CHAPTER 2

I ran towards my car fumbling for the keys. I knew that running would be futile. Who I was running from could catch me in the blink of an eye. But my instinct was to run anyway. I got to the car and like a bad horror movie I dropped the keys trying to unlock the door. I bent down to pick them up and when I stood back up he was there, waiting for me.

My eyes snapped open to the view of a house. I sat up in my seat and realized I had fallen asleep on the trip here. It was already dark outside and I could barely make out the house. There was no moon. I looked over and my mom was getting out of the car. "What a strange dream." I muttered to myself. I reached for the handle and opened my door. The damp air hit me immediately. As soon as it did it really sunk in that I was here, in Forks, my new home. I got out of the car and headed back to the trunk to help my mom grab some boxes.

"How long was I out?"

"About half the way." She laughed.

"Wow, why didn't you wake me up?"

"I figured I would let you sleep."

"Now I am going to be up all night." I sighed.

"That's good; you can help get some things done around the house."

"Great." I muttered.

We walked up the short drive and stepped onto the porch. It was a big porch, not like the one on our house in Sacramento. She stuck the key in and turned it. "I'll get you a key made tomorrow."

"Ok, that's fine." I replied.

I stepped through the door and searched for a light switch. Once I found it and flicked it on I focused my eyes so I could see my new home. The living room was a normal size, enough room for a couch and maybe a couple recliners. Off to the left was the kitchen. I sat the box I was carrying down and went to view the kitchen. I turned the light on and noticed how bland it was. It was a perfectly square room. The wall opposite me had the sink with counter space on either side. The wall on the left had the fridge and stove and on the right wall was more counter space. There were cabinets above and below the counters. There would be plenty of storage space. I turned off the light and walked out of the kitchen back to the living room. I would explore the rest of the house later. I went to help my mom carry in more boxes.

When we finished getting the boxes in we both drove down to the little convenient store to get some drinks and food. It only took 5 minutes. It would take awhile for me to get use to this small town. Everything was within a 10 minute drive. I hopped out of the car and went inside to avoid the rain. Once my mom got in the store she stood there for a second and looked around.

"Much hasn't changed around here." She said halfway talking to me and halfway speaking to herself.

"What did you expect? A booming metropolis?" she sighed and turned her head towards me.

"I know this is going to be hard for you but could you at least try to have a positive attitude."

She was right. I was acting like a 5 year old.

"Sorry mom, I'll try to like it here, but I can't promise anything."

"That's all I'm asking."

We made our way down the aisles grabbing things we thought looked good. I got a bag of Doritos and bean dip while my mom got sun chips and beef jerky. "Real healthy meal we're having here." I said laughing.

"Hey, it's our first now. We'll just overlook this." She said with a laugh. Once we got everything we wanted we made our way to the register. We piled our items up while the man behind the counter rang them up.

"Making a pit stop?" he asked.

"No, we actually just arrived, we're moving in down the street. I'm Julie Paige and this is my daughter Sadie.

"Ah, we hardly ever get new residents. Welcome."

"Thanks." We both replied.

"What made you decide to come to the lovely town of Forks?" he asked.

"Well I use to live here when I was young." Julie explained.

"Julie Paige? Is that you?" I turned around to see a man squint his eyes towards my mom.

Julie looked at the man for a second confused and then realization swept across her face.

"Charlie! I can't believe it." He walked up and they awkwardly gave each other a hug. Now that he was closer I could see his features clearly. He had short brown hair that you could tell would be curly if longer. His eyes were brown also; they looked a lot like my mothers, which in turn meant they looked like mine. He looked tired, not like he needed sleep but more like life had worn him down.

"What are you doing here Julie? I haven't seen in you in….." He was trying to figure up the years.

"Almost twenty years." My mom said when she realized he was struggling.

"Wow…..what brought you back here?" He wondered aloud.

"I thought it was time for a change." She answered back with a warm smile.

Was she flirting with him? Who is this Charlie and how come she had never told me about him. I cleared my throat rather loudly. She looked over at me remembering I was there.

"Oh, I'm sorry Charlie. This is my daughter Sadie."

"Hi, nice to meet you." I extended my hand to shake his.

"You too." He smiled. I smiled back trying to be polite.

"Did you move down here with your husband?" he asked.

"Oh no," she laughed, "I'm not married. What about you? I heard you got a married a couple years after I left." He blushed at her question. He was a shy person I realized.

"Yeah, it didn't last very long." He mumbled.

"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that." He changed the subject quickly.

"I have a daughter too, Bella. She is coming to live with me. She'll be here in a few days. She's seventeen."

"Sadie's seventeen too." My mom said as she elbowed my arm. "Maybe they can hang out sometime."

"Uh, sure. Maybe." Charlie seemed just as confused as I was. It was like my mom was setting up a play date.

"Excuse me, ma'am." The man behind the counter said. Julie whirled around realizing she hadn't paid yet.

"I'm sorry." She said frantically going through her purse to find her wallet. We paid and grabbed our dinner for the evening. As we were walking to the car I noticed a police cruiser had parked next to us.

Julie fished the keys out of her purse and tossed them to me. "Can you drive honey? I've been driving all day."

"Sure." Right as I was putting the car into reverse Charlie walked out of the store and towards the cruiser.

"Hold on a second Sadie." Rose rolled down her window to speak to Charlie. "You're a police officer?" She asked. "Chief." He replied with a small smile.

Julie laughed as she was rolling up her window and saying "I'll see you around." Charlie waved as he got into his cruiser and I finally set off towards home.