Disclaimer: This chapter is dedicated to my very first reviewer: Crows13! Thanks for the review. I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to the people who've added this story to their favorites and added me to their favorite authors! Thanks everybody for the encouragement.
Chapter Three
The drive to the local Safeway was quick. I did the shopping back home and I quickly fell into my routine. I didn't even notice the rain that was pounding on the roof because the store was so big that the sound faded. I got all sorts of foods, staying away from carrots and grapefruits. Dad being allergic to the former and me to the latter. I also skirted away from anything that had to do with pomegranates. I loved them but they made my brother hurl, which was not a pleasant thing to experience.
I headed to the personal hygiene aisles and grabbed Emmett's list from my pocket. I spotted the means aisle and headed towards it, still studying the list. He asked for a specific type of axe body spray, body wash, deodorant, and shampoo. Something called shock. I shrugged and located it. Being curious I lifted the top and smelled it. I was surprised; it was a sharp but nice minty chocolatety smell. Definitely my brother. I looked down at the list and grabbed his razors too. Thinking back I remembered that dad needed some too, but didn't know what type they were. I looked down at the list and a smile broke out on my face. My brother knew me too well because at the bottom of the list was a list of everything dad needed. I didn't know dad used axe too, as the boys shopped for themselves, but apparently he used something called forest. It was a woodsy type of smell and I smiled, it was dad alright. My guys were so predictable.
I made my way slowly to the women's aisle still chuckling over my dad and my brother's predictability. Which was kind of funny if you think about it, because my brother was highly spontaneous?
I walked slowly down the aisle, looking for my favorite shampoo. It wasn't anything fancy, just an Herbal essences curly hair stuff that smelled like strawberries and crème. When I found it I grabbed two bottles. My long curly hair (yes I know Bella's hair isn't curly, but that's how I want it!) required a lot of shampoo. I grabbed the conditioner too and walked further down the aisle. I grabbed my herbal essences mouse and gel, they helped tame the next to impossible curls. I grabbed my dove cucumber and green tea deodorant and body wash and my razors. I walked to the end of the aisle then stopped, going back to grab tooth brushes and tooth paste, just in case.
I headed to the register mentally adding up everything in the cart. I sighed; it was a good $300. I was glad that dad gave me a bank card for when I went grocery shopping; otherwise I would have had to use my college fund. Not that there was much in there in the first place. I made a mental note to write down the cost in the check book.
"Hi." The cashier said. I looked up to meet the extremely curious blue eyes of a baby face pale blond teen. "I'm Mike Newton." he introduced himself.
I shook his hand and said "Hi, i'm Bella Swan."
He smiled "So you're the new chief's daughter." he said making the connection.
"Guilty." I said, smiling back at him.
"So how are you liking Forks?" he asked as he began checking out the things in my cart.
"I've only been here for a few hours, but so far so good." I admitted.
"That's good. I heard you have a brother. A twin, right?" he asked holding my brothers body spray. I contemplated saying that my boyfriend moved with me, but decided against starting any rumors on our first day here.
"Yeah his name is Emmett." I said as Mike finished checking out my items. "That I'll be $321.92"
I scanned my discount card and then scanned my bank card. I put the pin in and accepted the charge.
"So, I'll see you tomorrow Bella?" he asked as we loaded the groceries back into the cart.
"You bet" I said taking the recite smiling at him as I left
********
Once I got home I unloaded the groceries and put them into the newly painted cabinets and top of the line fridge. The yellow really brightened up the room making it look like the sun was shining outside. The pounding of the rain on the roof was a tell tale sign that it definitely wasn't sunny outside. The rain reminded me that we weren't in phoenix anymore. I put all of my brother and dad's toiletries into a bag, and my own into another. I set out three steaks and a few potatoes to make for dinner before taking the bags up to the bathrooms. On my way back downstairs Em opened his door and grinned at me.
"What?" I asked, looking at him suspiciously.
"Nothing" he said, feigning innocent.
