I graduated. I graduated from high school. Maria was the class valedictorian and she was really excited to give her speech. Then we were all called up to receive our diplomas. Charlie and Bella stood up to clap when they called my name.
"So Tala, are we going to hang out this summer?" I asked her as we all walked out of the school, for the last time, in our yellow graduation robes.
"Of course!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. "But I will have to take frequent trips to Los Angeles to visit my family."
"Oh my goodness, this is so sad, we're going our separate ways for college." I said squeezing Tala back. "I know I've only known you for a few months, and you've known Maria and Siobhan for years, but I'm going to miss you."
"I wish we had more time with you, Lizzy, you made senior year so much better!" Siobhan said, she wrapped her arm around my other shoulder. Then the three of us saw Maria skipping over with a huge smile.
"So, how was my speech?" She asked, and she linked elbows with Siobhan.
"Perfect." Tala said with a nod.
"Got to go, my dad is here. He wants to give my sister and I a ride home." I said, pointing to the cop car with Charlie standing next to it. I waved goodbye at my three friends and walked towards Charlie. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Bella walking in the same direction as me. I chose the back seat and Bella got the shotgun seat.
"Well girls, I'm sure this will be an amazing summer." Charlie said as he started the car.
"Yeah, sure." Bella said with a shrug. Then I got a text.
Tala: Hey, the Quileute school gets out the same day as us and Maria is friends with Kim, she goes to the Quileute school. Anyways, Maria and Kim are having a party at Maria's house, want to come?
Me: Sure, I'll be there
"Dad, Maria and Kim are throwing a party tonight so I'll be out tonight." I said, looking up from my phone.
"Dad?" I heard Bella mutter under her breath.
"Who's Kim?" He asked.
"She's from La Push, she goes to the Quileute school." I said, I saw Charlie nod.
"Sounds fun, hope you have a good time." Charlie said, looking at the road.
"Hey, I got an invite, too." Bella said with a small smile.
"From who?" I asked.
"Angela," Bella said.
The party started at six, and now it is five. I changed into more comfortable clothes and waited until I could justify leaving the house, around five fourty. Bella and I both walked down the stairs and went outside. Bella got in the driver's seat, it was her turn to drive, and I got the shotgun seat.
"You have the address, right?" I asked as Bella pulled out of the driveway.
"Yeah," Bella said quietly as she made a wrong turn. I rolled my eyes. Eventually, we were heading down the right street and ten minutes later, we parked a few feet away from Maria's house.
"Come on, this should be fun." I said when I looked back and I saw Bella trailing behind me. "What? I'm sure Edward will be here."
"Who's party is this?" Bella asked.
"Maria and Kim's," I stated, gesturing for her to walk with me.
"Well, Edward's family doesn't really associate with people from the reservation." Bella said, looking off in the distance.
"Oh…" I said before turning around and walking up the stairs to the front door. I knocked on it and waited for a moment.
"Don't worry I got it." A familiar voice said. The voice sent a rush of adrenaline through my body. When the door opened I realized why.
"Lizzy!" Leah exclaimed, she immediately leaned forward and wrapped her arms around me. For some reason, it felt natural, if it was any other person I would've been weirded out. Is it possible to be in love so young, so fast? "How have you been?"
"It's been really boring lately." I said, I blushed when I saw Siobhan, her jaw dropped as she looked at me. Leah was simply looking at me, smiling.
"Hey, is Jacob here?" Bella asked, looking around the house.
"Yeah." Leah said, gesturing with his head towards the inside. Bella brushed past Seth which left the two of us. "Um, your friends seem to want to talk to you." Leah turned around to see Tala, Siobhan, and Maria giggling to themselves. My blush deepened, I walked past Seth and walked towards my three friends.
"I see you're good friends with Leah." Maria said with a sly smile.
"I am." I said, trying to keep a straight face.
"You're blushing!" Siobhan exclaimed, squeezing my shoulder with a smile.
"Kim made sure to invite the two of you, also…"
"Lizzy!" Another familiar voice. I turned around to see Jared, Paul, Quil, Jacob, Seth, and Embry, standing in a clump, all of them had confidence plastered across their faces. My three friends began to giggle to themselves. A Native American girl tucked herself under Jared's arm, and he planted a kiss on the top of her head.
