Disintegration- A Twilight Story
Summary: Theo Constantine has remained blissfully ignorant of the supernatural for 17 years. However that is soon to end as a move to Forks initiates a domino effect in her tricky life. Questions will be raised, ties will be formed, and lines will be crossed. Where will the last domino fall? JacobXOC.
-Theo Constantine-
Tap. Tap. Tap.
With the torrent of water outside of the lunchroom steadily falling, it was easy for the sound of the pelting rain to mask an otherwise noticeable nervous tick that would have been sure to turn heads and send annoyed glances to an otherwise oblivious recipient.
It was during this lunch period that Theo Constantine, currently a junior at Forks High School, sat hunched over her economics notebook with a pencil in her hand furiously scribbling down seemingly meaningless numbers. If one imagined hard enough they could see the gears spinning in her head, desperately churning for an answer.
'$131,000+$79,000-$9,000, add taxes and interest, accumulate total and combine with the third quarter's deduction while adding a weekly thousand dollar figure. '
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. The constantly increasing foot tapping and tense leg shaking was something that Theo had been having a difficult time to control. Yet, the motion soothed her, as did the scratching of the pencil on her notebook paper. Her writing was neat and evenly spaced, letters with upward strokes had high flourishes, the low hooks of downcast letters were compressed but casually drawn loops, and the other characters additionally proved to be small in size.
Graphology, the study of handwriting, was a pseudo-science that Theo herself did not put much claim in. However, should it be studied, her writing would reveal an emotionally balanced person who is reliable and constant but introverted. Imagination, intuitive decision making, stubbornness, sensitivity, and loyalty could also be associated to Theo. Though at the moment the only quality that a person would probably detect from her would be a potentially neurotic personality, considering her behavior.
'Add the composed figure to the pre-existing quantity, and we get . . . '
It was definitely unsatisfying the number that appeared on her paper. Unfortunately the number was not wrong, having been double checked despite the fact that the despicable number was achieved using only simple addition and subtraction methods.
Theo leaned back in her chair and glanced at the lunchroom. Despite the rainy weather that would normally damper any mood the atmosphere remain lively and full of chatter. That was how the residents of Forks were, impervious to rain that the majority of them had spent their whole lives in. Letting out a sigh Theo ran her hand through her hair, a dirty blonde color, which tended to respond wildly to the moisture that often lingered in the air.
'There won't be enough, it will take forever to p-'
"Having fun?" The soft voice originated to the left of Theo, who followed the sound to the person it belonged to, a pale brunette of average height.
"Loads." Theo replied with a small grin, and turned to subtly close her notebook.
Bella Swan sat down next to Theo and was immediately followed by Edward Cullen who was never more than a few feet away. Theo came to the conclusion that if it wasn't for loving glances frequently exchanged between the two he might have been regarded as a poker-faced bodyguard instead.
At first Theo was admittedly uncertain of Edward, who initially fell into the stereotypical mysterious brooder category. Yet as she came to know him through Bella she came to realize that Edward was in fact, a generally easy-going guy that was open-minded and fairly comical. The more Theo studied the couple the more she realized that the two were a perfect couple. Their habits, mindsets, beliefs, and actions were completely in tune with one another. It seemed to be common in the Cullen family, perfectly matched couples that in which you could not imagine one without the other. Occasionally it made Theo wishful for a relationship like theirs, however it was no more than a fleeting desire.
Following Edward and Bella were the rest of the Cullen family who sat themselves at their respective seats around the circular lunch table which was almost at its full capacity given that seven people were currently sitting at it.
From a stranger's point of view there was nothing strange about this setting, it would have appeared to have been a completely normal congregation of teenagers. To the Forks High students this went against the majority of what they knew about the Cullens. To them the Cullens were a group of five adopted siblings who were all paired into their own relationships with one another; the exception, Edward who had entered in a relationship with Bella the year before, which was still going strong. However over time the student body had become used to an extra figure at the Cullen table, then Theo showed up.
Upon Theo's arrival at Forks High School it was apparent that she and Bella were already acquainted. In fact by this time they were already fairly close friends. Bella's friends however tended to be placed in either of two categories, The Cullens or Bella's Other Friends. Theo had managed to be placed in both. This was also another shock to the student body.
