CHAPTER TWO
DISCLAIMER: Sadly, none of the characters belong to me...they are all the wonderful creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay so here's the second chapter. Sorry for the long wait. There were a few problems that I noticed when I was I was about to update and I had to fix them. The more reviews I get the fast you'll get the next chapter. And just because the second chapter was posted later then I wanted you'll see the third chapter later on in the week.Anyways, enough of me, enjoy the story.
CHAPTER TWO: Day Two
The next day was better because it wasn't raining (though the clouds were opaque) and I knew what to anticipate in my day. The drive to school was very much a blur, probably because I was tried. All thanks to the wind echoing around the house. I didn't realize that I'd reached to school until I stepped out of the truck. Mike sat next to me in English, and walked me to my next class. All the while, Eric – a boy who looked like the excessively helpful chess player type, with skin problems and black hair – was glaring at him; which was slightly flattering. During lunch I sat with a big group of people at lunch, including Mike, Jessica, Eric, and a whole bunch of other people whose faces and names I could now remember. People weren't looking at me as much as they had yesterday and just as I predicted, the attention was slowly returning to the Cullens. Today I was beginning to feel like I was treading in water rather then drowning in it.
Though I wasn't raining – which I thought would equal a overall good day – outside, it might as well have been raining. Along with my tiredness, Mr. Varner called on me in Trig when I didn't even have my hand up, and I accidentally gave the wrong answer. And I had to play volleyball in gym, resulting in me hitting one of my teammates in the head with the ball. But that wasn't even the worst.
Throughout the entire morning, I was dreading lunch, fearing Edward strange glares and confused looks. A part of me wanted to go up to him and ask demand to know what his problem was. However, that was only part of me. I even imagined what I would say to him, but no matter how long I practiced and imagined what I was going to say I knew myself to well too know that I didn't have the guts to go through with it. To prove my suspicion false I hoped that he would just simply ignore me.
When I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica – trying to keep my eyes from sweeping the place for him and failing completely – I saw all of the Cullens except Edward. His siblings were laughing and talking, just like the day before. But something about the way they were behaving seemed off; I just couldn't put my finger on it.
Before I cold read any more into it Mike intercepted Jessica and I, and steered us to his table. Jessica seemed jubilant by the attention she was receiving, and her friends quickly joined us. I tried to listen to their easy chatter but everything that they said seemed to fade into the background. I was terribly uncomfortable and nervous as I waited for the moment when Edward would arrive. I sat in my seat hoping he was just a little late or decided to run a bit longer today.
But as the time past I grew more and more tense. By the end of lunch, he still hadn't show up and I didn't see him as I walked to Biology. I felt more confident that I wouldn't be greeted with the same look he gave me yesterday – because of his absence. Mike, who was taking on the traits of a golden retriever, walked faithfully at my side. When I reached the biology building, I held my breath at the door and walked in. when I saw that Edward wasn't in his seat I exhaled. I was relived now that I knew I wouldn't have to sit through another class of his strange behavior. Mike lingered by my desk talking about an upcoming trip to the beach until the bell rang. He smiled at me longingly and went to take his seat next to another student. I had no practice dealing with over-friendly boys but it looked like I was going to have to do something about Mike, and it wouldn't be easy. I was starting to feel really uncomfortable. At first I thought he was just being friendly because I was the new student but as the attention returned back to the Cullens he continued to act the same way. It was just weird. No one could most likely keep or have a secret in this town.
I was relived that I had the whole desk to myself. However, I couldn't get the irritating feeling that I was Edward's reason for not coming to school today. To think that I could affect anyone so strongly was absurd and narcissistic. It was impracticable. Yet I couldn't stop worrying that it was the truth.
I gunned my deafening engine to life at the end of the day – ignoring the heads that turned my way – and dug through my bag to make sure I had everything. I backed carefully out into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to exit the parking lot.
As I waited to leave the parking lot, I noticed the four Cullens siblings. They received attention and greetings from everyone they passed by.
The path made for them though the crowd of people looked a lot like the parting of the Red Sea. I could imagine any, if not all, doors were open to them by the amount of beauty and poise they carried. I could see how this bought them much acceptance.
Rosalie, who looked like she was in a rush, pulled along Emmett who looked like he wasn't in any hurry. Emmett smiled, and acknowledged some of the boys by giving them some high- fives as he was tugged along. Rosalie seemed to hardly acknowledge anyone in her haste and appeared to have only two things on her mind: her destination and getting Emmett and herself there. Alice on the other hand appeared to socialize some degree with everyone that she walked by. Walking – sometimes stopping and standing– next to Alice with his hand on the small of her back was Jasper. When Alice would go astray, stopping to talk with someone, he would apologetically excused Alice and himself by smiling politely and then would guide Alice back on their path.
