A/n: The sky's not falling it's just angels committing suicide... I love you Melissa:)
"Now make sure you talk to all the kids, okay? I want you to make some good friends" Charlie said, for the hundredth time.
He could not be serious. I'm seventeen years old; I don't need anyone reminding me to make friends.
"Listen to me, Isabella!" he demanded when I didn't answer him.
I turned my head slowly, away from the car window to look at him, putting on the most pissed of expression I could manage.
"Bella" I corrected out of habit.
"You're Isabella to me, missy!" he said.
"What do you want, Charlie?" I asked.
"That's Dad to you, Isabella!"
"And it's Bella to you!" I shouted. I wished I could just stay with mum. Stupid Phil had to go ruin everything. At least when Mum was in the house, I could live a decent life.
"That's it; get out of the car!" he roared.
"Gladly!" I yelled back. He didn't slow the car so I prepared to jump, but the door wouldn't open.
"Unlock the door" I demanded stiffly.
"You think I'm gonna let my only daughter jump out of my car?" he asked softly. What happened to his pissed off mood before? I didn't want to feel all lovey dovey, give him a big hug and forget all about it. I wanted to fight!
"I'd rather jump out of a moving car than spend another minute stuck in here with you!" I screamed, tugging uselessly on the door handle. I expected Charlie to scream back, but he didn't. He didn't say anything. I turned around, surprised to see him staring straight ahead at the road.
And it went on like that for the next hour; Charlie staring out the windscreen with me staring out the side window, neither of us talking.
When we pulled into the driveway of a small, two storey house, Charlie unlocked the doors and headed for the boot to grab our suitcases full of clothes. I got out of the car, planning on heading for the beach which I could smell from here, but the sound of a male voice stopped me in my tracks.
"Hi Sir!" the voice called loudly.
I heard my father grunt in acknowledgement.
"Geeze, what crawled up his arse?" I heard another voice whisper in what I assumed was supposed to subtle but was actually quite loud.
"Shushhhh!" the other one hissed back. "He can hear you!"
They both fell into fits of giggles, almost sounding like a group of teenage girls. I turned around and walked to the boot of the car, smiling at the two teenage boys. They were obviously drunk; the muscular one of the two was even swaying a little on the spot. And they were carrying three twelve-packs of beer, one pack already open. When the muscled one saw me, his face lit up and his eyes slid from my face to my chest.
"She's hot!" he hissed to his friend.
Charlie bristled when he heard that. "Will you two bastards get the hell of my property?" he roared.
They both stared at him in shock for a few seconds before the less brawny blonde nudged his friend. "I think he heard you. Maybe you should let me handle this."
"You're drunk! As if he'd listen to you!" the big one hissed.
"You're drunk too, you idiot!"
"Oh, right. But I've only had three cans."
"I've only had one!" the blonde hissed back.
"Are you new here?" the brawny one asked me, turning away from his friend.
"I said, get of my property, before I call the cops! And if I must inform you; I AM A COP!" Charlie exploded.
"Dad! Let me handle it!" I said, shocked at his rudeness.
"No, Isabella, I got this" he said, turning back to the boys. "Who do you think you are? Teenagers these days, I tell you! Walking the streets like a pack of slums wearing no shoes, clothes are all stretched with food stains all over them and holes ripped into them! Hair all messy like you just woke up and walked out of the house without even brushing your teeth. And drinking alcohol! Thirty six cans of beer; if you don't die of the amount of beer you're drinking, then you'll bloody die on the road! Get the hell of my property and stay the hell away!"
He turned away from them, stalking into the house, leaving the car boot up with all our stuff in it. He probably expected me to follow him, with one suitcase in each hand.
The hell I'd do that.
I shut the boot and turned towards the boys who were still standing there. I didn't think either of them understood a word Charlie had said.
"I'm sorry about my Dad. He's just being…my dad" I said lamely. I didn't want to insult him, in case he was still listening through an open window or something.
"Are you new here?" the brawny one repeated, as if my father hadn't just bagged the hell out of the two of them, and I'd simply asked him to repeat himself.
