Part I
I really, really, really did not want to go.
Even though I was nine years old, almost ten, I knew that when my mom said things like, 'We're only stopping by' or 'this won't take long', that it usually meant the opposite. I wasn't in the mood to do anything at the moment, especially if it required me leaving the privacy of my own bedroom.
Notice I said privacy and not comfort? Yeah, I hadn't reached a level of comfort yet and I wasn't exactly sure I would ever.
I decided to ignore my mom's voice calling me from downstairs. I already knew she wanted me to go somewhere with her, and judging from what I had seen over the last few days, there weren't many places I wanted to go.
How was I supposed to feel after my parents dragged me away from Phoenix and moved me into the most boring town ever? Back at home in Phoenix, I lived next door to my friend Maggie, like right next door. We were so close we could see in each other's windows. Now? Now if I looked outside all I saw was grass. And trees. And the closest neighbor we had was so far down the road that I didn't even know how I would be able to Trick-Or-Treat in a couple of months once October came around.
I guess with it being only the middle of August I would have some time to figure that out.
We moved to Forks, Washington almost three weeks ago. My dad took a job offer to be this town's new Police Chief so naturally that meant we had to move. My parents figured that summer time would be the best time for me to, what was that word? Transition?
So far the only transitioning I had wanted to do was rearrange my room until I found it to my liking. I didn't really want to go out and explore our new town, which was what my mom was annoying me about all day. All I wanted to do was stay in my room that I had just finished and be alone.
I sat down at my newly arranged desk, reaching for the notebook I had put in my top drawer. One of the first places my mom and I had visited (she made me go!) was to my new school to pick up a list of the summer reading I was required to do before entering the fifth grade. I also had to write a summary of my favorite book on the list, and since I had already read all of the books back at my old school in Phoenix, I knew that writing about my favorite book would be a piece of cake. And, if my mom came in and saw me doing schoolwork, she wouldn't drag me along with her to wherever it was that she wanted to go discover.
I heard a knock on my door as soon as I wrote my name on my lined paper, and a second later my mom strolled into my room as if it were her own. So much for my privacy.
"Bella, did you hear what I said? There's this bakery in town that has the best cannoli around," she said in a singsong voice, sitting on my bed which I had decided to put to the right of my desk. "Or so I'm told."
She glanced around my room, nodding and smiling at me as she took in all of her surroundings in my new room. Based off of the smile on her face, I guess she was happy with the way I had set it up. It may have looked ready, but it was still just walls and furniture to me. It didn't feel like home yet.
"Who told you that?" I answered her, pulling out my drawer and placing my summary and pencil neatly on the top before sliding it closed. Not that I'd admit it to her, but she may have had me at cannoli.
"Daddy."
I rolled my eyes, "Of course. Fine, I'll go."
She clapped her hands excitedly and ushered me out the door and down the hallway to the stairs. Our new house had two floors to it and was so different than my house back home in Phoenix. My house in Phoenix had these thick, brown carpets in every room except for the bathroom and kitchen, and I loved how my feet sunk into it after a long day of school and soccer.
Here, our house had hardwood floors and the only carpet we had was the new rug that my mom had just bought for the living room. To make it even worse, the rug didn't even cover the whole room, just enough for our couch and coffee table to go on top of. Pointless, if you ask me, but then again no one really asked me my opinion much these days.
Once I made it downstairs, I slipped my feet into my flip flops where they were placed into a neat pile by the front door and quickly opened it, stepping out onto the front porch. Mom had tried to make it as similar as she could to our porch in Phoenix, so I slid into one of the white, whicker rocking chairs while I waited for her to get all of her things.
Why did she need so many things whenever she left the house?
The only thing I ever left the house with was my soccer ball, which I had already grabbed and was kicking back and forth between my feet as I sat and waited.
