(I don't know what is up with my computer but I swear it isn't underlined in the word document! If it's still underlined, I won't try to fix it again…)
A/N: I'm so sorry that this is a day late! But I've been sick and the rules in my house are that if you're sick, you can't be on the computer, which majorly sucks. I planned on coming down at like 2 am and writing when my parents are asleep, but since I'm sick, I fall asleep as soon as my head hits my pillow. Again, I'm really sorry.
But! I finally convinced my parents that I'm fine, which I'm not really, but they seemed to believe me, so here I'm back with a new chapter!! Did anyone watch Amazing Race last night?? I really hope Linda (I think that's her name) and her husband stay on for awhile, I was laughing my ass off watching them. "We're such dumb asses!" Ah, hilarious.
Anyway, what the frick, here's chapter six!
Previously on Spin the Bottle:
I flipped open the phone and read the message:
Hey babe, meet me at the mall once you get in town.
What the…?
Chapter 6: Not another one!
Why the hell would Edward call me babe? Well actually, why would he text me at all? I hadn't heard anything from him in almost two years! No guy can think that they're great enough to think that a girl would be head over heels for them after that long. Well… I guess it kinda depends on the guy, but still. No way was I meeting him at the mall. Absolutely not.
And the fact that he broke his promise. He said that he would come back for me when he turned sixteen, did he not? What a jerk. I mean, I didn't expect him to actually come back here, but he could've at least called to tell me that and give me some closure!
I made my way to the airport in my…mother's car, and unloaded all my bags, which was only two. The other things I didn't need or want, and I doubted Charlie would want them either, so I just left them there. The realtors could donate it to people far more miserable than me, but people like that would be few and far between. Maybe I was being dramatic; maybe I wasn't, you decide. But can you name another kid that practically lost both her parents, got her heart broken, and now has to move away from the one person still supporting her? Yeah, didn't think so.
When I was on the plane, my nervousness increased by at least a thousand percent, if not more. I was moving in with someone that absolutely hated me. But then something hit me: why would he want me now after saying those horrid things back then? Unless Renee was lying to me…but why would she do that? I was gonna have to talk to Charlie once I got to Forks…It is Forks, right? God, he lives out in the middle of nowhere!
The entire plane ride was six hours altogether, and the fact that I was forced to sit next to a guy that smelled like the goat in storage didn't make it go any faster at all. Mr. Sinclair said that a taxi driver would meet me outside the airport at five, and we would be at Charlie's at 5:15 at the very latest. It was currently 4:57, so the plane had just made it in time.
~*~*~
The car ride was very quiet. The driver I got looked older, in his sixties maybe. I wondered why he hasn't retired yet. Maybe he had no family to support him, much like me, I supposed. But at least Charlie was nice enough to offer for me to live with him so I wouldn't be handed over to social services.
The very first thing I noticed when we arrived in Forks was how green it was and how wet it was. New York was sunny and brown this time of year. It was a nice change, I admitted, in spite of myself.
We pulled up in front of what I assumed was Charlie's house. It was small, just like the rest of the town, so it fit in perfectly. The house next door was much, much bigger and made his house look like a shack.
"Thank you, sir," I said and smiled at the driver.
"No problem, kid. Most people I drive won't shut up. You were so quiet that I thought you died," he joked. "If you ever need a ride somewhere, don't hesitate to call Hal."
"Okay, I will. Thanks again." I handed him my money, or tried to, at least.
"Nah, it's okay. This ride's on me." He smiled.
I grabbed my bags and walked up to the door. The mat said Welcome, but I couldn't help but wonder if that statement applied to me or not. Ugh, what was I doing just standing out here? I probably looked really stupid doing so.
But before I could knock on the door or even ring the doorbell, the door was suddenly flung open. There stood Charlie, with a huge smile plastered on his face like he had been waiting for me all day long. He looked the same, maybe a little older, but that was to be expected. His hair and mustache faded in color just a bit, but his eyes were still lit up like a little boy's would be on Christmas morning.
"Hi Dad," I said and smiled, all nervous energy fading away. Why was I so nervous before?
Instead of answering my greeting with one of his own, he unexpectedly pulled me into his tight embrace. This was a little awkward, considering we never really hugged, but still sweet all the same.
"I missed you so much, Bells." God, his voice was all shaky. Charlie never cried either. Well, then again, I hadn't expected him to miss me so much.
"Me too, Dad." Why the heck was I crying? I guess I actually had missed him too.
"Come inside! So, what do you want to eat?" he asked and carried my bags inside and set them down in the hall.
"Whatever you want is fine by me."
"Okay, suit yourself." He picked up the phone. "I'll just order pizza then." After ordering, he turned back to me. "It'll be here in about a half hour or so. Do you wanna unpack your stuff while we wait?"