I laughed, and the two of them seemed to thaw out. The blonde one smiled at me encouragingly.
"Yes" I said. "I just moved here from Arizona"
"I heard it's really hot there" the big one stated.
"It is, it's so cold here" I said
"This is probably the hottest it'll ever get in Forks" the blonde said.
"It must rain a lot here" I said, eyeing the puddles of water on the road.
"It does" the brawny one said. He then held out his hand towards me. "I'm Emmett McCarty"
I reached out and shook his hand.
"Bella Swan" I introduced myself. The blonde stepped forward and shook my hand as well.
"Jasper Hale," he said.
"It's nice to meet you both" I said. I wondered why we were all acting so formal.
"Isn't your name Isabella?" Jasper asked.
I grimaced. "I prefer Bella."
"Okay. Are you coming to school tomorrow?" he asked, taking a sip of beer.
"Forks High?" I checked.
"Mmmhmm" he mumbled while taking another swig.
"Yes. Do you both go there?"
"Yep. Hey, why don't you hang out with us at school?" Emmett asked.
"Cool, thanks" I said. At least Charlie couldn't badger me about the friendship thing anymore.
"I have a girlfriend, Alice, I reckon you two'll be good friends" Jasper said, smiling happily at me.
"Okay, that's cool. Do you hang out with any other kids, or is it just you two and Alice?" I asked.
"Well my sister hangs out with us. She's Emmett's girlfriend. And another guy hangs with us too, but he doesn't have a girlfriend" Jasper said.
"I know!" Emmett exclaimed loudly. "You can be his girlfriend!"
"Yeah!" Jasper agreed. "Then we can have two people per tent when we go camping"
"You guys go camping together?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from me getting a boyfriend. I think I could do that myself.
"Oh yeah, all the time!" Emmett said.
"I think we might be camping on the beach tonight" Jasper told me.
"Don't you need tents?" I asked.
"We'll call Alice, she has everything at her place."
"Oh, okay"
"So, you wanna come down to the beach with us?" Emmett invited.
Crap! If their other friend comes along, I'll probably have to sleep in the same tent as him! Yeesh! I'd rather not! I don't even know that guy, I barely know Emmett and Jasper!
"Not tonight" I said. "I have to unpack, and I don't think my dad would like it much."
"Will you come another time?" Jasper asked
"Okay" I said. I probably wouldn't. I'd have to get to know this Alice, and the other girl and boy.
"Well, see ya tomorrow!" Emmett said, waving a large hand at me.
"Bye!" I called as they both turned and headed towards the beach.
So much for my escape to the beach, I thought bitterly. Well, I wasn't going to hang out with Charlie for the rest of the evening. I followed the road the boys had walked down, until I saw the beach stretched out in front of me. I could see two people sitting on a bleached white drift wood log. I assumed it was Emmett and Jasper, but they were too far away for me to be certain.
I ducked into the forest and walked along the edge until I was fifty meters away from the boys, and sat down on a damper, darker log than the white driftwood log they sat on.
I sat there for hours, listening to them ramble on about nonsense. I eventually fell asleep, and when I woke up, two of the three cardboard boxes full of beer were finished. I could hear loud voices talking but I couldn't focus on what they were saying until I heard my name.
"-check out old man Swan!" I heard Emmett yell. Old man Swan? My dad?
Jasper started to laugh then. He sounded far more drunk than I remembered.
"Swan?" a new voice asked. Could this be the other boy they were talking about earlier? I craned my neck to get a glimpse of him but the trees were thick to see anything besides their feet and the growing pile of cans.
"Yeah," Jasper said. "New guy, just moved here with his daughter, Elizabeth, or Isabella…or Eliza, maybe"
I laughed quietly at the sound of Jasper's voice. he sounded a little confused. How much had he had to drink?
"What'd he do?" the new voice asked. I could hear the burning curiosity in his question. I tried to picture a face that went with that voice, but I couldn't. It was the most beautiful voice I'd heard; deep, but nowhere near as deep as Emmett's. I should have agreed to camping on the beach with them; maybe their friend wasn't that bad. I wondered why someone with such a voice would have trouble finding a girlfriend. Maybe he was ugly.