"Ready, sweetie?" Mom asked, her keys dangling in rhythm with the swirl of her long, white skirt. I nodded silently, biting my tongue at how much I wanted to tell her that I was always ready, always the one waiting for her.
We settled quickly into her car, the radio static loud in my ears as she mumbled something about having to reset her stations now that the reception up here was another thing that was different from home. I hadn't been to too many places yet here in Forks, but from where I had gone, I remembered how to get there. If the bakery was in town like Mom had said, we would only have to drive about five minutes and make one left turn to get there.
I was right, and soon Mom was parking the car and unbuckling her seatbelt. It wasn't what I would call crowded but there were about four other people there when we walked inside the bakery. One smell and the aroma of the bakery was all it took to lighten my mood. It wouldn't take the town long to figure out that my weaknesses were soccer and baked goods.
"Wow, these are huge!" I exclaimed as I walked over to the glass, my hands pressed up against them, no doubt leaving smudges everywhere.
"See? I told you you'd love them." Mom said from behind as she gazed at all of the other delicious looking treats spread out before us. It took us a few minutes to decide on what we wanted. This was a big decision for us, and it was one that my mom did not make lightly.
I knew where I got my sweet tooth from.
Eventually she decided on the cannoli and these muffins that were about as big as my head. We had just finished paying and were walking out the door when someone stopped us on the way out.
"Mrs. Swan, nice to see you out today," a woman's voice said. Her voice reminded me of Mom's. We turned around to see who was talking to us. "This must be your daughter that the Chief talks about the time." She was smiling now, extending a hand towards mine. I shook it the best I knew how.
Mom smiled back, and I could tell she was grateful to have someone welcome her into this new place we called home. "Hello, Mrs. Weber, isn't it? Yes, this is my daughter, Bella. Say hello, honey."
"Hello." Mrs. Weber and I dropped hands and the two women resumed talking.
"How are you liking Forks so far?"
"It seems very nice from what we've seen. We haven't been here too long, only a couple of weeks."
Mrs. Weber nodded, "Well, it won't take long before you've seen it all. I'm sure the Chief knows his way around here by now."
He did. While my mom and I had come to Forks three weeks ago, my dad moved here about a month before us, in the middle of July. He had taken the time to fix up last minute things with the new house, learn his new positon and the town like the back of his hand so that when Mom and I were ready finishing up things in Phoenix, everything would be all set for us to transition easily up here.
From what we heard, Dad was welcomed into the community with open arms, and it was so obvious that only in the short month and a half that he was here that he loved his new job.
With our bag of treats in a fancy box between us in the car, I grabbed my soccer ball and bounced it back and forth from knee to knee. My mom drove slowly through town, pointing out little shops that she couldn't wait to go to. Glancing down at my own attire, I didn't know if the stores we passed would have plain white tee shirts, and loose Nike gym shorts.
At least I had put on my pink shorts to please Mom.
We drifted past the stores with a promise to actually go inside before school started in a couple of weeks. I guess Mom was right when she said I would have to get warmer clothes eventually. The thought of snow made me happy, especially because I had never seen a snowflake in real life and was excited to get to see one here.
"How about we just drive around for a bit, okay? We can stop wherever we want." Mom fiddled with the radio until she finally found one that was a little easier on the ears.
Knowing that finishing my summary was the only thing I had waiting for me to do at home, I shrugged my shoulders and agreed.
We drove aimlessly for a while with no place in mind to go, the two of us pointing out things along the road. If I had been in the car with anyone but Mom, it really would have been so boring that it would have made my book summary actually seem exciting. But Mom always made the little things seem important.
We were driving for about twenty minutes before she pointed to a brown sign with an arrow on it.
"You know, that's the third sign I saw that said 'The Rec'. Maybe it's short for Recreation Center, or something?"
I looked up from my ball. I had seen a few of the signs over the course of our drive, too.
"Do you want to stop and check it out?"
"Sure."
It wouldn't be long until I found this small town of Forks all of a sudden a lot more interesting.
