Authors Note - This story will be extremely different from the real Twilight. I always liked the idea of Twilight but not how the actual story turned out. There will be romance, but this is not a love story. Fans of Edward will not enjoy this. Bella is also quite different. Actually, I'll be surprised if anyone that likes Twilight will enjoy this story! Either way, keep what I've said in mind. Enjoy!
I rolled the car window down and leaned into the breeze that entered the car, cooling me down from the stifling heat. I rested my arm on the window frame and let the wind dance through my fingers. My body begin to relax.
"Bella, shut the damn window. The wind will mess up my hairstyle," a voice next to me snapped. I turned to the woman sitting behind the wheel and raised an eyebrow. She glanced at me and caught my expression before I could smooth my face into a blank state. "I won't ask you again."
I looked back to the road and rolled the window back up. The breeze cut off and the car became shockingly hot again. I felt myself tense up. My mother began to rub her head, I was sure she was feeling the effects of drinking last night, though she had carefully disguised any signs of a late night under a mask of thick foundation and concealer. Looking at Renee, my mother, I pawed through my carry-on bag that was between my feet and pulled out a small vanity mirror. I had heavy, purple bags under my own eyes, which clashed badly with my pale skin, making it look as though I had come out a loser in a fight. Mine weren't from a late night of alcohol though; they were from being woken up yet again by another insane argument between Renee and her latest husband, Phil. I frowned at my reflection. It didn't matter; I could grab a nap on the plane and put some concealer on afterwards. I shoved the mirror back into my bag.
"Bella, would you please stop fidgeting? I'm trying to concentrate," my mother winced at her own voice. I stifled the urge to snap back but we were near Phoenix airport and there was no point in beginning an argument when I was so close to being free.
Free. It felt melodramatic, calling my escape to Forks, Washington, from Phoenix, my chance for freedom but it was also the best word to describe it. In Forks I would more often than not be wearing thick jumpers and waterproof coats rather than shorts and t-shirts, but I didn't care. It was where my dad, Charlie, lived and with him the promise of a new beginning.
Happiness exploded within my chest, how long had it been since I had spent more than a few weeks with my father? I quickly clamped down on my emotions as I remembered where I was; Renee could turn this car around at the last second and call the whole thing off. She and Charlie may be on speaking terms now, but I wouldn't put it past her to bait my father with the thought of his only daughter to return, only to cruelly change her mind at the last second.
I sat as quietly as I could as the miles slipped by. My stomach began to flutter, a flutter which gained in strength every mile we got closer to the airport. When a sign declared that the airport was within 1 mile, I sat on my hands to stop my fingers from fidgeting uncontrollably.
It's happening, it's really happening. My heart beat hard and fast. We pulled into the parking lot and my mother found a space not too far from the entrance. My body was so tense that my stomach was beginning to ache with stress. My mother turned the car keys and the engine stopped, leaving us in silence. She didn't move toward her seatbelt, her hands tapped on the steering wheel impatiently. We sat for a minute in silence, refusing to look at one another, until the click of my seatbelt releasing jolted Renee out of her reverie. I looked at her expectantly but she kept her eyes on the parked car in front of her.
"Do you need help with your suitcase?" she stared ahead, she sounded bored.
"No, I can manage," look at me.
"Well," her wrist turned as she looked at her silver watch, a present from Phil. Her fingers kept tapping against the steering wheel, each tap felt like a chisel to my brain. "I'm sure you don't want to miss your flight and be stuck at the airport." I was sure she could feel the intensity of my gaze, my eyes boring into her temple as I willed her to look at me. She kept staring ahead, resolutely.
"Mom," I began, but she cut me off.
"Bella, you're wasting time-"
"Mom-"
"-I've got a very important lunch to get to and you are not-"
"Mom!"
"-helping matters here-"
"Look at me!" the words burst from my mouth which I quickly clamped shut, shocked by the emotion in my voice. Her head turned and her eyes slowly met mine, blue meeting brown. She raised an eyebrow, but otherwise looked completely indifferent. I felt a throb within my chest. Was this all I was to her? An inconvenience?
"Aren't you going to come in and say goodbye to me?" my voice betrayed me and my eyes began to prick.
"You've taken a chunk out of my schedule already with me driving you here. I just don't have the time," she shrugged. "This was your choice."
My vision began to brighten and blur at the edges. I blinked quickly and swallowed hard against the lump that had risen in my throat. My chest throbbed as though someone was squeezing my heart. I swallowed again as she looked at me expectantly.
"So," I cleared my throat and found that my voice was, thankfully, steady. "That's it then? This is how we leave things?" She frowned at me and finally began to show an emotion – annoyance.