I listened intently as Emmett explained the encounter with my father. I was surprised; he didn't exaggerate in the slightest, although, if that conversation was exaggerated, it probably wouldn't have sounded very real.
"How old's his daughter?" the new boy asked. He wanted to know about ME?
"Seventeen, I think" Emmett replied. "She's real sweet, chatting to us about herself and her old school. She moved here from Arizona. She's pretty hot too."
"Is she coming down to the beach later?" the new voice asked. He sounded hopeful.
"Nah, I told you, her old man is fucking strict. But she's coming to school tomorrow."
I heard someone groan, and for half a second I actually thought it was the new boy, I thought he was disappointed he couldn't see me earlier. But then I heard the sound of someone chucking up and I realized it was either Emmett or Jasper, probably chucking up the last twelve beers they'd had.
I guessed it was Jasper because a few seconds later I heard Emmett talk again.
"Cool" he stated.
"You dickhead. It is so not cool" the new boy said. I shook with silent laughter at that. These guys sounded great; I'd have to find them at lunch tomorrow. Above the sound of spew hitting the ground, I heard the soft buzz of a phone vibrating.
"What's up, Alice?" The new boy asked. "Of course not!" he said, obviously answering some question I hadn't heard. "I only just got here. You should see Jasper, though. He's been spewing for the last five minutes" He was exaggerating a little bit. It hadn't even been two minutes yet.
"Don't leave me alone with these two drunken bastards!" he complained, and I erupted in silent giggles at the tone of his voice. I heard something heavy fall to the floor and the sound of someone else chucking up. It looked like Emmett had reached his limit too.
"Thanks, Alice…Hurry up. I think Emmett might start spewing soon and I need Rosalie to look after him. Alright, bye." He hung up and made a loud gagging sound when he saw Emmett crouched on the ground next to Jasper. He obviously hadn't heard Emmett throwing up while he was talking to Alice.
I could see the pools of vomit on the sand and I looked away, feeling sick. At least the smell couldn't reach me through the thick trees and the smell of damp earth. I assumed Rosalie was Emmett's girlfriend. Didn't Jasper say she was his sister?
A few minutes later, the purr of a car engine interrupted the frequent spewing sound, and I heard the boy sigh with relief. I saw a tiny pair of feet skip quickly towards Edward and then step sideways a little, facing the two boys on the ground. Another larger pair of feet appeared next to the small ones and they tapped on the sandy ground impatiently. I nearly gasped when I heard the voice that went with that pair of feet. It was far to perfect, the feminine version of the unknown boy's voice.
"Ew. Who let the dogs out?" she complained. I wondered if it was Rosalie or Alice.
"Jasper, honey," A childish voice called. "Next time, don't drink so much." This voice obviously belonged to Alice; I couldn't see brothers and sisters calling each other 'honey'.
I saw Jasper gaze up at Alice for a second before spewing up another three cans worth of beer at her feet.
I watched the vomit continue to pour out of Jasper and Emmett's mouths until, finally, they ran dry. They both stood up and headed for the car to rinse out their mouths with some water.
I sat there for hours, watching the five friends sit around a bonfire which the new boy had created, chatting and drinking as they pleased. It didn't seem to concern Emmett or Jasper that they'd already chucked up for fifteen minutes after drinking so much beer, they just kept on drinking. As the sun started to lower in the sky, the five teenagers started to set up their camp. The girls had brought tents and sleeping bags, just like Jasper had said earlier on out the front of my house. Everyone there was pretty much drunk except the boy whose name I didn't know. As far as I knew, he'd only had a few cans. He set up two of the tents far enough from the water so the tide wouldn't reach them and unrolled all the sleeping bags for them. That's very grown up of him, I thought. I wonder where he's sleeping…
As the hours passed, they all started to settle down for the night. Their loud raucous laughter had died down to a quiet chuckle every now and then and their beer supply seemed to be running low, despite the fact Alice and Rosalie had packed another four six-packs of beer for them. Emmett was sitting on the ground with Rosalie on his lap, kissing her neck passionately. She giggled and he laughed along with her, still pashing her neck. I saw Alice sitting cross-legged on the ground with Jasper's head resting on her lap. She was stroking his face repetitively with her little hands. I smiled as I watch the two couples, it was very sweet. I heard the new boy groan quietly, and I realized that even though he had the same picture in front of his eyes, he wasn't seeing the same thing. Instead of feeling happy for the two couples expressing their love for one another, I imagined her felt jealous.
