Chapter Four

Bella was sitting at the cafeteria table near the end of the week, shuffling the food on her cafeteria tray. She had to admit, she was still alienated. She didn't know these teenagers around her. They knew her, but she could say it would take more than three months for herself to feel adjusted to those around her. Even in Phoenix she didn't have that many friends, sometimes she exaggerated to Renee so she wouldn't worry about her. Or she wouldn't have to deal with Renee telling her she needed to actually try to socialize with people more.

She glanced up when Jessica came up to her, dressed in a concert hoodie.

Britney Spears.

It didn't take long for Bella to learn that Jessica was a very big Britney Spears fan. Bella didn't really think too much about the music artist, she preferred listening to classical music–Debussy being her favorite composer. She knew not that many teenagers could say they liked classical music, or at least most of the teenagers she knew didn't care for music from the past.

"Hi, Bella! I was thinking you could come and have a sleepover at my house this weekend? Angela will be the other person sleeping over. I didn't invite Lauren because I didn't want to overwhelm you." Jessica peered at the other brunette with hope, earning a soft nod from Bella a moment later.

"Yeah, that sounds fine. Thank you for not inviting Lauren. I don't think she likes me," Bella confessed, knowing she wanted to bring up the awkwardness that came from her and the blonde. Jessica gave her a small smile, one that was supposed to be reassuring.

"Lauren and I have been friends since I moved here in third grade from California. We did cheerlead for a few years and the rest is history. We became the best of friends, and she has always been a little protective of me. I had a crush on Edward for a long time, but I learnt to get over it right before you moved here," Jessica told her, though Bella felt as though Jessica didn't need to cover for Lauren. Lauren just was a bitch, end of story.

When school ended, Bella went home and pulled out her purple diary, knowing she would find some more answers within the entries. This was what really happened, what was written from her lost memories, this wasn't something that was made up. This showed how everyone treated her, and this reminded Bella how Jessica never truly stood up for her when it came to Lauren's relentless bullying and intimidation.

She read how Edward had left school and town for the rest of the week, claiming he was going up to Alaska because his favorite cousin was sick, and he wanted to cheer her up. He came back to school the next Monday, where he had asked her how she felt about moving to Forks—apparently, he had the most beautiful, sultry voice she had ever heard.

Now, Bella reached the next entry that caught her eye.

January 25th, 2005,

I almost died today.

Yeah, I know that sounds cliche but it's true.

All because of this damn weather. Anything cold, wet, I hate with passion. It would only make sense I would almost be killed in a car wreck in the school parking lot due to black ice. Said car ended up being Tyler's van.

One moment I had been upset with how Charlie put snow chains over the wheels of my truck, and the next moment I turned when the squealing of the tires broke me from my emotional turmoil. Tyler's van had locked onto the black ice.

The next minute Edward Cullen appeared from across the parking lot, shielding me from the van. We were so close to each other, his golden eyes peering into mine imploringly, as though he was searching for something more than just injuries.

I was forced into a neck brace, while the smug bastard got to get away with it probably because his foster dad is a doctor. I hated being demeaned, I hated how I was being babied. There was nothing wrong with me! My brain wasn't splattered on the concrete, obviously.

Eventually though, we arrived at Forks' Medical Clinic, and I was pushed on the stretcher into the emergency room. I was transferred from the stretcher to the cot as though I was glass, and they didn't want to shatter me. I had to be carried in and Edward got to walk into the emergency room with his hands in the pockets of his navy-blue peacoat.

Tyler Cowley was placed in the cot next to me, his leg had a part of his bone sticking out of his skin. I had to look away from his leg, blood made me queasy. I swore I could smell it too, though I don't think that normal people can smell blood. He was apologizing for almost hitting me, finding it strange that Edward was with me because he too didn't see Edward anywhere near us when his van was heading to me.

Charlie came running into the clinic, demanding to know if I was okay and if he should sue the kid who almost ran me over. Tyler passed out when he heard the last part of that, terrified at the thought of being sued by the Chief-of-Police for running over his daughter with his van.

I went to assure him everything was fine when Dr. Cullen came into the picture.

If I were into older men, well older married men, I would have gone after him without a second thought. His brilliant golden irises were the same as his golden hair, though his hair was combed down perfectly. His cheekbones were sharp, but his features were soft. He was more muscular than Edward, but not by much. His doctorate coat clung to him, showing off those muscles.

He let me know there wasn't anything wrong with me, that I hadn't gotten a concussion from the car wreck. Yet when I brought up Edward, he almost had this odd look come across his face, as though he hadn't expected for me to tell him Edward had helped me.

I soon left the emergency room and told Charlie to go to his cruiser, I would be there in a moment. I needed to talk to Edward, to thank him for saving me. Edward was anything but pleased when I confronted him, he told me he was there next to me.

