AN: Okay, so here's the thing, I know I don't always update (Hence, my six month leave last year) and I feel bad to my active readers, so I created a Facebook account that I'll be checking and posting all lot, that you can ask me questions on, or just post comments, if you wanted to but the purpose is so you can look at it and I'll tell you when I writing, if I'm sick or busy and can't write for a while or something, if I'm about to update, if I just updated or something like that. So I'll leave a link on my profile or you can look it up, under Bristol Smr Love.
BTW, it's a totally fake name.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
I sighed in contentment, to the feeling of ice cold lips on my cheek when I awoke on Tuesday morning. Edward chuckled. "I'm happy to see your in a better mood today."
"Don't jinx it," I mumbled still half asleep. I rolled over, watching Edward jump out of my window. I stared at the ceiling, glad for once, I had nothing on my mind.
I was happy that I could tell Edward about everything that had happened in that crash. Not just the crash itself but the aftermath too. It felt better than I could have expected, to get that off my chest.
But even good moments, blissful ones, need to come to an end.
I groaned, to no one but myself as I rolled out of bed. I rubbed my eyes as I pulled out a white bin, one that I hadn't opened yet. I was still half asleep, regretting staying up so late, telling Edward about the day of the fateful car wreck.
I assume, while we were talking, Rosalie was fixing up Edward's car.
I yanked the lid off, and started searching, looking for anything to wear. I pulled out a lacy silk camisole. I had in mind the jean shorts I wanted to wear, that went with this top perfectly. I dug around this bin, and came up with nothing. I sighed, and started digging through another random bin under my bed. When I was somewhat near the bottom, I found the ones I was looking for. I slid it back, pushing in under my comforter. I wouldn't go. I sighed, loudly and tried pushing a lot harder. It still didn't move. Frustrated and barely coherent, I flipped the blankets up and looked for the problem.
And I found it. There were too many bins stacked under the bed to make it fit. I wondered where it was before I pulled it out of nowhere. I looked for an empty spot. The only one was behind all the rest. My curiosity was now sparked, wondering why there was one bin behind all the rest when there was clearly room next to the rest. I opened the lid to the thin plastic box and looked through it.
At the bottom there were something I couldn't identify at first. Something I couldn't remember off the top of my head. And something I knew, for a fact, I couldn't fit into.
Novalee's baby clothes lay at the very bottom of the bin.
I took a few deep breaths in, to calm myself.
I have no clue how long I stared and stared and stared at those little tiny clothes. But eventually Edward came through my window. I didn't hear him at first, until I felt his hand on my shoulder.
"Bella-" He stopped mid-sentence, unsure what to say.
I dropped the baby clothes I had no idea I was clutching and kicked the bin across the room. "Let's go," I said, normal as possible as I shoved my head through my peach camisole and yanked on my jean shorts, buttoning them as I walked towards the door.
X.
Edward and I talked normal in the car. He had obviously learned to stop pushing me. He definitely wasn't going to mention what happened this morning.
Neither was I.
When we got to school, we walked to our first period, English. "Edward," Ms. Smitt rang out, from the front of the room.
"Yes?" Edward asked.
"Could you help me? I'm behind on my grading and I need to get all six classes graded in the next half an hour."
Edward hesitated, not wanting to ditch me, at the same time my phone went off. I looked at the Caller ID. It read Tommy. I nudged Edward to go help Ms. Smitt as I exited into the hall.
"Hello?" I said as a question, instead of a greeting.
"Bella?" Rang my best friend.
"Tommy?" I whispered.
"Yeah. Wow, I never expected you to answer. Wow. Damn." I laughed at his babble.
"So, how have you been doing?" I asked, trying to ease some tension.
"Pretty good...Ditching...again." I could hear his brothers' videogames playing in the background.
"Lucky. I so wish I could ditch."
"Yeah, you're Nate's only reason to go to school." Dustin laughed, some tension was gone.
"Other than getting away from his family." I pointed out.
"True. Why don't you, Nate and that one guy go ditch together?" That one other guy being Edward?
"I need to do well in school." I shrugged, walking into the girl's bathroom.
"Like make the honor roll?" Tommy made straight D's. He wouldn't go to school if he could help it.
I laughed. "Like pass the 12th grade."
The tension suddenly melted away. "Oh please, Princess. You managed to pass the 9th and 10th grade, pregnant."
