Chapter 3 – phenomenon
I was panting heavily when my eyes shot open in the morning. I had been here a week so far and had no nightmares – I hadn't even realised they were a potential problem – so why were they starting now? Why a whole week after leaving Phoenix?
"No, no, no..." I chanted to myself as I hurriedly fried the vegetables. Stir fry was the quickest thing I knew how to make, but it wasn't quick enough. I flinched at the slamming of the door as if the sound itself had harmed me. I couldn't help the small whimper I let escape through my lips.
Phil came into the kitchen and I could practically feel his eyes scanning the kitchen for his dinner... which was still in the frying pan. "Where's my dinner, boy?" I heard Phil say as he stalked up behind me.
"I'm sorry! I really am, I'm just stupid and I had to stay behind in school but I lost track of time and I'm sorry I just need a little more time, it's almost done I swear just give me five more minutes and I'll have it ready by then I promise you just-" he cut me off.
He was right beside me now his hand fisted on the counter next to my own which was holding the pan-handle. "Five minutes? That's five minutes too long boy, my dinner should have been waiting for me when I got home and now you dare to ask for five more minutes?"
I flinched and looked at him for the first time; I knew that glint in his eye, I knew it always meant trouble for me. I cowered away from him, leaving the pan on the stove – which was definitely not a good idea. "Please, I'll have it ready."
"Not good enough," Phil snarled and tossed the frying pan at me. The hot oil splashed all over me, the majority landing on my t-shirt and forearms with a few splatters on my neck. The frying pan landed on my raised arms and, thankfully, before it could burn me permanently, it dropped to the floor. I backed away some more, slowly entering the living room; Phil was still coming at me, my burning t-shirt was stuck to my front and suddenly Phil sped up.
He caught me by the collar of my t-shirt and spun me round and smashed me into the glass cabinet to my right. The shards fell around me and some were trapped between my back and the wall, cutting me even more as Phil landed a powerful punch to my stomach. He let go of me then and I fell to the floor, a prime target for kicking, Phil must have thought.
I got up from my bed, still lost in memories of that night. Mum had phoned at seven, saying that she wouldn't be home that night, she would just crash at work, and probably the next night since her shifts were so close together. I had almost cried when Phil told me.
I looked at my face in the bathroom mirror; I could see the ghost of Phil hovering over me. Keeping eye contact with myself, I took my top off. My mum hadn't come home for four days, including the weekend, and I had gotten a lot of my scars then. I looked at my left forearm, tracing the scar from the burning oil – it wasn't overly noticeable, just an area of slightly discoloured skin, but I had known my mum would notice it. That's when I started wearing long-sleeved shirts.
I couldn't go swimming because of the scars from the glass on my back. I couldn't feel the sun on my arms because they were scarred. I couldn't even change in gym properly because of Phill... I didn't notice when the tears had started, but they had and they were flowing freely down my cheeks. I looked at my ugly, pitiful body and couldn't help the look of disgust that twisted my face.
What Phil said, what Bella reiterated for me yesterday... it was all true.
I was unlovable.
Then I felt even more depressed. The worst part was, I didn't even understand what it was about me that was so repulsive – I had no idea why I made everyone hate me... apart from Angie and Mike – as for everyone else was concerned, I wasn't sure what to make of their gossip-mongering ways. I studied myself in the mirror once again, I saw my ginger hair and my pasty skin, but they were nothing overtly unusual and I saw my scars but Phil had hated me from the get go, long before I had the evidence of his hatred printed out like a fucking scripture on my skin.
Frustrated at not finding what it was – as per usual – I got in the shower.
When I got out of the shower, it was light enough to see that there was no fog veiling my window. I hopped over to the window and looked outside only to groan in horror.
A fine layer of snow covered the yard and whitened the road. But that wasn't the worst part. All the rain from yesterday had frozen solid — coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, gorgeous patterns, and making the driveway a deadly ice slick. I had enough trouble not falling down when the ground was dry; it might be safer for me to go back to bed now.
