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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters written by the ever so lovely Stephenie Meyer.
___________________________ BPOVI walked out the glass doors of the William H. Fairchild airport in Port Angeles, scanning the parking lot for my father. He was supposed to meet me at the baggage claim. I was none too happy when I spotted the chief's cruiser, sticking out like a sore thumb in the small sea of cars waiting to pick up their loved ones. I stalked over, dragging my oversized luggage behind me. It was raining, of course, as I angrily but cautiously stomped my way around the puddles that threatened my already compromised sense of balance. He finally saw me and hurriedly got out of the cruiser, opening the trunk for my suitcases. He smiled a crinkly-eyed smile and gave me an awkward hug. When I glared at him, he realized this wouldn't be a happy reunion.
"You were supposed to meet me at the baggage claim. I waited. You weren't there" I huffed.
"Yeah, sorry about that, Bells. I got a little caught up at work and I just got here. I figured you'd be waiting, and hell would've frozen over before I got a decent parking spot and I just--"
I cut him off. "Fine. Whatever. Let's just go." I got into the cruiser, staring out the window and not making eye contact.
The ride to Forks seemed to take a lifetime. Awkward silences and small talk weren't really my idea of fun, and I couldn't wait to get to Charlie's house. I really just wanted to see Jake. He was probably the best part of my moving to Forks. I hadn't seen him since Christmas, and that was almost a year ago. I split holidays and summer vacations between Renee and Charlie; last Christmas was Charlie's turn. Jake was the only thing I had to look forward to upon my returns. Not that Charlie was so bad. It was just awkward to be around him. Before my journey into "womanhood," Charlie and I were much closer. Renee tried to prepare him for the changes in my body and the hormonal mood swings, but in the end I think it just sent him off the deep end. He's treated me like a ticking time bomb ever since, and no amount of coaching from Renee could shake his unusual attitude.
That brings me to another subject: Renee, my mother and best friend. When Phil proposed to her, Renee asked for my blessing. Had I known I'd be moving in with my father, to the wettest place in the continental U.S., I probably would've reconsidered. I forgive her for shipping me here, though. Newlyweds need to spend some time alone. I understand, I really do. Staying in a room down the hall from a pair of starry-eyed newlyweds just isn't good for anyone's sleeping habits. It might possibly make a person pull out copious amounts of hair, throw up, or beg said newlyweds to admit said person to the loony bin. I may or may not have done all of those things. So, when Renee suggested that I stay with Charlie for a while, at least my eyelids agreed.
When we pulled into Charlie's driveway the rain was starting to subside. I could see Jake through Charlie's living room window, pawing at the glass and panting heavily, waiting for my arrival. Charlie must've told him I was coming. I just couldn't wait anymore and swung the cruiser's passenger door open before Charlie had even come to a complete stop. He yelled something in my direction, but I didn't hear him. I just ran toward the house. I couldn't wait to give Jacob a big kiss and an even bigger hug. When I reached the front door I turned the brass knob and pushed, hard. It wouldn't budge.
"Charlie! Hurry!" I pleaded.
He was trying to drag out the enormous suitcase in the trunk. He looked up and lifted his hand, dangling his keys at me, teasing my emotions. I didn't think twice. I ran as fast as I could without tripping myself, grabbed the keys from his hands, and ran back to that evil front door. When I finally got it unlocked, I already heard all the crashing of inanimate objects from Jacob's bouncing excitement. I burst through that damned door, fell to my knees, and let all the loving and kisses envelope me until I was finally able to give some of them back.
"Jake! I missed you so much!" I pulled his body to mine, letting him lick my face even more. I remembered the day I first saw him.
I was seven years old, spending the summer with Charlie. I had no friends and he noticed that I was getting lonely and homesick, so he suggested that we make a run to the pet store to pick up a fish or something to keep me occupied. As soon as we walked in, I was drawn to a crate full of German shepherd puppies. They were barking and yelping, their little puppy eyes just begging every person entering the stuffy store to give them a nice home. I knelt down next to the crate and picked up the prettiest puppy. He was chocolate and copper colored, and he licked my nose. I fell in love.
"Daddy! Daddy! I want him!" I begged.
"Bells, honey, how about a fish? Look at these here! They're purple. Your favorite color!" He pretended to be excited. He knew that I knew it was just a fish. I was determined to get this dog.
"But daddy," I frowned and hugged the dog tightly to my cheek. "I want him."