I shrugged. "Some of those teachers felt bad for me. Others really didn't care what I did. They weren't gonna fail a pregnant girl."
Tommy laughed. "True to that. So how's Naty boy."
"Eh, good. We still fight a lot."
"I'm shocked, Princess." I could almost see him putting his hand on his heart, mocking me.
"Shut it," I smiled.
"You love me," Tommy teased.
"You love me more."
"Wanna bet?"
"You are so on."
He just laughed. "Yeah, I do love you. And I miss you."
"I miss you too." I smiled, sweetly.
"So, Nate told me, your dad is an ass."
"He's the biggest ass in the world."
"Really now." He said, slyly. "Care to share?"
"Yes!"
X.
I walked out of the girl's bathroom, still smiling. Tommy could really crack me up sometimes. He was the only person who could make me laugh about Charlie. I should have remembered that a lot sooner.
Someone brushed past me, not glancing in my direction. My instincts took over when I recognized the head, before I could stop myself. I grabbed Nate's hand, yanking him backwards. "Trying to avoid me?" I accused, slightly smiley, in a better mood than I thought I'd be in, going by the last few days.
"No." Nate jerked his hand away, turning his back to keep on walking.
"Naty, what's wrong?" I yanked on his arm again, not letting him fight me off.
"I just don't wanna talk," Nate said, not facing me.
"Something's wrong, Nate." I stated, not asked, "Don't create a repeat of yesterday."
"Yeah, because I was fighting with myself."
"I never said that!" I exclaimed.
"Why don't you just leave me alone!" Nate shook me off and went running down the hall.
I shut my eyes, not sure how to react. I felt an arm wrap around my neck. "What was that about?" Asked Alice.
"No idea." I said, still watching him leave. "I didn't even set him off. This time at least."
"Maybe he's having an off day? Like you did yesterday." Alice suggested.
"Maybe."
X.
I didn't tell Edward about Nate's outburst to me. I almost felt like I shouldn't mention it. I hated keeping secrets from him, but I also felt like I shouldn't dump random facts on him. He doesn't tell me when he and Emmett have a fight.
But then again, me and Nate aren't exactly siblings.
"Hey, Edward?" I asked, sometime during English.
"Yes, love," He asked, writing something down, then looking up.
I hesitated. I wasn't sure what I wanted to ask him. I just kind of wanted to say something. "Can you take me home really quick, after school. I need to get something." It was better than saying nothing, I guess. But there wasn't really anything I needed to get.
A piece of paper hit the top of my desk, breaking me out of my thoughts. What now? I almost groaned. I unraveled the paper out of a ball and looked at the words on the page.
I don't understand you
I looked at Edward, seeing why he'd write this, but he was looking at Jessica. I became very confused.
Some days, I may have been too much of a drama queen-or princess in my case-to write back and say she was just trying to harass me but today I was up for some fun.
Right back attcha, sweetheart
Edward laughed, as I shot him a big toothy smile, probably looking like an idiot but really not caring. I threw it straight at the back of her head, hitting a bulls eye. She stared at it for a full minute, with an expression that made me and Edward laugh. Lauren leaned back to glare at us, which only cracked us up some more.
Jessica threw the paper back like a hacky sack. Edward read it over my shoulder.
How can you do ALL of this for attention
I wanted to ask what she was talking about but the paper was suddenly gone from under me. Even Edward looked up, surprised. "Should I even ask, Ms. Swan?" Ms. Smitt's voice said, from above me.
I shrugged, keeping my cool. "Well, it's your choice, ma'am. Not mine."
"Okay, you know what? I'm getting really sick of this. I'm ready to kick you out of my class." She sounded serious. I didn't care. No teacher was going to make me sweat.
"For what? Incase you haven't noticed, nobody here is really coming to this class or to this school, for that matter, because they wanna learn. They have to. Kicking me out is like saying you give up on me and that I'm worse than any other student. I'm not the only one who's bored. I'm not the only one who wasn't paying attention. And I didn't start that note. It was tossed at me." I explained, coyly. I briefly caught Edward's look out of the corner of my eye. He looked amused and slightly unsurprised.