Charlie had left for work before I got downstairs. In a lot of ways, living with Charlie was like having my own place, and I found myself revelling in the aloneness instead of being lonely. I guess anyone would prefer being in an empty house than with Phil.
I threw down a quick bowl of cereal and some orange juice from the carton. I felt happier about going to school today, now that Angie was picking me up.
Thinking about her led me to thinking about what she said while dropping me off yesterday. I could tell they were meant to be kind, and at the time, I really thought she was paying me a compliment, but how could she? What was there to compliment about me? I shook my head, it was the damn nightmare messing with my head again. I was not unlovable. I had to keep telling myself that until I actually started believing it.
I heard a beep from outside and walked out the door, grinning. Today, I would be warm in the morning. It took every ounce of my concentration to make it down the icy brick driveway alive. I almost lost my balance when I finally got to Angie's car, but I managed to cling to the side mirror and save myself. Clearly, today was going to be nightmarish. The drive passed with minimal noise and conversation after Angie's giggling at my obvious absence of balance, so I found my mind wondering, it didn't go anywhere much and I ended up almost falling asleep due to the lack of earlier.
Although I did acknowledge that, once the hype about me being the new kid had died down, Jessica and Lauren weren't so bad... it was just that first impressions were hard to shake.
We arrived at the school then and was glad my thoughts had taken a more benign direction in time to face school and socialise. I wouldn't have to force a smile so much then. I got out the car, and looked towards the school briefly before almost slipping on the ice, I decided I needed to concentrate a fuck load just to be able I make into the school in one piece. I sighed and looked at my feet, tuning everything out because I knew that if I got distracted and looked up abruptly enough, I would be flat on my arse quicker than I could say 'ow'.
I was concentrating so much on staying vertical that I didn't hear the high pitched screech until it was painfully loud. But by then it was too late.
I looked up, startled.
I saw several things simultaneously. Nothing was moving in slow motion, the way it does in films. Instead, the adrenaline rush seemed to make my brain work much faster, and I was able to absorb in clear detail several things at once.
Everyone was stood with their faces turned towards me, the same mask of horror adorning each one – even the Cullens had shown some emotion. But of more immediate importance was the dark blue van that was skidding, tires locked and squealing against the brakes, spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit the back corner of Angie's car, and I was standing between them. I closed my eyes and cringed in anticipation of the collision.
Oh god, I'm seventeen and I'm going to die. I had only just escaped from Phoenix too! The irony wasn't lost on me; although why I would be concerned with that, I had no idea.
Just before I heard the shattering crunch of the van folding around Angie's car, I felt a sharp tug on my bag and I was falling backwards; my feet abandoned ship at the first sign of trouble and went flying out to god knows where – its not like they would get far, considering they were quite firmly attached to my legs and all – and I landed flat on my arse – not even time to say 'ow' – but this time, I welcomed it... even if I did crack my head on the ice.
Painful heat radiated out across my scalp from the place where I hit my head. My eyes watered as my head bounce back up and I pulled it forward, not wanting to hit the tender flesh again.
I heard a soft 'ow' coming from behind me and realised that I had also managed to knock Angie over – you know, 'cause she was the one that pulled me out of the way and shit – due to my clumsiness, which was about the worst thing that could happen at that moment since the van had curled gratingly around the end of the car and, still spinning and sliding, was about to collide with me again.
Only this time, Angie was in the way too. She sat with her head against the car, the distance between us and the van decreasing rapidly.
I scrambled on the ice for a minute and launched myself at her, rolling us to the side and out of range of the van. The van had finally stopped moving and the adrenaline left me shaking, all I could do was breathe out a relieved sigh and collapse – even though I was lying down.
"Are you alright?" I asked Angie in a low whisper as chaos whirled around us.
She nodded and looked up at me with big, grateful looking eyes. "Thanks."
We both sat up and the throbbing in my head – which, so far, had been quite dull – suddenly intensified and I started seeing fuzzy dots in front of my eyes. I swayed on my arse, but fortunately didn't fall over and managed to slowly get to my feet.
