Night's Penumbra
Author's note: This is my first fan fiction for Twilight. All the characters represented in this story belong to Stephanie Meyers. I hope you enjoy and please review. This story is written in Bella's point of view.
It was Monday morning and I jolted awake to that dam alarm. God, there was nothing I hated worse than Mondays. I looked out my window as the rain came pelting down. Great what did I expect? Of course it had to be raining. Rain was the most exciting thing to ever happen in Forks. I had lived here with my dad Charlie since I was five years old.
I went to my closet and grabbed the first shirt and pants that was hung up in my closet. I always picked out my close that I was to wear from left to right. The weather would not deter me from maintaining my schedule. I didn't care that it was thirty degrees outside and I would undoubtedly freeze wearing my blue short sleeved blouse. The one thing that I hated more than rain and this stupid dumb ass town was to make decisions so I avoided them at all costs.
"BELLA! Are you up yet?" Leah yelled from down the hall. "I don't want to be late for first period. I want to make sure I get a good seat." Leah wasn't worried about being late; she just wanted to make sure that she grabbed the first seat next to Jake. I love Leah and she's the closest thing that I will ever have to a real sister, but she can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.
"YEA, I'LL BE RIGHT THERE." I screamed down the hall.
"You don't have to yell, I'm not deaf you know." She stated as she appeared in my doorway. "What the hell are you wearing?"
"Clothes. What? Did you want me to go to school naked?" I answered in my usual smart ass remark.
"No, but I thought that you were smart enough to dress for the occasion. In case you haven't noticed it's raining outside. You're going to freeze."
"Thanks for the weather report. I'm fine wearing this."
"Fine, suit yourself, but at least grab a sweater."
I grabbed the nearest jacket and put it over my blouse and headed out the door. "Bella do you have your keys." Leah asked as I strolled outside. I knew that I had forgotten something.
"One minute." I said as I turned around and headed back into our house. I looked on the counters, and on the key holding ring that we had hanging in our house, but they were not there. I was searching in between the couch cushions when I heard the door slam.
"Bella- what the hell is taking so long?"
"I can't find my car keys."
"That's fine, we'll take my car."
I couldn't bear the thought of leaving my truck behind. He and I had seen each other through everything. Everyone I knew thought that he was a piece of junk but I thought he was unique and matched my personality. Over the years he had become my better half, we were inseparable. "I'm not leaving him behind."
"Oh, for god's sake Bella, it is a car it doesn't care if you leave."
"Just go ahead without me. I'll be there in a little bit."
"Okay, but you better hurry; Charlie won't like it if you're late again," Leah stated and then she ran out the front door.
If I was car keys were would I hide? It had to be a random spot because I had looked everywhere else. Let's see the first thing I did yesterday when I got home was – "That's it." I said out loud reveling at my epiphany. I knew where my keys were and sure enough when I opened up the freezer they were sitting on the shelf sandwiched in between the frozen burritos and corn dogs.
My truck had a little trouble starting, "Come on Jimmy, baby, don't be like this. I stayed behind for you," I said as I laid my head on the steering wheel. Jimmy began to purr as the engine started up. "Thank you." I said and then I proceeded to drive to school. Jimmy liked to take things slow in our relationship so I never drove faster than 30 mph.
By the time I had reached the parking lot of Forks High School, I was already a half hour late for first. I debated whether or not to bother going, I hated walking in late, but at the same time I knew that Charlie would be hurt and disappointed if I didn't at least make an attempt to make it to all my classes. I waltzed into Mr. Peterson's science class and sure enough every eye was focused on me as I walked in. All of the seats in the back were taken and the only seat available was on the third row. I walked quickly hoping to get to my seat before I made a spectacle of myself. I tripped over Jessica's bag and landed on the hard concrete floor.
"Are you okay Bella? Do you need to go see the school nurse?" Mr. Peterson asked as Jessica and some of her other snooty friends began to snicker.
"No I'm fine," I said as I sat down at my desk. I looked over and there was a new boy that was sitting in the usually vacant seat. He was glaring at me with the most intense look on his face.
"Hi, I'm Bella. What's your name?" I whispered.
"You're bleeding," the mysterious stranger said with clenched teeth. He seemed to be gripping the sides of his chair.
"Are you okay?"
The stranger scooted as far away from me as he could get. I didn't understand his reaction, I knew I wasn't the most popular person in school, but I had never garnered this much anger and hostility from somebody before. The bell rang and he shot out of the class like a graceful bullet.
"Hey Bells, it was good of you to finally join us," Jacob said as he and Leah walked to my desk.
"Yeah, well Jimmy was being his usual stubborn self."
"You really need to trade it in for a newer model," Leah stated.
"Never, Jimmy's the only one for me."
"So Bella, what did you say to that new kid? He was shooting daggers at you all morning?" Jacob asked with a touch of concern in his voice. Jacob and I had been best buds since I was five years old and he always watched out for me like a faithful guard dog.
