DISCLAIMER: I don't own twilight...this disclaimer is for the whole story.
Chapter 7: Realization
"Emmett, could you strap Bella in the car? I don't want her to escape." Alice said while staring at me menacingly. Before Emmett could reply Alice, I cut into their conversation.
"Um…you don't have to follow me home. I can drive on my own, you know?" I said shyly. I completely forgot that I'm supposed to be playing a quiet, shy girl in this school. That thought completely slipped out of my mind when I was in the hospital. Must be the headache. I thought.
"No, no, Bella. You aren't going home. What are you going to do at home all alone? You still have plenty of time before school is over. You are coming to our house?" Alice said.
"Um…but don't you all still have to go to school? And…um besides, I have plenty of things to do at home." I answered.
"Well, actually Bella. We don't have to go to school for the rest of the day. We asked Carlisle whether we could take the day off and spend it with you. You know, to get to know you better. And he said yes, of course. He wouldn't want you to be all alone when you could injure yourself even more." Alice replied with a smile creeping onto her face. I knew no matter what, I would lose this battle with Alice. Even though I just met her, she seems to me the kind of person that would always get what they want in the end. So in the end, I let out a sigh telling Alice that she would have her way eventually.
"Yay! Ok Emmett put her in Edward's car. Rose and Jazz will follow us with Rose's convertible." Alice said, more like commanded. To my intense surprise everyone complied. We all were headed towards their cars with my still in Emmett's grasp when I remembered something.
"What about my truck, I can't just leave it here." I asked.
"Oh, well, where is your truck? Emmett and I can take it. You just get your butt in the Volvo this minute." Alice said while yelling a bit at the end. Wow, she can be incredibly loud for a small person.
"Um…Alice, can I take my truck, please?" I asked slightly embarrassed that they might degrade my truck when they see it. I'm perfectly content with it. I prefer not having any fancy stuff that most rich kids have these days. Woah! Why does this thought sound familiar? I'm sure I came across it before. 'Not having any fancy stuff.' I just can't quite place it. Oh well! I'm sure it's nothing of importance. I bet it came from a movie or something. But I can't shake the feeling that I recognize this thought from somewhere. I was pulled out of my reverie when I felt someone shaking me with such incredulous force.
"Bella! Bella, are you there. Woo Hoo!" I heard a voice say. I recognized the voice as Emmett's but before I could reply, I felt a sharp pang of pain on the left side of my cheek.
"Ouch!" I said while placing my palm over my victimize cheek. I searched for the culprit and I found Jasper, Rose, and Edward controlling their laughter, Emmett laughing his head off and Alice with and all too innocent expression on her face. I realized who the culprit was and I turned to confront that person. I was staring, well actually glaring at that person with intense force for a while before that person realized I was glaring at him.
"Emmett, how could you slap me?" I asked Emmett. He stood there frozen at my question. He looked at me confusingly. I continued to glare at him. And when I thought that he finally would surrender and admit that he was the suspected culprit, he laughed at me. To make things worse, the rest were laughing as while. To my intense suspicions, Alice still had that all too innocent expression plastered on her face. It finally dawned on me that I had wrongly accused Emmett of doing something that Alice had done. I couldn't sum up with a glare because everyone was laughing at me. I couldn't help but join in the laughter even though they were laughing at me. There isn't any crime in laughing is there. Because if there is, then I would have been arrested many, many times. Mostly because of Jake. If you were a passerby, you would have thought we were crazy. But I couldn't care less. I was having too much fun.
I realized after a while, that I shouldn't be laughing like this. I only do this with Jake and friends in La Push. They are the only one that truly knows who I really am. Well known would have been the better word. I bet they had pretty much forgotten I even existed. They were the only ones I could really call friends. Most of the other people I met, liked me for my other personality. Technically my pretenses. I pretended to be a cheerleader, a jock, a girl jock for your information, I even pretended to be a nerd, not that there is anything wrong with being a nerd. It's just that those people liked me for who I pretended to be. Actually, I'm not really sure they even liked me at all. It was then that I realized that I had to keep up the pretenses, not that I wanted to, but because I had no other choice. Who else could I be? I completely have forgotten who I really am. I doubt Jake and his friends would remember. Even though Jake looked like he still remembered me. No, that's impossible. Who would want to remember me? I'm just plain, old Bella. When I realized this, I immediately stopped laughing. The smile on my face earlier transformed into a frown. The thought 'who would want to remember me?' was still floating around in my head. Everyone immediately stopped laughing and just stared at me with confusion at my change of mood. Alice was the first to try to lighten up the mood; well that was what I thought it was before she spoke her words.