- - - tr - - -
We followed the signs for what seemed like forever down a bunch of windy twists and turns. There were tall trees everywhere, the road being the only thing that separated one set of trees from the other. Mom slowed the car down once we saw the last sign and turned into the long driveway, our tires loudly slicing through the silence of the remote area.
From the outside, it just looked like a picture of a log cabin I saw in my Social Studies class once back in Phoenix. It was bigger than my house, the one in Forks. It looked longer, too. There was a small swing set near the back of the building and I couldn't see them but I could hear some kids shouting in the field behind the house.
"This looks…interesting?" My mom offered, getting out of the car and shutting the door behind her. I sighed and joined her, bringing my ball with me and tucking it under my arms against my hip.
I pointed over to the swings set, seeing it better now that we were out of the car and closer. "It looks like a place for babies."
"I don't know. Are those monkey bars over there?"
I looked over and squinted. Maybe.
"Come on, let's go inside."
Mom tugged my hand and we giggled like little kids as she hurried us up the steps and towards the big, green front door. There was a sign on it that said to come in and my mom didn't waste any time pushing the heavy door open and forcing our way into the open space on the other side.
I don't know what I was expecting before we went in, but what I saw was not what I was picturing at all. It was quiet inside with the exception of a television playing softly in the corner and a few kids surrounding it. In the center of the room were a few rows of tables and benches that reminded me of the picnic tables we had outside of our school back home. In front of the window next to the door was an air hockey table that no one was using.
"Hello?" My mom called into the strange building, yanking me with her towards the hallway off of the big room we were in.
Maybe it was because I was distracted with all the new things surrounding me, but I wasn't ready to move, or maybe I should say my feet weren't ready to move even though my body propelled itself forward.
Downward is more accurate.
Down I fell, and even though the fall wasn't far, one hand was still firmly gripped within my mom's and the other lost control of my ball as my left side came in contact with the linoleum tiles on the floor beneath me.
"Bella!" My mom shrieked in a whisper, not worried that I was hurt but more embarrassed because here I was falling in public once again. I winced, humiliated that I had not only fallen, but I had fallen down while my mom held my hand in front of a group of kids that looked to be my age. They looked over at our commotion, and I wanted to crawl into a hole and die when my ball rolled over right over to them and bounced against a girl's feet.
"This yours?" The girl bent down to pick up the ball and she eyed it before looking up at me. I nodded, happy that my brown hair falling into my face hid my embarrassment.
"I've never seen a purple soccer ball. Alice will love it!" The girl exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as she tossed it back to me gently. I caught it quickly and tucked it back into its place on my hip.
The sound of a door opening behind us caught our attention and we all turned to look. A man walked out, brown hair like mine, and he had a weird look on his face, like he was scared of something.
"Everyone alright?" He asked, looking at the kids on the couch first and then over to us. He put his hand out for my mom to shake and she shook it eagerly.
"Yes, yes, she's fine. A little clumsy, but fine. I'm Renee, and you are - ?"
"Felix, ma'am. I'm the owner here at The Rec. Did you want to come in my office to talk?"
"Of course. Bella, come – "
"Bella can stay here with the kids. Rose here will keep her company." He pointed over towards the girl who had caught my ball with her foot. She nodded happily.
I don't know who had the bigger smile, Rose or my mom. She kept watching me over her shoulder as her and Felix disappeared down the hall into his office. Once she left I turned back to the kids they left me with.
There was the girl, Rose, who was in the middle of braiding her long, blonde hair. She moved a little on the couch so I could sit next to her, and I did, awkwardly sitting on the corner of the cushion. A little to the left and I would fall on the floor again.
Next to Rose was a boy who looked a little older than me. He didn't move his attention away from the TV, and even though he didn't pay me any mind, he didn't look like a bully even though he was the size to be one.
