Chapter 3: First Sight
It was the day before Bella's birthday and the sisters decided to leave her a gift. They got her a bracelet with a few butterflies on it. They wrapped it in blue wrapping paper and left it in her locker. The card read 'Happy Birthday, and believe in the Power of Five'. It was quite a surprise for Bella. She was also surprised that someone knew it was her birthday, so she had Edward sniff her present but he couldn't pick up a scent. Paige almost burst out laughing at that, but Posie put her hand over Paige's mouth. They were sitting in their usual table when Bella, Edward and Alice walked in. Posie had some of Piper's homemade chocolate chip cookies and orange juice, and Paige had some of Piper's brownies and lemonade. They sat down in a table opposite the sisters and began talking.
"I don't get who would leave me a gift," said Bella. "No one knows it's my birthday tomorrow. Edward couldn't pick up a scent. Plus the card was freaky it read 'Believe in the Power of Five'. What is that supposed to mean?"
If only you knew, thought Posie.
"I don't know," answered Edward. "But I bet those two girls, Paige and Posie have something to do with it."
"I think you're being unfair, Edward," said Alice. "They're very nice, polite and they're not intimidated by us."
"I think I'll go talk to them," said Bella. Edward panicked.
Posie's Point of View:
Bella was coming over to talk to us. I guess Paige and I will have to be as scary as possible to scare her away. My phone vibrated. I took it out and saw a text from Phoebe.
Don't you dare. She'll need you as her friends sooner than you think. Like in four more days.
Paige read the text and sighed.
"Great," she muttered. Bella came up to our table a second later.
"Hi," she said cheerfully. "Can I sit with you?" I motioned for her to sit down in the chair across from us. She put her tray down and sat. Paige glared at her and slightly sneered. I kicked her under the table and she stopped. We liked Bella and didn't have anything against her, but her being around us was dangerous. I saw Edward glare at Paige and I from the corner of my eye.
"My name is Bella," she introduced.
"We know," was all Paige said. We gave her one of our 'Witch' looks, as Phoebe called it, and fear crossed her face. After a few moments of silence, I inspected her tray and only saw a bottle of water.
"Aren't you hungry?" I asked. She looked up probably shocked that we spoke to her.
"No," she answered. I knew she was lying and my phone vibrated again.
She's lying.
The text was from Phoebe, again.
"You are not a very good liar," said Paige using some of her nineteenth century speech. Bella blushed. Paige pushed her box of brownies towards her. "Try one," she offered. I noticed Edward shaking his head at her from the corner of my eye. It was comical. He must have thought we were going to poison her.
"Thanks," she said. She took one of the brownies and slowly took a bite. She started chewing. "This is delicious," she complimented.
"I'll be sure to tell Piper," I said. I looked at Paige and she looked like she really wanted to be friends with Bella. She was just as afraid as I was about her getting hurt from being near us.
"Who's Piper?" asked Bella. Paige answered her.
"Our older sister," she said more politely. I gave Paige a smile that said 'Be nice and become friends with her.' I pushed the cookies towards her. She politely declined saying she was full. Although we knew she was lying, we didn't push her. I asked her another question.
"Why are you sitting with us?" I asked. "I mean, not to sound rude or anything, but everybody stays away from us."
"You seem like nice people," she said. "Why did you turn down every guy that asked you out or to the prom?"
"Because they seemed like love sick puppies," said Paige eating a brownie. I laughed at her answer. It was very true though. Bella laughed quietly to herself.
"I don't want to intrude on your privacy or anything, but can you tell me about your family?" said Bella stuttering a little.
"It's okay," I said. "We don't mind."
"We don't?" asked Paige horrified at the idea of telling her about our heritage. I kicked her under the table.
"Yes," I answered. "We don't." Paige sighed.
"What do you want to know?" she asked.
"How many are you?" asked Bella.
"Eight," I answered. "We're five sisters, Prue, Piper, Phoebe, me and Paige. That's the list from oldest to youngest. Piper's husband, Leo and Phoebe's husband, Coop are our brother in law's. Then there's Piper's six months old son, Wyatt."
"Wow," commented Bella. Paige laughed. I smiled knowing Edward and Alice were listening.
"You probably want to know where everyone works," said Paige. Bella nodded. "Well, Prue's a photographer for 415 magazine, Leo's a doctor, Coop's a handyman, Phoebe just graduated college and is opening a martial arts studio, and Piper works in a little restaurant in Port Angeles, La Bella Italia. You probably met her."
"I did," said Bella. "When Edward and I went there a second time, she was the chef that cooked our food. She came around asking if everything was satisfactory, and she was the only one that didn't flirt with Edward."
"Sounds like Piper," I commented.
"It's true," I heard Edward tell Alice. "Even if I couldn't read her mind, she treated me like any other customer. She wasn't even the least bit intimidated by me."
"Finally," said Alice. "Someone who isn't obsessing over you."
My phone vibrated. Phoebe.
