It has been six months since Bella has started living with us. Six very dull months. Our house is being invaded by visitors. I groan as I sit on the red couch, today is Friday which means that the sheriff Charlie Swann is going to come over for dinner. He is not bland like Bella and not possessive like Edward he is just normal, and that worries me because I think Mr. Normal is attracted to my mom and now I want to vomit, in the nearest flower pot.
I hear the loud roar of Jacob's Rabbit hurtle down our street and I see their silhouettes through the thin curtains of the living room.
"How do you like Lord of the Flies?" my mother asks.
"It lacks female power," I say.
"Why is there no heroin?" I curiously query.
She simply shrugs and tilts her head, considering my question, "A lot of 'classic literature' does not have strong female roles. You ask a good question Hazel."
I smile with pride and my grin slips off my face when I hear Bella's obnoxious laugh.
"They're back," I mutter.
My mother pats my knee as she walks into the kitchen knowing something about her bothers Jacob's nose.
The front door closes with a loud 'clunk' and I can hear Jacob's heavy footsteps approaching. I stuff my nose further into the book silently hoping that the island is sentient and I can become the heroin of this tale as I am transported through the thin pages.
"Hey Hazel," Jacob greets with a small wave.
I grunt a greeting with my nose stuck in the book. I can hear his tall frame sink beside me on the couch in the living room.
"Whatcha reading?" he asks.
I can feel his friendly grin invading my being like a shining rainbow.
I close the book with my most terrifying glare and stuff the cover in his proud face.
"The Lord of the Flies," he reads as he holds the hardcover further away from his face.
"Is it any good?" he asks.
"Depends," I hear myself say.
"On," he inquires with amused eyes.
"If you find a book about galavanting boys trying to kill each other on a deserted island entertainment or not," I mutter.
"That's what this book is about! It's not about a fly trying to be a King in a medieval garbage land!" he splutters.
"No," I say with a rare laugh. "I wish it was though. I want to rewrite it make it better but I know I can't."
"You two are idiots," Bella says from the chair by the fireplace I have no idea how long she has been there for nor do I care.
"You wound us Bells!" Jacob theatrically retorts as he holds both hands over his heart.
I roll my eyes. The love wafting of Jacob for Bella is genuine and bright it makes my heart skip with hidden joy.
Bella rolls her eyes and walks toward the couch and sits on Jacob's lap. "You two are idiots because Lord of the Fliesis so much more than a story. It is an argument about evil and that we all have evil inside of us. We just need the right environment for it to take form.
I shake my head and start to leave the room, "You wouldn't know evil if it stared you in the face Bella," I mutter.
"And you would?" she bites back.
"Do you know what I survived!" Bella screams at me.
"Have you stared evil in the face and survived?" she asks me in a heated whisper.
"Do you know what it is likeā¦"
"Bella leave it alone," Jacob pleads.
"No Jake. She is a spoiled brat who thinks that the whole world is entitled to her. She needs to hear this," Bella replies as her dull brown eyes face a clearly uncomfortable Jacob.
"Actually I think you just need to say it. People have been whispering about me all my life Bella. I am immune to criticism and hate," I state as tears prickle the back of my eyes.
"No one is immune to hate Hazel," Jacob softly stares.
"You obliviously don't know me very well, then," I say in a steady and dignified voice while I stuff my trembling hands in my pockets. My feet are twitching to an escaping beat.
"I know you," Bella interrupts. "You never had to stare evil in the face. You never had to survive anything because your mommy comes to your rescue, whenever it is sunny outside your mother babies you. You never had to stare evil in the face. You're not a survivor of anything just a pathetic liar."
I feel my eyes sting with hurt. The demon inside of me rattles the iron cage around my heart, yearning for escape. My inner caged bird is fluttering inside with agitated wingbeats. I will not show my hurt to anyone, in a heated whisper that reminds me of a breath of a dragon I say, "I am evil Bella, and I stare in my face everyday."
"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"my inner demon roars. My breath trembles with each inner exclamation and I collapse on my bed as tears of hate stream down my face.
I look in my mirror and see evil's red gaze staring back at me and still silver tears of loathing fall.
DISCLAIMER: I hold no creative rights to Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It is just mentioned for this story characters' development.
