Chapter 12: Bowling

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or its characters.

Today is Tuesday. I haven't spoken to Bella since that crazy day I learned that vampires exist. That was four days ago. Four long, empty days of thinking. I think I finally have a grasp on what is and isn't reality, but now that I know what Bella is, I have so many questions. I've also missed her terribly, which is strange considering that we only met a week ago. I feel this strong urge to be near her, an urge I can hardly understand and I can't afford to think about it right now, or else I'll be miserable. I think I'm ready to see her again. I'll call her after school, ask her to meet me. I miss her presence, her smile, her—

"Annie?"

I jump slightly, annoyed at the intrusion. My mother looks at me with concern, her eyebrows knit together. "Yes, mom?" I answer, having tuned out what she was saying. I think I lost her at 'marking sheets'. My mother rolls her eyes, knowing full well that I don't really give a shit about what she's saying. "You never listen to me, which is bad because I'm your mother and your teacher. You seem tired. You ought to be sleeping more, otherwise you'll drop dead before the year is out," she grumbles, "and I'll make them write 'world's worst teacher's pet' on your tombstone," she finishes. I burst out laughing, although in reality her joke wasn't even that funny. I guess I just like to laugh. Especially since I haven't had a good laugh since last week.

Surprisingly, my mother never asked about how I got home on Friday, or why I was so late. I hadn't told her anything, I hadn't shown up when she got to the car and I wasn't home until the evening. I suppose she thought I was out with my friends, and chose to let me have my fun.

All of a sudden I get that feeling in the back of my mind: I'm forgetting something. What I'm forgetting, I have no idea. "Hey mom, I feel like I'm forgetting something. Do we have plans or anything like that?" My mother smirks, "Well I don't have plans, but you certainly do," she says, holding back her laughter. What's up with her? "What plans?" My mother says nothing, then starts a drum roll, trying to make it 'dramatic'. Ugh, she's worse than I am. Well, not really. "You're going bowlingggg!" She announces. Oh. Bowling, with Cindy and her family. That actually doesn't sound so bad, now that I've had a few days without Cindy showing up unannounced. I guess meeting up with Bella will have to wait until tomorrow. I sigh at that, feeling disappointed that I won't get to see her today.

My mother pats me on the shoulder, thinking my sudden mood swing is because I dread my near future, but I'm not dreading my evening with the Rykes family. I can feel the frustration building up inside of me. My own mother can't be bothered to get to know Cindy for who she really is, a happy, warm and loving person. I can't understand that. I would be honored to have Cindy as a friend, although to be honest we have very little in common, and she can sometimes be exhausting. I take a deep breath. Don't snap at her, don't let your anger get the better of you. "Oh well," I say, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. Yelling at my mother wouldn't do me any good.

My mother cleans up her breakfast plate then sits back at the table, sipping on her coffee. She looks at me thoughtfully, then brightens up, as if she had just had the epiphany of the century. "You know, I think it's about time that you got your own vehicle," she says, raising an eyebrow at me. No way! I've been practically begging her since I got my license, and she always tells me to get a job and buy one myself. "Are you serious?!" She nods her head enthusiastically, pleased that I like the idea. Why wouldn't I? "Okay, well we'll talk about it later, we've got to get going," my mother says, putting away her coffee mug and grabbing her bag. I grab my own bag from the back of the chair I had just been sitting on, and wait for her by the door. We walk out together to the car, and drive to school.

On the way there I get sucked back into my thoughts, which switch between seeing Bella again, my evening of bowling and the prospect of having my own car. When we pull into the parking lot my friends are out front, waiting for me. I feel really lucky today, having a mom who is always happy to see me and spoil me once in awhile, having found friends that I like even more every day, and, hopefully, having Bella in my life, whatever she is.

I hop out of the car, saying goodbye to my mother on the way out. I jog over to where my friends are gathered, waiting patiently for me. "Hey guys!" I slip into the 'circle' next to Viv, who wraps an arm over my shoulders, pulling me into her. "Hey Maple," she says, laughing when I roll my eyes at her. Maple, because I'm from Canada. Hilarious. "You're not funny," I inform her, only making her laugh even more.

