Author's Note: I am writing this little fanfic here, about Bella's older sister. I know we've all already read something like this, but I'm hoping that I can do it a little bit different, dare I say better, than some of the others. If you would like to read, then thank you very much. Comments are always muchly appreciated, as they give me an idea of whether you like it or not. I'll even read the flamers, and try to respond to everybody. And, as always, I do not own anything that is Twilight related; I can only claim the existence of the characters that you do not recognize.
Leaving on a Jet Plane
"You sure you don't want to come with us?" Mom asked as she was ready to walk out the door. "You can pick out your own luggage."
"Nah," I replied, leaning against the counter. "I'm going to go through my clothes and see what I can bring with me. Not everything that I have is going to work in Forks."
Mom grinned as she eyed the sun dress I was wearing. "Isn't that the truth," she chuckled.
"Alright, I'm ready." Phil walked through the sliding patio door. "Are you coming with us, Libby?"
"She's going to stay here and pack," Mom told him. "I guess she trusts our judgement when it comes to buying her luggage."
I rolled my eyes. "It's not that difficult of a task, Mom. I don't think you can mess it up too bad."
She smiled, and Phil let out a snort. He grinned mischievously at me, and hurried out the door. I heard the car start, and Mom turned to leave, but stopped and frowned at me.
"You know that you don't have to go, you know," she said quietly. "You're old enough to stay by yourself."
I shook my head. This was the third time that my mother and I had had this discussion. "I can't let Bella go by herself, Mom. She would hate me. And besides, I don't mind Forks all that much. Not as much as you and Bella, anyway. It'll be fine. Who knows, it might even be fun!"
Mom smiled at me. "Thank God for you," she said. "You're like a ray of sunshine around here, you know that. It makes me feel better that you're going with her. She needs someone who likes to have fun around."
The horn honked and she hurried out the door. With a sigh, I walked over to shut the door behind her; it was something that she often forgot to do.
As I walked back to my room, I heard a deep, racking sob coming from my sister's bedroom. I stopped, debating whether to go in or not, but decided against it. Bella and I were close, but she liked to be alone when she cried. Instead, I slipped quietly into my own room and began to sort through my clothing. The wall between our rooms wasn't very thick, so I could hear Bella's crying even clearer from my room. I went to my stereo and quickly popped in a Jason Aldean CD, one of my favorites. It drowned her out completely, so I began rooting through my dresser.
By the time that Mom and Phil had got home, it was almost dark outside, and I had gone through both my dresser and my closet and had sorted all of my clothing into three piles; one that was definitely not appropriate for life in Washington, one, very small, pile that consisted mostly of jeans and a few hoodies that I would be taking, and one pile that was a mix of tee shirts and other clothes, mostly dresses, that would make me cold in Forks, but that I absolutely loved and was having a hard time leaving them behind.
Mom knocked on the door and opened it slowly when I called her in. I grinned. Before she and Phil got married and he moved in with us, I used to leave my door open at all times, not caring what state of dress (or undress) I was in. Even though Phil had been living with us for almost a year, I still had trouble remembering that there was a man in the house, and that maybe it wasn't completely appropriate for me to be walking around the house in my underwear.
"Don't worry, I'm dressed," I laughed from my spot on the floor.
"Good," Mom replied. She pushed the door open and she and Phil both came in, carrying three new pieces of luggage. I gasped when I saw them, and jumped up from my spot on the floor. They were all white, hard case luggage, but the fronts were decorated with world flags. There were flags from every country that I wanted to see, including one that I had already been to.
"Oh my God!" I cried, taking one from Mom and dropping it onto the bed to examine it better. "Mom, these are so cool! Thank you!" I jumped at her and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Don't thank me!" she laughed as she tried to fend me off. "Phil's the one who picked them out."
I turned to my step-father and hugged him tightly as well. "Thank you so much!"
He laughed as he lifted me off the ground and gave me a tight squeeze, and then set me back on the floor. "I figured that you would like them."
"I love them!"
"Love what?" Bella asked, standing in the doorway. Her face was pink, and it was obvious that she had been crying. I saw the pained look on my mother's face and I could have slapped my sister.
"My new suitcases," I said, pointing at them. "Mom and Phil bought me a new set, so you can have my old ones."