The Cullens seemed to enjoy Theo's company, and reacted to her in a friendly and familiar manner just as with Bella. Unlike Bella, but much like the student body, Theo was also unaware of who the Cullens really are. Or to phrase it better what they are. Vampires. To her they were just regular people with a tendency to shy away from the public view.
"Did you finish the book I lent you?" Theo asked Bella.
"I finished it a few days ago, it was really excellent. I especially loved how the author described the whole book; it was a very romanticized style of writing." Bella replied expressing her appreciation of the novel.
"I know, normally I find books with an impressionistic view more interesting but this one seized my attention easily."
This was a common bond between Theo and Bella, the love and appreciation of books especially the classics. It was a topic both could spend hours on and lose themselves in, which they often did. Music was also another bond between the two, who tended to prefer the indie and punk genres along with the oldies as opposed to the modernized music on popular radio stations. The girls weren't much of gossipers finding it to be trivial and boring and often found fashion to be a dead end in conversations, although Theo was a tad more stylish than Bella, which was only due to the fact that she always wore a great selection of rings making her appear more accessorized.
From the first time they met Bella and Theo had predicted that they would most likely be good friends.
-Theo gazed at the structure in front of her; it was too small to be called a house yet too big to describe as an apartment. After a moment of consideration she decided to call it her residence.
'Residence, it sounds just right, establishing that this is where I'll be without being too definitive.'
The residence was a one floor structure that was fitted with a khaki siding and a dark brown roof. The front door was simple located on the minuscule porch below a wood awning. Only a few stone throws away was the main house where her landlord lived which in comparison to her residence appeared huge. There wasn't much to describe about the outside of either place Theo noted, lightly kicking the grass beneath her.
After touring the building a few days ago she discovered it consisted of three small rooms and a bathroom already furnished which the owner made sure to disclose that his 27 year old daughter decorated. The first of the rooms was a living room, the walls were a light gray that when matched with the current décor – a dark gray sofa and armchair, a white coffee table and end table, various framed pictures of black and white cityscapes, and a large bookcase that was not used- gave a homey lived in look which Theo decided she liked. The second room was a small kitchen with outdated silver appliances, sandy colored walls, and a breakfast bar with stools to conserve space. Lastly, was the bedroom, it was painted in the same hue of gray that Theo had come to enjoy and fit a queen sized bed, desk, and dresser with extra room left over. In the corner of the room there was a small door which revealed a tiny but useful closet. All in all Theo decided that she liked her residence.
Turning her head she located the face of Officer John Kale a long time resident of Forks and her now landlord. His daughter, after graduating from an arts school lived in the residence, slowly fixing it up before moving two New York City two years prior. With the building not in use he decided to rent it out. Kale was a middle aged man with kind expression fixed on his oval face which was framed with short dusty brown hair that contrasted his green eyes. Kale turned to meet her gaze.
"Do you need help unloading boxes or anything; I'd assume you'd want to be able to settle in soon." He asked.
"Actually-"Theo was interrupted by the honking of a horn.
A local police cruiser pulled up the gravel driveway and came to a slow halt, after stopping two figures shuffled out of the car. The person driving was a man in his late 40's with a dark brown mustache and hair dressed in a police chief's uniform. He looked average and took in everything around a careful gaze, something many police personnel had learned to do. The second person was a teenage girl around Theo's age with long dark brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a heart shaped face. Overall Theo determined that she was a very pretty girl; she was also able to deduce that the two were related.
'Father and daughter.'
The girl had a curious gaze on her face, most likely due to the fact that she was already familiar with Officer Kale, but not with the girl next to him. As Theo made her observations of the pair they in turn made observations of her. The girl, Bella, as Theo would soon discover, noted a few things about Theo. For one was her face, she had a square shaped face bordered by her collarbone length dirty blonde hair and her eyes were a grey-blue color set into a closed off analytical expression which gave nothing away about her personality. Her height was also added to the intimidating look, she was almost a half foot taller than Bella. Not sure how to interpret this information Bella filed it away in her head for later use.
