Chp 1 – Jo

It was Monday morning and it was raining steadily. I lied in my large and empty bed, staring blankly at the empty spot beside me. It had only been a couple weeks since I had broken up with my boyfriend. We wanted different things…

Honestly, it was my fault. I was a workaholic and I didn't have the patience or time for a relationship. That, and I didn't want a family right now. I was still on bad terms with my family, back in forks. I knew staying there would alter my life forever. I would have never been able to come live out my dream in the city.

I snapped out of my trance; my roommate slamming around in the other room. She sounded like she was in the kitchen, probably getting ready to leave for work. We owned one of the most successful coffee shops in Seattle. We had graduated school together, both with degrees in business management. Things had been amazing for the last ten years.

I heard her start the coffee machine. We were obsessed with coffee, it was our art form. We sold coffee beans, usually imported, in addition to crafting in-house. Our baristas were far more qualified than any big chain Barista. It was the big leagues of coffee and we were roaring. I had been dreaming of this business model since I was in high school. My mother was the one who got me into coffee. I started to think about her. She always had a pot of coffee brewing in the house. Then I thought about the day of the accident. Jake and I were too young…

I shook the thought from my head and jumped out of bed. I threw on some sweatpants and flung open the bedroom door. The aroma of coffee filled my lungs and drew me into the kitchen. The brewer beeped just as I walked in. I grabbed a mug from our little mug tree and poured myself a cup. I sat down at the kitchen bar, turning on the small tv we had just as my roommate came back in.

"Good morning." She smiled at me, pouring herself a cup. I groggily nodded to her, taking my first sip. "Want to carpool?" She asked and I nodded, my nose in my coffee cup. Just then the harsh ring of the landline phone startled us both. She answered it. "Breanna." She answered into the phone. "May I ask who is calling?" She looked at me, listening. I took another sip of coffee. She suddenly extended her arm out to me, handing me the phone. I looked at her before slowly taking it from her hand and pressing it up to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Joanna?" A voice crackled through the phone, he sounded like he might have been crying. I cleared my throat. No one had called me Joanna in such a long time. I almost had forgotten it was my name.

"Hey, Jacob. Is everything okay?" It was not like my brother to randomly call me. Especially this early in the morning. I worried something had happened to Dad, I wasn't sure how he had been doing lately.

"Harry Clearwater is dead." I dropped the coffee cup in my hand at the sound of the news. It shattered as it met the hard top of the bar, coffee flooding the counter and floor. I jumped out of my seat as Breanna rushed to grab paper towels.

Not Seth and Leah's father… He was a good man and he had helped to raise all of us. I helped Breanna soak up the coffee. She picked up the shatter pieces of the mug and sighed. It was a travel mug from one of our many adventures.

"The funeral is later tomorrow… Dad wants you to come home." I fell back onto the ground and stared at Breanna. I was flooded with a cocktail of emotions. I did not want to go back to Forks. Seattle was my new home.

"I can't just stop what I'm doing here Jacob…" I suddenly wanted to get back in bed. Shouldn't have even left… I thought to myself. "I, ugh-"

"You are going to get your ass home or I will send Sam out to drag you here." My father cut in and I was quiet. My father and I had a complicated relationship. We hadn't talked much since I left home. When I was younger, we would butt heads constantly. As I got older, I saw he was just trying to protect me. I regretted putting him through all that, now.

"Yes, father." I solemnly spoke into the phone. I wasn't going to argue with him. Besides, I knew I had vacation saved. Since I never took a vacation… ever. "I need to make a few calls, but I will be there by tonight." I hung up the phone, trembling. What had I just done?

"Well?" Breanna asked, mopping up the last of the spill. "What happened? It better have been good. You broke my Las Vegas mug." I smirked at her, even though I felt like screaming and smashing a broken mug shard into my skull.

I had fought so hard to get out of Forks, ever since my mother died. I wanted to experience what she had experienced before she met my father. She had lived in this area of downtown, gone to the same University I had and was a single working woman for 6 years before she settled down and met my dad. My dad was who brought her to live in Forks. She fell in love with the reservation and they never left.

My father hurt the most when she was gone. I think him looking at me, a spitting image, made him hurt more. That was what led to us fighting about everything. He wanted me to stay and embraced my culture and heritage and I wanted to come here. I applied to college through a scholarship and got accepted. Bought my own car and my own apartment and we hadn't really spoken since the night I left for Seattle.

"My uncle died." I looked at her, tears meeting my eyes finally. She scooted beside me, wrapping her arms around me. I held her tight, almost afraid to let her go.

"I'm sorry, Jo." I looked around the small apartment. I had a feeling I wouldn't be coming back to this place. I knew my life would dramatically change when I went back to Forks.

"If I leave, I may not come back. It has been a very long time since I have seen any of them." I looked at her, afraid. There was a deep dark secret I had to hide from everyone, but going home would make it hard…

"Think of it as an unexpected route…" She brushed my hair behind my ear. "You can almost always come back to the old route, but enjoy the unexpected detour." I thought about what she was saying. Maybe she would have been right, if it wasn't in Forks. Nothing ever changed in that old town. "How far is the drive, anyway?"

"Four hours."

"Well then I guess we better get you packing. If you are to get out of here at a reasonable time." She helped me up from the floor and we headed to my room, packing all the things I couldn't live without. Unfortunately I couldn't take all of Seattle back to Forks with me.