"Oh, thanks," she said dully. Without another word, she turned and walked back to her room.
"Isn't she being a little over dramatic?" Phil asked quietly, so she wouldn't hear him.
"Yes," I replied, the same time my mother said, "No."
We looked at each other and I smiled, but Mom still looked upset. "No, I hate Forks just as much as she does. Maybe I should just stay here, instead."
Phil looked horrified, but I spoke up before he could.
"Mom, Bella and I haven't been to Washington in years. It could have changed a lot," I said, wrapping an arm around her. "I'm sure that when we get settled in, she'll be just fine. Besides, you and Phil didn't even get to go on a honeymoon. Consider this a very late, much extended one."
Phil grinned at me, and I winked back at him. We both knew that I could talk my mother into anything. Already, she was almost completely leaned in Phil's direction. He held a hand out to her and pulled her close to him. She snuggled into his chest, and I grinned.
"See," I said. "Without Bella and I around, think of what you could be doing instead of just snuggling."
Phil's head was thrown back he laughed so hard, but my mother looked horrified. Her face was beet red and she had let her mouth drop open.
"Elizabeth!" she scolded. "I can't believe that you just said that!"
I just grinned. "Well, it's the truth."
"I'm going to go start supper," Phil choked out when he was finally able to stop laughing. "I'll leave you girls to it."
He left the room, still chuckling, while Mom sat down on the floor amid my piles of clothes. I sat down with her.
"You shouldn't say things like that to your mother, you know," she admonished me. I could still hear Phil chuckling in the kitchen, and I smirked.
"I was just telling the truth," I teased her. "Without Bella and me living with you two, you can do your business wherever you feel like it."
"Libby!" Mom's face was beat red. "Now how do you know anything about 'our business'?"
I looked her in the eye, trying to act serious but failing miserably. "Mom, you are a grown woman who is married. Anything that you choose to do with your husband is completely up to you." I began looking through my 'maybe' pile. "And, the walls in this house are paper thin, so I can hear everything at night."
Mom gasped and blushed so deeply that she appeared to be severely sunburnt. She gaped at me with an open mouth for a moment, not knowing what to say.
"Don't worry, Mom," I grinned. "I'm sure Bella can't hear anything, and I don't really care. It is your house after all."
"We are done talking about this," she said firmly.
"But really, when we're gone, you can run around naked all the time -"
"So what are you bringing with you?" she asked firmly to change the subject. I chuckled to myself. "Not these, I hope?" She picked up a pair of my old jean cut-offs and I laughed.
"I don't think that those would keep me very warm," I said. "But now that I look at the clothes with my suitcases, I think that I can take almost everything with me."
"Charlie will think that you're staying with him for good!"
"Maybe I will," I mused. "I miss Dad."
Mom looked at me for a moment and then shook her head. "Believe me, when you get there, you're going to want to come straight home again."
I did manage to pack all of my clothes, along with some books, my laptop, camera and toiletries, into my suitcases before supper was ready. Mom and I went to help Phil cook while Bella continued to pack.
The next morning came much too early for my liking. Mom woke me up so that we could go for one more drive around the city while Bella finished her packing, and then we went home, loaded all of our bags into the car, and headed towards the airport.
Bella still hadn't spoken a whole lot, so when we got to the airport, Mom tried to make her feel better.
"Bella, honey, you don't have to do this," she said softly.
"I want to go," Bella replied, trying to sound like she was being completely honest. I rolled my eyes at Phil and he had to stifle a laugh; Bella couldn't lie to save her life. I knew she wasn't telling the truth, and so did Mom, but she seemed like she was trying to believe her.
"Tell Charlie I said hi."
"I will."
"I'll see you soon," Mom said. "And you girls can come home any time you want – I'll come right back as soon as you need me."
"Don't worry about us," Bella urged. "It'll be great. I love you, Mom."
Bella and I boarded the plane and took our seats just moments before takeoff. I looked out the window and thought that I could see Mom and Phil standing in the window. I smiled and hummed softly to myself the tune of John Denver's 'Leaving on a Jet Plane'.
It is a four hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, and another hour of flying to the small airport in Port Angeles. Bella spoke, at most, a dozen words the whole way. Even my own usually cheerful mood was starting to get dampened by her foul one. I crossed my arms and leaned my head back against the seat, doing my best to ignore her.