I think Emmett heard the unknown boy's sigh because he looked up and smiled sadly. Rosalie whispered something into Emmett's ear and they moved a little ways from each other so they were sitting next to each other, rather than on top of each other.
"Hey, man. It's eight-fifteen. Maybe you should head home"
Head home? Wasn't he camping out here with them, then? And eight-fifteen? What was he, nine years old?
"Yeah, or my old man'll crack the shits again" he agreed.
"See ya, man" Emmett said.
"See you tomorrow" Rosalie said.
"Bye, guys" he muttered. I watched his feet as the slowly headed over to where Alice was seated.
"You coming tomorrow?" Jasper asked.
"Yeah, I wanna check out this new chick, never heard of her before." he said. I blushed red when he said that. Maybe it wouldn't be very hard to find them tomorrow.
"Oooooooh!" Alice chorused. "I can set you up with her. Apparently she's hot!" If I'd gone red before, I don't know what I was now. Hot? Back at my school in Phoenix, no one had ever asked me out on a date, let alone referred to me as hot, yet I've been in Forks for less than a day and nearly every kid I've met so far has expressed that I was good looking in some way, even the girls and the kids with boyfriends and girlfriends.
"Oh, come-on! Every guy that's seen her reckons she's hot!" What the hell was she talking about? The only guys I'd actually seen where Emmett and Jasper, and they were both drunk when they'd said I was hot. The new boy voiced my thoughts aloud but Alice interrupted. "I didn't know Emmett said that. I was talking about on my way here, when I was talking to Mike and Eric, And before that I saw the Quileutes and I was chatting to them." Mike and Eric? I never saw any Mikes or Erics! And what the hell is a Quileute? Is it some kind of Forks gang?
"You better hurry mate, looks like all the guys are after her." Jasper teased.
"Sure, sure." The Unknown boy agreed absentmindedly. "Hey, can I have a lift to school? Carlisle took away my driving privileges." Oh. That's why he has to be home soon. Curfew.
"Sure, man," Jasper agreed, a smile in his voice. "I'm picking up Alice, you can sit in the back with Rose."
"Uh, actually, I think I'll take a lift with Emmett, if you don't mind." He said, changing his mind.
"He's coming late. He has to see your old man about his leg, I think he pulled something playing footy or something." Jasper said, the smile now more obvious in his voice. The boy whose name I still didn't know was quiet for a few seconds while he thought this over.
"You know what? I think I'll walk." He said. I heard a girly giggle and the sound of beer slopping around in a can.
"What?" he asked.
"It's raining tomorrow!" Alice and Jasper chorused at the same time.
"When is it not raining in Forks?" he asked.
"Now!" Emmett answered. Uh-oh. He was drunk again. I saw Emmett's huge bare feet appear behind where Alice was seated and Rosalie's smaller, smoother feet stumbled after. It appeared that Emmett was no longer wearing his baggy board shorts. I wondered If he was even wearing underwear. He started to kick his legs up in a poor impression of the Can-Can.
"Come-on, Rose. Do the Can-Can!" he yelled. Rosalie's perfect legs started to kick, completely out of time with Emmett's legs. Jasper's legs appeared next to Emmett's and he joined in, all three of them kicking at different times. Alice stayed seated on the floor, clapping her hands happily in a beat that matched none of the flailing legs kicking in the air. They were all laughing; a little drunkenly, a little stupidly, but laughing like friends should be. I hoped that the next time these guys had a camping trip I could participate instead of watching from the sidelines. This was far cooler than anything I'd ever done in Phoenix. I heard Rosalie screech something that was too loud and high-pitched for me to understand, but it was followed quickly by "Come and Can-Can with us!"
