Bella's Preface-
I'd never given much thought about how I would die, but dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go. All the actions I had taken to lead myself here, I could not regret. Though they brought me to my death, they had brought me to Edward.
I die today for my mother, some might call it noble, but I can't bear the thought of her, or anyone, dying, especially when I could have stopped it. So as I run down the quiet street of the all too familiar neighborhood, walking into my death, my heart races. The worry that has swept over me is vivid and powerful, it has taken over and robbed me of rational sense I may have in my form. As I stumble along the hard cement, the dance studio become visible in the distance, and my speed increases, running head on into my death.
Xox- Bella's POV-xox
I sat in the car- my mother at my side, her hands on the steering wheel- the windows are rolled down, and the wind is sweeping through the opening, twisting my hair in its powerful, yet graceful dance. The sun sprawled in, casting a soft and muted glow on my pale skin, leaving me in its blistering temperature, holding me captive in its warm and beautiful glow. I would miss Phoenix, the perfect, cloudless sky; the hot dusty sands that made up the earth; the calm, dull gray green foliage; but mostly, I would miss the sun.
"You don't have to do this you know" my mother told me. How many times had she said this? It had begun when I told her about my decision, continuing after we called Charlie; after we bought the plane tickets; after I had packed; after we had taken me out of school, and still, she tried over and over again to tell me this. I knew I didn't have to, but I was. And where was I moving?
In the Olympic Peninsula, north-west in Washington State, was a small town, living under a constant cover of clouds, was a small town named Forks. I detested Forks, like a child detested vegetables- and then some. It rained more in Forks than in any other town in the continental U.S. and when it was raining, it was snowing. My father, Charlie, was the chief of police in Forks. I had spent one month in Forks every summer- until I was fourteen, then I had put my foot down, and we all met in California for a family vacation for two weeks.
I was pushed out of my self-narration by my erratic mother with another "You don't have to do this you know"
"Mom, I'll be fine, I'll stay with Charlie" I told her.
I guess now I had to admit why I was exiling myself to Forks. Well, my mother had remarried, his name was Phil, and he was a minor league baseball player, so he traveled a lot. I hated travel, and so my mother would stay with me while Phil was on the road- but it made her unhappy to be away from him, so I had chosen my course- a course of cloud filtered days, regularly gloomed down on by rain and- if I was incredibly unlucky that day- snow.
"Okay, say hi to Charlie, and tell Kylie I love her" my mother told me. I nodded and hugged her before boarding my flight.
A four-hour flight to Seattle and a one-hour flight up to Port Angeles, and an hour drive to Forks. The flights were not what had me worried; it was the ride with Charlie- undoubtedly in the police cruiser- that had me worried. My father was the silent type, keeping his emotions as muted as possible- a trait I had gained from him in the little time spent with him.
The plane let off in Port Angeles, I grabbed my backpack and parka and made my way out of the plane with the other passengers. The airport was crowded with people, and among my search for my father, I laid eyes on my sister.
Kylie was my sister- my fraternal twin in fact- she was my best friend. We talked for hours on the phone, over the internet, and any other way we found possible. I hadn't seemed her since Christmas- she lived with my father in this never ending rainy day. Kylie was my height, with the same pale skin and dark chocolate brown hair. Her differences were that her lips had a bit more of a pout than mine and her eyes were a piercing dark green. She was searching among the crowd when she saw me, and her pink- nearly red- lips spread wide across her face.
I ran to her in a flash, and the second I was in arms length of her, I was in her hug. After a moment she pulled back, still smiling and said "I missed you so much!"
"I missed you too!" I looked her up and down- she had on a pair of light-dye bellbottom jeans and a purple top that clung to her upper thighs while it billowed in between. Her hair was down and possibly an inch or so longer than mine but just as curly. Charlie walked up to my and hugged me.
"I missed you, Bells" Charlie said.
"Me too Dad" I informed him. He let go and lead me and Kylie to get my luggage.
"So, how is Phoenix?" my sister asked.
"Good, Mom says hi, and that she loves you" I told her.