When the plane landed in Port Angeles, my mood began to brighten again. It was raining, of course, and I loved it. It didn't rain often in Phoenix, and it was something that I had missed dearly when I had returned home from Europe during the summer. Also, Dad met us at the airport, and when I saw him, my face cracked into huge grin.
"Hey, you two!" he called, waving at us as we hurried over to him. "How was the flight?"
"It was alright," Belle replied, stiffly hugging him before quickly pulling away.
"It was good," I said, bouncing over to hug him. Dad pulled me close and held me for just a second longer than Bella. "At least it would have been if somebody hadn't decided to become a mute." I shot a dark look at Bella, but she ignored me, and went to look for her bags in the luggage that was now coming down the small conveyer belt.
"Here is mine," Bella said, reaching out to grab one of her two large black suitcases. Dad grabbed the other one before it could get away. "Where are your bags?"
"I don't know," I replied, looking around. "I don't see…oh, there they are!"
My three suitcases came out together on the belt, and I hurried to pull them all off. Somehow, I managed to get a hold on all three, and made my way back to where Dad and Bella stood. Dad looked at me with his mouth hanging open.
"How many clothes did you pack?" he asked a bit weakly.
"Everything that I own," I replied, grinning. I handed him the handle of the largest bag and took the other two firmly in my hands. I was glad that they all came with wheels.
"Half the stuff you own you won't be able to wear here," Bella said as Dad took one of her bags as well. "Why did you bother to bring them?"
"Hey, I can wear whatever I want to!" I replied as we made our way out of the airport and into the cold air outside. I shivered. "If I freeze, than it's my problem."
"Chances are that you will." Bella used her free hand to pull her jacket closer around her.
Dad chuckled as he opened the trunk to the police cruiser. I looked it over and shook my head grimly. I'd have to do something about getting a car; as much as I loved my Dad, there was no way that I was going to be driving around in the backseat of a cop car for too long.
Dad and Bella made small talk, mostly about our mother and her new husband, as we loaded our bags into the trunk of his police cruiser. I could tell that Dad didn't like the idea of Mom being with someone else, and that he wanted us to tell him that he was a horrible person. But I really like Phil, so I didn't say a word.
We were just leaving the parking lot of the airport when Dad turned to Bella. "I found a good car for you, really cheap." He glanced at me in the back seat and smiled. "And for Libby, too, when she gets her licence."
I groaned. Despite Bella being eleven months younger than me, she had got her licence almost a year ago, and I still only had my beginners. I hadn't needed a licence the year before, though.
"I'll have them soon," I said. "I just need to go for my test."
"I'll see what I can do," he told me. "Bob down at the station might do it as a favor to me."
"That'd be great, Dad." I smiled. "Thanks."
"What kind of car?" Bella asked suspiciously.
"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy," Dad replied.
"Where did you find it?"
"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?" Charlie asked.
"No."
"Oh, come on, Bella," I spoke up. "You've got to remember Billy! We used to play with his kids when we were younger. He and Dad used to take us all fishing."
"Oh," she said simply. I could tell that she still had no idea who he was.
"Anyway, he's in a wheelchair now," Billy continued, "so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."
"What year is it?" Bella asked. I could tell from the change in Dad's face that this was the one thing that he'd hoped that she wouldn't ask.
"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine – it's only a few years old, really."
Bella eyed him up for a moment, and then continued. "When did he buy it?"
"He bought it in 1984, I think."
"Did he buy it new?" I rolled my eyes. Bella had always been one to need every last detail about something, and it had always bothered me; I liked to be surprised.
"Well, no," he admitted rather sheepishly. "I think it was new in the early sixties – late fifties at the earliest."
The image of me trying to start the engine of a piece of junk truck suddenly popped into my head, and I didn't like it one bit. My resolve to get a job to buy myself a little car firmed.
"Ch – Dad, I don't really know anything about cars," Bella argued. "I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic…"
"Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."
I watched as she thought hard for a moment, and then I butted into the conversation and asked, "How cheap is cheap?"
"Well, I kind of already bought it for you guys." Dad looked back at me in the rear view mirror.
