Chapter | Aberrations and Revelations | Six

Once I made it to Charlie's house, I dashed upstairs to change into a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie before pulling back on the black converse shoes and rain coat I'd been wearing. Glad it wasn't raining today, I stepped out the front door and began stretching my legs.

Just as I knew I would, as soon as I left the school parking lot I began beating myself up for my behavior in Biology. I felt guilty for the way I handled the situation. Grams would chew me out big time if she knew. She doesn't tolerate anyone releasing their anger out on others.

And that's exactly what I had done. Even though I knew I was in the right for calling Edward out on his behavior towards me, I would never have gotten mad enough to lash out at him. I would have reacted like I did with Jessica in the cafeteria on my first day. Only a few simple choice words would have left my mouth and then I would have walked away and ignored them thereafter, just like I did with Jessica.

But I realize now that Edward is different. I inadvertently chose Edward to be my own person "punching bag", so to speak. I knew now I wasn't just taking out my anger on Edward simply because of his behavior towards me. I was also unleashing the anger I've been feeling over my frustratingly hopeless situation.

Out of all the emotions I felt for being stuck like this, in some stranger's body, living her life, anger always came out the strongest.

And I was sick of it.

I needed to put a stop to it. The trouble though, is that I don't know how else to deal with everything going on. I was never the type to grieve and mope or even feel sorry for myself because of the difficulties life throws at me.

So that's why I decided to go for a run. All of my energy and concentration will be directed into that one action. No need to worry myself by constantly over thinking things.

Not to mention, the easiest way for me to sort out my problems has always been to forget about them entirely… Now if only I could do the same with my biggest problem at the moment…

Releasing a deep breath, I kicked off from the front porch and made my way along the street at a steady pace.

After what felt like ages, I finally reached the bridge over the Calawah River. I forced myself to use the last burst of stamina I had to cross to the other side, trying to keep my breathing as steady as possible. Gradually turning my sprint into walk as I made it to the end, I placed my hands on my head while trying to control my breathing. It took everything I had not to just plop down on the ground.

I turned around and slowly made my way back to the center of the bridge. Leaning over the cement railing, I let out a loud huff.

Now that I've reached this point- about half an hour of alternating between running and jogging- I really did not want to use any more energy to get back to the house. I had hoped I could make it longer, at least until the next bridge over the Sol Duc River, but Bella's body isn't nearly as in shape as mine.

The river was fairly serene by the bridge, glistening with what little light from the sunset peaked through the clouds. A ways down the river, however, the cascading water was somewhat treacherous. The wild rapids crashed against the stones harshly, splashing up into the air.

Looking at the flowing water, I could only imagine how well Salmon fishing will be come October. Salmon fishing was always Gramps favorite.

Before he passed away, Gramps used to tell me a whole bunch of fishing stories. When he was younger, he worked as a fisherman for his tribe, the Quileute. The fishing was done on the ocean, but Gramps used to always tell me he loved fishing on the rivers during his free time. Sol Duc was his favorite, but every once in a while he would come to this one, the Calawah River. This isn't the most favored fishing river, but Gramps would tell me, although rare here, the largest Salmon are often caught on this one.

His most fond memory was made on this river. Gramps often told me the story of how he met Grams, just a little ways away on the right river bank from here. It was a typical fishing day for him, except his usually buddies didn't come along that time. He had just caught a big one, but the river was running high and fast from all the summer rain and he got tugged in the water deep enough for the current to catch hold of him. If Grams hadn't been driving across this bridge with her family at the time and noticed him, Gramps might not have gotten out of the current without their help.

I always thought the story somewhat cliqued, what with the whole "love at first sight" ending he used. Love is a difficult belief for me to hold as it is. Love at first sight is just plain ridiculous. Infatuation at first sight I could believe in however. Still, I knew the love my grandparents shared was the most real love I've ever seen. The day Gramps passed away, Grams was beyond devastated. I think part of the reason Grams wanted me to move in with her my freshman year was because of the pain and loneliness she felt from his loss.

The only thing I can think of now, is how I would be with Grams at this very moment if it wasn't for that accident. The accident had to be the catalyst for my predicament, I'm almost sure of it. Nonetheless, I still cannot wrap by mind around how that is, and how I ended up like this.

