My Childhood Friend

The sun shining through my window woke me up, and I groggily remembered it was my first day of school.

"Bells?" Charlie called up.

"I'm up," I called back, sleepily.

I rubbed my eyes and climbed out of bed. In walking across my room to my closet, I saw my reflection in the mirror. Ugh, I looked gross. I pushed and patted my hair down, trying to fix it, but it was still a knotty mess. I would just brush it later.

I opened my closet, and picked out clothes. My favorite comfy jeans and my favorite blue three-quarter sleeve shirt. My first day at my new school. Well, I hoped wearing my favorite clothes would make it at least a little more bearable.

I threw my notebooks and pens in my backpack, slung it over one shoulder, and went downstairs. Charlie was having his coffee and watching the news in the next room. I grabbed a bowl and made some cereal, trying to prolong going to school.

"Well, Bells. I hope you, um, have a good first day." Charlie said quietly as he dumped the rest of his coffee down the sink and put on his vest and gun for work. Charlie was never good with the sweet dad stuff, but I appreciated the gesture just the same.

"Thanks," I mumbled and I stirred my cereal around.

He just nodded and said a brief goodbye and that he'd see me after school and work, then left for work.

I don't want to go to school, I thought. And then I got a brief moment of déjà vu. I shook it off, figuring I just dreamed something like that the other night or something. I never remembered my dreams anyway. Well, except the good ones.

Part of my reasoning for not wanting to go to school was my childhood friend Jacob. I had just moved here with my dad last week, for a permanent stay. My mom had a new husband, and well, I just figured I'd leave them to themselves. But before this had happened, I usually came here every summer, till I was thirteen, to spend time with my dad. He had usually taken me on boring fishing trips with Mr. Clearwater, or to work with him, where I would sit at his desk and read while he did other stuff.

But a few times while we were at the lake fishing, Mr. Black came too. He was in a wheelchair, so he didn't come very often, but when he did he brought his son, Jacob. We had fun while our dads fished. Jacob and I would play in the woods, make mud pies, or tell stories to each other. He was my friend, because you know how it is when you're little, anyone who you play with is your friend. Mr. Clearwater had a daughter my age, but she was nothing like me, and didn't want to play with me. She said I was weird.

Last week, when I arrived Billy—Mr. Black had told me to call him Billy now—and Jacob came by to greet me. And Jacob and I had smiled at each other remembering our childhood. And instantly, we were friends again, but now that we were older, it was that more mature friendship.

Yesterday Jacob called to see to wish me luck on my first day. But I was confused because he would see me today, my first day, wouldn't he? I asked about it, and Jacob told me he didn't go to my school, he went to school on the reservation. Instantly I was saddened, and tried to make light conversation to hide my disappointment. When we had hung up, I cried a little. It just would have been nice to have a friend at school.

I guessed I couldn't put off going to school anymore. I locked the front door behind me, and went to start my car. On the same visit as when I first got here, Billy had given me his old truck, as he couldn't drive anymore, and Jacob got his permit. It was an old rusty red truck, it couldn't go fast, and when you started the engine, anyone in a ten-mile radius could hear it. I loved it.

I waited till the engine heated up, so I could turn the heat on, then made my way to school. There were only a few cars in the parking lot. But I needed time to find my way around the school anyway. My first class was in building four, so I slowly walked that way, as I memorized the map.

I went to sit down, and noticed there was already someone in there using the computer. My shoes were squeaky from the wetness outside, so he heard me and turned to see who it was. He was blonde and had big blue eyes. He then stood up and walked over to me; he was tall too.

"Hi, I'm Mike," he extended his hand, "You must be the new girl, Isabella."

I shook his hand and corrected him, "I prefer Bella."

"Bella." He said nodding his head. "So, uh, how do you like school so far?"

I chuckled under my breath, "School hasn't exactly started yet."

"Oh." He reddened a little, "Right. Uh, well, it's, uh, your first day, right?"

I nodded.

"Well, if you need anything, just let me know. I'd be happy to show you around, or help out, or if you need someone to talk to." He smiled and walked back to the computer. I think I heard him mumbling something about "embarrassing". Then the classroom started filling up. Some kids made their way over to say hi, and some just looked at me, confirmed I was a new student by asking someone else, then sat down in their regular seats.

That's basically how the rest of my day went. Most of the same kids were in each of my classes. This one girl I sat next to in three classes, I learned her name was Jessica, walked me to lunch and introduced me to her friends, which happened to include Mike. I sat with them, and they asked me millions of questions about where I moved from and my family. They really wanted to meet my mom, were perplexed that I moved from Arizona, and said my dad was a good policeman who really understood kids. And when I mentioned Jacob, said they knew a few kids from the reservation, and when it got warmer we would go to the beach there. I smiled at the thought of hanging out with both sets of friends.

After school, I did the homework my new teachers had assigned. It was all stuff I had already covered in my old school, so it took no time at all. My dad wasn't home yet, and I didn't know what to do. I tried to watch TV, but nothing really caught my interest. I kept thinking about my day.

Then, I sprung up, and figured out what I wanted to do. I would call Jacob. Maybe him and I could hang out for a bit, and maybe Charlie and I could have dinner there tonight.

I picked up the phone and dialed the Black's house number. On the third ring, someone picked up and said, "Hello?"

I immediately recognized it as Jacob's voice. "Hi Jacob! It's Bella."

"Bella! Hi. I was just working on my car—"

I cut him off. "Your car?"

He laughed a little. "I don't mean to sound smug or anything, but I'm building my own car, yeah."

"That's cool. When do I get to see?"

"Well, you could come over right now if you want."

"That's what I was hoping you'd say. See you in ten minutes."

He laughed again, "See you Bella."

I was excited to see Jacob. But before I bolted out of the house, I wrote a quick note to my dad. It said: "Dad, Went over to the Black's. You should come meet us. Maybe dinner there? Bells".

I slammed the door behind me, climbed into my car, and made my way to Jacob's.