Across from both of them on a small chair near the TV was another girl engrossed in a book. She didn't look up at me either, which I found more comforting than if she had talked to me like Rose had.
"Where'd you get this ball from?" Rose's voice brought me out of my own head and back to her. I could tell she wanted to see the ball again so I took it off of my lap and handed it over to her.
"My coach from back home gave it to me for a going away present." I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.
"You're new?" Rose looked up from my ball with an excited look on her face.
"Yeah," I replied sheepishly. I knew I was the new kid in town and now everyone else did, too.
"To Forks? Or to The Rec?"
"Both, I guess."
I looked around the room again, taking in new areas that I hadn't seen before when I had first walked in. A small nook in the corner filled with books and beanbags that looked super comfy. Another TV in another small corner that was hooked up to a bunch of different video game systems. There was one of those basketball games that you found in an arcade over on the other side of the room, along with a couple of other older games, most likely from the same arcade that the basketball game came from.
This place actually looked….fun?
"Oh, okay. Well that's okay. We like new people around here, right?" Rose turned towards the boy sitting next to her on the couch. "This is Emmett. He was new here like, two years ago I think."
He quickly moved his eyes away from the show he was watching and gave me a quick wave with two fingers before turning his attention back to the TV. Rose rolled her eyes and pointed over towards the girl in the corner.
"That's Heidi. She's not new." She made a weird face at the girl and I stifled my laughter.
"Where are you from?" Rose asked once I had stopped giggling.
"Phoenix." I said.
"Arizona?" Emmett interrupted, his show apparently over as the credits rolled across the bottom of the screen.
I nodded, "Yeah."
"Well, why did you move here? Most people usually move away from Forks." Rose said and tossed the ball up in the air a few times.
I raised one shoulder in a shrug, "My dad got a new job. He's the new police chief."
That got Emmett's attention. "Wow! Does he bring home his guns and stuff?"
Most boys acted this way once they found out my dad was a police officer, even the boys back in Phoenix. "I guess, yeah. But he always keeps it locked and hidden so I won't find it."
"Cool." Emmett said, standing up and stretching before turning off the TV, not bothering to ask Heidi if she wanted to keep it on for herself. She made no indication it bothered her, anyway.
"Come on; let's go show Alice your soccer ball. She loves all new things, too." Rose said, grabbing my hand and pulling me down the hall and towards a sliding glass door.
"Ali! Look! A new girl and a new soccer ball!" Rose shouted once we stepped foot onto a small deck. Emmett was behind us and he closed the door once he was outside, too. Across the grass I spotted two kids, one girl and one boy. They were most likely the kids I heard yelling from the car when Mom and I had first gotten here. The girl, I assumed was Alice, beamed a smile that I saw across the whole field that stood between us. She bounced a few steps in front of the boy who trailed behind her reluctantly.
"Kick it!" She shouted at us, and Rose threw the ball onto the grass off the deck steps and bounded down them quickly, kicking the ball as hard as she could in Alice's direction. Alice stopped the ball and turned and kicked it back towards the boy behind her. He trapped it easily and dribbled it back and forth between his feet as the two of them and the three of us met in the middle of the open field.
I felt the tiny bugs that live in the summer grass hit against my legs as I walked but I was used to them, considering how big this sport had been in my life. We stopped once we all got closer and I took a second to look at the two kids I had yet to meet.
"This is totally cool. Are you any good?" Alice asked, pointing towards my ball and then at me. I nodded, not wanting to boast about my soccer skills. Mom always said it wasn't good to brag.
"Yeah, I guess. I've been playing since I was in Kindergarten." I tried to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal.
"Do you score a lot of goals?"
I couldn't help but smile when I answered her. "I got my first hat trick last season."
"What the hell is that?" Rose asked, and I felt my eyes go wide at her choice of words. Mom wouldn't let me hang out with her again if she heard her use the word hell.
"It's when someone scores three goals in one game, idiot."