"Really?" I asked excitedly. I didn't really want the truck, but if it was free…
"You didn't have to do that, Dad." Bella said. "I was going to buy myself a car."
"I don't mind. I want you girls to be happy here." Dad was looking straight ahead at the road, not looking at Bella at all, and, as I turned my attention to her, she was doing the same thing.
"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." Her voice seemed distant and insincere, but I knew that is was just because of her apparent unease in sharing her emotions. She was exactly like Dad when it came to that.
"Well, now, you're welcome," he replied embarrassedly.
I watched the two of them from my seat in the back of the car, and shook my head, laughing to myself. There was no denying that Bella was my father's daughter. She might look a lot like Mom, but personality wise, she was the spitting image of our father. Neither one of them seemed to be able to express their emotions without being in extreme discomfort; neither had much to say, and preferred to keep to themselves more often than not. I was nothing like that, which, I suppose, meant that I was more like my mother. I wasn't exactly the most outgoing person in the world, but meeting new people and being in new social situations didn't terrify me the way they seemed to do to my sister. I was completely open with people about how I felt about them; if I loved them, I let them know. If I wasn't so fond of them, they still knew it.
The conversation pretty much petered out at that point. Despite my love of travel, I was always completely exhausted by flights, no matter how long. Bella and Dad didn't seem to have anything else to say, so I turned my attention out the window, and watched the trees go by.
I must have fallen asleep somewhere between Port Angeles and home, because the last thing I remembered, before being shaken lightly by my father, was passing a small strip mall and noticing that they had got some pretty decent stores in since the last time I had been there.
"Wake up, Kitty," Dad said softly. "We're home."
Groggily, I stumbled out of the car and was half way to the house when I remembered my bags. I turned around to go back, only to find Dad walking closely behind me.
"Go on in," he said, nodding up the steps. "I've already taken all the bags in. Bella's upstairs, unpacking her things."
"Oh, okay. Thanks, Daddy." I mumbled, turning to stomp up the steps. He followed me inside, and shut the door tightly to keep out the rain that was starting to fall even harder.
"I left your bags just at the top of the stairs," he informed me. "You can go up with Bella and unpack if you'd like, or you can save that for tomorrow."
"I think I'm just going to go to bed," I replied, yawning hugely. "I'm exhausted."
"Busy day?" he asked, shrugging out of his jacket. I noticed that he still had his gun in its holster at his hip.
"Mom had me up early for a drive around the city," I said. "And flying always makes me tired."
He nodded and headed towards the living room. "Alright, kiddo," he said. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Night, Dad."
I hurried up the stairs, stopping to grab a pair of pyjamas and my 'necessities bag' out of one of my suitcases, and slipped into the bathroom to change and brush my teeth before heading to bed. I was absurdly tired, and planned on going directly to bed, but Bella had other plans.
I walked across the hallway to our bedroom and stopped in the doorway, not surprised to see that Bella was crying. She'd been doing it a lot in the past couple of days.
"You okay?" I asked, pulling back the quilt and sliding between the sheets.
"Yeah," she sniffed. "I'm fine. I just really don't want to her here right now."
"It was your idea," I reminded her as I tried to stifle another yawn. "We wouldn't be here right now if you hadn't told Mom that you were missing Dad and thought that it would be a good idea for you to come stay with him."
"I did it for Mom," Bella replied. "You know that she really wants to go be with Phil when he travels." She stopped what she was doing and looked up at me. "Now that I think about it, why are you here? I know for a fact that Mom didn't mind leaving you at home alone while she traveled; you're eighteen."
"Now I couldn't let you come up here all by yourself, now could I?" I responded. "Besides, I really did miss Dad."
"But its Forks," Bella said, stressing the name of the town with a hint of disgust in her voice. "Why would you want to come here?"
"I don't hate it here," I murmured, beginning to get even more and more sleepy as the chill that was in the air was starting to fade as I sunk further under the blankets. "It's kind of pretty."
"It's weird," Bella said softly.
I didn't reply. I was beginning to doze off when Bella resumed her crying. It was just a few sniffs at first, but soon it was full out sobs. With a sigh, I threw back the covers, grabbed a pillow and made my way downstairs.