The ambulance arrived then and me and Angie were taken to be seated in it to be checked over – with me being the retard that I am getting into a panic over the fact that someone was touching me, at least my flinching could plausibly be attributed to pain. It turned out that both me and Angie had hit our heads and would need to go to hospital, especially since my head was bleeding... quite a lot actually.
We were taken to hospital in that ambulance while Tyler was being removed from the car, he would probably go to hospital in the other ambulance that was just arriving.
Me and Angie rode to the hospital in silence, the paramedic halting the bleeding at the back of my head and telling me I would need stitches. Looks like I wouldn't need the excuse of Halloween to be Frankenstein's monster.
We got to the hospital – which was really quiet due to the size of the town it was in, seriously, it was like a ghost hospital... was it actually Halloween and I had just somehow missed it? With me being Frankenstein's monster, Tyler being the bloody zombie all in a ghost hospital... Angela could be the cute victim. Then we were taken to the A&E department and were seen to almost straight away. I had to go and have some x-rays and so did Angie.
Waiting for the results would have been pure hell... if Angie hadn't been there; not satisfied with just saving my life, she saved my sanity too; because if I'd been left alone with Tyler, I'm positive I would've gone mad with all the apologies he was making, both to me and Angie – I had made sure he was alright I got annoyed at him, of course. He said he would make it up to us somehow... what was he planning on doing? Letting us almost run him over? I doubt that would make either of us feel better.
Finally Angie drew the curtain between her and Tyler's beds. "Good thinking," I whispered.
"Thanks – for the compliment... and for, you know, saving my life," she said shyly.
"You're thanking me for saving your life? Angie, if you hadn't save my life first I never could've saved your life! I should be thanking you – you should be thanking you!"
"Can't we just agree that we saved each other's life?"
"I suppose... Well, one good turn deserves another."
"Isn't that from..."
"Alice in Wonderland I think."
"Cool."
"What? Alice in Wonderland or the fact that I'm the only teenage male in this school that actually reads books of substance instead of playboy magazines?" I cocked an eyebrow in mock challenge.
"Er... both?"
"Correct."
We both started snickering then at the absurdity of the conversation until Dr Carlisle Cullen came in and Angie's eyes jumped out of her head started molesting him. I thought about nudging her and calling her out on her little – or not so little – crush... but I thought it would be mean to do that right in front of the object of her affections.
At least she didn't try to flirt with him or that would be really weird.
He dealt with Angie first telling her to take the day off school – while shooting me a few strange looks. Oh shit. He heard about what I said to Bella yesterday and is probably going to kill me... ok now I'm being overly melodramatic – he told her to go home and rest, but not to drive, and get someone to wake her up every couple of hours tonight – just in case – and she was free to go. By the feel of my head, I would have to stick around to get stitches.
After Angie had been given the all clear, she stood up and left giving me a small wave and telling me she hoped I would be out of here soon too.
"Now, Mr Masen," Dr Cullen turned to me, "how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," hopefully the doctor would put more stock in my opinion than the paramedic.
He walked to the lightboard on the wall over my head, and turned it on, confirming that I had nothing more than a lump and a bleeding scalp.
"Your X-rays look good," he said. "Does your head hurt? I heard you hit it pretty hard."
"It's fine," I repeated; it looked like the doctor would be just like the fucking paramedic, "Just needs stitching back up."
The doc's cold fingers probed lightly along my skull, stopping when he found the lump and the source of the bleeding. He quickly got to work stitching me up properly, telling me that after this, I was free to go. But I had to take the day off school – which I had absolutely no problem with – and to come back if I had any trouble with my eyesight and that someone should wake me up every couple of hours tonight.
I wondered if Charlie would be able to do that... Would an alarm work?
As soon as the doc stood up, I flung my legs off the bed and stood up, desperate to get out of this sterilized hell, even if I had to walk. As I took my weight onto my feet, I swayed a little and Dr Cullen reached out to steady me, holding me cautiously for a second before guiding me to the bed gently.