It was the first time the boy that stood a few feet behind us all said anything, and my eyes turned in his direction at the sound of this voice. He looked at me quickly and looked away just as fast.
Rose groaned next to me and pointed, "This is Edward. He's definitely not new." She didn't make a face at him like she had made at Heidi. I guess Edward was part of their "group" too, even if I could already tell that he was a little more standoffish than the rest of them.
"Well, let's play! Can we play with this?" Alice shouted, taking the ball from Edward's feet and kicking it in front of her as far as she could to no one.
"Yeah, sure." I laughed, watching her already play with it before I said we could.
"Okay. Rose and Emmett will be on one team and," she paused and pointed a finger at me, "What's your name again?"
"Bella."
Alice clapped and continued.
"Okay, Bella and I will be on the other team. Edward will be goalie."
I heard the boy, Edward, groan behind me. "Why do I have to be the goalie?"
"Because I want to be with Bella." Alice said, throwing her arm around my shoulder before leaning in and whispering before we walked off, "Okay, so how do we play this game again?"
I was laughing too hard to be able to answer her right away.
"Okay, be nice to her, Alice. Her dad is a police officer!" Rose called from her position of defense across from us. We had designated goals between two trees on one end of the field and a garbage can and one of Alice's shoes on the other end.
"Really?" She looked at me, her eyes wide.
"Yeah, the new police chief."
"Chief Swan?" It was Edward's voice who asked me.
"Yeah, how do you know him?" I questioned, shocked that a boy my age knew my dad by name.
"Let's play!" Emmett shouted and interrupted, shooting Edward a look that I meant something I wasn't sure of.
We played until Mom practically dragged me across the field.
"Well, what do you think, sweetie? Would you want to come back here tomorrow?" Mom asked as we were buckling our seatbelts and pulling out of the gravel driveway.
I couldn't wait to go back to The Rec.
- - - tr - - -
The next few weeks before school started I spent with my new friends at The Rec.
It turned out The Rec was a place where kids could come to hang out and do whatever they wanted. Parents were able to stay if they wanted to, but it was mostly a place just for us kids to hang out. There was always supervision around us, whether it was Felix, the owner, or some other worker or volunteer. My mom was reluctant to let me stay without her the first few times, but eventually, she came around because she saw how much fun I was having.
Without knowing it, Forks had started to feel more and more like home, and I was pretty sure it had to do with The Rec and all my friends I had met there. Emmett was going into seventh grade, Rose was going into sixth, and me, Alice, and Edward were all going into fifth. Our houses were scattered all around Forks so we usually only saw each other at The Rec. We were there every day. Emmett and Edward usually rode their bikes to wherever it was we wanted to go and my mom never minded picking up Alice and Rose.
The rest of the summer flew by. We spent our days laughing and playing and goofing around, and we always ended our nights by the bonfire that one of Felix's employees, Carlisle, always made for us.
"Tell us one thing that the world doesn't know, Bella," Alice whispered, closing her eyes as we lay in the grass with the stars above our heads. I thought for a second, the smell of the fire burning my nostrils and coating my clothes with a scent Mom swears doesn't come out in the wash for weeks.
"Chips Ahoy are the best when you microwave them."
It was stupid really, but I'll never forget it.
It was the first night that Edward smiled at me, and it made my stomach do this thing that I had never felt before.
- - - tr - - -
Dear Diary,
This new place may not be so bad after all.
Love,
Bella
A/N: One grade level per chapter until we meet where we started with Bella heading off to college. Then Part II begins.
I'm aiming for weekly updates, but with work starting again in two days (I'm a teacher and not working in the summer is a perfect time for me to write! Bummer that it took all summer for me to finally map out and write this story that has been on my mind for the last eight weeks!) Thank you all for following and reviews. As much as I'd love to respond to reviews, RL is hectic with two wild boys under four, so I can't promise anything. Just know I love, read, and appreciate them all! See you soon.