Every day I wake up panting and gasping over my nightmare, I push aside the idea I've been dreaming this entire time. Logically, I know I should give up the idea. I'm not dreaming; I doubt I could every come up with a dream this complex. Deep down, I know I don't want to give up this theory because out of every one I've had and promptly dismissed, this one always gave me a simple fix to the problem. Just wake up. But I do wake up, every morning, and I'm still here.

And then, for a split second, I believed I might have died in the crash and was given this life as a second chance. But the thought was obviously proved incorrect when I read the article last week. I've not been presented with any new information on my health. Which, now that I think about, it's probably time I call the house. I can always pretend to be a friend from my old school, who heard about the accident on the news.

But despite whatever condition my body is in at the moment, I still didn't have many plausible theories to help me get back to it.

I moved even closer over the rail. Looking down at the dark water, I contemplated an idea that only just briefly brushed the edge of my mind.

Maybe… I have some weird ability which lets me hop from body to body and the accident somehow made me unconsciously activate it.

A loud, breathy laugh escaped my lips at the thought. That sounds plain ridiculous! Come on, me having some strange supernatural power? That's just crazy…

My laugh slowed down into short chuckles, however, as I sobered at the realization that my theory actually could be correct.

I mean, it's crazy enough I'm stuck in Bella's body like this to begin with. How can it be any crazier to think I somehow have the ability that caused it to happen? If not me, well then, it might even be Bella with the ability.

Gently, I ran my fingers against the faded scar by my eyebrow, remembering the flight to Seattle. The lady I sat next to on the flight told me, when I woke up in Bella's body, that I had taken a rather pathetic stumble and knocked myself out cold. But I have a feeling Bella was still in her own body when it happened, as I have no recollection of it. The bump to the head could be another possible catalyst, despite being less serious than a car crash.

My stomach sank at the idea of Bella being the cause. If it is her with the ability, my theory would be almost pointless. I have no idea what happened to Bella, which means I have no idea if she can even solve this. A part of me wants to assume when my mind moved into her body, the same happened with Bella. But if Bella is in my body, which is probably in a horribly broken state- I cringed at the thought- then chances are she won't be physically well enough to do anything.

I froze, a cold chill suddenly coursing through me. If Bella is in my body, what did she do when she woke up…? Just because I was able to quickly get a rein on myself and not draw attention, doesn't mean Bella did the same. What if she had a mental break down when she found out she wasn't in her own body? What if she told someone? What if everyone thought she had gone insane- that I had gone insane?!

Okay, settle down, Scar. Don't freak out. Calm down.

I took slow, steady breaths, trying to stop my rapid breathing. I needed to get a hold of myself. But I know I couldn't calm down, not until I find out what happened. I needed to make the call now.

With one last glance at the Calawah River, I pushed off the railing of the bridge, making a beeline for the nearest phone.

My legs ached painfully by the time I reached a phone.

After twenty minutes of nonstop running, I finally came by a gas station. To my complete frustration, the cashier didn't let me use the phone. The stubborn jerk would not give into my pleading so I bit my lip to keep from calling him a number of vulgar names and quickly ran back out the door, doing my best to slam it shut loudly. I only just avoided running into a pale skinned woman in my haste out the door, too angry to apologize.

Luckily, the diner hadn't been far away. I knew Rhonda, the waitress who served Charlie and I last week, wouldn't have any qualms with letting me use their phone. The thought calmed me greatly. If I had to wait any longer, I might have lost the nerve to call.

As soon as I had entered the building I took a deep breath to calm down and stop myself from panting so hard. I didn't want anyone to notice my panic, lest they decide to call Charlie and have him pick me up. I really didn't want to worry him.

"Bella." Rhonda smiled when she caught sight of me. She leaned to look behind me, searching for something. "Where's your father?"

"I'm here by myself. I actually really need to use the phone," I told her, cringing when I realized it came out too quick and anxious sounding.

She looked surprised and I could see the worry seeping through her expression. Nonetheless, she smiled kindly and pointed to the phone at the end of the bar by the restrooms. "Go ahead, dear."

I rushed towards it, using everything I had not to run like a mad woman.

In seconds, the phone was in my hand, the number quickly dialed before I could change my mind. As it rang, I glanced around me, finding I was a good distance away from all the customers. I let out a breath of relief. Even though I know it wouldn't be a problem for anyone to listen in, I still wanted the privacy.

