SEPTEMBER 15 (STORY)

I do not own the characters of Twilight.

The week seemed to fly by with a lot of nothing going on. I didn't see Alice's brother at all during the week. I didn't question Alice on it but she seemed concerned that I met be pissed about his reaction towards me.

It didn't bother me at all the way he treated me. I actually was happy. One less guy I had to worry about. I was curious why he seemed to take an immediate dislike for me but not having him eyeballing me constantly was nice.

Now, Mike, Jess' boyfriend, was a different matter. That whole situation was just a little strange. I hadn't been able to find out why Jess' parents didn't press charges. Dad hadn't said a word about it and neither had Jess. Well, that's probably because Jess hadn't said a word to me or Angela all week.

The weird thing is neither has Lauren or Mike. I have, however, caught Mike staring at me anytime Jess isn't around. I can't quite figure out if he's just staring because he's still in puppy love or not. Sometimes I see him, out of the corner of my eye, staring with the look of death on his face and other times he reminds me of the looks Phil would give me. I can feel the shivers climbing up my spine.

Because the three of them are not talking to Angela, she and I have been hanging out constantly. She doesn't seem to be affected by this, but whenever Alice comes snooping around trying to be friends Angela gets really nervous. I can't make sense of any of it.

For some reason, Alice has convinced herself that she and I will be friends. She's interesting but far from my type of friend. She just seems too much of a miss-goody-two-shoes for me. Her family doesn't seem to like it either. Every time she comes near me, one of them is close by. They continue to glare at me like I am the devil's daughter and need to be squashed. I can't understand any of it.

I think there are too many unknowns involved. I'll just have to work through each of the bits of information I have or can get and figure out the mystery. Till then, I will just deal with everything else.

I spent an afternoon with Esme. She pulled a stunt to try and get me to open up with her. We didn't meet at her office for our weekly appointment as we were suppose to. We met outside the school and went for a drive. We went for a hike through the woods. It turned into an interesting little walk. She's actually not so bad. I feel comfortable around her and find it easy to open up without being judged for it. Even with that being the case, she is still a therapist and no to be trusted so the conversation was very cryptic.

"Come on, Bella. Climb in. I've already spoken to your father. He knows that I'm taking you out of school for the afternoon."

I climbed into Esme's car. It was a beautiful sleek little Honda Accord. It was a little flashy being a fire engine red but it purred like a kitten. It seemed strangely perfect for the foster mother/therapist.

We drove out of Forks and onto the highway leading north. We traveled about a ten minutes till Esme turned off the highway and onto a less traveled road. I could see the trees on one side and a beautiful lake on the other. At some point as I was enjoying the scenery, Esme pulled the car over.

We both jumped out and started walking down an overgrown trail. I knew the therapy session was going to start soon so I figured I would try to keep the subject off of me.

"So, Esme. How many foster kids do you have?"

"Five. Three boys and two girls."

"Is that why you started being a therapist? All those kids?"

"Kind of. Each of my children are unique in their own way. They are all special to me. I love them all dearly."

"How long have you been their foster mom?"

"A very long time."

She wasn't being forthcoming with that comment. "Alice seems pretty bubbly."

"She's always been that way. She has a gift. It makes her enjoy life more."

Cryptic but okay. "What about her brother, the tall one with the shaggy hair?"

"Edward? He's a bit of a loner. He understands people quicker than they seem to understand him. Some people just don't understand his old world charm."

"What about the others?"

"Emmett is a loving person who is strong in mind and body. He's everyone's big brother and safety. Jasper is sensitive to the people around him. He is a big help on an emotional level. Rosalie, she is very protective and family orientated. She holds herself and the family together."

"Sounds like your family naturally needed a therapist."

"Yeah, in a strange way they do. What about you, Bella? Tell me about your family."

