A/N : All this belongs to Stephenie Meyer, I'm just playing with her toys!
I'm so sorry for the wait! I had some complications regarding my beta – but luckily I found a new one and I'm up and running again! Hope you like this chapter =)
BELLA
Everybody stared – everybody – as I took my first steps on campus. It was worse than I'd previously imagined; the buildings were grey and single-floored, blending in easily with the murky clouds that hung over it like a blanket of misery, and not to mention littered with graffiti. Even though I'd passed the school so many times before, it seemed almost unrecognizable to me in this light as it beckoned me inward with sharp claws, eager to keep me in its confines. I already hated it.
Since Charlie hadn't been bothered, Jasper had given me a ride to school in his red, worn out and extremely noisy Chevrolet. I arrived at school after a considerably bumpy ride and immediately realized what kind of position Jasper held at this school. I had kind of wished that we wouldn't attract too much attention but that obviously wasn't even a remote possibility because as we walked through the crowd on the courtyard I could feel everybody's gaze on us. It was clear that it had more to do with the fact that I was walking next to Jasper than anything else.
A few students came up to us as we pushed our way through, some asking for homework advice, some eager to introduce themselves and others just throwing a casual greeting at Jasper. I felt incredibly insignificant walking next to him – like a mortal next to a god – so I kept my eyes firmly glued to my feet, not wanting to invite any form of social contact. Jasper put a comforting arm around my frail shoulders and I instantly felt safer; something about having him close to me made me feel a little less unstable, like I wasn't completely alone.
We didn't have that many classes together, though, so I had to spend most of the day lingering around the classrooms, either too scared to go inside or merely unsure whether or not I was actually in the right place. I made it through most of the day alright, not really paying attention in classes because I figured the teachers would let me get away with it. Besides, most of the courses I'd already taken in Phoenix.
I did share most of my classes with this one guy, Newton, who followed me around like a puppy dog, hanging on my every word like his life depended on it. At first I'd found it slightly endearing, but as the day crept on, his constant attention got under my skin. I wasn't used to this. In Phoenix I wasn't a somebody, and definitely not a somebody who deserved any form of recognition from anybody, so when Newton stuck to me like glue, it made me incredibly uncomfortable.
When I entered the bio class, my second to the last lesson of the day, I felt an incredible waft of relief when Mr. Banner informed me that I would be without a partner and would have to sit at my table alone. At least one hour without Netwon. Score. I crossed my arms across the table and rested my head in their comfort, letting my thoughts drift.
-
I got home that afternoon completely drained. Gym had been particularly bad; I didn't exactly have the best hand-eye-coordination and when the teacher had announced that we'd be spending the next hour playing basketball, I felt like faking an asthma attack just so I could get out of it. I stayed, reluctantly, and ended up standing awkwardly in the corner of the court, twisting my cold hands in a knot, trying to pass the time.
Since Forks didn't actually have anything other than a High School, Alice's mom, Esme, had offered to home school Jackson. According to her she had nothing better to do, something which didn't shock me that much; Forks wasn't the most action-packed place on the planet, in my opinion. So after I barged into the house, kicking my Converse off swiftly in the process and continued to the TV room where I threw myself on the couch, I wasn't all that surprised when Esme appeared in the doorway, a cute smile playing on her plump lips. She looked just like Alice except her hair was shaped in a classy 40's cut and her eyes were the most delicate shade of dark blue. She was exceptionally nice too, just like Alice.
"You must be Isabella," she said softly and even though it annoyed me, I didn't have the heart to correct her.
"Yep," I said casually, throwing her a faint smile.
"It's nice to finally meet you," she said as she walked over to me and stretched out a welcoming hand, which I shook eagerly. "Although I feel like I know you already; Jackson hasn't stopped talking about you all day."
"Oh really?" I mumbled, not too enthusiastic about the prospect of Jackson ranting about me to a somewhat stranger.
"Don't worry, honey," she said sweetly. "All good stuff, I promise."
I mulled that over as she left the room, returning a few minutes later with Jackson at her side, her bag hanging off her shoulder and with a polite smile on her face. She gave me a small wave before patting Jackson lovingly on the head and proceeding to the hallway. The moment she was out the door, Jackson skipped over to me and sat down excitedly on the floor, drumming a steady beat on the hardwood floor with his fingers. I furrowed my eyebrows at him. How could he be so hyper all the time?
He had that goofy smile plastered on his face that he'd been famous for back in Phoenix and I couldn't help but smile back at him. "What's up with you?" I asked as I crossed my arms across my chest in a suspicious manner.
"Nothing," he said, that infectious smile breaking through even more now.