I've always been fairly light on my feet, and I guess that Dad didn't hear me coming down the stairs. The television was turned on, the game playing on the screen, but when I turned the corner into the living room, Dad wasn't sitting on the couch as I'd expected him to be. He was standing in front of the old fireplace, staring at the old pictures of him and Mom when they'd first got married, and the ones taken at the hospital when first I, and then Bella, was born. He slowly ran a finger down my mother's face under the glass, and I immediately felt very uncomfortable. I'd always suspected that Dad had never truly gotten over Mom leaving, and this was my proof. I tried to turn to go back upstairs to deal with Bella's tears for the night without Dad knowing that I was there, but as I turned, I cracked my elbow on the door casing.
"Ouch!" I yelped. "Holy shit cakes!"
Dad's hand dropped from the pictures and he spun on the spot to look at where I was standing. "What are you doing?"
"I hit my elbow!" I whined, trying to bend my arm inwards so I could see if it was red. I couldn't. "Is it red?" I asked, holding it out so he could see it.
"No, it's fine," he said behind a grin. "What are you doing down here? I thought you were going to bed."
"I was, but Bella's being pretty loud up there while she's unpacking," I explained vaguely. There was no way I was going to tell Dad that she was crying; that would just upset him. "Can I sleep down here on the couch tonight?"
"Um, sure," he said slowly, as though he were unsure. "You can if you want to."
"Okay." I picked up my pillow from off the floor and hurried over to the couch. I flopped down on one end of the couch and curled up in a ball to leave room for my father. Dad grabbed a blanket off the back of an old, worn out chair and laid it over top of me.
"There, are you comfy?" he asked before sitting down.
"Yes, very," I replied, smiling. "Thanks, Dad."
He smiled back at me, and then sat down on the other end of the couch to watch the game. Bella's sobs may have been keeping me awake, but the game on television was like a lullaby; I was out in minutes.
A dim, white light was what woke me the next morning. I opened my eyes and looked out the window to see the sun, a morning ritual of mine, but I couldn't see it. In fact, I couldn't see anything. It looked as though the house was surrounded by clouds, but I knew that it was just fog, although I hadn't seen any for several months. It was too dry in Arizona for there to be fog.
I got up off the couch at the same time that I heard Dad coming down the stairs. He stuck his head into the living room and laughed as I stretched awkwardly.
"Good morning, sunshine," he grinned. "You're looking real pretty this morning."
I stuck my tongue out at him, making him laugh again, and walked by. I knew that I was a mess; I always looked horrible in the morning, with my hair tangled into a nest on top of my head and my eyes red and watery.
I met Bella at the top of the stairs as she was coming out of the bathroom. She looked as though she had been up crying all night. I felt slightly bad for her, but at the same time, I figured that this would be good for her.
Half hour later, I was showered, dressed and ready to go to school. I checked myself over in the mirror once more, making sure that I looked okay, and then grabbed my school bag and hurried down the stairs. I walked right into a room of awkward.
Dad and Bella were sitting across from one another at the table, each silently eating their breakfasts, not looking at one another. I cringed at the tenseness in the air.
"Well, aren't we a talkative bunch, huh?" I asked, skipping over to the counter. I grabbed a Pop Tart from the cupboard, an apple from the fridge, and a glass of water. I sat in the chair between the two of them. "What are the plans for today, Dad?"
"Well, I'm off to work," he replied. "I'll be done around five, so I should be home shortly after that unless something exciting happens at work."
"Not likely," I heard Bella mumble. I kicked her unnoticeably under the table, hoping that Dad hadn't heard her.
"Oh, okay."
"Why, were you planning something special?" he asked.
"No, nope," I replied, smiling brightly at him. "I was just wondering."
"Oh, okay." Nobody said anything for another moment, and then Dad stood up. "Well, I'd better be on the road. Have a good day at school, girls."
"You too, Dad," I said. "At work, though, not school."
He grinned at me, and then hurried out the door.
"We should probably get going, too," Bella said, standing up. She dumped the remainder of her soggy cereal down the drain and turned to look at me. "I don't want to be late for our first day."
I nodded and got up from the table. I dumped my water into the sink, picked up my bag, snatched my apple off the table, and followed Bella out the front door. I stopped on the top step as I saw what was waiting for us in the driveway.
