Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Kisses, Twilight, or any of the music/bands/etc. stuff.
I'm glad you guys liked it, thanks! The song for this chapter is The Day That I Die by Good Charlotte. I love them!!!
Bella's Point of View
One day I woke up
I woke up knowing
Today is the day I will die
This morning, I woke up on the floor.
Yes, the floor.
Apparently, I get restless when I sleep, according to Renee. She also tells me I sleep talk, which, if you ask me, is pretty pathetic.
I groaned, and rolled over onto my stomach. I was used to sunlight filtering in through my blinds (Phoenix, remember?), and so I was slightly disconcerted when I looked out my window to find clouds. Lots and lots of clouds.
Oh. Right. Forks. I grimaced as I pulled myself off the floor, chucking the fallen pillow and comforter back onto my bed. Groggily, I banged out of my room in barefeet, my messy bed-head hair flopping into my drooping eyes. I thudded down Charlie's wooden steps, and promptly collapsed into the nearest chair I could find, which was in the overly-cheerful kitchen. I yawned.
"Charlie?" I called as soon as I shook my hair out of my eyes.
No reply. I pursed my lips and glanced at the microwave clock. 7:00. Okay, good. An hour till school, forty-five minutes to get ready.
I suddenly noticed a little white sticky note attached to the kitchen table. I leaned over to snag it, being too lazy to get out of my chair, and brought close to my face so my sleepy eyes could read it.
Hey, Bells!
Good morning! Sorry I'm not here, but the station calls me in early.
Your suitcases are in the entrance hallway.
Drive your new truck to school today, and good luck!
----Charlie
Charlie's scribbly scrawl was rather hard to make out, but I managed. I sighed. Today was school, and I was wound tighter than an anaconda around a wild pig. Not the best of visuals, but the point is the same. I crumpled up the note and tossed it to the floor.
Grumbling, I heaved my body off the chair and shuffled to the fridge, lugging out a carton of milk. I set that down on the table and dragged myself over to the pantry, which was full of all sorts of dust, and picked out a box of Frosted Flakes that looked like it had reached its expiration date about a year ago.
"Great." I scowled and poured myself a bowl of milk, quickly gulping up the stale flakes. I finished the whole bowl in about thirty seconds. I quickly got myself a second helping. Maybe skipping dinner yesterday hadn't been such a good idea, crappy airplane food or not.
Wiping my milk mustache off with my wrist, I threw my bowl and spoon into the sink, shoved the milk back into the fridge, and thunked my way into the hallway, where my suitcases should be.
I sighed in relief when I found them, leaning against the wall. I quickly knelt down next to the closer one and unzipped the zipper.
About half of its contents came tumbling out onto the floor. "Crap," I muttered, hastily shoving the items back in. I left out a Green Day t-shirt, a tight-fitting long-sleeved shirt, a black miniskirt with tattered edges, and a pair of black and white striped thigh-high socks for today. Once I had successfully re-packed the clothes that had fallen out, I carefully scooped up my outfit for the day, and half-ran back upstairs and into my room.
I checked the clock on my bedside table. Okay, 7: 07, still lots of time. I started undressing, and suddenly remembered that Renee had asked me to call her when I'd arrived. By now, she was probably in a panic.
While tugging on the long-sleeved shirt, I slipped downstairs and grabbed Charlie's phone, dialing Renee's number as I started back up the stairs.
I called my mother
Told her I loved her
and I begged her not to cry
"Hello?" She answered on the fifth ring, just as I tripped on the top step.
"OW! SHIT!" I cried into the phone as I made painful contact to the cold hard floor. The phone clattered to the floor a few feet away.
"Bella? Bella? Is that you?!" Renee's voice rose a few octaves as I quickly scrambled up from the floor, rubbing my elbows and hastily snatching the phone up.
"Yeah Mom. Sorry, I just fell..." I laughed humorlessly as I continued my way back to my room, now taking extra care not to trip.
I heard Renee sigh in relief. "Oh, good. How's Forks been treating you, hon?"
"Fine." I said simply. I rolled my eyes as I grabbed the Green Day top off my bed, pulling it over the long-sleeved shirt. The miniskirt was halfway up my legs when Renee said in a hurried voice,
"Oh, sorry hon, but Phil's got a big game coming on, and I can't afford to miss it. It's two hours away by car, isn't that ridiculous?"
"Yeah." I pulled one sock up my left leg, to my mid-thigh.
"OK, hon, well, bye. I love you."
"Hmm, me too." I said, hanging up as I tugged the other sock up and tossed the phone onto my bed so I could search for some shoes.