The four of them eventually reached their car and piled in. It was that shiny new Volvo I noticed yesterday in the parking lot. Of course. Seeing the type of car they had made me realize that I had not noticed their clothes before – I'd been too mesmerized by their faces and how happy and together they always seemed to be. They could have all worn dishrags and pulled it off. Now that I took the time to look, it could clearly be seen that they were all dressed outstandingly well and simple, but in clothes that ingeniously hinted designer origins. Rosalie and Alice's apparel however hinted a bit more than Emmett and Jasper's attire. It seemed excessive for them to have both looks and money. Nevertheless, as far as I could tell, life worked that way most of the time. And it looked like it bought them attention and approval.
Just like everyone else, they looked at my loud truck as I passed them. I kept my eyes straight forward and was relived once I finally was free of the school grounds. The previous night Charlie was quite eager to stand to the side when I requested that I be assigned cooking detail for the period of my stay. I came to this decision when I discovered that Charlie couldn't cook anything more than eggs and bacon, and the lack of food in the house gave him very limited choices. So I had every reason to make a trip to the Thriftway.
The Thriftway was not too far from school, just a few streets south off the highway. It was nice to be in the supermarket; it felt ordinary. Back home I did the shopping so I fell into the recognizable task willing; I almost forgot where I was.
I only had a few remaining things on my list that I couldn't seem to find. I stood in an aisle and blankly stared from the list in my hand to the shelves in front of me. I looked around to see if I could find someone who could help me. There was only one other person standing in the aisle.
"Excuse me but I was wondering if you know what aisle I can find marinade in?" I asked when I was behind the lady.
"Sure, it's a few aisles over to the left," The lady replied turning to face me "If you want I could show you." I stared back at the young lady.
"Uhh…yes, thank you." There seemed to be a handful of beautiful people living in this town.
In front of me stood an amazingly elegant woman. She had pale skin with remarkable features. There was just something about her heart-shaped face and her billows of soft, caramel-coloured hair, which reminded me of the ingénues of the silent-movie era. She was small, slender and fairly angular.
"It's no trouble at all; it's just two aisles over. Marinade is a bit of a tricky one; it's not exactly out in the open." She replied in a friendly tone. I followed her as she turned around and headed in the opposite direction.
"Here they are," she announced when we reached the aisle, "Is there one that you are looking for in particular?" she asked when we came to a stop.
"No, not really. I'm planning to use it with steak."
"Well when I'm cooking steak I don't put anything on it. A really nice piece of steak tastes great just how it is. However if you're broiling it," she paused and looked at the shelf of marinades, "This tastes great on steak, fish or any kind of meat." she said picking a bottle and showing it to me, "but I personally like to use my own marinades however if I don't have time to make it then I use one of these. They're great for just about anything." She point to a few on the top shelf. "I find that they taste better than the others." she finished. I looked at the different jars she singled out and then the one she had placed in her basket. They all looked promising.
"I think I'll try this one." I answered, reaching for the same one she had first taken. The woman smiled at me sweetly when she saw which one I had placed in my basket. "It would have taken me a lot longer if it wasn't for you. Thank you…" I trailed off realizing I didn't know her name.
"How very rude of me, where are my manners?" She held out her hand. "My name is Esme." she smiled. "It's very nice to meet you," she continued genuinely. Her warm, soft grasp was just as I expected.
"My name is Bella. It's nice to meet you, too." And it was. It was like meeting a fairy tale – Snow White, in the flesh.
"Bella. That's a beautiful name is it short for something?"
"Yes, Isabella, though I prefer Bella."
"Then Bella it is." She replied, buoyantly sincere.
Esme and I decided that she would help me look for the remaining things on my list and keep each other company. If there was one other thing I now knew about Esme – besides knowing where everything in the store was that she loved to cook. Every recipe, every single type of food, she had at least three different ways of cooking it. She told me stuff I would have never have thought of trying or putting together. Unlike my mother's unpredictable cooking, Esme's creations sounded edible and promising.
We talked about different recipes and spices that go really well with each other. However, Esme came up with most of them; even arrangements that I thought wouldn't go well together. She shared with me different ideas for breakfast meals to desserts and entrées.
We exited the supermarket together still talking and carrying our respectable bags – Esme carrying a bit more than what I had expected.
"I'll try that some time." I said with a smile after Esme had told me another one of her recipes.
"And I'll try that one you told be about." She replied. I mentally patted myself on the back. I had mentioned a recipe that Esme had never tried or heard of.
I had parked my truck near the front – lucky enough to be pulling in as someone was pulling out – so I didn't have to walk far with my grocery bags.
"It was nice meeting you Esme." I said stopping at my truck, reaching for my keys in my pocket with my free hand.
"And it was nice to meet you too!" she replied. I smiled and turned around opening my truck, placing my bag in the passenger seat. "Oh, that's your truck." she stated as if in realization. I nodded my head in agreement. "Then you must be Chief Swan's daughter, I've heard quite a bit about you. I saw your truck when Chief Swan was parking it on the street in front of his house; he was telling me it was for his daughter."