"That's Kim and her friends from La Push." Marian said, she chuckled quietly. "It seems like they already know you."
"Yeah I met them at a get-together, my dad is best friends with Jacob's dad." I said with a shrug, I turned back around and waved at the pack of boys. They all waved back at me, including Kim, but she walked over to me.
"Hey, you must be Lizzy, I'm Kim." The girl said with a friendly smile. She reminded me of Emily in that regard.
"Yes, how did you know?" I asked, smiling back.
"Leah made sure I invited you." Kim said, her kind smile curling into a sly, but still friendly, smirk.
"Lizzy, you never told us you had a girlfriend." Siobhan said, nudging me.
"I don't!" I said, trying to keep a straight face, but I couldn't help but smile. Kim began to back away from me, and towards Jared.
"Whatever you say, Lizzy, hope you have fun." Kim said before going back into Jared's arms. I turned around to see my three friends laughing.
"Anyways, help yourself, Lizzy, we have pizza and some snacks in the kitchen, and I can show you the bathroom if you need it." Maria said, and the party continued.
It was quite an interesting party. Someone turned on the TV, so there was Titanic playing in the background. I saw Bella, she was talking to Angela, but Jessica, Eric, and Mike were there as well. Angela and Bella waved at me, and I waved back. I was just wandering around the house.
I was pretty lost, trying to guide my way through the kitchen and living room. Then, I locked eyes with Leah, she wasn't with anyone. It looked like she was looking around for something. We looked at each other for a moment.
"Lizzy, this may sound weird, but would you like to take a walk with me?" Leah said, she was blushing slightly.
"Sure," I said, with a huge smile on my face. Maria had a back door with a porch, and some steps that led into a small pine grove.
"Are you going away for college?" Leah asked, we looked into each other's eyes. We walked down the stairs and weaved through the trees.
"Yeah," I said, my face fell, I looked down at the ground. "In Chicago. My mom has been saving since my birth for this opportunity."
"I want to go to college, but there are complications. Once everything settles down I might take some courses at a community college." Leah said with a shrug. "Do you know when you're leaving?"
"Just after my sister's birthday, it won't give me any time to settle in, but I'll get to be with her." I said with a small smile. I looked deep into Leah's eyes, she was so beautiful, and she made me feel safe. "It's so weird, I don't want to go. I feel safe here."
"Safe?" Leah asked, she walked closer to me. "Anyone, I mean any reason why?"
"You," I said, covering my mouth as my cheeks burned bright red. "Sorry, ummm, that's not what I meant. It's just that, it's nice here." Leah smiled.
"Leah," a stern commanding voice came from behind us. We both turned our heads to see Paul standing behind us. Leah sighed and turned around. "I'm sorry, Leah, I truly am, but you know it's for the best." I heard Paul say under his breath to her. He gave me a nod, and I didn't know what to do besides give him a wave.
When Paul and Leah were inside, I turned around and walked back. I was hungry and there was pizza inside. I took a paper plate and some pizza, and looked around at the house. I saw Siobhan eyeing the TV as she listened to Tala, wearing a beautiful, long, flowing white dress with pale green vine designs and a pale green hijab. Maria and Kim, who was on Jared's arm, were walking around, talking to guests.
However, I always saw Leah from the corner of my eye. Sometimes she was looking at me, sometimes she was talking with the pack of boys. Well, there were at least a few hours left in this party and I might as well start having some fun.
I walked around the house, trying to find some people to talk to. I leaned against a wall, trying to eat a cupcake. However, a tall boy I recognized from my Spanish class was standing a foot in front of me. The second he stepped in front of me I smelled alcohol. Of course, someone must've snuck some in.
"Hey, baby girl, what do you say we head upstairs." The guy slurred, he couldn't stand straight, and he was barely opening his eyes.
"I don't really know if you can consent right now." I said, trying to dodge his bad breath. He got closer, and I could tell by the way he messily puckered his lips that he was trying to kiss me. I dodged his attempt, causing him to stumble a bit and knock me against the wall.