"I don't know. I just tried to introduce myself. That's all."
"Well if he gives you a hard time let me know. I got your back."
"It's all right Jacob, I'm sure he was just having a bad day." I said trying to make myself feel better as well as to appease Jacob. I found the new boy's reaction to me strange to say the least and it left me feeling unhinged and nervous. It had been a long time since I had let myself be affected by anything, but I had an unexplainable need to get to know everything I could about the new boy in school.
I went to lunch with Jacob and Bella and sat down with them. Across the cafeteria I saw the mysterious stranger that had taken hold of my thoughts. He was eating lunch with a blond haired girl whose beauty could not be explained, and a short brunette who smiled as soon as she laid eyes on me. Two other boys walked over to their group and joined them at their table.
"It looks like we have a bunch of new kids here," I stated to no one in particular.
"Those are the Cullens." Jessica chimed in. "They just moved here from Alaska. I heard that they were all adopted by some rich doctor who just got hired on at Forks General Hospital." Jessica loved to gossip so she was emphasizing every word enjoying being the center of attention. Normally I would ignore Jessica's incessant ramblings about the newest school gossip, but this was actually a subject I found myself to be intrigued by.
"What else have you heard about the Cullens?"
"Well you see the brunette, Alice, I think is her name, well anyways, she is involved with her adopted brother Jasper in some kind of incestuous relationship," she said as she looked over her shoulders.
I looked across the cafeteria and saw a boy with spiked up hair wrapping his arms around a pretty girl that I assumed was Alice by Jessica's description. They looked like a cute couple to me and it was obvious by the way that he was embracing her that he really cared about her. He looked at her like she was the center of his existence. "There not really brother and sister so it's not really incestuous," I said
"Do you want to hear this or not?" Jessica asked as she smirked at me. "Anyways, I find it to be absolutely disgusting and their not the only ones in that family involved in incestuous perversions."
"What do you mean?"
"You see that blond, her names Rosalie, and I heard that she too is involved with one of her adopted brothers."
"Which one?" I asked with abated breath.
"He's not here right now, but he's this big football looking type player. You'll know who I'm talking about when you see him he's practically a giant."
I let out a sigh of relief. "Do you know anything about him?" I asked as I tilted my head towards my mysterious stranger.
"I don't know much about that one. I think that his name is Edward and he seems to mostly keep to himself," Jessica stated obviously disappointed that she didn't have any more gossip about the Cullen family to share.
"Wow, Bella he seems to really be glaring at you. What did you do to earn that kind of attention from Edward?" She asked me.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Edward and I haven't even talked to each other," I said as I got up from the table. It was the truth even though Edward and I had sat next to each other for practically an hour, and I technically spoke with him, he obviously didn't have much to say to me.
After lunch, I stopped by the attendance office with a Dr. Pepper and a Snicker's bar hoping that Miss Summers was still there and hadn't had a chance to call Charlie yet. She was in her office with Edward so I sat and waited for her to become available. She hadn't bothered to close her door so I could hear every word of Edward's request. He wanted to transfer out of Mr. Peterson's science class.
"Why do you want to transfer?" I could hear Miss Summers asking.
"I can't say, but I have my reasons."
"Is somebody giving you a hard time? It will get easier it's only your first day."
"It's not that, it's just hard sitting in that class. I find the problem to be challenging." Edward stated as he looked in my direction.
"Well we can't transfer you just because you find the class to be difficult. If you have issues with the assigned work you can come by the resource center, we have excellent tutors that can help you if you're falling behind."
"Never mind, it's not that kind of problem." Edward said and then he got to his feet and ran past me.
It was obvious from their exchange that Edward didn't want to be anywhere near me. It seemed as if he was afraid of me, but I didn't know what I had done to make him so scared.
"Can I help you with something, Bella?" Miss Summers said interrupting my thoughts.
"I was wondering if you had already called Charlie about my tardy this morning," I stated flashing my best smile. Miss Summers seemed to have a soft spot when it came to me and I often worked her for my advantage.
"No Bella, I haven't called him yet. Why were you late this time?"
"I lost my car keys and then Jimmy needed a little smooth talking to get started."
"Jimmy?"
"My truck- Jimmy, he just needed a little push to get going this morning."
"Sounds like the typical guy." Miss Summers joked back.
"Anyways, I was hoping that you wouldn't have to call Charlie, if I promise to work extra hard on making it to my classes on time." I stated as I put the Dr. Pepper and the Snickers in front of Miss Summers. They were her favorite and although she was reasonable most of the time a little bribe wouldn't hurt anyone.
"I suppose, I don't have to call him this time, but Bella you have to work on being on time. I won't always be around to cover for you," she said in a half serious tone as she grabbed the drink and candy bar just as the bell rang for the next period to begin. "You better get going, Bella. You don't want to be late again."
