Chapter One.
Black Wave- The Shins
Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns her inventive characters, but I own this plot, damnit!
Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman. I am Captain Richards and I will be your pilot for this flight from Phoenix, Arizona to Seattle, Washington. The weather is looking pretty clear, so we can expect to have you there right on time. Thank you for flying with us, sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight.
The airplane intercom cut out and the stewardess started her spiel about safety exits, flotation devices, and whatnot. I realized that the information was important, but that knowledge didn't make me stop staring out the window and grab the safety procedures manual out of the seat pocket in front of me and follow along. I had more pressing matters to concern myself with, like what was waiting for me at the end of the flight.
The clicking of metal brought me out of my thoughts, and I followed suit, snapping my seat belt into place. The plane started to approach take-off and I gulped down air. I was not afraid of flying, mind you, but my damn ears popped every time. And since I had an aversion to chewing gum, swallowing copious amounts of air was the only alternative I had found to rid myself of the problem. The plane engines revved. I swallowed again.
Here we go.
Two and half hours later, I awoke from my light slumber to the hustle and bustle brought on by the preparations to land. I pulled my headphones out of my ears and turned my ipod off, knowing that particular instruction was to come soon. Sure enough, the standard request to turn off all electronic devices was delivered as I tucked them into my backpack. I briefly wondered what would happen if someone did not comply, but I wasn't about to chance it. One, I didn't want to die in a horrible plane crash, and two, my ipod and the music it held were far, far more important than any illegal, wayward, mid-air experiment.
The well-used, and highly coveted ipod, filled with his original compositions, had been a graduation gift from the person I was flying home to visit. He had given it to me after the celebratory dinner his family had hosted, as we sat in the dark enjoying one of the last nights we had before everything changed. Said he knew I wouldn't forget him, but this was just in case.
He was right, as always.
I couldn't forget him.
I could never forget Edward.
Never.
From the time we first met, til now, I'd never lived a second without thinking of him. He seemed to have unconsciously wormed his way into every aspect of my life, and I was utterly helpless to prevent it. With his unruly copper hair, beautiful green eyes, crooked grin, and overall roguish appearance, he had always captivated every female he came into contact with. I was no different.
But I was different.
I wasn't just another random female smitten with his boyish charms. I was his best friend. Had been since we were in the sixth grade.
And it was for that reason I got off the airplane with a heavy heart, simultaneously anticipating and dreading seeing Edward again. I couldn't afford to fall for him, my best friend. But stupidly, I had. A long time ago, and very hard. And now I was going to visit him and his new girlfriend. My heart twisted at the thought.
Get a grip, Bella. You'll be fine, I coached myself while I mindlessly navigated my way towards the baggage claim. I hadn't even left the airport and I was already silently freaking out enough to have panicked internal discussions with myself.
I spotted Charlie waiting on a bench near where I had snagged my duffle bag. When I reached him, he got up and grabbed me into the obligatory semi-awkward hug/back-pat that had seemed to become the norm between us. After pulling back in a slightly rushed manner, we walked to the cruiser, and he placed my luggage into the back. With a slam of the trunk and the start of the ignition, we were off.
The first few minutes of the ride home were filled with the necessary questions of how I had been, how my semester was, how he had been, how work was. Once those were out of the way, we lapsed into companionable silence. I always appreciated that about Charlie. While most parents bombarded their children with a zillion questions with the intention of learning every single aspect of their lives away from home, Charlie just let me be. He'd always maintained the attitude that if I was being safe and responsible, he could care less what it was that I did while away, but would be more than willing to listen should I ever want to share. I often didn't.
And it wasn't because I was up to any crazy shenanigans in Phoenix, because I most definitely wasn't. I had a rather normal, quite boring life, actually. No, it was because I was a bit embarrassed that I didn't have anything wild to hide from Charlie. At nineteen, I was approaching my junior year of college as possibly the most responsible college student ever. I had gone to Phoenix to pursue writing, which naturally meant majoring in English, and as said English major, how much craziness could I really expect to get into. Okay, well, granted that a vast amount of authors did all sorts of crazy shit, I just wasn't like that. Never had been. Sure, I went out to parties and bars with friends occasionally, but I preferred sitting alone in my apartment rereading my tattered copy of Wuthering Heights to knocking back shots.
Unless it was tequila, with the lime and salt.
Rosalie had sparked my love affair with Patrón one night at a club she had dragged me to. It'll be fun, she had said as she forced me into the skimpiest clothing I'd ever laid eyes on and out the door. And it was rather fun after I had gotten introduced to the wonder that was tequila. Nine shots and several other drinks later, I was having a lot of fun. By the end of the night, Rosalie had been on the floor and I'd had to help her home and take care of her puking ass all night. That part was definitely not fun. That was probably the craziest night I'd ever had, and I wasn't even drunk. Apparently I was armed with an intense tolerance to alcohol, and was still rather sober– sober enough to know using drunkenness as a reason to avoid taking care of Rose was not an option. Damn my unexpected tolerance and responsibility. Nevertheless, nights like that were very rare in the life of Bella Swan, and as such, I think my life being a bit boring was a fair conclusion to make. I was more or less a middle-aged woman heading for old age surrounded by several cats at a rapid pace. Not a very comforting thought, but it kept me out of trouble and Charlie from worrying.
I wonder what Edward's girlfriend is like. Clearly she's not on a fast track to weird cat-lady-dom because Edward would never go for that. Why would he when he was the world's most interesting and adventurous person?
"So Bells, are you excited to stay with Edward, " Charlie asked, interrupting the silence that had hung over us for quite some time now. I let the question hang in the air for a few seconds contemplating how to simplify the very complicated answer to that very loaded question. I briefly considered jumping out out of the car and running the few miles we had traveled back to the airport to get on the next plane back to Phoenix. Charlie coughed not so subtly in the absence of an immediate response, and I quickly settled upon a noncommittal 'yes' in reply.
"How long are you going to be there again," he followed up. The answer for this was easy, only a matter of fact.
"About a week, give or take."
And what a long week it would be.
Someone should take the time to write safety procedures for my life, I'd definitely read those.
A/N: Sooooooo reviews would be much appreciated! This is only the second story I've ever endeavored into writing and I'm in desperate need of some feedback. Let me know what you think- reviews keep me glued to my computer writing, while waiting for them to pop up in my inbox, and writing means more chapters, faster!
Much love to my amazing ladies Foolish Eyes and twiobession14. If you haven't heard of them, go check out their stories now- you won't regret it!
