2. I Wanna Be Sedated
Damn it all to hell. Why in the world didn't I do this earlier?
Because you were too busy lazing around by the pool, pushing people into pools and telling Jacob to fuck off.
Oh. Right. That stupid voice was always right. Yes, I have a voice inside my head. No, I am not insane, I promise. That voice only came out when I was bored or in times of pressure, anxiety, fear, stress and/or discomfort. At the moment, it was all of the above.
I sighed and thought back to my less-than-perfect summer.
!&!&!
After everyone had finished congratulating me and whatnot, Mom, Dad, Jacob, and I went out to the only restaurant in all of Forks. The Lodge was atrocious. The food was always overcooked and tasted disgusting. The décor was tacky at best and as for the service... let's not even go there. So, why were we here? Well, like I said, it was the only restaurant in Forks.
Throughout the whole meal, Mom kept trying to talk me into spending a month in Jacksonville with her.
"Bella! I want you to come to Jacksonville with me. I will get my way, even if I have to drag you by that pretty, long, brown hair of yours!" she exclaimed.
Every year since I left Jacksonville, Mom would always try to make me go visit during the summer. Every year I would refuse; every year I found some way to get out of going. I'd say something about wanting to spend my summer doing volunteer work at the Forks hospital or library so that I'd have community service hours for college applications. Last year, I got a job at Newton's Sporting Goods just so that I didn't have to go.
This year, I couldn't find a good enough excuse so, with a sigh of defeat, I accepted. Mom clapped and squealed in excitement and went on and on about what we could do for the summer. I tuned her out as I contemplated just how horrible my summer would be because of this. It wasn't that I didn't want to see my mother; I just didn't want to see her stupid husband and his bitchy daughter. I despised them. Phil Dwyer was a jackass and hated me from the moment he met me. He completely ignored me and monopolized my mother's attention. I swear, it was like I was invisible when he was around. Lauren, his daughter, was the most malicious person I had ever encountered. She would push girls in the hallways because they'd accidentally step on her. Whenever she got in trouble, she'd find a way to twist the whole situation around and put the blame on the other person involved- this was usually me.
We left two days after that. Dad and Jacob, the only two people who knew the real reason that I moved, were not too happy about me spending time with Lauren and tried to get me out of going. I appreciated their concern but I told them that I could handle it. And I did… that is until Lauren decided to try to win an Oscar.
I was sitting by the pool one day, trying to get my fill of the sun, when I felt a sudden pain in my scalp. I freed my hair from Lauren's grip and turned to look at her. She had a sneer on her face and her blonde hair was tied back into a pony tail.
"Get lost, Swan. Tyler and I want to relax by the pool, and we won't be able to do that if you're here. So, leave or I will make the rest of your stay here absolutely miserable!" Lauren spat, pulling the guy who was with her closer.
I laughed at her. "Two things Dwyer: One, I was here first so I'm not leaving. Two, you can go screw your little boy toy over there somewhere else. Just make sure you don't do it in my room. I would hate to have to burn Mom's sheets." I replied. She did not like that and she slapped me. I may or may not have shoved her into the pool in response. Of course, given my shitty luck, Phil and Mom came to see what all the commotion was about and saw me push Lauren in to the pool, seemingly without a motive.
Phil was very quick to accuse me of trying to kill his "precious little girl" and Lauren pulled off the role of the victim extraordinarily well. My mom looked skeptical about it all being my fault and that caused a huge argument between her and Phil. I felt guilty for causing a dispute, and I suggested that maybe I should get back to Forks since I was due to leave next week anyway. That just caused another argument when Mom said, "No, that's not necessary" at the same time that Phil said, "Of course you're leaving!" At this point, Lauren was holding back laughter and that guy, Tyler, looked bored.
At the end of it all, Phil didn't want me in the house for fear of me killing Lauren- I didn't blame him- and Mom was just tired of arguing with him. So, that left me flying home early. I didn't resent Mom for not taking my side; I knew that she and Phil rarely argued, so I wasn't surprised that she had given in. Besides, I wanted to get away from Lauren before she tried anything else.