Now, one might think my mother and I were not two close individuals. We hardly exchanged words beyond pleasantries, and our senses of style were complete and polar opposites. Renee loved pink. She loved pastels and cute things. Her car was baby blue Volkswagen Beetle.
I, on the other hand, adored all things black. I loved shady things and gloomy atmospheres. Not one thing I owned didn't have a bit of black, or at least a dark color, like maroon or dark purple.
But, I'd say they were wrong. My mother and I weren't on the same page; I was pretty sure we never would be, never I eternity.
However, my mother was by best friend. Sort of. I mean, I don't actually have any real friends, but she came close. And I was her little girl, no matter how different I was.
I walked into my closet to inspect myself in my full-length mirror.
Now, I am not vain, but I had to admit I had a pretty good figure. Nice curves, long legs, you know? Sometimes I hated the looks boys gave me. The looks didn't last long, however, once I showed them my true nature. I snickered inwardly.
You know the happiest day of my life
I swear the happiest day of my life
Is the day that I die
Okay, combats or folded? Folded. I thought as I rummaged through box of dusty footwear. I pushed away a pair of combat boots and quickly pulled on the tight-fitting, folded Converse Chucks. I would have to get some new ones soon... Two years is a lot of time for feet to grow, but I doubted I would find a gothic retailer in Forks... Much less a Hot Topic.
With shoes now on my feet, I dashed to the bathroom. The clock on the wall said: 7: 28. Still 17 more minutes until I'll have to ditch this dump...
Running a scraggly old hairbrush through my knotted hair proved difficult, so I gave up and pinned it out of my face with a couple of blood-red hairclips. I added a pair of crucifix shaped earrings for emphasis.
I grabbed my black cosmetics bag and put on a fresh layer of black eyeliner and eyeshadow. After hastily brushing my teeth, I applied some black lipstick and did the puckery thing to smooth it out. Perfect. I smiled at mirror-me before rushing out the bathroom to get my stuff.
Back downstairs to the suitcases.
Thankfully, I had remembered to buy some new notebooks and pencils, along with a stylish black totebag big enough to hold all of it. Unzipping the case, I snatched the stuff up in both arms and stumbled to the living room, where I dumped it all on a chair and started stuffing it into the tote.
10 more minutes, the kitchen clock told me when I glanced up at it.
Ten more minutes... and I was almost done getting ready. So why not have some fun? I grinned devilishly at my new-formed plan.
Leaving my tote on the recliner, I sprinted upstairs, thankfully not tripping, and dove into my closet. I dug feverishly behind the racks of clothing, until I found it; a box.
I ripped the lid off and rummaged through the box, which was full of all sorts of doodads.
A fang necklace? No.
A chain choker? No.
A bat bracelet. No.
A set of fake vampire fangs? Yes.
I smiled evilly as I held up the set of canines. They were the good kind, the convincing kind. Not the lame generic fold-over kind, the kind you can buy at a cheap Halloween store.
Nope. These were the good kind. But they required some sort of adhesive. Quickly, I dug into the box again and found some oral SuperGlue I had stolen from a dentist's office when I had been younger.
I applied a dab of the stuff to each of the teeth, before wiping off my own, real canines and sticking them on. I sat there for the required five minutes with my mouth open, now sporting a pair of fangs.
When I closed my mouth, they stuck, and hung over my bottom lip so you could see them. I grinned maliciously, looking over at myself in the full-length mirror.
I looked like a real vampire. The fangs, the pale skin... I sighed. I wished I could find a real vampire... That'd be so cool.
"Oh, crap!" I yelped, when I realized I must have been sitting, staring at myself, for probably longer than I had thought.
I flung myself down the stairs, almost knocking over a chair and lamp in my haste. I snatched up my tote and practically ran out the front door, not even bothering to check the clock.
Can you feel the cold tonight?
It's it's in, but it's alright
Darkness falls, I'm letting go
All alone, but I feel just fine
The cold, gravel driveway crunched loudly as I hurried towards my truck in the morning half-light. When I made contact with the rusty exterior, I flung open the ice-cold door and tossed my bag into the passenger seat. The car smelled like peppermint and alcohol, yuck. I found a car key sitting in the middle of the driver's seat. I picked it up, slammed the door shut, and jammed the key into the ignition, starting the engine.
WOW. Is all I can say.
The truck made a noise like a nuclear explosion when I started it. It was really loud! The engine made all sorts of noisy bursts as I carefully backed out of Charlie's driveway.
The drive to Forks High was very bumpy. The truck was kind of unstable, quite unable to go over 55 miles an hour, as I soon discovered. It made a heinous whining noise when I tried, and so I went back down to 45. Even Renee's Beetle went faster than this.
