Hey guys, so I'm amazed by the response to this story already! Thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites to this story! So here is the second chapter, my co-author and I hope you love this chapter too!
Don't forget, I can't reply to your reviews, if you have disabled your PMs. Really guys, I'm just amazed by the response! Hopefully you guys will continue reading this as we go on the journey, and we hope you love the changes to the story as we go along.
Disclaimer: We don't own anything just the ideas for the story!
Chapter Two
Bella got settled into her new home, which did not take her much time. Arlene's house was small, just three bedrooms. One of the only things that made it bearable was that Coby and Lisa shared one, so she had a room to herself. The few things that she brought with her on the flight were not all she had to unpack, since her father had shipped the rest of her belongings a few days before.
The first few days in Bon Temps were spent almost entirely at home or in Shreveport doing the paperwork necessary to get into her college classes. But Arlene would not let Bella isolate herself like that, so she decided to take matters into her own hands, to help Bella make some friends.
While Bella intended to stay at home taking care of Coby and Lisa, Arlene insisted that she already had a nanny to look after them. With no other choice, Bella was forced to accompany her aunt to work so she could meet the people of Bon Temps. She wanted to meet them, but with the experience of how it is to be new in a place and how people react, along with knowing how Arlene gossiped, she could not help but loathe the idea.
In the end it wasn't a terrible experience, but not the best either. Merlotte's was a nice place, very rustic. The decorations consisted of stone walls, wood tables and the couches were red leather. The owner, Sam, was really kind and friendly; to Bella he was like an adorable puppy.
During her time at Merlotte's, Bella met most of her aunt's coworkers. First there were the two responsible of the kitchen, Lafayette and Terry. Tara and Sam were the ones who took care of drinks and the bar. Then there were the waitresses: Sookie, Dawn and Aunt Arlene.
Tara and Lafayette were cousins, both of them speaking their mind without caring what people may think, it was refreshing. Then there was Sam and Terry, who were the loveliest men that Bella had ever met, sweet and kind. And finally Sookie, Bella did not know what to think about her. From what she had heard from her aunt and René, Sookie was not quite right in the head. She seemed pleasant enough and sweet, yet acted very strange. When her aunt introduce them, Sookie stared at her for a while with an odd face and then, out of nowhere, started to greet her warmly, smiling and saying she was 'just as cute as a button'.
Sookie also was 'dating' 'vampire Bill', the newest member of Bon Temps regardless of Bella, and was the sister of the ,supposed, cause of all the disturbances that took place recently. In the whole town, the hot topic was the death of Maudette Pickens and her supposed murderer, Jason Stackhouse. Bella, not being the type to gossip, would rather not talk about it, but her aunt Arlene had no such intentions. During every meal, the conversation was focused on that. Arlene talked of it outraged, and at the same time was trying not to mention it at all, to not scare Coby and Lisa. René, however, looked totally disinterested in it, just nodding or shaking his head for the benefit of his girlfriend. Bella could not help but have a strange feeling about the killings, as if there was something more to it. A murder in a small town and also related to vampires, did not sound good at all. She could not help the sick feeling in her gut that it wasn't over.
Considering she had nothing else to do for the day, Bella decided she might wander a bit and maybe have a look around Bon Temps to make her own first impressions, besides Merlotte's Bella had not seen much more of the town. Also, without having to take care of Coby and Lisa, she should get a job to fill her time.
Bon Temps was very picturesque. The place doesn't look anything like a town; the houses were far apart from each other as if they didn't belong in the same town, very different from Forks and Phoenix. The yards were not green, but yellow from the effects of the sun, burning all the vegetation. The houses were mostly white, with paint falling in chunks off of them. The smoke appeared to emanate from the asphalt and houses, as if they were on fire due the heat of the sun.
All of her intentions of finding a job in Bon Temps were quickly proven useless when Bella reached the 'center' of the town. There were barely a couple of shops, all looking deserted. After asking in some places, she finally realized that the only job there would be was as a waitress at Merlotte's, but that was not the type of place where Bella wanted to work.
It isn't that she didn't like it there; it was welcoming and made her feel comfortable. However, working as a waitress was not for Bella. While she was willing to change, she didn't believe that her poor balance was going to change too. Not only have that but the thought of having to endure drunks guys trying to grab her ass made her shiver. This made Bella remember the night before.
-Flashback-
Bella was sitting at Merlotte's with René and some of his friends. Arlene had dragged her to meet the people of the town and René was in charge of being her nanny. His friends were nice, or at least knew how to behave when necessary. At first she tried to be part of the conversation, but after a while she just gave up. She wasn't really interested in what they were talking about and did not feel sociable at that time.