He told me to stay away from him.

Why did he say that, yet save me? He could have let me die…but he didn't.

-Bella

By the time she was finished reading this, Bella was even more confused when it came to ending up in the predicament, she was currently in. Edward had saved her life; she could have died all those months ago. She would have died on the very day that marked a week of her living in Forks. Charlie would have had to live with the guilt and sorrow of asking her to live here, because if Bella had decided to stay in Phoenix instead, she would have been alive.

Reaching up her right hand, she couldn't help but push up the sleeve on her left wrist. She craned her head to the side, those perfect teeth indents. She let her right fingers brush against the bite mark, her body shivering from the feeling. She was always cold skinned, even in Phoenix, but she had to be touching the surface of the arctic circle waters–the bite mark was that cold.

Knocking on her bedroom door made Bella yank her sleeve back down on her wrist before she turned her head towards Charlie. He awkwardly let his head dip into the room. He gave her a small, nervous smile. His mustache twitched in an angled, hopefully arch.

"Hey, kid. It's almost the weekend, have you got anything planned with your friends?" Charlie probed, making sure his voice was calm and understanding. Bella nodded her head a moment later, which in return made him have a brilliant smile flash across his face.

"That's great! Which ones?"

Bella closed her diary shut before she told him, "Jessica Stanley, and Angela Weber."

"Both girls come from good families, never had any trouble with the Stanleys or the Weber's," Charlie explained, as though letting her know the reputation of the families was supposed to put her completely at ease. It did the opposite; it made her nervous. She didn't want to burden them with her amnesia.

She didn't voice this to him, the last thing she needed to do was worry Charlie. He had enough things he worried about. He was already worried about her; she didn't need to worry about him being sick. He didn't deserve to know more.

The weekend eventually came, and Bella dressed in one of her older burgundy hoodies, a pair of comfy sweatpants and some tennis shoes. She let her hair stay down, there was no reason why she should let her hair up. She didn't wear any makeup, but she did put some pajamas and another outfit into her duffle bag for the next day to change into before she would head home.

Honking of a car downstairs made Bella grab her duffel bag before she went downstairs and kissed Charlie on the cheek. He watched her fondly as she hurried out of the house and saw Jessica's lovingly used white Honda. Jessica was smiling brilliantly and almost seemed as though she was jumping in her car seat, ready for Bella to arrive at her house.

Angela was sitting in the front passenger's seat and waved shyly at Bella. Bella gave her a soft smile, letting her know she was happy that she had decided she would spend the night with her and Jessica. She dressed in lounge clothes too, there was no point in any of them dressing up since they were going to have a sleepover.

The drive to Jessica's house didn't take too long. She had a two-story house (three story if you counted the attic) with a bay window on the first floor. The paneling was a crisp white while the shutters of the house were a warm yellow. There were flower boxes with an array of flowers that were all sorts of colors. An oak porch swing was on the side of the porch where the bay window was.

"I'm so glad that you decided to spend the night with us, Bella. We can watch some romance comedy movies and stuff our faces with snacks. Stay up as late as we want," Jessica excitedly stated, earning a small smile from Bella (though Bella didn't know how to feel about the whole sleepover with the other two girls).

As they entered the foyer of the house Bella noted how there were many photographs of family members that were on the wall where the stairs were up against. There were multiple photographs of Jessica from when she was a little kid.

Some of them were of her on the beach with her parents and older siblings. There was a family photograph with Mrs. Stanley sitting in a chair and her husband standing behind her, his hands on the top of the chair while Jessica and her two brothers were sitting on the ground in front of their mother. There was also a photograph of Jessica holding her puppy in front of the Christmas tree, a tiny tan pug that had its tongue sticking out sideways.

A jingle of a dog tag made Bella turn to see the same pug entering the foyer slowly. He perked up when he saw Jessica, almost wiggling side to side when he saw her. He had gray hair all over his fur and his name tag said his name was: Wilbur.

Jessica went over and picked up Wilbur gently, making sure not to squeeze him too hard since he was an older dog. He craned his head to the side when he saw Bella in the house, though he seemed as though he was accustomed to Angela. A sign that let Bella know Jessica had Angela over here enough for Wilbur to identify her.

"This is Wilbur, my little baby. I got him for Christmas when I was four. Do you want to hold him? You will have to be careful," Jessica offered, which intrigued Bella. She nodded a moment later, deciding that she would hold Wilbur after all.

Once Wilbur was situated in Bella's arms properly, Bella peered down at the pug. She hadn't ever had a pet growing up, Renee didn't let her have a pet goldfish. She thought pets were too much responsibility, and though Bella had gotten over not having pets before, she suddenly wondered if she would feel better if she had a pet of her own.