"If you're not the only one, then why is it, that every time I look around, you're either talking to your boyfriend or making snarky remarks to Lauren or passing notes to Jessica or Nate Carter is coming in here to defend you. This isn't your drama circle and you can't walk all over me, even if your allowed in other classes. This is disrupting my class." I could tell she was angry. Who could blame her? She wasn't lying. But we all knew I wasn't causing this drama fest all by myself.
I stood up, walking around to the middle of the aisle, where there was a gap between all the desks. "You know, it's funny that you managed to blame me, yet you mentioned Edward, Lauren, Jessica and Nate. I wasn't writing that note to myself, Ms. Smitt. I'd be willing to bet more a lot of people were writing notes, or texting or having side conversations. And they were probably even about me. But the difference is, you turn a blind eye for the others. But for me, you are willing to pick any excuse to pick on me. You think I won't fight back." I pause, just looking at her, making her uncomfortable for once, "Okay, so maybe I do disrupt your class but I'm definitely not doing it alone."
"I highly doubt everyone is really giving you as hard of a time as you are making it out to be. I know at your age, attention is something you crave, above anything else, but that doesn't mean the world is against you. And it also doesn't mean that everyone is talking about you."
"Are you there, in every one of my classes? Were you there when I opened my locker and there was a bottomless box of condoms? Or when I got kicked out of my seat in math class, for really no reason at all. What about when my bra got unhooked or when Chelsea tried to get me suspended? Do you hear Jessica or Lauren making comments to me all the time, or random girls, who I've never spoken to in my life, calling me a skank and pledging their undying hate for me?" I looked her square in the eye. "You can't say anything about what goes on outside this classroom because you don't know, what going on, outside this classroom."
Ms. Smitt, for once had no answer, for a moment at least. I looked around the room all eyes on us.
"Regardless, Bella, you have distracted the class multiple times in a the last couple of weeks." She reminded me.
I looked at her, knowingly. "You're not saying this because I'm annoying you. I'm just the easy victim." I said, softly. No one else probably heard me, except for Edward.
"Bella-" Before she could even finish, I held my hand up.
Then I turned to the class instead of her. "Raise your hand if this is your favorite class of the day." No one raised their hand, but their eyes stayed on me. It was dead silent, you could hear a pen drop.
"Raise your hand if you get bored in this class." About 7 kids, slowly and unsurely, raised their hands.
"Raise your hand if you talk in this class." Twelve kids raised their hand.
"Raise your hand if you have ever pass notes in this class." About 16 kids raised their hands, a little surer now.
"Raise your hand if you have ever texted someone in this class or any other class." Half the class raised their hands now.
"Raise your hand if you have ever talked to me or about me in this class." Twenty-six students, terrified on what I may do, raised their hands.
"Raise your hand if those notes or texts were ever about me." Twenty-nine slow, unsure, afraid, careful, hand rose up.
"Raise your hand if you think I'm the school slut." Everyone but Edward raised their hand.
"Raise your hand if you hate me." No one raised their hand. Not even Jessica or Lauren.
The bell rang, almost like this was planned. I left without a single word from anyone. Edward caught up with me in the hall. "That was really brave in there." Edward told me.
I shrugged. "It needed to be done."
"No really, Bella. I'm impressed." I laughed.
"Thanks."
"Not only was it courageous but most people in that class no longer have anything against you."
"Really?" They had nothing against me, for now...
"They really don't. It's weird." Alice came out of nowhere. "It's like they were waiting for you to do something, that they wanted you to stand up there and talk."
Before we could say much more, out of nowhere, I saw Jessica and Mike looking over here. Mike looked normal, but Jessica was staring at me like I had three heads. It was really creepy. I remembered her note in class. I didn't understand it.
I didn't want to deal with them next period. Alice went stiff for a moment then looked at Edward. "You want to ditch. Again?" Alice asked, unsure.
"You got it."
"You ditched yesterday."
"I went home sick. There's a difference." I pointed out, dragging a smiling Edward towards the door. "See you, Alice."
"Bella, how am I supposed to explain this to the secretary!" Alice exclaimed.
"Love you!" I called, ignoring her. Alice was Alice. She would find a way.
We laughed on our way to the Volvo that was somehow fixed thanks to Rosalie. "Why do we even come to school anymore," Edward teased in the car.
"I'll stay for the rest of the week," I said, wryly.
"You don't have to. And I definitely don't need to."
