Chapter One
Rain, fog and various colors of green. These seemed to be the consistent picture while driving through Forks. It was a trip up the coast for the most part on the I-5, but being cramped in the car for nearly twenty-six hours it was a very long drive. The car was warm at least, mom, the ever steady rock of our family, was happily driving along the freeway. She didn't look her age, she looked younger than her age of thirty-five. Her curly brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the curls were hiding the hair-tie. Her brown eyes on the road. She wore a red zip up sweater over a green long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans adorned her legs and her brown boots were on her feet. She didn't look her age, surprising she didn't look older considering her job. She was an emergency doctor/nurse. She had her degrees in both which made her more universal, if she wasn't able to get a job as an M.D. she could easily be hired as a nurse.
Mom had been helping people for as long as I could remember, she worked long hours for as long as I could remember too. She worked long and hard hours to be sure we were well provided for. We weren't rich, and we sometimes lived paycheck to paycheck, and often we didn't see her much on holidays but we knew she tried to be there when she could. She was humming from the front seat to something on the radio. I didn't know the song, it had a catchy tune but didn't listen to the radio often.
We were moving from the sunny state of Arizona, Tucson to be exact. Tucson was one of those retirement states, where half of the population were either elderly or college students. It was going to be weird to be going from sunshine nearly three hundred days of the year to cloudy overcast nearly the same amount of time. It wouldn't be the first time we had driven nearly across country. It sucked having to move though in the middle of the year for school. Normally mom tried to wait so I could finish out my year, but this year…it wasn't feasible. They were too close on our trail, and despite the restraining orders, they were just pieces of paper and wouldn't stop them. So we packed up our Subaru and rented a small U-Haul trailer hitched it on, and away we went up the coast. I'd miss my friends in the sunny state, but there was internet, Skype, and of course the phone calls and texting.
Mom seemed pretty optimistic about this place, said this was it. The final frontier, we wouldn't be moving any longer. From what mom told me, this was where she grew up. She used to live on the local Indian Reservation, however there were no houses there for us, but they did find us a semi-fixer-upper in Forks, WA a twenty-five minute drive from the Reservation. Mom, by blood, was a Quileute, she was, and has been a part of the tribe since birth. I was as well, the Reservation recognized me as a part of the tribe and I was even listed as such on my birth certificate. We were under the protection of the tribe despite not living on the Reservation, it was a special circumstance case.
We had visited Forks and the Reservation every couple of years, but it had been so long since we had last visited. I was eight when we were here last. It still held the same magical charm it used to when I was a kid. Forks always reminded me of a magical fairy-tale place. Any moment you'd expect to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarf's cottage nestled in the woods. Or some mythical creature stepping out of the fog. Forks had that sort of magic all its own, and even now at sixteen, it still held its allure.
It was almost mid-afternoon when we pulled into the driveway. It was a two-story home, it was a paneled home painted a deep green with a brown shingled roof. The house itself could use another coat of pain and the roof probably could be re-shingled but it was cute. Off the back of the house I could see a large stone chimney stack, we'd never had a fireplace in any of our previous homes. We always lived in apartments or rentals that we paid month to month. There was a garage off the house with a covered pathway to the home, mom had parked just outside the garage. The garage was the same paneled siding as the house and painted the same color with brown shingles for the roof as well. It was pretty decent sized. Pulling my own curly hair under my dark blue pull-over hoodie hood, I stepped out into the light drizzle of the rain. I work dark blue-jeans and brown boots similar to that of my mother's. The ground slightly crunched under my boots. Mom and I quickly ran under the safety of the cover and to the side door of the house. Pulling the key out she unlocked the door, we scrapped the mud off our boots and entered the house.