"I'm on my way. Have a great night Miss Summers, "I said as I walked out of her office and proceeded to my next class.
I didn't see Edward for the rest of the school day. I had a couple of classes with Alice. In my math class she sat by me and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Alice, Edward's sister, but I'm sure you've already heard that."
"Hi, I'm –"
"Bella," She said interrupting, "I know everything that I need to know about you. You and I are going to be best friends, and don't worry about Edward. He's just scared, but he'll come around. Before you know it, you two will be inseparable."
I didn't know what to say to her. She seemed friendly enough, but how did she know that Edward and I was having problems. She just laughed at my quizzical look. Luckily the teacher began to speak and I didn't have to respond to Alice.
After school, Jimmy escorted me home without any major issues. When I walked into our living room Jake was sitting at the table while Leah was making them turkey sandwiches.
"Hey Bells, glad you made it home safely. Leah's making us sandwiches. She can make you one too if you want."
I let out a snicker because Leah gave me a look that I knew all too well. She was only making him a sandwich because she was crushing on him, but she hated that he automatically was offering her cooking services to me.
"No Jake, that's okay, I'm capable of making my own sandwich unlike you." I retorted.
"Oh yeah, you want to say that to my face."
"I believe I just did. What you going to do about it?" I said as I took the mayonnaise covered knife off of the counter and wiped it on his cheek.
"You're in for it now," he stated as he picked me up and carried me outside.
"Don't Jake. You wouldn't dare," I stated as he proceeded to drop me in the fluffy snow bank in our front yard.
"There, that should help you cool off," he stated with a satisfied smirk on his face.
"That's okay Jake, have your fun now, but you should know that payback's a bitch."
"Are you okay?" Leah asked from the door way.
"It's your turn Clearwater." Jake said as he grabbed Leah and spun her around in circles. When he set her on her feet again she fell down in the snow bank and he followed suit.
"Don't worry sis, I got your back," Leah stated as she grabbed a handful of snow and rubbed it in Jake's face.
Jake then proceeded to gather his own snow in piles getting ready for war.
"Come on Bella, we can take Jake down."
I couldn't engage in the snow fight any longer, I had to go running and then start my homework and I was already a little behind schedule because of the unplanned afternoon fun. "I can't Leah, but you don't need my help, I'm sure you got it covered. Besides, girls rule and boys drool." I said in Jakes direction as he stuck out his tongue.
"Are you sure Bella?"
"Yeah, I'm going to go running, I should be back in an hour or so." I headed into the house to put on my workout clothes and grab my iPod.
I drove to Crystal Lake, that's where I liked to go jogging. I always found the scenery to be breathtakingly beautiful and there I could mix my two loves. I loved running and photography and if I hadn't of gotten in to that snow fight with Leah and Jake I could have caught the sun set. I tried to make it there every night. Charlie used to say to me that if you see the sun set once you didn't need to see it again because nothing ever changes. Charlie was smart but on this particular topic he didn't know what he was talking about. I had seen the sun set at least a thousand times over the mountain tops that surrounded Crystal Lake, but I could still come up with at least a dozen things that were different from each sunset. I found it uniquely breathtaking; the way that the hot flames of light would hit the clouds with just the right direction to display all different spectrums of colors. Then just like that the sun would be gone and the moon would rise to take his glorious place in the sky.
The moon was a particularly fascinating crescent tonight. I turned on my "Lincoln Park" and began to jog around the lake. My foot came in contact with a patch of black ice and down I went. The next thing I remembered is looking into Edward's blue eyes as he stared down at me. He must have laid his jacket over me, so I handed it back to him as I sat up. "Here, this must be yours." The back of my head was pounding but I didn't want to be more of an annoyance so I got up to my feet as soon as I could.
"You need to be more careful, Bella. It's dangerous out here at night. Who knows what kind of predators await in the woods?"
"You remembered my name."
"You're a hard one to forget. My name is Edward Cullen. My family just bought that house up there on the mountain side and I come here to clear my head. Then I saw you running and you looked so graceful, at least until you fell that is." He said with a tiny chuckle.
Edward's mood was so different from earlier today. He no longer seemed openly hostile, but genuinely concerned about my well being. In fact he was actually being nice to me. "Nice to meet you Edward, normally I come when there's more light and not as much ice on the ground. " I said in an attempt to explain away my klutziness.
"My father is a doctor. He can take a look at your head, if you would like."
"That's okay. I got to be getting home before Charlie starts to wonder where I am. I 'm sure I'm fine."
"You were unconscious so I really think that you should have your head looked at. You could have a concussion."
"No, I'm fine," I said displaying my best smile for him. "I've had worse falls, and I managed to survive them all. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I'll be there," he said. I turned around and got inside my trusted truck and drove away. I looked behind me and there he stood in all his glory surrounded by the magnanimous mountains and the glacial lake. I actually looked forward to the morning and wondered which Edward would await me in first period.