A/N:
I do not own Twilight or characters of – I just mess around with them a tad for no compensation.
Bella's second day of school, a Wednesday, started out much more smoothly than the previous. She made it to home-base with five minutes to spare, earning a smile from Mr. Murdoch. Jessica dashed in taking her seat next to Bella just as the final bell was ringing. This earned her a stern glance and a "Cutting it close, Miss Stanley," from the teacher. The girl seemed embarrassed, at least, as a blush had crept up her neck.
The daily news had started before Jessica had a chance to explode whatever tidbit of information she seemed to be holding in, dooming the girl to twiddle her thumbs and tap the toe of her shoe against the linoleum flooring with her excitement. The very minute it had ended and the class broke out into conversation surrounding the poster they were constructing, Jessica turned to face Bella with a very serious expression on her face. "Dude. You will never guess who isn't in school today," she whispered dramatically.
Bella snorted before answering, "Probably not considering I don't really know anyone yet."
"Well, I guess not, but anyways - Edward Cullen isn't here today! The rest of his family is and every one of them looks super pissed off. I guess some people are speculating that they had a fight or something because Rosalie and Jasper, the blonde ones, seemed to be really annoyed with Alice, the tiny one. I overheard Alice telling them that she's doing the best she can to get him to come back, whatever that means!" Jessica gushed in glee. "Then Jasper said that Edward was just throwing a temper tantrum and that's why I was almost late! I was walking super slowly so I could listen in."
"I wonder what would have been bad enough to drive their brother away. That's too bad." Bella mused.
"Yeah, it really is. They're all so quiet when it comes to opening up outside of their family. I doubt we'll ever know," Jessica reflected in a tone that implied to Bella she was more upset over the fact that she would never know, than the fact that a family had been fractured.
Bella stood and headed for the poster at the front of the classroom and Jessica followed suit. For the next 15 minutes, they worked, coloring and adding glitter to the lettering Bella had drawn up the day before. She spent that time letting thoughts of the Cullen family fill her mind.
What on earth could have happened that one member of the family could just leave - if Edward was the person Alice was doing her best to get to come back. Not only that, why would Jasper and Rosalie be angry about him being upset enough to leave? Shouldn't they be concerned about getting their brother back?
Before she knew it, it was lunch time. Yet again, Bella hadn't paid any mind to the daily news and was unprepared to choose a lunch option other than salad, though, she didn't mind. Today, unlike yesterday, she took her seat at Jessica's table without being asked, feeling that she was welcome. Angela gave her a nod in greeting and asked what Bella liked doing in her free time.
"In the last year and a half or so, I've gotten a little into camping and spending time outdoors, but I have to be in the mood for it," Bella explained with a smile. "Preferably when it's a little drier. I love reading and definitely need to expand my collection. I moved once before moving up here and lost a lot of my books to storage. Are there any bookstores in Forks?"
"There are books sold in the grocery store," Angela answered with a thoughtful look on her face. "I think you'd have better luck in Port Angeles. Maybe we can take a trip sometime? I've been wanting to get some new shoes and a few shirts for a while, and my little brother wants me to stop by the anime and game store to get him some playing cards. We could ask Jess, too."
"That would be really fun!" Bella agreed almost immediately. It had been a long time since she'd done any shopping for herself, not to mention had any time to enjoy just browsing stores with friends. Or had any friends at all, she realized.
"What would be fun?" Jessica asked in a tone that somehow mixed suspicion and excitement. "You guys know I'm down for anything, right? We going to toilet paper a house?"
"Oh my god, no, Jess. We're not TPing anything," Angela scowled in exasperation. "You always think we're going to TP something and I'm starting to think that's what you want to do! Bella and I were just talking about taking a trip to Port Angeles sometime and I figured you'd want to come too."
"That would be fun!" Jessica agreed enthusiastically. "And actually, yes, I kind of do want to TP something."
Angela rolled her eyes at her longtime friend and glanced at Bella before saying, "I'm not too sure you should be talking about covering a house in toilet paper in front of the daughter of the chief of police, Jess."
"Oh," Bella interjected in a hurry, "I'm not uptight or anything. I think it's kind of funny in a juvenile sort of way. I might not participate but I'm not going to out you to my dad or anything."
Jessica and Angela smiled at Bella and started in on their lunches. It was at that time that Bella let her focus extend beyond Angela to notice Jasper Hale staring at her yet again. For a second time, Bella found herself unable to look away, animalistic anxiety filling her.
