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Chapter Four
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Bella awoke to light snores. She turned and saw the extra bed pulled in for Ivy. The girl was snoring.
She turned back around and saw the cordless phone. Edward ran through her head. And then a pain surged through her chest.
She grabbed the phone and went to the bathroom, not trying to wake up "Miss Thang."
When she reached the bathroom and closed herself in there, she dialed Edward's number.
The sound of his voice was so perfect, so reassuring. "Hello?"
"Hey, Edward."
"Bella? It's late."
"I don't care," she said as she began to fiddle with the translucent curtains.
A chuckle was heard on the other end before, "Yes, you do. Your voice is drowsy."
"It's only because I just woke up."
When there wasn't an answer, she knew that she had won that little argument.
"Who's the girl in your bedroom?"
That was odd. Just by reading their minds, he should've been able to tell.
"I haven't kept many promises, but I will on this one. I promise that I won't listen to their thoughts."
"Oh. My new step-sister, Ivy."
"Oh."
Bella was shocked to hear the hostility emanating from that one word. It was… odd.
Maybe this is a test to see if I'm willing to fit in.
"Be nice. She is my family now."
It took awhile for him to reply, but he sounded perfectly normal. "That's my angel."
So it was a test.
"You should go to bed. Your kind can't stay up like mine."
"No. I haven't heard my lullaby." She was willing to say anything to keep him with her longer.
But that wasn't going to work.
"You have a piano. I'm sure that I didn't dream up our little summer lessons."
He won that round.
He chuckled again and added, "Go to bed."
"No," she immediately protested. She longed to listen to him just a little longer.
"Okay, how about this? You go to bed and I'll take you to Port Angeles tomorrow. It's supposed to rain."
That plan sounded nice. No Cara, no Ivy, and not to mention the homework she was able to skip.
"Fine. You win. For now," she said with a smile.
"Alright. Good night, Bella."
"Good night, Edward."
When she pressed the "end" button, she looked at herself in the mirror.
Her hair was tangled and had brought electricity to mind. Her shirt and shorts were a little mismatched while her eyelids were drooping slightly.
I'm so glad Edward can't see me.
Suddenly, the door slammed open and a blur passed Bella to get to the toilet.
She turned to see Jacob with his head over the plumbing device while an odd, maroon liquid escaped from his mouth.
Bella turned, feeling a little awkward watching him.
But when she heard a flush and then another gag, she felt sorry for him. She turned back to face him and pulled back the long mass of hair that hung around his face.
Only when she brushed against him did she realize that he only had a pair of jean shorts on.
She shook her head and rubbed his back comfortingly as he let out the rest of what he had ingested.
That was when she smelt the too-familiar scent of copper.
Bella looked to the contents before reaching to the side to flush. They were a dark crimson while a light amount of stomach acid floated on top.
She looked away as she flushed the disgusting substance down the pipes. Is he sick? Does he need a doctor?
But before she could decide, Jacob threw her off of him and ran from the bathroom. Shock enveloped her to the point that she didn't know if she was pressed against the shower door or not.
Bella sat there for a good five minutes before realizing that she needed to get up.
She rose and grabbed the cordless, walking back to her room a little more vigorously then she needed to.
When she got there, she closed the door and placed the phone back on its holder. She slid quietly into bed, still unable to comprehend what was happening lately.
A new stepmother, a new stepbrother, a new stepsister, a new house, and not to mention Edward's odd behavior.
We'll talk about it tomorrow.
Bella closed her eyes, trying to avoid events from tonight to come barging into her head. And then, she slept.
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Bella awoke the next morning at seven, already getting ready in her mind for the day.
She pulled out some jeans and a nice blouse that was Edward's favorite color on her. Blue.
She ran to the bathroom, only to see Jacob leaning against the stairwell with a notebook and a cell phone. He was texting obviously.
Maybe I should play nice. Especially after last night.
"Good morning," she said with a slight smile.
She stopped walking when he stopped texting and looked up at her with a glare.
He didn't say a thing as he turned and walked downstairs.
Fine then.
Bella walked to the bathroom and placed her clothes on the counter. She looked into the mirror to see if her appearance had gotten worse. Instead, she saw a cell phone and yellow note from the showerhead.
She turned immediately and saw the metal device more clearly. And she recognized Charlie's handwriting.
Her hand snatched the note from the string holding it and the cell phone and began to read:
Bella,
I know that this is hard to adjust to. I hope this phone will make it a little easier. Love you, princess.
-Dad
P.S. You have unlimited everything.
