Chapter Four:
Pretty Girls Have Ugly Secrets
Chapter Song: Secrets by The Pierces
"Hey Aussie, wait up!" Mike Newton, my newly acquired boy friend said as I walked the halls of the jail also known as high school.
"Yeah?"
"What do you have next?"
"Biology."
"Man, I have that sixth period. I can walk you if you want."
"Don't you have to get to class?"
"It can wait."
"I like your thinking." I laughed and we walked side by side.
"So tell me, what's Australia like? Is it filled with Kangaroo's and awesome surfers?" He dreamed, but I replied with a laugh, killing his meant-to-be dream thoughts.
"The only Kangaroos I've seen are in the zoo. But, correct tons of awesome surfers. But let's see, how to describe Australia. It's the most amazing place in the world. The beaches are to die for, the food is awesome, and the guys are hot. Well you wouldn't care about that but whatever. The ocean is like anything you would ever see. So many coral reefs and the fish are so unreal, the dolphins swim along you, it's so cute." I giggled.
"Wow they come up that close on the beaches?"
"Of course not." I said, then stopping myself.
"Do you dive or something?"
"Oh uh, I used to go on boat rides with my friends and we would go pretty far out and just swim in open water." I covered up. Truth was, when swimming back home, as a mermaid, the dolphins swam right beside you. They loved us, even though they technically couldn't figure out what we are.
"That's sick! So you swim? Hey, one day you should come to La Push beach with us sometime this week? We all go body boarding, it's pretty cool. We could teach you."
"Oh, I don't know. The waters pretty cold and I don't do stuff like that anymore. Besides whose this 'we'?"
"Oh come on, we wear body gloves so it keeps us warm! The waves are insane. Wait, you don't do stuff like that anymore? Great, so you already know how to do it. And the we is me, Angela Weber, Jessica Stanley, Eric Yorkie, Tyler Crowley, and a few other people in our class."
"One problem, don't know any of them." I awkwardly commented, switching away from the subject of the beach since in my secretive reasons, I couldn't get wet.
"You'll meet them at lunch today. I'll meet you at your last period class, what is it?"
"Oh wow, thanks. It's Study Period, don't know wh—"
"Don't worry, right around the hallway from my class."
'Right, or you can find it." I nodded.
"Bio's right there. See you later Ariana." He waved and pointed to the door two steps ahead of me. I walked into the large room equipped with every sort of lab equipment known to man, a dozen lab tables with two seats to each desk, a white board, and an overhead projector. A curly haired middle-aged man stood with his back to the class at the board writing notes down with his black Expo marker. While walking in the middle of the sets of desks, a hand grabbed my wrist and I snapped my body around.
"Hey." A long haired asian boy greeted and took his hand away from me.
"Hi…" My voice trailed off.
"You're Ariana Uley, right?" He questioned, blinking his brown eyes to me.
"Uh yeah, how'd you know that?"
"Yeah, how'd you know that?" I suspiciously asked.
"When there's a new girl, everyone knows." He laughed.
"Great, I'm already the talk of the school." I huffed, rolling my eyes.
"I'm Eric Yorkie."
"Oh, you're Mike's friend, right? He mentioned you earlier."
"Yeah! Whatever he said, it's a lie!"
"He said you we're going to La Push or something, you can calm down."
"Ha-Ha, right. Anyway, are you in this class?"
"Yup, that's why I'm here."
"Great! Don't worry about Mr. Molina, he's harmless."
"Good to know. I'll see you around."
"Come sit with us at lunch later, you'll know me and Mike. But if you need anything else, study buddy, lunch date, anything, just ask me."
"Thanks." I nodded, barley listening and walked to the teacher. More and more students filled the room each second past.
"Excuse me, Mr. Molina." I said impatiently after waiting a few seconds for him to turn around.
"Yes…oh how can I help you miss?" Ugh, here we go again!
"Yeah, I'm in your class. I'm new here—"
"Ah yes! Adrianna was it? I'm Mr. Molina."
"Ariana, but close."
"Sorry. Nice to meet you."
"Like wise."
"You can take your seat next to Alice in the fourth row." He pointed to a short, pale, girl with a sparkly backpack.
"Okay." I turned back around and took a seat. The girl was pale, almost to pale for someone who lived in a place with no sunshine. All the other people here weren't even as pale as her. She had had short, black hair that spiked out in different direction. Her eyes Her eyes were a golden color. They were so unusual. She was wearing dark blue skinny jeans that accented her tiny figure. Her Michael Kors Sequined tank glittered off the fluorescents on the ceiling. On top of her sparkly shirt was a casual black blazer. Her catwalk84 mesh studded ankle boots with a six-inch heel made her look way taller than she actually was. She was at most 5 feet tall, not any taller possibly shorter. I noticed her from the parking lot. She was one of the girls from the group in the cars that Jake was…growling at.
