A/N: This is my first fanfiction. Hope you like it! Oh, note, this is SUPER Bella/Edward, but Bella is in a relationship with Jacob in the beginning. Not a happy one! She needs Edward but he isn't in her life yet.
"And she's home for the summer," Charlie said, twisting the wheel of his brown truck. We were headed towards Forks, my old hometown. I tried so desperately to escape, watching movies incessantly and dreaming about making them come true. I didn't get into the best film schools, but I managed to make it to the University of Puget Sound. "And you'll probably be moving back in with me after next year."
"Probably," I groaned in agreement. The student loans were certainly racking up, and I was filled with a certain displeasure about it. I flipped the screen of my camera open and closed, occasionally holding it up to film the evergreen trees and crisp mountains. We passed La Push and Evergreen State on our way down to Forks.
I hated my hometown. It was tiny and dull; completely boring. I moved there from Arizona when my mom got a new boyfriend, and proceeded to have the most boring two years of high school you could possibly imagine. My friends all moved out ─ except for Jessica, who got pregnant and decided to skip out on the college deal. The only marginally remarkable thing about Forks was Jacob Black, who I had a brief affair with, that ended terribly and broke my damned heart.
Jacob and I have been just friends since then. Just friends. Ugh. I was grateful to get to Puget Sound and start making movies. I was majoring in Communications ─ studying to use my camera talents for documentary-making. I was not the best yet, exactly. But I was soon known as "That girl with the camera" instead of "that girl who is constantly tripping over everything."
"Your mom bought you tickets to Florida," Charlie says, pulling up into our driveway. I sighed.
"Florida isn't the place for a grungy documentary," I said exasperatedly. "I mean, the only redeeming factor of southern Washington is the rain and the dark forest green. It makes a good setting for vampires."
"I thought it was sasquatch," Charlie said and I rolled my eyes. The last time I contemplated a documentary about sasquatch, I was about twelve and on one of the unfortunate weekend visits to my father. I forced him to walk with me through the woods for hours after Bigfoot was spotted by St. Helen's. Charlie tried to explain to me that that was too far away, but I would not listen.
"I'm thinking the harsh reality of the Pacific Northwest. What you don't see in Portlandia," I suggested, jumping down from the truck. I took a quick shot of our house and then turned the camera to my face. "Fact One: It doesn't rain every day. Just most days."
I walked into the house after Charlie unlocked it with his keys. It was a warm day, but the Portland heat wave had not reached up to Forks. I still needed my handy Columbia Sportswear windbreaker ─ red edition. I sat down on the sofa and reached for the remote.
"I got rid of cable," Charlie said and I pulled my hand back. It flopped at my side as I felt like I was going to fall asleep. "I did rent that Edward Cullen movie, you know. I heard he bought a house in Seattle."
"I'm so sick of hearing about Edward Cullen, and his magnificent hair and acting abilities," I stated earnestly, kicking my feet up on the sofa. My Converse spread a little mud on the white, but the sofa was already dirty as could be. "I do, on the other hand, like the paranormal."
"Yeah. He's doing that television series about the Seattle vampires."
"But you got rid of cable," I said and Charlie smirked.
"I replaced it with Netflix and Hulu. Want to order pizza?"
"Is there anything else we would eat?" I asked and Charlie chuckled.
"I stopped ordering pizza for a while and the Domino's guy actually called to check up on me," Charlie said and I snorted in laughter. He had to be kidding me. "I got a free pizza out of it."
"Sometimes, dad..." I did not finish my sentence, but a faint smile was across my lips. "Just sometimes."
I fell asleep after eating an entire box of Cinnastix and three slices of pizza. I felt completely gross, and totally normal. It would be nice if all I could do was just eat, sleep and make movies. But that was interrupted by someone knocking feverishly on the window at one in the morning.