We all walk inside together, talking until the bell for homeroom rings, each of us splitting off in different directions, Viv and I going together. I still can't believe my luck, having my closest friend here in all of my classes. Homeroom is spent making jokes about anything and everything. There were lots of puns, really bad ones too. Like 'decimals have a point', which is just terrible. The whole morning is basically the same, which just proves what a lazy student I am. Fortunately, I'm an overachiever.

During second period I feel someone's eyes on me, and I turn to find Maria, glaring at me. I ignore her, trying to preserve my good mood, because I would love to have one day without us arguing. Surprisingly, no one else notices the tension between the two of us. I like it better that way, just keeping it between the people involved. Lunch rolls around, and I'm making my way to the cafeteria with Viv when someone grabs me by the shoulder, spinning me around. Maria.

Oh joy. She looks to Viv, who stopped when she realized I wasn't walking with her anymore, "Hey Viv, mind if I borrow Annie for a sec?" Viv shrugs, tells me she'll be waiting in the caf, and keeps walking. Well, shit. Maria walks me to the girl's bathroom, making sure we're alone before turning to face me. "How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from those Cullens," she spits out, as if saying their name physically pained her. I'm getting so fucking tired of this shit. "Maria, I don't care how many times you tell me they're dangerous, they aren't!" I say, my voice raising with every word. She sighs, "You don't understand, Bella. You don't know what they are," she says. I sigh then, because neither of us can ever seem to get past this point when we argue, but I have to convince her anyway. "I do know what they are, Maria. They told me the truth, I know everything. They're vampires. I understand why you think they're dangerous, but they aren't."

Maria's eyes nearly double in size at realization that I know what's really going on. "How stupid are you, Annie? If you know, then don't you see why that's a problem? Can't you see that I'm just trying to help you, that I don't want to see you get hurt or killed?" She asks, frustrated with my lack of self preservation. I feel guilty then. She just doesn't want to see me get hurt, but I just keep fighting her. I sigh, looking down at the floor below her feet. "Look Maria, the Cullens are being upfront with me. I'm not being deceived, I already know that they're vampires. But you know as well as I do that they hunt animals, not people. I'm sorry that this is so difficult for you to understand. I just want us to be friends, not fighting about the same thing over and over. Can we please talk about something else?" I beg, looking up into her eyes.

She looks conflicted but, but sighs resignedly. "Okay," she says. I smile, crossing the space between us to wrap her in a hug. She laughs, then hugs me back. We pull apart, then I sit on the counter in between two sinks, and Maria does the same. I had thought that she hated me, but she was just looking out for me, and now I hope that we can really be friends, really get to know each other. But before that, I have questions I want the answers to. "Okay, but first: you said a Quileute friend of yours told you what the Cullens are, but how do the Quileute people know what they are?" Maria isn't at all surprised by my question. "Honestly, I don't really know. Seth never told me. I'm not even supposed to know as much as I do, so I try not to pry too much," she says.

Huh. "Okay, second question: How did you know that I'm still in contact with the Cullens?" I ask. I hadn't told anyone else about the Cullens, and I've never been anywhere public with Bella. "I didn't actually know, I just know that you're stubborn, so I just guessed," she answers. I guess I am easy to read, after all. I want to know just how much Maria knows about vampires, but I think we've both had our fill for the day. "Ready for lunch?" I ask, finally realizing that I'm starving. Maria laughs, then nods. We hop down from the counter, and I wrap my arm around her shoulders, walking out with her to the cafeteria. We sit at our table, and I feel a weight that had been on my shoulders being lifted. It feels good to have gained a friend, especially one who knows everything, someone I can confide in about Bella.

The rest of the school day flies by, and before long I'm hoping in the car with my mother to head home and prepare for what should be a pretty fun evening of bowling. We pull up to the driveway and I hop out, quickly going to change since the Rykes will be here any minute.

