Wow, I did not expect so many people to read this! I'm so glad you all like it. If you don't like it, please, let me know. I will not be offended! Reviews are always welcome ;)
Charlie took me to one of the three diners in Forks. He got a steak; I got a rice and bean burrito. It tasted horrible.
That night, I slept on the floor rather than the uncomfortable bed. It finally sunk in that I was 1500 miles away from my home and my best friend. I couldn't help but cry. I started thinking about my mom. She would have hated that I'm living with Charlie now. She hated Forks, hated him. But I couldn't let that bother me. I missed her so much it hurt, but she had chosen a life of drugs over me. I had to think of myself first. And I wanted to be here, with my father. There was nothing wrong with that. I cried myself to sleep that night, and didn't dream.
The next day, I got up and felt a little better. I got up early, before Charlie, and made coffee. Charlie's coffee was strong, and even a little spicy. I had two cups before he came downstairs, looking like a bear fresh out of hibernation. He got himself a cup, took a few swigs of black coffee, and sat down next to me at the kitchen table.
"So. Sleep good?" he grumbled. Clearly, he was not a morning person. Thank God.
"Yeah, it slept fine. The floor was comfier than the bed." I joked.
"I'll get you a futon or something today, if you want." he replied. He finished his coffee, and went back up to his room to get dressed. I got a quick shower, and dressed in a long-sleeved grey thermal, a teal and orange flannel, and my only heavy jacket, a thick dark brown suede overcoat. I was tempted to put on two pairs of jeans.
Charlie took me to Wal-Mart first. There, he bought me everything I needed: dread shampoo, body wash, face wash, deodorant, toothpaste, a toothbrush, mouthwash, razors, shaving cream, tampons, and even some essential oils. Then, he filled the cart with a ton of school supplies and groceries for me. It ended up being $300 dollars.
Then, he took me to a few clothing stores for long sleeved shirts, jackets, and an awesome pair of leather boots. After that, we went to a discount furniture store. There, he bought me a shabby light blue dresser, a huge bookshelf, a dark brown futon, and a computer desk. It took a little time to convince him I could get use my yoga ball as an office chair. He ended up spending almost $900 dollars on me.
"Dad, thank you so much. I can't believe you got all this stuff for me. You have no idea-" he stopped me.
"Don't even. I'm happy to do it, Bella. You're my daughter, you deserve all of this."
When I got home, there was another surprise waiting for me. A cool old orange pick-up truck was in his driveway.
"Right on time." muttered Charlie.
"Is someone here?" I asked.
"Nope. This is your homecoming present." he replied proudly. I was shocked. The truck was awesome, old and rustic. It looked like it got about 7 miles to the gallon. I loved it.
"No way. You already got me so much stuff. I don't need this." I exclaimed.
"That stuff was nothing. You needed all of it. This is a present from me. C'mon, wanna take it for a test drive?" he suggested, sounding like an excited little kid. I obliged him, and we drove a few times around the block. Lucky for me, I only knew how to drive a stick shift, so that wasn't a problem. I had to admit that it was awesome being spoiled like this.
When we got inside, Charlie helped me tackle my room. The furniture store had had people take all the furniture upstairs for us. Halfway into unloading all my books, Charlie got called into work.
"Bear attack? This is the fifth one this month. Yeah, I'll be right there." he hung up.
"I'm sorry Bella. But I'm the Chief, and they need me to approve everything." he said apologetically.
"It's all good. I'll have dinner ready when you get back." I responded.
"Ok. Um, don't do any heavy lifting or anything." he said awkwardly, and left. I waited until he left to laugh. I found a stereo in the basement, brought it upstairs, and listened to my Dirty Heads CD.
"Picture you and me in the cabin by the sea, sit up on a porch and we can burn a couple trees" I sang as I put away my clothes in my beautiful new dresser. I arranged the furniture against Charlie's departing wishes. I made up the futon and pushed it in the far right corner. Then, I moved my bookshelf next to the large window, and arranged all my books in alphabetical order. You could say I was OCD. Then I set up my desk against the wall with the door on it. I blew up my yoga ball and hung all my posters and pictures. I hung my Grateful Dead flag on the door, along with some Tibetan prayer flags Jacob had gotten me for my thirteenth birthday. Lastly, I lit a stick of incense, and the room was mine. Some ganja would have been fun, but I knew Charlie wouldn't tolerate that. After that, I made some authentic Mexican enchiladas with fried tortillas and tomatillo salsa. Charlie was more than surprised when he got home.
"You did all this in two hours?" he asked incredulously.
"Yep." I replied. I finished frying the eggs and placed one on each of our plates.
"I was expecting hot-dogs or something." he murmured.
"Naw, man, that's white people food!" I cried. We sat down, and Charlie ate every bit of what I put on his plate, and asked for seconds.
The rest of the summer went like that. That Saturday, I had Charlie drive me to Port Angeles so I could buy a laptop. We found a Best Buy, and I blew most of my savings on a dark pink Sony VAIO. It came with a router for $25 more. The week after that went by faster, for I Skype'd with Jacob every day. It dawned on me that school started in a few days, and I was terrified. New school, new people, new teachers to hate me. An all new hell for me to put up with every day.