"Bella. Tsst. Bella." The knocking continued incessantly. I woke up, adjusting the top of my pajamas so my breasts were not fully exposed. I opened the window and in fell Jacob Black. I smirked.
"So you heard I was back in town?" I asked, laughing slightly. We may have had our romantic differences, but he could always make my day, or my one in the morning.
"Yeah, care to make a movie?" Jacob murmured, leaning in close. I sighed. He kissed my neck and I did not resist. I didn't know why I did this with him, after our relationship broke down.
"How about one about werewolves?" I said, and I was reminded of the first one I was making.
It was an incredible shock when I discovered that my best friend would turn hairy. And not just with the full moon; he could do it on command. I responded in the only way I could; by making a documentary on the legends of the Quileute. Legends, I called them. I never once revealed that the werewolves were real.
"Come on, Bella. Just one porno," he teased and I sat down on my bed.
"I don't need this right now," I said, setting my pillow on my lap. Jacob stepped back slightly.
"I've struck a nerve? I'm only playing with you," Jacob said and I frowned. The kisses, the occasional hook-ups. It all felt wrong. Jacob Black was not right for me, and I knew it. But I had always loved the paranormal, and a werewolf boy next door was beyond appealing to me. He was handsome, charming and a goofy kid turned muscular and buff. I was so sad when he cut his hair and told me we could not longer be in a relationship. He was afraid to hurt me. But that didn't mean we had to stop this whole friends with benefits thing.
"I know, Jacob. Look, we can race motorcycles and make out tomorrow. I just need to sleep," I said. "You'll understand when you hit college."
He turned on my iPod, which is plugged into the home. "I Didn't Mean It" by The Belle Brigade started to play. Jacob mouthed the lyrics and I applied my pillow squarely on my face. He danced slightly, suggestively. I could not help but laugh.
"So I was thinking we could have a marathon of that vampire show. The one they're filming in Seattle," Jacob said, switching off the music. I sighed.
"Werewolves and vampires? Don't you think that's pushing it, Jake?" I murmured and Jacob shrugged.
"Come on." He gestured at the television across from the bed. "Get cuddly with my feverish self and watch Edward Cullen brood."
"Alright," I said, patting the bed next to me. "Just don't wake up Charlie."
Jacob started the television and turned on the Edward Cullen show. It was not as good as his movies, of which I had seen all of (despite them being so mainstream). But I found myself fixated.
"Could you imagine an interview with him?" I asked Jacob and my werewolf friend shrugged. "Mr. Cullen, what's your opinion on creatures of the night?"
"Bella, you're a clumsy girl with a camera from a podunk small town in southern Washington. I'm a Native American werewolf. We're not meeting any celebrities any time soon," Jacob said and I shrugged. The kid had a point. I kissed him and we fell asleep together.
I dreamt about the television show, and Edward Cullen. When I woke up, I was thinking about vampires. If werewolves were real... why not vampires? Why couldn't my pages of Anne Rice come to life before me, when I had seen a guy turn into a wolf in front of me? I spent my high school years flirting with the danger of wolves, and I was captivated by vampires.
After brushing my teeth and getting dressed, I flipped open my camera. I adjusted it around my face, and thought faintly of The Blair Witch Project with a small smirk.
"Vampires. Myth or Reality? A cheesy part of pop culture, or a sensual creature of the night? And what is it with the cult of Edward Cullen? His charming smile? Is he hiding fangs?"
"Breakfast, Bella," Charlie said and my shot was ruined. I sighed and deleted the video, getting up and walking into the kitchen.
"I didn't know you could cook," I remarked, thinking of all of the times I had made him pasta.
"It's frozen waffles and half washed strawberries." Charlie smiled at me and I returned it. He was a good dad, regardless of my feelings about Forks. I ate my breakfast, thinking about who I would interview for my documentary. Even with such a small population, there had to be some people obsessed with vampires and the Edward Cullen movies.
Sometimes I was. Often, I was, actually.
I set out to make a movie.