She pulled out her phone and began a text- to my mother, though she would never respond back because she was technology impaired. Charlie and I fished for my two luggage bags while Kylie just as Kylie had sent her text. She grabbed my last bag before Charlie or I had even seen it and handed it to Charlie.
"So, please tell me it's not raining" I begged her.
"It's not snowing" Kylie told me, avoiding the disappointment I would have if it was raining.
I sighed and stepped out. The pit-pat of rain on the ground was my "welcome home" banner, the cruiser thirty yards away was my present, and the freezing puddle at my feet was the unwelcome, snooty, rude cousin who undermined anything and everything I did with my life. Charlie set the luggage on a small patch of dry ground and ran to the cruiser while I put on my parka. I looked over at my sister who was standing at my side under the awning in front of the airport's main entrance looked out at the air whose solid fluidity was interrupted by the constant and pelting drops of water.
"I'll never understand you about this" I told Kylie. She looked at me and smiled. Although she was unmistakably the same age I was, she seemed so much older and so much younger. Younger in her innocent smile and kind eyes, older in the way she talked and understood you.
Charlie pulled up and got out to put my bags in the trunk. I rushed to the front seat while Kylie walked to the door of the back seat and sat down on the driver's side. I pulled off my parka while my sister pulled out her camera from her bag- a purple digital camera. She handed it to me asking "Bella, will you take pictures of me back here? Dad never does and I want a funny picture back here!"
I took the camera as she posed, once with a smile, the second with an alien "live long and prosper" sign, the third and forth we of her with a handmade sign with numbers and letters- to what I assume we the signs criminals held up when they went into the system. Charlie saw this and frowned as he got it.
"Kylie, getting arrested isn't funny" he lectured her. Kylie nodded and took her camera back, going over the pictures, pleased with them.
Charlie started the cruiser, occasionally making small talk while Kylie starred off into space. She finally spoke up with a-
"Dad, can we stop at 7-11? Please!" she sounded like a five year old. Charlie glanced into the rear-view mirror just as she added the pout and big eyes. The pout was subtle, her bottom lip protruding out ever so slightly, making you fall into the same eerie sense of security that a toddler had, making you puttee in her careful hands. If her pout didn't get you- and believe me, it always did- her big green eyes made you cave. They was rather glossy, giving off the appearance of tears building up, making her seem like a crying child who had been abandoned.
"Fine" Charlie mumbled, looking away from her famous combo. Kylie made a big smile at me. Mine was incredibly good, but I wasn't as good as her.
Charlie pulled in after a few minutes and handed Kylie two fives. We walked in as she stuffed the money down into her pockets. We walked to the drink station. Kylie had her cup filled in seconds, then she turned to the fixings- her usual cinnamon and mini marshmallows. I put on a lid as she grabbed a few little shots of something or another. I looked at her with a questioning look.
"Coffee shots, I was too excited to sleep last night." She explained.
"You're always hyper in some form, do you really need caffeine?" I asked her. She nodded.
We paid for our drinks and got back in the cruiser and drove off. The ride was pretty pleasant; Kylie and I joked around, sipped our drinks, and made fun of something every now and again. We got off the freeway in drove onto Main Street- the busiest street on Forks. Suddenly there was a gasp from the back of the cruiser. Kylie turned to look at me with a bog grin on her face. We slowed to a stop, waiting for the light to turn green, when she rolled the window down and stuck her head out.
"Hey Lauren, Jessica" she called to two teenage girls about our age on the side walk. They looked at her, a confused expression on their face. "Guess you were right, being funny is a crime!"
I laughed at my sister's comedy as she sat down to her original position while the two girls gawked at her, along with the rest of the town, wondering what they were looking at. Kylie rolled up the window and smiled. The song Viva La Vida by Coldplay- my sister's favorite song- permeated the air from her phone. She pulled it out and laughed to herself, and responded to a text- from whom though, I wondered.
The cruiser came to a stop and Charlie got out, followed by me and Kylie. It had finally stopped raining, and the air reeked of the fallen rain. Charlie and Kylie grabbed the bags from the trunk and led me inside. I flew up the steps- somehow managing to magically not trip- and walked into the room I would now get to share with Kylie.