By the fifth ring I began to fidget, afraid no one was going to answer the call. Who would even answer? I wasn't even sure if anyone was home.

"Hello? Who is this?"

Grams. Thank god.

"Hello?" she repeated after a short silence.

I swallowed.

"Um, hi. This is Amy Miller. I'm a friend of Scarlette's. We went to the same middle school," I told her, using the name of a girl I really did befriend in middle school, before my family moved to Chicago. "I-I heard about the accident. Could you please tell me how Scar is doing?"

I could hear Grams sigh. Closing my eyes, I braced myself for whatever she's about to say.

"I'm afraid Scarlette's situation doesn't look good." I could hear the hitch in her voice, though I knew she tried to hide it. My eyes began to water. "She received a lot of injuries from the crash. Nothing fatal. But…" I froze, unsure of what she would say next. Grams sounded so pained, but I knew she would force herself to continue. She's always been so strong. "... she hasn't woken up yet. Scar's in a coma and the doctors… they aren't sure if she'll be waking up."

The tears rained down my cheeks; I couldn't hold them back anymore. I turned away from the room, forcing myself not to start sobbing so I wouldn't attract anyone's attention.

So I never woke up… or I suppose Bella never woke up. I wasn't sure if I was completely horrified by this or glad Bella wouldn't have to wake up and deal with being in a broken body. The only thing I couldn't understand was if my coma was caused from the accident or from switching bodies. What if the reason I was in a coma was because Bella wasn't in there after all? What if my body was empty…?

A small whimper escaped my lips. "I'm so sorry." I'm so sorry I caused you all this hurt, Grams.

"Oh, sweetheart," she said, her voice becoming even softer. "Don't lose faith. Scarlette has always been a head strong girl, as I'm sure you already know. She'll wake up."

I nodded weakly, though she couldn't see. Grams always had so much faith in me, no matter how hopeless things seemed. Despite her not knowing the actual situation, her words encouraged me to keep going and not break down completely. Even if she didn't give me a full drawn out speak like she would if she had known it was me.

I sniffed and wiped away the tears with my sleeve.

"You're right."

I could practically see Grams smile. "That's it. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Um, actually, I was wondering if it wouldn't be a problem for me to call about Scar every once and awhile, to see how she's doing."

"Of course it's not a problem. I may not be the one to answer the phone; Scarlette's siblings and parents might, but feel free to still ask," she replied. "I'm Clarissa by the way, Scarlette's grandmother. I'm not sure if she's ever told you about me."

I smiled. "She has. All good things."

Grams chuckled. "That's nice to hear."

I was reluctant to hang up, but as I was technically a stranger to her at the moment, I didn't want to say anything to make the conversation awkward or inappropriate. I really wanted to ask more. What injuries did I get exactly? Did they ever find out why I left in such a reckless hurry? How was the rest of my family doing? Did they even care about what happened?

But I didn't. Instead I just said a polite goodbye which Grams returned and hung up the phone.

I stood silently, my head bowed down, for what felt like forever. All my energy was drained. I didn't even want to walk the rest of the way to Charlie's, but I didn't want him to pick me up and see me in this state either.

Everyone was preoccupied with their food and Rhonda was turned away at a table in the corner, so I took the chance to sneak out of the diner now, afraid she would confront me.

Not even ten steps away from the entrance it started to sprinkle, gradually turning into a full out downpour. I groaned, but was secretly glad. This way I could hide the tears.

When I finally reached the house, I went directly to bed. It must have been from the exhaustion, because last night had been the most peaceful, nightmare-less sleep I've had since arriving here. It was nice to wake up to the music from the alarm clock for once, instead up waking up an hour before it went off in a cold sweat.

A part of me believed the talk with Grams really helped relieve some of the stress I've been feeling. But it also made me anxious. A restless anxious which made me realize once again I didn't have any leads.

I knew I wouldn't last very long here in Forks, doing all this pointless researching. I won't get many answers here and at some point I'm going to have to force myself to leave. No matter how much it might hurt Charlie. But I told myself I would wait, a least until I could form a plan, one that hopefully wouldn't have Charlie worried his daughter ran away or was kidnapped.

A loud yawn escaped my lips. I sat up out of bed, deciding I didn't need that ten minute snooze since Charlie had let me sleep the entire evening and night away. I wonder if he noticed I hadn't been getting much sleep.