Looking around the bar, a television caught her attention. Important news had interrupted the regular programming. "... A tragic car crash in to ... Paramedics ..." Trying to drown out the sounds of the bar, she attempted to concentrate on the news, it seemed to be important. "... Reverend Theodore Newlin, his wife, Yvette, and their 18-month-old daughter, Bethany, all pronounced dead on arrival at Baylor University Medical Center. There were a total of seven other casualties as well in the freak accident. Caused apparently by ..."
Suddenly, a sharp movement caught her eye. René had a guy in an arm lock with his face pinned to the table. Near them was Sookie, looking really angry.
"You wanna let go of the lady, don't you? Or you want me to knock you into next week?" René asked the boy, clutching his arm even more.
"Damn it, you're about to break my arm." The boy looked completely terrified, as if he was about to weep. His friends watched the scene without even daring to move a muscle to help.
"Apologize to the lady," René demanded again. Bella did not really know what had happened, but Sookie's face gave her an idea as to what did.
"Sorry," the boy finally said, sitting up and breathing quickly when René released him.
"Maybe you and your friends should find someplace else to eat, yeah." René added, moving away. When the guys got up to leave one of them gave René a parting look, making René talk back to the guy. "Do not look at me, you."
Sookie decided to interrupt then, she looked a little angry. "René, you should have let me handle that myself."
"Merlotte's is a nice place. And we all want to keep it that way. And besides, you remind me of my baby sister, cher. I hope to God that somebody will stick up for her if some asshole ever does her that way." René replied simply.
Bella had no idea that Rene had a sister. But after thinking a while, she simply assumed that Arlene forgot to tell her this or something, it's not like she had asked.
-Flashback-
Coming out of her thoughts, Bella realized that now she would have to look for a job elsewhere. Given that her father was going to send her truck, transportation wouldn't be a problem. It was better to find something soon, before Arlene tries to coax Sam into hiring her. Also, Arlene wanted Bella to go pick things out so she could decorate her room however she wanted to.
"Oh Bella, hi darlin, what are you doin here?" Bella heard Arlene call to her. Bella hadn't realized since she started walking that she had made her way to Merlotte's. Since she was there already, she decided to see if she could take René's truck and go get the stuff for her room, and if she was lucky a job.
"Hi Aunt Arlene, I was wondering if René was here so that I could go to Shreveport to get stuff for my room." Bella quickly replied. She didn't like asking for favors, it was enough that her aunt let her live with them; but until she had her own truck she had no choice.
"Sure, René!" Arlene called out, while they walked over to the table where René and Hoyt were sitting and eating their lunch. "Do you mind if Bella takes your truck to Shreveport, so that she can get things for her room?"
"Of course not cher, just be careful on your way up there." René told Bella.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful. I just need to take the Parish road and the shops are around there, right?" Bella didn't want to get lost; she wanted to make sure that everything ran smoothly while she was in Shreveport, not needing to get in trouble so soon.
"Yeah, but if you need anything just call us." Arlene told Bella. "Also make sure you're back by, let's say, 2 am? Is that a good curfew?"
"Yeah, that's perfect. I should be back way before then, but I'll let you know." Bella replied, while hugging Arlene and saying goodbye to René and Hoyt.
René decided to follow Bella out to his truck and make sure everything was ok with her before she left. "Are you sure you'll be able to get there ok, cher?" He asked in a concerned voice, he knew Arlene loved Bella so he wanted to make sure nothing would happen to her while she was in Shreveport.
"Sure, I'll be fine René, thanks for caring though." Bella replied, smiling. René nodded, and opened the door so Bella could get into the truck.
"Remember, if you need anything just let us know and we'll help you any way we can." René told her, as she started the truck up, nodded and pulled away. As she was driving away, she looked back at him, to see him turning and walking back into Merlotte's.
Heading down the Parish road, Bella couldn't help but think about the things that she wanted to get, she needed new bedding, a lamp, a trashcan, and a few other items, that wouldn't take too long to buy. She also wanted to find a good bookstore to see if she could find any new books to read since she always read the same ones over and over again. After about a half an hour she finally made it into Shreveport, and after another ten minutes she found Macy's, parked the truck, and walked into the store.
Bella found bedding in a red and black swirly design after a half hour of looking around, so she decided to get that. She also decided to get a light blanket; she was in Louisiana and it got really hot at all hours of the day, but she could use it at night if it got cool. After looking around for another half hour she found a red and black swirly lamp, a trashcan, and curtains, so she decided to get those also. She got a few pillows too; regular pillows, a body pillow, and a few throw pillows that she could lean on and decorate her bed with.
Bella left Macy's with a sense of pride filling her; she managed to find everything she needed to decorate her room, within an hour, so she was pretty excited about that. Bella's stomach decided to make itself known at that point in time, she realized that it was close to 7:00 at night and she hadn't eaten anything since noon, so she decided to get something to eat. Not too far away she found a little café, surrounded by a few quaint little shops. Bella parked the truck and walked into the café; looking at the menu, she finally ordered a coke and a ceaser salad with a turkey wrap.