I rolled my eyes and went back downstairs. I peeled the potatoes and wrapped them in foil, sticking them in a pan and into the oven. After seasoning the steaks and putting them in a pan I put them in too, setting the timer for 30 minutes. I sat down in one of the chairs at the small table in the kitchen. Only big family dinners, like on holidays and birthdays, did we eat in the big dinning rooms. Regular meals we ate at the small table in the kitchen. This same table had sat in our kitchen in Phoenix and I lightly traced the initials that were carved on each side of the table. It had been Mom's idea to end the fighting about where we sat by actually putting our names on the side of the table where we sat. It was a small square table. My dad sat at the head of the table, my mom opposite of him. I sat to my mom's right and Em to her left. I was sitting in my seat, tracing my wobbly initials, since we had carved them the year we turned 6. Reaching over, I traced my mom's initials. I shook them away. Yes the little dinning room table had its advantages, but mom used to get so excited when she had an excuse to use what she called "The Fancy Room." I chuckled a little at the memory before feeling the tears coming back to my eyes.
Knowing that I needed the release, I let a few escape before attempting to control them. I didn't know I had sat at the table for so long, so it scared me when the timer went off. I hadn't noticed that the room had filled with the comforting aromas of baking meat and potatoes. I carefully took the potatoes out and set the timer for 10 more minutes on the steaks because they were still a little pink in the middle.
I carefully slid the potatoes off of the sheet so they wouldn't burn. I had to be extra careful because being a Klutz; it would be just my luck to end up in the ER on our first night here.
I took the fixing for a salad out of the fridge. Opening the tomato package I chose the biggest tomato and began to carefully chop it in half then in half again and again until I had small chunks. I pushed them to the side and began chopping up half of the head of lettuce.
"Smells good Bells." Em commented, stealing a tomato.
"Want to help?" I asked.
"Sure." he grabbed the other half of the lettuce and began quickly slicing it. I pushed my finished lettuce to the side of the counter and grabbed the cucumber, slicing it slowly and precisely so I wouldn't accidentally chop off my finger. After finishing his lettuce Emmett sighed and carefully took the knife from me, quickly chopping the cucumber into small slices, and dumping them into the bowl.
"I know, I know." I mumbled dumping everything else into the bowl. Emmett walked reached over to the second cabinet and grabbed the croutons and Bacon bits, setting them on the table as he passed by on his way to the fridge. I tossed the salad as he grabbed the ranch for himself and dad. Then he put on one of the oven mitts and took out the steaks.
"Em, they aren't done." I complained. Emmett cocked his head and the bell dinged.
"Now they are."
"What are you some type of phycic/mindreader?" I asked jokingly.
"No, the only mind I read is yours kiddo, and I know you always put in the steaks for 40 minutes and i knew when you put them in. Its just simple math." then he grinned "Plus, I could smell them."
I rolled my eyes, "Where's dad?"
"Painting his room." Em answered, "He already finished everywhere else."
"Do you want to get him, or should I?" I asked.
"I'll go." Em jogged out of the room.
I smiled and took the steaks off the pan and put them and potatoes on the plates with them. I carried our plates to the table then carried the salad over. Going back to get silverware i stopped at the fridge and got out three Pepsi's. (I drank Pepsi to stay awake when trying to finish this chapter).
"Ooo smells good Bells." Dad said as he and Em entered the kitchen.
"Thanks" I replied sitting at my seat. For a while we ate in a comfortable and companionable silence until dad asked "you guys ready for school tomorrow?"
I looked at Em and he looked at me, then at the same time we looked at dad skeptically.
"Sure" We said sarcastically.
"Aw it wont be that bad guys." Dad assured us "It's my old school, you'll love it!"
We just nodded and finished eating. Time had flown since we arrived in Forks and it was already 9:30. It seems I had taken a little longer playing in the grocery store then I thought. I got up and carried them to the sink like I did every night.
My dad surprised me by saying "Leave them, you head to bed. Big first day tomorrow" I just looked at him.
"Go Bells, you baby me too much. Get some sleep honey."
"M'kay, night dad." I said hugging him.
"Night Bells." He hugged me back then looked up at Em who was leaning against the doorframe." You too Em, Bed." Dad said to Em. Em mocked saluted him and the two of us trooped upstairs.
"Night Em." I said hugging my bear of a baby brother at the top of the stairs.
"Night Bells." Em hugged me tightly, as if he was afraid I would disappear.
I let go of him and walked into my room, sighing. The silver stars and moon on my walls shone. The wind ruffled my curtains lightly as I sank onto the window seat, looking out the window. The stars shone and I smiled lightly. Mom loved stars. Sighing I quickly undressed, sliding into a pair of shorts and a tank top. I sank into my fluffy bed relishing the chance of sleep.