"Is that it?" I asked, snorting with laughter. "That's our truck?"
"Yep," Bella replied, edging past me. "Now let's go."
In my state of fatigue the night before, I hadn't noticed the big, old, rusty red truck with bulbous fenders that was sitting in the driveway. Now that I was awake, I wondered how in the Hell had I missed it.
I hurried across the yard and got to the truck before Bella, who was still inching her way over so she wouldn't fall. I pulled open the door, with a bit of difficulty, and hopped into the passenger's seat. Bella climbed in carefully, and when she gunned the engine to life, I let out another peal of laughter. The truck sounded more like a tank coming to life.
We drove on the highway for just a couple of minutes before Bella began to slow down. I looked out the window and saw why; we had just passed a sign that read "Forks Senior High". I looked at the collection of buildings for a moment, frowning a bit. It didn't look like a school.
Bella pulled in and parked in front of the office. She opened her door and hopped out. "Are you coming?"
"What are you doing?" I asked her.
"Getting directions," she replied, and shut the door. I quickly unbuckled and followed her into the building.
The office was warm, for which I was thankful. Even with my warmer clothes, I was freezing. It looked as though the lighter clothes that I had brought with me wouldn't be seeing the light of day for a long time yet. The office was also almost completely empty, occupied by a single red-haired woman. She looked up at us as we walked through the door.
"Can I help you girls?" she asked, looking over the top of her glasses at us.
"I'm Isabella Swan," Bella said softly, walking up to the counter. "And this is Elizabeth."
I didn't expect that to help the woman at all, but it seemed to. Her face lit up, and she smiled brightly as she got up from her chair and came to help us.
"Of course," she said. She rifled through a stack of papers for a moment, and then handed us each a small bundle. "These are your schedules, and a map of the school," she explained. She went through our schedules with us, highlighting the fastest way to each class. "And this form here is for your teachers to sign. You can bring it back here to me at the end of the day. Think you can handle that, girls?"
"I don't think it will be a problem," I smiled at her. "Thank you."
We walked back outside, and Bella headed to the truck. I didn't follow, but started to make my way down the sidewalk.
"Are you not coming with me?" she asked, stopping with her hand on the door handle.
"No, my first class is just in the next building," I told her, pointing at the building in question. "I'll see you at lunch."
She nodded and got back into the truck, and I kept walking.
I checked the paper in my hand to make sure I was in the right spot, and then hurried into the building. The History room was already full, and when I walked in, everyone stopped their conversations mid-sentence and turned in their seats to stare at me, even the teacher. I stood in the doorway and grinned at them all.
"Good morning," I said, walking to the teacher. "I'm Elizabeth Swan."
"Oh, we know who you are," he replied, taking my sheet from me and signing it. "We've been waiting all week for the Swan girls to arrive."
"You don't look like you're from Arizona," called a very bold boy from the back of the room.
"Sorry," I apologized. "I'll try harder tomorrow."
He shot me a funny look, and then grinned. "I think I'm going to like you."
"I'm sorry," the teacher, whose name (Mr. Walsh) was on a desk plate, said, handing me a text book. "But I'm going to have to ask you to go sit beside that moron."
"It's not a problem," I laughed.
I turned and walked down the aisle, stopping at the only empty seat in the room. I dropped my bag on the floor beside it and slipped into the desk. I shrugged my jacket off and hung it on the back of my chair, and then dug through my school bag to get a binder and a pen. When I looked up again, I saw that all of the people in the seats around me had turned around to look at me.
"Hello," I said with a half-smile.
"Hi." The same boy who has spoken to me before was the only one who replied. "I'm Tyler Crowley."
"Libby Swan," I replied, smiling brightly at him.
"Are you and your sister twins?" he asked.
"No," I replied, opening my binder and dating the first page. "We're not."
Even though I had looked down, I could tell that my answer surprised them all. Tyler frowned, trying to work it out, but couldn't. He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.
"I spent my junior year in Germany on an exchange," I told him, looking up again. "So I had to redo it when I got home."
"Oh, that's really cool!" one of the girls beside me said. I looked around at her, and she immediately dropped her gaze, blushing madly.
"Alright, guys," Mr. Walsh said, bringing the class to order. "Leave poor Miss Swan alone. We've got work to do."