"Ugh!" I exclaimed, with a look of disgust on my face as I tried to push him away. At this point he was too drunk to even try and kiss me, he was half asleep.
"Is this guy bothering you?" Leah said. I turned my head to see her standing behind the guy. I chuckled quietly to myself. From my peripheral I could see Paul, Embry, Jacob, Quil, Jared, and Seth staring at Leah, but when I looked their direction they all immediately broke the gaze and their gaze shit in all different directions.
"I'm fine, I think this guy's just a little drunk." I said, pushing the drunk guy's chest with my palm, causing him to stumble away from me.
The party ended, Bella and I both said goodbye to Maria, and walked to the car. Before I opened the door, I saw Leah standing on Maria's porch. I don't know why he was there, but I smiled and waved goodbye at her. I began to drive, and I watched the scenery change until we pulled to our house.
When I got out of the car, walked in the house, I realized Bella wasn't behind me. She was still outside. Edward's car pulled up and I rolled my eyes. I could see Bella begin to walk up the stairs. Yet, when Edward opened the door to his car, there was a blur and Edward was next to Bella, in half a second. Bella opened the door, a terrified expression in her face.
"What just happened?" I asked, looking back and forth between Bella and Edward.
"Well um, Edward he… you see what happened was…" Bella tried to stammer out.
"I'm a vampire." Edward said, looking me in the eyes.
"What?" I asked with a scoff, my jaw dropped. "I mean that would explain it, but there is no way."
"I can read minds." Edward said, I had no idea how he kept a straight face. "To prove it to you, I know…"
"The capital of Finland, the author of Lord of the Rings, the amendment that gave women the right to vote." I thought to myself.
"Helsinki, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the 19th. I was turned into a vampire by my father, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, two years before that amendment was passed." Edward said with a smile. My face fell and stumbled onto the couch.
"What are you doing?" Bella asked Edward in a hushed tone.
"It's ok, Alice has seen her future, she'll need to know." Edward said.
"Alice, your sister, did what?" I asked, I was rubbing my temples. My mind was reeling, were vampires real? Well I guess they are? What about fairies, zombies, werewolves, and leprechauns?
"There's a few more things you need to know." Bella said. Edward and Bella sat on opposite sides of me.
So that was my first day of summer, I went to a party and after it I learned that my sister was dating a 109-year-old vampire who could read minds. Not only that, the reason my sister left and returned in a cast was because a psychotic vampire was tracking her. Also, the Cullen's, all vampires as well, but they only drink animal blood, and Alice can tell the future.
I had until Bella's birthday to leave for college, I had until Bella's birthday to be with Leah. However, it was late and I wanted to sleep. I heard Bella and Edward talking as I walked up the stairs.
Summer went by way too fast. Bella would spend every day with Edward, and she would occasionally spend a day with Jessica or Angela at Charlie's request. I didn't hear a single word from Jacob or Leah.
September 13th was Bella's birthday. This meant tomorrow morning I had to get on a plane to Chicago. Bella was still being dramatic about not wanting to celebrate her birthday, but I already bought a gift so she would just have to deal with that.
"Hey Bella, it is a totally normal day today, nothing special, just your average day." I said with no emotion in my voice. I was leaning against her door frame and looking off into the distance. Bella smiled at me and I could tell by her smirk she was a little annoyed, but in a fun way. "Just because it's a normal day with nothing special doesn't mean I can't get a gift for the most amazing sister in the world!" I said, I revealed the wrapped present I was concealing behind my back. Bella shook her head, rolling her eyes playfully as she walked over to me and took the present from my hands.
"The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë." Bella said, looking at the book with a smile. It was a dark green paperback book with golden details on the spine.
"Anne was such an underrated Brontë sister, but this book fascinated me. It was a landmark protofeminist novel, and I'm sure you'll find Helen's belief in universal salvation, which Brontë shared herself, very intriguing considering the time." I said as Bella began to leaf through the book. However, she put the book down to give me a big hug.
"But it is just a normal day." Bella said, looking me in the eyes.
"Of course." I said with a small smile.
Bella got ready quickly and drove herself to school, but I got downstairs before she did. Charlie was preparing to head out for work. I was watching TV on the couch before I stopped him as he walked out the door.