Whomever had been taking the house for us while they waited for our arrival had been here recently, the house was warm upon entry and even the kitchen light was on waiting for us. The kitchen itself wasn't very big, but it didn't need to be for just the two of us. The walls were painted a light mint, there were cabinets on the floor that were a light wood. There were shelves at head height on the left and right above the cabinets. On the north wall there was a window looking to the backyard it was also where the sink sat, so whomever was washing dishes could look outside. The stove was on the west wall beside some cabinets that ran along the wall on the right side of the stove. The short wall for the kitchen before the doorway into the rest of the house was on the east wall, more cabinets ran from the window to just before the doorway. The shelves were above the cabinets on either side respectively.
To my right/ the south end of the room was our dining room, the far wall had a large window that revealed the front of the house, the empty space in front of said window would likely house our dining table and chairs that were currently living in the back of the U-Haul. The mint colored walls continued to this end of the room, but there was light paneling that matched the cabinets covering about from waist down. We definitely had to get some photos or paintings to break up the mint. The floors were tiled, light with splashes of mint and browns.
Continuing out of the kitchen we went into the hallway, across the way was a large family room, the room was carpeted in a grey carpet and south wall had two windows that revealed the front lawn of the home, that wall was painted a warm brown color as was the north wall. The north wall was long and quite empty, it would be a good place to put the television and photos. There was an archway near the east wall that was left a slightly off white with a window adorning it. That door led into a small room. It was painted a red color with the water heater in its own separate closet. But it had hook-ups for a washer/dryer. Behind me on the east wall were several of the same light colored cabinets for storage and a counter top for folding clothes. There were shelves at head height for extra storage. Back on the north wall was another doorway (with a door) that led into a study.
The study had hardwood floors that were dark in color, and the walls were painted a saffron green, but from the waist down were dark wood paneling spanning the entire room. Mom would be able to use this room as a study for work. On the East wall there were a few windows showing the side of the house and another window on the north wall showing the rear of the home. On the west side of the room was a doorway that led back into the hall. Across the hall from this room was a spare room, there were windows on the north wall of the room and more on the far west side of the room. There was plenty of natural light, the carpet was a light tan while the walls painted a soft sunset orange color. Moving south back towards the kitchen there was another door that led to a half bath, complete with sink and toilet. There was also a small window to let steam out at the top of the window on the west side of the room. There was some cabinet space but it wasn't a complete bathroom. It had a door that led back into the hallway. The hallway itself was large enough to where two people could move back and forth comfortably, towards the middle of the hallway was the stairs to the second floor.
I noticed that mom was no longer walking through the house with me. I climbed the stairs, surprised that none of them squeaked under the weight. The house was obviously well take care of. To the south of the second floor landing were two doors, I headed to one on the far south of the wall, upon opening it was a large room, there were windows on the walls revealing the front of the house and the side of the house where the garage was. The walls here were painted a lilac color and the carpet a light tan with flecks of gold and white. I could see mom downstairs looking at the back of the car trying to decide what was going inside first. There was a window to the west of the room that led to a bathroom, it was a full bathroom with shower, sink, cabinet space and toilet. This bathroom was painted an off white but the tiles and paneling were tan and had various sea designs on them. The toilet and sink were white porcelain respectively.
Heading back out into the hall with the door on the east wall, I headed to the doors facing the rear of the house, opening the first door revealed a room that I immediately knew was my own. The floors were carpeted and a light white color and fluffy, the walls were painted a mixture of blue and purple like the sky at night. The window on the wall across from me was a bay window. There weren't any other windows but the window was large and bright and even opened a little. It revealed the large expanse of our back yard up against the woods. It had a nice view. To my right upon entering the room was a bathroom. The walls were a light blue and the tile was white upon my feet and white paneling was around the room. There was a sink, toilet and a white tub with a detachable shower head. It was perfect.