"Sure, but you don't have to help if you don't want to."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"Alrighty, then. I'll call you down when the pizza's here." He smiled. "Your room is the second door on the left upstairs."
I nodded, grabbed my bags, and ascended the stairs. When I got to my new room, I could see that there was already a bed, a desk, a dresser, and an ancient looking computer in there.
As I unpacked, I replayed the scene from downstairs in my head. Why was he acting so…fatherly all of a sudden? Was it all an act or was it genuine? I really wished I had Rachel to talk to at a time like this, she would know the answer. She always had that creepy way of telling if people were lying or not.
The sound of the TV made its way upstairs. Ah, this was definitely the Charlie I knew, the one that spent more time sitting in front of the television than talking to me. But that's okay, because he's still the only dad I ever really knew.
Charlie called me down when the pizza arrived. It was surprisingly good; but I guess that's what you get when you call a family owned restaurant- homemade food.
"So, how's school going, kid?" Charlie asked in the middle of dinner.
"It's summer, dad," I reminded him.
"Right, right. No school." He took a particularly large bite of pizza, probably so he wouldn't have to talk for a couple of minutes or so.
After he was done chewing, I asked, "so what do you do now, dad?"
"Oh, um, I'm the police chief here in Forks," he said bashfully.
"That's nice." I couldn't imagine why they needed a police chief in a town as small as this one, but it was still honorable, I suppose.
He nodded, then cleared his throat. "So, I told the neighbors about you and the young man living there can't wait to meet you." He laughed.
"How old is he?" I asked nervously.
"I'm pretty sure he's sixteen. He'll be a junior next year like you. What, did you think I told some girl-crazed twelve-year-old about you?" he joked.
"Funny," I said sarcastically.
He stood up to wash his plate and cup, but I offered to do it for him. Why should he do all the work when I needed to prove to him that I was worth living here? He gladly agreed to let me do it, anyway, saying that there was a game on or something like that. Doesn't he remember that I hated sports and everything to do with them? I guess he was getting older.
Just as I was finishing up, the door bell rang.
"Don't move, Dad! I got it!" My warning was probably in vain, he most likely hadn't moved an inch.
When I opened the door, I realized this must be the neighbor kid. I mean, what would a sixteen year old boy want with my dad, anyway.
"Hi," I said and blushed.
"Hey, I'm Mike Newton, I live next door. You must be Bella." He smiled and reached out to shake my hand. I didn't move, my mouth was open wide by this point. "What?" he asked confusedly.
"Did you say Mike Newton?"
"Yes, my family does own the sporting goods store." He smiled arrogantly.
"That's not what I meant. Are you related to Brian Newton?" I asked, praying that he would say no.
"Um, yeah…We're cousins. He lives in NYC. Why?" He looked even more confused.
"This can't be happening," I muttered under my breath.
"What was that?"
"Oh, nothing. So, are you guys close with my dad or something?"
"Yeah, we have dinner together almost every night. Well, he comes over and eats the rest of our food, at least." He chuckled. "Hey, listen, do you wanna go to the mall tonight? I'll have everyone stop by so they can meet you."
There was no way I was going to the mall, not after that text from Edward. "Sorry, Mike, I gotta finish unpacking."
"You sure?" His eyes were so pleading.
"Yes. Bye." I slammed the door in his face. God, those Newton boys annoyed the crap out of me.
~*~*~
The entire month of August, Mike repeatedly came over to 'hang out with my dad', but I knew he was only there to see me. He even tried to ask me out once or twice, I'm surprised he hadn't contacted Brian after I brought him up that first night. They were like flies, the more you try to swat them away, the more they buzzed around your head. I never met anyone else in my neighborhood, or anyone else my age, for that matter. The only way I met people was when I went to the grocery store. If all of Mike's friends were like him, I didn't want to meet any of them.
Edward hadn't texted me at all after the day I moved here; maybe he was discouraged that I stood him up or something. But didn't he live in Seattle, anyway? Okay, maybe it wasn't just the Newtons that annoyed me, maybe it was just boys in general, but whatever.
Rachel and I didn't talk much, it was hard because we had absolutely nothing to talk about anymore. When school started in a few days, maybe we could compare teachers or something, but I doubted it. And she had tons of other friends that actually lived in NYC anyway, I didn't want to hold her back.
The first day of school without knowing anyone besides Mike was definitely going to be hard, but I would manage. The only thing I hoped for was that Mike would ignore me, but that was highly unlikely. He would probably just drag me around school like we were best friends, or even worse that I was his girlfriend or something. Ugh, that would suck. Maybe I should've gotten to know more people besides just him, and I didn't even get to know him by my choice either.
