your seats, and we will be landing shortly."
I put my book away. She was looking at me again.
"Thank you for flying Southwest, have a nice day." a different voice said over the loudspeaker.
The seat belt sign turned off and I got up to grab my carry ons from the storage compartment and walked off the plane. My mom would catch up soon enough.
What I saw was weird. There were two excited people holding a sign written in green saying 'Welcome Alanis and Renee'.
What was even weirder was that my mom came up and raised an eyebrow and said "Charlie, you haven't changed a bit."
I rolled my eyes and looked down, when she screamed out "My baby!" I looked up at her, concerned and confused, to be even more confused that her arms were around a pale girl with light brown fluffy hair and brown eyes, smiling like no other.
It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. My mom realized my confusion, stepped away from the girl, and cleared her throat. "Lanie, honey, this is Bella-"
"So?" I interrupted, I just had a very long flight, and I was not happy.
"So?! Lanis, this is your sister! And your father!" she gestured at the two.
It took a moment to process that.
"What the hell, mother?!" I was angry. I had a god dammed family and she didn't have the decency to tell me that?!
"Alanis!" the man scorned. He had a deep, airy voice He had brown thinning curly hair on his head with a very prominent widows peak. His skin was pinkish and pale, his eyes were hazel green and brown, and he was probably fairly fit for his age. "Don't talk that way to your mother!"
"Why not?! She's the one that's been keeping this from me!"
And then my mom said something so cool, so calm, that I was scared, "Lanie, I have to go."
"W-what?"
"I was just escorting you here. Its why I had you pack so many extra supplies, why your suitcase is three times the size as mine, why all of your shampoos and such came with." she put her hand on my shoulder, "Honey, your moving in with them."
I looked over at the two people. Their eyes wide with excitement and if the girl had any new-found joy she sure didn't express it vocally; I could see it in her eyes though. I could already tell that they didn't express many emotions out loud, especially how they were standing so far apart, and how little they talked.
Oh joyousness.
"What about my friends? My laptop, my camera, my prescriptions? My endo, mom, I don't have an endocrinologist! I don't have a physician, a podiatrist, an allergist, a dermatologist, nothing! And what about my guard?! I just can't abandon them mid-season!" I started to hyperventilate- my speech started out angry until I hit 'my prescriptions.'
"I already transferred everything to some new doctors in Forks."
I scoffed. "Forks? Like in Twilight?"
"Yes, Alanis." she paused a moment "Lanie- will you stay?"
Bella looked up at me her eyes shining. Man, she REALLY needed another woman in the house! My god! I had to save her...
"Fine." I grumbled. I wasn't about to give my mom any leverage over me that I was actually okay with this. "But what about Color Guard?" I whined.
"They will live without you. Maybe the small city of Forks will have use for you."
"My things?"
"I'll ship them."
"My friends?"
She paused. "They can come see you- or you them during breaks in school. But you have to get the money to go see them." oh god. I spend money as soon as it gets in my pocket.
"Mom-- the climate's different here rather than in Houston!"
"I am going to give you SOME money to buy winter clothes!" she rolled her eyes
I paused. "Fine..."
Soon, she left. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Eros walk past me. I waved and smiled lightly. Charlie cleared his throat, but said nothing.
"So..." I said. A moment passed and my dad smiled and beckoned me towards the luggage area and Bella followed behind. Ummm, okay? I followed the silent pair.
"Mine are-- those!" I screamed. They were shocked, not only at my animation, but at my luggage. There were three suit cases and one really long and skinny bag.
The first one was a very cute Louis Vuitton knock off - just like the one in Leap Year, but cheap. The next one was graffiti looking; it was white with pink, blue, green and yellow nonsense written all over it. The one after that was bright green and I decorated it with a bedazzler (insert cheesy smiling eight year old). The last one was plain black and had my name written on it in silver Sharpie. The suitcases were full sized and jam packed full.
The first suit case- the Louis Vuitton- was full of medical supplies, toiletries, and makeup. The second one was shoes, socks, undies, pajamas, and my pillow and blanky. The third one was clothes, and the fourth one was my color guard flag-sabre-rifle bag-- aka my flag bag.
I grabbed my flag bag and the graffitied suitcase. "C'mon!" I said, and Bella grabbed my bedazzled suitcase, leaving the most masculine one for our father- Louis.
I walked out into the parking lot and realized I had no idea where I was going or what car I was looking for.