A few tears escaped from my eyes when I thought about my mom again. I missed her so much. Slowly but surely I fell into a restless sleep with the sound or pounding rain echoing through the quiet house.
********
"Bella" someone called "Bella"
I was deep in a dream about never-ending green forests so the voice seemed oddly out of place. I rolled over in my sleep, turning towards the windows.
"Bells, come on. We've got to go to school!" the voice called, slightly louder this time.
"Go away." i mumbled, flipping over onto my stomach.
"I didn't want to have to do this." the voice said sadly. Then out of nowhere Untouched by The Veronicas blasted from my ipod speakers at top volume.
"AH!" I cried sitting up, my eyes popping open.
"That's better." Emmett said turning the music down. He was sitting on my desk grinning like a fool.
"Emmett Alexander Swan!" I yelled as he laughed. I glared at him and jumped out of bed in a huff.
"Sorry sis, but we've got to leave in 30 minutes to get to school on time. Dad left the car because Harry drove him to work. He gets his cruiser today." Emmett filled me in.
"Ok, Ok Em. Let me get ready." I grumbled going to my closet. He chuckled and kissed my forehead. I loved my brother, he was irritating, but i loved him.
"How about this? I'll have a pop-tart ready for you when you come down." He offered. I grinned, he knew my weakness and no matter how hard i tried i could never stay mad at my baby brother for long.
"Fudge Sunday?" I asked
"Of course."
"Thanks Emmy!" I called as he jogged down the stairs.
"No problem Bellie!" he called back. I laughed; i had way too many nicknames. I headed to the shower, feeling a little too optimistic fro today. I showered quickly, the familiar scents of my shampoo and body wash lulling me into a peaceful calm. I wrapped my hair in one towel, and my body in another then headed to my room. Standing in front of my closet I grabbed a pair of light blue-grey hip huggers and a grey baby doll top. I quickly dried off, slipping my clothes on. Going back into the bathroom I decided to let my hair fall into the tight ringlets it normally did. My hair when strait was down to my waist. When it was curly it went to about the middle of my back.
I decided against makeup, preferring to go all natural. I frowned at my forehead however, because i could see the beginnings of a breakout. I would take preemptive measures when i got home from school today.
Shrugging i ran to my room and grabbed my backpack, phone, wallet, and ipod then headed downstairs to the smell of warm pop-tart.
"Dear brother you are amazing." i said sitting at the table. Emmett sat two warm pop-tarts in front of me then grinned.
"Yeah, I know." I just rolled my eyes, and focused on eating. I finished the pop-tarts in record time and Em and I headed out the door. I snagged the keys off of the hook by the door, since Em wasn't the most law abiding driver. I locked the door and jogged to our old beat up black Avenger, sliding into the driver's seat.
"Making you pop-tarts doesn't earn me the right to drive?" Em whined and pouted, like he did everyday. it was odd that everything felt so normal other then the storm clouds over us and the fact that mom wouldn't be waiting for us to come home.
"No Em, you cannot drive. You can't get a speeding ticket on our first day of school, it would make us late." I said as we pulled out of the driveway. Emmett pouted a bit longer but stopped when we got into town. Dad had told us how to get to the school on the way to get paint and I was glad, because if he hadn't there would have been no way I would've found it.
"Ready?" Em asked as we drove down the road towards the school.
"Not even a little bit." I answered
He grinned" I know how you feel."
We pulled into the parking lot and looked for the office.
"Over there." Em said, pointing to a small building with the word "Office" printed on the door. Taking a steadying breath we both got out of the car heading toward the office. It was cold outside and starting to rain, but we made it into the office before we got too wet. A red haired woman sat in a chair on the opposite side of a long counter that ran half the width of the room.
"What can i do for you dears?" she asked as she looked up at me.
I hadn't known she had heard us come in, but apparently she had. "Um, I'm Isabella Swan, and this is my brother Emmett Swan. We're new here and we need to pick up our schedules." I said nervously. Recognition flashed in her eyes as she studied me.
"Of course, of course." She said cheerfully, taking a few sheets of paper off a stack on her desk and handing them to me. The first sheet was Em's schedule so i handed to him, studying the second piece. The woman, Mrs. Cope i read from the plaque on her desk, handed me two more sheets.
