Chapter 27

As I woke up the next morning I still wasn't quite sure if it had been the right thing telling Edward all that stuff about Dan, seeing as I'd opted silence before. But I figured it couldn't hurt having at least one friend knowing about why I'd really moved away from Phoenix. I was a bit awkward about facing Edward at breakfast, but he acted like nothing out of the ordinary had happened and after a while I could feel myself relaxing in his presence. Maybe it wasn't so bad letting him in on my secret? And seeing as he liked me I figured it was nicer letting him down this way rather than let him keep guessing why I was keeping him at a distance.

The week after the camping trip flew by and even though I didn't quite neglect my schoolwork I spent a lot of time hanging out with Edward and his siblings. I figured that Edward had let on something of what I'd told him since both Rose and Emmett had stopped making jokes and suggestions about me and Edward dating. I wasn't sure if I was happy about them knowing, but I figured it was better than them trying to push us towards something that wasn't about to happen.

"So, I was thinking maybe you'd like to come over this weekend and watch a movie or something? We could have a sleepover if you'd like?", Rosalie asked as I was putting my things back in the locker.

"Yeah?", I asked hesitantly, wondering again if she and Emmett really had given up on the idea of me and Edward.

"My family is going away for the weekend to visit Alice and Jasper, but I decided to stay here. It would be nice with some company", she added and smiled brightly at me. Okay, so maybe I was being overly suspicious? Obviously she wouldn't want to spend the weekend in that big house all by herself.

"Of course I'll come. It'll be fun. I should probably ask Charlie, but I doubt he'll say no."

"Oh great!", she said enthusiastically, "This is going to be so great! We can order take out and watch some horror movie and maybe do make-overs? It's gonna be awesome!"

I breached the subject with Charlie later that night when we were having dinner.

"Uhm… I don't know what I'm supposed to answer here", he said after pondering the question for quite some time, "Sleepovers are fine I suppose, but I'm not sure Renee would be all that thrilled about there being no parents present".

I'd actually already talked to Renee about it and she'd been overly excited about me making new friends in Forks, never mentioning once it being a problem that Carlisle and Esme wouldn't be around. I figured I could ask her for pretty much anything these days, whatever got my mind off Dan.

"I've actually already asked her about it and she said it was fine. You can call her if you'd like?"

Charlie looked as if a big burden had been taken off his back.

"Oh that's fine then, as long as Renee approves", he said and continued digging into his steak, "I'm really glad that you've become friends with the Cullen kids. It's good for you to get out some, and you could do a whole lot worse."

"Yeah, they're great. They've been very kind to me".

"I reckon they were happy to make a new friend too. I never could figure out why all the other kids stay away from them. I bet they're just jealous of the Cullen kids with all their money and good looks and all. Typical small town envy."

"Yeah, I bet that's it", I said and took another bite of my steak. But somehow I suspected the other kids at school steering clear of the Cullen's wasn't just about envy. I'd noticed the kids watching me hang out with them at school and something Angela had said to me in biology had stuck with me.

"Before you came along they've never really shown any interest in getting to know any of us, they mostly stick to their group. People tried inviting them to parties in the beginning when they'd just moved here, but they never showed up. And they never did say why they moved here in the first place, but there has been some talk. The blonde one, Jasper. He skipped a lot of classes in the beginning when they moved here and he has kept doing so for periods of time ever since. I don't know that the deal is really, but I think he's the reason why they moved here in the first place. He just looks so troubled sometimes. I think they moved here so he could get away from whatever was troubling him where they lived before", she'd said.

I hadn't brought the subject up with the Cullen's, but I had had my suspicions ever since Jasper and Alice moved away. Even though I'd heard them talk about him and how he was doing in New York there was still something off about the situation. Alice was just supposed to go there with him for the weekend to help him get settled, but that was weeks ago now. And even though I didn't speak much to the other kids at school I'd caught up with the surprise surrounding Jasper going to art school. No one seemed to be aware of his artistic talent. Even though it wasn't a total impossibility that no one but Jaspers family knew about his talent, but it did seem strange. I remembered back in Phoenix we'd had some pretty gifted kids in my year, both artistically and musically, but we'd all been aware of them since middle school. You always knew they were going places. So it did seem odd that no one knew about Jaspers talent seeing as they'd lived here for a good two years at least. Maybe I could ask Rosalie about it this weekend? I imagined they didn't want people gossiping about their family if Jasper was in trouble somehow.

"Well, I'm glad you've befriended them. I'll give you some pizza money so you can get something to eat", Charlie added cheerily.

"Thanks dad", I said and smiled at him. Ever since I'd moved to Forks I'd become more and more comfortable around Charlie. Sure, he wasn't a natural at being a dad, but why would he be? He'd missed out on most of my childhood and even though he'd given it his best go when I visited during the summer it still wasn't the same thing as having a kid 24/7. It didn't even feel awkward calling him dad anymore, even though I caught myself calling him Charlie in my head at times. I had a feeling that moving to Forks was maybe one of the best decisions I'd made in my short life.