Chapter 10: Defying Gravity

A/N: Finally, the first Bella chapter! I wanted to write her for so long, so finally, is right :) Also, I know Bella is supposed to be from Phoenix, but Tucson works so much better for me, so I used that instead!

Bella

"Bella!" A lady's voice called from down the hall. Presumably my mother's.

"Coming!" I yelled back. I was excited. Very excited. I, Bella Swan, was going to college. That's right, college. And not just any ol' college, but the college of my choice. I flew down the hallway—something very unwise and treacherous for someone as clumsy as me—to where Renee was waiting in the kitchen for me, alongside with Phil.

One of the other reasons I had picked a college in Seattle was that it was close to family, but far enough from Tucson that I wouldn't have to visit often, and more importantly, not have to witness the post-honeymoon coital glows. I mean, I love Renee, and Phil's cool. I really had no problem with the guy, but honestly, she was my mom. It was a little too much for me. I heard a police car siren come closer to the house. My eyes widened in horror.

"No. No! Charlie DID NOT bring the cruiser! And why is he ringing the stupid alarm? He never uses them on visits!" I exclaimed, clearly afraid, and anxious of what the truth might be.

"Bella, honey, cut Charlie some slack, his baby girl is going to college today, so he might not be all in the right mind."

"Mom. You do realize you are subjecting me to 32 hours in a car with a crazy man?"

"Bella! I never said he was crazy! I only meant that your father isn't very good at taking the fact that you are growing up well."

Before I could respond to that, the doorbell rang, announcing the arriving of said crazy man. I smiled at that funny thought, and went back down the hall to get the door.

"Hey, Dad," I said.

"Hey, Bella," he said in that gruff voice of his. His eyes were a little red in the corners making it look like he might have been crying, "You ready to go?" he asked.

"Are you sure you are ready just right yet? Don't you need to rest?"

"Don't worry, I crashed last night in Casa Grande, and I lazed around this morning since it was a quick drive on Interstate-10 to here. I would like some Windex though," He added as an afterthought. "All these tiny damn dessert bugs 'been splattin up against my windshield like I'm intentionally trying to get a ticket by being blind to the world outside my car!" he exclaimed. I laughed quietly, it was funny to hear Charlie, the Forks Chief of Police, talk about getting a ticket, "So why don't you take the time to say bye to everyone, and everything; it'll probably take me at least 10 minutes to get all the critters off," he muttered the last bit, walking back to the car before turning back around to face me one more time.

"And Bells?"

"Yeah?"

"It's good to see you again," His smile turned watery, and he turned back abruptly.

"You too," I said back, but he probably couldn't hear me.

I closed the door back shut, and turned away smiling. It was a slight relief for that not to have been as awkward, as my first meetings with Charlie have been know to be, but I guess I still had thirty hours to awkward it up.

Now to do the hard part. I hated goodbyes, and I always left them 'til the last minute. It's just that they always seemed so final, and indefinite, or completely definite depending on the way you looked at it, and so... sad. I shook my head; it wasn't like that today. I was definitely coming back, but just… not for a while.

I headed first into my mother's room and sat down at her small little mahogany vanity table. It was simple, with just one curved mirror attached to a desktop—drawers on either side. On the top right corner of the table was a small, residue-like stain from when she had found out that, although nail-polish remover was for removing nail polish, the surface of the removal counted… a lot.

"I mean its nail polish remover. If nail polish remover fails in removing nail polish, then I don't want to know what this world is coming to!" had been Renee's exact words. Yup that was my mother; you could see where I got my rambling habits from. I smiled as I traced the outline of the stain.

I fiddled around with some of the earrings in her ring bowl before easing the stool back and going to her closet—well, now her and Phil's closet. It made my reminiscing smile return, as I riffled through the clothes, to see that half of the ones hanging there were mine. It wasn't honestly that bad because the clothes that usually went 'missing' i.e. to Renee's closet were pieces I never wore anyway. I buried my face in the clothes, wrapped my arms around to gather them more closely, and took a deep breath through my nose. Cinnamon and orange. Sweet and spunky made for a very weird combination, but a combination that worked nonetheless. That was my mother.

