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VII. WENDY
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I FELT LIKE A JUVENILE DELINQUENT. I never really missed school before but it doesn't make sense anymore to me now. None of it does. I was so advanced anyway, having really relied on my studies for the past five months to keep me distracted. I could probably delay school for two more weeks. I hated lying to Charlie but I just felt like I need a break. Losing Edward, Alice and now Jasper too was all too much for me to put up with.
As if on cue, I felt a sharp jab of pain on my chest. What is it with vampires and me anyway? Like I'm the opposite of magnet to them. I keep on pushing them away. If I hadn't moved to Forks, the Cullens would never have moved to wherever they are right now. Not for a few more years anyway. If I hadn't moved to Forks, even if Alice had…died eventually, they would have been through it together. Edward would never allow Jasper to leave them, even if it was to be alone. He would have wanted them facing it together. I felt another stab of pain. I tore the Cullens apart.
But what's been done is done. They have moved on and I would try my hardest to do so, too. I just need a few days to rethink my life and to plan from here on. I would never leave Forks. That would make me go insane. My mind would force me to think that I imagined everything. I just knew it would. I would stay here, where I could remember perfectly how everything used to be. Back when I hadn't messed things up. Or had I messed it up even as it just started?
I shook the thought away from my mind. Charlie thought I was at school today but I sat here inside my car on the parking lot by the grocery store, waiting for eight o'clock to pass. Then I'd drive back home and get the tools from the basement and work on my tree house again. I've been doing this for a week now, exactly seven days since that incident with Jasper.
The tree house was slowly looking better everyday. The floors were now fixed and by some miracle I managed to get it done with just a few scratches. It took me three days of course, whereas it would've taken Charlie or some other able-bodied person half a day.
I was planning to fix the roof today. It would take me a while since it was the one that mostly needed the fixing but I was determined to get it done. I was getting better at it. I only happened to pound my thumb with a hammer once. That was surprising for me considering my lack of carpentry skills. I had expected a few broken fingers by now.
Eight o'clock came and went. I drove back home and did as I planned. I placed the stuff in a pushcart I found a couple of days ago including the plywood I bought for a few cents at the Webers' garage sale.
The rain poured on as I worked but I didn't really mind it. I was beginning to love it here inside the woods, despite the fact that this is where Edward said goodbye. Time flew so fast that I'd only notice my grumbling stomach because it was already getting dark. I'd wolf down something for dinner then go straight to sleep. All the work made me so tired to dwell on things that usually haunt me in the dark. That's why I love it.
I remembered that Charlie once mentioned that the tree house had such a great view of the sunset when the sun does manage to appear; that's why it was so high. I've been looking forward to it since it was expected to be sunny on the fifth of March, a week and two days from now.
Before I knew it, it was already late afternoon and I knew that I should head home before Charlie comes. I gathered my stuff and headed home. I took a shower first, fixed his dinner and lied on my bed as I waited for the sound of his cruiser.
Has Edward ever thought about me all the time he was away? Has he found a female vampire to claim as his own? Surely she would be breathtakingly beautiful. She would fit him in every way and fulfill his needs in every single way I couldn't. An image of a gorgeous woman with white skin and honey blond curls invaded my head. I imagined that she-vampire crawling her perfect fingernails all over Edward's broad chest, their mouths linked together, Edward's hands all over her body.
Edward looked at me with an amused smirk.
"She's the one for me, not you," his voice was echoing and distant. The female looked at him with hunger and once again dove her head to mold her perfect lips on his…
Charlie's cruiser honked from the outside and I opened my eyes with a start.
I wiped the tears off of my face and went down to greet him with a fake smile.
"Hey, Dad," I said.
"Hi Bells, how was school?" he hanged up his gun on its proper place took his belt and police cap off.
"Great," I said with fake enthusiasm. "I had a great time today, I didn't even notice the time,"
"Yeah?" he said, sitting down and taking off his socks. "What did you do?"
"Um, we…rehearsed for a play,"
"Which one?"
I racked my brain for a reply.
"Peter Pan, you know, the boy who never grew up." It was the first thing that came into my head, I never really gave it much thought until I realized the second I said the words that they made more sense than necessary.
He stared at me, "Isn't that a bit amateur for high school kids?"
"I guess…but it's cool anyway, I get to be Wendy. She gets left behind and grows old and Peter doesn't, too bad." I fought hard to keep my voice light.
"When's this play?" he said, looking interested. "I'd just love to see your acting skills,"
He laughed, teasing me, and I plastered on a smile.
"I don't know—it's just a minor little thing," I mumbled as I disappeared into the kitchen. "I'll—I'll let you know, Dad."
"Okay. Hey Bella, who's playing Peter P—?"
"So, how was work?" I cut him off.
"It was okay," he said then he ranted on and on about the teenagers they caught out of school, smoking in the streets. I squirmed in my seat. At least I wasn't smoking.
I had an undisturbed sleep that night. I dreamt that Edward was inside my bedroom, his topaz eyes glinting in the moonlight.