Bella couldn't believe that her father was being so… fatherly.
But right now, she was so grateful for the phone, she forgot all about it. She grabbed the phone and flipped it open.
Her address her book was already filled with her father's number, Cara's number, Jacob's number, the police station's numbers, the hospital's numbers, the Newton's number, and shockingly, Sam Uley's number.
She wondered if her father really did hang out with Sam while she was gone.
But as she adjusted her water and put Edward's number in, she heard it go off.
Before answering, she made a mental note to change her ringtone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Bella! Liking the new phone?"
Who else, but Alice?
"I don't know. This is my first time using it, after all. But you knew that."
And then, the creepiest silence she ever experienced occurred. Alice didn't speak.
"I have to go take a shower. I'll talk to you later?"
"Of course! See you in Port Angeles! Click.
The sound of uncertainty in Alice's voice had thrown Bella off. She didn't realize Alice had hung up until her phone beeped and flashed the call's time on the screen.
She put the phone on her pile of clothes and undressed, stepping into the shower afterward.
-Intermission-
Bella stepped out of the bathroom a few minutes later. Her hair was combed; teeth brushed; and body clothed.
She threw her other clothes into the laundry room's basket and walked into the large kitchen, getting her some Cheerio's.
A note was stuck on the fridge and she noticed very elegant, feminine handwriting.
Jacob & Bella,
Me and Ivy have gone shopping. Don't mess up the house. We'll be back soon. Kisses!
-Cara
Bella rolled her eyes and just continued eating her cereal. She jumped slightly when the front door slammed shut.
Her eyes averted to the source of the noise, already guessing who had done it.
There stood Jacob in the living room, along with another large stranger. Bella took a bite of her Cheerio's as she tried to get a glimpse of the man… er, boy's face.
"You have absolutely no garage here, Jake. You can come over to my place if you ever want to."
"Yeah, I'll think I'll do that. Thanks, Embry."
The two of them had a similar haircut, obviously Quileute, and looked like twins from behind.
But when Embry turned and matched stares with Bella, she knew that he was different. He had a mischievous look dancing in his eyes, and his canines seemed a little sharper than usual.
"This that stepsister you were talking about?"
"Yeah. Now, where do you think I can get me some new parts for a low price?"
It was obvious that Jacob wasn't into talking about his new family. She didn't blame him. This new lifestyle was going to be hard to get used to.
Bella shrugged as the two began to walk up to his room. She grabbed a piece of notepad and began to write a note of her own as she took quick bites of her cereal.
Hey, guys.
I'm off to Port Angeles for the day. I'll see you guys later on tonight.
-Bella
She smiled and finished her cereal in a couple more bites.
Bella grabbed her bag –not a purse, bag- as the boys came back down and lounged on the couches.
"Your sis is kind of cute, Jake."
She tried not to listen, but this sentence seemed to stick out to her. And it made her feel a little odd. Like she needed to laugh.
"Whatever."
Bella smiled at the typical brother answer. She opened the door and stepped outside, not entirely amazed to see a silver Volvo in front of the house.
But she was surprised to see it so far from the door and driveway. She looked to the driver's seat to see Edward gripping the steering wheel.
What is up with him lately?
She walked to the car and knocked on the window slightly.
The look that Edward gave her –brief or not- made her eyes widen as far as her forehead would allow. His irises matched his black pupils and his eyebrows had furrowed into an almost animalistic glare.
But it disappeared and was replaced by a shocked face and then his beautiful crooked grin in seconds.
"Ready to go, Bella?" That was when she noticed that his window was cracked.
"More than you know," she said, mentally disregarding the multiple expressions.
His grin widened as he rolled his window down a little more. "Well, get in then."
Bella obeyed and walked to the other side, opening her door to see Edward's raincoat waiting to be draped around her shoulders.
"What's this for?"
"Alice said that once we arrived in Port Angeles it would start raining. Your kind gets ill very easily, so I thought that I'd bring something to lighten the chances."
She smiled and draped it around herself, unable to resist after something so formal as that. When he spoke like that, it gave her chills.
And about ten minutes into the ride and listening to Linkin' Park, she noticed that his posture loosened. And now was as good a time as any to discuss with him about his recent attitude.
"Is there something wrong?"
Edward looked at her questionably, not even noticing his speedometer reaching eighty. "No. Why would there be?"
She shrugged and began to fiddle with the buttons on the coat. "You just seem to be a little tense lately."
A musical note disguised as a chuckle escaped him as he passed a station wagon. "Is it that obvious?"