The walls were a calming green; two beds were positioned parallel to each other and the far wall. In the corner was the rocking chair and a black dresser with glass knobs. To my right was a desk with a fairly new, black, modern computer- no doubt because Kylie loved to write- and a small stack of papers. There was a window on the far wall that faced to street, but there was a second with a small window sill that had a view of the woods behind the house, and on the other side of the street. To the left of that window was a decent sized closet, and to the right was a large built in bookcase. Kylie walked in and placed the bag on the bed closest to me.
I looked at the bed, purple sheets and pillows, with a touch of black and grey in some print on the pillows or the comforter. The bed beside that had a black and white quilt, several black and white pillows complemented by a bright green throw, a soft yellow blanket under the quilt, and a purple accent pillow. I assumed the purple bed was mine, so I sat down and watched as Kylie walked to her bed, grabbed the book from under her pillow and walked to the window sill, perching herself up to her liking and began to read. Charlie finally walked in and dropped the bag.
"Kylie helped me pick out the bedding, you like purple, right?" he asked me, eyeing Kylie.
"Yeah, purple's great, why?" I asked him. He glanced at Kylie again before saying anything.
"She finds it good fun to prank me" he explained. I nodded with the understanding "awe".
Kylie didn't look up from her book, but she was smiling to herself. Charlie walked out to do who knows what- Kylie knows, I guess- leaving me to unpack. One great thing about Charlie, he doesn't hover.
Xox-Kylie's POV-xox
We were driving through Main Street when I saw Lauren and Jessica from my grade. They were the worst, their favorite past-times were making fun of me and my friends, gossiping and being over all, very nasty. Lauren was in a pair of skinny jeans and yellow spaghetti strap shirt- in the middle of January! Jessica was in a mini skirt and a long sleeved red sweater- I repeat, in the middle of January! I gasped at how pathetic they looked, and then, a thought crossed my mind. I glanced over at my twin sister- Bella- and smiled my devious smile. I waited till the cruiser was at the light before carrying out.
I rolled the window down and stuck my head out, calling out "Hey Lauren, Jessica!" They looked over at me, the confusion painted over their faces was priceless. "Guess you were right, being funny is a crime!"
Bella laughed in the background, and Lauren and Jessica starred at me like I was insane. Gossip about that! I thought to myself. I rolled up the window and smiled in triumph. I was waiting for Charlie's mumbling, the usual "Kylie, you'll be the ending of me" when my phone began to play Viva La Vida- my favorite song in the world- by Coldplay. I had set those up for only my speed dials, and since Bella was here, that left my mother, and five best friends. I pulled out my phone and examined the caller ID.
"Edward" the screen read. I opened the text. "Hey! Saw the Lauren and Jessica scene. FUNNY! I got pictures!" I smiled, remembering how I had forgotten the most important item in making fun of your foes- always take a picture as blackmail- or to sell to allies. I smiled and responded back.
We pulled up by the time I had finished. I put my phone away and got out. Charlie got the trunk open and I grabbed one of the two bags Bella had brought along. I led her to the house, but she passed me at the stairs- for I had stumble… stupid klutziness! I walked in and dropped the bag on herbed and walked to my own. Grabbing my book- Taming of the Shrew- I walked to the window sill and perched myself into a comfortable reading position.
"Kylie helped me pick out the bedding, you like purple, right?" Charlie seemed almost afraid.
"Yeah, purple's great, why?" I figured Charlie had given off some hint that he suspected I was setting him up for failure, and if I was, he planned to bring me down with him.
"She finds it good fun to prank me" he told her. Bella gave a simple understanding "awe". I tried not to show any sign that I had heard, or even cared, but I ended up smiling. Charlie left- to watch basket ball I think- while Bella began to unpack.
Xox
So, is anyone wondering if Kylie knows about the Cullens? I am!
Random typed up voice: wouldn't you already know? I mean you're the one writing the story, aren't you?
Me: yeah, so? I can't add a little bit of a cliffy?
RTUV: no, not really…
Me: that's not true! Oh, hey, you guys, I need a good name for RTUV- and RTUV isn't a boy or a girl… yet
RTUV: so what am I then?
Me: I don't know… oh well….
REVIEW!!!!
I I
I I
I I
_______
\ /
\/