"Hi! I'm Alice. You're new here?" I've never heard a person so happy the second period of the day.
"Yeah. I'm Ariana."
"You're pretty tan. Where are you from?" She sat down in her seat. Alice was stick thin but she was muscular, damn she was lucky.
"Gold Coast, Australia. And thanks, I guess I'm tan compared to people here." I chuckled. The thought of loosing my tan day by day killed me. I loved sun bathing and how it felt. Falling asleep basking in the sun on the quiet beaches of Mako Island was my favorite past time. It was so easy to just slip into a calm state of sleepiness on Mako's sand, the regular beaches on shore were crowded and loud. Silently I sighed, I missed Mako.
"Australia? I've always wanted to go there! Is it amazing as it looks?"
"More amazing than any picture can display." I chuckled.
"Sounds wonderful. I just noticed, you don't have an accent. Why's that?"
"Oh, I'm not from Australia. I'm actually from here in the states. But I've moved all over the world because of my mom's job. I've just lived in Australia for the past three years."
"Wow. Where else have you been?"
"Uh, Hawaii, North Carolina, and Italy."
"I love Italy! They have the best shopping."
"Yeah, it was pretty awesome. Italy was one of my favorites. There food was to die for. The streets that had all the restaurants smelled absolutely amazing."
"Agreed. Speaking of things smelling amazing, you smell really good."
"Huh? Oh thanks, it's Marc Jacobs." Well, that was a weird compliment since I just met her.
"No problem. So how do you like Forks so far? It must be a huge change from Australia."
"It's a major change. I don't really like it. I hate the rain." I looked out the window behind Alice, it had started to drizzle. The rain better stop by lunch, because if not, I'm totally screwed. At least all my classes were in the same building.
"Really? Why?"
"It's just so dreary." I lied. Yeah the rain is dreary, but the old Ariana, the one who wasn't a mermaid, would have loved it. When I was little, even in my early teenage years, I played out in the streets while it poured, splashing my feet in the puddles.
"You probably should get used to it. Forks is almost always under a constant cloud cover. But to look on the bright side, there always is the occasional day that is bright and sunny. If it gets hot enough it's enjoyable."
"Well, I can't wait for days like that." I sighed, staring out the window. Raindrops dripped down, blurring the window's view.
"Hey Aussie! Wait up." A voice called from behind me. Turning around, I spotted Mike winding his way in between people in the crowded hallway. Once he got to me, he smiled, letting out a big breath.
"Hey Mike." I smiled. I was happy for two reasons: the day was so close to being over, and it had stopped raining.
"I was picking you up at Study Hall, remember?"
"Right! Oh god, I'm sorry I forgot."
"Don't worry, I got you." He winked, and we walked to lunch. Standing around a circular lunch table, I felt a dozen eyes staring at me. There were three girls sitting at the tale with two guys. They looked at Mike, then to me. I noticed Eric, the super smart Asian from my Bio class, but I didn't notice anyone else.
"Hey Mike." The black haired girl with glasses was the first to speak up.
"Hey guys. This is Ariana. She's from Australia." Mike introduced me. A chorus of hellos followed. I took a seat next to Eric and a girl with wavy brown hair. Her skin wasn't as pale as everyone else's, but I was the slightest bit tanner. And I wasn't even the tannest person in Australia.
"Mikey! You met my girl Ariana." Eric laughed, high fiving his buddy.
"Dude, I didn't know you knew her." He laughed.
"Wow, it's like having Bella all over again." The girl next to me scooted closer, "I'm Jessica." She smiled.
"Ariana." I nodded my head, throwing my backpack to the ground.
"Well I see you've met dumb and dumber over there. That's Angela Weber,"
"Hi!" Angela smiled at me. I greeted her.
"Over there is Tyler Crowley and that's Lauren Mallory." She pointed from the African American boy I spotted earlier and then to a girl with silky blonde hair and blue eyes. Tyler said hello to me while Lauren sneered me, not even bothering to say hello. Feeling left out since everyone else had already began eating; I pulled out a brown paper bag from my backpack and began eating a granola bar. Carefully, I unscrewed my water and put a straw in it. In the corner of my eye, I saw Lauren look at me strangely. After a while of talking about Australia and myself since every at the table, excluding Lauren, was so fascinated with it, I got bored. Looking across the table at Mike, I spotted Alice sitting all the way in the back next to a window with five other people, only one of them eating. She caught me staring and waved her hand, I waved back. Then she motioned for me to come over.
"I'll be right back." I said to Angela, who just commented on something I had said before. I got up and walked over to the table Alice was sitting at. She placed her phone down on the table.