Invite her to go to La Push with you two later. I need you to see if there are any wolves. I'll come with you and Paige will stay at home to make some potions. Meet you by your car after school
Paige, as usual, read the text and sighed.
"Bella," I asked. "Would you like to come to La Push with us later? My older sister, Phoebe, and I are going." She glanced at Edward who shook his head. Alice nodded though.
"Sure," she said stuttering. I grinned. Paige rolled her eyes. The bell rang and we got up to go to our classes. I was really mad at Paige.
"Why were you so mean?' I asked. "You were the one who wanted to kill somebody when she came back with a cast." I whisper yelled.
"It's dangerous to be around us. I want to be her friend, but I can't,"
"But you can try," I said smiling. She looked up at me and smiled.
"Thanks," she hugged me. Our classes passed in a blur, and, as soon as the last bell rang, Paige and I ran to our lockers, exchanged the books with what we need and what we don't need and then exited the school. Bella came up to us a minute later.
"Hey," she said.
"Let's go," I said enthusiastically. Paige laughed and we guided her to our car. All eyes in the parking lot were on us.
"Why is everyone staring?" whispered Paige. "We're not gods or something." I smiled and Bella laughed. I saw Phoebe leaning against my car. Every boy was staring at her. At times like these I was glad I wasn't an empath or a mind reader. Unfortunately, she was both. Next to my car was Piper's SUV. As soon as we reached her, she tossed Paige the keys to the SUV. Paige, of course, caught them with ease.
"Bella," I introduced. "This is our older sister, Phoebe." Phoebe held out her hand and Bella shook it.
"Nice to meet you," said Bella shyly.
"Likewise," answered Phoebe. I elbowed her because her nineteenth century speech was starting to show.
"Bye," said Paige getting into the SUV and driving away. I turned to Bella and motioned her to my Porsche. She got in the back and Phoebe got in to the passenger's seat. I got in the driver's side and started the engine. I heard Pheebs and Bella talk about some book, but I tuned them out. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I saw Edward glare at us and Alice smile at us. I took the route to La Push from the back trying to avoid the locals until we got to the beach. Phoebe was getting along great with Bella. I smiled at that.
"Hey, Posie," Phoebe said waving a hand in front of my face.
"Pheebs, I'm driving here," I yelled. She laughed and high fived Bella. "I see you two have become buddy buddies." I laughed.
"Yeah," said Bella. "You're sister rocks. It's like I can be myself with you two." I smiled and turned to look at her.
"You can you know," I said. "We're not like Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory. We may keep to our selves, but we do like company."
"Thanks," she said. "If I'm not prying can you tell me why you keep to yourselves?" I stiffened and so did Phoebe.
"We're dangerous," I said bluntly. Phoebe nodded. Fear crossed Bella's face.
"Why are you dangerous?" she asked. I was about to tell her that she wouldn't want to know, but Phoebe beat me to it.
"You'll find out soon enough," she said. "I hope." She added quieter so Bella wouldn't hear. So do I, I thought.
Bella nodded. I looked back and saw her still scared. I sighed. She was never going to get it with guessing. I wonder if the Quileutes have any information about us. Bella's cell phone rang. I guessed it was Edward.
"Hey," said Bella.
"Bella, you need to come home. Alice can't see you when you're with those girls."
"Okay," answered Bella. "I'll go home." She snapped her phone shut and looked at us. "I gotta go home. Edward's worried." We were at first beach now.
"I'll take her home and you check out La Push," said Phoebe. I nodded and got out of the car. Phoebe jumped into the driver's side to eagerly and Bella got into the passenger side.
"Be careful," I pleaded. "Please. I love my car." She laughed and nodded.
"I'll come back and pick you up," she winked meaning I was going to have to flame home. Joy. She sped off and I turned down the trail that led to the beach. I decided to run, because I would cover more ground and be done in a half hour. I ran until I reached the edge of a cliff. I looked and saw three boys flinging themselves off of another cliff. They must be werewolves, because no one normal has that much stamina. Three, that wasn't a lot. I decided to go to the beach. My phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and it read Phoebe.
"Hey," I said.
"I need you to run down to the beach, now," she yelled into the phone. As soon as she said that, I was already running through the forest at a little above average human speed.
"What's wrong?" I asked while running.
"A boy around sixteen is going to go into the water,"
"In this weather?" I asked incredulous. It was raining and the currents were strong. I picked up speed. It was like I had to save him.
"Yes," she answered. "The wolves will be too late to save him. You have to. His future is tied to ours and he's a future wolf. Hurry, he's getting into the water. His name is Seth Clearwater." She hung up before I could ask what she meant by 'His future is connected to ours'. I reached the beach just in time. I saw a boy about sixteen in the water, drowning. I didn't even think. I threw my bag in the sand and ran into the water. As soon as I was in deep enough, I dived in and used my ability over the water to surround myself with a protective bubble. In this bubble I was able to breath. I swam as fast as I could towards the boy. I reached him and found him unconscious. I pulled him into the bubble and swam towards the beach. I was lucky he was still breathing. As soon as I reached the surface, I dragged him to the beach. I have to admit he was heavy. I pulled him onto the sand. I started pushing up and down on his chest. My breath got caught in my throat. What happens if he doesn't make it? What happens if I lose him?
