Thank you for reading; feedback is appreciated!
Rating: (K) This fic will eventually be NC-17(MA) for explicit sexual situations, and chapters with adult content will contain warnings.This chapter has no warnings.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the irrespective owners. The originalcharacters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producersof any media franchise. No copy right infringement is intended.
~MaraJadeblu
Metropolis Airport, Washington, USA
June 18, 2012
Ch 2: Bella
I thought about The Things They Carried as I carried my things through the airport. Having arrived from Phoenix, I stopped in the bathroom to tug a comfy cotton shirt over my tank. No point exposing skin without the sun to warm it.
I pulled my small purple luggage and continued my account. I carried four suited outfits and six tops, including the cotton one I was wearing. Math told me this would be the bare minimum number of combinations I would need to dress myself without looking like a hobo. I carried a hairbrush, some face wash, a toothbrush, three pictures, a dozen pairs of underwear, three bras (black, skin tone, and sports), three pairs of skinny jeans, shoes, sneakers (which I wore), and sandals, an envelope of emergency money, and Wuthering Heights. I wore my pajama bottoms, and thought I might want to invest in an extra pair of shorts
This was everything I brought with me to Metropolis City to start my life as an undergraduate. I had fulfilled my goal of fitting everything I truly needed in two carry-on bags.
Oh yes, in my other bag, my tote, I carried a nook with my digital library, a three-year-old netbook that barely started anymore, my cell phone, chargers, and wallet. Speaking of, I pulled out my phone to text Charlie that I touched down safely, but three or four mistakes into that sentence with my clumsy fingers, and considering after all that it was Charlie I was attempting to text, I gave up and called him.
"Bells!" To his credit, he sounded happy to see me. "You on land again?"
"Safe and sound. Are you here or should I grab a cab?"
"Of course I'm here, I wouldn't let you take a cab in a strange city the second you get off the plane!" I rolled my eyes, wondering how he would react to my proposed living arrangements. "I'm in the pickup area of the exit terminal. See you soon." I winced slightly- my dad was not a phone person.
His squad car was easy to spot. I almost couldn't believe he'd make the two hour drive outside of forks just to pick me up. I dropped my luggage in the back seat and climbed in shotgun.
We didn't kiss, or hug, really. He smelled like pine and smoke, and put a rough hand on my shoulder with a little squeeze. "You didn't need to drive all this way for me," I began.
"Oh, Bells, don't start. I figured I could show you around the city, and we could grab dinner here." Translation: overprotective father wants to carefully introduce new specimen-daughter to the environment in a controlled way. "I figured we could drive around where you'll be working, and find a place to eat- see the neighborhood."
I smiled despite myself, "Sounds great, dad." I felt a twinge of guilt when the prospect of glimpsing my soon-to-be apartment excited me. Maybe they were called apartments because they kept you apart. Ow, more guilt.
Metropolis was like I remembered it, and very different from Phoenix. The color palette alone was enough to remind me of the great changes I was about to experience. We came to a crossroads between a trendy looking Italian place called Sotto Vocce and Bob's Diner.
"Feel like some Italian?" My dad said, trying not to look longingly at the diner. Trendy Italian was pretty far away from his comfort zone- like one step below Ethiopian.
"And-a miss-a outa on-a all day breakfast?" I joked. I elbowed him, "Come on Dad, I want some pancakes."
Four blueberry pancakes later I was stuffed. I cradled my food baby in the drive back to Forks. Dad was pointing out the best highways for commuting, claiming he could cut down the time to only about seventy-five minutes with traffic.
"And how often do you commute to Met City, dad?" The chief of police is usually in the district he's in charge of, not running off to the closest city to dabble in their problems.
"I did a few practice runs so I could give you some advice..." Awkward silence followed, and though it was the perfect lead in to my news, I couldn't make the words come out. I was the worst daughter, ever.
The rest of the ride was silent. My dad was humming to himself contentedly with the radio, happy to have his prodigal daughter finally next to him. I slumped, and tried not to writhe in guilt too obviously.
When we pulled into our street, I was confused to see so many cars already there. A beat up red pickup, a van, a motorcycle, and now my day's squad car were crowding the front driveway.
It was a forest of cars. I got out hesitantly, hating surprises, and warned of my wrath, "Dad, what is this?" Not a party, not a party, please god, not a party.
"I invited some friends over with a welcome home present for you." He swung his arm to indicate the pickup. My jaw and stomach dropped simultaneously.
I groaned a little, "Please tell me you didn't buy me a truck..." I whispered.
"Keep your pants on, he didn't buy it- I built it." That voice!
"No way..." Where was he? My part-time best friend of all-time. I looked around the vehicle forest.
"Bells," he said softly from behind me.
I spun around and ran to launch myself at him, "Jacob!"
Crunch. Soft, pliable, me hit a stone wall of muscle. My leap, meant to playfully tackle, brought me no higher than his sternum. "Whoa! Watch out or you'll hurt yourself, Bella! I've grown, I'm a big boy now" while talking, he had caught me into his arms and hugged me to him.
When I could breath again, I said, "Jacob, I thought we agreed no growth hormones, you're supposed to be younger than me!"
He laughed, "I think you shrunk." I smacked his arm and it hurt my hand. He gently put his frying pan paw on my spine to lead me inside. For some reason, this made me blush.