"Bella, this was your choice. You wanted to leave. You and that-that horrid man conspired against me and Philip. Actions have consequences, you have already wasted enough of my time this morning so get the hell out of my car before I drive out of this airport." She stabbed a finger at a button and I heard a deep click as the trunk unlocked. Renee turned the ignition and the engine rumbled into life as I scrambled at my door handle and shoved it open, almost falling out of the door in my haste to leave. I grabbed my carry-on bag and ran to the back of the car, blood thumping in my ears. I wrenched the trunk open and pulled out my suitcase before slamming the trunk as hard as I could. I moved my luggage to the side of the car and Renee rolled her window down. My heart began to beat erratically. She tossed my plane ticket at me, which I fumbled and dropped onto the tarmac.
"Goodbye Bella," her mask of indifference was back on again. "Don't be ringing me begging to come home when you realise how much of a shit-pit Forks is, which shouldn't take too long to discover. Phil and I gave you everything you could ever want, and this is how you repaid us?" She snorted. "Charlie is welcome to you." I flinched at her words as they cut into me, leaving open wounds behind. My pulse beat loudly in my head as I saw her begin to roll the window up.
"No mom," she paused and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Buying expensive things doesn't show how good your life is. All you gave me was a broken home and unstable childhood. Chucking money at someone doesn't make up for your bad parenting. You couldn't give a shit about me," I spat and she recoiled in shock. "And I deserve better." My words seemed to solidify in the air between us as years of unspoken resentment finally came to the fore. Renee's expression became enraged; she opened her mouth to say something but then shook her head, her red hair flicked about her face. The car roared as she put her foot down and accelerated out of the parking lot. I watched as she re-joined the road, and then she was gone.
I stood in the parking lot, next to my luggage, with tears rolling down my face. Yet I was laughing. My limbs felt lighter, as though I had been carrying a sack full of dumbbells on my back. I wiped my cheeks and picked up my things, not caring about the funny looks I was getting from people. I made my way to airport entrance, whole on the outside yet cut up within at my mother's rejection. My heart ached and my head replayed our confrontation over and over as I went through the standard airport protocol. By the time it was ready to board, I felt the beginnings of a new person within me.
I was damaged deeply, but my wounds would heal and I felt the first feeble stirrings of hope.
The flight from Phoenix to Seattle took four hours. I tried to distract myself with a vampire book I had bought at the airport, but I fell asleep only 20 minutes in. It wasn't very good anyway.
I had to get on another plane in Seattle to Port Angeles and this time I was too excited to sleep. In less than an hour I would be seeing Charlie for the first time in over a year. I'm sure I annoyed my seat-neighbour on the flight, I couldn't stop fidgeting. I would read my book, only to throw it down after a few minutes and try to read a magazine, but I wouldn't be able to concentrate so I'd try to listen to a bit of music, and then after five minutes, back to my book again. My seat neighbour gave me a frown after half an hour of this, and I gave him an apologetic smile. I sat still for all of two minutes and then grabbed my magazine again. The man sighed audibly and I'm sure I heard him mutter 'teenagers' before jamming a pair of headphones over his ears and blocking me out.
With only minutes before landing, my thoughts strayed to Charlie again. I had spoken to him on the phone last night and I had felt his excitement thousands of miles away that I was coming to live with him for good. He had already registered me in the local high school. We had this connection, deeper than a lot of relationships my friends had with their parents. Maybe it was because I rarely saw him, or maybe it was because the lack of care from my mom's side made me appreciate any little show of affection from Charlie, like an email just asking how school had been. It was strange to say at 17, but he wasn't just my father. He was my friend.
The plane touched down and I waited impatiently as the pilot went through his end-of-flight speech, thanking us for choosing this particular airline. I tapped my foot up and down as I waited for the people in front of me to shuffle off the plane. Walking through customs went by in a blur; I vaguely remember grabbing my luggage as I almost ran through the airport. At arrivals, I scanned the crowd rapidly until I saw him.
He was in his Police Chief uniform. I could see he had attempted to tame his unruly, black hair but to no avail. His face looked a little bit more lined since I had last seen him, but he still looked youthful and strong. I hurried towards him, dragging my suitcase behind me haphazardly. He caught sight of me and his face broke out into a huge smile. He pulled me into a hug as soon as I was near and the unspoken affection in this gesture almost broke me. I held onto him tightly and willed myself not to cry. He broke the hug and took a look at me.
"You've grown about a foot, Bells," he said, pulling me back into a quick embrace. "It's good to see you kid, how's Renee?" He said the words lightly, but at the sound of moms name I automatically stiffened.
"She's…fine. Same old. It's good to see you, dad." Charlie noticed the tone of my voice yet didn't say anything. Instead he took hold of my luggage and led me out of the airport. I saw that we were travelling in the police cruiser and had to stifle a laugh. At least if we hit traffic he could always put the lights on to speed things up a bit. Charlie put my suitcase in the trunk. I hadn't had much to pack. A lot of my clothes were more suited to the constant sunshine in Phoenix. I had dipped into my savings from a job I had had over the summer but I couldn't afford a large wardrobe.