A cough interrupted my mental rant. I looked down to see Seth gaining consciousness. I breathed out a sigh of relief. What was up with me? It's like I had feelings for him. Maybe I was just protective because he was my innocent. Yeah, that has to be it. It's because he was my innocent. He coughed again and started to get up.
"What happened?" he asked.
"You almost drowned, that's what happened," I answered my tone a little crueler than necessary. "What do you remember?" I asked a little softer than before. He turned around to face me. As soon as my eyes met his, my breathing stopped. His eyes were dark brown and had this look in them that showed he was a happy kind of person.
"Um, I remember going into the water for a swim. I was only planning on staying near the outskirts of the water, but the currents pulled me in."
"And I pulled you out," I said. "How could you do that? It was reckless and stupid. You could have died."
"I'm sorry," he said. "Thanks for saving me." I smiled briefly and got up. I walked away.
"What's your name?" I heard him call out behind me. I pretended I didn't hear him and started walking into the forest. I felt bad, but I ignored it. As soon as I was in the forest deep enough and made sure no one was watching, I flamed to our house. I walked inside to see Phoebe pacing and Prue and Paige worriedly sitting. The rest were probably at work. They noticed me and came running.
"What happened?" asked Paige.
"I'll tell you. Just let me change first," I ran up to my room and changed into some red pajamas. I put on my blue robe on top of it and a towel over my hair and ran down stairs. I reached the bottom of the stairs and sat down on the arm chair next to the couch where Phoebe and Paige were sitting. Prue was nowhere to be found.
"I'll start when Prue gets here," I said. I heard footsteps and Prue appeared at the kitchen's doorway holding a tray with four steaming cups of liquid.
"Please, tell me that's not more coffee," said Paige. Prue laughed.
"No," she said. "It's hot chocolate."
"My favorite drink," I said. Prue handed us each a cup and I immediately started drinking it to soothe the coldness that I felt.
"So spill," said Paige. "Phoebe wouldn't tell us. She said it was your story." Phoebe laughed.
"Okay," I laughed and mock glared at Phoebe. "I saw the wolves, they were three."
"That's good," said Phoebe. "But with the size of the Cullen coven there's bound to be more."
"Anyway," I continued. "Phoebe called me and told me some boy was going to drown, that he's a future wolf and that his future is connected to ours. I ran down and saved him using my powers to fight the currents and I pulled him out. He started breathing once I got him onto the shore. Of course, I told him it was reckless and stupid and when he thanked me I smiled and walked away. The weird thing was that I think I had feelings for him. It was weird."
"No," said Phoebe jumping up and down. "He's your soul mate."
"What?" I yelled. Prue and Paige jumped at my reaction.
"Yell a little louder next time will you, I don't think Canada heard," mocked Paige raising her voice.
"If I were you I'd go get to know him," said Prue.
"No way," I said. "I won't put a human at risk," I yelled my voice getting louder.
"He won't be human for long," said Phoebe. "I don't know if it's going to happen or not, but I keep getting flashes of him changing into a wolf or shape shifter as Leo put it."
"What happens if he phases and doesn't imprint on me or if he imprints on someone else?" I said a tear slipping down my cheek at the mention of him imprinting on someone else. Paige came over and squeezed herself in the arm chair with me. I shifted a little bit so my head was resting on her shoulder. She hugged me. Prue came over and sat on the arm of the chair and held my hand. Phoebe came over and held my other hand.
"Don't worry," said Phoebe. "I saw us about two years from now, and he was with you, so don't worry."
"Thanks," I said.
"No problem," she said. "Now why don't you go get some sleep so you can skip school and meet him tomorrow,"
"No way, I'm going to do what it takes to stay away from him," I said and ran upstairs,
"You won't last long you know," I heard Phoebe yell after me. "Plus a demon is going to attack in La Push tomorrow. You need to there." I rolled my eyes at her. Typical Phoebe, she'd say whatever it took to make her visions come true. I slammed my bedroom door closed and laid on the bed. I stared up at the ceiling.
Was I in love with Seth? No, I couldn't be. He could get hurt around us, around me. If one of our spells, potions or powers went wrong or out of control, he could get hurt if he was around.
I couldn't bear to think about it, especially if it's me who loses control. I mean I could be the one who loses control. No, I won't think about that. I'll visit La Push tomorrow and check up on him. My family and I have excellent self-control. I'll just find a way to make him afraid. But, I couldn't do that. I would go tomorrow and try to find him. I wish Phoebe could get premonitions whenever she wanted then I would know how to find him. I'll take my chances with the beach. If I don't find him, I'll scry for him. I sat in bed and drifted off to sleep. Then dreams and nightmares filled my head.