Bella didn't say anything and just waited for him to explain. If she had answered, he might have drifted off on another subject and skipped the whole matter altogether.
"It's nothing. Just some problems at the house."
Problems? Like what? That family was almost as perfect as perfect went. "What kind of problems?"
She wondered if it had to do with the new add-on to the hospital. Maybe Carlisle wasn't home as much as before and that left Esme a little lonely.
Or maybe it was because of the fact that everyone was in college now, when they were sort of used to just staying home after high school.
"Just minor things. Nothing really worth worrying about."
Then why were you tensing up if it was nothing?
Bella didn't hide her feelings when she shot him a look. She just waited for him to realize that there was nothing that he could hide anymore.
When he saw her look, his crooked grin made reappearance.
"It's seriously nothing, Bella. You know how we both over react when certain things occur."
That was true. She remembered when that one birthday party she had. It left a huge mark on her. Well, internally it did.
"I guess so."
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When the two finally reached Port Angeles, Bella found herself looking at a nice thrift store.
Sadly, just looking at the doors made her feet want to cry. She wasn't much of a shopper, not even with Edward.
"Come on. We're not shopping today."
She looked to Edward with shock when she heard those words. "We're not?"
He stepped out of the car, closed his door, walked over to her and smiled. "Of course not. I'm going to teach you about art."
Why does shopping sound slightly more exciting than that? Bella didn't feel like walking over to the museum. She might get harassed for stealing one of their most prized statues.
"Um… where?"
Edward smirked and merely took her hand and began to lead her to a building with no sign and covered windows. This was definitely not the museum.
"Edward?"
He didn't answer as he opened the door and pushed her gently inside, locking the door behind them. And then, he flipped on the light switch.
There was a huge sheet of white wallpaper along the back wall with different varieties of paint buckets along the others. Newspaper was among the floor for protection and blue suits hung up near the door.
Bella had an idea of what he meant by "art" now.
"No way."
That smirk never left his face as he began to pull the suits off of the coat racks. "Pull these over your clothes. We don't want that blouse to get dirty, would we?"
Bella smiled as she grabbed the suit from his offering hand, pulled it on, and stepped closer to the buckets.
"Are we using our hands, paint brushes, full body or what?" That only earned her another chuckle.
"It's art, Bella. Just use whatever is most comfortable for you at the moment." He smiled at her one last time before walking over to the green paint.
She didn't know what to do at first. This kind of freedom was new to her. No rules, no restrictions. It felt exhilarating, but also strange.
She stood there for a second, going over the different things that she could do. Paintbrushes were too restricted; hands made smearing lines; and feet just seemed a little stranger to her.
Then all of her restrained feelings toward her new family began to come to her. The way her stepmother acted so fake; her stepsister acting like a spoiled wretch; and her stepbrother not even trying to make it better.
She looked around and grabbed a yellow bucket of paint, her feelings taking over. And before she knew it, paint flew from the bucket, onto the wallpaper in odd splats and some droplets came back onto her.
Edward laughed and replied, "That's it. That's how you do art."
Bella felt all of the negative feelings disperse after she went through yellow, blue, and orange. And now, she was having more fun than she could've ever dreamed of. The freedom, the paint, and Edward made everything worthwhile.
This was definitely going to be one of her most treasured memories.
"Having fun, are we," Edward asked after a good bit of the paper was filled with a multitude of colors.
"Fun? What is that," she asked with a smile. She was very grateful for the blue suits now. She looked like someone threw up skittles on her.
Edward smiled and said, "There's a washroom to the left. I'm going to start cleaning up."
Bella nodded and began to slip the suit off as she walked over the bathroom.
When she was done cleaning off the remaining paint and draped the suit over some sort of towel rack. When she walked out, she saw a used hair dryer lying on the floor with the rolled up wallpaper next to it.
Edward was hanging up his suit and throwing the newspapers away. The paint from his face was no longer present, amazingly. How he did it, she didn't plan to ask.
"I'm glad you had fun," he said as he walked up to her. Bella smiled and hugged him, showing her appreciation for such a date.
"I had more fun than I thought possible with paint."
He laughed at that and hugged her back while running his hand gently through her hair.
"So where to next?"
Suddenly, Bella's annoying ring tone went off and she remembered that she hadn't changed it yet.
She grabbed her phone, placed it to her ear and answered with a, "Hello."
"Bells?"
"Hey, Ch-Dad."
"Where are you?"
"I'm painting with Edward in Port Angeles."
"Great! I was calling you to see if you could join us at Olive Garden over here. Cara wanted to treat Ivy and her new friends… er, Jane and Caitlyn? Yeah. Jacob isn't joining, but I thought that this would be a nice family affair."