"No thanks" I heard the new boy mumble. "I should get going."
"Oh come-on!" Emmett complained. An empty beer can hit the sand with a muted thud and rolled toward me a little. I saw the new boy's hand bend down to pick up an unopened can of beer, and I heard the whistling noise it made as he threw it, no doubt at Emmett. But instead of the hollow clunk I expected to hear, I heard the sound of the can being popped open. Good reflexes, I thought.
I saw something wet trickle down Jasper's body and he and Emmett laughed stupidly. It took me a minute to realize it was beer. Jasper's legs stopped kicking at the air and he turned to face Alice.
"You wanna taste?" he asked her. She jumped up and ran to his side where she wrapped her arms around him tightly. I couldn't see what she did to him, but I was sort-of glad. I saw Edward bend down to pick up another beer can and wave goodbye before turning around and heading home. I looked at the time; it was eight-thirty. Charlie was probably wondering where I was. I ran along the forest line until I reached the road and I quietly headed back home. After I passed the first bend in the road, I could see another figure walking ahead of me. It was the guy who'd been down at the beach before. He was heading the same way as me, so I followed him. It wasn't until I saw him turn up the driveway of a house did I realize I'd missed my turn off; I was too intent on the mysterious boy. I watched him turn the door handle, but the door didn't open. He knocked on the door but no one answered. I watched him standing there, visibly fuming for five seconds before looked up at the sky and screamed.
"FUCK!" he roared, bringing back his right fist and punching the wooden door. From where I was standing, I heard the crunch, although that could've been the door. I watched in horror as he fell to the ground, his can of beer rolling of the porch steps. He looked up at the door and saw the splintered marks before looking down at his surely broken hand. I saw him curse again, quieter this time, before standing up and sitting on the porch step. He gazed at his hand with a frown on his face, not looking up as I walked over to him.
"Are you alright?" I asked. I tried my hardest not to laugh as he jumped at the sound of my voice. He looked up at me and I saw his face for the first time; it was so perfect, it matched his voice exactly.
"Yeah, I'm just great." He mumbled sarcastically.
"Did you need some help? You look like you hurt your hand…"
"I'm fine. I think I broke it, that's all." He said. I noticed he had the most unusual green eyes. I liked them.
"Maybe you should get someone to have a look at it," I suggested, kneeling down in front of him to get a closer look at those green eyes. They were real, definitely not contacts. I looked down at his hand and reached out for it, picking it up carefully so I didn't hurt him. As soon as my hand touched him, he sighed and a smile spread across his face.
"What?" I asked, a little confused. He shrugged at me so I continued to examine his hand. It was definitely broken in more than one place; one of the knuckles looked like it had moved out of place and there were purple bruises already appearing on his skin. I wondered why he punched the door in the first place. Maybe this wasn't his house, and he was trying to break in. Unlikely, but I had to check.
"So, you do live here, right? You weren't trying to break in or something, were you? I asked, feeling like a complete idiot. I looked up in time to see his green eyes shift from my cleavage to my face quickly. I hadn't noticed my shirt was that low, and I straightened up a little in effort to cover up as much as I could.
"Yeah, this is my place. I think my old man's out, so is my old lady." He answered, his green eyes flickering briefly to my cleavage and back to my face. I wondered if he realized he was doing that.
"When are they getting back?" I asked, sitting up a little straighter. I remembered I was still holding his hand, and I wondered if it was rude to pull away now.
"Carlisle's a doctor, and I think he's working night shifts so he won't be back for hours. And Esme hates being alone in the house. She probably thinks I won't come home tonight, maybe she's at the hospital with my old man."
"Why don't you go back to the beach with your friends?" I asked. I realized too late that he didn't know I was sitting amongst the trees watching him and his friends. I saw the confusion flicker across his face and I quickly tried to distract him.
I laughed nervously. "You don't have too; you can just sit here and wait. Or if you don't think I'm really annoying you can stay at my place until they get back."
He frowned at that and I suddenly wished I hadn't asked. He obviously didn't want to come.