We got into the car and sat in an amicable silence for a while. Charlie and I had always been like this, comfortable.
"I found a good car for you," Charlie broke the silence.
"A good car specifically for me, as opposed to just a good car?" I asked him, smirking. "What is it, bulletproof or something?"
"Maybe," he grinned. "Actually it's a truck, a Chevy. Do you remember Billy Black?" I cast my mind back a few years to the small Indian reservation on the coast.
"Billy from La Push?"
"That's the one. He can't drive anymore, he's in a wheelchair," Charlie said.
"Is he? That's crappy, how come?" I asked, remembering the friendly, strong Indian who used to take us on fishing trips when I was allowed to visit Charlie in Forks. I was also gauging Charlie's reaction to my slight cussing.
"Diabetes, it's very crappy," Charlie smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "He's offered me to sell his truck, quite cheaply too."
"Seriously? For me?"
"Seriously. Billy's done work on the engine, the thing runs great," Charlie grinned at my enthusiasm.
"How much is it? We can run by a bank tomorrow, I've still got some savings-"
"Woah, woah, Bells. I've already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift," Charlie stared straight ahead at the road as I gaped at him. His neck began to flush red, which slowly crept up to his face.
"You bought me a truck, as a gift?" Charlie nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. I put a hand on his arm and squeezed it softly.
"Thank you, you really didn't need to do that," I whispered.
"You're welcome Bells, I want you to be happy." I left my hand on his arm for a moment longer before taking it away. We sat in silence for the rest of the car ride. I watched the scenery change as everything became green, the land was thick with moss-covered trees and there were ferns covering every bit of ground anywhere I turned. The air was drizzling with rain and there was a slight mist above the ground.
Everything looked alive.
We finally got to Charlie's and I felt a rush of pleasure when I recognised the two-bedroom house that I had once lived in. It was much smaller than the house back in Phoenix, but that had always felt cold and unwelcoming. This house felt more like home, even though the amount of time I had spent here wasn't even a year. Parked in front of the house was my new truck, faded red and almost obnoxiously large. I loved it immediately.
"It looks amazing!" I exclaimed, whilst Charlie went red with embarrassment again. "Thank you so much!" Charlie smiled and looked away.
It only took Charlie and I a single trip to get all my stuff indoors and upstairs. I got the bedroom that had always belonged to me, the one that looked over the front yard. It was a blue room with a wooden floor, with a new (second-hand) computer on my old desk and an empty bookshelf opposite my bed. There was an old rocking chair in the corner.
There was a small bathroom at the top of the stairs that I would have to share with Charlie, but I didn't mind. I hardly doubted he would get freaked out over the inclusion of feminine hygiene products in the bathroom cupboard, though he might get annoyed with the amount of hair products I had. I had come prepared for the weather in Forks, and what it would most likely do to my hair.
Charlie left me alone to get unpacked but told me he'd be ordering a pizza for our dinner later. I lay back on my new (old) bed and relaxed. I stared at the empty bookshelf and made a mental note to go shopping as soon as I could and get some more books, I had left that vampire one on the airplane. It had only cost $3 anyway and really wasn't worth reading. I hadn't been able to take all my books with me and I doubted Renee would send them over. Still, I could always email her and ask.
My thoughts began to wander and the image of me alone in high school tomorrow came unbidden to my mind. At Forks High School there were only three hundred and fifty-seven students, not including their latest arrival – me. Compared to back in Phoenix, there were more than seven hundred students in my junior class alone. It was with a pang that I thought of my old friends, Zoey and Lily in particular, but teenage life could be fickle. I had a feeling that though we would probably try and keep in contact for a few months, my refusal to go home would cause problems within our friendships and our emails would slowly become non-existent. Sad, but seemingly inevitable. I was sure I could find at least a few friends here. I got up, even though I was ready to fall asleep, and began to put my clothes away in a pine dresser. I put all my bathroom necessities away too, and it amused me to see how cramped all my hair products made the cupboard look. I cleaned myself up and went back to my room, gazing out of the window.
The thought of school tomorrow made my stomach cramp with nerves and I had to admit to myself that I was scared of not fitting in. I was terrified of not fitting in. Though I had a good friend group back in Phoenix, I had noticed in the past few years that I'd grown up a lot. I seemed to be a lot more mature than people my age, but I suppose that was to be expected, living with my home life. I thought back to all the arguments there had been over the years, all the pain, the few times Renee had thrown me out for a couple of days (not that I had ever told Charlie that). It was so much better that I was here but I still let a few tears out for the life that could have been. On some level I wondered if I had deserved the mistreatment, but I firmly clamped down on those feelings before they could multiply and needle into my brain.
"Bella, dinner will be here soon!" Charlie called up from downstairs. I jumped and wiped my face, embarrassed that I had let my negativity get to me again.
"Coming," I turned away from the window and headed downstairs to fully embrace my new life, my salvation, my happiness.