"What's wrong with you? Ah, forget it. I give up." I sighed, throwing my hands up in the air dramatically as I got up from my seat and walked into the kitchen.
That boy confused me to no end. It was so weird having him around all the time, too. In Phoenix we barely saw each other because I was always at school and Rene was always dragging him along to the many, many, errands she ran during the course of the day. To be honest I was a little jealous. It had always been me with Charlie and Jackson with Rene and now that Charlie could barely look at me anymore, I felt more alone than ever. Maybe Forks would bring a new start? For me and Jackson, I mean; I had kind of given up hope on Charlie and me ever being the same again.
-
After realizing that our refrigerator was in need of a serious restock, I decided to make my way over to Forks' only supermarket and buy some ingredients to make dinner for Jackson and me. It suddenly hit me, however, that I had no way of getting there besides walking, and that would most likely take 30 minutes. My first thought was to ask Jasper for a ride, but I didn't want to intrude. Unless he wouldn't mind, I thought to myself, biting my lip. I knew I would have to drag myself over there to ask him, but numerous unpleasant scenarios rushed through my head, and I instead settled on first checking whether or not he was out on his balcony like he usually was.
I rushed up the stairs, taking two at a time, and burst into my room. My drapes were still drawn shut, so I pulled them apart energetically and glanced out the window and across to his balcony. To my surprise, instead of Jasper, Alice was sitting on the balcony this time, listening to her iPod and pulling her nimble fingers through her short page. I hesitated momentarily, but my rumbling stomach begged me to reconsider, so I opened the window somewhat reluctantly and cleared my throat to try to get her attention.
She didn't hear me, so I proceeded by waving spectacularly in her direction. She didn't see me, so I yelled. "Alice!"
Her head instantly snapped up, a confused expression shaping her features, but as she recognized who it was a smile broke through the confusion. "Bella?"
"Yeah," I said, now feeling slightly awkward as I realized I would have to explain why I was out here in the first place. "I was just…gonna ask Jasper something."
She stood up from her sitting position and gently removed the buds from both ears. "What?"
I cleared my throat, deciding to approach this differently. "I was gonna ask Jasper if I could borrow his truck."
"His truck?" she asked as a somewhat disgusted expression crossed her face. "You're not serious. That old piece of trash? Please. I'll take you!"
A bit taken aback by her sudden offer I racked my brains for reasons not to, but found none, so I accepted the invitation. "To the supermarket?"
"Sure," she said casually, sliding her iPod into her tight jeans pocket and walking over to the glass balcony doors. "Meet me at the truck in 10, yeah?"
She gave me a small wave before disappearing through the glass doors, leaving me standing somewhat dumbstruck until I snapped out of it and ran down the stairs again. Suddenly I was panicking. Alice and I had never actually spent any time alone together and she hadn't been at school today so we didn't really have that much to talk about. I jammed my phone, keys and wallet into my worn out shoulder bag, deciding to leave my iPod just so it wouldn't tempt me, and started putting on my shoes.
Jackson appeared in the hallway and all of a sudden it struck me that I couldn't just leave him alone at home, especially since Charlie wouldn't be home for at least another four hours.
"Put your shoes on, Jack," I said as I pulled my jacket from the hanger and put it on. "We're going out."
He didn't even question it, just let out an over exaggerated yelp of glee and ran out the door barefoot. I let out a deep sigh as I scooped up his sneakers and a pair of socks. As I was locking the door, I could hear him running around the garden, and I couldn't help but smile. I would've given anything to be as careless as he was. I turned around to see him standing by the mailbox, leaning on it with an expectant expression on his face.
"We're going to the supermarket," I informed him. "Alice is taking us."
I hadn't thought it possible, but the smile on his face grew wider. He made it seem like going to Forks' supermarket was equally as exciting as battling dragons or racing cars or whatever boys his age do for fun. I grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him towards Jasper's truck which stood parked, somewhat crookedly, in the Hales' driveway. Alice was leaning against it and just as I was about to climb in, she walked away from the truck and over to a silver Volvo which stood parked by the curb. I stopped dead in my tracks before following her, slightly confused by the sudden turn of events.
"I thought we were –" I started, but she cut me off.
"Nobody should have to suffer through having to ride in that thing more than absolutely necessary," she said, chuckling lightly at her own joke. "We're taking my car."
I opened the back door and beckoned for Jackson to jump in, which he did eagerly, before seating myself in the passenger seat. How I'd ever survived riding in Jasper's truck I had no idea, because compared to Alice's Volvo, it was a pile of junk. The engine revved incredibly smoothly as Alice turned the key in the ignition.