"Take it slowly, you've been sat down for ages and you've hit your head... Do you have anyone here to take you home?" he asked, concerned.
I shook my head, "I don't think so, and Charlie will be at work for ages yet."
"Hmm, perhaps you could phone someone?"
I shook my head again, "I don't have a phone and I don't know anyone's number apart from my old one in Phoenix."
He paused thoughtfully to consider the epic conundrum of getting me home and it occured to me that Dr Cullen is the nicest doctor I have ever met – which is even more surprising considering he's the adoptive father of the least nice people in the school. Unfortunately, I can't seem to stop that thought escaping me, "Why are you being so nice to me?"
Woops. I felt like such a fucking idiot as my stupid blush forced its way onto my cheeks; I really hadn't meant to say that. I expected him to get offended, but instead he just chuckled and said, "I didn't know I had to give a reason for being nice."
"Sorry, it's just that I've never met a doctor so concerned about a patient before..." I bit my lip to stop myself from blurting out anything else.
He chuckled again, "Don't worry," then he sighed sadly before continuing, "Plus I know you've already met my children... I try to teach them respect but they just won't have it. I'm sorry for any trouble Bella might have caused you."
I shrugged.
Then Dr Cullen returned to business, "Are you sure there's no-one to take you home? What about one of the people in the waiting room... actually, I think it's possible Chief Swan just might be here after all. Should we go see who can give you a lift home?"
I nodded and thanked him before standing up again – slowly this time – and making my way towards the waiting room with Dr Cullen by my side. I almost stumbled as a thought suddenly occurred to me... he was the first man I hadn't been afraid of.
"Edward? You alright?" Dr Cullen turned to me wearing his familiar concerned look.
Nodding I explained, "Yeah, just tripped over my own feet. Don't worry, it happens an awful lot."
He eyed me for a moment before turning forwards and leading the way to the waiting room...
Where I was immediately attacked by Angie. I stumbled back a bit as she threw her arms round me but was pretty proud when I actually managed to stay on my feet.
"Hey," I said as she let go of me and stood back.
"Hey. Sorry about that I was just glad to see you were alright too, I mean you were bleeding a lot." she bit her lip as she looked at me.
"You feel bad about that don't you?"
She nodded guiltily.
"Don't. Believe me, I'd rather have a smack to the head than have to be scraped off the road and carried home in a jar."
"Nice image," Angie said as she wrinkled her nose, it was kinda cute.
I shrugged, "It's what would've happened if you hadn't pulled me back. Just face it Angie, you're a hero... I kinda owe you my life."
She smiled shyly at me, "Wow, I never thought I would ever save someone's life..."
"Well, you did and you were awesome."
Angie blushed again and she looked so pretty. She was about to go, dunno where but I caught her hand as she turned to leave. I made sure I only grabbed it gently – I knew what it was like to be forced – and blushed myself as she turned back round to look expectantly at me.
It was a spur of the moment idea... which I was no longer thinking so highly of. But I was committed now... I had to talk. "So, umm... do you er, wanna go out with me? You know, some time when we're both recovered?" oh god, this was an awful idea and now I feel incredibly ridiculous and stupid. I am such a fucking retard.
I don't know when I let my eyes drop to my feet, but I lift them up to see Angie's reaction – she was just looking at me in shock... was this good or bad? With my luck, I was going to go with bad, I was working off seventeen years of experience here and that is some pretty strong evidence for the 'bad' side.
So I was a little surprised when she smiled widely and squeaked "Sure!"
I exhaled in relief and replied, "Great, I umm... you'll be in school tomorrow?" she nodded, "Cool, we can arrange a date or something then?"
Angie nodded.
"Oh, do you know if you car's alright? It must be some money to fix," I asked wincing at the mental image of what had probably happened.