I laughed, "I don't know." I sighed after a moment. "School is fun, sometimes. When I get to show off."
Now Edward laughed. "I'm still impressed by what you did in front of the class."
I shrugged. "I think they were lying. They do all hate me."
"Not really. Some girls are jealous of you, but that partly how this started in the first place." Edward explained, turning on Elderidge Road.
"Partly?" I picked out.
Edward shrugged, indifferent. Or not wanting to tell me. "Most girls are jealous of you," He shifted the subject slightly.
"Like who?" I challenged.
"Jessica."
"Whatever."
"Lauren."
"Bitch."
"Angela."
"Yeah, right!"
"It's true," Edward insisted.
"Angela is jealous of me? Seriously!" Why would she be jealous of me!
"She doesn't dislike you on any level, Bell. And she does pity you too."
"First of all, that's even worse. And second, jealousy leads to hate. Trust me, I know."
"Not true." Edward seemed determined to prove his point.
"Really?"
"Francia envies you too and she's also your best friend." Edward pointed out, speeding up slightly.
My head shot up. "Francia does not envy me." I was sure.
"Her thoughts say otherwise."
"Oh really? Care to share." I used the same words Tommy used this morning.
"Her thoughts were sincere that she loves you like a little sister, but she's jealous because she thinks you're prettier-which I agree-and because you are more loved." Edward explained, turning the corner.
I looked at him for a long minute. "You know, I understand what you mean when you say you can read my face so well." Edward looked at me, puzzled, since this came out of left field. "I can read yours too, when you let your guard down." I continued. "You are curious about something you read in Francia's mind." I stated.
"You're good. I need to remember to keep my face blank from now on."
"No! That's no fun!" I exclaimed, without thinking. "Okay, now you're trying to distract me. Why won't you answer the question, Edward?" Edward rolled his eyes, playful.
"I don't want to upset you." Edward reached over and stroked my cheek.
"I won't get upset. I swear."
Edward was silent for a minute. "Do you remember when Francia and you were talking about when you guys met Taylor?" Edward finally asked, quietly.
"Yes." I said, evenly, suddenly knowing exactly where this was going.
"When you said, 'It's Taylor', Francia thought. 'God, I miss her.' And it wasn't in a moved away sort of tone." I sighed after he was done explaining. I was surprised that it took Edward this long to ask. I had expected this question, a long time ago. But I still didn't want to talk about it.
But I needed to.
"What happened to her?" Edward prompted after a minute.
"She died..." I trailed off. I shut my eyes for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain it without losing it. Yesterday, I broke down at least four times. I didn't want a repeat. "She was murdered, Edward." Edward looked over at me. I didn't realize until then, we were parked. "Um," I gathered my voice. "She was killed about 6 months after Novalee was gone. Everything for me was already a blur but it just went to hell then."
"Do you know who killed her?"
"No. And the police let it go. They looked for about year then gave up."
"Did she have any enemies?" Edward asked.
I chuckled, darkly. "At PV, if you weren't best friends with someone, they pretty much were your enemies." I explained.
"Did you have enemies?" Edward asked.
"Please. All I had was enemies." Not counting a select few.
Edward was quiet for a few minutes. I didn't speak, letting him think about whatever. "Bella, were you the hot girl at your old school?" He suddenly asked, dead serious.
I burst out laughing; definitely not how I thought a conversation like this was going. Edward saying hot girl sounded so weird, that in itself made me laugh. When I caught my breath, I shook my head. "No. Edward, I was not the hot girl."
"Are you sure?" He didn't believe me?
I almost answered yes, immediately but then I thought. "I don't know." I answered honestly. "And you're just trying to distract me." I narrowed my eyes.
Edward flashed me his crooked smile. "I don't want to pressure you into talking about your friend..."
"But..."
"But, I am curious. And the only two people who would know are you and Nate. Two minds, who are reserved from me."
I stared down at my shorts for a minute, smiling smally, sadly. I couldn't go into details on what happened to Taylor, because I didn't know the details. I knew even less than Nate knew and he knew less than anyone else in Phoenix.
So I could only tell him what I was comfortable with. And what little knowledge I had.