"Ariana! I wanted you to meet my family. This is Jasper, my boyfriend. That's Rosalie and Emmett, and that's Edward and Bella Swan." She pointed from person to person. Rosalie looked at me with the same face Lauren had given me minutes ago. She looked like one of the classic jerks you had. She had flawless skin, perfect blonde hair, and the same golden eyes that Alice had. The boy she sat next to, Emmett, was big and muscular with short brown hair. He also had the same eyes. I looked back to Jasper, his curly light brown hair fell in his face. He blinked his golden eyes. Then my attention went back to Edward. He had a chiseled face, golden eyes, and bronze colored hair. They all had the same pale skin and golden eyes. Maybe it was hereditary. Then my attention turned to Bella. She had long brown hair, brown eyes, and slightly darker skin then them. She looked like your regular plain Jane, wearing a black plaid shirt and dark jeans with beat up converses.
"Hey." I greeted all of them.
"Hi." Bella shyly said. The rest of them said hi, all of them except Rosalie.
"Well I probably should go back, I'll see you guys later." I smiled and awkwardly walked back to my seat.
"Oh god, we're already loosing her to the Cullens!" Eric huffed. I looked at him strangely, not exactly understanding what he was talking about.
"Were you just talking to Alice Cullen?"
"Yeah. Why, do you know her?"
"I know of her."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know, Bella the brown haired one next to Edward, she used to hang out with us—" Angela started.
"And deserted us for the Cullen's. She only hangs out with them. She's so secretive. I don't trust her." Jessica finished.
"You don't trust her? Why?"
"I don't trust pretty girls like her, they have ugly secrets." Jessica said. My heart stopped. Was Jessica going to trust me? My secret wasn't ugly, it was just an unusual one. But we did do some pretty ugly things on full moons, so was my secret ugly? It didn't matter; she wasn't ever going to find out.
"So you don't trust any girl that's pretty?" I let out a fake laugh, like I wasn't hiding something.
"Yup, exactly. I wouldn't even trust someone like you, for all I know you could be hiding something," she laughed, "but I do. God sakes, if I was someone else I wouldn't even trust me. But I do trust myself, and I trust you. But I don't trust most people, like Bella for instance. I know she's hiding a secret, you can basically see it on her face. And the fact that she doesn't even talk to anyone but them, it's like those things on TV where the killers brainwash the victim, the victims totally Bella." Even though inside, my heart was racing and my blood was pumping over the limit in my ears, I still kept a calm expression on my face.
"That's so funny. I doubt she's brainwashed. She seems pretty normal. And I get that you don't trust people. The worlds pretty cruel." I admitted.
"Totally agreed." Angela overheard.
"Jessica's just over dramatic as usual. Bella's not pretty and she definitely doesn't have a secret. What is she? A psycho clown killer? Bella's just annoying and weird, something Jessica's heading to be. And why is she even bothering befriending the new girl, she's just as weird. " Lauren whispered to Tyler, I was close enough to catch it. Tyler rolled his eyes, shook his head disapprovingly, and took his tray up to be thrown away. I frowned, Lauren was the Miriam of the school. Discreetly tucking a hand under my arm, I balled it up into a fist, pointing at Lauren's drink. She looked at her clear plastic cup, the coke bubbling uncontrollably. Then, it exploded in her face. She screamed, and the cafeteria went silent. Everyone was looking at her. Most pointed and laughed quietly among themselves, others were shocked.
"Ugh! What the hell!" She yelled, the plastic cup rolling off the table and bouncing onto the floor. Coke dripped from her hair and down her face. Her mascara began to run.
"Lauren, what—" Jessica asked, shocked.
"Don't even! The coke, it's hot! Which one of you did this?" She pointed her finger around the table.
"Laur, I don't think any of us could have done that…" Tyler, who had came back to the table just in time for her to ask the last question, awkwardly added. Lauren loudly groaned, picked up her tote bag and swung it around her arm, and stormed out of the cafeteria. All six of us looked at each other awkwardly.
"That was weird." I covered up.
"Very." Jessica pouted out her bottom lip. Later on during lunch, Jessica and Angela explained that all the Cullen's were adopted, and they were all dating each other. So now I didn't find it as weird as I did when she told me.
