A/N: A few things to know. This is my first Twilight fic so be patient with me. I own nothing belonging to Stephanie Meyers. I only claim to own the characters and storyline from my head. I made this with Bella in mind but the character became so OOC that I just created a new one based loosely off Bella, so please don't kill me for not having Edward and Bella together. I base chapters inspired by certain songs but its not a songfic, I'll post the songs so you can feel the same ambiance that I felt when writing it. Its rated M for language and adult situations later.
"Alright" by Lucy Nation.
Onto the fanfic.
*****
I gazed out the window, watching the trees blend together in the damp weather as the car moved swiftly down the highway towards my hometown of Forks. It seemed I had been away longer than nine years, but nine years was definitely more than long enough for me. I was eight when my mom Amy decided that she no longer loved my father Charlie and dragged me to San Diego. I loved the ocean, but not enough to ever really want to swim in it. That was all I had there of nature and it was an overpopulated nature at that with all the beachgoers taking up the spaces of sand. Up here in Washington was where I belonged. I had my ocean but so much more. I had the forest, the beach, all things nature, and enough privacy to be who I was. I thought it strange that for a small town that knew everyone's business, something's remained secret. Like the real reason I was taken to California. Oh, my mother being an air-head and fickle was part of it, but the other part had to do with my grandmother Evelyn. It was time for me to come "home" to her, for her to raise me for the path I was destined to walk. We pulled in front of the house suddenly and looking at my childhood home, I felt a calming peace settle on me. I could feel the pull of a soft smile on my lips as I gazed at the two-story house until Charlie's booming voice broke me out of my reverie.
"Home sweet home, eh girls?" he said as he grabbed the luggage from the back of the car. I reached in and grabbed my purse and overnight bag while Ginger began walking to the front door trying to stay dry in the light mist that almost never disappeared.
"You have a very lovely home Mr. Michaels. No wonder Lili missed it so much," Ginger said as she waited patiently for us to reach the porch and have Charlie let us in.
"Thank you very much Ginger. And please, call me Charlie," dad said turning the key and pushing the door open.
Ginger and I followed closely behind and I took in a deep breath, inhaling the scent that was somehow distinctly home. We followed Charlie up the stairs to our rooms. One bedroom one each side was for us with a bathroom to share. Charlie's room was located downstairs in the den turned bedroom with a new bathroom his buddies helped him build on slow fishing season. My room was the same one I had when younger, only now a bit more updated. The walls had been repainted a pale cream color that matched the light wood furniture and cream-colored linens that my mother Amy had sent up a few weeks ago. Charlie had set-up everything pending mine and Ginger's arrival besides our personal belongings still packed away in numerous boxes. I walked to the old rocking chair sitting by the window that looked onto the street and sat down wearily while Charlie carried Ginger's suitcases into her room after setting mine on my bed. I reached over to look at the tag on the new curtains hanging down in front of me. Charlie remembered to get flame –retardant ones installed. I couldn't decide if it was a good thing or bad thing that he remembered. I sat back in the chair bringing my knees up to my chest and fingered the pendant at my throat. Besides the rocking chair and antique travel trunk sitting at the foot of my bed, my necklace was the only thing I had left of my grandma Evelyn. There could be photos possibly in the trunk, but I wasn't planning on opening it up to find out anytime soon. I wasn't going near that thing till I absolutely had to. Most of my future's path my have been decided but not when it would start and I was putting that time off as far away as I could. I notice the mist become heavier like the sorrow in me and quickly took a deep breath to quell the feelings. Ginger bounded into my room a few moments later after Charlie had given her a small idea of where things were. Kitchen and breakfast nook down to the right, living room to the left, Charlie's room off the living room and then the forest beyond the backdoor, nothing to difficult.
"I can't believe your dad painted my room the red color I wanted. Very, very cool," she said as she flopped onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling grinning to herself. Her long black hair fanning behind her head and long legs dangling off the side of my bed. I lay sown next to her on my stomach and rested my chin on my folded hands.
"Aren't you nervous about school tomorrow?" I asked.
"Not really. Why, are you?"
"A little. I didn't have a lot of friends growing up here because of, you know, so I'm not going to know anyone but everyone's going to know me. All staring and stuff, I don't like it. Plus you're so gonna stick out. How come you're not nervous? What if I mess up?"
"I'm not nervous because you're not going to mess up Lili. You're going to be fine and if you feel out of control I'll be right there. And I'm excited about sticking out. Back home I was one of a million hot Hispanic girls, now I get to be the single hottie Latina," she replied giggling. I looked at her and started laughing to, my nerves relaxing once again.
I had always been jealous of Ginger for her dark skin, "mocha" she liked to say and midnight black hair that was perfectly straight and fell to the middle of her back. Her long legs that made her stand at 5'10" and curvy figure made her look more exotic. Ginger's perfect chocolate brown eyes completed the package, but like she said, going to Liberty High School back in San Diego, she was dark-haired beauty among many. I had been the one to stand out with my pale skin and mid-length auburn locks. I wasn't tall, standing only at 5'4" and more curves were those of any average seventeen year old. The one thing that people seemed to notice was my eyes. A perfect teal color of blue and green that would go to a steely gray at times, much like Ginger's going from chocolate to a dark maroon. People rarely saw the switch and if they did would convince themselves that they were imagining things.
Charlie announced pizza for dinner and by the time I came back upstairs afterwards, I wasn't too thrilled with the prospect of unpacking all the cardboard boxes littering my room. Sighing, I started with my suitcases and other clothing items I would need. I was no fashionista like my friend Ginger but I wasn't completely clueless. I was a jeans girl but had plenty of cute tops to look casual and cute at the same time so Ginger stayed off my back about being a fashion disaster. At least I could do one thing right. I moved on to the box marked "Desk Stuff" and began filling up the computer desk with all my papers and school supplies next to my laptop, praying thankfully to God that my dad had gotten a decent internet connection hooked up in mine and Ginger's rooms. I opened the box containing personal items for my dresser, a few picture frames, some small candles, and a wooden jewelry box that I didn't really need. I never wore jewelry on a regular basis so the only thing I kept in it was several pairs of earrings. The only real piece of jewelry I owned was the necklace currently on me that I never took off. Not since my thirteenth birthday when Grandma Evelyn gave it to me with the exception of last spring when she added to it. I looked at it in the mirror above my dresser and a small sadness filled me. It was a simple silver chain that held a flower pendant just below the hollow in my throat. Teardrops of different gems made up the petals. Diamond at the top, with a ruby, amethyst, emerald and sapphire completing the shape. Grandma had added the topaz earlier this spring to the very center where there had been a space. While I already knew what the other stones stood for, the golden topaz confused me. You'll know in time, she said when I asked what it meant. I ran my finger lightly over it before shrugging and moving onto unpacking the three boxes of books I had left. By ten o'clock I was done unpacking and ready to sleep for a thousand years. Ginger had unpacked long before me, and was already telling my dad goodnight and thanking him for the millionth time about letting her come to live with us. I came to my doorway to hug her goodnight. After her door closed, Charlie came over and pulled me in for a tight embrace.
"Its so good to have you back home Jill," he said quietly "I know you can't tell me everything right now and honestly I'm not sure I want to know everything but I'm here for you if you need me."
"Thanks dad," was all I could muster back. I closed the door behind him and crawled into bed. The mist outside was picking up to a light drizzle as I felt the sadness swell in me again at my dad's words. How was I supposed to tell my dad that the reason I can do the things I do was because I was a born witch? And not just any witch, a witch destined to be one of the most powerful in the world?