Mr. Walsh was a no-crap kind of guy. Even though it was my first day, he didn't coddle me in the least bit. There was a test on Monday, on the French Revolution, and he told me that I would be taking it with the rest of the class. I had already studied the Revolution in Phoenix, so I was perfectly okay with it.
The rest of class passed without anything of much interest, and at the end of the lesson, I got out my schedule and map once again.
"What's that?" Tyler asked, nodding at the map.
"It's a map," I said slowly, wondering if there was something else that it could possibly be.
"Oh, I can show you to your next class if you want," he said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it's no problem," he replied. He picked up my bag for me. "I'll even be nice and carry your books, too."
"Thanks," I laughed, pulling my jacket back on.
We walked outside together in silence, me shivering in the cold.
"Are you cold?" he asked, looking surprised. "It's actually kind of warm today."
"You try coming from the middle of the desert to all the way up here," I scoffed. "It never gets this cold in Phoenix."
"Wow, that must be nice, having all that sun."
"Yeah," I replied, doing my best to avoid as many puddles as possible. I knew there was something that I had forgotten to pack; I didn't have my rubber boots. "It would be nicer if I didn't burn so easily."
He nodded, and didn't say anything for a minute. We were almost to the building where my next class took place when he spoke again.
"So, you're Chief Swan's daughter, huh?"
I nodded. "Yup."
"Do you think he'd let his little girl go to the movies this weekend?" he sounded a little nervous, and I felt bad.
"I don't think so," I replied gently. "I think he'd want me to get to know someone a little bit before going out with them."
"Oh. Oh, right, okay." Now he seemed very embarrassed. He handed my bag back to me by the shoulder strap. "Well, here you are. Did you want me to meet you after class?"
"No, that's alright," I said. "I have Gym next; I think I can manage to find it. Thanks, though."
"Yeah, no problem." He turned and jogged back across the yard. I turned and went inside. As I stood in the doorway, everyone turned to stare at me. I sighed, and put on a smile. This was going to be a long day.
Geography went by almost exactly like History had, with one exception. Mrs. Morris seemed to think that because I was new that I wouldn't know anything. I was a little annoyed by this; I was probably better at the subject than she was. I didn't have long to dwell on it, though. As soon as her back was turned, I was once again bombarded with questions.
Geography was usually my favorite class, but by the end of the lesson, I was more than ready for it to be over. I gathered my things together quickly, trying to get out the door without anyone stopping me, but I was not quick enough.
"Hey," said a tall, dark haired boy. "Do you need help finding your next class?"
"No, actually I'm heading to Gym," I replied. I hoped that I would have a few minutes to myself to gather my thoughts together. I had forgotten how overwhelming going to a new school could be; it hadn't seemed nearly this bad when I'd gone to Germany.
"Oh, cool; me too!"
I groaned inwardly, but smiled brightly at him anyway. We walked together out of the classroom and out into the cold air. This time I managed to fight back a shiver. The boy, whose name I still didn't know, talked my ear off. I was amazed that anyone could speak so quickly, and still make sense with what they were saying. He stopped only when we got inside the gym and he had to go get changed.
"I'll see you in class!" he called, waving to me.
I waved back, and turned around, almost knocking into a large man.
"Oh, I'm sorry," I apologized. "I didn't see you there."
"Are you Elizabeth Swan?" he asked, ignoring my apology.
"Yes."
"Alright, let's find you a uniform."
I followed him into his office, where he began rooting through a set of cupboards. He looked me over quickly, making my slightly uncomfortable, but then turned and grabbed a pair of shorts and a tee shirt, both with the Forks High logo on them. I checked the sizes, and both seemed about right.
"Alright, you can just watch for today," he said, ushering me back out of the office. "Tomorrow you can join in with class."
I nodded in agreement, and went to sit on the bleachers.
The class was playing volleyball today, and I wished that I could have joined them. It was one of my favorite sports, and I was pretty good at it, too. I had been on the all-star team in Phoenix in my freshman and sophomore years.
For the first little while, I just watched the group on the court in front of me with amusement. It seemed as though they didn't play very often; everyone was very stiff and missed the ball a lot. Everyone, that is, except for two people.