Charlie looked at me with sympathetic eyes. I could tell he was thinking that bringing me to a pet store was a bad idea, but he could not say no to his seven-year-old little princess. He'd rather have taken a gun to his head than see the disappointment in my eyes. We both knew that this dog would be coming home with us, no matter the cost, and Charlie just gave in. I named him Jacob, after a boy I had a crush on in school back in Phoenix. I kissed him, and he told the entire class that I had cooties. That day, when I came home crying, Renee told me that all men are dogs. It was only appropriate.
Jake was now all grown up, and boy, was he grown up. His head was the size of mine. Actually, come to think of it, his entire body was almost the size of mine. His leg muscles were well defined, even under that blanket of fur. He could clobber me with one jump, and he made it a point to do that often. There were many times when I'd have the wind knocked right out of me because Jacob got too excited.
I could hear Charlie outside throwing different expletives around left and right. It appeared that he'd gotten one of the wheels of my largest suitcase stuck on the edge of one of the stairs, causing it to wobble around and knock itself, along with all my other luggage, back to the bottom of the stairs. I chuckled to myself and left Jacob in the living room momentarily to help Charlie. He yelled at Jacob when he came into the house, only to see about five different picture frames broken on the floor. Jake hid by me, the big baby.
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I lingered in the small closet of my small room, taking in the smell of Phoenix from the various jeans and sweaters that hung on the cheap wire hangers that Charlie provided for me. I missed it already.
"Hey, Bells, come down here for a minute," Charlie yelled up the stairs.
I lingered for another moment or two and gathered up the strength to walk down the steep stairs. Traveling takes a lot out of a person.
I sat on the black plushy couch adjacent to Charlie's very worn-in recliner, where he resided for the moment. Jake immediately jumped on the couch next to me.
"I enrolled you yesterday for school. You start on Monday," he said flatly while staring at the flat screen TV hung on the wall, watching some kind of sport. Baseball, I think. I didn't pay much attention. "You're going to need some supplies for school. You know, pencils, paper, that kind of thing. I'll take you tomorrow morning before work, if you want."
"Sounds good," I replied, halfheartedly. I was terrified of my first day at Forks High School. God knows how many mishaps I get my clumsy self into, but throw rain and ice on top of that and you've got a recipe for disaster. Oh, joy.
Charlie looked at me, away from his beloved TV. "Bells, you know, I'm really glad to have you here. You probably think it's lame to be here with your old dad, but you really don't know how happy I am to have you. I've missed you so much."
Touching, really. It goes to show, he really can be a softy. I got up and gave my dad a big hug. He kind of just sat there and patted my back a little. I let go of him, and he smiled.
"Thanks, Charlie, but if you don't mind, I'd really like to go finish unpacking and head to bed. I'm pretty jet-lagged."
"Oh, right, sure." He straightened up and turned back to the screen and then quickly turned back to me. "Hey, wait, are you hungry or anything? I could order a pizza."
"No, I'm fine. I just really want to get everything done and go to sleep."
"Right." He turned back to the screen.
"Come on, Jake," I patted my leg and motioned for him to follow me.
An hour later I was done packing. Jake lay at the foot of my bed, watching my every move. I grabbed a pair of old sweats and a white tee shirt and headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Ugh, I forgot. I had to share the bathroom. It seemed gross for some reason. I was so used to having my own bathroom in Phoenix. Now I really missed it.
I took an extremely quick shower, threw on my PJs and headed to bed. Jake stayed at the foot of the bed, and sleep quickly took me as soon as my head hit that purple feather pillow.
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I awoke from a dreamless sleep to the sound of a car horn beeping from Charlie's driveway. I glanced at the clock on my bedside table. 7:00 a.m. Shit. I groaned and rolled over, pulling the pillow over my head, but the damned car horn really wanted my attention. I got up slowly and walked through the hall and into Charlie's office at the front of the house. I looked out the window and saw Charlie waving up at me from the inside of a beat-up old red Chevy truck. What the--?
I walked downstairs, still half asleep, slid on a random pair of shoes laid out by the door, and walked outside in my pajamas. I should've grabbed a sweater.
"Look, Bells!" He motioned for me to come toward him.
I leaned on the side of the truck and yawned. "Cool ride, Charlie, but I'd really like to sleep for at least one more hour. I'm still exhausted."
"Alright, but I need to get to work, so you can take your new truck to town later when you're ready. I'll leave some money on the table."
"Sounds good," I yawned again, walking back to the house. "Wait, my truck?" I turned around suddenly, gaping at Charlie, who had a wide grin plastered on his face. He nodded. I jumped, screamed, and fell. Crappy attempt at excitement. Charlie rushed over to me and helped me up, but I just jumped right back up and gave him a humongous hug. He patted my back again. Maybe the hugs weren't working out so well.