"I don't even know most of what happened. I asked Francia when she was here but she said the cops were calling it a cold case. Which is really stupid." I didn't register what I was going to say before I started babbling. "You know, the worst part is, I can't remember when I found out or how exactly I found out. I don't even really remember losing my friend. I remember becoming vacant. And angry. And resolved. I remember, feeling like crying when I laughed and laughing when I cried. And feeling like someday I was going just dry up and blow away and everyone would be better off." Sometimes I still feel exactly like that.
"That's not true, love."
"You and Nate and all my friends and Renee and Phil and my aunt and uncles all say that, but it doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't make sense. My daughter and the girl, who was supposed to be my sister both died. And yet, I'm still here." I paused. Edward almost looked like he was going to say something but I kept going. "Why am I here? I've been almost killed, God knows how many times! But somehow I always get second chances. Why didn't Taylor? Why didn't Novalee?"
Edward wrapped an arm around me, pulling me into his side. His face was pained, his eyes dark. I knew he hated seeing me upset. "I'm sorry." I felt his lips touch my hair. "I shouldn't have made you talk about it."
"No." I said after a minute. "I'm glad you did. Talking helps." I forced a small smile.
"Good." Edward kissed my forehead before mumbling something I didn't understand.
X.
I struggled to get the key into the door. Edward didn't touch me, knowing it would only make me colder. I had, stupidly, forgot my coat this morning and was freezing cold. I was in a hurry to get my jacket out of my room so I could go back to the Cullens'.
"Damn you, fricken key. Get in the hole!"
"Here, let me-" Before Edward could help, Charlie opened the door.
I shoved right passed him and started to sprint up the stairs, not the easiest thing in my heels. "Isabella!" Charlie called as I reached my room.
I froze, then rolled my eyes, not turning around. "What now?" I groaned, grabbing my jacket off my closet floor.
"Where the hell were you last night?" He was pissed.
"Here!"
"No, you weren't."
"Well, of course you wouldn't notice. You were sleeping on the couch, drooling by the time I came home."
Charlie glared at me, but I didn't pay any attention. I turned to Edward, about to tell him to get me out of here, to see his shirt pocket, visibly buzzing. "Go, take your call," I whispered to him, knowing he heard me. Edward hesitantly left, but I figured he would be listening.
"What about yesterday afternoon?" Charlie demanded.
I narrowed my eyes. Yesterday I had ditched school, got in a fight with Nate twice, been in a car accident and relived the single most traumatic day of my life.
And Charlie wanted to know where I was?
"I got in a car accident, Charlie." I said, blankly, waiting to see his reaction.
He froze. "Oh my god. What happened?"
Wow. I didn't expect that. Charlie acting concerned and parental? I never thought that would happen.
"I was driving, car started to break down, someone hit Edward's car six times. I freaked." I stated, curtly, but my tone melted a bit.
"Who did it?" He was going into cop mode.
"I don't know," I stated, pulling on my jacket.
"You don't know!" Now he thinks I'm making it up.
"It was a hit and run." I said like I was talking to Meme instead of Charlie.
"A hit and run!"
"Yes, dad. It was a hit and run. Now do you mind, I've got to go."
"Bella, I need more answers-"
"I'm sure you'll figure it all out." I shut the door. Edward was leaning against the side of his car, only he wasn't alone. Emmett stood right next to him with a grin that was so Emmett.
"Hey, Bells, I'm stealing Edward for a few hours." Emmett said as I walked up.
"You guys going hunting?" I already knew the answer to my question.
"Yes." Edward answered, glaring out of the corner of his eye at Emmett.
"That's boring, Edward. Even Bella would agree." Emmett boomed.
"What's boring?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hunting in the same old place. Over and over again." Emmett rolled his eyes. "We should go somewhere farther away. But we can't. Edward doesn't want to leave."
"Go without me." Edward chimed in.
"No one else will go without you!" Emmett whined. I sighed. I was a sucker for guilt trips as much as I tried to deny it.
"Well."
I laughed, quietly at Emmett. "Please, Bella, please, make Edward go. Please." Emmett begged. I laughed again.
"Em-" Edward started.
"You should go." I said, quietly. I knew that I kept him away from the rest of his family enough. I used to wish I had siblings. I wish I had a family like his. Unjudgemental and loving. I didn't want Edward taking his family for granted.
"Yes, ma'am!" Emmett picked me up and spun me around. "I knew I always wanted Bella as a little sister!"
