The next day was better— and worse.
It was better because the weather stayed cloudly, dense and a little rainy... thus the continuous appearance of my extensive wardrobe. I'm pretty sure I had enough clothes to fit every single student in my school—boys and girls.
The Cullen's were another big reason as to why my day was better.
The second I arrived in the school's parking lot with Bella, Alice and Rose latched on to me and didn't let go for the rest of the day—not that I minded at all. It was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders when I was with the Cullens. And I could tell the feeling was mutual as the six of us were a smiley bunch... well, as smiley as cool and badass vampires such as ourselves could get.
I'd even had a surprise for them—huge thermoses of coffee mixed with animal blood that I'd done along with my own of human blood. I was pretty sure I got them their first taste of heaven, what with the heart eyes they kept sending my way.
Especially Jasper, seeing as their thirst was thoroughly clenched, he didn't have those extra emotions on his shoulders.
••••••••
The day was worse because Bella felt like being a pain in my ass.
Last night, Edward had told us that Bella's blood was so alluring to him, he didn't know if he'd resist doing something drastic. To avoid any accidents, he'd given himself a week in Alaska, at their close friends'—the Denali Coven—, to hunt, clench his thirst and get back into control.
My dear sister, on the other side, had been fired up this morning. She'd intended to confront him, or stare at him all day... whatever her weird glances meant. Like I say, a pain in my ass.
Had she stopped at the delusion of 'confronting' Edward Cullen, my day would have been spotless but no... not my sister. Bella did things with a bang—when she did do something.
~
We'd all—minus Edward—been at our lunch table when I'd felt those ominous glares, familiar to me since we were wee little girls so I recognized who it was instantly.
Bella, Isabella, my twin sister was drilling holes into our backs as we tried to have a good time.
Even sweet, gentle Alice got annoyed.
"I know we both had visions of her with Edward, but it makes me question either our gifts or my brother's taste." Alice said, getting fed up of Bella.
"Tell me about it." I sighed while the other chuckled. "But look on the bright side, we only saw a few moments and one kiss. It's not that much."
"I don't think they'll last." Rose sniffed in Bella's direction and I had a feeling that if she was allowed to, she would have already socked my sister in the nose.
"Or even begin." I huffed.
That got Emmett as he guffawed—pretty loudly—, which was contagious and soon enough, our whole table was in laughter over stupid things... the best kind of time.
Unbeknownst to us, the rest of the cafeteria—including Bella's table—had quieted down at our laughter, staring at our table with envious looks.
~•0•~
That evening, I dragged Bella to do some groceries at the Thriftway to stock up our pantry and fridge.
I wondered why I even bothered. The only one who couldn't eat was the one making sure the two kitchen-freaks of the family got fed—talk about some irony right there.
In the end, I made baked potatoes and steak—dad's favorite—, with a light salade and a huge smile, enjoying the joy on dad's face.
~
"So, how was school? Made any friends yet?" Dad asked, taking seconds of my casserole.
"Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica." Bella replied. "And there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice."
"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid—nice family." Dad informed us. "His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off of all the back-packers who come through here."
When dad looked at me, I gave him my usual smirk. "I met a family, they're really nice. And we're becoming very close." I said. "There's Emmett, Rose, Jasper, Alice and Edward." The last name I said while checking out Bella's reaction. And sure enough, she had a little startle.
"The Cullen kids?" Dad asked, a pleased expression on his face.
Bella perked up. "You know the Cullen family? They... the kids don't seem to fit in very well at school."
Yeah, maybe because they're vampires. And those five already have each other, I don't think being surrounded by hormonal teenagers is their idea of a good time.
Dad surprised both of us by looking a little peeved. "People in this town." He muttered. "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here," Dad was getting really fired up on their behalf. "We're lucky to have him, lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community and those kids are well behaved and polite. I mean, I had my doubts when they first moved in, with all the adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them, but they're all very mature. I haven't had any speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should, like camping trips every other weekend. Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk."
And this ladies and gentlemen, is why I freaking loved my dad. He might be awkward at times, but his heart was one big pile of fluff. He always wanted the best for people.
"Dad, if that was your way of proposing weekend campings, I'm in." I winked at him as he laughed.
Bella, probably shocked by what had to be the longest she'd heard dad speak, backpedalled. "They seemed nice enough to me." Liar. "I just noticed they keep to themselves." You mean, you were stabbing us with yours eyes. "They're all very attractive."
"You should see the doctor." Dad told Bella. "It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time focusing on their work with him around." He chuckled before turning to me. "I'm glad you're befriending them, honey. They're a good bunch."
"I know daddy, I like them." And god knows I was extremely selective with my people, so the fact that I liked all of them was a miracle.
We finally lapsed into a comfortable silence as we finished eating, a low murmur of the TV in the background.
~
After dinner, dad cleared the table, with Bella at the dishes since I'd cooked while I swiftly went upstairs to vomit back the food I'd forced myself to eat—fuck, it really tasted like dirt.
I chased the dirty feeling in my mouth—and my heart—with a couple of IV bags before I changed and did my homework.
••••••••
The rest of the week was uneventful.
A small routine got installed pretty quickly in my life in Forks. I spent my days at school with the Cullens—and sometimes Angela—while medial studies occupied my nights, along with secret trips to the Cullen's.
I played games with Emmett, practiced fighting stances with Jasper and did a lot of shopping with Rose and Alice. All in all, my life was good. I even got closer to Dr. Cullen, well he insisted I call him Carlisle, he was a pretty amazing man—away from Esme. This one I still had a bad feeling about.
Edward hadn't come home yet, but it didn't mean he forgot about me since he called me every night. Our conversations ranging from classic literature to the wonders of child television.
I... no we were all loving our fast friendship, how close we were becoming. In such a short amount of time, I was becoming their sister. It was very natural and I could feel our bonds strengthen every single day.
~
My first weekend in Forks arrived faster than I'd expected.
Edward came back with a rested mind and Alice had good news for us, the weather was bound to be turbulent on Saturday and Sunday. Youpi.
The reason I was this excited was because we could play baseball—well, their vampire version of the sport—without the fear of attracting the whole town to the field.
Dad worked all weekend so he didn't mind that I wasn't at home, and I didn't even consider Bella—she was bound to soon get into the picture anyways so I was sucking every Bella-free time I could get.
Monday soon came with the promise of some beautiful snow... oh, and the fate of my dear sister altering forever—with a single near-death experience.