Her pulse quickened and Jasper cocked his head ever so slightly to the right, as if he'd heard and posed some kind of question. Unsure what to even make of the situation, Bella was rescued by Lauren who had flopped down next to Angela only to notice her intense stare off with the blonde god.
"Geez, Bella. Stare much?" Lauren asked with heavy snark.
Averting her eyes to her lunch, Bella decided not to stoop to the girl's level and answer her. Not that it did any good.
"Seriously. Jasper is a senior, sweetie. He isn't about to go for some junior, especially one that dresses like–," Lauren trailed off, taking in Bella's outfit with disdain. "Well, that, and that has apparently never heard of makeup or hair styling. It's not you'd ever be able to get anywhere with him," Lauren explained to Bella as though she were stupid.
Maybe it was because her shift was in a few days and she was running on more energy than usual, maybe she just appalled by the girl's rudeness, but Bella snapped. "Firstly, Lauren, don't assume you know if I'm interested in someone because I happened to catch their gaze. Secondly, don't ever attempt to be condescending towards me again or you'll learn a new meaning for the phrase catfight."
Angela and Jessica had stopped eating and were staring, mouths gaping at Bella, who was now standing up and holding her tray in hands that were shaking with anger. "I don't know if you're normally a bitch or if you're personally offended by the fact that Jasper Hale has looked at me more in two days than I assume he ever has at you, but cut the petty bullshit."
Bella spun on her heel and headed towards the garbage to dump her barely nibbled at lunch. For one fleeting moment, her eyes had flicked over to the Cullen's table where she saw a smiling Rosalie, an openly laughing Emmett, and a shocked looking Jasper.
I wasn't speaking very loudly, if I had been, I'm sure a teacher would have cornered me by now. Could they have heard me or is it a coincidence?
She didn't have time to stand around and think about Jasper Hale, so she finished clearing her tray and headed to English early. It gave her time to crack open a book and try to regain her composure. Reading proved too difficult to focus on, as her mind kept drifting towards the strange family that set her shifter senses on edge. She stuffed her tattered copy of "Wuthering Heights" back into her backpack and closed her eyes, concentrating instead on her breathing. By the time the bell rang, Bella was feeling more in control of herself and capable of finishing out the day.
The afternoon dragged on without incident and after Biology, complete with a missing Edward Cullen as promised, Bella headed for the grocery store. She picked up everything she needed for a few nights of dinners as well a couple things she could pack ahead for her lunches.
Upon hopping out of her truck, she took note of the fact that the woods felt much less menacing. Her watcher appeared to have abandoned their post, hopefully for good. Bella carried the bags inside and worked on putting the food away in the bright yellow cupboards.
Determined to keep herself busy, she set about making chicken enchiladas and popped them into the oven. Next, she moved onto her homework. Of course, since she was trying to stay busy, she finished in record time. With 10 minutes left on the enchiladas and about 15 minutes until Charlie got home, Bella prepped her lunch for the next day and even set the table. Finally, she heard the crunch of gravel and the familiar sound of Charlie crossing the porch to enter the house.
Like the night previously, Charlie first washed up, then came to the table where they each talked about their day, followed by Charlie clearing the table and Bella washing the dishes. She certainly didn't mind and was happy for the distraction.
With nothing left to keep her occupied, Bella headed up the stairs around 8 in the evening to shower and try to sleep, only to find herself plagued by mental images of Jasper Cullen's piercing eyes. Even when her own were shut, she could see his warm, golden eyes clearly; watching her, gauging her.
What is he watching me for? Am I irritating him in some way? How? By existing? There's no way he could know...
Seeing as she hadn't done anything other than almost knocking him over the previous day, which had been an accident, she couldn't imagine she'd offended him in any way. They hadn't even spoken.
The last time she checked, her alarm clock indicated it was past midnight and desperate to fall asleep, Bella took a single allergy pill, hoping that taking only one would prevent any morning grogginess that usually accompanied the medicine. After an additional 30 minutes of tossing and turning, Bella fell asleep.
Thursday flew by in a blur. Bella chose a seat at a vacant table for lunch, only to have Jessica and Angela accompany her in the new location in what must have been some sort of social coup against Lauren. Aside from that and the continued absence of Edward Cullen, the day was nothing to write home about. She had even successfully evaded Jasper Cullen's gaze from her new table.
Friday was an entirely different story. Immediately upon stepping outside, Bella could sense it; her watcher had returned to the woods. The air was stifling and simultaneously electric, causing the hair on her arms to raise. She could almost taste the scent.