When we got there Alice helped me gather all the stuff I'd written down on my shopping list and soon enough we were done so I pushed the cart to the counter and pulled my wallet from my bag to pay.
"You and Jasper are pretty close, huh?" Alice asked casually as she piled two cartons of milk on the rolling band.
"I guess," I mumbled, not sure where this conversation was going. We had cleverly avoided the subject for the whole car ride here, but now that she was confronting me, I didn't really know what to say. "I mean, we used to be really close."
"Yeah," she muttered, "he mentioned that."
"Why?" I burst out before I could stop myself.
"Nothing," she said. She seemed unusually gloomy. I mean, I'd only known her for around a day, but when she was with Jasper she was always so jumpy and hyper and cute.
"Something wrong?" I pressed. I didn't want it to be awkward between us, especially since she was one of my only two friends here in Forks.
She was quiet for a long time as she continued to empty the cart. "He talks about you a lot."
"It's not like that, Alice," I reassured her quickly. Jasper was still that lonely 14-year-old boy in my mind, despite the fact that he'd clearly grown up since the last time I saw him. I just couldn't see him that way. "He might talk to you about me, but he completely raves about you whenever we talk. He missed you so much today at school. I don't think you left his thoughts all day to be honest. It got kinda annoying after a while; I couldn't' get him to shut up."
My rant seemed to cheer her up a bit, because as she picked up the final box of cereal from the cart and placed it at the register, she threw me a quick smile and her eyes seemed to glow. "Really?"
"Don't even worry about it," I added quickly. "Jazz is like a brother to me. I could never see him that way."
And then she hugged me and it caught me so of guard that I stumbled backwards. It was quick though, and within a second she had let go again and was walking over to Jackson who was eagerly packing the food into plastic bags. I had never been much of a hug person, usually preferring casual smiles and waves rather than actual physical contact, but with Alice it seemed okay. Natural somehow.
On the way home, after 5 minutes of silence, Alice broke it by asking me about my first day of school. I didn't have much to tell her, although I did mention Newton at which she let out a heavy sigh and shrugged her shoulders. Apparently he had pulled his whole 'overly friendly' thing with her too when she first came, and warned me that if I let it go too far, I'd never get rid of him. I made mental note of that, deciding that first thing tomorrow morning I would start my detachment process. I told her about Esme and how she was homeschooling Jackson, at which she giggled, and eventually the conversation transitioned to her family, which was honestly infinitely more interesting than my first day at school.
Apparently Carlisle and Esme were going to take in a foster child.
"Carlisle told me this morning," she said, excitement coloring her tone. Watching her talk so casually about it made me nervous for her. If my parents had taken in a stranger, I would most likely have spent all my time locked in my room, too anxious to go outside and meet my so-called 'sibling'. Because that's just what I would do, who I was.
"When's she coming?"
"He," Alice corrected. "Friday? I think…Thursday?"
A week after me. At least I wouldn't be the 'new kid' for much longer. I had to mentally slap myself for wishing he'd go through the same torture I'd have to go through this whole week.
-
When we got home, it was almost dark outside. The sun went down so much earlier here than it did in Phoenix and was slightly shocked as I walked into the kitchen to realize that it was only five. I was going to ask Jackson to help me unpack the many plastic bags we had brought home with us, but before the thought even crossed my mind he had planted himself in front of the TV, clinging onto a wireless Playstation console. I let out a deep sigh as I began unpacking them all by my lonesome. I had used up all the money in my wallet, which wasn't a lot, but I figured it was worth it. And I could always ask Charlie for compensation later.
After everything had been put away, I pulled out a packet of pasta from the cupboard and brought out one of the many pots that the Hales' had lent us. It was kind of dusty, so I quickly washed it before filling it to the brim with hot water and then pouring the whole packet of spaghetti in. I'd bought ready-made sauce to go with it, so I just stuck it in the rusty microwave and waited for the spaghetti to cook.
The moment Jackson smelled the enticing aroma of instant pesto sauce he materialized in the kitchen, mouth watering and hunger filling his wide eyes. I placed the plate in front of him and he was done within minutes. Poor boy. I hadn't made him a proper meal since the night before we left Phoenix. That was the first night we'd been alone, Charlie, Jackson and I, and I'd just needed to get out of the house. So I went to the supermarket and ended up cooking the most extravagant meal consisting of a whole chicken, baked potatoes and a fruit salad.
And then he was gone again and I was left in the kitchen, alone with only my own thoughts as company. I had an almost irresistible urge to walk up to my room and sit on the window ledge like I had that first evening. But I knew that was stupid. And I knew Alice was over there right now, so he probably wouldn't even be out on the balcony tonight. Not that I cared. Or should. It was just a thought. A really stupid one.