On my way back downstairs, the doorbell rings. I knew it. I walk over and open the door. Cindy flies towards me, and I get tackled to the ground, knocking my head on the floor. Ow. "Hi Annie!" She screams in my ear. I'm starting to wonder why I was looking forward to this. Cindy stands up, pulling me up with her. She runs over to my mother, clapping her hands excitedly, and proceeds to talk her ears off. I turn to Mr. Rykes. "Hi Michael," I say, laughing at his embarrassed expression. "You can call me Mike, Annie," he says, patting me on the shoulder. I nod, then turn to Lily and Lucy. "Hi girls!" I say. Lily smiles and runs up to me, wrapping her arms around my waist. "Hi Annie! We're going bowling!" Aww, kids are so cute. "I know!" I bend down and make a show of whispering in her ear, "I'm not very good at bowling, so I'm going to need you on my team, and we'll show your mom and dad who's boss," I say. Lily giggles, "Yeah!" She bounces up and down.

I look over to Lucy, and immediately regret it. She looks furious, her eyes so angry I want to crawl into a hole of darkness just to escape her glare. "Hey kiddo," I say, giving her a friendly smile. She doesn't budge. Oh well, I tried.

Lily pulls on my pant leg, and I look over at her again. "Do you still have my picture?" She asks hopefully. Picture? Oh, her drawing! "Of course I do, kiddo. Look, I'll show you," I say grabbing her by the hand and leading her to the kitchen. I lift her up so that she can get a better look at the drawing she gave me: the one where she drew her family and mine together. I made sure to put it right in the center of the fridge, just to give it some importance. I'm actually quite fond of that drawing. The only major inaccuracy is that her sister is smiling, which is definitely not possible when I'm around, apparently. I put Lily down and bring her back to the front door, deciding it's time to save my mother from Cindy.

I tap Cindy on the shoulder, and she turns around, clapping like a seal again. "I'm ready when you are," I say. My mother visibly relaxes, and I have to hold my breath to not burst out laughing. Cindy beams at me, "Great! Let's get going! Bye Lisa," she says, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me out of the house, her family trailing behind her. She drags me over to her family's vehicle, a blue minivan, tossing me into the passenger seat. "Careful dear, I doubt that Annie wants to try bowling with a broken arm," Mike jokes, cringing at the way she tossed me like a ragdoll. My chances of survival would drop dramatically if I were left alone with Cindy for more than five minutes. She could probably hug me to death.

I glance into the rearview mirror, making eye contact with Lucy, who's practically steaming from the ears. I never imagined that getting 'the look' from a little girl would make me so nervous. I look over to Cindy as she pulls out of the driveway. She seems completely oblivious to her daughter's hatred of me. She could kill me in my sleep. I face the front, trying to clear these thoughts away. We're going bowling. Bowling is fun. Lily is on your team. Lily doesn't hate you, or plan your assassination. Bowling is fun. Bowling is fun.

We arrive at the bowling alley about fifteen minutes later in good spirits, the somewhat tense car ride seemingly forgotten. Cindy runs in ahead of us to rent out two lanes and shoes for everyone. I find myself walking next to Lucy. Uh oh. I smile at her again, getting an indifferent look in response. She doesn't look pleased, but she doesn't seem nearly as angry as she did a few minutes ago, so I'll take that as an improvement.

We walk into the bowling alley, and I can't help but smile at the fact that all bowling alleys really are the same. The same carpeting, lighting, worn down shoes, TVs to display the scores, everything. I feel a little more at home here, even if I've never been here before.

I hear seal clapping, and I follow the sound towards Cindy, who is carrying five pairs of bowling shoes by herself. I jog over, taking three of the pairs off of her hands. She grins at me, "Aww, thanks Annie! Come on, we're in lanes five and six," she says, leading the way. We sit down on the benches, tying up our bowling shoes. Lily is having trouble tying hers, her tongue sticking out of her mouth while she stares with intense concentration, making me laugh. We divide the teams, Mike and Cindy against the kids and I.

I wasn't kidding when I told Lily I'm a bad bowler. I don't think I've gotten a strike in my whole life. Hopefully the girls are good, or don't mind losing at least. Something tells me that Lucy is very competitive, which does not bode well for me. Our team starts, Lily bowling first. Thankfully Cindy asked for the kid sized bowling balls, because Lily couldn't lift the regular sized ball for her life. She rolls the ball, hitting six pins. We all applaud, and Lily turns around, taking a bow. She definitely inherited her mother's personality.