Damn, that didn't go the way I wanted it to. "Well, you know my dad. He's loving and protective of me. We don't have a lot of verbal communication but we both know the love and support are there when each one needs it." I stopped there hoping beyond hope that she wouldn't ask the other question. She did though.

"What about your mom?"

"Nothing to tell. She's in Phoenix and is married to this guy, Phil."

"Tell me about her."

"She cares about herself and her standing within her circle of friends. She wasn't ready for kids. That's why there's just me."

"Sounds like you have some outstanding issues with her."

"No."

"Bella? I can hear the anger coming through in your voice."

She almost sounding like she was pleading. Fine, throw a dog a bone and maybe it will leave you alone. "Yes, I have issues with a woman who gives birth to you and then decides that her new husband is more important to protect than your own daughter. Stupid bitch."

"Bella. That's not a nice thing to say about her. You shouldn't hold grudges. Is it possible that she may not have seen it that way?"

"Unlikely. She told them that I was a liar and was being hateful. How would a 17 year old be that cruel to ruin a person's happiness?"

"Told who, Bella?"

"No one. Never mind. I want to go back." I was angry. I did want to go back. I wanted to go all the way back to Phoenix and hit both my mom and Phil. Make them tell the truth about why I was a pissed off jailbird at the age of 17.

"We can go back if you'd like. I've never been to Phoenix. What's it like?"

We walked slowly back to the car, talking along the way about my life, generally, growing up in Phoenix. We talked about the weather, the desert and what it was like to live in a large city.

We remained silent, for the most part, all the way back to Forks. By the time we got back school had already let out.

Esme looked me dead in the eyes as I was about to walk to my truck. "Bella, please remember one thing for me?"

"What?"

"The past is something we can all learn from. There are things in everyone's past that shape who they are now and who they will be in the future. Accepting that we can't change the past but knowing how we feel about them makes it easier in the future to not allow the mistakes to happen again."

"And what happens if the past takes away something that you can never have back. What if you find you can no longer trust anyone for fear they will do it to you again?"

"You may never be able to have that 'something' back but it doesn't mean that it should stop you from trusting that there are people out there who won't hurt you. Trust is a two way street. If everyone refused to trust because of something in their past, the world would be very untrustworthy." She reached in and gave me a very short hug and walked towards the school.

I felt a shiver rip through my body. My skin was cold from her touch. The same thing had happened with Alice. Something was definitely strange with this family.

Friday came and went. I found myself so bored on Saturday that I decided to have some time to myself. Angela had gone to Seattle for the weekend with her mother so I was left to find my own amusement.

I couldn't even use dad. Another Saturday with Billy and the fish. He seemed to be enjoying the time with Billy. I mentally decided to do something nice for the old man for being a friend to my dad for so many years. I would have him and his family over for dinner one night next week.

I moped around the house cleaning up again as was my normally routine. At least, that's what it was becoming. I took off outside just before lunch and walked the property. I came across a small storage garage and realized I had forgotten that it even existed.

It seemed that dad hadn't been out here in a long time. Something about the garage was familiar. I walked up to the door and found it was locked. I considered breaking the key lock but decided against it. Dad would flip if I started the breaking and entry trick.

I headed back to the house and searched around, remembering that dad had a key somewhere in the house. Hopefully he didn't have it with him. After searching most of the drawers in the kitchen and living room, I looked by the entrance to the kitchen where dad always hung up his gun and found the key I was looking for.

I was in the first place I should have looked. I picked the key up off the hook and headed back to the garage. I looked at the key as I put it in the lock. I noticed both items were rusted and ancient looked. The key wouldn't turn. With everything rusted I had to put a lot of force into the key to make it turn. I felt the key turn and then pain.

I looked down at my hand and found blood dripping off the palm of my hand. I fell immediately to the ground as it twirled around me. I closed my hand to stop the bleeding and as soon as the world stopped assaulting me, I slowly made my way back to the house for the second time.