As I turned onto the main road, the sun had already risen, casting a bright light on the green landscape. The truck's clock said 7:54. I grimaced.
However, to my vast surprise and relief, the school came into view just a couple of minutes after that. It started at 8:00, so I would get there on time.
Forks High looked like an ramshackle hut. There, I said it. The crumbly brick buildings looked like a bunch of mix-matched houses all sewn together, like Frankenstein. Yes, Frankenstein High. I think I'll call it that from now on.
Anyways, when I pulled into the student lot of rechristened Frankenstein High, I discovered I was one of the last to arrive. A feeling of dread crept into my toes.
I searched feverishly for an open space, desperate not to be late on my first day. That would spell disaster.
I was about to give up and park in the prohibited handicapped space, when I saw a nice empty space next to a black Volvo. It was a really sexy car, the nicest one here, in fact.
I sighed in relief as I pulled up next to the Volvo and cut the engine of my monstrosity of a truck. I grabbed my tote, slung it over my shoulder and burst out of my truck, half running towards the front office. I only stumbled once.
When I walked into the front office, breathless and shaking, I rushed up to the secretary's desk, only to find a middle-aged, red haired woman dozing off onto her paperwork. She smelled like cheap perfume. I frowned, and prodded her shoulder forcefully with my black-nailed finger.
She woke with a start, knocking her half-moon glasses off her face and onto the floor. "Huh?" She asked, disoriented.
I grunted, and bent over to pick up her glasses. When I handed them back to her, she put them on and smiled a maternal smile. "Hello, dearie, I'm Ms. Cope. Sorry about that..." She mumbled, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
No duh. I thought, but answered in a sweet voice. "Yes. I'm Isabella Swan, and I just moved here from Phoenix. Today is my first day." I smiled a fakely cheerful smile, baring my fangs.
She gasped, her eyes popping out of her head. I was laughing hysterically on the inside, but I managed to keep my face collected. "Soo... can I have my schedule?"
Ms. Cope trembled slightly and looked me over for the first time. She glanced from my 'fangs', to my shirt, to my socks and shoes in a quick succession, shuddering slightly. I scowled impatiently and held my hand out expectantly.
She seemed scared. I chuckled. "Aren't you going to give me my papers?" I asked again, raising my eyebrow.
She gulped, but then said in a small voice, "Oh... uh, uh.. Yes, excuse me..." She blinked and shuffled through some papers in a stack on her desk, her fingers trembling ever so slightly. Apparently, she found what she was looking for, and tugged three sheets of paper out from the bottom of the stack and quickly thrust them at me, like she was attempting to feed an angry cobra. "Get the blue one signed by all of your teachers, and bring it back here when school's over." She mumbled, her eyes flickering around.
I took them silently. The first paper was a school map, the second was the blue sheet, and the other was my schedule. I looked up at her pale face, which was watching me carefully. I smiled again, making her wince. "Thanks." I said, sweeping out of the office with a wave and a wink. As soon as I was out the door, I looked over my shoulder. I could swear I saw her gasping for breath, like she had been holding it in. I smiled fleetingly, and looked down at my schedule again.
First Period: English, with Mason, Building 3
Second Period: Trigonometry, with Varner, Building 4
Third Period: Government, with Jefferson, Building 6
Fourth Period: Social Studies, with Collins, Building 2
Fifth Period: Spanish, with Montez, Building 4
Sixth Period: Lunch, Cafeteria
Seventh Period: Biology II, with Banner, Building 3
Eighth Period: Physical Education, with Clapp, Gym
I groaned out loud. Gym. I hated it. From the teacher, to the class, to the name, I hated it. I was really bad at it, too. More often than not, I would end up injuring myself, and/or others, with my clumsiness. I was still trying to forget the basketball incident back in Phoenix... And those uniforms... hideous.
Oh well. I set off towards English, my first class, in building 3.
You know the happiest day of my life
I swear the happiest day of my life
Is the day that I die
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When I found Mr. Mason's classroom, I was three minutes after the bell. "Craptastic." I muttered to myself as I pushed the door open.
A middle-aged, balding man was reciting the proper method of thesis statements off of a large orange poster by the window. He looked up when he heard me close the door behind me, and pursed his lips. "Who are you?" He asked in an irritated tone. He glared at me for interrupting him, and the other students were gawking at my appearance.
I returned his glare. "Isabella Swan. I'm new here." I replied in an icy tone. I saw out of the corner of my eye a girl with a mass of dark curls, whispering and pointing at me. I frowned.