The last bell of the day rang, letting me out of English. As quick as the bell took to finish ringing, three fourths of the students in the class were already heading out the door and to their cars. Left were the three geeks who stayed after to ask questions about the lecture the teacher had given, the one kid who fell asleep and had just woken up, and me. Well, now since I was out the door, minus me. I followed the winding sidewalk to the streets and began walking home. As much as I had the urge to go explore the dense forests. Occasionally there would be openings that would show how beautiful the forest actually looked. I wasn't the nature loving-tree hugging type of girl, but how could people not appreciate how amazing these forests were? Maybe living in this run down old little town would be that bad. Overhead, the skies were overcast and turning a dark shade of blue, meaning a storm was coming. And as if it was right on queue, a clap of thunder r, but I didn't seem to close. I knew this wasn't good for me, because the heavy clouds were filled with rain. Walking quicker, I ended up getting myself lost. Mentally, I smacked myself in the head. Of course I was going to get lost, I didn't even know how to get home from here! When we were in the car, it didn't seem like such a struggle, but now with the minutes counting down to how much longer it would be until it started raining, it was going to be a problem. The thoughts of just calling Sam, Emily, or Jake popped into my mind multiple times, but then when I thought about it, if it started raining while I was in the car with them, they would force me to get out and into the house, and everything would backfire and my secret would be exposed. Six and a half minutes later, I stopped in my tracks. Somehow I was to deep in my own thoughts to realize that I had ended up on a familiar street not to far from the house. A flash of lightning appeared over the skyline of trees, and thunder followed. Picking up my pace, I noticed I had gotten on a path between the forests. Not a huge forest, it was more like those little nature walks back home. In between the tree's I noticed the pathway to the house, so I hopped off the path and ran to the house. Once it was in sight, a little pressure lifted. I saw Sam's car in the driveway, along with Jacob's, and another extremely old, red, Chevy pickup that was in dire need of a paint job. Maybe Emily had to rent a car or something, or maybe it's one the guys. Who else would be here? Lightning flashed overhead, and I felt a drizzle of rain hit my arm. Quickly, as I ran up the driveway, I rubbed my arm with the end of my shirt, getting the water off of it so I didn't change on the porch. The second I was on the porch, the drizzling came down harder. Phew, that was way to close. I opened the unlocked door and threw my bag against the bottom of the stairs.
"Sam, I'm home." I called. I didn't get a reply from anyone, but I could here faint talking from the kitchen.
"Are you sure? There's nothing that could link them?" An unfamiliar voice quietly spoke in the kitchen.
"I'm sure." Jacob's voice said in the same exact tone.
"He said she was different then you guys." The girls voice spoke. As quietly as I could, I made my way into the kitchen and looked at the girl. I made a face in between confused and disgusted, which I did accidentally.
"Bella?" I stood in the hallway, surprised. She turned to me, her arms crossed over her chest. She was still wearing the same clothes she wore in school earlier; she turned to me in shock. Jacob did the same. How did Jacob know Bella? And vice versa!
"Oh, hi Ariana." She shyly greeted. Jacob smiled to me.
"Hi..." my voice faded, "not to be rude or anything, but what are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was just stopping by to say hi to Emily, and Jake happened to be here, Emily happened to not." She chuckled.
"Right. Okay, well I'll see you later." I turned on my heel and was about to walk out of the kitchen when Jacob spoke up.
"Ariana, wait just a second." He made me stay while he spoke to Bella? Selfish.
"No it's fine, I probably should get going. Charlie is going to get worried. I'll uh, see you soon Jake. See you tomorrow Ariana." She walked past me and then out the door into the pouring rain. Out the front window, I could vaguely see her running to her car. Well if Jessica was right about her having a secret, we could cross mermaid off the list. She was soaked by the time she got into her car. I turned back to face Jacob, who was leaning against the island. I spotted Sam, Paul, Embry, Quil and Jared playing soccer in the backyard. I watched as Sam dove into the muddy grass to catch the ball. They were all shirtless, they either had khaki and blue shorts on. I saw them laughing as they played like boys out in the rain.
"How do you know her?"
"Mind telling me how you know Bella?" We spoke at the same time.
"I asked you first." He smirked.
"What are we, five?"
"Fine. She's an old friend of mine. We used to hang out making mud pie's in the driveway while our dad's sat in the living room and watched the game. She moved away for a while and then she came back to live with her dad. We were just catching up. Now, how do you know her?"
"Well this girl Alice that I'm semi friendly with introduced her to me. She's dating her brother or something. And besides, she's in one of my classes."
"Alice? As in Alice Cullen?"
"Wow, are you sure you don't go to Forks High? You sure seem to know a lot of people."
"You shouldn't go near them.
"Um, why?"
"We don't like them that much, we fight often."
"Okay, thanks dad." I barked a laugh.
"I'm serious, I'm sure Sam wouldn't want it either."
"Right okay I'll take that into consideration." I gave him a fake smile and then went to turn around, but he stopped me…again.
"By the way, how was school?"
"The usual. Basically boring, met a few people." I explained. Then the sliding glass door opened, leading the soaking wet boys into the kitchen area.
"Hey Ari! How was school?" Sam asked.
"Fine." I nodded.
"Got through it okay?"
"Yeah."
"I'm so proud. Give me a hug." He walked towards me, water dripping from his hair and down his face and down his chest and shorts.
"No!" I yelled immediately. All of them looked at me strangely.
"Uh, I mean, later." I covered myself up, trying to look less suspicious. Without a word, I turned around and headed for my room.