"Sorry, didn't see you there," I laughed until I realized who the boy was. "Thanks." I said nervously, the blonde boy handing me my books. "You're… Jasper, right?" He nodded, but looked uncomfortable. He was so still I could have mistaken him for a statue and he looked at me with such intensity I stepped back. A petite brunette stepped between us.
"You'll have to excuse him, he's not feeling well." Alice chirped, taking Jasper's hand and giving him a reassuring smile before grinning smiling brightly at me. "I'm Alice."
"I know- I mean, we have a few classes together." I mentally slapped myself.
"You're Veronica!" She exclaimed. Jasper smiled lovingly at her enthusiastic nature and looked at her like she was the only girl on earth. "You're the one with those amazing sketches of the mountains on your notebooks."
"That's me." I blushed. I didn't think anyone noticed my drawings. The bell rang.
"I'll see you in English!" Alice smiled and the two of them went to class.
"Oh. My. God." Kate exclaimed. "You just rammed into Jasper Hale."
"I know." I muttered breathlessly. Both of their eyes were black- no, no they weren't, it was just the lighting… I think.
"And Alice Cullen actually talked to you." She gasped.
"I know. Bella's moving to Forks, a Cullen actually spoke to me, the world's going mad." The three of us laughed and ran to class. Every class was more uneventful than the last, then again, I loathed every one except for English, where Alice sat next to me and we talked about our favorite books. Her eyes were still dark and cold, despite her warm and friendly demeanor.
"I'm a bit of a romantic." I admitted as the teacher started his lecture.
"Me too. There's just something about true love that just makes every book worth reading." She beamed with a thoughtful sigh. I thought back to the way Jasper looked at her, silently wishing I had someone to look at me like that. Someone like Jacob. I quickly shook my head of the idea.
Lunch was even more awkward than yesterday, with almost all of the Cullen's casting glances at our table, Edward being the most often. I was officially annoyed.
"God, why can't he just leave me alone?" I thought and immediately he turned his head away. Quickly after that, him and his family gracefully walked out of the cafeteria. I shivered, beginning to believe Kate. Something was definitely up with them.
Biology was the only class I had with Edward and he avoided my hard gaze, so I took the seat next to him. I was determined to know what his problem was. But every time I opened my mouth, the words were stuck in my throat.
"Sit somewhere else." A voice hissed through my mind.
"Excuse me?" I whispered angrily at him. He looked at me with fierce curiosity. Then I realized he didn't say it out loud. We stared at each other and I found interest, and maybe even fear in his eyes. "What the hell?" The bell rang and he quickly stood up and stormed out of the room.
"Hey!" I shouted, chasing after him through the hallway now flooding with students. "Edward wait!" Ben stepped in front of me.
"Okay, so Kate thinks that I'm crazy, but I've been thinking about asking Jessica to the Prom."
"That isn't for another like three months." Kate interrupted. I tried to push past the two of them, looking over Ben's shoulder, but Edward had disappeared. I groaned and glared at my best friends.
"I was trying to talk to someone." I said through gritted teeth. Kate rolled her eyes.
"Edward?" She scoffed. "That's why you were chasing him."
"Guys, can we please talk about something actually important, like my prom date or lack thereof?" Ben whined. He'd been in love with Jessica Stanley for the past five years of our lives, and he hasn't let us forget it.
"She wants to go with Mike, you know that right?" I crossed my arms, giving up on finding Edward.
"You don't know that." Ben snapped. Kate and I pointedly looked at Jessica and her friends. Jess was walking so close to Mike, it was hard to see where she ended and he started. We both turned back to Ben. His shoulders sagged a little. "I've heard he's gay." He muttered.
"Keep dreaming my friend." Kate sighed, patting him on the shoulder dramatically. "Speaking of evil forest creatures-" Ben scowled, "I can't make it this weekend. My mom says I have to visit my aunt in Seattle for her birthday."
"Kate!" I moaned, "You know Charlie won't like me going camping with a bunch of teenage guys, even if he does know them."
"Make that one less teenage guy," Ben grimaced.
"Seriously?" I griped.
"Yup. Dad says he actually wants to spend some quality time with me this weekend and take me to a baseball game."
"So you're both just gonna ditch me?" They both wrapped their arms around my shoulder as I pouted.
After school, I dropped Kate off at her house and nervously drove back to mine, hoping that dad wasn't back yet. But sure enough, when I turned the corner, the sheriff's car was in the driveway. I slammed the car door behind me, but my feet wouldn't take another step.
"She's just my sister. The one that Renee wanted. But that's not her fault, even if she is a brat for deciding Forks wasn't good enough." I mumbled. "Until now." I took a few deep breaths and realized that I was stalling. I summoned all of my courage and marched into the house, finding dad sitting on the couch.
"Hey." He greeted, looking up from the baseball game on TV. "Bell's upstairs in your guys' room." I sat down next to him, pretending to be interested in the game. He raised his eyebrow. "Aren't you gonna go see her?" He wondered.
"Oh- yeah." I stood up, but slowly made my way up the stairs. When I entered my room, I saw a laptop on my desk and an almost mirror image of me looking through my sketch book. I guess we looked more alike than I thought. "What are you doing?" I asked and she jumped, dropping my drawings on the floor.
"God, you scared me." Bella bent over and picked up my sketches and I took them from her, putting them on the shelf. "You-you're really good." She muttered.
"Thanks." I said skeptically. "Why were you going through my stuff?"
"I was unpacking and I saw the book and I opened it-" She stumbled.
"Forget it, it's no big deal." I sat down on my bed and she sat down on hers. Neither of us said a word. "How's Renee?" I wondered, breaking the silence.
"She's good, happy…" Bella's voice trailed off. My phone buzzed and I looked down at a text from Jake.