I took in one more lingering breath, before closing the closet again, putting everything back in its place, and heading out to stop in at all the other rooms in the house. There really weren't many more rooms, besides the bathroom (and honestly how many memories can you have in a bathroom…?), my bedroom, the living room, and the dining room. I zipped through those, saving the kitchen and the back yard for last. Even my bedroom didn't take long. I guess it was just that I didn't have too many memories there that I wanted to keep. I even said goodbye to Bob, Phil's pet tarantula. And no, Phil was not some kind of arachno-fanatic freak. In most states you probably have a pet hamster or mouse in grade school. Well, in 3rd grade my class had a pet tarantula. We named her Rose. We fed her crickets. That's just how we did it in the desert states.

I was in the kitchen now, taking one last look, feeling my well-used kitchen utensils one last time. I looked across the room to the sliding glass door that brought you out to the back yard. I could see the beautiful purple-looking Catalina Mts. from where I stood in the kitchen. It was a beautiful day, one of the many characteristics of the late summer, with bright blue skies and picturesque cream clouds that looked like they had been painted by the angels in the dessert sky. It could be dangerous to step into that picture-perfect scene, and I knew the deception of something so magnificent: it didn't always feel the way it looked. But I usually liked the feel of the unrelenting sun beating down on my ever-pale skin. I stepped out to say my last goodbye.

I walked barefoot across the slightly cracking textured concrete, over to the oval pool, taking everything in for the last time, in at least, a couple of months. To my left was a rocky little garden with the flowers I had diligently planted and tended over the years. They continued all the way to the other side of the of the cement brick fence, and pausing at the edge of the walkway surrounding the pool. I made a quick detour over to the honeysuckle that grew naturally here, crouching down at the edge of the walkway, reaching over to pull out the flower part of the small-sized honeysuckles. Closing my teeth around the tips opposite of the petals, I sucked the tiny amount sweet nectar that came from the flowers. I took one more, closed my eyes and enjoyed, before walking back to the edge of the pool.

Once I got in a place I liked, I pulled my black capri pants to just above my knees, and dipped my toes into the pool. I put my hands behind me, leaned back into the bed of grass, and closed my eyes. I could see red through my eye lids, but it wasn't in anger; I felt perfectly at peace here.

"You really are going to miss it here, aren't you?" I jumped, startled. I turned my head, surprised, to see Renee just a couple yards away from me. I hadn't heard her slide the door open.

"Yeah, I will," I replied, nodding at her, then turning my head back around. I could hear her now as she walked toward me, and sat down next to me. She plopped down, not bothering to roll up her pants as she was wearing shorts, letting her whole calf swish in the water, her knees at the very edge of the pool. I smiled. It was so like us, her diving head-first into anything, as I shied away, carefully testing the waters to see if it was safe.

"I'll miss you too. Tucson just won't be the same with out you." Renee said sadly, even pouting a little. I shook my head, laughing lightly.

"Mom, this isn't the first time I've gone away for awhile," I said.

"I know, but you've never been away for more than a couple months on end! Usually I can deal for that long, but who knows what will happen if I'm left alone for longer than that! Maybe this time I'll accidentally set Bob free again, and without you here we won't be able to find him," she shuddered.

Yes, I, Bella Swan, was a tarantula tracker. It was definitely not the most glamorous of occupations, but it had to be done. I had never been too fond of spiders, especially the big, fuzzy, venomous kind, but after seeing what they did to my mother after getting loose, (she had been feeding it crickets, then got side-tracked and left the lid open) I decided to embrace the small part of myself that appreciated them, full-heartedly. It had been slightly unsettling, and hair-raising the first time I quested on, searching for the eight-legged creature in question, but after the first four times, I got used to it.

"Mom, don't worry, you have Phil. You'll be fine. He didn't marry you without knowing what he was getting himself into," I paused, pretending to ponder something, "In fact after 2 years of living with the Renee Monster, instead of running and screaming, he married you. What an odd man." I finished smiling. She swatted me on the arm, but laughed. I loved this, how Renee and I were, always so comfortable, and fun. Maybe it was strange, how I felt so comfortable with her, like she was my best friend, when she was, in fact, my mother. I guess I didn't really have any other real friends, so I didn't know what the difference was, and plus there was the fact that I acted more like the responsible one in our relationship.