"Love, it doesn't really matter." Edward chimed in as Emmett sat me down on solid ground. "I can wait awhile to go hunting and we can just stay in the same spot."
"No. You can't, Edward. You're the one who told me you can't hunt in the same spot so much, or else people get suspicious." I smiled, trying to look reassuring. "Besides, I take you from your family enough. You should go."
"Don't need to tell me twice." Emmett started to drag Edward away. Edward batted his hand back at vampire speed.
I laughed. "Go. Have a good time."
"Call me if you need me." Edward stepped forward to kiss me goodbye.
"I will." I promised.
"See you in a few days, shorty!" Emmett called, laughing. I even heard Edward laughing. I groaned. Edward and Alice told Emmett about my nickname. Great. I watched them speed away, as best as human eyes could detect.
I looked around, wondering what I should do. My first thought was go hang out with friends. Human friends. But a lot of them, I really didn't want to deal with.
I sighed. I loved Edward-with all my heart-but his leaving opened up another opportunity.
Nate
How he acted at school was suddenly on my mind. I never really understood everything that he did and the reasons behind it but I knew I couldn't just let it go. I had to talk to him.
I got in my truck and drove down the street, slowly, in no hurry to get to Nate's house. I forget sometimes that being with Nate wears me out.
But my curiosity got the better of me. I almost felt a little guilty. All I felt was curiosity. I really wasn't concerned. But I knew if something were really wrong, Juliannah or Aidenn or Claire or Summer would have called me.
And Nate didn't keep things from me. Except when they were hard to talk about. I looked up to see the Carter's house. I turned in their driveway, and turned off the ignition.
"Princess!" Claire shouted, running towards me. I caught her just in time. My god, she was so tiny! How the hell could she be pregnant? I remembered I was shorter than her when I was fifteen. Claire's only fourteen. Did people think the same thing about me, I wondered? Probably. People always asked me how old I was and were surprised that I was even fifteen or sixteen, at the end of my pregnancy.
"Claire!" I exclaimed. "Don't run into me too hard. Might hurt your stomach."
"Oh god, Bella! Not you too!" Claire pulled back.
"What?"
"My mom and dad are always telling me I can't have too much sugar and I have to take it easy, don't stress out and take these nasty pills for pregnancies!" She ranted.
I laughed. "I know, I hated it too." My nose wrinkled.
"Did you know the doctor told me that pretty soon, sex would be good for the baby?"
I laughed, then abruptly frowned. "Can't picture you having sex, Claire."
"I couldn't picture you and Nate getting it on either."
"Oh, please. You didn't even try to picture that."
"How do you know?"
"You were eleven."
She laughed, high pitched and squeaky. "I know, right!"
She grabbed my hand, dragging me inside. "Are you here to see Nate?"
"Yeah...something like that."
"You guys got in another fight, didn't you?" She said as she opened the door.
"...I'm really not sure."
"Oh!" She seemed to get it. I didn't..."He's in the kitchen." She said as she walked away.
"Nate?" I called, walking around the corner to the kitchen. Nate sat at a high counter on a bar stool, with a piece of paper in his hand. "Nathann?" I called.
He looked up. "Oh...Hey?" He said it as a question.
I stared him for a minute. "Wanna tell me why you were so weird at school today?"
"I just wasn't in the mood." Nate shrugged, looking back at the photo in his hands.
"You weren't in the mood?" My eyebrows pulled together. "Bull shit."
"I just didn't want to see you!" Nate yelled, throwing his hands up in the air, successfully throwing the photo my way.
"What's this?" I asked, reaching for the photo.
"Nothing!" He snapped, reaching too.
I was quicker. "What's so important about this?" I asked, then I looked at it.
I remembered this picture. It was two weeks after I was released from the hospital. My hair was messy ponytail that hung over my shoulder, Novalee had woken me up every half an hour the night before, I had not a scratch of makeup on my face, I was on my bed in a tank top and boyshorts and I had just gotten done breast feeding her. I had been pissed that Nate had taken this picture. I didn't know he had kept it.
But the most prominent thing was that I was holding a fussy Novalee in my arms.
Her eyes. Oh my god. I had forgotten about her eyes. They were the shape of mine but bright blue. And she was born with fuzzy golden hair. She was looking wide-eyed at the camera. I looked like I was getting ready to flip it off.