In the far court, I watched in awe as the ball continuously sailed over the net. I frowned as I watched the match. Each team had five players, but only one from each side was actually playing the sport, everyone else was standing back and watching.
The girl was small, almost child-like, with short dark hair, and the boy who she was playing against was tall and lean, with a mess of reddish-brown hair. Both had incredibly pale skin, and both seemed to move effortlessly across the court as they tapped the ball to the other.
"Amazing, aren't they?"
I realized that my mouth was hanging open and I closed it quickly, turning to look at Coach Clapp, who was sitting beside me.
"Yeah," I replied, turning my gaze back to the game. "Who are they?"
"Those are the Cullens," he informed me. "Alice and Edward."
I didn't say anything else, but continued to watch them the entire class. They were graceful, they were poised, and they were stunningly beautiful. They couldn't be human.
I watched them all class, stunned by how good they were. I had seen many amazing players before (our school had made it to nationals), but none of them compared to these two. They were unbelievable.
Finally class ended, and I began to make my way to the cafeteria for lunch.
"Hey!" I heard someone call from behind me. "Hey, Swan!"
I stopped and turned to look behind me. The tall dark-haired boy who I had walked to class with was waving wildly at me, running to catch up.
"Hey," I said, smiling at him.
"Hey." He stopped in front of me. "I was wondering if you wanted to sit with me and some friends for lunch."
"What was your name again?" I asked him.
"Luke," he replied. "Luke Weber."
"Okay, then, Luke," I said. "Sure, I'll sit with you. Thanks."
He nodded, still smilingly, and we took off to the cafeteria.
I had gathered together my food and was sitting at the table between Luke, who I had just realized was in all three of my morning classes, and his friend Monica when I remembered that I had promised Bella that I would sit with her. I scanned the crowded cafeteria, and saw her sitting with a group of people who I didn't know. I smiled and sat down; it was good to see her making friends.
The rest of the afternoon went by smoothly, and at the end of the day, I made my way to the parking lot with several escorts.
"Hey, Libby," said Eric, one of the boys who I had sat with at lunch. "Do you need a ride home or anything?"
"Oh, no thanks," I replied, smiling brightly at him. "I'm going home with Bella."
"Oh, yeah," he nodded. "She was in my English class this morning. You guys look a lot alike."
Bella and I had some similarities in appearance, but we also had some major differences. While my sister stood at an average height, about five foot four, I was on the short side; I barely reached the five foot mark. We both had the same skin tone, and the basically the same hair colour (mine had a bit more red in it than hers did), but Bella's hair gently waved, and mine was a mass of unruly curls. She had our father's chocolate brown eyes, but mine were a very bright bluish-green, almost aquamarine.
I nodded. "Yep, we get that a lot. Anyway, I have to go. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
I waited by the truck for Bella to show up. As the parking lot quickly emptied, I wondered what was taking her so long. And then I remembered the form that I was supposed to bring to the office. Groaning, I dropped my bag to the ground and dug through it until I found the form. I threw my bag into the bed of the truck and took off running towards the office. I rounded the corner at a slow jog, and ran straight into someone, hard.
"Ouch!" I hit hard and was knocked to the ground. I looked up and saw Edward Cullen glaring down at me.
"Sorry," he mumbled, and then hurried away, leaving me sitting on the ground.
"Well that was rude," I commented, picking myself up off the cold, wet pavement. I reached out to open the door, but before I could even touch the doorknob, it was pulled inward, revealing a very cranky looking Bella.
"There you are!" she exclaimed. Her eyes roamed over my soaking wet jeans and muddy jacket and she frowned. "What happened to you?"
"I collided with Edward Cullen outside and fell into a puddle," I replied, slipping into the building and out of the rain. "I don't care how pretty that boy is, he is very rude!"
Bella's face flushed bright red and she mumbled something about getting the truck and left. I leaned against the desk and smiled at the secretary, who was looking over my sister's form.
"Well, that all seems to be in order," she said, looking up and taking my sheet from me. "How was your day, honey?"
"It was great," I replied tonelessly. "Everyone is really nice."
"That's nice," she replied absently.
I left and jumped into the truck, which Bella had moved to just outside the front door. I looked at her, and noticed that she looked like she was in a horrible mood. Not wanting to bring myself down, I stayed silent the entire ride home.