All morning at school, Bella worked on a plan for sniffing the creep out. She could shift into something with good sensing abilities, something predatory. Mentally settling on a mountain lion, she formulated other aspects; the pattern she'd follow for her perimeter check and where to scent the area with her own smell. That way, any wild animals would know to leave her house the hell alone. After that, she could try her hand, or paw, at tracking whatever had been lurking.
Once again, it was time for Bella make her way to the lunchroom. Bagged lunch in hand, Bella sat at her new table and unpacked her turkey wrap and green grapes as Jessica and Angela took their seats across from her.
"Dude. Jasper is staring at you again," Jessica snorted as she took a bite out of a sandwich; peanut butter and jelly, from the smell of it.
"Surprise, surprise," Bella answered her with a sarcastic tone. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me. I nearly knocked him down on my first day and I don't think he has let it go."
Bella's reply had Jessica giggling at the mental image while Angela merely looked thoughtful.
"I don't know if that would make me not like someone, though," Angela pointed out. "Maybe he just wants to know more about the mysterious new girl that almost ran him down," the dark-haired girl continued with a wink.
"Because there's just so much to tell," Bella replied dryly with a roll of her eyes. Though, there was definitely more to her than met the eye.
But there's is no way he could know that, right?
"Well, you are a bit of a mystery," Jessica offered after swallowing a mouthful of sandwich. "I mean, you kind of had a reputation, even before getting here. There were all sorts of rumors about you and for the most part, you've proven them totally incorrect."
That sparked Bella's interest. "What sort of rumors," the girl asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, just that you're a tough girl, known for starting fights and getting kicked out of school, not to mention that this is kind of your last shot at a public high school," Jessica answered honestly for Bella. "But it's clear you're not really aggressive so much as you are defensive, and your issues likely stemmed from what you were going through at the time. At least that's what my mom told me. She's a psychologist."
Bella was amazed by the fact that Jessica didn't sugarcoat anything and wasn't treating her like she was fragile. "Your mom is pretty spot on, to be honest. After Renee, my mom, died, I was kind of lost, you know? Any little thing was likely to just throw everything off for me and it made me so angry," Bella admitted glumly. "I've come a long way since then and it has been helpful having my dad around. I've noticed a difference, I think. I actually hope that all of this sticks."
Angela simply smiled and nodded, touched that Bella had opened up. Jessica gave a grin of her own and raised her carton of milk. "To Forks sticking," Jess toasted. Bella and Angela raised their bottles of lemonade as well and clinked them all together before laughing and turning back to their lunches.
"I'm really glad you're not a pushover, though," Jessica continued, circling back on their discussion. "I mean, Lauren absolutely needed to hear what you said and if you hadn't, it would only have been a matter of time before someone else snapped at her for being so rude to people. She's just mad because she has been rejected by Jasper more than once, so you struck a nerve."
"Multiple times?" Bella wondered aloud. "Guess she just didn't get the hint."
"She's persistent if nothing else," Angela explained. "Not that I blame her. Jasper is...gorgeous. Though, I prefer Edward, myself," she said with a faraway dreamy look in her eyes. "He seems like a tortured romantic."
Jessica nodded along at Angela's pronouncement in agreement. "Absolutely. Jasper is kind of scary. He's more dangerous hot, Edward is more of the sad and brooding variety. I bet he writes poetry," she practically swooned.
"No way! You two need your eyes checked," Bella interjected. "Jasper is definitely the most delectable. Though, I'd have to agree that he feels dangerous, Jess," she added her two cents with a glance to the Cullen table.
Alice and Rosalie looked extremely tense, while Emmett was turned towards Jasper, grinning ear to ear. With that possible coincidence in mind, Bella decided to try a little experiment.
"I suppose Emmett is attractive too, but in a bear-turned human sort of way." Bella's statement was followed by a booming laugh from across the room as the hulking man-boy met her eyes with a knowing grin that he followed up with a wink.
They can hear me, and now they know that I know they can, Bella thought to herself. Well, that's slightly embarrassing.
Now that her suspicions were confirmed, she turned back to her grapes and popped the last few in her mouth, eager to escape the lunch room. She needed to process this information and think about what this super hearing could mean away from the probing, golden eyes, of Jasper Hale.
"Well, I'll see you guys Monday," Bella told her new friends, gathering her lunch trash up as she talked.
"Yeah! Next week let's figure out when we can go to PA–, Port Angeles," Jessica added as she gathered her own mess to get ready for her next class.