I sighed. This only got harder and harder. I set the photograph down in front of Nate. He sighed. "Okay. I cave. I was avoiding you."
"Why?" I asked, biting my lip, absentmindedly, all of a sudden kind of wishing I hadn't let Edward go with Emmett and that we were at the Cullens' right now.
"Because you look like her." Nate said, looking at me.
"What?"
"You know how people always say that when, like their husband or wife dies they see them in their kids?" I nodded. "Well it's the opposite for us."
"Yeah. You're right." We fell silent for a minute. "So have you been comparing me and Novalee ever since you moved to Forks."
Nate didn't respond right away. "This morning my mom was making me unpack. When I went through some of my boxes I found this at the bottom." He held the photo up again, just for effect. "I kind of forgot how much you too look alike," Nate said sheepishly.
"I thought you and her looked more alike."
Nate shook his head. He was about to say more but I heard the back door open and high heels clinking on the floor.
Kayla Carter walked into the kitchen. It almost shocked me. I guess I hadn't really thought about what she looked like. She looked mostly the same as before only a little paler and her hair a different color and-thank god-her teeth were not half as white. She could have blinded the whole contrary before. She was back to being a blonde. About Summer shade blonde, not Claire. She was still very tan-for Forks, at least. And her boob job was definitely still her favorite asset.
"Hey baby." She leaned over and kissed Nate on the forehead.
"Hi mom."
She looked over. "Bella!" She exclaimed, quieter than Claire but I could see where she got it from.
"Hi." I smiled as she hugged me.
"What took you so long, sugar?" I don't know why it surprised me that she still had her southern accent.
"Took me so long…..?"
"To come visit us! Silly little girl!"
I laughed, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." She smiled at me. "Nate, you're being rude. Get Princess something to drink."
"I am such a horrible person." Nate said as he walked over to the fridge.
"So where were you guys?" I asked
"Oh you know. Shopping for Claire. She's scared she's not going to be ready when the baby comes."
"Let's hope she has an easier time than me."
Kayla wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "You did great, honey. Sometimes life just sucks." I knew she was avoiding talking about her son.
Nate set some kind of drink for me on the counter. Kayla looked over at her son. They shared a look, tender but there was something else there that I didn't understand.
"I'm going to go take Juli to her appointment." She said as she left, after she kissed her son again.
Nate was wiping off his mother's lip-gloss when Tom came in. "Get me a beer." He said to Nate, dropping the newspaper on the counter.
"Didn't you drink enough last night, dad. You need coffee."
Tom looked disappointed. "Nate, I thought I'd taught you that you never drink coffee to sober someone up-"
"Because all you'll get is a wide awake drunk." Nate finished for him, standing up again to get his dad a beer from the fridge.
Tom looked over to me. "Hey, sweetheart." He said
"Hi." I smiled, brightly.
"How are you?"
"Pretty good."
"Except your dad is an ass right?" He laughed.
I laughed too. "How'd you know that?" I asked.
"Nate was telling me all about it." He flashed me a smile as Nate handed a beer to his dad.
"Really?" I was shocked. Nate rarely talked to his dad, last time I checked. And when something bad was going on he ran to Kayla to baby him.
"I needed someone to vent to." Nate answered my unspoken question. "And I didn't think he'd remember."
"But I do." Tom chimed in.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Nate was annoyed, that was obvious.
"Well then. I can see where I'm not wanted." Tom teased, smiling at me. "See you around, Princess." He left the room. Abruptly, three seconds later he popped his head back in. "Oh, and don't let my douche of a son get to you."
Nate groaned. "I'll keep that in mind." I said, smiling.
I liked Nate's family better than I did mine. I was going to have to start spending more time over here.
I leaned down to look at the photograph again. I looked so pissed there. If only I'd known what was coming. I sighed, deeply.
I wish I hadn't taken everything I had for granted.
AN: So whatcha think of Nate's parents. I said they weren't the best parents, not that they were villains, hahaha. BTW, in the beginning the reason I didn't show Bella explaining to Edward what happened during the crash that killed Novalee is because that's going to have something to do with later chapters. And I also don't think a lot of people understood why I had a flashback to Nate and Bella in the car in the last chapter. That was for a reason. Just saying.
Two reminders:
Vote on my poll.(Btw, just say in a review or PM if you change your vote.)
And the link to my facebook is on my profile :D