"Just get your teachers to sign this and then bring it back here at the end of the day and you're all set." she said brightly.
I nodded. "Thank you" Emmett said. She looked at him for the first time and her eyes widened. I bit back a giggle, Em had that effect on people, but he didn't understand why.
"I hope you like it here in Forks." she said, noticeably quieter.
"Thank you." i said, moving towards the door.
"Thanks." Em said as he followed me. We got out of the office and with one look at each other we busted out laughing.
"Did you see her face?" i asked, gasping for breath. Em nodded, trying unsuccessfully to gain control of his laughter.
"Let me see your schedule." he said holding his hand out. I gave it to him and he studied it for a bit. A few seconds later he handed it back to me, grinning.
"What?" i asked
"We have 3 out of 5 classes together." Em said happily, holding his schedule out for me. I took it, comparing the two. He was right, we had 1st, 2cd, and 4th block together as well as lunch. I grinned at him.
"Well that'll make keeping you out of trouble easier." i commented
He rolled his eyes and lightly shoved my shoulder. I shoved him back and we started to laugh. The once empty parking lot had begun to fill and we decide to head to class. Mrs. Cope had also given us a map of the school was so small we easily found our first class. English was my best subject and Emmett's worst. Walking up to the teacher we both handed him our slips and his eyes bugged looking at Em. The teacher's name was Mr. Bertie. He quickly signed and handed back our slips telling us to sit wherever we felt the most comfortable. I nodded and Em rolled his eyes and we headed to the middle of the room, dropping our bags into the seats in the dead center of the room. As the first people entered it was apparent that even though Em got quite a few stares, I would be as much the center of attention as he would. I groaned in my head, dreading the attention.
"Hey Bella." someone said, dropping a bag into the chair on my left. I looked up to see Mike smiling at me.
"Hey Mike. This is my brother Emmett. Em, I met Mike at the Safeway last night," I explained to my blatantly confused brother.
"Hi." Mike said nervously, eyeing my brother's gigantic form.
"Hi." Em answered, smiling at him. After a moment of hesitation Mike smiled back. The bell rang just then and Mr. Bertie shushed the class, telling everyone to get out their copies of A Midsummer Nights Dream. Time seemed to fly and too soon the class was coming to an end.
"I want those of you who haven't finished the book to do so by tomorrow, as we'll begin a group project on Wednesday." Mr. Bertie announced as the Bell rang. Everyone jumped up and headed to the door. I got up slowly, noticing Mike standing next to me. I looked at Em and he raised and eyebrow. I just shrugged; I didn't know what was going on either.
"So Bella what's your next class?" Mike asked
"Um trig. You"
"World History." He sounded disappointed. We all headed to the door
"Maybe we'll have more classes together." he said hopefully
"Yeah, maybe." I answered vaguely.
"Bells we'd better get to class." Em said suddenly.
"Bye Mike!" I called as Em and I headed towards the Math wing.
"Thank you." i said quietly.
"No problem. You were trying to be polite but i don't think he got it." Em commented as we entered the classroom. We headed to the front of the room and handed the slips to the trig teacher, "Mr. Varner. Even if he had been an awesome teacher I still wouldn't have likes him because of the subject he taught. I hated Math, and Em loved it.
Mr. Varner did the unthinkable, he split Em and I up, sending us to opposite sides of the room thinking that it would keep us from talking. He was way off. As I sat in my seat I took the wall down between my mind and Emmett's. He automatically did the same.
All through the lesson Em and I sent our thoughts back and forth. It was an odd connection, the mind link we had, and we didn't know how or why it sprang up. Fraternal twins weren't supposed to be linked, but our link was stronger then the links between any identical twins we had ever met. Unless I had my shield up, Em had access to all my thoughts and feelings, to everything that was going on inside my head, and I had the same access to his head. All we had to do was access the thoughts and we could talk. We had gotten so good at it that we were able to talk to each other and other people at the same time while doing other things. We had even learned to ignore it, but not disconnect ourselves. The link was so much a part of us that we didn't even think of it anymore. It just was. We had taught ourselves to isolate our feelings from each other, but doing so made us feel weird. It was unnatural.
All through the class we talked about Mike, different theories about why he stuck around and if he would continue to. Emmett didn't like him.
By the end of the class I was trying not to burst out laughing. Em met me at the door and we walked to the cafeteria, ignoring the endless stares we both received.