"So, you like it? I bought it last week, but the guy said it needed a tune-up. I knew I was going to pick it up this morning, so I kept it a surprise."
"Do I like it? Are you kidding? I love it! Charlie, thank you so much!" I almost jumped up again but then quickly remembered my fall when my wet pajama pants clung to my also wet butt. It was going to take awhile to get used to all these puddles.
Charlie handed me the keys. "Alright, kid. Well I really have to get to work. Will you be okay going to town by yourself?"
"Dad, go. I'll be fine. I'll probably just spend the whole day in town looking around, anyway."
"Okay, then. Here's some money. Get whatever you think you'll need." He handed me a wad of cash. I figured it'd be rude to count it right there, so I headed back inside to change. I was too excited to sleep now.
I counted the money as soon as I got inside. It looked like a lot. A hundred dollars. Way more than enough for school supplies. Charlie obviously didn't know me well.
I threw on a gray hoodie, a holey pair of jeans, and some worn out sneakers. I realized that my hair was falling all over, so I quickly brushed it and took Jake for a short walk around the yard before I headed off for my errands.
The truck roared, and I loved it. The drive to town was a short one, but I had no idea where I could find a store that sold school supplies. The main drag of town was home to a hardware store, a grocery store, and a few other little nondescript stores. I parked along the curb and headed into the nearest set of glass doors.
I walked in and made my way down an aisle, but I had obviously ventured into the wrong kind of store. There was a kayak hanging on a wall with camping equipment, and as I looked around there seemed not to be much of anything but that sort of thing.
"Can I help you?" a voice came from behind me.
I turned around. The voice belonged to a tall, blonde boy with spiky hair and blue eyes. He was fairly attractive, but he didn't really appeal to me.
"Umm… I think I came into the wrong place. I'm looking for school supplies. Do you know where I could find school supplies?"
"Oh! You must be Isabella Swan. I'm Mike Newton." He held out his hand for me to shake. I hesitantly obliged, staring at him.
"I prefer Bella. How'd you know my name?" I bit my lip.
"Oh, well , Bella, it's a small town. Word gets around quick. I'd like to officially welcome you to Forks, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know you." He eyed me up and down. Gross.
"Uh, thanks, but could you tell me where I could find the school supplies?"
"Oh!" he laughed, "Right. Umm. Next door, to the right. Tell them you know the Newtons and you'll get a discount." He winked. Still gross.
"Okay. Uh, thanks." I turned to leave.
"See you tomorrow at school!" he shouted after me, and I could feel his eyes on my ass. Yet another reason why I wasn't looking forward to starting school tomorrow.
I went next door to find exactly what I was looking for. Why didn't I just look at the signs in front of the shops? This one read "Sue's Stationery Needs." The other sign read "Newton's Sporting Goods." Figures. I didn't mention the Newtons for a discount. I'd rather spend the entire hundred dollars that Charlie gave me than mention that puke-worthy jock's name again. I bought a pack of pens, a pack of pencils, a few notebooks, and a few folders. I already had a backpack from Phoenix, and it wasn't worn out yet. No reason to buy a new one. I only spent $15 and I figured that Charlie wouldn't be too pleased with that since he happily handed me too much money, so I looked around for the nearest diner and went in. It was creepily crowded and, like any other small town diner, all eyes were on me the minute I walked in. I could feel my face turn red, and a tall, black-haired waitress hurried up to me with a menu.
"Hi, I'm Leah. I'll be your server today." She handed me a menu in a hostile sort of way, then glared down at me and started walking away. It took me a minute before I realized she was leading me to a table.
She stood in front of a booth in the back corner of the diner with her arms crossed, chewing her gum impatiently. I sat down and she took out her little notepad.
"Whadya want to drink?" she asked, annoyed. I quickly flipped open the menu to view the beverage choices. She didn't look like the kind of person to piss off today, so I quickly decided on orange juice since it was still too early for a soft drink.
A few minutes later, Leah was back with my orange juice, irritated, waiting to write down my order.
"Umm… I think I'll go with the ham and cheese omelet." She grabbed the menu from my hands, practically pulling me with her, and walked back to the kitchen.
People were still staring at me. I blushed more and tried not to look at them. I fidgeted with the napkin dispenser and sipped on my orange juice, feeling the faces on me. I really should've gone with fast food.
What seemed like an hour later, I was finally biting into my omelet, laid on a bed of hash browns. It was heavenly. Good choice, Bella. Good choice. I couldn't finish all of it, so I had to take the rest home with me. Jake would thank me later. I paid the bill and whistled on my way out to the truck.
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A/N: Second chapter to follow shortly since chapters one and two were originally just chapter one. It was too long.