Bella chuckled and walked up to a 'once was' cop car.
I would have objected, normally, but I didn't really want to, I was tired. Plus, I had to live with them indefinitely, so it wouldn't be best to offend them.
"So..." I said as we got on the highway. "What is it that you do erm?" I asked my father. I was unsure of what to call him.
"Call me Charlie or dad, but only if your comfortable with it." he paused. "I used to be Chief of police," he gestured at the car, "but now I am a doctor."
"Mmm." I thought out loud. "What of?"
"I specialize in family medicine."
"Hmm cool."
It was silent a moment.
"And do you do anything you enjoy?" I asked Bella.
"I-I read the classics. And cook." She messed with her sleeve.
Cooking? Awesome. I can bake, but only pre-made dough. "Oh that's cool. Are you taking culinary arts?"
"No..." she blushed.
"Why not?"
She looked away. "I don't know..."
"Well, what electives are you taking?"
"Spanish and creative reading and writing."
I used as little Spanish that I knew. "Espanola, eh?"
She nodded.
"Como esta?"
"Bien. Tu?"
"Moi bien, gracias!" I laughed, she and Charlie chuckled.
An hour of silence.
"You're so tan..." she mumbled after a long time, and then her eyes went wide as if she didn't mean to say that out loud.
"Yes. I've gotten that before." I giggled lightly.
"A-and your hair. It's so much darker and curly-er than mine."
"I swear I am not Mexican!" I joked. Charlie chuckled. At least I am slightly funny.
A moment passed. I pulled out my iPod-Podley- and the car plug. "Mind if I...?"
Charlie shrugged. I felt in the mood to listen to 'Tick-tock'... But seeing as it was brand new company I put on Jai Ho by A. R. Rahman and sang along.
They looked out of the loop from that so I switched my tune in my brain to 'oldies' and played Stray Cats, Jackson Five, Wilson Pickett, and Devo the rest of the ride.
Eventually, we hit 'town'. More like village. The sign said 'Welcome to Forks - Population 553'
that's half of my school for Pete's sake, and I had a small school!
Even if the scenery was beautiful, the clouds above offered an ominous glow as some kids ran around happy. It looked strange.
Soon enough, we got to what I assumed correctly as their house. It was small and old- I mean quaint...
They helped me carry my things inside and led me to a fair sized room on the second story with one twin bed covered in a lavender bedspread. Charlie left a minute and returned with a blow up bed. Bella sat down on her bed.
"Sorry..." he grumbled. "I would have had a bed for you today, it's just we didn't have time to get it set up and all..."
"That's fine." I instantly waved it off.
He left the room and said something about leaving us to unpack.
"So, Bella," I started, "Does your school have a marching band?"
She shook her head and my face was a cross between shock and an 'I totally believe that' look.
"So no Color guard?"
She shook her head.
"A dance team?"
"No."
"What about a cheer squad?"
She wrinkled her nose. "They suck."
"Well that's gay...." I muttered under my breath.
"Hmm?"
"Nothing."
She wouldn't be fine with that phrases anyways, her and her innocent mind.
A moment of silence passed while I fiddled with the blow up bed, getting the small air pump to turn on, wheezing as I coaxed it to just go a little further.
"What do you do around here for fun?"
"There's a diner, a library, school, Safeway, sporting goods,-"
"Wait, you mean like in Twilight?"
She looked at me if I was crazy.
"Lemme guess: it's owned by the Newton family and their son, Mike seems to have a crush on you."
"I don't know about any crush but it is owned by the Newton's and their son is Mike. How did you know?"
"I know quite a bit."
She blushed. "Like...?
"You have a thing for Romeo."
She blushed deeper, and looked away.
"That's totally fine, b-t-dubs." I paused. Should I mention Edward?
I switched topics. "So, who are your friends?"
"Angela... Ben...umm... Mr. Tagmit..."
"Tagmit?"
"My English professor."
I walked over to her closet. I had just come to terms that I was related to the real Bella and not the Bella from the books. I looked at her clothes. "And you wear these for what?" I held up a pair of wrinkled, stained, ugly brown man shorts and an old 'not even worthy of goodwill' sweater.
She coughed. "School."
I looked at her in horror. I would wear those hiking, if it all, or doing gross dirty chores.
