{Waves of Change}
"Are you sure you're okay?" Angela asked again, following Bella into the house.
Bella took in a deep breath. "I'm fine Ange, really, I just caught off guard for a minute there, I'm sorry for freaking out on you. I really didn't mean to scare you, thanks for bringing me home."
Angela looked her over once more before deciding Bella must be speaking the truth and smiled. "It was no problem at all."
Bella shrugged her coat off, hanging it on the hook near the door, toeing out of her converse and making her way to the kitchen. Angela trailed behind her, sitting down at the kitchen table. She watched as Bella busied herself with the kettle before speaking up. "I had fun today, we should definitely go out more."
Bella laughed, grabbing two mugs from the overhead cupboard. "Sure, but let's wait with our trips until the weather is slightly warmer. I felt like my ears would freeze off when we were walking the streets."
"Okay," Angela easily agreed, looking down at her own hands, which were still numb too. When she glanced back up, her expression was one of mischief. "Now that we're talking about temperature, someone totally had the hots for you today."
Bella turned around abruptly, a blush rapidly spreading across her cheeks, brining color to the otherwise pale face. "Angela Weber!"
"What?" Angela asked, blinking innocently. "It's true."
"It most definitely is not," Bella argued as she moved back to the counter to finish making tea. Throwing away the teabag, she picked the mugs up and carried them over to the kitchen table, placing one in front of Angela. With a sigh she took a seat on the opposite side, warming her hands on her mug before quietly muttering, "she was very pretty, though."
Angela grinned victoriously, but did not continue her teasing. She knew it was not an easy topic for Bella to talk about and understood that if something came from it, she would hear about it soon.
The two of them drank their tea and chatted for a bit until Angela got a message from her aunt, saying she had to make her way home. Bella waved her goodbye from the kitchen window, watching until the car drove out of sight.
When Charlie came home from work several hours later, he found Bella sitting cross-legged on the couch in the living room. She was typing furiously on her laptop, lightly humming to the music which was playing from her headphones. He called her name, but she was so engrossed in her writing that she did not hear him.
Charlie smiled and went into the kitchen to grab some drinks before returning and tapping on her shoulder. With a gasp Bella turned around, her tense form quickly relaxing when her eyes met her dad's.
"Hey Dad," she said, blushing as she took off the headphones and hung them around her neck. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was already this late. How was work?"
"It was alright," Charlie answered, seating himself on the couch next to her.
Bella raised her brows. "Just alright?"
Charlie grinned. "Got to catch some criminals, chased a few burglars. You know, the usual."
"Yeah right," Bella snorted.
"I'll start making dinner shortly," Charlie said as he stood up from the couch. "Any requests?"
Bella thought for a moment. "No, not really. Do you need my help?"
After she had been assured that she was not needed in the kitchen, she turned back to the screen and scanned over the words she had written. Writing was something she had loved to do ever since she first learned to read, it was a way for her to vent and let out her emotions without burdening someone else. Not too long ago, it had been the thing to keep her sane when the world around her had seemed to crumble down.
With a sigh Bella saved the file and closed the laptop, placing it on the coffee table. She stood up, stretching her back as her eyes sought out the clock that hung on the wall above the television. It was nearing eight, meaning that her friends would probably be home by now. Picking up her phone she scrolled through her contacts.
The phone only rang once before she was connected.
"Bella! How are you doing?"
"Hey Carmen," Bella smiled. "I'm doing alright. I'm sorry, but I don't have a lot of time before I'm having dinner, could I maybe speak to Eleazar for a moment?"
"Of course! He's in the shed with Kate right now, if you hang on for a minute I'll go and get him."
Bella did not hear anything for a moment, and she moved to sit back on the couch but rethought her actions. With one last glance towards the kitchen, she made her way upstairs instead, entering her room and shutting the door.
"Bella?"
"Hi," she said, seating herself on the bed.
"Is something wrong?"
"That depends on how you look at the situation," Bella started, sighing. "But first I would appreciate it if you explained why on earth there is a vampire in Anchorage? A vegetarian one, at that. Didn't you know?"
It was silent for a moment. "You've met one of them?"
"One of them?" Bella asked incredulously. "There are more?"
"I am terribly sorry I was unable to inform you beforehand," Eleazar said. "But it seems that some of our friends made a last-minute decision to move. We did not know about any of it until we arrived home half an hour ago to find their message."
Bella groaned, leaning her head into her hand. "How did this happen? Isn't it true that vampires don't deal well with change? You'd think they would want to plan such a thing at least a few months in advance."
"Would you be able to come over tomorrow? It will be easier to explain the entire story in person, and we can make some agreements."
"I can't," Bella grimaced. "Sunday's are Dad's father-daughter days. I'm pretty sure we're going fishing again, or something. What about Monday, after school?"
"That could work," it sounded hesitantly.
"But?" Bella prompted.
"Several of the vampires will be attending the local high school."
Bella groaned. "Well, that will be interesting, for sure. Do they know about me? Have they heard something?"
"No, they do not know of anything yet. If you want us to, we can inform them, but we have not mentioned out involvement with you."
Bella sat in silence for a moment, but soon came to a decision. "Alright, I will come over after school. Please don't inform the new coven about me, I don't think it is necessary, at least for now."
"That I can do."
"Is there anything else I should know?" Bella asked.
"Well," Eleazar started. "Three of the members are gifted. An Empath, Telepath and Psychic."
"Great," Bella said sarcastically. "Well, that will be challenge to evade without much of a headache. Thank you for telling me, though."
"Are you sure you do not want to meet up earlier to practice your defenses?"
Bella sighed. "No, I'll be alright."
"I will see you Monday, then," he said.
"Until Monday."
