Author's Note: I feel like this story is getting weirder and weirder. I actually tried to go back and make this Bella a little less crazy, but I couldn't do it. Don't know why. Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys!
Chapter 3
Bella woke up early to the smell of coffee, and stumbled downstairs to find a pot already ready and waiting. Without much thought, Bella grabbed hold of the pot and started chugging, only to recoil as the heat scalded her tongue and throat. She gazed woundedly at the pot of coffee, hurt by its burning betrayal, before sticking the pot in the freezer.
What am I doing up again? Bella wondered with a frown as she gazed around the kitchen. She was alone, and it was clear Charlie was already at work. Didn't Bella need to be somewhere too? It took a few moments for her sleep-clouded brain to wake up, but it eventually got there. Oh right. School.
Just the thought of school made Bella feel a little sleepier, but she knew the lecture she'd get from Charlie if she skipped. She walked back upstairs, only to trip and faceplant twice on her way up, and managed to make it to her door. It wasn't long before she had gotten ready, and she had just pulled her shirt over her head and grabbed her backpack when she heard a honk from outside, followed by someone calling her name.
Dad? It didn't make any sense, but who else could it be? Charlie was the only person who would actually speak to her so early in the morning. But why wouldn't he just come into the house to talk to her? And what about work?
Wait, could it be...maybe there was another man who would call for her...
"God?" Bella asked, totally shocked that she might have been summoned by The Man himself, despite not being into the whole religion thing. She heard some loud laughter from outside, familiar laughter. Would God's laughter be familiar?
Confused, Bella peered out the window, only to find Emmett waiting for her in her driveway, leaning against a jeep of some sort. What was he doing here? He wasn't God.
Bella walked back downstairs and opened the front door to meet the grinning man. "You're not God or my Dad," Bella stated as she approached. "So why are you here? Mornings are not appropriate times to proposition me."
Emmett couldn't contain his snort. "Don't you remember? You promised I could drive you to and from school; the whole falling asleep whenever thing kinda freaked me and Rosie out. We don't want you dying or anything."
"I did?" Bella asked, completely mystified.
"Yes, you did," Rosalie snapped from the passenger side of the jeep. "Now get in the car."
"Was I asleep when you asked? I've been known to sleep talk," Bella mumbled as she obeyed Rosalie's order. "I also usually say some mystical shit, so if I said anything else when you asked, you should probably write it down." As she said this, Bella closed the door and buckled up next to Rosalie, ready to go, only to get a strange look from Rosalie and a humorous one from Emmett.
"Bells, the whole point of me picking you up is that I'm the one who drives," Emmett said with barely restrained laughter as he opened the driver's door.
"Oh. Whoops," Bella said. She unbuckled herself and, realizing how annoying it would be to have to get out and open more doors, Bella grabbed her backpack, threw it into the backseat, and then managed to crawl from her spot in the driver's seat into the back. She settled into her spot just as Emmett sat in the driver's seat that Bella had vacated, buckled up, and started the engine.
"So, sleep well? Cause you were out like a light when I got you home," Emmett said, throwing Bella a grin in the mirror as he pulled out of the driveway and started driving down the road.
Just like that, Bella remembered, although vaguely. Emmett had driven her home from school. Bella had a hazy memory of being carried into her house and up into her room since she wouldn't fully wake up, and Emmett must have left. Bella remembered Emmett got a phone call from someone too, and that was when he had popped the big question about driving. Huh, who would've thought?
"I dunno. Maybe," Bella replied, just as her stomach growled loudly.
Rosalie sighed and closed her eyes as if she was trying to control her emotions. "Tell me you ate this morning."
"Nope. I forgot," Bella said with a strong amount of confidence. In fact, she almost sounded proud that she didn't have breakfast. While Emmett and Rosalie didn't know why, Bella did. Without food and caffeine, Bella was a lot more likely to fall asleep. It was honestly amazing that Bella was awake and functioning––well, functioning as best as Bella could.
"Emmett," Rosalie started, clearly frustrated.
"Already on it," Emmett said as he made a quick turn.
Thankfully, while Forks was a small town, they still had a McDonalds. Rosalie and Emmett listened with an almost horrified fascination as Bella listed off her order, which should have been enough to feed four people. Then Bella tried to pay by handing her wallet to Emmett, who didn't take it.
"Nope, I've got it," Emmett said cheerfully, pulling out his card and handing it over. He got it back quicker then Bella could react. In fact, Bella was still holding out the wallet, nudging Emmett in the face insistently with it, by the time the employee started handing the large order over to Emmett.
"Oh, will you just eat already?" Rosalie hissed, pushing Bella's arm down before shoving the food at her. Bella's mind instantly blanked as she became completely focused on the food, and she opened and swallowed an entire egg mcmuffin in two bites.
The two vampires had no idea how she did it, but Bella managed to finish off the entire order before they even made it to school. She threw it all away in a nearby trashcan, then focused on paying Emmett back. But since she didn't remember how much the order cost, she settled for trying to sneakily shove her wallet in Emmett's back pocket.
"Nice try, shortie," Emmett said with a teasing grin as he caught Bella by the wrist. "But I paid. We also have serious money to spare, so buying you a meal isn't a big deal."