"Bella, are you okay?" She asked me worriedly. NO, I have to stop thinking that they actually care about me. They don't, remember your thought earlier. Who would want to remember me? Or better yet, who would want to help me remember me? Okay, Bella stop right this instance. You are in a new school now; you are hanging out with a bunch of new people. They will definitely try to find out more about you, so you have to keep up with the quiet, shy girl in the school. That was how the school treated you. Ok, I know they didn't exactly say that but it was clearly there when mainly everyone in school thought you were invisible, with the exceptions of these people, of course. So now you have to show them the quiet, shy girl you are Bella, okay? Wow, I'm talking to myself. Could I get anymore pathetic? It was after a while that I finally realized that I haven't answered Alice's question. I looked at all their faces and it showed the same expression. Worry! Surprisingly, even the big goof ball Emmett had that expression. I must have really terrified them with my sudden mood change. I nodded and gave them a weak smile before making my way towards my truck. Everyone then collected their expression before following right behind me. I could hear some whispering sounds at the back but I just ignored them. Great, you already messed up your first impression. Now they're gonna think you're crazy, Bella. If I keep up with this talking to myself thing, then I would definitely be crazy.
Before I could enter my truck, Alice stopped me.
"Bella, do you want to come over to our house or would you rather just stay at home and rest?" Alice asked. She is giving me a choice?! WOW!
"Um…thanks for the invite but I would prefer to go home and rest a while." I said while giving her a smile. Alice's face fell a bit when she heard what I said.
"Oh, ok! Maybe next time?" Alice asked.
"Um…yeah I guess so." I replied.
"Ok then, bye Bella. See you tomorrow." Alice said while giving me a hug.
"Bye." I said to everyone while getting into my truck. As a drove out of the parkway, I saw all their expressions. Some were filled with worry, others with confusion. I waved to them before heading home. Once I was out of their sight, I relaxed a little bit. Why was it so hard for me to play a quiet, shy girl around them? I always slip up here and there when I'm talking to them. I was pretty good at playing a cheerleader, girl jock, and a nerd. Why is this so hard? All I have to do is keep quiet most of the time. Ugh! I wonder if I should ask Jake whether he would help me. He knows about all my pretenses. After thinking about it for a while, I made up my mind to ask for his help later on. Right now, I just wanted to get home and rest.
When I finally reached home, I parked my car in the driveway and entered the house. It was pretty quiet. Charlie was definitely at work. He only comes back around 7.00pm. I headed upstairs to my room. I didn't feel like sleeping. So I decided to check my email. I had 1 email from my mom. It said:
Bella,
Phil and I are moving to Chicago. Phil got a job there as a baseball coach for a high school team. I hope you are enjoying your time there. Charlie is treating you good, right? Write to me soon. Bye baby. I love you.
Mom
I replied my mom's email. It said:
Mom,
I'm doing great. Charlie is treating me fine, mom. Don't worry. Tell Phil, I said congratulations on his new job. You remember Jake right? He and his dad came over the first night for dinner. Jake is still the same old kid. Only he grew. A lot. Bye, I love you and Phil. Take care.
Bella.
I didn't need to tell her about my little accident. She would get really freaked out and beg for me to come with her to Chicago. I quickly sent the email and headed to my bed to take a short nap.
When I woke up, my stomach was growling. The alarm clock on my bed side table displayed the time. It was 9.00pm. 9.00PM!! Oh my gosh! I didn't make Charlie dinner. I rushed downstairs only to find Charlie missing. I rushed to the kitchen thinking he would be there preparing himself dinner. Wait! What I'm I thinking? Charlie can't even cook. When I entered the kitchen, I saw a note on the table. It read:
Bella,
I have gone to Billy's house for dinner. I heard about your accident. We are going to have a discussed that when I get back.
Charlie
Thank goodness Charlie is having a proper dinner. I wouldn't have to worry about him tonight. But then again, he said he would discuss my little accident with me tonight. How did he even know about that? I bet the school called and told him. I bet that bone head Mr. Jefferson had something to do with it. I'm sure he would find someway of embarrassing me. I definitely have to find a way to get that guy in trouble. How did he become a teacher anyway? He's so mean and irritating. Ugh! I can't believe he is going to be teaching me Government this whole year. ONE WHOLE YEAR! Ugh! I can't take that. Breathe, Bella. Breathe. I said trying to calm myself down. Don't need to get my temper up. I would probably end up hurting myself even more. Just as I was heading to watch some TV, the phone rang.
"Hello?" I said.
"Hello, is this Isabella Marie Swan?" A voice asked. I sounded like a man's voice. Who would be calling me by my first name?
"Yes…who's speaking?" I asked worried a little.
"That is not important. I just wanted to let you know, I know who you are." The voice said. After that the phone was dead. I was still in shock because the phone was still in my hands.
Many questions kept on bouncing in my head. Who is this guy? How did he know my name? And what did he mean when he said I know who you are? One thing is for sure, someone is watching me. And I don't know what to do about it.
AN: I hope you like this chapter. I know the story is moving very slowly but I hope its okay. So, who do you think made that call? This is my first fanfiction…so please don't be disappointed if I don't meet with your expectation. Once again, you don't have to review if you don't want to…Thanks for reading…
