Chapter One
A Beginning, and A New Beginning
I guess I should start by saying I have two dads. A little unconventional, but I like it. It's amazing the things you can get away with when you don't have a mom. I also have a twin brother, who's more of a best friend to me than anyone else I've ever known. My name is Bella Swan, and myself, my brother Jasper, and my dad's Phil and Charlie are settling in to our new home in Forks, Washington. It was a dreary place, especially considering I had grown up in Phoenix. But Charlie promised us we'd adjust quickly, and love it here. It was his hometown, and the place he had met Renee, who would soon become he and Phil's surrogate. What they hadn't bargained on was twins.
Nine months later, Jasper and I were born. Soon after our birth, we relocated to Arizona so Phil could follow his dream of being in the major leagues. One too many broken shoulders and Phil decided it was time to take on his role as stay at home "mom". Some years later Charlie heard from his old friend Billy Black that Forks was looking for a new chief of police. He jumped on the opportunity to return home. All I could think of was no more sun, no more social life, but I was being selfish, it was Charlies turn to be happy and who knew maybe there was something to this podunk town. I could find my own sun, even in this ever dreary city.
My first impression of Forks? I thought the place was covered in mold. Everything was so green. Everything but the gray blank sky. Good lord, why did people live here on purpose? I had to constantly remind myself to keep the look of horror off of my face, for Charlies sake. I knew he was ecstatic to be back in his hometown.
After a short drive through what had to be the only main road in Forks, Charlie navigated his way through a small neighborhood, pulling into the driveway of a quaint little two story house that looked like it belonged on the cover of Home and Garden. Phil would be happy, he loved to garden, or at least try too. There was nothing green about either of his thumbs. Thankfully I had managed to bring along one small cactus, a reminder of my old home.
The house wasn't bad on the inside, a little small for the four of us, but all in all, livable. Being the only girl, my family graciously gave me the bedroom and bathroom on the second story, all to myself, just the way I liked it.
It took almost all weekend to unpack and settle in. Had Charlie not gone immediately to work, the day after we arrived it might not have taken so long. But with the three of us working together, this alien house was soon becoming our home.
"How does pizza sound for dinner?" Phil asked, for the third night in a row.
"Sounds fine by me," Jasper never turned down pizza the kid was an enigma.
"Any chance of changing things up a bit? I feel like we're going to have some major health issues if you keep feeding us Phil." I interjected, before Jasper could start ordering.
"What would you suggest? Have you seen the inside of our fridge lately? It's a little sparse, Bells."
"I do know how to grocery shop, I could run down to the store real quick."
"Whatever you say Bells, if you feel like putting that much effort into dinner, be my guest."
I almost immediately regretted my decision to drive to town to do some grocery, forgetting that I no longer live in Phoenix, but really it couldn't be too hard to find what I would imagine to be the only super market within a hundred miles. Then there was the added anxiety of being the new girl in a town that already knew my life history, and braving that crowd alone, sent me into a near panic attack. But my desire to eat something besides pizza was stronger, and won out in the end. So I grabbed the keys to Phil's Civic off the kitchen counter and headed out the door on my own.
I wasn't wrong about it being easy to find the only grocery store in town, I pulled into a spot, and sat back for a second, taking in the scene before me. It was the perfect picture of small town, the only thing missing was an old man in a straw hat holding a rope tied to the end of a cow he was auctioning off. There were housewives, standing in groups gossiping about the local news, and their brats tugging on mommy's sleeve for change for the coke machine. I quickly took a deep breath in, and got out of the car before my nerves got the better of me. Head down, eyes on the ground, trying to be as unnoticeable as possible, I strolled in like any one would on a Sunday afternoon. Silently thanking God that this place actually opened on a Sunday. I quickly surveyed the sparse shelves and picked out the necessary items to make Chicken Parmesan. One of my favorites, and also a comfort food. I really needed it after this weekend. I stood in line and waited my turn to be checked out, casually avoiding eye contact, pretending to look over the items in my basket. When I got to the cashier, I noticed she was a girl my age, of course, how stereotypical. Where was her boyfriend?
Working the late shift at the local gas station I'm sure.
She put on a friendly smile, welcomed me, and dutifully asked if I had found everything I was looking for all right. I responded with a quick, but polite, yes and thank you. She gave me my total without any other chit chat, and I went to swipe my card.
"Uhm, there seems to be a problem with your machine, it's not reading my card."
A little panic creeping into my voice as I mentally went over my latest bank statement.
"Oh, it's that damn machine, it gives everyone problems. I'll punch in the numbers for you,hun."
I surrendered my card, and she quickly went to work typing in the numbers. When she went to hand it back, she looked up at me and smiled even wider, if that were possible.
"Isabella Swan?" She asked excitedly.
"Uh, yeah, just call me Bella." I awkwardly answered.
"I'm Jessica Stanley! We'll be in the same grade!"
Of course, how silly of me not to assume.
"Oh," I added lamely "Is that so."
"Yeah! Oh, this is great!" She gushed. "I can show you around and everything tomorrow! I'm sure this is pretty weird for you, being the new girl."
Well, at least I already had a tour guide, I wouldn't have to bumble around asking random people what building I needed to be in.
"I should, uh, get going, don't want to hold up the line. But, um, thanks, for the offer I mean. I guess I'll see you tomorrow.''
Without a backwards glance, I swiftly grabbed my bags, waving off the bag boy, and walked as quickly as I could out of the store and back into the safety of Phil's car. Digging the car keys out of my pocket, I jammed the ignition key in as fast as my hands would let me, ready to be out of this parking lot and back in my comfort zone.
Back at home, I started all the necessary preparations for dinner, silently, until Charlie burst through the door, grinning from ear to ear. He always came home so happy now, this new job was Charlies dream.
"Smells good, Bells, watcha cookin?" A still grinning Charlie asked, as he peaked over my shoulder.
"Just some Chicken Parmesan," I answered, "I was getting pretty tired of pizza, left over pizza, and cold pizza."
"Yeah, I guess we haven't really been feeding you guys too well, have we?" He smile faltered ever so slightly.
"No worries Charlie, I've got things covered."
"Just like my little super hero," he smiled as he kissed the top of my head.
Charlie then proceeded to hang up his gun belt, and sit at our little kitchen table, feet up, next to Phil, the two of them about to go in to every detail of their day. It would be nauseating if it wasn't so nice to see them still so happy together. I've heard adopting, and raising two teenagers can put a lot of stress on a family. He was happy with his little miss-matched family.
After dinner was served, the dishes washed, dried, and put away, we all sort of went our separate ways. I climbed the stairs to my secluded bedroom on the second floor, and again thanked God for the privacy it provided. I slowly looked around my somewhat empty room, knowing there was much to do before I felt at all at peace here. I started with unpacking my books, they always made a place feel homey to me.
Finally, everything seemed to be in order, my poor little cactus sat on the widow-sill, my desk set up, computer whirring away, bed made, books put away, and what little clothing I had brought from Arizona was neatly put away in the closet. There was really nothing left to do now. I was procrastinating, not wanting to go to bed, tomorrow was the first day of school.
I'd love notes, criticism, thoughts? Any input helps make a better story! I know it's a short chapter, but I didn't want much happening in the first part of the story, I'll save the juicy stuff til later.