Thanks to my clumsiness, dad had a full first aid kit in close proximity of the front door. I opened the kit without looking at my hand. I knew that wouldn't be a good idea. Passing out with no one around wouldn't be the best idea.

I grabbed a couple of gauzes and applied them to my hand. I pulled out some rubbing alcohol and after quickly deciding that drinking it would be more harmful, I dumped it onto the gauze and allowed it to soak through to my hand. I heard myself scream. It was like an out of body experience.

Once the pain subsided, I grabbed a tension bandage and wrapped it around my hand up and over my wrist. After the throbbing trickled to a normal pulse matching mine, I put the kit back in its spot and headed back to the cause of my injuries.

I found that I had managed to open the lock and opened the door after placing the key in my pocket for save keeping. I looked around and found nothing out of normal. Some rusting garden tools. Mom's from before she had walked out. Some old boxes. Not interested. Mom's name was written on them. Then I saw something covered over by a tarp.

I pulled the tarp off and found a bike. What the hell? Dad has a bike. How long had he had it and why didn't he drive it anymore? At that moment I didn't care. I dragged it out of the garage and looked it over.

For some reason it didn't look like it was in bad shape compared to everything else in the garage. I knew dad had to have a key for it too. I pushed it quickly up to the house and ran inside. Suspecting that the key would be in the same place as the key for the lock, I started there. Predictable dad.

I walked back out to the bike and after checking the tires, I put the key in and tried to turn it over. It groaned and tried to come to life but just wouldn't. I checked the spark plugs and everything else. Nothing. Strangely, everything was clean.

Mentally I smacked my head. I checked the gas tank and found the problem. Trip to town. I decided to chance running into town with the bike. I didn't want dad finding out but without a gas jug it would be difficult. I fought with the bike and finally had it loaded on the truck and tied down.

I found myself heading out of town after gassing up. I was headed back in the direction of the house but a side road seemed to be calling to me. I turned onto it and continued till I knew I was far enough off the main road that no one would see my truck I pulled over.

I fought, once again, with the bike and pulled it off the truck. I turned it over and it fought back. It hadn't been running for a while. I won the fight. Eventually, the bike roared to life. I felt exhilarated with the feeling of the rumbling beneath me. I could feel the pain coming back to life in my hand too. This wasn't going to be easy with the bandage on.

I, suddenly, realized I didn't have a helmet. Knowing my track record with injuries, I debated whether this was a good idea or not. Against my better judgment, I decided that I would take the bike for one quick trip for today and then wait till I had a helmet. Dad must have one somewhere around the house.

I snatched my I-Pod out of the truck and after putting the plugs in my ears and finding what I considered the perfect driving song, 3OH!3's I'm Not Your Boyfriend, Baby, I put the bike in first gear and sped off down the road.

I remembered instantly why I loved to ride. The wind whipping against my face and through my hair. The power under me. Watching the trees racing past me. I felt free. I felt the control of my own destiny. Bikes gave me the feeling of riding on the thin line between life and death. It was wonderful.

Once I felt comfortable with the feel of the bike, I decided to take it off road. I found a small dirt path and found myself streaming past the closeness of the trees. They were large. Larger than years ago when I lived here.

I continued traveling as the path wound around the trees and small plants that littered the forest floor. I finally got tired of the I-Pod and slowed the bike down to a stop. I pulled the plugs out of my ears and shoved it in the pocket of my jacket.

Something caught my eye. It looked like a deer. Something else seemed to be chasing it. I revved the engine again and took off after it. I didn't think of the consequences of my actions. Living in Phoenix there was never a fear of meat-eating animals.

I came around a small turn and slammed on the brakes. I felt the earth in one second stop around me and then whipping past as I went over the handles of the bike and straight towards the reason for my situation. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact.