"Hey, Dad!" I called to him, Charlie stopped and turned to me.
"Yeah, Lizzy, what is it?" He asked, smiling, putting his hands on his hips. "I was just going to head in early, do you want to talk? What about your major?"
"Oh, I decided on journalism." I said with a smile.
"That yearbook and school newspaper must've had an effect on that." Charlie said.
"Yeah, I was thinking I could get a job as a news anchor or as a columnist at the newspaper." I said with a shrug.
"Here?" He asked. I nodded. "You want to live here?"
"Forks grew on me." I said with a smile.
"Oh, Lizzy, that really makes me happy!" Charlie said, he placed his hand to his forehead in shock, and his smile grew. "Sorry, I have to go."
The end of the day, well the afternoon, Bella drove herself home, but a few minutes later Edward Cullen was at our door. He sure was lucky Charlie was still at work. I waved goodbye at them and rolled my eyes.
"Hey, Lizzy, just got back." Charlie said as he opened the door, I looked away from the TV and gave him a nod. "Where's Bella?"
"She left with Edward a little over two hours ago, he mentioned a birthday party." I said with a shrug. I chuckled to myself as I saw Charlie frown. He pulled his phone out and began to call someone. No response, then I pulled out my phone and began to text Bella.
One hour passed, two hours passed, nothing.
"That's it, something's wrong, I'm calling Billy." Charlie said, opening his phone again. He rubbed his hand to his forehead, as if he had a headache. My heart began to beat fast, and stared at my phone waiting for something, anything.
When I got a notification, my heart stopped. Charlie was still talking on his phone, but I immediately flipped mine and read the text. It wasn't from Bella, but I was still shocked to see who it was from.
Leah: We're on our way.
I stayed on the couch, but as the minutes began to pass, I saw familiar faces crowd our front yard. Charlie stepped outside as well. Jacob and Billy Black were there, along with Paul, Jared, Quil, and Embry. I stood up from the couch, and walked to the front door. The six of them looked at me.
Paul, Jared, Quil, and Embry all had their shirts off, which was strange since it was fifty degrees and I was in a thick hoodie. I noticed the black, circular, tribal tattoos they had on their right arms, just below the shoulders. Jacob still had long hair, and he was wearing a long sleeved t-shirt. The only thing different about him was that he was much more muscular since the last time I saw him, which was at Maria's party.
Then, another car pulled up, and four people stepped out of it, Harry, Sue, Seth, and Leah Clearwater. Leah and I made eye contact and she lagged behind as her other family members rushed towards Charlie. When Leah broke away from eye contact she sprinted over to me, and nearly strangled me with a hug.
"I didn't see you all summer." I whispered into her ear.
"I know, I'm sorry, but it's for your safety." Leah said, and I broke away from her.
"What does that even mean? Besides, I'm leaving tomorrow." I said, but Leah looked down at the ground, and walked towards the pack of boys. By now, Charlie, Sue, Harry, and Billy were all gathered around each other. I walked over to Jacob.
"Where's Sam?" I asked, noticing he was missing.
"He's in the woods, looking for your sister." Jacob said, crossing his arms.
"But, isn't that killer bear still on the loose?" I asked, but Jacob just laughed. Now that I realize it, it must've been one of the vampires that hurt Bella.
"Trust me, he'll be fine." Jacob said, smirking. "I saw your sister at school today."
"My friends must've forced me inside before I saw you. Why haven't I seen you this summer?" I asked, looking at Jacob.
"My dad kept me on the rez mostly." Jacob said with a shrug. The sun was beginning to set, and we were mostly silent, waiting for any sign of Bella.
"She's alright, I got her." A commanding voice rang out. I looked across the yard to see Sam, carrying Bella in his arms. I ran across the field so that I was only a few feet in front of them, and I was angry.
"Good God, girl!" I yelled at her as I followed Sam. "What were you thinking? Disappearing in the woods when you know that bear is out there! What were you thinking!"
"Lizzy, it's ok." Leah said, behind me. I felt her hand on my shoulder. All my anxious and angry feelings towards Bella melted away.