I took a quick shower and changed into a pair of dark jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt, topping it off with a red flannel. Bella had a lot of flannel, and although I liked wearing it, I would have loved more variety. I brushed through my hair, pulling it into a messy bun- not caring it was still wet- then made my way to the kitchen for breakfast before Charlie left.

Charlie was sipping on his coffee, reading the daily newspaper like every other morning.

"Good morning," I sang, smiling brightly.

He returned my smile, "Morning, Bells." Charlie watched me closely as I prepared some cereal, humming quietly to myself. "You seem to be in a good mood today. Finally get a good night's sleep?"

I cringed. So he had noticed. I suppose some nights it's been pretty obvious I've been having nightmares. "Yup," I said simply.

He noticed my reluctance to speak about it and changed the subject. "You look outside yet? The grounds covered in snow and ice. I just finished putting snow chains on the Cruiser and your truck. Hopefully that will help make the drive to school and home easier. I don't think you've had any experience driving in the snow, have you Bells?"

As soon as he said the word "snow" I ran over to the window above the kitchen sink. True enough, it was everywhere, beautifully coating every surface in white. The ice overwhelmed the thin cover of powder snow, creating amazing crystalline shapes.

I gazed over at the two vehicles in the driveway, noticing the snow and ice had already been scraped off them. Just as Charlie had said, I could see the thin chains he wrapped around all the tires.

The panic I started to feel over driving in the snow dissipated thanks to Charlie's thoughtfulness.

I smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks. I was pretty worried about driving to school with these conditions."

"It's no problem, Bella," he assured me with a smile. My own smile brightened when I noticed he wasn't looking nearly as embarrassed as he used to when I thank him. He folded the newspaper back up and stood, putting his now empty mug in the sink. "I better get going. I'll see you after work. Drive safe."

I nodded. "I will. See ya later."

I quickly scooped the rest of the cereal in my mouth and downed the leftover milk. After rinsing the bowl out, I jogged back up the stairs to apply some make-up I came across in Bella's untouched luggage.

Saturday night, after being unable to fall asleep, I went searching through all of Bella's stuff again. When I had unpacked Bella's bags, I mainly focused on putting her clothes away. I didn't care much about anything else, but in my boredom I decided to rummage through the other bags.

She had a few photos, all framed, of herself and her mother, one seeming to have been taken at the Grand Canyon. I had thought about putting them up, but decided against it. I already hated looking in the mirror, seeing another person every time. I didn't need to upset myself further. Instead I hung a few cheap, decorative paintings and posters, trying to spice up the walls a little. I found some random knickknacks, okay-smelling candles, and plain flower vases which I had placed on the desk and bedside table.

One bag I went through was entirely filled with books. Most being really old classics that would put me to sleep if I tried reading them. Bella had a lot of Jane Austen novels. Pride and Prejudice seemed to be the most read, it being so worn out the edges were fraying and the pages were beginning to yellow. I reluctantly admit I read the book and even slightly enjoyed it, though it was only due to the character Elizabeth Bennet.

An ugly tan purse was placed in a small compartment on the side of her largest suitcase. Though I wouldn't mind carrying a purse around, there was no way I wanted to use that one. It was the type of purse you'd buy in middle school, being too stupid to realize you'd come to hate it later on. I relented, however, when I found a strap that connected to it so the purse could sit snuggly at my waist. Besides, after finding a small black make-up bag and a pepper spray can in Bella's duffle bag, I knew I'd need a purse to carry them and Bella's wallet in.

I entered the bathroom and quickly got started applying some eyeshadow. Bella only had brown toned eyeshadow, no other colors, and mascara. They looked fairly new, but I suspected it was because she rarely wore them. I was disappointed to find there was no eyeliner as well. I used eyeliner the most, since it helped make my small eyes pop out more. But Bella didn't seem to have that problem. Actually, I didn't even need to apply make-up. Bella just has one of those natural faces that don't need it. I still decided to put it on anyway, because I loved being creative with it.

Settling on a toned-down smokey eyes look, I declared myself ready for the day. I grabbed my backpack, remembering too late that I never did my homework last night. I shrugged, not really caring as much as I probably should. It actually felt good not do it for once.