My alarm clock went off at six on that dreaded day. I got up, took a shower, threw on whatever my hands touched first, and actually did my hair, sort of. Okay, I straightened it, sue me.
Charlie had surprised me a week before with a '53 red chevy, which I loved, by the way. He said he had gotten it from his friend Billy, whoever that was. But at this point, I don't really care, he has great taste in trucks. I ran out to my truck after breakfast as fast as I could, trying to not get an earful of whatever Mike thought was a good pick-up line.
"Hey Bella!" Too late.
"Hey Mike," I said through clenched teeth. Instead of me getting into my truck, he closed the driver's side door that I had just opened. I just looked at his disgusting smile and tried not to glare.
"How about you ride with me to school, Bella?"
"No, I'm perfectly capable of driving, thank you."
"Aw, come on, please?" He gave me what he probably thought was a seductive smile, but it just looked like he was high on crack or something.
"Mike, I really don't have time for this," I pleaded with him.
"Maybe tomorrow then."
"Yeah, maybe." Don't puke. Don't puke.
Other than that start to the day, the rest of the morning was actually okay. I met this girl named Jessica, who was nice, but a little too trashy for my tastes. She had on an extremely short skirt and extremely low shirt. And who would of thought! She wouldn't shut up about Mike the entire trig hour. Just great. But at least I didn't have any classes with him, yet, anyway.
Fourth hour was the last hour before lunch, when I could just sit and do nothing, if I was lucky. I got assigned to sit next to this girl who was extremely short. She couldn't have been more than five feet tall, if even that. She had short black, spiky hair, and pale skin, and she wouldn't quit bouncing around in her seat, she looked way too excited for school.
"Hi, Alice." And to my surprise, she ran up and gave me a hug. She pulled back and said, "You must be Bella." She smiled.
"I must be." I laughed.
"Move it or lose it, bitches." A girl with strawberry blonde hair, another with bleach blonde hair, and Jessica, all having the same look as Jessica, walked in the room and pushed us aside.
"Tanya, Bella isn't a bitch," Jessica said.
"Really?" The strawberry blonde one looked me up and down, and said, "Do you wanna sit over here by us, Bella?"
"She's not worth it." The blonde one rolled her eyes.
"Shut up, Lauren. So what do you say, Bella?" she said and gave me a fake smile.
I looked over at Alice, who looked both sad and annoyed, and said, "maybe another time, I'm gonna sit with Alice today." We smiled at each other.
"If you sit with her today, you can't sit with us any day. No one turns us down for the freak," Tanya snorted.
"I'd rather sit with a freak than a slut."
She gasped, and then turned to her two comrades, "Let's go girls." They all walked away from Alice and I with their high heels clanking and their noses stuck up in the air.
Alice stepped in front of me again. "Not all the girls here are skanks, I assure you." She laughed.
"Well, I would hope not." I giggled along with her.
Class started after that. Luckily this was only French one, otherwise I would die for sure. I've never studied any language, other than English, of course. And at least I was still smarter than the skanks. Well, the chalkboard was smarter than the skanks, but still. After class was over, I started to pack up my stuff.
"Hey Bella?"
I looked up. "Yeah, Alice?"
"Do you wanna sit with me and my friends at lunch?"
"Well, are they all like you?" I asked.
"Why?"
"Because if they are, then I'll gladly sit with you," I said and smiled.
Her smile was bigger than mine, though, and she hugged me again. After that, we headed to the cafeteria. We got in the lunch line, and we both got salads. Well, she got a salad and when I asked why she told me she was trying to be healthy. And who was I to tempt her with a cheeseburger? Besides, everyone needed to eat healthy once in awhile.
At her lunch table sat two blondes that could be twins, an enormous guy who should be in wrestling, and a bronze-haired god with two captivating emerald eyes. And then I lost it. It didn't matter if he ignored my calls or my texts, or even texted me over the summer as if we were still on speaking terms. None of it mattered. All that mattered was the fact that he was actually here, at the place where I just happened to move.
He stood up and headed toward the lunch line, not seeming to notice me. I dropped my salad, causing Alice to gasp in surprise, and ran over to him.
I ran up and hugged him around his waist, making him stop where he was.
"Edward! I missed you so much!" I said into his chest.
"Hello…?" he asked confusedly.
"GET THE HELL OFF MY BOYFRIEND!"
A/N: So, which of the skanks do you think it is??
I promise to have another chapter up in the next twenty four hours. If I don't have it up by 7:30 eastern time tomorrow night, feel free to send me a really nasty PM!
Please review!! ~And make sure to watch Heroes and The Bachelor tonight. =]
Ashton.