I thought that maybe my summer would get better once I got home. I was dead wrong.
Whenever I had to do something for the move to New Hampshire, Jacob went all emo on me and Dad was about ready to go into the whole "my little girl is all grown up now" speech. I managed to keep my dad in check, but Jacob was another story. He would constantly try to get me to feel guilty for moving and leaving my dad. One time, I was about two seconds away from slapping him. I couldn't believe that he was making me feel guilty about Charlie when we both knew he was only concerned about his own happiness. I finally had enough of him and his selfishness and told him to fuck off.
!&!&!
All of that crap led back to where I was now, standing in the middle of a pile of clothes, bedding, toiletries and stuff I absolutely needed to survive.
My dad laughed at me when he saw me trying to stuff my favorite blanket into an already-full suitcase. My blanket was practically my best friend. It was my favorite shade of blue and brought me comfort. I couldn't possibly leave it behind.
Packing was such a headache! It seemed that I had more stuff to pack than I thought and I couldn't seem to organize it all to fit into my suitcases. When I whined to Charlie about it, he told me that I shouldn't have procrastinated as much as I did and that now I had to suck it up. He was right, of course. He was always right, him and that stupid voice in my head.
After five grueling hours of packing my life into a few suitcases, three hours of sleep, and almost three hours in Dad's cruiser, I was finally at the airport and ready to start the rest of my life. Charlie stayed with me until it was time for me to board the plane. I had a bit of an emotional breakdown. I cried and he held me close to him and told me everything would be alright.
"Take care of yourself, Bella. Do your best, and don't let anyone give you any crap. Call me every time you get a chance and make some friends. And don't let Jacob give you a hard time about leaving. We both know that I am a grown man and that I can take care of myself. If he can't be happy for you, then he wasn't a very good friend to begin with." I smiled sadly at him and nodded. Jacob and I hadn't talked since I told him to get lost. I might've felt bad about it had Jacob been here now or tried to contact me, but he hadn't. I gave Charlie a kiss on the cheek and turned to board the plane.
The four hour flight from Seattle to Hannover, New Hampshire, was absolutely exhausting. I was never a fan of flying; I almost passed out whenever I looked out of the window and saw how high in the air we were.
You know, it's a little masochistic to get a window seat if you hate heights so much.
Shut up.
Perhaps you should've driven to New Hampshire.
Drive to New Hampshire? Are you insane?
I'm insane? You are the one having a conversation with yourself.
Shut up.
You say that a lot.
Yeah, well maybe that's because you're still talking.
!&!&!
"Shit, shit, shit! I'm so lost!" I muttered to myself as I made my way through the campus, luggage in tow. Why hadn't I taken the time to look at the map earlier?
Screwed up summer, remember?
Right. I sighed and set my stuff aside as I pondered over the map. I grimaced when I saw that the dormitories were apparently right in front of me. Maybe I needed glasses or something. I shook my head at myself, grabbed my stuff and started walking toward the building.
Because I'm me, the perpetual klutz, I kept my head down, focused on my feet. I paid little attention to where I was headed, so, of course I didn't see that I was headed straight for him. I crashed into him hard and fell backwards. My suitcases were knocked over, and I hit my hip on the edge of one of them.
"Crap! I am so sorry. I didn't see you there; if I had I would've moved out of the way. Are you okay?" said an anxious, velvety voice. I realized then that my eyes were closed. I opened them and all I saw was a pair of green eyes looking at me worriedly.
A/N:
Hehe... Yeah, I know today's Thursday... I ended up sending in this chapter late to PTB and I got it back today.. Sorry about that.
Anyhoo, to anyone who favorited me, the story and put it on story alert, thanks a million :) I'm a bit disappointed because I received a total of zero reviews. :(
Oh well, at least you guys read it... Anyhoo, originally this chapter was supposed to be longer but I decided some content will be saved for later. There's more to be told about Lauren, trust me on that.
Bella's blanket and song for this chapter on my profile.
Alright next chapter we meet Alice and, of course, the gorgeous green-eyed guy makes an appearance.
REVIEW... please? *puppy dog eyes*