I was expected, a topic gossip of no doubt. Daughter of the Chief's flighty ex-wife, come home at last. This situation seemed a lot like the first day of school with the receptionist in the office. I remembered how the large, red-haired woman's eyes immediately lit up with awareness behind her glasses when I told her who I was. However, Esme appeared truly welcomingly with no hint of gossip in her eyes or actions.
"Well, I hope you'll like it here in Forks." I looked at her with skepticism.
Liking Forks was a real long shot. Its Forks were I now exiled myself – an action that I took with great horror. I detested Forks.
I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat of the vigorous, sprawling city. I loved things about Phoenix that Forks could never give me. Although I had said my goodbyes to the sun – one of the many things Forks lacked – before I left Phoenix.
"And don't worry about the rain, it'll grow on you." She added, smiling amusingly. "Well I better get going," she said, with a smile still playing at the corner of her lips, "nice to meet you again Bella, hopefully I'll see you around."
"Sure." I replied smiling. I enjoyed shopping with Esme; she didn't seem like the other people I met.
As Esme walked away, I got into my truck and turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. I careful backed out of my space and into the parking lot.
I stared my truck and drove out of the parking lot. By the time I left the parking lot, I hadn't seen Esme. I thought I would have left the parking lot before her, seeing as how she had to walk farther to get to her car, but she was nowhere in site.
When I got home I unpacked groceries, stuffing them wherever I could find space, hoping Charlie wouldn't mind. I wrapped potatoes in foil and stuck them in the oven to bake, covered a steak in marinade and balanced it on top of an egg carton in the fridge. I decided to use the marinade Esme recommended, another time because there was already one open in the fridge.
Once I was finished with that, I took my book bag upstairs. Before starting my homework, I changed into a pair of dry sweats, pulled my damp hair up into a ponytail, and checked my e-mails for the first time. I had three messages, all of which were from my mom.
When I finished answering my mother's frantic e-mails, trying to clam her as best I could, I decided to read Wuthering Heights – yet again for the fun of it. We were currently studying the novel in English. And that is what I was doing when Charlie came home. I'd lost track of time, and hurried down stairs to take the potatoes out and put the steak in to broil.
"Bella?" my father called out when he heard me on the stairs.
Who else? I thought to myself.
"Hey, Dad, welcome home."
"Thanks." He answered. "What's for dinner?" he asked warily, after he had hung up his gun belt and stepped out of his boots.
"Steak and potatoes," I replied.
"Okay," Charlie seemed to feel awkward standing in the kitchen not doing anything, "well, if you need me I'll be watching TV."
"All right dad." I answered as he left the kitchen as I continued to work on dinner. I found that we were both more comfortable that way.
As the steak cooked, I took the things that I would need for making a salad and put them on the counter. I washed and cut the salad and put it in a bowl. Once I was finished with the salad I took out plates and set the table.
"Dinner's ready." I called as I placed Charlie's plate of food on the table.
He sniffed approvingly as he walked in to kitchen.
"Smells good, Bell."
"Thanks."
We ate in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't uncomfortable and neither of us was bothered by it. In some ways, we were well suited for living together.
"So, how did you like school? Did you make any friends?" he asked as he was taking seconds.
"Well I have a few classes with a girl name Jessica and I sit with her at lunch. And there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly. Everyone seems pretty nice." With one outstanding exception.
"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid – nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off of the backpackers who come through here."
The way Charlie talked about Mike and his family reminded me of how everyone in this town lived on top of one another.
"Do you know the Cullen family?" I asked as normally as I could.
"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man. Everyone knows him."
"The kids...all seem really nice." I said, excusing Jessica bitterness.
"They're all really kind people. Everyone in this town would agree" He answered, "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon. He's really great at his job, he could probably work in any hospital in the world and make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued, each word expressing how fondly he thought of the doctor. "We're lucky to have him – lucky that his wife wanted to live in such a small town. His wife is a good lady, and a fine cook too. Dr. Cullen and his family are an asset to the community, and all of those kids are so well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all of those teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature – I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should – camping trips every other weekend and going away sometimes for some of the summer and winter holidays." Charlie said in an admiring voice, "I guess you could call them the perfect all- American family." Charlie added with a chuckle.
It was the longest speech I'd ever head Charlie make. He, along with the others, must really be fond of the Cullens.
"They all seem really friendly, but I noticed that they kept to themselves. They're all really attractive," I added, stating the obvious.
"You should see the doctor and his wife," Charlie said laughing. "It's a good thing their happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around. And let's just say that the male coaches sometimes have a hard time paying attention to the game, whenever his wife is out at one of their kids' sports games. Like I said before they are the perfect all-American family." I noticed that he didn't say anything to comment on what I said about how the Cullens keep to themselves. The isolation they seem to have, to some extent from the rest of the town/student body must be their desire because they all are clearly admired. Well I guess I wasn't totally right about all the people in this town living on top of one another.
We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I started the dishes. He went back to watching the TV, and after I finished washing the dishes by hand – no dishwasher – I went upstairs unwilling to work on my math homework. I could feel a tradition in the making.
That night it was finally quiet and I fell asleep quickly, exhausted.