-
The rest of that week passed with little excitement; every day I would go through the same boring routine of getting up, going to school, doing homework, cooking dinner and then finally going to sleep. It was so bland, and incredibly draining, going through that same tedious practice every day. Jasper and Alice made it somewhat better though. On Wednesday I had skipped gym and they'd both skipped their final class and we'd gone down to the lake again.
Apparently Alice's new 'brother' was arriving the next day, but she didn't know much more than that, so we didn't talk about him a lot. Plus, Jasper didn't seem all that excited about it, probably not looking forward to the fact that another guy would become a permanent resident at the Cullen household. Whenever one of us would mention it, Jasper would take a sip from one of the beer cans which he'd stashed in his truck in case of an emergency, mutter a soft but firm 'fuck' and throw a pebble at the lake with a restless expression on his face.
When I got back to the house that night, Charlie had already come home from work and was sitting in his usual spot on the couch, feet on a box and a cold beer in one hand. Typical. I muttered a low 'hey' before continuing to the kitchen where Jackson was sitting at the dinner table, quite a collection of books open in front of him.
"What's all that?" I asked curiously, filling a glass with water before sitting down next to him and picking up one of the books. I skimmed through the pages, a faint smile appearing on my lips as I took in the colorful doodles cluttered throughout the book. "Romeo and Juliet? Isn't that a little hard-core for a fifth-grader?"
"Mrs. Cullen told me to read it," Jackson whined, putting his pencil down and giving me a sour look. "But it's so boring."
"It's not so bad," I offered. He obviously wasn't as appreciative of the classics as I was. I changed the subject. "Have you had anything to eat?"
He shook his head miserably, still with that sour look plastered on his plump face. "Dad gave me a Mars bar, but I already ate it."
"Typical," I muttered to myself as I walked over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk, a couple of eggs and some butter. I walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a packet of flour. "You in the mood for pancakes?"
He nodded eagerly this time. Good. I wasn't exactly in the mood to prepare a feast, so pancakes seemed like the preferable option. I whipped up the pancake mixture quickly and began frying them whilst Jackson watched intensely from the table. I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. 7:45.
"You must be starving, little man." I smirked as I poured another dose of batter into the frying pan.
"Kinda."
Yawning, he placed his head on the table and started twirling the pencil between his fingers. He looked completely exhausted, so I took out a plate and slipped a couple pancakes onto it, figuring he could go ahead and eat. I wasn't all that hungry anyway. He gulfed them down quickly, not pausing once as he swallowed piece after piece. He didn't even take a break to take a sip of the glass of water I'd brought him. When he was done he pushed the plate to one side, crossed his arms across the table and settled in to take a nap. I just smiled.
I finished frying the rest of the batter and when I was done, I put a few on one plate and the rest on another and brought the fuller one to Charlie, who was still sitting in front of the TV. He thanked me with a lazy grunt as I placed the plate on one of the boxes. I brought mine up to my room with me and picked at them in silence as I sat on the windowsill.
The sky was actually clear for once, so I could see a few stars and the moon decorating the dark blue. This night felt different than the others, and I couldn't quite decide if it was in a good way or a bad way. Change could be good. If it meant getting out of this hell hole, I thought to myself as I tore the pancakes on my plate into shreds. A sudden tap on the window made me look up.
Jasper was standing on his balcony, I wide smile displayed on his face. He gave me a small wave which I quickly returned before jumping down from the windowsill and opening the window.
"Hey, Jazz," I said casually and I couldn't help but smile. His good mood was infectious.
"Izzy," he threw back, smirking as he did. He knew I hated it when he called me that. I had been very specific about what names he could call me since the first day we met. Even 'Bee' was a bit of a stretch, but Izzy, along with Bells and Ella, were far up on the list of the forbidden.
"Don't call me that," I moaned, still with a slight smile displayed on my lips. "We've talked about this, Jazz. I don't call you Jay and you don't call me Izzy, Ella, Bells, Nutella, Salmonella or any other word that happens to rhyme with my bitch-of-a-name, ok?"
He let out a rusty chuckle. "Whatever you say, Bee. You're the boss."
"Damn right, I am," I shot back at him. "So shape up, Jazz!"
"Sir yes, sir!" he said, saluting me as I positioned myself so that my feet were dangling out the window. At least this hasn't changed. I thought myself lucky as I sat there, casually chatting to the boy I'd known for most of my childhood and adolescent life. Maybe life could be good here? As long as I had Jasper by my side, I figured it could. Maybe? Hopefully.