"Hey Charlie, good to see you, what brings you by?" Kale clasped Charlie's back in the typical male greeting fashion.
"Bella and I were just returning from the diner and I realized I left some files here the other day. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Charlie said.
"Oh not at all, Theo here is just moving in now, I decided to rent out Jenny's old place. It's better than leaving it here with no one using it." Kale pivoted his head towards Theo, "I'll just be a few minutes, you can start moving your boxes in now if you want."
Charlie turned to his daughter and said, "Bella why don't you go help Theo with her boxes while I got with John." The chief began to follow Kale to the main house leaving Bella and Theo to an awkward introduction.
"Uh, I'm Theo, Theo Constantine."
"Bella Swan. Do you need help moving boxes or …?" She trailed off.
"That would be nice, if you don't mind though, the boxes are in the car." Theo gestured to the black SUV in front of the police cruiser.
"Sure." The teenage girls gathered the boxes and brought them into the residence. "Do you need help unpacking? I know Charlie he's probably watching a game with John by now since they haven't come out yet."
"Thanks, could you unpack that one?" The blonde pointed to a box near Bella's feet. "You can put the contents anywhere for now." A silence fell over the two again until Bella decided to speak up.
"Where are you from? I noticed you have a slight accent."
"Me, I'm from New Jersey." Theo responded.
"Oh, that's far. How do your parents feel about you moving out here all by yourself? This place is too small to house at least three people."
Theo glanced up at Bella before returning to the contents of the box. "I wouldn't know my mom died when I was little I didn't really know her that much, and my dad left when I was 12. My brother raised me after that, he wanted me close by but …" She shrugged. "I don't know, I just wanted do things for myself. Geez, that sounds really lame."
"No it doesn't, I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes you just need to be alone, and do things on your own." Bella provided. She looked at the box in front of her, it was another of the moving boxes, she ripped off the packaging tape and looked at the items inside.
The box was full of books, CDs, and movies; Bella read the titles of what she could see and was appreciative of her personal tastes. The books were typically classics she noted familiar ones such as The Great Gatsby and Sherlock Holmes novels and the CDs seemed to be like the music she listened to. One CD caught her eye and she raised it out from the box and revealed the cover to its owner.
"You have this CD; I've never met anyone who knew this band before. Aren't they amazing?" Bella asked.
"You know them too? They are really good aren't they I especially love this album." Theo replied with great enthusiasm and this sparked a large conversation between the girls about bands and books which carried on lead on to many other topics by the time Charlie returned a few hours later halting the conversation momentarily.
"Sorry I took so long Bells," Charlie spoke, "We can start heading home now that I have the files."
"Actually, I was going to stay here and help Theo get settled in, if that's okay?" Bella asked.
"How are you going to get home then? I don't want you walking along the road at night by yourself." The chief asked obviously concerned for his daughter's safety.
Theo decided to interject at this point. "I'll drive her."
Charlie looked between the two girls and found that he was okay with the situation, but he was more happy than anything for Bella, who he knew did not make friends very easily. Like him Bella was a fairly quiet and withdrawn person.
"Alright," he agreed, "Just don't be home to late."-
The conversation began to die down as the two humans paused to eat, and it was during this time that Theo allowed her mind to wander.
'There won't be enough, hell there is never enough anymore, and even if there was I don't know who to get it from… Well I do but … I can't go to him, he's too unpredictable …. And it's too risky … Yet, what other choice do I have?'
The inner debate in Theo's mind caught the attention of the local mind reader who stole a discreet glance at Theo from the corner of his eye. Theo was leaning forward in her chair, elbows on the table and practically glaring at the tray in front of her. Her hands were clasped together below her chin as she was resting her head on them. Edward was worried by the context of her thoughts and the distressed body language she currently gave off.
Edward has found that after the various friendly encounters they have had together she is a pleasant person with generally calming mind with the exception of the occasional internal insult directed at Jessica Stanley. Yet Edward mostly liked Theo for her friendship with and high regard for Bella which he found to be a great reassurance.
The bell rang snapping Theo out of her thoughts who proceeded to gather her belongings and head towards the door Jasper and Alice whom she shared her next few classes with.
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