My life has always been ordinary. My parents, Charlie and Renee, were high school sweethearts and married after graduation. A year later, I was born. Sometime during pregnancy, my mom realized that she didn't like Forks. Renee wanted to leave. Charlie just began his career at the police station with the promise of becoming the Chief of Police one day. He wanted to stay. She wanted a divorce. He begged her to stay. Renee agreed to stay until I turned one. I think Charlie hoped she'd change her mind and stay. That didn't happen.
I was named Grace Isabella Potter. Of course, life has an interesting sense of humor. Sure, name your clumsy child Grace. I swear I had the worst luck. I had an uncanny ability to trip over everything, even air. Thanks, Mom! In all fairness, Renee tried to help. She signed me up for dance classes which turned out to be a good idea. I was actually graceful when I danced, but only when I danced. Eh, I took what I could.
I'm not sure why Renee didn't give me Charlie's last name. The only thing I know is that Charlie wasn't happy about it. At least he got to see me every summer. That was the deal: stay with Renee in Phoenix and visit Charlie in the summer. During my stay, I hung out mostly at La Push. I don't think Charlie knew how to keep me entertained. The group consisted of Jacob, Leah, Seth, and me. Jacob became my big brother and Leah was my partner in crime. And Seth, well Seth was Seth. I loved them all to death.
This pattern was followed up until I was five. For some reason, I decided I didn't like Forks anymore. All I can recall was the bonfire at La Push and me, screaming and crying. Charlie was crushed. He couldn't figure out what went wrong. So I told him to visit me instead. As for my friends, I kept in touch with them up until the whole incident happened.
It was around the time of my last visit that I realized the irony of my name and my clumsiness. So from that moment on, I went by Isabella (Leah said it suited me better). Of course, Jacob not wanting to be outdone came up with his own nickname-Bells. He got a nice punch for that. My hand hurt for couple of days.
In ninth grade, I decided I didn't like Isabella and shortened it to Bella. In tenth grade, my whole life was turned inside out. During winter break of my junior year, I became Isabella Marie Swan. I still prefer Bella.
The moment I was deemed safe, I called him. Charlie was thrilled to hear that I wanted to live with him, even under these circumstances. It made me happy to hear him so excited about it. This was what I needed, a fresh start. In Forks, no one knew what had happened in Phoenix. I could be a normal teenager or at least attempt to be. No more looks of pity. No more words of condolences. I've had enough.
The worst part was leaving Renee behind. I love my mom, but I was the one who caused it all. She doesn't need to be reminded of it every day. She tried convincing me to stay. I told Renee it would be for the best. She can spend more time with Phil and not worry about me. She deserves what little happiness was left.
So I can't bring myself to regret my decision. Charlie's happy. Renee's relatively happy. And I will be happy, I think. If anything, I can always pretend for their sake. It worked for me in the past.
I arrived to Port Angeles around 5 p.m. and waited for Charlie to pick me up. He spotted me before I saw him. He gave me an awkward hug, took my bag (yes, only one bag), and told me to follow him. I don't think he quiet knew how to deal with me. I guess he thought I was a walking bomb, just waiting to explode. I couldn't blame him.
Without a word, I started following him. Lowering my gaze to the floor, I pushed through the crowd. I stopped once I saw our destination-a police cruiser. That's right, Charlie picked me up in his work car. I wondered if he had another vehicle. I really don't want to be driven to school in a police cruiser.
I noticed that Charlie already put my bag in the trunk and opened the front door for me. Silently I sled in and buckled up. People kept passing by and starring at me. Yea, so much for keeping a low profile.
"Bella, you know you can take a nap. We have around an hour till we get home." Charlie said, pulling out of the parking spot.
"You don't mind? " I asked.
"Not at all. It's been a long day for you. I'll wake you up when we get there."
"Okay, I'll just listed to some music"
I don't know how or when I fell asleep but the next thing I knew, Charlie was waking me up. I finally snapped out of it and looked around. Well, looks like I'll be riding in the cruiser every morning because there was no other car in the driveway.
The house seemed to be frozen in time because it looked the same. It definitely needed a fresh coat of paint. Wonder if anything changed on the inside.
Nope, still the same. The same small kitchen with the same yellow wallpaper. The living room had couple of new additions. The fireplace mantle was covered in pictures of me. I need to talk to Charlie about that. There's a particular picture from fifth grade that should not have seen the light of day. The second addition was a plasma TV. Good for you, Charlie!
"Well, Bella, here's your room. The bathroom is to your right and my room is on the left. I made some room for you in the bathroom. Hope that's enough. "
"Yea, Charl…I mean, Dad, it's fine. Thanks" Good save, Bella!
"I know your room isn't big or anything. Um…I just got the bedding. A sales woman helped me out. She said it was very teen appropriate. You like purple, right?" Charlie said nervously.
"No, Dad, it's fine. Purple is fine. Thank you" Come on, Bella. You know words other than fine.
"Well, I'll let you unpack. I'll be downstairs. There's a game on."
The best thing about Charlie-he doesn't hover. If that was Renee, I wouldn't hear the end of it. So I decided to make the best of my time and unpack. My room was still the same as it was when I was five. Originally, it was my nursery. Renee read somewhere that blue was a calming color and painted the room a light blue. An antique white dresser was set against the wall near the closet door. My bed was on the opposite wall. A small work desk right next to the bed. It was big enough for my laptop and couple of books. The room itself was small and cozy. I even liked the new bedding.
Unpacking didn't take much time. After all, I only brought the necessities. Hmmm…I need to go shopping soon. Just the thought of it made me shudder. It's not that I hated shopping. Shopping meant going to malls. There's just something about malls and large crowds that made me uncomfortable. And the screaming children. Yes, that must be my biggest reason for not liking malls. It looked like I had no choice this time though.
I could feel the day catching up with me. I was exhausted both physically and emotionally. Well, might as well call it a day. A yelled good night to Charlie and headed for the bed. After all, tomorrow is my first day at Forks High.