The other end of the house was another spare room, we'd likely use that one for storage until we got everything where it needed to be. I heard tires upon dirt as I peeked outside, I saw a police cruiser pull into our driveway beside the Subaru. Although we had done nothing wrong, I couldn't help but feel a little trickle of fear run through my veins. Police and our family weren't exactly happy feelings. I headed downstairs and went beside my mom who was now talking to a man. He was tall and had brown short hair. He wore the police uniform with a leather bomber jacket with Forks Police emblazoned on the back with the Forks Police force on the back as well. The badge on his jacket revealed him as Chief C. Swan.
"Remi come meet Chief Swan," Mom called.
I smiled tentatively at the police chief, he smiled back, and he seemed a little socially awkward.
"I'm Charlie, the police chief around here, my daughter Bella and I live up just the road." He said gesturing wordlessly to road up a ways where I could see an old red truck parked in the drive.
They were far enough to give privacy but close enough if we needed any help or had questions.
"Bella's around your age, she's a year older, but she's going to Forks High too!" Mother gushed happily.
I smiled politely.
"That's cool,"
"It'll be weird being the new girl, Bella was the new girl for about a week, and it'll get easier." Charlie offered.
"I'm used to being the new girl," I mumbled awkwardly.
Charlie looked uncomfortable.
"We move around a lot," Mother offered.
Charlie nodded. He looked at our car and U-Haul.
"Do you guys need any help unloading anything?" Charlie offered.
Mother shook her head.
"This is the small stuff, the bigger stuff will be arriving on Sunday, Billy has some of the boys coming up from the Reservation to help move."
Charlie nodded.
"Good,"
Mom and Charlie continued their small talk while I began unloading boxes from the car. Forks High School was the local school, mom would have preferred me to go the school on the local reservation but they wouldn't be able to add me since the year had already started. Plus it was nearly thirty minutes away, it would be harder for mom to get me to and from school.
One of the good things about moving so often, mom and I had a system down, mom would chat up the neighbors and find out what was going on and I'd start taking the boxes in the house and setting them in the various rooms they belonged in. This was so much smoother than our first few moving attempts. It was almost an hour later when mom came into the house with some boxes and nearly everything was moved. By the time the sun was setting everything out of the car and the U-Haul.
"Would you mind staying and unpacking the kitchen while I take this back?" Mom asked.
I nodded. She looked at me warily almost.
"Are you sure?"
I nodded, and smiled what I though was a reassuring smile.
"I'll be ok, I'll lock the doors."
Mom nodded, she grabbed her keys and her purse and headed out the side door, I locked the front door and the side door before going up to my bed and pulling off my boots. I nearly groaned in appreciation, my feet had been holed up in my boots for so long it felt good to have them off. Back in Arizona I spent ninety percent of the time in the house barefoot. However, seeing as how Forks was a bit colder than Arizona I don't think that would be possible, I'd have to invest in warm fuzzy socks. Once my shoes were off I headed back into the kitchen and grabbed the first box on top and pulled out my pocket knife and cut open the tape and began methodically emptying the boxes and putting things where they belonged.
Mom and I had pretty much put everything in the same spots, it would take some time getting used to the new kitchen and the placement of everything but we'd get by. I was just finishing up the last box when mom returned nearly thirty minutes later with food in her arms. I opened the door before she got to the door and she smiled at me gratefully.
"I figured since we've not gone grocery shopping yet I stopped at the local diner and got something to go."
I nodded and grabbed some forks from the drawer and we headed in the living room and sat on the floor and ate out of our Styrofoam containers. Mom had some steak, broccoli, and a dinner roll with rice, and she had gotten me the same thing. We didn't talk, just ate, I think we were both exhausted from the journey. After we were sufficiently stuffed with food, we threw out our containers and headed to our respective rooms and rolled out our mats and sleeping bags. I pulled on my pajamas. A long sleeved white shirt and red pajama pants with panda's on them. I switched my white long socks for red fuzzy ones and climbed into my sleeping bag and lay in the darkness. I wasn't sure how long I lay there, but the sound of the drizzling rain lulled me to sleep. For the first time in a long time, I felt safe.