"You're not annoying." He said, looking confused.
I laughed in relief. "Thank you. I'll take that as a yes for coming over to my place." I stood up and walked down his driveway. I thought he was following but when I turned around, he was still sitting on the porch steps, his unusual green eyes glued to my bum. I tried my hardest to ignore that as I spoke again. "You coming?"
"Coming!" He answered, hopping off the porch and following me down the driveway.
I wondered what Charlie would think when he saw what I'd brought home. I suppose he couldn't complain; he told me to make new friends,
"My dad'll be pleased." I noted out loud.
"About what?" he asked, sounding confused.
"You."
He was silent for a few second, trying to make sense of what I'd said.
"I'm not following." He finally said.
I laughed again. "I only just got here and he's been bugging me about making friends. When I bring you home, then maybe he won't think I'm a friendless loser."
He was quiet again. I wondered what he was thinking about.
"Where'd you move here from?" he asked.
"Arizona."
He went silent. What the hell?
"Are you Elizabeth?" he asked me.
I tried hard not to smile as I answered him. "Bella."
"Is that short for something?"
"Isabella, but its way too old fashion. It's my great grandmother's name."
"Isabella's a nice name." he argued.
"If you had an old fashioned name, you'd want to change it too."
He was quiet for a few seconds, thinking something over.
"You don't even know my name." he finally accused.
It had to be something common, it wouldn't be hard to guess. "I bet I could guess it!"
"Go on then." He said, looking a little smug. Maybe he had one of those made-up names or something. Well I'd go for the easy names first.
"Hmmm…Josh?" I guessed.
"Nope" he said, popping the 'p'.
"Adam?"
"Nope"
"Michael?"
"No"
"James?"
"I hate that name"
"Is James your name?"
"No, I just said I hate it"
"Loads of people hate their name. Me, for example"
"You're stalling" he accused.
"Am not! Matthew?"
"Nope"
"Kyle?"
"You're way off"
"Tell me what it starts with" I begged.
"'E'" he said.
"'E?"" I asked. I didn't know any boys names that started with 'E'.
"What's wrong with 'E'?" he asked, sounding a little hurt.
"The only 'E' names I can think of are girl names." I admitted. "You do have a guy name, right?" I asked, fighting a smile. Maybe his name was Ella…
He frowned at me. "Yes, I have a guy name!"
"All right then..." I couldn't think, my mind was blank. "Earl?"
He laughed. "No."
"Eddie?"
"I saw something flicker in his eyes but before I could see what it was, it disappeared. "Nope."
"Eric?"
"Nuh-uh."
I give up. "Fine, then. I don't know, just tell me."
He sucked in a deep breath before answering. "Edward."
What? "Edward?" I asked.
"Edward." He confirmed.
I didn't say anything. Edward…wow. That was the oldest name in the book! I burst out laughing. I know it was rude, but I couldn't help it. I tripped over my feet and grabbed his arm for support while shaking with laughter.
"What?" he snapped, and I realized I'd hurt his feelings.
I looked up at him and smiled gently. "That's worse than Isabella, but I like it." I said, telling one hundred percent the truth.
I watched as his face lit up with joy. "You like it?"
"Mmmhmm" I mumbled. "It suits you. Edward. Edward…?" I realized I didn't know his last name.
"Cullen." He said quickly. "And you're Bella Swan?"
"Yes. It seems I'm a topic of discussion here."
"You know, I was like the only person who didn't know you were coming here." He said.
"Not the only one. I met a couple of nice guys a few hours ago. I think they were friends of yours." I said.
"That would be Jasper and Emmett, right?" he asked.
"That's them. By the looks of it, they were badly drunk, with like, another 30 cans of beer. You let your friends drink that much? I accused.
He shrugged. "I'm not their parents."
"We're here." I announced, turning up the driveway. I heard Edward's soft feet padding along behind me. I took out the key from under the eave and unlocked the front door, walking inside my new home. I didn't turn around to see if Edward was following; I could practically feel his eyes on my bum.
A/n: Do you hate your name?
xoxo