"But Bella, honey," she spoke again, reaching over to take my hand in hers, "I will miss you so, so much; I honestly think I'll wake up one of these mornings and think 'What am I doing?..' Without you there, but I also know that you are much too amazing of a daughter and person for me to hog all by myself, so you go to Seattle and you show them what you are made of! Nothing could make me more happy or proud, than see you working it in Seattle, and being happy.

My mother spoke passionately, and I blushed. It always made me flush any wide range of color assortments to hear people compliment me, and so thoroughly.

"I'm only going to college for drawing and photography, Mom, not going to Hollywood to become an Oscar-worthy actress." I said, trying to tone down her compliment. She was the one who shook her head this time.

"Doesn't matter where you are going, as long as you are going to do something you plan on succeeding in." My mother was obviously not going to give up, so I conceded in accepting her compliment.

"Thanks," I said quietly, ducking my head down, as another blush slowly engulfed my face, and I wriggled my toes that were still in the water.

"Oh, baby, I love you," Renee said, with her voice suddenly sounding emotion-wrought. I looked back up at her, and her eyes looked watery. I pulled my eyebrows together, feeling a little concerned. I thought, not for the first time, if I was really making the right choice by going to a college so far away.

I mean, surely there was one much closer to Renee and Phil that suited my needs. I could rough out all the lovey-dovey between them, couldn't I? Renee pulled her legs a little out of the pool, so only her toes were close to the water, just like me, then scooted over to me, wrapped her arms around me, and squeezed my body in a hug. Her wet cold legs brushed against mine, and I wrapped my arms around her and rested my head on shoulder. I breathed in, savoring the lovely fruity cinnamon scent firsthand.

"Nope," she said after a minute. I pulled back a little to look at her.

"What?" I asked unsure of what was going on.

"You are going to Seattle. You can't let your worries for other people, no matter how close they are, stop you from what you've been working towards, and what you want," My eyes widened. Renee had seen right through me, and read my mind. Then again she had always been very perceptive of what was going on through my head, sometimes even understanding me a little better than I did myself. Still, I could feign innocence.

"What do you mean?" I asked, my eyes still wide.

"You were considering throwing away everything, just to stay near me," she brought her hand up to my cheek, and stroked it, "You have to think of yourself sometimes. Stop being so selfless all the time! You are supposed to be the crazy teenager, not my beautiful middle-aged child," Guilt overflew me by then.

She thought I was being selfless by wanting to stay. She thought my going away was brave. I wanted to tell her that I wasn't like that. That I was just trying to run away from awkward situations that could happen, just like any coward. I wouldn't say anything though, just accept, like always, since I didn't do confrontations, well; at all, and one was sure to come if I told her how I really felt. She wouldn't listen anyway, just tell me I had it all wrong about myself. It would just be easier to tell her what she wanted to hear. Coward.

"Okay, sorry, I'll try," I said, as genuinely as I could, and squeezed her hand.

"That's my girl," she said and then pulled me back into a hug. We stayed like that for another moment or two, then she released me and said, "Well I guess we should be going back in. Charlie might start wondering…" I smiled and got up, giving her my hand to help her too. She took it, and then threaded her arm through mine and we walked back into the house, arms linked.

Charlie was already back in the house awkwardly trying to make small talk with Phil. When he looked up and saw me, coming toward them, he brightened up considerably.

"I already brought your bags to the car, stocked up on snacks before I came here, so if you are ready, I'm ready to go," he said.

"'Kay, just let me get my jacket and go to the bathroom," I said and hurried off.

Once I came I gave Renee and Phil two quick hugs and kisses, before following Charlie into his, unfortunately conspicuous, cruiser. As we pulled out of the long gravely driveway I turned back to 7750 N Arundel Drive, Tucson AZ, saying goodbye to the most familiar, comfortable years of my life.