All I felt was cold and then nothing. I slowly opened one eye expecting the afterlife to be all around me. Instead, I was laying on top of the most gorgeous creature that had ever graced this Earth. His eyes were staring into mine. His breathing felt like it was sucking in my scent causing tremendous pain for him. The narrowing of his eyebrows and the sudden anger in his golden eyes told me that.

He practically threw me off him as I felt another cold touch on each of my arms. I turned and found myself looking into another set of beautiful golden eyes. Alice.

"Would you watch what your doing? Are you trying to kill yourself?" A musical voice asked me.

I looked back down to the ground and found the god of beauty was no longer there. I felt myself landing on my feet and looked towards the voice realizing it was no coming from behind me.

I shook my head and knew immediately that he was claiming my almost accident was supposed to be my fault. "Excuse me. If you hadn't been in my way I wouldn't be in the position I am in now."

I didn't wait for a response. I walked the short distance back to the bike and picked it up. I checked the bike over and determined that no damage had been done, I climbed on. I tried to turn over the engine and found that I had flooded it. I was stuck for a few minutes at least.

"Bella, are you okay?" Alice asked concerned.

I turned my attention back to her and asked, "What the hell are you two doing out here anyways?" I was in no mood now to be a friend or by friendly to her or her brother.

"We were......uummmm....we were playing tag." She stammered.

"Tag? In the woods." I didn't by it for a minute. I looked around. I wondered where the deer and its pursuer had gone.

"What's wrong?" Her brother, who I had learned from Esme, Edward, asked curiously. Something about the way he looked at me sent a chill over my spine.

"Did you two see a deer here a minute ago?"

The two of them looked at each other as if they were discussing the question and what answer to give. Alice finally answered. "No. I heard and saw nothing until you came around the corner."

I knew that was a lie. Anyone would have heard this bike a mile away. It was in need of a tune-up and even after that the echoing in the trees would always give the bike away. I ignored the comment and turned to a noise coming through the trees.

"It's okay, Bella. It's Jasper, my boyfriend." Alice said calmly. A little louder than was necessary but she had a controlled tone in her voice.

Jasper didn't say anything to me. He just looked and nodded his head. He looked at Edward and then at Alice.

"Edward, would you walk Bella out of here while I take Jasper home? He doesn't look so well." Alice asked, raising her eyebrows. I distinctly saw her twitch her eyes towards me and then at Jasper.

"I don't need any help. Thank you."

"But, Bella, what about the cougar chasing the deer?" Alice asked and then seemed to realize she had slipped up.

I knew that something was going on. First they knew nothing about the deer and now they knew a cougar had been chasing it. What the hell was up with this family? I didn't want to play my cards yet. I need more information in order to form an hypothesis.

After some persuasion on Alice's part, I gave up. "Fine. Whatever."

I started to push the bike back in the direction of the road and felt Edward's hands take over. "I'll push it for you."

His attitude had seemed to change suddenly. It was a little creepy going from being hated to being helped. I removed my hands anyways and walked with him down the path.

"So, are you Alice's real brother or foster brother?"

"Foster. Where did you find this bike? It's in nice shape."

"Thanks. It's my dad's, I think."

Excuse me, what do you mean 'I think'?"

I told him about how I had found the bike in the storage garage and how I had ended up in the middle of nowhere. We talked all the way back to the truck. I realized when we got to the road just how late in the day it had gotten. Dad was going to flip.

Edward helped me load the bike and tie it down. He suddenly pulled away from me. He looked like he was in pain again.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Your hand. You're bleeding." He said taking a step back.

I tucked my hand in my pocket and was given a strange look for my action. "I can't stand the sight of blood. Pass out and fall to the floor type." I replied pointing at myself.

"You are a strange girl." Edward said as he opened the door to my truck.

"Do you want a ride? It's a long way back to town." I asked being polite.

"No, thank you. I just live on the other side of this patch of forest. It'll be quicker for me to run then you driving me." He answered.

"Okay."

"I'll see you in school on Monday?"

"Sure." And with that he was gone.