"No wonder you have no friends." I said. "Presentable clothes makes people want to at least sit near you, no matter how wrong it sounds- first impressions, along with the help of daily impressions, are very important when trying for new friends. But you don't dress too well; otherwise they will all be intimidated by you."
She was just soaking this all up like a sponge. "Do you go to social events? Like a dance, a sport, a bake sale?"
"No." she said in realization.
I was no Alice but I will at least make Alice's job easier because there's no way I would be living when she doesn't know how to make herself seem beautiful to anyone she greets.
Bella
When I first saw Alanis, I noticed how sporty and tan she was. She had nearly espresso colored hair, like our mom, but her hair was just past her shoulders and was a cross of wavy and curly whereas our mom's was cropped short and was straight. We shared the same eyes as me, but hers were darker and seemed to twinkle in the light. I noticed how she had her 'face' on full, but it looked pretty. Her cheeks were obviously naturally bright red and her clothes were nice.
They were obviously new, a short gray skirt, white knee leggings, and furry lace up boots. She wore a furry brown sleeveless jacket and a tan boat necked shirt underneath.
All in all, she intimidated me. I went back in my mental corner and stayed silent.
At least she tried to talk... Neither my dad nor I were big talkers. Finally, when we were alone, she got me to start talking.
"Do you go to social events? Like a dance, a sport, a bake sale?" she asked me.
I understood what she was asking me, but I was amazed at how anti-social I really was.
"And I think I know why" Lanis continued, "You have been living in a MAN's house, under a MAN's influence, well honey I have somethin' to tell you:" she pointed at herself, "I am a young woman and I am here. I want to break you out of this shell and make it so you can blossom and feel pretty, because" she pointed at me, "Isabella Marie Swan! I know how you feel. I don't want you to ever think you aren't beautiful at least in some way.
I blinked I response to that.
"What do you say?"
"S-sure?" I meant that with conviction.
"Do you promise to think of yourself as a beautiful person? -- raise your right hand!"
I put up my right hand and said "I promise.."
"Then the first thing to make yourself more feminine:" she started up again, "No more of these." she wiggled my holy sweater, "Or these." she shook my brown shorts. "We will be burning alllll of your clothes I deem unfit for goodwill tomorrow, and roast marshmellows on them.". She said with so much conviction. I giggled wide-eyed, afraid for my clothes. Then she asked quickly, "Does anyone around here have the last name 'Cullen'?"
"No."
"Hmph. And she would have enjoyed that."
"Who?" I asked, suddenly very confused.
"Bella, it's best you don't ask questions."
I nodded; if she didn't want to tell me things I could respect that.
"Oh, and you know Jacob Black?"
"I know of him, yes."
"Stay away from him."
"Why?" I thought he was a nice guy, from what my dad told me of his fishing buddy's kids.
"He will one day force himself on an engaged woman who wants to just move on from him- especially when she never really felt the same for him and they never dated. You have to promise me, no matter what happens in life, you will never, ever befriend him."
I nodded, wide eyed. "Promise."
"Oh my god!" She laid down on the blow up bed. "You'll never guess what happened to me on the plane!"
I tipped my head. "What?"
"A guy gave me his phone number!" she sighed happily and pulled out a slip of paper. "His name's Eros." She smiled greedily and put the number into her iPhone.
"Now, I know what you're thinking…" Lanis said. "A guy? From the plane?? I know, but he was just ah-mazing!"
I laughed. "I bet."
She sighed and laid still for a moment.
"I'm hungry." she complained after a bit.
I laughed again.
***
As it turned out, Lanis surprisingly ate a whole lot, more than you expect. Four sandwiches, a bag of chips, and a box of Golden Oreos later, she rubbed her belly happily and grabbed a diet coke.
"So, Bella!" she exclaimed. "Take me around your town. I want to see it as a whole."
I nodded. "When do you wanna go?"
She looked me over. Right after you and I both change. I feel gross in these from the plane, and well, frankly, I have to be honest. Your outfit sucks ice."
"What?"
"It's one of my phrases. When I say something sucks ice it's just an extended version of just saying that it sucks."
"Oh." I looked at the clock. "Lanis, you know, it is seven-forty..."
"More reason to make a move up the stairs! C'mon! Everybody, let's go!" she sang parts of the Dora theme song.
I showed her the small town and we went back home. I saw the beginnings of a beautiful friend- sister ship starting. I smiled to myself as I thought about it right before we went to sleep.
Please Review. S'all I ask.
I beg.
Please.
--Norm