Since when is he so big on families? "I guess so. Just let us get done, okay?"
"Alright. Talk to you later."
"You, too." Click.
Bella sighed and looked up at Edward, not wanting to leave.
"I have to-"
"I heard. You might want to lower your volume on your phone." Even if he was smiling, she could tell that he was disappointed.
"I'll try to remember that." She looked out of the window to see that Olive Garden was just around the corner.
"Go ahead. I'm going to do a few errands and I'll be back." Before he turned to the door, he brushed his lips across hers, making butterflies flutter in her stomach.
"O-Okay." He smiled and turned to walk to the door, but waited to let her walk out first.
Bella sighed and walked outside, waving to Edward as she began to walk to Olive Garden. All the while, she felt his eyes on her.
That is until she made it inside the restaurant.
The place was elegantly decorated and made her feel like she had just walked into Italy again. But this time, she wasn't saving Edward from himself. She was saving the time she had with her father as much as she could.
"Bella, dear! There you are!" Cara's fake voice rang in her ears as she saw the Native American woman with her daughter and friends. The friends looked just as snobby as Ivy acted. One was a blond while the other was a brunette. Bella didn't care about their names. The looks that they shot just made her mad.
"Sorry about making you wait." Playing nice was going to be harder now that tweedle dee and tweedle dumb had arrived.
"Yeah, we know. But the waitress hasn't returned so you're in luck," the brunette replied. "Oh, and I'm Ivy's best friend Jane."
"No, you're not. I'm her best friend, Caitlyn," the blond protested.
Bella didn't listen to the rest of their petty argument as her father walked in. She let him slide in next to Cara before sitting beside him.
The dinner was long and very uneventful. The two girls kept going on and on about how Ivy's new dad was one of the most well known men in the area for being sheriff and all. They also commented on how Cara was a retired actress with loads of money and that Ivy was lucky.
Everyone pretty much ignored Bella and she was fine by that. She never was into the whole family gathering thing anyways.
"I'm going outside. It's starting to get a little stuffy outside." Bella felt her phone vibrate at Ivy's words. She opened it and read a text message sent from Edward.
"Almost there. Meet me outside in about five minutes."
Bella smiled and decided to wait until Cara and Charlie were done discussing whatever it was they were discussing to tell them that she was riding home with Edward.
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With Ivy
Ivy stood outside, taking in the fresh air. She felt so excited and confident right now. All she had to do was talk about her mother appearing in that recent movie of "First Chair" and people came crawling to her.
Right as she was congratulating herself on the new accomplishments, she saw a silver Volvo pull up. The most gorgeous boy stepped out. She couldn't believe her luck. With his status, he probably would go for the things Jane and Caitlyn did.
She smiled when he stood all by himself on the sidewalk. This was her shot.
Ivy walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. His bronze hair and golden eyes made her want to melt.
"Hi there. My name is Ivy. What's yours?"
He looked at her with a little shock. Was he expecting someone else?
"My name is Edward Cullen." He began to look around, obviously starting to feel a little awkward. And she noticed that he was getting a little tense. Poor boy must have been nervous.
And then his name clicked.
"Cullen? As in Dr. Cullen in Forks?" She didn't hide her excitement as she snuck a little closer to him.
He noticed, though, and stepped to the side. "Yeah. He's my dad."
"No wonder you look so amazing."
"Uh, thanks."
She didn't like his awkward speech. And the way he turned to cringe his nose made her feel a little frustrated.
"I guess we're both very lucky to have such amazing parents. My mom played 'Juliet' in 'First Chair' last month, but retired."
When Edward didn't say anything, she tried to move to see his face more clearly. It was just so-
"Oh, there you are!"
Ivy jumped at Bella's voice. She turned to see her "big sister" running toward them. Great. Her new sister was going to try and make her look stupid.
But instead of acknowledging her, she saw Bella embrace Edward in a hug. He returned it with a crooked grin and completely ignored Ivy. "Miss me?"
Bella smirked and asked, "No. Why would I?"
He chuckled and replied, "Come on. Esme wants to have that visit before you have to go to sleep."
Ivy's new sister nodded and followed Mr. Drop-Dead-Gorgeous to his car.
The Quileute girl growled as she watched them drive off.
She has everything. This is so not fair. I will make Edward mine, no matter what it takes.
)) Wow, that chapter was LONG! I hope you liked it, though. Well, I'm gonna go update some more. See ya! ((
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To Be Continued
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