"Well, Isabella, be sure not to be late to my class again. I'll give you a warning this time, because you're new, but take care in the future." Mr. Mason informed me stiffly. I scowled, and he huffed, but took a stack of papers off his desk to hand them to me. I wordlessly held out the blue form for him to sign. He took it and signed it with a flourish, returning it to me with scowl matching mine.
When I took my seat, which was thankfully at the back of the class, I scanned through the papers Mr. Mason had given me. Reading lists. I moaned inwardly, Bronte, Austen, Faulkner, Shakespeare, etc. I had already read everything. Crap.
The rest of the miserable class flew by. I ignored the looks I kept getting from the gathered students. That one girl, the one with the dark curly hair, whispered and glanced at me the whole time. She was obviously one of those gossipy 'Queen Bee' types, complete with the Levi jeans and Hollister hoodie, and Gucci, peep-toe heels. I gave her the evil-eye when I knew she was looking, and she backed off.
When the bell rang, I swiftly shouldered my bag and started for the door, but a pale, skinny hand grabbed my wrist. I jerked away and looked up to see a scrawny kid with greasy black hair and acne-issues. "What?" I asked irately, eager not to be late to my next class.
"H-hi. I'm Eric." Scrawny-boy said, licking his scrawny lips nervously. "D-do you want help f-finding your next c-class?" I stared at him uncomprehendingly. He looked like one of those stereotype nerds, lacking the glasses and pocket protectors, though. But he could be in chess-club, definitely chess-club.
"No." I told him flat out, poking my fangs out a bit more. He flinched, but before he could say anything else, I was out the door.
Not wanting to waste a second, I flew down the hallway like a bat out of hell, away from scrawny-boy, away from creepy Mr. Mason, and out the door towards building 4 and my trig class.
Now, I would have despised Mr. Varner for the subject he taught alone, but he was the only teacher I would have that forced me to introduce myself in front of the whole class. I stood there obediently, but sent him death glares that would have intimidated a weaker man.
"So, Miss Swan." He said in a nasally voice, "Where did you move from.?"
"Phoenix." I shrugged.
"Do you like to be called something besides Isabella? Izzy?" He yawned.
I frowned at his impertinence. "No. Bella."
"Bella." He repeated like a parrot. Some of the kids in class sniggered.
I nodded.
"Why did you come here?"
"Because."
"Why because?" He asked impatiently.
"Because because." I enjoyed playing with people's minds.
"Okay. Because." He pursed his lips and turned a little red, a vein throbbing in his forehead.
"Yeah."
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" He asked, obviously wary of my cryptic attitude.
"I want to be a..." I paused for dramatic effect, deciding to toy with his simple mind, "A vampire." I laughed inwardly as he gaped. The class gasped, and I smiled, showing my faux fangs and heading for my seat.
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By the time it was lunch, I recognized most of the kids in my classes. The scrawny kid, Eric Yorkie, was not only in my English, but in my social studies and Spanish as well. Lucky me.
The gossip-monger, 'Queen Bee' girl with lots of curls turned out to be Jessica Stanley, and she was just as snobbish as I had interpreted her to be.
I also had the accursed luck to become acquainted with; Lauren Mallory, who was nothing less than a bitch, Tyler Crowley, a regular, air-headed jock, and Mike Newton, the kind of idiot that only appeared in your worst nightmares.
The only people that I had met so far that were even moderately nice were Angela Weber and Ben Cheney, who were dating. Angela was a nice girl, plain, but nice. Maybe a little too much so. Ben, on the other hand, was kind of nerdy. He was still nice, but he'd be nicer if he didn't have a comic book shoved up his nose 24/7.
As I sat down at the over-crowded lunch table, setting down my tray of cafeteria inedibles, the one girl, Lauren, looked up to glare at me. I glared right back.
Lauren was even worse than Jessica. Not only did she have the snide, stuck-up vanity and the overpriced, logo clothes, she had the 100 percent bitchy attitude.
"I like your Halloween costume, freak." She sneered at me, causing the whole table to turn their attention towards us and 'ooooh'.
Slut.I thought, and coolly picked up an apple, rolling it around in my hands. I put it calmly back on my tray and looked up at her eyes, which were dancing with triumph and contempt.
I smiled my toothy smile, and in a fakely sweet voice said, "Thanks. I like yours better, bitch." And gestured offhandedly at her Abercrombie and Fitch getup.
She gasped, and the audience went, 'OOOH, BURN!' I chuckled.
Suddenly, I heard something. Laughter. But it wasn't at my table; no. It was all the way across the cafeteria, and it was loud.