The ride to school wasn't as scary as I thought. I feared I was going to panic as soon as I turned off our road, constantly thinking back to the accident. But everything went fine; I just drove super slow and very carefully used my brakes. I still let out a breath of relief when parking the truck. I picked a parking space right by the entrance of the parking lot, not wanting to drive any further, especially when students are walking around.

I stepped out of the truck, slowly touching the ground so I wouldn't slip. I glanced up towards the front doors, dreading the long walk across the frozen death trap. I groaned, but knew I'd rather walk across the ice than drive on it.

Halfway across the lot, I caught the Cullen's getting out of their silver Volvo, looking as pale and unwelcoming as usual. I accidently made eye contact with Edward and wondered what I should do. Ignore him? Casually look away? Smile apologetically? I couldn't decide, but it didn't matter after all, because Edward gave me a confused look and abruptly looked away. I sighed. I guess I definitely won't be issuing an apology at the moment then...

"Bella!" I heard Jen call me to her car a few spaces away. I waved to let her know I heard her and changed my direction.

Once my shoe touched the ground, however, I lost my balance, falling on my back and losing my grip on my backpack, which slid some feet away from me, spilling out the contents of one compartment I must not have noticed was unzipped.

Jen was laughing her ass off at me and as soon as she looked at me again I flipped her the bird, making her laugh even harder. I shook my head, unable to stop chuckling either.

I stood up and went to pick up the closest folders right behind one of the parked cars before getting my bag, being extra careful this time.

A high-pitched screech pierced my eardrums. My head snapped up at the eerily familiar sound. I watched in horror as a dark blue van skid across the black top- headed in my very direction.

School bag now completely forgotten, I abruptly dropped my folders, thinking fast.

I used as much momentum as possible, pushing myself off the back of some random car and leaping as far as I could away. Landing on my side, I slid a short distance away from the oncoming van thanks to the dreaded black ice. I quickly forced my body to stand, my leg only slipping out from underneath me once before I could gain the balance to start running, desperately hoping I was out of the way.

But I wasn't. I hadn't created enough distance; I didn't have enough time to run now.

The grinding of metal on metal greeted my ears, alerting me to the dark blue mass now skidding towards the left after impacting with the other vehicle. The rear end came veering back in my direction.

An image of my blue Ford Focus crashing into a tree flashed across my vision.

Sudden adrenaline coursed through me at high speed, just barley giving me time for action. I held my hands out before me, hoping I could try flinging myself away to lessen the impact. I knew immediately I had stupidly underestimated the force of the van coming at me, as I could feel a painful snap in my right arm as my elbows bent in and then out to spring me away from the deadly heap of metal. As my body flung backwards, I only had enough time to contemplate if I was going to smack back into another vehicle or hit the hard asphalt.

After what felt like the longest two seconds of my life, neither happened. Instead I landed on something else. Right as I believed I was safe, that I had made it out alive, what felt like arms wrapped around me, bringing me to a complete stop, forcing my neck to snap back painfully and my head to make contact with the cold, hard, icy parking lot.

I was out instantly.

So Scar has some more revelations about what's going on, but how much of it is actually true is yet unknown.

As for the accident with the van, I was really reluctant to even use this scene. I wanted to slowly start backing off of what happens in Twilight to do my own things, mostly so no one starts getting on my case about being unoriginal and just copying directly what happens in the book, but I ended up finding a lot of use for this scene anyway.

I'm not sure how many of you have realized this, but I am writing my story based on what would happen if a random girl just suddenly pops into the gist of things. So everything is happening how it would if Bella was still here, because that's how it was going to be before Scar suddenly appeared, and is only gradually changing because Scar is starting to slowly be herself and make her own decision, which have been a lot different than Bella's. The reason some things are still similar to the book is because Scar has not created enough change to alter how everything will happen yet. So this is pretty much why I kept the van scene. The way I see it, Scar's appearance can't alter the horrible weather and didn't change how Tyler drives, so chances are the accident could still occur. But obviously Scar's reaction to the van is different due to her different timing, location, actions, etcetera.

So yeah, I hope you guys got that and if not, don't worry too much about it. It's not really that important to understand.

And for those of you who just want more of the Cullens, don't worry about that either because you'll be getting more of them from here on. Especially with our favorite stalker vampire!

Hope you enjoyed! Favorite and review please!