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My legs felt cramped. And I had to pee. Really, really bad. I couldn't even think of anything water related; just the sound of Charlie swallowing made me ache for a toilet. But I didn't want to say anything, because that would just make Charlie take the next exit to go to a rest stop, and I really didn't want to get out and relieve myself, just to get back in the space I had been starting to feel a little claustrophobic in. We were so close to home.

I knew that Forks wasn't on the way to Seattle, but when Charlie had offered to detour over to home, I had jumped at the opportunity, even though it would substantially add to the amount of time it would take to get to Seattle. But it had already been 3 in the afternoon, and once we got there at four, I would have to start lugging all my luggage in immediately. Not something I would be looking forward on any occasion, and in my current condition, I'm not so sure that it would have been beneficial to my health. And plus, I wanted to see Jacob, and I wanted to sleep in my own bed, something I found that I sorely missed after only two nights on cheap motel mattresses.

Welcome to Forks.

That was what the slightly rusting pine green sign said. Well. This was sure one heck of welcome. With a twitching left eye, an uncomfortably bloated bladder, and legs so stiff they were shaking, I entered the small town of Forks.

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Ahhh. Just.. Ahhh.

I was in sheer heaven right now. Who knew releasing bodily fluids could be so… heavenly. I really wish I could have enjoyed the reminiscent ride to the house, but all I could think was, "Just a little more… You can do it Bella! Smite those liquids that are defying gravity by not falling out right now!.." and when we finally got to the house, I jumped out of the car, wincing, and limp-running towards the toilet. Of course I did have a couple of mishaps in the short distance to the door. Impossible to some, but for me, inevitable.

In my mad dash toward the house my right shoe came flying off, but I didn't stop until I got to the door, trying to yank it open, before realizing it was locked, and only Charlie had the key. So I rushed back over to him, and like a raving lunatic, rasped out, "Key."

He looked me up and down once, probably noting the fact that I had one shoe on and one shoe off, my hands clenched in fists around my face, hair in total disarray, and last, but not least, that crazed look in my eyes. He probably assessed that it wouldn't be the best thing to mess with me right then, and quickly handed the keys over. He was probably thinking right now that that 30 hours in an enclosed space had gone straight to my head. But I really couldn't care.

Like I said. Sheer heaven; it does that to you.

Once I finished up there, I ventured out of the bathroom, and down the stairs. Charlie had just come back in with the last of my luggage.

"You okay?" he asked tentatively, his eyebrow raised, as if bracing himself for some sort of outburst.

I blushed bright red. Now, without the blind sight of being in heaven, I knew my actions had been a little outrageous.
"You know… when you gotta go, you gotta go…" I mumbled out, blushing again at my childish explanation for my actions. His lips twitched fighting a smile.
"Well, as long as you are okay," he looked at the clock in the kitchen, "It's still only half past six, if you are feeling up to it, why don't you go and visit Jacob?"

I nodded, smiling. "Yeah... Yeah, I think I will. Is it okay if I go now?"

He nodded. "'Course it is." He walked over to the kitchen, and pulled out one of the top drawers. Turning around, he held up a key, "I kept that truck of yours around, for occasions like this."

My eyes widened, I hadn't even noticed if my trusty ol' Chevy was out there. I ran toward him and squeezed him.

"Thanks!" I said my voice muffled by his shirt. He awkwardly patted my back, and I quickly released him, embarrassed for my sudden show of emotion. I took the keys from his fingers.

"I'll be back by 7:30 or 8," I called over my shoulder as I headed back out the door.

A/N: I would like to take this brief chance to celebrate the fact that this fic has gotten thirty reviews! I am estactic! …Now that may not be much compared to AMAZING stories like Wide Awake or Stitches and Scars. But, to me, 30 reviews means 30 times my little piece moved someone out there enough to take the time to tell me!

Also! If you would like to see what Bella's house looks like, or the Catalina Mts. just type the address (7750 N Arundel Drive, Tucson AZ) into Google Maps or got to this link. (just replace the dots with actual periods.) http:/ www dot panoramio dot com/photo/7262553

Reviews are lovely things.

-pinkdogsarereminscent