Bella ignored him, struggling to use her strength to push her arm through Emmett's hand to shove the wallet in his pocket anyways. When that didn't work, she gave up and glared. "You're an evil, evil man. Like, Satan evil," Bella declared as Emmett let her go. She shoved the wallet into her pocket, then turned towards Rosalie. "You're dating Satan." Having said her piece, Bella then headed off to the school.
"See you at three thirty, Bells!" Emmett shouted after her.
Absent mindedly giving Emmett a thumbs up in reply, Bella entered the school.
The school day was a lot like the one before it. Bella got yelled at quite a bit by teachers, and she fell asleep once or twice––once even in a very bewildered Jasper's lap, who had been in the library when she had once again attempted to skip gym––but it was over soon enough. Then Bella stumbled sleepily towards the parking lot, only to decide she had made it far enough and that sleeping on the concrete was a good idea. Sadly, someone caught her and lifted her onto her feet.
"Well hello to you too," Emmett said with a laugh. Realizing that Bella had no plans to stand on her own two feet, Emmett threw the girl over his shoulder and headed towards his jeep. They earned a few stares, but it was Rosalie's scolding that made Emmett change his hold on the girl. Soon, they were all piled in and driving towards Bella's house.
"That concrete would've been comfortable," Bella tried to explain to Rosalie, who had already scolded her for the near-fall. "I wouldn't have actually gotten hurt."
"Bella, concrete is hard," Rosalie argued. Catching sight of Bella's stubborn expression, the blonde groaned and muttered, "And apparently, so is your head." Why had she insisted on babysitting the human again?
"That is true. My head is very, very hard," Bella agreed. She knew this for a fact, as she had a lot of experience hitting her head on basically anything and everything. With that said, she started to fall asleep again, only for Rosalie to throw Bella's backpack at her.
"We're here, wake up," Rosalie told Bella sharply.
"But I wasn't even sleeping yet," Bella complained. Purposely focusing on Emmett, Bella then held out her arms, making her intentions clear.
"He's not carrying you again," Rosalie told her, realizing what Bella was getting at.
"Sorry, Bells," Emmett added with a grin when Bella's eyes went from requesting to outright begging. "You are awake this time, after all."
Sighing, Bella opened the car door and got out, only to trip on something and do a faceplant. Ha, Bella was right. Hard surfaces were comfortable. Sensing how the startled couple were about to get out to help her, Bella got up and walked inside her house, pausing only to blow them a kiss before closing the door.
"I've never been so worried about a human's survival in my entire existence," Rosalie muttered as Emmett pulled out of the driveway once again.
Laughing, Emmett said, "You and me both babe."
Little did they know that right inside, Bella was stuffing herself with food, only to realize that she was quickly depleting Charlie's supply. Deciding to do the responsible, daughterly thing, Bella made up her mind; she was going shopping.
She was halfway out the door, wallet in hand, when she realized she didn't have her keys. In fact, she had no idea where they were. She almost went back inside, but then stopped to think about her choice.
Did Bella really want to look everywhere for her keys? And even if she found them, then she'd have to drive, and Bella didn't really feel up to it. Sure, the walk was a bit long, but if Bella walked, she could fall asleep whenever she wanted. But if she drove, then she'd be able to carry her shopping bags easier...it'd take a lot less energy…if she found her keys, that is. Still, if she walked, she could fall asleep whenever.
Walking it was.
Happily having made up her mind, Bella locked the front door and headed in the direction of the grocery store. She crossed a road or two, walked a few blocks, and then stopped at a busy road. Looking both ways, she realized there was no good way to cross it.
Well, time to take my first nap. With that, Bella let exhaustion take over, and she started to fall asleep. Only, she didn't account for the sudden and strong gust of wind that blowed her hard enough to send her swaying into traffic.
"Watch out!" a woman's melodic voice shouted, and Bella found herself enveloped in cool, slender arms. It was those very arms that jerked her backwards, right out of the street and out of dreamland. For some reason, Bella found herself on the ground, a young woman hovering protectively over her, as if a car was suddenly going to jump off the road and hit Bella. "Are you crazy? What were you doing walking into traffic?"
"I was falling asleep," Bella corrected, not wanting to open her eyes.
"That's even crazier! Don't you realize you could have died?" the woman demanded, panic clear in her voice.
"Oh," Bella said, frowning. She hadn't actually thought that far ahead...maybe she really should try to sit down before falling asleep from now on.
"Oh? Is that really all you have to say?" the woman demanded, some exasperation creeping into her tone. Then there was a pause, and the woman's voice gentled. "Are you really okay? Why won't you open your eyes?"
The woman had actually asked a very, very good question. Why didn't Bella open her eyes? It wasn't like she could fall back asleep, not with this woman hovering above her. Not without at the very least getting the groceries first.
That's it, the woman had convinced her. Had convinced her so hard, in fact, that Bella opened her eyes just like the woman wanted.
The woman, from what Bella could tell, was gorgeous. Well, at least her face was, and her curly blonde hair looked beautiful too. But what got Bella most was the eyes; golden eyes, which widened with shock as the woman stared back. For the very first time, Bella felt something inside of her align...like stars, if Bella did indeed have stars inside of her. So, right there on the ground, Bella stuck out her hand. "Hi. I'm Bella."