"Sounds good to me," Angela answered as she pulled out a textbook, preparing to spend the remaining time before class working on homework.
Bella gave a final smile to the girls and departed, then headed for the hallway outside her English class, planning to sit and read by herself.
It was only a few minutes after she had sat down and pulled out her worn copy of Wuthering Heights that she felt a chill, her shifter instincts alerting her to danger, even when she was preoccupied. Bella raised her eyes slowly from her book to peek down the length of the hall to scan for whatever threat had her heart suddenly racing.
She saw nothing, but knew whatever or whomever it was, felt like the same presence she'd been feeling from the woods. Trying her best to remain calm in an attempt to draw the predator out, she flipped the page of her book so as to appear to be reading. After a few moments she let out a natural sounding sigh.
Another 127 seconds had passed with no change in atmosphere aside from yet another fake page turn. Bella knew that getting up before the bell rang to enter the classroom would not only seem odd, but would leave her cornered in a classroom all alone. Hoping the presence of other students would prevent her stalker from pursuing her, she kept up her act of reading for the final minute before the bell rang.
Bella was relieved when the bell echoed down the corridor. She stowed her book back in her bag and stood before stretching, using the gesture as a means to study the hall yet again. Aside from her English classmates and a few others headed for Math farther down the way, she saw nothing out of the ordinary and no one suspicious. Sighing, she headed for her classroom, determined to keep up appearances.
Just get through the afternoon. In a few more hours and you can go home and get ready to hunt down the fucker, Bella reminded herself.
After dinner had been cooked and eaten, the kitchen cleaned and her homework completed, Bella and Charlie sat together in the living room and watched a sports talk show. The enthusiastic hosts were discussing some basketball team's odds for winning and recapping previous games. It definitely wasn't what Bella would consider interesting, but kept her occupied. The energy of the ever-changing moon thrummed inside her, causing a sort of restless twitch.
Luckily, Charlie didn't seem to notice; his eyes were glued to the screen, but he somehow managed to coax words out, despite his fixated gaze. "I hope you don't mind, Bells, but I'm headed over to Billy Black's tomorrow morning for some fishing and Sunday we were thinking about heading down to Harry Clearwater's place to watch a few games. Harry has a special sports package on his TV so it's kind of the place to be. Will you be okay here?"
Bella was relieved. An early to bed, early to rise, kind of Charlie would be easier to deal with than a late-night Charlie, especially with her need to sneak out at night. "No, Ch-dad, I don't mind. I have laundry and some reading to do. I might even head into town to get some more groceries. If you want, I could pick up some things for a fish fry?"
Charlie seemed just as relieved as Bella had, though for different reasons, and visibly brightened at the thought of a fried fish dinner. "That sounds fantastic, Bells! But if you run into any trouble, you can call me and I'll come home, okay?"
"I'll be okay, really! I like spending time by myself, to be honest. I'll probably just make some tea and curl up with a few books. It's kind of hard for me to read when I have distractions and having time to myself is nice," Bella tried to assuage her father's guilt. "Plus, we can still have dinner together tomorrow night and if on Sunday night you're not home, I can heat up leftovers. I'm not helpless."
"I know, Bella. I just don't want you to feel lonely. If you wanted, you could even phone the girls you mentioned you've gotten acquainted with this week and have them over Sunday. Jessica Stanley and Angela Weber? I could leave money for pizza, even."
"You don't have to do that, dad, but I appreciate the thought. Maybe I'll call Jess and Angela to chit chat once I get through laundry and Wuthering Heights. I've been trying to reread it all week," Bella admitted with a laugh. "Angela even suggested going to Port Angeles some time to look for new books so I promise, I'll start getting out more after this weekend."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that you're settling in and making some friends," Charlie told Bella with sincerity. "Anyways, I think it's about time for me to head to bed but if you want to stay up and watch some TV, you know you can."
"Honestly, I think I'm going to bed, too. It's been a long week," Bella explained as she started for the stairs.
"Goodnight then, Bells."
"Night, dad."
Bella headed to her bedroom and set about getting ready for her shift, laying some clean pajamas out for when she got back and quietly doing stretching exercises that would allow for a more smooth transition. Having felt a flicker of suspicion at her early night, she wasn't surprised to hear the hood of her truck being opened and went to the window to watch as Charlie disconnected the cables from her battery.
Guess he doesn't trust that I'm going to stay in. Can't blame him, since I'm not.