The me and the guys are packing up for the trip. Don't forget the tent.
I groaned, smacking my forehead.
"What is it?" Bella asked.
"Jake and I go on a camping trip with a few friends few times a year. I was supposed to get a new tent since the other one tore with all the snow." I stood up, grabbing my keys.
"Do you want me to come?"
"You want to?" I scoffed. "The store isn't exactly a tourist attraction. Plus, I was planning to just head over to the rez afterwards."
"Sure.I should get used to getting around." I shrugged and she followed me downstairs.
"You two have to promise not to do the clothes changing thing you used to do when you were little. I'm going to have enough trouble telling you apart as it is." Dad chuckled as the two of us came down the stairs.
"We don't look that much alike." Bella and I responded at the same time.
"No saying stuff at the same time either. It's just creepy."
"Sorry." We said again.
"I'm serious!" Dad laughed, and I joined him. Bella just stood there awkwardly. "Why don't you two go down to the rez and see Jake. I'm sure he'd be excited to see you again Bell."
"We're actually heading over there now after I get some stuff for tonight." I said, stealing some popcorn from the bowl in his lap.
"Actually Vee, I don't think it's a good idea for you guys to go on this trip." Dad stood in front of us.
"Dad, we only go three times a year." I whined.
"I know, but there was an animal attack and I don't want anything-"
"There's gonna be four of us, we'll be fine. Plus, you know that Jake won't let anything happen."
"Wait, four?
"Ben and Kate can't make it." I sighed. "But it'll be fine. I'll have Quil and Embry, and Jake. It's not like I'm going by myself."
"Fine!" He threw his hands up in defeat. "But I want Bella to go with you. You should introduce her to your friends. Besides, I don't want you in the middle of the woods with three guys."
"I don't really-" Bella started.
"Fine, she can come." I huffed.
"No, really it's okay. I-" I dragged Bella out the door before she could finish. The drive to Newton's Olympic Outfitters was silent besides the barely audible drone of the radio. It talked about the animal attack and how there was one person dead. I shuttered.
"Guess dad was right." I said, but Bella just stared out the window. We went inside and I groaned as soon as I saw who was working the register.
"Veronika!" Mike called, stopping dead when he saw Bella. "Um…"
"I have twin." I muttered, looking around for a decent sized tent.
"I knew that." He lied, leaning against a rack of skies and knocking them over. I rolled my eyes and picked up the tent, trying to ignore Mike's stares at my chest, as well as Bella's as I paid.
"He seems… nice." Bella said once we got back in the truck.
"If you like stuck up perverts, then he is the one for you." I scoffed. I pulled out of the parking lot and started the drive to the reservation. After a while, I couldn't bare the silence anymore. "What do you think of Forks? Think you can survive without the sun?"
"It's small and cold… but I think I'll live." To my surprise, she actually smiled.
"There it is. There's the grin I've been looking for." I laughed and she rolled her eyes, but laughed as well. With her in the car, the drive to the rez seemed shorter, time passing quickly as we talked about everything from movies to bands.
Jake, Embry, and Quil were outside, stuffing food into bags. I hopped out of the truck first, Embry and Quil attacking me with a crushing hug.
"Guys, come one, you're embarrassing me." I joked, shoving the off. Bella closed the car door and their eyes went wide.
"'Bella?" Jake exclaimed.
"Bella who- who's Bella?" Embry asked, him and Quil looking desperately confused.
"This is my sister."
"Woah… you two look exactly-" Quil started, but I cut him off.
"We really don't."
"Have you looked in the mirror Vee. You two are identical." Jake added, wrapping his arms around Bella. She looked extremely uncomfortable. He pulled away and threw a bag in the back of the truck. "Well, we already packed a ton of food and our clothes."
"Bell and I will have to pick ours up after dinner." Bella gave me a look so I clarified. "The guys and I always grab a bite at the diner before we leave."
"What are we waiting for?" Embry exclaimed, hopping in the truck bed. "I'm starving let's go!" I helped Jake put the rest of the stuff in the back before the five of us headed out, the three guys sitting and hollering in the back.
For dinner everyone had a round of burgers and fries and the guys teased Bella for being so pale.
"Sorry Bella, Veronica already has the award for whitest person in town." Embry teased and I smacked the back of his head. We we all got ice cream and pie and then we drove back to the house so Bell and I could get our clothes while dad threatened the guys in case they got any ideas.
"Is he always like this?" Bella wondered as dad clicked on of his shotguns into place, trying to act tough and scary.
"Yeah, but he doesn't mean anything by it." We went upstairs and grabbed what we needed.
"Remember, I know exactly how to tell whether or not someone has been drinking, so keep it sober." Dad warned.
"I'm the older one dad, if anyone's the bad influence, it's me." I joked, lightly kissing his cheek. Bella gave him an awkward side hug.
"I'll see you guys on Sunday. Don't be late."
"We won't." I promised, following Jake outside. "Surprise piggy back ride- go!" I shouted, jumping on his back. He carried me to the truck before setting me down so I could drive. Bella got in the passenger seat, looking nervous. "You're not much of a camper, are you." She shook her head and I laughed. "Don't worry, the only thing out there is bears, and they usually don't attack groups. If it makes you feel better, you can carry the bear spray." One of the guys shouted and she jumped, causing me to snicker. "Trust me, nothing happens in this town." That's why mom left. I added in my head before starting the drive into the forest.
It feels like forever since I posted and I am so sorry for that. Starting high school takes up a lot of time, plus I have some other writing projects I'm working on. I really hope you guys like this, I am super excited to write the camping trip. Let me know what you think! Again, I really hope you guys enjoy reading this fic, and I hope you want to see more!