My head snapped up to the boisterous noise, all the way to the other side of the cafeteria, and my jaw dropped.
At the farthest table from me, in the shadow of a staircase, were five people, two of which were howling with laughter. As if they heard me from across the loud cafeteria.
Which wasn't so loud anymore. Apparently, that table doesn't laugh often, because most of the students were staring, shell-shocked, at the table.
There were three boys, and two girls. One of the boys and one of the girls was laughing, while the other three stared disapprovingly at their table-mates. I noticed they were all extremely good looking, although incredibly pale and with purple shadows under their eyes.
The laughing boy was HUGE. He was so muscled and fit, he could have probably snapped me in two, if he wanted. He had dark, curly hair and a big smile. His laughter was loud and booming.
The laughing girl was amusingly contrasting in size. She was tiny, like, shorter than me! And I was only 5' 4"! She looked like a fairy, small and delicate, and beautifully slim. Her spiky black hair shot around in all sorts of directions. Her laugh sounded like wind chimes.
The other, more somber three, were more enthralling still.
A tall, lanky blond with a faraway expression and a calm demeanor sat silently at the edge of the table, staring at his laughing table-mates. He was still muscular, I noticed, just not as much as MR. HUGE.
A blonde girl sat next to him. They could have been twins, but they didn't look that much alike. She was absolutely gorgeous, perfect in every way. She had a great figure, and golden blond hair that fell to her lower back. She probably could have entered in America's Next Top Model and won, hands down.
And finally, the last boy. He was the one that caught my attention the most. He had bronze hair, and was handsomer than any actor or rock star I had ever seen. He was telling his table-mates off now, causing them to immediately quite and look around sheepishly. He was wearing clothes that accented him perfectly. A black leather jacket, an Aerosmith t-shirt, baggy black jeans accentuated with safety pins, and combat boots poking out from underneath. He had the face of an angel. The tips of his stylishly cut bangs were dyed black.
He was drop dead gorgeous. My jaw dropped even farther.
"Like what you see, huh?" Jessica Stanley's voice interrupted my gawking. She giggled, but it sounded fake. "Those are the Cullens, they moved into the Berkshire Mansion last year."
I gasped. The CULLENS??? Oh my God! "Really?" I asked, intrigued. They didn't look as preppy as Charlie had made them out to be... especially not the bronze-haired one, who looked the opposite of preppy.
"Oh, yes. The big one is Emmett Cullen, and the small girl is Alice Cullen. Rosalie and Jasper Hale are the blonds, and twins. The last is Edward Cullen." She seemed to sigh in ecstasy on the last name.
Edward. Edward. Edward. The name was so old-fashioned, but so stately. I liked it.
"But," Jessica seemed to sigh angrily, "Don't waste your time. Edward doesn't date; most people think he's gay. And the others are all incest. Jasper's with Alice, and Rosalie's with Emmett." She laughed cruelly, and I resisted the urge to hit her. Was this why Charlie was so uncomfortable talking about them? Shame!
I looked over at the Cullen/Hale table, and I saw all of their eyes were fixed on Jessica, burning with hate, and almost like they had heard her nasty comment. I agreed with them.
"Well, Jessica," I scowled, "I'm afraid I'll have to disagree with you."
She rose an eyebrow, looking scandalized. I assumed no one had ever defied her before, spoiled brat. The Cullen's eyes flickered over to my face in surprise.
"You see," I continued, "From your explanation, I gathered that each couple is not at all blood-related, so they aren't in the least incest. If they are happy, that's all that matters. And just because Edward doesn't want to date bitches, doesn't mean he's gay." I smiled wryly.
Jessica turned red for a second, and then white. She huffed, "Sh-shows what you know, fanged freak!" She pouted and looked like a mangy Pomeranian, her frizzy hair puffing out in her agitation. I chuckled. She turned away from me and started whispering to Lauren, who glared at me.
I sighed and turned back to my lunch. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper staring at me. He smiled shyly and mouthed, 'thanks', before quickly turning away and staring out the window.
After a few minutes, the whole family upped and left. Edward lagged behind just slightly, and just before he followed his family through the double doors, could swear I saw him shoot me a curious glance, like he was looking for something in me and not finding it. I saw his face twist into frustration, before he disappeared out the door.
Weird.
Clicking my black fingernails on the cafeteria table with a staccato rhythm, I waited impatiently for lunch to end.
The Cullens were curious people, and I wanted to know more.
Did I live it right?
I hope I lived it right
Did I live it right?
The day that I die
Done with chapter two! Chapter three will be Biology and some other stuff... like sneaking into mansions...
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