Cindy and I sit next to each other on the benches, watching everyone take their turns. "So are you any good at bowling, Cindy?" I ask, making her cringe. What did I say? Cindy, correctly reading my expression of confusion, responds, "The name Cindy makes me feel old." I almost crack a 'you're so old' joke, but that would be too mean. I guess I need to think of a nickname. I'm not very good at nicknames. "Oh, well… what about… Ceecee?" I ask. Cindy thinks about it, then shakes her head. "Close, but not quite." Hmm, this is tricky. "Okay…" It needs to be reflective of her personality, happy and fun. I've got it. "Cinnamon," I say.

Cindy's whole face lights up. "I love it! Ooh, I have to think of one for you too!" Yikes, this will be interesting. Cindy, a.k.a. Cinnamon, looks at a random spot on the floor, deep in thought. Clearly she takes this very seriously, which is actually quite funny. Then her face turns into the exact same one as her daughter when she was tying her shoelaces, making me laugh again. "Annie, it's your turn!" Lily shouts. Aww shit. Okay, here goes nothing.

I grab a bowling ball and approach the lane. I bring my arm back, then send it forward, letting go of the ball. I watch it roll, veering off to the side, aaaand it's a gutter ball. Saw that coming. I hear laughter behind me. I turn around to find myself being laughed at by the whole family… including Lucy. Lucy is laughing in my presence. I must have hit my head pretty hard earlier to be seeing this right now. I mock pout, even though I'm not upset in the least, and sit back down.

Lily hugs my arm, "Don't be sad, Annie! Look at my super awesome cartwheel!" She exclaims. She backs up, preparing to perform her trick. "Lily, you know the rule: no cartwheels indoors," Mike says, much to Lily's annoyance. "But daaaaaad," she whines, "I want to show her my trick!" I laugh at her eagerness. "It's okay Lily, you can show me later," I say. She thinks about what I said, then nods her approval.

"Hey Cinnamon, you're up," I say, making Cindy giggle. She leans over to me and whispers, "You're going down, Bubbles," then gets up to bowl. Bubbles, huh? I have no clue about how she came up with that, but I guess it could have been worse. I've also just realized that Cindy has a competitive side to her. She steps up to the lane, rolls her ball and lands a perfect strike. Damn, I just got smoked.

She confidently struts back to her seat, high-fiving Mike on the way. Lucy bowls and misses, becoming more frustrated every time. I notice a few improvements that could be made in her form. As terrible as I am at the execution of bowling, I've got a pretty good grasp on the theory behind it. I cautiously walk over, preparing to have my head bitten off at any moment. "Hey Lucy, could I show you a trick? It'll help you get more points," I mumble, nearly shaking when she turns to me.

She looks between me and her ball, then nods wordlessly. Okay, this is good. I grab a second ball, showing her how to better position her shot. She tries again, hitting nine pins. She smiles and turns to me. "Thank you," she says. Holy shit, I can't believe she's being nice to me. I nod, then return to my spot, thoroughly satisfied with myself.

The rest of the night is full of good natured competition, and in the end our team lost. Cindy didn't let the girls feel bad about losing, but she did enjoy teasing me about it on the ride home. She really is a cocky competitor. "I bet you're wishing you had me on your team, huh Bubbles?" She brags, raising her eyebrows suggestively. I roll my eyes for the twentieth time, waiting for her to get it all out of her system. "Oh please, we both know that the only reason you guys won is because of Mike," I say. In reality they were both pros, but there's no way I'm going to admit that. Mike puffs up his chest, happy to accept the praise, and a chuckle.

We pull into my driveway and I hop out of the car. The girls hop out and follow me to the front door, each one grabbing an arm to pull on. "Goodnight, kiddos," I say, ruffling the hair on their heads. "Goodnight Bubbles!" Lily says, and I now know that this ridiculous nickname will be permanent. "Goodnight Annie," Lucy says, smiling and waving before dragging her sister back to the car. Mike pats me on the back, thanking me for coming along, then goes back to the car.