"Well, the insurance should cover it and, since it's not my fault, any damage the insurance does cover, my parents will pay," she replied and hurried off to her parents who were both still wearing big expressions of relief over the fact their daughter was alive. I stood awkwardly at the side of the waiting room praying that no-one else would notice me, not that I didn't like anyone else... its just that my day had been full of enough squirming under the spotlight today and I really needed a break from the attention.
After a few minutes, I saw Dr Cullen heading over to me, giving me another of his scrutinizing gazes, it was at these times I felt like I was under a microscope... but still no panic. "I've called the station and Chief Swan will be over here shortly. Why don't you find a seat to wait for him?"
I nodded and sat down wishing there was a way of avoiding the crowd gathered in the hospital. Jessica and Lauren were the first ones to converge around me and launch into an interrogation, Eric was next followed by Mike and a couple of others.
After half an hour of waiting, Charlie made it to the hospital. He came through the door, parting the crowd easily as he casually made his way over to me. Watching his approach: long, purposeful strides, decked out in his police uniform complete with gun, heading straight towards me. I couldn't repress the panic welling up inside me, my eyes wildly darted around looking for escape...
Although, I already knew that I wouldn't use any escape I found; partly because I was a coward, and partly because people would think I was afraid of Charlie. While that would be true, the reasons they would conjure up would not. With such a small town such a rumour would spread like wildfire, the townspeople would become suspicious of the chief of police and even when it was revealed that Charlie was completely innocent, the damage would still be done. Oh god, it seemed excessive and egotistical to think that my reaction could affect the whole town... but I couldn't stop worrying about the scenario that just played out in my head.
Dr Cullen appeared by my side, "Ah, Chief Swan. Your son doesn't seem to have any serious damage, just a small lump and a cut at the back of the head, but just in case, it would be better if he was woken up every couple of hours tonight and obviously he won't be able to drive tonight but if you want to go get his car from school later, he would be able to drive tomorrow."
Dr Cullen looked at me expectantly, as if he wanted me to tell him where my imaginary 'car' was. I shrugged and mumbled, "I don't have a car," shoving my hands into my pockets and looking down where it was safe.
"Oh," Dr Cullen was surprised but tried to recover, "Well, I guess that's one less thing for you to do tonight, just concentrate on getting lots of rest and not sleeping for too long in one block. Looks like you had a lucky escape."
"Yeah, Angie was really quick," I agreed.
We left then, climbing into the cruiser which served to be another reminder that I had pulled Charlie straight out of work. I seemed to be so much trouble for a man used to living on his own, would he be mad that I made him leave work? I felt guilty and stared mostly at my hands folded in my lap as Charlie drove us home in awkward silence. It was depressing that I couldn't even make conversation with my biological father, it was even more depressing that I was physically afraid of him.
The day was spent watching sports on the TV: baseball, football, hockey... I started to wonder if the TV actually received any other channels. Charlie made us sandwiches for lunch, then ordered a take out for dinner. I think I even started to relax a little in his company; he had gone upstairs to change as soon as we got home and let me sprawl out on the settee, giving me a blanket in case I got cold. It was still awkward, but it was better than it had been.
As we watched the games, Charlie occasionally shouted at the TV as if the teams could hear him, it was quite funny actually. At one point he got particularly irate and I couldn't hold in the giggle that was bursting to come out. Charlie looked at me as soon as he heard and the panic took hold automatically, I bit my lip and my eyes widened as my body prepared to run.
"I'm not the only one who does it! You should see Billy and Jake when they're watching a game, they're much worse than me!" I laughed again with relief and at the jokingly defensive sight of his face.
I waited until the earliest reasonable time to go to bed before sending an email to my mum. I told her everything that happened, including the date with Angie and a promise to update her on how it went, but excluding the accident, she didn't need to worry about me; since I knew that a complete absence of worry was impossible, I aimed to keep the worry as low as possible. Turning the ancient computer off, I went to bed.
A/N - you seeing where i'm moving away from twilight, even though the plot is still quite similar?
and for anyone who's reading any of my other stories... im sorry! theres something wrong in my brain, i just cant write fluff!
last request, i promise:- review?