"Come head upstairs, I'll show you, my bedroom."

Bella sat Wilbur down onto the ground before she grabbed her duffle bag and went upstairs. One of the bedroom doors was closed, with two signs with names on them—letting Bella know that they were Jessica's brothers' bedroom. The other bedroom on that side of the hallway was open, revealing Jessica's room for her to see.

Pink, lime green, animal prints were all over the bedroom. There were two hot pink beaded curtains that were in the room. One of them separated the bedroom from her large bedroom closet, and the other separated her bedroom from her bathroom. Large posters of her favorite movies were taped on the white walls around her, along with her favorite pop artists. There was a lime green fluffy ottoman in the middle of the room and a pink bean bag that was in the corner of the room. An aquarium tank held a bunch of fish, all of them bright colors. A white dog bed was near the white iron cast bed frame for Wilbur and fairy lights were strung around the headboard. There was a vanity table on the side opposite from the bed, with perfumes along with a sequin makeup bag. A television was sitting on the top of her oak dresser which was on the side where the vanity table was.

To be honest, the colors were too loud and bright for Bella. She was more accustomed to the light colors; she was used to simplicity. But it was perfect for Jessica Stanley, it was who she was. Jessica wasn't apologetic for who she was, and Bella admired that.

Settling onto the bed, Bella observed as Jessica picked up some movie cases for the latest chick-flick movies that had just been released. Pride and Prejudice, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and Just like Heaven. Bella liked all the movies, though she had to admit Pride and Prejudice was her favorite–Jane Austen was her favorite author.

"So, which one should we watch first? I love The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," Jessica stated, her eyes traveling towards the two other girls. Angela shrugged before she answered, "I watched Just like Heaven the other day. Could we watch Pride and Prejudice?"

Bella soon agreed with her, happy that Angela had picked one of her favorite movies. Jessica nodded seriously before she got up and went to the CD player. She placed the CD onto the little holder for it before pushing the button to let the holder go back in. The commercials began to play, but before Bella could get comfortable Jessica asked her to come downstairs and get some snacks for the movies they would watch.

Getting up from the bed, Bella trailed after Jessica, her eyes going over the hallway and the rest of the house. She knew the house was on the more expensive side, Bella could say her family were middle-class. Jessica on the other hand was in the higher-middle–class. It was because of the job her dad had; her mom worked as a secretary for some law firm up in Port Angeles.

Wilbur had stayed downstairs, when they had gone up to Jessica's bedroom, so he easily went with them into the kitchen. Jessica opened the walk-in pantry before she began to search throughout the shelves for whatever snacks she would deem acceptable.

"I'm really glad you decided to come after all. I mean, I love Angie, but I was hoping that you would come too," Jessica said, her voice almost muffled from inside the walk-in pantry. Bella shuffled as her eyes went to the Italian Chef theme that was in the kitchen–the little Porcelain Italian Chef statue that was on the kitchen island had a mini chalk menu board with random food meals on them.

"I wrote about what happened when I moved here, the past three months. I just got to where I had gotten almost hit by Tyler's van."

Jessica came out of the walk-in pantry with bags of chips and some bags of candies. She sat them on the kitchen island. She was hesitant but she reached her hand out and touched Bella's arm. "I know, it's a good thing Edward was with you, and saved you or I don't want to imagine what had happened. It is kind of odd though, I swore he was across the parking lot…"

So, it wasn't just Bella who thought it was odd how Edward was apparently on the other side of the parking lot when she had almost been hit by Tyler's van. Jessica had known it too, and Bella wouldn't be surprised if others had seen it too.

"I have to admit, it was kind of crazy. Tyler's leg was borderline when it came to getting amputated. He had to go to physical therapy for some time. His leg still hurts sometimes. I'm sure you can see the limp." Jessica stayed leant up against the kitchen island, her blue eyes traveling from in front of her to Bella once again.

Now that Jessica had mentioned it, Tyler did walk funny. Sometimes he would have to stop and breathe for a moment before he would continue walking. His car door had been crunched so badly, and it was no wonder she could see his bone in her entry. It only proved there was something wrong about the whole thing, especially since Edward had shielded Bella and he shouldn't have gotten that extent of injuries. It was unsettling.

"Shouldn't Edward have been hurt? Or at least freaked out like I was, apparently?" Bella couldn't help but voice, only for soft footsteps to come from upstairs that were heading down the stairs. It seemed as though the menu had popped up for the movie to start.

Deciding that was enough questioning for now, since it was already more questioning than Bella had thought she would have with Jessica (she had feared the girl would tell her that was in the past and she shouldn't worry about it. At least she answered the questions she had managed to ask her in the end), Bella went into the walk-in pantry and grabbed some of the soda liters and some drink glasses from one of the upper cabinets.