"Piggy back ride!" I barely have time to register that sentence before Cindy jumps on my back, tightly wrapping her arms around my neck, effectively choking me to death. "Cindy, get off!" I shout, not having the energy to carry a grown woman around on my back. I mean seriously, I just spent the entire evening with this madwoman, and yet she somehow has the energy to jump around like a child. Cindy slides off my back, then hops in front of me, clapping her hands excitedly. "We should make dinner plans again! Ooh we could make ice cream! Or go swimming! Or watch TV!"

Oh come on, she wants to talk about this now? Also, I wish I could see how her brain works, because I don't understand her thought process half of the time. How could we go swimming at their house? "Sure thing, Cindy. I'd give you my number, but you already have it, so just call me anytime." I say, hoping she'll just go so that I can get some sleep. It's like she sucks up my energy for herself, which would explain why she's always hyper and I'm always tired when we part company.

Cindy claps excitedly again, then pulls me in for a bone-crushing hug. "Okay, I'll call you soon! Goodnight Bubbles!" She giggles at the nickname, clearly pleased with her choice. "Okay, just don't call me in the middle of the night unless it's an emergency. Goodnight Cinnamon," I say, completely serious about the call thing. I need my sleep. Cindy nods, hopping over to the car. She pulls out of the driveway, waves, and drives away. Oh thank god.

I open the front door, closing it shut behind me before sagging against it. Bowling is harder than I remember it being. My mother looks over from her seat on the couch. "So how was it?" She asks, clearly amused by my tiredness. "Fine. Tired. Sleep. Goodnight," I say, no longer feeling the motivation to use full sentences. My mother just laughs, bids me goodnight, then goes back to watching her soap opera.

I walk upstairs and flop on my bed, ready to go straight to sleep, even though it's only… 10 p.m. I usually stay up until much later, but ever since moving here the amount of drama in my life has forced me to get more sleep than I would be getting otherwise. My eyelids feel heavy, but just before I fall asleep, I think about Bella. I should ask her to meet me tomorrow, and not just assume she'll show up.

I sit up, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I already feel bad about not contacting her at all since last week, but I really needed time to adjust. I call her number.

Ri- "Hello?"

She picks up immediately. She was waiting for me to call. I feel like someone just punched a hole in my stomach, the guilt building up so quickly. "Hey Bella," I say, not really sure how she'll react to my call. "I'm so sorry I didn't call sooner, but I just needed time to adjust to this whole 'vampire' thing. Forgive me?" I ask, not failing to notice how it wasn't very long ago where the roles were reversed.

"Of course, I understand Annie. I'm just happy to hear your voice," Bella says, and even though she meant it as a compliment I cringe, feeling even worse about going off the grid. "I really want to see you, would you meet me tomorrow? I've missed you," I admit, earning a light-hearted giggle from Bella. "I'd love that. How about I come over when you get home from school?" She offers, making me smile. I'm just happy she wants to see me. "That sounds good," I say, trying my best to stifle a yawn. "You sound tired," she says. Busted. "Yeah, well, It's been a long, weird day," I say. No shit, Sherlock. "I'll tell you about it tomorrow," I add.

There are so many things I want to talk to her about. I want to talk to her about my intense feelings, about all the questions I have about vampires, and about regular stuff like my day. Which is weird, because I've never really felt like talking to someone as much as I want to talk to Bella. "Sounds good, Annie. Get some sleep, we wouldn't want you falling asleep on me tomorrow, now would we?" She jokes, bringing me back to the present.

I smile at that, and sigh. "Okay, well I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight Bella," I say, yawning again. Stupid brain, making me too tired to hold a conversation. Bella chuckles, "Goodnight Annie," she says warmly, then hangs up. I feel disappointed by how short that conversation was, but I put my phone on the bedside cabinet, kick off my shoes and crawl under the covers of my bed, too lazy to change into some more comfortable clothing than jeans and a tee-shirt. Immediately I feel myself drifting off to sleep.

Well, there's always tomorrow.

A/N: Hi readers! Sorry about the minimal Annie/Bella in this chapter, but I'll make it up to you in the next one, promise! BTW I know that some of you guys are annoyed with some the high school drama, but Annie is in high school, so… (o.0) Anyways I'll update before too long. :D