To avoid further suspicions, Bella turned out the lights and curled up in the bed before attempting to clear her mind. After 30 minutes of slow, deep breaths, she heard Charlie crack her door to check and see if she was still there. A few moments later, he headed down the hall to his own room. The girl waited another hour for good measure, until, with her heightened senses, she heard her father's own deep breathing.
Bella eased out of her bed quietly and by some miracle, it didn't squeak beneath her. She tiptoed gracefully to the window and spent the next 2 minutes quietly opening it, inch by inch, the swollen wood resisting her initially. At about one-third of the way open, Bella grabbed an old book off of her computer desk and propped the window open with it, just in case.
Bella stripped off her clothes and concentrated once again on her breathing, imagining the small feathered creature in detail. Smaller birds were usually difficult for her but within a few seconds, the girl had accomplished her goal and shifted into a sparrow. Giving her wings a few test flaps and zooming around the room once, she flew out the open window into the night air and made for the woods that flanked her new home.
Landing on a branch about 20 feet from the ground, Bella took a few moments to assess the night and noted the lack of any animal vibrations in the area. It seemed strange to not even be able to hear mice digging around, but she could sense no predatory animals in the vicinity either. Before she attracted too much attention from potential local wildlife as a smaller animal than she was typically comfortable embodying, Bella soundlessly dove to the forest floor. She transformed smoothly into a mountain lion, landing softly on her padded paws.
Bella took deep whiffs of the night air, noting two separate and distinct smells. One was warm and pleasant, reminiscent of sunflowers, cinnamon, and perhaps, leather, as well as a less than pleasant, stark scent, that reminded her of cleaning products mixed with shoe polish and grass clippings. The repulsive scent lingered around a couple of trees that allowed a view of her driveway and home. She erupted in low growl involuntarily, before rubbing her cheeks and jaw along each and every tree that she supposed were the posts of her watcher. The warmer of the two scents was present in less areas and seemed to be more of a secondary smell.
Though both smelled days old to her sensitive nose, she was determined to come to some kind of resolution. Bella followed the scents through the trees for well over an hour, being taken deeper into the woods until the two opposing smells were no longer overlapping. Now, Bella had a choice to make: follow the good smell or the not good smell. She sat back on her haunches to consider and had just about made her mind up to follow the scent that she had mentally dubbed as belonging to "Stinky," when a cool breeze blew across her face. It brought with it a heavier dose of the good smell, accompanied by soft citrus notes she had missed in the older trail as well the scent of what she thought might be a herd of deer.
Acting solely on instinct, Bella headed silently for the source of the intoxicating aroma and was partially rewarded when she reached a clearing that held 10 or so deer, which meant the source of the other smell must be somewhere nearby. She crept slowly along the edge of the clearing, keeping downwind from the deer. A moment later, the clouds that had been covering the sky thinned, bathing the landscape in tones of silver and blue, illuminating her shiny fur in the moonlight.
It was only then that Bella realized her mistake. If the deer were calm, they hadn't yet smelled her or whatever Bella was tracking, most likely because whatever it was, was also downwind of the herd. That meant that in addition to being exposed by the moonlight, Bella was now caught between the deer and whatever it was.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, she thought frantically as she eased back the way she'd come, certain that she hadn't come across the being's trail, meaning it would have to be to the left or right of her. Though she moved soundlessly, even to her sensitive ears, she felt that she had been spotted and was being pursued.
Without giving it a second thought, Bella ran swiftly towards the herd of deer, scattering them in the process, hopefully confusing whatever she was positive was now following her. As a shifter, Bella was stronger and faster than the animals she became, but whatever it was, was ungodly fast. The sound of it gaining on her set her into a panic. She saw a break in the trees ahead and took note of what appeared to be the edge of a cliff.
Realizing she would be caught if she stayed on land, Bella veered to the left, claws tearing at the damp earth underneath her paws. Muscles screaming and panting with the effort she was exerting, Bella cleared the edge of the trees and launched her body off the rocky ledge.
Before she even had time to fall, she became the first winged animal she could think of: a large hawk.
At least I'm not a sparrow again, she thought.
Bella swooped down low over the edge and used her momentum to swing back up a large distance away from the ledge. Flapping her wings frantically, she rose higher and higher above the trees and into the sky until she felt a safe enough distance to turn and face whatever had been chasing her.
Blonde hair shimmering silver in the pale moonlight, Jasper Hale was staring open-mouthed at the hawk, apparently unable to believe his eyes.
I guess I'm not the only one in Forks with a secret, Bella mused as she turned and headed for home.