Angela popped her head into the doorway, nervous. "The main menu popped up. I just was wondering what was taking so long. I hope you don't mind; I didn't want to sound rude."

Angela was one of those people who you couldn't be mad at. She never yelled at anyone; she was always respectful. There was no reason why she should have ill intent for anyone. She had just kindness and purity, in which it was a rarity.

"It's fine. I could use a movie to relax," Bella assured her, for what she said was true. It would be nice to get away for a while, imagine herself being the one who was being romanticized by Mr. Darcy instead of Elizabeth. Yes, that would sound wonderful.

There were two other bean bags that were facing the television, they must have been somewhere else in the house and Angela had brought them in incase they wanted to sit together and watch the movie that way. Bella went towards the bed instead, plopping down, and feeling slightly guilty when it came to choosing the mattress instead of the bean bag.

The other two girls sat down next to Bella and one of them grabbed the remote to have the movie start. Bella leant back and watched the movie, slipping away into another time period all entirely. She knew Jessica probably didn't appreciate the time period and Angela loved the romance, but Bella absolutely was someone who immersed herself into the time period because she felt as though the time period was just as important as everything else in the movie.

Bella also had to admit she was someone who knew the historical accuracies and the historical inaccuracies, which sometimes was a curse. She would know what actually thoughtful research and other times was when they were just put in a Hollywood way. Nothing really thought out, nothing that made sense. It was just pushed to the side and something modern would be put into that place, something that didn't belong in the movie.

The movie ended just in time for Mrs. Stanley called to them that dinner was ready. Jessica gave a small smile, one that was supposed to let Bella know she shouldn't feel awkward about eating dinner with Jessica and her mom (her dad was currently out of town due to his job). Bella didn't know how she would have felt if both parents were there.

Mrs. Stanley was standing by the glass kitchen table where there was food that must have been made from some fancy cookbook by some world-renowned chef. The food looked as though it came from one of those expensive food stores that only the upper class could afford. It only reminded Bella how she was even more different than Jessica Stanley, her parents could afford to use their money on uppity food while Bella and others in town used Thriftway.

Bella wondered if the Cullens were just like them, one of the few families in Forks that didn't think Thriftway was good enough for their family. They made sure their food would come from those natural food stores. In fact, it wouldn't surprise Bella if Mrs. Stanley and Mrs. Cullen ended up running into each other at these stores, deciding to get groceries together. They would have the same recipe book; they would love the same world-renowned chef.

Mrs. Stanley was still dressed in her secretary uniform. An emerald silk blouse with a black high waisted pencil skirt. She had an impressive pair of high heels, the same color as the pencil skirt. She had skin-colored pantyhose, the same shade as her paler skin. Her hair looked as though it had been done by one of the top hair salons.

Sitting down on one of the chairs, Mrs. Stanley sat at the head of the table. The woman smiled warmly at Bella. "I'm so happy that you're here, Bella. Jessica couldn't stop talking about you deciding to have a sleepover with her and Angela. I'm sorry about your amnesia–"

"Mom!" Jessica exclaimed, horror present on her face. It was obvious that she thought her mom was being tactless about the whole situation.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I just—" Mrs. Stanley gave a pitiful smile to Bella. Inwardly Bella cringed, at the sad look she received from Mrs. Stanley. She wished she didn't get those looks from people when they learnt she had lost three months' worth of memories.

Thankfully Mrs. Stanley didn't talk much for the rest of dinner, partly because she could sense Bella wasn't in the talkative mood. She would shoot glances at the girl. Bella would give her small smiles, but it didn't reach her eyes. She both wanted to be here but not at the same time. It was the least she could do, since Jessica seemed to care about her.

The rest of the time Bella was at Jessica's she tried to tell herself it was a good thing she had decided to have a sleepover here. Even if she felt alone when she went to sleep that night, on the pull-out couch that was upstairs in the attic–which also was a game room for the family, she knew she should try to make the best of the time she had here in Forks. She wouldn't let herself fall into the depressing solitude people expected for her, at least in public.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: for those who are wondering, this is a slow-burn fanfiction. There will be 30 chapters to the fanfiction, but Alec doesn't appear in the fanfiction until chapter 15. I know that might seem like a while for some, but the last thing I like is when the romantic interest is introduced into the fanfiction too fast, and it just doesn't make sense. Bella and her experience in Forks before heading to Volterra is just as important as her arriving in Volterra. I understand if you decide to stop reading the fanfiction.

I hope you've enjoyed the fanfiction so far.

-Emmy

as always: Twilight doesn't belong to me

edited: 3/20/2022