Only seconds after she had ended the conversation, her dad called up to tell her dinner was ready. Bella left her phone on her bed and made her way down the stairs, entering the kitchen right as Charlie placed the food on the table.
The coming week would be interesting for sure.
Charlie had indeed planned a father-daughter outing that Sunday, although they did not go fishing. (A hobby he had for some reason really taken to when he had settled down after years of wandering through the country) Instead, they went hiking up one of the many trails of Forks' forests, ending their trip with a meal at the local diner.
Monday started like any other day. Charlie left for work early, and Bella woke up at the sound of her alarm. Once she had slapped the snooze button at least ten times, she finally dragged herself out of bed, pulling on some socks and making her way down the stairs with squinted eyes and hair that pointed in all directions. She shuffled towards the counter, smiling as she spotted the lunch bag, before moving on to the coffee machine, noting with delight there was still some hot coffee left. Picking her favorite mug from the cupboard, she poured it full all the way to the rim. After taking an experimental sip to check if it would burn her mouth, she put the mug to her lips and downed it all at once.
God knows she would need it today.
It did not take too long for her to fully wake up now that she had some caffeine in her system, and she moved to make herself a bowl of cereal. Sitting down at the kitchen table, she scrolled through her messages and took some time to respond. Once all the cereal was gone, she rinsed her bowl in the sink and put it in the dishwasher, going back upstairs when she had cleared the countertop.
Now she had to try and fix whatever was going on with her hair today.
Standing in front of the mirror, she grabbed a brush and pulled it through her hair, grimacing as it got caught in the tangles. A few minutes of torture later, she decided to just give up and threw her hair in a ponytail instead with the lone elastic band that lay in the bathroom. She glanced at her reflection, looking into her own pale blue eyes and taking a few deep breaths to calm the flurry of nerves in her stomach. Although she refused to admit it out loud, the idea of meeting unfamiliar vampires made her anxious.
A honk shook her out of her thoughts and Bella checked her hair once more before running downstairs. She quickly grabbed her bag, packing her lunch, and slipped into her shoes. Taking the coat from the hook, she put it on, simultaneously stepping outside and locking the door. Turning around, she zipped her coat up and slung her backpack onto her shoulder, walking to the end of the driveway where Angela was waiting in her car.
"Good morning," Bella said, climbing into the passenger seat.
"Hey!" Angela said, grinning widely. "Guess what?"
She did not give Bella a chance to answer as she immediately continued. "Isaac and Joshua are coming to visit us in a few weeks."
"Really?" Bella asked surprised. "That's amazing! How did you convince your parents?"
Angela backed out of the driveway and explained what had happened during the phone call she had had this morning. Bella smiled as she heard the excitement in Angela's voice; she knew Angela really missed her little twin brothers, who she had not seen in nearly a year now.
Even though the age gap was big, they had always gotten along, and Angela held a fierce love for them. Bella was happy to hear that they would be reunited soon.
"Would you like to come over this afternoon?" Angela asked as they drove into the school's parking lot.
Bella shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I have an appointment with Dr Denali later today."
Angela smiled. "I understand, we'll just hang out another time."
"What's your first class?" Bella asked, stepping out of the car when Angela had turned it off.
"Chemistry," Angela groaned. "We're going to prepare for next week's test."
"Good luck," Bella said solemnly. "I'm off to English. See you later?"
Angela grinned. "Same time and place as usual, babe."
With a wave they were both off to the separate buildings. Bella entered the classroom, glancing around and, with a mumbled greeting to Mr. Mason, she found her way to her usual seat in the back of the class, where she shrugged out of her coat. Other students were now slowly filing in as they were nearing the start of the first period. Bella took her books out of her bag, laying them on the table and opening her notebook. Waiting for the bell to ring, she mindlessly doodled some trees.
For lunch break, Bella met up with Angela in the cafeteria, where they waited in line to get Angela some food before seating themselves at an empty table. More people joined them and soon everyone was engaged in the conversation. Bella pretended not to notice Angela's blush when Ben Cheney sat down in the empty chair next to her.
Bella was engaged in a serious discussion on the benefits of chocolate (there were many) when Jessica leaned over the table, waiting with eager eyes until she had the attention of their group.
Bella frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Jessica threw a pointed look to the table in the corner of the cafeteria. "I'm talking about them."
Bella followed her gaze and tuned out of the conversation, where Lauren and Angela were now asking questions that fueled Jessica's gossip. She quickly spotted the Cullens and took a good look at the unfamiliar faces. It really should not have been a surprise that Jessica was talking about the new kids.
There were five of them: three boys and two girls. They were quietly chatting amongst each other, picking at the food on their trays. With a jolt, Bella realized Alice, from the little boutique in Anchorage, was amongst them. As if she could read her thoughts, Alice turned around, eyes widening before she composed herself and waved. Bella waved back before returning her attention to the group at her table, who were all staring at her now.
Bella blinked. "What?"
They threw here some more curious looks and shot some questions at her, but Bella shook them off. The others soon got the idea and left her alone to her thoughts.
Bella knew the new coven consisted of vegetarians; Alice's golden eyes did not tell lies, and Eleazar had also confirmed as much. It piqued her interest, knowing from experience it was rare to choose that route in the undead life. Well, if the coven decided to stay in the area for a while, she would probably get the chance to ask them a few questions.
There was no doubt that things would be changing soon.
"In the waves of change we find our true direction."
A/N: Hello! It has been quite a while since I posted, and I apologize for that, but I was busy with work and finals. Thank you very much for reviewing, favouriting and following my story, it makes me very happy! I hope you enjoyed this new chapter, please leave a review to let me know what you think. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas (or anything else you celebrate) and I'll be back with another chapter as soon as I can manage!
- Laura