When Bella got her food, she couldn't believe how good it was. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until she looked down to see her food was gone. Bella got up and threw her trash away. By the time she was done eating it was around 8:00. As she was walking out of the café, Bella decided to go look in the shops around it.
The first few shops she looked in were souvenir shops, and Bella wasn't very interested in those. However, around 30 minutes later she walked into a bookstore and immediately didn't want to leave. The bookstore was tiny, but Bella could tell it had so many different kinds of books that she would never get bored of looking through it.
The old lady at the counter said hello to Bella, and told her to take her time looking around because she wasn't closing the shop till 12:00. Bella noticed that there was a coffee shop attached to the bookstore that the old lady was running as well. She got the feeling that there was something odd about the bookstore; she just didn't know what was so odd about it.
Bella looked around the bookstore and before she knew it, it was already 11:30 and Bella knew she needed to gather the books she wanted and go pay for them, so the lady could start closing up the shop. As Bella got to the counter she noticed the woman was all alone, which made Bella curious about whether the lady needed help running the shop or not.
"Excuse me ma'am," Bella said to the woman.
"Yes, sweetheart?" The old woman replied, smiling at Bella.
"I was wondering if you needed any help around here, it seems like you don't have any help, and I'm sure this job can be tiresome, would you be hiring right now?" Bella tried not to sound desperate, since she really didn't want to push the woman, but Bella really liked the place, so she wanted a job here.
The lady stared at her closely as if searching for something inside Bella. The look was somewhat disturbing, but Bella didn't feel bad about it. "Actually, I am looking for some help, if you are interested in a job here?" She asked Bella, smiling like she knew something that Bella didn't know.
"Yes!" Bella accidently screamed, and then laughed at herself, along with the woman. "Yes, I am looking for a job. I can work anytime; the only problem is that I live in Bon Temps. I would have to know how long it took to get here from there so I can make it on time. Also, I just moved a few days ago; so my car is being shipped but I could start in a few days, if that would be alright?" Bella wanted to make sure she wasn't overstepping her boundaries.
"Of course that would be alright. We can work out the schedule later, give me your number and I'll give you a call to tell you when to come in. Just call and let me know when your truck arrives, first. Also once you get off the Parish road it takes around ten minutes to get here." While they were talking the old lady, whose name was Cheryl, started to ring up Bella's books, "Alright dear, your total is $41.53." Bella handed over $45.00, got her change, gave Cheryl her number and waved at her as she walked out.
When Bella looked at her watch she realized that she and Cheryl had talked for over an hour, as it was now 12:30. Bella knew she needed to get back to the truck and start on her trip back to Bon Temps. Bella got to René's truck; put her bags from the bookstore in it, climbed in and started the truck. Before she left, she checked the gas level of the truck and realized she had three fourths of a tank, which would get her back to Bon Temps perfectly. It took her about 20 minutes to figure out how to get back to the main stretch of Shreveport.
Bella passed by, what she thought looked like, some kind of club with all sorts of people going inside. The people waiting for the club were dressed strangely, she decided. About five minutes after she passed the club, the truck started smoking so Bella pulled off to the side of the road. She grabbed her purse off the seat beside her to get her cell.
"Dammit!" Bella yelled, realizing she left her phone back at Arlene's house. She didn't want to sit in the truck hoping someone would come along and help her, the road looked pretty deserted. With no other choice she decided to walk back to the club she saw, it wasn't that far away and maybe she could use the phone there to call Arlene and tell her what was going on.
Bella grabbed her purse and keys, and made sure the door was locked before she started walking in the direction of the club. After about twenty minutes of walking, or should she say stumbling, she finally reached the doors of the club.
"ID, please?" A woman said looking utterly bored. The woman kind of intimidated her, not that Bella was going to show that. Bella handed her ID over to the bouncer. "Isabella Swan, Forks Washington, 18 years old? Hmm, aren't you a beauty," the woman said, looking at Bella as if she were some type of delicacy. "My name is Pam."
"Umm thanks? And it's just Bella," she didn't know what to think of this woman, she also didn't know why she felt the need to tell this woman her preferred name. "Is there a phone I can use here? My truck broke down about five minutes down the road and I forgot my cell at home."
The woman flashed her fangs at Bella, "Of course there is. Here is your bracelet so that you can go in, just don't try and drink any alcohol, do you hear me?" The woman said, sounding intimidating, Bella knew she would obey the woman.
"Yeah, no problem, I just want to use the phone so I can get home."
"Well then, by all means go on in." The female vampire said to Bella, as she held the rope open. "Oh and Bella, Welcome to Fangtasia, the bar with a bite." With that Bella turned and walked into Fangtasia, as Pam let out a laugh.
Remember to Review! Thank you! Also does anyone know how to make banners, because we could use one!
